We are happy to announce New Music and Big Pop, the beautiful forthcoming debut LP from Another Michael. The first single "I Know You're Wrong" is streaming now on Spotify, Apple Music, and on Youtube with an accompanying Runescape visual.
You can pre-order the RFC exclusive vinyl now on Pink in Clear.
For Another Michael, it all boils down to trust. In mid-2017, the critically acclaimed indie three-piece packed their bags and collectively relocated from Albany, NY to a shared house in West Philadelphia. This move signaled not only the start of a new chapter for the trio, but also a deepening of the bonds that would come to define their captivating debut LP, ‘New Music and Big Pop.’
“It’s hard for a group of people to get closer than living together,” says bassist and producer Nick Sebastiano. “The stronger our connection grew, the more it shaped the music we found ourselves making.”
It should come as little surprise, then, that ‘New Music and Big Pop’ is Another Michael’s most collaborative work yet. Recorded in a small A-frame house-turned-makeshift studio outside Ferndale, NY, the record finds the trio pushing their sound in a dreamier, more folk-influenced direction, building songs around vulnerable, intimate performances using an ethereal palette of breezy guitars, subtle keyboards, and layered harmonies. As on the band’s early EPs, singer and songwriter Michael Doherty’s mesmerizing voice is front and center here, calling to mind Robin Pecknold or Ben Bridwell in its reedy, crystalline timbre, but it feels more at home than ever before amidst the album’s lush, Technicolor landscape, which the band partnered with producer and fellow housemate Scoops Dardaris to create. The result is a masterfully understated record that belies its status as a full-length debut, a thoughtful, poetic, collection all about growth and change, hope and faith, endings and beginnings, delivered by a band that’s only just begun to scratch the surface of their story.
Today, we are happy to bring you the Gia Margaret remix of "Tranqualized" by Field Medic. Originally appearing on his recent Floral Price LP release, you can now stream the beautifully layered remix on Spotify and Bandcamp.
Today marks the 10th anniversary of Tigers Jaw’s album Two Worlds. I have a lot to say about this record. The whole office does. There are rumors around here that it might be - and these are rumors - the best Tigers Jaw record. Nostalgia probably plays a part in that opinion - I remember the Boston record release show at the Democracy Center as one of the first times I saw the band, and we didn’t get another full length until Charmer 3 years (!) later so this one got a lot of spins in the meantime. But the 30th Run For Cover Release doesn’t get the respect it deserves. This isn’t meant to demean any of the other records in the TJ catalog - we celebrate all of them here - but if it were up to me, we’d be running up another 10 year anniversary re-issue similar to the one we did last year for the band’s phenomenal eponymous debut. Here are just a few arguments to be made for Two Worlds: It’s filled with essential Tigers Jaw references.
I believe that you need Two Worlds to appreciate the band's catalog fully, simply based on the amount of references to other parts of Tigers Jaw lore that it has. Right off the bat we’ve got the album title, a reference to Twin Peaks, probably the most influential television show in Tigers Jaw mythology (maybe I’ll argue the case for Entourage if we ever discuss Charmer at length on here). There’s another reference to the show in the song ‘Smile”. Blasting through the lyrics we’ve got references to Nevermind (heard of it?) on the title track, The Smiths in the chorus of “Smile,” and a continuation in the very confusing and rarely addressed ongoing lyric battle between Tigers Jaw, The Menzingers, and Captain, We’re Sinking in “Buona Pizza.”That track’s name is also a reference to a Scranton-based pizza shop that plays an infamous part in Tigers Jaw's history. Finally, “Thank You, Noah Lowry” continues the interesting thread that baseball players have in the band’s catalog, starting with the Randy Johnson alternate cover of S/T & being furthered on with the song “Jimmy Piersall”, a song on the band’s split with the Sidekicks (an alternate version also made it’s way onto the Gypsy 7” that holds a special place in the RFC catalog). The album art is under appreciated.
While the art associated with all Tigers Jaw releases has always been great, Two Worlds is a subtle highpoint. Designed by the band’s own Brianna Collins, the layout revolves around a ton of tape, stitching and stencil work. On the inside we see the lyrics to each song & the liner notes typed out on individual pieces of paper and taped like notes spread out across canvas. Typos are corrected by just running over misspellings with corrections, other errors are kept on display crossed over in red. It’s a simple approach, but details like these highlight the same authenticity that people find and love in the band’s music. And finally - what’s up with the teal version of the RFC triangle logo featured on the back of the record? Going to have to look into that one.
The last 55 seconds of “Static” might be the greatest of all time?
“We shot the video out on a Texas Hill Country ranch with a spotlight ranchers use to check on cattle at night (very Texas of us). We thought the stage lights and disco ball helped draw out the connection between feeling an emotion and performing it, both for yourself and others. We got lucky and happened to shoot during a lightning storm, so we went full melodrama with it."
Another Michael’s new two song single New Music offers a taste of what’s to come from the Philadelphia-based indie band. The three piece—made up of multi-instrumentalists Michael Doherty, Alenni Davis, and Nick Sebastiano—began making waves with their early EPs, 2016’s Sans and 2018’s Land, enticing listeners with a wide-reaching blend of tuneful indie pop, homespun R&B, and dreamy folk.
The band’s extraordinary musical chemistry and desire to push their songwriting to new heights is on full display with “New Music” which builds from a spare, fingerpicked intro to a sweeping, vibrant finale. Doherty’s mesmerizing vocals guide the listener through a reflection on the simple joy of falling in love with a song, offering an ideal entry point into Another Michael’s world. Another Michael's 7" single New Music (which also features b-side Boring For The Times) is available now to stream, pre-order or purchase digitally in our store.
