Louisville, KY’s Bendigo Fletcher have unveiled “Astro Pup,” the third track off their forthcoming debut album Fits of Laughter. The song is available to stream and download starting today HERE. Watch a lyric video for the song HERE. Fits of Laughter is due for release on August 13, 2021 via Elektra Records and is available for pre-order now HERE. Merch bundles and limited edition colored vinyl are available exclusively through the bandߣs online store HERE.
On “Astro Pup,” the band delivers a heartbreak anthem spiked with heavenly harmonies and radiant banjo melodies. As Bendigo Fletcher’s first time working with an outside producer (Ken Coomer, original drummer for Wilco and Uncle Tupelo), Fits of Laughter draws much of its freewheeling energy from the deliberately unfussy nature of their recording sessions. “Going into working with Ken, we felt confident that we wanted to retain the jangly sweetness of the music we’ve made in the past,” shares frontman Ryan Anderson. “There’s loose ends and missed beats that we didn’t intend to make happen, but those moments always feel really special when they’re resolved it sounds like a band actually playing together.”
This Summer, Bendigo Fletcher will return to the road for a run of headline shows and festival appearances. In the Fall and Winter, the band will support labelmate Anderson East on both legs of his Maybe We Never Die Tour of North America. The 22-city trek kicks off on October 21, 2021 with two nights at Los Angeles, CA’s famed Troubadour, and wraps on February 02, 2022 at Toronto, Canada’s Danforth Music Hall. A complete list of live dates and ticket information can be found HERE.
Bendigo Fletcher announced their Elektra Records signing in an exclusive interview with American Songwriter, and previewed Fits of Laughter with the release of lead single “Evergreen” earlier this year. In May, the band returned with the album’s groove-heavy opener “Sugar in the Creek”and an accompanying animated music video. The album’s early tracks have been praised as “somewhere between the post-Woodstock folk scene of the 70’s and that decade’s burgeoning hard rock movement” (FLOOD Magazine), and “denser psych-rock with some remaining elements of Bendigo Fletcher’s drifting folk-Americana roots” (American Songwriter). Earlier this month, The Bluegrass Situation premiered a live video of the band performing “Sugar In The Creek” at Louisville, KY’s Blackacre Farm. Watch it HERE.
Throughout Fits of Laughter, frontman Ryan Anderson crafts the patchwork poetry of his lyrics by serenely observing the world around him. When matched with the band’s gorgeous collision of country and folk-rock and dreamy psychedelia, the result is story-songs graced with raw humanity, wildly offbeat humor, and a transcendent sense of wonder. For help in forging the album’s ragged elegance, Bendigo Fletcher worked with producer Ken Coomer, laying down the album in nine frenetic days. The album bears an undeniable immediacy, thanks in part to the band’s decision to limit the tracklist to eight essential songs (a move largely inspired by extraordinarily lean and iconic albums like Television’s Marquee Moon).
Fits of Laughter follows a trio of independent EPs that quietly amassed millions of streams and earned praise from Pop Matters, Atwood Magazine, and more. Converting audiences to fans on the road, Bendigo Fletcher has supported Mt. Joy, Nathaniel Rateliff, Rayland Baxter, Caamp, and Hiss Golden Messenger on tour. Bendigo Fletcher is: Ryan Anderson (lead vocals, guitar, banjo) – Andrew Shupert (backing vocals, lead guitar) – Evan Wagner (backing vocals, keys, guitar, auxiliary percussion) – Conner Powell (bass) – Chris Weis (drums).
