“Possessed by the demon of rock’n’roll, haunted by the ghosts of old country music.” – BILLBOARD

“The Waco Brothers aren’t about flawless, detailed songcraft. They’re about lager-soaked good times with just enough anxiety and doubt to make the trip worth taking.” – PITCHFORK THE WACO BROTHERS GOING DOWN IN HISTORY RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 26, 2015 The Waco Brothers have been standing at the corner of of the record is the Small Faces’ “All or Nothing,” a punk urgency and Three-Chords-And-The-Truth country liberating, sing-to-the-skies rock and roll masterpiece, for 20 years now. They started at a time when it was brimming with jagged guitars, booming drums and deemed patently absurd to mix the two types of music, rousing organ. Ian McLagan, The Faces’ keyboardist but the Wacos knew the score; they are different sides (who died in 2014), was both hero and friend to the of the same coin, the personal wrapped in the political. Wacos, and the song is permanently dedicated to him. And instead of travelling calculated creative boulevards Wrapping up the album is a cover of Texas songwriting during their career, the Waco Brothers have explored ace Jon Dee Graham’s “Orphan Song,” cementing the dark alleys and winding gravel paths through nine Wacos’ cosmic link between Chicago and Austin. releases, all with the headlights off and the pedal to the metal, worrying (or not worrying) about end results With an improbable longevity, an impeccable rock later. With a body of work known for the indelicate and and roll resume, and a go-for-broke live personae raucous, this may be their most deliberate and punchy that can distract from the sharpness of their subject yet—no one’s more dangerous than a man with nothing matters, it can be easy to take the Wacos for granted. to lose. The title can be read two different ways, after all. But what was true at the beginning of the siege remains so today: in these fraught times, no one’s out With a devil-may-care attitude towards polish and finesse, there writing and performing with the political and Going Down in History captures the thrill ride rush of the personal so intertwined. Like a strange, colorful and Waco Brothers’ live shows. Through the improvisational possibly poisonous toad that lies dormant in the mud and fluid approach they adopted atChicago’s Kingsize of an Amazonian rain forest, only to emerge when it Sound Labs with longtime collaborator Mike Hagler at the seems like it’s necessary, the Waco Brothers are back, knobs, the songs took on a muscularity and cohesiveness and, perhaps, we need them now more than ever. of an album unlike any previous Wacos recordings. Their pioneering Cash-meets-Clash jet engine mash up is still ABOUT THE WACO BROTHERS there, to be sure, but the Wacos have turned their well- Waco Brothers are a five-piece, mostly Chicago scuffed boot heels towards their roots as never before. based band consisting of Dean Schlabowske and Joe They have gone back to the future, down in history to Camarillo - both Dollar Store band members - and celebrate and transform that which came before them. three British expats: Jon Langford (Mekons, Skull Orchard, Pine Valley Cosmonauts), Tracey Dear, and Going Down in History pulses with the energy and Alan Doughty (Jesus Jones). The group’s most recent excitement of first wave garage punk and ‘70s glam that releases include Waco Express: Live & Kickin’ at first captivated singer/guitaristJon Langford (Mekons, Schuba’s Tavern (2008), Great Chicago Fire (2012), Skull Orchard, Pine Valley Cosmonauts). “We Know It” and Cabaret Showtime (2015) – respectively, a live and “Building Our Own Prison” are distorted T. Rex recording, a joint project with Nashville songwriter via Bo Diddley-beat punk that will get you grooving Paul Burch, and a limited-quantity b-sides and covers towards the end times. “Receiver,” a gritty pub crawl album. Going Down in History is the group’s first formal from Wire to Dead Weather, and the short-circuiting studio album since 2005’s Freedom and Weep. Waco grind of “Devil’s Day” harken back to singer/guitarist Brothers were initially forged in the mid-1990s as an Deano’s time in the Chicago noise rock scene with his outlet for rowdy live performances and to celebrate band Wreck. The raspy, push and pull tension of the Chicago’s burgeoning country scene, and have since title track, with its hard-learned life credo “you gotta put out seminal, genre-defining albums, including To walk before you can fall down on your face” might the Last Dead Cowboy, Cowboy in Flames, and others. make it the Patron Song of Lost Causes. At the heart

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