So, we’re getting ready to drop a new EP next week on Bandcamp: 6 tunes – five originals and one really cool cover by a dude named Ted Hawkins – and you can get an early listen to the first single exclusively on Spotify right now! Here’s the link!
It’s called, “They Ran Us Off”, and it’s a short song – 2:43 – but powerful. It’s built primarily on a Cmaj7 chord, which isn’t something you hear every day in a folkpunk song, so if you like the tune, and you really wanna do us a solid, add it to a playlist of yours, or even (gasp!) give us a follow! That would be huge, and we’d be eternally grateful.
Frank playing They Ran Us Off
I wrote the music one late night after Mig texted me a poem he’d just written. I don’t know where it came from, we’ve not really talked about that yet, but it was clearly something he felt deeply and needed to get out there, and when I read it for the first time, it connected viscerally. I could feel the pain, the loneliness and the rejection. Maybe because I was feeling a bit of the same stuff at the same time, I dunno, but in a couple of hours I’d texted him back a rough first version that I recorded on my phone, using the voice memo tool, ’cause we’re all sophisto like that.
We polished it up a bit, made a decent recording and had it mastered, and now it’s ready for you to hear if you want. All you gotta do is hit that Spotify link, and maybe even buy the tape when it comes out on Friday, Nov. 5.
The EP itself, btw, is cassette-only, and limited to 100 copies – but don’t worry: each copy comes with a digital download, too. You’ll be able to pre-order soon – follow the blog here if you wanna stay up on all the news re: new releases, shows, lives streams and all the other cool stuff we’ve got going on.
For the last couple of months, we’ve been woodshedding hard, playing shows at least once, sometimes twice or even three times, per weekend – parties, clubs, Porchfest, busking – you name it; wherever and whenever we can.
And what we’ve only just begun to realize is, we’re not just playing. We’re performing. We’re playing a show. We’re entertaining.
And if you haven’t been able to catch one a them live shows, you’ll soon be able to get an idea of what we’ve been up to during that time – because we’re putting out some new music.
100 copies, to be exact, available on cassette only, and only Bandcamp Friday, which is Nov. 5 – or at one of our live shows, if we have any left. The cassette’s gonna have six, maybe seven tunes on it, but only four are going to be on the digital download. You’re gonna wanna go cassette on this one.
You can buy it here when it goes live on Nov. 5. Don’t worry, there’ll be download codes in the cassettes, which are also gonna contain all sorts of other cassette-only goodies, so really, if you’re on the fence about going digital or cassette – go with the cassette. It’ll be worth your while. Plus, your cool factor will jack up exponentially among your core demographics – cassettes are coming back, big time – didn’t you see Guardians of the Galaxy, ferchrissake? Even Forbes is on the cassette train. This is your chance to be ahead of the curve.
Anyway, we recorded it live at the Sun Tiki in Portland – whose owner, Ian, will be the first to tell you – isn’t a recording studio. It’s a rehearsal studio. There’s bleed. Every band can hear every there band rehearse. Not exactly the best recording conditions.
But here’s the thing: the rooms sound great. Really fucking good. It’s a joy to work there.
MIguel plays the spoons.
Plus, they rent by the hour and it opens really early in the morning – like, 7 a.m.
And no self-respecting musician is gonna get up that early on a Monday or Tuesday to practice. Just sayin’, it ain’t gonna happen.
At least, that’s how we figured it.
So, we booked a room there on a Monday about four months ago, from 8 am to 2 pm, figuring we’d have the place to ourselves. And for the most part, we did.
We brought in our little four-track board, a couple of good microphones, and our busking set-up. We played live for four or five hours, and walked outta there with six tracks that had potential, we thought: five originals and one cover. We had them mastered by a guy named Dylan Ray outta Nashville, who worked wonders.
And, by God, if it don’t sound half bad. In fact, it sounds pretty goddam good.
We’re dropping the first tune – it’s called “They Ran Us Off” – on Oct. 16. It’ll be available on the usual digital distro channels: iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, YouTube, and probably a bunch of others I’ve forgotten about. I’ll post the links here in the blog when I’ve got ’em.
It’s a riveting little tune, though, a tough little number that checks in at around 2:43 seconds, give or take a few seconds of studio chatter we left in there, ’cause why not?
Frank Gallagher plays some guitar.
It emerged out of a poem that Mig texted me late one night, and it struck me just the right way – maybe because I was, at least, in part, in pretty much the same place that Mig’s lyrics described.
But like I said, it’s a tough little song; it’s all about alienation, and indignity, and bullshit – good lord, the bullshit – and ultimately, hope. Because really, that’s all we’ve got.
So, yeah, check the streaming services come Nov. 5 or – even better – join our mailing list, and we’ll send it to you when it comes out.
And we won’t spam you. Promise.
And there’ll be more to come; we’ve got some special surprises in store in the coming weeks, and we truly hope you’ll sign on and stick around a while. It’s gonna be fun.
All the photos here, btw, were done by Ryan Schools, who’s an amazing photog. I’d’a linked to his sit here if he had one, but he doesn’t. That said, you wanna book him, lemme know. I can put you in touch.
Plague Dad 