Grand Atlantic Covers New Ground Australian Band Tours US This March In Support Of New Album

Here there be dragons. You never know what you’ll find when you set foot on unexplored territory. Brisbane’s Grand Atlantic is venturing into uncharted waters this year with a new album and tour to support it.

The power pop quartet recorded their as yet untitled third record in Seacliff Lunatic Asylum, an abandoned psychiatric hospital near Dunedin, New Zealand, where they delved into darker emotional territory, experimented with new recording techniques and experienced the effects of their haunting (and possibly haunted) surroundings. They will bring the psychedelic results of their explorations to the United States this March, playing gigs in Chicago, New York and at SXSW, kicking off in Chicago at Reggie’s Music Joint on March 11^th.

Grand Atlantic’s constant touring and rehearsing has honed their skills to a razor-sharp edge. They are so sharp, in fact that some of the tracks on their new album were recorded live. “It was great to have the confidence to do some of the album live as well,” says frontman Phil Usher. “It really brings another dimension to the album and some of it is really fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of stuff.”

In March 2010, Grand Atlantic barnstormed across the US and Canada after invitations to showcase at SXSW and Canadian Music Week, following extensive touring of the How We Survive in Australia and a growing call from the US powerpop scene. The release of the album in the US prompted radio play on over 50 radio stations, a glut of media attention and placed them on a bunch of SXSW ‘bands to watch’ short lists.

Grand Atlantic Tour Dates

3/11 Reggie’s Music Joint, Chicago, IL

3/12 The Living Room, New York, NY

3/13 The Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY

3/15 Dart International Party, Austin, TX

3/17 Paisley Underground Party, Austin, TX

3/20 Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar, Houston, TX

3/22 Comet Tavern, Seattle, WA

3/24 Hotel Utah, San Francisco, CA

3/25 Trip, Santa Monica, CA

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Magnet Magazine Salutes Grand Atlantic

Indie mag bible Magnet Magazine has paid close attention to our favorite Aussies Grand Atlantic. Magnet had great things to say about the band's style and their U.S. release of How We Survive.

“Coast Is Clear,” which opens How We Survive (Laughing Outlaw), is a heavy bit of Catherine Wheel-style stadium shoegaze that meets its guitar-overdub and painkiller-softened-vocals quota." -- but the magazine's website offers up two bonus tracks to the band's new CD. Take a listen to "She's a Dreamer" and their gorgeous take on Big Star's "September Gurls." Click Here to Read More..