I think I speak for Reubens Accomplice fans everywhere when I say this: Finally.
A new album by the beloved Phoenix band, which would be its first since 2004’s The Bull, the Balloon, and the Family, has become a bit like our very own sasquatch – often discussed but never seen. We’ve been teased, agonizingly so at times. I had my own sighting (false, as it turns out), in 2006, of a possible album that even had a title, Mammal Music. Let me put 2006 in perspective for you: I gleaned this information from the band’s Live Journal, which is just a rung below MySpace in the social media wasteland.
Speaking of MySpace, that might be where I first saw news, in 2009, that the band had released an EP and was taking pre-orders for the new album, titled Sons of Men. Three years later, there was something to it: Sons of Men actually is the name of the album, and it will be available this August. No, really. A mural was painted in downtown Phoenix to promote the album with the words: “Available August 2012.” I saw it with my own two eyes. That’s about as close to etched in stone as there is. No turning back now, dudes.
But seriously: I tease because I love. Life tends to get in the way of these things. I don’t have the faintest idea of what Chris Corak and Jeff Bufano – the band’s two principal members – had to go through to get to this point. But I hope to find out more in the coming weeks. I can tell you that Grammy-winning producer/engineer/mixer Chris Testa, who has worked with several locals in the past (Jimmy Eat World, Source Victoria, Kinch, Courtney Marie Andrews), is adding this one to his extensive credits.
Corak also kindly (and quickly) responded to an email to give me some other tidbits, including the track listing (below) and that guest musicians on the record include pedal-steel king Jon Rauhouse (a member of Neko Case’s band), Matt Maher and Promise Ring/Maritime singer Davey von Bohlen, who sings the choruses on “I Love You, But I’m Tired.”
What we also know is this: Sons of Men (that’s the cover art above; click to expand) will be available in August, with a show at Crescent Ballroom on Aug. 10 serving as the album release party. (They are playing shows on Aug. 11 and 12 in California with the Promise Ring.) “Field Science” is the leadoff track on the album, and it’s featured here in the time-lapse video that shows the creation of the aforementioned mural.
Getting the feeling this is going to be worth the wait.
Sons of Men track listing:
1. Field Science
2. This Desert
3. I Love You, but I’m Tired
4. I’m Leaving
5. The Losing Curse
6. Sons of Men
7. Memory Works
8. No Motion
9. Women
10. Less Pain Forever
Eric here again (previous posts here and here). I feel like more of my favorite bands have released, or are about to release, potentially awesome albums in the last few months than I have time for these days. I’m firmly entrenched in Japandroids‘ Celebration Rock, knee-deep in Beach House’s Bloom, starting to put in some solid QT with El-P’s Cancer for Cure and Killer Mike’s R.A.P. Music, and licking my lips just thinking about diving into Dirty Projectors’ Swing Lo Magellan and Twin Shadow’s Confess. On top of that, as Kevin mentioned in his last few posts, brand new stuff from the Soft Pack and Band of Horses. I do declay-uh, I think I’m catchin’ tha vapuhs, y’all. *woosily faints in style of 1860’s southern belle*
I think I’m about to have to throw another one on the pile. On July 24, Brooklyn via Providence, R.I., rockers Fang Island are set to release Major, the follow-up to their stellar 2010 self-titled debut. After a first listen, what we seem to have is a more fully realized version of their self-described “everyone high-fiving everyone” vibe on display. Intensely catchy, dense with hooks, intricate guitar work and squibbily-dibbily-doo solos, Major is relentlessly upbeat, consistently air-drum-inducing and unabashedly loud. Tracks like “Asunder,” “Seek it Out” and “Sisterly” ratchet up the jamzzz several notches from Fang Island’s already established ball-to-the-wall-edness.
Not only is there an album to look forward to in the near future, but they’ll also be playing a show at my beloved Rhythm Room on Aug. 12, via Stateside Presents. For 12 buckaroonies, no less. Can’t beat that. (Side note: I really do miss me some Rhythm Room. I moved to Phoenix from Scottsdale in August 2011, planning to more or less live at Rhythm Room, and sadly, I think I’ve been to like two shows since. As it turned out, my move-in date was a little over 2 months before a certain little spot opened up, stealing away many of its indie shows, and in turn, this guy. Not that I’m complaining about suddenly having what’s becoming one of the top venues in the western United States almost equally close. When I think about good ol’ RR, though, I definitely get a wee bit nostalgic about seeing some of my favorite bands, most or all of whom have now outgrown the place, play in a space roughly the size of a wealthier buddy’s living room. Just sayin’.)
I had become (slightly) familiar with Fang Island soon before I saw them open up for Matt and Kim at the Clubhouse (barf) in October 2010, and after seeing them perform, I was hooked. Their live show is not to be missed, especially if you have a thang for dudes that dress like hipster-y wizards or just feel like working out some energy by jumping around and smiling like an idiot for an hour or two.
On July 8, Wilco played a sold-out show at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark in Geneva, Ill., home of the Kane County Cougars, a Class A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. If performing at a minor league baseball stadium wasn’t cool enough, fellow Chicagoan Andrew Bird served as the opener.
As part of Wilco’s second encore, Bird joined the band for a version of “California Stars,” a live staple and a beautiful standout from the Mermaid Avenue albums. Frontman Jeff Tweedy dedicated the performance in honor of Woody Guthrie’s 100th birthday, which is today. To celebrate, the band is streaming the performance on its website.
Let’s be honest: Recording any cover song takes some level of ballsiness. You have to be respectful of the original but confident in your own spin on the song. And tackling a Grammy-nominated song within about a year of its release … well … that’s pretty bold.
But Knesset obviously knew what it was doing. The Phoenix-based band took on “Holocene” by Bon Iver, a track that was up for Record and Song of the Year at the 2012 Grammys. Also, this is a song that white butlers are way into. Be respectful.
Seriously, though, Knesset shows the proper reverence here and infuses an already-great song with the sort of energy guaranteed not to put Blue Ivy Carter to sleep. Stream it below or download it at RCRD LBL.
That’s one of my favorite lines from “Ain’t It So,” the leadoff track from A Good Woman is Hard to Find, the debut EP by PAPA (previously raved about here). But breaking down Darren Weiss’ lyrics is a tough chore – you have to get past the insanely catchy hooks first to even want to do that.
Weiss told Nylon magazine of “Ain’t It So”: “Well, it’s a song about letting go of someone I feel like I probably should’ve married instead. It’s a real honest song about that feeling.”
Seems straightforward enough, though I’m not sure I have the interpretive intuition to make sense of the song’s new video, in which Weiss, clad in a pink suit, is driven around (along with an oversized teddy bear) by PAPA bassist/cabbie Daniel Presant. Along the circuitous route, Weiss stops to pick up a dog and tries to play catch with some Little Leaguers, but nobody seems to be paying attention to him. Maybe we’re riding shotgun, looking at a man taking inventory on his life. Or maybe not …
PAPA was scheduled to record new material last month, so there could be a release by the end of the year. In the meantime, you should really pick up that EP.
Band of Horses sneaked in under the cloak of darkness on Facebook on Monday night to announce the details of their new album, Mirage Rock. Their fourth album – I love the continuity of their cover-art aesthetic – is due for release on Sept. 18 and was produced by Glyn Johns. It’s available for preorder via iTunes, which will come with a bonus track.
Along with news of the release came a stream and video for the first single, “Knock Knock,” and a track listing.
1. Knock Knock
2. How To Live
3. Slow Cruel Hands of Time
4. A Little Biblical
5. Shut-In Tourist
6. Dumpster World
7. Electric Music
8. Everything’s Gonna Be Undone
9. Feud
10. Long Vows
11. Heartbreak on the 101
I’m not saying I have the power of premonition, but just yesterday I thought it would be a good idea to revisit the Soft Pack catalog while thinking to myself, “Hey, the Soft Pack is probably due for a new album soon.” Then today comes news of a new Soft Pack album. Coincidence? I think not.
“Saratoga” is the first single from said album by the L.A.-based surf-pysch-pop four-piece, titled Strapped and due out on Mexican Summer on Sept. 25. The album follows up the band’s excellent self-titled full-length debut from 2010.
The song hits a groove from the second you push play – that bassline is worming its way into my subconscious – but you have to dig a little deeper to pick up the faded vocals of singer Matt Lamkin, who gets right to the point in detailing the wreckage of a relationship gone wrong: “Would you be kind enough to find the time to return all the time that I spent right beside you?” But don’t let that be a buzzkill for the song’s summery vibes.
The band announced fall tour, which includes a stop in Tucson on Sept. 22, but there is no Phoenix date.
Strapped track list:
1. Saratoga
2. Second Look
3. They Say
4. Tallboy
5. Bobby Brown
6. Chinatown
7. Ray’s Mistake
8. Oxford Ave.
9. Everything I Know
10. Head on Ice
11. Bound to Fall
12. Captain Ace
After boldly taking on the man known as Dan Bejar a few weeks ago, Eric returns with a new post on Japandroids. Considering he saw them about three weeks ago, I’m a little late in getting this post up, but I think the sentiment remains.
Is it actually possible to have too much Japandroids in a matter of two weeks? At the risk of redundancy (sorry I’m not sorry) between this post and Kevin’s two weeks ago, I’m going to talk about the Vancouver noisemakers once again because I think it bears an echo. I took a trip with my girlfriend to San Diego last week, and now that I’m beginning to feel rested from my trip (“I need a vacaaaation from my vacaaaation, you guys” haha LOLOL), I can finally start appreciating the J-Droids show I saw at The Casbah in San Diego last Saturday night.
The show somehow wasn’t sold out until a few days beforehand, which was surprising, and we weren’t sure we were going to go until right about the sell-out date. It was a good half-hour from the surf shack hotel in Encinitas we were staying at that night, unaware that they’d be in town when we booked it. Once I really thought about it, and especially after I convinced my friend and his girlfriend who live in San Diego to go, I realized I had made the right decision and that it’d be worth a drive twice that amount.
Me, my girlfriend, and our San Diegan music festival soul brother and sister met up right after the opener, with them having no knowledge of the band whatsoever. The couple has a mainly hip-hop and DJ-focused gigantic musical attention span that, although I’m not nearly as well versed in those areas, lends plenty of overlap within the Venn Diagram of musical taste for us to completely trust each other’s judgment when recommending something. Long story short, I randomly met them at a bar in Nashville the day before Bonnaroo, and they asked us if we wanted to camp with them. I was with a work buddy at my first big-boy music festival, and I figured why not. It was a fantastic decision – we hung out with them the entire festival and had a great time throughout, and although we hadn’t kept in touch as well as we would have liked to in the few years since, it’s an easy friendship to pick up where you left off.
I share these details in the context of a friendship (and I’m sure I’ll do it more than a little) because it’s such a core part of how I find out about music that I eventually discover myself and love. I’ve developed an “onward and upward†mentality when it comes to seeking out music over the years, scanning through blogs and listening to online radio, but when I think about it, each new artist I come to know is basically a branch of a tree that a friend pointed out to me. Almost everyone that finds him or herself in this position can think of a friend, a boyfriend or girlfriend, or even a parent to whom a musical palette can be largely attributed.
Japandroids: The House That Heaven Built:
In addition to recorded music, friends also constitute a huge part of how I experience a live show. A douche-cog in the concert-wheel can turn epic might-have-been shows into ones you keep to yourself even when friends are engaging in a bit of concert reminiscin’. A generally like-minded, positive person can take an average one and make it one you’ll remember for the rest of your life and never stop shutting up about to anyone who’ll listen.
That said, I don’t think I’d bring just anyone to a Japandroids show who’d never heard one guitar riff, one “Oh-oh-OH-OH†chorus/sing-along/hook, or one lyric about getting messed up with your bros or french-kissing some French girls. Considering what I’d already seen of them, and the company I found myself in, I was confident we were all in for a treat. This being my third Japandroids show, and the second being clearly more polished and tighter than the first, this was exciting for me. I saw them the first time play as an opener for The Walkmen at the good ol’ Clubhouse a few years back, then again at the Polyvinyl showcase at the 2011 Pygmalion Festival (in Champaign, Ill., where I went to school), I felt I was at least decently qualified to critique.
The opener for the show was Edmonton rapper (and former poet laureate) Cadence Weapon, himself also a Polaris long-list nominee. He’s been covered in this space before, so I won’t say too much other than he seems poised for a larger-scale breakout as well. Full of positive energy, fun, and apparently not phased by a (at least for the first few songs) mostly frozen, mostly quiet, and mostly apparently unaccustomed to hip-hop show crowd full of white people, his stage presence became more infectious throughout the show, especially once Japandroids one-man rhythm section David Prowse joined in. Standing stage right, wearing a Hot Snakes T-shirt, 10 or so feet away from the main stage, right next toooo… this moi, Prowse was shouting out lyrics and getting just generally fired up.
Me being the total awkward dork about these things as I am, when Cadence Weapon threw a shout-out in the way of Mr. Prowse, foreshadowing the general loudness of the headliner we were about to hear, I turned over to him and asked through a cupped hand:
“You guys wouldn’t do that, would you?â€
“Huh?â€
“Wait, this isn’t going to be LOUUUD is it?†(mocking fake outrage)
“Oh, hehe. You see all those amps? This ain’t gonna be no acoustic show. At least I hope not.â€
“Oh, yeah. Hehe – right.â€
Guh. As much as I never have the ability to say something cool or funny in those situations, even though I probably shouldn’t be, I’m generally glad I keep making myself anyway. In a place like The Casbah, which is Rhythm Room size or slightly smaller, it’s pretty possible to do that before a show, which I don’t think will be the case with this band for long. A major theme of Celebration Rock is growing up and realizing where you’ve already been, and either life is imitating art or vice-versa, but they’s all growns up now, both in terms of their live show and their status as a band.
It’s evident from watching clips like the insane collaboration with Captain Kirk from the Roots and gauging the heaps of praise that the band has received lately, I gather the ‘Droids are picking up a significant amount of steam right now, and I’m super happy about it.
Yeah, I’ll nerdily and snobbily admit it can be annoying to me when my special little snowflakes become everyone else’s special little snowflakes, but I couldn’t be more proud. For me, this was watching that high draft pick or prospect you’ve followed since early on (maybe not since high school, but let’s say later in college for the sake of comparison) blossom into a first time all-star with a promising career ahead.
Everyone says the same thing the first time they see Japandroids, and I could see it right away on the faces of my two newly and instantly converted friends’ faces almost right away. How can two dudes make ALLTHATSOUND? Once their show opener/album opener “The Nights of Wine And Roses†cranked up, I could feel a collective of “awww yeah†hit them and the rest of the crowd. And they didn’t let up the entire show. Sweaty, bleeding-heart jams cranked out, with only breaks for swiggin’ a couple shots and some witty banter in between.
Confident, talented, and intense on the one hand, yet funny, friendly, and approachable on the other, Japandroids are easy for me to like – a band I’d certainly want to hang out with in real life. There’s always going to be a certain rough-around-the-edges quality of Japandroids’ vocals that people may or may not like (I’ve met a few who are in the “not†category), but it’s hard to dispute how tight and in-sync they are live now. Again, this has been a progression. The first time I saw them, they were much more raw. The second time, less so. Now, it clicks. They have made, as Bill Simmons would say, “The Leap.â€
So many cheesy, cliched statement come to mind in summing that show up, so I’ll just go ahead and mention them. They ROCKED that tiny place, like AC/DC rocked it, you guys. Faces. Melted. Crowds were surfed. People were bowled over, literally and figuratively. They played dang near every song in their catalog. They had people clapping, cheering and shouting from beginning to end. They survived a complete technical difficulty after getting through a third of it without missing a beat.
From reading my last two posts about Destroyer and Japandroids shows, I’d be perfectly understanding if you think I only like bands on independent labels and who are from Vancouver, and that I think every show is the cat’s PJs. Neither is true, I assure you, but daaaaang, these were a couple fun, energizing shows… from two Vancouverian indie-rock bands.
I’m so glad I got to experience this show with three great music partners who could appreciate it. We and everyone else in the room felt it. This was special. This was epic. This was a right-place-right-time moment to watch a band grow up, and I’m probably not going to shut up about it anytime soon.
If the original members of Quicksand can perform together for the first time in 13 years, then I figure it’s not too much to ask to publish my first blog post in nearly a week.
I’m not that into the recent surge of reunions – I hate the idea of selling out my cherished memories for one last go-round that likely will leave me disappointed anyway – but this re-emergence of Quicksand, well, I’ll make an exception for that. The band’s 1993 full-length debut, Slip, is an airtight classic that is just begging for some sort of deluxe reissue treatment – and what better time than its 20th anniversary (!) next year? (The band’s second, and last, album, Manic Compression is also not to be overlooked.)
Any thought of a full-blown reunion appears to be just speculation at this point, but Walter Schreifels and Co. were the surprise guests at the Revelation Records 25th anniversary show on June 10 at the Glass House in Pomona, Calif. They played five songs – four from Slip and a Smiths cover of “How Soon Is Now?” that they released as a B-side in ’93. Someone recorded the set from what appears to be the side of the stage, a great angle that really lets you see people freaking out over this (and protecting themselves from stage divers).
Quicksand is scheduled to perform at the FYF Fest in Los Angeles in September – reason enough to start planning a road trip. Before the final song at the Glass House, Schreifels seems to leave open the possibility that these aren’t just one-off shows: “I don’t know where this is all gonna lead … ”
Here’s hoping for more dates. In the meantime, I’ll have to see if I still have my ticket stub from that Quicksand/Rage Against the Machine show from back in the day.
Setlist from the Pomona reunion show:
1. Omission
2. Unfulfilled
3. Fazer
4. Dine Alone
5. How Soon Is Now? (Smiths cover)
The sixth installment of 110 Percent, a series in which I talk to musicians about sports, features Van Pierszalowski, the former frontman of Port O’Brien who launched his new project, WATERS, with a great debut, Out in the Light, last September on TBD Records.
Pierszalowski loves the Dodgers more than anything (even Lil Wayne) and admits to knowing nothing about any other professional sport.
So how did you become such a Dodgers fan? Are you from L.A.? Here’s the deal. I’m from a town called Cambria, which is on the coast, basically to the mile between San Francisco and L.A. But my dad grew up in L.A. and was a Dodgers fan and my grandpa was a Dodgers fan. In Cambria, we got KCAL 9, and we didn’t get any of the San Francisco TV channels. So I got sucked into the L.A. baseball world. My whole entire childhood, I was not a casual fan at all – I was absolutely obsessed. My happiness would hinge on whether or not they won.
How far is Cambria from L.A.?
It’s like 3 1/2 hours.
So you probably didn’t go to a lot of games as a kid?
I went to quite a few. Not all the time. In a season, I would go to like five or six. Then once in awhile I would go to Candlestick when they were playing Giants.
Do you have a memory that stands out from following them as a kid? One of most vivid memories I have is when I was … I can’t remember how old I was. I was in fifth grade or something, and my dad woke me up really early on a school morning. He woke me up at like 6 or 7 o’clock. He’s like, ‘Come on, Van. You’re not going to school today.’ I’m like, ‘What the hell? Am I dreaming?’ He put me in the Vanagon and we started driving up to Candlestick. It was Hideo Nomo’s debut game. It was the most exciting day of my life. He pitched all right. He pitched five innings, I remember. But the game was tied in the ninth and actually ended up going 15 innings. We stayed the entire time. In the top of 15th, the Dodgers scored a run or two – so I was like the happiest boy on the planet — and in the bottom of 15th, the Giants had a walk-off home run, or a walk-off hit anyway. I was sobbing so hard, I was crying so hard. My dad had to carry me back to the Vanagon. As he finally got me in there, there was this Giants fan who saw me wearing my Dodgers jacket and had this huge sign on cardboard the size of a refrigerator that said, “Dodger fans: Go to hell.†I was sobbing and crying. It was best day ever turned into an absolute nightmare.
How much of an influence was your dad’s fandom on you or did you pick it up yourself? He wasn’t as into it as I was. He introduced me to game, and I was really serious about playing. I was really into it my whole life. But he wasn’t as into it as I was, and then as I got more into he got more into it.
I was going to ask if you played. I played all through Little League as early as I could and through high school. I was actually pretty good. I was MVP of our team my junior year. I was a starting pitcher and shortstop as well. I was a pretty good hitter. I played varsity as a sophomore.
But then senior year, I got too cool. I got really into punk and Fugazi and into my band. I was just too cool to play, which sucked. Maybe my one regret of high school is I wish I could have played that last year.
Did the coach try to sway you? Oh, there was heavy recruitment going on. I remember a one-on-one meeting we had during lunch. He pulled me into his office and was like, ‘What can we do to get you out there?’ I was like, ‘Listen, man, I just wanna focus on my music.’ (Laughs). He hated me so much. Other guys were kind of jocks. So I was like the freak of team. I tried to barter with him. I was like, ‘I just don’t wanna practice every day. How about I just practice twice a week and play the games?’ But yeah, he didn’t go for that.
Getting back to the Dodgers. So with the change of ownership, I’m guessing you’re pretty happy about that? I’m incredibly happy about that. It’s a huge deal. I was really nervous when all the bidding was going on. But I think we ended up with a pretty good team. It’s nice to have a local hero be the face of it, as well as some big money behind it. I’m looking a lot more forward to the trading deadline than I have been in last three years. I think it’s going to be exciting, especially if we keep playing as well as we do.
That being said, I’m really not a fan of Ned Colletti, our GM. I would hope some front-office stuff like that gets changed. He tends to favor veterans. … His obsession with old guys is weird.
A friend who covers the Diamondbacks and I have joked that the Dodgers might be a team of destiny this year, like the D-backs of last year. They seem to be getting clutch hits from unlikely guys. Are you buying into that? Yeah, it’s been weird, especially with Matt Kemp on the DL for the second time already. We started off so great and Matt Kemp was the main reason really and now with him gone, we’re doing even better. … We have like these really old guys and now these really young guys. And then in middle we have Andre Ethier and the frustrating mess of James Loney.
But here’s the important question: Should A.J. Ellis be in the All-Star Game? Oh, my god. It’s just so obvious that he should be. I will get so fired up if we start talking about A.J. Ellis, and Don Mattingly’s refusal to bat him above the No. 6 position is just so insane.
Where would you hit him? He’s a leadoff hitter. I know he doesn’t fit the standard fast, middle infielder, bunting kind of guy. But that whole motif, I feel like, is so outdated. If you have guy who is in the top five in the National League in on-base percentage and you have a hitter like Matt Kemp hitting third, who is the best hitter in the National League, you want people to get on base. That’s the main concern. So why would you keep hitting Dee Gordon, whose on-base percentage isn’t even .300, when you have one of the best people at walking in the entire game batting eighth? It’s so insane.
You’re pretty active on Twitter. Do you get your baseball fix there? Yeah, a good chunk of my Twitter feed is baseball related. I’m a huge fan of this one blogger: Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness. I read his blog every day, every post and I have for the past few years. He’s really the leading voice, I think, for this common-sense thinking that hopefully is going to spread to the more mainstream fandom about how to win games. But he’s just an amazing writer, and every time he posts I look forward to reading. It’s the best baseball blog I’ve been able to find and I’m glad it’s about my team.
You said you’re an MLB.TV subscriber, and you’re going on the road this summer with Nada Surf. Will you definitely try to keep up while you’re on the road? Oh, yeah. The only problem is a lot of times we’re busy around the time they’re playing. … It is harder when you’re on the road. When they play day games, I can watch on my phone.
But I was living in Europe … well, living in Oslo for a couple years, and that was really hard with the time differences. I was never able to watch a game.
So who’s your favorite Dodger of all-time? I have conflicted feelings about him, but Mike Piazza was my hero when I was a kid. When he was traded, it was really the worst day of my life. Up until that point, it was the worst day of my life. I think I’d probably still have to say him.
But on the team now … I don’t want to pick Matt Kemp because it’s so obvious, but he is just amazing. I wanna say A.J. Ellis (laughs).
Do you still make it to a lot of games? See, this is the thing. I’m living in San Francisco, which makes it really intense to be a Dodgers fan. And I do wanna go on the record as saying: I don’t talk about the Dodgers that much because I do live here and I respect that rivalry a lot. Also, I really, really do not hate the Giants. I was rooting for them when they were in the World Series. I don’t really get the rivalry. It’s cool, it’s fun, but I’m absolutely not a Giants hater at all, even after that scarring moment when I was in fifth grade.
When the Dodgers play the Giants, it’s blacked out here on MLB.TV. So I go to this bar behind my house and watch the games, and when I’m there by myself and there’s like a huge crowd of Giants fans, I don’t wear anything blue, I don’t even cheer. I make it kind of secret that I’m rooting for the Dodgers just because it gets a little scary.
I do wanna talk about the “Mickey Mantle†song. It’s about aging or facing aging. Is that fair to say? Yeah, somewhat. It’s about the fear of failure.
So where did you get the inspiration for the “Mickey Mantle†title? I was living in New York when I wrote that song. I started reading a lot about him and I never really knew the rest of his story after he retired and it’s pretty tragic and sad. He just turned into this hopeless alcoholic. There’s this interview on YouTube with him and David Letterman where he’s being asked about it. It’s just so sad — he can’t even admit it. Anyway, the song’s not really about him obviously. It’s the feeling that this guy with so much hope, so much promise and had everything and he ended up being a miserable alcoholic and a total failure. So It’s that fear you have of turning into something like that, the failing in general.
Speaking of MySpace, that might be where I first saw news, in 2009, that the band had released an EP and was taking pre-orders for the new album, titled Sons of Men. Three years later, there was something to it: Sons of Men actually is the name of the album, and it will be available this August. No, really. A mural was painted in downtown Phoenix to promote the album with the words: “Available August 2012.” I saw it with my own two eyes. That’s about as close to etched in stone as there is. No turning back now, dudes.
