Tripper, the new and fifth Fruit Bats full-length, was recorded at WACS Studio in Los Angeles with Thom Monahan, best known as producer for the last four Vetiver albums, Devendra Banhart’s Cripple Crow, and the Pernice Brothers. For the first week of recording, Johnson brought in a full band—Sam Wagster, Ron Lewis and Graeme Gibson—to capture some of the live excitement of the previous Fruit Bats album, 2009’s The Ruminant Band. However, having recently worked alone on soundtracks for an extended period, Johnson knew that he wanted Tripper to be more of a solitary pursuit than his previous album. For the remaining four weeks, he worked with Monahan to deepen and refine the sound. Though, perhaps the most radical thing about the album is not its haunting production, but the way it allows narratives to shape its songs. His own process shifted slightly to focus more on story-based songs, and following his collaborations with film-makers, he began experimenting with more abstract, less folk-based sounds. The resulting album, a bittersweet meditation on hitting the road, leaving the familiar behind and reinventing yourself, is a reinvention itself.
Listen to "Tangie and Ray" HERE: http://assets3.subpop.com/assets/audio/9788.mp3
Vetiver and the Fruit Bats Totally on Tour Together
Sep 6 First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
Sep 7 The Mill, Iowa City, IA
Sep 8 Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL
Sep 9 Southgate House, Newport, KY
Sep 10 Mr. Smalls Theater, Pittsburg, PA
Sep 11 Tiger Mountain & Truck Festival, Big Indian, NY
Sep 12 Middle East, Cambridge, MA
Sep 13 Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
Sep 14 First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA
Sep 15 Black Cat, Washington DC
Sep 17 Motorco, Durham, NC
Sep 19 Off Broadway, St. Louis, MO
Sep 20 Jackpot, Lawrence, KS
Sep 22 Bluebird Theater, Denver, CO
Sep 24 Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT