Phil Lee Special

record store finds, recent writing, a new single, tour dates

Hey team,

I’ve had really good luck record shopping lately! I’ve been hitting Superior Elevation in Williamsburg, where they acquired a cool collection from someone who was exclusively into psychedelic rock until the ’80s, and then they got super into new wave. I’ve loved looking at all the records, and I’ve picked up a bunch by The Style Council—a band I’ve always admired but never got deeply into. Now I am deeply into them. My favorite LP is Confessions Of A Pop Group, mostly because of the song “It’s A Very Deep Sea,” but I also admire the arc of the whole record: There’s one side of era-appropriate synthy pop stuff (including a song that sounds like it samples the Jeopardy theme) and then a side of super ambitious piano-based compositions. What a cool band.

Otherwise I’ve been busy with freelance writing. Since my last newsletter, I’ve published a feature on Arooj Aftab for the New York Times (which appeared in print in the most recent Sunday edition), a live concert review of Neil Young and Crazy Horse for Uncut, and a brief review of the new Gatecreeper album for Bandcamp.

This week, I also released the third single from my forthcoming album, Old Faithful (out May 31 via Ruination Record Co). It’s called “I Haven’t Been This Happy In A Long Time.” In talking about it—which I had to do for this lovely Flood Magazine premiere—I find myself referring frequently to the music of Phil Lee. He is a phenomenal musician and maybe best known for being Neil Young’s truck driver in the ’70s. Starting with his 2000 masterpiece The Mighty King of Love, he is also one of the best working songwriters, in my estimation. That album is a great place to start—I love every song on it—but the one that inspired me most directly is “Nobody’s Gotta Know” from the following album, You Should Have Known Me Then.

In addition to Phil Lee, my song is indebted to contributions from drummer Jason Burger, guitarist Katy Battistoni (who just announced her brilliant, singular, and long-awaited album Selfies of You, which I want to write more about later), bassist Andy Cush, and producers Ian Wayne and Nico Hedley. It’s the final of these pre-release singles, and I hope people dig it. Listen right here.

I have a bunch of shows coming up! These include the recently announced Old Faithful record release gig, which happens at my favorite record store Record Grouch on June 1. Also performing that afternoon/early evening will be guitarist Ryan El-Solh and poet/writer/author Jenn Pelly. Below, find some posters and tour dates, and that will be all for today. Have a great weekend.

Sunday, May 26 | Myrtle in Providence, RI | Lights Out, Convinced Friend, The Bird Calls

Saturday, June 1 | Record Grouch in Brooklyn, NY | Jenn Pelly, Ryan El-Solh, The Bird Calls

Friday, June 14 | Little Red Library in Philadelphia, PA | Shannen Moser, The Bird Calls, Sam & Louise Sullivan, Julian

Tuesday, June 18 | Paradise of Replica in Manhattan, NY | Tony Vaz, The Bird Calls

Thursday, June 27 Hungry Brain in Chicago, Illinois | Advance Base, The Bird Calls

TGIF,

Sammy