Menzies Share Debut Album 'Holding My Cold Hand, Even Though Yours Is Warm' + Announce Tour
Te Whanganui-a-Tara propagators of unabashedly earnest alt-rock, Menzies have already climbed the giddy heights of the SRN Top 10 and earned praise for their onstage presence from no less than US songwriting star MJ Lenderman (who caught them playing a Camp A Low Hum 2024 Renegade Room set). Sounding almost overwhelmed by emotion on recent single 'Mash Potato' — in which vocalist Chris Brown instructs "Put your hand into the gravy and feel how warm it feels / Put your face into the mash / Now you've got lash on your mash" — Menzies venture beyond fuzzy / jangly strum-worship into unadorned poetic sprechgesang on their debut album Holding My Cold Hand, Even Though Yours Is Warm, sporting a love for the theatrical which indeed recalls such cited local giants as The Front Lawn.
Balancing big feels with just as huge hooks, jagged post-punk and evocative soundscapes, the album takes listeners on an Aotearoa scenic tour (band in a van style) "of trays of sausage rolls, romantic feelings towards All Blacks, ferry crossings, Suzy Cato" plus a heck of a lot more. By all accounts inventive and fun on stage (Brown was once a working magician), naturally Menzies have put together an expansive release tour featuring musical friends all across the motu. Recorded and mixed by James Goldsmith, succumb to the joyful, sometimes confrontingly raw and vulnerable (check out ten minute epic 'Triptych') world of Holding My Cold Hand Even Though Yours Is Warm, cop the vinyl LP edition from good record stores, and join Menzies with special guests this winter...
Menzies Album Release - Holding My Cold Hand, Even Though Yours Is Warm
Friday 3rd July - The Stomach, Palmerston North w/ Either Eyether
Saturday 4th July - Porridge Watson, Whanganui w/ Sports Dreams
Friday 17th July - Meow, Wellington w/ The Muscle, Sig Wilder*
Friday 24th July - Darkroom, Christchurch
Saturday 25th July - Pearl Diver, Dunedin
Friday 7th August - Whammy Bar, Auckland w/ The EE Machine, Salt Water Criminals
Saturday 8th August - Raglan Town Hall, Raglan w/ Tukana, Mondogreen
Tickets on sale HERE via UTR
*Wellington tickets HERE
'Holding My Cold Hand Even Though Yours Is Warm' is out today on major streaming platforms.
menzies.bandcamp.com/album/holding-my-cold-hand-even-though-yours-is-warm
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