★★★★ - MOJO

“Like the best classic albums, its pleasures run deep.” - Pop Matters

“Like a cocaine-fuelled jam between David Bowie, John Lennon and Leon Russell, the Louisiana-bred, Portland-based rocker would’ve played Max’s Kansas City” [8/10] - Uncut

Kyle Craft & Showboat Honey’s new full-length Showboat Honey is out today July 12th, 2019 worldwide from Sub Pop. The album, which features the singles & official videos for “Broken Mirror Pose,” “2 Ugly 4 NY,” and “Deathwish Blue,” was recorded and produced by Kyle Craft, Kevin Clark, and Billy Slater at their own Moonbase Studios in Portland over 2018. The album was mixed by Trevor Spencer and mastered by April Golden at Golden Mastering. Stream it now on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music.

Showboat Honey is available through Sub Pop Mega Mart. Purchases of the LP through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers in North America, the UK and Europe will receive the limited Loser edition on a clear blue translucent mix with spots red hi-melt (while supplies last).  There is also a new T-shirt design available.

Kyle Craft and Showboat Honey Tour Dates + Ticket Links

Kyle Craft & Showboat Honey’s previously announced headlining dates for 2019 in support of the album resume tonight, July 12th in Seattle with an in-store at Easy Street Records, and currently end on August 24th in San Francisco at Cafe Du Nord.

Jul. 12 - Seattle, WA - Easy Street Records instore
Jul. 13 - Seattle, WA - Ballard Seafood Fest
Jul. 14 - Spokane, WA - The Bartlett
Jul. 15 - Billings, MT - Pub Station Taproom
Jul. 17 - St. Paul, MN - Turf Club
Jul. 18 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
Jul. 19 - Louisville, KY - Jimmy Can’t Dance
Jul. 20 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
Jul. 22 - Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern
Jul. 23 - Northampton, MA - Iron Horse
Jul. 24 - Allston, MA - Great Scott
Jul. 26 - Newport, RI - Newport Folk (Museum Stage)
Jul. 30 - Woodstock, NY - Colony
Aug. 01 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s All Right
Aug. 02 - Philadelphia, PA - Boot & Saddle
Aug. 04 - Washington, DC - Pearl Street Warehouse
Aug. 05 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
Aug. 06 - Athens, GA - Georgia Theater Rooftop
Aug. 07 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
Aug. 08 - Birmingham, AL - Saturn
Aug. 09 - Nashville, TN - The Basement
Aug. 10 - Oxford, MS - Proud Larry’s
Aug. 11 - New Orleans, LA - One-Eyed Jacks
Aug. 14 - Shreveport, LA - Minicine
Aug. 15 - Dallas, TX - Three Links
Aug. 16 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk
Aug. 18 - Phoenix, AZ - The Valley Bar
Aug. 19 - Tucson, AZ - 191 Toole
Aug. 22 - San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
Aug. 23 - Los Angeles, CA - The Moroccan
Aug. 24 - San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord

What “The People” are saying about Kyle Craft & Showboat Honey:

“Kyle Craft and his backing band Showboat Honey provide a glam-tastic Bowie-esque joyride, full of meaty Stones riffs and sprinkled with caustic soda lyrics that a true Dylan devotee has processed and posted from the heart.” [4/5]- NARC

“The result is a cohesive set of tracks centered around a rough patch that hit at the same time as Craft was falling in love…Fans of his glam rock-influenced sound will find plenty to latch onto.” - Billboard

“Having been the darling of the moment when his solo debut was first released, Craft clearly shows that he has more to offer than just being that guy with wild hair that sounds like someone else. He has a range and depth that is showcased beautifully on this new album, his third on Sub Pop, and first as Kyle Craft & Showboat Honey. “ - Eleven PDX

“On the track, his typically wailing voice is stunted by almost spoken-word verses that ride along with a slow-rolling piano progression. It’s a suspense-building element that pays off when the song eventually crashes into a wave of horns, electric guitars and sheer swagger.” [“Broken Mirror Pose”/ Heavy Rotation] - World Cafe

“A glammy, ’70s style anthem with a soaring chorus.”  [“Broken Mirror Pose”] - Brooklyn Vegan

“Craft, whose lyrics and electric guitar hooks have drawn comparisons to Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones, is no stranger to vintage sounds.” [“Broken Mirror Pose”] - PASTE

“Craft has brought his signature twang into a more Raconteurs-esque world with his latest release.” [2 Ugly 4 NY] - Alt Citizen

[Photo credit: Peter Karaviaw]

METZ, our own widely-adored and delightfully noisy 3-piece punk band from Toronto, released their Sub Pop self-titled debut in 2012 and, in the time since, have cemented their reputation as one of the planet’s most exhilarating live acts and trusted providers of bombastic outsider rock. The band is made up of Alex Edkins, Hayden Menzies, and Chris Slorach. 

Automat is a collection of METZ non-album singles, B-sides, and rarities dating back to 2009, available here on LP for the first time, and including the band’s long out-of-print early (pre-Sub Pop) recordings. A chronological trip through the lesser known material of METZ, Automat is out now, worldwide on Sub Pop.
 
The band’s Alex Edkins shares, “The idea to release Automat came after realizing our early 7” singles were being sold online for upwards of $60 bucks a pop. We wanted to make those songs available and affordable to anyone who might want them in the physical format. What started as reissuing a couple of 45s, quickly morphed into an entire LP, compiling rarities, demos and alternate takes from over the years.”

Consumers of the vinyl format of Automat will be rewarded with a bonus single that includes three additional tracks: a cover of Sparklehorse’s “Pig,” from a very limited 2012 Record Store Day split single originally released by Toronto’s Sonic Boom record shop; “I’m a Bug,” a cover of The Urinals’ art-punk classic, originally released on YouTube (not an actual record label) in 2014; and METZ’s previously unreleased rendition of Gary Numan’s “M.E.”

METZ are currently hard at work on their 4th full-length LP which will be released on Sub Pop when we are all damn good and ready.
 
All tracks on Automat have been lovingly remastered by Matthew Barnhart at Chicago Mastering Service.

Marika Hackman unveils the video for latest single “the one,” directed by Louis Bhose (Michael Kiwanuka, Lewis Capaldi, Loyle Carner). “the one” is the second single from Marika’s forthcoming third album Any Human Friend, out August 9th from Sub Pop in North and South America and AMF Records for the rest of the world. 
 
Marika says of “the one” it “is probably the poppiest song I’ve ever written. I loved the idea of inhabiting this ridiculous arrogant rock star character who has totally fucked their career by writing too many sad songs.” The video for “the one” sees Marika’s rock star alter-ego come to life within a photocopier. By the end of the video, Marika is repulsed by the augmented reality she has created, she takes a baseball bat to it and destroys it forever. 
 
Director Louis Bhose reflects on the process of the video’s conception:
 
Marika: “I want to do a performance vid in a photocopier, where the imagined rockstar in me performs with gusto as the mediocre, let-down version of me watches.” 
Hack Video Director: “Say no more.”
 
Displaying an unapologetic attitude and a more liberated sound than ever before, “the one” has been co-produced by David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The xx, Let’s Eat Grandma) and Marika herself. “the one” shows why Marika is fast turning herself into one of the most exciting songwriters of her time. Layered synthesizers make this the album’s most unexpected musical turn, alongside Marika’s signature new wave guitar fretwork and Blondie style delivery, she’s never sounded as widescreen.

Marika Hackman Tour Dates

Having recently teased new music at the BBC 6 Music Festival, The Great Escape, All Points East, and Field Day, Marika is gearing up for an exciting year of touring. Tickets for headline tour dates available from marikahackman.com.
 
Aug.15 - Beacon Breacons, UK - Green Man Festival
Sep. 21 - Bristol, UK - Thekla
Sep. 23 - Glasgow, UK - Oran Mor
Sep. 24 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
Sep. 25 - Manchester, UK - Band On The Wall 
Sep. 26 - London, UK - Islington Assembly Hall
Oct. 11 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
Oct. 12 - Durham, NC - The Pinhook
Oct. 13 - Washington, DC - U Street Music Hall
Oct. 14 - Philadelphia, PA - Boot & Saddle
Oct. 15 - Brooklyn, NY - Elsewhere
Oct. 18 - Allston, MA - Great Scott
Oct. 19 - Portland, ME - Port City Music Hall
Oct. 20 - Montréal, QC - Bar Le ‘Ritz’ P.D.B.
Oct. 21 - Toronto, ON- The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
Oct. 23 - Columbus, OH - Ace of Cups
Oct. 24 - Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig
Oct. 25 - Chicago, IL- Sleeping Village
Oct. 26 - Milwaukee, WI - Back Room at Colectivo Coffee
Oct. 28 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th St. Entry
Nov. 01 - Seattle, WA - Neumos
Nov. 04 - Oakland, CA - Starline Social Club
Nov. 06 - West Hollywood, CA - The Roxy Theatre

Any Human Friend

Any Human Friend was co-produced by David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The xx, Let’s Eat Grandma) and Marika herself, and shows off a sharper and more liberated sound than ever before. Now available for preorder from Sub Pop: LP preorders through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers in North America will receive the limited Loser edition on Salmon-colored vinyl (while supplies last). There will also be a new t-shirt design available.

Cover art photography by Joost Vandebrug, inspired by Rineke Dijkstra. Read more about it here.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band has announced the release of their new album A Tuba To Cuba, the soundtrack to the critically acclaimed documentary directed by T.G. Herrington and Danny Clinch, out June 28, 2019 via Sub Pop. Today, they have released the track “Keep Your Head Up” from the album. Listen and share “Keep Your Head Up” here and pre-order A Tuba to Cuba here.

“We are so proud and honored to share a project we’ve poured so much of ourselves into,” says Ben Jaffe. “The impact visiting Cuba had on us will live with us both individually and as a band forever. We’re still absorbing everything we experienced.”

“We went to Cuba in prayer position,” says Preservation Hall band leader and bass player Ben Jaffe when he speaks of the pilgrimage he and the group took to Cuba in December 2015. “We went to receive an offer at the same time. We had never experienced a moment like this, it felt as though all roads were intersecting at once.” The critically acclaimed 2019 documentary A Tuba to Cuba documented the band’s journey as they explored the links that connect New Orleans and Cuba so indelibly – their shared, tragic history as destinations where enslaved Africans struggled to simply survive, and their current status as places where the cultural inheritance from those ancestors is kept alive in both song and deed – but that was only half the story. This collection of songs, a musical account of a generations-in-the-making reunion of musical families separated by time, politics, and distance, tells the other half.

When asked to describe the collection of songs assembled on Tuba to Cuba, Jaffe sums it up by saying, “It’s like listening to the radio.”  And yes, A Tuba to Cuba actually feels less like an ordinary soundtrack and more like a living document, a recording of a broadcast that’s been waiting to exist, a modern version of the static-y radio signals that were broadcast between America to the Caribbean in the early and mid-20th century, sending the sounds of jazz and mambo and R&B and more back and forth across the vast divides of water and culture and politics. It’s a story, this album, and the tale being told mirrors the band’s experience.

The resulting collection of songs is what Jaffe describes as “a beautiful conversation.” The music of A Tuba to Cuba is an ecstatic expression of that ongoing conversation, a restless and lush trip up and down strange FM wavelengths bridging thousands of miles and hundreds of years, where all involved are talking with each other and over each other in excitement, charged with the thrill of recognition of the evidence of their shared familial roots, an undeniable kinship rooted in bloodlines, rhythm, and melody.

A Tuba To Cuba 
Tracklisting:

1. Yesteryear
2. Tumba
3. I Am
4. Descarga del Son
5. Keep Your Head Up
6. Corazon
7. Elegguà
8. Kreyol
9. El Manicero
10. Solitude
11. Las Palomas
12. Malecón

[Photo credit: Josh Goleman] 

Preservation Hall Jazz Band Tour Dates:

Jul. 05 - Elkhorn, WI - Alpine Valley Music Theatre* 
Jul. 06 - Elkhorn, WI -  Alpine Valley Music Theatre* 
Jul. 28 - Newport, RI - Newport Folk Festival
Aug. 02 - Happy Valley, OR - Pickathon
Aug. 03 - Happy Valley, OR - Pickathon 
Aug. 05 - Folsom, CA - Harris Center For The Arts
Aug. 06 - Folsom, CA - Harris Center For The Arts
Aug. 08 - San Francisco, CA - SFJAZZ
Aug. 09  - San Francisco, CA - SFJAZZ 
Aug. 10 - San Francisco, CA - SFJAZZ (7:00PM)
Aug. 10 - San Francisco, CA - SFJAZZ (9:30PM)
Aug. 11 - San Francisco, CA - SF Jazz Center - Miner Auditorium
Aug. 15 - Philadelphia, PA - Old Pool Farm
Aug. 16 - Philadelphia, PA - Old Pool Farm
Aug. 17 - Philadelphia, PA - Old Pool Farm
Aug. 18 - Philadelphia, PA - Old Pool Farm
Aug. 24 - Arrington, VA - Lockn’ Music Festival 
Sep. 20 - Louisville, KY - Bourbon & Beyond Festival
Sep. 21 - Franklin, TN - Pilgrimage Music Festival
Sep. 22 - Franklin, TN - Pilgrimage Music Festival
Oct 22 - Ridgefield, CT - The Ridgefield Playhouse
Oct 23 - Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie Theatre
Oct 24 - New York, NY - Town Hall Theatre
Oct 25 - Boston, MA - Berklee Performance Center
Oct 26 - Portsmouth, NH - The Music Hall
Oct 28 - Montreal, QC - Place des Arts - Theatre
Oct 29 - Toronto, ON - Roy Thomson Hall  
Oct 30 - Pittsburgh, PA - Byham Theatre
Nov 01 - Kent, OH - The Kent Stage
Nov 02 - Goshen, IN - Goshen College Music Center
Nov 04 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
Nov 05 - Saint Paul, MN - Fitzgerald Theatre
Nov 07 - Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre
Nov 09 - Phoenix, AZ - Music Theater at the Musical Instrument Museum
Nov 11 - Livermore, CA - Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center
Nov 13 - Chico, CA - California State University Chico - Laxson Auditorium
Nov 15 - Santa Rosa, CA - Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
Nov 16 - Arcata, CA - John Van Duzer Theatre  
Nov 17 - Portland, OR - Revolution Hall
Nov 18 - Seattle, WA - Benaroya Hall – Taper Auditorium
Nov 20 - Santa Cruz, CA - Rio Theatre
Nov 21 - Santa Barbara, CA - UCSB Campbell Hall
Nov 22 - San Diego, CA - Wonderfront Music Festival
Nov 23 - Cerritos, CA - Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts
Nov. 29 - Baltimore, MD - Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Nov. 30 - Baltimore, MD - Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Dec. 01 - Baltimore, MD - Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

*with Dave Matthews Band

Preservation Hall Jazz Band Links:  Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram

Kyle Craft & Showboat Honey has shared a very sweet video for “Deathwish Blue,” a highlight from Showboat Honey, the group’s forthcoming album, out July 12th worldwide from Sub Pop and directed by Eleanor Petry (see Billboard interview June 19th).
 
Craft had this to say of the visual, “I can’t dance and my fiancée Lydia isn’t the biggest fan of it either…we’d actually never danced together before the shoot. We wanted to have fun and aim for a Pulp Fiction vibe. So, I just slicked back the mop, cranked Spirit in the Sky over the bar speakers, and we went for it.”

Kyle Craft and Showboat Honey Tour Dates + Ticket Links

Kyle Craft & Showboat Honey’s previously announced headlining dates for 2019 in support of the album begin July 11th in Portland at Mississippi Studios and currently end on August 24th in San Francisco at Cafe Du Nord.

Jul. 11 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
Jul. 13 - Seattle, WA - Ballard Seafood Fest
Jul. 14 - Spokane, WA - The Bartlett
Jul. 15 - Billings, MT - Pub Station Taproom
Jul. 17 - St. Paul, MN - Turf Club
Jul. 18 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
Jul. 19 - Louisville, KY - Jimmy Can’t Dance
Jul. 20 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
Jul. 22 - Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern
Jul. 23 - Northampton, MA - Iron Horse
Jul. 24 - Allston, MA - Great Scott
Jul. 26 - Newport, RI - Newport Folk (Museum Stage)
Jul. 30 - Woodstock, NY - Colony
Aug. 01 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s All Right
Aug. 02 - Philadelphia, PA - Boot & Saddle
Aug. 04 - Washington, DC - Pearl Street Warehouse
Aug. 05 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
Aug. 06 - Athens, GA - Georgia Theater Rooftop
Aug. 07 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
Aug. 08 - Birmingham, AL - Saturn
Aug. 09 - Nashville, TN - The Basement
Aug. 10 - Oxford, MS - Proud Larry’s
Aug. 11 - New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks
Aug. 14 - Shreveport, LA - Minicine
Aug. 15 - Dallas, TX - Three Links
Aug. 16 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk
Aug. 18 - Phoenix, AZ - The Valley Bar
Aug. 19 - Tucson, AZ - 191 Toole
Aug. 22 - San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
Aug. 23 - Los Angeles, CA - The Moroccan
Aug. 24 - San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord

 
Showboat Honey was recorded and produced by Kyle Craft, Kevin Clark, and Billy Slater at their own Moonbase Studios in Portland over 2018. The album was mixed by Trevor Spencer and mastered by April Golden at Golden Mastering.
 
Showboat Honey is now available for preorder through Sub Pop Mega Mart. Preorders of the LP through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers in North America, the UK and Europe will receive the limited Loser edition on a clear blue translucent mix with spots red hi-melt (while supplies last).  There will also be a new T-shirt design available.

[Photo credit: Tom McKay]

Sub Pop has signed Cartel Madras, a hip-hop duo who are spearheading a new genre of trap music, Goonda rap. Madras-born sisters Eboshi and Contra are known for their confrontational, high-energy and sexually commanding style of rap; this rising duo flaunts their South Indian identity with authority and expresses their gender and sexuality with a candor that is imperative to why and how Cartel Madras exists. We will release new music from the group in the near future, but for now check out the official video for “Pork and Leek”from TRAPISTAN, their debut mixtape from 2018.
 
Ishmael Butler, who signed the group had this to say, “The energy and passion they bring combined with their superior rapping skills makes the Cartel a must hear and see. Excitement is the main ingredient of their magic. On record and on stage they glow under the spotlight. They’re electric, totally tapped into the current. And c’mon two fly sisters spitting heat? Real rare…it’s too good.”
 
Cartel Madras has a few Canadian festival shows on the horizon, including Calgary’s Sled Island on June 21st, Hillside Festival in Guelph, Ontario on July 12th, Ottawa’s Bluesfest on July 13th, and Up Here Fest in Sudbury, Ontario on August 17th.
 
More on Cartel Madras:
Owning sexuality, racial identity, and gender identity are recurring themes in Cartel Madras’ music. Though these themes are already present in hip hop, Cartel pushes them to even more subversive places by applying them to immigrant women. In this way, Eboshi and Contra created Cartel Madras as a mission to authentically represent the underrepresented.
 
Their live performances—which boldly combine elements of the underground trap, queer, and punk scenes—have been compared to full-blown riots. After just one year, word of mouth grew so profoundly that Cartel Madras had amassed a loyal organic following and media coverage.

Their debut mixtape, TRAPISTAN, captures this live energy. Contra and Eboshi enter the world of trap loudly, abrasively, unapologetically—signaling to their growing fan base that they intend to bring something entirely new to hip hop. Over booming beats, the sisters’ rap with ease through a new genre that brings together trap, house, and gangster rap with the narratives of being Tamil born, immigrant raised, and sexually empowered as women of color and women who are queer.

Cartel Madras
TRAPISTAN

Tracklisting:
1. Red Notice
2. Housey (Thirsti Thots 2 Tha Front)
3. Eric Andre (Slick Rick James)
4. Pork and Leek
5. Kuthu Pattu

There’s no time like the present to follow Cartel Madras in all the places:  Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | subpop.com