Econo-jamming bass warrior Mike Watt will release his third punk opera in March — the 30-track, Minutemen-inspired Hyphenated-Man — and then embark on a massive North American tour in which he and his band The Missingmen will play the album “51 times in 52 days.”
The album, which actually came out in Japan last fall, will be released March 1 in the rest of the world, and Watt and bandmates Tom Watson and Raul Morales will open their tour March 1 in Santa Barbara, Calif., then play nearly every night — April 21 is their only day off — until wrapping up back in California with a gig in Sacramento on April 30.
Hyphenated-Man follows 1997’s Contemplating the Engine Room and 2004’s The Secondman’s Middle Stand, and Watt, on his “Hoot Page,” says it was inspired by revisiting, for the first time in many years, his work with the seminal Minutemen (“I was digging how ‘econo’ those tiny tunes were — no filler, right to the point and distilled down to the bare nada”) as well as the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch.
Watt, who’s also an occasional Stooge, writes, “This third opera is quite different in that it has no standard narrative (libretto!) meaning no regular beginning-middle-end and is as it were ‘simultaneous’ in the way a mirror from just inside my head.” The result? Thirty songs. “Actually, they’re ’30 parts’ of one big tune.”
See Mike Watt’s tour dates and ‘Hyphenated-Man’ tracklist after the jump…
Tracklist: Mike Watt, Hyphenated-Man
1. “Arrow-Pierced-Egg-Man”
2. “Beak-Holding-Letter-Man”
3. “Hammering-Castle-Bird-Man”
4. “Bird-in-the-Helmet-Man”
5. “Belly-Stabbed-Man”
6. “Stuffed-in-the-Drum-Man”
7. “Baby-Cradling-Tree-Man”
8. “Hollowed-Out-Man”
9. “Finger-Pointing-Man”
10. “Own-Horn-Blowing-Man”
11. “Fryingpan-Man”
12. “Head-and-Feet-Only-Man”
13. “Shield-Shouldered-Man”
14. “Cherry-Head-Lover-Man”
15. “Mouse-Headed-Man”
16. “Antlered-Man”
17. “Pinned-to-the-Table-Man”
18. “Confused-Parts-Man”
19. “Bell-Rung-Man”
20. “Boot-Wearing-Fish-Man”
21. “Thistle-Headed-Man”
22. “Funnel-Capped-Man”
23. “Blowing-It-Out-Both-Ends-Man”
24. “Jug-Footed-Man”
25. “Lute-and-Dagger-Man”
26. “Mockery-Robed-Man”
27. “Hill-Man”
28. “Hell-Building-Man”
29. “Man-Shitting-Man”
30. “Wheel-Bound-Man”
Tour dates: Mike Watt + The Missingmen
March 10: Velvet Jones, Santa Barbara, CA
March 11: The Echo, Los Angeles, CA
March 12: Casbah, San Diego, CA
March 13: Plush, Tucson, AZ
March 14: Launchpad, Albuquerque, NM
March 15: The Conservatory, Oklahoma City, OK
March 16: The Loft, Dallas, TX
March 17: Gingerman, Austin, TX
March 18: Fitzgeralds, Houston, TX
March 19: Spanish Moon, Baton Rouge, LA
March 20: One Eyed Jacks, New Orleans, LA
March 21: Handelbar, Pensacola, FL
March 22: Common Grounds, Gainesville, FL
March 23: The Social, Orlando, FL
March 24: Jack Rabbits, Jacksonville, FL
March 25: The Earl, Atlanta, GA
March 26: 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA
March 27: The Pour House, Charleston, SC
March 28: Local 506, Chapel Hill, NC
March 29: The Canal Club, Richmond, VA
March 30: 123 Pleasant Street, Morgantown, WV
March 31: Black Cat, Washington, D.C.
April 1: Ottobar, Baltimore, MD
April 2: North Star, Philadelphia, PA
April 3: Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ
April 4: Mercury Lounge, New York, NY
April 5: Daniel Street, Milford, CT
April 6: TT’s the Bear, Cambridge, MA
April 7: Sala Rosa, Montreal, QC
April 8: Mavericks, Ottawa, ON
April 9: HS Tavern, Toronto, ON
April 10: Brillobox, Pittsburgh, PA
April 11: Grog Shop. Cleveland, OH
April 12: Magic Bag, Detroit, MI
April 13: Radio Radio, Indianapolis, IN
April 14: Blueberry Hill, St. Louis, MO
April 15: Schubas, Chicago, IL
April 16: Shank Hall, Milwaukee, WI
April 17: High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI
April 18: Turf Club, St. Paul, MN
April 19: Slowdown Jr., Omaha, NE
April 20: Bottleneck, Lawrence, KS
April 21: Larmier Lounge, Denver, CO
April 23: The Complex, Salt Lake City, UT
April 24: Neurolux, Boise, ID
April 25: Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR
April 26: The Media Club, Vancouver, BC
April 27: The Triple Door, Seattle, WA
April 28: Wow Hall, Eugene, OR
April 29: Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA
April 30: The Blue Lamp, Sacramento, CA
