Pitchfork: Joe Lally's Decahedron Ready New LP, Tour

Joe Lally's Decahedron Ready New LP, Tour
All signs point to ROCK!

The long and/or short of it: Shelby Cinca, formerly of the D.C. punk band Frodus, met Fugazi's Joe Lally when Cinca recorded two albums for Dead Meadow that would be released on Lally's Tolotta Records. Soon after, Lally and Cinca began to write songs together, and e-mailed them to Cinca's former Frodus bandmate, Jason Hamacher, who was in Europe at the time, for his input and contributions. Upon Hamacher's return to the States, the trio united to form The Black Sea and released a three-song EP on Lovitt Records in late 2002.

Last year, The Black Sea spent eight months in their home studio recording their debut full-length, Disconnection_Imminent, an album of streamlined, deliberate post-punk/stoner dinosaur rock that leans more toward classic progressions than atmospheric dissonance (kind of like Dead Meadow, come to think of it). Upon completing the album, however, they were forced to change their name due to trademark issues surrounding "The Black Sea"-- thus did they become Decahedron. With all the ambiguity around the legalities of protecting intellectual property, I could be slapped under the bright lights in Guantanamo Bay and detained indefinitely as an "enemy combatant" just for writing the words "The Black Sea." Oh hell, I've done it again!
Grapevine has it that the band proposed changing their name to The Black Sea_01, The Black Seal (the "l" in "Seal" is silent), or Lirj Ownb Wokemvn (pronunciation key: the - BLAK - see), but that the persons who owned the idea of naming something The Black Sea (P.S.: What the fuck?) were still not satisfied. The offended parties suggested, in good, if misguided, faith, the name "The Lally-Gaggers," and were summarily punkslapped. Finally, Decahedron was settled upon. If it happens to be trademarked as well, this writer has a number of righteous other bandnames to suggest, including The Make-a-Wish Foundation, The Green Bay Packers, and McDonald's. That's just a taste, guys; I got a million. Call me up.

While the album was being mastered, Lally resigned from bass duties and was replaced by Jonathan Ford (Roadside Monument, Unwed Sailor). With this finalized line-up and name, Lovitt Records is preparing to release Disconnection_Imminent on Tuesday. The tracklist (you can check out an MP3 of "Delete False Carrier" on the Lovitt website) is as follows:

01 Delete False Culture
02 No Carrier
03 Module I
04 Pay No Mind
05 Not These Homes
06 Every City is a Prison
07 Burning Lights
08 Lt. Col. Questions Himself
09 At the Corner of Shuylkill . . .
10 Dislocation
11 Endings

And finally, as if to support the new album, the band are embarking upon a sizable 29-date tour. Look down here:

04-15 Brooklyn, NY - Northsix (w/Nakatomi Plaza, Baby Teeth, Quick Fix Kills)
04-16 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar (w/Beauty Pill, Q & Not U)
04-17 Washington DC - Black Cat (Record Release Party; w/Beauty Pill, City Goats)
04-18 Lewisburg, PA - Henderfest
04-19 Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place (w/Scout Niblett)
04-20 Grand Rapids, MI - Division Ave. Arts Cooperative
04-21 Chicago, IL - Fireside Bowl (w/Yaphet Kotto, Mannequin)
04-22 Iowa CIty, IO - Gabe's Oasis (w/Limbeck, The Lifestyle)
04-23 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground (w/Scout Niblett)
04-24 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
04-25 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
04-27 Seattle, WA - Sunset Tavern (w/Supine to Sit, Hidari Mae)
04-28 Portland, OR - Davey Jones Locker (w/With Believing in June, The School Play, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Day of Lions)
04-29 San Fransisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill (w/A Burning Water)
04-30 Los Angeles, CA - The Scene Bar (w/Wires on Fire, Saber Tooth Tiger, Pink Hand Grenade)
05-01 Tucson, AZ - Plush
05-03 Austin, TX - Emo's
05-04 Houston, TX - The Axiom (w/White Whale)
05-06 Prairieville, LA - Magnolia Music Gallery (w/Fred Weaver)
05-07 Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds
05-08 Orlando, FL - TBA
05-09 Mt. Pleasant, SC - Village Tavern
05-10 Athens, GA - Caledonia Lounge (w/Who Is Myrtle Malloy?)
05-11 Atlanta, GA - The Earl - 404 522 3950 (w/Thye Standard, The Liverhearts)
05-12 Carrborro, NC - Room 4 - Go Rehearsal (w/Shannon Wright, Bellfea)
05-13 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church (w/Trans Am, Les Gorges Leningrad, The Frequency)
05-14 Washington DC - Black Cat (w/Q & Not U, Mary Timony)
05-15 Boston,MA - North Eastern University (w/El Guapo, Forensics, Holy Mountain, Fallout Countdown)
05-16 Wilkes Barre, PA - The Zoo (w/Forensics, Holly Mountain)