Athens-based foursome announces tour dates to
celebrate, Releases personal new song “The Flood” to honor New Orleans, Katrina
victims.
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Five Eight
(L-R): Dan Horowitz, Mike Mantione, Patrick Ferguson, Sean Dunn. Photo credit:
Courtney McDermott.
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Hear the
remixed, remastered version of “Behead Myself” from the Weirdo reissue via Brooklyn
Vegan or at the links below!
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Watch
the documentary “Weirdo Reborn” about how Weirdo was originally “sonically
damaged by record company meddling” here.
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In 1994, Athens, GA-based band Five Eight released Weirdo, the album that should have
been a breakthrough for the relentlessly hard working and touring band that
formed in the late 80s. Twenty one years
later, Weirdo gets the deluxe re-release treatment courtesy of
Austin-based label Chicken Ranch Records. The Weirdo reissue, remixed from the
master tapes by original producer David
Barbe (Sugar), remastered by Jim Wilson, and featuring new artwork
along with five unreleased bonus tracks, is now available as a 180 gram 2XLP
and digital download.
A short documentary film “Weirdo Reborn” by filmmaker Marc
Pilvinsky has also been released to coincide with the reissue of Weirdo. The film documents what is described as the “record
company meddling” that took the album from the band’s original intentions.
“Hardly anyone knows the tortured story of why Weirdo
didn’t come out sonically the way the band and producer David Barbe wanted,” Pilvinsky
comments. “But this documentary lays it
all out on the line. It’s been an honor to work with these guys, telling this
amazing story."
Barbe also comments on how he has returned Weirdo to the way it was
first envisioned, saying, “When I turned in the finished mixes to the A&R
man, he listened, called me and said, ‘You have made a great record.’ His
opinion would change. I believed that
the hyped, over-processed records of the early 90’s were going to sound
hopelessly dated in time. He wanted Five
Eight to give him his own Nevermind, and this was not it.”
Fans of Five
Eight can hear songs from Weirdo live as the band plays a pair
of date in September, October, and November.
See below for details.
Concertgoers may also be treated to a new song “The Flood,” that Five Eight
recently issued on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. As the band’s Mike Mantione explains, the song has personal resonance for Five Eight.
“At the time that Hurricane Katrina hit, I was trying
to find Sean Dunn to ask him rejoin
the band. The Dunn family was from
New Orleans, and Five Eight was
always deeply linked to the city. When I
finally located Sean, he told me
that he still hadn't found his brother. It was crushing to say the least.”
Mantione continues, “Fast forward to today and Sean and I are both sober, and his
brother, whom was eventually located, also got sober and has remarried and
started anew. Sean and I write together,
and one particularly dark song he brought not long ago really moved me. I asked
him what it was about, and he says it’s called ‘The Flood.’ I instantly remembered thinking back about how Sean and his brother were both likely
dead, if not from the storm then from their addictions, and I turned to Sean and said, ‘Wow you really want to
write about Katrina?”
Five Eight is now releasing the track in its present and rawest form, as a
tribute to the great city of New Orleans, as its citizens continue to remember
their loss. The reissue of Weirdo
by Five Eight is available now via Chicken Ranch Records here. Members of Five Eight are available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom
at Fanatic for more information.
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Five Eight
Live
09/18 Atlanta, GA @ Smith’s Olde Bar
09/19 Athens, GA @ Caledonia Lounge
10/16 Oxford, MS @ Proud Larry’s
10/17 St. Louis, MO @ The Demo
11/20 Augusta, GA @ Soul Bar
11/21 Valdosta, GA @ Ashley Street Station
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Five Eight
honors New Orleans and Katrina victims with personal new song, The Flood.
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Five Eight
Weirdo
(Chicken Ranch Records)
Out Now
Track Listing:
01. Mystery James
02. Karaoke
04. Fall Asleep
05. What They Did
06. You Never Look In My Eyes
07. Stars
08. Tense It Up
09. Hurt You
10. Weirdo
11. Shouldn’t Be Here
12. Drummer Divorce (Bonus Track)
13. Nowhere In A Circle (Bonus Track)
14. Strings (Bonus Track)
15. The Only One (Bonus Track)
16. Ghost In This Town (Bonus Track)
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Five Eight Links
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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion
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