Out-of-State Plates is a double-album of B-sides, live cuts, and unreleased material from power pop masters Fountains of Wayne is a treasure trove of catchy hooks and witty lyrics.
Opener “Maureen” is the type of song FOW do so well – a big rocker about a lovely woman and unrequited love. “California Sex Lawyer” is a great example of Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger’s song craft. It’s a funny song skewering rich douche bags, many of whom probably love the song and don’t realize it’s a kick in their crotch. “Janice’s Party” is Collingwood’s salute to his friend’s annual shindig. “Karpet King” is a bonus track from 1997 that was, according to Schlesinger’s liner notes, “a live staple during our first few tours when we only had one album’s worth of material to choose from.” “I Know You Well” is a song Collingwood wrote for his brother’s wedding. “You’re Just Never Satisfied” is full of stadium rock riffs as Schlesinger throws up his hands yet again over trying and failing to please his girl.
Other standouts on the first disc are the 1999 bonus track “I’ll Do the Driving” (a song that angered Collingwood’s wife, according to his notes), the lovely “Places” (a salute to his wife, Barbara – the inspiration for their single “Barbara H.,” which was the A-side of this track), and their 1997 live cover of ELO’s “Can’t Get It Out of My Head.”
Disc two starts with the previously unreleased “The Girl I Can’t Forget,” a great tune about missing a great girl Schlesinger met when he was blitzed drunk and now can’t remember well. A low-key cover of Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” follows it. “Elevator Up” is a sharp rocker about drug addicts. “Comedienne” (a 1997 bonus track) is a funny story about a comic who isn’t sure if she’s failing or succeeding.
Other highlights from this disc are the 1997 live version of “She’s Got a Problem,” a cover of Jackson Browne’s “These Days” done in one take, a triple shot of winter holiday songs (“I Want an Alien for Christmas,” “The Man in the Santa Suit,” and “Chanukah Under the Stars”), and a lovely tribute to Collingwood’s grandfather called “Imperium.”
This is a great collection of not only FOW songs, but also power pop tracks that any fan of the genre would love.
The Beths are back in North America for their largest headline tour in support of 2018’s breakout album, Future Me Hates Me(available now via Carpark Records). The band has already sold out shows in Toronto, New York City, Washington, DC, and Chicago. Today, they share the video for “Uptown Girl” compiled on their last North American tour in the fall. After this current run which includes a stop at SXSW, The Beths will continue onto Australia and Europe where they’ve started selling out shows and upgrading to bigger venues. Then, they’ll bookend the summer festival season at Primavera Sound, Pickathon and Pukkelpop. The band will also be releasing its debut EP, Warm Blood, on vinyl for the first time via Carpark Records. The official release date is April 26th with some copies being available to purchase on tour soon. Pre-order here.
Sun. Mar. 10 – Tampa, FL @ Festival Gasparilla Mon. Mar. 11-Fri. Mar. 15 – Austin, TX @ SXSW (w/ Bad Bad Hats) Sat. Mar. 16 – Dallas, TX @ Not So Fun Wknd (w/ Bad Bad Hats) Sun. Mar. 17 – Houston, TX @ Satellite Bar (w/ Bad Bad Hats) Thu. Mar. 21 – Melbourne, AUS @ Forum Fri. Mar. 22 – Melbourne, AUS @ Forum Sun. Mar. 24 – Hobart, AUS @ Republic Bar & Café Thu. Mar. 28 – Fortitude Valley, AUS @ The Foundry Fri. Mar. 29 – Fortitude Valley @ The Tivoli Sat. Mar. 30 – Newtown, AUS @ Enmore Theatre Sun. Mar. 31 – Leichhardt, AUS @ Crowbar Thu. Apr. 4 – Collingwood, AUS @ The Gasometer Hotel Fri. Apr. 5 – Adelaide, AUS @ Thebarton Theatre Sat. Apr. 6 – Adelaide, AUS @ Jive Thu. Apr. 11 – Perth, AUS @ Badlands Bar Sat. Apr. 13 – Perth, AUS @ Astor Theatre Tue. May 7 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds Wed. May 8 – Oxford, UK @ The Wheatsheaf Thu. May 9-Sat. May 11 @ Brighton, UK @ The Great Escape Sun. May 12 – Leeds, UK @ Gold Sounds Festival Mon. May 13 – Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Pete’s (SOLD OUT) Tue. May 14 – Glasgow, UK @ G2 (MOVED DUE TO DEMAND) Wed. May 15 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall (MOVED DUE TO DEMAND) Thur. May. 16 – London, UK @ The Dome, Tufnell Park (SOLD OUT) Fri. May 17 – Bristol, UK @ Fleece (MOVED DUE TO DEMAND) Sat. May 18 – Wrexham, UK @ Ty Pawb Arts Hub (Focus Wales) Sun. May 19 – Ramsgate, UK @ Ramsgate Music Hall Tue. May 21 – Paris, FR @ Supersonic Wed. May 22 – Colmar, FR @ Le Grillen Thu. May 23 – Lyon, FR @ Sonic Sat. May 25 – Madrid, ES @ Tomavistas Tue. May 28 – Dornbirn, AT @ Spielboden Wed. May 29 – Munster, DE @ Gleis 22 Thu. May 30 – Groningen, NL @ VERA Fri. May 31 – Nijmegen, NL @ Merleyn Sat. June 1 – Hilvarenbeek, NL @ Best Kept Secret Festival Sun. June 2 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound Sat. Aug. 3 – Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon Thu. Aug. 15 – Trondheim, NO @ Pstereo Sun. Aug. 18 – Haasselt, BE @ Pukkelpop Wed. Aug. 28 – London, UK @ Heaven
I hadn’t seen the Bob Mould Band in concert since New Year’s Eve 2014 at the Metro in Chicago. That was a blast, and now one of my rock heroes was kicking off my year of live music in 2019. An added bonus was meeting Mr. Mould on Clark Street a few blocks south of the venue. I got to shake his hand and tell him thanks for everything, so the day was a win.
Opening for him were Chicago’s Airstream Futures. Unfortunately, none of the photographs I took of their set turned out well, but I can tell you that they played an energetic set of punk with pop riffs. Their drummer has impressive chops, and their lead singer had a lot of energy despite, as she mentioned, being fired from her full-time job earlier that day.
Mr. Mould and his pals, Jason Narducy on bass and Jon Wurster on drums, came out swinging with a triple threat of “The War,” “A Good Idea,” and “I Apologize.” There was barely time to catch your breath when they were tearing into “See a Little Light” and “Sunny Love Song” – a track of his new record, Sunshine Rock.
There were many moments when I thought a mosh pit would, and should, have broken out, but the crowd was mostly aging punks (like yours truly) who are afraid of twisting a knee or running out of breath in a pit (unlike yours truly). Such moments came with songs like the title track of the new album, “Hey Mr. Grey,” and “If I Can’t Change Your Mind.”
One thing Mr. Mould assured everyone of during the show was that he can still shred. He tore his guitar up during multiple songs and wowed many of us with the kinds of solos you rarely hear at punk rock shows anymore.
The encore of “Never Talking to You Again,” a cover of Sonny Curtis‘ “Love Is All Around,” and “Flip Your Wig” was another sonic assault that left everyone wanting more, as a good encore should. You can’t go wrong with a Bob Mould show. He’s still putting out great music and destroying stages. Don’t miss him.
The cover for Pink Mexico‘s new album, Dump, shows a man who appears to be in his 60’s wearing black socks with sandals hitting a long-haired, tattooed young’un in red socks and combat boots with a shovel while standing in front of a locked, graffiti-covered storage shed or garage. I’m not sure what this image is supposed to convey, but I can’t help thinking it’s a tongue-in-cheek poke at Millennials, hipsters, and, yes, people older than them. It’s a mix of “Turn down that racket, you damn hippies!” and “Will you old folks stop bitching about everything?”
Starting with “Thumbsucker,” Pink Mexico (Robert Collum, Ian Everall, and Grady Walker) unload great hooks out of the gate and a wild guitar solo to let you know this is going to be a wild ride. “High Dive” brings to mind early Wavves cuts with its surf touches amidst the fuzz and buzz and lyrics about being so stoned you think you might die. Speaking of such subjects, “Prescription Overdose (P.O.D.)” confronts that subject head-on as the band pleads for friends of theirs to scale back on the pills.
“Dirty & Stupid” is an ode to screwing up a great relationship due to too much partying (“If you need me, I’ll be wasted…How did I get home? Why am I all wet?”). “Sex Happiness” is about a similar theme – trying to remember the afterglow of great sex. The vocal reverb is a great touch to the fuzz and squawks of the guitars. “Girlfriend” keeps the themes of sex and confusion with lyrics like, “Do you know what it means to be happy on your own?” battling with “I think I love you, but this is too new.” The brief fade-in and fade-out of “WSLY” is a bit of a fake jab to the near-doom metal right cross of “Shit River.” The squeaks and squeals of the guitars on “Rattlebrain” might leave you feeling that way.
“I’ve heard it all before.” the band yells on “Fuckhead” – which could be a verbal smackdown to political leaders, bosses, contemporary rock radio, or all of the above. The beats and riffs of “Liberty Kid” will get you jumping and remind of early Nirvana cuts. While we’re on the subject of Nirvana, one can’t help but think the brief “Psycho Juice” is a tribute to Kurt Cobain due to its lyrics about suicide by gunshot.
“Heartfist” begins with throbbing synth-bass and fuzzy vocals and then turns into a heavy psychedelic jam about heartbreak and anger (“She turned my heart into a fist.”). It’s a cool way to end the album – fuzzy psychedelia after so much heavy hitting.
The album’s title is as intriguing as the cover. Does the dump refer to how the lyricist feels inside after so much relationship trouble, the status of a relationship, an actual place, the state of the nation, or the need to dump / vent all of his anger? It’s probably all of them, and all of them get bludgeoned by the raucous energy of this record.
Coming in at a hot eleven minutes, Warish‘s debut EP contains five wild tracks of grungy punk that their label, RidingEasy Records, describes as a combination of Nirvana and Misfits, andthat’s accurate.
Beginning with “Bones,” guitarist / vocalist Riley Hawk sets the stage with buzzsaw riffs that Ty Segallwould love. Drummer Bruce McDonnell starts literal and metaphorical mosh pits with his ferocious beats on “Voices.” He and Hawk put out enough energy for a six-piece, let alone a two-man band.
The chant of “Fight for your life!” on “Fight” (not to mention the pedal-to-the-metal drumming) is sure to get your blood pumping. “Human” is the longest track on the EP, and it’s not even three minutes long. It’s probably a good thing it isn’t longer, because I’m not sure the human body or speakers built by humans could withstand the face and wire-melting power of it for more than two minutes and thirty-nine seconds. The EP ends with “Shivers,” a hard-hitting fuzz-fest that leaves you nearly out of breath.
A full-length album by these two will be one of the heaviest records of this generation if their self-titled EP is any indication. Get on the bandwagon now.
WATCH “GOOD TIME CHARLIE” https://youtu.be/nEN_GTab-ro
WATCH “THE SEDUCTION OF KANSAS” http://smarturl.it/TheSeductionOfKansas
Washington, D.C. rock trio Priests – comprised of drummer Daniele Daniele, vocalist Katie Alice Greer, and guitarist G.L. Jaguar – share “Good Time Charlie,” off of their forthcoming album, The Seduction of Kansas, out April 5th via Sister Polygon Records. They also share an accompanying lyric video. Following the lead single and the band’s purest pop song to date, “The Seduction of Kansas,” “Good Time Charlie” is a tightly wound track spun out of America’s westernized vision of violence.
“I like to think of this song a little bit like the Gilligan’s Island Theme song, but for a Hollywood tale of Charlie Wilson. It’s also a little bit about 9/11 but much like Otessa Moshfegh’s My Year Of Rest And Relaxation, the character sketch is more drawn out in its absence rather than presence. I saw a documentary about the history of the United States’ relationship with the Middle East, and there was clip of an 80s lady who looked a little like Vanna White (who turned out to be Joanne Herring) saying how she wanted to get the Mujahadeen guns to fight the communists because she believed they worshipped the same god as her. So I got curious about how this story unfolded, but even more so, how the tale has been told in western culture. I watched the movie Charlie Wilson’s War and it was so unintentionally funny the way they told this story, like think of the movie Team America, except the filmmakers weren’t joking (at least I don’t think). And then I read in the film’s Wikipedia page: “The film’s happy ending came about because Tom Hanks ‘just can’t deal with this 9/11 thing.’” I don’t know why exactly but this got stuck in my head and made my brain feel like it was exploding. So, with Daniele and GL and Janel Leppin on bass, we made it into a song. Hope you like it!”
The Seduction of Kansas probes the realities and mythologies of America in 2019. Marking the first time the band has collaborated with someone outside of their DC-based community – a decidedly less hermetic approach – they found a kindred spirit in producer John Congleton (Angel Olsen, St. Vincent). The band spent two weeks recording at his Elmwood Studio in Dallas. They also enlisted help from primary bassist and fourth songwriting collaborator, multi-instrumentalist Janel Leppin, who played on the band’s previous album, Nothing Feels Natural. The songwriting process found the group once again analyzing the textures and scopes of albums as aggressive as they are introspective, like Massive Attack’sMezzanine, Portishead’sThird, and Nine Inch Nails’Downward Spiral.
Priests will soon embark on a North American and European tour. All dates are below.
PRIESTS 2019 TOUR DATES Fri. March 8 – Savannah, GA @ Savannah Stopover Music Festival Sat. March 9 – Birmingham, AL @ The Firehouse Mon. March 11 – Fri. March 15 – Austin, TX @ SXSW Sun. March 17 – Nashville, TN @ Exit / In Mon. March 18 – Knoxville, TN @ The Pilot Light Mon. April 15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer Tue. April 16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere Thu. April 18 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair Fri. April 19 – Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo Sat. April 20 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison Sun. April 21 – Detroit, MI @ El Club Mon. April 22 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall Thu. April 25 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon Fri. April 26 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry Sat. April 27 – Omaha, NE @ Reverb Sun. April 28 – Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews Tue. April 30 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop Wed. May 1 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups Sat. May 11 – Brighton, UK @ The Great Escape Sun. May 12 – Bristol, UK @ Rough Trade Mon. May 13 – Manchester, UK @ YES (Pink Room) Tues. May 14 – Glasgow, UK @ The Hug and Pint Wed. May 15 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club Thu. May 16 – London, UK @ 100 Club Fri. 17 May – Lille, FR @ Aeronef Sat. 18 May – Paris, FR @ Supersonic Mon. 20 May – Brussels, BE @ Botanique (Witloof Bar) Tue. 21 May – Cologne, DE @ Bumann & Sohn Wed. 22 May – Munich, DE @ Import/Export Thu. 23 May – Zurich, CH @ Rote Fabrik Fri. 24 May – Heidelberg, DE @ Queer Festival (Karlstorbahnhof) Sat, 25 May – Amsterdam, NL @ London Calling Mon. 27 May – Aarhus DK @ Tape Tue. 28 May – Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen Wed. 29 May – Berlin, DE @ Kantine am Berghain Thu. 30 May – Hamburg, DE @ Hafenklag (Goldener Salon) Fri. 31 May – Hilvarenbeek, NL @ Best Kept Secret Festival Sat. 1 June – Neustrelitz, DE @ Immergut Festival Sat. June 15 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club Sun. June 16 – Durham, NC @ The Pinhook Mon. June 17 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn Tue. June 18 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa Thu. June 20 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Fri. June 21 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda Sat. June 22 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada Mon. June 24 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister Tue. June 25 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar Wed. June 26 – San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar Thu. June 27 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom Sat. June 29 – Oakland, CA @ Starline Social Club Mon. July 1 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall Tue. July 2 – Vancouver, BC @ The Bitmore Wed. July 3 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos Sat. July 6 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court Sun. July 7 – Denver, CO @ Lost Lake Tue. July 9 – Kansas City, MO @ The Record Bar Wed. July 10 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
PRAISE FOR “THE SEDUCTION OF KANSAS”
“[“The Seduction of Kansas”] is a reminder of what makes the band’s sharp, cerebral music so exciting.” – NPR Music
“[“The Seduction of Kansas”] swings and glides in ways that the band’s past work only hinted at.” – Rolling Stone
“[“The Seduction of Kansas”] is like a semiotics class set to an arty dance beat: the singer Katie Alice Greer flings around signifiers of American culture — Superman, Dorothy, Applebee’s — before repeating a vow that teeters between genuine and controlling: ‘It’s true, I’m the one that loves you.’” – The New York Times
“True to the ‘seduction’ part of the equation, the song also finds Priests wielding a poppiness and slickness new to their sound.” – Stereogum
PRE-ORDER THE SEDUCTION OF KANSAS Sister Polygon pre-order – http://sisterpolygonrecords.bigcartel.com iTunes Pre-order – https://apple.co/2TvJs3c
Drugdealer, the project led by Los Angeles-based MichaelCollins, is pleased to announce their new album, Raw Honey, due for release April19th on MexicanSummer. RawHoney continues where Drugdealer’s debut album, The End of Comedy, left off, with Collins once again leading an ace crew of collaborators to coalesce the spirit of Drugdealer’s classically modern pop. Watch Video For Lead Single, “Fools” — https://drugdealer.lnk.to/Fools
Built on the foundation of a creative partnership between Collins, SashaWinn (vocals) and ShagsChamberlain (bass, production), Drugdealer is more a collective than band. RawHoneywas engineered by MacDeMarco and features contributions of JoshDaCosta (drums), JacksonMacIntosh (guitar), DannyGarcia (guitar), MichaelLong (lead guitar), and Benjamin Schwab (backing vocals, guitar, organ, piano, wurlitzer), as well as guest vocalists like country balladeer DougiePoole (“Wild Motion”), HarleyHill-Richmond (“Lonely”), and frequent collaborator NatalieMering (WeyesBlood) whose dulcet tones sing low before soaring on “Honey,” a track as silky as the nectar itself.
Throughout RawHoney, Collins and crew display their influences as a new tapestry, one woven with the recycled fibers from thousands of tapestries that have colored our collective listening histories. As evidenced throughout Raw Honey, Collins has an ear for penning numbers that would sound as at home on Classic Rock radio as they would at Zebulon in Los Angeles, where any of the contributors to RawHoney could, perhaps, be found on any night of the week, on stage, or in the audience supporting another Angelino’s modern pop aspirations.
Rather than hiding behind a curtain or casually sidestepping AOR tropes, RawHoney adheres to a modern kind of creation — one that cultivates influences and espouses reverence. An honest totem, RawHoney isn’t tangled up in social norms, with Collins preferring to air his self-doubt as a northern star to guide like-minded people wherever they need to go.
After playing release shows in both LA and NYC in April, Drugdealer will tour Europe this spring and North America this summer. All tour dates are on-sale this Friday, with tickets available here. RawHoney Tracklist: 01. You’ve Got To Be Kidding 02. Honey 03. Lonely 04. Lost In My Dream 05. Fools 06. If You Don’t Know Now, You Never Will 07. Wild Motion 08. London Nightmare 09. Ending On A Hi Note
Drugdealer Tour Dates: Fri. April 12 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Raw Honey Release Show) Fri. April 19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel (Raw Honey Release Show) Sun. May 12 – Manchester, UK @ YES Mon. May 13 – Glasgow, UK @ The Hug and Pint Tue. May 14 – Bristol, UK @ Louisiana Wed. May 15 – London, UK @ The Dome Tufnell Park Thu. May 16 – Paris, FR @ Point Ephemere Fri. May 17 – Cologne, DE @ Gewölbe GmbH Sun. May 19 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega (Small Hall) Mon. May 20 – Hamburg, DE @ Aalhaus Thu. May 23 – Brussels, BE @ Witloof Bar Sat. May 25 – Amsterdam, NL @ De Nieuwe Anita Wed. July 10 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf Fri. July 12 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda Inside Sat. July 13 – Houston, TX @ Satellite Bar Sun. July 14 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa Mon. July 15 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl Tue. July 16 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage Wed. July 17 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s Sun. July 21 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Café Mon. July 22 – Detroit, MI @ El Club Tue. July 23 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village Wed. July 24 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry Sat. July 27 – Calgary, AB @ Palomino Social Club Mon. July 29 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern Tue. July 30 – Vancouver, BC @ The Fox Cabaret Wed. July 31 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios Fri. Aug. 2 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent Sun. Aug. 4 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harriets
Wild Fox were the first band my wife and I saw when we attended Levitation France last year. I walked out of their set thinking, “If you need a band to open your festival, those four lads should be high on your list.”
Their new EP, Wanker’s Juice, is five songs of raucous garage shoegaze rock that starts with “African Running,” which I can’t help but think was inspired by the theme to Shaft (listen to that opening high hat). It mixes shoegaze licks with precision drumming, and slightly creepy bass lines. “Chester” brings in brighter (but still fuzzy) guitars and reverbed echoes to bounce off the back of a pub or a concert hall.
“Mursees,” the first single from the EP, mixes in a bit of surf madness and is indicative of their fiery live performances. It just slaps you upside the head with a killer bass groove, frantic drumming, and guitars that come at you like out-of-control bulldozers. “Sunday” is a fine blend of psychedelic fuzz and garage punk. The closer, “Lock,” has a great tempo for running, racing, or moshing. The chorus is “It’s gonna be all right.” That’s it. That’s all we need to know, really.
The theme of “Hang on. / Don’t worry. / It’s okay. / Better times are ahead.” is prevalent in a lot of music in the last year or so. The current political situations across the world, let alone in the European Union and the U.S., are causing a lot of stress to many. Bands like Wild Fox are encouraging us to cut loose, focus on the present, get laid (I mean, come on, that title…), and embrace life. We should all follow their lead.
The Coathangers have shared a poignant and fiery new single “F The NRA” from their forthcoming album The Devil You Know, out March 8 on Suicide Squeeze. The song was written by guitarist/vocalist Julia Kugel, who felt compelled to make a political statement in the face of potential backlash in part because she is a refugee from Belarus, a country with limited freedom of speech and press. She’s expanded upon her motivations to speak out in an essay published at The Talkhouse, replete with contributions and advice from Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill), Brendan Canty (Fugazi/The Messthetics) and Dennis Lyxzen (Refused, International Noise Conspiracy).
From Julia Kugel: “I do not take the freedom of expression that all U.S. citizens are granted lightly. The band was confident that we wanted to put ‘F the NRA’ on the record. It provided a personal catharsis and a sense of empowerment in the wake of the immense feeling of helplessness that was weighing heavily on us as we coped with continuous reports of mass shootings. It was not until those around us started warning us of the repercussions we could face, did we realize the risk involved in yelling at the giant. My ingrained fear of speaking out came back to me. Yet the reason I am a musician is because of a need to express my truth, personal or political. I began to question everything: the rights of an artist, the responsibility of being political, the fear of backlash, and the desire to be heard.”
“Their most intimate, darkly personal record yet… Taking them out of the doom corner and giving it a raw, post-punk feel. “Raven” sounds like a Satanic, downtuned Steppenwolf, and frankly we can’t get enough.” — Kerrang!
Austin trioThe Wellannounce their forthcoming third album Death and Consolation today, sharing the first single via Kerrang Magazine.
Death and Consolation is without a doubt a weighty album title. And, The Well is among the heaviest heavy psych bands in existence. So when we say that there’s even more darkness and intensity to the band’s third album than previous efforts, take heed. It’s a deep sea diving bell of enveloping heaviness and longing.
“This one is a little more personal,” says guitarist/vocalist Ian Graham. “2018 was a strange, dark year. A lot of change going on in my life, there was a lot of depression and coming out of it over the last year. I wanted to call this Death and Consolation, because in life that’s a constant.” While The Well continue to walk an intriguing line between authentic early 70s doom/heavy psych and frayed weirdness of dark folk – especially with their haunting unison male/female vocals – the new album also adds the stark vibe of post-punk acts like Joy Division and early The Cure. “I feel like this album is almost more gothic. We’re big fans of post-punk,” Graham says. There’s also much less jamming, the songs are tight and concise. And, did we mention, heavy? The band tuned down a full step to C-standard tuning for this album, which gives the proceedings its monstrous sound.
Sonically, Death and Consolation picks up where The Well — Graham, bassist/vocalist Lisa Alley and drummer Jason Sullivan — left off with their widely heralded 2016 RidingEasy album Pagan Science. The band once again recorded with longtime producer/engineer Chico Jones at Estuary Studio in 2018, who has turned the knobs for all three of their albums (Jones engineered the band’s debut album Samsara with producer Mark Deutrom [Melvins, Sunn0)))] in 2013.) Samsara, released late September 2014 was ranked the #1 debut album of 2014 by The Obelisk and Pagan Science among the Best of 2016 from the Doom Charts collective. Likewise, the band’s intense — some even say “possessed” — live performances have earned them featured slots at Austin’s Levitation Fest, as well as tours with Kadavar, All Them Witches, Black Tusk and more.
“This album might be a little less produced, because I didn’t want to push technical stuff as much,” Graham says. “I’m so scared of getting too complicated when getting better at guitar. This is still kind of punk rock.”
Death and Consolation will be available on LP, CD and download on April 26th, 2019 via RidingEasy Records.
THE WELL TOUR 2019: 03/01 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas 04/12 – Lafayette, LA @ Freetown Boom Boom Room 04/13 – Cypress Creek, LA @ Fête du Void Festival 04/24 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada* 04/25 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda* 05/01 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown* 05/02 – Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive* 05/03 – Phoenix, AZ @ Yucca Tap Room 05/04 – Sacramento, CA @ Blue Lamp 05/09 – Portland, OR @ High Water Mark 05/10 – Seattle, WA @ Substation05/12 – Calgary, AB @ Palomino 05/13 – Edmonton, AB @ Temple 05/14 – Winnipeg, MB @ The Windsor 05/18 – Taos, NM @ Monolith on the Mesa Fest 05/19 – El Paso, TX @ Monarch * w/ Monolord
Keep your mind open.
[Fly over to the subscription box before you leave. Please?]
