Hotline TNT, the Brooklyn-based shoegaze-punkers led by Will Anderson, were staples of the East Coast DIY universe for years before they signed to Jack White's Third Man label and released the breakout LP Cartwheel, one of our favorite albums of 2023. Since then, Hotline TNT dropped a remix EP and a couple of new tracks, covered tourmates Wednesday, and contributed music to a few benefit compilations. Now, they're ready to follow up Cartwheel with the new full-length Raspberry Moon.
Raspberry Moon is the third Hotline TNT album, but it's the first that they've made as a full band. In the past, Will Anderson has recorded the band's music by himself, piece by piece. This time around, he went to work with his touring band -- guitarist Lucky Hunter, bassist Haylen Trammel, drummer Mike Ralston. You can hear the benefits of that approach on lead single "Julia's War," a bleary, muscular, catchy-as-hell power-pop jam. The title is a salute to the label run by the band's contemporaries in They Are Gutting A Body Of Water. The song's extremely silly Johnny Frohman-directed video is a shoegaze-themed Full Metal Jacket parody that features Jury Duty star Edy Modica and experimental theater actor Peter Mills Weiss.
Here's what Will Anderson says about "Julia's War":
In a world of half-hearted hooks and buried-in-the-mix vocals, we had to muster the courage to do what the rest of the shoegaze community could not… We looked out to the stadium and reassured the audience: Our voices, together, will be heard. You've never heard a TNT chorus this straightforward -- when we stress-tested it during the writing process, the "try not to sing along challenge" came back with a 100% fail rate.
When it came time to cook up the music video, Johnny Frohman created a Full Metal Jacket-style shoegaze bootcamp... It's not the Marine Corps, it's Slow Corps. Edy Monica, Dan Licata, and an ensemble cast of NYC comedy underworld alts rounded out the platoon and drafted us into a world where we could enlist in a strict regimen of pedalboard assembly and underwater vocal lessons.
Below, check out the "Julia's War" video, the Raspberry Moon tracklist, and Hotline TNT's upcoming tour dates, including a run opening for Hippo Campus.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Was I Wrong?"
02 "Transition Lens"
03 "The Scene"
04 "Juliaʼs War"
05 "Letter To Heaven"
06 "Break Right"
07 "If Time Flies"
08 "Candle"
09 "Dance The Night Away"
10 "Lawnmower"
11 "Where U Been?"
TOUR DATES:
5/01 - Louisville, KY @ Mag Bar
5/02 - Urbana, IL @ Rose Bowl Tavern
5/03 - St Louis, MO @ Sinkhole
5/04 - Columbia, MO @ Rose Music Hall
5/06 - Colorado Springs, CO @ Vultures
5/08 - Boise, ID @ The Shredder
5/09 - Sat. May 10 - Portland, OR @ Roseland *
5/12 - Tue. May 13 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox *
5/14 - Vancouver, BC @ Vogue *
5/16 - Sacramento, CA @ Channel 24 *
5/17 - Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl *
5/18 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren *
5/20 - San Antonio, TX @ Aztec *
5/21 - Austin, TX @ Moody Theater *
5/22 - Dallas, TX @ Bomb Factory *
5/24 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Jones Assembly *
5/25 - Bentonville, AR @ The Momentary *
5/27 - Columbus, OH @ Kemba Live *
5/29 - Grand Rapids, MI @ GLC Live at 20 Monroe *
5/30 - Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed *
5/31 - Minneapolis, MN @ Surly Brewing *
6/01 - Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club (early & late shows) %
6/03 - Buffalo, NY @ Rec Room
* with Hippo Campus
% with Slow Pulp
Raspberry Moon is out 6/20 on Third Man. Check out our 2023 feature on Hotline TNT here.
