2:54 announce North American tour; share video for "You're Early" and album artwork
Fresh from their US signing to Fat Possum and the announcement of their eponymous debut album, 2:54 - one of the UK's most important breaking bands - have announced their first full headline US tour this June, as well as premiering the video to their new single "You're Early".
This clutch of action from the sibling duo, Colette and Hannah Thurlow, is further complemented by the debuting of their album cover, an iconic image shot by photographer Harley Weir.
The band have just returned from a show-stopping US run, taking in headline shows in both east and west coasts, as well as a sensational stint at Austin's legendary SXSW.
The "You're Early" video, their second collaboration with Danish director Jeppe Kolstrup, is a mesmeric piece, placing the band, and a series of mysterious dancers, in a mist-filled void, complementing the haunting slice of atmospheric r'n'b.
The band will be hitting the road in the UK next week. The dates start next Monday, with a powerful supporting cast including Rough Trade's latest incendiary signings Palma Violets, LA "doom folk" singer songwriter Chelsea Wolfe, and London dreamers Deaf Club.
For their US headline tour, they'll be given ample support from New York's excellent Widowspeak, with full dates below.
About 2:54:
Occupying a low-lit, vivid space, they unite a distinct concoction of ideas and influences that taps a rock and punk lineage notoriously anchored by the likes of Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss. However, their sound neatly neighbours the darker, atmospheric reaches of today's R'n'B finest, as well as timeless walls of sound. The fact 2:54 have picked up fans from all the above worlds and more is testament not only to their sophisticated and nuanced tastes, but just how compelling a proposition the music they make is. Yet it's only now, with this their first full-length offering that the power of what they do will be revealed for all to see.
The Thurlow sisters taught themselves to play guitar as teenagers, but it wasn't until the closing moments of 2010 that the very first lo-fi 2:54 home demos leaked onto the web, prompting a flurry of critical acclaim that's only ever grown with the band. They became the act that all the best bands around wanted on the road with them, touring with everyone from Warpaint and Wild Beasts to Melissa Auf De Maur, Yuck, The Maccabees and most recently, The Big Pink.
Their debut limited seven-inch 'On A Wire' whetted critics appetites, consolidating plaudits that have now reached everywhere from revered US critics like Pitchfork, SPIN, Fader, Gorilla Versus Bear and Stereogum, to UK bibles like NME, Q magazine, Kerrang, and onto the radars of broadsheet press like The Guardian, The Times and The Independent.
Signing to Fiction (The Cure, Crystal Castles etc) mid last year, the Scarlet EP gave the world the first taste of the forthcoming long-player with its title track, plus three hard-hitting B-sides. Its hazy, leviathan sound was hypnotically hooky, feeling both alien and familiar at the same time. The recent Pitchfork premiere of their latest single "You're Early" revealed a more groove-focused side to the band, a brazenly infectious stormer of a song.
TRACK LISTING
1. Revolving
2. You're Early
3. Easy Undercover
4. A Salute
5. Scarlet
6. Sugar
7. Circuitry
8. Watcher
9. Ride
10. Creeping
2:54 UK/US 2012 tour dates:
(Dates and information subject to change.)
April 2012
4/02 - Norwich, UK - Waterfront Studio $
4/04 - Manchester, UK - The Deaf Institue $
4/05 - Glasgow, UK - Captain's Rest Glasgow $
4/10 - Bristol, UK - Thekla #
4/11 - Brighton, UK - The Green Door Store #
4/12 Tumbridge Wells, UK - Forum *
4/13 Liverpool, UK The Shipping Forecast *
4/14 Leeds, UK - Cockpit *
June 2012
6/07 London, UK - Scala
6/9 Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory !
6/10 Washington, DC - Rocknroll Hotel !
6/11 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge !
6/13 Boston, MA - TT The Bears !
6/14 Montreal, QUE - Divan Orange !
6/15 Toronto, ONT - NXNE/Lee's Palace !
6/16 Columbus, OH - TBD
6/17 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle !
6/18 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock !
6/21 Seattle, WA - The Crocodile !
6/22 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge !
6/23 Vancouver, BC - Biltmore !
6/25 San Francisco, CA - Independent !
6/26 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour !
6/27 San Diego, CA - Casbah !
$ = w/ Palma Violets
# = w/ Chelsea Wolfe
* = w/ Deaf Club
! = Widowspeak
"You're Early" video on RollingStone.com
For the latest tour dates and information, go to:
2:54 Official Website
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