THROTTLEROD Premieres “Lazy Susan” From Small Stone-Bound Turncoat Full-Length At The Obelisk

THROTTLEROD Band Photo 2010 Big copy

Long-running rock trio, THROTTLEROD, will release their fourth album, Turncoat, next month via Small Stone Recordings.

Dedicated to the memory of Puny Human vocalist Jim Starace, who passed away in 2012, and who had guested on the band’s 2006-issued Nail long player, Turncoat is an important step forward for the band, but much more, it’s a killer rock album, and whatever THROTTLEROD go through from one record to the next, and whoever happens to be sitting at the helm, that’s the underlying thread. It just wouldn’t be THROTTLEROD if it didn’t kick ass… and offer a surprise or two along the way. Turncoat was engineered and mixed by J. Robbins (Clutch, Coliseum, Against Me!) at Magpie Cage in Baltimore, Maryland, mastered by Dan Coutant at Sun Room Audio in Cornwall, New York, and will see release on CD and digitally June 24th, 2016 via Small Stone Recordings.

In advance of its release, today The Obelisk unveils second track, “Lazy Susan,” for mass consumption noting, “Like a lot of bands, THROTTLEROD have been through lineup changes and this and that, but swapping producers after fifteen years is huge, and Robbins – known for his work with Clutch, The Sword and Murder By Death, among many others, as well as for playing in Jawbox and other projects – makes a mark on this material in a way distinct from anything THROTTLEROD have done before. Distinct, but not outlandishly removed from [previous offering] Pig Charmer. That in itself is something of a change as compared to, say, the sonic jump they made between Hell And High Water and Nail, which, with less than half the time between Pig Charmer and Turncoat, found THROTTLEROD revamping their sound from Southern heavy rock to angular noise drawing on influence from early and mid-’90s dissonance. Pig Charmer continued that thread, and Turncoat follows suit to an extent, but as opener ‘Bait Shop’ shows in its chorus, the push comes with a heightened sense of melody as well. [Guitarist/vocalist Matt] Whitehead’s vocals, layered, are less shouted than sung, and as the two in the one-two punch, “Lazy Susan” answers in kind to “Bait Shop,” THROTTLEROD seem at least on some level to be reconciling their latter day approach with their beginnings, either consciously or not.”

Read more and hear “Lazy Susan,” now playing at The Obelisk, at THIS LOCATION.

You can also sample opening track “Bait Shop” at the official Small Stone BandCamp page HERE where you’ll also find preorder options.

THROTTLEROD has always had a knack for surprising, and their fourth album, Turncoat, is no exception. After making the transition from four-piece to trio, the outfit offered up their third full-length, Pig Charmer, in 2009, and took a left turn from their earlier, riffier vibes to blistering and aggressive noise rock. Like all their prior work, it was produced by Andrew Schneider, and had a sharpness in its chug that, while it still grooved, was clearly looking to accomplish something apart from the THROTTLEROD‘s earlier three LPs: 2000’s Eastbound And Down, 2003’s Hell And High Water, and 2006’s Nail, as well their quiet, semi-unplugged 2004 EP, Starve The Dead.

While the biggest change that Pig Charmer brought about was in lineup, Turncoat goes even further. Instead of going back to record as they always had, the band hooked up with J. Robbins to lay down Turncoat‘s twelve tracks, and the result of the new collaboration is that the album not only follows-up on the aggro promise of Pig Charmer, but builds it outward, in a way that’s more melodically resonant and as much about emotional expression as sonic impact.

TROD cover

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