The Vacant Lots Drop New Single/Video "Consolation Prize"

NYC  electro post-punk duo The Vacant Lots (aka Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen) have dropped the video for their new single "Consolation Prize".

The song is taken from their forthcoming fourth album 'Closure', which will be out on September 30th on Fuzz Club Records. Pre-order your copy here.

Artaud says of the track’s inspirations, “In the beginning of any relationship, you can really lose yourself in another person. There’s something inherently infinite, but also terribly fleeting about love. This duality of will it last forever or will it last for now. You start off reaching for the stars and end up thinking life is your consolation prize. Then there is the music, which is like slow dancing on Benzos. Music for loners and lovers.”

McFadyen continues, saying of the track, “Consolation Prize opens with a swirl of modulated drones from an Arp Solus. This free-form soundscape is anchored with an arpeggiated bassline from the Arp 2600, minimal drum beat and rhythm guitar. The track builds towards the end with the final chorus featuring some additional parts from a Wurlitzer 200 and Juno 60.”

Watch/listen below.

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The Vacant Lots Premiere New Single/Video "Thank You"

NYC  electro post-punk duo The Vacant Lots (aka Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen) have premiered the video for their new single "Thank You".

The song is taken from their forthcoming fourth album 'Closure', which will be out on September 30th on Fuzz Club Records. Pre-order your copy here.

“When it’s over it’s a lot easier to look back and see things for what it is,” Artaud notes. “To look back and see the duality of love and hate in a relationship. Sometimes it’s a lot more devastating losing the time you had than the person you thought you loved. Nothing is worse than wasting your time.”

Watch/listen below.

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The Vacant Lots Announce New LP 'Closure', Stream "Chase"

NYC  electro post-punk duo The Vacant Lots (aka Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen) have announced the release of their fourth full-length album 'Closure'.

The follow-up to 2020's Interzone will be out on September 30th on Fuzz Club Records, and packs 8 minimal is maximal salvos into 23 minutes that coalesce into a stun-blast soundtrack for today’s shattered society. Pre-order your copy here.

New York City’s artistic skyline may have changed immeasurably since the last century, yet the minimalist post-punk/synth-pop duo vividly gouge into the city’s immortal outsider spirit and underground cultural tropes, set against a pulsating backdrop of modern apocalypse.

New Entry: The Vacant Lots Drop "Into The Depths" (Cold Cave Deep Speed Remix)

NYC  electro post-punk duo The Vacant Lots (aka Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen) have dropped the Cold Cave Deep Speed Remix of their song "Into The Depths".

The remix features as a bonus 7" included in the second pressing of their latest album 'Interzone', due for release February 19th via Fuzz Club. Pre-order your copy here.

"It's truly an honor to collaborate with Wesley Eisold," says the duo's Jared Artaud. "Not only is Cold Cave one of my favorite bands, but he's one of my favorite poets. I can count on one hand the contemporary bands whose music I find inspiring. Cold Cave is the ultimate. It’s music that cuts through the bullshit and strikes the soul. Brian and I wanted to have just one remix to go with Interzone, and there was no one else we wanted to work with more than Cold Cave. I love what Wesley did to the track - pushing it to the extremes, into some insanely ordered chaos zone."

Take a listen below.

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New Entry: The Vacant Lots Reveal "Departure (Robert Levon Been Remix)"

NYC  electro post-punk duo The Vacant Lots (aka Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen) have revealed their new remixed song "Departure", produced by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Robert Levon Been.

A long-standing crowd-favourite, the track is now set for release for the very first time and is bolstered by the remixing duties of the BRMC guitarist and vocalist, whom The Vacant Lots became close friends with after both bands toured together on several occasions. Blending proto-punk and psych as effortlessly as you’d expect from a Vacant Lots release, the ‘Departure’ remix – due for release October 16th on Fuzz Club – sees throbbing 'Nightclubbing'-esque electronics interlaced with distorted, hard-hitting guitars and vocals that are just as snarling as they are detached.

First conceived when The Vacant Lots were writing their 2014 ‘Departure’ LP but left unreleased and having now evolved over the years since, the song became a staple of the band’s visceral live performances and is now set for a long-overdue vinyl release in the form of a 7” with an etched B-side that’s limited to 500 copies. 

Talking about the ‘Departure’ remix – mastered by Maurizio Baggio (Boy Harsher, The Soft Moon, Merchandise) and housed in stark, minimalistic artwork by longtime visual collaborator Ivan Liechti – The Vacant Lots’ Jared Artaud, says: “In order to translate our recorded songs into our live set we continually have to reinterpret our music and transform them, since there are only two of us. However, with this remix, Robert has done the reverse and brought the live spirit of this song back into the recorded one. It's something only he can do. He added some sounds that truly make it more dynamic and powerful. It's an honor to collaborate with someone from one of my favorite bands of all time.”

Get it here and take a listen below.

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Watch: The Vacant Lots Reveal Music Video For "Fracture"

NYC  electro post-punk duo The Vacant Lots (aka Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen) have revealed the video for their catchy single "Fracture".

The song is part of our current playlist and is taken from their third studio album 'Interzone', released last month (June 26) via Fuzz Club. Buy your copy here.

Fracture is a hazy 80s synth-pop paired with visuals recorded by the band in isolation and directed/edited by Sam Quinn.

Watch below.

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Watch: The Vacant Lots Reveal Music Video For "Rescue"

NYC  electro post-punk duo The Vacant Lots (aka Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen) have revealed the video for their latest single "Rescue".

The song is part of our current playlist and is taken from their forthcoming third full-length album 'Interzone', set to be released on June 26th via Fuzz Club. Pre-order your copy here.

From the band: "We made this whole thing in isolation around the time we had to all social distance and stay at home orders were in effect in NYC… ‘Rescue’ is about finding the signal in the noise and feeling the need to escape."

The video was directed by Samuel Quinn. Take a look below.

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New Entry: The Vacant Lots Release New Single "Fracture"

NYC  electro post-punk duo The Vacant Lots (aka Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen) have released their new single "Fracture".

The song is taken from their forthcoming third full-length album 'Interzone', which will be out via Fuzz Club on June 26th.

Take a listen below.

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The Vacant Lots Announce New LP 'Interzone', Stream "Rescue"

NYC  electro post-punk duo The Vacant Lots (aka Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen) have announced the release of their third full-length album 'Interzone'.

A genre-blending synthesis of dance and psych, 'Interzone', will be out via Fuzz Club on June 26th, and is made for secluded listeners and all-night partygoers, meant for headphones and the club. Pre-order your copy here.

Uninhibited by the limitations of two people and continuing their mission of “minimal means maximum effect,” The Vacant Lots’ Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen create an industrial amalgam of icy electronics and cold beats with detached vocals and hard hitting guitars..

The album creates order from chaos and delves into escapism, isolation, relationship conflicts, and decay. With nods to William S. Burroughs and Joy Division’s song of the same name, “Interzone is like existing between two zones,” Jared says. “Interzone doesn't mean one thing. It can mean different things to different people depending on their interpretation. Working on this album was a constant struggle reconciling internal conflicts with all that’s going on externally in the world. Interzone, in one word, is duality."

On Interzone, the band produced the 8 songs, 30 minutes record and teamed up with long term collaborators Ivan Liechti who designed the album artwork, and Ted Young who engineered the record. Maurizio Baggio mixed the record and contributed additional production and it was mastered by Gianni Peri.

Check out the album's tracklist and listen to their new single "Rescue" ("Rescue is about finding the signal in the noise and feeling the need to escape"), below.

Intertzone Tracklist:
01. Endless Rain
02. Into The Depths
03. Rescue 
04. Exit
05. Fracture
06. Playoff
07. Station
08. Party's Over

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New Entry: The Vacant Lots Drop New Single "Bells"

NYC/Vermont psych/rock duo The Vacant Lots (aka Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen) have dropped their new single "Bells".

The song is taken from their forthcoming new EP  'Exit', produced and mixed by Anton Newcombe, out soon on A Recordings.

Have a listen below.

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Watch: The Vacant Lots Air "Suicide Note" (Vocals by Alan Vega) New Video

NYC/Vermont psych/rock duo The Vacant Lots (aka Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen) have aired the video for their latest single "Suicide Note" ft. vocals by Alan Vega.

The song is taken from their forthcoming new album 'Endless Night', set to arrive 21 April via Metropolis Records. Pre-order your copy here.

A few weeks before Vega's sudden death in 2016, Jared visited Alan’s Manhattan apartment to play the finished album, since Alan was going to write lyrics and record vocals for the album’s “Suicide Note.”  After he passed away, the band received permission to go through Vega’s vault to find a vocal track for the song. After selecting an unreleased Vega track, they played it with the instrumental version of “Suicide Note” and realized it was a perfect fit.

The video was directed by Shane McKenzie. Take a look below.

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New Entry: The Vacant Lots Air New Single "Night Nurse"

NYC/Vermont psych/rock duo The Vacant Lots (aka Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen) have aired their new single "Night Nurse".

The song is taken from their forthcoming new album 'Endless Night', out on 21 April via Metropolis Records. Pre-order your copy here.

Casting light from this noir-esque world, Endless Night offers a fresh take on familiar experiences while exploring love, death, and life. Poetic, but with a streetwise swagger, The Vacant Lots’ dark electro psych approach captures recurring notions of duality through a dizzying and hypnotic blast of guitar riffs and revved-up electronics on tracks like “Night Nurse” and “Elevation” created by their own handmade custom effect pedals. The album joins opposite sides of the Atlantic together through songwriting in New York and Paris (“Empty Space”), and keeps the lyrics intentionally ambiguous, all alongside mesmerizing op-art imagery.

Have a listen below.

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New Entry: The Vacant Lots Cover The Beatles "Julia"

Burlington, Vermont psych/rock duo The Vacant Lots have unveiled their excellent cover version of The Beatles' classic "Julia".

The track is part of our current playlist and features on the upcoming album 'The Magical Mystery Psych-Out - A Tribute To The Beatles', a tribute to the most influential rock band of all-time. It will be out next week (March 3) via Cleopatra Records. Pre-order your copy here.

Have to their take on "Julia" below.

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Watch: The Vacant Lots Share New Video For "6 AM (Alan Vega Remix)"

Burlington, Vermont psych/rock duo The Vacant Lots (aka Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen) have shared the video for the Alan Vega remix of "6 AM".

The song is part of our current playlist and will be released as a 7'' single on March 16th. It is taken from the band's debut album 'Departure', released in June last year via Sonic Cathedral. Get the single here.

The video was directed by Stephanie Elizabeth Third , who explains: "Almost at random I began to make trippy, unsettling and dark imagery that I felt hinted at the themes of the song's lyrics: death and the chase. The footage is a mix of scenes filmed in my studio as well as found footage from old horror stock; I thought the hysteria from these snippets would add a bit of gallows humour to the piece."

Watch it below.

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