Brisbane Indie Label To Release New Album From Pavement Co-founder Spiral Stairs

Emergent Brisbane-based independent label Coolin' By Sound will look after the Australian and New Zealand release of the newly announced forthcoming solo record from Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg, a veteran musician best known for his role as a founding member of seminal indie-rock band Pavement.

The full-length, Doris & The Daggers, is the first Spiral Stairs release since his 2009 debut under the moniker, The Real Feel, which itself followed a pair of albums and an EP from his immediate post-Pavement project, Preston School Of Industry. 

Add to that his tenure in the celebrated '90s act and it's inescapable that, even though this is a "second" solo album, it comes informed by decades of knowledge and experience. And not just Kannberg's, either — the 10-track record features pedigree-bolstering guest spots from Matt Berninger (The National) as well as Kevin Drew and Justin Peroff (Broken Social Scene), plus muso friends Kelley Stoltz and Adam Wade (Shudder To Think). 

The first taste from Doris & The Daggers has already been unveiled, via Pitchfork, in the form of first single and clip Dance (Cry Wolf), which you can check out below. Featuring Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, the clip was directed and edited by Joe Salinas, dipping its toes into retro, pseudo-absurdist imagery as Spiral's easy-paced jam showcases vintage sounds topped with sweet baritone vocals and slick riffs. Get into it. 

Doris & The Daggers will be released in Australia on Friday 24 March via Coolin' By Sound.

Pre-orders are available now. If you go all out and splurge on the limited-edition Australian vinyl, you'll get it pressed in St Kilda colours (the man is an avid fan) along with a 7" sporting a couple of bonus tracks — Pig City and Vultures in Caboolture — from his time living just north of Brisbane at the start of the decade, following Pavement's brief but boisterously received reunion in 2010. 

Oh, did we not mention that he dwelled in Australia for a spell? Well, he did. Spiral Stairs is a well-travelled guy, if you couldn't tell from the mature, worldly and infectious tunes.

You can get across his album, as well as the rest of Coolin' By Sound's growing catalogue, featuring recent releases from Shrapnel and Thigh Master, at Bandcamp.