Today, October 17th, Australian group Girl and Girl has shared a lyric video for their new song “The Cow.”
Frontman Kai James shares on the track, “All my friends call me ‘The Cow!’ Not really, but sometimes I think they should, because sometimes I let my cow brain speak louder than my cow heart, and of all of your cow parts, you should listen most to your cow heart.”
This new single follows the release of Call A Doctor, the band’s debut full-length. Known for their high-intensity live performance, they just concluded their second tour of the UK and EU and they supported Royel Otis on their sold-out US run earlier this year. Girl and Girl will tour Australia to celebrate the release of The Cow before joining the Laneway Festival national tour in February 2025.
What people are saying about Girl and Girl: “A fantastic debut from a sparkly and singular new band.” [Call The Doctor] NME
“Emotional mayhem that’s relatable, and very catchy.” - Rolling Stone Australia
“A perfect dose of indie – punk rock at its best.” - [“Hello”] Happy Mag
“A warped mix of Talking Heads, Rolling Blackouts and bits of post-punk but led by a man with a mullet and one of their aunts plays drums in the band!” - [SXSW Review] BBC 6 Music
“Brisbane four-piece Girl and Girl are ones to watch in the world of sharp-tongued raucous-riffed garage rock…Girl and Girl’s all too rare multigenerational collaboration brings a fresh angle on the post-Strokes garage rock sound.” KUTX Radio
“Girl and Girl recall the stalwarts of 2010s garage rock, their affinity with jangly guitars and buoyant rhythms undercut by feverishly intense playing and a cloying sense of claustrophobia.” [Call The Doctor] DIY
“…every member of Girl and Girl is too young to have experienced the garage rock revivalism of Y2K firsthand, save Aunty Liss, the drummer who supports her nervy nephews in this band of Australian post-punk traditionalists. Fronted by the wiry Kai James — handsome and jittery, never reclusive — the group treated sacred post-punk texts as if they were a common language when they played the 13th Floor, giving their barbed hooks and sideways riffs real kick. They’re carrying a torch without succumbing to nostalgia or formalism, all because they’re intoxicated by the noise they make.” [Best of SXSW 2024] RollingStone
On December 6th, Sub Pop will release seven titles – five on LP and digital, and two digital-only – by Denver punk legends The Fluid. These releases include the band’s entire Sub Pop output from 1988-1991, choice outtakes and rarities, and their debut album, Punch N Judy, which originally came out on RayOn Records in 1986. None of this material has been available on digital music services before, and the vinyl versions have been out of print for decades. It all sounds better than ever thanks to extensive mixing and remastering work by the band and Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden, High on Fire, Mudhoney).
The Fluid are arguably the great unsung band from the fertile underground rock scene of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. The Denver five-piece - John Robinson (vocals), James Clower (guitar), Matt Bischoff (bass), Garrett Shavlik (drums), and the dear departed Rick Kulwicki (guitar) - fused the fire of ‘80s hardcore with crunching Detroit protopunk, ‘60s garage rock, and ‘70s rock swagger. Think MC5, Faces, ‘70s Stones, all cranked up and really high on Sex Pistols and Black Flag singles.
Photo Credit: Charles Peterson
Rising from the ashes of early-’80s Denver bands Frantix (whose “My Dad’s a Fuckin’ Alcoholic” is a true gem of American punk) and White Trash, The Fluid were the first non-Seattle band to sign to Sub Pop, and Clear Black Paper was the second full-length album the label ever released. The label honchos were fans of Frantix, and happily got involved with The Fluid when the opportunity arose via the label’s European licensing partner, Glitterhouse, who handled The Fluid across the pond. Witnessing The Fluid’s dominant live presence helped - a particularly fiery early show at Seattle’s Central Tavern featured The Fluid, Mudhoney, Mother Love Bone, and Soundgarden all trying to outdo one another on stage.
The band fit right in on Sub Pop’s nascent roster of acts who, wherever they stood on the spectrum of punk/rock/metal, shared a commitment to thunderous riffs and explosive live shows. Legendary for their ferocious stage presence, famously captured in vivid glory by grunge house photographer, Charles Peterson, The Fluid toured all over the US and Europe, holding their own and then some on bills with Mudhoney, Nirvana (when Nirvana were still the opening act), Soundgarden, Dinosaur Jr., and other powerhouses of the era. From 1986 to 1993, The Fluid put out four albums and a number of EPs and singles, including a split 7” with Nirvana in 1991, before disbanding after their sole major-label album, 1993’s Purplemetalflakemusic.
Yet, while their partners-in-crime bulldozed into the mainstream, The Fluid remained something of a cult band, their audience confined to those who got hip during the band’s existence, and crate diggers who nabbed original vinyl or CDs, which had quickly become rarities after selling through their original runs.
Why? Record industry machinations? The fickle finger of pop culture? Being from Denver, not Seattle? Who the hell knows… and who cares! The point is the band ripped, and the world deserves to hear them again. The Fluid took influences they shared with their contemporaries and ran in their own direction, focused on ass-shaking grooves more than misanthropic sludge. Rock anthems like “Cold Outside” sit alongside Stooge-oid rhythmic poundings (“Black Glove”), bluesy romps (“Leave It”), the occasional grungy dirge (“Wasted Time”), and raw punk bangers (“Is It Day I’m Seeing?” from the seminal 1988 Sub Pop 200 compilation). The band wasn’t shy about their inspiration, either: scattered through their catalog are covers of The Troggs, The Rolling Stones, MC5, Iggy Pop and James Williamson, and Rare Earth. Whether barrelling through others’ songs or their own, The Fluid stand out as champions of a feral, urgent, exuberant approach to rock ‘n roll. As it turns out, that wasn’t a recipe for stardom in the era of hyper-slick pop, boomer dinosaurs crying tears in heaven, and hair-metal power-ballads. But someone had to do it.
Maybe The Fluid were simply ahead of their time? The grungy riffs and raw, hooky rock that permeate their catalog were defining features of the Nevermind-induced cultural earthquake that hit five years after The Fluid’s debut, and of the early 2000s rock resurgence that spawned The White Stripes, The Hives, et al. Regardless, it’s criminal that The Fluid’s music has been so hard to find all these years.
To set things right, Sub Pop, The Fluid, and producer Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden, High on Fire, Mudhoney) teamed up to refresh and reissue The Fluid’s entire indie-label catalog: their 1986 debut, Punch N Judy; 1988’s Clear Black Paper; 1989’s Roadmouth; the 1990 Glue EP (produced by Butch Vig, shortly before he teamed up with Nirvana to make Nevermind); and a treasure trove of rarities and previously unreleased material. All the music has been remastered from original tapes by Endino and JJ Golden, and the bulk of it has been meticulously remixed by Endino and the band, righting some sonic quirks that diminished the impact of the original records. Now, with their definitive material sounding better than ever, it’s high time The Fluid get their due.
As previously announced, On November 8th, Sub Pop will release Like Someone I Know: A Celebration Of Margo Guryan, a 12-song compilation and homage to Guryan’s classic 1968 record, Take a Picture. Today, Clairo has shared a dreamy cover of Guryan’s track, “Love Song.”
This 12-song compilation features additional reinterpretations by contemporary artists such as Margo Price, TOPS, Rahill, June McDoom, MUNYA & Kainalu, Frankie Cosmos & Good Morning, Kate Bollinger, Pearl & The Oysters, Bedouine & Sylvie, Barrie, and Empress Of. The release of Like Someone I Know: A Celebration Of Margo Guryan also coincides with the third anniversary of Margo’s passing. A portion of proceeds from this album will be donated to providing and advocating for affordable reproductive health services.
About Margo Guryan: Most of our stories about cult musicians who make an album or two and then seem to vanish are framed by grief, despair, and frayed ambition. Not so with Margo Guryan, an ardent jazz anomaly who disdained pop music until hearing “God Only Knows” in 1966, opening a window onto the wonders that form could contain. Only two years later, she released her own set of little pop symphonies, Take a Picture, to great praise and expectation. But having already divorced the hard-gigging valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, she declined to tour or even talk about it all that much, content even if her reticence meant Take a Picture was soon consigned to discount racks and cutout bins. She wrote and recorded for years to come, even collaborating with Neil Diamond’s band, but mostly she seemed satisfied by her relatively private life—raising her stepson, Jonathan; carousing with a small clutch of pals; talking politics with whoever was game. Rather than a tragedy, Guryan was an ornate pop architect who also drew and lived by her boundaries.
But as befits music so stunning and subtle, Guryan, who died in 2021, has enjoyed several renaissances over the last few decades—multiple reissues and international intrigue, faithful champions who introduced her tender work to successive generations. And now, it’s happening again: Soon after her near-whispered and lovelorn hymn “Why Do I Cry” made her a TikTok star in 2021, the same year she passed, Numero Group launched a reissue campaign, resulting in the acclaimed 2024 set, Words and Music. And now, a dozen artists—none of whom were born when Take a Picture was made, most of whom weren’t even born for a crucial early reissue by Franklin Castle—have reinterpreted and reimagined that entire album (plus one bonus track) for Like Someone I Know: A Celebration of Margo Guryan. Empress Of, Margo Price, Clairo, June McDoom: They all affirm Guryan’s sharpness as a songwriter and the brilliance of an album that has far outstripped whatever promotional cycle Guryan rejected so long ago.
Guryan was born to a sprawling family in a home so big it housed multiple generations just before World War II in Far Rockaway, back when the place was still mostly framed by trees. Her family was matrilineal, with a mother who worked as a radiologist while her father played piano at home and a widowed grandmother who ran the place with unwavering sovereignty. While still a composition student at Boston University, Guryan stumbled into a gig playing piano between Miles Davis Quintet sets, signed a songwriting deal with Atlantic Records, and botched a session with Nesuhi Ertegun. But she wasn’t looking to be a singing star, anyway. In 1959, she headed to the foundational Lenox School of Jazz in the Berkshires, staving off advances from her contemporaries to write for Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, earn the attention of instructor Max Roach, and made a longtime mentor and friend of Gunther Schuller. She became an accomplished lyricist, writing not only for Coleman and Nancy Harrow but also for Harry Belafonte and Gary MacFarland.
But it was that subsequent encounter with the Beach Boys that opened the trap door for Guryan to Take a Picture and scores of other super songs, many of which appear on Words and Music. Take a Picture is a sophisticated survey of mid-20s romance and indecision, from the flirty romp of “Sunday Morning” and falling-for-you affirmation “Can You Tell” to the desperate helplessness of “What Can I Give You.” In less than 150 seconds, “Thoughts” traces a relationship from its ecstatic start to empty end, Guryan’s pillowtop voice sitting perfectly between the bouncing piano and lachrymose strings. She mines nostalgia for the recent past in “Someone I Know” and, quite brilliantly, for something that hasn’t even ended yet in the title cut. What remains astonishing about Take a Picture is how placid and nice the surface can seem yet how much is going on just beneath it—the difficult rhythmic shifts, the textural juxtapositions, the dissonance and eeriness lurking in the crevices. Twice as long as almost everything else here, the willfully psychedelic excursion and closer, “Love,” is a jarring semaphore, telling you to go back and listen for the intricacies in everything else. “When do you get to be someone who can give/And live without hurting someone you love?” she coos over caustic guitar and curling organ, the question spilling in reverse over the rest of the record.
Those mirrored senses of slyness and meticulousness, both musical and lyrical, presided over Guryan’s output long after any idea of stardom had faded. She turned earthquake danger into existential boogie on “California Shake,” celebrated the outlaws and their long odds during “I’d Like to See the Bad Guys Win,” and danced with entendre during “Come to Me Slowly.” Indeed, Guryan was not afraid of mischief, whether lampooning the president and all his men during a three-song suite about Watergate or presaging Rihanna by half a century on “Under My Umbrella.” Her perpetually soft voice, audacious songcraft, and complete candor: Guryan, in 1968 and beyond, was making daring music, no matter how gently those sounds seemed to move.
A portion of proceeds being donated to providing and advocating for affordable reproductive health services, Like Someone I Know reinforces the strength of Guryan’s songs by allowing different artists to take them for trips of their own. The core always remains, unwavering. McDoom stretches static and harmony beneath “Thoughts,” as if they’re spinning on a dub plate beneath her arcing vocals. Rahill lets “Sun” unfurl over harmonium drone and entrancing percussive ticks, digging into Guryan’s interest in the surreal. Frankie Cosmos and Good Morning take a country shuffle through “Take a Picture,” entwined vocals falling over the rhythmic skips with perfect romantic relish. Over the last few decades, it has become increasingly clear just how good Guryan was, how sturdy her songs have been amid varying tides of taste. Like Someone I Know offers absolute validation, a testament to the enduring relevance and brilliance of Guryan’s work.
Like Someone I Know: A Celebration Of Margo Guryan Launch is now available to preorder from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com (North America), Mega Mart 2 (UK/EU), and independent retailers worldwide will receive the limited Loser edition on Opaque Red vinyl (while stock lasts!).
Various Artists Like Someone I Know: A Celebration Of Margo Guryan Album Art Download
Tracklisting: 1. Sunday Morning (TOPS) 2. Sun (Rahill) 3. Love Songs (Clairo) 4. Thoughts (June McDoom) 5. Don’t Go Away (MUNYA | Kainalu) 6. Take a Picture (Frankie Cosmos |Good Morning) 7. What Can I Give You (Kate Bollinger) 8. Think of Rain (Pearl & The Oysters) 9. Can You Tell (Bedouine | Sylvie) 10. Someone I Know (Empress Of) 11. Love (Barrie) 12. California Shake (Margo Price)
This Friday, September 27th, Sub Pop Records will release White Roses, My God, the debut solo album from Alan Sparhawk of Low. Today, he shares its final prerelease track, the electro-anthemic gospel “Heaven,” and its new video directed by Rick Alverson.
White Roses, My God has received praise from outlets such as Stereogum, Pitchfork, Clash, MOJO, Uncut, The Line of Best Fit, Under The Radar, Brooklyn Vegan, and this week, The New York Times published a comprehensive feature on Alan.
Sparhawk’s previously announced tour dates in support of White Roses, My God begin Saturday, November 2nd, 2024, in Dublin, IE, at Opium and now run through April 5th, 2025, with a show at Elsewhere in Brooklyn, NY.
Highlights include headlining UK and EU dates (Nov. 2nd-5th), an appearance at Pitchfork Music Festival London at The Barbican with Jessica Pratt (Nov. 6th), and a US supporting run opening for Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Nov. 8th-24th); and another run of 2025 headline shows in the US with Circuit des Yeux (Jan. 13th-Apr. 5th). Additional live dates will be announced soon. Please find a current list of dates below.
Fall 2024 Sat. Nov. 02 - Dublin, IE - Opium Room Mon. Nov. 04 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club Tue. Nov. 05 - Wales, UK - Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff Wed. Nov. 06 - London, UK - the Barbican Centre, Pitchfork Music Festival # Fri. Nov. 08 - Chicago, IL - Salt Shed * Sat. Nov. 09 - Saint Paul, MN - Palace Theatre * Mon. Nov. 11 - Lawrence, KS * Tue. Nov. 12 - Fayetteville, AR - George’s Majestic Lounge * Wed. Nov. 13 - Nashville, TN - Basement East (TN) * Thu. Nov. 14 - Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theater * Fri. Nov. 15 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade * Sat. Nov. 16 - Charleston, SC - Music Farm * Sun. Nov. 17 - Saxapahaw, NC - The Haw River Ballroom * Tue. Nov. 19 - Washington, DC - 930 Club * Fri. Nov. 22 - Norwalk, CT - District Music Hall * Sat. Nov. 23 - Boston, MA - Roadrunner * Sun. Nov. 24 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer *
North America 2025 Mon. Jan. 13 - Fargo, ND - The Aquarium ^ Wed. Jan. 15 - Bozeman, MT - The Rialto ^ Fri. Jan. 17 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile ^ Sat. Jan. 18 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios ^ Mon. Jan. 20 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall ^ Fri. Jan. 24 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge ^ Sat. Jan. 25 - Denver, CO - Bluebird ^ Fri. Apr. 02 - Brooklyn, NY - Elsewhere ^
# w/ Jessica Pratt *w/ Godspeed You! Black Emperor ^ w/ Circuit des Yeux
EU 2025 Fri. Feb 21 - Zurich, Switzerland - Bogen F Mon. Feb 24 - Munich, Germany - Ampere Tue. Feb 25 - Berlin, Germany - Lido Thu. Feb 27 - Paris, France - Petit Bain Fri. Feb 28 - Antwerp, Belgium - Trix Club Sun. Mar 2 - Nijmegen, Netherlands - Doornroosje (Red Room) Mon. Mar 3 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso - Tolhuistuin Wed. Mar 5 - Brighton, United Kingdom - Chalk Thu. Mar 6 - Bristol, United Kingdom - The Lantern (Bristol Beacon) Fri. Mar 7 - Manchester, United Kingdom - Band on the Wall Sat. Mar 8 - Glasgow, United Kingdom - Room 2
White Roses, My God is available to preorder now from Sub Pop. LP preorders from the Sub Pop Mega Mart (North America), Mega Mart 2 (UK/EU), independent retailers worldwide, and Sparhawk’s live shows will receive the limited Loser Edition on clear vinyl (while stock lasts!).
What People Are Saying About Alan Sparhawk’s White Roses, My God:
“‘Can U Hear,’ the album’s first single, is certainly an unconventional expression of grief, with its droning electronics, sputtering beat and eerie Auto-Tuned vocals. But that digitized wail is unmistakably mournful, and there is something admirably bold in the way Sparhawk, as ever, rejects the expected.” NEW YORK TIMES
“‘Can U Hear,’…is reminiscent of Low at their most bombastic: It’s driven by a walloping sub-bass, a trap-influenced beat, and vocals Auto-Tuned to oblivion.” - [“Can You Hear”] STEREOGUM
“‘Can U Hear’ plays with notions of communication and connection; a severance with the past, it’s an intense, enlightening statement from a true original.” - [“Can U Hear”] CLASH
Tracklisting: 1. Get Still 2. I Made This Beat 3. Not the 1 4. Can U Hear 5. Heaven 6. Brother 7. Black Water 8. Feel Something 9. Station 10. Somebody Else’s Room 11. Project 4 Ever
This Friday, September 27th, Naima Bock will release Below a Massive Dark Land worldwide through Sub Pop and Memorials of Distinction. Her second album, Below… is the follow-up to Giant Palm, one of 2022’s most critically acclaimed debuts.
Today, she shares Below a Massive Dark Land’s final prerelease offering, “Moving,” a sweet and sorrowful acoustic song with horns and brass. Watch the visualizer HERE.
The songs on Below a Massive Dark Land were written by Naima Bock. The album was predominantly produced by Jack Osborne (Bingo Fury) and Joe Jones, and recorded at The Crypt in north London, with additional production and arrangement by Oliver Hamilton (caroline, Shovel Dance Collective) and Naima herself. Six of the tracks on Below… were mixed by Jason Agel, with the remainder done by Osborne and Jones. The album was mastered by Kevin Tuffy.
Naima’s previously announced international tour dates for the summer and autumn of 2024 to support Below a Massive Dark Land resume Monday, Thursday, September 26th, with an instore performance at Portsmouth, UK’s Pie & Vinyl, and currently ends Friday, December 13th in Paris at La Boule Noire. She will return to the US for a short run of East Coast shows from October 21st to 26th, 2024. For the November and December dates, Naima will perform as a duo with Oliver Hamilton (November 6th) and a four-piece band (November 7th-December 13th). Please find a current list of dates below.
Thu. Sep 26th - Portsmouth, UK - Pie & Vinyl (instore) Mon. Sep 30th - London, UK - Rough Trade West (instore) Sat. 19th Oct - Birmingham, UK - Future Days Festival*
Mon. Oct. 21 - Boston, MA - Warehouse X1 Wed. Oct 23 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church Side Chapel Fri. Oct. 25 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool Sat. Oct. 26 - Washington, DC - Rhizome
Wed. Nov. 06 - London, UK - St. Pancras Old Church + Thu. Nov. 07 - Bristol, UK - Jam Jar * Fri. Nov. 08 - Liverpool, UK - Leaf * Sat. Nov. 09 - Newcastle, UK - Cumberland Arms * Sun. Nov. 10 - Glasgow, UK - McChuills * Tue. Nov. 12 - Leeds, UK - Hyde Park Book Club * Wed. Nov. 13 - Manchester, UK - Deaf Institute * Thu. Nov. 14 - Cambridge, UK - Storey’s Field Centre * Sat. Nov. 16 - Falmouth, UK - The Cornish Bank * Sun. Nov. 17 - Frome, UK - The Tree House * Mon. Nov. 18 - Exeter, UK - Cavern Club * Wed. Nov. 20 - Ipswich, UK - St Stephens Church * Thu. Nov. 21 - London, UK - The Ivy House *
Tue. Dec. 03 - Lille, FR - L ‘Aéronef * Wed. Dec. 04 - Brugge, BE - Cactus Café * Fri. Dec. 06 - Haldern, DE - Pop Bar * Sat. Dec. 07 - Hamburg, DE - Nachstasyl * Sun. Dec. 08 - Berlin, DE - Neu Zunkunft * Tue. Dec. 10 - Cologne, DE - Subway * Wed. Dec. 11 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso * Thu. Dec. 12 - Brussels, BE - Botanique * Fri. Dec. 13 - Paris, FR - La Boule Noire *
* Full band show + Duo with Oliver Hamilton
Below a Massive Dark Land is available for preorder on CD/LP/DSPs from Sub Pop/Memorials of Distinction. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com (North America), Mega Mart 2 (UK/EU), independent retailers worldwide, and Naima’s live shows will receive the limited Loser edition vinyl on Blue Jay (US) and the eco-friendly Yellow Bio (UK/EU) (All whilst stock lasts!). Naima also created the art for the Below… album cover.
What People Are Saying About Naima Bock: “What is abundantly clear is that Bock’s creative star is very much with her.” 8/10 - Uncut
★★★★ MOJO
“Amid a flurry of excellent new tracks ahead of Naima Bock’s second album, the romantic, timeless sweep of ‘Kaley’ is the pick of the bunch, that rich and resonant vocal playing magically off a melodic, punchy line of saxophone.” ‘Best of the Month’ - The Quietus
“A folky hymn to regret with a lovely, loping pace and sweetly lazy horn refrain” [“Feed My Release”] The Guardian
“…Features the kind of compelling vocal performance and lush, classy pop-rock orchestration we’ve come to expect from the British-Brazilian singer-songwriter.” [“Feed My Release”] STEREOGUM
“Marked by inner strength, the pervasive musicality of Naima’s work reaching fresh heights” [“Gentle”] CLASH
“Bock’s somnambulant vocals here bounding over a jubilant burst of fuzzy guitar and saxophone. It’s ace.” [“Kaley”] The New Cue
“Fans of Naima’s earlier work, and frankly that should be all of you, will be delighted with the familiar playful instrumentation, and swaying majesty of the choruses, while those looking for something new will be delighted by the subtle choppiness of the rhythms” [“Kaley”] For The Rabbits
“Horns blaze away, powering a glorious melody allowing Naima Bock the freedom to show off the potency of her vocal range. Make no mistake, it’s a cracker.” [Kaley] “Tracks of the Week” God Is In The TV
Naima Bock Below A Massive Dark Land
Tracklisting: 1. Gentle 2. Kaley 3. Feed My Release 4. My Sweet Body 5. Lines 6. Further Away 7. Takes One 8. Age 9. Moving 10. Star
Today, September 19th, Sub Pop is announcing the signing of Deep Sea Diver, the Seattle-based rock band led by guitarist and vocalist Jessica Dobson, to release their music to the world and beyond. You can now watch the official video for “Billboard Heart,” a new song from their forthcoming album, due in early 2025.
The video was directed by Dobson, her Deep Sea Diver bandmate and partner Peter Mansen, and cinematographer Tyler Kalberg.
The rapturous “Billboard Heart” is a stunning introduction to Deep Sea Diver’s universe. The song puts Dobson and her band in the company of St. Vincent, TV on the Radio, and Flock of Dimes, bands that have found ornate and magnetic ways to make indie rock by discarding notions of how it must sound or what it must say. Dobson punches through her past here with this new song and forthcoming album. As she howls during “Billboard Heart” she is “welcoming the future by letting go of it.”
Dobson offers this on the song, “‘Billboard Heart” is a song that felt like a strange transmission, a new emotion, and a spirit-filled dream when it came. It is my nod to the simplicity of my favorite Tom Petty songs and to my love for Wim Wenders’ film Paris, Texas. The feeling of standing in the lonesome desert, embracing every particle of yourself, even the ones that are hard to look at, and fighting for your spirit to move through this world without entanglement. It is about being present and embracing the future while wholeheartedly letting go of any amount of control that I think I have in this life. ‘Billboard Heart’ is both a longing for something that may not exist and a place where I can be free.”
“Billboard Heart” is Deep Sea Diver’s first new music since Impossible Weight, the band’s Billboard charting album from 2020. It includes the title track duet with Sharon Van Etten and “Stop Pretending,” which made “NPR Music’s “100 Best Songs of 2020.” Impossible Weight was also #1 on KEXP’s “Top 90.3 Albums of 2020” list.
In addition to her work as Deep Sea Diver, Dobson has logged time as a touring member for Beck and The Shins and has performed with numerous other musicians including Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Spoon, Boeckner, and Dinosaur Jr. In addition to headline touring, they’ve supported the likes of Death Cab for Cutie and Wilco. Most recently, Deep Sea Diver played to the largest audiences of their career, supporting Pearl Jam twice within the last year — first with a handful of dates in the Fall of 2023 and, more recently, a lengthier run in May 2024.
Earlier this month, Deep Sea Diver covered Yo La Tengo’s “Stockholm Syndrome” for the Every Possible Way benefit compilation which is raising money and awareness for gun safety (see Rolling Stone news story, September 6th).
Deep Sea Diver is singer and multi-instrumentalist Jessica Dobson, drummer Peter Mansen, and keyboardist Elliot Jackson.
