"Mikey Erg continues to set the gold standard for hooky punk love songs. Love at Leeds is him at the top of his songwriting game—just one finely tuned ear-worm after another." - Dan Ozzi
The album was recorded by Steve Albini at his iconic Electrical Audio Studios in Chicago IL. The band features DIY working class hero Jeff Rosenstock on lead guitar and background vocals.
Today, Mikey released the album's first single "Almost Like Judee Sill" an ode to the late, great tragic songwriter in a tight two minute power pop-sprint. The track is available now across all streaming platforms and Bandcamp now.
PRE-ORDER LOVE AT LEEDS NOW!
Love At Leeds is the realization of many dreams for Mikey Erg. A lifelong music obsessive, growing up in the early 90’s, there was one sound he’d always hoped to capture on his recordings. The sound of Steve Albini. Steve’s credits include The Pixies, PJ Harvey, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant and of course Nirvana’s third LP In Utero: one of Mikey’s absolute favorite records.
Mikey had never in his twenty-plus year recording career ever gotten to make a fully analog recording. Love At Leeds was the perfect time to rectify all of that. Using the group of musicians that helped him realize his debut solo LP Tentative Decisions (Jeff Rosenstock, Alex Clute & Lou Hanman), he Headed to Chicago to make this dream a reality.
Recorded and mixed in just five days, Love at Leeds is a swift twenty five minute long grunge-pop tour de force. Once the album was complete, Steve and his trusty razor blade compiled the master mix reels and sent the band on their way. The tapes then made the journey to Hollywood California to the legendary Bernie Grundman Mastering facility to be mastered and cut straight to lacquer disc by Chris Bellman (Frank Zappa, Neil Young, Kenny Dorham, Pearl Jam).
Mikey, who takes his name from the seminal mid-2000s NJ pop-punk band THE ERGS who he was drummer and principal songwriter for, is a decades-long fixture in the DIY punk rock scene, directly influencing the next generation of power pop and punk bands as he concurrently continues his solo songwriting career.
The first single "Almost Like Judee Sill" - streaming everywhere now - is a breakneck tight two minute melodic pop gem that will demand several subsequent re-listens.