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
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“So rare that diehard fuzz junkies say you’d have a better chance of winning the lottery than finding a physical 45 rpm single by one of the bands featured on their latest installment.” — Dangerous Minds
“Will do for hard rock, proto-metal and heavy psych what Nuggets did for garage rock, and bring it to a wider audience of collectors and music fans.” — The Guardian
The forthcoming eighth edition of the popular compilation series featuring long-lost vintage 60s-70s proto-metal and stoner rock singles, Brown Acid: The Eighth Trip is set for release, fittingly, on April 20th, 2019.
The Brown Acid series is curated by L.A. label RidingEasy Records and retailer/label Permanent Records.
About Brown Acid: The Eighth Trip: This Trip comes straight at ya with an all out attack, quite literally. The residents of St. Clair Shores should consider themselves lucky to have been so close to the greatness of Attack! “School Daze” kicks out the jams Detroit-style, but has enough flair and style to have our main man Jimi rolling over in his grave. Another prime example of why Detroit is known as Rock City!
Speaking of rock, White Rock will knock your stank-ass socks off with their 1972 burner “Please Don’t Run Away”. This 45 was privately released by this Houston-based band that reportedly played shows with Josefus, Stone Axe, and Purple Sun. And it was basically unknown until it surfaced at the Austin Record Convention in 2018! The fact that there are still completely unknown records out there to be discovered never ceases to amaze us.
They don’t say “Don’t Mess With Texas” for nothin’! Riverside called Austin home way before anyone was worried about keeping it weird. This two-sider from 1974 rips from front to back. It’s also exclusively available here and is virtually unknown. Go ahead, try to look for it anywhere. Currently, there’s no proof anywhere online that it exists.
From our neighbor up north, we bring you Luke and the Apostles! Don’t be fooled by the name, this ain’t no Xian group, even though this 45 is of biblical proportions.The flip of this single “You Make Me High” is a Faces-esque ballad of the highest caliber that will move you to tears if you’re not careful with it, but “Not Far Off” isn’t about moving you emotionally; it’s about moving you physically. Fuck jam? We think so. The Doors and Elektra Records’ producer Paul Rothchild called the Luke and the Apostles LP the “greatest album [he] never got to make”.
The lyrics to this 1977 single on Vacation Records are about as boneheaded as it gets. Hard rock songs from working class men about working hard and letting loose is a common theme in the Brown Acid realm, and “I Need My Music” by Mine Hill, New Jersey’s Tourists, is yet another great one to get you through the work week. I think we can all agree: we need our music too…among other things!
Ohio strikes again. This time a bit later than the other Buckeye State singles we’ve comped, but no less bangin’! On the Chance record label, the Bartos Brothers Band is billed as Gambler, but post-release, the band covered at least some of the copies with stickers that corrected this. There’s very little information about the Bartos Brothers Band online, and as of this writing, the release date is incorrect on Discogs and the Popsike hit very wrongly lists the genre as “Glam/Hair Metal” from the 1980s. We’re stoked to be compiling this single for the first time ever and to be setting the record straight.
And yet again, Ohio brings the thunder! We brought you the B-side of Inside Experience‘s sole 45 back on the Third Trip and now we exhaust the band’s output by presenting their especially psychedelic cover of Cream‘s “Tales of Brave Ulysses”. The band pressed and sold out of 500 copies of this record back in 1968 thanks to some airplay on Detroit’s CKLW, but they never recorded again. However, Inside Experience’s lead guitarist and singer, Marty Soski, went on to play in Lance (as heard on the Fifth Trip) and two metal bands which you will be hearing sooner than later…
Karma, slightly better known as The Contents Are, released an LP and a 45 in 1967 and then followed up with their swan song “New Mexico” in 1969. The single was oddly released under Karma on the Onk Enterprizez label with “N.S.U.” as the B-side and on Rok Records as the flip to “Future Days” as The Contents Are. Apparently, Mercury Records bought the rights to the Rok 45 with the intention to release it nationally, but never actually got around to it. Their loss!
Obviously we don’t need to go into how much great music Memphis, Tennessee has brought us over the years, but Moloch doesn’t usually get mentioned when we’re talking about the “Home of the Blues” and the “Birthplace of Rock and Roll.” Maybe we should change that. Moloch played with The MC5 and The Stoogesand recorded an LP in 1969 for the Stax subsidiary, Enterprise Records. Although the band made a great blues rock record, it sadly didn’t get the love it deserved and the band folded. Moloch guitarist, Lee Baker, reformed the band with a slightly different line-up and released this 45 in 1972 against great odds. It too was unfairly overlooked…until now.
While we’re still talking about Memphis, y’all ever heard of this guy, Elvis Presley? Apparently, he was kind of a big deal and popularized a song called “Heartbreak Hotel” back in 1956. That’s cool and all, but damn us if we don’t dig Grump‘s 1969 take on the song a whole hell of a lot more than the King’s version. Maybe that’s sacrilege, but nothing’s sacred when it comes to Brown Acid.
About the Brown Acid series: Some of the best thrills of the Internet music revolution is the ability to find extremely rare music with great ease. But even with such vast archives to draw from, quite a lot of great songs have gone undiscovered for nearly half a century — particularly in genres that lacked hifalutin arty pretense. Previously, only the most extremely dedicated and passionate record collectors had the stamina and prowess to hunt down long forgotten wonders in dusty record bins — often hoarding them in private collections, or selling at ridiculous collector’s prices. Legendary compilations like Nuggets, Pebbles, ad nauseum, have exhausted the mines of early garage rock and proto-punk, keeping alive a large cross-section of underground ephemera. However, few have delved into and expertly archived the wealth of proto-metal, pre-stoner rock tracks collected on Brown Acid.
Lance Barresi, co-owner of L.A./Chicago retailer Permanent Records has shown incredible persistence in tracking down a stellar collection of rare singles from the 60s and 70s for the growing compilation series. Partnered with Daniel Hall of RidingEasy Records, the two have assembled a selection of songs that’s hard to believe have remained unheard for so long.
“I essentially go through hell and high water just to find these records,” Barresi says. “Once I find a record worthy of tracking, I begin the (sometimes) extremely arduous process of contacting the band members and encouraging them to take part. Daniel and I agree that licensing all the tracks we’re using forBrown Acid is best for everyone involved,” rather than simply bootlegging the tracks. When all of the bands and labels haven’t existed for 30-40 years or more, tracking down the creators gives all of these tunes a real second chance at success. “There’s a long list of songs that we’d love to include,” Barresi says. “But we just can’t track the bands down. I like the idea that Brown Acid is getting so much attention, so people might reach out to us.”
Brown Acid: The Eighth Trip will be available everywhere on LP, CD and download on April 20th, 2019 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available for digital (with immediate download of the first single) at Bandcamp, physical pre-orders at RidingEasy Records.
Keep your mind open.
[It’s an easy ride over to the subscription box, so why not drift over there before you split?]
Japanese four-piece CHAI shares a new single, “CHOOSE GO!,” off of their sophomore album, PUNK, due March 15th via Burger Records, and an accompanying video. Following rebellious single, “Fashionista,” and previously released “GREAT JOB,” “CHOOSE GO!” is an upbeat anthem to be free to choose whatever it is you want to do, however you want to do it. Directed by previous collaborators – Japan-based creative collective Team Mikansei (“Boyz Seco Man”) – the video features vibrant set designs, coordinated costumes, synchronized dance moves, and an eccentric twist on sports.
“Cheerleaders, who are usually known for cheering for athletes on the sideline, now become the actual athletes and are shown as baseball players! It’s the evolution of what is already in existence like sports or cheerleaders to then what would be considered non-existent or fantasy like cheerleaders turned into baseball players and barbies tossed instead of footballs by football players, which makes this music video so cool! CHOOSE GO! CHOOSE FREEDOM!”
PUNK follows their debut album, PINK. If PINK was a plastic, hyper-bright introduction, then PUNK is a deeper, more impactful graduation. It’s the movement from vivid orange to radiating red.
CHAI will bring their energetic live shows to North America in support of PUNK. All tour dates are below.
CHAI TOUR DATES Wed. Mar. 13 – Sat.. Mar. 16 – Austin, TX @ SXSW Mon. Mar. 18 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage Tue. Mar. 19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel Wed. Mar. 20 – Toronto, ON @ The Velvet Underground Fri. Mar. 22 – Sat. Mar. 23 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Festival Mon. Mar. 25 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Moroccan Lounge Wed. Mar. 27 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop Fri. Mar. 29 – Seattle, WA @ The Vera Project Sat. Mar. 30 – Portland, OR @ Holocene PRAISE FOR CHAI
“‘Fashionista,’ similarly, is still dressed in a patina of femininity, even as resentment bubbles beneath the surface. Pitted against the capitalist behemoth of the beauty industry, CHAI know the best way to fight their enemy is from within.” – Pitchfork
“By the end of the song, dissonant guitar chords have surfaced, the beat is crashing and ricocheting around, and that cloud of voices has turned into a typhoon: a party out of bounds, or a consumer revolt?” – The New York Times, on “Fashionista”
“”CHAI bursts with an energy that is carefree, effervescent, and unmistakably feminine” – She Shreds
In the liner notes to Cass McCombs’ new album, Tip of the Sphere, he mentions how it was recorded in Brooklyn, New York and that he only remembers “emotional things dictated by the city” from the experience. In another section, however (written from the perspective of a mental health professional evaluating McCombs after he was found on the streets), possible themes of the album are postulated to be “identity, reincarnation, criminality, Armageddon, and suicide.”
This is tongue-in-cheek, of course, but only to a point. Tip of the Sphere is a record full of tall tales of criminals, drifters, barflies, soul-seekers, and tricksters. McCombs could’ve met any and all of these types of folks while hanging out in Brooklyn and been intrigued by their stories.
The title of the opening track, “I Followed the River South to What,” implies a letdown experienced by McCombs or someone he knows, but it’s actually an uplifting tale about the dignity of the homeless. Each verse opens with a typical question asked of a homeless person (i.e., “You live out on the street, in the open air?”, “Where will you goes, when the winter comes?”) and witty, Zen-like replies from the person being questioned who merely asked for a dollar. McCombs’ guitar work is like a simple music box tune and Otto Hauser’s drums put down a beat that is more complex than you first realize. Frank LoCrastro’s mellotron work helps the tune float along on a carefree breeze.
“The Great Pixley Train Robbery” was inspired by an old newspaper article McCombs read about a real-life Old West event. It’s a tune that would make Waylon Jennings proud as McCombs sings from the perspective of one of three bandits who made away with $7,000.00 in gold and is now ready to tell the details of the crime that left two dead. Dan Horne’s bass and Jason Quever’s drums on the track provide a great groove that will be hard to match this year (and McCombs’ fuzzed-out guitar solo is great). Horne’s fine bass work continues on “Estrella,” a beautiful love song to a Latina whom McCombs lost and has found again after a literal or metaphorical reincarnation. Only he knows which.
“Absentee,” which is already on my list for Best Singles of 2019, is a song about giving so much of one’s self that you end up feeling like a ghost adrift in the physical world. It’s a torch song mixed with a blues track with psychedelia sprinkled on top for extra spice. Dan Iead’s pedal steel adds the bluesy touch, LoCrastro’s organ work brings in almost a gospel flavor, and Sam Griffith Owens’ saxophone work reminds me of Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s trippy, subtle jams. John Nellen’s tabla beats on “Real Life” add to the introspective nature of the song about what it means to be human.
“Sleeping Volcanoes” is McCombs proclaiming he and everyone else he knows is sick of the world in general and he prays Armageddon will take us to a better place in the next life. It’s not as nihilistic as you’d expect. It’s even a bit calming. The guitars on “Sidewalk Bop After Suicide” take on an outlaw country edge, which continues with Iead’s pedal steel on “Prayer for Another Day” – a lovely song about wanting to step out of this reality and into one that’s similar but without all the trappings we’ve created in it.
“American Canyon Sutra” has McCombs singing / speaking about economic inequality (“In American Canyon, where Walmart employees and customers are one and same. They’ve even built apartments here to add a residential coffin to the bargain. Guess I’ll stay forever and work for the company store.”) over processed beats and guitar notes that sound like distant war horns. “Tying Loose Ends” is about McCombs preparing for death (whenever that may be) by trying to learn his family history before he becomes a footnote in it. The weirdly worded “Rounder” closes the album with another solid beat by Hauser and more outlaw country flair from McCombs’ guitar and Iead’s pedal steel before it floats away into a nice, slow jam with a great organ solo from LoCrastro.
This is a lovely record that you could put into multiple genres. McCombs isn’t afraid to embrace and expand on those genres in order to tell his stories. Like any good storyteller, he tells a tale but leaves a lot of mysteries unsolved.
Recorded in Ty Segall‘s house, Into the Iris, the new EP by Flat Worms (Tim Hellman – bass and vocals, Will Ivy – guitar and vocals, Justin Sullivan – drums) is six tracks of fuzzy riffs that could jumpstart a car during the recent polar vortex.
“Surreal New Year” is an opening salvo of post-punk guitars mixed with drums that are more precise than you realize at first. I can’t help but wonder if the title track is a reference to Suspiria. The song is certainly chaotic enough in the last half to reflect a harrowing battle with an invisible witch. It’s all screaming, fuzzy guitars and breakneck beats.
Ivy’s opening guitars on “Plastic at Home” sound like a broken xylophone being thrown down a flight of stairs – and I mean that in the best possible way. It’s a song about how the glossy perfection of suburbia often disguises kinky vices and boiling resentment. Hellman and Sullivan are in especially fine sync throughout this whole track.
“Shouting at the Wall” was the first single. It opens with guitars that sound like alarms and then Sullivan goes wild to kick to the song into fifth gear. “Scattered Palms…” is post-punk psychedelia with Hellman’s bass doing a lot of the heavy lifting in the short instrumental. “At the Citadel” is like a lost Stooges track with its heavy bass, roaring drums, squeaking guitars, and snotty, bratty vocals.
Into the Iris packs more fuzz and power into six tracks than most full-length LPs will all year. Don’t miss it.
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“Here McCombs reaches fully toward the idea of songwriting as myth-making. Pulling from a deeper heredity of mavericks (Guy Clark) and marginals (Bill Callahan); jesters (Warren Zevon), sweet-natured acerbics (Randy Newman) and loners (Elliott Smith), McCombs is an analogous anomaly — a statesman with a penchant for the long, spooling yarn. He revels in the album as cinema, as cosmos, as something that should be written and left for rumination.” — NPR Music’s “First Listen”
“McCombs is no cheap nostalgia merchant, and is rooted far more in earthy post-punk than jam-bandwagoning. But dude’s quite a guitarist, and here’s hoping he stretches things on tour behind his forthcoming LP – it’s a doozy.” — Rolling Stone
“Tip of the Sphere represents McCombs’ practised skills as a shaper of his own world, with pride in his craft, a deep respect for tradition and the drive to refresh it via his own idiosyncratic iteration. It’s a combination likely to seal those ‘finest songwriter of his generation’ nominations.” — Uncut, 9/10 Album of the Month Cass McCombs will release Tip of the Sphere, his ninth full-length album, on February 8th via ANTI-. Ahead of its release, the album is now available to stream via NPR Music’s “First Listen.” Additionally, McCombs shares “Absentee,” a track infused with waltzing organ and subtle saxophone. In “Absentee,” McCombs ruminates on ancestral memories of British, colonialist absentee landlords during the Irish Potato Famine, on longing, hunger and untended places in the heart. Cass plays multiple characters in a play created with cast shadows, masks, puppets and analog visual effects created by Lydia Greer and Caryl Kientz of Facing West Shadow Theatre. Stream Tip of the Sphere via NPR Music – https://n.pr/2RWfYPD
Watch “Absentee” Video – https://youtu.be/4ujcP9S1Gmc Tip of the Sphere presents an artist trying to make sense of it all through a relentless, ever searching creative process. Throughout, he floats through a suite of songs driven by a journeying mysticism and dark grace. While most of his albums have been pieced together in different studios over an extended period of time, Tip of the Sphere was recorded quickly and with a strong sense of purpose at Figure 8 Studios in Brooklyn. This new approach for McCombs brought his songs a raw immediacy and a special balance of compassion and experimentation with the intent of making a more consistent statement. On “Absentee,” he’s joined by Otto Hauser (drums), Dan Horne (bass), Dan Lead (pedal steel), Frank LoCrasto (hammond organ), and Sam Griffin Owens (saxophone).
As previously announced, the ‘Castillo de la Esfera,’ created by fellow Northern California artist and contemporary Tahiti Pehrson as an homage to Brion Gysin’s dream machine, is featured inside the vinyl edition of Tip of the Sphere. Watch the Tip of the Sphere Instructional Video & Castillo de la Esfera Assembly, narrated by Robyn Hitchock,here. Watch/Listen/Share: “Sleeping Volcanoes” Stream – https://youtu.be/aJd_bd9vBFc “Estrella” Stream – https://youtu.be/sJTR-d8X2jk “The Great Pixley Train Robbery” Video – https://youtu.be/tJweioHk6t0
Cass McCombs Tour Dates: Thu. Feb. 7 – Los Angeles, CA @ Amoeba Records Mon. March 4 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage * Tue. March 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live * Thu. March 7 – Brooklyn, NY @ Murmrr Fri. March 8 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom * Sat. March 9 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair * Mon. March 11 – Toronto, ON @ Horsehoe Tavern * Tue. March 12 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom* Thu. March 14 – Nashville, TN @ EXIT/IN * Fri. March 15 – Indianapolis, IN @ HiFi * Sat. March 16 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall * Sun. March 17 – Milwaukee, WI @ The BackRoom at Collectivo * Mon. March 18 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club * Wed. March 20 – Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre * Sat. March 23 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room * Mon. March 25 – Vancouver, BC @ St. James * Tue. March 26 – Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey * Wed. March 27 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater * Fri. March 29 – Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s * Sat. March 30 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre * Sun. March 31 – Las Vegas, NV@ The Beauty Bar* Tue. April 2 – Santa Barbara, CA @ SOHo * Thu. April 4 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe’s Alley * Fri. April 5 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore * Thu. April 25 – Marfa, TX@ Marfa Myths Sat. May 25 – Madrid, SP @ Tomavistas Festival Tue. May 28 – Prague, CZ @ MeetFactory Wed. May 29 – Berlin, DE @ Frannz-Club Thur. May 30 – Copenhagen, DK @ Alice Fri. May 31 – Hamburg, DE @ Nochtspeicher Sat. June 1 – Gent, BE @ DOK Box Mon. June 3 – Amsterdam, NE @ Paradiso Nord Tue. June 4 – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie Thur. June 6 – London, UK @ EartH Fri. June 7 – Helsinki, FI @ Sideways Festival Fri. Aug. 30 – Mon. Sep. 2 – Larmer Tree Gardens, UK @ End of the Road Festival
* = with Sam Evian
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Partner, the Canadian duo of Josée Caron and Lucy Niles, have announced their new release out April 5, 2019. Entitled Saturday the 14th, it follows their 2017 debut, In Search of Lost Time which landed on NPR, Stereogum, Noisey, Exclaim, and CBC Music year end lists. Pre-order Saturday the 14th HERE.
Today, Partner is sharing the video for “Long and McQuade,” an ode to the Canadian music store chain. Watch the video HERE. The “Long and McQuade” single is also available on streaming services.
“We wanted to make a song for the musicians, and what experience is more relatable to a Canadian musician than going to Long and McQuade? The song just came out one day while we were talking about Long and McQuade and we liked singing it like Pearl Jam, so it stuck.” – Partner
Partner kicks off a US West Coast tour next month including a show at Noise Pop Fest in San Francisco.
USA & Canadian Tour Dates February 20 – Fox Cabaret, Vancouver BC* February 21 – The Queens, Nanaimo BC February 23 – Lucky Bar, Victoria BC February 24 – The Vera Project, Seattle WA* February 25 – Holocene, Portland OR* February 28 – The Hi Hat, Los Angeles CA* March 02 – The Crepe Place, Santa Cruz CA* March 03 – Noise Pop Fest, San Francisco CA* *co-headlining with Dude York
RIYL – AC/DC, The Breeders, Ween, Melissa Etheridge, Aerosmith
Partner is funny, but not a joke. Gay, but not for each other.
Partner is the “mature” effort of two best friends named Josée Caron and Lucy Niles. Borne of their fortuitous friendship, Partner confidently harnesses the infinite power of Rock to explore a variety of niche yet strangely universal themes.
The two met while attending Mount Allison University in small town Sackville, New Brunswick, on Canada’s East Coast.
The duo played in numerous Sackville bands together over their University years. Around mid 2014 the idea of Partner came to fruition.
Influenced by acts as varied as Tegan and Sara, Melissa Etheridge, Ween, kd lang, and Aerosmith, Partner delivers a refreshing and vital twist on a classic, prompting you to re-think what you thought was possible in Rock.
They released their debut album In Search of Lost Time in September 2017. The album made NPR’s All Songs Considered, Stereogum, Noisey, Exclaim, CBC Music, Indie 88 and many more Best of 2017 lists. The album was shortlisted for the Polaris Prize, and Partner were the recipients of the SOCANsongwriting prize for their song “Play the Field.”
Despite the success of In Search of Lost Time, Partner is committed to exploring and breaking down the limits of their minds in the name of Rock. Saturday the 14th represents the first steps towards a bold new future: the listener will find the band questioning the rules and questioning themselves, and, if they listen closely, a few tantalizing hints for what lies in store next.
Saturday the 14th will be released April 5, 2019 via You’ve Changed Records (CAN) and Father/Daughter Records (US).
Track Listing Partner – Saturday the 14th (April 5, 2019) Father/Daughter Records (US), You’ve Changed Records (CA) PRE-ORDER
1. Fun For Everyone (Minions) 2. Stoned Thought 3. Tell You Off 4. Long and McQuade 5. Les ailes d’un ange
Partner in the press:
“Listening to Partner is like hanging out with your best friends, assuming your best friends are queer Canadian stoners with hooks for days.” – Stereogum
“The best Canadian rock record of the year wasn’t made by Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene or Mac Demarco, but by two self-deprecating, 1990s-loving stoner best friends known as Partner. ” – Playboy
“…two young women from Canada, Joseé Caron and Lucy Niles, who write and record as Partner, put out the year’s best guitar rock album.” – NPR’s All Songs Considered
TOUR DATESFebruary 20 – Fox Cabaret, Vancouver BC* February 21 – The Queens, Nanaimo BC February 23 – Lucky Bar, Victoria BC February 24 – The Vera Project, Seattle WA*^ February 25 – Holocene, Portland OR*^ February 28 – The Hi Hat, Los Angeles CA*^ March 02 – The Crepe Place, Santa Cruz CA* March 03 – Noise Pop Fest, San Francisco CA*^ *w/ Dude York ^w/ Blushh
