Pitchfork: The Elected Tour with Azure Ray, Neva Dinova, Okkervil River

The Elected Tour with Azure Ray, Neva Dinova, Okkervil River
Supreme Court rule on partisan lines to add George W. Bush to Sub Pop supergroup

The Elected, Rilo Kiley co-songwriter Blake Sennett's Sub Pop-pedigreed side project, hits the highway this March to show off their debut record Me First. Comprising members of Azure Ray and Ozma to boot, The Elected did all their recording on "donated time" at the late Elliott Smith's New Monkey Studio in Van Nuys, CA, with the aid of Saddle Creek mogul Mike Mogis. And what they came up with fits snugly next to Holopaw in Sub Pop's catalog.

The breathy, echoey vocals may be a bit, well, light in the loafers, even for indie rock. But Me First is a solid base hit nonetheless. Remember how much you liked that Rooney song "Blueside" the first time you heard it (don't lie)? Well, the rest of that LP's right here. Where Rooney's California sound drifted into diet-Weezer oblivion, Sennett's songs are ambitious as fuck (see track 11, "Don't Blow It," for a "Feed the World" fix), fusing elements of Doug Sahm, Gram Parsons and the Saddle Creek orchestra into a coherent, easily accessible beach sound. Here's hoping the live show lives up to a tres-likeable debut record. Dates:

03-07 Grinnell, IA - Grinnell College *
03-09 Chicago, IL - Abbey Pub *
03-10 Cleveland Heights, OH *
03-11 Clinton, NY - Hamilton College Annex *
03-12 Philadelphia, PA - La Salle University *
03-13 Wellesley, MA - Wellesley College *
03-14 Cambridge, MA - TT The Bears *
03-16 Pittsburgh, PA - Carnegie Mellon University *
03-17 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's *
03-18 New York, NY - Knitting Factory *
03-19 Providence, RI - The Call *
03-20 Philadelphia, PA - North Star *
03-22 Carrboro, NC - Go Rehearsal *
03-23 Atlanta, GA - The Earl (w/ Azure Ray, Okkervil River)
03-24 Birmingham, AL - Zydeco (w/ Azure Ray, Okkervil River)
03-26 Houston, TX - Mary Janes +
03-28 Austin, TX - Emo's +
03-31 Tucson, AZ - Solar Culture +
04-01 Phoenix, AZ - Modified +
04-02 Pomona, CA - Glass House +
04-03 Hollywood, CA - Troubadour +
04-04 San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord +
04-06 Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan +
04-07 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe +
04.09 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
04.10 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
04.13 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground