The Aristocrats will release their third album, Tres Caballeros, in late June via Boing!
Guthrie Govan, Bryan Beller and Marco Minnemann delivered a live preview of the full project during a four-night residency at a California club in late January before entering Hollywood’s Sunset Sound studios to record the follow-up to 2013’s Culture Clash.
The trio were joined for some vocal support by guests Brendon Small of Dethklok and Ben Thomas of Zappa Plays Zappa, and have recently been working on final mixes with engineers Erich Gobel and Mike Boden.
Guitarist Govan explains the band have come a long way since forming just four short years ago and says the pressure was off when it came time to record the new album.
He says: “We’ve learned a lot since we started this band – four years, three studio albums, two live DVDs and about a billion notes ago – and I think our latest offering reflects this in all kinds of ways.
“The decision to road test our new material in front of a live audience before commencing the recording process; the choice to record in a studio which had some thoroughly inspiring rock ‘n’ roll mojo; our sudden urge to become more bold and experimental with overdubs rather than feeling any pressure to record exclusively in a strict trio format – all of this has had some kind of positive effect on the way the new record came out.”
Govan adds: “Plus, I think the material on this album is some of the most interesting stuff we’ve ever written for each other, so… here’s hoping our noble listeners will like the finished product as much as we do.”
Tres Caballeros comes on the heels of the Culture Clash Live CD/DVD set and the Secret Show: Live In Osaka package in January – both recorded during the band’s extensive Culture Clash tour that saw the group perform 105 shows in 28 countries.
The Aristocrats will launch a North American tour in Sacramento, California on July 6 in sync with the release of Tres Caballeros.
