Comet Gain Return with New Edwyn Collins-produced LP

BY Alex HudsonPublished Mar 17, 2011

For almost two decades, England's shambolic Comet Gain have been releasing influential indie pop through a variety of esteemed labels, including Kill Rock Star, What's Your Rupture? and Beggars Banquet. In May, the group will issue their latest full-length, Howl of the Lonely Crowd, this time via Fortuna POP! on May 16 in the UK.

The album was mostly produced by Orange Juice main man Edwyn Collins and Ryan Jarman of the Cribs. However, Alasdair MacLean of the Clientele and Brian O'Shaughnessy (My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream) also score some production credits on Howl of the Lonely Crowd. Along with these guests in the studio, the record features Matthew Sawyer (the Ghosts), Helen King (Shrag) and trumpeter Terry Edwards, who has played with the likes of Spiritualized, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and Tom Waits.

Speaking in a press release about using Collins's studio and gear, Comet Gain frontman David Feck said, "They [the guitars] look great and were played on great records, which I tried to channel in that way a tribesman would eat the brain of his smartest enemy -- though I didn't eat any part of Edwyn."

You can hear a preview of the album in the form the rough-hewn "Working Circle Explosive," which you can download for here, courtesy of Clash Music. The album also features the prior single "The Weekend Dreams."

This will be Comet Gain's first official studio LP since 2005's City Fallen Leaves. However, in 2008, the band released the stand-out odds'n'sods collection Broken Record Prayers and, in 2009, released the self-titled debut by offshoot Cinema Red and Blue, which, along with Feck, featured members of Crystal Stilts, the Clean, the Aislers Set and the Ladybug Transistor.

Also back in 2009, Feck told Exclaim! that he had two more Comet Gain albums on the way, but it's unclear if Howl of the Lonely Crowd is one of the records he was referring to.

While Fortuna POP! will release Howl of the Lonely Crowd on May 16 in the UK, there is so far no word on a North American release date. Also, there is no sign of a tracklisting, but that's the cover above.

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