Stick Men is full of headlines right now. The progressive-rock supergroup is returning to the road in September in support of its first full-length studio album in a decade. Let’s THRAK Again arrives digitally Sept. 4, 10 years after the trio’s Prog Noir, and serves as a Robert Fripp-sanctioned tribute to King Crimson’s 1995 album THRAK.
“Exactly 10 years after their dark, influential 2016 masterpiece Prog Noir, the unparalleled progressive powerhouse Stick Men is back,” the band’s website shared.
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The new record reunites King Crimson veterans Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto with touch-guitar innovator Markus Reuter for what the band describes as a 60-minute collection of 12 new compositions. The album was conceived as a tribute to the heavy, mechanical impact of the original THRAK era, with two distinct mixes creating two different listening experiences.
Let’s THRAK Again isn’t simply one album with alternate mixes. It’s presented as Reel One and Reel Two, mixed by different producers, with different track sequences and distinct sonic approaches. The band describes them as two different listening experiences built from the same source material.
Founded in 2007, Stick Men grew out of the legendary rhythm section of King Crimson, featuring bassist/Stick player Tony Levin and drummer Pat Mastelotto. Now with touch-guitar innovator and composer Markus Reuter, the trio has cemented their lineup.
Levin, one of the most recorded bass players in music history, famously played with Peter Gabriel and King Crimson, as well as John Lennon, Pink Floyd, and Paul Simon. Mastelotto, for his part, is a premier prog-rock drummer whose roots also lie in King Crimson. He also worked with Mr. Mister. And Reuter, a German composer and multi-instrumentalist, rocks a self-designed 8-String Touch Guitar and actively develops further touch guitars, per the band’s site.
Together, the trio combines Levin’s Chapman Stick, Reuter’s 8-string Touch Guitar, and Mastelotto’s hybrid acoustic-electronic percussion to create an expansive, highly experimental progressive-rock sound.
The Let’s THRAK Again Tour kicks off Sept. 4, running across North America with a heavy focus on the West Coast. Tickets, dates, venues, and albums are all available at stickmen.com.
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