Ever since The Rupert Selection’s stint at the 2017 Rock And Roll Rumble, we’ve been anticipating this exact moment: The day the group releases their debut full-length record.
The north-of-Boston band didn’t go home with the Rumble crown back in ’17, but they left a hefty and lasting psychedelic imprint in our minds that would make waiting two years for their first album seem like an eternity.
In reality, for The Rupert Selection, the wait for Priors (released today, June 21, with the release party Saturday at Thunder Road) erred on 10 years.
“The music on this one [record] is different in the sense that a lot of the songs are old — some of them well over a decade,” says multi-instrumentalist Peter Crofton. “We’re always writing new stuff, but thought these songs deserved to get recorded properly before moving on. That’s the fun of it for us, we’ve worked together for so long that I really don’t think we’ll ever run out of music to work on.”
Vibrating with heavy licks and tight, spastic rhythms, the outfit’s nine-track compilation of “pocket thoughts” gives their catalogue a chance to metaphorically settle down. From the spacey “Apollo” to the utter experimental “Take Me To The Catacombs,” this is The Rupert Selection putting old tracks to bed while also playingfully futzing around with them one last time.
“The recording process was incredibly fun, our engineer / producer Alex Allinson is crazy talented and The Bridge Sound & Stage is such an inspiring place to be in,” Crofton notes. “Alex would just bring in these amazing toys for us to experiment with, and you can definitely hear it.”
“I think this is the most focused, strongest music we’ve made yet,” adds vocalist and guitarist Reilly Somach. “These songs have been in our heads for so long they started haunting us and we had no choice but to record and give them a home.”
Have a visit with Priors below.
THE RUPERT SELECTION + THE STAMPEDE + COLOR CHANNEL :: Saturday, June 22 at Thunder Road, 379 Somerville Ave. in Somerville, MA :: 8 p.m., $10 in advance and $12 at doors :: Advance tickets :: Thunder Road event page :: Facebook event page