Today’s premiere from Lars Nagel is taken from his latest album ‘Tomorrow Never Knows,‘ a bold choice even Nagel admits saying “I was of course hesitant about using the name of a classic Beatles song, but I figured if The Replacements can put out Let It Be, I can put out Tomorrow Never Knows. One day, I was bitching about something trivial, and my buddy Andrew—who had just gotten off his shift at the hospital—said to me, ‘If you can get out of bed in the morning under your own power, you’re having a great day. None of us gets the promise of tomorrow.’ So that was on my mind, and I was also thinking about when I saw the New York Dolls on their first reunion tour. Arthur ‘Killer’ Kane had just died, and the band had released One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This. It’s a beautiful album with a beautiful title. So when it came time to name my new record, I had to go with ‘Tomorrow Never Knows.’ Because it really doesn’t. And that title is very representative of the songs on the new record.””
‘Johnny Was Right‘—which invokes classic Johnny Thunders anthem “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory”—is a song about ultimately deciding to walk away from a dysfunctional friendship. “There’s something to be said for going through the trenches with people,” Nagel says, “but sometimes you eventually realize that if you don’t step away, they’re gonna just keep dragging you through the depths of Hell.” The new track features guest spots from Tom Cheshire and Steve “Stiff Penalty” McPeeks (of West End Motel) on backing vocals & percussion and upright bass respectively.
Before he set out on his own as a solo artist in 2015, Lars Nagel cut his teeth playing in several alt-country and rock & roll bands, most notably as guitarist for ’90s cowpunk outfit The Ditchdiggers, as well as power-pop group Motor 76 and punk rockers The El Caminos. “I have so many great memories playing with these bands,” Nagel says. “When I joined The El Caminos, my first gig was opening for The Batusis, which was Sylvain Sylvain from the New York Dolls & Cheetah Chrome of The Dead Boys. With Motor 76, we had an amazing run touring Europe. And with The Ditchdiggers I remember playing the main stage at this festival in Pensacola for a crowd of 10,000. In the middle of our set, I turned around and there was Little Richard—who was also on the festival—smoking a joint, tapping his feet and checking us out. It was pretty surreal.”
