Today, Real Wow shares the upcoming Hello, I Hope This Finds You Well debut album in its entirety ahead of its official Bandcamp release on Friday, July 18. The “noisy, kinda proggy” post-rock band is led by Kemp Stroble on guitar and vocals joined by Mat Lewis, Kris Deason and Charlie Estes.
The first track, and also first released single, “What Safe Fun” sets the energetic tone of the album, which really only takes a breather at the beginning of the fourth track, “We’ll Cross That Rubicon When We Get to It,” and the final song, “The Porch on the Edge of Time.”
“‘What Safe Fun’ is the first song we completed as a group, so it has some significance in that regard. Also, there are flourishes of personal life as well as social commentary of our times in this world throughout,” says Stroble.
The album will also be released on limited edition hand-stamped CDs, adding a personal touch that is slowly fading away with the rise of digital. Kemp says that he wanted each CD to have something unique about it that was given hands-on attention to convey that they aren’t “simply units.”
“What inspired hand stamps was seeing Hot Snakes play a long time ago at Cat’s Cradle (Carrboro, NC). They had a big hand stamper at the merch booth and were hand-stamping tour 7-inches when you bought one. I thought it was such a cool idea but had no money that day to get one. I still think about that from time to time; it had an impact,” says Stroble.
You can grab one of these CDs at the release show happening on Friday at Flicker Theatre & Bar. Doors open at 8 p.m. with a $10 ticket price. Also on the bill are Blab School from Durham, NC and Athens’ own Father Werewolf.
Stroble also shares that people who come out to the show just might get treated to a brand new song the band has just finished as well.
Be sure to keep an eye on the band at realwow.bandcamp.com.
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