These United States 'Touch Everything'

(Originally Published @ www.cmj.com)

Grimey psych-folk crooners These United States will celebrate nearing their 500th live show with a spate of July dates and the announcement of a new album, Everything Touches Everything, which is scheduled for release September 1 on Colorado-based label United Interests.

Though the last 18 months have been quite a whirlwind for the DC-based band, who released two albums—A Picture Of The Three Of Us At The Gate To The Garden Of Eden and Crimes within mere months of each other last year, they have taken it all in stride. "[It's been] quite a ride, the best of times and the worst of times, and yet, [it's] all just chopping wood," frontman Jesse Elliott tells CMJ. "[It's] just the daily chores, nose to the grindstone. We've had the benefit of not too much attention or unwieldy kinds of love so far, so we've done it slowly but surely, for ourselves and those close to us. This summer should put all that to the test."

And that it will, because this summer TUS will be touring with established rock 'n' roll, folk-jam and indie colleagues Dr. Dog, Phosphorescent, Red Cortez, Deer Tick and Dusty Rhodes. And then they release their newest collection in the fall. Elliott feels the new record is "not so much a change as just part of the natural evolution... Bigger sound, a little bolder, unabashed, unashamed about our hearts this time around, feeling like the world's going down the shitter, and so what've we got to lose? And at the same time, [we] can't think of any other time in modern history we'd rather be alive... Everyone's playin' for keeps. That's our biggest influence: a world gone deliciously mad. We're right there in it."

Tour Dates For These United States:
06/19 - Chicago, IL - Taste of Randolph St. *
06/27 - Brooklyn, NY - Prospect Park ( Celebrate Brooklyn) **
07/01 - San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern ***
07/02 - Berkeley, CA - The Starry Plough
07/03 - Big Sur, CA - Mother Hips' Family Hipnic
07/04 - Quincy, CA - High Sierra Festival
07/05 - Quincy, CA - High Sierra Festival
07/07 - Visalia, CA - Cellar Door ***
07/09 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex ****
07/11 - St. Louis, MO - The Luminary - Center For The Arts
07/12 - Louisville, KY - Forecastle Festival
07/23 - Bridgeport, CT - Gathering of the Vibes Festival
07/24 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom *****

* With Dr. Dog
** With Dr. Dog and Phosphorescent
*** With Red Cortez
**** With Dusty Rhodes
***** With Deer Tick

Tracklist For Everything Touches Everything:
01. I Want You To Keep Everything
02. Will It Ever
03. Everything Touches Everything
04. Night And The Revolution
05. The Secret Door
06. Conquest And Consequence
07. I'm Gonna Assemble a City
08. Good Bones
09. The Important Thing
10. End
11. Good Night Wish

www.myspace.com/theseunited