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New Dear and the Headlights MP3: "Talk About"

Quick-tongued frontman Ian Metzger details the birth of the nerve-racking, crashing pop tune off the Phoenix, AZ-based quintet's forthcoming sophomore set, Drunk Like Bible Times.

When "Talk About," a track off Dear and the Headlights' sophomore set Drunk Like Bible Times (out Sept. 30 via Equal Vision), landed in our inbox a few weeks ago, it was as if we'd been hit by an anvil dropped from atop the Empire State Building. And with its wall of swirling, crashing guitars intertwined with steam-engine keys and, notably, frontman Ian Metzger's ballooning diatribes on domestic violence, AA meetings, and sensory overload, the track begged further investigation.


Check out Dear and the Headlights first track download release “Talk About” off Drunk Like Bible Times exclusively on SPIN.com right now:
New Dear and the Headlights MP3: "Talk About" | Spin Magazine Online

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>> Video Interview: Dear and the Headlights

"'Talk About,' lyrically, is a song I wrote with my good friend Derek Sperry over the course of about 40 to 50 hours," Metzger told SPIN.com. "The song is a detailed account of the disagreement between two very intertwined and opposing existences. It deals heavily with the isolation, bitterness, and occasional violence felt in something as simple as an argument or difference in opinion."

And the emotional sentiment delivers: The ironically upbeat, sonically seam-busting tangles only accentuate Metzger's snarling, quick-tongued observations. "We just wanted to come up with the most ridiculous and exaggerated metaphors of some lowly human interaction," he continued. Mission accomplished.



The follow-up to 2007’s Small Steps, Heavy Hooves, has already been named one of the Most Anticipated of 2008 by Alternative Press and DEAR AND THE HEADLIGHTS is certainly not going to disappoint. The album’s opener, “I’m Not Crying. You’re Not Crying, Are You?” may hint at another slow album starter (see: Small Steps, Heavy Hooves’ “Oh No”) but quickly picks the listener up in the band’s familiar piano & tambourine infused pop/indie-rock sound with comparisons to The Flaming Lips. The album’s middle and bridge is “Saintly Rows (Oh Oh)”, a haunting affair channeling Bob Dylan as each line of vocalist Ian Metzger’s lyrics trail off in a sad tone, but ultimately the song builds up to frantic piano lines and a chaotic ending. The theme of the record is most prevalent on the album’s closer, “I Know”: smooth transitions between slowed down, soulful ballads to good old fashioned rock n’ roll.

The 12-track set was recorded with producer and friend, Bob Hoag (The Format, Limbeck), at Flying Blanket Recording in their hometown earlier this summer. “Bob has been pretty influential in the overall sound and to some degree the arrangements on this record, like he was on the last record. He kind of becomes the sixth member in the studio and that works well because we trust him and he hears things the same way we do,” described guitarist, PJ Waxman.

In 2007, the band logged 162 shows on tour with the likes of Circa Survive, Straylight Run, and many more diverse artists. This past Spring, the five-piece spent just over a month opening for emo/indie powerhouses and fellow Arizonians, Jimmy Eat World. During their current headlining trek, DEAR AND THE HEADLIGHTS took the stage with Jimmy Eat World again in a support slot for 5 shows between July 15th and 20th. This fall, the band will hit the road with Minneapolis pop-rock quintet, Motion City Soundtrack, and indie/folk Indianapolis natives, Margot And The Nuclear So & So’s, for The Left Handed Forms Of Human Endeavor tour. Further touring is planned through the end of the year.

Track Listing
1. I’m Not Crying. You’re Not Crying, Are You?
2. Bad News
3. Carl Solomon Blues
4. Willetta
5. Talk About
6. Saintly Rows (Oh Oh)
7. Flowers For My Brain
8. Now It’s Over
9. Parallel Lines
10. If Not For My Glasses
11. Try
12. I Know

Tour Dates w/Motion City Soundtrack
09/06 Allentown, PA - Crocodile Rock Café
09/07 Atlantic City, NJ - House of Blues
09/08 Towson, MD - Recher Theatre
09/10 Ashville, NC - The Orange Peel
09/11 Charleston, SC - Music Farm
09/12 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
09/13 Gainesville, FL - Alachua County Fairgrounds
09/15 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
09/17 Urbana, IL - The Canopy Club
09/18 Columbia, MO - The Blue Note
09/19 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall

Links
myspace.com/DearAndTheHeadlights
EqualVision.com