Tacoma, Washington’s own rising rock stars Enumclaw are back with another single from their debut album Save the Baby, coming Oct. 14 on Luminelle Recordings. “Cowboy Bepop” follows June’s “Jimmy Neutron,” which Paste hailed as one of the year’s best songs (so far).
Over his and Nathan Cornell’s warm guitars, Aramis Johnson’s narrator finds himself happy with his life, yet longing for more control as it flies by. ”’Cause if you had to choose, would you / Wanna be brand new? / Well, joke’s on you, nothing’s new / I’m just the same as you,” he sings, finding peace in helplessness—like throwing your arms in the air on a rollercoaster. When a volcanic guitar solo punctuates his contemplation (“If you had to choose / What would you do?”), it hits like all of life’s possibilities manifesting at once.
“Something I’ve been trying to figure out these past two years is the idea of change and what that can look like and mean. At its core, change is what this song is about,” Johnson explains in a statement. “If you could choose, what would you change? There’s this line in the movie Mid90s and it’s like ‘at the end of the day you wouldn’t trade your shit for anyone else.’ That’s what this song is about. At the end of the day the grass is never greener on the other side.”
Enumclaw will support Toro y Moi and illuminati hotties on a July East Coast tour and fall national tour, respectively.
Watch the “Cowboy Bepop” video (dir. John Peterson) below and find Enumclaw’s tour dates further down.
Enumclaw Tour Dates:
July
19 – NYC @ Brooklyn Mirage ^
20 – Boston @ House of Blues ^
21 – Philly @ The Fillmore ^
23 – Seattle, WA @ Capitol Hill Block Party
August
27 – Port Townsend, WA @ THING
October
14 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar *
15 – Santa Fe, NM @Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery *
17 – Kansas City, MO @ recordBar *
18 – St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill Duck Room *
21 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar *
22 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg *
23 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair *
24 – Holyoke, MA @ Race Street Live *
26 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern *
27 – Detroit, MI @ El Club *
28 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop *
29 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Music Hall *
30 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon *
31 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line *
November
02 – Omaha, NE @ Reverb Lounge *
03 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall *
04 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall *
05 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Soundwell *
06 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Space *
08 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah *
10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom *
11 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst Atrium *
12 – San Francisco, CA @ August Hall *
13 – Sacramento, CA @ Goldfield Trading Post *
16 – Eugene, OR @ Sessions Music Hall *
17 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom *
18 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret *
(^ = supporting Toro y Moi)
(* = supporting illuminati hotties)
