Pitchfork: Chris Lopez Is Tenement Halls

While some may have shed tears when the original Rock-A-Teens split up in the early 1960s, more were likely moved and saddened when Cabbagetown, Geo.'s the Rock*A*Teens called it a day after 2000's Sweet Bird of Youth. Rock*A*Teens ringleader Chris Lopez has emerged from the breakup as Tenement Halls. Knitting Needles & Bicycle Bells was produced by Lopez, mixed by Robert Gal, and contains contributions by Shannon Wright, Will Fratesi, and ex-Rock*A*Teen Ballard Lesemann. Merge will release the album on August 23, just in time for the start of a fall tour. Tracklist:

01 Silver From the Silt
02 Up & Over Thee Turnstiles
03 As Long as It Takes
04 Charlemagne
05 Now She Knows
06 Plenty Is Never Enough
07 Marry Me
08 My Wicked Wicked Ways
09 Starless Night
10 When the Swifts Come Home
11 Promise a Place

Tenement Halls will be touring soon, with a full band backing up Lopez. All the following dates are opening for Merge head honcho Mac McCaughan's band Portastatic, excepting a date in Atlanta at the beginning of October. Gigbag:

08-25 Athens, GA - Caledonia Lounge *
08-26 Winston Salem, NC - The Werehouse *
08-27 Durham, NC - Troika Music Festival *
09-07 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle *
09-08 Louisville, KY - Uncle Pleasants *
09-09 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle #
09-10 Kalamazoo, MI - Kraftbrau *
09-11 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop *
09-12 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace *
09-13 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa *
09-14 Boston, MA - The Middle East Upstairs #
09-16 New York, NY - Rothko, CMJ Merge Records Showcase $
09-17 Philadelphia, PA - The Khyber *
10-01 Atlanta, GA - The Earl

* w/Portastatic
# w/Portastatic & Mary Timony
$ w/Portastatic, Crooked Fingers, Richard Buckner, Annie Hayden & the Rosebuds

href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/r/rock-a-teens/sweet-bird-of-youth.shtml">Rock*a*Teens: Sweet Bird of Youth