Flat Worms will release their new album, Witness Marks, on September 22nd, via Ty Segall’s Drag City imprint God? The band recently returned with their second single “Suburban Swans.” Lead singer Will Ivy contemplates how we can control our narratives in a world that feels entirely out of our control, focusing on his experience growing up in the Arizona suburbs, and going back to that place as an adult to watch the encroaching, voracious development swallowing the land.

Speaking to “Suburban Swans”, Will Ivy writes, “The last time we were in the UK, I learned that every mute swan in all of England legally belongs to the royal family. In the swan’s mind, it is free, living its life as a wild animal. It is totally unaware of the system in which it has been claimed as property by a human establishment. This made me think about freewill, the perception of freewill, or the lack thereof. Growing up in suburban Arizona, I felt stuck, angsty, so eager to break out and pursue my own life and independence. This place, this time, this experience barely even feels like it happened to the same person now. Since I left, my family has all left this neighborhood. More and more stucco structures become less and less unique, making all the places we are from harder to distinguish from one another. The memories begin to decay with nobody there to maintain a presence. What are memories worth if they are as intangible as dreams? If we have no control over our own narratives, maybe we are not so different from the swans.”

Each member of Flat Worms, lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist Will Ivy, drummer Justin Sullivan (Kevin Morby) and bassist Tim Hellman (OSEES) have navigated through the depths of their personal hardships in the four years since the band released Antarctica in early 2020. The democracy of working together, so often messy and frustrating, was found to be a powerful release for the trio. Acting as one, Flat Worms navigated their personal burdens by coming together, finding release in the clockwork repetitions of practice and the shared creative space they occupied together against the encroaching world.

Flat Worms
Witness Marks
Tracklist
Drag City/God?

1. Sigalert
2. SSRT
3. Time Warp In Exile
4. Suburban Swans
5. Orions Belt
6. Gotta Know
7. Sick Of My Face
8. 16 Days
9. Wolves In Phase
10. See You At The Show
11. Witness Marks

Flat Worms Tour Dates

October 6th – Los Angeles, CA @ Permanent Records Roadhouse – Album Release Show
October 10th – Berlin, DE @ Lido
October 12th – Brighton, UK @ Green door store
October 13th – Nottingham, UK @ Boat club
October 14th – London, UK @ Oslo (hackney)
October 16th – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds
October 17th – Dunkerque, FR @ les 4 écluses
October 18th – Paris, FR @ point éphémère
October 19th – Saint Malo, FR @ la nouvelle vague
October 20th – La roche sur yon, FR @ Quai M
October 21st – Orléans, FR @ l’Astrolab
November 9th – Los Angeles, CA @ Globe Theater (Substance Festival)

Pre-order Witness Marks by Flat worms HERE