Comprised of Steven (guitar and vocals), Allen (drums) and Sean (bass), the Pacific Northwestern trio Strange Wilds can trace their origins to 2012, when Steven and Sean first met. At the time, Sean was in a Boise, ID-based band, who had played a gig in a house where Sean had lived. The duo became friends and when Sean relocated to Olympia, WA to college, Steven called his friend Sean up and asked if he’d like to star a band.
The earliest incarnation of Strange Wilds was a quartet that featured both Sean and Steven that toured across the Pacific Northwest called Wet. Allen joined after a lineup change, which also resulted in a name change, as the band started to call themselves Strange Wilds. Now, as a trio the members of Strange Wild wrote and recorded a four song EP that caught the attention of the folks at Sub Pop Records, who released the trio’s full-length debut Subjective Concepts earlier this year. And from the album’s first single “Pronoia,” which derives its name from the silly and perhaps happily delusional idea that there’s a conspiracy that exists purely to help people, you can see why it caught Sub Pop Records‘ and the blogosphere’s attention as the song is comprised of the sludgy power chords,forceful drumming and howled of Bleach and Incesticide-era Nirvana (in particular, think of “Dive” off Incesticide) with a subtle nod to New Wave. Listening to the song immediately brought me back to the early 90s and listening to sludgy power chord rock as loud as humanly possible on a Walkman or a Discman and of sweaty, mosh pits in dark, dank clubs.
And the video is an almost spot-on approximation of videos you’d expect to see on MTV back in 1992 or so, as the video has the band playing in a trash strewn trailer park, interspersed with what seems to be demented versions of actual commercials as a scathing criticism of commercialism and consumerism.
The band is embarking on a lengthy tour that starts and ends with hometown shows in Seattle and with a CMJ appearance at Union Pool. Check out further tour dates below.
Tour Dates
Sep. 25 – Seattle, WA – Black Lodge
Sep. 26 – Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore
Sep. 27 – Portland, OR – They Know
Sep. 30 – Olympia, WA – TBA
Oct. 01 – San Francisco, CA – Hemlock
Oct. 02 – Los Angeles, CA – The Smell
Oct. 03 – Tempe, AZ – Time Out Lounge
Oct. 04 – Albuquerque, NM – Sister
Oct. 05 – Denver, CO – Rhinoceropolis
Oct. 07 – Columbia, MO – Cafe Berlin
Oct. 08 – Milwaukee, WI – Riverwest Public House
Oct. 09 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
Oct. 11 – Detroit, MI – Marble Bar
Oct. 12 – Cleveland, OH – Now That’s Class
Oct. 13 – Pittsburgh, PA – Spirit
Oct.16 – Brooklyn, NY – Union Pool (Strange Victory Touring CMJ Party)
Oct. 17 – Boston, MA – The Record Company
Oct. 18 – Montreal, QC – Turbo Haus
Oct. 19 – Toronto, ON – Smiling Buddha
Oct. 20 – Rochester, NY – Bug Jar
Oct. 21 – Albany, NY – The Low Beat
Oct. 22 – Providence, RI – Aurora
Oct. 23 – Philadelphia, PA – Kung Fu Necktie
Oct. 24 – Washington, DC – The (sea) Lab
Oct. 26 – RIchmond, VA – Strange Matter
Oct. 27 – Asheville, NC – Tiger Mountain
Oct. 28 – Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn
Oct. 30 – Miami, FL – Kill Your Idol
Oct. 31 – Gainesville, FL – Fest 14 / The Atlantic
Nov. 01 – Jacksonville, FL – Rain Dogs
Nov. 02 – New Orleans, LA – Siberia
Nov. 03 – Houston, TX – Walter’s Downtown
Nov. 04 – Austin, TX – Beerland
Nov. 06 – Tucson, AZ – Hotel Congress
Nov. 09 – Fullerton, CA – Continental Room
Nov. 10 – El Centro, CA – Strangers
Nov. 11 – Los Angeles, CA – All Star Lanes
Nov. 13 – Oakland, CA – 1-2-3-4 Go Records
Nov. 14 – Santa Rosa, CA – Atlas Coffee Company
Nov. 16 – Reno, NV – The Holland Project
Nov. 17 – Salt Lake City, UT – Diabolical Records
Nov. 18 – Boise, ID – Neurolux
Nov. 19 – Portland, OR – Bunk Bar
Nov. 21 – Seattle, WA – The Highline
