After delivering their Lips & Skull EP late last year, Casper Skulls have lifted the curtain on their debut full-length album.
Titled Mercy Works, the record arrives November 3 through Buzz Records. The 11-track effort was produced by by Josh Korody (Fucked Up, Dilly Dally) and mixed by Alex Newport (At the Drive-In, Weaves, Death Cab for Cutie). The band have also shared album cut "You Can Call Me Allocator" ahead of time.
In a press release, vocalist/guitarist Neil Bednis revealed the track to be the first they had written for Mercy Works, concerning "legacy and mortality and how both past and present culture can affect that legacy."
He explained the song's references in further detail as follows:
The song specifically focuses on Elvis as an example. Depending on which way you look at him, he could be on either side of history. Many people see him as an iconic, rare talent but as time progresses and the cultural climate shifts it becomes more apparent that that talent was built around other people's ideas.
The song also references "(You Can) Call Me Al" by Paul Simon which sparked inspiration for our song with the lines "Where's my wife and family? What if I die here? Who'll be my role model?". The lines had me thinking about Paul Simon himself and his legacy around Graceland. At the time Paul Simon recorded Graceland (which was also the name of Elvis' mansion in Memphis and where his funeral was held) there was a cultural boycott imposed by the rest of the world against South Africa because of its policy of apartheid. Thinking more about that record and that song, I sometimes wonder if an album like that would be as well received today and if it will continue to hold the same sort of positive legacy it once had.
Casper Skulls have also mapped out tour dates in Canada and the United States that you can find below, playing with Julie & the Wrong Guys, Partner and more on select dates.
Take in the new song "You Can Call Me Allocator" in the player below.
Mercy Works:
1. Mercy Works
2. You Can Call Me Allocator
3. Lingua Franca
4. What's That Good For
5. Primeval
6. Colour of the Outside
7. Chicane, OH
8. I Stared at "Moses and the Burning Bush"
9. The Science of Dichotomies
10. Glories
11. Faded Sound
Tour dates:
09/07 Toronto, ON - The Horseshoe Tavern*
09/08 Guelph, ON - eBar*
09/15 Montreal, QC - Escogriffe (POP Montreal)
09/20 Windsor, ON - Phog Lounge*
09/22 London, ON - Call The Office*
10/17 Ottawa, ON - Dominion
10/20 Halifax, NS - Seahorse Tavern (Halifax POP Explosion)
10/21 Fredericton, NB - Capital$
11/02 St. Catharines, ON - Warehouse
11/10 Chicago, IL - Subterranean%
11/11 Cincinnati, OH - MOTR
11/12 Pittsburgh, PA - Spirit
11/13 Washington, DC - Comet Ping Pong
11/14 Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie
11/16 Brooklyn, NY - Alphaville#
* with Julie & The Wrong Guys
$ with Partner
% with And The Kids
# with Baked, Bueno
Titled Mercy Works, the record arrives November 3 through Buzz Records. The 11-track effort was produced by by Josh Korody (Fucked Up, Dilly Dally) and mixed by Alex Newport (At the Drive-In, Weaves, Death Cab for Cutie). The band have also shared album cut "You Can Call Me Allocator" ahead of time.
In a press release, vocalist/guitarist Neil Bednis revealed the track to be the first they had written for Mercy Works, concerning "legacy and mortality and how both past and present culture can affect that legacy."
He explained the song's references in further detail as follows:
The song specifically focuses on Elvis as an example. Depending on which way you look at him, he could be on either side of history. Many people see him as an iconic, rare talent but as time progresses and the cultural climate shifts it becomes more apparent that that talent was built around other people's ideas.
The song also references "(You Can) Call Me Al" by Paul Simon which sparked inspiration for our song with the lines "Where's my wife and family? What if I die here? Who'll be my role model?". The lines had me thinking about Paul Simon himself and his legacy around Graceland. At the time Paul Simon recorded Graceland (which was also the name of Elvis' mansion in Memphis and where his funeral was held) there was a cultural boycott imposed by the rest of the world against South Africa because of its policy of apartheid. Thinking more about that record and that song, I sometimes wonder if an album like that would be as well received today and if it will continue to hold the same sort of positive legacy it once had.
Casper Skulls have also mapped out tour dates in Canada and the United States that you can find below, playing with Julie & the Wrong Guys, Partner and more on select dates.
Take in the new song "You Can Call Me Allocator" in the player below.
Mercy Works:
1. Mercy Works
2. You Can Call Me Allocator
3. Lingua Franca
4. What's That Good For
5. Primeval
6. Colour of the Outside
7. Chicane, OH
8. I Stared at "Moses and the Burning Bush"
9. The Science of Dichotomies
10. Glories
11. Faded Sound
Tour dates:
09/07 Toronto, ON - The Horseshoe Tavern*
09/08 Guelph, ON - eBar*
09/15 Montreal, QC - Escogriffe (POP Montreal)
09/20 Windsor, ON - Phog Lounge*
09/22 London, ON - Call The Office*
10/17 Ottawa, ON - Dominion
10/20 Halifax, NS - Seahorse Tavern (Halifax POP Explosion)
10/21 Fredericton, NB - Capital$
11/02 St. Catharines, ON - Warehouse
11/10 Chicago, IL - Subterranean%
11/11 Cincinnati, OH - MOTR
11/12 Pittsburgh, PA - Spirit
11/13 Washington, DC - Comet Ping Pong
11/14 Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie
11/16 Brooklyn, NY - Alphaville#
* with Julie & The Wrong Guys
$ with Partner
% with And The Kids
# with Baked, Bueno
