Montreal’s the Stills announced a 22-date tour in anticipation of their sophomore album Without Feathers, which is due out May 6 on Vice. Starting in Ontario next week, the tour will take the band through the States for the month of March, including a stop at South By Southwest. Later Canadian dates are available on the band’s website, though are, so far, unconfirmed. A lot of things have changed for the band since the 2003 release of their debut Logic Will Break Your Heart. For starters, their hometown became a hotbed of indie rock success breeding the likes of Wolf Parade, the Arcade Fire, the Unicorns/Islands, etc. Also, their swirling, Echo And The Bunnymen-like sound has been rehashed from here to Liverpool. So now that the Stills are ready to reemerge, what can we expect? Well, the band that once wrote “Changes Are No Good” have made some major ones. Though they always played as a four-piece, the band is now a quintet after permanently adding touring keyboardist Liam O’Neil. Following the departure of guitarist Greg Paquet, drummer Dave Hamelin moved to the guitar and the band hired Melissa Auf der Maur’s drummer Julien Blais to replace him. The band is also touting big changes in their sound. “A return to simplicity,” said singer/guitarist Tim Fletcher. “Fuck the effects, plug in and feel something.” And plugging in with the band on the new record are some of the biggest names in Canadian music (sit down, Celine Dion) like Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene, Jason Collett, Sam Roberts and Metric’s Emily Haines. Tracklist For Without Feathers: 01. In The Beginning 02. The Mountain 03. She’s Walking Out 04. Helicopters 05. In The End 06. Oh Shoplifter 07. Interlude 08. Halo The Harpoons 09. It Takes Time 10. Destroyer 11. Baby Blues 12. The House We Live In The Stills Tour Dates: 03/07 – Guelph, Ontario - Vinyl 03/09 – St. Catharines, Ontario - L3 Nightclub 03/10 – Peterborough, Ontario - Trasheteria 03/11 – Collingwood, Ontario - Blue Mountain 03/17 – Austin, Texas - Stubbs BBQ (SXSW) 03/17 – Austin, Texas - La Zona Rosa (SXSW) 04/02 – Boston. MA - TT the Bear 04/03 – Philadelphia, PA - The Church 04/04 – New York, NY - Mercury Lounge 04/05 – New York, NY - Mercury Lounge 04/08 – Baltimore, MD - Sonar 04/09 – Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop 04/10 – Detroit, MI - Saint Andrews Hall 04/11 – Columbus, OH - The Basement 04/13 – Chicago, IL - Double Door 04/14 – Minneapolis, MN - Varsity 04/15 – Omaha, NB - Sokol 04/17 – Salt Lake City, UT - Club Sound 04/19 - San Diego, CA - Casbah 04/20 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour 04/21 - San Francisco, CA - Popscene 04/24 – Portland, OR - Doug Fir 04/25 – Seattle, WA - Crocodile www.vice-recordings.com www.thestills.net
