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).
Forth Wanderers have delivered a pensive new visual for the song “Taste,” from their acclaimed Sub Pop debut, and directed by Everett Ravens.”
In a song review of “Taste” earlier this year, NPR Musichad this to say, “Forth Wanderers thrives in distance. Singer Ava Trilling writes the lyrics in New York, guitarist Ben Guterl builds the backbone of music in Ohio. “Taste,” in particular, came from diametrically opposed places in their young love lives…the distance - emotional and physical - doesn’t undercut the dizzying intimacy of the song.”
Forth Wanderers album has earned “Best Albums of 2018 (So Far)” notices from the likes of Stereogumand FLOOD Magazine. And recently, Ava Trilling was included in Playboy’s “Music’s Women of Summer” feature [read here].
Forth Wanderers’ previously announced U.S. summer tour in support of their album begins this Wednesday, June 27th in Richmond, VA at Strange Matter and ends July 18th in Cleveland at Mahall’s Lockeroom. Along the way the band will play with Illuminati Hotties (July 5th-14th). Following the tour, the band will appear at Shadow of the City in Ashury Park, NJ at Stone Pony on August 28th, and at Philadelphia’s Made in America Festival September 1st and 2nd, 2018.
Jun. 27 - Richmond, VA - Strange Matter Jun. 28 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle Jun. 29 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade Jun. 30 - New Orleans, LA - Pour Boys Jul. 02 - Dallas, TX - Regal Room Jul. 03 - Austin, TX - Barricuda Jul. 05 - Phoenix, AZ - Rebel Lounge* Jul. 06 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues* Jul. 07 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo* Jul. 08 - San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop* Jul. 10 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir* Jul. 11 - Seattle, WA - The Vera Project* Jul. 13 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court* Jul. 14 - Denver, CO - Lost Lake* Jul. 17 - Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen Jul. 18 - Cleveland, OH - Mahall’s Lockeroom Aug. 28 - Asbury Park, NJ - Stone Pony Sep. 01-02 - Philadelphia, PA - Made In America Festival
Forth Wandererswas produced and recorded by Cameron Konner in Philadelphia over 5 days in the summer of 2017. The album is available now on CD/LP/CS/DL through Sub Pop [link here].
What people have said about Forth Wanderers: “The band inhabits a space that can feel bigger than the sprawling tree-lined streets and byzantine freeways of their local inspiration. Instead, the place Trilling and her bandmates create is more personal, messier, and chaotic. They give musical cues to the growing pains of young adulthood that are relatable but never trite—their songs, like any you might’ve been obsessed with in high school, feel like a mirror held up to the all-consuming triumphs and heartbreaks of your own youth.” [album review] - Pitchfork
“An indie rock record for the ages” [feature] - Stereogum
“Blissful” [feature] - Noisey
“This lot are shooting for the premiership of American indie.” [album review] - DIY
“These might be some of the most well-crafted rock songs you’ll hear all year long.” [album review] - NME
“The joyfully raucous Forth Wanderers bears testament to just how well the distance formula is working.” [album review] - CLASH
“Forth Wanderers is nonetheless a bittersweet and refreshingly candid second record from a band that’s seemingly found its voice.” [album review] - The Line Of Best Fit
“Throughout it’s bursting with the uncontainable energy of glorious garage rock.” [album review] - Loud and Quiet
“Vocalist Ava Trilling’s songs are wistful but rarely self-pitying, and ‘Forth Wanderers’ sparkles with a pensive, but optimistic energy.” [album review] - Dork
“By playing to their strengths – creating tousled, jangly indie rock around argumentative lyrics that beg for resolution – Forth Wanderers aptly illustrate when a band is truly in sync.” [album review] - Gold Flake Paint
There’s no rest for Frankie Cosmos who have announced additional North American dates starting on September 13th in Baltimore, with shows in Durham, Atlanta, Austin, Detroit and Pittsburgh, ending on Oct 7th in their home of New York City. These dates will follow the band’s European shows in July & August and are in support of their latest release, Vessel. See below for a full list of shows.
Ever wonder what it would be like to co-write an album with a band? Now you have the chance to find out. Loosely inspired by conceptual artist, Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings, Frankie Cosmos front person, Greta Kline has created An Induced Album. Moved by the idea that LeWitt’s artwork can still be installed in new forms even after his death, Kline sought to create a version of this for her songwriting. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever made that I feel is incomplete until it is out in the world” says Kline. “Releasing recorded music is great, but I have never felt an excitement quite like this one– that once I release this, it really changes what it is. It’s not done until the audience participates, which really excites me (or actually, maybe it’s never “done”). It’s also very out of my control once I release it, unlike a finished recorded album, so that’s scary, but fun.”
You can access all the details to co-pilot your own Frankie Cosmos album at www.frankiecosmosband.com.
Jul. 14 - Madrid, ES - Mad Cool Festival Jul. 15 - Port of Menteith, UK - Doune The Rabbit Hole Jul. 27-29 - 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 Aug. 22 - Galway, IE - Roisin Dubh Aug. 23 - Dublin, IE - Button Factory Sep. 13 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar Sep. 14 - Durham, NC - Motorco Sep. 15 - Asheville, NC - The Mothlight Sep. 16 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade Sep. 17 - Birmingham, AL - Saturn 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 Co. Sep. 24 - Oklahoma CIty, OK - Tower Theatre Sep. 26 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Sep. 27 - Milwaukee, WI - The Back Room @ Colectivo Sep. 30 - Detroit, MI - El Club (Outside) Oct. 01 - Cleveland, OH - The Grog Shop Oct. 02 - Pittsburgh, PA - Cattivo Oct. 03 - Harrisburg, PA - HMAC Stage on Herr Oct. 05 - Jersey City, NJ - White Eagle Hall Oct. 06 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg Oct. 07 - New York, NY - The Bowery Ballroom
[Photo Credit: Angel Ceballos]
What The People are saying about Frankie Cosmos: “It’s a dreamy rock album with lyrics that face unsatisfying relationships and inner turmoil with realism and flashes of warped humor.” [Vessel] - Paste
“The album is less about the epic poem of New York than about how the brain and the heart are connected by nerves and blood—less about Kline’s place in the world, than her place within herself.” [Vessel] - Pitchfork
Kline has a keen, quick grip on the back-and-forth of modern uncertainty, swinging high from triumph to low-lit sorrow. It’s why she’s such a comfort to return to.” [Vessel, 8/10] - Crack
“While intimacy has found a large pop audience in the social-media era […] Kline’s disclosures are striking because they feel genuinely homespun…nobody does it better currently”[Vessel, 4/5] - Q
“Slight but powerful indie-pop” / “There’s great charm to these yearning tunes”. [Vessel, 8/10] -Uncut
“Completely enchanting, it’s further proof that the band are one of the best” [Vessel] - Wonderland
Now watch their incisive take on the gentrification and “sceneism” of today, in the official video for “Give You Game” [NSFW], a new song featuring Stas The Boss (THEESatisfaction).
Knife Knights is a new collaboration from Ishmael Butler and musician/producer Erik Blood. The first offering from the union comes in the form of new [and somewhat NSFW] visual for “Give You Game,” directed by Justin Henning.
On “Give You Game,” Butler and Blood weave their distant voices through a landscape of synthesizers and drums that bubble up sporadically, like geysers. Marquetta Miller and former THEESatisfaction member Stasia Irons soon join, their round tones lacing around those sounds and giving them shape. It is an abstract anthem to astral love. “Give You Game” also features a guest appearance from guitarist Thaddillac.
Recorded during fertile sessions interrupted by Shabazz Palaces tours and Blood’s recording projects, “Give You Game” marks an exciting new chapter in the creative 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.
