Friday, February 5, 2016

Los Angeles-based pop band the black watch has been making music for more than 27 years, its 13th full-length is out now.

Band leader John Andrew Fredrick to tour west coast with solo show starting tonight, full-band L.A. residency set for March.

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the black watch (L-R): Tyson Cornell, Chris Rackard, John Andrew Fredrick, Rick Woodard.  Photo Credit: Steve Keros.

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“Pershing/Harvard Square” is the first song to reference Chrissie Hynde by name. Hear it now via PopMatters or at the links below!



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the black watch – In The Press

“Should’ve become a household name a long time ago.” – USA Today

“A prime example of Fredrick’s knack for clever and extremely catchy songs.” – Popmatters

“On record, the black watch rarely dips in quality, but the most amazing thing is that it keeps topping itself.” – Blurt

“Salutes the great DIY pop canon and trophy hallways of heroes with an illustrious array of pepped up jangle pop.” – Impose

“Shows off the confidence and panache of a band with 27 years of creating music.” –  MAGNET

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Kevin Bronson documents the “quixotic adventures of John Andrew Fredrick” in this piece for Buzzbands.la

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the black watch – Live

(*=John Andrew Fredrick Solo/Acoustic)

02/05 San Francisco, CA @ The Velo Rouge Cafe *
02/09 Portland, OR @ Ash Street Saloon *
02/10 Seattle, WA @ Lucky Liquor Tavern *
02/11 Boise, ID @ Liquid Lounge *
02/13 Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Hat Lounge *
03/02 Los Angeles, CA @ The Lost Room (1538 Sunset Blvd.)
03/09 Los Angeles, CA @ The Lost Room (1538 Sunset Blvd.)
03/16 Los Angeles, CA @ The Lost Room (1538 Sunset Blvd.)
03/23 Los Angeles, CA @ The Lost Room (1538 Sunset Blvd.)
03/30 Los Angeles, CA @ The Lost Room (1538 Sunset Blvd.)

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“L.A. has not produced a band as capable of both My Bloody Valentine miasma and Nick Drake quietness.” — Andy Gill, Gang of Four

John Andrew Fredrick, a prolific songwriter and author – he has published three comic-literary novels and is about to release a book on the early films of Wes Anderson –  is also the front man of the Los Angeles-based pop band, the black watch.

Over a 27-year-long career, the black watch has been praised up and down Sunset Boulevard for its skill at tongue-in-cheek turns of phrase wrapped around decadent pop hooks.  The band’s 13th full-length album Highs & Lows was released late last year, and following up a series of solo acoustic shows on the east coast, Fredrick will embark on a handful of west coast solo dates this evening.

The full band version of the black watch will play five hometown shows in March as part of a residency at The Lost Room in Los Angeles, on where else, Sunset Boulevard. Will more praise be forthcoming?

Produced by Rob Campanella of Brian Jonestown Massacre, the first single from Highs & Lows is “Pershing/Harvard Square,” which Frederick believes to be the only song to ever mention Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde by name.

“I jotted down the whole thing early one morning after coffee,” he says.” I often think about the sort of person you meet in Los Angeles who, as the line in the song goes, thinks they’re Chrissie Hynde or something just because they ‘say strange things’ to people, at parties or wherever.”  Perhaps Hynde will sit in when the black watch performs the tune live.

Highs & Lows, the latest album from the black watch, is out now via Pop Culture Press RecordsJohn Andrew Fredrick is available for interviews.  Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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the black watch
Highs & Lows
(Pop Culture Press Records)
Out Now


Track Listing:

01. Beautiful Sleeper (VIDEO)
02. Quondam Redhead (STREAM | MP3)
03. Pershing/Harvard Square (STREAM | MP3)
04. There’s No Fucking Way
05. A Sort of An Overture
06. Love’s Fever Dreams (STREAM | MP3)
07. She’s A Mess
08. If Upon A Time That Never Happened
09. He Must Needs Go That The Devil Drives
10. Eleanor’s Not Hiding

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the black watch Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


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