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Have y'all read Us v. Them: The Age Of Indie Music And A Decade In New York (2004-2014)? Author Ronen Givony, a guy who's been booking and attending some of the coolest shows in NYC for the past couple decades, wrote the book about what was happening on the ground in the city during a time when indie rock was exploding into the mainstream. Instead of focusing on the biggest stars from the era, he zeroes in on people who ran essential Brooklyn venues like Glasslands and Silent Barn or used corporate money to book wild spectacles like the Boredoms' 77-drummer, 77-minute concert on 7/7/07. And there are profiles of the bands that existed alongside your brand-name indie favorites, like Sea Ray and Dragons Of Zynth.
One band that gets Givony's spotlight treatment is Parts & Labor, the brilliant noise-pop band headed up by BJ Warshaw and Dan Friel, which at one point featured Stereogum contributor Christopher R. Weingarten on drums, perpetually in beast mode. The chapter on Parts & Labor gave me a lot more context for the band's place within the New York rock universe, and it bolstered my appreciation for their incredible catalog. You gotta check it out (and by "it" I mean both the book and the music).
Parts & Labor, including Weingarten, recently reunited for their first album and tour in 15 years, but that doesn't mean Friel is putting his post-P&L band Upper Wilds on the shelf. Today Upper Wilds are announcing Mercury, the follow-up to 2023's Jupiter. (Note the planetary theme; previous albums include Venus and Mars.) Mercury is dropping at summer's end, and its scorching title track is out today. Friel shared the following explainer:
I had some skin cancer removed from my face at the beginning of writing this album. It was early and easy and not shocking, but I do have a scar, and a selfie where you can see my cheek muscle. The situation of something that keeps us going (the sun) becoming the enemy resonated with so many things in this stage of my life (middle age) and this country. It works as a stand-in for the internet, drugs, capitalism, you name it, and the lyrics can speak for any of them:
Everything looks like fuel to a fire
Just can't help but burn a little higher
Kept us warm but now it needs to feed
And I feel those flames come hunting after me
'til it all feels like Mercury
Listen below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Mercury"
02 "Fever"
03 "Death Song #3"
04 "Burning Bright"
05 "Reaper"
06 "Green-Wood Cemetery"
07 "Timekeeper"
08 "Dark Road"
09 "Hellfire"
10 "Dying Star"
Mercury is out 8/28 on Thrill Jockey. Pre-order it here.
Liz Miller
English (US) · 