In support of their recently released sophomore album, Scramble, The Coathangers will be embarking on a North American tour starting next week. In less than three years, Julia Kugel (guitar/vocals), Stephanie Luke (drums/vocals), Candice Jones (keyboard/vocals), and Meredith Franco (bass/vocals) have grown from a band of girlfriends buying the cheapest instruments a pawn shop could offer, to a group of formidable, adaptable performers. The girls will be on the road for two months starting in their hometown of Atlanta. Shows include several dates with Austin’s The Strange Boys and LA’s Mika Miko.
You could look at The Coathangers and think they’re this way or that, but they will not conform. These are four really different people who have bonded beyond the point of just being friends. You might think you can pin them down, but they don’t care. Their fashion isn’t contrived; their music feels like music for music’s sake because that’s exactly what it is – natural, voluntary, spontaneous, impulsive, intuitive, and entirely better for it.
Do they bring the party, as rumor has it? Absolutely. It’s an exhausting time. But what these ladies have to give, both performing live, and on record, leads to a beautiful exhaustion: a feeling both empty and full, like at the end of intense physical activity, when your body is burned, yet charged. Strip away the music-biz pretense like that and it leaves you with only the things that are simple, stunning, and true. The Coathangers are one of those things. Start the party.
‘[Their set] careens betweens lyrics like “I’m gonna break your face” and pre-song banter like “This song’s about my grandma.” The band is both charming and ragged.’ – NYLON
‘Particularly given the neanderthal sexual politics of much of the current indie music scene, it’s good politics when a girl group can declare, as a deeper-voiced Coathanger does on “Cheap Cheap”, “You can just go fuck yourself.”‘ – Pitchfork
THE COATHANGERS TOUR DATES
Tue Jun 9 – Atlanta GA, The Drunken Unicorn*^
Wed Jun 10 – Greensboro NC, Square 1*^
Thu Jun 11 – Richmond VA, Tba
Fri Jun 12 – Baltimore MD, Sonar*^
Sat Jun 13 – Brooklyn NY, The Market Hotel*^
Sun Jun 14 – Brooklyn NY, Glasslands Gallery W/ K-Holes
Mon Jun 15 – Providence RI, AS220 W/ White Mice
Tue Jun 16 – Rochester NY, The Bug Jar
Wed Jun 17 – Montreal QC, La Sala Rossa*
Thu Jun 18 – Toronto ON, Nxne, Chunklet Showcase
Fri Jun 19 – Toronto ON, Nxne, Panache Showcase, Sneaky Dee’s
Sat Jun 20 – Chicago IL, Ronny’s W/ The Regrets
Sun Jun 21 – Madison WI, Brink Lounge
Mon Jun 22 – St. Paul MN, Big V’s
Tue Jun 23 – Winnipeg MB, The Pyramid Cabaret
Thu Jun 25 – Calgary AB, Sled Island Festival
Sat Jun 27 – Seattle WA, Comet Tavern W/ These Arms Are Snakes
Sun Jun 28 – Vancouver BC, Tba
Tue Jun 30 – Portland OR, East End Tavern
Thu Jul 2 – San Francisco CA, Hemlock Tavern^
Fri Jul 3 – San Jose CA, Nickel City^
Sun Jul 5 – Los Angeles CA, The Smell
Mon Jul 6 – San Diego CA, The Casbah^
Tue Jul 7 – Tucson AZ, Plush^
Thu Jul 9 – Lubbock TX, Bash Riprock’s^
Fri Jul 10 – Dallas TX, The Lounge On Elm Street^
Sat Jul 11 – Austin TX, Mohawk
Sun Jul 12 – Houston TX, Mango’s
Mon Jul 13 – New Orleans LA, Saturn Bar
*With Mika Miko
^With The Strange Boys