Ahhh, the past. A truly magical place. A place (er, time) where cult New Zealand post-punk band The Clean could record their debut single “Tally Ho!” for a mere $50 New Zealand dollars. Where that same single could climb to #19 on the New Zealand Singles Charts. Where Flying Nun Records was founded and a rock ‘n’ roll label mythlegend (it’s both) was born.
Fortunately, however, when it comes to The Clean, “the past” isn’t the sum of the band’s career. The men of The Clean — David, Hamish, and Robert — have continued to make music sporadically over the last three decades, introducing their brand of dark janglepop to new fans and still managing to cart along the hearts of old school fans for the ride. The band still spends time in the studio and time on the road, and in 2009, Merge released the band’s latest, Mister Pop (TMT Review). A year later, the band announced their first European jaunt in 20 years, during which they supported longtime admirers Pavement. And now The Clean are making a rare, so special it’s After School Special SPECIAL visit to the United States.
See, this spring, The Clean are flying into Los Angeles for a solo show at The Echo, before heading on to join Ted Leo, No Age and Sham 69 (among awesome others) for the Chaos in Tejas Festival. After this — The Clean’s first-ever Texas performance — the band will journey on with fellow Merge labelmates Times New Viking for a brief string of summer dates in the Eastern USA. Tally Ho!
Dates:
05.30.12 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
06.02.12 - Austin, TX - Club De Ville Chaos in Tejas Festival
06.04.12 - Allston, MA - Brighton Music *
06.05.12 - New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge *
06.06.12 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s *
06.07.12 - Washington, DC - Rock & Roll Hotel *
06.08.12 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 *
* Times New Viking
• The Clean: http://www.mergerecords.com/artists/clean
• Times New Viking: http://timesnewviking.net
• Merge: http://www.mergerecords.com
