U.K. Matinees, U.S. East Coast: Yes

On sale 10AM BST today ⭐️

***WORMHOLE: Tickets are on sale this morning for two new matinée shows at Rough Trade Bristol (22/7) and Rough Trade East (London; 24/7). These will immediately precede the sold-out evening shows at the same venues. Tickets are here, and go on sale at 10am BST.***

With just a week and a half standing between us and the release of Qualifying Miles, it’s gettin’ kinda hectic here at W.A.S. HQ, which is not so much a “here” as a distributed mesh of nodes, each point occupied by a publicist, a manager, a booking agent, a label exec, a radio plugger, a bartender, a numbers guy, a phrenologist, a jugger. There is a lattice! We’ve deployed a human lattice, and it’s working synchronously and interdependently to make sure that QM, next Friday or soon after, is heard by every person alive. And honestly? If we reach even half that goal, we’ll still probably crack a wry smile, shake our heads in mock disappointment, and chuckle at the pervasive fallibility of this ol’ universe.

And before you ask, YES, we’ve got a street team out there preparing to initiate Operation Deep Listeners, our effort to reach deceased potential fans using large speakers placed face down in necropolises worldwide. We aren’t counting any of those chickens yet, but it’s an interesting idea, and thank you Lorde for clueing us in.

Exciting frontiers, sure, but plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose: if an album is being released, then there shall be IN-STORES. We’ve got ‘em, you know this, many of you have already secured spots 🙏. Today we’re selling tickets for two final new in-store shows, each a matinée taking place before another sold out show the same day: the first is in Bristol on 22 July, the second in London on 24 July. If you missed out on tickets to those shows at Rough Trade Bristol and Rough Trade East, and you prayed to your god or cast a luck spell or even just swung your arms wildly and beseeched the moist summer night, then IT WORKED — we added two more shows. And tickets are on sale THIS MORNING at 10am BST. Get ‘em if ya need ‘em.

What about America?

America is f#cked! We are well and truly f#cked. Haha. But that doesn’t mean that the show won’t go on. Indeed, you probably already know what they say about whether it’s necessary for the show to go on. It must. It’s non-optional. And guess what? They aren’t just talking about the good times when they say that! Indeed, they’re only bothering to make the point at all because often during the bad times, people hear about a show that’s coming to town, and they start grumbling, murmuring, What? A show at a time like this?, for they have graver things on their mind than mere entertainment. But YES, a show must happen at a time like this, for without one, we’ll forget why we even give a damn what happens to this town and this country, this world, and we’ll flip on Netflix, smash our remote against the chair leg, and let the Flickering Lifeless Intergalactic Gloom “play next” us into eternity.

Resist!

We were looking through old photos this week — 2004-2006 — working on the artwork for a 20th Anniversary edition of With Love & Squalor (shhhhhhhhh🤫).

Here’s a few…

They look like nice guys! They look like they were having fun.

But folks, they were children at play, learning to use their instruments, learning to navigate the world. Two of them wore shoes with fake laces, held closed by a hidden velcro flap.

Now it is 2025. And much has changed.

Prepare for Qualifying Miles.

🌔