Digital Garbage will be available worldwide September 28th, 2018 on Sub Pop.
On September 28th, the beloved, PNW rock and roll institution Mudhoney will release Digital Garbage, the 10th album from the band in 30 years, a barbed-wire-trimmed collection of sonic brickbats. You can listen to the new album’s premiere offering, “Paranoid Core” by clicking that play button up there.
Digital Garbage Tracklisting 1. Nerve Attack 2. Paranoid Core 3. Please Mr. Gunman 4. Kill Yourself Live 5. Night and Fog 6. 21st Century Pharisees 7. Hey Neanderfuck 8. Prosperity Gospel 9. Messiah’s Lament 10. Next Mass Extinction 11. Oh Yeah
[Photo Credit: Emily Reiman]
Since the late ’80s, Mudhoney – the Seattle-based foursome whose muck-crusted version of rock, shot through with caustic wit and battened down by a ferocious low end – has been a high-pH tonic against the ludicrous and the insipid.
Thirty years later, the world is experiencing a particularly high-water moment for both those ideals. But just in time, vocalist Mark Arm, guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison, and drummer Dan Peters are back with Digital Garbage, a barbed-wire-trimmed collection of sonic brickbats. Arm’s raw yawp and his bandmates’ long-honed chemistry make Digital Garbage an ideal release valve for the 2018 pressure cooker, its insistent rhythms forcing movement and Arm’s sardonic lyrics offering a funhouse-mirror companion to the ever-more-ridiculous news cycle. “My sense of humor is dark, and these are dark times,” says Arm. “I suppose it’s only getting darker.”
Digital Garbage opens with the swaggering “Nerve Attack,” which can be heard as a nod both to modern-life anxiety and the ever-increasing threat of warfare. The album’s title comes from the outro of “Kill Yourself Live,” which segues from a revved-up Arm organ solo into a bleak look at the way notoriety goes viral. “I’m not on social media, so my experience is somewhat limited,” says Arm. “But people really seem to find validation in the likes—and then there’s Facebook Live, where people have streamed torture and murder, or, in the case of Philando Castile, getting murdered by a cop.”
“In the course of writing that song,” he adds, “I thought about how, once you put something out there online, you can’t wipe it away. It’s always going to be there—even if no one digs it up, it’s still out there floating somewhere.”
Appropriately enough, bits of recent news events float through the record—”Please Mr. Gunman,” on which Arm bellows “We’d rather die in church!” over his bandmates’ careening charge, was inspired by a TV-news bubblehead’s response to a 2017 church shooting, while the ominous refrain that opens the submerged-blues of “Next Mass Extinction” calls back to last summer’s clashes in Charlottesville, although Arm’s brutal delivery helps twist it into an indictment. Arm also went back to the pre-Mudhoney era for the titular insult of the stinging “Hey Neanderfuck.” ”National Lampoonmade several comedy records in the 70s, and in one skit someone gets called a ‘Neanderfuck,’” Arm laughs. “I’ve always loved that insult and wondered why it never became a part of the American lexicon—it’s so brutal. It was high time to use that.”
Mudhoney’s core sound—steadily pounding drums, swamp-thing bass, squalling guitar wobble, Arm’s hazardous-chemical voice—remains on Digital Garbage, which the band recorded with longtime collaborator (and Digital Garbage pianist) Johnny Sangster at the Seattle studio Litho. The anti-religiosity shimmy “21st Century Pharisees” builds its case with Maddison’s woozy synths. “It adds a really nice touch to the proceedings,” Arm says of Maddison’s synth parts. “And Guy has really learned his way around his machines playing in a synth trio the past few years.”
The shuffling “Messiah’s Lament” is the band’s first song in 6/8—and it’s told from the point of view of a world-weary Jesus. And Digital Garbage closes with “Oh Yeah,” a brief celebration of skateboarding, surfing, biking, and the joy provided by these escape valves. “I would’ve really just loved to write songs about just hanging out on the beach, and going on a nice vacation,” says Arm. “But, you know, that probably doesn’t make for great rock.”
Mudhoney, however, know what does make great rock—and the riffs and fury of Digital Garbage will stand the test of time, even if the particulars fade away. “I’ve tried to keep things somewhat universal, so that this album doesn’t just seem like of this time—hopefully some of this stuff will go away,” Arm laughs. “You don’t want to say in the future, ‘Hey, those lyrics are still relevant. Great!’”
Mudhoney Tour Dates + Ticket Links
Mudhoney will embark on a world tour beginning on Aug. 11th at SPF30, Sub Pop’s FREE 30th Anniversary Festival and Party at Alki Beach in West Seattle. They will then play a string of dates in the Pacific Northwest starting Sep. 15th in Vancouver, with shows in Portland and Seattle before heading to Europe on Nov. 11th.
Tour Dates: Aug. 11 - Seattle, WA - SPF30 (Sub Pop’s FREE 30th Anniversary Festival and Party at Alki Beach! From noon to 10pm.) Sep. 15 - Vancouver, Canada - Rickshaw Theater (Westward Music Festival) Sep. 28 - Portland, OR - Dante’s @ Sep. 29 - Seattle, WA - Neptune Theatre % Oct. 13 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw ^ Nov. 11 - Utrecht, NL - Le Guess Who Festival Nov. 12 - Groningen, NL - Vera * Nov. 13 - Berlin, DE- Festaal Kreuzberg & Nov. 14 - Hamburg, DE - Fabrik & Nov. 15 - Koln, DE - Gebaude 9 & Nov. 16 - Luzern, SZ - Schuur & Nov. 17 - Vevey, SZ - Rocking Chair & Nov. 19 - Frankfurt, GE - Zoom Club & Nov. 20 - Munchen, GE - Strom & Nov. 21 - Bologna, IT - Locomotiv & Nov. 22 - Roma, IT - Largo (IT) & Nov. 23 - Milan, IT - Santeria Social Club & Nov. 24 - Zagreb, HR - Mochvara & Nov. 25 - Vienna , AT - Arena Big Hall * Nov. 27 - Paris, FR - Le Trabendo & Nov. 28 - Brighton, UK - Concorde 2 # Nov. 29 - London, UK - Electric Ballroom # Nov. 30 - Leeds, UK - Leeds Beckett University ! Dec. 1St - Glasgow, UK - Lukes Church !
@ The Scientists and Eat Skull % The Scientists and Tom Price Desert Classic ^ Pissed Jeans and Art Gray Noizz Quintet * w/Zeke and Please the Trees & Please the Trees # Masonics and Thee Hypnotics ! Wildebeests and Thee Hypnotics
In the official video for Deaf Wish’s tense and epic track “The Rat Is Back” guitarist/vocalist Jensen Tjhung directs himself, delivering an unpredictable, humorous, and menacing performance. This new offering is from the band’s great forthcoming album, Lithium Zion.
Tour Dates + Ticket Links
Deaf Wish have scheduled US tour dates in support of Lithium Zion, beginning September 4th in Columbus at Spacebar and ending September 27th-30th in Memphis for Gonerfest. The tour will include stops in Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, San Francisco, Atlanta, Austin, New Orleans and an appearance at Raleigh’s Hopscotch Music Festival (September 6th). Along the way, Deaf Wish will join Sub Pop labelmates The Gotobeds (September 7th; 9th-14th).
Sep. 04 - Columbus, OH - Spacebar Sep. 05 - Asheville, NC - Mothlight Sep. 06 - Raleigh, NC - Hopscotch Sep. 07 - Baltimore, MD - Joe Squared * Sep. 08 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool Sep. 09 - Boston, MA - Great Scott * Sep. 11 - Pittsburgh, PA - The New Shop * Sep. 12 - Cleveland, OH - Now That’s Class * Sep. 13 - Detroit, MI - Deluxx Fluxx * Sep. 14 - Chicago, IL - GMan Tavern * Sep. 18 - Seattle, WA - Highline Sep. 19 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios Sep. 20 - Arcata, CA - Outer Space Sep. 21- San Francisco, CA - The Knockout Sep. 22 - Los Angeles, CA - Zebulon Sep. 23 - Tucson, AZ - Club Congress Sep. 25 - Austin, TX - Barracuda Sep. 26 - New Orleans, LA - Poor Boys Sep. 27 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl Sep. 27-30 - Memphis, TN - Gonerfest * w/ The Gotobeds
The music on Lithium Zion was collaboratively written by Deaf Wish, with each member taking turns on lyrical and vocal duties throughout the album. Lithium Zion was recorded at Head Gap Recording Studio in Melbourne in April of 2017 with Nao Anzai, and mixed and mastered by Mikey Young of Total Control (who also mixed the group’s “St. Vincent’s” 7” single and Pain album, both released on Sub Pop).
Lithium Zion will be available on CD/LP/DL/CS worldwide on Friday, July 27th, except for the UK on Friday, August 3rd, through Sub Pop right over here. LP preorders of the album through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on hot pink vinyl (while supplies last).
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever’s debut full-length Hope Downs, was released just over a month ago, and the critics seem to agree that it’s one of the best of the year. In fact, it’s currently sitting at 84 on Metacritic, making it the 39th best album of the year according to aggregate scores. This included big love from The AV Club, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Paste, SPIN, Uncut, Mojo, Under The Radar, and more. Luckily, the fans agree, which led to a big opening week for the band and a virtually sold-out US tour back in April.
[Photo by Maclay Heriot]
The band is gearing up to return, and in advance of this, they’re sharing a new Austin Wilson directed video for their brief-but-wonderful song “Time In Common.” It captures a band on the move, a group of friends rolling up their sleeves, touring the world, and putting in the work (with no small measure of fun, of course).
Sun. July 22 - North Byron Parklands, AU @ Splendour in the Grass Sat. Aug. 4 - Katowice, PL @ Off Festival Tue. Aug. 7 - Aarhus, DK @ Tape Wed. Aug. 8 - Copenhagen, DK @ Pumperhuset Fri. Aug. 10 - St. Gallen, CH @ Sur Le Lac Festival Sat. Aug. 11 - Rees-Haldern, DE @ Haldern Pop Festival Mon. Aug. 13 - Munich, DE @ Milla Tue. Aug. 14 - Luxembourg, LU @ Rotondes Thu. Aug. 16 - Trondheim, NO @ Pstereo Festival Fri. Aug. 17 - Bigginghuizen, NL @ Lowlands Festival Sat. Aug. 18 - Kiewit, BE @ Pukkelpop Festival Sun. Aug. 19 - Brecon Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival Tue. Aug. 21 - Dublin, IE @ Whelans Sat. Aug. 25 - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar Mon. Aug. 27 - Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom Tue. Aug. 28 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent Thu. Aug. 30 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Fri. Aug. 31 - Vancouver, BC@ Fox Cabaret Sat. Sep. 1 - Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot Mon. Sep. 3 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court Wed. Sep. 5 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge Fri. Sep. 7 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club Sat. Sep. 8 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall Mon. Sep. 10 - Detroit, MI @ El Club Tue. Sep. 11 - Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern Wed. Sep. 12 - Montreal, QC @ Le Ministère Thu. Sep. 13 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair Fri. Sep. 14 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s Sat. Sep. 15 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom Mon. Sep. 17 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat Thu. Sep. 27 - Brisbane, AU @ Brisbane Festival Fri. Sep. 28 - Sydney, AU @ Factory Theatre Sat. Sep. 29 - Wollongong, AU @ Yours & Owls Fri. Oct. 5 - Perth, AU @ Rosemount Sat. Oct. 6 - Adelaide, AU @ Jive Bar Fri. Oct.12 - Geelong, AU @ Workers Club Sat. Oct.13 - Melbourne, AU @ Corner Hotel Fri. Oct. 19 - Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy 2 Sun. Oct. 21 - Leeds, UK @ Stylus Tue. Oct. 23 - Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 Wed. Oct. 24 - Portsmouth, UK @ Wedgwood Rooms Thu. Oct. 25 - Oxford, UK @ 02 Academy Mon. Oct. 29 - London, UK @ Koko Sat. Nov. 3 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord Sun. Nov. 4 - Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje Wed. Nov. 7 - Oslo, NO @ John Dee Thu. Nov. 8 - Stockholm, SE @ Nalen Fri. Nov. 9 - Lund, SE @ Mejeriet Tue. Nov. 13 - Cologne, DE @ MTC
In celebration of the bands impending tour dates, Frankie Cosmos have delivered a new video “Duet” which was directed by Eliza Doyle. The new visual stars Greta Kline and depicts a CPR Training video, one in which she becomes completely smitten with an object, and a one-sided romance is born.”
Road warriors Frankie Cosmos have spent the better part of 2018 on tour in support of their latest and greatest, Vessel, available now worldwide via Sub Pop. The band currently have a handful of overseas dates in August including an appearance at the UK’s Green Man Festival on August 19th.
Then on September 13th, Frankie Cosmos will then begin a 20-date North American run with shows in Baltimore, Durham, Atlanta, New Orleans, Austin, Detroit, Pittsburgh, returning to their hometown of New York, playing area shows at White Eagle Hall in New Jersey on October 5th, Music Hall of Williamsburg on October 6th and The Bowery Ballroom on October 7th. These shows will mark the bands first headlining dates in NYC since the release of Vessel.
Frankie Cosmos will follow the early fall run with a string of west coast dates, beginning on November 2nd at the Regent Theater in Los Angeles. They will make their way up the coast, with an appearance at Tropicalia Festival in Long Beach, Calif (Nov. 3rd), with shows at The Fillmore in San Francisco, Wonderland Ballroom in Portland, The Biltmore in Vancouver and The Neptune Theater in Seattle. Along the way, the band will be joined by Kero Kero Bonito (Nov. 2nd, 5th-10th).
Jul. 27 - Denver, CO - Underground Music Showcase
Jul. 28 - Denver, CO - Underground Music Showcase
Jul. 29 - Denver, CO - Underground Music Showcase
Aug. 17 - Paredes de Coura, PT - Vodafone Paredes de Coura
Aug. 19 - Brecon Beacons, UK - Green Man Festival
Aug. 21 - Belfast, UK - Voodoo Belfast !
Aug. 22 - Galway, IE - Roisin Dubh !
Aug. 23 - Dublin, IE - Button Factory !
Sep. 13 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar *
Sep. 14 - Durham, NC - Motorco Music Hall *
Sep. 15 - Asheville, NC - Mothlight *
Sep. 16 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade *
Sep. 17 - Birmingham, AL - Saturn Birmingham *
Sep. 19 - New Orleans, LA - Gasa Gasa *
Sep. 20 - Houston, TX - Satellite Bar *
Sep. 21 - San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger *
Sep. 22 - Austin, TX - Barracuda *
Sep. 23 - Dallas, TX - Deep Ellum Art Company *
Sep. 24 - Oklahoma, OK - Tower Theater *
Sep. 26 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Cafe *
Sep. 27 - Milwaukee, WI - Back Room @ Collectivo Coffee *
Sep. 29 - Champaign, IL - Pygmalion Festival
Sep. 30 - Detroit, MI - El Club *
Oct. 01 - Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop *
Oct. 02 - Pittsburgh, PA - Cattivo *
Oct. 03 - Harrisburg, PA - Stage on Herr *
Oct. 05 - Jersey City, NJ - White Eagle Hall *
Oct. 06 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg *
On September 14th, Sub Pop will release 1 Time Mirage, the otherworldly debut long-player from the hermetic duo Knife Knights. The 11-track album features standouts “My Dreams Never Sleep,” and “Light Up Ahead (Time Mirage),” along with the previously released introductory single (+ official video) for “Give You Game [see here].” 1 Time Mirage features guest appearances from labelmates Shabazz Palaces and Porter Ray, along with Stas Thee Boss, OCnotes, Thaddillac, El Mizell, Marquetta Miller, Gerald Turner, and Darrius Willrich. The album was produced by Ishmael Butler and Erik Blood at Protect and Exalt: A Black Space in Seattle.
In further exciting news, Knife Knights make their live debut on KEXP in Seattle today. Watch now [see interview & live stream July 19th; noon PST]!
Knife Knights 1 Time Mirage will be available on CD/LP/DL/CS worldwide from Sub Pop. Preorders of the album through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition pressed on blue and white marbled vinyl.
Knife Knights 1 Time Mirage Tracklisting
1. Bionic Chords (feat. OCnotes & Darrius Willrich) 2. Drag Race Legend 3. Give You Game (feat. Marquetta Miller & Stas Thee Boss) 4. Light Up Ahead (Time Mirage) [feat. Porter Ray, Gerald Turner, Darrius Willrich, OCnotes & Shabazz Palaces] 5. Seven Wheel Motion 6. Low Key (feat. Shabazz Palaces) 7. My Dreams Never Sleep (feat. OCnotes, Marquetta Miller & Shabazz Palaces) 8. Light Work (feat. El Mizell) 9. Can’t Draw the Line (feat. OCnotes) 10. Come On Let’s Go (feat. OCnotes & Marquetta Miller) 11. Mr. President
[Photo Credit: Justin Henning]
Knife Knights were born of the love of mystery.
A decade ago, Ishmael Butler—the architect of the groundbreaking but long-disbanded hip-hop group Digable Planets—was preparing at last to emerge from years of near-complete silence. He unveiled his new outlet, Shabazz Palaces, in the summer of 2009 through a pair of self-released EPs, surrounding his hyperlinked verses with webs of psychedelic textures and refracted rhythms. From the start, confidentiality seemed essential: Butler wanted Shabazz Palaces to stand on its own strength, not his outsized reputation, so he adopted a nom de plume for himself.
As the project’s network expanded, though, he needed new monikers for his partnerships. Knife Knights is the name he gave to his work with Seattle engineer, producer, songwriter, and film composer Erik Blood, a vital force in the Shabazz Palaces universe. Now, after more than a decade of collaboration and the development into of a rich friendship, Butler and Blood have made a proper full-length record together as Knife Knights: 1 Time Mirage, an eleven-track odyssey that finds the pair and a cast of their friends weaving together a singular world of soul and shoegaze, hip-hop and lush noise, bass and bedlam. 1 Time Mirage represents a playground for Butler and Blood, a free space for unfettered exploration, and a radically adventurous start to something much more than a mere production duo or side project.
Butler and Blood met in 2003 at a Spiritualized show in Seattle, introduced by a mutual friend who was soon set to record Butler in his studio. A Digable Planets zealot, Blood was floored, passing a bootleg copy of Blowout Comb to his friend for an autograph (which Butler dutifully provided). For the next few years, they’d run into one another by chance and sometimes make small talk about working together. When Butler finally sent him a few tunes to mix, the kinship seemed obvious and immediate. Though Butler had grown up as a hip-hop student, he’d started absorbing shoegaze rock and ambient soundscapes, too. Blood, meanwhile, was an ardent hip-hop fan who had always been an inclusive listener. On every Shabazz Palaces album, Butler and Blood have delighted at that artistic intersection, constantly indoctrinating hip-hop in new worlds of sound. “He takes my ideas and clarifies and pronounces them, helps me realize them,” explains Butler. “He helps me get to the essence.”
Recorded in three fertile sessions interrupted by Shabazz Palaces tours and Blood’s recording projects, 1 Time Mirage is a profound fulfilment of that partnership, realized at the crossroads of Butler’s and Blood’s mutual enthusiasms. Their shared interests have been split into pieces and fused together with enviable imagination. Take “Give You Game,” where Butler and Blood weave their distant voices through a landscape of synthesizers and drums that bubble up sporadically, like geysers. Marquetta Miller and THEESatisfaction’s Stasia Irons soon join, their round tones lacing around those sounds and giving them shape. It is an abstract anthem to astral love.
“Low Key” suggests a radiant daydream, with kaleidoscopic synthesizers and faded harmonies pirouetting over puzzle pieces of dizzying percussion and understated funk. “Can’t Draw the Line” rushes headlong like some narcotized disco fantasy, with its four planted firmly on the floor but Butler’s breathy voice and an armada of synthesizers stretching skyward. They splice doo-wop harmonies to scattered dub rhythms during “Light Up Ahead (Time Mirage),” hard-edged verses to industrial din during “ Mr. President.” Colossal drums puncture walls of labyrinthine noise sculpted from deranged synthesizers and mutated guitars during “Seven Wheel Motion,” an absolute powerhouse. Butler seems to rap in dialogue with himself, detailing a threatening streetscape and shaping the experience into personal realizations. “Smooth landings, queens in tandems, cash in grand sums,” he declares at one point. “Life is random/I roll the dice and bet on me.”
In the decade since Butler launched Shabazz Palaces and first christened his partnership with Blood as Knife Knights, much of that project’s external mystery has, of course, fallen away. And 1 Time Mirage is a very public step forward for the pair. That early sense of secrecy has given way to a spirit of friendship and creative candor, to the doors of experimentation being thrown open by old pals thrilled by the prospect of testing new ideas.
Still, these eleven songs retain a core of intrigue and, indeed, mystery; each listen reveals yet another connection between infinite and interlocking pieces. To wit, Robert Beatty’s brilliant cover for 1 Time Mirage depicts a futuristic vehicle, being coolly steered with one hand into some great, mildly ominous unknown. That’s how these songs feel, too—confident conquests of the dark that unlock sounds and spaces you have yet to imagine.
Album release show at Zone One at Elsewhere (September 5th) & European dates (September 8th-13th).
“How I Love You” is the latest single from Mass Gothic’s cheekily titled forthcoming effort I’ve Tortured You Long Enough, available August 31st on Sub Pop. On the new track vocalist Jessica Zambri takes lead, delivering one of the album’s more immediate songs.
Mass Gothic previously announced international tour dates for 2018 in support of I’ve Tortured You Long Enough resume August 10th with a performance at Sub Pop’s Big 30th Anniversary Kick-Off Showcase with Afghan Whigs and Yuno at Seattle’s Mural Amphitheatre. Additional highlights include the band’s headline release show in Brooklyn at Zone One at Elsewhere (September 5th) and their European tour dates (September 8th-13th).
Aug. 10 - Seattle, WA - SPF30 at The Mural ^ Sep. 05 - Brooklyn, NY - Zone One at Elsewhere Sep. 08 - Tel Aviv, IS - Barby Sep. 09 - Berlin, DE - Monarch Sep. 10 - Hamburg, DE - Mojo Sep. 12 - London, UK - Sebright Arms Sep. 13 - Manchester, UK - The Castle ^ w/ The Afghan Whigs, Yuno
I’ve Tortured You Long Enough, which features the aforementioned “How I Love You,” the official video for “J.Z.O.K.” [watch here], and the lyric video for “Dark Window” [watch here], will be available on CD/LP/DL/CS worldwide through Sub Pop right here. Preorders of the album through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on marbled black and white vinyl (while supplies last).
