Mascot Records (a division of the Mascot Label Group) is pleased to confirm the highly anticipated second album from Australia’s award-winning powerhouse band TRACER.
The new album, "El Pistolero" will be released in the UK and the rest of Europe on Monday 6th May, followed by a UK tour which kicks off at the Sheffield Plug on June 8th.
All who saw Tracer, the hard-rocking young three-piece from Down Under, in 2012 saw the potential. Now with their second full-length album "El Pistolero" that potential is fulfilled. Produced by Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Silverchair, Cold Chisel) the album is on target to make Tracer the band that everyone will be talking about in 2013.
Having revamped the line-up with new bassist Jett Heysen-Hicks – a long-time friend from back home – founder members Michael Brown (vocals and guitar) and Dre Wise (drums) believe Tracer are perfectly poised to rise to a new level.
Michael: "The songwriting has gone up a peg or two. The songs have taken on a life of their own. Kevin really got the most out of them. He got us doing things we would never have thought of doing and because of that they've stepped into a new realm. I think this album will really define what Tracer is about, and why we're different to everyone else".
The differences are clear throughout "El Pistolero"; a high-energy mix of stoner anthems, biker attitude and classic power trio rock. Tracer is no retro act: from the title track to "Scream In Silence", from "There's A Man", through "Dirty Little Secret" and beyond with "Ladykiller" this is the sound of a 21st century band making their best album to date. It's a high-energy collection on no-holds-barred rock’n’roll just as it was meant to be: hot, loud and sweaty.
Tracer has come a long way since forming in Adelaide, South Australia just under 10 years ago. They made two independent mini albums (the three-song Into The Night in 2006, and the seven-track L.A.? in 2009), but their debut proper came with "Spaces In Between" released on Mascot Label Group in late 2011. That album was widely praised and three European tours in support of it saw Tracer named the Best New Band at the 2012 Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards.
Radio support for Tracer in the UK saw them A-listed on the premiere classic rock radio station, Planet Rock, with a hat-trick of high octane rock singles including "Too Much", "Devil Ride" and "Spaces In Between".
In the past Tracer have been compared with top-drawer outfits Soundgarden, Queens Of The Stone Age, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Kyuss etc. "El Pistolero" sees them forging more of their own identity – not that the band mind the kind words.
Michael: "Those are bands I love so I don't mind, it's obviously a compliment. I mean, if people said we sounded like Justin Bieber I’d be pretty pissed off – but I don’t think that's going to happen"!
Certainly not now that the band and Kevin Shirley have found a way to harness the hurricane of Tracer's much-lauded live show in the studio for the first time.
Dre: "People come to see us live and they get something else. They can notice the hard work we're putting in. We've always had the comment that; 'It's a lot of noise for three people to be making’ and it's no accident".
Now, for the first time, "something else" has been captured in the studio. "El Pistolero" is an awesome statement of raw power made all the stronger for being made super quickly – with the basic tracks recorded in just seven days at Revolver Studios in LA – underlining the band's no-nonsense work ethic.
Tracklist:
1. El Pistolero
2. Lady Killer
3. Dirty Little Secret
4. Dead Garden
5. Ballad of El Pistolero
6. Santa Cecilia
7. Wolf in Cheap Clothes
8. Scream in Silence
9. Hangman
10. Manic For Ya
11. There’s A Man
12. Until The War Is Won
13. Now I Ride
Some songs on "El Pistolero" – Michael isn't revealing which ones – were inspired by the Robert Rodriguez film Desperado ("It's a bit like what we do – it's loud and in your face!") but all of them are now ready to be road-tested.
"I tell you what", concludes Michael, "we can't wait to get out there on the stage and play these new songs. They're going to be epic"!
Tracer - UK Tour June 2013
Saturday 8th June 2013
Sheffield Plug
Tickets: £12.00 / Box Office: 0114 241 3040 / Doors: 7pm
14-16 Matilda Street, Sheffield, S1 4QD
Monday 10th June 2013
London Scala
Tickets: £14.00 / Box Office: 0844 999 999 / Doors: 7:30pm
275-277 Pentonville Road, Kings Cross, London, N1 9NL
Wednesday 12th June 2013
Bristol Tunnels
Tickets: £12.00 / Box Office: 0845 6050255 / Doors: 7pm
Arches 31-32, Lower Station Approach Road, Bristol, BS1 6Q
Thursday 13th June 2013
York Fibbers
Tickets: £12.00 / Box Office: 08444 77 1000 / Doors: 7:30pm
Stonebow House, The Stonebow, York YO1 7NP
Friday 14th June 2013
Glasgow o2 ABC
Tickets: £12.00 / Box Office: 0844 477 2000
300 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JA
Sunday 16th June 2013
Isle of Wight Festival
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