Today, the reunited Karate announce Make It Fit, their much-anticipated first studio album in 20 years. Coming October 18th on Numero Group, and featuring ten new tracks mixed by long time collaborator Andy Hong, they’re also sharing two of those – the album’s opener in “Defendants” and its closer in “Silence, Sound”.
Formed in Boston in 1993 by Geoff Farina, Eamonn Vitt and Gavin McCarthy, Karate added Jeff Goddard on bass in 1995. The band released six studio albums, two EPs, numerous singles, and split 7”s between 1994 and 2005. From punk roots, the band ventured widely – veering into jazz-rock, post-rock and a unique version of slowcore in its progressive indie experimentation.
Vitt left for med school in 97 and Farina called the band quits in 2005 because of hearing issues.
Something happened in the meantime. The band’s albums on Southern Records went out of print. And the label’s founder John Loder passed in 2005, complicating things. In 2020, a Chicago Reader article noticed Karate’s albums were fetching rare vinyl prices online. Long-time fans the Numero Group stepped in and offered to help the band get its albums back – literally sending a van to the North of England to pick up Karate’s master tapes.
Karate reunited in 2022 to support the re-release of its music on Numero Group. Time Expired, a 5-LP set, focused on the trio’s later albums and EPs. The Complete Studio Recordings released in 2023, gathered all six studio albums, singles, and compilation tracks in a deluxe CD set.
Make It Fit is available to pre-order now on CD, cassette and limited edition blonde coloured LP, “Bleach The Scene” edition crystal clear LP and a standard black LP.
The band will tour in support of their new record, performing in Brazil and appearing at the Best Friends Forever Festival in Las Vegas alongside the likes of Sunny Day Real Estate, Bright Eyes and The Dismemberment Plan, before heading to the EU in December for shows in Iceland and Belgium and onto a full UK tour.
Catch Karate live on the following dates:
AUGUST
18: Cine Joia, Sao Paulo, Brazil
OCTOBER
12th – Best Friends Forever Festival, Las Vegas, USA
DECEMBER
11th – Reykjanesbær, Hljómahöll, Iceland
13th – Kortrijk, Wilde Westen, Belgium
14th – Antwerp, Trix, Belgium
16th – Bristol, The Fleece, UK
17th – Nottingham, The Rescue Rooms, UK
18th – Glasgow, King Tut’s, UK
19th – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club, UK
20th – London, The Garage, UK
Buy Tickets
