Moaning have shared a surrealistic new video for “Tired,” a highlight track from their forthcoming self-titled Sub Pop debut, which will be out in the world March 2nd.
“Behind closed doors we experience a series of strange stories: A house catches fire, a giant hamster takes a bath, and a series of objects spontaneously combust. The “Tired” video plays with analog special effects, creating dream-like environments and scenarios,” says director Ambar Navarro (Stef Chura, Anna Burch). “Tired” co-stars the band alongside Casper the Hamster, Mr.Maggie the Cat, and 2 lucky goldfish, and was shot at Titmouse Studios in Los Angeles.
Moaning will be available on CD/LP/CS/DL worldwide through Sub Pop right here. LP preorders through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on pink vinyl (while supplies last). A new t-shirt design will also be available.
Moaning’s international tour schedule for 2018 in support of the album has been extended through June 10th. New highlights include appearances at Treefort (Boise, ID), 3 Les Elephants (Laval, FR), London Calling (Amsterdam, NL), This Is Not A Love Song (Nimes, FR) and Best Kept Secret (Hilvarenbeek, NL) festivals. Additional tour dates to be announced soon.
Mar. 09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo ^
Mar. 10 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom / Flying Burrito Music & Food Festival
Mar. 11 - Flagstaff, AZ - Chancy’s Crib
Mar. 13 - San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger / Heatwave 3 Festival
Mar. 14 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Mar. 15 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Mar. 16 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Mar. 17 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Mar. 18 - Hot Springs, AR - Valley of the Vapors
Mar. 20 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
Mar. 21 - Omaha, NE - O’Leaves
Mar. 21-25 - Boise, ID - Treefort Festival
Mar. 22 - Denver, CO - Lost Lake Lounge
Mar. 23 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court *
Mar. 25 - Reno, NV - Holland Project
May 11 - Seattle, WA - Barboza **
May 12 - Portland, OR - Star Theatre **
May 14 - San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop **
May 18 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo **
May 19 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar **
May 25 - Laval, FR - 3 Les Elephants
May 26 - Amsterdam, NL - London Calling
Jun. 01 - Nimes, FR - This Is Not A Love Song Festival
Jun. 10 - Hilvarenbeek, NL - Best Kept Secret Festival
“Artificial” is the new and very official video from Moaning’s forthcoming self-titled, debut album, helmed by the directorial team A Stranger. Guitarist Sean Solomon says of the shimmery, 120 Minutes-style visual, “The video mirrors the themes of insincerity and artificiality in the song. To shoot the video we used practical effects to warp the viewers perception of what’s happening. It was appropriately shot in Los Angeles on 35mm film much like other disingenuous Hollywood productions”
The FADER had this to say of the video, “The song is about what really lies beneath, and like the truth, “Artificial” is distressing, nuanced, and ultimately cathartic. In the video directed by A Stranger, Moaning’s members dress in all white and play in a tinfoiled house with lots of fake plants, with their faces occasionally distorted and mirrored in very cool fashions (see video premiere January 15th).”
Moaning will be available on CD/LP/CS/DL worldwide through Sub Pop. The 10-track album, featuring “Artificial” and “Don’t Go” along with highlights “Tired” “The Same,” and “Misheard,” was recorded and engineered by Alex Newport in Los Angeles.
Preorders for Moaning are available now through Sub Pop right here. LP preorders through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on pink vinyl (while supplies last). A new t-shirt design will also be available.
Moaning’s current tour schedule in support of the album begins March 9th, with a hometown release show in Los Angeles on March 9th at the Echo, and runs through March 23 in Salt Lake City at Kilby Court. The band will also appear at SXSW. Additional live dates will be announced soon.
Mar. 09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo ^ Mar. 14 - Austin, TX - SXSW Mar. 15 - Austin, TX - SXSW Mar. 16 - Austin, TX - SXSW Mar. 17 - Austin, TX - SXSW Mar. 18 - Hot Springs, AR - Valley of the Vapors Mar. 20 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle Mar. 23 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court * ^ w/ Froth * w/ Ed Schrader’s Music Beat
What The People are saying about Moaning:
“A spacious and dark post-punk rager” [“Don’t Go”] - Buzzbands LA
“A taut introduction, a snappy, cut-throat piece of punked out indie rock that makes its point in two minutes 56 seconds.” [“Don’t Go”] -CLASH
“‘Don’t Go’ is an abrasive, thrilling introduction that points towards a debut album without boundaries or limitations.” [“Don’t Go”] - DIY
“Solomon sings in a world-weary monotone. But his voice rushes through a weathered industrial filter that makes it sound like the air in his lungs is struggling to catch up with him, adding a layer of momentum to his post-punk stoicism. Behind him, bandmates Pascal Stevenson and Andrew MacKelvie keep time on bass and drums, respectively, their clipped tempos like a clock ticking down to the end of the affair. And then there’s that delightfully out of place guitar solo. The way Solomon’s fingers jitter across the frets betrays the dispassion in his voice. He sings like Ian Curtis, but he plays guitar like Billie Joe Armstrong wringing out notes in fits.” [“Don’t Go”] - Pitchfork
“It’s moody and on-edge, an energy that’s matched by the stylish black-and-white video” [“Don’t Go”] - Stereogum
“Don’t Go” is uproarious and unrelenting, a tremendous wall of noise hitting you from the start, its biting rage continuing throughout. Vocals cloaked in fuzz meld into the sounds projected seamlessly, creating a thick atmosphere against repetitious plea of, “don’t go.”…The single evokes the feelings of desperately holding on, clamoring to keep it together even when everything has fallen apart. This band is everything.” [“Don’t Go”] - The Grey Estates
“A product of their hometown’s DIY scene, this Los Angeles trio have spent the past couple of years creating moody guitar music that draws on shoegaze, slacker-rock and post-punk. They’ve already whetted appetites for their upcoming debut album with a series of driving, dirge-like, deadpan tunes.” [Top 40 Newcomers of 2018”] -The Guardian
Previously announced headlining support dates (with METZ) run December 7th-19th
On March 2nd, 2018, Moaning will release their impassioned self-titled debut, worldwide through Sub Pop. The 10-track album, featuring “Don’t Go” along with highlights “Artificial,” “The Same,” and “Misheard,” was recorded and engineered by Alex Newport in Los Angeles.
Moaning’s charmingly chaotic, black & white visual for “Don’t Go” was directed by Michael Schmelling. The video stars the band and a few of their dear friends, and was shot in Los Angeles in the waning days of summer.
Preorders for Moaning are available now on CD/LP/CS/DL through Sub Pop right here. LP pre-orders through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on pink vinyl (while supplies last), and new t-shirt design will also be available.
Moaning Tracklisting 1. Don’t Go 2. Tired 3. Artificial 4. Close 5. Does This Work for You 6. The Same 7. For Now 8. Useless 9. Misheard 10. Somewhere in There
Moaning’s previously announced tour schedule for 2017 begins December 6th in Eugene at The Blue Room and ends December 19th in Phoenix at LBX. For the dates spanning December 7th-15th, the band will act as direct support for labelmates METZ. Moaning will also appear at the 2018 edition of SXSW in Austin, Texas.
Dec. 06 - Eugene, OR - The Blue Room Dec. 07 - Seattle, WA - Neumos * Dec. 08 - Vancouver, BC - The Cobalt * Dec. 09 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir * Dec. 11 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent * Dec. 12 - Los Angeles, CA - The Teragram Ballroom * Dec. 13 - San Diego, CA - The Casbah * Dec. 15 - Austin, TX - the Mohawk *^ Dec. 16 - Dallas, TX - Transit Bicycle Co. Dec. 18 - Tucson, AZ - Club Congress Dec. 19 - Phoenix, AZ - LBX Mar. 12 - 18 - Austin, TX - SXSW *w/ METZ ^ w/ Cherubs
Moaning is a band defined by its duality. The abrasive, post punk trio comprised of Sean Solomon, Pascal Stevenson, and Andrew MacKelvie, began nearly a decade after they met in L.A.’s DIY music scene. Their debut album comes born out of the member’s experiences with love and distress, creating a sound uniquely dark and sincere. Although the band is just breaking out of their infancy, Moaning’s sleek and cavernous tone emphasizes the turmoil of the era they were born into. One where the endless possibility for art and creation is met with the fear and doubt of an uncertain future.
The trio began regularly frequenting DIY institutions like The Smell and Pehrspace, eventually selling out dozens of their own shows at both venues with their first few bands. Solomon recalls, after a brief hiatus from playing together, Moaning’s conception came when he sent Stevenson and MacKelvie the first demo for “Don’t Go,” setting the tone for the impulsive songwriting that would follow.
The three fleshed out Solomon’s primitive recordings, adding in MacKelvie’s heavy syncopated drumming, and Stevenson’s melodic driving bass and synth parts, capturing each member’s personality in their sparse and fuzzed out tracks. Like many of their previous collaborative projects, Moaning forces pain up against pleasure, using the complexity of personal heartbreak to inform the band’s conflicted sound. The band eventually landed on the apt moniker Moaning, admiring the ambiguity the name held and hoping to reference both an intimate wail and an anguished scream [read more here].
We are quite pleased to welcome superb Los Angeles band Moaning to the label, who will release their debut album in the spring of 2018 on Sub Pop. Until then, we suggest you watch the group’s video for this here earworm “The Same.”
Stereogum had this to say of the video: “There’s something innately appealing about watching something get destroyed....Moaning wreck a house in the video for their catchy as hell new song “The Same,” and it’s captivating to see them irreversibly tear things down while they sing about not knowing what’s coming next. Change comes in fits and starts — sometimes it feels like putting a sledgehammer through a wall, but more often than not it feels like nothing is happening at all.”
More on Moaning: Los Angeles-band Moaning is the abrasive post-punk trio comprised of Sean Solomon, Pascal Stevenson, and Andrew MacKelvie. The three initially met as teenagers while growing up in the San Fernando Valley, and immediately developed a kinship through Los Angeles’s local music scene. The three began regularly frequenting DIY institutions like The Smell and Pehrspace, eventually selling out dozens of their shows at both venues with their first few bands.
From the sentimental to catastrophic, hiding meek and introspective lyrics within powerful droning dance songs, the music Moaning makes also gives sonic nods to some of the band’s musical heroes like New Order, Broadcast, and Slowdive.
Moaning’s fervent songs are born out of the member’s experiences with love and distress, creating a sound uniquely dark and sincere. This is evidenced in the band’s early version (and video) of their track, “The Same.” The three went into their home studio to record the song and subsequently decided to shoot a music video for the track. Moaning was tipped off about a house that was about to be demolished nearby, and had quickly assembled a group of friends and filmed them taking turns destroying the estate. Meanwhile, Solomon, Stevenson, and MacKelvie tried their best to perform the song amongst the chaos. The video’s budget was limited to the sledgehammers, spray paint, and a case of beer they provided for the friends who were invited to cause havoc, which emphasizes Moaning’s desire to make as much impact with as few resources as possible. The track’s skidding percussion and toned back vocals gave merely a glimmer of the target Moaning aimed to hit with their sound.
Moaning is currently at work on their debut full-length, which will be released sometime the spring of 2018.
Moaning Tour Dates
Moaning have also scheduled tour dates beginning December 7th in Seattle at Neumos and ending December 19th in Phoenix at LBX. During this run, the band will act as support for label mates METZ (December 7th-16th).
Dec. 07 - Seattle, WA - Neumo’s * Dec. 08 - Vancouver, BC - Cobalt * Dec. 09 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir * Dec. 11 - San Francisco, CA - Independent * Dec. 12 - Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom* Dec. 13 - San Diego, CA - Casbah * Dec. 15 - Austin, TX - Mohawk * Dec. 16 - Houston, TX - Studio at Warehouse Live * Dec. 17 - Dallas, TX - Transit Bicycle Co. Dec. 19 - Phoenix, AZ - LBX
