On May 20th, Sub Pop will release the debut album from Weird Nightmare, the electrifying new project from METZ guitarist and singer Alex Edkins. Hot on the heels of the album’s debut track, “Searching For You,” comes this anthemic new single “Lusitania.” Edkins says of the song, “‘Lusitania’ was a big breakthrough for the entire Weird Nightmare album. I realized that, musically, my goal was to make songs that would make people feel good! This idea of waking up from a terrible dream or winter changing into spring. Momentary relief. We all need that feeling right now and music has always been what I turn to most.” The video for the song was directed by Colin Medley, and you can/really should click here to watch.
As previously announced, Weird Nightmare has a clutch of North American shows, including a hometown album release show on May 21st in Toronto, ON at The Baby G. The band will also hit the road on a 7-date co-headlining tour with labelmates Kiwi Jr. See below for a full list of shows.
NORTH AMERICAN DATES Sat. May 21st - Toronto, ON - Baby G (Toronto Record Release Show) Fri. June. 17th - Detroit, MI - Third Man Records * Sat. June 18th - Chicago, IL - Schubas * Thu. July 28th - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s Alright * Fri. July 29th - Rehoboth Beach, DE - Dogfish Head Brewery * Sat. July 30th - Washington, DC - Songbyrd * Sun. July 31st - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s *
*w/ Kiwi Jr
Weird Nightmare is now available for preorder/presave on CD/LP/Cassette/DSPs from Sub Pop. The LP is packaged in a special embossed jacket with semi-transparent obi-strip along the spine, and pre-orders from megamart.sub pop.com,select independent retailers in North America, and in the UK, and in Europe will receive the Loser Edition of the album on Transparent Cotton Candy Swirl vinyl and Clear Coke Bottle vinyl, respectively.
Weird Nightmare S/T
1. Searching for You 2. Nibs 3. Lusitania 4. Wrecked 5. Sunday Driver 6. Darkroom 7. Dream 8. Zebra Dance 9. Oh No 10. Holding Out
TV Priest will release My Other People, the group’s follow-up to Uppers, their acclaimed debut, worldwide on June 17th, 2022 from Sub Pop. The album features the highlights “One Easy Thing” and new single, “Bury Me In My Shoes,” which you can hear now. My Other People was produced by band member/multi-instrumentalist Nic Bueth at Studio East in London.
Frontman Charlie Drinkwater says of the album, “My Other People is a more “open” set of songs, both musically and in our themes; in the process of writing we found ourselves talking about things other than anger or aggression. We wanted to discuss love, loss, and joy too. It’s a record about personal disintegration and destruction but also rebuilding again after this. It’s also heavily rooted in place, the music being a very direct response to Britain and England in 2021, but in a more abstract and textural sense. A muddy field viewed from a train window between cities, a patch of wildflowers growing next to a motorway, sticky carpets in a suburban flat roof pub, pissing rain on an August bank holiday, and the smell of diesel in an out of town supermarket car park. An angry, hopeful, shitty, beautiful island.”
As for My Other People’s new single, he adds, “‘Bury Me In My Shoes’ is a hangover of a song. Last year was about reminding ourselves to hang on to good things; to remember you can love and hate in equal measure. That the answers are rarely found by looking backwards. “Bury Me” was written as a response to that general feeling of unease and creeping dread. A feeling you get from bad news on no breakfast.”
My Other People is now available to preorder from Sub Pop. LPs purchased through megamart.subpop.com, and select independent retailers in North America will receive the Opaque Pink w/white smoke vinyl version (while supplies last). Meanwhile, LP preorders in the U.K. and Europe through select independent retailers will receive the album on clear vinyl.
TV Priest has announced a UK tour to support My Other People which begins Sunday, October 30th in Bristol at The Louisiana, and ends Sunday, November 13th in Brighton at Green Door Store. Preceding these shows, TV Priest has scheduled a series of UK in-store performances to celebrate My Other People’s release week (June 17th - 23rd), which fans can gain entry to with proof of preorder through the participating retailers. There will also be US and EU tour dates announced soon. Please find a current list of tour dates below.
Fri. Jun. 17 - London, UK - Rough Trade East Mon. Jun. 20 - Brighton, UK - Resident* Tue. Jun. 21 - Southsea Portsmouth, UK - Pie & Vinyl* Wed. Jun. 22 - Totnes, UK - Drift* Thu. Jun. 23 - Leeds, UK - The Vinyl Whistle* Sun. Oct. 30 - Bristol, UK - The Louisiana Mon. Oct. 31 - Birmingham, UK - Hare & Hounds Tue. Nov. 01 - Dublin, IE - The Workman’s Cellar Thu. Nov. 03 - Manchester, UK - Yes (Pink Room) Fri. Nov. 04 - Glasgow, UK - Broadcast Sat. Nov. 05 - Leeds, UK - Belgrave Music Hall Mon. Nov. 07 - Cambridge, UK - Portland Arms Tue. Nov. 08 - Leicester, UK - Firebug Bar Thu. Nov. 10 - London, UK - Scala Fri. Nov. 11 - Reading, UK -The Face Bar Sat. Nov. 12 - Southampton, UK - The Joiners Sun. Nov. 13 - Brighton, UK - Green Door Store * Stripped down performances
What people have said about TV Priest: “Fuzzed-out post punk from London four-piece…harsh, brittle eruptions offering up a variety of teeth-rattling noises.” [Uppers]- Uncut
“The post-punk band have caught attention with a string of superb singles, exemplifying their scorching post-punk sound.” [Uppers] - CLASH
“Uppers…should rubber stamp TV Priest as one of, if not your favourite new act” [Uppers] - The Line of Best Fit
“Ragged yet tight, sprawling yet focussed, it’s a singular vision of a disparate time.” [Uppers] - ★★★★DORK
“Scratch the surface, peel away the layers and you’ll find something here to make you think there might be something more to come.” [Uppers, Best Albums of 2021] - Louder Than War
More on TV Priest’s My Other People: Having made music together since their teenage years, the London four-piece TV Priest piqued press attention in late 2019 with their first gig as a newly solidified group, a raucous outing in the warehouse district of Hackney Wick. Debut single “House of York” followed with a blistering critique of monarchist patriotism, and they were signed to Sub Pop for their debut album. When Uppers arrived in the height of a global pandemic, it reaped praise from critics and fans alike for its ‘dystopian doublespeak’, but the band — vocalist Charlie Drinkwater, guitarist Alex Sprogis, producer, bass and keys player Nic Bueth and drummer Ed Kelland – were sat at home like the rest of us, drinking cups of tea and marking time via government-sanctioned daily exercise. As such, the personal and professional landmark of its release felt “both colossal and minuscule” dampened by the inability to share it live. “It was a real gratification and really cathartic, but on the other hand, it was really strange, and not great for my mental health” admits Drinkwater. “I wasn’t prepared, and I hadn’t necessarily expected it to reach as many people as it did. It sounds a bit naïve, but it was all very quick. It felt kind of divorced from reality.”
As such, My Other People intentionally maintains a strong sense of earth-rooted emotion, taking full advantage of the opportunity to physically connect. Using “Saintless” (the closing song from Uppers) as something of a starting point, Drinkwater set about crafting lyrics that allowed him to articulate a deeper sense of personal truth, using music as a vessel to communicate with his bandmates about his depleting mental health. “Speaking very candidly, it was written at a time and a place where I was not, I would say, particularly well,” he says. “There was a lot of things that had happened to myself and my family that were quite troubling moments. I apologized to the band the other day for not being a great friend or person in this process, because I simply was not happy. Despite that I do think the record has our most hopeful moments too; a lot of me trying to set myself reminders for living, just everyday sentiments to try and get myself out of the space I was in. Whether or not the sincerity is understood, I think I’ll always be proud of that.”
“It was a bit of a moment for all of us where we realized that we can make something that, to us at least, feels truly beautiful,” agrees Bueth. “Brutality and frustration are only a part of that puzzle, and despite a lot of us feeling quite disconnected at the time, overwhelmingly beautiful things were also still happening.”
To strike this balance, My Other People relies on the band’s tight-knit working method, with Bueth once again at the self-producing helm. Following their own intuition as part of a “feverish” writing process, they looked inwards for inspiration rather than attempting to ape any sonic heroes, ending up with something that feels much more like affirmingly widescreen alt-rock than it does post-punk. Arrangements give room to let the voice roam; the optimistic melodies of “The Breakers” light flares to accompany Drinkwater’s recognition of the path that leads him back to friendship, while the rumbling pace of “Unraveling” reflects his more fractious state, looking for a safe place to land amidst the detritus of biting guitars. Where possible, recordings weren’t agonized over, but rather trusted on their initial takes when the mood had hit right. Though they recognise that ‘ band still searching for sound on second album’ is a sentiment that is often weaponised as criticism, it’s a process of self-improvement that Drinkwater is keen to protect: “Why would I keep making art if I didn’t believe that the best thing was not around the corner?”
Visually speaking, the same intention of momentum carries forth. The album’s artwork, photographed by Edward Thompson, depicts two children looking out to sea, a scene suspended somewhere between melancholy and hope. The video for “One Easy Thing”, the album’s lead single, directed by long term collaborator Joe Wheatley (“Decoration”, “Press Gang”) is a homage to new wave and French cinema, the singer donning full medieval armour as he bleeds and dances, persevering despite the seemingly impossible circumstance. Though Drinkwater wants its message of discomfort to show, he’s also keen not to overexplain it: “Last time, I literally was like, ‘please like me’, to everyone,” he laughs. “I stood next to the record and talked it to death, what things meant or where I did and didn’t stand. This time, I think it’s better if I leave some space.”
An allowance for the interpretation of others is perhaps most clear on “Bury Me In My Shoes”, built around a stark chorus line; “Life Only Comes In Flashes Of Greatness.” It is a lyric borne out of deep depression, the existential fear of our ever-changing mortal coil. But if you look at it differently, it could just as easily be read as affirmation, a reminder to seize the moment and make it count. This tension between the fullness of the glass, the cathartic value that such a lyric may hold in different lights, is central to My Other People — a record that heals by providing space for recognition, a ground zero from which you’re welcome to stay awhile but which ultimately — realistically — only leads up and out. For TV Priest, it is a follow-up that feels truly, properly them; free of bravado, unnecessary bluster or any audience pressure to commit solely to their original sound (read more at Sub Pop.com).
TV Priest My Other People
Tracklisting 1. One Easy Thing 2. Bury Me In My Shoes 3. Limehouse Cut 4. I Have Learnt Nothing 5. It Was Beautiful 6. The Happiest Place On Earth 7. My Other People 8. The Breakers 9. Unraveling 10. It Was A Gift 11. I Am Safe Here 12. Sunland
Pop absurdist Man Man is (FINALLY!) embarking on his first headlining tour in support of Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between, his group’s wonderful Sub Pop debut and acclaimed album of 2020. The tour begins Wednesday, June 22nd in Omaha at the Waiting Room and ends on Saturday, August 6th in San Diego at the Casbah, and will have stops in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, St. Louis, Denver, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Los Angeles. Like many others, Man Man’s initial touring for the album was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, and these shows will be the first time to see these “cacophonous…theatrical pop songs (Rolling Stone)” performed live.
Wed. Jun. 22 - Omaha, NE - Waiting Room Fri. Jun. 24 - Chicago, IL - Sleeping Village Sun. Jun. 26 - Grand Rapids, MI - Pyramid Scheme Tue. Jun. 28 - Pittsburgh, PA - Club Cafe Wed. Jun. 29 - Washington, DC - Union Stage Thu. Jun. 30 - Ardmore, PA - Ardmore Music Hall Fri. Jul. 01 - Brooklyn, NY - Elsewhere Sat. Jul. 02 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall Tue. Jul. 05 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop Wed. Jul. 06 - Indianapolis, IN - Hi Fi Thur. Jul. 07 - St Louis, MO - Old Rock House Fri. Jul. 08 - Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck Sat. Jul 09 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Tues. Jul. 26 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Atrium at The Catalyst Wed. Jul. 27 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel Thu. Jul. 28 - Redding, CA - The Dip Fri. Jul. 29 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios Sat. Jul. 30 - Seattle, WA - Neumos Thur. Aug. 04 - Pioneertown, CA - Pappy & Harriet’s Fri. Aug. 05 - Los Angeles, CA - The Roxy Sat. Aug. 06 - San Diego, CA - Casbah Tickets for these headlining shows go on sale Friday, April 1st at 10 am (local).
As an added bonus, Man Man is also releasing the newly remixed and remastered track “Dig Deep,” a song recorded following the release of Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between, and is available now on all DSPs from Sub Pop.
What people are saying about Man Man’s Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between: “It makes sense that Ryan Kattner of Man Man would release his best album to date during a pandemic. His band persona, Honus Honus, is perpetually down on his luck — bizarre and lovelorn, lonely and insane — haunted. In short, he’s all of us right now.” ★★★★Rolling Stone
“In times as chaotic as these, Man Man provides a restless soundtrack to match.” - Exclaim!
“Based on “Cloud Nein” and this [“Future Peg”], it looks like Man Man are picking up where they left off with all the mood-lifting horns and fantastical vocal harmonies you could want.” -Consequence Of Sound
“Honus Honus—a.k.a. Ryan Kattner—is back with his freewheeling off-kilter pop group Man Man, and possibly its most accessible record yet. As eclectic as ever, the sprawling mix of horns, keys, percussion, guitars, and more remains a half-step away from sounding like the most unusual cabaret act in modern times.” - The AV Club
“The songs are served well by more polished production, tunes like “On the Mend” and album standout “Future Peg” molding the band’s unbridled energy into pop structures that would sit well on commercial FM rock radio playlists. The melodies are clear and neatly presented without neutering the group’s signature chaos or adventurous arrangements.” - All Music
“Revives the band’s wry sense of the grotesque, juxtaposed with joyfully unhinged and happily unpredictable music. Dream Hunting is full of other fun musical allusions — to the cartoon soundtracks of Carl Stallings, to Caribbean carnival music, to David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” — and the melodies are more accessible and the hooks more overt than in the past. Lyrically, the songs are bleak, full of breakups and meltdowns, broken dreams and maladies. The contrast is cathartic, and Man Man’s return is a treat.” - Philadelphia Inquirer
“Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between has the feel of a quality thrift store, with lots of unusual pieces in great condition. It also provides the same kind of fun surprises as you wade deeper into the album. Man Man has always had theatrical elements but here those elements feel much closer to the surface, if not ready to burst through, then at least enjoying their time in the in-between of the more familiar tracks (8.5/10)” - Northern Transmissions
“The piano-based songs carry elements of jazz and rock, with Kattner’s keen ear for sing-along melodies matched only by his desire to attack such melodies with unexpected bursts of bedlam. Those tumultuous bursts, occurring frequently and usually without warning, are part of what makes Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between so exciting, with no dull moments even over 17 tracks of content.” - Glide Magazine
Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between is ultimately an enjoyable record from a unique band. - Under the Radar
Man Man
Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between
Tracklisting: 1. Dreamers 2. Cloud Nein 3. On the Mend 4. Lonely Beuys 5. Future Peg 6. Goat 7. Inner Iggy 8. Hunters 9. Oyster Point 10. The Prettiest Song in the World 11. Animal Attraction 12. Sheela 13. Unsweet Meat 14. Swan 15. Powder My Wig 16. If Only 17. In the Valley of the In-Between
Today, March 25th, Guerilla Toss releases their Sub Pop debut, Famously Alive. Guerilla Toss have expanded their North American tour, which now begins on Thursday, April 7th in Greenfield, MA with a show at Hawks & Reed, ending at the Waking Windows Festival in Winooski, VT in May. See below for a full list of dates.
Thu. Apr. 07 - Greenfield, MA - Hawks & Reed Fri. Apr. 08 - Catskills, NY - Avalon Lounge Sat. Apr. 09 - New Haven, CT - Space Ballroom Wed. Apr. 13- Richmond, VA - Richmond Music Hall Thu. Apr. 14 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle Fri. Apr. 15 - Atlanta, GA - Aisle 5 Sat. Apr 16 - Nashville, TN - The Blue Room @ Third Man Records Sun. Apr. 17 - Louisville, KY - Zanzabar Tue. Apr. 19 - Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club Wed. Apr. 20 - Chicago, IL - The Empty Bottle Thu. Apr. 21 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop Fri. Apr. 22 - Toronto, ON - The Garrison Sat. Apr. 23 - Montreal, QC - Bar Le Ritz P.D.B Mon. Apr. 25 - Portland, ME - Space Tue. Apr. 26 - Somerville, MA - Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Wed. Apr. 27 - Providence, RI - Columbus Theatre Thu. Apr. 28 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s Fri. Apr. 29 - Queens, NY - TV Eye Sat. Apr. 30 - Queens, NY - TV Eye Wed. May 11 - Washington, DC - DC9 Thu. May 12 - Kingston, NY - Tubbys Fri. May 13 - Winooski, VT - Waking Windows Festival Sat. May 14 - Winooski, VT - Waking Windows Festival Sun. May 15 - Winooski, VT - Waking Windows Festival
What people are saying about Guerilla Toss:
“Camp art-pop songs matching Kassie Carlson’s surreal lyrics with burbling synths and booming basses, it might snag GT the audience they crave” -MOJO
It’s pop in the sense that it bursts through your speakers like neon bubblegum filled with big open guitar chords and it’s weird in the sense that it’s got extreme metal vocals growling along to the anthemic sugar-rush chorus- Stereogum [Best New Tracks]
…sees them undergoing another really exciting sound change and it’s some very funky weirdo pop music that I’m excited to hear the band dive into.-The Needledrop
“Playful tropical drums and glitches underscore Kassie Carlson’s unnerving harmonies, clashing with fuzzy guitars.” [“Cannibal Capital”] - Paste
“simultaneously their most accessible and most unabashedly maximalist record” - The Wire
“…” Famously Alive” is a full-throttle pop track [Famously Alive] - FADER
“Cannibal Capital’ leads the way, merging distorted guitars with heavenly vocals and layered of DIY electronics.” - Clash
“From the second bar, you know you are about to be floored by yet another ferociously bold offering.” - Podcart
On April 15th, 2022, Sub Pop will digitally release Flock of Dimes’ Head of Roses: Phantom Limb, a collection of unreleased tracks written around the same time as Head of Roses, previously unheard demos, favorite live performances, and covers. In addition to today’s announcement, the official video for new single “It Just Goes On,” co-directed by Jenn Wasner and Spence Kelly, is out now.
Wasner says of ”It Just Goes On”, “This is perhaps one of the most simple and direct songs I’ve ever made (and, also, one of my favorites!)—so it made sense to try and create a video that was similarly straightforward and heart-on-sleeve. I haven’t been to many parties over the past few years (for obvious reasons) so it felt particularly surreal to stage this one with some of my actual friends in Durham, NC. The party was fake but the feelings were real. Thanks so much to my friends for letting me invite them to a party and then force them to watch me be an absolute bummer the entire time.”
The selection of live recordings here run the spectrum, from solitary to exuberant. Some were made solo, in the summer of 2020, while other tracks are electrified with the energy that comes from a day cooped up making music with your friends. The versions of “Spring in Winter” and “Like So Much Desire,” from Wasner’s 2020 Like So Much Desire EP, were both recorded alone, on a grand piano in the rural sprawl of Pittsboro, North Carolina at Manifold Studios. The undulating, subdued version of “Hard Way” was recorded live for a KEXP session while Wasner was holed up in the Californian desert, and the live versions of “Two,” “One More Hour,” and “Price of Blue” that live on the bonus disc were recorded with the help of Wasner’s friends Mountain Man, Matt McCaughan, Joe Westerlund, Michael Libramento, Alan Good Parker, and Nick Sanborn out at Betty’s in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. There are also covers of two of Wasner’s favorite songwriters — Joan Armatrading’s “The Weakness in Me” and Joni Mitchell’s “Amelia,” the latter featuring contributions from former bandmate Aaron Roche.
Among the second disc of bonus material is a Head of Roses beginning – the acoustic demo of “Lightning,” recorded ages ago in the secondary room at Betty’s, before the song hit its final shape on Head of Roses. There’s also a handful of previously-unreleased Head of Roses outtakes – “Wonder” and “Go with Good,” both written at the same time as the rest of the record, but ultimately left on the cutting room floor. And then there’s a kind of postscript: Wasner wrote and recorded “It Just Goes On” in one afternoon at her friend Stella Mozgawa’s studio, and the version that exists here—guitar, bass, vocals and drums—are those first unedited performances of hers, along with some invaluable production contributions by Ethan Gruska. Head of Roses was complete by that time, but she knew this brand new song was still connected to that collection —a last word, a sort of epilogue. In that same way, Phantom Limb serves as a bid adieu, a final reflection on the past two years of Wasner’s songwriting.
Tracklisting: 1. It Just Goes On (Recorded at Sunfair Studios in Joshua Tree, CA)* 2. Go With Good (Recorded at Betty’s in Chapel Hill, NC)* 3. Price of Blue (NPR “Tiny Desk” version; Recorded at Betty’s in Chapel Hill, NC) 4. Through Me (Adult Swim Singles Series contribution; Recorded at Betty’s in Chapel Hill, NC) 5. Wonder (Recorded at Betty’s in Chapel Hill, NC)* 6. Two (Live at Betty’s Version; Recorded at Betty’s in Chapel Hill, NC) 7. Hard Way (Live at KEXP version; Recorded at Sunfair Studios in Joshua Tree, CA)* 8. The Weakness in Me (Joan Armatrading cover; Recorded at Betty’s in Chapel Hill, NC)* 9. Like So Much Desire (Live piano version; Recorded at Manifold Recording in Pittsboro, NC)* 10. One More Hour (Live at Betty’s Version; Recorded at Betty’s in Chapel Hill, NC) 11. Lightning (Acoustic Demo; Recorded in the B room at Betty’s in Chapel Hill, NC)* 12. Amelia (Joni Mitchell cover; Recorded at home in Carrboro, NC & Ko Arts Residency program at The Columns in New Orleans, LA)* 13. Awake for the Sunrise (Live at Betty’s Version; Recorded at Betty’s in Chapel Hill, NC)* 14. Spring in Winter (Solo piano version; Recorded at Manifold Recording in Pittsboro, NC)* *Available for first time on DSPs
Flock of Dimes will also embark on a 6-date headline in support of Head of Roses that runs through late April and early May.
Thu. Apr. 28 - Asheville, NC - Isis Music Hall Fri. Apr. 29 - Saxapahaw, NC - Haw River Ballroom Sat. Apr. 30 - Charlottesville, VA - The Southern Sun. May 01 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar Tue. May 03 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s Wed. May 04 - Brooklyn, NY - Elsewhere Zone One
