[SONG OF THE DAY] Methyl Ethel - "Majestic AF"

image courtesy of Methyl Ethel

Just a week after their third studio full-length Triage officially turned a year old West Australia’s Methyl Ethel have returned with a brand new single along with news of a brand new EP and a slew of tour dates. The new track, “Majestic AF”, is a captivating opening for the forthcoming EP, Hurts To Laugh, which is due out on April 10th. Full of a variety of burbling synth melodies, kick-free drum beats, and brainchild Jake Webb’s signature falsetto, it comes of somewhat minimalist at first and then builds incrementally, incorporating layer upon layer of texture until it swiftly comes to a close.

Hurts To Laugh was recorded at the same time as Triage, so it’s fitting that both album covers feature art by Sydney-based artist Loribelle Spriovski. Despite being recorded simultaneously, Triage was the final of the trilogy of albums, following 2016’s Oh Human Spectacle and 2017’s Everything Is Forgotten.

On the heels of the release update, the band unveiled a slew of solo tour dates in Australia and support dates in the US for Peter, Bjorn, and John in March and April.

Did the whistling from “Young Folks” immediately slam straight into your head the second you saw their name, too?

ANYWAY.

Tickets for the dates in Australia go on sale tomorrow (2/28) over on their website.

PS - the Webby Hall date is 3 days before my birthday, so you should come party with me I am just saying.

Methyl Ethel - Solo - Tour Dates [Australia]
Wed 15 April - The Outpost, Brisbane
Thur 16 April - The Night Cat, Melbourne
Fri 17 April -  Mary’s Underground, Sydney
Sun 19 April - Goodwill Club, Perth
Tickets on sale Friday 28 February via methylethel.com 

Methyl Ethel - Solo - Supporting Peter, Bjorn & John [USA]
Mon 23 March - Teregram Ballroom, Los Angeles CA
Tues 24 March - La Santa, Santa Ana CA
Wed 25 March - New Parish, Oakland CA
Fri 27 March - Doug Fir Lounge, Portland OR
Sat 28 March - Crocodile, Seattle WA
Tues 31 March - Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City UT
Wed 1 April - Bluebird, Denver CO
Fri 3 April - Amsterdam, St. Paul MN
Sat 4 April - Empty Bottle, Chicago IL
Sun 5 April - Loving Touch, Ferndale MI
Tues 7 April - Johnny Brendas, Philadelphia PA
Wed 8 April - Union Stage, Washington DC
Fri 10 April - Webster Hall, New York City NY
Sat 11 April - Brighton Music Hall, Boston MA

Hurts To Laugh EP

Release Date: April 10, 2020

1. Majestic AF
2. Honest
3. Charm Offensive
4. What Memory Found
5. The Quicker

pre-order

[SONG OF THE DAY] Methyl Ethel - "Trip The Mains"

We’re only a few weeks away from album #3 from one of Australia’s finest exports, Methyl Ethel. The latest offering, “Trip The Mains” is a moody little pysch-pop number that glitches in all the right places. Singer and band mastermind Jake Webb says of the track, “behind every eye-twitch, a depleted mainframe barely pulses. ‘Trip The Mains’ is my moment of short circuiting.”  In addition to the track the band has also unveiled an accompanying video featuring Webb being suspended in time, defying the laws of gravity, and crashing into beds.

Good news for folks who don’t live down under: the band will hitting the road in the US with TEEN in March. Tickets are on sale now so get ‘em while the getting’s good. You can also pre-order Triage now before the album drops on February 15th.

Methyl Ethel — 2019 Tour Dates
3/14/19 – Heaven, London, UK
3/19/19 – The Echo, Los Angeles, CA*
3/20/19 – Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, CA*
3/22/19 – Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR*
3/23/19 – Barboza, Seattle, WA*
3/25/19 – Schubas, Chicago, IL
3/27/19 – The Garrison, Toronto, ON
3/29/19 – Elsewhere, Brooklyn, NY*
3/30/19 – DC9, Washington, DC*

* – w/ TEEN

[SONG OF THE DAY] Methyl Ethel - "Scream Whole"

It feels only fitting that I get to excited share during music + tech conference MondoNYC (which is supposed to replace the void in my chest that CMJ left) that Methyl Ethel is working on more new music! Singer Jake Webb is not one to stop writing and apparently the second that their last record, Everything Is Forgotten, was out across the interwebs that he took almost no time to start writing again. As he told ABC Australia, "It helps with the album anxiety, because it's like, 'that's not it'. I've got a few demos that I can be really excited about."

This latest song, “Scream Whole”, is another hypnotic number from the group, although this time they incorporate more synths than the usual guitar stylings. The song will be on their upcoming third album that will be out early next year. As of today Webb isn’t allowed to reveal a name of the album either, but you can rest assured knowing I will of course report back when I have an update on that.

[Night Out] OMG CMJ 2015 Day Four & Five: Controller, Slum Sociable, Good Morning, Methyl Ethel, Step-Panther, Pierce Brothers, Kingswood, Sui Zhen, Client Liaison, & SAFIA @ Pianos & The Delancey

Controller @ Pianos

The last 48 hours of CMJ were a total blur. My big brother came to town early before a cruise he was going on and since family comes first my venue hopping came to a screeching halt. Bro was a champ and helped me pick out the featured images in Day Three's post and got an exclusive first listen to the interviews I did with Good Morning, Jake Isaac, Jesse Ruben, BLXPLTN, and Magic Sword. I did manage to drag him out to Pianos go see my good friends Controller. He also got to finally meet Sprout! It was nice to have my two favorite people in the world in one room. We decided to cut the night short after Controller finished so I could rest up to go all out of the last day of the fest.

After spending the afternoon on Saturday with my brother I scurried over to The Delancey or as I will be referring to the day as "Aussie Heaven" (but really it was the Aussie BBQ). I soon realized as I was confirming which stages Slum Sociable and Good Morning were playing that I haven't been exaggerating all week when I've told people that Australia dominated this CMJ in a huge way.

I'd soon get some intel from Alex Laska, Kingswood's guitarist, about why it felt like I had been hit by a semi truck of awesome Australian music all at once. It never occurred to me that in Australia because it's such a huge country that's mostly populated along its coastlines that being a committed band is a hell of a lot more effort than anything anyone in the US could ever imagine. He explained that driving from one major city to the next could sometimes take at least up to 26 hours. We are spoiled rotten, my fellow Americans! That all said, Laska went on to say that because this is the case that the bands who want to tour are the ones who put in the time to make it worth their while so they're all very talented individuals. They're also very supportive of each other because they usually end up eventually all touring together. He really wasn't kidding when he said, "Every single band that's here deserves to be here." It was really great chat overall, I can't wait to air it next week on #skoaradio.

Kingswood getting their face-melty on @ The Delancey.

Post-my interview with Laska I saw the entire day completely differently. He was totally right, you could tell by the way the bands all interacted with each other that the community there was incredibly close knit. It was actually really refreshing to see bands watching each other perform. I know that's not a rarity here per say, but it felt more genuine and less obligatory. I'm sure that has to do with the abundance of bands that are at one's disposal here so the air is more competitive vs communal. That's really a bummer when you think about it. It'd be nice to find a way to swing that there. I guess maybe that has to happen state by state?

Anyway, the only bummer on Saturday night was when I had to call it a night and head home. After finally having a moment to befriend the Slum Sociable guys I tagged along with them going from stage to stage to see all their friends play. I finally got to see Methyl Ethel after Good Morning told me during our interview that I *had* to see them! I caught a total of 9 bands whilst in Aussie Heaven and I loved every single second of it. Glad to have caught Good Morning and Slum Sociable multiple times. Can't wait to get to know Step-Panther, Pierce Brothers, Sui Zhen, Client Liaison, and SAFIA better. Side note: Client Liaison is crazy in the best possible way. Really glad the Slum fam made me stick around for them. Kingswood was face melty. I'm really excited that I'm getting pulled back to gritty guitars to compliment all the synth-driven pop/rock I've been into lately.

I honestly can't think of a better way to end a CMJ than how I did. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sleep for 72 hours and see how long until the caffeine withdrawal headaches go away.

Have a look at the photos from Day Four & Five in the gallery below. You can also have a taste of Aussie Heaven for yourself courtesy of this handy dandy Spotify playlist I put together.