Ducks Ltd.’s acclaimed new album Harm’s Way is out today via Carpark Records. The Toronto duo’s sophomore LP has been earning glowing press, including features at Stereogum (‘Footnotes’), FLOOD Magazine (‘Influences’ playlist), Brooklyn Vegan, Exclaim!, and Big Takeover, while its singles “Heavy Bag,” “Train Full of Gasoline,” “Hollowed Out,” and “The Main Thing” have caught the attention of Billboard, Consequence, Paste, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and Uproxx, among others. Ducks Ltd. celebrated the album with a hometown release show last night, and will arrive in the States next month for a run that includes a stop at the New Colossus Festival as well as a tour with Ratboys; a current itinerary is below. Next week, the band will host a Reddit AMA at r/Indieheads at 1pm ET on 2/16.
Ducks Ltd. make inviting and frenetic guitar pop for when life feels overwhelming. While the band’s songs are ostensibly breezy, a palpable anxiety boils underneath that communicates something deeper about everyday existence. On Harm’s Way, the duo of McGreevy and guitarist Evan Lewis hones in on interpersonal and societal collapses, urban decay, and the near-impossibility of keeping a level head when everything around you seems to be falling apart. Even with its often dark subject matter, the album is Ducks Ltd.’s most vividly rendered and collaborative collection yet. It’s an undeniable evolution for the band, not just in how these songs soar, but in their entire writing and recording processes. Composed on tour while supporting acts like Nation of Language, Illuminati Hotties, and Archers of Loaf, Harm’s Way displays the band’s finely tuned songcraft and well-earned, road-tested confidence.
The band, fortified by this strong sense of sonic identity and a self-assurance in their new material—and in contrast to their acclaimed 2021 debut LP Modern Fiction and their 2019 EP Get Bleak, both self-recorded and self-produced in a Toronto basement—wanted to bring Harm’s Way to life in a new city, with an outside producer, and with some of their favorite musicians. Working with producer Dave Vettraino (Dehd, Deeper, Lala Lala), they enlisted a marquee cast of Windy City collaborators to round out the tracks on Harm’s Way, including: Finom’s Macie Stewart (violin, string arrangements); Ratboys’ Marcus Nuccio (drums on most tracks); Dehd’s Jason Balla (who helped arrange the backing vocals, to which he also contributed); and backing vocals from Julia Steiner (Ratboys), Nathan O’Dell (Dummy), Margaret McCarthy (Moontype), Rui De Magalhaes (Lawn), and Lindsey-Paige McCloy (Patio). The band’s touring drummer, Jonathan Pappo, and bassist Julia Wittman also appear on the LP.
Ducks Ltd. upcoming shows
02/10/24 – Montreal, QC @ Taverne Tour Festival
03/08/24 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
03/09-10/24 – New York, NY @ New Colossus
03/28/24 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar *
03/29/24 – Chattanooga, TN @ Barking Legs Theater *
03/30/24 – Asheville, NC @ Eulogy *
04/01/24 – Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor *
04/02/24 – Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall *
04/04/24 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar *
04/05/24 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom *
04/06/24 – Portland, ME @ Space Gallery *
04/07/24 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Showcase Lounge *
04/08/24 – Rochester, NY @ Bug Jar *
04/10/24 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig *
04/11/24 – Bloomington, IN @ Bishop *
04/12/24 – Iowa City, IA @ Gabe’s *
05/11/24 – Esch/Alzette, LU @ Out Of The Crowd Festival
05/14/24 – Porto, PT @ CCOP
05/15/24 – Lisbon, PT @ Musicbox
05/19/24 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds
05/20/24 – Liverpool, UK @ Stockroom
05/21/24 – Leeds, UK @ Headrow House
05/22/24 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast
05/23/24 – Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Pete’s
05/24/24 – Manchester, UK @ New Century Hall All Dayer
05/25/24 – Bristol, UK @ Dot to Dot
05/26/24 – Nottingham, UK @ Dot to Dot
05/27/24 – London, UK @ Moth Club
05/29/24 – Tours, FR @ Oxford Pub
05/30/24 – Rennes, FR @ L’UBU
05/31/24 – Paris, FR @ Block Party
06/01/24 – Clermont-Ferrand, FR @ La Coopérative de Mai
06/05/24 – Antwerpen, BE @ Trix
06/06/24 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
* with Ratboys
