Having arrived back from their US tour near the end of March, Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau post-punk psych trio Swallow the Rat are wasting no time, and today release their new single ‘Mind‘.

The fourth single from their highly-acclaimed album South Locust, singer/bassist Stephen Horsley says of ‘Mind‘, “‘it started off as a fingerpicked acoustic pattern but changed pretty significantly once introduced to the band. Parts were chopped off and added, and a bassline from Hayden Fritchley) created the outro, along with Brian (Purington’s) guitar line.”

Lyrically, ‘Mind‘ is a series of images of being out in the Waitakere ranges, hiking down towards the black sand beaches; far more abstract than some of our other songs.”

Swallow The Rat was invited to showcase at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, and they coincided this with a 17-date tour of the East Coast/Mid West of the US.

Horsley says, “The tour was great, 21 shows in 17 days, 5000 miles and only one flat tyre. Cities covered included Chicago, NYC, Atlanta, Austin, New Orleans and St Louis. Highlights included driving 8 hours and playing 3 shows in one day on 3 hours sleep, staying at the Death by Audio/A Place to Bury Strangers HQ in Brooklyn, playing at a bursting to capacity Hotel Vegas on the last night of SXSW, and sharing the stage with a bunch of incredible bands. Many tacos were eaten and Modelo is the worst beer on earth.”

If you’re in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland on May 17th, you might like to experience an evening of sonic overdrive featuring Swallow the Rat, Vor-stellen and Dictaphone Blues.

Dictaphone Blues began as a bedroom project for Edward Castelow in 2006, and are now a four-piece live aural incarnation including Morgan Leary, Brad Fafjeta and Jamie Hannah; their most recent and fabulously named EP Greetings From Glen Eden came out in May 2023.

Vor-Stellen is the formidably talented trio of Brendan Moran, Stephen Reay (both of avoid!avoid/The Subliminals) and Jared Johanson (The Subliminals). Their debut album Parallelograms was released in September 2023 via Flying Nun Records.

Swallow the Rat, Dictaphone Blues, Vor-stellen
Friday 17 May, Whammy 8pm
Karangahape Rd
Presales $15 from Undertheradar

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