After a hiatus of several years, Medicine will release a new album on October 4 entitled ‘Scarred for Life’. The 11-track LP will be available on limited edition vinyl, as well as digitally, via NYC-based label Drawing Room Records. The brainchild of guitarist Brad Laner, the LA-based collective was among pioneers of the shoegaze genre and today, is one of a small handful of core bands of this genre to reform and still exist today, along with peers Slowdive, Ride, Swervedriver and My Bloody Valentine. Listen to Sentimental Lady, which is lifted from the album.
‘Scarred For Life’ is a highly ambitious release – which includes tracks from Neil Young, Judee Sill, Miles Davis, The Monkees, and even Bob Welch. This album of all covers is well beyond simple reinterpretation. Laner and company give each track a Medicine-sized dosage of their ‘wall of sound’.
Mastered by Adam Gonsalves, each LP is pressed on 180-gram vinyl. It comes with a full color gloss jacket and 22×22″ foldout poster. This is an outstandingly eclectic selection of tracks where Laner and cohorts attempt to relive the glory (and none of the fiascos) of old school samplers, like K-Tel compilations.
This new offering continues a great tradition of feedback-saturated noise-pop experiments dating back to 1991, when Brad Laner formed Medicine with drummer Jim Goodall, guitarist Jim Putnam, bassist Eddie Ruscha and singer Annette Zilinskas, who was eventually replaced by Beth Thompson. Medicine’s current line-up sees Laner, Goodall and Zilinskas reunited, along with guitarist Matt Devine, who played with Medicine on their last US tour in 1995 and also joined the band for their 2014 appearance at Austin Psych Fest.
“Come listen and hell even purchase this album of covers. Above all else, this album was really just some folk’s attempt to keep sane in the wake of a certain nameless fascist assuming power back in the dark days of 2016. Mind you, we love it, but the song choices have no cohesive theme and although it’s a bit noisy, we’re not trying to be all anything, or whatever,” says Brad Laner.
As of October 4, ‘Scarred for Life’ will be released across online stores and streaming platforms such as Spotify. The vinyl itself will be available exclusively via the Drawing Room Records’ Bandcamp site.
Tracklist
01. Scarred For Life
02. Sentimental Lady
03. Dead Time Bummer Blues
04. Expecting To Fly
05. Absolutely Free
06. Listen To The Band
07. Sally Go Round The Roses
08. The Sweetest Girl
09. The Green Country
10. Pickup Song
11. Black Satin
