On Friday, June 2nd, Bully (aka Alicia Bognanno) will release Lucky For You, her kaleidoscopic new full-length on CD/LP/CS/DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop. The 10-track album combines punk grit, crunchy shoegaze bliss, and an explosive Britpop bop, all mixed in with the classic anthems Bully is known for.
“Hard to Love,” the official new video from Bully, was directed by and stars Bognanno, who had this to say about the song: “Growing up never fitting into society’s constructed gender stereotypes and expectations, I often felt as though different equals bad or wrong. I was confused about my place in the world, not fully identifying with any one particular gender or sexuality. I was ashamed, and I blamed myself. Though I’m still in the process of understanding and accepting my identity, I’m glad to be surrounded by people who love and accept me for who I am regardless of the clothes I wear and the labels others use to define me.”
“Hard to Love” follows the previously released tracks “Lose You (Feat. Soccer Mommy),” and the pulsating banger “Days Move Slow.” Of the latter track, The New York Times says, “‘Days Move Slow’…is a song about being caught in the muck of grief — she wrote it after the death of her beloved dog, Mezzi — 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.”
Bully has extended her North American tour dates for 2023 in support of Lucky For You with new headlining shows. Dates kick-off June 4th in Charlottesville, VA, with headline stops at NYC’s Racket, Chicago’s Thalia Hall, and a hometown show at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl. These new shows will follow Bully’s previously announced headlining UK/EU tour (May 20th-28th) and her 13-date main support for the Pixies and Franz Ferdinand (June 8th-25th). See below for a current list of Bully live shows.
Sat. May 20 - Amsterdam, NL - London Calling Paradiso Mon. May 22 - Manchester, UK - Yes (Pink Room) Tue. May 23 - Bristol, UK - THEKLA Thu. May 25 - Birmingham, UK - Dead Wax Fri. May 26 - London, UK - Moth Club Sat. May 27- Leeds, UK - Live At Leeds In The Park 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
“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
“It meets in the midpoint between the two bands’ aesthetics, trading out Bully’s usual rapid-speed intensity for an ambling ’90s alt-rock vibes while holding onto the raw power. It might be the most purely catchy Bully song to date.” [“Lose You”] - Stereogum
“‘Lose You’ is a succinct grunge-pop tune woven with stark realizations.” -FLOOD
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
On Friday, May 19th, Hannah Jadagu (pron. juh-dah-goo) will release Aperture, her first full-length effort on CD/LP/CS/DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop.
Today, you can watch the official video for a new offering, “Admit It,” an aching new single dedicated to Jadagu’s sister, whose boundless love and impeccable taste has been a constant for Jadagu ever since she was a kid. At home, the siblings were raised on mom’s Young Money mixtapes and the Black Eyed Peas (to whom she credits her love of vocoder), but it was in the sanctity of her sister’s car that Jadagu discovered indie artists who would go on to inspire her work.
Jadagu says, “‘Admit It’ is centered around being there for someone you typically lean on. It’s about the value of a certain strength and support that can come from family. I wanted that same idea to come across in the production of the song, which is inspired by the music I listened to during my childhood.”
Jadagu is also announcing a 19-date, headlining US tour for the fall of 2023 in support of Aperture, which begins Wednesday, September 6th in Philadelphia, PA at PhilaMOCA and ends Sunday, October 1st in Chicago, IL at Schubas. The tour will include stops in DC, Carrboro, Nashville, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Seattle, Portland, Boise, Denver, and Lawrence.
Tickets for these shows go on sale Friday, April 21st at 10 am (local).
The tour will be preceded by Jadagu’s hometown release show at Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right on Saturday, May 20th, and an appearance at Salt Lake City’s Mind The Gap Festival on Saturday, August 26th. A current list of dates is below.
Sat. May 20 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s All Right Sat. Aug. 26 - Salt Lake City, UT - Mind The Gap Festival Wed. Sep. 06 - Philadelphia, PA - PhilaMOCA Thu. Sep. 07 - Washington, DC - Songbyrd Fri. Sep. 08 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle (Back Room) Sat. Sep. 09 - Nashville, TN - DRKMTTR Sun. Sep. 10 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade (Purgatory) Tue. Sep. 12 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall - Upstairs Wed. Sep. 13 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada Thu. Sep. 14 - Austin, TX - Ballroom Sat. Sep. 16 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar Sun. Sep. 17 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues Voodoo Room Tue. Sep. 19 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo Wed. Sep. 20 - San Francisco, CA - Popscene at Brick & Mortar Thu. Sep. 21 - Sacramento, CA - The Starlet Room Sat. Sep. 23 - Seattle, WA - Barboza Sun. Sep. 24 - Portland, OR - Polaris Mon. Sep. 25 - Boise, ID - El Korah Shrine Basement Wed. Sep. 27 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge Fri. Sep. 29 - Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck Sun. Oct. 01 - Chicago, IL - Schubas
Last month, Jadagu released “Warning Sign,” a standout from Aperture. New York Times called the single “a hushed, hazy song that maps interpersonal tensions onto musical contrasts: quiet and loud, sustained and rhythmic, dulcet and distorted… ‘Warning Sign’ could have been an easygoing R&B vamp, but Jadagu has other imperatives; the song coos with keyboard chords and airborne harmonies, then crashes or glitches. What she hears goes with what she feels: “I can’t stand to hear your voice when it’s oh so loud/Could you quiet down?”
Hannah Jadagu’s Aperture features 12 tracks, including “Lose,” “Say it Now,” “What You Did,” “Warning Sign,” and the aforementioned “Admit it,” was co-produced by Jadagu and Max Robert Baby at Greasy Studios Paris, mixed by Marcus Linon, and mastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Mastering. Aperture follows the release of Jadagu’s acclaimed What Is Going On? digital-only EP, and stand-alone single “All My Time Is Wasted,” also available on Sub Pop.
Tracklisting: 1. Explanation 2. Say It Now 3. Six Months 4. What You Did 5. Lose 6. Admit It 7. Dreaming 8. Shut Down 9. Warning Sign 10. Scratch The Surface 11. Letter To Myself 12. Your Thoughts Are Ur Biggest Obstacle
This Friday, April 21st, Lael Neale will release Star Eaters Delight on CD/LP/CS/DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop. Today, she shares an official new video for “Must Be Tears,” a bittersweet standout from the album that invokes Nico with its pulsing Mellotron strings.
Neale, who directed the video, reflects, “Even though I’ve lived through many Springs, the season never fails to disappoint me with its lingering cold & dreariness. Flowers are Nature’s apology.”
Lael Neale has extended her international tour schedule for 2023 in support of Star Eaters Delight, resumes this Saturday, April 22nd in Los Angeles at Permanent Records Roadhouse, and now runs through Saturday, June 3rd in Düdingen, Switzerland, with an appearance at the Bad Bonn Kilbi Festival. Highlights for this tour include an appearance at Brighton, UK’s The Great Escape Festival Wednesday, May 10th through Saturday, May 13th (exact date TBC), Tuesday, May 30th in Barcelona, ES at Heliogàbal, and Wednesday, May 31st at Madrid, ES at Sound Isidro @ Siroco. A current list of dates is below, and tickets for these shows are on sale now.
US 2023 Sat. Apr. 22 - Los Angeles, CA - Permanent Records Roadhouse Mon. Apr. 24 - Phoenix, AZ - Trunk Space Wed. Apr. 26 - Austin, TX - Chess Club Sat. Apr. 29 - Nashville, TN - drkmttr Wed. May 03 - Washington, DC - Comet Ping Pong Fri. May 05 - New York, NY - Public Records Sat. May 06 - Northampton, MA - Parlor Room Sun. May 07 - Philadelphia, PA - Dolphin
UK/EU 2023 Wed. May 10 - Brighton, UK - The Great Escape Festival Thu. May 11 - Brighton, UK - The Great Escape Festival Fri. May 12 - Brighton, UK - The Great Escape Festival Sat. May 13 - Brighton, UK - The Great Escape Festival Sun. May 14 - Leeds, UK - In Colour Festival Mon. May 15 - Manchester, UK - The Castle Hotel Tue. May 16 - London, UK - The Lexington Wed. May 17- Paris, FR - La Boule Noire Thu. May 18 - Tourcoing, FR - Le Grand Mix Fri. May 19 - Brussels, BE - Botanique (Witloof Bar) Sat. May 20 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso (London Calling Fest) Mon. May 22 - Berlin, DE - Kantine am Berghain Tue. May 23 - Hamburg, DE - Aalhaus Wed. May 24 - Copenhagen, DK - Huset Thu. May 25 - Oslo, NO - Krosset Fri. May 26 - Stockholm, SE - Nomad Sat. May 27 - Gothenburg, SE - Oceanen Tue. May 30 - Barcelona, ES - Heliogàbal Wed. May 31 - Madrid, ES - Sound Isidro @ Siroco Thu. Jun. 01 - Lisbon, PT - ZDB Sat. Jun. 03 - Düdingen, CH - Bad Bonn Kilbi Festival
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.”
Shindig! raves “The spellbinding Star Eaters Delight signals an expansion of her sonic sensibilities that feels metropolitan and voracious (conjuring scenes where lo-fi, post-punk, and avant-garde were in deep conversation) and flirts with the noisy and angular (5/5).” Meanwhile, Uncut offers this, “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 like “If I Had Wings” and “Return To Me Now” blend guitar with vintage instruments including Mellotron and a Suzuki Omnichord.”
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. The album is available to preorder from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com, and select independent retailers in North America, the UK and Europe, will receive the Loser edition on gold vinyl.
Lael Neale
Star Eaters Delight
Tracklisting: 1. I Am The River 2. If I Had No Wings 3. Faster Than The Medicine 4. In Verona 5. Must Be Tears 6. No Holds Barred 7. Return To Me Now 8. Lead Me Blind
The gutter-scraped amalgamation of sludge, punk, noise, and bracing wit of Pissed Jeans is back on full display in “No Convenient Apocalypse,” a new single release and first material since Why Love Now, the group’s acclaimed album of 2017.
“No Convenient Apocalypse,” which was originally recorded for the Cyberpunk 2077 video game soundtrack, is available today on all DSPs and will be followed by a 7” single on May 19th. The b-side to the physical single is “Bathroom Laughter (Live in Allentown),” and that song will be available in all DSPs on May 19th, as well. Preorder here.
Pissed Jeans have also announced new US midwest and east coast headlining tour dates for 2023. The dates span Thursday, June 1st in Cambridge at Sonia and run through Sunday, June 18th, in Cleveland at Grog Shop. Tickets for these shows are on sale Wednesday, April 19th (@10 am ET).
Thu. Jun. 01 - Cambridge, MA - Sonia * Fri. Jun. 02 - Hamden, CT - Space Ballroom * Sat. Jun. 03 - New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge (In The Round) * Thu. Jun. 15 - Pittsburgh, PA - Thunderbird Cafe & Music Hall ^ Fri. Jun. 16 - Chicago, IL - Subterranean ^ Sat. Jun. 17 - Detroit, MI - El Club ^ Sun. Jun. 18 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop ^
* w/ Carnivorous Bells ^ w/ Kilynn Lunsford
Pissed Jeans is currently at work on the follow-up to Why Love Now, an album that took aim at the mundane discomforts of modern life—from fetish webcams to office-supply deliveries, and won raves from the likes of The New Yorker, New York Times, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, The Guardian, Uncut, Stereogum, and more.
What people have said about Pissed Jeans: “…Pissed Jeans has done well to land its aggression closer to home. “Why Love Now” is still rich in sludge—just not the toxic kind.” [Why Love Now] - The New Yorker
“Their most unsparing work of self-flagellation yet, a generous grope through their own dirty laundry that begs both a smirk and a wince.” [Why Love Now] - Rolling Stone
“… One of our era’s best punk bands.” [Why Love Now] - SPIN
“It isn’t for the faint-hearted, but is a lot of fun and delivers some uncomfortable home truths.” [Why Love Now] ★★★★ The Guardian
“Another blast of full-fury guitar rock.” [“The Bar Is Low”] - Billboard
“Matt Korvette, the skeptical frontman of a terrific, coarsely named post-hardcore band from Allentown, Pa., doesn’t want to hear your compliments. As a dude, he knows he’s being graded on a curve…The track feels partly inspired by a recent series of unmaskings in the public sphere. “It just seems to be quite an easy bet,” Mr. Korvette sputters. “Those we adore just haven’t spilled their secrets yet.” But the excoriation is all-inclusive: By the end, he floats a claim about our rate of evolution as a species. (Spoiler alert: It’s not hopeful.)” [“The Bar Is Low”] - New York Times
Sub Pop is elated to announce the recruitment of Chicago band Deeper to its iconic label roster. To celebrate this pivotal occasion, the group has shared an official video for their new single “Sub.”
The band says about the single and video: “‘Sub’ was in the trash can for a minute. We recorded it in 2021 at a slower tempo before realizing it didn’t work. It was built again from the ground up, this time with a much faster tempo and different dynamics. The nice thing about iterating on songs over the pandemic was having time to revisit old ideas – the song even features a guitar part from the first recorded Deeper song that we ended up discarding. Lyrics jump around events from the last few years, often reflecting on the past and present. The video functions as a vessel for us to reference characters from past videos, showing them stuck in a loop, in a purgatory where they’re waiting to move on to whatever is coming next.”
Deeper is currently working on its Sub Pop debut, which will be available later this year. In the meantime, the band will embark on a 15-date run beginning on Wednesday, May 10th, in Omaha, NE, at Reverb Lounge, with additional shows in Salt Lake City, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Orlando. Deeper will also appear at this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival in their home city of Chicago. See below for a full list of shows.
Wed. May 10 - Omaha, NE - Reverb Lounge Thu. May 11 - Fort Collins, CO - The Coast Fri. May 12 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Urban Lounge Sun. May 14 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Block Party (@ The Utah State Fairpark) Wed. May 17 - Denver, CO - Mission Ballroom* Fri. May 19 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue* Sat. May 20 - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall Ballroom* Sun. May 21 - Chicago, IL - The Salt Shed* Tue. May 23 - Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre* Wed. May 24 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Theater & Ballroom* Thu. May 25 - Asbury Park, NJ - Asbury Lanes* Mon. May 29 - Atlanta, GA - 529 Bar Tue. May 30 - Tampa, FL - Crowbar Wed. May 31 - Miami, FL - Gramps Fri. Jun. 02 - Orlando, FL - Will’s Pub Fri. Jul. 21 - Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival (@ Union Park)
