In a world riddled and ruled by the stark raving average, we need the likes of Upper Wilds now more than ever. Straight ain’t cutting it, so we need to be thrown mismatched combinations to shake shit up. Where fact and imagination overlap, where the real meets the staged, where the scientific sorta hesitantly networks with the abstract at a mandatory-attendance work soirée; that’s where Upper Wilds live — and that’s where it’s at!
The sophomore album of fine friction-pop by Upper Wilds is out October 19 on Thrill Jockey, and the first sign of life from the album Mars can be heard below. “Perfect Eyesight” features Katie Eastburn (Young People, KATIEE) and is about William Bates, an ophthalmologist of questionable reputation who “instructed his patients to stare at the sun, thought glasses were a scam, and occasionally disappeared for years at a time with no memory.”
The trio — Dan Friel (guitar, vocals, ex-Parts and Labor), Zach Lehrhoff (bass, Ex Models), and Jeff Ottenbacher (thumper extraordinaire) — not only procured Eastman for Mars but can boast having the considerable vocal talents of Jason Binnick, Jeff Rosenstock, Aaron Siegel, and Mark Shue contributing as well. Embrace Upper Wilds’ adverse blend of the artistic and the unhinged and pre-order Mars here.
Songs on Mars:
01. Dead Mall
02. Hellcoder
03. Skylab
04. Wine Flies
05. Perfect Eyesight
06. Mars
07. Deimos
08. Caveman
09. Ex-Frontiers
Shows on Earth:
09.29.18 - Brooklyn, NY - Alphaville #
10.31.18 - Chapel Hill, NC - Nightlight $
11.01.18 - Washington, DC - Comet Ping Pong %
11.02.18 - Philadelphia, PA - Ortlieb’s %
11.03.18 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool ^
# Eaters, War Bubble
$ Solar Halos
% Mock Identity
^ with Mock Identity, KATIEE
More about: Upper Wilds
