Did Susie Ulrey ever think that The FADER would premiere a song by her decades old emo band?
"No way, never," the Tampa songwriter told CL when asked about the Thursday afternoon that her band, Pohgoh, had.
The comments came just hours after taste-making music mag shared "Business Mode," the lead single from the Pohgoh's forthcoming new album, Secret Club, which is due on September 7 via New Granada Records. The Tampa indie-imprint — which is owned by Ulrey and her husband Keith — will handle North American distribution, but the album is also coming out in the U.K. (via Barely Regal Records) and Japan (via Waterslide Records).
OLD FRIEND
The 20th anniversary vinyl reissue of Pohgoh's debut LP will actually include "Friend X"
The new record — produced and engineered by J. Robbins at Magpie Cage Record Studio in Baltimore — comes 21 years after Pohgoh officially called it quits, and much of it is about Susie's long-running with multiple sclerosis.
"If you didn't know any better, you might think the wounded lyrics on the new album's crunchy, polyrhythmic first single are metaphorical," FADER wrote. "But 'Business Mode' is heartbreakingly literal."
SUSIE SPEAKS
20 years after its debut, Pohgoh becomes Gasparilla Music Festival's first emo band
“[The song] explores the falls I’ve taken over the years as my MS diagnosis continues to progress and life becomes more dangerous," Ulrey told FADER. "My husband is also my care partner and that is a particular kind of heartbreak. There have been moments of sheer panic we’ve endured together over the years. I am scared of being a burden and I hate that my diagnosis forced him into this role. It’s complicated.”
Pohgoh has also announced a 12-date U.S. tour that will take the band all the way up the East Coast and into venues like New York's Mercury Lounge. A September 14 Bay area release show is set for Crowbar in Ybor City.
Have a look at tour dates, and listen to "Business Mode," below.
Call your local record store to see if it will carry the limited edition white vinyl.
Pohgoh 2018 Tour Dates
08/10 – Athens, Georgia at Athens PopFest
09/14 – Tampa, Florida at Crowbar
09/15 – Atlanta, Georgia at Masquerade
09/16 – Winston-Salem, North Carolina at Monstercade
09/17 – Arlington, Virginia at Galaxy Hut
09/18 – Baltimore, Maryland at Metro Gallery
09/19 – New York, New York at Mercury Lounge
09/20 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Everybody Hits
09/21 – Richmond, Virginia at The Camel
09/22 – Roanoke, Virginia at The Spot On Kirk
09/23 – Savannah, Georgia at Graveface Records
10/27 – Gainesville, Florida at The Fest
This article appears in Jun 21-28, 2018.