Welcome to the new website! Have a look around. Our new CD Boxing Day Massacre will be available in Europe and Japan on July 14th via Boss Tuneage Records and Rookie Records in Germany. Here's a link to buy it from Interpunk.com. We're going on tour this month in the UK. Joining us on the trip is local guitar hero Jeff Dean of Four Star Alarm and The Bomb. Check out the dates in the shows section.

There's some photos from our Double Door show last month on our Myspace page and a video on Youtube. We also have a new website coming very soon. We're playing next Saturday 6/13 at Cobra Lounge with The Assembly and The Midnight Shows. See you there!

The song "Outside" is featured on the latest Jerseybeat Podcast (#53). Check it out here. We also posted a video for the song on our Youtube channel. It's made up of footage from our UK tour last August. Let us know what you think.

Thanks to everyone that came out to our CD release show this weekend. There's a bunch of photos from the show on our Myspace page. If you couldn't make it and would like to get a copy of our new CD Boxing Day Massacre please drop us a line at textbookmusic (at) hotmail.com or hit us up on Myspace. The CD will be available in stores and online July 14th. There's a couple reviews you can check out on Jerseybeat.com and Chicagoist.com. We also have a show coming up on May 16th at the Double Door (9pm).

We've been mixing our record at Atlas Studios the last few months with Matt Allison and it sounds great! More on that in the next couple weeks but it's almost done (really). Our first show for 2008 will ba January 19th at the Note. Check the shows page for more info.

Our song Moonlight Glows appeared on Episode 7 of this season's Real World: Sydney. Check it out here.

Our new CD will be released on Boss Tuneage Records (UK) before the end of the year. More news on that in the next couple months but the deal has been made and the plans are in motion. We also have five unreleased songs coming out on a compilation CD being put together by Murk-Ta Records out of Lafayette, IN. That should be wrapped up by the end of the year too. And if that wasn't enough, we're putting together a split 7" with an awesome band from Cardiff, South Wales called Bedford Falls. Lots of new Textbook music headed your way. Check back for details. We also posted a bunch of photos from our UK Tour last month on our Myspace site so go check em' out.

We're back from our UK tour and had an amazing time! We would like to send out a huge thank you to the following people...Russell Gallon and Mike Taylor for booking shows, lending gear, housing us, driving us, feeding us, tour managing, tour guiding, the late nights and being awesome dudes. Ben for driving us and Matt Slates for the drum gear. All the people who put on a show for us - Mike, Andy and the staff at Star and Garter in Machester, Steve and the staff at The Red House in Sheffield, Tom Willecome and the staff at Le Pub in Newport, DS and the staff at The Portland Arms in Cambridge and of course Si, Andrew and the entire Out of Spite crew. All the people that put us up and fed us - Mike/Ben/Chris, Russell, Georgie and DS, and Tom Willecome. All the incredible bands we played with - The Leif Ericsson, For Old Times Sake, One Car Pileup, The Amistad, The Persuit, General Lee, By Air Mail, Dirty Kirst, Bedford Falls, Peachfuzz, and all the Out of Spite bands especially, Milloy, Leatherface, Attack Vipers (thanks for manning our merch), The Magnificent, The Great St. Louis, Dartz, The Propagumbhis, and The Dauntless Elite. Aston Stephens and Boss Tunage Records and Juergen Schattner and Rookie Records for watching our merch and all the great music we came home with. And finally, Dr. Graham for the awesome Out of Spite poster and everyone that bought a CD or a shirt. Everybody please keep in touch and we will see you again very soon. We have lots of exciting news on the way so stay tuned. Also, don't forget to check us out next Friday 8/24 at the Note with Smoke or Fire (Fat Wreck) and Horace Pinker.

Once again, sorry for the lack of updates but we've been pretty busy working on our record and planning a short tour. The recording is getting very close but there are still a few tweaks here and there. We're hoping to have it out this Fall but it could be closer to the end of the year. We'll see how things pan out, but look for a new song or two up on our Myspace site very soon. We're also doing a short tour in England August 6th - 11th with stops in Manchester, Sheffield, Newport (Wales), Cambridge, and Leeds. The final show in Leeds is part of the Out of Spite X Festival with lots of great UK bands like Leatherface, Milloy, The Leif Ericsson, Joe Ninety, Pylon, and more. Then when we return we will be playing August 24th at the Note with Smoke or Fire (Fat Wreck Chords) and our friends Four Star Alarm (Thick Records). Enjoy the summer and keep checking back for updates on the new record.

Don't forget to come out to The Note next Friday (June 2nd) for our show with Dead Girls Ruin Everything from Lawrence Kansas. Not only do they boast members of the late-great Ultimate Fakebook but they write super catchy power-pop, will rock your face off and drink your beer. If that wasn't enough, our buddy's Four Star Alarm (Thick Records) have been added to the bill. Should be a killer show. We finished up the vocals and most of the guitars for the new record this month. Just a few finishing touches, mixing and then mastering. It will definitely be worth the wait. Little end of summer tour announcement coming soon too. See you next Friday!

Hey, sorry for the lack of updates. We have been busy working on our new record which is coming along very nicely. We have completed drums, bass, and lots of guitars for 10 songs out at Chicago Soundlab with producer Chris Cosgrove. We'll be starting vocals within the month and after a couple special guests stop by it should be a wrap. We are very excited for you to hear it! Check the shows page for some new dates. We're playing with some great bands in the next couple months. We're also planning some out of town shows for late Summer so keep coming back for details. Lastly, anyone looking to get a hold of our CD The Great Salt Creek should go check them out at Interpunk.com. It's on sale for only $7 and comes with a FREE poster.

We're playing a show ths Friday (2/9) at Tiger O'Stylies (venue info here) in Berwyn, IL. The show is FREE with this flyer and there is $1.50 PBR all night long. We play at 8:30pm so get there early. We're also playing a show on March 22nd at Abbey Pub in Chicago with The Draft (ex-Hot Water Music) and Horrace Pinker (Thick Records). Definitely one not to miss. Lastly, we start recording our new full-length in March with Kansas City engineer/producer Chris Cosgrove (The Bled, Blackpool Lights, Dead Girls Ruin Everything) behind the board. Come to the shows and get a taste of what the new record is all about.

We're going to start off the new year right with a show at Empty Bottle on Jan. 18th with The Bomb (ex-Naked Raygun) and Four Star Alarm (Thick Records). Should be a blast so be sure to make it out to this one. Looking forward to 2007 and a new record, so stay tuned.

We've been working on a lot of new songs and preparing to record a new CD. We're sorting through 15 or so songs and still writing so we're probably looking at a Spring release. Until then more shows are on the way so keep coming back. Also, check out this online comic called Hold My Life by writer/artist/flash developer Dale Ingram. It's about a girl who seeks revenge on her ex-boyfriend for stealing her songs and episode 54 uses our song Better Late Then Never as the soundtrack. Happy Thanksgiving!

Textbook has been chosen for Q101’s Local Music Mailroom feature on Q101.com. Go to and vote for the Textbook song "Better Late Than Never" and the song will get a spin on the station this Friday. Also, mark your Calendars for our show on October 7th at Subbterranean with The Assembly, Spanish For 100, and The Midnight Shows. We'll be playing lots of new songs from our forthcoming CD so come check it out.

Textbook has a new line-up. Now on guitar left is Scott Ozark formerly of seminal Chicago punks Oblivion and later of The Knobs. Scott is no stranger to the band, having played on the 2002 Textbook recording USED. In addtion, behind the kit is veteran drummer Mark Doyle who has graced many stages with Loud Lucy, Verbow, Woolworthy, and currently with The Cells. The current line-up is working on new songs and plan on recording the 4th Textbook CD in late Summer/early Fall. Come say hello and hear some new songs on June 16th at Beat Kitchen with The Mopes (a reunion show featuring members of The Methadones, Screeching Weasel, and The Queers), Shot Baker, and The Holidays.

The long-lost Textbook recording USED is now available via iTunes. The 10 song full-length was recorded in 2002 by Matt Allison (Alkaline Trio, Lawrence Arms) and features Dan Knapik (ex-Not Rebecca) - bass/vocals, Scott Ozark (ex-Oblivion) - guitar, and Matt Montalto (ex-Monster Trux/The Skulls) - drums. Don't miss out on a great record with live staples like Letter Turn, Red Park, and Really, as well as two songs penned by Dan Knapik (currently of Venom Lords and Liveage). In addition, the first release Smoke Em If You Got Em is also available in the iTunes store.

Textbook is being played on the web-radio show Suburban Hell. The show features bands like The Descendents, Alkaline Trio, The Ramones, Smoking Popes, Superdrag and many more (view the playlist). Listen to the show every Tues - Fri from 4pm - 6pm (CST) at radioguruonline.com.

Check out the review of The Great Salt Creek from Pastepunk.com... "The beauty of the Midwest lies in its pure simplicity. TEXTBOOK, a rock band from Addison, IL strives to create music in this same light. It isn’t showy or groundbreaking, the lyrics are free prose, but it is straightforward and honest and for that reason, it is beautiful." Read the full review here.

Textbook will be featured this coming week on Fearless Radio's New Music Binge. Tune in between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. CST on Wednesday, February 15th at fearlessradio.com.

Check out donewaiting.com where Chicago writer Jim Kopeny picked The Great Salt Creek as BEST LOCAL RELEASE OF 2005. Textbook is also reviewed in the latest issue of The Big Takeover (BTO #57)..."aficionados of ringing, indie-guitar rock, fleshed out with a touch of rootsy abandon, will surely appreciate the fact that Textbook are sincerely in it for the tunes." Read the full review here.

Textbook is "on the cover" of IndiePulse webzine for the month of December (photo by Jody Warner).