Cullen Omori supports The Pillows on their FLCL “Mono Me You Sun Tour,”presented by Adult Swim through July 19th.
Cullen Omori has shared the kaleidoscopic closer, “A Real You,”from his sophomore effort, The Diet, available worldwide from Sub Pop Records on August 17th. Omori shares that “a lot of the parts were scattered around in different songs during the New Misery sessions. The song has been incubated since 2014, and I’d always mess around with a version of the song at sound checks and during interludes in the live set. The song coalesced last year and it came together in a way where it’s familiar but also weird and new and I think that’s a philosophy I applied to the whole album. You can listen to “A Real You” here.
The Diet is a powerful modern indie-rock album that is buoyed by warped, analog pedals/transistors and tailor-made guitar tones. Omori’s winsome vocals crisscross ‘70s art rock and classic songwriting all within the span of 40 minutes.
Omori is currently on tour with Japanese alternative rock band The Pillows. These shows are presented by Adult Swim to celebrate the highly-anticipated return of the channels cult-anime hit FLCL. The tour continues with a sold-out show, tomorrow, July 12th at NYC’s Grammercy Theatre and will wrap on July 19th in Los Angeles at the Mayan Theatre.
Jul.12 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre * [Sold Out] Jul. 13 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza * [Sold Out] Jul.15 - Seattle, WA - Neptune * [Sold Out] Jul.16 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom * Jul.18 - San Francisco, CA - August Hall * [Sold Out] Jul.19 - Los Angeles, CA - The Mayan * [Sold Out] * w/ The Pillows & Noodles
Pre orders forThe Dietare available now through Sub Pop right here. LP pre orders throughmegamart.subpop.comandselect independent retailerswill receive the limited Loser edition on lavender swirl vinyl (while supplies last). You can also bundle the album with the accompanying new T-Shirt design.
Digital Garbage will be available worldwide September 28th, 2018 on Sub Pop.
On September 28th, the beloved, PNW rock and roll institution Mudhoney will release Digital Garbage, the 10th album from the band in 30 years, a barbed-wire-trimmed collection of sonic brickbats. You can listen to the new album’s premiere offering, “Paranoid Core” by clicking that play button up there.
Digital Garbage Tracklisting 1. Nerve Attack 2. Paranoid Core 3. Please Mr. Gunman 4. Kill Yourself Live 5. Night and Fog 6. 21st Century Pharisees 7. Hey Neanderfuck 8. Prosperity Gospel 9. Messiah’s Lament 10. Next Mass Extinction 11. Oh Yeah
[Photo Credit: Emily Reiman]
Since the late ’80s, Mudhoney – the Seattle-based foursome whose muck-crusted version of rock, shot through with caustic wit and battened down by a ferocious low end – has been a high-pH tonic against the ludicrous and the insipid.
Thirty years later, the world is experiencing a particularly high-water moment for both those ideals. But just in time, vocalist Mark Arm, guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison, and drummer Dan Peters are back with Digital Garbage, a barbed-wire-trimmed collection of sonic brickbats. Arm’s raw yawp and his bandmates’ long-honed chemistry make Digital Garbage an ideal release valve for the 2018 pressure cooker, its insistent rhythms forcing movement and Arm’s sardonic lyrics offering a funhouse-mirror companion to the ever-more-ridiculous news cycle. “My sense of humor is dark, and these are dark times,” says Arm. “I suppose it’s only getting darker.”
Digital Garbage opens with the swaggering “Nerve Attack,” which can be heard as a nod both to modern-life anxiety and the ever-increasing threat of warfare. The album’s title comes from the outro of “Kill Yourself Live,” which segues from a revved-up Arm organ solo into a bleak look at the way notoriety goes viral. “I’m not on social media, so my experience is somewhat limited,” says Arm. “But people really seem to find validation in the likes—and then there’s Facebook Live, where people have streamed torture and murder, or, in the case of Philando Castile, getting murdered by a cop.”
“In the course of writing that song,” he adds, “I thought about how, once you put something out there online, you can’t wipe it away. It’s always going to be there—even if no one digs it up, it’s still out there floating somewhere.”
Appropriately enough, bits of recent news events float through the record—”Please Mr. Gunman,” on which Arm bellows “We’d rather die in church!” over his bandmates’ careening charge, was inspired by a TV-news bubblehead’s response to a 2017 church shooting, while the ominous refrain that opens the submerged-blues of “Next Mass Extinction” calls back to last summer’s clashes in Charlottesville, although Arm’s brutal delivery helps twist it into an indictment. Arm also went back to the pre-Mudhoney era for the titular insult of the stinging “Hey Neanderfuck.” ”National Lampoonmade several comedy records in the 70s, and in one skit someone gets called a ‘Neanderfuck,’” Arm laughs. “I’ve always loved that insult and wondered why it never became a part of the American lexicon—it’s so brutal. It was high time to use that.”
Mudhoney’s core sound—steadily pounding drums, swamp-thing bass, squalling guitar wobble, Arm’s hazardous-chemical voice—remains on Digital Garbage, which the band recorded with longtime collaborator (and Digital Garbage pianist) Johnny Sangster at the Seattle studio Litho. The anti-religiosity shimmy “21st Century Pharisees” builds its case with Maddison’s woozy synths. “It adds a really nice touch to the proceedings,” Arm says of Maddison’s synth parts. “And Guy has really learned his way around his machines playing in a synth trio the past few years.”
The shuffling “Messiah’s Lament” is the band’s first song in 6/8—and it’s told from the point of view of a world-weary Jesus. And Digital Garbage closes with “Oh Yeah,” a brief celebration of skateboarding, surfing, biking, and the joy provided by these escape valves. “I would’ve really just loved to write songs about just hanging out on the beach, and going on a nice vacation,” says Arm. “But, you know, that probably doesn’t make for great rock.”
Mudhoney, however, know what does make great rock—and the riffs and fury of Digital Garbage will stand the test of time, even if the particulars fade away. “I’ve tried to keep things somewhat universal, so that this album doesn’t just seem like of this time—hopefully some of this stuff will go away,” Arm laughs. “You don’t want to say in the future, ‘Hey, those lyrics are still relevant. Great!’”
Mudhoney Tour Dates + Ticket Links
Mudhoney will embark on a world tour beginning on Aug. 11th at SPF30, Sub Pop’s FREE 30th Anniversary Festival and Party at Alki Beach in West Seattle. They will then play a string of dates in the Pacific Northwest starting Sep. 15th in Vancouver, with shows in Portland and Seattle before heading to Europe on Nov. 11th.
Tour Dates: Aug. 11 - Seattle, WA - SPF30 (Sub Pop’s FREE 30th Anniversary Festival and Party at Alki Beach! From noon to 10pm.) Sep. 15 - Vancouver, Canada - Rickshaw Theater (Westward Music Festival) Sep. 28 - Portland, OR - Dante’s @ Sep. 29 - Seattle, WA - Neptune Theatre % Oct. 13 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw ^ Nov. 11 - Utrecht, NL - Le Guess Who Festival Nov. 12 - Groningen, NL - Vera * Nov. 13 - Berlin, DE- Festaal Kreuzberg & Nov. 14 - Hamburg, DE - Fabrik & Nov. 15 - Koln, DE - Gebaude 9 & Nov. 16 - Luzern, SZ - Schuur & Nov. 17 - Vevey, SZ - Rocking Chair & Nov. 19 - Frankfurt, GE - Zoom Club & Nov. 20 - Munchen, GE - Strom & Nov. 21 - Bologna, IT - Locomotiv & Nov. 22 - Roma, IT - Largo (IT) & Nov. 23 - Milan, IT - Santeria Social Club & Nov. 24 - Zagreb, HR - Mochvara & Nov. 25 - Vienna , AT - Arena Big Hall * Nov. 27 - Paris, FR - Le Trabendo & Nov. 28 - Brighton, UK - Concorde 2 # Nov. 29 - London, UK - Electric Ballroom # Nov. 30 - Leeds, UK - Leeds Beckett University ! Dec. 1St - Glasgow, UK - Lukes Church !
@ The Scientists and Eat Skull % The Scientists and Tom Price Desert Classic ^ Pissed Jeans and Art Gray Noizz Quintet * w/Zeke and Please the Trees & Please the Trees # Masonics and Thee Hypnotics ! Wildebeests and Thee Hypnotics
In the official video for Deaf Wish’s tense and epic track “The Rat Is Back” guitarist/vocalist Jensen Tjhung directs himself, delivering an unpredictable, humorous, and menacing performance. This new offering is from the band’s great forthcoming album, Lithium Zion.
Tour Dates + Ticket Links
Deaf Wish have scheduled US tour dates in support of Lithium Zion, beginning September 4th in Columbus at Spacebar and ending September 27th-30th in Memphis for Gonerfest. The tour will include stops in Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, San Francisco, Atlanta, Austin, New Orleans and an appearance at Raleigh’s Hopscotch Music Festival (September 6th). Along the way, Deaf Wish will join Sub Pop labelmates The Gotobeds (September 7th; 9th-14th).
Sep. 04 - Columbus, OH - Spacebar Sep. 05 - Asheville, NC - Mothlight Sep. 06 - Raleigh, NC - Hopscotch Sep. 07 - Baltimore, MD - Joe Squared * Sep. 08 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool Sep. 09 - Boston, MA - Great Scott * Sep. 11 - Pittsburgh, PA - The New Shop * Sep. 12 - Cleveland, OH - Now That’s Class * Sep. 13 - Detroit, MI - Deluxx Fluxx * Sep. 14 - Chicago, IL - GMan Tavern * Sep. 18 - Seattle, WA - Highline Sep. 19 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios Sep. 20 - Arcata, CA - Outer Space Sep. 21- San Francisco, CA - The Knockout Sep. 22 - Los Angeles, CA - Zebulon Sep. 23 - Tucson, AZ - Club Congress Sep. 25 - Austin, TX - Barracuda Sep. 26 - New Orleans, LA - Poor Boys Sep. 27 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl Sep. 27-30 - Memphis, TN - Gonerfest * w/ The Gotobeds
The music on Lithium Zion was collaboratively written by Deaf Wish, with each member taking turns on lyrical and vocal duties throughout the album. Lithium Zion was recorded at Head Gap Recording Studio in Melbourne in April of 2017 with Nao Anzai, and mixed and mastered by Mikey Young of Total Control (who also mixed the group’s “St. Vincent’s” 7” single and Pain album, both released on Sub Pop).
Lithium Zion will be available on CD/LP/DL/CS worldwide on Friday, July 27th, except for the UK on Friday, August 3rd, through Sub Pop right over here. LP preorders of the album through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on hot pink vinyl (while supplies last).
There’s no rest for Frankie Cosmos who have announced additional North American dates starting on September 13th in Baltimore, with shows in Durham, Atlanta, Austin, Detroit and Pittsburgh, ending on Oct 7th in their home of New York City. These dates will follow the band’s European shows in July & August and are in support of their latest release, Vessel. See below for a full list of shows.
Ever wonder what it would be like to co-write an album with a band? Now you have the chance to find out. Loosely inspired by conceptual artist, Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings, Frankie Cosmos front person, Greta Kline has created An Induced Album. Moved by the idea that LeWitt’s artwork can still be installed in new forms even after his death, Kline sought to create a version of this for her songwriting. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever made that I feel is incomplete until it is out in the world” says Kline. “Releasing recorded music is great, but I have never felt an excitement quite like this one– that once I release this, it really changes what it is. It’s not done until the audience participates, which really excites me (or actually, maybe it’s never “done”). It’s also very out of my control once I release it, unlike a finished recorded album, so that’s scary, but fun.”
You can access all the details to co-pilot your own Frankie Cosmos album at www.frankiecosmosband.com.
Jul. 14 - Madrid, ES - Mad Cool Festival Jul. 15 - Port of Menteith, UK - Doune The Rabbit Hole Jul. 27-29 - Denver, CO - Underground Music Showcase Aug. 17 - Paredes de Coura, PT - Vodafone Paredes de Coura Aug. 19 - Brecon Beacons, UK - Green Man Festival Aug. 21 - Belfast, UK - Voodoo Aug. 22 - Galway, IE - Roisin Dubh Aug. 23 - Dublin, IE - Button Factory Sep. 13 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar Sep. 14 - Durham, NC - Motorco Sep. 15 - Asheville, NC - The Mothlight Sep. 16 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade Sep. 17 - Birmingham, AL - Saturn Sep. 19 - New Orleans, LA - Gasa Gasa Sep. 20 - Houston, TX - Satellite Bar Sep. 21 - San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger Sep. 22 - Austin, TX - Barracuda Sep. 23 - Dallas, TX - Deep Ellum Art Co. Sep. 24 - Oklahoma CIty, OK - Tower Theatre Sep. 26 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Sep. 27 - Milwaukee, WI - The Back Room @ Colectivo Sep. 30 - Detroit, MI - El Club (Outside) Oct. 01 - Cleveland, OH - The Grog Shop Oct. 02 - Pittsburgh, PA - Cattivo Oct. 03 - Harrisburg, PA - HMAC Stage on Herr Oct. 05 - Jersey City, NJ - White Eagle Hall Oct. 06 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg Oct. 07 - New York, NY - The Bowery Ballroom
[Photo Credit: Angel Ceballos]
What The People are saying about Frankie Cosmos: “It’s a dreamy rock album with lyrics that face unsatisfying relationships and inner turmoil with realism and flashes of warped humor.” [Vessel] - Paste
“The album is less about the epic poem of New York than about how the brain and the heart are connected by nerves and blood—less about Kline’s place in the world, than her place within herself.” [Vessel] - Pitchfork
Kline has a keen, quick grip on the back-and-forth of modern uncertainty, swinging high from triumph to low-lit sorrow. It’s why she’s such a comfort to return to.” [Vessel, 8/10] - Crack
“While intimacy has found a large pop audience in the social-media era […] Kline’s disclosures are striking because they feel genuinely homespun…nobody does it better currently”[Vessel, 4/5] - Q
“Slight but powerful indie-pop” / “There’s great charm to these yearning tunes”. [Vessel, 8/10] -Uncut
“Completely enchanting, it’s further proof that the band are one of the best” [Vessel] - Wonderland
Now watch their incisive take on the gentrification and “sceneism” of today, in the official video for “Give You Game” [NSFW], a new song featuring Stas The Boss (THEESatisfaction).
Knife Knights is a new collaboration from Ishmael Butler and musician/producer Erik Blood. The first offering from the union comes in the form of new [and somewhat NSFW] visual for “Give You Game,” directed by Justin Henning.
On “Give You Game,” Butler and Blood weave their distant voices through a landscape of synthesizers and drums that bubble up sporadically, like geysers. Marquetta Miller and former THEESatisfaction member Stasia Irons soon join, their round tones lacing around those sounds and giving them shape. It is an abstract anthem to astral love. “Give You Game” also features a guest appearance from guitarist Thaddillac.
Recorded during fertile sessions interrupted by Shabazz Palaces tours and Blood’s recording projects, “Give You Game” marks an exciting new chapter in the creative partnership, realized at the crossroads of Butler’s and Blood’s mutual enthusiasms. Their shared interests have been split into pieces and fused together with enviable imagination.
Now Hear “Furr (Live at KCRW)” + “War Is Placebo,” then read more about their upcoming tour performing Furr in its entirety.
On September 14th, Sub Pop will release the newly expanded and 10th-anniversary edition of Blitzen Trapper’s Furr, the group’s classic fourth album.
In 2008, the Portland, Oregon-based experimental country and folk rock band released Furr its breakthrough and label debut for Sub Pop. The album was met with universal acclaim, earning praise from the likes of The Guardian, Pitchfork, Paste, AV Club, and Rolling Stone, who in it’s 4 star review called it “an engaging album full of rootsy beauty.” The album would go on to earn the no. 13 spot on Rolling Stone’s “50 Best Albums of 2008,” later that year.
For the newly expanded deluxe edition of Furr, Blitzen Trapper have compiled two LPs worth of material: The original album and twelve rare and previously unreleased tunes. All of these songs were from the same recordings that became Furr, with the exception of the “Live at KCRW “ tracks, which were recorded during the Furr tour.
After the success of the album, unreleased songs “War is Placebo,” “Booksmart Baby,” and “Maybe Baby” appeared as limited edition singles for Record Store Day in 2009 and 2011 and now appear here. The reissue also features a new liner note from Eric Earley reflecting on the album and what it means now, as well as a track by track description of the bonus songs, and a Q&A with the stage & screen actor, and Blitzen Trapper fan, Rainn Wilson (of The Office and Six Feet Under fame).
Furr (Deluxe Edition) is now available for preorder through Sub Pop right here. LP preorders through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on Clear vinyl with gold swirl(while supplies last). The album features updated cover art, and will be available in the following formats:
2xLP
CD
Digital
Cassette (Furr only)
Blitzen Trapper Furr: Deluxe Edition Tracklisting
1. Sleepytime in the Western World 2. Gold for Bread 3. Furr 4. God & Suicide 5. Fire & Fast Bullets 6. Saturday Nite 7. Black River Killer 8. Not Your Lover 9. Love U 10. War on Machines 11. Stolen Shoes & a Rifle 12. Echo/Always On/Easy Con 13. Lady on the Water 14. War Is Placebo ** 15. Simple Tree * 16. Booksmart Baby ** 17. Heroes of Doubt * 18. Maybe Baby ^ 19. Ballad of Bird Love * 20. Hard Heart * 21. Other People’s Money * 22. On My Way to the Bay * 23. Rent-a-Cop * 24. God & Suicide (Live at KCRW) 25. Furr (Live at KCRW)
* = Previously unreleased ** = 2009 Record Store Day single ^ = 2011 Record Store Day single A-side
Blitzen Trapper Tour Dates + Ticket Links
Blitzen Trapper will support the release of Furr (Deluxe Edition) with a massive fall North American tour, beginning September 13th-15th at Victoria’s Rifflandia Festival and ending November 17th-18th with a two-night stand at Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge. These fall shows will find the band playing Furr in its entirety, followed by a set of fan favorites from throughout the band’s discography. Tickets for the fall shows are on sale Friday, June 22nd at 10am (local time).
Preceding the Furr anniversary dates is the band’s summer tour schedule, which currently runs June 22nd-July 21st, and includes two PNW dates with Sub Pop labelmate Father John Misty (July 20th-21st).
Summer Tour Dates Jun. 22 - Louisville, CO - Louisville Street Faire Jun. 23 - Livingston, MT - Pine Creek Lodge Jul. 14 - Seattle, WA - Ballard Seafood Fest Jul. 15 - Spokane, WA - The Bartlett Jul. 17 - Missoula, MT - Top Hat Lounge Jul. 18 - Boise, ID - Neurolux Jul. 20 - Jacksonville, OR - Britt Pavillion* Jul. 21 - Troutdale, OR - Edgefield Amphitheatre*
Furr Fall 2018 Tour Dates Sep. 13 - 15 - Victoria, BC - Rifflandia Festival Sep. 15 - Vancouver, BC - The Commodore Sep. 16 - Nelson, BC - Spiritbar at the Hume Hotel Sep. 17 - Calgary, AB - Festival Hall Sep. 18 - Edmonton, AB - Starlite Room Sep. 19 - Saskatoon, SK - Amigos Sep. 20 - Toronto, ON - RBC Echo Beach** Sep. 21 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Cafe Sep. 22 - Indianapolis, IN - Holler On The Hill at Garfield Park Sep. 24 - 25 - Chicago, IL - Schubas Sep. 27 - Hamilton, ON - Mills Hardware Sep. 28 - Ottawa, ON - The 27 Club Sep. 29 - Montreal, QC - Le Ministère Oct. 01 - Allston, MA - Great Scott Oct. 02 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg Oct. 04 - Philadelphia, PA - The Foundry at The Fillmore Oct. 05 - Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel Oct. 06 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle Oct. 07 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl Oct. 08 - Nashville, TN - The Basement East Oct. 10 - St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill Duck Room Oct. 11 - Kansas City, MO - Record Bar Oct. 12 - Lincoln, NE - The Royal Grove Oct. 13 - Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre Nov. 08 - Chico, CA- Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Nov. 09 - Reno, NV - Offbeat Music Festival Nov. 10 - Novato, CA - Hopmonk Tavern Nov. 11 - Sebastopol, CA - Hopmonk Tavern Nov. 12 - Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern Nov. 13 - Los Angeles, CA - Lodge Room Nov. 14 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent Nov. 16 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile Nov. 17 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge *w/ Father John Misty ** w/ Shaky Graves, The Sheepdogs
[Photo Credit: Tyler Kohlhoff]
More on Blitzen Trapper’s Furr:
It was on September 23, 2008 that Blitzen Trapper, after putting out three albums on its own label, released its fourth full-length album, Furr, via Sub Pop. At that time, it was a record that captured exactly where the band’s frontman, Eric Earley, found himself, both literally and metaphorically, geographically and existentially. Not that the Portland-based musician actually remembers much about the creation of the record’s 13 intriguing, spellbinding songs. Or, more specifically, what its songs actually mean, either now or then. Instead, Furr, stands as a kind of tribute and elegy to the city that inspired it, but that, a decade later, no longer exists.
“What I was trying to do with those recordings,” explains Earley, “was capture this kind of atmosphere that I was feeling and which pervaded the city at that time. I think I was attempting to capture what Portland was at the time and what it felt like to me. That city is gone now. Old Portland, we call it, but Old Portland has disappeared. But this record gives me the feeling of those times and this city— when it was poor and dumpy and really drug-addled. And it also captures the magic of the outlying rural areas that has slowly changed as well.”
That magic can be heard in each of these songs, and while the city may have vanished from sight – replaced by a newer, richer, shinier and bigger version of itself – its elegance and fractured beauty is preserved within the bones of this record. These songs exist as vivid snapshots of that time, ones that recall the city as it was. At the same time – and while Earley insists he was only trying to capture what Portland was at the time – there’s a mythology within the lyrics and the music, an imagined, semi-fictional vision of Portland and the Pacific Northwest, a kind of parallel universe to the one that actually exists.
“Back then, the city was this really weird place,” says Earley. “It was really bizarre. Weird stuff would happen. And it was much poorer and much smaller. It wasn’t as structured and rich as it is now. It was a totally different place. That’s why it’s funny when people talk about Portland – I’m like well, if you didn’t live here back then you’ll never experience what that was like but if you listen to this record you’ll get a little taste of it. So in that sense, it feels very real and non-mythical to me.”
That said, that doesn’t mean these songs are all based in reality. There are glimpses of God – and of American Christianity – throughout them, not least in the mournful folk narrative of “Black River Killer” and “God & Suicide.” The former is a made-up tale about an anonymous murderer on a killing spree which Earley cites as being about “the mindless violence that Americans consume every single day – in film and books and everything – and what does it mean for us to consume that content and make it a part of us?” The latter is a shimmering, more upbeat track that’s an attempt to commit to tape an ineffable feeling that Earley felt within him but which, after all these years, he’s still unable to pinpoint exactly.
“I can’t tell you what that song’s about,” he says. “I know what it feels like, but I don’t know what it actually literally means. But the words and the music gave me this feeling as I was writing it that made sense at the time. I feel like there’s a feeling of longing that accompanies this record somehow, and there’s this weird longing to be set free. I feel that’s what kind of pervades this record – a melancholic longing for something that we can’t obtain. In “God & Suicide” it’s almost like—and it’s me obviously—but it’s almost like whoever is saying those words is saying to himself ‘Well I’ve got two choices. Either I kill myself or I somehow make my peace with whatever God is.”
Not all the songs have such existential explanations. The soft acoustic jangle of the title track is full of wistful longing, while the plaintive, poignant piano of “Not Your Lover” is a forlorn love – or loss of love – song full of tender sadness. That’s one of a few songs that wouldn’t actually exist had the band—completed at the time by Brian Adrian Koch (drums, vocals), Michael Van Pelt (bass), Erik Menteer (guitar, Moog), Drew Laughery (keyboards) and Marty Marquis (guitar, vocals, melodica)—not found an old warped piano in the hallway of Sally Mack’s School Of Dance, the Portland building which housed the band’s studio. Needless to say, the discovery definitely helped shape the direction of the record.
“That song,” says Earley, “wouldn’t exist, I don’t think, without that piano. I remember sitting at that thing when I first pulled it in and tinkering with it and just sort of writing that one right away. So it probably would have been a slightly different record. A lot of the songs I wrote on piano and I wouldn’t have because I didn’t have one.”
That’s also partly because Earley admits he wasn’t trying to write an album at that time, but write songs to perfect the recording technique he’d been honing when making the band’s previous full-length, 2007’s Wild Mountain Nation. As such, around three albums’ worth of material was recorded during the sessions for Furr, and it’s a selection of those that comprise the bonus material for this anniversary edition of the record. From the dulcet, chugging tones of “War Is Placebo” to the carefree, summer whimsy of “Ballad Of Bird Love”—a song driven by that same piano—and the melancholy folk tale waltz of “On My Way To The Bay”, the ten outtakes included here offer even further insight into Earley’s creative mindset and the feeling—whatever it is, exactly—that sits at the center of these songs. Written largely between the hours of 11pm and the morning—something that was possible because, in between tours, Earley was living in the studio building—Furr is a very nocturnal album, full of the wonder and the mystery of the night.
Perhaps surprisingly, given the fact Earley wasn’t trying to make a record per se, Furr—is an impressively cohesive album, and its counterpart bonus tracks are as well. Much of that is down to Earley’s fastidious recording techniques, using old analogue equipment to create a sound that was inherently nostalgic but also, at the time, anyway, entirely unusual.
“At the time,” he says, “I was going for a very specific sound. And it’s funny, because it’s a sound that you hear so much nowadays—bands have this recording aesthetic that’s very, very lo-fi and almost exactly what I was doing back then, but I was doing it with machinery that was meant to do that as opposed to bands now, who are doing it with modern digital plug-ins. At the time, I was just making what I’d like to hear and I didn’t know if anyone else will like it. It sounds old and distorted—the sound I’d hear in my head when riding my bike around town at 2 in the morning.”
Those days (and nights) may have faded into the past, but they’re very much present within the fabric of Furr. A decade on, they sound just as magical and mystical.
Not, of course, that the band is just relying on the past glory of this record. Far from it. A decade on from the release of Furr, has released five more critically acclaimed and achingly beautiful records. The band hasn’t loosened its ambitions, either. In 2017, the band put together Wild And Reckless a full-production theater event that ran for a month at Portland’s Center Stage theater and which also spawned last year’s full-length of the same name. There are plenty of plans for the future in the works, too. But for now, just for a little while, it’s time to revel in the joy and sorrow of a time and place that no longer exists—except of course, in a few hearts and minds, and in these wonderfully wistful songs.
