PhantomBand1

The Phantom Band are coming - 2010 tour dates & new MP3

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Phantom Band – Walls (MP3)

Phantom Band

The just-announced list of CMJ performing artist is a little light on foreign acts, at least ones I haven’t seen before, but one inclusion just made my day: Glasgow’s The Phantom Band. While there are surely more shows to be announced, they are playing Knitting Factory on Friday, October 22 with Title Tracks and COOLRUNNINGS.  After CMJ, The Phantom Band will go on tour with Frightened Rabbit, including the October 30 show at Terminal 5 that Plants & Animals are also playing (tickets still on sale).

Last year’s debut made my Best LPs of 2009 list, so allow me to quote myself:

Semi-mysterious Glaswegian sextet The Phantom Band sound like a combination of the best moody Scottish groups of the last 10 years: the angst of Arab Strap and Malcolm Middleton’s solo work, the sweep of the Delagos, the atmospherics of Mogwai. So it makes sense they’re signed to Chemikal Underground, home of all the aforementioned.

Their debut, Checkmate Savage is epic and awesome, nine tracks, nearly an hour long, and not a wasted minute. It’s easy to type out a litany of influences (Krautrock, Lee Perry dub, Joy Division, Fairport Convention) but, really, they don’t sound like anyone else. At times it’s singer-songwritery but then they’ll lock into a motorik groove that can only really come from playing together live.

The same week as CMJ, The Phantom band will release their second album, The Wants. You can download “Walls” from it at the top of this post. A little more tightly-reigned than their debut, The Wants is no less compelling. The band also seem to have lost the masks they wore last year, as well as a member if their press photos are anything to go on.

All upcoming Phantom Band shows, plus a video from their first album, are after the jump.

Phantom Band

The Phantom Band – Howling

The Phantom Band – 2010 North American Tour Dates
Fri 10/22/10 New York, NY Knitting Factory
Tue 10/26/10 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club#
Wed 10/27/10 Charlotte, NC Neighborhood Theatre#
Thu 10/28/10 Philadelphia, PA Starlight Ballroom#
Fri 10/29/10 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club#
Sat 10/30/10 New York, NY Terminal 5#
Mon 11/01/10 Washington, DC 9:30 Club#
Tue 11/02/10 Pittsburgh, PA Diesel Club Lounge#
Wed 11/03/10 Detroit, MI Magic Stick#
Thu 11/04/10 Chicago, IL House Of Blues#