Hey rock and rollers! We are thrilled to announce the newest addition to our catalog — a collaborative effort with Dead Language Records — from New Haven-based Mercy Choir. For years hyper-prolific Mercy Choir mastermind Paul Belbusti has been releasing a steady stream of albums, EPs, and singles, quietly becoming the 21st century's Bob Pollard, both for his output and his killer melodic hooks. Sings in the Traditional Rock And Roll Style is a continuation of Paul's oeuvre but with a decidedly stylistic focus. These songs show Belbusti presenting his vision wrapped in various genres, from hushed folk ballads to traditional, sometimes blown-out, rock and roll.
The record is arresting. Sometimes Belbusti and Co. seem to be stretching out or highlighting stylistic aspects of material and taking it to new spots — like he's writing songs to show us places we know but at a different time of day — where we are unrecognized passers-by wishing we had entree. Sometimes they lay out and just rock — happy to perform gems and point (hard) at the parts they like with an open grin. We are old friends listening to music drunk at 2AM enjoying our arm goosebumps together. These songs are closed-rolled-eyes good and universe secret granting, and when the record's over, we're back to the beginning listening to what we thought was something else last time but is now even more so, and waiting to get back to the end song which is more familiar than this newly crazy sounding traditional rock style.
Its official release date is this Friday, October 23rd, the same day as the album's release party at New Haven’s Three Sheets, which will also feature performances by Pete Nolan (Magik Markers) and Lys Guillorn. The first single "Birdwatcher" got some nice ink in Lonesome Noise and IMPOSE, and you can stream some more advance tracks and preorder the album now at our web store.
For details on the record release, go here.