Ladies and gentleman, connoisseurs of hooks and harmonies, and keepers of the power pop flame: Big Stir Records is very happy to bring you the welcome news that THE SPONGETONES are back. The beloved Power Pop Hall Of Famers kick off a year that will celebrate their past, present and future – all on one very special album – with the first new music of their fifth decade as a band. The new single “Lulu's In Love” sees release on all digital platforms May 30, and is up for pre-order and pre-save now:
https://orcd.co/spongetones-lulu
THE SPONGETONES likely need no introduction to our audience: singer-songwriters JAMIE HOOVER (guitar), STEVE STOECKEL (bass) and PAT WALTERS (guitar) have been crafting, recording and performing neo-classics in the British Invasion mold together since well before their acclaimed 1982 debut album BEAT MUSIC. And while they've been active in recent years onstage, most notably at their rapturously-received 40th Anniversary concert in their home state of North Carolina, and on recordings like Stoeckel's 2023 solo debut album THE POWER OF AND and together in collaboration with their fellow Hall Of Famers The Flashcubes, there hasn't been a proper new Spongetones studio track since 2009's SCRAMBLED EGGS album.
That changes now, with “Lulu's In Love” – the first of three fresh singles to herald their new album, which will bundle them together with the widely-requested highlights of the Anniversary show. Each single features the full current lineup of the band including new full-time drummer ERIC WILLHELM, and each one spotlights the talents of one of the three longtime Spongetones. Steve Stoeckel is first up with “Lulu”, a brand new tune that takes the band's Merseybeat roots to heart, and in surprising directions, too, as the band's fans have come to expect: a timeless melody, ringing guitars, sophisticated harmonies, unexpected chord changes and a bit of sly lyrical humor.
“Musically, it's a tune that recalls a bit of the band’s early days. And the lyrical approach is familiar, too, albeit with a twist,” says Stoeckel. “I started out with a girl’s name – one you don’t hear much anymore. Lulu began as a sweet young thing, but before the first verse was done, she had turned into a monster heartbreaker whom guys fell in line to fall over. The singer was one of them, and the song is a warning.”
If that sounds like the stuff of classic power pop, it most certainly is... and there's more where it came from. In a year that's already seen the return of genre legends like 20/20 and Sorrows, the re-emergence of THE SPONGETONES in all their glory feels only natural. The music they have in store for you stands with their very best, and at the pinnacle of the guitar pop form itself. Stand by!