Portastatic Too Busy Livin’ To Be Still

Meh. Another day, another reason to spend it in bed. Everyday I sit doing nothing while modern-day da Vincis run around creating wonders like the Pizza Pocket and the Segway, and I just think, "What's the use?"

Sorry about the negative vibes, folks. Why the talk about creative workaholics and mournful self-reflection, you ask? Well, indie rock's most prolific and consistent inventor, Mac McCaughan, is at it again, and that always sends me into a spiral of self-doubt and uselessness. In the time it's taken me to decide on a new font for my résumé, McCaughan has padded his own with Portastatic, by releasing the excellent Bright Ideas full-length, the Who Loves the Sun soundtrack, and is now poised to head out on tour and put out yet another studio album called Be Still Please.

The Merge Records head honcho, Superchunk leader, and original Gerber baby (probably) will take his "other band" on the road for some hot live action next week. Until a string of headlining shows towards the ass end of the tour, Portastatic will play with M. Ward, Lambchop, and a brief respite north into New France at the Pop Montréal Festival.

09.18.06 - Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom *
09.19.06 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle #
09.20.06 - Nashville, TN - The Belcourt Theatre *
09.22.06 - Hailey's *
09.23.06 - Austin, TX - The Parish Room *
10.05.06 - Montréal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa %
10.11.06 - Philadelphia, PA - North Star Bar
10.12.06 - Allston, MA - Great Scott
10.13.06 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
10.14.06 - Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's
10.15.06 - New Haven, CT - Bar Nightclub
10.18.06 - Washington, DC - Black Cat (Backstage)
10.19.06 - Durham, NC - Duke Coffeehouse
10.20.06 - Mt. Pleasant, SC - Village Tavern
10.21.06 - Athens, GA - The Earl

* w/ M. Ward
# w/ M. Ward & Lambchop
% Pop Montréal Festival

Ah! There's the catch — Be Still Please only has nine songs on it! Nine? That's how McCaughan does it! He's human after all! That's like, one-third of a Foo Fighters album and a quarter of a Red Hot Chili Peppers release! About a thousand times better than both though...

An internet-only EP is out now and includes two versions of album opener "Sour Shores" plus "Portraits From Before the War" and a cover of Hot Chip's "And I Was a Boy From School." Be Still Please is out October 10 and has these nine, pffft, tracks on it:

1 Sour Shores
2 Black Buttons
3 I'm in Love (with Arthur Dove)
4 Sweetness and Light
5 Getting Saved
6 You Blanks
7 Like a Pear
8 Cheers and Applause
9 Song for a Clock

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