Twenty years after the band’s last proper album Alter was released on Sub Pop — with the catalog number Sub Pop #666, no less — Pleasure Forever returns with a new mini-album titled Distal. It’s as hard to characterize as it’s always been.
Moments of heavy-hitting rock tendencies tie together their continuing exploration of 60s psychedelia and their peculiarly warped feel of classic rock from an alternate universe, dashed with hypnotic and minimal rhythms reminiscent of heady Krautrock. Distal will appeal to fans of Roxy Music, The Doors, The VSS, CAN, Amon Düül II, and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds…
Following the surprising and untimely deaths of old friends, tour mates and family in recent years, the members of Pleasure Forever, vocalist/keyboardist Andrew Rothbard, drummer Dave Clifford and guitarist Joshua Hughes reconnected to catch up. They soon began discussing trading home recorded ideas, which led to a frenzy of file trading. A batch of new songs was rather quickly built and the members self-recorded and mixed seven tracks of material that became Distal.
In the two decades between proper albums, Rothbard has released multiple solo albums under his full name Andrew Douglas Rothbard, Clifford played drums in instrumental post-metal band Red Sparowes, as well as Marriages, Jail Weddings and more, Hughes sang and played guitar in Relapse Records sludge metal trio Rabbits. The three members formerly played together in synth-punk pioneers The VSS in the mid-90s. Pleasure Forever released a collection of B-sides and cover songs Bodies Need Rest in 2007.
Distal will be available from August 25, 2023 on digital and limited edition vinyl via Bandcamp and Solid Brass Records
