American Pleasure Club - Tour Tape (2018)

Formerly known as Teen Suicide, American Pleasure Club is a band from Baltimore, Maryland who mix raw, punk-influenced guitar leads with contemplative, emo-leaning melodies and lyrics and cut-and-paste production techniques. The group was formed as Teen Suicide in 2009 by vocalist and guitarist Sam Ray and drummer Eric Livingston. Through 2012, they were the only official members of the band, though guest musicians were brought in for various projects. In 2011, they released a collection of early demos under the title Bad Vibes. In 2012, Teen Suicide expanded to a quartet with the addition of Caroline White on viola and vocals and Alec Simke on bass. That year proved to be remarkably prolific for Teen Suicide, with the release of three EPs -- DC Snuff Film, Waste Yrself, and Hymns -- as well as a full-length album, I Will Be My Own Hell Because There Is a Devil Inside My Body. Despite this period of productivity and growing interest in the group, in late 2012, Teen Suicide revealed they were breaking up, and they played a farewell show in January 2013. A digital anthology, Rarities, Unreleased Stuff, and Cool Things, followed in February 2013. But near the end of 2013, Teen Suicide regrouped to play a secret opening set for an Elvis Depressedly and Crying date in Baltimore, and in 2014, they played four reunion shows in February and March, with a lineup featuring Sam Ray, Alec Simke, guitarist John Toohey, and drummer Brian Summer. In early 2015, Run for Cover Records brought out a remastered edition of I Will Be My Own Hell Because There Is a Devil Inside My Body, as well as a two-for-one re-release of the DC Snuff Film and Waste Yrself EPs. An album, It's the Big Joyous Celebration, Let's Stir the Honeypot, appeared in April 2016, and a single featuring two outtakes from the album's sessions, "Greatest Trick" b/w "Sycamore," was released the following July. The single was issued under the group name the World's Greatest, and they issued a statement saying the tour that coincided with the single would be their last as Teen Suicide, calling the name "horrible, juvenile, and problematic." By this time, Sean Mercer had replaced Brian Summer on drums. In October 2017, the band digitally released a track titled "When You Split the Heart Open," using the group name Dumpster. Apparently no happier with that name than their old one, a month later they adopted the new handle of American Pleasure Club with the release of another fresh composition, "You Call Me." In February 2018, they issued their first album as American Pleasure Club, A Whole Fucking Lifetime of This, which also introduced another new lineup of the band, with Sam Ray joined by guitarist Dan Windsor, bassist Nick Hughes, vocalist Kitty Ray, and drummer Sean Mercer. ~ Mark Deming