2/16“DUCK” RELEASE DAY & THIRD SINGLE!
It’s time for the third video single from DUCK! This one’s called “Sgt. Rockhopper” – one of Guthrie’s tunes that fans may already recognise if they attended a show on our recent DEFROST tour cycle. As he so eloquently stated every night on the road, this Aristocratic character-creation definitely needed a song written about him, and he quickly became the perfect antagonist for our brand new concept album.
And speaking of said album, happy release day one and all; finally, our DUCK is released into the wild! Our 5th studio album DUCK is available NOW on physical CD/Deluxe/Vinyl from our USA, UK and EU webstores. And for hi-res digital audio, our BANDCAMP is the place to go. You can stream all you like in the Bandcamp app after your digital purchase there. General streaming release will come eventually, but not for a few months. If you want your DUCK now and want to support the band, you know what to do!
This is a very special day for us – Release Days don’t come around very often. And none of it works without you, the people most interested in our music. Thank you once again, so very much.
Now, let’s hear what you think! Cheers to all, The Aristocrats
2/02SECOND SINGLE FROM “DUCK”!
WELCOME TO THE ARISTOCLUB: Check out the second video single from our upcoming album DUCK. This one’s called “Aristoclub”, and it’s our tongue-in-cheek pastiche of an ultra-mainstream 1990s dance song. Bryan wrote it to be loosely inspired by C & C Music Factory, Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch, and Technotronic – unlikely source material for Aristocrats-style guitar-driven instrumental rock/fusion, to be sure! But Guthrie did some amazing guitar sequencing on this, and Marco put his own spin on some classic dance beats. It hopefully goes to show we can throw just about anything in the blender and have it come out the other side as something fun and wild.
In keeping with the concept album’s narrative, the Aristoclub is also one of the first places our Duck protagonist lands upon arriving in the big city, thousands of miles from his Antarctic island home. It’s loud and crazy in there, and he just wants to have a good time after such an arduous journey – but is he being followed?
DUCK is available for pre-sale (link in first comment) now on regular CD, DUCK Deluxe (CD + bonus USB video and special content), double vinyl, and hi-res digital download (Bandcamp). Album drops February 16. Hope you enjoy the new tune!
Cheers to all, The Aristocrats
1/08“DUCK” PRESALE & FIRST SINGLE!
Here we go! Our new album “DUCK” is available for pre-order at: https://linktr.ee/AristocratsBand. Drops February 16. And the first new Aristocrats studio track in nearly five years is here! Check out the visualizer video for “Hey, Where’s MY Drink Package?”, the kickoff cut.
The band sayeth: “The DUCK saga leads off with Marco’s song “Hey, Where’s MY Drink Package?”, and it’s got an aggressive, swinging, ‘here comes trouble’ attitude that we felt really set the tone for both the music and the story of the album. It has all of the elements of an Aristocratic tune – it’s fun, it’s loud, it’s tricky in a few spots, and it takes some unexpected turns into open space and improvisation. And it’s a good soundtrack to set the opening scene for the protagonist of our “DUCK” story… who’s trying to figure out how he got himself into such a mess, over a few stiff drinks.”
DUCK album formats include CD, double vinyl, and hi-res digital (Bandcamp). Physical band web stores are based in the USA, EU and UK. There are DUCK shirts as well. It’s our first studio album release in a while and we hope you’re as excited as we are. :-)
Stay tuned for more news and previews from DUCK in the coming weeks!
Cheers to all, The Aristocrats
12/14THE DUCKLING TOUR!
The secret name is revealed for our five-city mini-tour celebrating the release of our fifth studio album DUCK on February 16. And the shows are selling out fast! Seattle and L.A. are already SOLD OUT, and Portland and San Francisco are in LOW TICKET ALERT status. We thought you should know since it’s still nine weeks out! These will be intimate unique shows with debut new material, truly special events of a limited run. (Get tickets HERE)
Thanks to everyone for the great response to the unveiling of our new album title and concept, and hope to see you soon.
Cheers to all, The Aristocrats
12/06THE ARISTOCRATS REVEAL ALBUM TITLE/CONCEPT OF FIRST NEW STUDIO ALBUM IN FIVE YEARS!
DUCK.
That’s the name of our fifth studio album, coming out on February 16. There’s the big news. And there’s a story to it and everything. Plus some fancy new artwork.
Pre-orders will start in early January. There will be a standard CD, a “DUCK Deluxe”, and DUCK vinyl. We’ll be playing lots of tunes from DUCK on the USA West Coast mini-tour to celebrate the release. It’s all very exciting. :-)
You can read more about it in the press release below. Thank you again for your support on the DEFROST tour while we worked hard to finish this new music for you!
Cheers to all, The Aristocrats
Renowned rock-fusion trio The Aristocrats are excited to reveal the album title and concept of their first studio album in five years: DUCK will be available in both standard and deluxe edition formats as well as vinyl on February 16th, 2024. The new concept album will be released via BOING Music, distributed via Hostile City Distro/MVD in North America. The trademark Aristocratic musical mayhem is rowdier than ever, but the band’s fifth studio album is truly like nothing else in their catalogue. DUCK is mixed by Forrester Savell (Twelve Foot Ninja, Dead Letter Circus, The Butterfly Effect) and contains original character artwork by film animator Lance Myers (Space Jam, Anastasia, Quest For Camelot).
Of the inspiration for DUCK, The Aristocrats collectively explained, “It is the story of a web-footed Antarctic Island native fleeing a penguin policeman all the way to New York City… where considerable misadventure and danger await.” Of its genesis, they elaborated, “We’ve always been writing with a storytelling aspect in mind, and our live shows always include our stories behind the songs… But the stories had mainly been about us. Then Marco came into the studio with a song about a duck, and we all looked at each other and said, ‘What if all of stories for the songs on this album… happened to a duck? What’s that story about?’ And suddenly we had a concept album on our hands.”
DUCK will be available in both standard and deluxe editions. The standard edition features the original CD, whilst the deluxe edition contains the original CD along with a USB DUCK drive with behind-the-scenes footage, demos and more, a DUCK pass laminate with QR code for bonus features and a custom Aristocrats-branded lanyard. DUCK will also be available in 180-gram double vinyl.
Coinciding with the release of DUCK, The Aristocrats will headline select dates on the West Coast of the United States. Please see below for the itinerary (click HERE to purchase tickets).
FEBRUARY
- 16 – Seattle, WA – The Triple Door
- 17 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
- 19 – Redding, CA – The Dip
- 22 – Mill Valley, CA – Sweetwater Music Hall
- 24 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
12/04FULLY DEFROSTED!
After 120 shows around the world, we concluded the DEFROST World Tour cycle in Rome. It’s fitting because our European crew is almost all Italian: stage techs Enrico Piazza and Emilio Simeone, merch/driver Marco “Mr. Panda” Musco, and tour manager/booking agent Riccardo Cappelli. (The lone exception is our Greek soundman, Dimitris Karpoooooouuuuuuuuuuzas.) They worked incredibly hard to bring the European and final leg of the tour to you every night, and they deserve a “salute!” (Or a “yiamas!” for the Greek. ;-) )
We did the DEFROST Tour because, while we did put out a live record and an orchestral compilation album during the lockdown years, we didn’t want to wait until a new studio album was done to get back out and play live for our great fans around the world. We wanted to get out on the road and exit the “deep freeze” we were all in as soon as possible. 120 shows and 18 months later, not only are we fully defrosted, but our new studio album is done, and we got to preview a couple of songs from it along the way.
We had a great time. But as Guthrie said every night when he introduced the song “Last Orders”: All good things must come to an end. And so, the DEFROST tour joins the dinosaurs and many, many glasses of beer as things that are…no longer with us.
The good news is that our next tour cycle is kicking off in just three months! Watch our social media for big updates about our new album and the mini-tour to celebrate the release coming soon.
For now: The Aristocrats thank EVERYONE in North America, Asia, and Europe who came to the shows and made the DEFROST Tour such a huge success. We can’t do it without you.
Cheers to all,
The Aristocrats
11/17US WEST COAST MINI-TOUR DATES: ON SALE NOW!
Tickets are available NOW for our five dates in February on the USA west coast to celebrate and debut material from our new album dropping on Feb 16. These are select intimate smaller-than-usual venues, a truly limited engagement and unique experience. Hope to see you there! Get tix here.
