Oakland-based band continues 40-date tour in support of
“Tango,” called “one of the year’s most compelling albums” by Popmatters.
+++
Steel Cranes (L-R): Amanda Schukle, Tracy Shapiro. Photo credit: Lisa Gilligan.
+++
+++
[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-k9lItMbbk
“Rollicking drums and bass collide with
salacious guitar licks.” – SF Weekly
“‘Tango’ is a struggle between two
forces. And it is worth every step.” – Innocent Words
“One of the year’s most compelling
albums.” – Popmatters
+++
“Playing militant coaches of a misbehaving track team
wasn’t too far of a stretch for our acting abilities,” jokes Amanda Schukle of the Oakland-based
band Steel Cranes.
“I had a Gatorade commercial from 15 years ago that
featured women’s soccer stuck in my head,” Schukle’s
band mate Tracy Shapiro elaborates. “But
due to the soaring cost of shin guards, we landed on the delinquent track team
motif.”
Described by MTV
as possessing “the slo-mo heaviness of a 2,000-pound pendulum” upon the release
of the debut Steel Cranes album in
2013, Schukle and Shapiro are offering up an evolution of
that sound on the new album Tango, released August 5th
on the heels of the bands launch of a 40-date tour on the 4th. See
below for full itinerary.
Tango is a more dynamic take on the “grit” and “raw,
relentless power” that MAGNET and Bitch called out in 2013. With a vision
for the sound of the new album that was more expansive, Schukle and Shapiro were
initially stalled when considering the logistics of accomplishing these
time-consuming sonic refinements in a studio environment. It soon became clear
that the best option was to record and mix the record themselves.
“Amanda has
been recording her own music for years, and she began obsessively learning more
about recording and mixing,” Shapiro
remembers. “As soon as we decided to do
everything ourselves, the control freaks in us were unleashed!”
This education ultimately yielded the more passionate
and layered version of the Steel Cranes
sound that is heard on Tango. Once freed from the confines of creative
deadlines and traditional studio environments, Shapiro and Schukle took
full advantage of their new work paradigm.
“We wanted time and space to let ourselves stretch in
new ways,” Shapiro says. “In ways
that don’t come easy when you’re aware of how much it costs to spend three
hours experimenting with the fucked-up tones on your old Casio keyboard.”
Most of all, a year versus five days meant more of
everything that made the first Steel
Cranes album special.
Schukle continues, “We’d been playing some of these songs
live for a while and we heard more in them. More texture. More nuance. More
melody. More guitar tones. Definitely bass. With each song, we were careful
to record the guitars in a way that left plenty of space for additional
instruments. Tango has a lot more of a post-punk vibe, definitely some
grunge, maybe a little classic rock, and also some generally weird shit that I’m
not sure how to describe. But it is also more beautiful.”
Tango by Steel
Cranes is out now. Amanda Schukle
and Tracy Shapiro are available for
interviews. Contact
Josh Bloom at
Fanatic for more information.
+++
Steel Cranes – On Tour
Past:
08/04 Tucson, AZ @
Flycatcher
08/05 Phoenix, AZ @ Rips Bar
08/06 Los Angeles, CA @ Redwood Bar & Grill
08/07 San Diego, CA @ Tower Bar
08/09 San Luis Obispo, CA @ SLO Donut Co.
08/05 Phoenix, AZ @ Rips Bar
08/06 Los Angeles, CA @ Redwood Bar & Grill
08/07 San Diego, CA @ Tower Bar
08/09 San Luis Obispo, CA @ SLO Donut Co.
08/10 Fresno, CA @
Dynamite Vinyl
08/12 Santa Cruz, CA @
The Crepe Place
08/13 Oakland, CA @ The
Golden Bull
08/14 Pacifica, CA @
Winters Tavern
Upcoming:
08/16 Medford, OR @
Bamboo Room at King Wah’s
08/17 Eugene, OR @ The
Boreal
08/18 Portland, OR @
World Famous Kenton Club
08/19 Seattle, WA @ Blue
Moon Tavern
08/20 Olympia, WA @ McCoy’s
Tavern
08/21 Tacoma, WA @ Real
Art Tacoma
08/24 Salt Lake City, UT
@ Kilby Court
08/26 Denver, CO @ Lion’s
Lair
08/27 Omaha, NE @ Barley
Street Tavern
08/28 Lincoln, NE @ Vega
08/29 Des Moines, IA @
Vaudeville Mews
08/30 Iowa City, IA @
Gabe’s
08/31 Minneapolis, MN @
Amsterdam Bar
09/02 La Crosse, WI @
Root Note
09/03 Madison, WI @ BOS
Meadery
09/06 Milwaukee, WI @ Linneman’s
09/07 Chicago, IL @
Township
09/08 Bloomington, IN @
The Back Door
09/09 Evansville, IN @ PG
09/10 St. Louis, MO @
Schlafly’s Tap Room
09/11 Columbia, MO @ Cafe
Berlin
09/12 Lawrence, KS @
Jackpot Saloon
09/14 Wichita, KS @ Kirby’s
Beer Store
09/15 Norman, OK @ Red
Brick Bar
09/16 Albuquerque, NM @
Burt’s Tiki Lounge
09/17 Santa Fe, NM @
Boxcar
+++
Steel Cranes
Tango
(Mister White Tights Records)
Out Now
Track Listing:
1. Ebb
4. Her
5. Sandglass
6. Happy
7. Take Me Down
8. What Am I Doing Here
9. The Poet
+++
Steel Cranes Links
+++
Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion
No comments:
Post a Comment