Pitchfork

Shit-rippin' supergroup Battles are building up an awful lot of pre-release tension before the public unveiling of their neuron-bombarding Warp-issued debut LP Mirrored, out May 22 in the U.S. and May 14 in the rest of the world.

Everybody's talking about their premium guitar licks, saturnine vocals, and hammer-of-Thor drums, and they're worth talking about. Worth seeing, too, if the live show much of Pitchfork's Chicago staff couldn't help from raving about in late March is any indication.

North American audiences will get another shot at watching Battles play out on a string of dates to follow their current ride through Europe. Residents of Albuquerque, take special note, as the idea of a Battles/Marnie Stern onstage collaboration seems almost (but not quite) too much rock to take in at once.

They'll eventually land at the Pitchfork Music Festival July 14, with every intention of boggling your brain with their maximum riffage. You can't wait, can you? None of us can, either.

In other Battles news, skinsman John Stanier recently contributed a lesson in trap music to the drum instruction site MyDrumLesson.com. An advanced-level lesson, one presumes.

Battlegrounds:

05-10 Berlin, Germany - Maria
05-11 Bielefeld, Germany - JZ Kamp
05-12 Cologne, Germany - Studio 672
05-14 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso (Room 2)
05-15 Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique
05-16 London, England - Scala ^
05-17 Sheffield, England - The Corporation ^
05-18 Bristol, England - The Cooler
05-19 Somerset, England - Butlins Minehead (All Tomorrow's Parties)
05-20 Leeds, England - Stylus Uni ^@
05-22 Manchester, England - Academy 2
05-23 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC2
05-24 Birmingham, England - The Barfly
05-25 Dublin, Ireland - Temple Bar Music Centre
05-26 Paris, France - Maroquinerie
05-27 Lille, France - Le Grand Mix
05-30 Oullins, France - MJC Oullins
06-01 Rome, Italy - Dissonanze Festival
06-02 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Festival
06-04 Dortmund, Germany - FZW
06-05 Leipzig, Germany - Conne Island
06-13 Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom
06-14 Charlotte, NC - The Milestone
06-15 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
06-16 Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds
06-17 Orlando, FL - The Social
06-18 Miami, FL - Studio A
06-19 Tampa, FL - Crowbar
06-20 Tallahassee, FL - The Beta Bar
06-22 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
06-23 Houston, TX - Numbers *
06-24 Austin, TX - Emo's Jr.
06-25 Denton, TX - Hailey's
06-27 Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad #
06-28 Phoenix, AX - Rhythm Room
06-29 San Diego, CA - Beauty Bar
06-30 Los Angeles, CA - Troubador
07-02 San Francisco, CA - Slims
07-03 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
07-04 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
07-05 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Café
07-06 Boise, ID - Neurolux
07-07 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
07-08 Denver, CO - AEG Rocky Mountain
07-10 Kansas City, MO - The Record Bar
07-11 Minneapolis - Triple Rock Social Club
07-12 Iowa City, IA - The Picador
07-13 Milwaukee, WI - Stonefly Brewery
07-14 Chicago, IL - Union Park (Pitchfork Music Festival) %
07-16 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
07-17 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
07-18 Boston, MA - Paradise
08-31 New York, NY - Seaport Music Festival

^ with Clark
@ with Beans
* with Sharks and Sailors
# with Marnie Stern
% with Yoko Ono, Cat Power, Clipse, Iron and Wine, Girl Talk, Grizzly Bear, Califone, the Twilight Sad, Fujiya & Miyagi, Oxford Collapse, Dan Deacon, Beach House, Professor Murder, Ken Vandermark's Powerhouse Sound