10 years ago this upcoming August, I finally moved myself, my fat cat, and about a thousand books to Chapel Hill. I’d been trying to move myself to Chapel Hill since I was 14 and discovered Superchunk, and while it took me 11 years to get here (and Superchunk were on a hiatus when I finally did), the local music scene that drove me to relocate was still going strong, and maybe going stronger than it was ten years earlier.
I didn’t get to see Superchunk until 2008, but I did get to discover plenty of other amazing local bands, and one of the first of those was the Old Ceremony, who back then were getting described as pop noir and who are calling Sprinter, their 6th full length LP out next week, Southern Gothic pop. “Go Dark” is the first single from Sprinter, and it’s as thick and dreamy and creepy as all hell – check out a live performance recorded in the Hughes Academy, a one room schoolhouse that dates to 1845. “Go Dark” sparkles with frontman Django Haskins’ warm and sinister vocals delivering his doom-filled lyrics in the sweetest way, and propels itself to its shivering conclusions over wavering organ tones and skittering drums.
Triangle residents can catch the Old Ceremony celebrating the release of Sprinter July 17 and 18 at the Cat’s Cradle Back Room, and the rest of the country can catch them on tour after that.