DEATH OF THE WALDEN NEWSPAPER CO. by Driveway Ceiling Out on Vinyl

Indie psych pop quartet Driveway Ceiling has released its debut album, Death of the Walden Newspaper Co., on Independent Project Records (IPR). The record, previously released digitally, is now available for the first time on vinyl (black or opaque forest green) and Special Edition CD.

Originally from Trumbull, CT. and now scattered across the East Coast, on their first full-length album Driveway Ceiling offers a heady brew of trippy sunshine pop with tinges of Tropicalia and art rock. It's a 15-song, 44-minute collection of modern psychedelic delicacies chock-full of melodies and harmonies, with spoken word interludes and, of course, appearances from the elusive 'Mr. Walden' himself.

Coming together from impressive distances, Driveway Ceiling gathered in a house somewhere in Pennsylvania with the sole intent of letting everything they had out into the open air for this album. They put a Batman towel on the snare drum and pulled their guitar straps up a little too high like they used to do on TV. Then they revived Mr. Walden, a Hearst-like media tycoon made astonishingly redeemable by the powers of rhythm and melody.

If that sounds unlikely, then you need to spend time with Death of the Walden Newspaper Co., a record that resurrects and subverts the concept of a concept album almost sixty years after Pepper and Village Green. And it is indeed the Beatles and the Kinks (by way of Apples in Stereo and Elf Power) that act as polestars whenever the four members of Driveway Ceiling – currently pursuing college and life at large across the States – convene to weave their sounds together. The four piece looks both back and forward, finding a balance between the best of '60s and '90s sonic trips while speaking resolutely to and of today.

Hot off the storied Independent Project Records presses, Death of the Walden Newspaper Co. is that most unlikely of things: a story in paper and ink bursting out of the digital age, music that wears its retro loves on its sleeve while leaving us with bright hope for indie rock's future.

Tracklist

1. Sleepy River Dawn

2. Yellow Journalism

3. BLACK SWAN

4. Hair in the Drain

5. Get a Load of this Guy (Interlude)

6. Mr. Walden

7. Modern Theroux

8. Impressive Distances

9. Beeline

10. Disgust

11. Leisure Time (Interlude)

12. Thru the Walls

13. Live Free or Die

14. Smoking Again

15. Obituary

About Independent Project Records

Founded in 1980 by musician and artist Bruce Licher, Independent Project Records and its sister entity Independent Project Press are known for their instantly recognizable hand-printed record covers for bands including Camper Van Beethoven, For Against, Polvo, R.E.M., Savage Republic, Silversun Pickups, Stereolab and more. Aside from creating much of the artwork on his vintage two-ton hand-fed letterpress, Licher was nominated for a Grammy Award for his design work on the IPR released debut album from For Against. In 2020, the label was relaunched by both Licher and Jeffrey Clark with new and archival releases and is distributed by MRI/The Orchard & via Proper Music Group outside the USA & Canada. IPR is based in Bishop, California, at the base of the Eastern Sierra Mountains.

Photo Credit: Kevin Estrada

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