Continuing to feed their reputation as one of the hardest-working bands in indie rock, fuzzed-out post-punk trio Vundabar have announced their UK/EU tour which includes London’s Scala 8th May. The news follows the announcement of their new album, Surgery and Pleasure, out 7th March via Loma Vista Recordings and new single 'Spades'.
“Surgery And Pleasure is a more mature synthesis of all the stuff we’ve explored before,” Vundabar singer/guitarist Brandon Hagen says of the album’s fusion of old-school Vundabar energy with a newfound muscularity and slickness. “In a way it feels like a return. It’s grownup Vundabar.”
While Surgery And Pleasure was born from a difficult period of his life, Hagen didn’t want the record to wallow. “I was really ready to be done moaning,” he cracks. The music is rarely reflective or lachrymose. Instead, it’s one of Vundabar’s most visceral and urgent collections to date. Hagen sought an “extreme version of something very everyday and common.” He wrote many of the songs so that it could just as easily be about someone dying, the end of a relationship, or some unidentified something irrevocably breaking. All of it was interchangeable, leading to the same conclusion. “I was dealing with how to accept that change is inevitable,” Hagen explains. “These things can’t be fought. It’s about acceptance and empathy.”
After years of self-releasing, Vundabar recently signed to esteemed label Loma Vista Recordings for their sixth full-length, joining the ranks of artists such as Soccer Mommy, Denzel Curry, Sleater-Kinney, Manchester Orchestra, Killer Mike and Iggy Pop. They announced they would be joining the label last year with the release of their single and video ‘I Got Cracked’, followed by a second single and video, ‘Life Is a Movie’, both of which appear on Surgery and Pleasure.
Formed by Brandon Hagen (guitar, vocals) and Drew McDonald (drums), and later joined by Zack Abramo (bass), Vundabar have always been imbued with a fiercely independent spirit, their sound forged in mythical underground Brooklyn venues such as Silent Barn and Shea Stadium. Musically, they exist almost as a fever dream of many genres, melding arty post-punk, tangled math-rock, sun-dappled surf-guitar, shimmering jangle-pop and grunge scuzz into sharp, compact songs that have netted them a wide fan base and a reputation for a killer live show.
Track Listing:
01) Life Is A Movie
02) Beta Fish
03) Stallion Running
04) I Got Cracked
05) Spades
06) Let Me Bleed
07) Feels Like Forever
08) Hurricane
09) I Need You
10) Easy Does It
11) Why Is It So Hard To Say Goodbye
Vundabar 2025 Tour Dates
03/07/25 Fri- Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club%
03/12/25 Wed- Asheville NC @ Eulogy
03/13/25 Thu- Birmingham AL @ Saturn
03/15/25 Sat- San Antonio TX @ Paper Tiger
03/17/25 Mon- El Paso TX @ lowbrow Palace
03/18/25 Tue- Santa Fe NM @ Meow Wolf
03/19/25 Wed- Tucson AZ @ 191 Toole
03/21/25 Fri- Pomona CA @ The Glass House
03/22/25 Sat- Ventura CA @ Ventura Music Hall
03/23/25 Sun- Sacramento CA @ Harlow's
03/25/25 Tue- Bellingham WA @ The Wild Buffalo
03/26/25 Wed- Vancouver BC @ The Rickshaw Theatre
03/28/25 Fri- Boise ID @ Treefort Music Festival
03/29/25 Sat- Salt Lake City UT @ Soundwell
03/31/25 Mon- Boulder CO @ Fox Theatre
04/02/25 Wed- Omaha NE @ The Waiting Room
04/03/25 Thu- St Louis MO @ Delmar Hall
04/04/25 Fri- Evanston IL @ SPACE
04/05/25 Sat- Evanston IL @ SPACE
04/07/25 Mon- Columbus OH @ Skully’s Music-Diner
04/08/25 Tue- Pittsburgh PA @ Thunderbird Café & Music Hall
04/10/25 Thu- Allentown PA @ To Be Announced
04/11/25 Fri- Jersey City NJ @ White Eagle Hall
04/12/25 Sat- Woodstock NY @ Bearsville Theater
03/05 - Glasgow, UK @ TBA
04/05 - Leeds, UK @ Gold Sounds
05/05 - Manchester, UK @ The Deaf Institute
06/05 - Birmingham, UK @ Hare and Hounds
08/05 - London, UK @ Scala
09/05 - Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew
10/05 - Brighton, UK @ DUST
12/05 - Brussels, BE @ AB Club
13/05 - Cologne, DE @ Luxor
14/05 - Berlin, DE @ Frannz Club
15/05 - Warsaw, PL @ Hybrydy
17/05 - Hamburg, DE @ Logo
18/05 - Amsterdam, NE @ Paradiso Tollhuisten
20/05 - Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie
21/05 - Lyon, FR @ Le Marche Gare
22/05 - Ris Oranges, FR @ Le Plan
23/05 - Le Havre, FR @ Foul Weather Festival
