We are very proud to welcome the return of one of our favourite bands, a band that provided one of the most memorable performances in the entire history of music here at the Brudenell. Now.. if there was one specific gig we had to point to and recommend you must come to... THIS IS IT!

WOMAN ARE NO ORDINARY BAND, they have that 'thing', that something that when you see them live it just captivates you, holds you there and eats you. Not just a gig, a pure musical experience. When they last came to the UK in early 2009 and played we fell in love.... and have played their album constantly ever since.

It’s been just under 2 years since the self titled debut release from these Canadian dudes. They were hard at work in that time, though. Matt toured China with Marnie Stern. Mike released a record on St. Ives with his band Friendo. And, as Women, they played over 200 shows around the world. Somewhere in between all of that, they found time to write and record a new record. That record is titled: Public Strain“Public Strain” will be released on August 23rd in the UK and EU, August 24th worldwide digitally, and September 28th in the US. There’s more info on the record below and please gawk at that instant-classic-of-a-record-cover above.

On their debut self-titled album, Women embraced sonic brashness that deeper examination revealed to be tinted with sly pop melody. With "Public Strain" the band honed a sound truthful to that reverb drenched noise while allowing the pop sensibilities to surface into clearer focus.

In fall of 2009, Patrick Flegel (vocals/guitar), Matt Flegel (bass/vocals), Chris Reimer (guitar/vocals), and Michael Wallace (drums) went into the studio with an abundance of ideas, working around conflicting schedules and graveyard shifts. With Chad VanGaalen again on production duties, the band laboriously crafted a timeless sounding recording over the dead of winter in Alberta, Canada. The result exploits their usage of harsh, grating dissonance in smaller and controlled doses, using noise as the foundation for richly structured, layered songwriting.

From the opening strains of "Can't You See" it's clear that the album is far more than just a continuation of their debut. Resting upon Matt Flegel's plodding bass line, Patrick Flegel's deadpan vocal delivery, and Chris Reimer on bowed guitars and cello, this moody, nocturnal ballad opens the album on a dark note – one that is quickly countered by "Heat Distraction", a jigsaw of bright guitar phrases and winding time signatures.

This exact balance of delicate and dense is a pervasive thread throughout the album, reflecting the contradiction of the band's environment buried in urban sprawl framed by prairie landscape. Whether twisting through the urgent krautrock of "Locust Valley", an exercise of harmony through simplicity, or climaxing with the bittersweet melody of "Eyesore", the album somehow builds luminous contrast out of a palette of grays.

In places claustrophobic, conjuring walking dreams of sexual anguish and general decay, elsewhere soaring with vintage guitar tones and vocal melodies or collapsing into swirling, mesmerizing swells, "Public Strain" cycles through insomnia, paranoia, resignation and euphoria, to capture a band with an undeniable voice coming into full awareness of their craft.

".... straddles the 1960s' divide between the Warhol crowd's speed-addled New York cynicism and the echoes of psychedelic San Francisco that bubbled up across the pond in the fey, catchy pop of UK groups like the Zombies." - Pitchfork, on the song "Black Rice"

"This is freak-rock, nursed on psychedelia and prog, but without pretense." - VUE Weekly

"effortlessly mix noise, static and infectious hooks." - HeroHill

WOMEN MYSPACE PAGE

WOMEN page on JAGJAGUWAR

WOMEN page on FLEMISHEYE

FREE DOWNLOAD of new single "Eyesore" ----> CLICK HERE

Tickets available now from Jumbo Records, Crash Records, Seetickets, Lunatickets, Wegottickets, and Brudenell (in person without booking fee!).