Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires deliver their raucous brand of Southern Rock to the people, as their U.S. tour kicks off this week in support of recent single “Sweet Disorder” and Dereconstructed the group’s acclaimed 2014 album.  

Got yer tickets but you just can’t wait for the show?  Have a listen to the album right over here.

The voyage begins tomorrow night, September 25th in Lexington, KY at Cosmic Charlies and has been extended through Saturday, November 7th in Whitesburg, KY at Appalshop.  The group will also be joined by Saddle Creek recording artists Pujol for select dates (as you’ll see below). 

Single “Sweet Disorder!” was produced by Tim Kerr, cut by Jeremy Ferguson, mixed by Bains and Ferguson at Battletapes in Nashville, TN. The b-side, “Stars,” a Primitons cover, was recorded by Lee on Lee’s phone in Atlanta, GA and shined up by Ferguson, also at Battletapes.  

Both “Sweet Disorder!” and Dereconstructed are available for purchase from Sub Pop Mega Mart, iTunes, Amazon, and your friendly neighborhood record shop. 

What do The People have to say about Dereconstructed?  

“Dereconstructed, the band’s second album, ponders Southern identity in a welter of cranked-up guitars, bristling drums and rasping, hollering vocals. It’s pandemonium with a conscience.” - New York Times

“A terrific album.” [4/5 Stars] - The Guardian

“If there’s one tradition Bains and the Glory Fires unquestioningly uphold, it’s the Friday-night custom of burning down the house.” - NPR Music

“It’s a dirty-sounding album, full of scuzzy red-line guitars and overdriven vocals, but even all that speaker-busting grit doesn’t hide the alluring melodies Bains threads among the mayhem.” - Paste

“Bains likes to rock. He and the Glory Fires wrap his commentaries, ruminations, and invective in what he calls “real Alabama rock ’n’ roll,” a raging burnpile of garage and Southern rock, dirty, supercharged blues and soul, Stonesy groove, Crazy Horse howl, and punk slam. With these songs, Bains surely wants to make you think; he surely will make you shake.” - The Boston Globe  

Bains hails from Birmingham, a city torn apart by some of the South’s most tragic events, and the singer isn’t shy about assailing the shortcomings and flaws, while also delivering a dose of don’t-forget-where-you’re-from pride. It’s fiercely intelligent stuff with a raucous sound.” [Best Album of 2014] - Garden & Gun

Tour Dates:

Sep. 25 - Lexington, KY - Cosmic Charlies*
Sep. 26 - Louisville, KY -  Zanzabar*
Sep. 27 - Champaign, IL - Pygmalion Festival
Sep. 28 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle *
Sep. 29 - Grand Rapids, MI - Pyramid Scheme *
Sep. 30 - Detroit, MI - UFO Factory *
Oct. 01 - Pittsburgh, PA - Smiling Moose *
Oct. 02 - Lancaster, PA - Lizard Lounge *
Oct. 03 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s All Right *
Oct. 04 - Providence, RI - Aurora *
Oct. 05 - Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie *
Oct. 06 - Morgantown, WV - 123 Pleasant Street
Oct. 07 - Washington DC - Black Cat (Backstage)*
Oct. 08 - Harrisonburg, VA - Clementine Cafe *
Oct. 09 - Charlotte, NC - Milestone
Oct. 10 - Greenville, SC - Fall For Greenville
Oct. 20 - Oxford, MS - Proud Larry’s
Oct. 21 - Little Rock, AR - White Water Tavern
Oct. 22 - Dallas, TX - Three Links
Oct. 23 - San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger
Oct. 24 - Austin, TX - Mohawk
Oct. 25 - Houston, TX - Walter’s
Oct. 26 - Baton Rouge, LA - Chelsea’s
Oct. 27 - New Orleans, LA - Siberia
Oct. 28 - Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder *
Oct. 29 - Orlando, FL - Will’s Pub *
Oct. 30 - Tampa, FL - Crowbar
Oct. 31 - Jacksonville, FL - Burro Bar *
Nov. 01 - Gainesville, FL - The FEST
Nov. 05 - Raleigh, NC - Slim’s
Nov. 06- Richmond, VA - The Extravaganza @ Broadberry
Nov. 07 - Whitesburg, KY - Appalshop
* w/ Pujol

For more information + ticket links, please go here.

Strange Wilds begin ripping their way across North American in support of their debut album, Subjective Concepts, tomorrow night, Thursday, September 25th at Black Lodge in Seattle. The tour keeps on rolling until November 21st, and takes the band throughout the continental U.S. 

Newly added tour dates include: October 10th in Athens, OH at Galbreath Chapel; October 14th in Annondale, NY at SMOG at Bard College; October 15th in Brooklyn, NY at the Knitting Factory for Sub Pop & Hardly Art’s CMJ showcase; November 8th in San Diego, CA at the Soda Bar; and November 12th in Bakersfield, CA at Temblor Brewing Company; November 20th in Tacoma, WA at Real Art. (details below)

Landing firmly (yet gently) at #35 in the U.K. Top 40 official albums and #68 here in the U.S. on SoundScan’s Top Current Albums charts, Low’s new Ones and Sixes has earned the group its highest-ever debut in the U.K., and its second-best showing in the U.S.

Over the airwaves this week, Ones and Sixes is currently # 13 on the CMJ Top 200 chart, and is seeing strong support from NonComm reporters, with confirmed sessions at KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic” (November 16th), WXPN’s “World Cafe” (airdate TBD), KCMP’s The Current (view here), KEXP, and more.

Ones and Sixes is also one of the best-reviewed albums of Low’s career (horn toot!) with international acclaim from the likes of NPR Music, Paste, Rolling Stone, SPIN, Boston Globe, Pitchfork, Under the Radar, The Guardian, The Observer, DIY, Q, MOJO, Uncut, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Chicago Tribune, CLASH, The Sunday Times, Dusted, NOW,  and more. And the band are the current cover stars of MAGNET’s September issue, interviewed by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon (view cover / read an excerpt of the story here).

Low’s headlining North American and European tour in support of Ones and Sixes is currently underway, with a show tonight, Wednesday, September 23rd in Boston at Brighton Music Hall, and ends November 21st in Seattle, WA at the Crocodile. When the band returns to the EU on tour in October, they’ll also play their largest headlining date at London’s iconic Roundhouse on October 10th. (see details below)

- - - - -

May we suggest that you trade your dollars for this intoxicating new record*?  Ones and Sixes is available now from the Sub Pop Mega Mart, iTunes, Amazon, and Bandcamp. 

*Thrilled (and sorry) to report, that the limited “Loser Edition” of the double-LP (yellow vinyl + variant slipcase cover) is sold out on megamart.subpop.com.  So we encourage you to (respectfully) stalk your local independent record store for this special edition.  It’s also available from the the band themselves at their upcoming tour dates.

Ones and Sixes, featuring the standouts “No Comprende,” “What Part of Me,” “Lies,” “Gentle,” and “No End,” was co-produced by the band and engineer BJ Burton at Justin Vernon’s April Base Studios in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

You might like to know (as we did) what “They” are saying about Low’s Ones and Sixes:

“It’s one thing for Low to have made a rewarding career of spare, dramatic, glacially paced music…It’s another to make those ingredients sound so incredibly dynamic; to spend 20-plus years making a dozen albums that each feel distinct, and that each introduce new ideas, twists and ways to wring drama out of the space between notes…Throughout Ones and Sixes, the Minnesota trio somehow gives weight to airiness as comfort and discord orbit each other like a binary star. But every time the portent threatens to become overbearing — just as the mix of prettiness and heaviness tips a little too far out of alignment — Low punctures it with a burst of cleansing aggression or some pristine, exquisite surprise. Anything to keep us off balance.” [“First Listen”] - NPR Music

“The band’s strengths are here in abundance, but they are reimagined, twisted into new shapes and given a visceral intensity that is utterly irresistible.” [9/10] - CLASH

“…Striking a balance between their majestic, slow-moving melancholy and harsher experimental noise.” [4/5] - The Guardian

“One of the most impressive albums of their career” [4/5] - MOJO

“‘What Part of Me,’ with its upbeat percussion, fuzzy guitar textures and sweet harmonized lyrics about relationship boundaries (‘What part of me don’t you own?’), feels like a sideways response to the post-1989 maximalism of today’s Top 40; “Into You” is a gospel-inflected, subtly sexy slow jam; and “The Innocents” sets accusatory vocals over a crunching electro-industrial beat, all to excellent effect. Elsewhere, on the gentle, pained duet “Lies,” Low remind us they’re still masters of doing a lot with a little.” - Rolling Stone

“Ones and Sixes is all at once beautiful, ugly, tense, warm, inviting and repellent. It’s an emotional and sonic juggling act where even the slightest bum-note would draw attention to itself. As always with Low, the beauty is all about the details” - Pitchfork

‘Ones and Sixes is an ear-pricking listen.’ [Album of the Week] -  The Observer

“Beautiful desolation....coolly exhilarating”  [4/5] -  Q

“Ones and Sixes finds them producing some of their best work in years” - The Quietus

“It’s another subtly heart-rending effort from a band that remains one of the very finest in the world. If you needed a reminder of why Low are an institution then this is it.” [8/10] - Drowned in Sound

“Somehow, with each new release (and they come regularly, every two or three years), Low manage to find new ways of protracting their deceptively beautiful melodies.” [4.5/5] - Music OMH

“Ones and Sixes hinges on tension that courses throughout these 12 songs. The drums land with a thud, as if transferred from modern R&B and hip-hop. They anchor songs that crackle with bits of distortion and chiming guitars that somehow feel disembodied from everything surrounding them. Then, in keeping with a signature Low move, there is the spectral spark created by Parker and Sparhawk singing together; their alchemy is otherworldly and downright intoxicating.” - Boston Globe

“With Ones and Sixes they’ve pulled together many of their disparate sides in a masterful survey of what makes them one of the great rock bands of their era.” - Dusted

“Ones and Sixes sees Low churning out some of their most accessible work, with “What Part of Me” having the potential to be an unlikely hit. As ever, strong stuff in every way.” [4/5] - Record Collector

“Low’s always been good at making records where it sounds like every note and beat contains some degree of pain and hope you’ve felt. So hopefully it’s compelling when this one stands out even more as one of their best.” [8.1 /10] - PASTE

“Low remain as vital as ever” - DIY

“After two decades, a band that could easily feel part of the wallpaper remain hungry to show that you never know what lies beneath” [8/10] - Uncut

“Comfortably ahead of the pop pack” - The Sunday Times

“Masters of transforming emptiness into swelling, sweeping orchestrations of musical and mental noise, Low are truly intense and joyful on their newest exhibition of off-kilter, subterranean pop.” [4/5] - NOW

Tour Dates

Sep. 23 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall*
Sep. 24 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg*
Sep. 25 - Hamden, Connecticut – The Ballroom at The Outer Space*
Sep. 26 - Washington, DC - Black Cat*
Oct. 07 - Manchester, UK - Cathedral ^
Oct. 08 - Glasgow, UK - Art School =
Oct. 10 - London, UK - Roundhouse ^
Oct. 12 - Koln, DE - Gebaude 9 =
Oct. 13 - Hamburg, DE – Knust =
Oct. 14 - Copenhagen, DK – Vega =
Oct. 15 - Stockholm, SE – Kagelbanan =
Oct. 17 - Berlin, DE – Lido =
Oct. 19 - Munich, DE – Ampere =
Oct. 20 - Bologna, IT - Teatro Antoniano =
Oct. 22 - Zaragoza, ES - Las Armas =
Oct. 23 - Barcelona, ES – Bikini =
Oct. 24 - Valencia, ES - Deleste Festival
Oct. 26 - Madrid, ES - Teatro Lara =
Oct. 27 - Santander, ES – Escenario =
Oct. 29 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso ^
Oct. 30 – Tourcoing, FR – Le Grand Mix =
Oct. 31 - Brussels, BE – AB +
Nov. 02 – Paris, FR – Le Divan du Monde =
Nov. 11 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue*
Nov. 12 – Omaha, NE – Reverb Lounge*
Nov. 13 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge*
Nov. 14 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex*
Nov. 16 - Los Angeles, CA - The Troubadour*
Nov. 18 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall*
Nov. 20 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir*
Nov. 21 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile*
Feb. 01 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
 
* w/ Andy Shauf
^ w/ Two Gallants
+ w/ Chelsea Wolfe
= w/ Mike Noga

For up to date information on tickets please visit http://chairkickers.com/shows.

No Fly List: Notes From the Airport Store (September 2015)

People Are Still Asking Us Who We Are and Why Are We Here

“A Sub Pop store? At the airport?”

This is a common refrain we hear, as the store wraps up its second summer at Sea-Tac Airport. For the percentage of travelers who are familiar with Sub Pop, the idea of having a store (and placing said-store in the airport) is usually met with astonishment and/or incredulousness. 

I’d say this happens for two reasons. The first being that for people of a certain age and/or mindset, Sub Pop is associated with a very specific slacker/grunge/anti-establishment sentiment, and the blatant money-grab of a store in an airport is the final cause célèbre that the label has *shudder* sold-out. 

If there was a specific blueprint laid out 27 years ago, that planned the existence of a store in an airport, I haven’t found it yet. But there is retail precedence for the label, and in my mind, the audacious idea of having a store in the airport is very much in keeping with Sub Pop’s motto of ‘spanning the globe for profit,’ along with a history of garish displays of ego, such as planting our flag on the goddamn Space Needle.

(I’d also say that this mock derision is the least-likely response to seeing the store in-person, behind curiosity, excitement, and blissful ignorance.)

The second reason is that a lot of people treat the airport as a non-place. (If you need time to brush up on the anthropology of super-modernity and non-places, I’ll be here waiting.) Essentially, no one visits the airport willingly; it exists solely to funnel people to their final destination, where they really want to go; airports do not need to reflect history or culture because people only come to the airport in order to leave. 

After being open for 16 months, I’m able to say that we’re slowly changing people’s expectations of what an airport store can do. While we receive our fair share of surprised travelers every day, we also meet people who actively seek out the store. Every day I hear a different story. Yesterday, there was a woman flying from Buenos Aires to Montreal, who specifically chose Seattle as her layover in order to see the store. Last week, a couple told us that they plan on getting married (!!!) in-front of the store one day, before running off (or in this case, flying away) to Mexico. I even see familiar faces and repeat visitors, which at the start of this job, I would not have expected. People from all different corners of the Earth converge on the store, and sometimes, a little piece of Sub Pop goes home with them. If that’s not ‘World Domination,’ I don’t know what is. 

So, as a busy summer draws to a close, I want to say thank you to everyone who visited us, including the avid fans, the suspicious onlookers, and the curious people who had no idea what Sub Pop was until they wandered into the store. We look forward to your next visit, where we will probably try to convince you to buy more things (but in a totally non-pushy way).