[Photo credits: TEKE::TEKE by Andi State; Sumac by Faith Coloccia]
Montreal’s TEKE::TEKE and Pacific Northwest band SUMAC’s contributions to the Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 5 are available now for the first time at all the digital music places.
[TEKE::TEKE - “Kodomo No Kuni” b/w “Onigami” (7” Edit)]
TEKE::TEKE is a unique beast; a seven-piece band featuring traditional Japanese instruments, flute and trombone alongside raging guitars and a pulsing rhythm section, creating a sound reminiscent of 1960’s and 70’s-era psychedelic Japanese soundtracks, with a frenetic, modern twist. Formed in 2018 for what was to be a one-off instrumental tribute show to Japanese instrumental guitar hero, Takeshi Terauchi, featuring covers of his like “Chidori,” which the band has since released, TEKE::TEKE quickly found their original sound with the addition of the charismatic actress, visual artist and vocalist Maya Kuroki. Kuroki is accompanied by guitarists Serge Nakauchi Pelletier & Hidetaka Yoneyama, bass player Mishka Stein, drummer Ian Lettre, flutist Yuki Isami, and trombone player Etienne Lebel. “Kodomo No Kuni” is a tightly wound, funk-infused psychedelic fuzz-guitar romp, with Kuroki’s vocals providing a fittingly haunting vibe. B-side “Onigami” is a heavier rave-up, laden with pulsing rhythmic tension and wild howls of wind and guitar instruments. Their debut full-length is out in the spring of 2021 on Kill Rock Stars.
Pacific Northwest abstract-expressionist metallurgists SUMAC are known for their knotty, long-form explorations of the territory between chaos and cohesion. They vacillate between the visceral power of bottom-feeder metal, the instinctive spontaneity of free jazz, and the tactile pleasures of experimental music in a mélange of tightly wound riffage and aural deconstructions. One can’t help but wonder how their protracted dirges and drones could possibly be contained within the format of a 7”, but with their Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 5 contribution we’re all set to find out.
“Two Beasts (excerpt)” spans both sides of the vinyl edition, and even then we’re only catching a glimpse of a longer composition. It may seem like a loss to learn that a third of the run-time for “Two Beasts” didn’t make it on the 7”, but SUMAC’s songs have always felt like snapshot of a fleeting moment where order arises out of entropy, so on the vinyl version we are merely experiencing that genesis and decay within a tighter timeframe. We can hear the entire 18+ minutes of “Two Beasts” on digital music platforms, where it lives as a single unedited song. “Two Beasts” is a fitting continuation of the sonic rise-and-fall documented on their latest album May You Be Held.
Also today, the Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 6 is now open for subscriptions! The Singles Club Vol. 6 continues Sub Pop’s intermittent-yet-legendary series of limited-edition, subscription-only 7” singles by artists that we, and hopefully you, like. These 7”s will be limited to a mere 1,000 copies, and once they are gone, they are gone forever. This round will feature exclusive tracks from the king of filth himself, John Waters; Lids (feat. members of METZ, Holy Fuck, Constantines); Sheltered Workshop Singers and lots more TBA! Vol. 6 subscriptions are now available at the Sub Pop Mega Mart, and singles will ship bimonthly starting in April of 2021.
Sub Pop has signed the UK band TV Priest and will release Uppers, their full-length debut on CD/LP/CS/DSPs worldwide February 5th, 2021. In celebration of this news, we’re sharing the official video for “Decoration,” the album’s lead single, directed by Joe Wheatley.
The FADER says of the “Decoration” video ““Gnarly British post-punk band TV Priest blow a breeze through life’s trinkets and accoutrements on “Decoration,” the beating heart of their forthcoming Sub Pop debut Uppers. Among the items frontman Charlie Drinkwater rails against over a jagged groove are feature walls, smashed avocado, junk food, and “the TV adaptation of the latest book craze (see premiere October 28th).”
Sub Pop became fans of TV Priest’s politically urgent, mechanical, subtly humorous (and self-deprecating) post-punk following the release of their standalone singles “House of York” and “Runner Up” as well as the Uppers early preview tracks “This Island” and “Slideshow” (Uppers was originally set to be released through UK label Hand in Hive this fall, but will now be available worldwide in February through Sub Pop).
(Photo Credit: Dan Kendall)
About TV Priest’s Uppers:
It’s tempting to think that you have all the answers, screaming your gospel every day with certainty and anger. Life isn’t quite like that though, and the debut album from London four-piece TV Priest instead embraces the beautiful and terrifying unknowns that exist personally, politically and culturally.
Posing as many questions as it answers, Uppers is a thunderous opening statement that continues the UK’s recent resurgence of grubby, furious post-punk music. It says something very different though – something completely its own.
Four childhood friends who made music together as teenagers before drifting apart and then, somewhat inevitably, back together late in 2019, TV Priest was born out of a need to create together once again, and brings with it a wealth of experience and exhaustion picked up in the band’s years of pursuing “real life” and “real jobs,” something those teenagers never had.
In November 2019, the band – vocalist Charlie Drinkwater, guitarist Alex Sprogis, bass and keys player Nic Bueth, and drummer Ed Kelland – played their first show, to a smattering of friends in what they describe as an “industrial freezer” in the warehouse district of Hackney Wick. “It was like the pub in Peep Show with a washing machine just in the middle…” Charlie laughs, remembering how they dodged Star Wars memorabilia and deep fat fryers while making their first statement as a band.
Unsurprisingly, there isn’t a precedent for introducing an album during a global pandemic, but among the general sense of anxiety and unease pervading everything at the moment, TV Priest’s entrance in April with the release of debut single “House of York” - a searing examination of the Monarchy - served as a breath of fresh air among the chaos, its anger and confusion making some kind of twisted sense to the nation’s fried brains.
It’s the same continued global sense of anxiety that will greet the release of Uppers, and it’s an album that has a lot to say right now. Taking musical cues from The Fall and Protomartyr as well as the mechanical, pulsating grooves of Kosmische Musik, it’s a record that moves with an untamed energy. Over the top of this rumbling musical machine is vocalist Charlie, a cuttingly funny, angry, confused, real frontman.
“Decoration,” Uppers’ centerpiece, has a streamlined groove soundtracking Charlie’s lyrical vignettes that captures the absurdity and mundanity of life. Its opening and closing line (“I’ve never seen a dog do what that dog does”) is a misremembered quote by Simon Cowell about a performing dog on Britain’s Got Talent. Charlie says, “We often said it in the studio as a kind of in-joke when someone did something good or unexpected. Having already toyed around with the ‘Through to the next round’ line,’ this seemed too good to leave out.” And the chorus “It’s all just decoration” is credited to the 2-year old niece of Alex’s fiancé, who reassured him after he pretended to be scared by Halloween decorations.
“Press Gang” is inspired by Charlie’s grandfather’s life’s work as a photojournalist and war correspondent on the UK’s Fleet Street from the 1950s to the early 1980s. The song is about the shifting role in the dissemination of information and ideas, and how the prevailing narrative that the “Death of Print Media” has contributed to a “post truth” world.
Album closer “Saintless” is the most personal and raw moment on Uppers. Charlie wrote a note to his son after his birth, following a difficult period his wife had faced during and after the pregnancy. The song is about how as parents we’re fallible and human, and while the world can be a difficult place at times the one thing that gets you through is giving your love to those that need and appreciate it. “Saintless” rides a motorik beat, with guitars, bass and synths building layers of intensity and emotion that replicate and swell with the message of the track.
Uppers sees TV Priest explicitly and outwardly trying to avoid narrowmindedness. Uppers sees TV Priest taking musical and personal risks, reaching outside of themselves and trying to make sense of this increasingly messy world. It’s a band and a record that couldn’t arrive at a more perfect time.
Uppers is now available to preorder from Sub Pop. LPs purchased through megamart.subpop.com, and select independent retailers in North America will receive the limited Loser edition on gold splattered vinyl (while supplies last). Meanwhile, LP preorders in the U.K. and Europe through select independent retailers will receive the Loser edition on gray marbled vinyl (while supplies last).
Lael Neale is sharing an official video for new single “For No One For Now,” an uptempo lament set in Didion’s Los Angeles. The disco drum track of the Omnichord calls to mind the agitated beat of driving fast on the freeway against the backdrop of the San Fernando Valley with its bent palms. Lael offers this, “I’ve always loved these stretches of road where the magic of the city seems hemmed in by the mundane.” The song contrasts romantic idealizations with the banality of folding sheets and toasting bread. “For No One For Now” is available worldwide on all DSPs from Sub Pop.
Lael grew up on a farm in Virginia among acres of clouds, fields, and woods. It was writing and writers close to nature - Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Steinbeck, and Mary Oliver - that she most connected with. In 2009, she moved to California with a rising devotion to music and for nearly 10 years has called Los Angeles home. She worked with countless musicians, producers and collaborators, making entire records and eventually stowing them away. Despite endless frustration, she never resigned. After discovering a new instrument, the Omnichord, she experienced a moment of illumination and began recording a deluge of emerging songs with the intention to capture them in their truest form. She remarks, “Guy Blakeslee who had been an advocate for years facilitated the process. He set up a cassette 4-track in my bedroom and provided empathic guidance, subtle yet affecting accompaniment, and engineering prowess.”
She returned to her family farm back in April 2020 and has taken advantage of the limitations imposed by this period. She resurrected her old Sony Handycam from high school and is using it to make impressionistic companion pieces to the songs she recorded in Los Angeles.
She continues, “I am enjoying the strong contrast between the songs I wrote and recorded in California and the videos I am making for them in Virginia. It offers something unexpected.” In this installment, starry-eyed fantasy is cut with dull reality and a touch of the otherworldly. It is at once dreamy and creepy. The sweetness is skinned by subtle humor as she pokes fun at her own romanticism.
Now Watch/Stream: “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Live)” and “Natural Anthem (Live)”
The Postal Service’s Everything Will Change live album will be available digitally for the first time on December 4th, 2020 worldwide through Sub Pop. The beloved band’s 15-track set, which features fan favorites ”Such Great Heights,” “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight,” “Sleeping In” and “Natural Anthem,” along with a cover of Beat Happening’s “Our Secret” and a rare live take on Dntel’s “(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan,” was performed live at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA, during their 2013 reunion tour. This 2020 release of Everything Will Change was remixed by Don Gunn and remastered by Dave Cooley earlier this year, from the recordings that were originally released as part of the the 2014 concert film.
A collaboration between Benjamin Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie) and Jimmy Tamborello (from Dntel), with Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis, The Postal Service released Give Up, their one and only album, in 2003. That record went on to sell over a million copies and most of the band’s fans never had the chance to see them perform live. In 2013 and in celebration of the 10-year anniversary of Give Up, Sub Pop released an expanded, deluxe version of that album and the band reunited to tour the world.
Everything Will Change was also released in 2014 as a feature-length documentary concert film directed by Justin Mitchell and includes intimate interviews, backstage footage of the band. The Everything Will Change film and Give Up are also available through Sub Pop.
The Postal Service Everything Will Change Tracklisting: 1. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight 2. We Will Become Silhouettes 3. Sleeping In 4. Turn Around 5. Nothing Better 6. Recycled Air 7. Be Still My Heart 8. Clark Gable 9. Our Secret (Beat Happening cover) 10. This Place Is a Prison 11. A Tattered Line of String 12. Such Great Heights 13. Natural Anthem 14. (This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan (Dntel) 15. Brand New Colony
Stream Bob’s Burgers Christmas starting next Friday, November 27th.
Sub Pop will release Bob’s Burgers Thanksgiving and Bob’s Burgers Christmas which features holiday-themed songs from the 20th Television’s Emmy-award winning hit comedy, which just celebrated its 200th episode.
The two holiday releases feature music performed by the main cast members – Bob (H. Jon Benjamin), Linda (John Roberts), their children Tina (Dan Mintz), Gene (Eugene Mirman) and Louise (Kristen Schaal), and handyman Teddy (Larry Murphy).
Available today is Bob’s Burgers Thanksgiving, featuring five songs from the show:
Bob’s Burgers Thanksgiving
Tracklisting
1. Gravy Boat 2. You’ve Got The Guts 3. Saving The Bird 4. Give It To Teddy 5. Kill The Turkey
Next Friday, November 27th, Bob’s Burgers Christmas will be released which features ten songs including “Twinkly Lights,” “Christmas Of My Dreams” and “The Bleaken.”
Bob’s Burgers Christmas Tracklisting 1. Christmas of My Dreams 2. Teddy’s Bleaken Story 3. The Bleaken 4. Art Song 5. O Christmas Tree 6. The Bleaken Reprise 7. Do You Hear What I Hear? 8. Twinkly Lights 9. Snowballs and Sledding 10. You Can’t Spell Christmas Without Us
About Bob’s Burgers Thanksgiving and Bob’s Burgers Christmas:
Bob’s Burgers loves music. Bob’s Burgers loves the holidays. Bob’s Burgers loves holiday music during the holidays!
Sub Pop Records has gathered together these fan-favorite holiday musical moments from seasons one through eleven so you can enjoy them with your own burger family. Produced by the series creator and executive producer Loren Bouchard’s Wilo Productions in partnership with Bento Box Entertainment, with Sub Pop licensing the rights from 20th Television.
Fans know that music is more than just a condiment to Bob’s. With a combination of silliness and heartfelt emotion, the music of Bob’s Burgers is part of the meat of the thing itself. So put these holiday sound burgers in your mouth-ears and enjoy!
Bob’s Burgers Thanksgiving and Bob’s Burgers Christmas available worldwide through all DSPS from Sub Pop.
About Bento Box Entertainment Bento Box Entertainment (BBE) is an Emmy® award-winning entertainment content and technology company. With studios in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Toronto, BBE produces animated comedy series for broadcast, cable and digital networks. This includes Bob’s Burgers, the Primetime Emmy®-winning FOX series with 20th Television and creator Loren Bouchard; Comedy Central series Legends of Chamberlain Heights; among many others. With creative thinking, disruptive content and innovative technology at its core, BBE is dedicated to extending its reach to new audiences through its digital; Sutikki (kids); content rights; and live events, merchandise and brand management business units. BBE can be followed across social media channels @bentoboxent.
METZ has shared a new video for their song “Framed by the Comet’s Tail”, directed by the band’s drummer, Hayden Menzies. The visual companion to a personal favorite track of Menzies’ from Atlas Vending was created within a set of self-imposed limitations; it was all shot by Menzies on his phone, edited at home, with no borrowed content. He says of the video “It’s not a literal interpretation of the song by any means, but a document of random firing synapses of the mind during isolation.” Watch the video now.
Atlas Vending is METZ’s most dynamic, dimensional, and compelling work of their career, and is now available worldwide from Sub Pop.
What people are saying about Atlas Vending: “Atlas Vending is the sound of a band fully confident in itself and delivering their biggest and best work yet.” ★★★★ - Upset Magazine
“The Toronto band maintain a formidable degree of power and velocity throughout their fourth album yet… provide more welcome respites from the ferocious barrage they’re otherwise highly skilled at delivering.” [8/10] - Uncut
” A record which draws on 35 years of North American alt-rock excellence, while still stamping its creators’ own identity firmly across its grooves.” [4/5] -Kerrang
”By gathering everything the group has done to date and mixing it together Metz manage to create a perfectly potent cocktail, one filled with nostalgia, sadness and grinding euphoria.” [8/10] - Loud and Quiet
“The expansiveness of the sonic palette on Atlas Vending just gives the band more room to paint outside the lines.” [8/10] - Under The Radar
“A record that feels both raw and refined, this will shake you to the core”★★★★ - DIY Magazine
“METZ still cooks and burns with the roar of Jesus Lizard and the pounding noise of Stnnng, but four albums in, the band is discovering new sonic routes to travel” - AV Club
2021 Tour Dates: Sep. 15 - Bristol, UK - The Fleece Sep. 16 - Manchester, UK - YES Sep. 17 - Glasgow, UK - Stereo Sep. 18 - Blackpool, UK - Bootleg Social Sep. 19 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club Sep. 21 - Leicester, UK - 02 Academy Sep. 22 - London, UK - Scala Sep. 23 - Brighton, UK - Green Door Store Sep. 24 - Paris, FR - Petit Bain Sep. 25 - Dudingen, CH - Bad Bonn Sep. 26 - Zurich, CH - Bogen F Sep. 27 - Lausanne, CH - Le Romandie at Les Docks Sep. 29 - Berlin, DE - Lido Sep. 30 - Leipzig, DE - UT Connewitz Oct. 01 - Hannover, DE - Glocksee Oct. 02 - Copenhagen, DK - Loppen Oct. 04 - Hamburg, DE - Hafenklang Oct. 05 - Cologne, DE - Gebäude 9 Oct. 06 - Utrecht, NL - Tivoli Oct. 07 - Groningen, NL - Vera Oct. 08 - Antwerp, BE - Trix
