Written on the road and recorded in two-week intervals during their tours supporting Passion Pit, Freelance Whales and Ra Ra Riot, Pepper Rabbit‘s sophomore album Red Velvet Snow Ball, due August 9th via Kanine Records, will give Xander Singh and Luc Laurent even more reason to get back behind the wheel and onto stages around the country.
For their second release, vocalist Xander Singh worked on incorporating 11 instruments, ranging from ukeleles to clarinets to analog synths, by teaching himself how to play through YouTube videos. He’s also moved away from his vision that dominated their first album to create a more collaborative sound between himself, Luc Laurent and touring member Jonathan Allen.
“At the root of each song is something simple,” Xander Singh states on the band’s website. “Whether it be the chord progression, the instrumentation, or the lyrics. But the most important aspect of this record is the freedom we gave ourselves to experiment and construct something that’s easy to get lost in.”
And with a new album comes new tour dates (oh, what a vicious cycle). Kicking it off today at the Northside Festival in Brooklyn, Pepper Rabbit will make their rounds in June to noted venues throughout North America before taking the rest of the summer off to prepare for (nearly) non-stop dates in September and October. Along with tour dates and the album’s tracklist, check out a stream of the joyful first single entitled “Rose Mary Stretch”.
[audio:http://beta.consequence.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/pepper-rabbit-rose-mary-stretch.mp3|titles=Pepper Rabbit – Rose Mary Stretch]Red Velvet Snow Ball Tracklist:
01. Lake House
02. Rose Mary Stretch
03. Allison
04. The Annexation of Puerto Rico
05. Family Planning
06. Murder Room
07. In Search of Simon Birch
08. Dance Card
09. The Ballad of Alessandro Moreschi
10. Tiny Fingers
Pepper Rabbit 2011 Tour Dates:
06/17 – Brooklyn, NY @ Knitting Factory @ (Northside Festival)
06/19 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Downstairs * %
06/20 – Montreal, QC @ Il Motore * $
06/21 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison * $
06/23 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement ! # *
06/24 – Chicago, IL @ Schuba’s Tavern * $
06/26 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry * $
06/27 – St. Louis, MO @ Ciceros * $
06/28 – Little Rock, AR @ Stickyz Rock’n’Roll Chicken Shack * $
09/07 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church ^
09/08 – Washington, DC @ DC9 ^
09/10 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn ^
09/11 – Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree ^
09/13 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle ^
09/15 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry ^
09/16 – Winnipeg, MB @ The Royal Albert Arms Hotel ^
09/19 – Edmonton, AB @ Pawn Shop ^
09/22 – Victoria, BC @ Rifflandia ^
09/24 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern ^
09/27 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill ^
09/28 – Costa Mesa, CA @ Detroit Bar ^
09/29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echo ^
09/30 – Tempe, AZ @ Sail Inn ^
10/01 – Santa Fe, NM @ Corazon ^
10/02 – El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace ^
10/04 – Austin, TX @ The Mohawk ^
10/05 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada ^
10/06 – St. Louis, MO @ Firebird ^
10/07 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop ^
10/08 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern ^
10/09 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick Lounge ^
10/10 – London, ON @ Call The Office ^
10/16 – Quebec, QC @ Le Cercle ^
10/19 – Portland, ME @ SPACE ^
10/20 – Boston, MA @ Great Scott ^
& = Kanine Showcase w/ Surfer Blood, Eternal Summers, Grooms, Xray Eyeballs & Dream Diary
% = w/ Caddywhompus
# = w/ Low Dough Show
$ = w/ 1, 2, 3
! = w/ CD101
* = w/ Givers
^ = w/ Braids
