After songwriting comparisons to Bruce Springsteen (“Hold Back”), Nirvana, and Fleetwood Mac (“Roll a Stone”), Communist Daughter is debuting another single from the upcoming sophomore album via Stereogum: the misleadingly upbeat “Balboa Bridge.” The gorgeous instrumental melodies and vocal harmonies are comforting at first take, but demand another listen to reveal another meaning.

 

Frontman Johnny Solomon explains the inspiration behind the song: "There's this gorgeous park in the middle of San Diego, and there's a bridge right in the middle of it that runs over the highway. My mom told me that when she was younger, they used to call that Suicide Bridge. I remember the times when I was thinking of that option, and how far away that bridge was from me. All I could think about was that it was this place, so far away from that basement in Wisconsin where I was getting high; it was this magical place in my mind where I wouldn't feel the way I did anymore.”

 

October 21st will see the release of their highly anticipated sophomore album The Cracks That Built The Wall as well as a string of tour dates through the Midwest supporting the album – see below:

TOUR DATES:

10/12 - Sioux Falls SD - Icon Lounge

10/14 - Omaha NE - O'Leavers

10/15 - Des Moines IA - Vaudeville Mews

10/16 - Lincoln NE - Duffy's

10/21 - Minneapolis - Electric Fetus In Store

11/3- Nashville TN - Hi Watt

11/4 Dayton OH - Blind Bobs

11/5 Florence AL - 116 E. Mobile

11/7 Lexington KY - The Burl

11/8 Madison - The Frequency

11/9 Iowa City - Yacht Club

11/10 UW Platteville - Platteville, WI

11/11 Minneapolis – First Avenue

 

PREORDER HERE

 

MORE ON COMMUNIST DAUGHTER: A few years ago, Johnny Solomon was a fixture in the tight knit Twin Cities music scene, forming the angular indie pop band Friends Like These and touring extensively, receiving critical praise from far-flung sources that looked like the beginning of a promising career. The rising success masked his struggle with addiction and mental health problems and quickly eclipsed his career, landing him in jail and treatment facilities across the country.  By the end of that whirlwind, he retreated to a small town across the border in Wisconsin where he assumed his music days were over.

 

However, when he moved out of the city, his demons followed him and he spent his nights writing and recording what he thought would be his eulogy: songs about lost love and lost chances, He recruited some friends to come out and put it all to tape. Calling his new band Communist Daughter, they released their debut album Soundtrack to the End in 2010.  As they gained national attention, Johnny once again had to put it all on hold and checked himself in to rehab.

 

In 2012, Communist Daughter returned with a clear-eyed John, his now-wife Molly Solomon, bassist Adam Switlick, Steven Yasgar on drums, Al Weirs on guitar and Dillon Marchus on keys.  They released an EP, Lions & Lambs, and began touring the country again and gaining national attention.

 

By 2014, they had entered the studio to spend the next two years crafting their sophomore release. Working with producer Kevin Bowe (Replacements, Meat Puppets), they recorded in and out of studios trying to capture the deeply personal songs in a much more deliberate style.  Going from studio to bedroom to studio again, they created an album with 11 songs running the gambit from high peaks to dark lows. They took the finished tracks to Nashville where Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Benjamin Booker) put the final mix together, and had Heba Kadry (Future Islands, And You Will Know Us…) master the final product in NYC.

 

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