• News

• All

May 30, 2017 By Christopher Roberts The Drums

Find It At: {article-find} {name} {/article-find}

The Drums are releasing a new album, “Abysmal Thoughts” (the quote marks are part of the title), on June 16 via ANTI-. Previously they shared its first single, “Blood Under My Belt,” as well as a video for the song, and the track “Heart Basel.” Now they have shared another song from it, “Head of the Horse.” Listen below, followed by The Drums’ upcoming tour dates.

Frontman/main creative force Jonny Pierce had this to say about the song in a press release: “I grew up in a poor and dirty town called Horseheads, NY. I am the son of two Pentecostal preachers who have always been outspokenly anti-gay and this made for a childhood that was riddled with self doubt, confusion and a lot of self-hate. I remember being anxious all the time and turning to music as an escape. Music brought me to New York City, where I live now as an adult. But I am coming to find out that being an adult doesn’t mean much at all. We are all just kids in bigger, older bodies. We all still know very little about the world and even less about ourselves. I find that the past still dominates a lot of my daily experiences - sometimes to the point of feeling paralyzed. The goal is to heal, and I think I am - but at a much slower pace than I am comfortable with.”

“Abysmal Thoughts” is the follow-up to 2014’s Encyclopedia. Since that album guitarist Jacob Graham has left the band, leaving only frontman Jonny Pierce. Pierce home-recorded the album for a year and three months in Los Angeles and at his cabin in upstate New York, with assistance from engineer Jonathan Schenke (Parquet Courts, Mannequin Pussy). Pierce wrote all the songs and played every instrument on the album. A previous press release describes the album as such: “It is a vivid self-portrait, alive with the hyperdramatic emotional potency of The Smiths, the arch literary pop moves of New Zealanders like The Verlaines and The Clean, and the riotous clatter-punk power of the U.K. DIY bands of 1979.”

The album is borne out of heartbreak, as Pierce explained in the press release: “I said I wanted to let life happen? Well, the universe listened and life began to fuck me real good! But honestly, I make the worst art when I’m comfortable. The stuff that resonates with me the longest - and that resonates with others - is always the stuff that comes out of my misery…. Happiness can be confusing to me. It shows up out of nowhere, and before you can even get used to it, it’s vanished. But “Abysmal Thoughts”? I can rely on them - and with the political chaos that is raining down, who knows when these dark feelings will subside?”

Pick up or download Under the Radar‘s current print issue, the Spring 2017 Issue, to read our new interview with The Drums’ Jonny Pierce.

The Drums Tour Dates:

June 7th: House of Vans - Brooklyn, NY
July 17th: Neumos - Seattle, WA
July 18th: Venue - Vancouver, BC
July 19th: Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR
July 21st: The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
July 22nd: FYF Festival - Los Angeles, CA
July 30th: Wayhome Music and Arts Festival - Oro-Medonte, ON
July 31st: El Club - Detroit, MI
August 1st: Bell’s - Kalamazoo, MI
August 3rd: Lollapalooza - Chicago, IL
August 4th: The Grog Shop - Cleveland, OH
August 5th: Hifi - Indianapolis, IN
September 10th: Lucerna Music Bar - Prague, Czech Republic
September 12th: YotaSpace - Moscow, Russia
September 14th: Teatro Barcelo - Madrid, Spain
September 15th: Razmatazz - Barcelona, Spain
September 16th: Donostia Kutxa Kultur Festibala - San Sebastian, Spain
September 18th: Latteria Molloy - Brescia, Italy
September 19th: Les Docks - Lausanne, Switzerland
September 20th: La Gaite Lyrique - Paris, France
September 21st-23rd: Reeperbahn Festival - Hamburg, Germany
September 24th: Pumperhuset - Copenhagen, Denmark
September 25th: Parkteateret - Oslo, Norway
September 26th: Kraken - Stockholm, Sweden
September 28th: Lido - Berlin, Germany
September 29th: Orangerie - Brussels, Belgium
September 30th: Paradiso Noord - Amsterdam, Holland
October 2nd: Thekla - Bristol, UK
October 3rd: Whelans - Dublin, Ireland
October 4th: Gorilla - Manchester, UK
October 5th: Art School - Glasgow, UK
October 7th: o2 Shepherds Bush Empire - London, UK
November 19th: Corona Capital - Mexico City, Mexico

Support Under the Radar on Patreon.