British Post-Punk Innovators Modern English Announce March/April US Tour

By: Dec. 07, 2016
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Following their successful "Mesh and Lace" US tour this past May/June, and the recent announcement of the upcoming February 24, 2017 release of "Take Me To The Trees", the band's first new album in three decades, the UK's post-punk innovators, Modern English, are proud to announce that they will return to the US in mid-March.

Commenting about the band's 2016 summer tour, vocalist Robbie Grey says, "It was brilliant! I'm out of the loop in the modern world, but the music we used to make is fashionable again." The "Take Me To The Trees Tour" kicks off with Modern English's first ever appearance at SXSW with special shows on March 14-16, and concludes at Brooklyn's Rough Trade store on April 14. Tickets for the tour go on sale this Friday, December 9.

"TAKE ME TO THE TREES" US TOUR 2017

MARCH 14-16 - AUSTIN, TX - SXSW
MARCH 21 - PHOENIX, AZ - VALLEY BAR
MARCH 22 - SAN DIEGO, CA - THE CASBAH
MARCH 23 - LOS ANGELES, CA - THE REGENT
MARCH 24 - OAKLAND, CA - OAKLAND METRO OPERAHOUSE
MARCH 27 - PORTLAND, OR - STAR THEATRE
MARCH 28 - SEATTLE, WA - NEUMOS
MARCH 30 - SALT LAKE CITY, UT - URBAN LOUNGE
MARCH 31 - DENVER, CO - LARIMER LOUNGE
APRIL 2 - KANSAS CITY, MO - recordBar
APRIL 3 - ST. LOUIS, MO - OFF BROADWAY
APRIL 5 - ST. PAUL, MN - TURF CLUB
APRIL 6 - CHICAGO, IL - EMPTY BOTTLE
APRIL 7 - FERNDALE, MI - THE LOVING TOUCH
APRIL 8 - PITTSBURGH, PA - REX THEATRE
APRIL 10 - WASHINGTON, DC - ROCK N ROLL HOTEL
APRIL 11 - PHILADELPHIA, PA - JOHNNY BRENDA'S
APRIL 13 - BOSTON, MA - BRIGHTON MUSIC HALL
APRIL 14 - BROOKLYN, NY - ROUGH TRADE

Funded by PledgeMusic, "Take Me To The Trees", which will be released via Kartel Music Group, not only reconnects the band (vocalist Robbie Grey; bassist Mick Conroy; guitarist Gary McDowell; and keyboardist Steven Walker) to their roots, in the fervent and fecund world of late 1970s/early 1980s post-punk Britain, but they have co-produced it with Martyn Young of Colourbox and M/A/R/R/S fame, whose last production job was 1986. In addition, the album's beautiful cover is by venerated art director Vaughan Oliver, whose very first sleeve design was Modern English's "Gathering Dust" single in 1980.

Grey, Conroy, McDowell and Walker first reunited in 2010, to tour the US, UK and Paris, before accepting an invitation to re-record their 1984 smash single "I Melt With You" for Mark Pellington's film of the same name. They hadn't seen each other in over twenty years, until they all started rehearsing for the tour. "It was like the intervening years hadn't happened," says Conroy, "and the old songs still sounded as good." After the tour, they started swapping new ideas, "some from jamming in a room, like we used to do," says Grey. "We looked at each other, just laughing. It was amazing."

As "Take Me To The Trees" finally took shape, the band toured the US again in the summer of 2016, playing their 1981 debut album, "Mesh And Lace", in its entirety, as the album was reissued by the US indie Drastic Plastic, the first time the vinyl for it had been available in the US.

The band's fired-up vitality is palpable in "Take Me To The Trees" pulsating opener, and first single, "You're Corrupt", laced with Grey's rant against corporate greed, "and the throwaway nature of modern culture. It's a time when even the truth is watered down."

Here's a link to stream "You're Corrupt":

In the words of Gerrit Feenstra from "KEXP.com", who reviewed the band's Seattle show in May, "...it was a priceless treat to get to hear all of these ageless tunes at Neumos tonight....Modern English melted for no one with a blistering post-punk set of deserved classics turned up to earsplitting volume. If Modern English is coming to your town, go."


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