MACABRE MUSIC: CONCRETE BLONDE'S BLOODLETTING TO BE REISSUED JULY 13

Shout! Factory will be reissuing a seminal album, originally released on Capitol Records, Concrete Blonde’s Bloodletting, on July 13. It’s been remastered and includes rare and unreleased bonus tracks.

Born out of the early 1980s Los Angeles post-punk scene along with bands such as X, Wall of Voodoo and the Go-Gos, Concrete Blonde got their start when founding members Johnette Napolitano and James Mankey met working as backup for Leon Russell. They formed Dream 6 and signed with IRS Records, where labelmate Michael Stipe of R.E.M. suggested they change their name to Concrete Blonde. Their powerful, eponymous debut album came out in 1987, and was followed by Free (1989), which spawned the college radio hit “God Is A Bullet.”

Bloodletting, their third album, took Concrete Blonde in a new direction. Produced by Chris Tsangarides in London in 1989 and 1990, and featuring guests such as Steve Wynn, Bloodletting was a gothic tapestry of danger, vampires, alcoholism and passion. Hit single “Joey” reached #19 on Billboard’s Top Pop Singles Chart, and the album was eventually certified Gold. In 2006 Napolitano told antimusic.com: “One of the biggest shocks of my life was when Bloodletting came out . . .  I just thought, ‘OK, nobody is going to relate to this. Nobody but me.’ It was the most amazing thing to find that it was such a universal thing. It was a real revelation to discover that the closer you get to your own truth, the more universal it becomes.” The band briefly reunited in the early 2000s, and will be touring in the summer of 2010 (dates below). This remastering of Bloodletting, long overdue, breathes new life into their signature album, which is expanded to include “I Want You,” the long unavailable B-side of the single version of “Joey,” other B-sides from the period and a previously unreleased French version of the title track.

CONCRETE BLONDE TOUR DATES

June 8 – Boston, MA – Royal Boston

June 10 – New York, NY – Webster Hall

June 11 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall

June 12 – Chicago, IL – The Vic

June 15 – Washington D.C. – 9:30 Club

June 16 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse

June 18 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theatre

June 19 – Austin, TX – Emo’s

June 21 – Arvada, CO – Arvada Center

June 22 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot

June 24 – Seattle, WA – Showbox at the Market

June 26 – San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom

June 28 – Hollywood, CA – The Music Box

CONCRETE BLONDE BLOODLETTING TRACKLISTING

1. Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)

2. The Sky Is A Poisonous Garden

3. Caroline

4. Darkening Of The Light

5. I Don’t Need A Hero

6. Days And Days

7. The Beast

8. Lullabye

9. Joey

10. Tomorrow, Wendy

11. I Want You [B-side of “Joey”] –BONUS TRACK

12. Little Wing [B-side of “Caroline” CD single] –BONUS TRACK

13. Bloodletting (The Vampire Song) [French Extended Version] –BONUS TRACK

14. Roses Grow (Live) [B-side of “Caroline” CD single] –BONUS TRACK

15. The Sky Is A Poisonous Garden (Live) [B-side of “Caroline” CD single] –BONUS TRACK

16. Tomorrow, Wendy (Live) [B-side of “Caroline” CD single] –BONUS TRACK