Scene News: NYC’s Daddy Long Legs release new single ahead of first Australian tour

BLUESWAILIN’ NEW YORK COMBO
DADDY LONG LEGS
RELEASE NEW SINGLE “NIGHTMARE” AHEAD OF FIRST AUSTRALIAN TOUR

“DADDY LONG LEGS takes the blues and turns them inside out, upside down, round about and renews their primal energy. My favorite rompin’ stompin’ New York band of the moment.”
-Lenny Kaye, (Patti Smith guitarist, esteemed rock writer, Mr Nuggets!)

“DADDY LONG LEGS have finally made a studio album that matches their reputation as a firecracker live act. These 12 original songs expand and solidify their blues-punk sound while keeping alive a tradition and vital part of American roots music. Sounds great!”
-Jon Spencer

“Chicago blues fired at the moon, played by the demented children of the Pretty Things.” – Rolling Stone

Internationally revered New York band DADDY LONG LEGS – Brian Hurd (vocals, harmonica, guitar), Murat Akturk (slide guitar), Josh Styles (drums, maraca), together with brand new addition Dave Klein on piano – have released a stomping new single called “Nightmare” (on Yep Roc Records) ahead of their first-ever Australian tour. “Nightmare” is a scream-worthy rocker that exhibits the emotions of dealing with a world gone wrong. “We’re livin’ a nightmare and this world is condemned, I’ll see you if this nightmare ever ends” shouts frontman Brian Hurd, as punk legend Wreckless Eric provides backing vocals. 

The blueswailin’  combo will kick off their November tour out West, appearing at Blues At Bridgetown before hitting Perth. Then it’s a run down the East Coast from Brisbane to Eltham to Sydney to Melbourne, where they’ll play three shows. They take in the Thirroul Music Festival and Queenscliff Music Festival along the way.

After a number of releases on Billy Miller & Miriam Linna’s esteemed New York label Norton Records, Daddy Long Legs signed to Yep Roc for their most recent album, 2019’s Lowdown Ways, which saw them add some sophistication to their savagery.

The expansive new territory that the New York City-based trio cover on Lowdown Ways was thanks to producer Jimmy Sutton (JD McPherson, Pokey Lafarge, Jake La Botz) who applied his technical know-how to broaden the sound of such instantly memorable tunes as “Pink Lemonade” (co-written by McPherson), “Ding Dong Dang” and “Bad Neighborhood”, which resonate with the down-and-dirty roots that have always been Daddy Long Legs’ inspiration. Meanwhile, the band ventured successfully into unfamiliar territory with the pub-rock-style “Winners Circle,” the bittersweet acoustic ballad “Back Door Fool” and the dramatic album-closer “Wrong Side of the River.”

When asked by Village Voice “What is Daddy Long Legs?” frontman Brian Hurd answered, “Rock and roll salvation through the spirit of roots and blues.” While influenced by the likes of Son House, Captain Beefheart, Howlin’ Wolf, MC5, Flamin’ Groovies and Dr. Feelgood, their sound personifies garage rock and punk with a contemporary raw twist performed in their own brand of supercharged R&B. Lowdown Ways sees the boys widen their sonic horizons with field hollers, gospel, Cajun, and Mississippi Hill Music, and more.

Written in the great cities of Brooklyn and Nashville and recorded on the Southside of Chicago at Hi-Style Studio, Lowdown Ways is a record cinematic in scope that rides the crest of the new century with a beggar’s banquet of ancient spells, hollers and fuzz, steel guitars rapturous preaching, and of course, a DADDY LONG LEGS stompin’ beat.

Leading up to the album’s release, Rolling Stone Country named “Glad Rag Ball” one of the ‘10 Best Country, Americana Songs of the Week’, citing “it’s all guttural hollering and foot-stomping rhythms.” Brooklyn Vegan premiered the official video for “Pink Lemonade” and WFMU “Mornin’ Noon & Nite”.

Since forming in 2010, Daddy Long Legs have toured with such kindred spirits as The Damned, The Sonics, Nikki Lane, Hurray for the Riff Raff and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.  They’ve been joined on stage by heroes including the great Wilko Johnson of Dr Feelgood, Roy Loney & Cyril Jordan of The Flamin’ Groovies, and Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Group. Their stripped-down roots sound and in-your-face intensity has garnered them fans in their hometown and overseas.

Daddy Long Legs have been destroying urban roadhouses and swank nightclubs alike with their dirty blues and devastation boogie. Theirs is a fire-breathing, no-holds-barred attack that redefines American roots for a new generation. Australia, you have been warned.