hi there,

About a week into Euro tour. Shit is absolutely fabulous. Come on out and see us.

I thought I'd also take the opportunity to mention a new Extra Life-related side project : Sculptress. It's Charlie Looker and Chuck Stern (ex-Time of Orchids) duo recording project. Check it out in our top friends. Enjoy...

xo,

Charlie

dear you (no emo),

We have returned from our tour of the U.S. It was sick. A warm thanks to everyone involved, especially Nate Carson and his wonderful band The Better To See You With. Much love and respect to the inimitable Little Women, as always.

NYC return show on Thursday 3/12 at Silent Barn with Mi Ami. Fuck with it.

Speaking of tours, we have posted dates for our May tour of Europe. A few more will trickle in soon. We are thrilled, and people over there seem psyched as well. We will be performing several new songs, in addition to material from the record.

Speaking of Europe, in April LoAF Records (UK) will be doing the European release of Secular Works on CD and LP. There will be new T-shirts as well.

hundred dollar bills,

Charlie + Extra Life

dear all,

We are currently planning a four-week tour of the U.S. (northeast, midwest and west coast) for February. If you want us in your town, please contact us directly, as we are booking it. Much of it is already in motion, but it's always interesting to work with new people.

There is also the possibility of a European tour in May. If you're interested in that, please contact elena@paperandironbooking.com. We would like fresh hot towels. Thank you.

Extra Life

hi there,

Caley and I just came back from the west coast duo tour. Thumbs up all around. We will be touring the south and midwest with the full band in September, dates will be posted soon.

The split with Nat Baldwin is now available from Shatter Your Leaves. Check out the balladry.

As of today we are no longer doing paypal mail orders. Sorry about that. All releases are still available through the label websites and at select record stores.

www.planariainc.com
www.shatteryourleaves.com
www.socketscdr.com
www.ierecs.com

meet me at the Russian baths,

Charlie

hi there,

We are now in our summer duo phase, Charlie and Caley. We're performing some radical re-arrangements of the quintet material, plus some new pieces. The quintet will return in the fall.

The split 12 inch with Nat Baldwin will be available in July from the Shatter Your Leaves label. We're definitely psyched about this one. "Black Hoodie" has been posted, an exclusive new track in the ballad style.

In late July we'll be touring the west coast with Nat. Dates will be posted very soon. Hope to see you there!

warm blooded,

Charlie / Extra Life

"Extra Life's Secular Works arrived unknown in our mailbox and quickly found its way into regular rotation... In Extra Life, [Looker] taps into a mesmerizing form of avant-rock raga, repeating words, and shifting into a windswept, entrancing post-punk throat singing. The sounds are fleshed out with drums, bass, saxophone, keyboard, violin. The first song to catch our attenton is opener "Blackmail Blues," which hit us like a darker, heavier take on Dirty Projectors (backed by Torch Of The Mystics Sun City Girls)...
...The vocals rat-a-tatting with the drums at the end of "Blackmail Blues," the upward offerings of "The Refrain" -- these are master works. The album itself is called Secular Works, but this stuff feels somehow religious in its fervor."
- Stereogum

"Every so often there's a record so accomplished that it makes most albums of its type sound ridiculous, and Secular Works is one of those....
Extra Life's ridiculously complex instrumental parts... are sometimes quiet, sometimes brutal, but when they're at one extreme, there's always the sense that the other is a possibility. "I Don't See It That Way" mostly falls into the "brutal" category, and it's just jaw-dropping... their music isn't the least bit ironic, and its complexity nearly always sounds like it's in the service of some broader idea. Their music is a construction, not a deconstruction...
Remarkable for its scope, depth and technical accomplishment, Secular Works is a devastating record that has the power to change minds, if only people hear it. Don't miss out." 
- Charlie Wilmoth, Dusted

"Charlie Looker's new sonic assault is a riveting, melodic shot to the solar plexus, both atmospheric and manically poetic"
- River Cities' Reader

"Extra Life brings a surprising vitality to the table of avantgarde experimental rock. Featuring the typical round of drums, guitars and everything of the sort (including a member of Archaeopteryx), Secular Works turns the mold of math-rock completely inside out and shows off its darkness, nearly performing a goth opera in the schematics of a well graphed out and progressive album. In fact, it feels as if it were written with a stage occupied by animals dressed as people and humans as tall foliage in mind. Of course, the animals are the ones singing, while the people of the trees are simply background noise and distraction, which reflect upon this album so very well."
- Paul Albert Harper, Synthesis

 "OK, so this is an odd one. Secular Works, despite its title, sounds vocally as though it were lifted from a church ceremony... the fact that the band has grafted this kind of thing onto rock music - math rock, even - is really unlike maybe any other music out there. How brave do you have to be to compose and perform in this mode?... Imagine Dazzling Killmen fronted by an ex-monk singing about...whatever it is... the singing takes some getting used to. Secular Works in general takes some getting used to. But the adventurous should at least check out a track or two to hear something that you won't hear from anyone else, which is a rare thing these days.
– David Smith, Delusions of Adequacy

hi there,

Secular Works officially comes out today and we are pumped. Another song, "The Refrain" has been posted. It represents the more pop/acoustic/positive side of Extra Life.

We'll be doing some cool NY and midwest shows in May and June. Then in July and August, the full band will be on hiatus. During these summer months, Extra Life will exist as a duo (Charlie and Caley). We'll be doing some shows on the west coast in July with Nat Baldwin.

Speaking of this, in July we have a split 12 inch EP with Nat Baldwin coming out on the Shatter Your Leaves label (www.shatteryourleaves.com). It is a very intimate acoustic solo and duo recording, with two new exclusive songs and one re-worked old song. We'll post one of those soon.

onward,

EL

We have returned from our first U.S. tour. It was lovely on all fronts. Much thanks to everyone who came to see us, booked us, let us crash, talked Medieval with us, etc.

We will be playing a few local shows this spring and then a midwest micro-tour in June. Some new material is already in live rotation, but we will let it marinate more before recording it.

Thanks again for listening.

xo,

EL

The Secular Works LP on I and Ear Records is now out. It is pressed on voluptuous 180 gram hot pink vinyl.

The CD on Planaria Recordings will be released officially on May 6.

Both are available now through the paypal buttons on this myspace page, as well as stores and the label sites. Shipping is $2 for the CD and $3 for the LP. We are about to hit the road for a month, so orders might not ship out until the end of March. The releases will of course be available at shows as well.

We hope to see you on tour and that you enjoy the album.