Pitchfork

[Posted Tuesday, October 21st, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Since The Posies originally split in 1998, founding members Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow have released a number of albums, EPs, live albums, and assorted ephemera under their own names, other band names, and occasionally even as the Posies. However, to this point, Auer has not released a full-length album of original material, and The Posies, despite reuniting in 2000 for a couple of releases and a tour, have not released an album of new material since their official swan song, Success. To the potential delight of long-suffering fans and new devotees alike, both of those statements will soon be rendered untrue.

Auer's manager, Barbara Mitchell, tells Pitchfork that following a tour and Auer's long-awaited solo album, the Posies "will begin recording early next year for a planned fall release" on an as-yet-undetermined label. Auer and Stringfellow will be joined by Matt Harris on bass and Darius Minwalla on drums for the forthcoming album, according to Mitchell.

Auer, who released a split EP with Stringfellow earlier this year on Arena Rock Recording Co., is set to release his solo album, Songs From The Year Of Our Demise, early next year on Pattern 25, the same label which released his covers EP 6 1/2. Like his previous solo outings, the instrumentation is largely handled by Auer, with Minwalla guesting on several tracks.

First off, though, Auer is heading out on a short West Coast tour with Goldenboy, who will serve as both opening act and as Auer's backing band. David McConnell of Goldenboy explains how they hooked up with Auer: "We opened for the Posies one night in Seattle and then opened for Jon another night in Roslyn, WA at the Brick. Jon just sort of pulled us up on stage and we kind of became his backing band for the evening. Everyone had so much fun that we talked about doing an actual tour together and that's how this came about." Goldenboy will continue the tour after Auer departs, playing several dates with the Summer Hymns, then they'll head into the studio to record their second album. Here are the dates with Auer:

10-21 Los Angeles, CA - Silverlake Lounge
10-24 Sacramento, CA - Old Ironsides
10-27 San Francisco, CA - Cafe du Nord
10-29 Portland, OR - Dante's
10-30 Roslyn, WA - The Brick
10-31 Seattle, WA - Sunset Tavern
11-01 Bellingham, WA - The Wild Buffalo

Nothing says tour like a limited-edition live album, and Jon Auer is totally on board-- he'll be traveling with copies of The Birthday Party, which features live versions of a frankly staggering variety of new and old Posies tracks, Auer solo compositions, and covers. And if tour-only isn't good enough for you, the album will also see release in a very limited run of hand numbered copies, Mitchell reports. Tracklist:

01 Tuesday
02 Flavor Of The Month
03 Thirteen [Big Star]
04 Sad To Be Aware
05 The Perfect Size
06 Beyond Belief [Elvis Costello]
07 No Consolation
08 Lights Out
09 I May Hate You Sometimes
10 Green Eyes [Hüsker Dü]
11 Beautiful Stranger [Madonna]
12 Suddenly Mary
13 When The Lights Go Up