Monday, March 24, 2014

Geronimo! Debut "Mr. President" on Stereogum // "Cheap Trick" out May 13 via Exploding In Sound


Geronimo! are excited to reveal “Mr. President,” a cut from their upcoming album,Cheap Trick. The track premiered via Stereogum, who said the single "whips jackknifing guitar riffs, screamed-then-plainspoken vocals, and a constant near-motorik drum blast into a froth equal parts psychedelic and psychotic. It’s a hell of a lot of fun..." The new release from the Chicago based trio includes 11 stunning new tracks, blending psych, punk, indie rock, grunge, and krautrock into their own brilliant sound that’s as charming as it is menacing. Cheap Trick will be released on limited edition aqua blue (150 copies) and standard black vinyl (350 copies) on May 13th via Exploding In Sound Records(Krill, Porches., Palehound). "Mr. President" is available to stream/embed HERE.
 
Speaking about the single, guitarist/vocalist Kelly Johnson said, “We basically had a bunch of riffs we wanted to jam into a quick song. It’s as riffy as we get. It’s about people who clamor for arbitrary power positions by networking and crap. Using "president" implies Obama but it’s not about him specifically. The frantic-ness just conjures up this image of a guy all hyped up, ready to get out there and climb the political ladder.” Get jacked up with “Mr. President” because those hands aren’t going to shake themselves.

Geronimo! will embark on tour in support of Cheap Trick this May, heading through the Midwest and East Coast playing shows with Speedy Ortiz, Purling Hiss, Ovlov, LVL UP, A Severe Joy, and many others. Full dates can be found below.
 
Geronimo! is comprised of Kelly Johnson (vocals/guitars), Ben Grigg (keys/background vocals), and Matt Schwerin (drums). The band’s self-released debut Fuzzy Dreams was released in 2010 and they have been steadily releasing some of the Midwestern underground’s best albums and EPs ever since.  Geronimo! made their Exploding In Sound Records debut last year with the crushing Buzz Yr Girlfriend Vol. 3 – The Metal David Byrne cassette/digital EP. Cheap Trick marks the next phase for Geronimo!, recording in a proper studio for the first time, and the results are immediately apparent throughout the triumphant new album.

Johnson described the experience, “This is our first album recorded in a real studio. We holed up for a few days at Chrome Attic, an awesome studio in a woodsy area of Crystal Lake. The album sorta melds the two sounds we've explored in the past- our tendency for sprawled out jams mixed with our recent stabs at more direct, scream your face off noise.”

The record was Engineered and mixed by Daniel Good (Victor Villarreal, Venna, Felix Culpa) at Chrome Attic and Mastered by Sam John at Precise Mastering. Album art bySamuel Lucas Gove.
 
Cheap Trick is due out May 13th, 2014 via Exploding In Sound Records on vinyl and digital. Pre-orders are available HERE

Tour Dates:

04/16 - Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle w/ Speedy Ortiz
05/01 - Chicago, IL @ Emporium
05/02 - Beloit, WI @ C Haus w/ A Severe Joy
05/03 - Rockford, IL @ Rockford Art Deli w/ A Severe Joy & Bloom
05/04 - Ann Arbor, MI @ Grumpton Manor w/ A Severe Joy, Orphanage, Bobby McManus, & more
05/05 - Grand Rapids, MI @ House of Pancakes w/ Goddammit
05/06 - Kalamazoo, MI
05/07 - Pittsburgh, PA
05/08 - Rochester, NY @ Bug Jar w/ Cottage Jefferson
05/09 - Brooklyn, NY @ Shea Stadium w/ Purling Hiss, Vulture Shit, Lost Boy ? & more
05/10 - Brooklyn, NY @ Death By Audio w/ Ovlov, LVL UP & Dead Wives
05/11 - Boston, MA @ O'Brien's w/ Kal Marks
05/12 - Portland, ME @ Bunker Brewing w/ A Severe Joy
05/13 - Lowell, MA @ Wilder Zangcraft w/ Kal Marks
05/15 - Philadelphia, PA @ Dog Morgue w/ Snoozer, Ovlov, LVL UP, LMI
05/16 - Baltimore, MD
05/17 - Columbus, OH @ Tree Bar w/ Speed Governor

Bio:
Geronimo! first formed in summer 2007, practicing at Kelly and Ben's college house "The Purple House". All the members grew up in Rockford, IL (home of Cheap Trick, sock monkeys, and Tinker toys), before moving to Chicago. Kelly was shorter when they first met. The band went on their inaugural tour in summer 2008, after "recording" a 5 song EP, all copies of which have been destroyed in "unfortunate" "accidents".  The band continued on, with their second tour and EP in 2009. The EP was titled A Different Kind of Greatness, which was Rockford's city slogan in the 90's (it is currently "Misery Loves Company", I wish I were kidding). Their full length debut Fuzzy Dreams was released in 2010. It was recorded in Ben's parent’s empty house in Rockford after his parent's divorce left the house vacant. The record was comprised from the best songs of the previous EPs along with some new jams. It was engineered and mixed by Josh Miller.

In 2010, the band narrowly missed a kitten on the side of the road in Texas while on tour and Kelly adopted it. The kitten lived with the band for a whole damn week in the van (the remainder of the tour), shitting on everything and meowing up a storm. He has since chilled out, and is a pretty sweet cat.

The band started recording their second full length in May 2011, but being impatient led the band to start a quick-and-dirty tape series called "Buzz Yr Girlfriend" which produced Volumes 1 & 2 in August 2011 and June 2012, respectively.  At long last, their second LPExanimate came out in October 2012. Ben spent most of a day dressed up as a sheet ghost for the artwork. The project was again helmed by Josh Miller. In April 2013, Exploding in Sound Records released the third "Buzz Yr Girlfriend" cassette. The tape was recorded by Matt Arbogast (The Gunshy) in his basement studio. There was also a dog named Tess that sat on everyone. Which finally brings us to the Fall of 2013, where in Geronimo! recorded Cheap Trick in just over five days with engineer Daniel Good in a lovely hideaway studio in the country.
 

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