Review: HAND HABITS RELEASES NEW SINGLE "PLACEHOLDER"
Photo by Aubrey Trinnamen
The title track from LA band Hand Habits’ forthcoming album (due out March 1 via Saddle Creek Records) opens with the calm steadiness of a leisurely afternoon spent strolling through a park, or as the nautical video proposes, an overcast marina. But the steadiness in vocalist Meg Duffy’s (pronouns they/them) voice suggests peace made with a more sickening and hard-to-swallow truth: the awareness of having been used and discarded by a loved one. NPR premiered the single on Tuesday, calling it "a soft yet scathing lamentation of being secondary," saying it "screams with a sigh,” but I think it sounds more like the moments just after a scream, the ensuing silence following a toddler’s tantrum in which she realizes that screaming is futile and reluctantly accepts her fate. Watch the official video here and decide for yourself.
You can pre-order Hand Habits’ sophomore album here and catch them on tour this spring, opening for renowned artists like Japanese Breakfast, at one of the dates listed below. If the first single is any indication, both the album and the tour are likely to be gifts from a self-assured, DIY artist who knows they don’t need to be everyone’s cup of tea in order to bring something beautiful to their community.
TOUR DATES:
1/16 - Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom #
1/17 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel #
1/18 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel #
1/19 - Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage #
3/22 - Bolinas, CA @ Bolinas Community Center >
3/23 - San Francisco, CA @ Swedish American Hall < $
3/25 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios %
3/26 - Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern %
3/29 - Salt Lake City @ Kilby Court
3/30 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
4/1 - Omaha, NE @ Slowdown *
4/2 - Eau Claire, WI @ The Gallery at The Oxbow Hotel *
4/3 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *
4/4 - Chicago, IL @ Hideout * +
4/8 - Troy, NY @ Post Contemporary Church
4/9 - Hudson, NY @ The Half Moon Hudson
4/10 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom ^
4/11 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's ^
4/12 - Washington, DC @ Songbyrd DC Vinyl Lounge ^
4/13 - Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight ^
4/14 - Nashville, NC @ The End ^
4/15 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl ^
4/16 - New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa ^
4/18 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk (Inside) ^
4/20 - Albuquerque, NM @ Sanitary Tortilla Factory ^
4/21 - Tucson, AZ @ Hotel Congress ^
4/22 - Long Beach @ Living Room LBC ^
4/26 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Bootleg ^
# w/ Japanese Breakfast
> w/ Alex Bleeker
< w/ Wizard Apprentice
$ w/ Stephen Steinbrink
% w/ Mega Bog
* w/ Tomberlin
+ w/ Gia Margaret
^ w/ Tasha
Where can I find Hand Habits?
Review by Michelle Kirk
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