BUSH TETRAS

Born from the fringes of the New York underground music scene of the late ’70s and early ’80s, no wave legends Bush Tetras join us on 2nd November 2023 with a brand-new album under their belt, They Live in My Head, only the third full-length album recorded by the Bush Tetras in their long history, released by Wharf Cat Records in July of this year.

Tickets on sale now. 

With flashes of reggae, bursts of noise, guitars that rattle, shake and snake, born out of a gutter behind CBGBs, The Bush Tetras have made punk music at the fringes for over four decades. The band’s first iteration lasted just a few years, from 1979 through the early ‘80s. But they respawned time and time again, contorting their sound, tweaking the vision, remaining completely singular and indispensable along the way. In the late 2010s the group—Pat Place, Cynthia Sley, and Dee Pop—reformed again, releasing an EP, Take the Fall, in 2018. It was their first offering of new music in over a decade. A few years later in, 2021, they released a career spanning box set called Rhythm and Paranoia. The New York Times called the box set an artefact that “proves for decades [that the Bush Tetras] continued to evolve in surprising yet intuitive directions.” And in Pitchfork’s Best New Reissue, Rhythm and Paranoia revealed “just how vital [the Bush Tetras] remained each decade.” Around the same time of the release, the band began working on a full length record, but right before the release of the box set, beloved drummer Dee Pop passed away. Determined to complete the record to honour his memory, the Tetras went into the studio to finish what they’d started, once the timing was right. They brought in a new drummer, Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley (who will be joining them on tour). Enter They Live in My Head.

‘They Live in My Head’ is the band’s third full length record since their formation in 1979, but that fact is a little misleading. The Bush Tetras have written songs together for decades. They’ve thought about their output, they’ve played heart stopping live shows. They Live in My Head is a natural evolution to the band’s sound. When Shelley joined the band, the Bush Tetras went into the rehearsal space, entering into kinaesthetic writing sessions. “We just went into the rehearsal space and things just would fall right into place,” says Place, “We’d just start playing and the next thing would happen and we’d know where to take it.” This intuitive approach to songwriting lends itself to music that feels urgent, natural, the kind of stuff you can really grind your teeth and dance to. Opener “Bird on a Wire,” is trancelike. Place’s guitars shoot off sparks of lightning, bassist RB Korbet keeps things dubby. Sley sings about tiny satellites spinning round, clocks on the wall, the feeling of looking at the world from down below. It’s dedicated to her mother, who passed away in 2022. The record is a collection of songs that often reflect on the past, of thinking back to old memories, and honouring those who are no longer with us.

Future Yard presents
Bush Tetras
Thursday 2nd November 2023
7.30pm doors
£15 advance
75 Argyle Street
#thefutureisbirkenhead

Tickets available online in advance or in person at the Future Yard Box Office.
Future Yard is a cashless venue – all payments are taken by contactless or chip and pin. Live curfew 11pm.
If you have any specific access requests, please read all of the details about accessibility at Future Yard here.