rx bandits have posted a blog regarding the release of mandala for $2.99. you can read it over at the bands official blog or below.

You know who we are. You know we aren’t the band who will have massive amounts of money from a faceless label to put into marketing and advertising our new record. You won’t see us buy our way on the front page of myspace, or on a tour sponsored by rockstar caca-drinks. This is not ‘holier than thou’… This is the story of a real band, with real guys just trying to survive solely off of playing music without selling too much of themselves. We enjoy the luxury of being musicians and musicians only. We are lucky enough to not have jobs on the side so that we can devote ourselves fully to writing, and practicing music so we can continue producing the best and most honest tunage performed at the top of our abilities. We still get excited selling out shows; something we hope for, not expect. This is the path of our band, and by no means are we alone on it. As participants in the musical world I hope you know where you stand in this equation, because you are a good majority of it. Determining whether or not we as musicians are weekend hobbyists, or life-long committed artists. We cannot clear-cut our musical landscape that is available to us in these modern times, using up a bands musical offerings and tossing the wrapper out of the window of the hype car (even if a lot of it is garbage.) Crappy bands with hype deserve a chance at making it the right way as well, touring and improving while earning their fans one by one through impressing them, not by marketed persuasion.

Many of you have our new record already from a leak that went up a few weeks ago. Flattering indeed that people would want it so bad, but it doesn’t help us pay rent. Our new album is currently available for download on amazon.com for $2.99, and every download, just like every head out our shows, matters and counts for a lot. We must continue to feed into what we enjoy and take from, and if you’re someone who will always get albums for free, only go to shows you can get on the list for, and talk all kinds of righteous bullshit on various music message boards about bands ethics then you need to know you are not helping. The days of dudes walking into an office, signing on the dotted line and getting a check are dead… this can be a wonderful thing, cutting out the corporate middle man, but only with your participation. If you care to, please go buy our album. For crazy-cheap right now on amazon, or for not-crazy-cheap later or at a show.. it doesn’t matter. If you don’t want to buy our record, at least help support the bands you love by buying their album. Everyone’s story is different, and everyone has different situations.. if you can’t afford to support, this does not make you less or inadequate. We just all need to know that bands like us survive because of you the audience, and now more than ever if you want to see bands like us stick around, we are completely in this together.