Art-rockPost-rockArt-rockPost-rockArt-rockArt-Art-rockPost-Poster-Artist-rock!!! You love it, and we've got it! Or you think you love it. And we might have it. More often than not, bands described in these seemingly endorsing terms seem to be as common and dry as snot on a urinal wall. (Sorry for the visual ladies, but it's true.) As with any insensitive media construct, you always have to sort the wheat from the shafting. Those already hit by the charms of Chicago's Chin Up Chin Up don't need anyone to tell them that there's something special about the band, that they have overcome and paid tribute to great loss in grand style and have made and will make many musics that divorce them from the huge blobs of barf in post-art-rock-whatevs wonderland.
Those who haven't had the pleasure yet soon will, as CUCU will release a new album and embark on a tour to spread their general loveliness and twitchy energy nationwide. When the greenhorns finally hear the sound, involuntary hands will reach upwards to gently stroke their weird beards, and with Tourette's-like yelps will confirm that "Yes! Yes, this is quite good!" About the band name and predilection for strange-sounding album titles? Well, they're not completely messed or disturbing, but certainly fit between a new girlfriend requesting "Do the Bartman" at a bar and my mom calling me to announce, "Guess what son? I'm pregnant!" on the perplex-o-scale.
Like the band's We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers, the new album has a whippit-indebted title too. This Harness Can't Ride Anything was recorded by hometown producer/village bicycle Brian Deck at his Engine Studios and will be out October 10 on Suicide Squeeze. Village bicycle? Why, because everyone rides him? As a producer? What? I dunno what the hell I'm talking about. Regardless, here's the tour which includes lots of shows with Oxford Collapse, Cursive, and The Thermals and none with Farty McGillicuddy and the Tittie-twister Sisters:
10.06.06 - Pittsburgh, PA - Brillobox
10.07.06 - Brooklyn, NY - Grasslands *
10.08.06 - New Haven, CT - Bar Night Club *
10.09.06 - New Britain, CT - Semesters *
10.10.06 - Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place *
10.11.06 - Cleveland, OH - The Spot at Case Western *
10.12.06 - Urbana, IL - Courtyard Cafe *
10.13.06 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle +
10.14.06 - Omaha, NE - O'Leavers
10.15.06 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre #
10.16.06 - Colorado Springs, CO - The Black Sheep
10.17.06 - Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue #
10.18.06 - Boise, ID - The Venue #
10.19.06 - Walla Walla, WA - Whitman College Coffeehouse
10.20.06 - Seattle, WA - Neumos #
10.21.06 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre #
10.23.06 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore #
10.24.06 - Los Angeles, CA - Safari Sams
10.26.06 - Denton, TX - Rubbergloves *
10.27.06 - Austin, TX - Emos Lounge *
10.28.06 - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon *
10.29.06 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl $
10.30.06 - Mt. Pleasant, SC - The Village Tavern *
10.31.06 - Wilmington, NC - The Soapbox Laundrolounge *
11.01.06 - Washington, DC - Black Cat *
11.03.06 - New York, NY - Knitting Factory ^
11.05.06 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's %
11.06.06 - Covington, KY - Madhatters
12.02.06 - Notre Dame, IN - Legends of Notre Dame
* w/ Oxford Collapse
+ w/ Oxford Collapse and Make Believe
# w/ Cursive and The Thermals
$ w/ The Album Leaf and Oxford Collapse
^ CMJ Music Marathon Extravaganza To the Max! Woohoo!
% w/ Irving
This keyboard can't type anything, except these songs:
1. This Harness Can't Ride Anything
2. Water Planes in Snow
3. We've Got to Keep Running
4. Islands Sink
5. Mansioned
6. I Need a Friend With a Boat
7. Blankets Like Beaver
8. Landlocked Lifeguards
9. Stolen Mountains
10. Trophies for Hire
