Have 'Mercy'

My band STATS has a new album coming out on August 8 out now, in both vinyl and digital formats. The LP, entitled Mercy, is our first full-length recording, which seems especially significant given that the band has existed in one form or another for 13 years. I'm very proud of the record, and I feel that it's a great document of what STATS does, which is to create raw, complex, emotional music that brings in elements from (post-)hardcore, rock + roll, extreme metal and various other styles. To order Mercy, click here. Here's a stream:


I would like to say thanks to my bandmates Joe Petrucelli and Tony Gedrich for their roles in the shared experience of creating this music, and for their badass performances throughout the record. I would also like to thank Ed Ricart at New Atlantis, for believing in Mercy and for helping us release it out into the world; Ben Greenberg, for a beautifully visceral recording; Dave Perlis, for contributing masterful vocals, melody and lyrics on the song "Countach"; and Drew "Remi Thornton" Katz for providing the haunting photograph seen on the cover.

We will celebrate the album with a performance at Baby's All Right on Wednesday, September 23, 2015. (Facebook event page is here.) This will be the first STATS show in more than two years. Joining us are two of the most intense and challenging bands in NYC, Survival and Couch Slut.

/////

More STATS/Mercy:

*Hear the song "The Freeze, the Fritz" here.

*Hear the song "Human Butt" and read an interview here.

*Hear the song "Countach" here.

*Read an interview about our hometown of NYC here.

*Read a post by Joe on Fugazi's Steady Diet of Nothing, written in conjunction with Mercy's release.

Recently: my year in death metal + Black Flag

Two pieces to share, along with brief postscripts:

*Via Noisey, a round-up of the death metal I loved most in 2013, all of which took the form of new music by old bands. In prior DFSBP writings—including four posts anthologized in the recently released seventh issue of Burning Ambulance, at the kind request of editor Phil Freeman—I've made no secret of my bias toward the genre's veteran acts. As I tried to make clear in the Noisey piece, I'm not suggesting that newer groups aren't currently making great death metal; I'm simply drawing attention to the fact that a weirdly large number of bands from the movement's early-’90s heyday (not coincidentally, the moment I came on board as a fan) are still at it, and have issued top-quality product this year. Some of my favorite albums of 2013, regardless of genre, are on this list.

*Via Pitchfork, a review of the new Black Flag record. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say that I found the album disappointing. I'm a huge Greg Ginn fan—his guitar sound/concept sums up what I love about music about as well as any other instrumental voice I could name. At the same time, as I indicate in the piece, I think that when it comes to releases, he tends to opt for quantity over quality. The man still issues a ton of music, just as he has for decades, and it bums me out to think that—in the context of this spotty yet significant trove—What The… might be the first and last Ginn-related record many listeners will hear outside of the original Black Flag discography. Considering this new LP in light of the full spectrum of Ginn's work over the last quarter century might not result in a more pleasurable listening experience, but I think it does soften the blow a little bit. I assure you: This will not be the last we hear from the man.

If you haven't yet seen Ben Greenberg's Talkhouse write-up of What The…, I highly recommend it.