The warm-up gigs are scheduled for Wednesday (March 18) at Philadelphia's Upstairs at Nicks, Thursday (March 19) at CBGB's on the closing night of the New York Underground Film Festival, and Friday (March 20) at Washington, D.C.'s Black Cat, in a benefit show affiliated with GVSB's activist friends from the D.C. punk scene, Positive Force.
All three dates will showcase new songs from Freak*on*ica, the much-anticipated follow up to House of GVSB, the critically acclaimed Touch and Go release which sparked the major label bidding war for this indie- minded band. Freak*on*ica (rhymes with "electronica") is scheduled for a June 2 release on DGC.
When asked how the new record differs in sound and style from those previous, a spokesman for the band said, "Eli [Janney] is on the keyboards more than he is on bass this time. But he's still using the keys as bass, for rhythm. Scott [McCloud]'s vocals have a more smoothed- out flow, like 'Superfire' [the first single off of 1996's House of GVSB], but slowed down. Mark E. Smith's influence is still in there, but less so than before."
When asked if the title Freak*on*ica (borrowed from the last song on the record, "Cowboy's Orbit") and other new songs like "Pleasurized" would feed into their current status as the one of the sexiest bands in rock -- a reputation the band seemed to be shying away from in the press -- the spokesman said, "There's just no getting away from it. The sex will always be there."
He went on to confirm that the first single will probably be "Park Avenue," a song that GVSB has been playing live for over a year, and that a video will most certainly be made to coincide with the June 2 release date. The band plans to tour Europe (where Freak*on*ica will be released on May 19) starting in mid-May, and then come back to the U.S. in mid-June to play live throughout the summer, perhaps even at some festivals.
In the meantime, aside from the shows scheduled as a foursome, Janney and his bass- playing partner in crime, Johnny Temple, continue to DJ their now- famous "House of GVSB" nights at local clubs. These impromptu dance parties took place every Tuesday at Minneapolis' 400 Bar while the band was recording with Nick Launay, Oct. 20, 1997), and picked up again on Valentine's Day in a star- studded affair at New York's Bar XVI. The next "House of GVSB" is scheduled for Tuesday (March 17), also at Bar XVI, and they hope to host yet another one in April.