Mikey Erg Shares "Almost Like Judee Sill" Single & Announces Love At Leeds Produced By Steve Albini (Don Giovanni Records)
"Mikey Erg continues to set the gold standard for hooky Punk love songs. Love At Leeds is him at the top of his song-writing game—just one finely tuned ear-worm after another," writer Dan Ozzi gushes within a press release. Love At Leeds is the realization of many dreams for Mikey Erg. A life-long music obsessive, growing up in the early 90's, there was one sound he'd always hoped to capture on his recordings: the sound of Steve Albini. Steve's credits include Pixies, Flogging Molly, Iggy & The Stooges, and, of course, Nirvana's iconic third album, In Utero, one of Mikey's absolute favorite records. Mikey had never in his 20-plus-year recording career ever been able to make a fully-analog recording. Love At Leeds was the perfect time to rectify all of that.
Utilizing the same group of musicians that helped him realize his debut solo album, 2016's Tentative Decisions, (Jeff Rosenstock, Alex Clute & Lou Hanman,) he headed out to Chicago to make this dream a reality. Recorded and mixed in just five days, Love At Leeds is a swift 25 minute-long Grunge-pop tour de force. Once the album was complete, Steve and his trusty razor blade compiled the master mix reels and sent the band on their way. The tapes, then, made the journey to Hollywood, California to the legendary Bernie Grundman Mastering facility to be mastered and cut straight to lacquer disc by Chris Bellman (Frank Zappa, Neil Young, Pearl Jam.)
"TL; DR. I HAVE A NEW ALBUM AND I'M STOKED. Alright, I've been waiting for this day for what feels like my entire life. Today, I announce my fourth solo LP, Love At Leeds. It is an all-analogue recording from tracking to mastering (on vinyl.) I had the absolute pleasure of working with the one and only Steve Albini, which is something I've been longing to do since I first pressed play on the [Nirvana] In Utero CD in 1993. ("That's what we strive for here at Electrical Audio, the dreams of a 13-year-old boy" - [Steve Albini]). Then, we got the thing cut and mastered straight from the master mix tapes by the G.O.A.T. Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering," Mikey Erg wrote within a Tuesday morning Facebook post.
"Pretty f***ing cool, huh? I was lucky enough to have my buds, Jeff Rosenstock, Lou Hanman, and Alex Clute help me realize these songs, The team behind my first solo record, Tentative Decisions. I've never had an album sound exactly how I wanted it to until now. THEN, my good bud, Em Foster, made the heart design and f***ing John Yates(!!) made the rad Hank Mobley-inspired sleeve!... Check out the first single, "Almost Like Judee Sill," at all the streamy things right now and pre-order the record at Don Giovanni, if you're so inclined. Hope y'all dig it. It's short and sweet, like a Punk record should be!," Erg continued. Mikey Erg will be opening for The Carousel Tour along with Anthony Green (Circa Survive, Saosin,) Laura Jane Grace (Against Me!,) and Tim Kasher (Cursive) on select dates. "Almost Like Judee Sill" is now available on steaming services and The Who-referencing Love At Leeds is now available for pre-order in multiple formats. Mikey Erg's Love At Leeds is out 6/24 on Don Giovanni.