Austin Rock Trio Ume’s Sophomore Album Monuments Streaming Now!
“Distortion-heavy jams (and the whole marriage thing) invite comparisons to Sonic Youth, but Ume do more headbanging and wailing.” ~ Rolling Stone
Ume, three of Austin’s favorite offspring, will be releasing Monuments on March 4th via Dangerbird Records; the album is the much-anticipated follow-up to their heralded 2011 debut, Phantoms. The new album was recorded in Seattle, WA and produced by Grammy Award winning producer Adam Kasper (Queens of the Stone Age, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, and Cat Power).
Not yet familiar with Ume? Well, let’s change that right now. First, stream Monuments on Fender.com.
Ume at The Mohawk
Second, let’s get you caught up on a bit of the band’s history and the praise they’re receiving from the press (not to mention their rapidly growing fan base). Rarely is the platform for women in rock updated as authoritatively as it had been by Ume. The trio’s music is one of beautiful juxtapositions: loud and soft, aggressive and eerie, buoyant melodies bursting through wall-of-noise dissonance. As Noisey described “Black Stone” from the new record, “[It’s as if]” Metric or Broken Social Scene got real and started adding some thick, metallish guitar riffs… drifting somewhere in between indie pop and full on rock.” The band already has an enviable resume, having supported The Smashing Pumpkins, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Warpaint, and Franz Ferdinand, and were personally invited to open for Jane’s Addiction at a Lollapalooza afterparty by Perry Ferrell last year. You also may have seen the band on the 2012 season premiere of Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations,” sharing their insight on local Austin food during Bourdain’s visit to SXSW, which they will be playing again this year.
Ume isn’t poised to start winning over audiences who see and hear them, or beginning to earn opening slots for major acts in the business, or slowly gaining the attention of the press ~ they’ve done all that already ~ in spades. Rather, they’re poised to become an internationally respected musical powerhouse.
Check Ume’s spring tour dates and get out there to see them live.