Sharp Pins, the side project of Lifeguard vocalist/guitar dude Kai Slater, is set to reissue last year’s stunning Radio DDR as an expanded set, courtesy of Perennial and K Records. The new version will include the original full-length, together with 3 new and unreleased tracks the first of which, ‘I Can’t Stop’, appeared in January. Now, rejoice in the coming of a second new track, ‘Storma Lee’ – the video for which you can link to below.
The track brings the jingle and the jangle, lo-fi in production yet lush in headspace. Wistful turns of phrase abound (‘same old sickness/same old bed’ is a personal fave) – the cloud-parting harmonies around the 2:20 mark, alone, worth the price of admission. The fact that this and ‘I Can’t Stop’ didn’t make the final cut for the original album is, well, scary.
According to M. Slater, ‘Storma Lee’ was “written when I was 17 about Jack Lee from The Nerves, about his mysterious life and what could have been, so it has a tinge of sadness. I think of it as zombie beach boy daydream terror.” [Kids, if this is your first time hearing of The Nerves/Jack Lee (or Peter Case, for that matter) – do some exploring.]
Radio DDR, reissued and extended, arrives March 21 from Perennial/K Records:
https://www.perennialdeath.com/discography/prnl56
https://sharppins.bandcamp.com/album/radio-ddr
The video for ‘Storma Lee’ can be found here: https://youtu.be/liYmiNtai-E?si=4fGr-4kax_pKwHyC
Sharp Pins will tour in the US and Canada following the album release, including dates with The Hard Quartet(*):
February 7, Chicago, IL – Epiphany Center for the Arts
*March 21, Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl Nashville
*March 22, Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
*March 23, Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
*March 25, Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
*March 26, Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
*March 28, Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw
*March 29, Burlington, VT – Higher Ground
*March 30, Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
*April 1, Toronto, ON – The Danforth Music Hall
*April 2, Detroit, MI – St. Andrew’s Hall
*April 3, Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
*April 5, Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
*April 25, Dallas, TX – Granda Theatre
*April 26, Austin, TX – Scoot Inn
Do yourself a favor and check out the entire Perennial Records discography (spoiler – it’s stacked), here: https://www.perennialdeath.com/
