Today, June 8th, Sub Pop will release Divorce +, an eight-track digital EP from the newly signed Australian band Girl and Girl. On the heels of the previously released single “All I See” comes the undeniably catchy track “Dance Now.”
Girl and Girl’s frontperson, Kai James, says about the single and video: “Shooting this clip was probably one of the best days I’ve had in months. I’ve felt lots of pressure with my art and creating lately, so I wanted to step away from that and create something totally unhinged and fun. For the shoot, Rose, our leading chook, just emanated pure joy, and that’s exactly what I wanted to capture, a chicken lady so in love with life, and her chicken form, whose deepest desire is just to feel the wind in her wings.”
Girl and Girl have also shared a 6-minute punk-umentary directed by friend Alexandros Kalas. This video features live and behind-the-scenes performance footage of the band, as well as an interview with frontperson Kai James. You can watch it here.
Girl and Girl just returned from a fifteen-date run in the EU and the UK, which included performances at The Great Escape and London’s Wide Awake Festival, as well as support dates with Partisan Records act Blondshell.
Girl and Girl Divorce + EP Artwork
Tracklisting: 1. Divorce 1 2. Dance Now 3. Strangers 4. Garden Son 5. I See a Man 6. Divorce 2 7. All I See
Girl and Girl are currently working on new music for their Sub Pop debut, with additional Australian, UK, and EU touring in the Fall.
Fri. Jun. 23 - Fortitude Valley, AU - Black Bear Lodge Sat. Jun. 24 - Byron Bay, AU - The Northern Fri. Jun. 30 - Sydney, AU - The Lansdowne Sat. Jul. 01 - Melbourne, AU - The Curtin Wed. Nov. 11 - Paris, FR - Pitchfork Music Festival
On Friday, September 8, Deeper will release Careful!, its new full-length album worldwide on CD/LP/CS/DSPs through Sub Pop. Careful! was recorded at Palisade Studios in Chicago with help from producer/engineer Dave Vettraino (Makaya McCraven, Lala Lala), and this thirteen-track collection of new songs finds the band reshaping facades, splashing color, and sonically testing their limits.
Following the previously released single “Sub” comes “Build a Bridge.” Using a prickly guitar line to launch into big, smeary art-pop, its emotional palette is clear, well-defined, and easy to latch onto.
Deeper say about the single and video: “‘Build a Bridge’ was the first song written remotely in a new format that would come to define the writing process of Careful!. In the early days of the band, we would throw shit at the wall in our practice space and see what stuck. Being forced to stay in our apartments during lockdown allowed us to apply more intention to a song and really dissect it piece by piece.
“We worked with Austin Vesely (Chance the Rapper, Whitney) on the video in which the band is hooked up to a machine, taking turns controlling alternate versions of ourselves in a different dimension. The sequence keeps repeating with each of us failing, but each attempt equips us with more knowledge from these prior failures to eventually succeed in vanquishing the spirit.”
Deeper is fresh off a fifteen-date opening slot with Future Islands, and the band’s next performance will be a hometown show at this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival on Friday, July 21st.
Deeper have also announced headline and festival dates in support of Careful!, with North American dates from September 21st-October 22nd, and European and UK shows from October 31-November 14th. Tickets for these new shows go on sale Friday, June 9th.
Fri. Jul. 21 - Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival (Union Park) Thu. Sep. 21 - Indianapolis, IN - Healer # Fri. Sep. 22 - Detroit, MI - El Club # Sat. Sep. 23 - Toronto, ON - Baby G # Sun. Sep. 24 - Montreal, QC - Bar Le Ritz # Mon. Sep. 25 - Boston, MA - Crystal Ballroom # Wed. Sep. 27 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Made # Thu. Sep. 28 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s # Fri. Sep. 29 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar # Sat. Sep. 30 - Durham, NC - The Pinhook # Mon. Oct. 02 - Nashville, TN - Third Man Records # Tue. Oct. 03 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl # Wed. Oct. 04 - New Orleans, LA - Santos # Thu. Oct. 05 - Houston, TX - Black Magic # Fri. Oct. 06 - Austin, TX - Mohawk (inside) $ Sat. Oct. 07 - San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger $ Tue. Oct. 10 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar $ Wed. Oct. 11 - San Diego, CA - Casbah $ Fri. Oct. 13 - Los Angeles, CA - Lodge Room $ Sat. Oct. 14 Santa Cruz, CA - Catalyst Atrium $ Sun. Oct. 15 San Francisco, CA - The Independent $ Tue. Oct. 17 Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios $ Wed. Oct. 18 Seattle, WA - Madame Lou’s $ Sat. Oct. 21 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge ^ Sun. Oct. 22 - Denver, CO - Skylark ^ Tue. Oct. 31 - Berlin, DE - Urban Spree Wed. Nov. 01 - Copenhagen, DK - Vega Ideal Bar Thu. Nov. 02 - Hamburg, DE - Molotow Fri, Nov. 03 - Brussels, BE - Botanique Sat. Nov. 04. Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso Sun. Nov. 05 - Paris, FR - La Boule Noire Tue. Nov. 07 - Leeds, UK - Headrow House Wed. Nov. 08 - Glasgow, UK - Broadcast Thu. Nov. 09 - Manchester, UK - Yes Fri. Nov. 10 - Bristol, UK - Dareshack Sat. Nov. 11 - London, UK- Pitchfork Music Festival Sun. Nov. 12 - Kortrijk, BE - Sonic City Festival Tue. Nov. 14 - Cologne, DE - Bumann & Sohn
More on Deeper’s Careful!: You can’t get Deeper if you’re standing still. That’s intentional, says the Chicago quartet’s Nic Gohl. “Does it feel good when you’re listening to this song? Does your body want to move with it?” These are the questions he asked himself as he and bandmates Shiraz Bhatti, Drew McBride, and Kevin Fairbairn were writing and recording Careful!, their third record and Sub Pop debut. “I wanted these to be interesting songs, but in a way where a two-year-old would vibe out to it,” Gohl adds. “It’s pop music, basically.”
That “basically” qualifier is working pretty hard, as fans of 2020’s Auto-Pain might suppose. Auto-Pain was an album of thick brutalist architecture, full of straight lines and sharp angles, making hard shapes strong enough to carry a heavy thematic burden. On Careful!, they’re reshaping the facades and splashing color, not reimagining their sound so much as testing its limits. There are synth experiments, there are moments of nauseatingly powerful darkwave and coldbeat. There are massive rock’n’roll songs that you can imagine 10,000 people singing along to in some beautiful outdoor setting. There is a remarkably moving love song. Is there pop? There’s some pop, yes, a wiry bit of Cars-esque neon called “Everynight.” Look around the right corners, and you might see some of the old buildings peeking through, too, but in this context—on a song like “Sub,” say, a song that began life as a slow and dark prog jam but is now an elegantly cresting wave of post-punk—they feel more sophisticated, lit up in the cold, bright glow of Television.
Auto-Pain was released in March 2020, which means Deeper wasn’t able to play their new album live for nearly a year and a half. “It was hard living in the vacuum of depending on Spotify numbers to quantify what your music means to other people,” McBride says. Nature abhors a vacuum, though, and the band rushed to fill not only their empty time but the suddenly empty idea of what, exactly, their identity was. “Isolated by ourselves, we were like, ‘What is Deeper?’” Bhatti says. “We’ve always talked about how we didn’t want to stay in one genre as a band,” Gohl says, and absent any audience expectations, they gave themselves the freedom to tinker.
“One vibe I thought about a lot was Bowie’s most coked-out productions,” Gohl says. If you want to, you can hear echoes of Low in the snapping rhythm and gray-sky synths of “Tele,” but you can also hear a bit of Auto-Pain in the nailed-in, stippling lines being spit out by Bhatti’s drum programming and McBride’s synthesizer. “Fame” seems to stumble together and nearly fall apart, the dialed-up noise making the beat feel maniacal and a little invincible, the whole thing a series of short, snipped, autonomous gestures that are by now Deeper’s trademark.
“Build a Bridge” pushes in the opposite direction, using a prickly guitar line to launch into big, smeary art-pop, its emotional palette clear, well-defined, and easy to latch onto. On “Sub,” Gohl sings above and below the melody like Ian McCulloch, bellowing and wondering and ruminating and rounding into swaggering confidence that the band rises to meet. It’s festival headliner music that still feels like it was written in a garage.
The album’s title, exclamation point, and all come from the song “Airplane Air,” and it’s echoed in the album’s final song, “Pressure,” a song Gohl wrote for his wife and longtime partner. “Be safe,” he sings, “I will need you around.” It’s a song that sounds like nothing else in their catalog—ringing harmonics, chiming chords, vocal harmonies—but the sense of interdependence is near the center of Deeper’s music, from the way Gohl and McBride’s guitars jigsaw together and interlock with Bhatti’s drum patterns and Fairbairn’s bass to the lyrical vulnerability at the album’s core. That sense of mutuality makes this restlessly curious, stylistically broad album feel like the most coherent portrait of who Deeper is. Or, as McBride ultimately frames it, “Careful! is about looking out for one another.”
Sub Pop Records is seeking a full-time Digital Operations Specialist to join the Digital Operations team. This is a hybrid remote/on-site role based in Seattle, WA. The schedule is M-F during west coast business hours.
About the Team
The Digital Operations team oversees the delivery and management of the company’s digital assets and products, manages associated metadata, and manages the company’s physical product archive.
The primary responsibilities of the Digital Operations Specialist are delivering digital releases on a busy schedule, assisting with digital catalog management, compiling metadata reports, and supporting the department’s projects.
An ideal candidate for this position will have excellent organizational skills and attention to detail, knowledge of the music industry and the Sub Pop and Hardly Art repertoires, the ability to learn new systems quickly, and be able to work well both independently and with a team.
We are accepting resumes through the position closing date of June 18, 2023. To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to Kara Mattaini at karam@subpop.com.
Main Tasks and Responsibilities
Deliver and maintain digital products with digital service providers
Manage internal digital catalog information
Manage assets and claims in the YouTube CMS and Meta Rights Manager
Compile and deliver metadata reports
Register album copyrights
Create Feature.fm links
Update YouTube channels
Proofread lyrics
Assist in the physical product archive
Support department projects
Required Experience & Qualifications
Ability to follow a schedule and meet deadlines
Strong communication skills
Understanding of metadata and its uses
Excellent troubleshooting and problem-solving skills
Proficiency in Mac, MS Office, Google Workspace
Ability to learn and master new systems and technologies
Relevant college degree or related experience
Special consideration will be given to candidates with any of the following:
Knowledge of audio, image and video formats
Media library experience
YouTube CMS Certification
Supervisor: VP of Digital Operations
Salary range: $45,000-$55,000
Description of Benefits:
PTO (Paid time off including sick time) beginning at 15 days per year, 14 paid holiday days, 401k plan with partial employer match, medical/dental/vision insurance paid for employees and partially paid for their family, transportation benefits, discounted merchandise.
Sub Pop Records is an equal-opportunity employer. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family or parental status, national origin, veteran or disability status. Sub Pop Records will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.
To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to Kara Mattaini at karam@subpop.com no later than 12:00am June 18, 2023.
On Friday, June 30th, Sweeping Promises will release their second 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 lead single, “Eraser,” comes the explosive new song, “You Shatter.”
Sweeping Promises’ members Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug offer this on the song: “‘You Shatter’ is our ode to being a hammer.”
Sweeping Promises have expanded their forthcoming international tour schedule for the summer and fall of 2023 in support of Good Living Is Coming For You. North American touring begins August 1st in St. Louis, MO, at Off Broadway and runs through October 29th in Memphis, TN, at Gonerfest. Sweeping Promises’ newly announced dates in the UK and Europe begin October 22nd in London, and currently end on November 4th at Pitchfork Berlin. See below for a full list of shows.
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, NC - 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 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 - Gonerfest Sun. Oct. 22 - Manchester, UK - YES (Basement) Mon. Oct. 23 - Bristol, UK - Louisiana Tue. Oct. 24 - London, UK - TBA Wed. Oct. 25 - Leeds, UK - TBA 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 Berlin
What People are saying about Sweeping Promises: “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.” - NPR MUSIC (on “Pain Without a Touch,” Nov. 2021)
“…‘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
Bully (aka Alicia Bognanno) has released her new kaleidoscopic full-length Lucky For You, which is available today worldwide from Sub Pop. The album features the previously released singles: “Lose You (Feat. Soccer Mommy),” “Days Move Slow,” “Hard to Love,” and “Change Your Mind.” which has led to praise and notices from the likes of The New York Times, NPR Music,Rolling Stone, The FADER, Stereogum, Pitchfork, and more.
Bully’s 2023 tour schedule in support of Lucky For You resumes June 3rd in Lexington, KY, at Railbird Festival, and runs through September 24th in Washington, DC, at Black Cat. Highlights for the summer and fall run include a 13-date main support slot opening for the Pixies and Franz Ferdinand from June 8th through 25th, with headline dates from August 10th through September 24th. See below for a current list of Bully live shows.
Sat. Jun. 03 - Lexington, KY - Railbird Festival Sun. Jun. 04 - Charlottesville, VA - The Southern Tue. Jun. 06 - New York, NY - Racket Thu. Jun. 08 - Boston, MA - MGM Music Hall at Fenway * Fri. Jun. 09 - Philadelphia, PA - The Met Philadelphia * Sat. Jun. 10 - Washington, DC - The Anthem * Mon. Jun. 12 - Columbus, OH - KEMBA Live! * Tue. Jun. 13 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE * Wed. Jun. 14 - Cincinnati, OH - The Andrew J Brady ICON Music Center * Fri. Jun. 16 - Raleigh, NC - Red Hat Amphitheater * Sat. Jun. 17 - Asheville, NC - Rabbit Rabbit * Tue. Jun. 20 - Atlanta, GA - Coca-Cola Roxy * Wed. Jun. 21 - New Orleans, LA - The Fillmore * Fri. Jun. 23 - Houston, TX - Bayou Music Center * Sat. Jun. 24 - Dallas, TX - Southside Ballroom * Sun. Jun. 25 - Austin, TX - Moody Amphitheater * Thu. Aug. 10 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall Fri. Aug. 11 - St. Louis, MO - Off-Broadway Sat. Aug. 12 - Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck Mon. Aug. 14 - Denver, CO - Marquis Theatre Tue. Aug. 15 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge Wed. Aug. 16 - Boise, ID - TBD Fri. Aug. 18th - Seattle, WA - Neptune Sat. Aug. 19 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret Sun. Aug. 20 - Portland, OR - Aladdin Theatre Tue. Aug. 22 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent Wed. Aug. 23 - Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom Thu. Aug. 24 - Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction Fri. Aug. 25 - San Diego, CA - Soda Bar Sat. Aug. 26 - Tucson, AZ - Club Congress Mon. Aug. 28 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf Tue. Aug. 29 - Oklahoma City, OK - Beer City Music Hall Thu. Aug. 31 - Nashville, TN - Brooklyn Bowl Thu. Sep. 14 - Davenport, IA - Raccoon Motel Fri. Sep. 15 - Minneapolis, MN - First Ave Sat. Sep. 16 - Milwaukee, WI - X-Ray Arcade Sun. Sep. 17 - Detroit, MI - Loving Touch Tue. Sep. 19 - Toronto, ON - Lee’s Palace Wed. Sep. 20 - Albany, NY - Lark Hall Thu. Sep. 21 - Boston, MA - Crystal Ballroom Fri. Sep. 22 - Hamden, CT - Space Ballroom Sat. Sep. 23 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Sun. Sep. 24 - Washington, DC - Black Cat * w/ Pixies and Franz Ferdinand
What people are saying about Bully:
“The result is a confident, compelling record that reveals — and revels in — the softness behind the feedback and fuzz that continue to make Bully a force to be reckoned with.” [Lucky For You] 8/10 - EXCLAIM!
“Alicia Bognanno’s fourth album is an open-hearted, anthemic career-best.” [Lucky For You, ALBUM OF THE WEEK] - PASTE
“…Lucky For You is Bully’s best album yet, immediate and undeniable and kind of awe-inspiring in its complex simplicity.” - [Lucky For You, ALBUM OF THE WEEK] STEREOGUM
“‘Days Move Slow,’ from Alicia Bognanno’s grungy indie-rock project Bully, is a song about being caught in the muck of grief — but it also has a propulsive, bouncy energy that promises eventual forward motion. “There’s flowers on your grave that grow,” Bognanno sings in her signature holler, battling her buzzing guitar. “Something’s gotta change, I know.” - NEW YORK TIMES
“‘Days Move Slow’ is a punchy but poignant tune, an energetic and honest exploration of grief that Bully’s Alicia Bognanno wrote after the death of her dog, Mezzi.” - ROLLING STONE
“‘Days Move Slow’ is pristine Bully – sparking pop, but also working with a seismic edge… Retaining the anthemic bite she’s become known for, the sessions adding aspects of shoegaze, punk, and late 90s British guitar pop.” - CLASH
“‘Lose You’ attempts to reckon with the idea that even a love that seems like it’ll last forever isn’t necessarily immortal. Taking cues from late ’80s and ’90s shoegaze pioneers, the track is driven by a steadily, thumping beat that backdrops Bognanno’s fuzzed-out guitars: “Either way I’m gonna lose you,” she and Allison lament in harmony, before a ripper of a guitar solo near the song’s end.” - CONSEQUENCE
“The rasp in Alicia Bognanno’s voice makes everything she sings engaging and she uses the pain inherent in that croak to great effect on ‘Lose You’” -THE FADER
“With lashings of scuzz and slacker fire, it’s a guaranteed hit with Gen X and Z alike.” [“Lose You”] - GUITAR WORLD
“‘Lose You’ is a succinct grunge-pop tune woven with stark realizations.” - FLOOD
“Featuring fellow fuzz-rocker Sophie Allison, AKA Soccer Mommy, ‘Lose You’ is one of those tracks that is filled to the brim with pop hooks and crunchy guitar riffs. As Bully and Soccer Mommy trade harmonies, the banging backing track that supports them continuously ebbs and flows through different dynamics. The sound is always ecstatic, especially when a trippy guitar solo bubbles up from the ether.” - FAR OUT
“Her fourth album is perhaps her most candid yet, and it’s all the more triumphant for it.” - Upset
“Cherry-picked from the rich tapestry of alt-rock past… but all heart, specifically Alicia Bognanno’s torn, bleeding irresistible heart.” -Classic Rock
“‘Days Move Slow’ is pristine Bully – sparking pop, but also working with a seismic edge… Retaining the anthemic bite she’s become known for, the sessions adding aspects of shoegaze, punk, and late 90s British guitar pop.” - Clash
“More layers and nuance than ever before… magnificently raw.” -Record Collector
Bully Lucky For You
Tracklisting: 1. All I Do 2. Days Move Slow 3. A Wonderful Life 4. Hard to Love 5. Change Your Mind 6. How Will I Know 7. A Love Profound 8. Lose You 9. Ms. America 10. All This Noise
