Celebrated Vancouver rock duo Japandroids have announced that they're breaking up and releasing their final album. The farewell LP Fate & Alcohol will arrive October 18 through Arts & Crafts and ANTI- Records, and the single "Chicago" is out now.
A press release doesn't specify why they're breaking up, and doesn't make any mention of any goodbye shows. "I don't think we're the most technically proficient band in the world," drummer Dave Prowse said in a statement. "And we're not the most original-sounding or challenging band in the world. But we've always put a lot of passion into what we do, and I think that's resonated with a lot of people. And I'm really grateful that we could be that band for people, in the same way that so many bands were for us."
A press release describes the album as both "a return to form and a thrilling step forward." The single "Chicago" is very much a classic Japandroids song, with sweetly nostalgic guitar chords delivered with noisy punk exuberance.
"On our last record we wanted to broaden the definition of a Japandroids song and purposely left our demos quite open and malleable so that we had more flexibility to experiment in the studio," said singer-guitarist Brian King. "At the time, this approach was new and exciting, and inspired us to be bolder, to take more chances. We were aiming for a more cinematic take on our signature sound. This time, we made certain that every song ripped in our jam space before Jesse ever heard it. If you listen to our first demo of 'Chicago,' it's obviously much rougher than what you hear on record, but it's all there. Even on a blown-out iPhone recording, the energy was obvious, and the feeling cut through loud and clear."
Hear "Chicago" below, and scroll past that to see Fate & Alcohol's 10-song tracklist. The album is available to pre-order here.
This is Japandroids' fourth album, following 2009's Post-Nothing, 2012's Celebration Rock and 2017's Near to the Wild Heart of Life. Their last shows were in 2018.
Fate & Alcohol:
1. Eye Contact High
2. D&T
3. Alice
4. Chicago
5. Upon Sober Reflection
6. Fugitive Summer
7. A Gaslight Anthem
8. Positively 34th Street
9. One Without the Other
10. All Bets Off