The American artist Ron Gallo announces his debut book SOCIAL METEOR and concert film Before the Building Goes Up, both to be released on April 18th. Ron Gallo is a prolific creator who uses his artistic pursuits to comment on political, social and environmental issues with the hope of driving change while finding a way to laugh at the absurdity of it all. SOCIAL METEOR is a companion piece to his latest album FOREGROUND MUSIC out now on Kill Rock Stars.
Unfiltered, often with a sense of humor and a strong sense of introspection and isolation (hence the title), the 106-page collection is Gallo’s debut literary pursuit. It features journal entries, rants, essays, local reviews, interactive sections, graphics and other random nonsense, offering fans a deeper look into the thoughts and mindsets that ultimately became the album. With a tongue-in-cheek eye to the country’s capitalistic agenda, the book will be released on April 18 aka U.S. Tax Day.
Earlier this month, Gallo brought his electrifying garage-punk swagger to incredible crowds at SXSW and earned acclaim spanning Rolling Stone, Consequence and more. Fans around the world are invited to celebrate the release of SOCIAL METEOR on April 18 with a special rooftop concert film livestream and book reading event. The film Before the Building Goes Up captures Gallo’s electrifying performance as he performs his new FOREGROUND MUSIC LP in full.
On FOREGROUND MUSIC Gallo screams at the developers turning neighborhoods into unremarkable AirBnB advertisements, corporate overlords deciding how much music costs, and extremists hellbent on bringing forth an apocalypse of racial and civil destruction. It confronts the villains of our society and helps those crushed by them by finding a way to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Over the course of 11 songs, Gallo moves from fuzz to lounge jazz to freaky pop to post-punk and back again to rock music, all the while taking aim at any and everything. He takes aim at male entitlement, the age of anxiety, apathy vs. action, gentrification, narcissism, retail therapy, xenophobia, the dread of future generations, right wing extremists, capitalism, climate change and the experience of having a loved-one who is an addict.
Gallo has earned a fervent and loyal live following, sharing the stage with the likes of Spoon, Parquet Courts, Ty Segall, The Black Angels, Thee Oh Sees, Wilco, and Courtney Barnett. He has also made festival appearances at Coachella, Bonnaroo, Pukkelpop, Best Kept Secret and Levitation.
Ron Gallo and his band tour through Europe in April and May:
- 30 April: Roots & Roses - Lessines, BE
- 6 May: Les Aralunaires - Arlon, BE
- 18 May: Merelyn - Nijmegen, NL
- 19 May: Vera - Groningen, NL
- 20 May: London Calling @ Paradiso - Amsterdam, NL
All show dates: https://rongallomusic.com/tour