The Heavenly States Release Political Single, Tour

Those who find the current slate of "protest music" long on hokey bumper-sticker sloganeering and short on actual emotional resonance are politely advised to familiarize themselves with The Heavenly States, an Oakland post-graduate pop/punk band planning the Election Day release of their "King Epiphany"/"Monument" single. The former is a catchy power-rock tune, but it's the latter-- a 70-second conceptual piece in which three intertwined voices read off the names of Iraqi civilian casualties-- that's piqued the interest of NPR types.

"A monument is like a big, beautiful corpse that doesn't smell," Heavenly State member Genevieve Gagon told Pitchfork via e-mail. "Our monument isn't really a monument at all then. It's not meant to be. It's a presentation of the names of civilian dead in Iraq, names that had been utterly eclipsed by our media."

Though obviously a strong anti-Bush statement (the single was used recently by protesters at the Republican National Convention), Gagon insists the 420-name track's pull is more emotional than political. "We just want people to listen-- that's all it's really ultimately for, and listening is different every time. If it scares people or makes them angry, then those people are with us."

The single is being bundled with the re-release of the band's 2003 self-titled debut on Baria Records. A November U.S. tour is also in the cards, but locations for most of the dates are still being hammered out. What we do know:

10-16 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill (w/ David Thomas & Two Pale Boys)
11-02 Portland, OR - Meow Meow
11-04 Boise, ID - Neurolux
11-06 Denver, CO - Hi Dive
11-11 Boise, ID - Cafe Bourbon St.
11-13 Columbus, OH - Cafe Bourbon