The Armed have readied a new album called Perfect Saviors. The hardcore band’s latest arrives in full August 25th, while lead single “Sport of Form” — featuring Julien Baker on the song, and Iggy Pop in its music video — is out now.
The Armed call themselves The World’s Greatest Band, so it’s not surprising that they’d have some pretty strong words to say about the environment that inspired their next album. “Too much information has made us dumb and confused,” singer Tony Wolski offered in a statement. “Too many ways to connect have inadvertently led to isolation. And too much expectation has forced everyone to become a celebrity. Predictable primal dangers have given way to newer social ones. And the result is a world that is confounding and terrifying — but ultimately still beautiful. We hope this record is exactly all of that, too. Perfect Saviors is our completely unironic, sincere effort to create the biggest, greatest rock album of the 21st century.”
To achieve such a feat, the band enlisted a lengthy list of collaborators, including Baker, Sarah Tudzin, Mark Guiliana, Patrick Shiroishi, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Troy Van Leeuwen, Eric Avery, and Josh Klinghoffer. Wolski produced the album alongside Ben Chisholm and Van Leeuwen, while Alan Moulder provided mixing.
“Sport of Form” pairs sweetly harmonized vocals with super heavy, EDM-level bass. Of the track, Wolski explained, “There are two types of sport — those of measure and those of form. A sport of measure like basketball, football, or soccer has a point system and a sort of binary path to victory. A sport of form is something like diving, figure skating, or bodybuilding — something with evolving standards and a layer of subjectivity and some sort of critical component.”
The singer continued, “The world that surrounds us is complex, and our lives are truly more akin to a sport of form than one of measure. Yet, so many people see it as exactly the opposite. Lyrically, this song is about the human need to win a game that we’re not even actually playing. Sonically, it is a reflection of that cognitive dissonance through a constant whiplash between beauty and ugliness, severity and tenderness, obscenity and grace.”
Pre-orders for Perfect Saviors are ongoing. This summer, The Armed will support Van Leeuwen’s band Queens of the Stone Age on tour before heading out on their own tour in the fall. Grab tickets to all of their upcoming dates here.
The Armed’s last album was 2021’s ULTRAPOP.
Perfect Saviors Artwork:
Perfect Saviors Tracklist:
01. Sport of Measure
02. FKA World
03. Clone
04. Modern Vanity
05. Everything’s Glitter
06. Burned Mind
07. Sport of Form
09. Vatican Under Construction
10. Liar 2
11. In Heaven
12. Public Grieving
The Armed 2023 Tour Dates:
08/03 — Sterling Heights, MI @ Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill !
08/04 — Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage !
08/05 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE Outdoors !
08/07 — Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater !
08/08 — Philadelphia, PA @ D Pavilion at the Mann !
08/09 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem !
08/11 — Portland, ME @ Cross Insurance Arena !
08/12 — Queens, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium !
08/14 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem !
08/15 — Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater !
08/16 — Asheville, NC @ Rabbit Rabbit !
08/18 — Atlanta, GA @ Fox Theatre !
08/19 — Nashville, TN @ Ascend Amphitheater !
10/19 — Los Angeles, CA @ ^
10/21 — San Francisco, CA @ ^
10/23 — Portland, OR @ ^
10/24 — Seattle, WA @ ^
11/16 — Boston, MA @ *
11/18 — Baltimore, MD @ *
12/15 — Detroit, MI @ #
12/16 — Chicago, IL @ #
! = w/ Queens of the Stone Age
^ = w/ Shutups
* = w/ SPACED
# = w/ Model/Actriz