Los Angeles, CA (October 2, 2013 ) – Fresh off their summer run on this year’s Uproar Festival, MIDDLE CLASS RUT have released “DEAD EYE,” the blistering new single from their critically acclaimed album, PICK UP YOUR HEAD (Bright Antenna Records). The band recently released the song’s lyric video, which was created by vocalist/guitarist Zack Lopez and can be seen at:

 

. A live version of “Dead Eye,” shot for Audiotree, can be seen at:

 

 

On November 2^nd, Lopez and vocalist/drummer Sean Stockham will join Stone Temple Pilots and Cage The Elephant at the Fall Buzzfest Xxxi at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in Woodlands, TX, before heading overseas for a European tour. The new live shows see MCR amplifying its previous two-man-band setup by adding a bassist, guitarist and percussionist. Explains Zack, “We were talking about our touring and figuring out how to play the new songs live and realized we had two choices: either we play to a laptop loaded with tracks, which would be lame, or we bring in some guys to fill out the sound, which seemed cooler. Sean was a little reluctant at first, which then made me reluctant, but we agreed to at least try it.” So how are people reacting? After seeing the band live practically every day this summer, fellow Uproar touring artist and Seattle Weeklycolumnist Duff McKagan wrote, “Middle Class Rut should be the biggest thing on modern rock radio right now.”

 

Produced by the band and mixed by Grammy winning producer Dave Sardy (Johnny Cash, LCD Soundsystem, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds), PICK UP YOUR HEAD is the follow-up to 2010’s No Name No Color, which featured the hit single “New Low,” a top five hit at alternative radio, and whose video (http://bit.ly/Ketxkv) amassed more than 4.3 million YouTube views.

 

The Sacramento, CA-based MCR toured endlessly in support, sharing stages with Muse, Social Distortion, Them Crooked Vultures, Alice In Chains, 30 Seconds To Mars and Linkin Park, while drawing rave reviews from the likes of NME, the BBC,Alternative Press and Kerrang, among many others.

 

The band is raising the bar with PICK UP YOUR HEAD, which earned a 4 ½ star review from Alternative Press, who claimed the record “reconfirms that MCR are one of the most exciting current rock bands.” The Village Voice spotlighted MCR as one of the highlights on this year’s Uproar Festival, writing, “Listening to Middle Class Rut live feels a bit like having an enormous train hurtling towards you–an enormous train that happens to be on fire.” The Chicago Tribune gave the album a 3 ½ star review, calling it “tight and terrific” and USA Today singled out the band with a “Song of the Week” spotlight for lead track “Aunt Betty.”

 

Stockham and Lopez have been playing together since they were teens posting up in Zack’s mom’s house in  Sacramento  writing and recording. Prior to the release of No Name No Color, the duo released three EPs, and in mid-2011, put out “Hurricane,” a 10-inch vinyl release featuring the band’s resplendent cover of Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane” with exclusive acoustic live versions of “New Low” and “Dead Set” (recorded at Maida Vale Studios and XFM Studios respectively) as b-sides.

 

http://mcrut.com
@MiddleClassRut