Seattle’s Walking Papers, the much-buzzed-about new band featuring rock luminaries Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver), Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees, Mad Season), Jeff Angell and Benjamin Anderson (both of The Missionary Position) have signed with Loud & Proud Records and are gearing up for the August 6th release of their self-titled debut.
Recorded in Seattle and mixed by veteran producer Jack Endino (Soundgarden, Nirvana, Mudhoney), Walking Papers features a guest appearance by Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, who played on lead single “The Whole World’s Watching” and “I’ll Stick Around.” Rolling Stone spotlighted the latter, praising it as a “slow, grinding blues pace that combines elements of Morphine and Tom Waits.”
“The Whole World’s Watching” will hit rock and alternative radio in June.
Guitarist/vocalist Jeff Angell and drummer Barrett Martin formed the band last year and played their first shows in Seattle as a duo. They became a trio with the addition of bassist Duff McKagan and a quartet when keyboardist Benjamin Anderson joined the fray. Angell and Martin also served as the album’s co-producers.
Walking Papers show that a great song can be conveyed with thundering drums, rumbling bass, and a howling guitar just as easily as it can with percolating marimbas and shimmering vibraphone. The songs on this album can stand alone as individual stories, but taken together as a whole, they convey a much larger narrative with tales of wandering souls, the collisions of will, and the dark beauty of the American heart.
The band has already received media praise from both sides of the pond, with noted Seattle Times rock critic Charles R. Cross saying the band’s brightness rivaled the sun’s and, unlike so many supergroups, its future might be even brighter, and UK mag Classic Rock praising the band’s collection of songs as “a masterpiece of mood and tension.”
The band will celebrate the release of Walking Papers with a headlining slot on the second stage of this year’s Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival. The tour, which features Alice In Chains, Jane’s Addiction, and many more, kicks off August 9th at the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Scranton, PA.
About signing Walking Papers, Loud & Proud Owner and President Tom Lipsky said, "Members of Walking Papers have earned critical acclaim and success throughout their respective careers. What impresses me most about them however is that they continue to invest their creativity and energy in breaking new ground and in taking their music directly to the fans. I am excited that they chose Loud & Proud as their label and I look forward to a successful partnership."
"Walking Papers is thrilled to be holding the nail while Loud & Proud swings the hammer,” said vocalist/guitarist Jeff Angell. “It is with great confidence that we put our songs in Tom Lipsky’s very capable hands.”
