As famed as Seattle’s music scene is, the city still manages to house performers who remain largely local favorites. Take The Missionary Position and its founders, singer/guitarist Jeff Angell and keyboardist Ben Anderson. Angell has been on the scene since 2002 with his band Post Stardom Depression; as The Missionary Position, he and Anderson have been wowing crowds for the last five years; and now they’re together again in an Emerald City supergroup, Walking Papers.
But while these names may not be familiar to many readers (yet), the other members of Walking Papers certainly are. When The Missionary Position opened for Screaming Trees/Mad Season drummer Barrett Martin’s band The Barrett Martin Project in 2012, Angell and Martin hit it off, and a musical partnership was born. Looking to take their collaboration “to the next level”, the pair turned to another longtime fan of Angell: Seattle resident and former member of Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver, Duff McKagan.
“I hoped at some point I would do something with Jeff,” McKagan recently told Rolling Stone. “Early on, when we were looking for singers for Velvet Revolver, I brought Jeff Angell down, about 2003. I’ve had a relationship with him and wanted to work with him for that long.”
Yet despite the alt-rock, grunge, and hard-rock background of the band’s more renowned members, the band’s self-titled debut comes a bit out of left field. Mixed by Jack Endino (Soundgarden, Nirvana), with contributions from Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, the album spans genres from psych-pop to spaghetti western to blues.
Just take a listen to “The Butcher”, a minor-keyed murder ballad that has Angell’s voice rising through the dusk with killer lines like, “Seems he and the butcher knife went dancing/must have been cheek to cheek.” While the track is just one example of the musical stones the album steps on, it’s one that sends tantalizing chills right up the spine.
Walk Papers arrives August 6th via Loud & Proud.
Walking Papers will be on the road as part of the touring UPROAR festival, alongside acts like Alice in Chains, Jane’s Addiction, and Coheed and Cambria. Consult the full schedule below.
Walking Papers Tracklist:
01. Already Dead
02. The Whole World’s Watching
03. Your Secret’s Safe With Me
04. Red Envelopes
05. Leave Me in the Dark
06. The Butcher
07. Two Tickets
08. I’ll Stick Around
09. Capital T
10. A Place Like This
11. Independence Day
UPROAR Festival Tour Dates:
08/09 — Scranton, PA @ Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain
08/10 — Hartford, CT @ The Comcast Theatre
08/11 — Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
08/13 — Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
08/14 — Mansfield, MA @ Comcast Center
08/16 — Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
08/17 — Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
08/18 — Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
08/20 — Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
08/22 — Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
08/23 — Noblesville, IN @ Klipsch Music Center
08/24 — Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theater
08/27 — Oklahoma City, OK @ Zoo Amphitheater
08/28 — Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Pavilion
08/29 — Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
08/31 — Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheatre
09/01 — Englewood, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
09/02 — Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre
09/05 — Nampa, ID @ Idaho Center Amphitheater
09/07 — George, WA @ The Gorge Amphitheatre
09/08 — Ridgefield, WA @ Sleep Country Amphitheater
09/11 — Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
09/13 — Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
09/14 — Phoenix, AZ @ Desert Sky Pavilion
09/15 — Chula Vista, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre
