Is it still considered “rescheduled” if it’s almost four and half years later? That is a debate nobody needs to have. What matters is that we are finally returning to the UK for the first time since 2018 and we are very excited about it. Sure, for those of you who live in the UK, it may not seem like a big deal, as you’re already there and maybe you’re more thrilled about the new season of Slow Horses, for which we can’t blame you. But if it takes us another six years to come over, we may be in need of mobility assistance, so please consider coming to see us while we still have the vigor of youth and lack the sanctimony of bedraggled elders.
In addition to the good times of the rip roaring laughter we enjoy while traveling around together, we are stoked/psyched/chuffed/jazzed to see all the amazing bands we are lucky to be playing with. To that end, we want to toot their horns and drop the digital needle on their streaming jams to get you equally pumped. So please press play and enjoy…
The Unit Ama – A top tier trio from Newcastle who mix the precise propulsion of Touch And Go’s finest ’90s output with melodic inflections of late-’60s British folk-rock. Sprinkle in some of the charmingly eclectic tendencies of Canterbury stalwarts like Soft Machine or Gong and you might get close, but check out the seamless back-to-back transition of “Collector” going into “Mary” and then “The Folding Man” and decide for yourself. https://theunitama.bandcamp.com/album/toward
Goo – The pride of Keighley. Okay, while I’ve yet to cover my shoulders in the famed wool or cotton the town is known for, if I were from Keighley I’d be stopping strangers on the street to play the “You’re In Mono”/”Maladroit” 7″ for them. It has the driving riffs of the most immediate Wedding Present tunes married to the bouncy sing-alongs of The Go-Go’s early singles. They cram so many hooks into two or three minutes it might actually take you a few spins to catch them all. https://whoaregoo.bandcamp.com/album/youre-in-mono-maladroit-single
Jutland Songs – The harmonies just ooze out of these Glasgow lifers. Chiming guitars over head-bobbing rhythms in a way that wouldn’t be out of place on either a Blake Babies or High Back Chairs album. It seems insane that they only have one 7″ out in the world. Somebody please fix this! https://jutlandsongs.bandcamp.com/album/charm-on-the-chain-spark-out
Every Face Becomes A Skull – A true statement and also just a brutal realization. This Nottingham post-hardcore crew sound like Hot Snakes covering Ignition. Direct, powerful and melodic. I’m preparing my exocrine glands for Revolution Autumn. https://efbas.bandcamp.com/album/every-face-becomes-a-skull
Hey Colossus – How many guitar players does it take to change a lightbulb? As long as Hey Colossus is playing, the last thing you will be thinking about is the flickering bulb that has put you into the psychic swirl of Green River on a mouthful of Xanax. These pros have been at it for 20 years and they’re not messing around. https://heycolossus.bandcamp.com/album/in-blood
IRKED – When I got the note from Wrong Speed Records that this Newcastle five-piece had a new EP out, I tapped on my spacebar and was greeted by some wonderfully quick-footed brattiness that had been missing in my life. Have you ever asked yourself, “What if East Bay Ray played guitar in Autoclave and they recorded on a 4-track with the meters in the red the whole time?” No? Well maybe now we know how great the answer to that question is. The definition of “urgent.” https://irked1.bandcamp.com/album/ep
Other Half – I have heard that between St. Ethelbert’s and Erpingham gates in Norwich, in a spot that was once a Saxon marketplace, you can buy bobblehead dolls of the members of this fantastic local group. After they incanted the line “Because the bourgeois aren’t in the slightest bit scared of me” all had to admit that they were in fact terrified. This is because they uncovered the portal to where Craig Finn and Tim Midyett had been secretly collaborating on journal entries for Rodan to sing. https://otherhalf.bandcamp.com/album/other-halfs-dark-ageism
And now for the dates. We really hope to see you there. Please come introduce yourself.
FRI 4 OCT: Liverpool @ Quarry
with The Unit Ama, Irked & Other Half
Tickets
SAT 5 OCT: Sowerby Bridge @ Puzzle Hall Inn
with The Unit Ama
FREE!
SUN 6 OCT: Newcastle @ Star And Shadow Cinema
with The Unit Ama & Senor Pink
Tickets
MON 7 OCT: Glasgow @ The Old Hairdresser’s
with The Unit Ama & Jutland Songs
Tickets
TUE 8 OCT: Leeds @ Santiago Bar
with Goo & Kerosene
Tickets
WED 9 OCT: Sheffield @ Delicious Clam
with Goo
Tickets
THU 10 OCT: Oxford @ Common Ground Cafe
with Goo
Tickets
FRI 11 OCT: Nottingham @ The Carousel
with Every Face Becomes A Skull
Tickets
SAT 12 OCT: London @ Sebright Arms
with Hey Colossus
Tickets
And, last but hardly least, we are pleased to report that our fine pal, Mr. Will Fitzpatrick, will be joining us on bass for this tour. You probably already know him from either Good Grief or Witching Waves or just that friendly dude at the record shop flipping through the bins next to you.