Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Video Wednesday: Mates of State

Influential Connecticut-based modern pop duo Mates of State have announced their first string of U.S. tour dates. Starting on September 21, the band will tour the East Coast, kicking off at D.C.’s 9:30 Club and playing through October 12 where they will visit New York City’s Webster Hall. The tour is in support of the band’s newest record, Mountaintops, which was recently finished and will be released on September 13th via Barsuk Records.

Mountaintops is the band’s full-length follow up to 2008’s critically acclaimed Re-Arrange Us. The self-produced album was written and recorded over the last year and a half in 6 different studios with multiple different engineers.

The band also released the first music video for a song from the new album, the ceaselessly catchy “Maracas. The video, patterned after The Old Grey Whistle Test, the seminal British music television show from the 70’s and 80’s, features the band playing the song in a seemingly live setting, with the bare-bones performance giving the band room to showcase the song’s boundless energy, and letting the audience see just how much fun Mates of State have with their music. And, yes, the maracas instrument is certainly featured in the song .

September:

9/21 - Washington DC - 930 Club # *
9/22 - Cincinnati, OH - Mid Point Music Festival # *
9/23 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls # *
9/24 - Philadelphia, PA - Popped Festival # *
9/26 - Boston, MA – Royale # *
9/27 – Montreal, QB – Il Motore # *
9/28 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix # *
9/29 – Detroit, MI - St. Andrews # *
9/30 – Chicago, IL – Metro # *

October:

10/01 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall % *
10/03 - Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel % *
10/04 - Nashville, TN - Exit/In % *
10/05 - Charlotte, NC - Visulite Theatre % *
10/06 - Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn % *
10/07 - Orlando, FL - The Social % *
10/08 - Sunrise, FL - Langerado Festival % *
10/10 - Richmond, VA - Canal Club % *
10/11 - Baltimore, MD – Ottobar % *
10/12 - New York, NY - Webster Hall %

# w/ Suckers
% w/ Other Lives
* w/ Yawn