As promised, Archers of Loaf have delivered their first new material in 22 years. It's a song called "Raleigh Days," and you can hear the band's return now.
In a statement, Archers frontman Eric Bachmann had the following to say about the track:
I built a birdhouse on the back of my van. The seeds of "Raleigh Days" were spit out of the circular opening on the front of this birdhouse by an angry cardinal. One day last summer, as we were barreling down the highway hell-bent for leather, this antagonistic little redbird stuck her head in through the back window and exclaimed, "Great songs often come out so easily that they practically write themselves. I tried to help you, but you idiots ruined it; and now you're going to have to finish it all by yourselves!" Then, in a white-hot flash, we smashed head-on at 130 mph into an 18-wheeler carrying a herd of giant elk. It was all blood, fire, fur, and feathers snowing down through that old familiar smell of boiling oil and scorched earth. Fortunately — after I regained consciousness — I was able to make guitar picks from some shards of elk antler I found scattered around the accident site. It wasn't planned per se, but it just kind of worked out that I used one of these picks to track my guitar part on "Raleigh Days," and I think it sounds pretty good.
You can hear if you think it sounds pretty good below.
The newly revealed song comes just after Archers of Loaf announced a fresh round of reunion dates. You can see those below as well.
Forming in 1991, Archers of Loaf released their last album in 1998 with White Trash Heroes. In 2011, the group reformed for a series of reunion shows, as well as a reissue campaign, only to more recently tease their return once more.
Tour dates:
02/21 Chapel Hill, NC - Cat's Cradle +
02/22 Atlanta, GA - Terminal West +
03/07 Nashville, TN - The Basement East %
03/13 Woodstock, NY - Colony #
03/14 Boston, MA - Royale #
04/10 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle
04/11 Birmingham, AL - Saturn %
04/17 Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts #
04/18 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar #
04/30 St Louis, MO - Delmar Hall ^
05/01 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck ^
05/02 Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room ^
05/03 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
05/15 Dallas, TX - Deep Ellum Art Co.
05/16 Austin, TX - Mohawk
05/17 Houston, TX - White Oak Downstairs
06/04 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
06/06 Manhattan, NY - Bowery Ballroom #
06/19 Richmond, VA - The Broadberry @
06/20 Washington, DC - Black Cat @
07/09 Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
07/10 Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
07/11 Seattle, WA - Showbox
07/12 Vancouver, BC - Imperial
07/24 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line *
07/25 Chicago, IL - Subterranean *
+ with Gauche
% with Peachy
# with SAVAK
^ with The Hecks
@ with Joyero
* with Ratboys
In a statement, Archers frontman Eric Bachmann had the following to say about the track:
I built a birdhouse on the back of my van. The seeds of "Raleigh Days" were spit out of the circular opening on the front of this birdhouse by an angry cardinal. One day last summer, as we were barreling down the highway hell-bent for leather, this antagonistic little redbird stuck her head in through the back window and exclaimed, "Great songs often come out so easily that they practically write themselves. I tried to help you, but you idiots ruined it; and now you're going to have to finish it all by yourselves!" Then, in a white-hot flash, we smashed head-on at 130 mph into an 18-wheeler carrying a herd of giant elk. It was all blood, fire, fur, and feathers snowing down through that old familiar smell of boiling oil and scorched earth. Fortunately — after I regained consciousness — I was able to make guitar picks from some shards of elk antler I found scattered around the accident site. It wasn't planned per se, but it just kind of worked out that I used one of these picks to track my guitar part on "Raleigh Days," and I think it sounds pretty good.
You can hear if you think it sounds pretty good below.
The newly revealed song comes just after Archers of Loaf announced a fresh round of reunion dates. You can see those below as well.
Forming in 1991, Archers of Loaf released their last album in 1998 with White Trash Heroes. In 2011, the group reformed for a series of reunion shows, as well as a reissue campaign, only to more recently tease their return once more.
Tour dates:
02/21 Chapel Hill, NC - Cat's Cradle +
02/22 Atlanta, GA - Terminal West +
03/07 Nashville, TN - The Basement East %
03/13 Woodstock, NY - Colony #
03/14 Boston, MA - Royale #
04/10 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle
04/11 Birmingham, AL - Saturn %
04/17 Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts #
04/18 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar #
04/30 St Louis, MO - Delmar Hall ^
05/01 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck ^
05/02 Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room ^
05/03 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
05/15 Dallas, TX - Deep Ellum Art Co.
05/16 Austin, TX - Mohawk
05/17 Houston, TX - White Oak Downstairs
06/04 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
06/06 Manhattan, NY - Bowery Ballroom #
06/19 Richmond, VA - The Broadberry @
06/20 Washington, DC - Black Cat @
07/09 Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
07/10 Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
07/11 Seattle, WA - Showbox
07/12 Vancouver, BC - Imperial
07/24 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line *
07/25 Chicago, IL - Subterranean *
+ with Gauche
% with Peachy
# with SAVAK
^ with The Hecks
@ with Joyero
* with Ratboys