Toronto’s Casper Skulls have revealed Errands, the second single from their forthcoming debut EP. The ‘Lips & Skull’ EP arrives at the end of October. Casper Skulls have built a reputation as one of Toronto’s most exciting new bands on the back of their self-released ‘King of Gold’ 7″, their first Buzz Records single Mink Coats, and their intense live shows with acts like Perfect Pussy, Dilly Dally, Screaming Females, Suuns and Greys.
Following an early 2016 Canadian tour supporting Solids and the Dirty Nil, the band started working on the EP in February with Josh Korody (Dilly Dally, Fucked Up, Beliefs) and producer Shehzaad Jiwani of Greys. Inspired by the friendship between Tom Verlaine and Richard Hell as depicted in correspondence between the two reproduced in Hell’s memoir “I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp,” letters from which the band gets its name and the EP gets its title, ‘Lips & Skull’ introduces Casper Skulls by capturing them at a crucial moment of their development, exploring the different facets and avenues of influence that define their sound. Vocalist/guitarist Neil Bednis depicts the EP as “a document of some of the earliest songs we worked on together,” and as such it functions as a snapshot of a young band at the moment of discovery, harnessing for the first time the depth and direction of their considerable potential.
Errands is a departure from the EP’s first single, Devotion, and the thunderous post-punk that marked Casper Skulls’ earlier releases, pulling back slightly to build around a series of buoyant lead guitar lines, and the subtle interplay of vocalists Melanie St. Pierre and Bednis, who in moments recalls Stephen Malkmus as he details the perspective of a character dealing with the death of a loved one with whom he shared a troubled relationship.
“The song at a surface level is about having to run errands for someone who has passed away” Bednis explained about the track. “I was watching Mad Men at the time and Pete Campbell’s father dies in the series. He resented his father in the show and I imagined writing a song about doing errands for someone that died that I didn’t particularly like or get along with. If you look deeper into the narrator of the song and the deceased you see that they are both flawed people. The deceased was ignorant, sexist, and egotistical and ultimately a product of North American capitalism. The narrator is just as imperfect as he has little ability to mourn the death of his father and instead focuses on his monetary gains.”
Track list
1. Devotion
2. Lips & Skull
3. Errands
4. Love Brain
5. Caught on a Wire
‘Lips & Skull’ will be out via Buzz Records on October 28th. It’s available for preorder digitally via iTunes and physically here.
In support of the EP the band have announced a North American tour which includes their first US dates. Details can be found below.
Tour dates
10/07 Peterborough, ON @ The Spill
10/15 Kitchener, ON @ Open Sesame
10/29 Oakville, ON @ Lourice
11/11 Montreal, QC @ Turbohaus
11/12 Boston, MA @ O’Briens
11/13 Brooklyn, NY @ Shea Stadium
11/14 Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong
11/15 Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
11/16 Cincinnati, OH @ Comet
11/19 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
11/26 Toronto, ON @ Baby G
