International Tour Kicks Off With Hometown Release Day Show in Providence, 8/11
Downtown Boys will release their third album (and Sub Pop debut), Cost of Livingon August 11. Produced by Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto, one of indie-rock’s most mythological figures (he also produced Blonde Redhead, The Gossip, and others), Cost of Living shows a sense of maturity without compromising the band’s righteous assault and captivating presence. Fans can hear the radical masterpiece in its entirety a week early, streaming via NPR First Listen today.
The Providence, RI band previously released the single “Lips That Bite” via Adult Swim Singles Program- the follow-up to the politically charged single “A Wall.” Downtown Boys use their ferocious energy and powerhouse live shows to unite crowds in the struggle to smash racism, queerphobia, capitalism, fascism, boredom, and all things people use to try to close our minds, eyes and hearts.
In addition to festival appearances at Riot Fest, London Calling, and Made In America, Downtown Boys are about to kick off an international tour, starting on release day in the band’s hometown of Providence, RI. Full list of dates is HERE.
[Photo Credit: Miguel Rosario]
The position of Downtown Boys has been clear since they started storming through basements and DIY spaces with their radically-minded, indefatigable rock music: they are here to topple the white-cis-het hegemony and draft a new history. This is how Downtown Boys began, and their resolve has only strengthened as both their sound and audience have grown. Like the socially conscious groups of years past, from Public Enemy to Rage Against the Machine, Downtown Boys harness powerful sloganeering, repetitive grooves, and earworm hooks to create one of the most necessary musical statements of today.
The time is now for you to follow Downtown Boys everywhere over the known internets via Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bandcamp.
The Day is Quazarz’s, and the Time is now to plug your audio-visual sensors:
“Welcome to Quazarz,” the first, official video from Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines - Directed by Nep Sidhu - is viewable here via Black Constellation’s new YouTube channel.
Join US. Trust US. WE know what is best. Sleep more. Watch more. Eat gristle. Drink pop. Do Less.
JoinUS. Trust US. WE know what is best. Sleep more. Watch more. Eat gristle. Drink pop. Do Less.
JoinUS. Trust US. WE know what is best. Sleep more. Watch more. Eat gristle. Drink pop. Do Less. ——————— An interruption of the Guild’s proliferation of porcinepoliculapropogandai. A notification of service:
We received the beams and mixed them for the youth of ourterra so that they might know that they were not alone, that the revolution of resolution was still well underway.
We saw shattered fragments of the ritual dance that sustained them even in the midst of thetechno tyranny. It’s form was fitting as they like us were shards of what was Once.
They needed To know that theQuazarian fight mirrored their own and that there was hope in both the old ways and the new.
The guild doesn’t want you to see-hear-feelthi…
END FEED
JoinUS. Trust US. WE know what is best. Sleep more. Watch more. Eat gristle. Drink pop. Do Less
JoinUS. Trust US. WE know what is best. Sleep more. Watch more. Eat gristle. Drink pop. Do Less
JoinUS. Trust US. WE know what is best. Sleep more. Watch more. Eat gristle. Drink pop. Do Less
Published in Quazarian Con-Guild leaflet The Proper Gander circa right now “Release Day” by Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes
Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star and Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines are available for purchase now from Sub Pop right here. LP orders for each album from megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will continue to receive the limited “Loser” edition on colored vinyl (…Jealous Machines on mashed-up purple; …Born on a Gangster Star on aluminum) while supplies last. Both albums can be purchased together from Sub Pop as a special bundle, and there are also new T-shirt designs associated with each release (one for …Born on a Gangster Star and two for …vs. The Jealous Machines).
Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star, which includes tracks “Shine A Light” (feat. Thaddillac), “Since Caya,” “When Cats Claw” and Moon Whip Quäz (feat. Darrius),” was produced by Knife Knights (aka Ishmael Butler and Erik Blood) and recorded and mixed by Blood at Protect and Exalt Labs: A Black Space in Seattle.
Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines, which includes tracks “30 Clip Extension” “Effeminence” and “Julian’s Dream (Ode to a Bad)” was produced by the Palaceer Lazaro and Sunny Levine, recorded in Seattle at Protect and Exalt Labs: A Black Space and in Marina Del Rey at Dror Lord Studios, and mixed by Levine and Kamal Humphrey at Kamal’s House Studio.
Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines will also be available as a special-edition illustrated album: illustrated by cartoonist Joshua Ray Stephens this full-color, hand-numbered, 32-page book includes a download code for the full album. Joshua Ray Stephens worked directly with Shabazz Palaces to interpret the album track-by-track, creating a cohesive whole that synchronizes music and image. Printed in a large 11” x 17” format, with saddle-stitch binding, this limited-edition art piece further expands the ambitious universe of Quazarz and Shabazz Palaces. The illustrated album version of Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines will be released in collaboration with Fantagraphics Books on Friday, August 18th.
Shabazz Palaces have extended their 2017 tour schedule in support both Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star and Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines with international dates that begin July 13th-16th at Cascadia Festival in Granite Falls, Washington run and through November 9th-12th at Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, Netherlands. The European leg of the tour will visit 23 cities including Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Istanbul, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Geneva, Paris, Dublin, London, Glasgow, and Brussels.
Jul. 13-16 - Granite Falls, WA - Cascadia Festival Aug. 16 - Portland, OR - The Star Theater* Aug. 18 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall* Aug. 19 - Los Angeles, CA - The Regent Theatre* Aug. 20 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom* Aug. 21 - El Paso - TX - The Lowbrow * Aug. 21 - El Paso, TX - Lowbrow* Aug. 23 - Austin, TX - Mohawk (Outdoor Stage)* Aug. 24 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada* Aug. 25 - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon* Aug. 26 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West* Aug. 27 - Charleston, SC - Music Farm* Aug. 28 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle* Aug. 30 - Columbus, OH - Ace of Cups* Aug. 31 - Detroit, MI - El Club* Sep. 01 - Toronto, ON - Lee’s Palace* Sep. 02 - Montreal, QC - Theatre Fairmount* Sep. 03 - Quebec City, QC - Le Cercle Sep. 05 - Boston, MA - The Sinclair* Sep. 06 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw* Sep. 07 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer* Sep. 08 - Washington, DC - Black Cat* Sep. 09 - Baltimore, DC - Ottobar* Sep. 11 - Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall * Sep. 12 - Nashville, TN - Exit In * Sep. 13 - St. Louis - MO - Ready Room * Sep. 16 - Chicago, IL - Riot Fest at Douglas Park Oct. 06 - Copenhagen, DK - Jazz House Oct. 07 - Stockholm, SE - Debaser Strand Oct. 08 - Oslo, NO - Parkteateret Oct. 09 - Gotheburg, SE - Pustervik Oct. 11 - Helsinki, FI - Kuudes Linja Oct. 12 - Tallin, Estonia - Sinilind Oct. 13 - Riga, LV - Skaņu Mežs festival Oct. 17 - Bratislava, SK - A4 Zero Space Oct. 19 - Ljubljana, SI - Kino Siska Oct. 20 - Istanbul, TR - Garajstanbul Oct. 21 - Vienna, AT - Arena Oct. 22 - Prague, CZ - Struny Podzimu Festival Oct. 23 - Berlin, DE - Gretchen Oct. 26 - Dudingen, CH - Bad Bonn Oct. 27 - Zurich, CH - Rote Fabrik Oct. 28 - Geneva, CH - La Graviere Oct. 30 - Paris, FR - Batofar Nov. 03 - Dublin, IE - Sugar Club Nov. 06 - London, UK - Oval Space Nov. 07 - Manchester, UK - Deaf Institute Nov. 08 - Glasgow, UK - Art School Nov. 10 - Brussels, BE - AB Nov. 09-12 - Utrecht, NL - Le Guess Who? Festival (Curated by Shabazz Palaces)
2017 tour dates include Capitol Hill Block Party (July 21st) and direct support for Arcade Fire this September
We have news! News of new music, that is.
Wolf Parade have announced that Cry Cry Cry, the band’s first new album in seven years (and fourth full-length overall), will be released worldwide (pre-order here) on Friday, October 6th, 2017. The album will also be available in Canada from Universal Music.
The soaring choruses, rousing anthems, sprawling guitars and chaotic keys that make up Wolf Parade are proudly on display over the course of Cry Cry Cry. These elements are captured on the album’s anthemic lead single “Valley Boy” and additional standouts “You’re Dreaming,” “Artificial Life” and “King of Piss and Paper.” Cry Cry Cry was produced by John Goodmanson at Robert Lang Studios in Seattle and mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound in New York.
[Photo Credit: Shane McCauley]
Wolf Parade announced its return to the live stage in early 2016, after a five-year hiatus, scheduling multi-night residencies that May in New York, London, and Toronto to support of Apologies to the Queen Mary, the reissue of its classic, Sub Pop debut. Tickets sold out within a matter of hours. As the May shows neared, Wolf Parade surprised fans again, with a self-titled-and-released EP’s-worth of new material. The excitement surrounding the band’s return led to marquee festival appearances and late night TV performances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Conan and Last Call with Carson Daly.
Tour Dates + Ticket Links
Wolf Parade’s previously announced tour schedule for 2017 resumes later this week, with a performance at Seattle’s Capitol Hill Block Party on Friday, July 21st. In August, the band will also appear at Ponderosa Music & Arts Festival in Rock Creek, BC on August 18th-20th. Then from September 5th through September 28th, Wolf Parade will act as direct support for The Arcade Fire (select dates). There will be additional live dates announced soon.
Jul. 21 - Seattle, WA - Capitol Hill Block Party Aug. 18-20 - Rock Creek, BC - Ponderosa Music & Arts Festival Sep. 05 - Quebec City, QC - Videotron Center* Sep. 06 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre* Sep. 09 - Ottawa, ON - Canadian Tire Center* Sep. 21 - Duluth, GA - Infinite Energy Arena* Sep. 22 - Tampa, FL - USF Sun Dome* Sep. 23 - Coral Gables, FL - Watsco Center* Sep. 24 - St. Augustine, FL - St. Augustine, FL Amphitheatre* Sep. 26 - New Orleans, LA - UNO Lakefront Arena* Sep. 27 - Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center* Sep. 28 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center* *w/ Arcade Fire
Cry Cry Cry is now available for pre-order on CD / 2xLP / DL / CS, worldwide from Sub Pop right over here and in Canada from Universal Records here. LP pre-orders through megamart.subpop.comand select independent retailers in the U.S. will receive the limited loser edition on creme colored vinyl (while supplies last). A new t-shirt design will also be available.
Cry Cry Cry Tracklisting
1. Lazarus Online 2. You’re Dreaming 3. Valley Boy 4. Incantation 5. Files on the Sun 6. Baby Blue 7. Weaponized 8. Who Are Ya 9. Am I an Alien Here 10. Artificial Life 11. King of Piss and Paper
About Wolf Parade’s Cry Cry Cry: The soaring choruses, rousing anthems, sprawling guitars and chaotic keys that make up Wolf Parade are on proud display over the course of Cry Cry Cry, the band’s thunderous first album in seven years.
Wolf Parade’s unique combination of sounds and influences, spearheaded by electric co-frontmen Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner—is a complex yet relatable, energetic brew of glam, prog, synth-rock, and satisfying discomfort—helped define 2000s indie rock with three critically celebrated albums, and propelled a growing Wolf Parade fandom even after the band went on a then-indefinite hiatus in 2010.
Cry Cry Cry is their first album to be produced by Pacific Northwest legend John Goodmanson (Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, Unwound) at Robert Lang Studios outside of Seattle, and is accompanied by a renewed focus and the creativity of a band that took their time getting exactly where they needed to be. It’s also a homecoming to Sub Pop, which released all three of the band’s previous albums.
“The band itself is almost a fifth member of the band, something more or at least different than the sum of its parts,” says Spencer Krug. “We don’t know who or what is responsible for our sound, it’s just something that naturally and consistently comes from this particular combo of musicians.”
“Once we got back together, I was playing guitar, writing and singing in a way that I only do while I’m in Wolf Parade,” says Dan Boeckner, who shares primary lyrical and singing duties with Spencer. “It’s just something that I can’t access without the other three people in the room.”
In the time apart, the band scattered geographically and focused on family and other work–Spencer on his solo project Moonface, Dan on his bands Handsome Furs, Operators, and Divine Fits (with Spoon’s Britt Daniel), and Dante De Caro on records with Carey Mercer’s Frog Eyes and Blackout Beach. And that time allowed for an even stronger, tighter band to emerge.
Eventually, Spencer, Dante, and Arlen found themselves all back living on remote Vancouver Island, accompanied by a population density less than that of Alaska, and the tranquility that leads to creative emanations like a government-sponsored bathtub race. With Dan on the same coast in Northern California, discussions began about picking things up where they left off.
“All of our albums are always a reaction to our last one,” says Arlen. “Expo 86 (2010) was about as sparse as we get, which is usually still pretty dense, and this time we wanted to make the palette a little larger.” Adds Dante, “Expo was a real rock record. We just sort of banged it out, which was kind of the point.” Cry Cry Cry, on the other hand, is more deliberate in its arrangements and embrace of the studio process. “If a part was going on for too long it would get lopped, you know?” says Dan. “That being said, there are two very long songs on the record and I don’t think it would be a Wolf Parade record if it didn’t have some kind of prog epic.”
“I think we’re actually a better band than we were when we stopped playing music together,” says Arlen. “A little bit more life experience for everybody, and people having made a bunch of records on their own.”
The result of this new consciousness is songs like “Valley Boy,” a Bowie-inflected anthem for which Spencer wrote lyrics after Leonard Cohen died the day before the 2016 election (“The radio’s been playing all your songs, talking about the way you slipped away up the stairs, did you know that it was all gonna go wrong?”). “You’re Dreaming,” also influenced by the election and the spinning shock that followed, is driving, urgent power pop that draws from artists like Tom Petty and what Dan calls one of his “default languages” for writing music. The swirly, synth-heavy crescendo of “Artificial Life” takes on the struggle of artists and at-risk communities (“If the flood should ever come, we’ll be last in the lifeboat”).
The album carries a sense of uprising that is not unrelated to Wolf Parade’s renewed determination to drive the band forward in uncertain times. Welcome to Cry Cry Cry.
Talk Tight is Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever’s first release, which originally came out on CD in March of 2016 on Ivy League Records in the band’s home country of Australia. This is the first time Talk Tight will been available in the US, and the first time it is available on vinyl anywhere.
One might consider Talk Tight a mini-album, or extended EP, if you will. Whatever you call it, this thing garnered the band critical acclaim in their home country and in the US, where Pitchfork gave the record an 8.0 (!) and described it like so:
“Seven rip-roaring tracks that move by their own logic, any one of which could be a single and all of which leave you wanting more in the best way possible… Listening to these seven tunes, you can easily trace a national lineage: the relentlessness of Radio Birdman, the pop literacy of the Go-Betweens, the rambunctious energy of the Easybeats, and the belief—shared with Courtney Barnett—that guitars are not just crucial to the message but might very well be the message themselves.”
The band released their Sub Pop debut, The French Press EP, in March of 2017, and they are currently working on their first full-length album.
AUS and European tour dates + ticket links can be found right over here.
You can (and should) follow Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever everywhere in the known universe… via Facebook | Instagram | Twitter and also here on subpop.com.
Presales begin today via wolfparade.comTickets on sale to general public, Friday, July 28th at 12pm EST.
[Photo Credit: Shane McCauley]
Wolf Parade have just announced fall 2017 international tour dates in support of Cry Cry Cry, the band’s first album in seven years (pre-order it here now). Dates begin October 13th in Toronto at Phoenix Concert Theatre and run through December 2nd in Stockholm at Strand. The newly added tour dates include stops in Buffalo, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Boston, Brooklyn, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Dublin, London, and Stockholm. Support for the North American dates will come from Barsuk Records act Charly Bliss (October 13th-27th).
Early pre-sales for these shows begin today via www.wolfparade.com, with tickets on sale to general public July 28th at 12pm EST.
Wolf Parade’s previously announced summer & fall 2017 tour schedule resumes August 18-20 in Rock Creek, BC at Ponderosa Music & Arts Festival. The band will also act direct support for The Arcade Fire September 5th through September 28th (select dates).
Aug. 18-20 - Rock Creek, BC - Ponderosa Music & Arts Festival Sep. 05 - Quebec City, QC - Videotron Center* Sep. 06 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre* Sep. 08 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground Sep. 09 - Ottawa, ON - Canadian Tire Center* Sep. 21 - Duluth, GA - Infinite Energy Arena* Sep. 22 - Tampa, FL - USF Sun Dome* Sep. 23 - Coral Gables, FL - Watsco Center* Sep. 24 - St. Augustine, FL - St. Augustine, FL Amphitheatre* Sep. 26 - New Orleans, LA - UNO Lakefront Arena* Sep. 27 - Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center* Sep. 28 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center* Oct. 13 - Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre** Oct. 15 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom** Oct. 16 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues Oct. 19 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer** Oct. 20 - Boston, MA - Royale** Oct. 21 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel Oct. 22 - Washington, DC - Black Cat** Oct. 24 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall Oct. 25 - South Saginaw, MI - The Crofoot Ballroom Oct. 26 - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall** Oct. 27 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue** Nov. 15 - Amsterdam, NL - Melkweg Nov. 17- Paris, FR - Petit Bain Nov. 18 - Bristol, UK - Thekla Nov. 20 - Dublin, UK - Button Factory Nov. 21 - Manchester, UK - Gorilla Nov. 22 - London, UK - O2 Forum Nov. 24 - Brussels, BE - Botanique (Orangerie) Nov. 25 - Nancy, FR - L’ autre Canal Nov. 26 - Basel, CH - Kaserne Nov. 27 - Munich, DE - Hansa 39 Nov. 29 - Berlin, DE - Bi Nuu Nov. 30 - Hamburg, DE - Gruenspan Dec. 02 - Stockholm, SE - Strand *w/ The Arcade Fire ** w/ Charly Bliss
Wolf Parade’s thunderous Cry Cry Cry is now available for pre-order on CD / 2xLP / DL / CS, worldwide from Sub Pop right over here and in Canada from Universal Records here. LP pre-orders through megamart.subpop.comand select independent retailers in the U.S. will receive the limited loser edition on creme colored vinyl (while supplies last), and a new t-shirt design will also be available for your bundling pleasure.
The soaring choruses, rousing anthems, sprawling guitars and chaotic keys that make up Wolf Parade are proudly on display over the course of Cry Cry Cry. These elements are captured on the album’s anthemic lead single “Valley Boy” [listen here].” Read more about Wolf Parade and Cry Cry Cry right over here.
The Afghan Whigs have a new song streaming out over the airwaves today: “You Want Love” - recorded in honor of the late Dave Rosser - is now available as a free download at: www.theafghanwhigs.com. The song is available in all your favorite digital services as well.
Originally released by Pleasure Club in 2004 on their second and final album, the Afghan Whigs’ version of the song features original singer and writer James Hall. “Pleasure Club was a legendary New Orleans band and Dave Rosser and I had spoken for years about performing this song,” Greg Dulli commented. “In light of his passing we decided to record it in his honor.” The track has been a staple of The Afghan Whigs’ live set in Europe during the In Spades tour.
The Afghan Whigs return to Europe next week for a brief second leg of their tour which includes performances at Way Out West Festival, Haldern Pop Festival, Flow Festival and Pukkelpop. The band will begin their North American tour on September 6 in Orlando, FL. The tour includes three Canadian shows (Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver) and the band will be playing several markets they haven’t visited in years (Richmond, Birmingham, Kansas City, Houston). The full list of dates can be found below.
In Spades, the group’s spellbinding new album, is available on CD / 180 gram-LP / CS / DL worldwide from Sub Pop. Led by the singles “Demon In Profile,” “Oriole,” and “Arabian Heights” along with standouts “Copernicus,” and “Toy Automatic,” it is the follow-up to the band’s internationally acclaimed Do to the Beast. In Spades was recorded in New Orleans, Los Angeles, Memphis and Joshua Tree and written and produced by Greg Dulli.
The Afghan Whigs have released two videos from the album so far: ”Demon In Profile,” directed by longtime collaborator Phil Harder, and ”Oriole,” helmed by erotic art director Amy Nicole Hood.
