Ron Gallo is set to release Really Nice Guys on January 19th, 2018 via New West Records. The 8-song set was produced by Joe Bisirri & Gallo and is a concept EP which pokes fun at himself and the year he has spent supporting his New West Records debut, HEAVY META. Released in February of this year, HEAVY META was met with critical acclaim with Billboard Magazine calling it “one of the year’s most searing and unfiltered alt-rock albums,” and Noisey stating that it “is Fun and Dark and Garage and Psychedelic and Nice as Hell.” NPR Music called Gallo an “insurgent poet and rock ‘n’ roll disrupter” while NYLON called him “A wordsmith of a writer who just so happens to have a knack for rock and roll.” Really Nice Guys also serves as hilarious commentary on the music industry. It features songs about rough mixes (broken into three parts: iPhone demo, live band demo, and overproduced, autotuned studio recording), the inability of saying a band is bad, so we say “they’re really nice guys” instead, all of your friends asking to be put on the guest list for your show, etc. It also features Gallo’s mother’s boyfriend Jerry’s real-time thoughts after hearing Really Nice Guys for the first time throughout the EP, captured by a hidden microphone. Noisey premiered the video for the EP’s title track today, which is based on an early 00’s skateboarding video, with Gallo performing super underwhelming tricks. They comment, “Meta, man! Like Father John Misty with a skateboard.”
Really Nice Guys is available for pre-order HERE and will be available on compact disc and digitally (with a vinyl release slated later in 2018).
“Write what you know, Ron Gallo!” he says. “Being constantly on highways, in vans, on planes, on stages, in green rooms, on guest lists, turning a person into a brand, turning a real life human moment into a song, into content, into an asset to be monetized, talking to people about myself and stuff I wrote 3 years ago, watching it all unfold in the public eye from a phone in a van on a highway heading to a stage.” He continues, “It wasn’t what I thought it would be and it was beautiful and I am grateful, but mostly this whole world or pursuing music and the music business is hilarious. So how do you deal with that? Have fun by entertaining yourself with an EP of you laughing at yourself about all of it and call it Really Nice Guys, which is probably all I’ve been for most of this.”
Gallo’s HEAVY META has garnered considerable year-end accolades including The Observer calling it one of the “Best Pop Albums of 2017,” American Songwriter including it in their “Top 25 Albums of 2017” list, John Mulvey of UNCUT naming it one of his “favourite albums of 2017,” and Glide Magazine including it in their “20 Best Albums of 2017” list, among others. Paste Magazine named him #3 in their “20 Best New Artists of 2017” list and also included his song “Temporary Slave” in their “50 Best Songs of 2017” list as well. The past year saw Gallo support Spoon, Hurray For The Riff Raff, The Black Angels, Thee Oh Sees, Twin Peaks, and White Reaper on tour between his own headlining runs. He also appeared at multiple music festivals including Lollapalooza, Governor’s Ball, Austin City Limits, Voodoo Music Fest and more. Gallo has announced his initial 2018 tour dates which include an appearance at the Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores, AL in May (please see all dates below with many more to be announced).
2017 also saw the release of two 7-inch singles by Gallo, the first being the HEAVY META B-side “Temporary Slave” backed with his cover of Danzig’s “Am I Demon,” as well as a split single with the Seattle-based trio Naked Giants (with his new song “Sorry Not Everybody Is You” serving as the single’s A-Side).
Ron Gallo Really Nice Guys Track List:
1. Rough Mix
2. Really Nice Guys
3. Related Artists (For Fans Of…)
4. I’m On The Guestlist
5. YouTubular
6. The East Nashville Kroger Conversation
7. Emotional Impact For Sale
8. Pull Quote (feat. Jerry)
Ron Gallo On Tour:
January 11 – Chattanooga, TN @ JJ’s Bohemia*
January 12 – Memphis, TN @ Growlers*
January 13 – Oxford, MS @ Proud Larry’s*
January 18 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Hi-Fi
January 19 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
January 20 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
May 18 – Gulf Shores, AL @ Hangout Music Festival
