Pitchfork

When the folks at Sub Pop aren't busy pushing Sleater-Kinney, selling the Postal Service, explaining Wolf Eyes, or answering questions about Kurt Cobain, they're releasing some hidden gems-- their catalogue is overflowing with 'em. One of those diamonds in the rough is Holopaw's self-titled debut from 2003. Now, the indie-folkers are back with a new album, Quit +/or Fight, which Sub Pop will release on August 9. Pitchfork spoke to multi-instrumentalist Michael Johnson about the upcoming effort and about how much ass they're going to kick on their next tour.

Johnson describes the album as less clean-sounding than their debut. "I think we wanted to hit not quite as sterile of a sound as the first one. That's probably not the best word to use, but the other record was very crisp. The acoustic was so pristine, just so clear. I don't think we edited anything on this [new] record-- it was all, you know, live tapes."

That live sound came with the help of producer Mike Pecchio, of Scandalabra Studios in Brooklyn. Johnson explains, "[Pecchio] had converted a loft into this weird modular studio built up from scratch, with tons of good boards and ridiculous microphones."

Brooklyn wasn't the only recording locale. In addition to some of the album being cut in the band's hometown of Gainesville, Fla., not all of the band members were even in the same place at the same time for much of the recording process. Other engagements and busy schedules led to the group sending music back and forth. "Most of the time," Johnson says, "it revolved around me and John [Orth] being in New York at the same time. We kind of passed around a lot of things and got into a lot of arguments and finally it all settled together."

In addition to Pecchio's production work, Tom Reno and Dave LeBleu from the Mercury Program lended some instrumental help, and IDM-cum-hip-hop producer Daedelus contributed a bit of wind-work. While plans for a single have not been cemented, Johnson told us that Sub Pop is considering "Curious" as the album's lead single.

Oh, and as for that ass-kicking we mentioned? "We just played in Gainesville last weekend. The new songs have the potential to kick a lot more ass live-- it's a lot less acoustic-y and that kind of thing. We actually turned it on and we were throwing hot dogs all over the place and it was kind of a debaucherous 70s nightmare." If that's not a hook, I don't know what it is. Holopaw expect to hit the road later this year and again early in 2006. In the meantime, here's the album tracklist:

01 Losing Light
02 3-shy-cubs
03 Curious
04 Holiday
05 Velveteen (All is bright.)
06 Clearing
07 Little Shaver
08 Needle in the Sway
09 Found (Quit +/or Fight)
10 Ghosties
11 Shiver Me