'Air Conditioning' by Sonic Citadel Out Now

Following the recent announcement of their new album Sonic Citadel, out Oct. 11th, Lightning Bolt have unveiled the album's first single: "Air Conditioning." On Sonic Citadel, bassist Brian Gibson and drummer Brian Chippendalehave done the daring, stripping away some of the distortion mask to reveal the naked pop forms of their songs as never before. "Air Conditioning" makes use of space and vocal clarity unlike any previous Lightning Bolt song, yet retains the relentless energy, inventiveness, and unrestrained joy that drives all of their music. Lightning Bolt will tour throughout the world late 2019 and early 2020.

Over their career Lightning Bolt's incomparable sound has been built on the ebb and flow between the power of raw, unbridled simplicity and a boundless, childlike sense of wonder. Sonic Citadel marks the duo's most varied and diverse work since their seminal album Wonderful Rainbow, exploring a large breadth of emotions between and within each song. Bassist Brian Gibson and drummer/vocalist Brian Chippendale again recorded with Seth Manchester at the esteemed Machines With Magnets to capture the abandon of their music with clarity and Gibson's incredible dynamic range clearly to make the record as visceral an experience as their live performances.

The pummeling "Blow To The Head" and swirling "Van Halen 2049" bookend the album with two of the most ferocious songs in the band's catalogue, with the former built as a Black Pus (Brian Chippendale's solo outlet) track on steroids. In stark contrast, songs like "Don Henley In The Park," and "All Insane" take on almost conventional pop shapes despite being entirely spontaneous pieces crafted in the studio. "Hüsker Dön't" too defies expectations as one of the poppiest songs in their discography with a chugging but clear chord progression and some of Chippendale's least distorted vocals. These wildly varying approaches are a testament to the duo's immeasurable capacity to explore new sonic territory organically, and largely through improvisation.

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