Atlanta punks Upchuck announce new album 'I'm Nice Now' - produced by Ty Segall + new UK shows
Upchuck
Announce new album I’m Nice Now - out October 3rd
Release dual singles & videos “Forgotten Token” & “Un Momento”
New UK tour dates added for next month
“Absolute mayhem… like punk Beastie Boys” NPR
“A sonic cannon, set to maximum destruction” Rolling Stone
“The band’s incendiary live shows are already the stuff of legend” Clash
Today Upchuck, the Atlanta punk quintet of vocalist KT, guitarists Mikey Durham and Hoff, bassist Ausar Ward, and drummer/vocalist Chris Salado, announce their third LP and Domino debut I’m Nice Now, due out October 3rd. The album was produced and mixed by Ty Segall at Sonic Ranch Studio and mastered by Heba Kadry.
As KT puts it, there’s never been a moment when she didn’t have rage. As the singer of Upchuck, the Georgia punk band whose music is as sharp as a scythe, KT has felt fierce energy inside her well before she had the band as an outlet through which to channel it. As a Black woman in America, rage has been the tint on the window through which she’s had to view the world. The experience of listening to Upchuck is to feel a distillation of that existence, all of its pain, sorrow, anger, and fear translated through raw punk music.
Perhaps, after so many years of wading in the muck, KT is over it. Upchuck’s Domino debut is I’m Nice Now. But don’t mistake newfound niceness for weakness. It’s self preservation. “In this world of constant distractions and stressors it’s important to keep your mind, body, and spirit sane and sound enough to continue through this seemingly never-ending fight,” she says.
Today the band shares two singles from the album, “Forgotten Token” and “Un Momento,” both with videos directed by Ian Cone.
Watch the “Forgotten Token” video here.
Watch the “Un Momento” video here.
On “Forgotten Token,” KT addresses the sudden loss of her sister during the recording of I’m Nice Now and the way in which she was undervalued in her life and, in her death, by some, she became commodified. The song is a perfect expression of the mixture of anger and exasperation meticulously transformed into a taut punk song. “I just feel/Cuz I’m Black/It gets stacked/In a lost closet/Forgotten token,” sings KT. Of the song she says, “It’s just like another soft yell/yearn for remaining aware of how you're treating others and what people mean to you. You can lose things easily and not care, thinking you'll just get another one. But people aren't objects." The video underscores the dark side of gentrification and, in keeping with the song’s familial theme, features cameos from KT’s mother, grandmother, and brother.
“Un Momento” is one of three songs on the album featuring vocals from Chris. It starts with a thunderous drum roll, one that comes from his experience growing up performing cumbia music. He aims to blend that sound with Upchuck’s traditional punk to fuse something unique. The video co-stars his father and his son and is a celebration of his North Atlanta neighborhood of Little Mexico. The day after the video was shot, the neighborhood was raided, door to door, by ICE; people in the area are still afraid to go to work and leave their families. “Dame un momento,” Chris sings on the track, “para sufrir… para vivir… para pensar.. para volar.” Give me a moment, to suffer, to live, to think, to fly.
Tracklisting:
1. Tired
2. Plastic
3. New Case
4. Fried
5. Homenaje
6. Kept Inside
7. Pressure
8. Un Momento
9. Forgotten Token
10. Kin
11. Lost One
12. Slow Down
13. Nowhere
I’m Nice Now, which also includes the previously released single “Plastic,” is available to pre-order on limited-edition Silver vinyl, standard Black vinyl, CD and digitally. All physical formats come with a foldout poster. Pre-order here: DomMart | Digital
Upchuck on tour
Thurs 7th August – Le Pub, Newport
Fri 8th August – The Social, Blackpool
Sat 9th August – Nice N Sleazy, Glasgow
Sun 10th August – The Grove, Newcastle
Thurs 14th August - Congés Annulés, Rotondes, Luxembourg, LU
Fri 15th August - Cabaret Vert, Charleville, FR
Sat 16th August - Pukkelpop Festival, Hasselt, BE
Sun 17th August - Green Man Festival, Brecon, UK
Tues 19th August - The Lanes, Bristol, UK
Thurs 21st August - Slachthuis, Haarlem, NL
Fri 22nd August - VERA, Groningen, NL
Sat 23rd August - Utrecht Loose Ends Festival, Utrecht, NL
Thurs 28th – Fri 30th August - Muddy Roots Festival, Cookeville, TN
Mon 29th September - Levitation, Austin, TX
Mon 29th September - Ruins, Dallas, TX
Wed 1st October - Launchpad, Alburquerque, NM
Thurs 2nd October - The Underground (Nile), Mesa, AZ
Fri 3rd October - The Whistle Stop, San Diego, CA
Sat 4th October - Sardine, San Pedro, CA
Sun 5th October - The Echo, Los Angeles, CA
Mon 6th October - Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco, CA
Wed 8th October - Star Theater, Portland, OR
Thurs 9th October - Black Lodge, Seattle, WA
Fri 10th October - Shrine Social Club Basement, Boise, ID
Sat 11th October - The DLC at Quarters, Salt Lake City, UT
Mon 13th October - Moe’s Original BBQ & Bowl, Denver, CO
Wed 15th October - Subterranean, Chicago, IL
Thurs 16th October - Third Man Records, Detroit, MI
Fri 17th October - Bottlerocket Social Hall, Pittsburgh, PA
Sat 18th October - Elsewhere (Zone One), Brooklyn, NY
Mon 20th October - Foto Club, Philadelphia, PA
Tues 21st October - DC9, Washington, DC
Wed 22nd October - Static Age, Asheville, NC
Fri 31st October - Goat Farm, Atlanta, GA
Tues 4th November - Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, UK
Weds 5th November - Pitchfork Festival @ Village Underground, London, UK
Thurs 6th November - Wharf Chambers, Leeds, UK
Sat 8th November - Simple Things Festival, Bristol, UK
Sun 9th November - YES, Manchester, UK
Tues 11th November - Brussels Botanique, Brussels, BE
Wed 12th November - Point Ephemere, Paris, FR
Thurs 13th November - Skate Cafe, Amsterdam, NL
Fri 14th November - Hafenklang, Hamburg, DE
Sat 15th November - Copenhagen Loppen, Copenhagen, DK
Sun 16th November - Berghain Kantine, Berlin, DE
Tues 18th November - Bumann & Sohn, Cologne, DE
Wed 19th November - Bad Bon, Dudingen, CH
Upchuck Online:
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