Sub Pop has released the 30th-anniversary edition of Six Finger Satellite’s The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird, the group’s underground classic and debut full-length from 1993, with a brand new, fully remastered CD and double-LP reissue.
Formed in 1990 in Providence, Rhode Island by J. Ryan (singer/keyboards), John MacLean (guitar), Peter Phillips (guitar), Chris Dixon (bass), and Rick Pelletier (drums), Six Finger Satellite quickly signed to Sub Pop and released the band’s first demo tape as the Weapon EP.
Following Weapon, Dixon left the group and was replaced by Kurt Niemand, and the band quickly jumped into making their debut full-length with Bob Weston (of Shellac, who later named a single The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger in honor of Six Finger Satellite). Released in 1993, The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird was the first release to truly capture the adventurous, biting spirit and sound of Six Finger Satellite.
The album is a landmark of noisy, distressing post-punk, drawing influence from Gang of Four, The Birthday Party, and Wire while adding a healthy dose of the band’s own, unique sonic antagonism. Amongst the brittle rock tracks, The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird has dashes of ahead-of-their-time keyboard and studio experiments that became more prominent on the band’s later albums, presaging LCD Soundsystem, DFA Records, and much of the early-2000s post-punk revival.
All Music offers this, “This is the band’s rawest record, featuring the least amount of studio gadgetry and manipulation. J. Ryan’s voice bears no effects or bizarrely buried/contorted trickery, sounding hoarse and anxious throughout. Nonetheless, it certainly sets the table for the band’s love of noise and lunacy, combined with a healthy splash of bizarre humor. Hardly any other indie band at the time was doing this.”
In 2008, Pitchfork rightly called The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird “one of the best noise-rock records of the ‘90s,” writing that “the transitions from silly to searing highlight Six Finger Satellite’s unpredictable and caustic approach… this was the first of several examples of them spurning underground trends, and their most exhilaratingly bitter pill to swallow.”
The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird, featuring a new cover design by Dare Matheson, is now available from Sub Pop. LP orders from megamart.subpop.com, select independent retailers in North America, and the UK and EU, will receive the limited Loser edition on Red and Blue vinyl.
Six Finger Satellite The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird
Tracklisting: 1. [Untitled] 2. Home for the Holy Day 3. [Untitled] 4. Laughing Larry 5. [Untitled] 6. Funny Like a Clown 7. [Untitled] 8. Deadpan 9. [Untitled] 10. Hi-Lo Jerk 11. [Untitled] 12. Love (via Satellite) 13.[Untitled] 14. Save the Last Dance for Larry 15. [Untitled] 16. Solitary Hiro 17. [Untitled] 18. Neuro-Harmonic Conspiracy 19. [Untitled] 20. Takes One to Know One 21. [Untitled] 22. [Untitled] 23. Takes One To Know One 24. [Untitled]
Today, Lael Neale is sharing the official video for “White T-Shirt,” a new song available now on all DSPs and recorded during the Star Eaters Delight sessions, her acclaimed album of 2023, released earlier this spring. The song was written and composed by Neale and produced and mixed by Guy Blakeslee.
Blakeslee says of the song, “‘’White T-Shirt’ dates back a number of years to when I used to follow Lael around LA to all of her barely publicized performances. The song never ceased to silence the chatter in the room. There was nothing I could add to this performance, it’s a raw gem that stands alone and cuts through the noise.”
Lael Neale has also extended her international tour schedule for 2023 in support of Star Eaters Delight, which resumes Tuesday, July 11th in Prague, CR at Zluté Lazné and currently runs through Friday, September 29th in Seattle, WA at The Paramount Theatre.
Highlights for the summer and fall run include UK & European dates supporting Ben Howard (July 11th-July 23rd), U.S. Pacific Northwest dates with label mate Weyes Blood (September 27th-29th), and new UK & European headlining shows (September 6th-16th). A current list of dates is below, and tickets for these shows are on sale now.
Tue. Jul. 11 - Prague, CR - Zluté Lazné * Wed. Jul. 12 - Warsaw, PL - Progresja Summer Stage * Fri. Jul. 14 - Berlin, DE - Zitadelle * Sat. Jul. 15 - Hamburg, DE - Stadtpark * Mon. Jul. 17 - Munich, DE - Tonhalle * Tue. Jul. 18 - Zurich, CH - X-Tra Podium * Fri. Jul. 21 - Glasgow, UK - SWG3 Yard * Sat. Jul. 22 - London, UK - Alexandra Palace Park * Sun. Jul. 23 - Cardiff, UK - Cardiff Castle * Wed. Sep. 06 - Rotterdam, NL - Roodkapje Thu. Sep. 07 - Utrecht, NL - Ekko Fri. Sep. 08 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso Upstairs Sat. Sep. 09 - Asten-Heusden, NL - Misty Fields Festival Mon. Sep. 11 - Bristol, UK - Crofters Rights Tue. Sep. 12 - Brighton, UK - The Prince Albert Wed. Sep. 13 - London, UK - Moth Club Thu. Sep. 14 - Dublin, IE - The Workman’s Club Sat. Sep. 16 - Leffinge, BE - Leffingeleuren Festival Wed. Sep. 27 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theater ^ Thu. Sep. 28 - Eugene, OR - McDonald Theatre ^ Fri. Sep. 29 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theater ^
* w/ Ben Howard ^ w/ Weyes Blood
The beguiling Star Eaters Delight reveals an expansion of Neale’s sonic collaboration with producer and accompanist Guy Blakeslee and arrives on the heels of her Sub Pop debut Acquainted With Night, which won international acclaim for its crystalline vocals, clever songwriting, and excellent use of Omnichord to build a world of beautiful reveries.
In April of 2020, Lael moved from Los Angeles back to her family’s farm in rural Virginia. Looking at the world from a distance and getting in tune with her own rhythms, she wrote and recorded steadily for two dreamlike years, driven by a need to make order out of chaos. Forged in isolation, Star Eaters Delight is a vehicle for returning, not just to civilization, but to celebration. She explains: “The unbroken silences on the farm compelled me to break them with sound. This album is louder and more external, calling out to the world.”
Star Eaters Delight was written by Neale, with arrangements and production by Guy Blakeslee. The recordings were made on cassette in Virginia and mastered by Chris Coady in Los Angeles.
Star Eaters Delight is available now from Sub Pop. LP orders from megamart.subpop.com, and select independent retailers in North America, the UK and Europe, will receive the Loser edition on gold vinyl.
What people are saying about Lael Neale’s Star Eaters Delight: “A unique, boldly weird proposition, and one that proudly carries the faint hint of tractor grease. Half of it comes on like cult 70s folk artist Karen Dalton hanging out with the Velvet Underground and Suicide, while the rest offers somewhat more modern balladry, placing her more in the world of Angel Olsen and Cat Power.” - THE GUARDIAN
“Spellbinding” ★★★★★ - SHINDIG!
“There’s something a little haunting about her voice, it helps too that she writes primarily on the Omnichord, which has a little bit of spookiness built into it. But this is kind of an album for Luddites about how to exist in a world that demands too much of your attention and how you can be intentional about the way you move through it. It was recorded on cassette, which I love because it brings a real warmth to it, and a real presence of being in the room, which I think really delivers that message home.” “New Music Friday: The Best Releases Out April 21st” - NPR MUSIC
“…An excellent new album” - STEREOGUM
“Neale has placed her trust in life’s meanders—and in its source—and the result is her best work yet: a golden mean between experimentation and pop, lo-fi and hi-fi, vitality and rest.” - PASTE
“Neale is imaginative, but she’s steeped in songwriting craft and she knows her way round a whopping chorus.” ★★★★ - MOJO
“Star Eater’s Delight…was recorded on cassette, and tape hiss acts like a third band member here. She sings of flowers, rivers, seas, and trees; holy water, perfect deaths; bells of time, patience, and the speed of medicine. Carried by words and rhythm, she’s barreling towards something just beyond the horizon.” - AQUARIUM DRUNKARD
“Neale has put together a tight package of an album with no stray notes but one also brimming with a sly multitude of ideas. Kudos to Neale for not playing it safe and simultaneously doing something wholly different than anyone else out there.” 9/10 - UNDER THE RADAR
“This collection of versatile songs acts as a tour of different neighborhoods in the beautifully smeary nocturnal dream world Neale began building on her last album.” ★★★★ - ALL MUSIC
“A collection of songs with the weight and conviction of hymns. Some have a more spare, lo-fi feel, with Neale’s voice accompanied by vintage instruments, including her signature mellotron, but the real centerpiece is the eight-minute “In Verona,” which brings a real sense of urgency to its invocations of Shakespeare.” “Notable Releases of the Week” - BROOKLYN VEGAN
“An elegantly spare showcase of her radiant voice, a tremulous yodel tinged with gospel and country inflections. Bathed in antique analog acoustics, spine-tingling ballads of romantic yearning....” - UNCUT
On Friday, June 30th, Sweeping Promises will release their astonishing new album, Good Living Is Coming For You, on Feel It Records in North America and Sub Pop for the rest of the world. Following the previous single releases of “Eraser” and “You Shatter” comes the arresting new video for the album’s title track, “Good Living Is Coming for You.”
Sweeping Promises’ Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug on the new video: “For this video, we collaborated with one of our closest friends, experimental filmmaker Jessica Bardsley (Life Without Dreams, Goodbye Thelma). Drawing from the glamorous and bloodthirsty aesthetic of ‘70s and ‘80s horror films (Daughters of Darkness, The Hunger, The Lair of the White Worm, Dream Demon), the visual companion to “Good Living Is Coming for You” channels the song’s unshakable feeling of discontent and encroaching domestic doom through the confines of a DIY horror flick as seen by some nameless sleepless soul on late-night cable, the line between movie and infomercial blurred to infernal effect.”
Directed by Jessica Bardsley, the “Good Living Is Coming For You” video is available HERE (if you dare…).
Sweeping Promises have added to their upcoming international tour schedule for 2023 in support of Good Living Is Coming For You. The band has added an album release show on June 29th in their hometown of Lawrence, KS, at the White Schoolhouse, with North American touring beginning August 1st in St. Louis, MO, at Off Broadway and running through September 29th in Memphis, TN, at Gonerfest. Sweeping Promises’ UK and European dates will begin on October 22nd in Manchester at YES (Basement), ending on November 11th at Pitchfork Music Festival Berlin. See below for a full list of shows.
Thu. Jun. 29 - Lawrence, KS - White Schoolhouse Tue. Aug. 01 - St Louis, MO - Off Broadway Wed. Aug. 02 - Cincinnati, OH - MOTR Pub Thu. Aug. 03 - Nashville, TN - Blue Room at Third Man Fri. Aug. 04 - Atlanta, GA - 529 Sat. Aug. 05 - Durham, kNC - The Pinhook Mon. Aug. 07 - Washington, DC - Songbyrd Music House Tue. Aug. 08 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s Thu. Aug. 10 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg Fri. Aug. 11 - Brattleboro, VT - The Stone Church Sat. Aug. 12 - Somerville, MA - Crystal Ballroom Sun. 13 Aug - Winooski, VT - The Monkey House Mon. Aug. 14 - Montreal, QC - Bar Le Ritz PDB Tue. Aug. 15 - Toronto, ON - The Garrison Wed. Aug. 16 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop Fri. Aug. 18 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall Sat. Aug. 19 - Milwaukee, WI - Back Room at Colectivo Sun. Aug. 20 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
Sat. Sep. 09 - Denver, CO - Lost Lake Mon. Sep. 11 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court Tue. Sep. 12 - Boise, ID - Neurolux Thu. Sep. 14 - Vancouver, BC - Wise Hall Fri. Sep. 15 - Seattle, WA - Madame Lou’s Sat. Sep. 16 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Tue. Sep. 19 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel Wed. Sep. 20 - Los Angeles, CA - Lodge Room Fri. Sep. 22 - San Diego, CA - Casbah Sat. Sep. 23 - Tucson, AZ - Club Congress Tue. Sep. 26 - Austin, TX - Empire Control Room Wed. Sep. 27 - Denton, TX - Andy’s Fri. Sep. 29 - Memphis, TN - Goner Fest Sun. Oct. 22 - Manchester, UK - YES (Basement) Mon. Oct. 23 - Bristol, UK - Louisiana Tue. Oct. 24 - London, UK - Studio 9294 Wed. Oct. 25 - Leeds, UK - Wharf Chambers Thu. Oct. 26 - Dublin, IE - Workman’s Club Sat. Oct. 28 - Amsterdam, NL - London Calling @ Paradiso Sun. Oct. 29 - Rotterdam, NL - V11 Mon. Oct. 30 - Luxembourg, LU - Rotondes Tue. Oct. 31 - Liege, BE - KulturA Wed. Nov. 01 - Brussels, BE - Botanique @ Witloof Bar Thu. Nov. 02 - Cologne, DE - Bumann & Sohn Fri. Nov. 03 - Hamburg, DE - Molotow Sat. Nov. 04 - Berlin, DE - Pitchfork Music Festival Berlin @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
What People are saying about Sweeping Promises: “‘Eraser,’ the lead single from the Lawrence, Kansas duo Sweeping Promises’ sophomore album Good Living Is Coming For You, is a rich punk arrangement set adrift with power-pop hooks and a gripping, catalytic back-beat.” [“Eraser” Best 50 Songs of 2023 (So Far)] - PASTE
“Sweeping Promises play relentlessly catchy, gloriously low-fi punk.” [“Eraser” The Best Songs of 2023 So Far] - ROLLING STONE
“Their specific brand of lo-fi post-punk is bolstered by its pop sensibilities, with singer Lira Mondal’s melodic howls driving the track.” [“Eraser”] - EXCLAIM!
“Gone are the utilitarian basslines, replaced by a warmth and coziness that still crackles with urgency. Mondal’s harmonies are tinny but effectively insistent, compact yet invigorating.” [The Five Best Songs of the Week (#2)] - STEREOGUM
“You don’t simply listen to Sweeping Promises — you move, you groove, you strike a pose with an effortlessly cool ‘tude.” [“Pain Without a Touch,” Nov. 2021] - NPR MUSIC
“…‘Hunger for a Way Out’ is an instant classic, thick with ‘80s retro-surf nostalgia and a jabbing ‘Isolation’-era Joy Division bass riff, deftly sidestepping pastiche with its forward-thinking DIY ethos both compassionate and furious with the ways of the world.” - NME (on Hunger for a Way Out, Aug. 2020)
Sweeping Promises Good Living Is Coming For You
Track Listing: 1. Eraser 2. Shadow Me 3. Good Living Is Coming for You 4. Connoisseur of Salt 5. Walk in Place 6. You Shatter 7. Petit Four 8. Can’t Hide It 9. Throw of the Dice 10. Ideal No
Before embarking on their long-awaited tour celebrating the 20th anniversary tour of their timeless Give Up, The Postal Service reflect on the album’s rapturously received 10th-anniversary tour via Everything Will Change–a 16-track live set documenting that 2013 trek with live versions of Postal Service classics including the platinum-certified single “Such Great Heights,” “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight,” “Sleeping In,” “Natural Anthem,” and more, all performed live at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA. Everything Will Change will be available on 2xLP + CD on September 8th, 2023, through Sub Pop.
The physical release of Everything Will Change will coincide with the kickoff of the first live Postal Service dates in a decade. Hailed as one of the ‘Most Anticipated Tours of 2023,’ The Postal Service will join forces with Death Cab for Cutie who are celebrating the 20th Anniversary of their seminal album, Transatlanticism. The six-week tour is playing stages across North America, including two nights at Madison Square Garden and three nights at the Hollywood Bowl. For complete details and ticket information, please visit postalservicemusic.net or www.deathcabforcutie.com.
Everything Will Change was also released in 2014 as a feature-length documentary concert film directed by Justin Mitchell, featuring intimate interviews and backstage footage of the band. The Everything Will Change film and Give Up are available through Sub Pop.
Born of a long-distance collaboration between Benjamin Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie) and Jimmy Tamborello (from Dntel), with Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis, The Postal Service released Give Up, their one and only album, in 2003. That record went on to sell over a million copies, becoming a milestone for generations of fans, many of whom never had the chance to see the band live. In 2013 in commemoration of the 10-year anniversary of Give Up, Sub Pop released an expanded, deluxe version of that album, and the band reunited to tour the world.
Today, June 14th, marks the release of Foam, the debut EP from Stockholm-based artist waterbaby, available on all DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop.
The five-song collection which features the gorgeous new single “Wishing well,” along with the acclaimed standouts “Airforce blue” and “911,” were written by waterbaby and Marcus White, executive produced and mixed by White, and mastered by Johan Åkerström at Cosmos Mastering, all in Stockholm, Sweden.
waterbaby’s hypnotic and evocative technopastoral songs has led to international acclaim, including the cover of Sweden’s music magazine GAFFA, along with the New York Times, The Guardian, NME, Stereogum, The FADER, Brooklyn Vegan, PASTE, The FACE, and CLASH, and major radio support in Sweden from P3 and in the UK from BBC Radio 1.
What people are saying about waterbaby: “The emergency number in Stockholm, the home of the songwriter who calls herself waterbaby, is 112. But in this drowsily understated bedroom-pop song, she clearly has an eye on an American audience: “Call me when you need someone/I could be your 911,” she sings, adding “we-ooh, we-ooh” like a two-note emergency siren. It’s a tentative, guarded offer of affection — “Maybe we could go somewhere/Maybe we could be something” — sung breathily and hesitantly, trying to keep expectations modest.” “The Playlist” - THE NEW YORK TIMES
“Under the gaze of auto-tuned vocals and alt-rock textures, waterbaby has forged something wholly original and swing.” [“911”] - PASTE
“I was a big fan of ‘Airforce blue,’ the indie-pop-ish, R&B-ish Stockholm singer waterbaby’s first single for Sub Pop. I’m an even bigger fan of the next one. “911,” out today, heralds the impending arrival of waterbaby’s Foam EP. It’s a low-key love song built around a cozy little acoustic guitar figure that plays as a nest for waterbaby’s soft, digitally affected vocals.” - STEREOGUM
“The intoxicating meeting point of Beabadoobee, SZA, and Outkast, Stockholm-based Sub-Pop signee Waterbaby has made an impressive introduction as an artist of subtle flourishes, capturing the quiet intensity of love and heartbreak through lead single ‘Airforce Blue’, and now, ‘911’” “45’s of the Week” - THE FORTY-FIVE
“Airforce blue” flips waterbaby’s indie R&B into an electrified, auto-tuned collage with an easy intimacy.” - BROOKLYN VEGAN
“An unguarded DIY R&B moment coming out of the Swedish capital. (“Airforce blue”)” - THE FADER
“‘Airforce blue,’ waterbaby’s first single for Sub Pop, wouldn’t sound out of place on SZA’s genre-jumping S.O.S., but like many SZA songs it doesn’t really scan as R&B. It’s like a more lo-fi, chillwavey cousin to Post Malone’s soft-rocking ‘Circles,’ as if filtered through Clairo’s bedroom indie-pop, with a trace of hyperpop in her Auto-Tuned voice. The result is something slightly uncanny yet tender and personal. Good song.” - STEREOGUM
“Bedroom pop at a cosmic scale: documenting the aftermath of a breakup, the Stockholm artist’s Sub Pop debut has the offbeat and genre-warped charm of Frank Ocean and SZA.” “Playlist” - THE GUARDIAN
“‘Airforce blue’ flips waterbaby’s indie R&B into an electrified, auto-tuned collage with an easy intimacy.” - BROOKLYN VEGAN
”[‘Airforce blue’] is a real jewel, a thrilling and evocative slice of future-facing pop.” “Track of the Day” - CLASH
waterbaby Foam EP
Tracklisting: 1. Airforce blue 2. My luv 3. 911 4. Born too late 5. Wishing well
