Elk City @ The Mercury Lounge (10:30) - First Merc Gig In 2 years December 9, 2005

Rebounding from near break-up and a two-year hiatus, indie-pop stalwarts Elk City will return to The Mercury Lounge in New York City on Friday, December 9th at 10:30pm with a new record and a new line-up.

Elk City's performances have been electrifying stages throughout the United States and Europe since the late 90s as the band put out two critically acclaimed records on Touch & Go (US) and Talitres (Europe). In these earlier releases, lead singer Reneé LoBue shared songwriting and vocal duties with former Elk City guitarist Peter Langland-Hasssan who quit the band in 2003 after numerous infuriatingly stupid disputes sparked over LoBue's rising profile as the band's centerpiece.

On stage, the band has replaced Peter with guitarist Sean Eden, who for the past decade played in recently dis-banded Luna, one of indie rock's most influential and lauded bands. Eden also lent his guitar skills to Elk City's upcoming full-length, New Believers.

New Believers -- due out early next year -- marks the band's rebirth for Elk City and, with Peter out of the picture, singer / songwriter Renee LoBue is now on center stage. She is rewriting her own history, singing self-determination and celebrating independence from snobbery and deceit. It's cha-cha rock and swooping organs synthesize, lipstick shades as rallying cries.

In addition to Sean Eden, New Believers also features remarkable contributions from Drag City/Birdman recording artist Brother JT, members of The Mendoza Line and NYC underground music veteran and John Cale collaborator, Ed Tomney (The Necessaries). With this cast of new congregants, drummer-producer Ray Ketchem (Luna, The Mendoza Line) re-imagines the sound of Elk City with passion and fury, taking the irony out of organs and putting the fun back into rhythm guitar. All told, these fantastic players ignite New Believers with the gospel that the songs deserve.

Besides having tracks featured on Filter Magazine's Weekly Picks and on the Official PopKomm 2005 Music Compilation (http://www.soundpost.com/popkomm), the kids are already saying great things about New Believers:

"Watching and hearing New Believers unfold has been a great experience for me. After Peter left Elk City I encouraged Reneé and Ray to record an LP with friends they had made over the years. Renee had found a new singular voice and she was writing songs at a furious pace. She presented her songs on her Rhodes Bass in raw, skeletal black and white. Then Ray went to work with an arsenal of guitarists and vintage synthesizers. After many months, the music has emerged in full blown technicolor."
- Glenn Morrow (writer, label owner, A2im founding member)

"The new album from the new Elk City builds on the band's past successes with impressive, unpretentious musical eclecticism. Surprising lyrics reveal a humane, contagiously optimistic heart. This is not indie rock, but it is intelligent, witty and catchy as hell."
- NY Newsday (Gordon Cox / culture critic)

"If CMJ is really about discovering great bands, than this is the show to see. Elk City mix the likes of the Pretenders with classic Motown, and then layer the top with just a dusting of '80s new wave. Frontwoman Renee LoBue's voice is astounding - she has incredible range and sounds like a female Bowie engaged in a three-way with Hope Sandoval and Patti Smith. And of the band's latest batch of songs (a polished, as-of-yet unreleased full-length tentatively titled New Believers), at least half of them are perfect pop gems."-
- The Village Voice (Ken Switzer)

MORE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT:
HTTP://WWW.ELKCITY.NET

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