The absolutely legendary STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK has announced their new album at last, due in early August, and Big Stir Records is thrilled to present one more double-sided preview single from the record: “I'm Not The One” backed with a special exclusive single version of “Tahitian Gardens” in celebration of the band's album release show headlining the Tiki Oasis festival! The two-track digital release is out July 24, two weeks ahead of the album's street date, and it's up for pre-order and pre-save now:
https://orcd.co/strawberryalarmclock-int1
The keenly awaited return of psych-rock pioneers STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK , featuring original members MARK STEPHEN WEITZ (keyboards), RANDY SEOL (drums/percussion), GEORGE BUNNELL (bass), GENE GUNNELS (drums/percussion), multi-instrumentalist STEVE BARTEK plus guitarist and 40-year SAC veteran HOWIE ANDERSON , has been brewing since last October with the release of the single “Monsters” and is now in full swing with the all-new 2026 singles “Blow Your Mind” and “The Sky Isn't Falling” hitting big on global indie radio. August brings the release of the full-length WHERE'S ONE? on Deluxe Double Vinyl, CD and Streaming, as well as the band's headlining performance at the world-renowned Tiki Oasis Festival in San Diego, this year featuring an Alarm Clock-appropriate Psychedelic Tiki theme. As the anticipation builds, the band's new single offers two more teases of what fans can expect.
“I'm Not The One” is a trippy treat, touching on everything that makes STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK a band for the ages. From its mellow opening featuring Bartek on flute to its soaring garage rock choruses, made all the more powerful by one of the band's characteristic time signature switchups, it's quintessential SAC and prime psychedelia. Add in the delirious instrumental break featuring a jazzy organ solo from Weitz that dovetails into a beautiful dual guitar solo, and cap it all off with a driving coda showcasing the band's ace harmonies (a passage so good that an a capella rendition serves as the introductory track on WHERE'S ONE?) and you've got a modern sunshine pop anthem in the making. “Howie wrote the song about his kids leaving the nest,” explains George Bunnell. Anderson's yearning vocal captures all the complex emotions of the family transition while the players of STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK demonstrate the chemistry of another kind of family, one born of decades of near-telepathic musical collaboration. The impeccable production of Bartek and Michael Stern brings it all together into a package that's every bit as much a fit for radio in 2026 as it would have been in 1967.
“Tahitian Gardens” is a tropical treat of a different kind: a sly but authentic detour through the exotica landscape replete with ukes and marimbas and lyrics that take a lovingly satirical look at tiki culture. The lead vocal duties are shared between Weitz and Anderson on this tune with lyrics by David Glück and music by SAC's Bunnell, who offers: “It's about 'families' living in the plastic tropical paradise apartment building complexes that permeated Southern California, that were everywhere in the 1960s and many of which still exist today.” It's a happy accident that the theme resonates with the band's headlining slot at the Tiki Oasis festival, and the “Single Version” featured on this release is a slightly shorter version of the full track set to debut as part of WHERE'S ONE? on August 7, just two days before the big release party show.