90’s Alt. Rock heroes Letters to Cleo will be headed out on the road in June playing select shows in the mid-west. This short tour includes a stop at Summerfest and comes on the heels of the 30th anniversary of their seminal album Aurora Gory Alice's release and the release of the band’s first new music in 5 years. Last year Letters to Cleo released a split 7-inch featuring the new songs “Bad Man” on the A-Side and “It’s Sunny Outside” that was released digitally and on tri-color splatter vinyl sold exclusively on their annual fall tour.
This 7-inch is the first new music offering from the band since the 2019 release of their holiday EP Ok Christmas. The music started to come together during writing sessions that Kay Hanley (vocals) and Michael Eisenstein (guitar) were having at Eisenstein’s studio in Los Angeles prior to the pandemic. “We would get together and make these super quick demos that we always loved and in fact performed at last year’s Cleo shows,” says Michael. “Bad Man” is about a woman in an abusive relationship who takes matters into her own hands to end the abuse by murdering her partner. “It’s Sunny Outside'' is an upbeat, fun, yet slyly dark song about how the unwavering good weather of Southern California can actually be oppressive. Both songs were produced by Billy Lefler at The Deathstar studio in Los Angeles.
Letters to Cleo formed in 1990 in Boston, led by guitarist Greg Mckenna and singer Kay Hanley. This upcoming tour will feature original members Kay Hanley (vocals), Michael Eisenstein (guitar), Greg McKenna (guitar), Stacy Jones (drums) along with longtime collaborator Joe Klompus on bass. Aurora Gory Alice, the band’s debut album, was originally released on CherryDisc Records in 1993. The albums received loads of press attention and local radio play around New England which led to the band signing to Giant Records, and the re-release Aurora Gory Alice in 1994. The album’s song “Here and Now'' became an instant hit after appearing on the soundtrack for the wildly popular 90s TV show Melrose Place. The song reached #10 on the Billboard Modern Rock Singles chart, was in the top 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the album debuted at #3 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. To this day “Here & Now” continues to be a fan favorite and one of their most popular songs.
The band’s music could be heard on many of the top TV shows and films throughout the 1990s, including the cult classic 10 Things I Hate About You, where the band contributed 4 songs to the soundtrack and was featured in the film. The band played their last show in 2000 and each of the members went on to have successful careers working in different areas of music from production, writing, performance, musical directing etc. The band was thrust back into the pop culture spotlight via a cameo in Parks and Recreation, playing themselves, the obsession of the show's state auditor Ben Wyatt played by Adam Scott. The band achieved the pinnacle of pop culture validation as a subject in a Sunday version New York Times crossword puzzle. Letters to Cleo reunited in 2016 for the release of Back to Nebraska EP, their first release in 17 years.
The band looks forward to playing these new songs and fan favorites out on the road this summer.
TOUR DATES
(on Sale Friday 10 AM ET)
June 27 Summerfest Milwaukee, WI
June 28 Bottom Lounge Chicago, IL
June 29 Gorg Shop Cleveland Heights, OH
June 30 Magic Bag Ferndale, MI
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