Hot Snakes’ previously announced tour dates for 2018 continue with an in-store performance today at Down in the Valley (Golden Valley store, 6pm CT/All Ages), followed by a headlining show later tonight in St. Paul at the Turf Club.
Mar. 16 - St. Paul, MN - Turf Club
May 09 - Santa Ana, CA - The Observatory
May 10 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom
May 11 - San Diego, CA - The Observatory North Park
May 12 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
May 14 - San Jose, CA - The Ritz
May 15 - San Francisco, CA - August Hall
May 16 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
May 18 - Denver, CO - The Oriental Theater
Jun. 04 - New York City, NY - The Bowery Ballroom
Jun. 05 - Brooklyn, NY - Elsewhere Hall
Jun. 07 - Toronto, ON - The Phoenix Concert Theatre
Jun. 08 - Allston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
Jun. 09 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
Jun. 10 - Washington, DC - Union Stage
Jericho Sirens is now available from Sub Pop, select independent retailers near you and all DSPs. And the band’s recently reissued catalog - Automatic Midnight, Suicide Invoice and Audit in Progress - is also available now on Sub Pop.
What’s the word on Hot Snakes’ Jericho Sirens? Well, since you asked:
“On its three previous records, the group was willing to toy with sustain and release, tension and construction — look at songs like “Suicide Invoice” or “Lovebirds.” Those days are gone. Jericho Sirens is a punched-in wall. Between the doom of the opening bars to “I Need a Doctor” and the homage the record closes on (“Death of a Sportsman” crash-ends with a direct lift from Suicide’s epochal, nihilistic “Ghost Rider” and that song’s four-note spine) lives the sound of not being able to itch your pox. Ever.” [Jericho Sirens, First Listen] - NPR Music
“This is yet another example of Hot Snakes at the top of their game, except this time they gave 14 years in exile for other, lesser bands to catch up with them only to reclaim the throne with ease.” [Jericho Sirens, 9/10] - Drowned in Sound
“The very definition of kickass” [Jericho Sirens, 4/5] - The Guardian
“Jericho Sirens sounds more unstable and aggressive…The palpable anxiety of “I Need A Doctor” opens the album, segueing into the dissonant dread of “Candid Cameras” and the ferocious 78 seconds of “Why Don’t It Sink In?” “Death Camp Fantasy” is a vintage Hot Snakes pounder, and Froberg howls like Brian Johnson in “Psychoactive.” It all works. Whenever Hot Snakes decide to get together, they will always be welcome.” [Jericho Sirens, A-] - AV Club
“This is a winner from start to finish.” [Jericho Sirens, 4/5] - Q
“It’s got all the traits that make Hot Snakes the unique band they always were: the fury of hardcore, the dissonant riffs of noise rock, the fuzz-drenched party of garage rock. They’ve got no fat on this thing — it’s over and done with in 30 minutes and reply value is very high — and the songs aren’t just rippers but catchy too.” [Jericho Sirens, “5 Notable Releases This Week”] - Brooklyn Vegan
“Hot Snakes are as dry, dented and slightly demented as ever.” [Jericho Sirens, 8/10, “Album of the Week”] - The Line of Best Fit
“At its core, Jericho Sirens bears all of the elements that made up Hot Snakes’ excellent first trio of albums: a sharp clash of guitars, pummeling punk-rock rhythms, and Froberg’s frantic, strained bark. Yet there’s even more tension and agitation than usual, even for a band whose discography is founded on that very agitation.” [Jericho Sirens, Album of the Day] - Bandcamp
“Their lengthy hiatus has clearly not dulled Hot Snakes’ razor-sharp edge, one bit, making Jericho Sirens a very welcome return.” [Jericho Sirens, 4/5] - Kerrang!
“It’s a suplex to your ears, a fire in your spirit, a get-up-and-go, absolutely run-wild affair. It’s what Hot Snakes has always been, and always will be: masters of primal, visceral aesthetics.” [Jericho Sirens, Album of the Week] - Treble
“Comebacks are complicated, for bands and fans too, but this is one for the ages. Hot Snakes have returned, reminding those of us who’ve paid attention that they are definitively one of the greatest rock bands we’ve ever known.” [9/10] - Exclaim!
“Jericho Sirens is an incredible turn, and proof to the other half-hearted post-hardcore comebacks of the last years (looking at you At the Drive-In, Refused and more) that it is possible to still be high-quality and relevant. In fact, in places Hot Snakes’ fourth album is so good, it even puts newer bands who have come up in the meantime to shame.” [Jericho Sirens, 5/5] - The Skinny
“A band that holds a timeless appeal to anyone who grew up on hardcore and garage rock, a promise of good times fused to a pummeling sense of aggression and resolve.” - Chicago Tribune
“This band will not change your life, probably. But it will make your life both more terrifying and way more bearable. It’s an honor, genuinely, to be pummelled and trampled by some of the best.” [Jericho Sirens] - The Ringer
“Jericho Sirens, the fourth Hot Snakes album, is a cathartic pileup of chunky guitar slashes and feverish yelps. It’s dense and physical and nasty and fun as hell. We’ve already posted the excellently-titled early tracks “Six Wave Hold-Down” and “Death Camp Fantasy,” and now the whole album is out there online, ready for your solo desk-chair moshing. (You do that too, right? It’s not just me?).” [Jericho Sirens]- Stereogum
“Hot Snakes’ caustic, erudite commentary is more welcome than ever” [Jericho Sirens, 4/5] - MOJO
“Hot Snakes throw one hell of a rock and roll party; let’s hope the invites to the next one don’t take another fourteen years to arrive” [Jericho Sirens, 4/5] - DIY
“It’s exactly what you want out of a Hot Snakes jam, with a riff that snarls and swaggers like a hot rod, its wild hair of a melody built into the stylish chrome.” [“Six Wave Hold-Down”] - NPR Music
“And after teasing a new song, they’ve now shared the slashing, propulsive “Six Wave Hold-Down,” a song that’s absolutely worthy of their old albums.” [“Six Wave Hold-Down”] - Stereogum
“Charges forward with reckless abandon…” [“Six Wave Hold-Down”] - Consequence of Sound
“A ripper which has Hot Snakes sounding as inspired as ever…” [“Six Wave Hold-Down”] - Brooklyn Vegan
Yuno has just announced his first-ever U.S. live performances supporting Twin Shadow, beginning April 20th in San Francisco at Popscene and ending May 2nd in Brooklyn, NY at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Like so:
Apr. 20 - San Francisco, CA - Popscene Apr. 22 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios Apr. 23 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile Cafe Apr. 27 - Washington, DC - U Street Music Hall May 02 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
News of this support tour comes on the heels of Yuno’s Sub Pop signing and the release of his breakout single (and official video) for “No Going Back.” Yuno’s bittersweet vocals glide over a buoyant bass line and, fittingly, one of the song’s central themes is passing a point of no return. Yuno also both stars in and directs the “No Going Back” visual.
Listen to Yuno’s first single on Sub Pop, “No Going Back” - currently climbing the charts on Spotify + Apple Music + YouTube.
NPR Music calls “No Going Back” “an early entry into the race for song of the summer.” And Pitchfork gave the song “Best New Track’ status, and had this to say: “‘No Going Back” insists what we’re all thinking for the new pop wunderkind: Only forward.”
What people are saying about Yuno’s “No Going Back”: “Yuno’s lithe voice floats amidst the cheerful soundscape, bouncing off the plucky piano keys… the brand of sunny pop displayed on ‘No Going Back’ should earn him his own cult fanbase.” - Impose
“It’s light and breezy indie-pop, with warm and bouncy synth-lines softly coloured over with warm piano melodies and guitar solos. His vocals – fitting beautifully into the current psychedelic renaissance spearheaded by the likes of Tame Impala and Washed Out – pour out an infectious melody that’s simultaneously great fun and inflected with melancholy.” - Indie Shuffle
“Bouncy and bright…” - Gorilla Vs. Bear.
“Charming us all with its buoyant pop flair and instrumentals that sound as if they were seemingly dipped in sunshine, “No Going Back” signals Yuno’s return in a way that’s almost impossible to shake. “No Going Back” is as promising as it is optimistic.” - The Grey Estates
“Drifting digital pop casting a bittersweet spell.” - CLASH
Our friends at KEXP came up with a pretty epic 30th birthday gift… and it starts today! KEXP will be honoring every Sub Pop catalog release, in chronological order, over the coming months.
Read on for details…
[Photo Credit: David Ryder/Getty Images, via Pitchfork]
via KEXP: SEATTLE, March 8, 2018 – Legendary independent record label Sub Pop will turn 30 years old this year, and Seattle-based public broadcaster and arts organization KEXP will pay tribute to the label with a four-month retrospective. With over 1,200 releases, the station is planning to honor every single catalog number in the history of the Seattle based label. The tribute will wrap up in time for Sub Pop’s 30th anniversary concert at Alki Beach in West Seattle this August.
“Sub Pop and KEXP go back a long way,” said KEXP Chief Content Officer Kevin Cole. “Our histories are intimately connected - we certainly wouldn’t be who we are without the amazing music and incredible community that Sub Pop has helped to create here in Seattle. Sub Pop is family to KEXP.”
Sub Pop co-founders Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman each had a show on KEXP’s predecessor, KCMU, prior to the formation of the label. Pavitt’s show - Sub Pop USA - focused on celebrating artists and releases on independent regional labels, while Poneman was one of the first hosts of Audioasis, the local music program that still airs weekly on KEXP. Mark Arm of Sub Pop bands Mudhoney and Green River, and Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil had shows on KCMU, as did Charles Peterson, well-known for capturing iconic photographs of the nascent Seattle grunge scene on behalf of the label.
“Bruce Pavitt and I both had air shifts at the former KCMU. KEXP is sort of KCMU unchained, except that the present KEXP air staff have been trained, get paid and drink fancier coffee,” said Jonathan Poneman. “KCMU and Sub Pop Records both began as a pastime for music hobbyists who liked to stay indoors and play records. It’s been our good fortune to have successfully nurtured a reciprocal relationship with our hometown, Seattle: by providing great music to our community, people support it and listen.”
According to an account on HistoryLink, Poneman and Pavitt were first introduced to Nirvana as KCMU DJs, through a demo tape they received from producer Jack Endino. The tape was enough to get the band its first-ever radio airplay for demo versions of ‘Floyd the Barber’ and ‘Paper Cuts,’ songs which would show up over a year later on Bleach. After Sub Pop released Nirvana’s first official single, ‘Love Buzz’, in 1988, Kurt Cobain personally gave a copy to KCMU, and then sat in his car with the radio tuned to the station. When the DJ didn’t put the record on immediately, Cobain found a pay phone and called the station to request it himself.
“Bands were very aware of the role KCMU was playing in helping them out,” said Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil in an oral history of KCMU/KEXP published in CityArts Magazine in 2015. “KCMU was a networking hub for that seminal Seattle scene, Sub Pop and what came to be known as grunge, though I hate that word. It pivoted around KCMU.”
To this day, a strong connection remains. In 2013, KEXP helped celebrate Sub Pop’s 25th Anniversary with a live broadcast of Sub Pop artists performing on top of the Space Needle.
“We probably play more artists from Sub Pop than any other label,” said KEXP’s John Richards, host of The Morning Show on KEXP. “And that’s not necessarily on purpose, or because we feel like we need to play their music - it’s just that good, and their catalog is that deep. Every DJ on KEXP picks their own music, and with Sub Pop, there’s an amazing breadth and variety of killer releases to choose from.”
“Over the past 30 years Sub Pop has been home to the era-defining rock of Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney and the label has also had the privilege of releasing music from artists like Shabazz Palaces, whose art is endlessly expansive and whose creativity is unparalleled,” said Sub Pop CEO Megan Jasper. “We are so proud to work with so many musicians whose songs have changed our moods, our culture and us as individuals. And we can’t wait to learn what the next 30 years will bring!”
The Sub Pop Count-Up will begin on the first full weekday of KEXP’s 2018 Spring Fundraising Drive, on Monday March 12th. Throughout the following months, KEXP DJs will honor each Sub Pop catalog item in chronological order, including full albums, singles, EPs, compilations, early Sub Pop fan zines, and even a wedding soundtrack. KEXP.ORG will also feature online-exclusive content, interviews and more throughout the four-month tribute.
KEXP is a music-focused nonprofit arts organization serving music lovers and artists through in-person, broadcast, and online music programming. KEXP operates one of the most influential listener-supported music radio stations in the country, KEXP-FM, Seattle. More than 200,000 listeners from around the world tune in to the station each week over the air and online. On KEXP’s YouTube channel, videos of exclusive in-studio performances garner more than 2.4 million views per week. KEXP produces hundreds of live performances and music events each year, many of which are open to public audiences at no charge. More information at kexp.org.
In lieu of a proper showcase this year, Sub Pop and Hardly Art artists Bully, Kyle Craft, La Luz, METZ, Moaning and Dick Stusso will be performing in Austin, Texas next week. Below you will find a detailed schedule of our artists shows, as well as sampling of their music. See ya down there!
‘Forth Wanderers’ will be available April 27th worldwide on Sub Pop
The songs on Forth Wanderers’ Sub Pop debut are introspective, with meditations on relationships, discovery, and finding oneself adrift. Despite the inherent heaviness of those themes, Forth Wanderers feels joyous, a rock record bursting with heart. The album’s opening track “Nevermine” is the perfect summation of feelings and themes, with singer Ava Trilling’s lyricism exuding a surge of confidence inspired by an ex-lover who is still captivated by her image. “I don’t think I know who you are anymore/ and I don’t think I knew who I was before” she jabs with relish”
Noisey premiered the track and offered this, “It’s a winding, restless, half-paced song in which Trilling jabs confidently at a former partner: “I am the one you think of when you’re with her.” It never quite settles down, flitting between its four sections, each of which is catchy enough to be a chorus on its own. [see Noisey premiere March 8th].”
Forth Wanderers have scheduled three Northeastern U.S. dates with Fat Possum recording act Hoops May 3rd-5th, 2018.
May 03 - Washington, DC - Rock & Roll Hotel * May 04 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church * May 05 - Brooklyn, NY - Market Hotel * *w/ Hoops
Forth Wanderers, featuring the standouts “Nevermine,” “Not for Me” and “Ages Ago,” and was produced and recorded by Cameron Konner in Philadelphia over 5 days in the summer of 2017. The album will be available on CD/LP/CS/DL through Sub Pop over here. LP pre-orders through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on opaque orange vinyl.
Recorded over five days by friend and audio engineer Cameron Konner at his Philadelphia home studio, Forth Wanderers amplifies the heartfelt sentiments of the band’s earlier works into massive anthems. Ben Guterl and Duke Greene’s guitars have never sounded so sharp, Noah Schifrin and Zach Lorelli’s terse rhythm section is restless, and vocalist-lyricist Ava Trilling seems more self-assured than ever. “We have embraced our roles in the collaboration process,” says Guterl. “Everyone’s gotten better at their instruments and we trust each other more because we know how the machine works.” This spirit soars through Forth Wanderers, resulting in exuberant, profound songs driven by tightly bound melodies and a loving attention to detail (read more at Sub Pop).
