Australia’s Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever are thrilled to announce their new album, Endless Rooms, out May 6th on Sub Pop, as well as their first North American tour since 2019. Additionally, they are sharing the album’s first taste, “The Way It Shatters,” alongside an accompanying video. The band – comprised of Fran Keaney, Joe White, Marcel Tussie, and brothers Tom and Joe Russo - return following 2020’s Sideways To New Italy with their most naturalistic and expansive album yet, a testament to the collaborative spirit and live power of Rolling Blackouts C.F. In their own words, Endless Rooms is the band “doing what we do best: chasing down songs in a room together.” 

The lead single “The Way It Shatters” started simply as a home-recorded MIDI-jam before expanding into the blistering earworm it is now. It heavily features synth, an instrument rarely seen on previous releases from Rolling Blackouts C.F. The band further elaborates: “It’s about how ending up in your particular situation in life is the result of absolute randomness. If you happen to be born into wealthy Australia or happen to be born into a war zone in Syria. That’s just the way it shatters. So it’s when this good luck is mistaken for a sense of pride in one’s self or their country they become confused and deluded about what’s important. It’s when those on the other side of the luck scale are completely othered and considered not worthy.” In the accompanying video, directed by frequent collaborator Nick Mckk, Joe White plays a man who wakes up on the shore and stumbles into a birthday party, attended by the rest of the band members. 

While initial ideas for Endless Rooms were traded online during long spells spent separated by Australia’s strict lockdowns, the album was truly born during small windows of freedom in which the band would decamp to a mud-brick house in the bush around two hours north of Melbourne built by the extended Russo family in the 1970s. There, its 12 tracks took shape, informed to such an extent by the acoustics and ambience of the rambling lakeside house that they decided to record the album there (and put the house on the album cover). For the first time, the band self-produced the record (alongside engineer, collaborator and old friend, Matt Duffy). The result is a collection of songs permeated by the spirit of the place; punctuated by field recordings of rain, fire, birds, and wind. “It’s almost an anti-concept album,” says the band. “The Endless Rooms of the title reflects our love of creating worlds in our songs. We treat each of them as a bare room to be built up with infinite possibilities.”

ENDLESS ROOMS TRACKLIST
1. Pearl Like You
2. Tidal River
3. The Way It Shatters
4. Caught Low
5. My Echo
6. Dive Deep
7. Open Up Your Window
8. Blue Eye Lake
9. Saw You At The Eastern Beach
10. Vanishing Dots
11. Endless Rooms
12. Bounce Off The Bottom

Late last year, CHAI announced the WINK TOGETHER EP, a reimagination of songs from their beloved 2021 Sub Pop debut, WINK. To celebrate the release of the remix collection and CHAI’s forthcoming tour, you can now watch a new video for “PING PONG! feat. YMCK (Busy P Remix).”  

For WINK TOGETHER, CHAI tapped their favorite artists from around the world for what they call their “most powerful album yet.” Collaborators include France’s BUSY P, Korea’s Beenzino, Japan’s ZAZEN BOYS and STUTS, as well as Australia’s Confidence Man. 

CHAI will also release an official video for “Nobody Knows We Are Fun (STUTS Remix)” on February 9th, 2022.

Later today, CHAI will appear live on Van’s Channel 66 from 10 am to noon PST.  The band will perform live, sit for an interview, and will do a short DJ set. 

Today’s video release and live stream performance are another small taste of what CHAI have in store with WINK TOGETHER, as well as what they will bring to their 2022 North American tour of the same name. The WINK TOGETHER tour will see CHAI bookending their run of dates supporting Mitski, including stops in Chicago, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles.

WINK TOGETHER Tracklist

1. END (Confidence Man Remix)

2. ACTION (with ZAZEN BOYS)

3. Miracle (Scoobert Doobert Remix)

4. PING PONG! Feat. YMCK(Busy P Remix)

5. Nobody Knows We Are Fun (STUTS Remix)

6. Donuts Mind If I Do (with Beenzino)

Based in Seattle, WA

Sub Pop Records is seeking a full-time Accounting / Payroll Coordinator to join our Accounting Dept. in Seattle.

We are accepting resumes through the position closing date of Feb 7, 2022.

To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to Kara Mattaini at karam@subpop.com.

Accounting / Payroll Coordinator

• Enter and process bi-weekly payroll (track hourly pay, paid time off, paid leave, employee purchases / chargebacks, postage).
• Track and process new employee paperwork (W-4, I-9, employee manual acknowledgement forms). Organize and maintain required documentation.
• Update employee address changes, dependent adds/changes in various benefit administrator websites.
• Prepare bi-weekly csv file to tie employee 401K contributions to payroll reports – to be uploaded to our 401k administrative site.
• Accounts payable: enter emailed/paper bills into QuickBooks accounting system weekly or as needed. Print necessary documents for payable audit trail.
• Pay and record monthly recurring invoices that require login.
• Monitor and enter FedEx freight bills.
• Track and update current foreign exchange rates each month from online published rates to the QuickBooks accounting system.
• Enter details of previously paid international wire transfers into QuickBooks accounting system.
• Ensure appropriate W-9 tax information is complete and maintained for vendor record compliance and annual 1099 tax reporting.
• Update project code information in the QuickBooks Customer Job record based on the published Sub Pop release schedule.
• Download and summarize monthly Bandcamp Net Revenue reports.
• Download and summarize monthly Shopify retail and B2B sales reports.
• Prepare monthly retail sales reports for property managers.
• Assist with Excel to inventory system upload for international distributors monthly sales information.
• Prepare Accounts Receivable invoices upon request (licensing / publishing / master use / miscellaneous).

Requirements:

• This position may be primarily WFH, hybrid, or in-office, but if the applicant chooses to be WFH/hybrid they must be able to meet in person at downtown Seattle HQ two days per week at minimum. In-office work requires proof of CDC recommended COVID vaccination series.
• Strong understanding of general accounting principles, particularly related to accounts payable and payroll.
• Must have a professional and approachable demeanor, and a positive attitude. Must have the abilities to effectively communicate, organize, accurately multitask, and pay attention to detail.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite.
• Project costing, QuickBooks, and Fishbowl experience is preferred.
• Some knowledge of the Sub Pop catalog is preferred.

Sub Pop Records is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family or parental status, national origin, veteran or disability status. Sub Pop Records will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.

To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to Kara Mattaini at karam@subpop.com no later than February 7, 2022.

Sub Pop Records is extremely proud to announce the return (for our 16th year!) of the Sub Pop Loser Scholarship. Further details on the scholarship are below, and even further below is some clarification on what we mean with all this “Loser” business.

Sub Pop Records is offering a grand total of $17,500 in college scholarship money to three eligible high school seniors. There are three scholarships—one for $7,500, and two for $5,000 each. As longtime, proud losers ourselves, we’re exceedingly happy to be able, in some small way, to help further the education of art-enthused misfits from the NW. Individuals from all cultures and communities are encouraged to apply. Applicants must be residents of Washington or Oregon, and graduating seniors on the way to full-time enrollment at an accredited university or college. We are looking for applicants who are involved and/or interested in music and/or creative media and arts in some way. However, you do not need to be pursuing an education in the arts.

To apply: you must submit an essay, one page or less, using any combination of the following questions as a guide (or write something completely your own, be inspired and creative!). Please list the school you are graduating from and the school you plan to attend in the fall at the top of your essay along with your contact information.

- What are you doing in the arts/music field in your community?

- What does being a Sub Pop ‘Loser’ mean to you?

- What are your influences and/or who inspired you to become involved in the arts?

- Describe your biggest failure and explain how it has brought you closer to your goal(s).

- Discuss a special attribute or accomplishment that sets you apart.

- How has your family or community background affected the way you see the world?

- Why should you be the Loser winner?

Applicants are strongly (!) encouraged to send digital links and/or provide hard copies of their artwork, photos of community involvement, radio show links, videos, etc. along with their essay (we have never had a winner who submitted only an essay w/no extras). However, please be aware that Sub Pop will not return any of this material, so please don’t send originals. Sub Pop will give equal opportunity to all applicants who fit the criteria outlined above.

The deadline for applications is Wednesday, March 23rd, 2022.

Please send all submissions and attachments to scholarship@subpop.com by Wednesday, March 23rd. We will announce the scholarship winners during the first week of April.

What we talk about when we talk about “Loser.”

Here at Sub Pop Records, we use the word “loser” a lot. You may have noticed. We’ve printed it on things we sell (hats, shirts, stickers, mugs, and more!), we call the first, colored-vinyl, limited-edition pressings of the records we release the “Loser Edition,” and every year since 2007 ish we’ve awarded tuition money to college-bound NW high school students through the “Sub Pop Loser Scholarship.” And, it’s possible we take for granted that you guys catch our drift and understand what we mean when we’re all “loser this,” and “loser that.” So! The following…

Sub Pop’s use of the word “loser” goes back to the foundation of the label and is meant as a celebration of unabashedly being ourselves without conforming to any preconceived ideas of “normal.” To be a loser is central to the very idea of underground art and culture - all of it happening and thriving outside of the mainstream, and not necessarily looking for a way in. Bruce Pavitt’s “New Pop Manifesto” in the 1st issue of Subterranean Pop included, “The important thing to remember is this: the most intense music, the most original ideas… are coming out of scenes you don’t even know exist… Only by supporting new ideas by local artists, bands, and record labels can the U.S. expect any kind of dynamic social/cultural change…” And, since 2007 or so, with the Loser Scholarship, we’ve been adding students to that list, and putting our (or, our co-founder, big boss and biggest loser ever, Jonathan Poneman’s…) money where our mouth is. Sub Pop Records strives to bring attention to music and art from the fringes that might otherwise remain marginalized. And, in that same spirit, through our annual Loser Scholarship, we’re looking for art-enthused misfits in NW high schools, losers like us, to help them pay for college. We stand proudly with and support the misfits, weirdos and losers, because we believe that when we’re able to proudly be nothing other than our true selves, we have the ability to make the world stronger, smarter and better.

In the official video for TV Priest’s “One Easy Thing”, the group’s excellent new single, singer Charlie Drinkwater is a beleaguered 15th-century knight on his return home from battle, and soon after, a solo danse macabre ensues. The darkly comic “One Easy Thing” video was helmed by Joe Wheatley (“Decoration”, “Press Gang”), shot on 16mm black and white stock by director of photography Kristof Brandl. The song is available today worldwide on DSPs from Sub Pop.
 
Charlie says “Writing ‘One Easy Thing’ was key to unlocking a more direct and personal approach to our songwriting. It’s about dealing with the small things of everyday life; the anxiety, pressures, and battles inside your own headspace - and not being afraid to show this in our songs.”
 
“One Easy Thing” further ushers in a new direction for the band and will appear on TV Priest’s forthcoming new album, due out on Sub Pop later this year. It follows the recent “Lifesize”  b/w ”All Thing” single (their contribution to volume 6 of the Sub Pop Singles Club), and Uppers, the band’s acclaimed, full-length debut, both released in 2021.
 
What people have said about TV Priest Uppers:
“With their wry wit and infectious hooks, this band might just be the future of music (9/10).” God Is In The TV
 
“Uppers…should rubber stamp TV Priest as one of, if not your favorite new act” - The Line Of Best Fit
 
“The blistering debut is a collection of delightfully pungent tracks, delivered in all their unashamed, reckless glory.” - CLASH
 
Ragged yet tight, sprawling yet focussed, it’s a singular vision of a disparate time. It rounds up most of the usual suspects of our Un-UK, the pop culture, the insularity, the lies on the side of a bus, but manages to breathe new life into those old tropes by sheer force of personality (★★★★) - DORK
 
“[Drinkwater’s] snarling style jostles perfectly with TV Priest’s fuzzed-and-flinty bass-forward style which, at its most brash, recalls McLusky, and at its most swaggering is in line with Iceage and Merchandise…what Uppers really shows is he’s best when he sings. That booming voice of his can carry a tune and is capable of holding a little bravado, too, without sliding too far into melodrama, which comes in handy on dark, brooding tracks like ‘Saintless,’ ‘This Island,’ and ‘Slidewater.’” - Brooklyn Vegan
 
“The album … is quite possibly the ideal soundtrack to our current climate. It’s harsh, overwhelming and, honestly, pretty fucking funny (8/10).” - Northern Transmissions
 
“Uppers provides thrills aplenty from a band making their mark during strange times as our new normal sets in, intent on seizing their second chance.” - Beats Per Minute

Sub Pop is delighted to welcome Weird Nightmare, the electrifying new project from METZ guitarist and singer Alex Edkins, to the label’s storied roster of artists. Label co-founder, Jonathan Poneman on the irresistible allure of Weird Nightmare: “One can hear, respect, and fully appreciate Alex’s reverence for the ingratiating hook, which he wields both generously and masterfully. Yeah. Killer!”

 The debut full-length Weird Nightmare album will be released by Sub Pop later this year and we’ll have a lot more to say about that very soon. In the meantime, please enjoy a brief glimpse of Weird Nightmare in this gloriously fuzzy teaser.