When we last checked in with Shawn Foree, the man behind synth punk band Digital Leather, he was touring in support of his Fat Possum LP Warm Brother. He's been busy since then, releasing a mini-LP, Infinite Sun on Volar Records (which featured a song "co-written postmortem" by Foree's friend and frequent collaborator Jay Reatard), and the limited Sponge cassette on Crash Symbols, all the while working on Modern Problems, a new full length which sees release Tuesday, February 14 on FDH Records.
The Valentine's Day appropriate (kind of?) single "Young Doctors in Love" is a blast, featuring warbly synths, Reatard-inspired buzzsaw guitars, and a couple lines swiped from Ritchie Cordell's "I Think We're Alone Now," most famously performed by Tommy James and The Shondells.
Download "Young Doctors in Love" before catching Digital Leather live at The Rhythm Room on Thursday, February 16.
"Modern Problems is a narrative of the grieving process," Foree says on the FDH site. "I wanted to explore that universal experience with real ambition, so I created a kind of alter ego to relate the story of a loss, which is where the record starts -- when the protagonist has lost a loved one and is in denial. He battles with despair and anger, vainly seeks hope. The final acceptance in "Door" comes reluctantly. I didn't want to get too cerebral so I decided to keep the music itself upbeat and somewhat simple in order to complement the heavy topics." Download: "Young Doctors in Love"
Digital Leather is scheduled to perform Thursday, February 16, at The Rhythm Room.
