When we last heard from Meatbodies, Chad Ubovich’s chord-shredding trio were blowing out speaker cabinets on tour behind their 2014 self-titled debut. The louder-than-heaven sound of Meatbodies was appropriately massive given Ubovich’s side gigs—he wailed alongside Mikal Cronin on the MCII tour and plays bass in Fuzz—but now that the band is preparing for a run of European dates, they’re showing off their more refined and subtle side.
“Hibernation” is the similarly slinky B-side of the “Valley Girl” 7”, and it finds Ubovich, Kevin Boog, and Patrick Nolan in an appropriately continental mode. The bass—whose dull sparkle sounds like the sonic equivalent of a banged funny bone—takes up half of the soundstage, giving a woozy nod in the general direction of krautrock without really wandering over to chat. Likewise, Ubovich buries his vocal register well below the surface of the song, plumbing the depths of Bowie circa the “Sound and Vision” chorus.
That 7” doesn’t drop until March 18, but we’re pleased to be premiering “Hibernation,” which you can hear below (as well as “Valley Girl”). And if you can’t make the trek overseas to catch them on the following European dates, rest easy: they’ll have a new full-length out on In the Red sometime this year.
Meatbodies European tour dates
March
25 – Stereolux, Nantes (FR)
26 – Divan du Monde, Paris (FR)
27 – Paaspop Festival, Schijndel (NL)
28 – 100 Club, London (UK)
29 – Picture House Social, Sheffield (UK)
30 – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Wales (UK)
April
01 – Voodoo, Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)
02 – Workman’s Club, Dublin (IE)
03 – Pine Lodge, Myrtleville Co., Cork (IE)
04 – Crane Lane Theatre, Cork (IE)
05 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds (UK)
06 – Het Bos, Antwerp (BE)
07 – VK, Brussels (BE)
08 – Motel Mozaique Festival, Rotterdam (NL)
09 – Area 51, Eindhoven (NL)
10 – Rotondes, Luxembourg (LU)
11 – Rocking Chair, Vevey (CH)
12 – Poste á Galène, Marseille (FR)
13 – Paloma, Nimes (FR)
14 – Cooperative de Mai, Clermont Ferrand (FR)
15 – Rock School Barbey, Bordeaux (FR)
16 – Confort Moderne, Poitiers (FR)
17 – La Siréne, La Rochelle (FR)
19 – Satellite T, Bilbao (ES)
20 – Maus Habitos, Porto (PT)
21 – Musicbox, Lisbon (PT)
22 – Wurlitzer Ballroom, Madrid (ES)
23 – La (2) de Apolo, Barcelona (ES)
“Valley Girl” / “Hibernation” is out March 18 on Famous Class.
