Australia’s Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever release a new track/video, “Tidal River,” from their forthcoming album, Endless Rooms, out May 6th on Sub Pop. Rolling Blackouts C.F. have joined an Australian lineage of bands bold enough to marry the country’s evocative landscapes with the urban romance, passions and politics of its characters. Today’s propulsive “Tidal River,” is settled in this vein, as it invokes the specter of Australia as the “lucky country” – and the self-entitlement and ignorance it inspires: “Jetski over the pale reef / chase the pill for some relief / as long as you don’t point out / what’s underneath your feet.” The accompanying video was directed by frequent collaborator Nick Mckk and weaves landscape footage with clips of the band playing.
“Tidal River is a little snapshot of living in a place at a time when it feels like there is no-one at the wheel. If there were a complacency Olympics, Australia would win gold by a mile. In the ‘lucky country’, the luckiest ones jealously guard their fortune, as if it will disappear if they share it around. There is so much potential to do better, but it sometimes seems like progress is two steps forward, two steps back. Tidal River is located in what Europeans named Wilsons Promontory, where the river meets the ocean. It has great significance for the Gunai/Kurnai and Boonwurrung peoples, who call it Yiruk and Wamoon respectively. No matter the struggles and politics that go on, the river keeps churning into the sea.
WATCH ROLLING BLACK COASTAL FEVER’S VIDEO FOR “TIDAL RIVER”
Since releasing their debut EP Talk Tight in 2015, the Melbourne-based five-piece have been chewing through stages across the world at a frightening clip. Early 2020 saw them gearing up once again – putting the finishing touches on second album, Sideways to New Italy, and prepping for another international tour. Instead they were caught in the longest Covid-related lockdown in the world. “All our touring was amazing,” says Tom Russo, who along with Fran Keaney and Joe White make up the band’s trio of guitar-playing, singer/songwriters, rounded out by bassist Joe Russo and drummer Marcel Tussie. “It’s also sensory overload and a bit chaotic. So it went from that to the complete opposite – sensory deprivation. We were basically in a bubble.”
With no shows to support Sideways to New Italy possible, the band had little to do but sit at home. “I was spending all my weekends building stuff on Garageband,” says Keaney. “Writing without having any sense anybody would listen to it.” Soon experiments wandered: a synth line here, a disco vamp there. Files were traded – weird ideas without parameters included. Without realizing it, the group’s signature sound of rushing acoustic guitar, motorik drums and sparkling pop hooks was being subtly shifted into a new era. When lockdown momentarily lifted at the end of 2020, the band and long-time engineer Matt “Chow” Duffy legged it to “The Basin” – a lakeside, mud-brick house in regional Victoria the Russo extended family built in the ‘70s. With the building’s high-ceilings and rural setting encouraging a huge live sound, the reunited members spent two weeks figuring out what they had.
Back in Melbourne the band set about finishing the record on their own, working through months of lockdown restrictions, trial and error and the isolation of a post-pandemic world. “A lot of my ideas came from endlessly walking around the same streets of West Brunswick” says Russo. “But I was also kind of liberated by that - my mind wandered into places it wouldn’t otherwise have. Then when we finally got to recording in the country, the ambience seeped in. We ended up including field recordings of fire, rain and bird sounds. Then we finished it ourselves back in our Brunswick practice space.”
The result is Endless Rooms, the band’s most cinematic, stylistically diverse and ambitious album yet. Self-produced by the band with Matt Duffy, and mixed by Scott Horscroft (DMA’S, Silverchair, The Presets), Endless Rooms pulls back the curtain on what Rolling Blackouts C.F. can achieve, revealing a wider screen, deeper narrative currents, more confident shades, and an excitement at letting their tumbling brand of ragged, nervy pop wander and breathe.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “THE WAY IT SHATTERS”
PRE-ORDER ENDLESS ROOMS
ROLLING BLACKOUTS C.F. TOUR DATES
Wed. Feb. 9 - Sydney, AU @ Factory Theatre
Thu. Feb. 10 - Sydney, AU @ Factory Theatre - SOLD OUT
Thu. Feb. 17 - Eltham, AU @ Eltham Hotel
Fri. Feb. 18 - Brisbane, AU @ The Tivoli
Sat. Feb. 19 - Canberra, AU @ Kambri - ANU
Fri. Feb. 25 - Melbourne, AU @ The Forum
Thu. Mar. 3 - Adelaide, AU @ The Gov
Fri. Mar. 4 - Hobart, AU @ Altar
Fri. Mar. 18 - Fremantle WA @ AU @ Freo Social
Fri. May 20 - Madrid, ES @ Tomavistas
Sun. May 22 - Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 *
Mon. May 23 - Norwich, UK @ Waterfront *
Tue. May 24 - Oxford, UK @ O2 Academy *
Wed. May 25 - Bristol, UK @ Motion *
Thu. May 26 - Cardiff, UK @ Tramshed *
Sat. May 28 - Northampton, UK @ Roadmender *
Sun. May 29 - Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute *
Mon. May 30 - Leeds, UK @ Leeds Irish Centre *
Tue. May 31 - Manchester, UK @ O2 Ritz *
Thu. Jun. 2 - London, UK @ O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire *
Fri. Jun. 3 - Sheffield, UK @ The Foundry *
Sat. Jun. 4 - Glasgow, UK @ Queen Margaret Union *
Sun. Jun. 5 - Edinburgh, UK @ The Liquid Room *
Mon. Jun. 6 - Newcastle upon Tyne, UK @ Boiler Shop *
Wed. Jun. 8 - Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street *
Fri. Jun. 10 - Parque Da Cidade, BR @ Primavera Porto
Sat. Jun. 11 - Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
Sun. Jun. 12 - Mannheim, DE @ Maifield Derby
Mon. Jun. 13 - Berlin, DE @ Cassiopeia *
Wed. Jun. 15 - Bergen, NO @ Bergenfest
Thu. Jun. 16 - Oslo, NO @ John Dee *
Fri. Jun. 17 - Copenhagen, DK @ Pumpehuset *
Sun. Jun. 19 - Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie *
Tue. Jun. 21 - Brussels, BE @ Botanique Orangerie *
Wed. Jun. 22 - Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje *
Thu. Jun. 23 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso *
Fri. Jul. 22 - North Byron Parklands, AU @ Splendour In The Grass
Wed. Jul. 27 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
Mon. Aug. 1 - Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
Tue. Aug. 2 - Montréal, QC @ L’Escogriffe Bar
Wed. Aug. 3 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
Sat. Aug. 6 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Sun. Aug. 7 - Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
Mon. Aug. 8 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat
Wed. Aug. 10 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal west
Fri. Aug. 12 - Austin, TX @ Empire
Sat. Aug. 13 - Fort Worth, TX @ Tulips
Mon. Aug. 15 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
Tue. Aug. 16 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
Thu. Aug. 18 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos
Fri. Aug. 19 - Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre
Sat. Aug. 20 - Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
Mon. Aug. 22 - San Francisco, CA @ August Hall
Tue. Aug. 23 - Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
* w/ Stella Donnelly supporting
On May 20th, Sub Pop will release the debut album from Weird Nightmare, the electrifying new project from METZ guitarist and singer Alex Edkins.
Weird Nightmare showcases a new side of Edkins’ already-established songwriting, with a raw, sugary blast of distorted pop. The new album exhibits all of his main band’s bite with an unexpected, yet totally satisfying, sweetness. Imagine The Amps covering Big Star, or the gloriously hissy miniature epics of classic-era Guided by Voices combined with the bombast of Copper Blue-era Sugar—just tons of red-line distortion cut with the type of tunecraft that thrills the moment it hits your ears.
On the first single, “Searching For You”, Edkins shares, “it’s a fun, no nonsense rock ‘n’ roll song. It’s about searching for meaning and inspiration all around us. In my mind, the ‘you’ in the chorus refers to something bigger than companionship or love, it’s that intangible thing we all look for but never find. ” Directed by Ryan Thompson and animated by Jordan “Dr. Cool” Minkoff, it’s time to step into a world of ultimate weirdness, and get served a hot slice of rock and roll video deliciousness in the new video for “Searching for You.”
Weird Nightmare has announced a handful 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.
Sat. May 21st - Toronto, ON - Baby G (Toronto Record Release Show)
Fri. Jun. 17th - Detroit, MI - Third Man Records *
Sat. Jun. 18th - Chicago, IL - Schubas *
Thu. Jul. 28th - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s Alright *
Fri. Jul. 29th - Rehoboth Beach, DE - Dogfish Head Brewery *
Sat. Jul. 30th - Washington, DC - Songbyrd *
Sun. Jul. 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. (See below mock-up.)
Artist Bio:
If you’re looking for a raw, sugary blast of distorted garage rock, look no further than Weird Nightmare. The debut album from METZ guitarist and vocalist Alex Edkins contains all of his main band’s bite with an unexpected, yet totally satisfying, sweetness. Imagine The Amps covering Big Star, or the gloriously hissy miniature epics of classic-era Guided by Voices combined with the bombast of Copper Blue- era Sugar—just tons of red-line distortion cut with the type of tunecraft that thrills the moment it hits your ears.
These ten songs showcase a new side of Edkins’ already-established songwriting, but even though the bulk of Weird Nightmare was recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic some of its tunes date back to 2013 in demo form. “Hooks and melody have always been a big part of my writing, but they really became the main focus this time” he explains. “It was about doing what felt natural.”
To be clear: Weird Nightmare is not a “pandemic album,” but an album—some of which had been gestating for quite a while—that just so happened to be recorded during the pandemic. “I had always planned on finishing these songs, but being unable to tour with METZ, and forced to lock down, really gave me a push.” After days spent homeschooling his son, Edkins would drive to the METZ rehearsal room and tinker deep into the night on these songs’ deceptively simple structures and rich, static-laden textures. “It was a godsend for me,” he states about the creative process. “The hours would disappear and I would get lost in the music and record. It was a beautiful escape.”
Weird Nightmare is, in its own way, a study in extremes: Edkins’ melodic instincts and penchant for dissonance are both turned up to the max throughout, the latter reflecting not only the barn-burning tendencies of METZ, but Alex’s own sonic predilections. “It doesn’t sound right to my ears until it’s pushed over the edge.” He also cites other artists who are masterful at mixing the sublime and the punishing—Kim Deal and Scout Niblett among them—as influences on his own songwriting. “My favorite songs are the simple ones,” he explains. “I’ve never been attracted to virtuosity or technicality. Certain songs have the power to lift your spirits like nothing else can. I wanted to create that type of song.”
“I’ve found a new confidence in my writing and producing,” Edkins continues while discussing his songwriting approach on Weird Nightmare. “I really enjoy creating and recording, and I wanted this record to reflect how much fun I was having.” And even though its songs occasionally dip into weighty themes—underneath the driving riffs of “Darkroom” are ruminations on trying to fight off bad habits amidst personal malaise, while the anthemic “Lusitania” is, in his words, “a fictional love song”—this album is indeed an absolute blast to listen to.
A few guests pitch in on Weird Nightmare: Canadian alt-pop genius Chad VanGaalen adds his unmistakable touch to the ever-escalating “Oh No,” while Alicia Bognanno of Bully lends her distinctive pipes to the thrashing “Wrecked,” a collaboration that effectively saved the song. “I almost didn’t put it on the album because I thought it was missing something,” Edkins explains. “I sent it to Alicia and she lifted it way up.”
And taking risks and reaching out of Edkins’ comfort zone was the name of the game when it came to making Weird Nightmare. “I found myself doing new things I didn’t have the guts to do before, recording everything by myself and trusting all of my musical instincts,” he states. “I think when music manifests quickly, a certain amount of honesty automatically comes along with it. When it is a purely instinctual creation, there is no opportunity to obscure the truth.”
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
Today, Feb 25th, 89, the debut record from Charlie Gabriel, the senior member of the legendary New Orleans Jazz ensemble, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is available on DSPs. The album will be released physically on CD/LP/CS July 1st, 2022 worldwide from Sub Pop.
Charlie’s first professional gig dates to 1943, sitting in for his father in New Orleans’ Eureka Brass Band. As a teenager living in Detroit, Charlie played with Lionel Hampton, whose band just then also included a young Charles Mingus, later spending nine years with a group led by Cab Calloway drummer, J.C. Heard. While he’s also fronted a bebop quintet, played and/or toured with Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennet, Aretha Franklin and many more, this is the first time his name appears on the front of a record, as a bandleader.
Since 2006, he’s been a member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and has developed a tight musical relationship with the group’s bassist and tuba player, Ben Jaffe. The two men, along with guitarist Joshua Starkman, recorded Charlie’s new album 89 throughout 2020 and 2021.
As previously announced on Sunday, January 30th legendary New Orleans Jazz venue, Preservation Hall was the subject of a CBS Sunday Morning segment, which was taped in December 2021 with Ted Koppel and features interviews with the Hall’s creative director and sousaphonist, Ben Jaffe and Charlie Gabriel. You can watch this segment by clicking here.
89 is now available for preorder on CD/LP/DSPs from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com, select independent retailers in North America, in the UK, and in Europe will receive the album on translucent gold.
Charlie Gabriel
89
Tracklisting:
1. Memories of You
2. Chelsea Bridge
3. I’m Confessin’
4. The Darker It Gets
5. Stardust
6. Three Little Word
7. Yellow Moon
8. I Get Jealous
