Fresh off the success of their recent album Mid-Atlantic Dub, rising Reggae Rock outfit Bumpin Uglies have announced the release of ‘Underdog: The Acoustic Sessions,’ a visceral 16-track collection arriving September 8 via Controlled Substance Sound Labs/The Orchard (Slightly Stoopid, Rebelution, Pepper).
BUMPIN UGLIES Announce Acoustic LP + Fall Tour Dates w/ The Expendables
While the new project boasts searing stripped-raw takes of classics from fan favorite releases Buzz (“Locust Avenue”, “Self-Loathing”, “This Is Ours”), Keep It Together (“Load In / Load Out”, “Keep Moving”) Beast from the East (“City by the Bay”), Keep your suitcase packed. (“Shades of Gray”, “Suburbia”), and 2022’s Mid-Atlantic Dub (“Wild Girls”), seven new songs join the fray to supercharge the day.
Acoustic can be urgent. It’s because of the words. Lyrics are the marvels that move you. The message is what resonates long after the beats dissipate.
On the band’s first ever career-spanning milepost, band co-founder/vocalist Brandon Hardesty revisits some of the band’s most solemn streets, from Suburbia and Locust Avenue to Self-loathing and City by the Bay, it’s shades of gray, it’s spinning plates, it’s catch & release and keep moving. It’s vitality, the pure essence of Bumpin Uglies. Full of passion and integrity, these are the anthems of a thinking man’s society. The land of the free. The home of the brave, these are the days we commemorate when the fire in the belly inflames, when you demand change. This is Ours. Don’t count out the Underdog.
“This is an anthem for authenticity. It’s for all the artists that choose to embrace their passion as a form of art, rather than a transactional medium. A celebration of the imperfections that make us beautiful,” offered Hardesty.
From the emotional umbrage of lead single “Underdog” (releasing June 16), to the lilting blue-collar confessional “The Work,” the bouncy ebullient self-awareness of “Spinning Plates,” and the tension-filled, fed-up verve of “Loneliness in Ab,” to the pandemic-fueled melancholy of “Livestreams & Vaccines” and album closer, “Jerry’s Song,” a heartbreakingly moving tribute Brandon wrote in remembrance of his father who passed away in 2021, the new tunes find Hardesty digging even further into his core, rescuing himself from another crossroads while providing guidance for those still in the throes.
The upcoming full-length expands upon the band’s two ‘Live at Sugarshack Sessions’ acoustic EPs, the latest of which featured a sparse passionate rendition of Jason Isbell’s “Cover Me Up,” to which the former Drive-By Trucker championed with the social media comment “Lovely job!” Americana Highways seconded that sentiment by professing, “Vocals that are youthful and disarming and sound a bit like indie folksters like Passenger.”
A lovely ride it’s been. For more than a decade, the Maryland-based band, whose members include Dave “Wolfie” Wolf (bass, vocals), T.J. Haslett (drums), Ethan Lichtenberger (keys) and Will Lopez (tenor saxophone), blend rock, hip hop, dub, reggae and punk into a refreshing blast of spacetime funk.
The revered road warriors have toured constantly, starting with local open mics and backyard parties to ever-expanding audiences, festival slots and sold-out shows coast to coast.
This fall, they’ll join reggae-rock icons The Expendables, as support on select dates, from September 13 – November 12, while also making appearances at a number of festivals including Lake Tahoe Reggae Fest (July 22), Everwild Music Fest (Aug 3), Montana Hempfest (Sept 8) and Reggae Rise Up Vegas (Oct 8).
Whether live at the Sugarshack, on beachfronts, in ballrooms or fancy microbrews, anchoring main stages or their very own ‘Weekend at Wolfies,’ in rural Pennsylvania, the thinking man’s party band continues to bump, and grind, from ocean city to sector nine.
PRE SAVE UNDERDOG HERE!!
Check out Bumpin Uglies Tour Dates HERE!
