Ron Gallo has released “YUCCA VALLEY MARSHALS”, the final single from his brand new studio album, FOREGROUND MUSIC, which will be released March 3, 2023 on Kill Rock Stars.
With the new song, Gallo reflects on a solo trip to the West Coast. After wandering around Los Angeles alone, he discovered that LA can be the loneliest place on earth if you’re a foreigner.
He shares, “I took that feeling with me on a day trip to Joshua Tree and ended up stopping by the Marshalls in the Yucca Valley. There’s something really sad and hilarious to see a bright Marshall sign in the middle of the desert, but since chain stores are all the same indoors, I took the opportunity to familiarize myself. We recorded this song mostly live in a studio in the upstate New York and added that mellotron part later at home that became my favorite part of the whole recording.
With his new album, Gallo shouts out to the developers who turn neighborhoods into mundane AirBnB advertisements, the corporate overlords who decide the price of music, and the extremists bent on bringing about an apocalypse of racial and civil destruction. He confronts the villains in our society and helps those they crush by finding a way to laugh at the absurdity of it all.
Over the course of 11 songs, Gallo displays what Ann Powers once called “literary electricity.” He goes from fuzz to lounge jazz to weird pop to post-punk and back to catchy rock music and really FUN, while aiming for anything and everything. It targets men’s right, age of anxiety, apathy versus action, gentrification, narcissism, retail therapy, xenophobia, fear of future generations, right wing extremists, capitalism, climate change and the experience of having a loved one who is a drug addict.
Despite the chaos, Gallo infuses the album with a joyful charm, one that comes from a sincere place of love for people and protection of the things we hold sacred. The love between Gallo and his listeners, between Gallo and the strumming of a guitar, between Gallo and the world. At the end of FOREGROUND MUSIC, Ron Gallo draws a stunning and invigorating conclusion: “The world is fully nurtured, but the universe is inside of you.”
Gallo has gained a fervent and loyal following, sharing the stage with artists like Spoon, Parquet Courts, Ty Segall, Hurray For the Riff Raff, Twin Peaks, The Black Angels, Thee Oh Sees, Caroline Rose, Wilco, J. Mascis, Courtney Barnett and Post Animal. He has also made festival appearances at Coachella, Bonnaroo, Governor’s Ball, Austin City Limits, Pukkelpop, Osheaga, Shakey Knees, Best Kept Secret, Levitation, Forecastle and Hangout. Today, Gallo announced a national spring tour, giving fans new opportunities to experience his frenetic live show.
Tour dates
North America
12/21: Millersville, PA @ Phantom Power
1/27: Edmonton, AB @ WInterrupt YEG (with Shame, fed Up, A. Savage, Holy f and more)
1/28: Calgary, AB @ Big Winter Classic (with Shame, fed Up, A. Savage, Holy f, Nick Thune and more)
3/15-3/19: Austin, TX @ SXSW
03/19: Fort Worth, TX @ Tulips’ SXSW Spillover w/ Indigo De Souza, Enumclaw, Runnner
4/5: Boston, MA @ Middle East (upstairs)
4/6: Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right (first show)
4/7: Washington, D.C. @ Songbyrd
4/8: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania @ Johnny Brenda’s
4/11: Nashville, TN @ East Basement
4/12: Chicago, Ill. @ Schuba’s
4/13: Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
4/14: Lexington, KY @ The Burl
4/15: Atlanta, Georgia @ The Earl
Europe
4/29: Murcia, ES @ Warm Up Festiva
4/30: Lessines, BE @ Roots & Roses
5/1: Cologne, DE @ Bumann & Sohn
5/2: Munchen, DE @ Milla
5/4: Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
5/5: Monthey, CH @ Pont Rouge
5/6: Arlon, BE @ Les Aralunaires
5/9: Nantes, FR @ Stereolux
5/10: Roche Sur Yon, FR @ Quai M
5/11: Bordeaux, FR @ Georges Brassens
5/12: Donosti, ES @ Debedaba
5/13: Lugo, ES @ Fa Ce La Festival
5/14: Madrid, ES @ Wurlitzer Ballroom
5/15: Barcelona, ES @ Sala
5/17: Paris, FR @ Hasard Ludique
5/18: Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Merelyn
5/19: Groningen, Netherlands @ Vera
05/20: Amsterdam, Netherlands @ London Calling
23/05: Copenhagen, DE @ Rust
5/24: Malmo, SE @ Plan B
05/25: Berlin, DE @ Urban Spree
26/05: Hamburg, DE @ Nochtspeicher
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