Click image to watch teaser video
"It’s impossible to come away from Major without a big grin plastered from ear to ear." -- BBC Music
"As an album, if I had to give Major a rank, I would promote it to General." -- Vice
Brooklyn's beloved guitar-anthem optimists Fang Island release their sophomore album, Major today. In honor of the occasion, full album streams are available all this week courtesy of NPR and AOL Spinner. Listen HERE and/or HERE.
This past weekend Fang Island kicked off their summer headlining tour, with support on partially overlapping stretches from Irish genre-benders Adebisi Shank and The Mars Volta sibling heavy groove outfit Zechs Marquise. Fang Island will also play Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, TX in November (exact date TBA). Please see complete dates below.
SPIN.com recently premiered a new track from the album. The song, "Seek It Out" is available to stream HERE. (Alternate Soundcloud link HERE.) Pitchfork recently premiered MP3s for the tracks "Asunder" (HERE) and "Sisterly" (HERE).
Like the painstakingly chiseled marble of the album artwork, Major is hefty, solid, monolithic and regal. Whereas Fang Island described their celebrated 2010 self-titled Sargent House debut as, "everyone high-fiving everyone," Major is evermore confident, triumphant and brimming with infectious enthusiasm. Its warm harmonies are given proper berth with more expansive dynamics and focused pop song craft.
"One of our core ideas has always been that our songs would be all of your favorite parts of the song that other bands make you wait 8 minutes to get to," explains guitarist/vocalist Jason Bartell. "We wanted to be the band that's nothing but your favorite hooks back to back." Major shows Fang Island deftly achieving that aim.
Throughout, Major highlights the band's endeavor to elevate positivity as an art form. "It's kind of similar to writing songs about being sad," Bartell says. "It can come across as simplistic, or easy. Positive songs often run the risk of sounding shallow, but we feel there are a lot of shades and depths to positivity that can be explored." That exploration becomes clear from the first notes of Major.
However, Georges sums up the album's bold steps best in this short sampling of the band's nearly 1,000 bullet point explanation of the album title:
"Some reasons we called the album Major:
- Major key (the first song is minor though!)
- Valley girl colloquialism
- Because we are on an independent label
- Because the rank under Sargent (House) is major
- It sounds like a constellation
- Steely Dan's "Any Major Dude" was in rotation a lot during the sessions
- The record is packaged to look like stone because it's ROCK. I really wanted people to hold a piece of rock when they picked up the record."
Major is available everywhere on LP, CD and download via Sargent House on July 24th, 2012.
FANG ISLAND Summer 2012 Tour:
07/25 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
07/26 Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot - Pike Room
07/27 Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
07/28 Chicago, IL @ Wicker Park Music Festival
07/29 St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
07/30 Kansas City, MO @ Czar Bar *
08/01 Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge *
08/02 Salt Lake City, UT @ Vertigo *
08/03 Boise, ID @ Neurolux *
08/04 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre *
08/05 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile *
08/07 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall *
08/10 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour *!
08/11 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar !
08/12 Phoenix, AZ @ The Rhythm Room *!
08/13 Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress *!
08/14 Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad *!
08/16 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada !
08/17 Austin, TX @ Mohawk !
08/18 Volente, TX @ Beachfront Boat Studios
08/19 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live - Studio !
08/20 New Orleans, LA @ Parish at House of Blues !
08/21 Birmingham, AL @ Bottle Tree !
08/22 Gainesville, FL @ Double Down Live !
08/23 St. Petersburg, FL @ The Local 662 !
08/24 Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbits !
08/25 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade !
08/26 Asheville, NC @ Asheville Music Hall !
08/28 Raleigh, NC @ Kings !
08/29 Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter !
08/30 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg !
11/01 - 11/03 Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest (exact date TBA)
11/01 - 11/03 Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest (exact date TBA)
* w/ Zechs Marquise
! w/ Adebisi Shank
Artist: Fang Island
Album: Sisterly (digital single)
Label: Sargent House
Release date: June 19th, 2012
01. Sisterly
02. Sisterly (Anamanaguchi remix) (STREAM)
Artist: Fang Island
Album: Major
Label: Sargent House
Release date: July 24th, 2012
Track list:
01. Kindergarten
02. Sisterly (MP3)
03. Seek it Out (STREAM)
04. Make Me
05. Never Understand
06. Asunder (MP3)
07. Dooney Rock
08. Regalia
09. Chompers
10. Chime Out
11. Victorinian
On the Web:
Hi-res photos, album art, bio and more:
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