The eagerly anticipated new album from legendary rock & roll trio the STRAY CATS — their first album in 26 years — titled “40” will be released on May 24th via Surfdog Records and distributed by Mascot Label Group.
The rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, with double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer/vocalist Slim Jim Phantom — will be celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2019 with the album and a full UK/European tour [dates below]
The band base their sounds on the legendary Sun Records artists and admit they are heavily influenced by Eddie Cochran, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent. Their song, “Rock This Town” [1981 ] was listed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll”
The Stray Cats recorded “40” at Blackbird Studios in Nashville in late 2018 following their first North American shows in ten years.
Still abuzz from the exhilaration of playing together again and the fantastic crowd response, they went into the studio with producer Peter Collins (Rush, Bon Jovi, The Brian Setzer Orchestra) and engineer Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton, Arctic Monkeys) to lay-down twelve original songs for the album.
Brian says, “You have to understand how unique The Stray Cats are. It’s me playing an old hollow body guitar, Slim Jim playing two or three drums, and Lee Rocker slapping a stand-up acoustic bass.”
“ I get to write new songs and then play them with my buddies. Somehow we created a new and exciting sound with this simple idea. And you know what? A lot of people agree!”
They’ve released a track from the record: “Cat Fight (Over A Dog Like Me)” and we had a listen:
The guitar glistens like the hubs on a Zephyr Six while big-buckle beats rumble and the razzle-dazzle voice sparkles as lucidly as Doris Day’s smile, perhaps with the compelling energy & potent intonation of The Girl Can’t Help It ,Mansfield.
Catch up with the band in the video below
Link: https://www.facebook.com/Stray-Cats
Main photo credit: Russ Harrington
European/UK Tour 2019
Fri 21 Jun – Azkena Rock Festival, Spain
Sun 23 Jun – 02 Academy, Birmingham
Tues 25 Jun – 02 Apollo, Manchester
Wed 26 June – Hammersmith Apollo, London
Thurs 27 June – Hammersmith Apollo, London
Sat 29 June – Retro C Trop, France
Mon 01 July – AFAS Live, Netherlands
Wed 03 July – Columbiahalle, Germany
Thurs 04 July – Palladium, Germany
Sat 06 July – American Tours Festival, France
Sun 07 July – Les Eurockeennes, France
Tues 09 July – Killesberg, Germany
Thurs 11 July – Zenith, Germany
Fri 12 July – X-Tra, Switzerland
Sat 13 July – Musilac Festival, France
Thurs 18 July – Pori Jazz Festival, Finland
Sat 20 July – Summer Jamboree, Sweden