Ahead of their long overdue sophomore full-length album, Reading, England-based darlings, Pete and the Pirates released their lead single off their new album yesterday. “Come to the Bar” is a digital-only single, and you can get it from iTunes as well as their UK-based label Stolen Recordings right here.
Stolen Recordings have placed one minute previews of both the A-side and B-side on its website, or you can watch the official video for the A-side here:
It’s a long song for P&P, and I’ve been following the band since I heard singer Tommy Sanders’ debut solo album, Lanzafame, under the moniker of Tap Tap, back in 2008. I first wrote about Pete and the Pirates late last year. Sanders’ solo work was not that far a departure from the music of P&P, so a shining to both projects seemed inevitable. Now arrives “Come To The Bar,” the first single from the new album, One Thousand Pictures (due for release on May 23).
I first heard P&P were working on this album back in early 2009. My anticipation waxed and waned over the years. A so-so Tap Tap album offered a hold over, not to mention a dip back into the band’s back catalog, which covered their acclaimed full length debut Little Death (support this blog by buying the CD on Amazon) and several singles and EPs that date back to 2005.
During that time, and based on what I hear on this new track, P&P have turned a corner. Their catchy guitar hooks are still there, but there is also an electronic element that offers a nice decor and gloss to the songs that I have so far heard. If their sound could have grown more luscious, it certainly has. Partial credit should go to producer Brendan Lynch, who has worked with Paul Weller and Primal Scream, among others.
At the end of last year, stranded by a snowstorm that interrupted plans for many in Europe, Pete and the Pirates filmed a video for another song off the new album, “Winter 1.”
It again features a lush quality, this time in the super-affected bass line that anchors the track. The band has made the track available for free on their site. You can still get the mp3 by signing up for their mailing list on the band’s homepage.
I am also familiar with the B-side of “Come to the Bar.” Based on what I hear in the preview for “Good Girl” on the Stolen website, this is a new recording of a song I first heard in 2009, when Pete and the Pirates made their first appearances in the US and recorded some radio sessions. Your can hear how “Good Girl” sounded in 2009 by downloading the mp3 of the cut the band performed for WOXY FM.
Finally, I end this post with the tracklisting for One Thousand Pictures:
Can’t Fish
Cold Black Kitty
Little Gun
Come to the Bar
Winter 1
Washing Powder
Blood Gets Thin
United
Shotgun
Motorbike
Things That Go Bump
Reprise
Half Moon Street
