Pool Kids are heading to England and Scotland next month in support of their latest album, Easier Said Than Done.
The Floridian Math rockers’ third album, Easier Said Than Done, shimmers with emotional clarity and courage, which brings the dynamism of their live show into the studio and further cultivates their unique style.
Pool Kids first started out playing on Tallahassee’s house show circuit and touring the wider US by cold calling bars and asking to use their stages.
The band’s debut, 2018’s Music to Practice Safe Sex To, found a fan in Paramore’s Hayley Williams who said she wished Paramore had sounded like that when they were first starting out.
Their 2022 self-titled sophomore record garnered critical acclaim with its lush, high-contrast mixture of pop, emo, and math rock. They’ve since shared stages with The Mountain Goats, PUP, Beach Bunny, and La Dispute. They hold fast to their DIY principles: Anyone can do what Pool Kids do. Anyone can start a band.
For Easier Said Than Done, Pool Kids worked with producer Mike Vernon Davis (Foxing, Great Grandpa). They funded the record themselves and spent five weeks recording in Seattle. To save money during sessions, they stayed with friends, in motels, and slept on the floor of the studio. “We did a lot of searching, playing each song a million different ways and deciding which one sounded the best,” said Vocalist/ Guitar Christine Goodwyne. With the completed record in hand, the band signed to Epitaph.
On the thundering “Tinted Windows,” Goodwyne grits her teeth at the way spending months on tour and missing important milestones can stress close relationships. “Exit Plan” memorializes the experience of saying goodbye to friends at the end of a string of shows, knowing those powerful bonds may never feel the same again. On “Bad Bruise,” Goodwyne makes a bid for understanding: “Pretty please, empathy / Got me on my knees,” she sings while the band closes ranks around her.
The eight-date tour kicks off at the Joiners in Southampton on 17th, before it makes its merry way to Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, and Brighton before ending with a guaranteed banger at The Garage in London on 25th.
Seriously, if these guys aren’t already on your radar, they should be, and if this isn’t one of those I remember seeing them before they were big tours, I’ll eat my hat.
Full dates below. Tickets are available in all the usual places.
17 – The Joiners, Southampton
18 – Exchange, Bristol
19 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
20 – The Deaf Institute, Manchester
21 – Stereo, Glasgow
23 – Hare & Hounds, Birmingham
24 – Patterns, Brighton
25 – The Garage, London