The curtains have been drawn again — 10 years into their reunion phase, Massachusetts-made post-hardcore act Piebald have announced they’re finally ready to release a new album. Their first full-length release in close to 20 years is called Tales for the Rages, and it drops later this spring.
A press release confirms that Piebald recorded 13 new tunes between 2019 and 2025 at The Den recording studio in North Reading, Massachusetts with longtime collaborator Doug Batchelder, who’d co-produced 2007’s Accidental Gentleman. Tales for the Rages also features production work from Jay Maas (Title Fight, Citizen) and was mastered by Jack Shirley (Joyce Manor).
The record is said to sport the act’s “signature mix of heartfelt, clever and occasionally delightfully absurd songwriting,” while vocalist-guitarist Travis Shettel’s lyrics reflect on “inequality, human behavior and the strange modern world.”
First single and opening track “Still on the Couch” homes in on the more classic-rock-geared side of Piebald’s songbook, rather than the more mathematically twitchy emo edge of their earliest releases.
A music video for the quick-riffin’ cut comes paired with some behind-the-scenes tour footage, scenes of the band and a trumpeter laying things down in the studio, and shots of Shettel wailing on an inflatable guitar. Not that many couches, though.
Tales for the Rages is out June 12th via Iodine Records, though an exclusive vinyl variant on “Hot Pink & Blue Smash” vinyl (limited to 200 copies) is available for pre-order in Revolver’s shop. Iodine had previously reissued vinyl copies of 1999’s If It Weren’t for Venetian Blinds, It Would Be Curtains for Us All and 2002’s We Are the Only Friends We Have, and those can be ordered in the store, too.
Piebald will be touring behind the release, with festival and headlining dates to be detailed soon.
Tales for the Rages tracklisting:
Still on the Couch
This Thing Is Old
Used to Good Advantage
Gentlemen Callers
Conundrum Speculator
More Month Than Money
Fun Destroyer
Power Smile
No One Seems to Mind
Dance Till We Fall Apart
Cooler Heads Prevail
Strangest Dream
River Below