The Eastern leg of The New Year's tour starts TODAY, October 9, and t...

The Eastern leg of The New Year's tour starts TODAY, October 9, and there's never been a better time to go out and see them live.

First, the band just released a new record, the aptly self-titled release on Touch and Go. It's their first record in four years, and we guarantee the band hasn't played your neck of the woods recently. These shows will be total events! "Every tour is special for us because we never know when the stars are going to align to give us the opportunity to do it," said guitarist Bubba Kadane.

This new record features a lot of piano-based tracks, and the band's worked out insane arrangements on guitar, rather than drag a baby grand behind their van in a trailer. As Matt Kadane notes, "On this leg of the tour we have Will Johnson of Centromatic filling in for Peter Schmidt. Bubba, Will and I have tried to convert the piano songs on the new record to three guitars. About a year ago we played some of these songs live with me on a keyboard. That felt as terrible as doing these songs with all guitars feels enlivening."

More than anything, with the political and economic climate as they are, there's probably never been a better time to see The New Year live. Their record is both majestically uplifting and heartbreaking. Take it from Matt Kadane, "We write the ongoing soundtrack for hard times."

The band is especially excited to be touring the Eastern half of the states not just for Bubba's sanity ("I'm ready for some shorter drives!," he claims), but also because, in Matt's mind, "There's no place I would rather be at the onset of Great Depression II than in the financial heart of the US."

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Please, enjoy this new FREE MP3 from The New Year - "X Off Days"

Tour dates:
10/09/08 - Johnny Brendas, Philadelphia, PA
10/10/08 - Music Hall o Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
10/11/08 - Middle East, Cambridge, MA
10/12/08 - Living Room, Providence, RI
10/13/08 - Club Metronome, Burlington, VT
10/14/08 - le Divan Orange, Montreal, Canada
10/15/08 - Lee's Palace, Toronto, Canada
10/16/08 - The Pike Room, Pontiac, MI
10/17/08 - Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL
10/18/08 - Maintenance Shop, Ames, IA - with The Uglysuit
10/19/08 - High Dive, Champaign, IL - with The Uglysuit
10/20/08 - Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH - with The Uglysuit
10/21/08 - DC NINE, Washington, DC - with The Uglysuit
11/07/08 - DB's, Holland, Netherlands
11/08/08 - L'escalier, Liege, Belgium
11/09/08 - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, United Kingdom
11/10/08 - The Kazimier, Liverpool, United Kingdom
11/11/08 - Nice n Sleazy, Glasgow, United Kingdom
11/12/08 - Luminaire, London, United Kingdom
11/13/08 - Main D'Oeuvres, Paris, France
11/15/08 - Tanned Tin Festival, Castellon, Spain
11/16/08 - Ground Zero, Lyon, France
11/17/08 - Bad Bonn, Dudingen, Switzerland
11/18/08 - Locomotiv, Bologna, Italy
11/19/08 - Chelsea, Vienna, Austria
11/20/08 - Orangehouse, Munich, Germany
11/21/08 - Magnet Club, Berlin, Germany
11/22/08 - Prinzenbar, Hamburg, Germany
11/23/08 - Trix, Antwerp, Belgium
11/24/08 - Pret A Ecouter Festival, Heildelburg, Germany