Bully has not stopped since the the release of their ferocious and powerful sophomore album Losing last Fall. The Nashville 4-piece is headed by Alicia Bognanno, who’s songwriting not only cuts to core but has a vocal snarl unlike any other.
The video for “Focused” is out today, directed by Rozalina Burkova, who tell us that the animated music video is “loosely based on the theme of coming of age and the ups and downs friendships and relationships.” Alicia went on to say, “I let Rozalina take the reins on this one. I am a huge fan of all her animation work and wanted her to do what she felt was best for this video.”
Bully will be embarking on a huge world tour, starting in the US later this month which features stops at Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles, Aladdin Theater in Portland, Neumos in Seattle and many more. Bully will also perform at Shaky Knees Festival and Noise Pop Festival. Don’t miss your chance to see one of the most exciting live bands on the road right now.
Losing is available now from Sub Pop Records and from Bully’s webstore. The album was engineered and mixed by lead-singer Alicia Bognanno in Chicago at Electrical Audio.
Last week, Kyle Thomas - aka King Tuff - released his first new song in four years, titled “The Other,” which NPR called a “meditative deliberation and mystic reflection.” Today, he’s excited to share that the song will be also be the lead track on his new album of the same name. The Other will be out on Sub Pop Records this April 13th, and is available for pre-order HERE NOW.
Today you can also hear the official first single from the album, “Psycho Star.” It is a prime representation of King Tuff’s soulful and cosmic new direction. You’re now listen to the song via the Cameron Dutra directed visuals above.
Thomas self-produced the record and brought in Shawn Everett (War On Drugs, Alabama Shakes) to assist with the mixing process. No less hooky than previous records, the new songs ditch the goofy rock-and-roll bacchanalia narratives of earlier records in favor of expansive arrangements, a diversity of instrumentation, and lyrics that straddle the fence between painful ruminations and reconnecting with that part of yourself that feels childlike and creative and not corroded by cynicism. The record features contributions from Ty Segall (drums), Jenny Lewis (vocals), Greta Morgan (vocals), and Mikal Cronin (saxophone).
Thomas views the entire experience of the record as a kind of psychic reset. “I let the songs lead me where they wanted to go, instead of trying to push them into a certain zone. King Tuff was always just supposed to be me. When I started doing this as a teenager, it was whatever I wanted it to be. King Tuff was never supposed to be just one thing. It was supposed to be everything.”
The Other tracklisting:
The Other
Raindrop Blue
Thru The Cracks
Psycho Star
Infinite Mile
Birds of Paradise
Circuits in the Sand
Ultraviolet
Neverending Sunshine
No Man’s Land
King Tuff on Tour
On top of all this good news, King Tuff has also announced a North American tour beginning May 3rd in San Diego. Cut Worms will open the shows, and all tickets go on sale this Friday, February 9th. Visit www.kingtuff.life for more updates.
May 3 - San Diego, CA - The Casbah *
May 4 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar *
May 5 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf *
May 7 - Houston, TX - Rockefeller Hall *
May 8 - Austin, TX - Barracuda (outside) *
May 9 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada *
May 11 - New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks *
May 12 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl *
May 13 - Nashville TN - The Basement East *
May 14 - Lexington, KY - The Burl *
May 16 - Washington DC - Rock & Roll Hotel *
May 18 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg *
May 19 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church *
“When Kyle Craft’s heart breaks, it shoots glitter and confetti—by the time he hits the chorus, the song has erupted into a tempest of sassy brass, swirling organs, and hip-swiveling boogie.” [“Heartbreak Junky”] - Pitchfork
Full Circle Nightmare is earning Craft some of the best reviews of his career. “Unabashed odes to courtship, confusion and the timeless power of storytelling in song,” says NPR Music. And Pop Matters raves, “It blows away a debut album that was already damn near flawless.”
Kyle Craft’s previously announced 2018 tour schedule in support of Full Circle Nightmare spans March 5th in San Francisco at Cafe Du Nord through April 20th in Charlottesville at Jefferson Theatre. Highlights include a full headlining tour (March 5th-April 4th), appearances at SXSW (March 12th-16th) and a direct support slot opening for Dr. Dog (April 6th-20th).
Preceding the spring dates, Craft continues his Pacific Northwest week-of-release run with his sold-out show tonight at Portland’s Doug Fir (Feb. 2nd).
Feb. 02 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir [Sold Out]
Mar. 05 - San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord
Mar. 07 - Los Angeles, CA - The Morroccan Lounge
Mar. 08 - San Diego, CA - The Casbah
Mar. 12 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Mar. 13 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Mar. 14 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Mar. 15 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Mar. 16 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Mar. 17 - Shreveport, LA - Red River District
Mar. 21 - Nashville, TN - The Basement
Mar. 22 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
Mar. 23 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
Mar. 24 - Washington, DC - Pearl Street Warehouse
Mar. 26 - Philadelphia, PA - Boot & Saddle
Mar. 27 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s All Right
Mar. 28 - Allston, MA - Great Scott
Mar. 30 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground Showcase Lounge
Apr. 02 - Toronto, ON - Smiling Buddha
Apr. 03 - Columbus, OH - The Basement
Apr. 04 - Chicago, IL - Schubas
Apr 06 - Louisville, KY - Mercury Ballroom*
Apr 08 - Columbia, MO - Blue Note*
Apr 09 - Fayetteville, AR - George’s Majestic Lounge*
Today, the incomparable King Tuff has released “The Other,” his first new song in 4 years. Proof is right here in the form of a musical video.
You can (and should also) listen to “The Other” via Apple Music and/or Spotify.
“It’s a song about hitting rock bottom. I didn’t even know what I wanted to do anymore, but I still had this urge-this feeling-like there was this possibility of something else I could be doing… and then I just followed that possibility. To me, that’s what songwriting, and art in general, is about. You’re chasing something, there is something out there calling to you and you’re trying to get at it. ‘The Other’ is basically where songs come from. It’s the hidden world. It’s the mystery. It’s the invisible hand that guides you whenever you make something. It’s the thing I had to rediscover-the sort of voice I had to follow-to bring me back to making music again in a way that felt true and good.”
Of the Cameron Dutra-directed video, Kyle Thomas says “it is like the song itself - representing the uphill climb of creativity.”
[Photo Credit: Olivia Bee]
In case you haven’t yet, now would be the perfect time to follow King Tuff everywhere in the known interverse on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.
Loma, the new project comprised of Jonathan Meiburg, best known as the singer of Shearwater, and Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski of Cross Record, will release their self-titled debut album on February 16th via Sub Pop, with their first North American tour to follow. (dates are below.)
After presenting singles “Black Willow” and “Relay Runner,” Loma shares the first song the trio wrote and recorded together, “Joy,” a song about the giddy, terrifying experience of falling in love, especially against your better judgment. Of that initial session, Meiburg noted “There was something special about the combination of the three of us, and very different from either of our bands. But I think we were afraid to say so out loud, for fear of jinxing it. I remember the hairs on the back of my neck standing up when Emily hit that high, screaming note on the clarinet on ‘Joy’; it sounded like a human voice.” That sense of discovery, stoked by the album’s urgent and searching lyrical themes, is felt throughout the entirety of Loma and extends to the listener.
May 26 - Amsterdam, NL - London Calling @ Paradiso
May 27 - Brussels, BE - Botanique
May 30 - Brighton, UK - The Hope
May 31 - London, UK - Lexington
Jun. 01 - Bristol, UK - Rough Trade
Jun. 03 - Manchester, UK - Gullivers
Jun. 04 - Leeds, UK - Headrow House
Jun. 05 - Glasgow, UK - Hug and Pint
Jun. 07 - Dublin, IR - Whelan’s (upstairs)
Jun. 08 - Liverpool, UK - Buyers Club
Loma is available for preorder from Sub Pop right here. North American preorders of the limited Loser edition from megamart.subpop.com will be available on clear vinyl with red and black swirlies (while supplies last). A new T-shirt design will also be available.
Wolf Parade have shared a new, official video for “You’re Dreaming,” one of the standout singles from Cry Cry Cry, their acclaimed October 2017 album. Directed by Raymond Knight, the new visual was recorded live and filmed in studio, and is reminiscent of a late night TV performance, one that captures the unbridled energy of Wolf Parade’s stage show.
Cry Cry Cry is one of 2017’s best reviewed albums of the year, with praise from the likes of NPR Music, The Guardian, Mojo, Q, Uncut, Vulture, Drowned in Sound, SPIN, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, and year end notices from Uproxx, Under the Radar, Inc. and more.
Wolf Parade have extended their 2018 tour schedule in support of Cry Cry Cry, adding a 4-night, co-headline US run with Japandroids and headlining European dates. The US dates (May 21st-24th) will have the band visiting Kansas City, Denver, Boise, and Salt Lake City, while the EU jaunt will have stops in Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Croatia.
Wolf Parade’s current southwestern US run is underway, with a show tonight, January 23rd in San Diego at The Observatory at North Park. The January dates end on January 28th in Dallas at the House of Blues.
North America 2018 Jan. 23 - San Diego, CA - The Observatory North Park * Jan. 24 - Phoenix, AZ The Van Buren * Jan. 26 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk * Jan. 27 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall * Jan. 28 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues* May 21 - Kansas City, MO - The Truman ** May 22 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre ** May 23 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge ** May 24 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory **
Europe 2018 May 31 - Zurich, CH - Bogen F Jun. 01 - Dornbirn, AT - Conrad Sohm Jun. 02 - Kleinreifling, AT - Seewiesenfest Jun. 03 - Prague, CZ - Underdogs Jun. 05 - Ljubljana, SI - Kino Siska Jun. 06 - Zagreb, HR - K-Set Jun. 07 - Graz, AT - Orpheum Jun. 08 - Vienna, AT - Flex
*w/ Charly Bliss ** w/ Japandroids
Wolf Parade’s Cry Cry Cry, is available now on CD / 2xLP / DL / CS worldwide from Sub Pop, in Canada from Universal Records and Wolf Parade’s webstore over here. The album was produced by John Goodmanson at Robert Lang Studios in Seattle and mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound in New York.
