October 1, 2012

Johnny Foreigner News Bomb: Names EP Due Oct. 27, New U.S. Label, U.S. Tour Dates Revealed

Johnny Foreigner NAMES EP due Oct. 27 on Swerp and Alcopop!

While neither the tour dates nor the EP were a surprise to social media stalkers, today's vast and detailed announcement of Johnny Foreigner's new release, new U.S. label and North American tour dates was still entirely exciting. The Birmingham, England-based noise-pop titans will release a new digital EP titled Names Oct. 27 via longtime label Alcopop! Records in the U.K. as well as the band's new U.S. label home, Swerp. Chicago-based Swerp, incidentally, is run by the fellow who made the wonderful video for "Harriet, By Proxy," from Johnny Foreigner's *last* EP, Certain Songs Are Cursed. The new, four-song (sort of) collection was recorded last week with usual collaborating engineery-producery dude Dom James; it is the first set of music to include recently ensconced second guitarist Lewes Herriot, who fans have long known as the creator of the now-quartet's visual brand.

Names is available as a digital download packaged in the UK with a badge set and in the U.S. with a hand-colored t-shirt. Each label will have one of the four recorded songs exclusively, meaning each release only actually has three songs, capisce? But fear not, the song not included in the package you buy (assuming you don't buy both, because, you know, money) will be for sale as a one-off digital file as well. Another of the four songs will be available as a free download in the coming days. So then there's the business of the U.S. tour, yeh? It is dubbed Johnny Foreigner vs. The Atlantic, and it kicks off in Wilmington, NC Oct. 30 with veteran act Hammer No More The Fingers, with whom Johnny Foreigner will tour up to Baltimore. The Brummies play Philly with Clicky Clicky faves Hop Along Nov. 4, then proceed up to Boston by way of New York in time for the huge Community Benefits benefit show we're hosting at Great Scott Nov. 7 [Facebook invite]. From here Johnny Foreigner heads west to Chicago on a string of dates with Swerp labelmates Nervous Passenger that winds down Nov. 17. That said, Johnny Foreigner expects to announce certain Canadian dates next week that will enlarge the band's stay in North America an unknown length of time. Plans had been explored for Johnny Foreigner to proceed to the west coast of the U.S., but today's announcement stated that, at least for now, that's a bridge too far. For now, of course, Johnny Foreigner are on the road in the U.K. and you can scope the complete dates for that jaunt right here.

Just catching up on this Johnny Foreigner thing? Well, courtesy of Swerp, below are streams comprising the entirety of the trio's best-album-of-2011 full-length Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything. We recommend starting at the beginning, listening through to the end, and then starting over.

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