Today, King Tuff has shared another new song off his forthcoming album, The Other [pre-order here], out April 13th via Sub Pop Records. “Raindrop Blue,” oozing with soulful bass lines and pulsating saxophone melodies, continues Kyle Thomas’s new artistic vision as King Tuff. You’re listening to the song here now via the Emmanuelle Pickett-directed visuals above. Pre-order for the album is available now.

Speaking about “Raindrop Blue,” Thomas lays out its relevance to the greater story of the album and its relationship to the previously-released song ”The Other”:

“…I took the hand of the Other…you fell onto my fingers like velvet to the touch…

Is Raindrop Blue the lost forgotten lover? Is she the Other? Is she the Blue Subaru?

Funny story about that Blue Subaru…

I wrote “The Other” in October 2016. At the time it was a fictional story about losing myself and the quest to find the creative spirit again. I imagined myself driving around in a 1982 blue Subaru Brat, which has been my dream car ever since I was a little kid. I would see them driving around my hometown, Brattleboro, Vermont, and I thought the name Brat had something to do with the town itself. It always seemed like the unicorn of cars; you’d only catch a glimpse of one when you weren’t looking. So I was driving this car around in my song cuz you can do whatever you want inside a song.

A year and a half later and the album was done. I sent it to my good friend Em so she could take a listen. She’s been in school studying dreams and alchemy, and we talked about the dark side of the moon, the flip side of the mirror, the unknowable Other and things in the lyrics which were oddly in line with her studies. She’s always had the most poetically surreal dreams as long as I’ve known her, full of symbols and strange beauty, like she’s tapped into some kinda psychic conduit. She was in Vermont but her dreams had been telling her to go to New Mexico. She needed transportation for when she got there, so she was hunting around on Craigslist to find some dusty old high-desert gem she could zoom around in. The first car that popped up: “1982 Blue Subaru Brat in Albuquerque.” The exact car from my song. She sent me the ad. I immediately booked a flight out there, bought the car, and drove her back to LA in a blaze of romantic glory.

The lyrics in the song had somehow come true.

It felt like whatever this mysterious “Other” was, it seemed like maybe it was on my side. Helping me along. As long as I had faith in it.

So..is Raindrop Blue the Other? or the Subaru? Probably both and probably neither. But one thing is for certain: I love to dance.”

Their Prime will be available worldwide from Sub Pop Records with the exception of Canada through Royal Mountain Records

Stoked to announce we signed Canadian rippers Jo Passed, and on May 25th we’ll release Their Prime, the band’s first full-length record, worldwide through Sub Pop Records, with the exception of Canada through Royal Mountain Records.  The album, which features the singles “ MDM,” “Glass” and “Millennial Trash Blues,” was recorded during the fall / winter of 2016/17 at Thor’s Palace & KW Studios, both in the band’s hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia.
 
The band have delivered an official video for Their Prime standout “MDM,” which was directed by Eleanor Petry.” Bandleader Jo Hirabayashi says of the video, “something something, on my phone too much, something something, marshall mcluhan, something something, stanley kubrick, something something, the medium is the message, something something, ouch my insides.”

 
Jo has been part of the DIY music scene since his late teens. Initially it was just him and his high school best friend Elliot Langford against the world. They were the “freaky music weirdos” and they began their own band projects. Jo was pretty sure that it would be two of them riding into the sunset – or maybe the gloom – together. Personal circumstances and the phenomenon of the late 20s return of Saturn (for those who believe in astrology) got in the way. Their band Sprïng called it a day. That’s where the life of Jo Passed began. The idea of a band dynamic is far more appealing to Jo than solo projects, and the current incarnation of Jo Passed feels like its most robust yet.  
 
Jo, along with his friend and drummer Mac Lawrie, moved across the country from Vancouver to Montreal. The two would play shows in Montreal and eventually tour the far right corner of North America. Upon Jo’s return to the west coast, multi-instrumentalist Bella Bébé officially joined the band in January of 2016, expanding Jo Passed from trio to a full quartet. Multimedia artist Megan-Magdalena Bourne began working with Jo Passed on a video project for the song “Rage” (from the Out EP). This creative partnership would eventually lead to her taking on the role of bassist for the band.
 
When not geeking out over The Zombies, or Nirvana, or Johann Sebastian Bach… Bella, Mac, and Megan have worked with Jo to realize the live experience of Their Prime, following two Jo Passed EPs titled Up and Out.

Jo Passed Tour Dates + Ticket Links

Jo Passed has scheduled a few spring club shows and festival dates before hitting the road later this year. Current highlights include shows with Hardly Art’s Dick Stusso (March 16th-24th) and an appearance at Treefort Music Festival in Boise (March 21st). 

Mar. 16 - Bozeman, MT - Labor Temple*
Mar. 18 - Denver, CO - Lost Lake Lounge*
Mar. 19 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court*
Mar. 21 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Festival
Mar. 22 - Seattle, WA - Barboza*
Mar. 24 - Portland, OR - Crush House *
Apr. 14 - Victoria, BC - Lucky Bar
*w/ Dick Stusso


Preorders for Their Prime are now available through Sub Pop and Royal Mountain Records. LP purchases in North America through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on clear vinyl (while supplies last). 
 
Their Prime is a record about identity and the loss of time that happens as a direct consequence of being in the city with nowhere to rent, no time outside of employment and no realistic expectations to live up to. It encompasses that fear of being beyond the glory years, the most creatively fruitful period of one’s life. Those years were lost to contemporary struggles for working relationships, home, identity and space. “It’s me owning my worst nightmare,” he admits. “A lot of the Jo Passed project has been about confronting fears. I was afraid to move away from Vancouver to Montreal on my own. Afraid to leave musical relationships I had. Afraid to bare the full responsibility of a project. I’ve been putting out records and not ones anyone’s necessarily heard. Being open about those fears is a good way of dealing with them. You end up at this point where you hit 30 and you’re like, ‘Oh what happened? Am I done? Did I not activate my main creative energy?’ It’s a ridiculous idea but 30 feels a little like 1000 in rock n roll terms.” You can hear the frustrations and the jitters in the crashing loud-and-quiet motifs throughout the album’s twelve tracks, which offer up a patchwork quilt of sound, similar to Faust’s IV or Fugazi’s Red Medicine[read more at Sub Pop].

2018 International Tour Now Includes Dates Supporting METZ (Europe) and Preoccupations (US West Coast); New Shows Include Brooklyn, UK tour, SXSW

Experience Moaning’s forthcoming new album (out March 2nd) ahead of its release through a voyeuristic lens with this cover art visualizer and stream (see Brooklyn Vegan premiere February 26th). Directed by the band and Max Flick, this “cover art visualizer” features a different vignette for every song on the album.

“[Moaning] incorporate dark shoegaze and wall-of-noise rippers into their hazy palette, with some soaring, poppy numbers too. (They’re a little bit like ’00s-era LA band Abe Vigoda.) We’re premiering a visual stream of the whole record that cleverly riffs on the album’s cover art,” says Brooklyn Vegan (see premiere February 26th).

Moaning Tour Dates + Ticket Links

Moaning has also just extended their international tour schedule for 2018 through June 21st.  Highlights include: appearances at SXSW March 14th-17th; a support slot on labelmates METZ European jaunt (April 17th-18th; select dates April 23rd-May 5th);  A US West Coast run opening for Secretly Canadian records act Preoccupations (May 11th-19th); A return trip to mainland EU and the UK for more festivals and headlining shows (May 25th-June 17th); And the addition of a Brooklyn, New York show on June 21st at Zone One at Elsewhere. Additional tour dates announced soon.

Mar. 09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo ^
Mar. 10 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom / Flying Burrito Music & Food Festival
Mar. 11 - Flagstaff, AZ - The Burn Ward
Mar. 13 - San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger / Heatwave 3 Festival
Mar. 14 - Austin, TX - SXSW / Ground Control Touring Showcase at Barracuda
Mar. 15 - Austin, TX - SXSW / Grey Estates Showcase at Voodoo Doughnut
Mar. 16 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Mar. 17 - Austin, TX - SXSW / Burgermania 7 at Hotel Vegas
Mar. 18 - Hot Springs, AR -Valley of the Vapors
Mar. 20 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
Mar. 21 - Omaha, NE - O’Leavers
Mar. 21 - 25 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Festival
Mar. 22 - Denver, CO - Lost Lake ^^
Mar. 23 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court #
Mar. 25 - Reno, NV - Holland Project $
Apr. 17 - Lisbon, PT - Musicbox *
Apr. 18 - Porto, PT - Hard Club *
Apr. 19 - Benidorm, ES - Fuzzville Festival
Apr. 20 - Hondarribia, ES - Psichobelicenea
Apr. 21 - Barcelona, ES - Sala Be Good
Apr. 23 - Milan, IT - Magnolia *
Apr. 24 - Bologna, IT - Freakout*
Apr. 25 - Munich, DE - Strom *
Apr. 26 - Cologne, DE - Gebaude 9 *
Apr. 28 - London, UK - Test Pressing Festival *
Apr. 30 - Glasgow, UK - Stereo *
May 02 - Manchester, UK - Soup Kitchen *
May 03 - Ramsgate, UK - Ramsgate Music Hall *
May 05 - Leffingen, BE - De Zwerver *
May 11 - Seattle, WA - Barboza **
May 12 - Portland, OR - Star Theatre **
May 14 - San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop **
May 17 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo **
May 18 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo ** [SOLD OUT]
May 19 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar **
May 25 - Laval, FR - 3 Les Elephants Festival
May 26 - Amsterdam, NL - London Calling Festival
May 27 - Brussels, BE - AB Club
May 29 - Lausanne, CH - Le Romandie
May 30 - Carpi, IT - Mattatoio
Jun. 01 - Nimes, FR - This Is Not A Lovesong Festival
Jun. 05 - Tours, FR - Aucard de tour
Jun. 06 - Angers, FR - Heron Carre
Jun. 07 - Le Havre, FR - Mc Daids
Jun. 10 - Hilvarenbeek, NL - Best Kept Secret Festival
Jun. 12 - London, UK - The Lexington
Jun. 14 - Glasgow, UK - Broadcast
Jun. 15 - Bristol, UK - Rough Trade
Jun. 17 - Margate, UK - Tom Thumb
Jun. 21 - Brooklyn, NY - Zone One at Elsewhere
 
^ w/ Froth
^^ w/ Nnamdi Ogbonnaya
* w/ METZ
$ w/ Bedroom
** w/ Preoccupations
# w/ Ed Schrader’s Music Beat

Moaning will be available this Friday, March 2nd on CD/LP/CS/DL worldwide through Sub Pop right over here.

[Photo Credit: Nick Sayers]

Hot on the heels of their 2017 record Strange Peace, Toronto rippers, METZ have announced new dates in North America, Europe and Asia. These headlining and festival tour dates span March - September, and will bring the band back to the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, Germany, France, Ireland, UK, Japan, China and Singapore. Sub Pop label mates Moaning, will open a slew of EU shows. See below for a full list of dates.

In other news, we’re elated to share that the band are nominated for a 2018 JUNO award in the category of “Metal/Hard Album of the Year.” You can visit the awards website for a full list for nominations. We’re rooting for you, METZ!

Strange Peace is available now on CD / LP / DL / CS worldwide (except in Canada) from Sub Pop right here. In Canada, Strange Peace is available from Royal Mountain Records over here.

METZ Tour Dates + Ticket Links

Mar. 16 - 18 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Apr. 17 – Lisbon, Portugal – MusicBox *
Apr. 18 – Porto, Portugal – Hard Club *
Apr. 19 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso Noord
Apr. 20 – Rotterdam, Netherlands – Motel Mozaique
Apr. 21 - Esch-sur-Alzette, LU - Out of the Crowd Festival
Apr. 23 - Milan, IT - Magnolia *
Apr. 24 - Bologna, IT - Freakout, Bologna *
Apr. 25 - Munich, DE - Strom *
Apr. 26 - Cologne, DE - Gebaude 9 *
Apr. 27 - Belfort, FR - Impetus Festival
Apr. 28 - London, UK - Test Pressing Festival*
Apr. 30 - Glasgow, UK - Stereo *
May 01 - Dublin, IE - Whelan’s
May 02 - Manchester, UK - Soup Kitchen *
May 03 - Ramsgate, UK - Ramsgate Music Hall *
May 04 - Brussels, BE - Les Nuits Botanique
May 05 - Leffinge, BE - De Zwerver *
May 23 - Taipei, Taiwan - The Wall
May 25 - Beijing, China - TBC
May 26 - Shanghai, China - TBC
May 29 - Hong Kong, China - TTN Livehouse
May 31 - Manila, Philippines - Mow’s Bar
Jun. 1 - Singapore - Decline
Jun. 2 - Bangkok, Thailand - Norma
Jun. 4 - Tokyo, Japan - Fever
Jun. 5 - Tokyo, Japan - Fever
Jun. 6 - Nagoya, Japan - Tight Rope
Jun. 7 - Osaka, Japan - Conpass
Jul. 21 - Tromso, Norway - Bukta Festival
Sep. 14 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre (Westward Festival)
* w/ Moaning

Jericho Sirens will be available worldwide on March 16th

As previously announced, Friday, March 16th, 2018 will mark the release of Hot Snakes’ Jericho Sirens, the long-awaited fourth album (and first in 14 years!!!) from the San Diego-based punk rock recidivists. For your listening enjoyment, we now share the second single from the band’s new record, entitled, “Death Camp Fantasy.” (also available on Spotify and Apple Music.

Jericho Sirens is now available for preorder - available on CD / LP / DL / CS - from Sub Pop [right here]. And the band’s newly reissued catalog - Automatic Midnight, Suicide Invoice and Audit in Progress- is also available now on Sub Pop [over here].

Hot Snakes Tour Dates + Ticket Links

The band will play a hometown release show in San Diego at the Casbah on March 7th, which is then followed immediately by a midwestern U.S. tour March 10th-16th.
 
Mar. 07 - San Diego, CA - Casbah [Sold Out]
Mar. 09 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
Mar. 10 - Detroit, MI - El Club
Mar. 11 - Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop
Mar. 13 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
Mar. 14 - St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill
Mar. 15 - Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club [Sold Out]
Mar. 16 - St. Paul, MN - Turf Club

[Photo Credit: Rick Froberg]