Noise rock icons The Jesus Lizard have released their first new music in 26 years. Hide & Seek, which was produced by Paul Allen, is out now via Ipecac Recordings. It's the Chicago outfit's first release since the Blue album in 1998, and the first taste of their forthcoming album, Rack, due on September 13.
The news comes after the band – frontman David Yow, guitarist Duane Denison, bassist David Wm. Sims and drummer Mac McNeilly – teased a new release on their social media pages earlier this week. The short video features sepia-tinged footage of creatures engaged in what may possibly be some sort of ritual sacrifice, soundtracked by a typically abrasive riff.
In a new interview with the New York Times, Yow says of the new song, “It’s got so many hooks,” admitting that he's been asking his wife, “Have we written a pop song?”
“I don’t know what pop music David Yow’s listening to,” Duane Denison tells the NYT. “I don’t think Beyoncé or Lil Nas X are going to be jealous.”
The song, according to Yow, is “about a witch who can’t behave.”
In the NYT interview, the band say that they'd been working on new music since 2017, with Yow committing fully to making a new record in 2019. Rack was recorded last year in Nashville at Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney's Audio Eagle studio. In the New York Times, bassist David Wm. Sims says that the 11-song set is “maybe one of our best.”
The Jesus Lizard are also gearing up to play their first live shows since 2019.
They'll perform at The Blue Room at Third Man Records in Nashville tomorrow night (Thursday, June 6) and follow it with a festival appearance and a headline date in California. Two more festival shows are scheduled for later in the year.
Full dates below.
The Jesus Lizard: 2024/'25 Tour Dates
Jun 06: Nashville The Blue Room @ Third Man Records, TN
Jun 08: Pomona No Values Festival, CA
Jun 09: Garden Grove Garden Amphitheatre, CA
Sep 07: Raleigh Hopscotch Music Festival, NC
Oct 13: Las Vegas Best Friends Forever Festival, NV
Oct 31: Dallas Longhorn Ballroom, TX
Nov 01: Austin, TX TBA
Dec 09: Pittsburgh Stage AE, PA
Dec 11: Brooklyn Brooklyn Steel, NY
Dec 12: Boston Roadrunner, MA
Dec 13: Philadelphia Union Transfer, PA
Dec 14: Washington DC Black Cat
Dec 18: Atlanta Variety Playhouse, GA
Jan 07: Glasgow QMU, UK
Jan 08: Manchester, UK Academy 2, UK
Jan 09: Leeds Brudenell Social Club, UK
Jan 10: Bristol Fleece, UK
Jan 11: London Electric Ballroom, UK
Jan 12: Brighton Concorde 2, UK
Jan 14: Belfast The Limelight, UK
Jan 15: Dublin Button Factory, Ireland
May 02: Solana Beach Belly Up Tavern, CA
May 03: Los Angeles The Fonda Theatre, CA
May 05: San Francisco The Fillmore, CA
May 08: Portland Revolution Hall, OR
May 10 Seattle Neptune Theatre, WA
Tickets for the first five shows are on sale now. Tickets for the shows from October 31 onwards will go on sale on Friday, June 7, at 10am local time. All details here.
If you're craving more Jesus Lizard action ahead of the release of Rack, March saw the release of Wax Donut Presents: Goat, a tribute to The Jesus Lizard's classic 1991 album Goat.
