After six years away, Quasi are returning soon with their perfectly-titled new album Breaking the Balls of History, which they’re teasing today with the new single “Queen of Ears.” Their debut for Sub Pop is slated for release on February 10th, 2023, and they’ll also celebrate the occasion with a North American tour.
Quasi’s Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss co-produced Breaking the Balls of History alongside longtime punk go-to John Goodmanson (Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Unwound, Treepeople, Team Dresch). They figured their 2013 record Mole City would be their last and were content to move on — that is, until Weiss broke both legs and her collarbone in a 2019 car crash, just months before that pesky pandemic began. So along came Breaking the Balls of History, an album motivated by life’s futility.
“There’s no investing in the future anymore,” Weiss says in a press release. “The future is now. Do it now if you want to do it. Don’t put it off. All those things you only realize when it’s almost too late. It could be gone in a second.” Coomes concurs: “When you’re younger and in a band, you make records because that’s what you do. But this time, the whole thing felt purposeful in a way that was unique to the circumstances.” Pre-orders are ongoing.
The peppy “Queen of Ears” is a well-suited comeback single for Quasi, built upon Weiss’ distinctly complex drum beats and Coomes’ vociferous Rocksichord. On it, Coomes seems to ponder mortality and the things that keep us grounded while we’re alive: “Ascending Olympus/ To mingle with the Gods/ Your mind reassured/ By such boredom.” He could be talking about he literal Gods of Greek mythology, or the indie rock pioneers who made the similarly-named Olympia, Washington their own sacred home.
Quasi’s North American tour kicks off on February 10th in Boise, Idaho, continuing across the country and parts of Canada until March 28th in Pittsburgh. Tickets go on sale Friday, October 30th at 10:00 a.m. local, and you can get yours at Ticketmaster.
Listen to “Queen of Ears” and see the artwork and tracklist for Breaking the Balls of History below, and then keep scrolling for Quasi’s tour schedule.
Back in 2017, Coomes and Weiss put together Battle Hymns, an indie star-studded compilation album “created in direct response to the current political situation in the U.S.A.”
Breaking the Balls of History Artwork:
Breaking the Balls of History Tracklist:
01. Last Long Laugh
02. Back in Your Tree
03. Queen of Ears
04. Gravity
05. Shitty Is Pretty
06. Riots & Jokes
07. Breaking the Balls of History
08. Doomscrollers
09. Inbetweenness
10. Nowheresville
11. Rotten Wrock
12. The Losers Win
