On the title track from The Growlers’ forthcoming fifth album, the taut and tangy Chinese Fountain, the California band tackles the future by looking to the past. “The Internet is bigger than Jesus and John Lennon,” singer Brooks Nielsen deadpans atop a funky disco beat, “Nobody wants to know where we’re headed.”
“We were taking a break from writing when [lead guitarist] Matt Taylor said he was gonna go back in the room and write a hit,” Nielsen tells Flavorwire. “Later, when we heard it, we all looked at each other and said, ‘It sounds disco.’ Went for it and wrote about how everything seems already taken, already used up and fucked, and we’re all livin’ on luck. No choice but to be creative and hope for the best. I used to clean fountains when I was young, so I used the analogy of tossing quarters in a Chinese fountain. Good luck everyone.”
And with that, Flavorwire is pleased to premiere “Chinese Fountain.”
While The Growlers have been dubbed beach goth, surf-rock, garage-pop, psych revivalists, and more compound genre gobbledygook, Chinese Fountain shows the most variety of all their albums. But it’s not because they’re angling for a higher status.
“People tend to ask us if we think the album we’re releasing is gonna blow up and give us the success we’re longing for,” Nielsen says of the new album, which they wrote over the course of three weeks. “It’s a thought process we don’t possess. The Chinese fountain is a symbol of luck, and I guess you can say we’re mocking that philosophy of bands exploding into fame through strategy of designing an album just for that reason. This is just another Growlers vibe!”
Chinese Fountain is out September 23 via Everloving Records. The Growlers, who tour relentlessly, hit the road tomorrow.
Growlers Tour Dates: 09.05.14 – Denver, CO @ Hi Dive 09.06.14 – Denver, CO @ Hi Dive 09.08.14 – Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck 09.09.14 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry 09.10.14 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall 09.11.14 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig 09.12.14 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace 09.13.14 – Montreal, QC @ Il Motore 09.14.14 – Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall 09.17.14 – Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre 09.18.14 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom 09.19.14 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s 09.20.14 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat Mainstage 09.22.14 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl 09.23.14 – Nashville, TN @ Exit In 09.24.14 – Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone Cafe 09.25.14 – Dallas, TX @ Dada 09.26.14 – Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s Upstairs 09.27.14 – Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn 09.28.14 – San Antonio, TX @ 502 Bar
10.07.14 – Fresno, CA @ Frank’s Place/Star Palace 10.10.14 – Victoria, BC @ Upstairs Cabaret 10.11.14 – Vancouver, BC @ The Rickshaw 10.14.14 – Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall 10.15.14 – Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey 10.16.14 – Spokane, WA @ The Bartlett 10.17.14 – Portland, OR @ Alhambra Theatre 10.18-19 – San Francisco, CA @ Treasure Island Festival 10.25.14 – Orange County, CA – BEACH GOTH III at The Observatory
Main photo by Taylor Bonin