Diamond Rugs’ Cosmetics Arrives

DIAMOND RUGS COSMETICS OUT TODAY

NEW SONG, “THUNK,” AVAILABLE FOR POSTING

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR STARTS END OF MARCH

Diamond Rugs are releasing their second record, Cosmetics (Sycamore Records/Thirty Tigers/RED), today. This rowdy follow-up to their 2012 self-titled debut that garnered rave reviews and a much-talked about performance on the Late Show with David Letterman, still features the incomparable collaboration of John McCauley (Deer Tick), Robbie Crowell (Deer Tick), Ian Saint Pé (ex-Black Lips guitarist), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), T. Hardy Morris (Dead Confederate) and Bryan Dufresne (Six Finger Satellite). The record was recorded in Nashville, TN, at Playground Sound Studio and was produced by Adam Landry and Justin Collins. The band is sharing a new song from the album, “THUNK,” to celebrate its release. They also made a new Bollywood-inspired tour video trailer available for posting.

The term supergroup is often doled out a little too easy. But Diamond Rugs fit the bill in the most valiant ways. They may not be household names like Harrison, Dylan, Petty, Orbison or Lynne, but just about every last one of them is a consummate pro who’s made a living touring and recording for 10 years or more. Like the Traveling Wilburys before them, Diamond Rugs is pure diversion, casting off the chains of expectations that come with rock & roll success and getting back to the all-important basics – to that addictive siren song that set each of them on this path in the first place. For starters, the undeniable feeling of euphoria that comes from letting a wide-open E-chord ring into the ether for no other reason than to feel the reverberations. I’m talking about rock & roll in its most pure and uncorrupted form – a bunch of good-time buddies getting together to do what they love most, crank the amps and let it rip. Fun, damn it. Good old-fashioned kicks. Were they – like T. Hardy Morris says – just “dicking off” in the studio? Maybe, but when Diamond Rugs dick off they tap into that primal spirit that makes rock & roll endure.

While McCauley was the driving force behind the first record, St. Pé and Dufresne rallied the gang for Cosmetics. Once again, it took a little angling to make schedules work, but in the end everybody was stoked for Diamond Rugs round two. “You form these friendships with people on the road,” McCauley explains, “and you might not see ’em again for a year or two, or longer, so it’s a nice way for us musician pals to keep in touch.”

Last summer, the band headed back to Playground Sound in Nashville, picking up where they left off. “From the first record to the second, we didn’t really change anything,” St. Pé says. “I’m a firm believer in, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ That said, there’s a little more introspection this time around, a little more depth, lyrically.”

Like Diamond Rugs’ debut – and some of the most classic records of the late ’60s and early ’70s – Cosmetics was cut on 1-inch 8-track tape. “When you have a three-piece horn section, guitars, bass, synthesizers, organs, multiple vocals, and you gotta fit it all on 8 tracks, it makes you think,” St, Pé says. “I call it the art of deconstruction. Nowadays, there are so many possibilities to punch everything in. But when you take all that away and force yourself to make it work on 8 tracks – if you give yourself those limitations, you kind of have to live with things as they are. But those imperfections are perfection, and they’re a big part of Diamond Rugs’ sound.”

There’s a tasteful self-imposed restraint at play on Cosmetics, even as the band beckons you into the wild, off-the-cuff abandon of its epic bar-band anthems. This is the work of a gang of one-time upstarts who are now seasoned pros in full command of their musical powers. They’ve been through a whole lot, and because of it they know what’s important, how to have a good time, when to push the limits and when less is more.

The band will kick off the tour on March 26 at Ortlieb’s in Philadelphia. They will make stops in New York, Toronto, Chicago, Washington DC, Austin and more along the way before ending the tour on May 8 at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA.

Upcoming North American Tour Dates:

March

26 – Philadelphia, PA – Ortlieb’s

27 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom

28 – Providence, RI – The Met

29 – Boston, MA – The Sinclair

31 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern

April

01 – Detroit, MI – Loving Touch

02 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall

03 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club

04 – Iowa City, IA – Gabes Oasis (Mission Creek Music Festival)

06 – St. Louis, MO – Firebird

07 – Indianapolis, IN – Radio Radio

08 – Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop

10 – Washington, DC – Black Cat

11 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl

May

04 – Austin, TX – The Belmont

05 – Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey

07 – Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge

08 – Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club

10 – Atlanta, GA – Shaky Knees Festival