stream The Pauses’ new J Robbins-produced album ‘Unbuilding’
Orlando indie rock trio The Pauses are following their 2011 debut album A Cautionary Tale (and a 2012 split with Great Deceivers) with their sophomore album, Unbuilding, on Friday (6/22) via Arctic Rodeo Recordings (pre-order). Like their debut, it was produced by Jawbox's J Robbins, and it's got a little of the off-kilter mathy guitars of the DC/Dischord scene that birthed J Robbins, plus bouncy Mates of States-y synths, and singer Tierney Tough (who is also Beach Slang's touring bassist) has a delightfully dry delivery that brings to mind Speedy Ortiz or Liz Phair. We're premiering a stream of the full album in this post, and if you're into any of those aforementioned sounds, you'll probably find this album pretty enjoyable. Here's what Tierney tells us about it:
The album title comes from a book of the same name that I happened upon in a thrift store a long time ago. The Edward Gorey-esque architectural drawings that graced the large pages drew me in, and in technical detail, hypothetically explained how a gigantic building like the Empire State Building could be torn down and moved to another country. Everything about it was attractive, and couldn’t be more relatable for a band that just needed a fresh start. We simply needed to tear it all down and rebuild. Which is what happened here, and we couldn't be happier with the outcome.
Listen below.
The band is also touring, including a few shows with J Robbins. They just wrapped up a lengthy run with J's Camorra/Moral Mazes bandmate Jonah Matranga, who was celebrating the 20th anniversary of Far's classic Water and Solutions -- they opened the shows and were also Jonah's backing band -- and they've just announced more dates with Jonah in August. All upcoming dates are listed below.
The Pauses -- 2018 Tour Dates
June 22 - Norman, OK @ Opolis #
July 12 - Tampa, FL @ Crowbar ^
July 13 - Orlando, FL @ Blackstar ^
July 14 - Gainesville, FL @ High Dive ^
July 20 - Athens, GA @ Caledonia Lounge
July 21 - Birmingham, AL @ The Nick
July 22 - Nashville, TN @The East Room
July 23 - St. Louis, MO @ The Firebird
July 24 - Omaha, NE @ O'Leavers
July 25 - Chicago, IL @ Landland
July 26 - Bloomington, IN @ Blockhouse Bar
July 27 - Chattanooga, TN @ JJ's Bohemia
July 28 - Raleigh, NC @ Slim's
August 10 - Hamden, CT @ The Space Ballroom *
August 11 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar *
August 14 - Greenville, SC @ Radio Room *
August 15 - Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbits *
August 16 - Orlando, FL @ Will’s Pub *
August 17 - Tampa, FL @ Microgroove Records *
August 21 - Dallas, TX @ Prophet Bar *
August 23 - Little Rock, AR @ White Water Tavern *
August 25 - Chicago, IL @ Subterranean downstairs *
August 26 - Pontiac, MI @ Pike Room at the Crofoot *
August 27 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme *
August 29 - Rochester, NY @ Photo City Improv & Live Music *
August 31 - Worcester, MA @ Ralph’s Diner *
# - Acoustic
^ - w/ J. Robbins
* - w/ Jonah Matranga