The Verve Pipe Still Smoking With New Album And Tour

05/18/1999 4:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(5/18/99, 1 a.m. PDT) - The Verve Pipe is set to return with its self-titled follow-up to Villians on July 27. To whet the appetites of fans, the band will launch a club tour starting on Wednesday (May 19) in Pontiac, Mich.

"It's pretty much finished," singer Brian Vander Ark says of the album. "There's still doing a couple of little things here and there in mastering, but for the most part, it's done. I think it's, in a word, fantastic. I'm really happy with it."

A song titled "Hero" is slated to be the first single from the album. The album's other songs are: "Television," "Generations," "In Between," "Supergig," "She Loves Everybody," "Kiss Me Idle," "Headlines," "F Word," "Half A Mind," "She Has Faces," and "La La."

The Verve Pipe was produced by Michael Beinhorn (Marilyn Manson, Hole, and Soundgarden), and mixed by Jack Joseph Puig, who worked with the band on its hit "The Freshmen."

Between albums, the Verve Pipe has kept a profile by contributing songs to the Clay Pigeons, Great Expectations, and Avengers soundtracks. The latter album featured the song "Blow You Away," written by Vander Ark and XTC's Andy Partridge.

Vander Ark has also turned up on the big screen. He appeared in the award-winning indie film Road Kill, and acted and produced Margers And Acquisition, an independent film that was shot in New York this spring.

For the complete itinerary of the Verve Pipe's club tour, click here. RCA act Papa Vegas is slated to open all the dates, with the exception of the June 11 Los Angeles date.

Features on the Verve Pipe, Marilyn Manson, Soundgarden, and XTC are available on LAUNCH.com.

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