It’s officially “Autumn Sweater” season — both the garment and the 1997 Yo La Tengo song. So to celebrate, Boston’s Palehound unveiled a pitch-perfect cover of the shaker-laden track.
Palehound’s Ellen Kempner does little to mess with the perfection of the I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One cut. The instrumentals are nearly identical and her voice appropriately hushed and nostalgic. The song comes off a new digital seven-inch, standing side by side with a similarly quiet offering, “Your Boyfriend’s Gun.”
Despite the song’s Yo Lo Tengo-esque sound, “Your Boyfriend’s Gun” is unsurprisingly less buoyant than a rumination on fall and loneliness (however buoyant that can be). In a statement, Kempner said, “‘Your Boyfriend’s Gun’ is about loving people who love men with guns. It’s about the conversation of what protection is, how a person can claim they’re protecting and caring for you when they are putting you in harm’s way in ways they can’t process.”
Palehound is hitting the road this fall with Big Thief in support of their third album, Black Friday, which came out earlier this year via Polyvinyl Record Co. That album delved into body image and acceptance, while Palehound’s second album, 2017’s A Place I’ll Aways Go, dealt with death and loss.
Tour dates are below:
National Fall Tour Dates
# = w/ Big Thief
* = w/ Lomelda
10/11: New York, NY @ Webster Hall # (SOLD OUT)
10/12: Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Ballroom #
10/13: Boston, MA @ Wilbur Theatre # (SOLD OUT)
10/15: Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe # (SOLD OUT)
10/16: Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall # (SOLD OUT)
10/17: Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre #
10/18: Chicago, IL @ Metro # (SOLD OUT)
10/19: Madison, WI @ The Sylvee #
10/21: Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue #
10/24: Portland @ Crystal Ballroom #
10/25: Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre #
10/26: Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre #
10/28: San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore # (SOLD OUT)
10/29: Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy *
10/30: Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory #
11/01: Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom # (SOLD OUT)
11/02: Albuquerque, NM @ Sister #
11/04: Austin, TX @ Stubb’s #
11/05: Dallas, TX @ Trees #
11/07: Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse #
11/08: Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom # (SOLD OUT)
11/09: Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer # (SOLD OUT)
11/10: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club # (SOLD OUT)
11/11: Columbus, OH @ Athenaeum Theatre #
11/13: Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe
11/14: Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt
11/15: Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts