VIDEO PREMIERE: The Rave-Ups Make a Triumphant Return with Exuberant Rocker “How Old Am I?”

The Rave-Ups’ three previous albums — 1985’s independently released Town + Country, along with 1987’s The Book of Your Regrets and 1990’s Chance, both for Epic Records — established the group as one of the pioneers of the cowpunk genre that eventually transformed into Americana, following in the footsteps of L.A.-bred country-rock groups from the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Byrds through contemporaries like X, the Blasters, and Rank + File.

The original Los Angeles lineup — singer/songwriter Jimmer Podrasky, guitarist Terry Wilson, bassist Tommy Blatnik, and drummer Timothy Jimenez, who first met while working together in the A&M Records mailroom — have reunited for Tomorrow, set for release February 4, 2022 by Omnivore Recordings, which reissued Town + Country in 2016 with 11 bonus tracks. The first single from the album, “How Old Am I?” will be available on all streaming services December 3, with two more songs, “Brigitte Bardot” (a never-recorded Town + Country outtake) and “Coming After Me,” set for January.

Tomorrow may have been conceived before the pandemic, but its themes touch on such hot topics as political polarization (“So, You Wanna Know the Truth?”), unrequited love (“Brigitte Bardot”), the relationship between father and son (“How Old Am I?”), fear and paranoia (“Coming After Me”), divorce (“When I Write Your Name”) and the light at the end of the tunnel (“Tomorrow”). The band’s country-punk bona fides are buttressed by the presence of pedal steel maestro Marty Rifkin (replacing the late “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow, who famously played on Town + Country) on “How Old Am I?” “Tomorrow” and “Coming After Me.”

Today Glide is excited to premiere the video for the album’s first single, “How Old Am I?,” which was inspired by a question from Jimmer’s widowed father, suffering from poor health. With a U2-styled guitar “rave-up” from Terry and a Springsteen-like fervor, the song comes out of the gate with a bang as the uptempo groove is complemented by twangy pedal steel guitar and infectious harmonies. The band like a well-oiled machine, proving that age has only made their sound tighter and more exuberant. We get plenty of guitar solo action alongside poignant lyrics that resonate in a universal yet down to earth fashion. Mixing their alt-country roots with a left of the dial rock and roll sound, the song is a fine indication of what we can expect from the coming album.

Jimmer Podrasky describes the inspiration behind the song:

“During the Rave-Ups’ last national tour in 1990, I saw my dad while we were playing in Pittsburgh. The previous year, my mom had passed away and my dad had lost his leg and his eyesight due to diabetes. The man I saw on that tour was a shell of his former self; he seemed lost (he asked me how old he was at one point) and fragile, two things my dad wasn’t. He was a tough, no-nonsense, football coach and public school principal and the dramatic change in him after my mom’s death was gut-wrenching for me. But the loss of his leg and his eyesight wasn’t what diminished him; it was the loss of his best friend — my mom. Three months later, he passed away; I actually felt relieved because he was finally at peace. I never wanted ‘How Old Am I?’ to be a sad song — that wasn’t befitting my dad. I hoped to write something that honored him, even if it referenced his growing emotional confusion and physical frailty. I wanted it to be a big, loud, anthemic tribute to the best man I’d ever known.”

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Photo credit: Tommy Blatnik