Awesome New Republic overcomes act of god, release Hearts

Alex Young

October 12, 2009 | 1:45pm ET

John Hancock and Brian Robertson of Awesome New Republic had a plan. They were going to release new material in a three part series titled, Rational Geographic. Volume I was released this past April for free via torrent sites. Honor Roll Music, who released the album, even went as far as setting up an advertising campaign on the torrent search engine site, ISOHunt. Volume II was released in July with Volume III planned for October. Then god got in the way — An act of god that is.

A storm tore through their neighborhood that already suffered from poor electrical wiring and nuked all their hard drives. Not only did it get the masters, but the backups as well. However, Hancock and Robertson went right back into the studio to re-record the tracks and accomplished the task in two short weeks. Having left the session with more tracks than the original seven planned for Volume III, the duo opted to turn the end result into a new full length, Hearts, which will instead get a proper release via Honor Roll Music on October 27th.

To celebrate, ANR will join forces with drummer Jorge Rubiera and hit the road on October 15th. They’ll play 20+ shows with stops in New York, Detroit, and Los Angeles to name a few. Be sure to check out “Alleycat” below which is the first single off Hearts.

Check Out:

Alleycat

Hearts Tracklist:

01. Whatever

02. Dances When

03. Alleycat

04. Birthday

05. Digital World

06. Footstomping Decay

07. Dark Water

08. Deep Love

09. Last Drop

10. Wheels, No Engines

11. Hearts

Awesome New Republic 2009 Tour Dates:

10/15 – Miami, FL @ Rokbar *
10/16 – Tallahassee, FL @ Club Down Under (FSU) *
10/17 – Jacksonville, FL @ Club TSI *
10/19 – Charlottesville, VA @ The Brdige PAI
10/20 – New York, NY @ Bowery Electrci (CMJ Music Marathon)

10/22 – New York, NY @ The Space on North 8th (CMJ Music Marathon)
10/24 – New York, NY @ BLVD (CMJ Music Marathon)
10/26 – Toronto, ON @ Velvet Lounge
10/27 – Detroit, MI @ Crofoot Ballroom
10/29 – Ames, IA @ Iowa State University (M-Shop)
10/30 – Grinnell, IA @ Grinnell College (Gardners Club) %
10/31 – Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theatre
11/02 – Denver, CO @ Hi Dive
11/06 – Brookdale, CA @ Brookdale Lodge
11/08 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Viper Room
11/10 – Los Angeles @ Cinepsace (Dim Mak Party)
11/11 – San Diego, CA @ The Ruby Room
11/14 – Dallas, TX @ The Door
11/15 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
11/16 – Mobile, AL @ Alabama Music Box
11/17 – Tampa, FL @ Crowbar
11/18 – Sarasota, FL @ Cock & Bull