Pitchfork

A retirement is never quite a retirement with these android scientist types. It seems ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead have found a replacement for their previously reported "Doni [Schroader] computer version 2.9"-shaped hole behind the drum kit, and he comes from the same kindly "scientist friend Max Brenner," according to a website update from frontman Conrad Keely.

Apparently, totally real scientist Brenner "happened to have had another prototype lying around in his studio [read: Nashville --Ed.], the Aaron 3.0. Aaron was developed alongside the Doni and performs with equally superb skill and efficiency, albeit slightly faster and even a bit harder at times than the Doni. Although not yet tested under extreme environments such as spilt beer and shards of glass, Brenner has convinced us that the Aaron's newly updated circuits are robust and capable of withstanding the extreme pressures of a live TOD show."

The new bot-- who also goes by the name Aaron Ford-- has proved his durability with stints in bands like Bluetip, Bobby Bare Jr.'s Young Criminals Starvation League, and Unwed Sailor.

So now TOD can finally get to the real business: that month-long tour of (mostly) Europe they have coming up, which still begins with a single date in Brooklyn tomorrow, August 2.

Robo-dates:

08-02 Brooklyn, NY - Luna Lounge
08-05 Zambujeira do Mar, Portugal - Sudoeste Festival
08-07 Barcelona, Spain - La[2]
08-09 Gothenburg, Sweden - TBA
08-10 Oslo, Norway - Øyafestival
08-11 Mikkeli, Finland - Jurassic Rock Festival
08-13 Warsaw, Poland - Hard Rock Cafe
08-14 Prague, Czech Republic - Roxy
08-15 Salzburg, Germany - Frequency Festival
08-16 Nuremburg, Germany - K4
08-17 Erfurt, Germany - Highland Festival
08-18 Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop Festival
08-20 Sheffield, England - Leadmill
08-21 London, England - Islington Academy
08-22 Brighton, England - Concorde 2
08-24 Püttlingen, Germany - Rocco del Schlacko
08-25 Horb am Neckar, Germany - Minirock Festival
08-26 Lüdinghausen, Germany - Area 4 Festival
08-28 Mannheim, Germany - Alte Feuerwache
08-29 Nijmegen, Netherlands - Doornroosje
08-30 Haarlem, Netherlands - Patronaat
09-01 Basel, Switzerland - JKF Festival
09-02 Bologna, Italy - Independent Days Festival
09-03 Lucerne, Switzerland - Konzerthaus Schuur