New York, NY (Top40 Charts) After 12 years of relentless touring on a steady flow of EPs and LPs, underground rock mainstays The Coathangers took a moment to recalibrate and reconfigure before diving into the creation of The Devil You Know, their new 11 song album due out March 8 on Suicide
Squeeze Records. Recognizing that each member had become entrenched in their own style of songwriting (guitarist/vocalist Julia Kugel excelled at the melodic pop songs, drummer/vocalist
Stephanie Luke belted out the gritty rock tunes, bassist/vocalist Meredith Franco drove the post-punk and no-wave angles of the band), the trio became determined to meld their established takes on vitriolic punk, playful house-party anthems, and heartworn ballads into a new sound that captured the vitality of their early years while honing their individual strengths into new communal achievements. The result of this newfound discipline, depth, and dimension is the first Coathangers record written as a true unit, as each member learned how to imbue their bandmates' songs with their own personal touch.
There's no better demonstration of this reconfigured sound than in the album's opening track "
Bimbo", where Kugel's signature sweetness propels the verses while Luke's shout-along hooks and hammer-fisted drumming dominates the chorus. It's a pop masterpiece that touches on all the classic Coathanger traits, but delivers them all at once in a fully realized way. "I don't care what our previous image was. That's not us now," Kugel says. "I feel like this is an introduction to what we are now." Even at their fiercest moments, such as on fiery "F the NRA", the band never descend to the cacophony they cranked out in their early years. "It's a conscious anger now," Kugel says of their harnessed fury. "You're navigating through it and figuring out your place in all of it, whereas the first record is more of a general statement of 'I feel mad.'"
Inspired and emboldened by their experience recording Nosebleed Weekend, the band returned to
Valentine Recording Studios in Laurel Canyon with Nic Jodoin, who pushed them into increasingly layered and lush sonic territories. The album title stems from an old adage whispered at a friend's wedding. We settle when we're afraid of the unknown. It's a theme that runs through every song on the album: we get comfortable, we get scared, and we refuse to change. But with The Devil You Know, The Coathangers have lost their fear, allowing them to shed the baggage of the past.
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW TRACK LIST
1. Bimbo
2. 5 Farms
3. Crimson Telephone
4. Hey Buddy
5. Step Back
6. Stranger Danger
7. F the NRA
8. Memories
9. Last Call
10. Stasher
11. Lithium
TOUR DATES
FRI JAN 25 - Calgary AB, Big Winter Classic
WED FEB 20 -
Santa Ana, CA, Marty's On Newport
THU FEB 21 - Los Angeles, CA, Teragram Ballroom
FRI FEB 22 - Long Beach, CA, Alex's Bar
SAT FEB 23 - San Francisco, CA, Independent*
SUN FEB 24 - Reno, NV, Holland Project*
TUE FEB 26 - Bend, OR, Volcanic Lounge*
WED FEB 27 - Portland, OR, Mississippi Studios*
THU FEB 28 - Seattle, WA, Neumos*
FRI MAR 1 - Bellingham, WA, Shakedown*
SAT MAR 2 - Vancouver, BC, Imperial
TUE MAR 5 - Spokane, WA, The Bartlett*
WED MAR 6 - Boise, ID, Olympic*
THU MAR 7 - Salt Lake City, UT, Kilby Court*
SAT MAR 9 - San Diego, CA, Casbah*
THU APR 4 - Birmingham, AB, Saturn
FRI APR 5 - Nashville, TN, Exit/In
SAT APR 6 - St. Louis, MO, Old Rock House
SUN APR 7 - Kansas City, MO, recordBar
MON APR 8 - Minneapolis, MN, Turf Club
TUE APR 9 - Chicago, IL, Empty Bottle
THU APR 11 - Detroit, MI, El Club
FRI APR 12 - Cleveland, OH, Grog Shop
SAT APR 13 - Toronto, ON, The Horseshoe
SUN APR 14 - Montreal, QC, Let Ritz
MON APR 15 - Boston, MA, Great Scott
WED APR 17 - Asbury Park, NJ, Asbury Lanes
THU APR 18 - New York, NY,
Music Hall of Williamsburg
FRI APR 19 - Washington, DC, DC9
SAT APR 20 - Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts
*= with SadGirl
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