Boasting a roster with a "members formerly of" list that reads like a who’s who of mid-90s Midwestern angular/moody math-rock (see: Rodan, June of 44, Parlour, the For Carnation, Slint…), Louisville, KY’s Shipping News is set to release the new full-length One Less Heartless to Fear on November 9th (Noise Pollution / Karate Body Records). This will be the band’s first release in five years and their fourth full-length overall. I have been into these dudes since their first album back in 1996, and am definitely excited by the new songs they currently have posted on their Bandcamp site. We will get to those in a second, but first, a little album-related info from the Noise Pollution Records Blog:

The new Shipping News CD "One Less Heartless to Fear" is now available for pre-order. All pre-ordered copies will be mailed out in advance of the official release date (November 9th). Go here to pre-order the CD for only $12.

Shipping News "One Less Heartless To Fear" is the band’s first new full length album since "Flies The Fields" (2005) and a helluva lot has happened over the last five years. Two weddings, fatherhood, serious illness, a presidential election, multiple wars, city moves... these things have inspired the band to make their most rowdy, aggressive and adolescent album to date. Shipping News has jettisoned the long songs (and glacial tempos) of the past and is concentrating on energetic blasts of noisy rock (with a little gallows humor thrown in). While slipping into a slightly more sympathetic mood once or twice, the new songs are stripped down and pretty much nasty.

Working for the first time with the kind folks at Karate Body and Noise Pollution (and AfricanTape/Ruminance in Europe), this album marks the 14th year of the band’s existence. "One Less Heartless To Fear" features seven brand new songs and two "oldies" recorded live on a digital multitrack system at the all-ages venue Skull Alley (Louisville) and The O-Nest (Tokyo).

And now, those new tracks:

(This song is not actually on the new album, but proceeds from the sale of this track will go to the Red Cross / Red Crescent disaster relief fund in Pakistan — and it is a damn fine song to boot)