Pitchfork: Karate to Release New Album in September

Karate to Release New Album in September
Seeing how the band "waxed on" on last album, you can pretty much imagine how this one will go

One of the more prolific independent bands of the post-Codeine landscape, Karate released five full-length albums and one EP from 1995 to 2002-- during which time lead guitarist and vocalist Geoff Farina also managed to find time and inspiration enough for three solo albums. Each of those releases documented an adventurous band developing their sound-- from a starting point of driving Seam- and Codeine-inspired rock songs to their more recent tendencies toward more experimental blues and jazz, with extended guitar solos and dense lyrics. Karate headed back into the studio in the fall of 2003 and emerged with a new album, Pockets, now scheduled for release in September on Southern Records.

Pitchfork contacted Farina and got all the details on the new record. Pockets was recorded with Karate's longtime producer, Andy Hong, and marks a change from the more extended songs featured on their most recent albums. "I think it's the shortest record we've done since In Place Of," Farina says. "I would say from a songwriting perspective I was thinking of songs like Unsolved's "Roots and the Ruins" when I wrote some of the new songs. I've always liked performing that song and it's kind of grown with us, so I tried to use it as a jumping-off point for some of the new material."

The line-up of Farina on guitar, Jeff Goddard on bass, and Gavin McCarthy on drums is intact for this album, but Pockets also features an oddity for a Karate album-- guitarist Chris Brokaw (Codeine, Come) guests on two tracks ("Cacophony" and "Concrete"). Farina talked to Pitchfork about what it was like to work with Brokaw. "His guitar style is really unique and idiosyncratic," Farina says. "Come was one of my all-time favorite bands, so I just kind of laid back and enjoyed the ride when Chris played. His guitar is a bit more up-front than mine, which was great because I could concentrate on the singing. Neither of the songs that we did with Chris have guitar solos. Gavin and Jeff and I really respect Chris' approach and tried to let it guide the songs, rather than asking him to play rhythm guitar under my solos." Tracklist:

01 With Age
02 Water
03 The State I'm In (aka Goode Buy From Cobbs Creek Park)
04 Cacophony
05 Alingual
06 Tow Truck
07 Pines
08 Concrete

Farina says they plan to head out on tour following the release of Pockets, hitting the Midwest and the East Coast in the fall, then heading to the West Coast and Europe (and possibly Japan) in the spring of 2005. In the meantime, Farina will be hitting the road for a solo tour with Rebecca Gates and Igloo, among others. The plan is to debut some new material (as well as old stuff) earmarked for an upcoming solo album-- which might be recorded as early as this summer. Dates:

03-26 Portland, ME - The Space *
03-27 Lowell, MA - Evos Arts *
03-31 Providence, RI - AS220 *#
04-01 Cambridge, MA - The Middle East Upstairs *#
04-02 New York, NY - The Knitting Factory *#
04-03 Philadelphia, PA - The Khyber (w/ The Wrens)
04-04 Washington, D.C. - The Black Cat *
04-07 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom #
04-08 Chicago, IL - Schuba's Tavern #
04-09 Detroit, MI - The Detroit Art Space (w/ Fred Thomas)
04-10 Ann Arbor, MI - TBA (w/ Saturday Looks Good To Me)

* with Rebecca Gates
# with Igloo

Farina also recently recorded two CD's worth of largely improvised and abstract music with Luther Gray (Joe Morris Trio) and Dan Littleton (Ida) that currently has no title, label, or release date. But they're working on it. The trio will be performing on May 15th at the Modern Improvised Music Series at the Artists at Large Gallery in Boston.