David Bazan revived his band Pedro the Lion in 2019 and he’s showing no signs of slowing. Sure enough, the indie rock group returns today with news of a new album: Santa Cruz is out June 7 via Polyvinyl. Pedro the Lion have shared its lead single, “Modesto,” with a Cody Cloud–directed video, which you can watch below.
“Of all the tunes on these records, I can’t think of another tune where I was really expressing my own agency,” Bazan said of his single “It was the first time where I really had a choice of what I wanted to do. It became really clear in those six months when I lived in Modesto that I didn’t want to work any other job—I wanted to try and make music. This song definitely feels like the launch pad for what became the life that I chose.”
Santa Cruz is the third album in Pedro the Lion’s reunited run. It follows 2022’s Havasu and 2019’s Phoenix, both of which dabbled in the slowcore and emo that distinguished the band from fellow indie rockers during its original run from 1995 to 2004.
This summer, Bazan is bringing Pedro the Lion on tour in support of Santa Cruz. The run begins in Garden City, Idaho, on June 16 and brings them across the United States before coming to an end in Seattle, Washington, on July 26. Squirrel Flower, Flock of Dimes, and Danielle Durack open select date. See the complete list of tour dates after the jump.
Read about Pedro the Lion’s 2002 classic, Control, in “The 50 Best Indie Rock Albums of the Pacific Northwest.”
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Santa Cruz:
01 It’ll All Work Out
02 Santa Cruz
03 Little Help
04 Tall Pines
05 Don’t Cry Now
06 Remembering
07 Teacher’s Pet
08 Parting
09 Modesto
10 Spend Time
11 Only Yesterday
