Indie rock band The Stereo release new music for the first time in 20 years on Wednesday. “Kings of No Hope” is the first single from their upcoming album Thirteen, scheduled for release on May 13.
Along with the single and album announcement the band will also release five part podcast series about the band’s history. Also called “Kings of No Hope,” the podcast series details the band’s founding in 1999, it’s multiple dissolutions in 2001 and 2004, and subsequent reassembly in 2011. The podcast features interviews with the band members and notable music industry figures including Chris Carrabba (Dashboard Confessional) and Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy).
The current iteration of The Stereo original members Jamie Woolford and Rory Phillips along with bassist Chris Serafini, and drummer Sam Hardwig.
While never receiving widespread critical or fan acclaim The Stereo was always well respected by other indie rock musicians. “I think that there’s about 600 to 1,000 bands currently that owe their career to The Stereo,” said Jack Antonoff, the lead singer of Bleachers.
As part of the album’s announcement The Stereo launched a Kickstarter campaign to support a vinyl production of both “Thirteen” and “The Kings of No Hope” podcast series.
Following both the release of their 2021 album and their performance debut on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, Bleachers have announced that they will be going on tour. Accompanying the tour announcement is the release of the music video for “How Dare You Want More,” a fan favorite off of their last project Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night.
Bleachers, Saturday Night Live
The indie-pop act first came to fruition in 2013. While on the road with Fun, Jack Antonoff worked on his own solo project. The first single, “I Wanna Get Better,” was released a year later in 2014 and received extraordinarily positive critical reception. Since then, the act has released three studio albums and Antonoff has continued to grow in notoriety, working with the likes of Charli XCX, Carli Rae Jepsen, and more. Their latest album features both Bruce Springsteen and Lana Del Rey.
Rising indie star Beabadoobee will also be joining the band on tour in their three New York stops. She is a Filipino-British songwriter reminiscent of Phoebe Bridgers or Clairo. Her soft vocals which lullaby over acoustic guitar progressions create a cozy and nostalgic atmosphere for the listener. You may know her for her viral hit remix with Powfu, “death bed (coffee for your head),” which has since racked up over a billion streams on Spotify alone since its release in 2020. At only 21 years old, the young talent has since built a cult following and shows a promising future in the indie scene and her newest song, “Cologne,” shows both versatility and promise.
Beabadoobee
The band will pass through three New York venues in July, including the designated New York City landmark Radio City Music Hall. Other venues include ARTPARK Amphitheater, located alongside the Niagra River, and Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Mar 24 – Roadrunner, Boston, MA (SOLD OUT)
Mar 25 – Roadrunner, Boston, MA (SOLD OUT)
May 17 – House of Blues, Orlando, FL
May 18 – Jannus Live, St. Petersburg, FL
May 20 – The Fillmore, New Orleans, LA
May 21 – Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater, Austin, TX
May 24 – House of Blues, Houston, TX
May 25 – South Side Ballroom, Dallas, TX
May 29 – BottleRock, Napa Valley, CA
Jun 10 – Primavera Sound, Barcelona, Spain
Jun 15 – Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA
Jun 17 – Bonnaroo, Nashville, TN
Jun 18 – Bonnaroo SuperJam, Nashville, TN
Jun 20 – Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO (SOLD OUT)
The artist pre-sale for the tour begins at 12 PM EST on Monday, January 31st. Spotify pre-sale starts on Thursday, February 3rd at 10 AM EST. Moreover, Citi cardmembers will have access to pre-sale tickets for three select days: Monday, January 31st at 2 PM EST until Thursday, February 3rd at 10 PM EST.
Access for everyone starts Friday, February 4th at 10 PM EST.
For the first episode of 2022, SNL welcomed Ariana Debose to host, along with Jack Antonoff’s Bleachers as musical guest. Debose won a Golden Globe earlier this week for her performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” and gained additional honors as the 200th woman since 1975 to host the NBC variety show.
During her monologue, Debose was joined by veteran cast member Kate McKinnon for a medley of “West Side Story” numbers, including “Tonight,” “Something’s Coming” and “America;” during “I Feel Pretty” the pair fist bumped following the famous line “I feel pretty and witty and gay!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLOEKEwjGKk
The show began with “Message from the President” and featured new cast member James Austin Johnson as President Joe Biden blaming the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19 on too many people seeing “Spiderman: No Way Home.” Biden at one point wondered if there were other President Biden’s in the multiverse, leading Pete Davidson to arrive as a Biden variant from another universe.
Local business commercials in the New York Metro area were spoofed by Davidson and Chloe Fineman, who advertised their shop for prom and formal wear in “Formal Emporium,” with featured player Andrew Dismukes as their nerdy son.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QoH_oYaN6M
Chris Redd made his debut as new New York City Mayor Eric Adams, in a NY1 press conference sketch where Adams made his arrival to the podium with Mase’s “Feel So Good”as walk on music. Adams bragged about the swag he brings to the office and gave stark comparison to the predecessor, who was never parodied on SNL in his eight prior years in office.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7igRfDC1YQ
Jack Antonoff’s NYC-based indie-pop group Bleachers performed an energetic “How Dare You Want More,” off 2021’s Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, and was performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon last year.Mark ‘Rat’ Ratner Antonoff was joined by singer-songwriter Blu DeTiger on bass, Claud on keys and Rick Antonoff, Jack’s dad, on guitar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnn-pBhmUX4
The Sound of Music has been a regular musical sketch number on SNL, appearing in sketches twice in the last four years. Debose’s Broadway chops were on display in “Governess” where a widower, Kenan Thompson, hired DeBose to teach his children, who sang a take on “Do-Re-Mi.”
For Bleachers’ second song, Antonoff’s 2020 collaboration with Bruce Springsteen, “Chinatown,” was featured, with Claud shifting to guitar. Antonoff recently confirmed that he will release a new Bleachers album, the group’s fourth, by the end of the year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3hEhMMfUJo
Rapper Roddy Ricch was originally scheduled as musical guest this evening but had to withdraw due to members of his team being exposed to COVID-19. SNL returns on January 22 with host Will Forte and musical guest Måneskin.
One sketch that was cut for time, “All On Me,” features a rapper (Chris Redd) performs a song with his entourage (Ariana DeBose, rapper Freddie Gibbs, Kenan Thompson) after signing a major deal.
