Attention, vinyl nerds!  Sub Pop will reissue Sharpen Your Teeth, the underground classic and lone offering from Ugly Casanova, on 2xLP worldwide October 30th. The long, out-of-print vinyl edition will come with the original 13 track album and 4 bonus songs: “Babies Clean Conscience,” “Diggin Holes,” “Roads to Go to Roads to Go to…“ (which were available as limited edition singles around the album’s release); AND (because you also need this gem in yer life) the unreleased “They Devised A Plan to Fuck Forever,” recorded during the Sharpen Your Teeth sessions.

Sharpen Your Teeth is now available for preorder through Sub Pop Mega Mart. The 2xLP will be available both on black and as a limited “Loser” edition yellow / white with yellow vinyl (while supplies last). In light of this, may we suggest preorder as the prudent path?

About Ugly Casanova:

Ugly Casanova is Isaac Brock, of Modest Mouse. Or, possibly, it is a mysterious savant named Edgar Graham, who imposed himself on Modest Mouse at the Denver show of the band’s 1998 tour, introduced himself as Ugly Casanova, and, through a haze of unnerving instability, shared some rough songs with the band. His songs, though delivered hesitantly… shamefully, even… displayed unmistakable talent. By the end of Modest Mouse’s tour, Casanova, with much reluctance, was persuaded to record some of these songs and hand them over to record labels for issue as singles or parts of compilations. Predictably, immediately after he had done so, he disappeared.

Other than a sheaf of ramblings delivered to Modest Mouse’s singer Isaac Brock in the summer of 1999 that then inspired that band’s The Moon and Antarctica nothing had been heard from Casanova in years and those that still thought of him grew fewer. Then in November of 2001, a faded and water-damaged bundle was discovered among a stack of old packages during one of those general decontamination purges that so often follows a mail scare. Addressed simply to “Sub Pop, Seattle, WA,” there was little evidence of its origin. Inside, swathed in tape, Silly Putty and pelts of three identifiable rodents was a greeting from the long-lost Graham. Numerous tapes and a list of requests that alternated between raving demands for destruction of said tapes and meek pleas for recognition of their contents were extracted from the mess of the package. Fortunately Sub Pop recognized that the tapes held promise, and released them in 2002 as Sharpen Your Teeth.

Until such time as Graham/Casanova resurfaces to take credit for his work and add a bit more to whatever understanding of him still exists, Sharpen Your Teeth will have to suffice. Produced by Brian Deck and Isaac Brock at Glacial Pace Studios (Oregon), Ugly Casanova’s songs are here performed by Misters Brock and Deck, as well as John Orth (Holopaw), Tim Rutili (Califone, Red Red Meat), Pall Jenkins (The Black Heart Procession), and a handful of like-minded collaborators.

Ugly Casanova - Sharpen Your Teeth

Vinyl track listing:

1. Barnacles
2. Spilled Milk Factory
3. Parasites
4. Hotcha Girls
5. (no song)
6. Diamonds On the Face of Evil
7. Cat Faces
8. Ice On the Sheets
9. Bee Sting
10. Pacifico
11. Smoke Like Ribbons
12. Things I Don’t Remember
13. So Long to the Holidays
14. Babies Clean Conscience*
15. Diggin Holes*
16. They Devised a Plan to Fuck Forever*
17. Roads to Go to Roads to Go to…*

Please join us in welcoming the newest member of the Sub Pop roster:  Mass Gothic, the Massachusetts-bred, NYC-based outfit, has signed with Sub Pop Records for a worldwide deal and we’re pretty damn stoked about it. 

The group, led by singer and multi-instrumentalist Noel Heroux will release its label debut (and tour extensively to support it) sometime in 2016. More specific details will be forthcoming soon. Mass Gothic will make its official live debut at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York this October.

More about Mass Gothic: 

Noel Heroux grew up outside of Boston, Mass. He began playing piano at a very early age, and started writing and recording music in his early teens.

In 2005, he formed an early version of the rock band Hooray for Earth, playing shows and self-releasing early demo recordings locally. Heroux initially started the band as a solo project, but it quickly morphed into a full-fledged band effort upon the release of its debut EP in 2008. In Hooray for Earth’s brief career,  the group recorded two full-length LPs and two EPs, before calling it quits in 2014.

Mass Gothic finds Heroux at the helm writing and recording all of its material, augmented by a full band in studio and on stage. Mass Gothic will release its Sub Pop debut in 2016, with extensive touring to follow.  

Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires deliver their distinct 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.

Their trek 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.