Big-Deal

Big Deal coming to US w/ 2:54, releasing LP; The Maccabees have a new one too; The Big Pink & Howler streaming theirs

by Andrew Sacher

Big Deal
Big Deal

UK duo 2:54, who we suggested you check out when they made their US debut in NYC in late November, has a few US dates scheduled with fellow UK duo Big Deal surrounding SXSW. Those dates include March 11 at Glasslands and March 12 at Mercury Lounge, before they head to SXSW and finish up with a date together in LA. Tickets for the Mercury show go on sale today (1/13) at noon and tickets for the Glasslands show are not on sale yet but check ticketfly for updates.

Big Deal (aka Kacey Underwood and Alice Costelloe) will release their debut LP, Lights Out, on January 24 via Mute. They don’t seem to be using more than an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar and their voices. They’ve got enough indie rock tendencies that it’s bigger sounding than folk, but with the complete absence of drums, it’s not nearly as large as their songwriting could lead it to be, and it ends up working to their advantage. A few of the tracks from the album are available to stream below, including the single, “Chair,” and an accompanying video, “Locked Up,” “Homework,” and perhaps the most memorable, “Talk,” which revolves around the repeated chorus of “All I wanna do is talk/but seeing you fucks me up,” a refrain with the brutal honesty of emo but without its stigmas. The artwork and tracklist for Lights Out is below.

2:54 @ Pianos in December (more by Erik Erikson)
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2:54 also have some upcoming dates in the UK with another UK band, The Big Pink, whose new album, Future This, comes out next week and is streaming in full with track by track commentary from the band on SPIN.

NME also points out in their review of The Maccabees‘ new album, Given to the Wild, which came out 1/9 in the UK, that, “On their forthcoming tour, the band will be supported by 2:54.” The two bands, who are now labelmates (2:54 signed to Fiction), also toured together in 2011. The Maccabees also have dates with another UK band we said you should check out, Trailer Trash Tracys, whose great debut LP, Ester, comes out February 7 via Domino.

MaccabeesMaccabees

In NME’s review of The MaccabeesGiven to the Wild, they called the album the “first classic album of 2012” and gave it a 9/10, the highest score they’ve given to any album by the band thus far (their first two got 8’s). The album is pretty great. It was produced by DFA’s Tim Goldsworthy, and he helps bring in a more ambient feel to their sound. It doesn’t have the powerful choruses of Wall of Arms but it reaches similar heights by taking a step away from that and exploring layers of new and different sounds. Check out the videos for “Feel to Follow” and “Pelican” off the album below.

Speaking of bands that NME loves, Howler (who have 7 NYC shows coming up, 5 of which are this month) are featured on the cover of NME’s ‘New Music 2012 Special Issue’ and their debut LP, America Give Up is streaming in full on NPR.

All dates, videos, and streams below…


The Maccabees – “Feel to Follow”

The Maccabees – “Pelican”

Big Deal – “Chair” (Live)

Big Deal – “Chair”
Big Deal – Chair by Big Deal

Big Deal – “Talk”
Talk by Big Deal

Big Deal – “Homework”
Homework by Big Deal

Big Deal – “Locked Up”
Locked Up by Big Deal

Big Deal – Lights Out
Lights Out

Big Deal – Lights Out Tracklist:
Distant Neighborhood
Chair
Cool Like Kurt
Swoon
Homework
Talk
With The World At My Feet
Locked Up
Summer Cold
Visions
Seraphine
Pi

2:54 and Big Deal — 2012 US Tour Dates
3/11–The Glasslands –Brooklyn, NY
3/12–The Mercury Lounge –New York, NY
3/13–3/18—-SXSW—Austin, TX
3/20–Echo –Los Angeles, CA


2:54 — International 2012 Tour Dates
11/01/2012 Eurosonic Noorderslag Festival – Groningen, Netherlands
08/02/2012 Thekla – Bristol, UK*
09/02/2012 Wedgewood Rooms – Southsea, UK*
11/02/2012 Rescue Rooms – Nottingham, UK*
12/02/2012 O2 Academy 2 Liverpool – Liverpool, UK*
14/02/2012 King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut – Glasgow, UK*
* – w/ The Big Pink


The Maccabees — 2012 Tour Dates
SAT 21 JAN 2012 SHEFFIELD LEADMILL
SUN 22 JAN 2012 ABERDEEN LEMON TREE
MON 23 JAN 2012 GLASGOW QMU
TUE 24 JAN 2012 LONDON KOKO
THU 26 JAN 2012 LONDON BRIXTON ACADEMY*
FRI 27 JAN 2012 BIRMINGHAM INSTITUTE*
SAT 28 JAN 2012 MANCHESTER RITZ
SUN 29 JAN 2012 NEWCASTLE ACADEMY
WED 8 FEB 2012 AMSTERDAM PARADISO
THU 9 FEB 2012 BRUSSELS BOTANIQUE / ORANGERIE
FRI 10 FEB 2012 PARIS LA MAROQUINERIE
SUN 12 FEB 2012 MILAN MAGAZZINI GENERALI
MON 13 FEB 2012 MUNICH BACKSTAGE HALLE
TUE 14 FEB 2012 VIENNA FLEX
WED 15 FEB 2012 COLOGNE GEBAUDE 9
THU 16 FEB 2012 HAMBURG UEBEL & GEFÄHRLICH
SAT 18 FEB 2012 STOCKHOLM DEBASSER SLUSSEN
SUN 19 FEB 2012 COPENHAGEN VEGA
MON 20 FEB 2012 BERLIN FESTAAL KREUZBERG
SAT 3 MAR 2012 DUBLIN ACADEMY
SUN 4 MAR 2012 BELFAST SPRING & AIRBRAKE
MON 5 MAR 2012 EDINBURGH PICTURE HOUSE
WED 7 MAR 2012 MIDDLESBOROUGH TOWN HALL
THU 8 MAR 2012 NOTTINGHAM ROCK CITY
FRI 9 MAR 2012 BRIGHTON DOME
SAT 10 MAR 2012 LEEDS O2 ACADEMY
MON 12 MAR 2012 LIVERPOOL ACADEMY
TUE 13 MAR 2012 BRISTOL ACADEMY
WED 14 MAR 2012 NORWICH UEA
FRI 16 MAR 2012 SOUTHAMPTON GREAT HALL (GUILDHALL)
SAT 17 MAR 2012 CARDIFF UNIVERSITY GREAT HALL
SUN 18 MAR 2012 WOLVERHAMPTON CIVIC
MON 19 MAR 2012 CAMBRIDGE CORN EXCHANGE
* – w/ Trailer Trash Tracys