Is Funeral Singers good or bad? The question was answered this week, when Pitchfork reviewed the album and lovingly gave it an 8.1.

It’s a rare feat: the venerable site has reviewed ten Califone records over the years, and no single one has ever ranked below an 8. Of All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, they said:

“Giving Away the Bride” is one of the most radical deconstructions of normal rock production in the band’s catalog, eschewing even their normal roughly recorded acoustic guitars for a spaced-out beat and a monster of a distorted electronic bass figure, over which Rutili floats dreamily, intoning like a blues singer from the 1930s who got lost and tripped into the 21st century. The otherworldliness is so well-developed that it’s genuinely startling when the piano drops almost four minutes in or the live drums take up the rhythm a minute after that. If the band had hits, this would be among the greatest…

Yes, All My Friends Are Funeral Singers is just another Califone album, but it’s also a reminder of just what a special thing that is. They’ve carved a place in the rock landscape by discovering a previously ignored way of building a record and perfecting it over time through repetition. In my mind, it puts them in a lineage that includes bands like Talk Talk, Bark Psychosis, and This Heat, not sonically but artistically. If you’re already switched on to them, you have to hear this. If you’re not, well, what’s keeping you? The debate over which Califone record is their best just got even more complicated.

The record will be released in just a few days (Oct. 4). You can pre-order it on CD or 2xLP at Dead Oceans, Insound, or elsewhere. Pre-order customers will receive a link to download the MP3s right away. Speaking of MP3s, you can download the title track, free of charge, immediately, if you like. You can also pick up a copy of the album at of their shows, beginning 10/10 in Chicago. It’s Califone season!

10-10 Chicago, IL – Museum of Contemporary Art #
10-11 Chicago, IL – Museum of Contemporary Art #
10-13 Pittsburgh, PA – Andy Warhol Museum #
10-14 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom #
10-15 Buffalo, NY – Mohawk Place
10-16 Ithaca, NY – Cornell Cinema #
10-17 Montreal, Quebec – Ukrainian Federation #
10-20 Northampton, MA – Iron Horse Music Hall #
10-21 Portland, ME – Space #
10-22 Cambridge, MA – Brattle Theater #
10-23 New York, NY – 92Y Tribeca #
10-24 Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live
10-25 Washington, DC – Rock and Roll Hotel
10-26 Charlottesville, VA – The Southern #
10-27 Atlanta, GA – The Earl
10-28 Birmingham, AL – WorkPlay Theatre #
10-30 Bloomington, IN – Bear’s Place #

# Film screening