The Washington, DC radio station WHFS no longer exists, but the HFStival, its once-annual all-day marathon, is coming back this year. My first HFStival was 1995, and that show’s true headliner was Soul Asylum, the long-running Minneapolis band who were just then having a huge moment. The Ramones technically played last, but people were already streaming out of the exits then. For a lot of people, that huge stadium show was clearly a Soul Asylum concert with a bunch of openers, which is wild to think about now. Soul Asylum, who can now accurately be described as underrated, have never stopped being a band, and they just announced a new album.

This fall, Soul Asylum will follow 2020’s Hurry Up And Wait with the new LP Slowly But Shirley. They recorded it in their Minneapolis hometown with Steve Jordan, the producer of their 1990 album And The Horse They Rode In On. The title and cover art are both homages to the pioneering drag racer Shirley “Cha Cha” Muldowney; frontman Dave Pirner was always a big fan. Lead single “High Road” is a warm, ramshackle rocker, and you can still totally hear that these guys used to be the Replacements’ little-brother band. Check out the song and the tracklist below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “The Only Thing I’m Missing”
02 “High Road”
03 “You Don’t Know Me”
04 “Freeloader”
05 “Tryin’ Man”
06 “Freak Accident”
07 “If You Want It Back”
08 “Waiting On The Lord”
09 “Trial By Fire”
10 “Makin’ Plans”
11 “Sucker Maker”
12 “High & Dry”

Slowly But Shirley doesn’t have a release date yet, but it’s coming this fall. Soul Asylum are also doing ’90s-throwback tours with Stone Temple Pilots, Live, and the Juliana Hatfield Three.