Foggy Notions presents
CASS MCCOMBS
Whelan’s, Nov 15
Tickets from WAV, City Discs, Road, Tickets.ie, Ticketmaster
“Unobtrusively brilliant.” - John Peel
“A maverick already saddled with accusations of genius.” – Uncut
“One of the most gifted lyricists the indie-rock world has seen in a long
time.” - Time Out New York
California’s Cass McCombs blends mordant humour, dazed lyricism,
deadpan surrealism and real tenderness into songs full of surreptitious
confidence. All told, it's something special - offbeat, intriguing, and
rewarding in the extreme.
His first collection of recorded songs, an EP entitled Not The Way, was
released in 2002 by Monitor Records of Baltimore, followed the next
year by a full-length, A, also on Monitor. Both albums were recorded in
San Francisco and inspired partly by the events surrounding 9/11/01 and
his experience living in New York City at that time. In 2005, joined by
a band, McCombs released a concept-album, PREfection, through
Monitor/4AD. Recorded very quickly in Michigan during the icy month of
February, PREfection experiments with diverse lyrical subject matter.
Although the band dissipated, McCombs performed extensively in the U.S.
throughout the next year, mostly as an opening act in the lower rock
circuit, picking up band members where he could. Ranging from three to
eight pieces, electric or acoustic, McCombs has always been fortunate
to have his songs interpreted by innovative musicians. Yet, just as
PREfection was released, nearly all of his working relationships
vanished in a matter of weeks, and inevitably he turned his thoughts to
making another record.
His current release Dropping the Writ, represents yet another shift.
Most of the songs were written when McCombs moved back to California,
this time southern, in the fall of 2005. Assisted by friends, including
some who had contributed to A, the new album was recorded partially in
a studio as well as in the solitude of his newfound home. The music
alternates between mania and wonder, within a song-form that McCombs
continues to expand upon lyrically, often with the humorous, wry use of
stories plucked from his own life experience.
Dropping the Writ is his first release on Domino Records.
www.cassmccombs.com
www.myspace.com/cassmccombs
www.dominorecordo.us
