Bartees Strange and Sidney Gish release new Sub Pop singles
Bartees Strange and Sidney Gish have each shared a pair of singles for Sub Pop’s singles series. Sidney’s tracks, “Filming School” and “MFSOTSOTR,” are characteristically fun and full of sardonic humor. Sidney says:
I start lots of songs, but finish very few. Sometimes, I try to overcome this habit by skipping the “ideas” phase, and improvising a song to completion within a few hours. Both “Filming School” and “MFSOTSOTR” were created this way. “Filming School” was recorded in fall 2021 at my apartment in Brooklyn. The lyrics were freestyled while reflecting on film school, which I did not attend. In 2022, I added bass & synth to “Filming School,” as well as piano, engineered by Lily Wen at Figure 8 Studios. “MFSOTSOTR” was recorded in late summer 2019 at my old apartment on Mission Hill. The lyrics were freestyled while staring at a meme of a buff man wearing high-waisted jeans. No edits were ever made to “MFSOTSOTR.” It has haunted my hard drive for three years.
Similarly, Bartees’s songs “Tisched Off” and “Keekee’in (feat. Daniel Kleederman)” were kicked around for a while but left unreleased. Both tracks build an electric tension, with “Tisched Off” exploding in its lyrics and “Keekee’in” letting go of its instrumental at its close. On “Tisched Off,” Bartees explains:
As an up and coming musician, there’s a very special pain that comes with realizing a huge chunk of the artists you’re competing with have way more money and resources than you. This song takes little digs at them. It’s cute. Tisch is like the fashion school at NYU. When I was living in BK I ran into a bunch of young punk bands and experimental acts that rose quickly from that school. I remember feeling like damn – how do you compete with people like that? They’ve got some very real resources. Anywho – it’s just me making fun.
On “Keekee’in”:
This song is extremely special to me. During our tour with Car Seat Headrest, the band had Covid. I was bunkered down with my guitarist Dan at his family’s house in the basement. I figured it would be cool to write something using only the tools we had. All of the instrumentation was done with stuff from that room. Matchsticks, pillows for drums, very random keyboards, etc. I wrote this song to get some feelings out I had about some business people I was considering working with — they ended up being shady and I was feeling very betrayed. I was thinking about how valuable it is to have people you can really trust. And how few those people are.
Listen to Sidney and Bartees’ singles below.
In other Bartees Strange news, his guest-curated lineup for Canadian fest Sled Island was recently unveiled. Plus, he’s set to join boygenius, Clairo, and Dijon on tour as part of traveling Re:SET Festival over the summer, and he’ll open for The National on their European tour in the fall. All dates below.
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Bartees Strange — 2023 Tour Dates
June 2, 2023 Thrive Park at Snapdragon Stadium San Diego, CA *
June 3, 2023 Brookside at the Rose Bowl Los Angeles, CA *
June 4, 2023 Frost Amphitheater at Stanford Bay Area, CA *
June 9, 2023 Texas Trust CU Theatre Grounds Dallas, TX *
June 10, 2023 Festival Grounds at City Park New Orleans, LA *
June 11, 2023 Central Park Atlanta, GA *
June 16, 2023 Merriweather Post Pavilion Washington, D.C. *
June 17, 2023 Forest Hills Stadium New York City, NY *
June 18, 2023 The Stage at Suffolk Downs Boston, MA *
June 23, 2023 KEMBA Live! Fesitval Site Columbus, OH *
June 24, 2023 Riis Park Chicago, IL *
June 25, 2023 The Great Lawn in Centennial Park Nashville, TN *
June 21-25, 2023 Sled Island Music & Arts Festival Calgary, AB
September 29, 2023 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome ^
September 30, 2023 – Berlin, DE – Max-Schmeling-Halle ^
October 1, 2023 – Munich, DE – Zenith ^
October 4, 2023 – Madrid, ES – WiZink Center ^
October 5, 2023 – Porto, PT – Super Bock Arena ^
October 6, 2023 – Lisbon, PT – Campo Pequeno ^
* = Re:Set Festival with Boygenius, Clairo, and Dijon
^ = with The National
