The Menzingers | photo by Jess Flynn | courtesy of the artist
The Menzingers channel Tolstoy in their emotion-soaked new single “Strangers Forever”
On their latest single, The Menzingers draw inspiration from the dense epics of Russian literature. As singer-guitarist Greg Barnett says in a statement announcing the new “Strangers Forever” from the band’s soon-to-be-released sixth album Hello Exile, the title and chorus trace back to a quote in Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina: “Even if we remain in the same house, we are strangers – strangers forever!” In the novel, the lead character Darya Alexandrovna says this after discovering her husband had been unfaithful to her. For Barnett, this narrative of losing love and affection for someone so dear resonated with him, and became the backbone of the song.
Watch a new music video for “Strangers Forever” below.
Formed in 2006 when the band members were just teenagers in Scranton, The Menzingers have withstood the test of time over the course of five well-received albums. Hello Exile is due out on Epitaph Records on October 4th, and contains twelve tracks and some of the band’s most emotionally-charged work to date. The Menzingers are on tour this fall accompanied by Tiger Jaw and Culture Abuse, and have two upcoming performances in Philly. Their first show will be an acoustic instore on October 4th at Creep Records and they’ll return for a full-band set at Franklin Music Hall on November 29th. Click here for tickets and more info, see below for their complete list of tour dates.
Tour Dates
10/4 Philadelphia, PA Creep Records
10/25 Columbus, OH Athaneum
10/27 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
10/29 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
10/30 Madison, WI Majestic Theater
10/31 St. Louis, MO Delmar Hall
11/1 Lawrence, KS Granada Theater
11/2 Omaha, NE Slowdown
11/3 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
11/5 Seattle, WA El Corazon
11/6 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theatre
11/8 San Francisco, CA Slim’s
11/9 San Francisco, CA Slim’s
11/10 Los Angeles, CA The Regent
11/12 Pomona, CA The Glasshouse
11/13 Phoenix, AZ Club Red
11/15 Dallas, TX Trees
11/16 San Antonio, TX Paper Tiger
11/17 Austin, TX Mohawk
11/19 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade
11/20 Charlotte, NC The Underground
11/22 Tampa, FL The Orpheum
11/23 Orlando, FL The Beacham
11/24 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Culture Room
11/26 Nashville, TN Basement East
11/29 Philadelphia, PA Franklin Music Hall
11/30 Pittsburgh, PA Roxian Theater
12/1 Toronto, ON Phoenix
12/3 Richmond, VA Broadberry
12/4 Washington, DC The Black Cat
12/5 New York, NY Warsaw
12/6 New York, NY Warsaw
12/7 Boston, MA House of Blues