Here comes the early front runner for most oddly named album of 2008: @#%&! Smilers. That's the title of the new album by Aimee Mann (cover at left), which is slated for a June 3 release on her own SuperEgo label. Mann says she's getting back to basics after 2006's Christmas album One More Drifter in the Snow and 2005's concept album about a struggling boxer, The Forgotten Arm. Mann co-wrote "True Believer" with Grant Lee Phillips, and the album closes with "Ballantines," a Tom Waits-like duet with Sean Hayes. You can listen to "Freeway," which is appropriately Cars-esque, over at Mann's MySpace page.
Mann will support her @#%&! new album with a tour that kicks off in her hometown of Los Angeles a day before the record comes out. The road trip includes stops at zoos, a botanical garden, a winery, and a couple of festivals.
Tour dates:
06.02 Los Angeles, CA: Largo
06.06 Anaheim, CA: House of Blues
06.10 Los Angeles, CA: Largo
06.12 Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis Zoo
06.13 Milwaukee, WI: Pabst Theater
06.15 Manchester, TN: Bonnaroo
07.09 Boulder, CO: Chautauqua Auditorium
07.11 Denver, CO: Denver Botanical Gardens
07.12 Park Valley, UT: Deer Valley Resort
07.14 Saratoga, CA: Mountain Winery
07.15 Rosebud, OR: Stewart Park
07.16 Seattle, WA: Seattle Zoo
07.24 Calgary, AB: Calgary Music Festival
