Not long ago, I had the misfortune of a prolonged hospital stay, during which I was given ketamine to help with pain and sedation. Of course, it didn’t work and I was kept awake for the better part of three nights with ultra-vivid hallucinations that badgered my brain like a stuck filmstrip. I’d love to say that I gleaned some sort of existential richness from the experience, psychonautically exploring the human condition in this blissful altered state, but, alas, it was just an extended exercise in uneasiness (although, I did think I was controlling the ceiling fans and vents with my heartbeat and was certain there were armies of bats and rats scrambling and scheming behind nearby walls — so at least there was that!).
What would have helped the trip go smoother was a soundtrack to set the visceral action, to ground the anxious mayhem, to give some context to it all…What I needed was an explosive stab of garage soul…riveting, raw, aggressive and gritty. A sublime, spiritual tonic to soothe the crude characterless crazies caught in my cranium. I needed a score was at least 2 fast and several times more-furious. NOW, I realize: what I needed…was Leather Girls!
Granted, it’s a little too late now — but it still somehow retroactively-soothes my soul to know that the Austin-based, gospel-punk quartet of Erik Camacho, Mike Garrido, Dillon Fernandez and Deborah White are about to release their self-titled debut Leather Girls on June 2 via the Yippee Ki Yay label — and that this giant, 13 track painkiller is currently pre-orderable on LP, CD and CS right here.
But for even more quick-acting relief, the band has also just unveiled the album’s second single, “Arabian Daze” and BOOM: we are premiering it here today! And wouldn’t you know? It just happens to be the perfect pill for any self-respecting, psych-garage junkie. “Arabian Daze” crackles with the same style and passion as debut single “She”, and I dare say it betters many of the band’s influences by a drag strip mile.
The full album tracklisting and a list of the band’s upcoming shows are listed after the smoke-show-of-a-listen down below. No psychoactives required.
Leather Girls tracklisting:
01. Drawing Lines
02. Arabian Daze
03. She
04. Jeff
05. Dear Deborah
06. Call Tomorrow
07. Foolish Lover
08. LRS
09. Poor Charlie
10. I Never Loved Her
11. Sweet Lenore
12. When We Fight
13. Card Catalog
Leather Girls live dates:
06.02.17 - Austin, TX - Hotel Vegas
06.03.17 - San Antonio, TX - Limelight
06.09.17 - New Orleans, LA - Poor Boys
06.10.17 - Memphis, TN - Murphy’s
06.11.17 - Chicago, IL - Underground Lounge
06.12.17 - Milwaukee, WI - TBA
06.13.17 - Des Moines, IA - Daytrotter
06.14.17 - Colombia, MO - Sinkhole
06.15.17 - Springfield, MO - Outland
06.16.17 - Norman, OK - Opolis
06.17.17 - Dallas, TX - Armoury