🥤 SIPSMAN COMMUNIQUE: October 2023
Truth Club • POP Montréal • North Americans • Katie von Schleicher • Hopscotch • Animal Hospital
Hello from a dreamy balcony on a dreamy block in Outremont, where I’ve got a liminal month on my hands.
Since the last one of these, I’m on the other side of both Pop Montréal and Hopscotch, and I want to take a second to applaud both teams. Two special fests with their own unique identities thanks to adventurous programming, local discovery, and wonderful hospitality. Would advise you check out the coverage in Stereogum and Under The Radar, respectively.
If you write eloquently about music and have not heard the following releases, well, you should correct that tout suite! I’m available for any advance requests. Also, international LP shipping rates are now much lower for all Sipsman releases courtesy of Summer Cool in Canada and Melodic in UK/EU/AUS/NZ.
TRUTH CLUB
The Raleigh band’s commanding new album Running From the Chase is out this Friday via Double Double Whammy. It’s a record that recalls my favorite bands I saw in Boston-area basements circa 2009 to 2013, as well as my favorite bands from the Chapel Hill scene in the 90s, but it’s so much more than that. Patrick Lyons wrote that Truth Club “sound like they're not aware of how drop-dead gorgeous their music actually is” which might be right. I’ve teared up many a time whilst headbanging to some of these, especially “Uh Oh” which arrived with a lyric video recently. Final single “Siphon” was released Monday, too, a song seemingly hellbent on soundtracking a skate video. Pre-order Running From the Chase on LP and CD today, play the whole record front-to-back on Friday and beyond, and catch Truth Club when they tour near you later this month with Squirrel Flower.
KATIE VON SCHLEICHER
A Little Touch of Schleicher in the Night arrives in stores October 20th. As Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson noted in the promotional materials, “it’s the act of von Schleicher letting down her guard and unwinding her grip. Lyrically wry and classically lush, it’s a songwriter album that nuzzles up to the Arthur Russell and Kirsty MacColl LPs in my vast collection.” Single “Every Step Is an Ocean” just wound up on Bob Boilen’s penultimate episode of NPR’s All Songs Considered courtesy of Marissa Lorusso, who said von Schleicher “can pack a lot of big ideas into a song without sacrificing it being beautiful and fun." J’agree. A final single called “Cranked” will get the music video treatment and arrive release week. C’mon, preorder an LP today and buy tickets to her release show with an expanded band, Joe Pera, and Thanya Iyer on December 09 at Public Records.
ANIMAL HOSPITAL
LPs of Shelf Life, Kevin Micka’s vibrant and multifaceted new album as Animal Hospital, arrive in stores November 3rd. Its 35 minutes are a masterclass in analog sonic exploration that thrives on the far boundaries of rock, experimental, classical, and ambient music, the spaces where these styles occasionally collide into one another. Side A is already out: the bombastic “Fuselage” arrived in August with news of the record, followed by the patient “Awful Beast” last month alongside an animated video by Chilean illustrator Daevid Ioyza. A performance video of the latter is out next week so you can see how Micka sculpts these compositions using The Box, a 19” x 10” x 6" chassis he built to contain his nest of electronics. Shelf Life was meticulously recorded by Micka and Seth Manchester from Machines with Magnets, and perfectly mastered by Matthew Barnhart at Chicago Mastering Service; preorder an LP today.
NORTH AMERICANS
In support of April’s Long Cool World—released on Third Man Records and hailed as “top-drawer ambient Americana” by Uncut—North Americans will embark on their first tour ever this November. Opening for comedian Petey, North Americans will find themselves playing their first shows in NYC, DC, Toronto, and more east coast spots before returning to the west for a December date at LA’s Fonda Theatre. All dates are on sale now, and will feature guitarist and North Americans principal Patrick McDermott with guest player Joel Williams on synths and guitars. Tickets are on sale now, with many dates sold out, so jump on that!