NAILS, the brutally vicious Southern California quartet, have been stomping out naysayers for roughly 6 years now, with two EPs and two full-length under the belts. The most recent of their releases, “Abandon All Life,” was released earlier this year, and leaves pretty much no question as to the band’s upward direction and continuous raw energy. Recently, ZT had a quick chat with founder/singer-guitarist Todd Jones as to the details behind “Abandon All Life” as well as their upcoming live dates.
To start, their latest release showcases a jump forward in their songwriting and song structure, while still maintaining their blunt force edge, which is something Jones sums up as “a culmination of a few different things. One being looking back on ‘Unsilent Death’ and figuring out what we didn’t like about that album and improving on that. Another being adding Saba to our lineup. It’s all organic growth.” Still, a group as confident sounding and undeniably brutal as NAILS still find flaws in their work when Jones unexpectedly states “There’s already some stuff about ‘Abandon All Life’ that I feel was a failure which we will be improving upon on our next release.” The vocalist states that his two favorite tracks on the album are “Absolute Control” and “No Surrender,” and when asked if there is anything about the album they would change, he answers that he’s “not sure if I would change anything after the fact, but there are very few weak points on the album.”
Continuing in their upswing, the band recently announced their opening spot on the West Coast string of dates with Godflesh, returning to the US for their first time in several years this late October, which leaves the band beyond excited. “I never thought it would happen,” Jones exclaims. “We’re in good company and we can’t wait to crush those shows!” Furthermore, NAILS is scheduled to return to the UK this November, teamed up with Blind to Faith, after a three year absence. According to the band, the pre-sales for tickets have been quite strong, and they promise that these live shows will be “maniacal.” Despite this, mainland European audiences, as well as Midwestern US audiences might have to wait until NAILS’ next release to enjoy such a live spectacle. “We don’t tour just to tour,” explains Jones. “It might be until we have a new album out.” But rest assured, that wait might not be long, when Jones lets out that “Right now we’re just focused on writing riffs and songs for our next album.”
| Oct 24, 2013 | Seattle, WA | Neumos | Prurient/ Godflesh |
| Oct 25, 2013 | Portland, OR | Hawthorne Theatre | Prurient/ Godflesh |
| Oct 26, 2013 | Oakland, CA | Oakland Metro Opera House | Prurient/ Godflesh |
| Oct 27, 2013 | Los Angeles, CA | The Fonda Theatre | Prurient/ Godflesh |
| Nov 13, 2013 | Classic Grand | Glasgow | Blind To Faith |
| Nov 14, 2013 | Star & Garter | Manchester | Blind To Faith |
| Nov 15, 2013 | The Exchange | Bristol | Blind To Faith |
| Nov 16, 2013 | Underworld | London | Blind To Faith |
