Exclusive Track Premiere: Bison’s “1,000 Needles”
Bison are back, bitches!!! It would be an understatement to say we were thrilled when we received an e-mail from guitarist/vocalist Dan And last week letting us know the band was getting ready to unleash new music upon the world. You can stream the song, “1000 Needles,” above. Meanwhile, in the below statement, Dan fills us in on what Bison have been up to for the past year, and tells you how you can get a FREE download of “1000 Needles”!!! Read on for details…
The year of our Dark Lord, two-thousand and thirteen was, believe it or not, a busy year for BISON. Last October, we released our 4th album Lovelessness (recorded by the exceptional Sanford Parker in Chicago and our third for Metal Blade Records) and, incredibly soon thereafter, we were served our walking papers from the label’s higher-ups. All is fair in war and the music business, and it came as no surprise that an obscure Canadian “sludge/thrash/rock/stoner/punk” band, such as ourselves, weren’t really keeping the lights on over at ye olde Metal Blade HQ. Onwards on upwards.
No longer being under any sort of contractual obligation, our first order of business was to drop the suffix “B.C.” from our name, and after years and years of avoiding questions about it we can finally get rid of it. We have reverted back to our original name: BISON. Litigious opportunists be damned! Secondly, our goal was to get back out on the road; the US proved to be a difficult venture for us, with rumours abound that we had broken up. Instead, we opted for a full Canadian tour followed by a month-long European trek with Black Cobra and Norway’s fantastic art noise rockers Arabrot. The tour culminated with a set at the massively well-attended Hellfest in Clisson, France, and a headlining spot at the Armstrong Metal Fest. Not too bad for some Canucks who’d just been dropped and allegedly broken-up!
Back at home, I eagerly anticipated the arrival of my first born hell-spawn and we began working on new material. After writing about an hour’s worth of new music we picked the two songs that best sit alone and we will be releasing them in the very near future! The first of these is the slow-burning chunder boil “1,000 Needles” which will be available on our Bandcamp page for FREE download for one week only! From now (Dec. 18) until boxing day! At some point in the New Year “1,000 Needles” will be released on a vinyl 12″ with the b/side “Calm, Friendly and Euthymic ” on an ‘as-yet to be determined’ label. Both brand new songs were recorded a mere month ago, with our dear old pal Jesse Gander (Earthbound, Quiet Earth) at the brand new Rain City Recordings studios and mastered by Rain City executive Stu McKillop. We have further plans to tour as much as possible in the New Year and hopefully record another full-length. As most of you know however, these things cost money and money takes time to accumulate. We certainly aren’t about to sink to the level of begging for donations through a Kickstarter account (har har har) so we’ll all just have to wait, because that’s how grown-ups fucking do it! In the meantime, please enjoy the free download of “1000 Needles” and keep your eyes peeled for future updates via our Facebook page.
Thank you all for the continuing support, we’ll see you in the very near future.
Keep on rocking in the free world, Happy Holidays and Hail Satan!
-Dan And / BISON (sans BC)
Bison will be performing live at the following engagements:
Dec 27, 2013 @the Wonder Ballroom, Portland, Oregon w/ Red Fang and Drunk Dad
Feb 22, 2014 @the Rickshaw Theatre, Vancvouer, BC w/ Grass City and The Sumner Brothers
