Pioneering punk duo Heavens to Betsy have announced the release of Baby’s Gone, their first project since their 1994 classic (and only) studio album, Calculated.
Baby’s Gone comprises a previously unreleased demo tape, which was originally recorded by Bratmobile’s Molly Neuman in February 1992, along with 1993 These Monsters Are Real and 1994 Direction 7-inch recordings.
The album, which includes liner notes from Neuman, arrives on Oct. 16 via Kill Rock Stars, and will come in two special vinyl variants, CD, and cassette. Heavens to Betsy also plan a limited-edition release of the original demo tape with re-created artwork.
To accompany the announcement, the duo — Corin Tucker (Sleater-Kinney) and Tracy Sawyer (the Husbands, the Flying Tigers, the Lies) — released the anthemic, raw “Ain’t Never Goin’ Back,” the first single from Baby’s Gone.
Tucker and Sawyer’s Baby’s Gone cassette demos culled 35 years ago feature 16 tracks. Of their relationship with Neuman, who recorded their first demo tape when they were college age, Tucker says, “Molly’s such a leader, and she’s … such an intellectual. She grasped right away that it was important for young women to have these tools to express themselves.… She was so confident and so unafraid to just be like, ‘Yeah, why don’t I just record that for you? I’ll just check out the Tascam from the AV library at Evergreen and do it.’”
The music they penned in the Nineties continues to resonate with as much urgency as ever, which railed against sexual harassment, traditional gender roles, racism and privilege, and more.
“I wasn’t sure if I would ever revisit Heavens to Betsy, and then when we started talking more about it, and feeling how relevant the subjects are today, almost even more so than they were back then … it just seemed like just the perfect opportunity to be doing this,” Sawyer said in a statement. “Just to know each other again as adults and as mothers, it’s really cool. Once we started playing again, it was like muscle memory.”
Over the summer, the group performed a surprise reunion show in Portland, Oregon, and announced a tour, which kicks off on Oct. 16 at Fine Line in Minneapolis.
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Baby’s Gone Track List
1. “Good Good”
2. “Factory”
3. “Seek and Hide”
4. “Stay Dead”
5. “My Red Shelf”
6. “Ain’t Never Goin’ Back”
7. “Baby’s Gone”
8. “My Secret”
9. “Me & Her”
10. “Monsters”
11. “Playground”
12. “Firefly”
13. “Direction”
14. “Get Out of My Head”
15. “The Ones”
16. “Driving Song”