Pitchfork

Marty Moore Reports:
The Shipping News, containing former members of Rachel's, June of 44 and Rodan, are gearing up to release a new full-length, and to tour the U.S. and Europe. After recording three EPs under the name RSMN over the past year, The Shipping News have decided to collect all three (with an additional three new songs) and release them under the band's official name on February 18th. Each disc was hand-made and even hand-sewn by the band and friends, before being released, in limited runs of 1,000 copies apiece, to independent record stores. As for the music, these EPs each contained one solo song by each member, with no communication to the others about its style or substance. If you don't live near any co-ops or earthen "collectives," now's your chance to snap up all the tracks in one easy to contain compact disc. Tracklist:

01 Sickening Bridge versus Horrible Bed
02 Haunted on Foot
03 Paper Lanterns
04 Haymaker
05 Dogs
06 We Start To Drift
07 Variegated
08 You Can't Hide The Mark Inside
09 Cock-a-doodle-do
10 Non-Volant
11 ...diamond lined star...
12 Wax Museum*
13 The Architect in Hell*
14 Everglade*

* - New songs

But wait! The literate rockers have shipped even more news to us heathens at Pitchfork: First, the band has added a new member, old friend and guitarist Todd Cook, to their lineup, and plans to begin a tour of the U.S. on February 8th. A European tour will follow. The band has also had plenty to say about the current political climate on their website, and admitted it's strange to think about rock shows at this time. "When a van load of freaks that live in the margins of their culture go rolling around in hopes of meeting other freaks maybe there's a secret joy that defies all this 'custom habit decay' and nationalistic madness." See, what did we tell you about "collectives?"

After the tour, the band will begin recording songs for a new LP. When asked if the new output would be as, um, laid-back as the songs on their last LP, Very Soon, And in Pleasant Company, or heavier like the material from their debut, Save Yourself, bassist Jason Noble replied, "We're working on the songs right now and they're living in both heavy and mellow places. As we're getting ready for the tour, it seems we're leaning toward the loud and evil sounding stuff... (we're feeling hyper and needing to 'release the bats' a bit more lately)." Release the hounds! Tour dates:

02-08 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
02-09 Murfreesboro, TN - Red Rose Coffee Shop
02-10 Knoxvile, TN - Pilot Light
02-11 Carrboro, NC - Room 4
02-12 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
02-13 New York, NY - Tonic
02-14 Brooklyn, NY - Norsix
02-15 Cambridge, MA - Middle East
02-16 Rochester, NY - Bug Jar
02-17 Cleveland, OH - Beachland
02-18 Pittsburgh, PA - 31st Street Pub
02-19 Columbus, OH - Little Brothers
02-21 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
02-22 Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club

02-27 Kilkenny, IRE - Zoo (w/Damien Frost)
02-28 Dublin, IRE - Whelans (w/Damien Frost)
03-01 Limerick, IRE-Savoy (w/Damien Frost)
03-02 Belfast, IRE - Aunt Annie's (w/Damien Frost)
03-05 Diksmuide, BEL - 4AD
03-06 Paris, FRA - La Guingette Pirate (w/Odd Mountain Trio)
03-07 Nantes, FRA - La Pannonica (w/Odd Mountain Trio)
03-08 Bordeaux, FRA - Le Cat (w/Odd Mountain Trio)
03-09 San Sebastian, Spain - Kandela Club (w/Odd Mountain Trio, Mitzura)
03-10 Barcelona, Spain - Sidecar (w/Odd Mountain Trio)
03-11 Marseille, FRA-Le Poste A Galene (w/Odd Mountain Trio, Astrid)
03-12 Italy - TBC
03-13 Italy - TBC
03-14 Italy - TBC
03-15 Italy - TBC
03-16 Illirska Bistrica, SLO - MKNZ (w/Three Second Kiss)
03-18 Zagreb, CRO - KSET (w/Three Second Kiss)
03-19 Belgrade, YUG - Dom Omladine
03-20 Vienna, AUT - Chelsea
03-21 Prague, CZE - 007 (w/Three Second Kiss)
03-22 Berlin, GER - Schokoladen (w/Gaston)
03-23 Hamburg, GER - Astra Stube (w/Gaston)
03-25 Kontich, BEL - Lintfabriek
03-26 Bristol, UK - Croft (w/Billy Mahonie)
03-27 London, UK - Dingwalls (w/Billy Mahonie)
03-28 Leeds, UK - Joseph's Well (w/Billy Mahonie)
03-29 Glasgow, UK - Glasgow School Of Art (w/Billy Mahonie)
03-30 Birmingham, UK - Medicine Bar (w/Billy Mahonie)
03-31 Nottingham, UK - Rescue Rooms (w/Billy Mahonie)
04-01 Brighton, UK - TBD (w/Billy Mahonie)
04-02 Leuven, BEL - T Stuk (w/Soda P)
04-03 Amsterdam, NLD - Occii (w/Soda P)

.: Shipping News: http://www.southern.com/southern/band/SHIPN