Pitchfork: Hella to Issue 2xLP Double Solo Album

Noise-rock's Abbott and Costello are back-- or is it Big Boi and Andre? Spencer Seim and Zach Hill, also known as Hella, are getting ready to release their fourth full-length, due out in March via Suicide Squeeze. The thing is a "2 disc double solo record," so now you see where we were going with the Outkast reference: This dog is sure to be their Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.

Seim's "lighthearted but wholly technical" side is Chirpin Hard, an instrumental record that apparently draws from some of the video game influences which shaped The Advantage, his (totally goofy; there, we said it) Nintendo-soundtrack side project. Hard's counterpart is Church Gone Wild, a disc that will no doubt showcase Zach Hill's trademark musical freak-outs as well as, unexpectedly, his singing. (Hill's recent album Masculine Drugs had an unusual amount of vocalizing for a Hella-related release, but it all belonged to Holy Smokes member D. Elkan and guest Rob Crow.)

Hella plans to tour extensively-- twice-- in 2005, starting with a March jaunt around the release of Church Gone Wild/Chirpin Hard. Most of the shows on that tour are reported to include fellow Californians Numbers, but the only date confirmed so far is Hella's stop at SXSW, where they'll headline Suicide Squeeze's showcase on March 16th (also featuring The Six Parts Seven, Amy Linton, S. and stand-up comedian Eugene Mirman).

All this happens as Zach Hill becomes increasingly sought after as a secret weapon for other bands in search of a drummer; he now plays in Team Sleep (with Chino Moreno of the Deftones) and Goon Moon (with Twiggy Ramirez of Marilyn Manson and Chris Goss of Masters of Reality). For the record, Team Sleep's long-delayed first album may finally see the light of day later in 2005, according to the Deftones website.