Kevin Morby has a new album called This Is A Photograph coming out in May and following on from his sharing of the title track he has now delivered “Rock Bottom”. The track features Sam Cohen on bass (who also produced the record), backing vocals by Cassandra Jenkins, and laugh tracks from comic actors Tim Heidecker and Alia Shawkat. Morby says:
“I’d often pass a mural of the late James Lee Lindsey Jr. on Main Street (in Memphis) which eventually lead me down a rabbit hole to revisiting his body of work including watching the 2009 documentary filmed during his last days, Better Than Something. I was taken by how similar his story was to that of many other American icons that were ahead of their time and too-quickly rose from the bottom to the top, inevitably burning out. I read that his stage name, Jay Reatard, was worn as a badge of honor after years of being picked on in grade school – which may or may not be why on the cover of his seminal album Blood Visions he’s covered in blood as a nod to Sissy Spacek’s character in Carrie. Because of this I chose to begin the song by repeating ‘they’re all gonna laugh at you!’ When in the studio I pointed at the last Reatard’s album, Grown Up, Fucked Up as a reference for what I was trying to achieve sonically.”
A boisterous rocker that finds Morby repeatedly proclaiming “they’re all gonna laugh at you”, “Rock Bottom” is a song that pushes you to wear your individuality and perceived shortcomings with pride. A quick dip into demented laughter brings a hair-raising, near-demonic edge to the track, but Morby and co keep on rocking through the scorn, delivering one of his punchiest songs to date.
“Rock Bottom” also has a video, with Morby saying: “For the video, director Johnny Eastlund and I decided we wanted to make an Ice Cream themed Nunchucking Western so I tagged in one of my instagram nunchuck idols Ariel Kellog to help me battle an evil talent show judge, played by Tim Heidecker, who is taunting his contestants, most notably a little girl in a bumble bee costume. The video also features comedian Caleb Heron, my bandmate Cyrus Gengras, Azniv Korkejian (aka Bedouine), Jess Wolfe (who is 1/2 of Lucius), and more.”
Watch the clip below or find the song on streaming platforms.
Kevin Morby’s new album This Is A Photograph comes out on May 13 through Dead Oceans (pre-order/save). You can find him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
See him at these dates:
Fri. May 20 – Madrid, ES @ Tomavistas
Sat. May 21 – Biarritz, FR @ L’Atabal
Sun. May 22 – Montpellier, FR @ Le Rockstore
Mon. May 23 – Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey
Tue. May 24 – Paris, FR @ Le Bataclan
Wed. May 25 – Köln, DE @ Kulturekirche
Thu. May 26 – Antwerpen, BE @ De Roma
Sat. May 28 – London, UK @ Wide Awake at Brockwell Park
Sun. May 29 – Utrecht, NL @ TivoliVredenburg
Mon. May 30 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich
Tue. May 31 – Berlin, DE @ Metropol
Wed. Jun. 1 – Schorndorf, DE @ Manufaktur
Fri. Jun. 3- Angers, FR @ Levitation
Sat. Jun. 4 – Clermont-Ferrand, FR @ La Cooperative de Mai
Mon. Jun. 5 – Lille, FR @ Aéronef
Sun. Jul. 3 – Bologna, IT @ Covo Summer
Mon. Jul. 4 – Terni, IT @ Anfifteatro Romano
Wed. Jul. 6 – Zagreb, HR @ Mochvara
Thu. Jul. 7 – Budapest, HU @ Akvárium Klub
Fri. Jul. 8 – Trencin, Slovakia @ Pohoda Festival
Sat. Jul. 9 – Zittau, DE @ Lonesome Lake Festival
Mon. Jul. 11 – Vienna, AT @ WUK
Tue. Jul. 12 – Munich, DE @ Ampere
Wed. Jul. 13 – Bern, CH @ Gurtenfestival
Fri. Jul. 15 – Lisbon, PT @ Super Bock Super Rock
Sun. Aug. 21 – Erlanger, DE @ Ewerk
Mon. Aug. 22 – Hannover, DE @ Café Glocksee
Wed. Aug. 24 – Copenhagen, DK @ Punpehuset
Sat. Aug. 27 – Prague, CZ @ Meetfactory
Mon. Aug. 28 – Darmstadt, DE @ Golden Leaves Festival
Wed. Aug. 31 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk
Sat. Sept. 3 – Dorset, UK @ End of the Road Festival
Sun. Sept. 4 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall
Mon. Sept. 5 – Glasgow, UK @ Classic Grand
Tue. Sept. 6 – Leeds, UK @ The Brudenell Social Club
Wed. Sept. 7 – Dublin, IE @ Academy
Wed. Sept. 28 – Sonoma, CA @ Historic Redwood Barn *
Thu. Sept. 29 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore *
Sat. Oct. 1 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco *
Mon. Oct. 3 – Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole *
Wed. Oct. 5 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf *
Mon. Oct. 10 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Beer City Music Hall *
Tue. Oct. 11 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway Nightclub *
Wed. Oct. 12 – Bloomington, IN @ Buskirk-Chumley Theater *
Fri. Oct. 14 – Memphis, TN @ The Bluff *
Sat. Oct. 15 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement East *
Sun. Oct. 16 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West *
Tue. Oct. 18 – Jacksonville, FL @ Intuition Ale Works *
Thu. Oct. 20 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel *
Fri. Oct. 21 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall *
Sat. Oct. 22 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club %
Mon. Oct. 24 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair %
Tue. Oct. 25 – Ardmore, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall %
Wed. Oct. 26 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall %
Fri. Oct. 28 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall %
Sat. Oct. 29 – Ferndale, MI @ The Magic Bag %
Mon. Oct. 31 – Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre %
Tue. Nov. 1 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom %
Wed. Nov. 2 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe %
Thu. Nov. 3 – Kansas City, MO @ Knuckleheads Saloon %
Sat. Nov. 5 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre %
Sun. Nov. 6 – Fort Collins, CO @ Washington’s %
Tue. Nov. 8 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The CommonWealth Room %
Thu. Nov. 10 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall %
Fri. Nov. 11 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox %
Sat. Nov. 12 – Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre %
* w/ Cassandra Jenkins
% w/ Coco
