Seattle’s cosmic rock n’ roll band Advertisement have released their second single “Freedom” today from their forthcoming debut album, American Advertisement. “Lyrically, Freedom is about ego,” the band explains. “Specifically, the idea that someone who has too much to say is often actually someone who is grasping at straws for a sense of personality, which is essentially the same thing as someone who has nothing to say at all. We’re not really trying to moralize or chastise those who think of themselves as profound or self-important, just weighing the importance of sometimes choosing to play dumb instead of reinventing the wheel.”
Stripped of any pretense of rock n' roll escapism, American Advertisement oscillates between wry cynicism and giddy, almost cruel optimism, channeling an unconventional set of influences ranging from the emotive, drunk rabble of Karen Dalton and the sprawling, staggered sway of Television to the more molly-burnt sides of Royal Trux and the Happy Mondays. This is uncalculated, life-affirming music, a laughing chorus pointed at art's tendency towards nihilism. With the help of producer Trevor Spencer (Chastity Belt, Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty), Advertisement have reimagined what guitar dominated music can accomplish.
American Advertisement will be self-released on vinyl and digital / distro via Patchwork Fantasy on July 10. The band have announced that all album sale proceeds (pre-order here) will be donated to the Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network:
“As a band of all white people, we recognize that all relevant American music, art, and culture are based directly upon the unacknowledged genius and work of Black people. As such, we will redirect 100% of the money made off record sales to the Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network. We are committed to doing the life-long work of decentering our financial success and, instead, using our profile and social capital to center the material well-being of Black people in our community. Specifically, we are committed to supporting Black and Indigenous Trans and Two-Spirit people, who deserve not only a life without violence, but also a life full of endless opportunity and free of burden. None of these ideas are our own - they all stem from the work of living Black women including, but not limited to, Miriame Kaba, Ruth Wilson Gilmoore, Adrienne Maree Brown, and Saidiya Hartman, who we thank for their work and knowledge.” -- Advertisement
More About Advertisement:
Advertisement have quickly become one of the underground rock scene’s must see bands. Their live show has grown increasingly elaborate and often features upwards of 6 or 7 members onstage. They’ve had the opportunity to continually deconstruct and rebuild their sprawling approach to performance while playing alongside such acts as Protomartyr, Exploded View, Sheer Mag, Spiritual Cramp, Deafwish and more. In seamless harmony with their live show, the band’s concentrated emphasis on group dissolution and multiplication blends effortlessly with their approach to aesthetics and presentation.
They began as an interconnected group of childhood friends growing up on the fringes of the Seattle area. Their early collaborations primarily experimented with increasingly jarring forms of punk, culminating in the bands Nasti and Vacant Life - both of which have pressed records through Iron Lung Records. Inspired by the increasingly stark juxtaposition between Seattle’s booming, tech-fueled urbanism and the landscape’s natural beauty, guitarists Charlie Hoffman, Carl Marck, and Ryan Mangione and drummer TJ Main recollected with the intention of creating imaginative ways out of the endlessly anxiety provoking flow of modern life. With the addition of pianist Jesse Rosenthal, Advertisement’s songwriting process naturally augmented towards an increasingly fluid approach, in which fully fabricated song structures were shunned in favor of the slow development of single ideas through repeated layering. On American Advertisement, they’ve convincingly realized their goal of total decentralized collaboration.
