12 Rods Announce First Album in 21 Years, Share New Song: Listen

Minneapolis rock band 12 Rods have announced If We Stayed Alive, their first new album in 21 years following 2002s Lost Time. Check out the new albums lead single, My Year (This Is Going to Be), below.

If We Stayed Alive is out July 7 via American Dreams and Ryley Walkers Husky Pants Records. The process for the new album began when 12 Rods songwriter and frontman Ryan Olcott found some of the bands old demos during the COVID-19 lockdowns. He then finished and recorded the compositions at the Carleton Lofts in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

These are songs that I forgot about, Olcott said. It took a couple days to get my voice back with that range and that power, but I can do it!

Bon Ivers Justin Vernon is a longtime fan of 12 Rods, and his label, Chigliak, reissued Lost Time on vinyl in 2015. 12 Rods came into my ears way too late, Vernon once said. I was a senior or whatever in college. I had this notion that Ryan was on some pop shit that no one had ever done before. Chordal structure, movement, was so fresh. I could go on and on and on. Long live this band.

Learn about Pitchforks history with 12 Rods in The History of Pitchforks Reviews Section in 38 Important Reviews.