Haggard Cat drop a surprise EP and head out on tour – news

Haggard Cat are releasing a surprise 10″ EP and heading out on tour, all in an effort to cheer up.

During the promotional period for Challenger, the last album by Haggard Cat, the two-piece riff mongers from Nottingham decided to brick themselves up in a walled box for twenty-four hours, a PR exercise to make a point about how we were isolating ourselves from Europe. Annoyingly, a few weeks later the rest of the promotional duties were put on hold as the world locked themselves away between their four walls as the pandemic took its grip.

Like many, Haggard Cat found themselves in limbo and eventually without a label. Unlike many, the band decided that rather than play online gig after gig for ticket money they would instead write and record new material, ready to unleash once the pandemic started to lift.

Quit Your Jobs is the title track from a forth-coming self-released EP, titled Cheer Up. The lead track takes its lyrical inspiration from their former record label who kept insisting the only way forward for the band was indeed to quit their jobs, an idea that is rather untenable in the best of times, and one that would’ve proven catastrophic should Haggard Cat have taken the label’s advice what with the lockdowns that were soon to take hold worldwide.

Musically it’s business as usual, Matt Reynold’s massive riffs crashing headlong into Tom Marsh’s furious drumming, only this time with producer Adrian Bushby on board that drum sound seems to nod towards the Lars infamous drum style on Metallica’s St. Anger album, which, despite what the nerdiest of stubborn Metallica fans may say, is no bad thing whatsoever.

Haggard Cat embark on a rather large tour of the UK later this year, which was initially intended to promote their last album, but is now to is to showcase the new EP, which is somewhat serendipitous, all things considered. You can pre-order the EP via the band’s website, and should social distancing guidelines allow, mosh away to those same bangers on the tour dates listed below:

September 7th – Nottingham, Bodega
September 8th – London, The Grace
September 9th – Stoke, Underground
September 11th – Manchester, Satan’s Hollow
September 12th – Huddersfield, The Parish
September 13th – Glasgow, the Parish
September 14th – Newcastle, Surf Café
September 15th – Milton Keynes, Craufurd Arms
September 16th – Birmingham, Dead Wax
September 18th – Bristol, Crofter’s Rights
September 19th – Brighton, Prince Albert
September 20th – Guildford, Boileroom
September 21st – Bournemouth, Anvil
September 23rd – Newquay, Whiskers
September 24th – Plymouth, The Junction
September 25th – Exeter, the Cavern
September 26th – Swansea, Bunkhouse
September 27th – Sheffield, Record Junkee

Tickets are now available to buy HERE.

You can find out more about Haggard Cat at their official website, Twitter and Facebook pages.

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All words by Christopher Lloyd. You can find more of Christophers writings at his aurhor’s archive.

Source: louderthanwar.com