Mates Of State
Aug 22, 2011
Kori Gardner (keyboard/vocals) and Jason Hammel (drums/vocals) were both playing guitar and singing in the Kansas music metropolis of Lawrence before forming the Mates of State in 1997. With their dual vocal harmonies and minimal pop appeal, Omnibus Records released Mates of State's first EP as a split with Fighter D in 1999. Upon relocation to San Francisco, the duo's second EP, It's the Law/In...vitation Inn, and a debut studio effort, My Solo Project, followed in 2000.
Tours of the Midwest followed into the next year and creative ideas continued to swirl. Hammel and Gardner, who were married in early 2001, inked themselves a deal with Polyvinyl prior to recording a follow-up. Summer days were spent playing shows with Superdrag, the Anniversary, and Beulah while writing songs on the road. Those sessions lead to the second album, Our Constant Concern, in 2002. The next spring Polyvinyl reissued their debut album, My Solo Project, and later on the full-length Team Boo. After their contract was up with Polyvinyl (ending with the 2004 EP All Day), Mates of State decided to head over to Barsuk, the label that released Bring It Back in 2006 and Re-Arrange Us in 2008. Their next full length album entitled "Crushes (The Covers Mixtape)" was released on their own label June 15, 2010. "Crushes" is an album consisting of covers of songs by some of the Mates' personal favorites by artists ranging from Nick Cave to Death Cab For Cutie to Fleetwood Mac to Girls.
Set to be released via Barsuk Records on September 13th, Mates Of State's seventh album is titled Mountaintops. Switching between the melancholy and buoyantly hopeful is another specialty of theirs, one that they really nail on Mountaintops, the perfect mixture reminding us it is always a struggle to be happy, no matter where you are in life. The album title comes from an old Zen tale where a monk's philosophical advice is to always aim for Cold Mountain, the eye always staying on the mountaintop, reaching it just to see the next mountaintop. You hear that throughout these songs: Kori and Jason traveling hopefully, knowing that the struggle and striving are probably the point of the whole thing. Sometimes it is as clear as the titles, with the three-song punch of 'Desire','Change' and 'Mistakes' that ends the album. With the lead off single "Maracas" you'll notice the effortless way their voices harmonize and volley back and forth, the movements within the song, the way they move from upbeat to pastoral so smoothly that you don't even see it happening. Their instruments and voices all move as one piece. Mates Of States are currently on tour through the fall in support of the new album.
Mates Of States Tour Dates:
- Sept 21 WASHINGTON, DC 9:30 Club
- Sept 22 CINCINNATI, OH Midpoint Music Festival
- Sept 23 PITTSBURGH, PA Mr. Small's Funhouse
- Sept 24 PHILADELPHIA, PA Popped Festival
- Sept 26 BOSTON, MA Royale
- Sept 27 MONTREAL, CANADA Il Motore
- Sept 28 TORONTO, CANADA Phoenix Concert Theatre
- Sept 29 DETROIT, MI St. Andrews Hall
- Sept 30 CHICAGO, IL Metro
- Oct 1 COLUMBUS, OH Newport Music Hall
- Oct 3 ASHEVILLE, NC Orange Peel
- Oct 4 NASHVILLE, TN Exit In
- Oct 5 CHARLOTTE, NC Visulite Theatre
- Oct 6 ATLANTA, GA Drunken Unicorn
- Oct 7 ORLANDO, FL Social
- Oct 8 MIAMI, FL Langerado Music Festival
- Oct 10 RICHMOND, VA Canal Club
Mountaintops Track Listing
- "Palomino"
- "Maracas"
- "Sway"
- "Unless I'm Led"
- "Total Serendipity"
- "Basement Money"
- "At Least I Have You"
- "Desire"
- "Change"
- "Mistakes"