Tag: queer bands

Too Free’s new single, “No Fun,” actually is fun.

Photo by Emily Geller

Too Free have shared their newest single and video, “No Fun,” the second single off their forthcoming debut album, Love In High Demand, out 2/21 on Sister Polygon Records. “No Fun” follows the band’s first single, the mesmerizing “ATM,” a song that Stereogum says “feels both organic and computerized.” Brooklyn Vegan described it as “a dose of lo-fi, bongo-aided electronic pop that sounds like a cross between mid/late 2000s Williamsburg parties and ANOHNI.”
 
“‘No Fun’ is a series of affirmations that I wanted to speak into existence,” explains singer and lyricist Awad Bilal. “Reclaiming agency over your mind and your body – accepting love and using it to activate others.”
 
“The video for ‘No Fun’ is an investigation of the freedom of movement. We went into a dance studio here in DC with just an iPhone 11 and a backpack full of clothes and I gave myself free reign. It’s an homage to one of my oldest friends, John, and the resilience of black, queer bodies like mine.”
 
Additionally, the band has announced upcoming Brooklyn and DC shows, which are listed below.

 
WATCH “NO FUN” VIDEO
https://youtu.be/2R2DYl8AZhc
 
WATCH “ATM” VIDEO
https://youtu.be/bErEP9TJCQY
 

Too Free is the Washington, D.C.-based trio of Bilal (Big Freedia, Vasillus), Carson Cox (Merchandise), and Don Godwin (Callers, Impractical Cockpit). Their only mission is a desire to connect with others in the space that music creates. Drawing from improvisation and experimentation, they deconstruct their songs to their most necessary elements, leaning into their collective punk ethos and DIY backgrounds. Drawing equally from elements of South Florida freestyle and Jersey electro into DC’s signature polyrhythms, the record is a continuous refinement of the virtue of motion – each composition rooted in propulsive energy that envelops. Aiming to make something with a more utopian outlook that counters the pervasive pessimism, archaic ideologies and dystopian timelines we interact with on a daily basis, they approach this project with an open-endedness that incorporates higher concepts of what pop art can sound like.

 
TOO FREE TOUR DATES
Sat. Feb. 22 – Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall
Thu. Feb. 27 – Brooklyn, NY @ Trans Pecos
 

Too Free Online:
https://toofree.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/toofreedc/
https://www.pitchperfectpr.com/too-free/
https://www.sisterpolygonrecords.com/artists/too-free

Keep your mind open.

[Get more music fun in your e-mail inbox by subscribing.]

Shopping slide into the end of 2019 with one of the sharpest singles of the year – “Initiative.”

Photo by Matt Draper

Shopping announce All Or Nothing, their new album out February 7th on FatCat Records, and present the video for lead single, “Initiative.” Following 2018’s The Official Body, the songs that make up All or Nothing are the band’s boldest yet; confident, elastic, streamlined grooves that crackle with energy and intention. The trio’s vision – deeply queer; political by default – place them in a radical lineage of dance, a continuum connecting disco and post-punk to Chicago house and EDM. 

Storming lead single “Initiative” was written in a Seattle basement. Like the album as a whole, the track thrums with purpose, marking a confident new phase for the band. Referencing  governments who shirk responsibilities but place the blame on individuals, the song has a frustrated groove that’s propelling, motivated by necessity to keep going against the grain. The accompanying video, directed by Jack Barraclough, is brightly-stylized, and stars the band themselves. 
 

Watch Video For “Initiative” – 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Owoq6vVkUs


Though the band members now live countries away from each other – guitarist Rachel Aggs (Trash Kit, Sacred Paws) and drummer Andrew Milk (Current Affairs) in Glasgow and Billy Easter (Wet Dog) in Los Angeles – the trio returned to London for an intense, 10-day period. For All Or Nothing, they teamed up with US-based producer Davey Warsop to record, shifting their stripped-down ethos to one that took a leap into pop production. Talking Heads, YYYs, Bronski Beat and LCD Soundsystem are among the artists to feature on the production inspo playlist the band created for Nick Sylvester, who mixed the record, in Los Angeles.

Along with cleaner, new production values, All Or Nothing sees Shopping experiment further with the sonic additions that coloured The Official Body. Jubilantly ‘80s synths and electronic percussion add new textures to their signature minimalist dynamic. 

Four albums in, Shopping are as committed and focused as ever, regardless of any distance. “We found ourselves singing about being true to yourself, in an often binary and belligerent digital age, and reclaiming agency when it feels like our personal freedom and privacy is constantly eroding.”  In an era dominated by spin and surveillance, All Or Nothing invites us to remember what really moves us, in dance and in life. 
 

All Or Nothing Tracklist:
1. All Or Nothing
2. Initiative
3. Follow Me
4. No Apologies
5. For Your Pleasure
6. About You
7. Lies
8. Expert Advice
9. Body Clock
10. Trust In Us

Shopping Tour Dates:
Fri. Feb. 7 – London, UK @ Rough Trade East
Sun. Feb. 9 – Bristol, UK @ Rough Trade Bristol
Mon. Feb. 10 – Nottingham, UK @ Rough Trade Nottingham
Thu. March 5 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios *
Fri. March 6 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern *
Sat. March 7 – Vancouver, BC @ The Biltmore *
Mon. March 9 – Reno, NV @ Holland Project * 
Tue. March 10 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop *
Wed. March 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ 1720 *
Thu. March 12 – San Diego, CA @ UCSD *
Sat. March 14 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress (Spring Thing) *
Mon. March 16 – Sat. March 21 – Austin, TX @SXSW
Mon. March 23 – Tallahassee, FL @ The Bark *
Tue. March 24 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade – Purgatory *
Wed. March 25 – Durham, NC @ The Pinhook *
Thu. March 26 – Washington, DC @ DC9 *
Fri. March 27 – Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle *
Sat. March 28 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere *
Sun. March 29 – Portsmouth, NH @ The Press Room *
Tue. March 31 – Toronto, ON @ The Monarch *
Thu. April 2 – Detroit, MI @ Deluxx Fluxx *
Fri. April 3 – Fort Wayne, IN @ The Brass Rail *
Sat. April 4 – Chicago, IL @ Subterranean *
Sun. April 5 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *
Tue. April 7 – St. Louis, MO @ Sinkhole *
Wed. April 8 – Lawrence, KS @ White Schoolhouse *
Thu. April 9 – Denver, CO @ Hi Dive *
Fri. April 10 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court *
Tue. May 5 – London, UK @ The Lexington
Wed. May 6 – Paris, FR @ Supersonic
Fri. May 8 – Utrecht, NL @ ACU
Sat. May 9 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow (SkyBar)
Sun. May 10 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Ideal Bar
Mon. May 11 – Berlin, DE @ Urban Spree
Thu. May 14 – Vienna, AT @ Fluc Café
Fri. May 15 – Prague, CZ @ Meetfactory
Sat. May 16 – Munich, DE @ Milla
Sun. May 17 – Bern, CH @ Reitschule/Rössli
Tue. May 19 – Winterhur, CH @ Albani
Thu. May 21 – Luxembourg, LU @ De Gudde Wellen
Sat. May 23 – Offenbach, DE @ Hafen 2

* = w/ Automatic

Pre-order All Or Nothing – 
https://fat-cat.co.uk/release/shopping/all-or-nothing

Keep your mind open.

[Show some initiative and subscribe.]