Solid Ground mp3 perch patchwork Maps & Atlases …. sign up here for pre-order info!

Photo credit: Ashley Sheehan

Chicago, I guess we can’t cry foul when our very own Maps & Atlases leave us to travel the country promoting their first LP on a major indie label, now can we? It’s not like they’ve ever stayed put for very long! This band has been on the road for ages and it has paid off. If you’ve ever heard them play you know that their intricate sound, layered as it is with fingers that fly over guitar strings and sticks that seem to be in continual motion on drums, seems to be incomprehensibly effortless. If you’ve ever heard a new band, just finding its way with its sound, you know how pained that effort really is. Maps & Atlases are pros to the max and I’ve not even said a word about Dave’s vocals yet.

I used to think I didn’t like “art rock” or even “indie” music. It wasn’t the steady rhythms of rock and roll that I was used to hearing on the radio. When I started blogging, almost two years ago, I stumbled across bands like the Foals (with their very British pop sound) and some heavier music from The Dillinger Escape Plan and Daughters (whose new album is excellent, by the way!). When I got to Maps & Atlases’ two EPs I really found my comfort zone in indie and from there I could go back through and learn to love some of the rest. This new album promises to be, well… promising! It’s always a huge step when a band moves to being able to work with a top-notch producer with amazing resources at hand. I’m not sure what to make of Dave’s quote, “We went into the record with the understanding that the creation of the album would be separate from its existence as a live piece of music, which was really liberating.” But I think it’s going to pan out as something really beautifully, unique. Pretty much everything this band does is like that. xoxo

Tour Dates
4/10 – Huckleberry’s Pizza Parlor (Rock Island, IL)^
4/11 – The Basement (Columbus, OH)*
4/12 – The Rex (Pittsburgh, PA)&
4/13 – The Space (Hamden, CT) *
4/14 – Great Scott (Boston, MA)*
4/15 – Maxwells (Hoboken, NJ)*
4/17 – SUNY Purchase (Purchase, NY)
4/18 – Clementines (Harrisonburg, VA)*
4/19 – Musica (Akron, OH)*
4/24 – Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA)
4/25 – Cats Cradle (Carrborro, NC)#
4/27 – Black Cat (Washington, DC)#
4/28 – Webster Hall (New York, NY)#
4/29 – Paradise (Boston, MA)#
4/30 – First Unitarian Church (Philadelphia, PA)#
5/1 – Pearl Street (Northampton, MA)#
5/3 – Petit Campus (Montreal, QC)#
5/4 – Opera House (Toronto, ONT)#
5/5 – Grog Shop (Cleveland, OH)#
5/6 – Southgate House (Newport, KY)#
5/7 – The Old Rock House (St Louis, MI) #
5/8 – Metro (Chicago, IL)#
5/9 – Pabst Theatre (Milwaukee, WI)#
5/10 – Varsity Theatre (Minneapolis, MN)#
5/12 – Bluebird Theatre (Denver, CO)#
5/13 – Urban Lounge (Salt Lake City, UT)#
5/15 – Bitmore Cabaret (Vancouver, BC)#
5/16 – Neumos (Seattle, WA)#
5/17 – Berbati’s Pan (Portland, OR)#
5/19 – The Fillmore (San Francisco, CA)#
5/22 – Casbah (San Diego, CA)#

^ w/Dark Dark Dark
& w/Vieux Farka Toure
* w/Drink Up Buttercup
# w/Frightened Rabbit