Hoodoo Gurus set U.S. release for ‘Purity of Essence,’ mock Metallica in making-of video

Aussie rockers Hoodoo Gurus today announced a May 11 release date in the U.S. for their ninth studio album, Purity of Essence, which the band is teasing with a weekly six-part web mockumentary that pokes fun at Metallica’s much-ridiculed self-help doc “Some Kind of Monster.”

The 16-track album — which first will be released March 12 in Australia — was co-produced by Charles Fisher, who handled production on the Gurus’ Mars Needs Guitars! and In Blue Cave, and mixed by Ramones vet Ed Stasium, who worked on the band’s Kinky and Crank albums. It’s preceded by the single “Crackin’ Up” (see video here).

The band this week unveiled a teaser video (see below) for “Must Travel on Wheels,” an upcoming six-part weekly web series that, somewhat fictionally, chronicles the making of Purity of Essence (the band is seen working a “relationship enabler,” akin to the domineering “performance” guru featured in Metallica’s 2004 documentary).

The Gurus haven’t announced touring plans for the new album, but the band’s publicist reports frontman Dave Faulkner will be at next month’s South By Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, to appear on an artist panel and play an “unofficial showcase or two.”

See full tracklist for ‘Purity of Essence’ and video clip after the jump…

Tracklist: Hoodoo Gurus, Purity of Essence

1. “Crackin’ Up”
2. “A Few Home Truths”
3. “Are You Sleeping?”
4. “Burnt Orange”
5. “I Hope You’re Happy”
6. “Ashamed Of Me”
7. “What’s In It For Me?”
8. “Over Nothing”
9. “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming”
10. “Only In America”
11. “Somebody Take Me Home”
12. “Let Me In”
13. “Evening Shade”
14. “Why So Sad?”
15. “1968”
16. “The Stars Look Down”

Bonus DVD: “Live from St. Kilda” (Australian release)
1. “Bittersweet”
2. “Come Anytime”
3. “1000 Miles Away”
4. “I Was A Kamikaze Pilot”

Video: Hoodoo Gurus, “Must Travel on Wheels” trailer

PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS

• Hoodoo Gurus’ ‘Purity of Essence’ due in March; watch ‘Crackin’ Up’ video