Hot Hot Heat’s Make Up The Breakdown: Deluxe Edition is the newly remastered and expanded version of the group’s breakthrough full-length and will be available again on vinyl, just in time for the 20th Anniversary of its release, on Friday, December 2nd, 2022 from Sub Pop.
Make Up The Breakdown was produced by Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth) at Vancouver, BC’s Mushroom Studios with additional engineering and mixing from former Death Cab for Cutie member Chris Walla at The Hall of Justice in Seattle, and released on October 8th, 2002 as a ten-track album. For this deluxe edition, Make Up The Breakdown has been expanded to twelve tracks and now includes “Apt. 101” and “Move On,” two tracks only previously available with a UK-only single for “Bandages.”
Make Up The Breakdown earned praise from the likes of AllMusic, who called the album “an addictive, densely packed pop gem that ranks among 2002’s best albums,” and Pitchfork agreed, including it at no. 20 on “The 50 Best Albums of 2002.” The official videos for “Bandages” and “Talk to Me, Dance With Me” saw regular airplay on MTV. Meanwhile the singles saw huge support at Alternative Radio, with both songs going to no. 1 at the KROQ in Los Angeles.
Make Up The Breakdown: Deluxe Edition is available now to preorder from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com, select independent stores in North America, the U.K., and E.U., will receive the limited Loser edition on yellow vinyl.
More on Make Up The Breakdown… To be lost and naked in the city one time is an embarrassment, a mistake not to be repeated. Lost and naked in the city, again - that is a lifestyle, a conscientious series of decisions that leaves one vulnerable to all the dizzying highs and brutal hangovers that come with being ready to transcend the limitations of a small town or a parochial punk mindset or just years upon years of repressed self-loathing. Or, as Hot Hot Heat singer/keyboardist Steve Bays puts it, “leaving the womb of teenhood and having no idea what to do with all that freedom.” This is what Make Up the Breakdown sounds like because this is what it was like to be in Hot Hot Heat.
This is not a phase of one’s life that can be recreated or even revised; even Bays admits that he had to shelf his fully digitized, “re-envisioned” and technically “better” version of his band’s beloved debut out of respect to its fans. But to hear these songs again and remember is even more powerful with the wisdom of distance, to recognize the little pivots that, unbeknownst at the time, changed everything. If Bays isn’t offered a solo deal after uploading crude solo synth-pop songs to Napster, Hot Hot Heat are only remembered as one of the many promising DIY bands in Victoria, British Columbia that broke up before anyone could take them seriously. If Dante Decaro fails to hold his liquor during one fateful Victoria house party, he never meets Bays; instead, Decaro and Paul Hawley stay up until 1 PM the next day playing Beatles covers and Hot Hot Heat’s classic lineup becomes solidified. If Dustin Hawthorne doesn’t play his bass through a crushingly loud Sunn amp or if they can afford a decent PA, Bays doesn’t develop a high-wire yelp that can cut through the noise. If Sub Pop A&R Tony Kiewel doesn’t hear the band’s name in a coffee shop the day before Bays sends an unsolicited email, Hot Hot Heat are rejected from every indie label that got their demo. If Bays’ mother doesn’t unexpectedly advise him to follow his dreams and sign with Sub Pop, he takes a desk gig as a creative director.
The precariousness of Hot Hot Heat’s existence extended to the creation of Make Up the Breakdown itself. If Bays doesn’t have a pen and a cocktail napkin while riding the ferry to Mushroom Studios, the lyrics to “Get In Or Get Out” never get written. If producer Jack Endino doesn’t insist that they record “Bandages” first, Bays probably changes the hook and writes a second verse that robs their hit single of its unstoppable momentum. If the band brings their beloved Juno-6 synthesizer, they never get a chance to use the creaky Hammond organ responsible for their most recognizable riffs - the ones that earned them countless critical comparisons to the excitable, angsty new wave of The Cure and Elvis Costello and XTC, rather than West Coast art-punks like The Locust or The Rapture and Modest Mouse that they are listening to and partying with.
Hot Hot Heat stayed true to Hawley’s initial conception of the band - “we can make pop music, but we have to screw it up in some way.” Their past incarnations as hardcore, death metal and second-wave emo found subtle ways to emerge throughout an album that aspired to be Victoria’s Help!. In the past, “the goal was to never play a chord progression that had been played before,” and that melodic ingenuity manifests in the whiplash key change on the chorus of “No, Not Now.” As Bays described the Victoria straight-edge hardcore milieu, “if the crowd’s not moving, you’re not a good band.” The same principles inform the arm-flailing rhythms of “Save Us S.O.S.” and “Talk to Me, Dance With Me.”
Over the next two years, Hot Hot Heat went from playing to seven people in Boise to festival crowds of 50,000; being lazily compared to Robert Smith to sharing backstage jokes with Robert Smith about those comparisons; learning multi-track recording on the fly to spending $350,000 in a Los Angeles studio to complete 2005’s Elevator; getting added to BBC Radio 1 and almost immediately banned because the mass delusional hysteria of the Iraq War led grandmas in the UK to believe “Bandages” was endorsing state violence. But to describe Make Up the Breakdown as an “instant classic” is flattering and misleading - nothing was preordained about its success or its resonance, and from the first grinding, giddy notes of “Naked in the City Again,” Make Up the Breakdown is reanimated with the blind, beery exuberance that set them apart from the urban ennui and wasted elegance that would come to define the “New Rock Revolution” of the early 2000s.
Though they shared the same stages and magazine covers as The Strokes and Interpol and the Libertines and the Killers, Hot Hot Heat made for convincing underdogs, the people’s champs - what could born rock stars know about the catastrophic romantic rejection of “Oh Goddamnit” or the crippling small-town angst of “Get In Or Get Out”? Though Victoria was largely marooned and could only absorb the essence of the indie scenes in San Diego, Vancouver and Seattle, it’s a microcosm for the widespread culture clashes playing out in Make Up the Breakdown.
The past 20 years has flattened the narrative of the early 2000s - one day, it was all nu-metal and rap-rock and goatees and the next, skinny boys from New York and the UK in tight jeans playing tighter songs about sex, drugs and druggy sex (or sexy drugs). Make Up the Breakdown told the truth about those caught up in this awkward growth spurt - cross-armed, straight edge kids were now going out to the bars, trying to get laid, unironically enjoying pop and causing all manner of romantic and idealistic conflict. As much as Make Up the Breakdown was slice-of-life scene reportage, Bays intended it as trenchant cultural criticism - “I was getting tired of the in-fighting and small town mentality,” he recalls. “If you don’t like your hometown, leave and I bet you’ll find the same problems wherever you land. You gotta find your peace.” Most likely, you will find it drunk and naked in the city again - again.
Praise for Make Up The Breakdown: “Every step of the album is a joyously bold, emotionally rounded one all of which betrays a cleverly veiled melancholia. From ‘Get In Or Get Out’’s crypto-jazz keys to the cowbell-driven studied cool of ‘Talk To Me, Dance With Me’, it’s a record that shakes all preconceptions from the tree, and should be talked about in hushed tones by self-congratulatory, music aficionados 20 years from now.” ★★★★ ½ - NME
“Crucially, Hot Hot Heat have also learned the art of the three-minute pop song. Make Up the Breakdown zips by in a giddy blur of taut punk-funk grooves and insanely catchy choruses. Highlights such as ‘Bandages’ and ‘Get In or Get Out’ sound like lost classics buried in 1982 and only recently disinterred.” ★★★★ - The Guardian
“The Victoria, Canada, quartet’s debut LP is one long indie/new wave rave-up, all spring-loaded guitars, stabbing organs, and footloose drums…the band bashes into every chorus like they’re smacking a pinata full of blood and chocolate (8/10).” - SPIN
“This frenetic foursome from Victoria, Canada, presides over a colossal jousting match between synths and guitars that is liable to leave its audience breathless…With Steve Bays’ faux-tortured vocals (Robert Smith on antidepressants?) providing the narration, listeners might want to rage, or they might want to disco. Or maybe both.” ★★★ ½ - Los Angeles Times
Hot Hot Heat Make Up The Breakdown: Deluxe Edition
Indie rock titans The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie have today announced plans for a landmark 20th anniversary co-headline North American tour. The extraordinary live run will see both iconic groups performing their seminal 2003 albums in full – The Postal Service’s RIAA Platinum-certified Give Up and Death Cab for Cutie’s RIAA Gold-certified breakthrough fourth studio LP Transatlanticism – two classics released within a mere eight months of one another that year.
Benjamin Gibbard, the co-founder of both bands, will pull double duty throughout the tour, performing with The Postal Service – comprised of Gibbard, Jimmy Tamborello, and Jenny Lewis – as well as with Death Cab for Cutie (alongside Nick Harmer, Dave Depper, Zac Rae, and Jason McGerr).
“I know for a fact I will never have a year again like 2003. The Postal Service record came out, Transatlanticism came out. These two records will be on my tombstone, and I’m totally fine with that. I’ve never had a more creatively inspired year.” – Gibbard
The tour was announced this morning via an exclusive trailer on the band’s socials (watch HERE).
The sure to be highly-anticipated run will kick off September 8, 2023 at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, ME and continue through mid-October, with highlights including shows at New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden, Berkeley, CA’s Greek Theatre, and Los Angeles, CA’s Hollywood Bowl.
Pre-sales begin Wednesday, December 14 at 10 am (local) and continue through Thursday, December 15 at 10 pm (local). Sign-up for early access to tickets here. For the Hollywood Bowl show, American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets before the general public beginning Tuesday, December 13 at 10am PT through Thursday, December 15 at 10pm PT.
All remaining tickets will be released to the general public on Friday, December 16 at 10 am (local). For complete details and ticket information, please visit giveuptransatlanticismtour.com.
The upcoming tour will mark the first live performances from The Postal Service in over a decade, following 2013’s hugely successful 10-year anniversary reunion tour for Give Up – an album which still stands today as Sub Pop’s second highest-selling album in the label’s history, second only to Nirvana’s Bleach. The reunion tour was captured for posterity on a live concert film, Everything Will Change, released in 2014 and subsequently on a live audio album released in 2020 to digital streaming platforms.
Also in 2020, the trio joined forces to support HeadCount’s “Make Your Vote Count” campaign via a star-studded video of “Zoom Auditions” for new band members which featured appearances from fans including Anne Hathaway, Kenny G, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Slash, Huey Lewis, Caroline Polachek, Michelle Zauner, Big Freedia, and J Mascis, to name a few.
Meanwhile, 8x GRAMMY® Award-nominees Death Cab for Cutie are currently celebrating the release of their critically acclaimed 10th studio album, Asphalt Meadows. Produced by GRAMMY® Award-winner John Congleton (St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten, Wallows), the new LP includes the explosive “Roman Candles” and chart-topping “Here to Forever,” the latter of which reached #1 at Alternative radio in October, after spending a record-setting nine weeks atop the AAA airplay chart this summer. The album received tremendous praise from outlets including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Vulture, SPIN, Stereogum, and Pitchfork, who lauded the record as “a late career masterwork… a restoration of their creative momentum when a mere ‘return to form’ would have sufficed.”
Ahead of the dates with The Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie will continue their Asphalt Meadows world tour in January 2023, traversing North America, Europe, and the UK through June, with support from Momma, Slow Pulp, and Lomelda on select dates. This follows their much-celebrated headline tour this past Fall at venues including Forest Hills (NYC) and The Greek Theatre (LA). For remaining tickets and complete details, please visit www.deathcabforcutie.com.
THE POSTAL SERVICE // DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
SEPTEMBER 2023
8 – Portland, ME – Cross Insurance Arena
9 – Kingston, RI – The Ryan Center
10 – New Haven, CT – Westville Music Bowl
12 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall
13 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall
14 – Washington, DC – Merriweather Post Pavilion
17 – Detroit, MI – Meadow Brook Amphitheater
20 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
21 – Philadelphia, PA – The Mann Center
24 – Minneapolis, MN – Armory
26 – Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom
27 – Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom
OCTOBER 2023
3 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre
4 – Las Vegas, NV – The Chelsea Ballroom at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
7 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
10 – Berkeley, CA – Greek Theatre – UC Berkeley
13 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
# # #
Formed in Bellingham, WA in 1997, Death Cab for Cutie immediately entered the ranks of the era’s most definitive bands, thanks in large part to the remarkable power of co-founder, vocalist, guitarist, and lead songwriter Ben Gibbard’s complex, often bittersweet songcraft. The band made their worldwide popular breakthrough with 2003’s RIAA gold certified Transatlanticism, later named by NPR as one of “The Decade’s 50 Most Important Recordings.” Fueled by critical acclaim, an array of high profile soundtrack placements, and such hit singles as “The Sound of Settling” and “Title and Registration,” the album debuted among the upper half of the Billboard 200 – Death Cab for Cutie’s first ever entry on the overall chart. A 10th anniversary edition of Transatlanticism containing previously unheard demos and outtakes arrived in 2013, prompting NPR to write, “For all its ubiquity and imitators, Transatlanticism holds up as an exquisitely produced, largely flawless record in which every song is bound to serve as someone’s favorite.”
2003 also saw Gibbard and Los Angeles, CA-based multi-instrumentalist Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel, Figurine) unite as The Postal Service, a long distance collaboration named for their working method of exchanging tracks via the US Mail. The duo – joined by a number of friends including singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis – proved a phenomenon with the February 2003 release of their one and only studio LP, Give Up, earning worldwide applause and eventual RIAA platinum certification thanks to infectious electro-pop smashes like “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” (a top 3 sensation on Billboard’s “Hot Dance Singles” chart), “We Will Become Silhouettes (which reached the top 3 on the Canadian Singles Chart), and of course, the magical RIAA gold certified “Such Great Heights.” The album’s stature continued to grow in the years following its original release, ultimately spending 19 non-consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard’s “Top Electronic Albums” chart. In 2013, The Postal Service reunited to mark the 10th anniversary of Give Up with their biggest headline tour ever, along with top-billed performances at such international festivals as Coachella, Primavera Sound, Lollapalooza, and Sasquatch. In addition, a commemorative 10th anniversary edition of Give Up saw the singular collection expanded with 15 bonus tracks, including two brand new songs, “A Tattered Line of String” and “Turn Around.”
Watch the “make it Heat but starring Vorhees” official video for Kiwi Jr.’s “Unspeakable Things,” directed by Morgan Waters, and a new single and highlight from Chopper, the group’s forthcoming new album.
Jeremy Gaudet says of the video, “People are always trying to sign into my email. What do they think they’re gonna find? The public appetite for dirty laundry is wild. Having moved the world online has not helped. Dan Boeckner had the idea to use the Moog sound for the hook, which was originally on guitar, and that sound brings the song into a sort of new-wave territory that was fun and different for us. We kept referencing the vibe of Michael Mann movies when recording the album, and then Morgan heard this and came up with the idea of making the video look like the movie Heat. Somehow TSN’s Jay Onrait, Jonah from Fucked Up, and comedians Tom Henry and Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll were convinced to cameo in it. We also were wearing these hockey masks filming all day next to a busy road getting a lot of car honks and didn’t realize until much later that we filmed on an actual Friday the 13th.”
On August 12th, 2022, KIWI JR. will release Chopper, the group’s third album, worldwide on CD/LP/CS/DSPs through Sub Pop, with the exception of Canada through the band’s Kiwi Club imprint. The album, which features the aforementioned “Unspeakable Things,” the previously released “Night Vision,” along with “The Sound of Music” and “The Extra Sees the Film,” was recorded and produced in Toronto by Sub Pop labelmate Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs, Operators).
Chopper is available for preorder from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com, select independent retailers in North America will receive the limited Loser edition on crystal clear vinyl (while supplies last). Meanwhile, preorders through select independent retailers in the UK and EU will receive the limited Loser edition on clear vinyl (while supplies last).
Kiwi Jr.’s tour schedule for 2022 in support of Chopper resumes Saturday, June 25th in Toronto, Ontario at Horseshoe Tavern, and runs through Sunday, September 25th in Amsterdam, Netherlands at Paradiso. Sub Pop labelmates Weird Nightmare will also co-headline Kiwi Jr.’s North American shows (July 25th-July 31st, select dates). Additional live dates to be announced soon.
Sat. Jun. 25 - Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern Fri. Jul. 22 - Montreal, QC - Bar le Ritz PDB * Sat. Jul. 23 - Ottawa, ON - SAW Gallery * Thu. Jul. 28 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s All Right * Fri. Jul. 29 - Rehoboth Beach, DE - Dogfish Head Brewing * Sat. Jul. 30 - Washington, DC - Songbird Music House * Sun. Jul. 31 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s * Fri. Sep. 16 - Paris, FR - La Boule Noire Sat. Sep. 17 - Orleans, FR - Hop Pop Hop Festival Sun. Sep. 18 - Lille, FR - L’ Aeronef Mon. Sep. 19 - London, UK - Victoria Dalston [SOLD OUT] Tue. Sep. 20 - London, UK - 100 Club Wed. Sep. 21 - Brussels, BE - Witloofbar Botanique Thu. Sep. 22 - Nijmegen, NL - Merleyn Sat. Sep. 24 - Eindhoven, NL - Stoomhuisje Sun. Sep. 25 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso * w/ Weird Nightmare
What people said about Kiwi Jr.’s 2021 release, Cooler Returns: “Sustaining momentum near-flawlessly across 13 songs… Kiwi Jr. have the skills to match their smarts.” ★★★★ 4 stars - MOJO
“Sardonic storytelling and mocking asides…an impatient, slacker-rock imagining of a folk album....some chords ring out with George Harrison glossiness while others are as shaggy and impetuous as The Clean —rarely do hi-fi and lo-fi splendors coexist so harmoniously.” - Pitchfork
“Cooler Returns is all hits, a baker’s dozen of ridiculously catchy three-minute pop nuggets that deliver massive sing-along-choruses.” - Brooklyn Vegan
“Canadian absurdists’ return is a lyrical delight” - Uncut
“This one may have been released in literally the very first week of 2021, but it never strayed far from rotation. A truly jubilant sound echoing The Clean and Orange Juice but with the punch of contemporary indie, and wry and winking vocals that remind what the ‘90s had to offer underground.” [2021 Year In Review] - Aquarium Drunkard
“Kiwi Jr. take the jangliest of guitars and dribble enigmatic observations all over them. Light-hearted and exhilarating enough to make you stop caring and too catchy for its own good.” [15 Best Indie Pop Records of 2021] - PopMatters
“Kiwi Jr. hypnotize with their sophomore record. There is incredible efficiency in the brief slices of the Toronto foursome’s peppy pop songcraft–more than half clock in under three minutes–with enticing hooks and odd references.”[40 Best Albums of 2021] - Rock & Roll Globe
“Kiwi Jr’s world is the perfect anecdote to the real world in 2020/21.” [2021 Albums of The Year]- Louder Than War
“L’année 2021 ne pouvait mieux commencer qu’avec cet excellent disque a l’entrain communicatif, d’une inspiration jubilatoire, veritable rayon de soleil au cour de l’hiver” [4/5] - Rock & Folk
“Les quatre musiciens de Toronto ne changent pas leur formule gagnante et livrent une guitare jangly élégante et efficace.” - Les Inrocks
“Ook de referenties zijn dik in orde: the Chills, The Strokes, The Kinks… en de vroege R.E.M. ‘Fonkelende gitaarplaat die refereert aan heden en verleden.”, Best Albums of the Month - Oor
International Tour Dates September 21st-November 29th, 2022
Today, Friday, July 22nd marks the release of Clipping’s CLBBNG Vol. 1, the first collection of remixes produced by the group, which is available worldwide on all DSPs from Sub Pop.
CLBBNG features four remixes including “Nothing Is Safe,” from There Existed An Addiction To Blood, the group’s horrorcore album of 2019, which has a dance remix, and an instrumental rework (titled “Drop Low”); Meanwhile, remixes of “Get Up” (titled “Get Mine”), and “Dominoes” (titled “Drop That”) from CLPPNG, the group’s Sub Pop debut of 2014, round out the tracklisting.
Clipping has wanted to make a record of dance remixes for some time, and inspiration struck when they performed what has to be the all time tiniest desk concert (see for yourself!) for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert. Jonathan Snipes elaborated further, “I had come up with the name CLBBNG mostly as a joke when we made the first album for Sub Pop (titled CLPPNG). I made a couple of remixes back then (none of the tracks released in this volume), but some combination of losing interest and getting distracted by other projects meant that we didn’t release them at the time. When we recorded drums with Chukwudi Hodge for “Say the Name” in 2019, we also had him play a four-on-the-floor disco beat over the top of the “Nothing is Safe” instrumental with the idea that someday we’d make a sprawling dark-disco Moroder-esque version of the song. When we were asked to do “Tiny Desk” I thought maybe it was the time to finally make that track. Soon after we were asked to do another virtual performance inside Minecraft, and I thought it would be fun to make more dance remixes and create an entire “CLBBNG” club/rave set. It’s versions of these edits and remixes that have made it on to this, the first CLBBNG EP. I have a deep love and appreciation for dance music, and I relish any excuse to make it myself. It’s a lot of fun to bring those sensibilities to clipping songs, and I’m excited to continue making CLBBNG releases in the future.”
Additionally, four of Clipping’s songs, including the “Nothing Is Safe” remix, are being featured on a new app developed with Modify Music which also launches today on iOS and Android app stores. This is a real time mixing app, that has each song separated into four “stems” that can be mixed on the fly. Alongside the original stems, the listener will have the option to switch out and mix in alternative stems that Jonathan Snipes produced just for the app. The app can be found here: https://modifymusic.com/artists/clipping/
Clipping will kick-off its first round of international touring for the fall of 2022, with a short run of shows in the UK and EU beginning on Wednesday, September 21st in Glasgow at SWG3 Warehouse and ending Sunday, September 25th in Brussels at Atelier. Following those shows, Clipping will return to the states for an appearance at Southern California’s Desert Daze Festival Friday, September 30th through Sunday, October 2nd (performance date TBA)
Then from Thursday, November 10th through November 29th, 2022, Clipping will tour the UK and EU again for a 14-date run. Highlights include a performance and curation duties at the Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, Netherlands (Nov. 11th), a performance at Fabric London (Nov. 17th), and shows in France (Paris, Lille, Lyon, Rennes, Nantes), Poland (Warsaw), Czech Republic (Prague), Belgium (Brussels), UK (Leeds), Switzerland (La Chaux-de-Fonds), and Denmark (Copenhagen, Aarhus). Please find a current list of dates below.
Wed. Sep. 21 - Glasgow, UK - SWG3 Warehouse
Thu. Sep. 22 - Helsinki, FI - Kudos Ninja
Sat. Sep. 24 - Riga, LV - Skaņu Mežs Festival (@Hanzas Perons)
Sun. Sep. 25 - Brussels, BE - Atelier
Fri. Sep. 30 - Perris, CA - Desert Days
Sat. Oct. 01 - Perris, CA - Desert Days
Sun. Oct. 02 - Perris, CA - Desert Days
Fri. Nov. 11 - Utrecht, NL - Le Guess Who? Festival
Sat. Nov. 12 - La Chaux-de-Fonds, CH - Bikini Test
On Friday, September 23rd, 2022, Damien Jurado’s Waters Ave S, his beloved debut, will be available on vinyl for the first time in years from Sub Pop. To celebrate today’s news, Damien has scheduled an interview and performance with 90.3 KEXP today, which airs at 4:30 pm PT / 7:30 pm ET.
2022 promises to be a banner year for Damien Jurado. Not only does the year mark the songwriter’s 50th birthday, but it also sees the summer release of his 18th studio album, the impressionistic and tuneful Reggae Film Star. And hang on, there’s more: on September 23rd, 2022 Sub Pop Records reissues Jurado’s debut full-length, 1997’s Waters Ave S. The work of a young artist driven by complex inner visions, the LP offers a fresh chance to examine how far Jurado has come in the 25 years since its release—but also demonstrates how much of his point of view and vivid scenecraft was firmly in place from the very start.
A veteran of the DIY punk and hardcore scenes, Jurado had begun taking steps into the world of lo-fi home recording. But with renowned indie rock producer Steve Fisk acting as producer, Waters Ave S introduced Jurado to the independent music world, presenting a set of 13 songs that encompass odes to remote desert outposts, late night conversations with Elvis, a purple anteater, and the great beyond. Though new to the studio, Jurado’s storytelling lens is well honed; these compositions are filled with characters wandering the psychic wilderness, flawed but nonetheless certain of themselves, or at least certain enough.
Those only familiar with Jurado’s ambient-tinged folk or AM gold psychedelia will find the album more punky than expected, replete with post-punk basslines, electric guitars, and a youthful tenor to Jurado’s voice. But what’s most striking about the record is how fully formed his world is, especially on songs like the lilting, drum looped “Angel of May,” the sci-fi “Space Age Mom,” and mournful simplicity of the title track. Jurado was just getting started, but the path he’d follow seems laid out by Waters Ave S. 25 years later, it’s clear that the creative spirit that fuels this idiosyncratic and exuberant record is one that still propels Jurado to this day.
Tracklisting 1. Wedding Cake 2. Angel of May 3. Treasures of Gold 4. Yuma, AZ 5. The Joke Is Over 6. Space Age Mom 7. Circus, Circus, Circus 8. Hell or Highwater 9. Independent 10. Purple Anteater 11. Sarah 12. Halo Friendly 13. Waters Ave S.
Earlier this year, Australia’s Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever released their new album, Endless Rooms, via Sub Pop. Today, they present a video for one of its tracks, “Blue Eye Lake,” which “demonstrates why new album Endless Rooms offers a strong mix of new ambitions and old fundamentals. The track expands outward with each passing second, reveling in its slightly out-of-focus harmonies and minor-chord riffs” (Billboard). Endless Rooms is a testament to the collaborative spirit and live power of the band, and the “Blue Eye Lake” video attests to this sentiment. It weaves together live footage of the band with clips of street scenes during their recent European tour. In addition to illustrating the power of the live shows, it also gives a glimpse of what to expect on their forthcoming North American tour. A full list can be found below and tickets for all dates are on sale now.
