stream Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds' "Black Cat Boy"
Brendan Kelly (The Lawrence Arms, The Falcon, etc) is digitally releasing a new Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds album, Keep Walkin’ Pal, this week (10/26), and we’re premiering a second single ahead of its release. (The physical release isn’t until November 23 via Red Scare.) New song “Black Cat Boy” starts out as a somber folk song, but then things take a synthy turn, and it ends up sounding more natural than you might expect. As Brendan tells us, combining disparate things was a big part of the idea for this album…
This record is, I hope, the realization of what the first album hinted at. I was trying to lean into the more odd parts of the last Wandering Birds album and make simple, kinda old-timey songs with more unusual, or at least unexpected instrumentation and see what came of it. The record sounds like it’s pretty upbeat, but I think of it as very dark, thematically, which, again, is sort of the idea…combining disparate things and seeing what happens. I’m really happy with how the record came out, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m in the minority on that. But hey, everyone hated the last one at first too. With a little luck, this will be everyone’s favorite record of 2021.
I’ll be playing acoustic shows to support this record all over the US. Come say hi and bring me your grandma’s medicine.
Listen to “Black Cat Boy” and watch the lyric video below.
Those acoustic shows Brendan mentioned include The Fest this weekend (which The Lawrence Arms also play) and a Brooklyn show on December 8 at Goldsounds with Sincere Engineer (tickets). All dates are listed below.
You can pre-order Keep Walkin’ Pal on LP/DC from Red Scare and pre-order a digital copy on Bandcamp.
Brendan Kelly — 2018/2019 Tour Dates
10/28 – Gainesville, FL @ The Fest (High Dive)
12/1 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village
12/6 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie (with Sincere Engineer)
12/7 – Somerville, MA @ ONCE (with Sincere Engineer)
12/8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Gold Sounds (with Sincere Engineer
12/28 – Denver, CO @ Streets of London
1/11 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club (with Sincere Engineer)
1/18 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Resident
1/19 – San Diego, CA @ Tower Bar
