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Stream Big Ups’ Seething New Album, ‘Before a Million Universes’

Before a Million Universes, the forthcoming album from Brooklyn thrashers Big Ups, teeters between soft and loud dynamics on the scale of its epic title. (It’s actually a reference to Walt Whitman’s quotation “Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes.”) Over the course of 13 tracks, the quartet examine fittingly universal, and often overwhelming, ideas — capitalism, relationships, bitterness, cross-country travel — via shock-and-awe sonic aesthetics. Leading up to yowling choruses with misleadingly deadpan verses, vocalist Joe Galarraga, guitarist Amar Lal, bassist Carlos Salguero Jr., and drummer Brendan Finn channel recent tour mates METZ with a healthy sprinkling of half-irony in the spirit of their northern neighbors Ought; a delicate yet wild dance between hope and bitterness in greyscale tones. Listen for yourself here, and find the album artwork and Big Ups’ list of upcoming tour dates below. While you’re at it, pre-order Before a Million Universes (out March 4 via Exploding In Sound in the U.S. and Tough Love in the U.K.) here.

Stream Big Ups' Seething New Album, 'Before a Million Universes'

Big Ups tour dates:
March 9 — Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong ^
March 11 — Savannah, GA @ Savannah Stopover
March 12 — Nashville, TN @ Freakin Weekend @ Exit/In
March 13 — Denton, TX @ 35 Denton
March 15-March 20 — Austin, TX @ SXSW
March 28 — Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast
March 29 — Manchester, UK @ Gullivers
March 30 — London, UK @ Lexington
March 31 — Leeds, UK @ Headrow House
April 1 — Bristol, UK @ Louisiana
April 2 — Birmingham, UK @ Sunflower Lounge
April 4 — Lille, FR @ La Peniche
April 5 — Paris, FR @ Mecanique Ondulatoire
April 6 — Brussels, BE @ VK
April 8 — Groningen, NL @ Vera
April 9 — Eindhoven, NL @ Area 51 Skatepark
April 10 — Cologne, DE @ MTC
April 11 — Vienna, AT @ B72
April 12 — Bologna, IT @ Freakout Club
April 13 — Milan, IT @ Ligera
April 14 — Munich, DE @ Kranhalle
April 16 — Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
April 18 — Berlin, DE @ Cassiopeia
April 19 — Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen
April 21 — Amsterdam, NL @ OT301
^ w/ Washer