The wait is over! After nine years, punk rock legends Lagwagon are releasing their long-awaited new album "Hang".
It’s not like the band broke up or took a break after the album "Resolve" in 2005. They continued with their grueling tour schedule, and frontman Joey Cape consistently released material as a solo artist with his other projects Bad Astronaut, Scorpios, and Bad Loud. Not to mention the production of cover albums on a regular basis with his other project Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. And his umpteenth side project as a label maker and producer of songwriter albums for One Week Records.
"I write all the time," says Cape, "but most of the time it doesn’t fit Lagwagon. The form of the band is constantly changing. Sometimes it takes a decade for all the stars to align!"
Ultimately, the harmonious cohesion only reestablished itself a few years ago when the band was back on tour after a break. "A light went on for me, and I knew how the record would sound and what we had to say. It’s less in the 90s punk rock style we’re known for. But this is the record my band wanted and needed to make." Fact! The overall sound of "Hang" is darker and more intense than the band’s previous works. Themes such as loss, betrayal, aging, the environment, and the plight of the common man are addressed.
Additionally, the album features a musical homage to Cape’s best friend, collaborator, and frequent tour mate Tony Sly (No Use For A Name), who passed away in July 2012. The track "One More Song" draws from the closing vocals of Sly’s solo track "LIVR Let Die," which was directly inspired by another song that we unfortunately will never get to hear. "In the last days we were on tour together, he wrote a song and played it for me, and it was indescribable," Cape says about the inspiration for the song. "What happened to that song? I can’t remember. I can’t remember it well enough to say, 'that’s the last song Tony ever wrote.'
A release tour is planned for spring 2015.
It’s not like the band broke up or took a break after the album "Resolve" in 2005. They continued with their grueling tour schedule, and frontman Joey Cape consistently released material as a solo artist with his other projects Bad Astronaut, Scorpios, and Bad Loud. Not to mention the production of cover albums on a regular basis with his other project Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. And his umpteenth side project as a label maker and producer of songwriter albums for One Week Records.
"I write all the time," says Cape, "but most of the time it doesn’t fit Lagwagon. The form of the band is constantly changing. Sometimes it takes a decade for all the stars to align!"
Ultimately, the harmonious cohesion only reestablished itself a few years ago when the band was back on tour after a break. "A light went on for me, and I knew how the record would sound and what we had to say. It’s less in the 90s punk rock style we’re known for. But this is the record my band wanted and needed to make." Fact! The overall sound of "Hang" is darker and more intense than the band’s previous works. Themes such as loss, betrayal, aging, the environment, and the plight of the common man are addressed.
Additionally, the album features a musical homage to Cape’s best friend, collaborator, and frequent tour mate Tony Sly (No Use For A Name), who passed away in July 2012. The track "One More Song" draws from the closing vocals of Sly’s solo track "LIVR Let Die," which was directly inspired by another song that we unfortunately will never get to hear. "In the last days we were on tour together, he wrote a song and played it for me, and it was indescribable," Cape says about the inspiration for the song. "What happened to that song? I can’t remember. I can’t remember it well enough to say, 'that’s the last song Tony ever wrote.'
A release tour is planned for spring 2015.
