On June 28th, Sub Pop will release Washed Out’s fifth and most audacious album, Notes From a Quiet Life. The music of Washed Out has always levitated over a timeless frontier. You can sense it in his immersive, amorphous vocals, expansive soundscapes, and wistful storytelling. Before starting work on his new album, Washed Out’s creative force, Ernest Greene, and his family moved to a former horse farm in rural Georgia. He named the property “Endymion” (after the pastoral John Keats poem about a lovesick shepherd), and it became a catalyst for his creative process. Directed by Kristian Melom, Greene has shared an intimate behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of Notes From A Quiet Life. Inspired by the lifestyle change and simplicity of country living, this documentary paints an intimate picture of the story behind the record.
Additionally, Washed Out has announced live shows to support his forthcoming record, with festival appearances at Just Like Heaven Festival in May, Sundown Festival and Twilight Concert Series in June, and Day In Day Out in July. North American Headline shows to follow in August. See below for a full list of shows.
Sat. May 18 - Los Angeles, CA - Just Like Heaven Sat. Jun. 08 - Anchorage AK Sundown Festival Sat. Jun. 22 - Ogden, UT - Twilight Concert Series Sun. Jul. 14 - Seattle, WA - Day In Day Out Festival Thu. Aug. 01 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern Fri. Aug. 02 - Columbia, SC - The Senate Sat. Aug. 03 - Asheville, NC - AVLFest Mon. Aug. 05 - Nashville, TN - Brooklyn Bowl Tue. Aug. 06 - St. Louis, MO, Delmar Hall Thu. Aug. 08 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue Fri. Aug. 09 - Chicago, IL - Metro Sat. Aug. 10 - Madison, WI - Majestic Sun. Aug. 11 - Columbus, OH - Kemba Tue. Aug. 13 - Detroit, MI - Majestic Wed. Aug.14 - Toronto, ON - Danforth Fri. Aug. 16 - Norwalk, CT - District Music Hall Sat. Aug. 17 - Boston, MA - Paradise Sun. Aug. 18 - Brooklyn, NY - Paramount Tue. Aug. 20 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer Wed. Aug. 21 - Washington, DC - 930 Club Fri. Aug. 23 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle Sat. Aug. 24 - Birmingham, AL - Iron City
Notes From a Quiet Life is available to preorder now on CD/LP/DSPs from Sub Pop. LP preorders in North America from megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the Loser Edition on Honeydew Melon vinyl. LP orders from independent retail stores & Mega Mart 2 (the new, UK-based sibling site to the world-famous Sub Pop Mega Mart) in the UK and Europe will receive the Loser Edition on Yellow-Green vinyl. All colored vinyl versions are available while stock lasts.
Track Listing: 1. Waking Up 2. Say Goodbye 3. Got Your Back 4. The Hardest Part 5. A Sign 6. Second Sight 7. Running Away 8. Wait on You 9. Wondrous Life 10. Letting Go
Today, May 15th, Loma (Emily Cross, Dan Duszynski, Jonathan Meiburg) shares “Pink Sky,” a dubby and mischievous standout from How Will I Live Without a Body?, out June 28th worldwide from Sub Pop.
The official “Pink Sky” video was directed and animated by Sabrina Nichols (youbet’s “Nurture,” The Smile’s A Light For Attracting Attention), working from watercolor artwork by Emily Cross.
Loma’s Jonathan Meiburg says, “This mischievous little song was a late addition to the album. We recorded it in a chilly, whitewashed room in southern England, and we didn’t have many instruments to work with at first - just a nylon string guitar, a 2-piece drum set, a Casio keyboard, and a clarinet. But we liked the challenge.”
Loma’s How Will I Live Without a Body?was self-produced and recorded in England, Texas, and Germany, mixed by Dan Duszynski, and mastered by Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound in New York. All songs were composed by the group—with a few nudges from a unique AI (see below).
How Will I Live Without a Body? is a gorgeous, unique, and oddly comforting album about partnership, loss, regeneration, and fighting a sense that we’re all in this alone. Many of its songs have a feeling of restless motion; faceless characters drift through meetings and partings, tangling together and slipping away. Throughout, the core of Loma’s sound remains intact: earthy, organic, and deeply human, anchored by Cross’s cool, clear voice.
Loma’s previous album, Don’t Shy Away, was galvanized by kind words from Brian Eno; this time they were inspired by another hero, Laurie Anderson, who offered a chance to work with an AI trained on her work. The band sent it two photos, and Anderson’s AI responded with two haunting poems. “We used fragments of these poems in two songs,” says Meiburg. “And then Dan noticed that one of AI-Laurie’s lines, ‘How will I live without a body?’ was perfect name for the album, since we nearly lost sight of each other in the recording process.” (Read more at Sub Pop).
How Will I Live Without a Body? is available to preorder on CD/LP/digitally worldwide from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com, and select independent stores in North America will receive the limited Loser edition on Transparent Smoke Vinyl. In the UK and Europe, LP preorders through Sub Pop’s new Mega Mart 2, and UK/EU Independent retailers will receive the Loser edition on Neon Orange Vinyl (All whilst stock lasts!)
What people are saying about Loma: “Dusty piano arpeggios carry “How It Starts” by the off-again, on-again trio Loma, whose members overcame career and geographical separations to record a new album, How Will I Live Without a Body? The song itself suggests a tentative but inevitable reunion: “This is how it starts to move again,” Emily Cross sings, as Jonathan Meiburg (from Shearwater) and Dan Duszynski build an arrangement behind her, gathering heft as they reconvene.” - “The Playlist” - New York Times
“Gorgeous” [“How It Starts”] - Brooklyn Vegan
“Musically, the track is fascinating, all purposeful scatters of piano keys and contrastingly driving percussion, that feels like it’s dragging the whole thing forward, the ray of sunshine chipping away at the ice, daring it to crack…From a woven coffin to a stunning rebirth, Loma are back and on this evidence might just be even more vital than ever.” [“How It Starts”] “Five Things We Liked This Week (#1)” - For The Rabbits
“A beautiful return, it inaugurates a fresh chapter with tremendous guile, while Emily Cross sculpts the hypnotic video.” [“How It Starts”] - CLASH
Loma How Will I Live Without A Body?
Tracklisting 1. Please, Come In 2. Arrhythmia 3. Unbraiding 4. I Swallowed a Stone 5. How It Starts 6. Dark Trio 7. A Steady Mind 8. Pink Sky 9. Broken Doorbell 10. Affinity 11. Turnaround
On August 2nd, J.R.C.G. will release Grim Iconic…(Sadistic Mantra), the second album and Sub Pop debut from the Tacoma, WA-based artist Justin R. Cruz Gallego. Conceived and executed primarily in Gallego’s home studio, Grim Iconic…(Sadistic Mantra) was co-produced by Gallego and Seth Manchester (The Body, Battles, and Mdou Moctar.) Together, they retained the intimacy of Gallego’s home recordings while taking advantage of the hi-fi stylings of Manchester’s Machines With Magnets Studio in Rhode Island.
Driven by opposing forces, Grim Iconic…(Sadistic Mantra) weds scouring electronics to hooky, powerful beats in a way that feels visceral and new. The lead single, “Dogear,” is a face-melting party starter that sounds like Talking Heads and Rudimentary Peni forced to jam together. “I wanted a song that felt playful in the way it attempted to be dissonant without taking itself too seriously,” Gallego says. Directed by Dustin Houston and Sam Klickner, you can watch here.
J.R.C.G. will be opening for Mdou Moctar, with headline dates to follow. See below for a full list of shows.
Tue. Jun. 18 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall $ Wed. Jun. 19 - Detroit, MI - Magic Bag $ Thu. Jun. 20 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom $ Fri. Jun. 21 - Buffalo, NY - Ashbury Hall $ Sun. Jun. 23 - Boston, MA- Paradise Rock Club $ Wed. Jun. 26 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw $ Thu. Jun. 27 - Washington, DC - 9:30 CLUB $ Fri. Jun. 28 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer $ Fri. Aug. 02 - Portland, OR - Polaris Hall Sat. Aug. 03 - Seattle, WA - Clock-Out Lounge Thu. Aug. 15 - Reno, NV - Holland Project Fri. Aug. 16 - San Fransisco, CA - Kilowatt Bar Sun. Aug.18 Tucson - Congress Tues. Aug. 20 - Austin, TX - Mohawk Thu. Aug. 22- New Orleans, LA - Siberia Fri. Aug. 23 - Atlanta, GA - 529 Sat. Aug. 24 - Nashville, TN - Hubba Hubba Tiki Tonk Sun. Aug. 25 - Raleigh, NC - Kings Tue. Aug. 27 - Richmond, VA - Warehouse Wed. Aug. 28 - Washington, DC - Pie Shop Fri. Aug. 30 - Providence, RI - AS220
$ w/ Mdou Moctar
About J.R.C.G. - Grim Iconic…(Sadistic Mantra): To experience Justin R. Cruz Gallego’s pulverizing Sub Pop debut is to get burned down to ashes and burst forth, born anew. Grim Iconic…(Sadistic Mantra), the Tacoma-based artist’s second album is driven by opposing forces: noisy abstractions and tightly structured beats, anguish and dissolution at the outside world and empowerment within, apathy and catharsis. Grim Iconic…(Sadistic Mantra) weds scouring electronics to hooky songs and Gallego’s powerful drumming in a way that feels visceral and new. It’s his most personal statement to date, at once playful and intent, driven and combustible, total fucking chaos mixed into glints of broken-glass beauty.
Born in Tucson, Arizona, Gallego experienced culture shock as a child after relocating to the frigid climes of the Pacific Northwest. He found solace in the Seattle punk scene centered around Iron Lung Records and has since remained a fixture in the underground community.
“I see this record as first and foremost a musical statement,” Gallego says. “I grew up in punk and DIY subcultures, but before that I had Latin music playing in the background through my childhood and every phase of adolescence. It was surprisingly natural to incorporate. I realized I wanted to go deeper into these rhythms. I wanted to make a record that felt as experimental as much as it felt from the perspective of a Latino. When I got a glimmer of that possibility, it felt exciting.”
“Drummy” launches J.R.C.G. beyond the sound of the project’s 2021 debut, Ajo Sunshine, marrying that album’s noisy experimentalism to a newfound focus on rhythm. “It was the first song I wrote for Grim Iconic. To me, it’s the very next scene after the last album closes. ‘Drummy’ married the two approaches and pushed it into this next sequence of songs.” Fascinating amalgams of visceral rhythms and incandescent noise permeate Grim Iconic… (Sadistic Mantra), from the looping hand drums of “34” to the Funhouse-meets-Tropicália blasts of “World i.” It all embraces a sense of freedom while facing modernism.
“Dogear” is a face-melting party starter that sounds like someone forced Talking Heads and Rudimentary Peni to share a practice space. “I wanted a song that felt playful in the way it attempted to be dissonant without taking itself too seriously,” Gallego says. “Cholla Beat” is even more ambitious, an anthemic mix of WAR and Wire led by unruly synthesizers spiraling down a labyrinth of production.
Gallego’s influences for the album are vast, ranging from British documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis to electric Miles Davis to audio miscreants like Demdike Stare and Oneohtrix Point Never. But it’s Gallego’s assured sonic vision that resounds the loudest. And, while J.R.C.G. is a solo project, conceived and executed primarily in Gallego’s home studio, he found strength in opening the project to others, starting with Seth Manchester as co-producer. Manchester’s penchant for bone-rattling frequencies, as seen in his production work with The Body, Battles, and Mdou Moctar, made him a natural fit for Gallego. Together, they retained the intimacy of Gallego’s home recordings while taking advantage of the hi-fi stylings of his Machines With Magnets Studio in Rhode Island. The closing song, “World i,” offers a glimpse into the live experience of Grim Iconic…(Sadistic Mantra), with upwards of seven band members blasting off. The album features a fascinating mix of supporting players, many of whom cycle through J.R.C.G.’s live lineup: Morgan Henderson (The Blood Brothers, Fleet Foxes), Jason Clackley (Dreamdecay, The Exquisites), Jon Scheid (Dreamdecay, U Sco), Erica Miller (Casual Hex, Big Bite), Veronica Dye (Terminator) Phil Cleary (U Sco), and Alex Gaziano (Dreamdecay, Kidcrash, Science Amplification).
Taken as a whole, G.I.S.M. is a whirlwind of sound, pummeling, and cleansing. It’s a sweaty, thrilling aural adventure and, like a great basement show, it’ll leave you breathless, exhausted, and wanting to repeat it all over again. As any good mantra should.
Tomorrow, Friday, May 10th, Sub Pop and Sunny Day Real Estate will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band’s landmark album Diary. Earlier this Spring, we announced a new pearlescent vinyl edition of the remastered double LP, and its release coincides with the band’s 2024 US tour commemorating the album’s anniversary, which is currently underway.
Originally formed in Seattle in 1992, Sunny Day Real Estate featured Nate Mendel (bass), William Goldsmith (drums), Dan Hoerner (guitar, vocals) and Jeremy Enigk (vocals, guitar). Diary, the band’s first full-length album, was released in 1994 on Sub Pop, going on to become the seventh-best-selling record in the label’s history, with more than 231,000 copies scanned in the US alone. Diary was recorded at Chicago’s Idful Studios with producer Brad Wood and released to critical acclaim.
Pitchfork, in its “50 Best Indie Rock Albums of Pacific Northwest,” said of Diary, “The title would later be ridiculed as a symbol of emo’s inward focus, but Sunny Day Real Estate’s Diary, their 1994 debut on Sub Pop, can be read in various ways: in the form of punk rock evolving away from its original designs into more dynamic and insecure space, or as a display of spiraling interplay between four talented musicians from Seattle.”
The Diary 30th Anniversary Tour continues tonight, Thursday, May 9th with a sold-out show at Philadelphia, PA’s Theatre of Living Arts and currently ends with a two-night stand Friday, October 18th and Saturday, October 19th in Los Angeles at The Belasco. Please find a current list of dates below. For more information on tickets, please visit https://sunnyday.realestate.
Thu. May 09 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts [Sold Out]
Fri. May 10 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts [Sold Out]
Sun. May 12 - Boston, MA - Big Night Live
Wed. May 15 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza [Sold Out]
Thu. May 16 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
Wed. Aug. 14 - Dallas, TX - The Echo Lounge & Music Hall
Sat. Aug. 17 - Denver, CO - Summit
Tue. Aug. 20 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox [Sold Out]
Wed. Aug. 21 - Portland, OR - Pioneer Courthouse Square (PDX Live)
Fri. Aug. 23 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox [Sold Out]
Sat. Aug. 24 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox
Sun. Sep. 22 - Louisville, KY - Bourbon and Beyond Festival
Wed. Sep. 25 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues [Sold Out]
Thu. Sep. 26 - Detroit, MI -
Sat. Sep. 28 - Minneapolis, MN - The Fillmore
Oct. 11-13 - Las Vegas, NV - Best Friends Forever Festival
Tue. Oct. 15 - San Francisco, CA - August Hall [Sold Out]
Wed. Oct. 15 - San Francisco, CA - August Hall
Fri. Oct. 18 - Los Angeles, CA - The Belasco [Sold Out]
Sub Pop has signed The Bug Club for the whole wide world, with plans to release new music from the Wales-based band in 2024 and beyond.
The way you’re saying it, “prolific” isn’t the right word for The Bug Club. You’ve got to say it with the trademark Welsh lilt and pay due homage to this inimitable band’s origins in the renowned hit factory of Caldicot, South Wales. Do that, and you’re about right with how to summarize a group who’ve released ten singles, two albums, two EPs, three things nobody knew how to describe, and an album under a different band’s name, all since 2021, and while playing 200+ gigs a year.
The Bug Club is Tilly Harris (Bass, Vocals) and Sam Willmett (Vocals, Guitar). Their first offering for the label is “Quality Pints,” a track that deals with the pressing concerns of any conscientious touring outfit, taking to heart the rule of the three R’s as penned by renowned fellow pints fan Mark E Smith of The Fall: repetition, repetition, repetition. If it’s that important, which it is, it’s worth saying again.
Initially comprising the songwriting core of Willmett and Harris with Dan Matthew on drums, The Bug Club started plying their trade in 2016. They were signed by UK label Bingo Records in Autumn of 2020, and their first single, “We Don’t Need Room For Lovin’,” was released in February 2021. It quickly established The Bug Club as the tongue-in-cheek and live-focused antidote to the previous year’s penned-in pandemic drudgery. BBC 6 Music’s Marc Riley was an early champion, hammering the single, booking the band in for a session as soon as it was allowed, and rightfully praising songwriters capable of singing the whole alphabet in a two-minute song and making it work.
EP Launching Moondream One came next, complete with 7”, comic book, and free jingles (radio stabs are something of a forte for the band), followed by Pure Particles, whose vinyl release included a board game brimming with cult references. Fed up with the conventional approach, they then released “Intelectuals”: a standalone track that was actually a five-track ‘song suite’ like some kind of streaming-model-snubbing, Telecaster-bashing answer to Bach. Highbrow musos took a lyrical beating for the ages. Second standalone release, “Two Beauties,” marked release number two for 2022 and built up to the appearance of debut album Green Dream in F# by October. Lead single “‘It’s Art” encapsulated The Bug Club’s ethos good and proper: they’re only in this for fun, “you’re not supposed to feel it.” But they’re self-effacing because everybody does feel it. And it feels great.
The following January, they decided to pull their fingers out, get some disguises, and support themselves on tour as Mr Anyway’s Holey Spirits. A live album documented this, then they got abstract with titles and put out picture disc Picture This!. By the autumn of 2023, it was time for forty-seven-track, poetry-infused double album Rare Birds: Hour of Song. Their most ambitious realization of The Bug Club’s creative world so far, typically smart and surreal wordplay (as well as their standard enthusiastic obscenity), met with everything from raucous punk to gentle anti-folk. Ivor Cutler seemed to have left his surreal stamp somewhere — the fully illustrated picture book included with the record helped suggest that — but they’d never heard him until somebody else made the comparison. Happy accidents abound.
Things went pair-shaped with Sam and Tilly in 2024 after Dan swapped his sticks for his gardening tools and a quiet life in the countryside. During a trip to America, they caught the eye of Sub Pop. And guess what: new music is hurtling towards their ever-growing loyal fanbase, who can look forward to a year for The Bug Club with stuff going on constantly. Who’d have thunk it?
The Bug Club will support their upcoming Sub Pop release with a slew of UK and European tour dates. The dates begin May 10th in Wrexham, UK at Focus Wales and currently run through Saturday, November 16th in Norwich, UK, at Norwich Arts Centre. Additional international dates will be announced soon.
Fri. May 10 - Wrexham, UK - FOCUS Wales Sat. May 11 - Birmingham, UK - The Castle & Falcon Sun. May 12 - Brighton, UK - Komedia (Matinee) Sun. May 12 - Brighton, UK - Komedia (Evening) Fri. May 17 - Clitheroe, UK - The Grand Sat. May 18 - Sheffield, UK - Get Together Sat. May 25 - Bristol, UK - Dot To Dot Sun. May 26 - Nottingham, UK - Dot To Dot Mon. May 27 - Cardiff, UK - City Arms (Matinee) Mon. May 27 - Cardiff, UK - City Arms (Evening) Tue. Jun. 04 - Bristol, UK - The Fleece * Wed. Jun. 05 - London, UK - Electric Ballroom * Thu. Jun. 06 - London, UK - Sebright Arms Wed. Jun. 12 - Madrid, ES - Siroco Thu. Jun. 13 - Barcelona, ES - Sala VOL Sat. Jun. 15 - Andoain, ES - Andoaingo Rock Jaialdia Sat. Jul. 06 - Usk, UK - The Weekend Rumble Fri. Jul. 26 - Rock, UK - Rock Oyster Festival Fri. Aug. 02 - Pikehall, UK - Y Not Festival Fri. Aug. 30 - Brighton, UK - Brighton Psych Fest Sat. Aug. 31 - Hull, UK - The Adelphi Sun. Sep. 01 - Edinburgh, UK - Edinburgh Psych Fest Thu. Nov. 07 - Bournemouth, UK - Bear Cave Fri. Nov. 08 - Margate, UK - Lido Sat. Nov. 09 - Bedford, UK - Esquires Wed. Nov. 13 - Newcastle, UK - The Cluny Thu. Nov. 14 - Hebden Bridge, UK - The Trades Club Fri. Nov. 15 - Leicester, UK - The SoundHouse Sat. Nov. 16 - Norwich, UK - Norwich Arts Centre * w/ Shellac
