SUB POP has made another fine addition to its roster with Sweeping Promises, who come extruding outta the campus town of Lawrence, Kansas with the post-punkery of “Pain Without A Touch” and a comprehensive British and European tour ready to roll. Listen to one and find out more about the other, below.
Sweeping Promises is the laboratory-born post-punk creation of Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug, who’ve been quietly chiselling away at their craft in bands such as Dee-Parts, Mini Dresses and Silkies; literally lab-born as well, as the band held early practices in a disused and reverberant concrete laboratory in Cambridge, Massachussetts.
They employ a self-devised “single-mic technique” and released their first album, Hunger for a Way Out, post-punk all lovingly mixed in mono, on Richmond, Virginia’s Feel It label last year – just as lockdown busted our collective ass.
And as you can tell from a little time in its company, “Pain Without A Touch” is wiry and insistent, drawing on the tradition laid down by Leeds’ Girls At Our Best all those years ago, Kleenex, Sacred Paws; a little of the Siouxsie Sioux circa “Love In A Void” about Lira’s vocals. Which is, of course, a good thing.
So while Sweeping Promises remain with Feel It Stateside – the label’s overseen the album’s nine pressings so far, continually coming back to the plant for more as they sell out, and there’s green and orange vinyl variants out there, wax heads – Sub Pop have made the wise decision to pick ’em up for the rest of the world. Beginning right here.
Those tour dates are as follows:
Wednesday, February 23rd, Nashville, Tennessee, Third Man Records, The Blue Room;
Thursday, February 24th, Bloomington, Indiana, The Bishop;
Wednesday, May 18th, Antwerp, Het Bos;
Thursday, May 19th, Liege, KulturA;
Friday, May 20th, Amsterdam, London Calling;
Saturday, May 21st, Groningen, Vera;
Tuesday, May 24th, Brighton, Hope & Ruin;
Wednesday, May 25th, Bristol, The Exchange;
Thursday, May 26th, Glasgow, Hug & Pint;
Friday, May 27th, Leeds, Hyde Park Book Club;
Sunday, May 29th, Manchester, YES, Basement;
Monday, May 30th, Birmingham, The Hare and Hounds;
Tuesday, May 31st, Portsmouth, The Wedgewood Rooms;
Wednesday, June 1st, Lille, La Bulle Café;
Thursday, June 2nd, Luxembourg, Rotondes;
Friday, June 3rd, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland, Horst Klub;
Monday, June 6th, Caen, Portobello Rock Club;
Tuesday, June 7th, Paris, Supersonic;
Thursday, June 9th, Cologne, Bumann & Sohn;
Friday, June 10th, Berlin, Urban Spree, and
Saturday, June 11th, Mannheim, Maifeld Derby 2022.
Connect with Sweeping Promises elsewhere online at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
