Japandroids release "The House That Heaven Built" from upcoming album.

My favorite album of 2009 was the debut LP from Vancouver, BC's Japandroids, Post-Nothing, and there really wasn't anything much competing for that oh-so-coveted distinction. It has stayed in heavy rotation, joined by the series of very fine singles released since. A couple of weeks ago we got the happy report that the new Japandroids album, Celebration Rock, is finished and set for release on 5 June on Champaign's Polyvinyl Records. I was too busy at the time at my ostensibly profit-oriented daytime occupation to sound the clarion here, but now I will. Hell yeah.

Today the web is percolating with a new song from the album that Brian and Dave are letting us hear early. It's called "The House that Heaven Built", and it's perfect. To quote Keats, 'that is all ye know on Earth, and all ye need to know."

Of course, you can stream it directly from Pitchfork because they're the ESPN of hipster couture. Over here, at the ghetto of, err, hipster couture, you have to click on the band's Soundcloud page.

For years the band has played a cover of the classic Gun Club tune "For the Love of Ivy" in their live shows. The song, from one of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time, Fire of Love, contains an offensive racial epithet near the end, and I had always wondered how they dealt with it live. Well, we're all going to find out, because it's on the album tracklist. I can't express how happy it made me to know this. My college band played the album opener, "Sex Beat", at my wedding for chrissakes. By the way, they deal with the bad lyric just fine -- they don't sing it. Here's proof:

They're hitting the road in May. Get out of the house and see them.

TOUR DATES
05/17 – Cardiff, Wales @ Club Ifor Bach
05/18 – Brighton, England @ Green Door Store
05/19 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso (London Calling Festival)
05/21 – Bristol, England @ Cooler
05/22 – London, England @ CAMP (Basement)
05/23 – Manchester, England @ Soup Kitchen
05/24 – Glasgow, Scotland @ King Tut’s
05/25 – Leeds, England @ Cockpit 2
05/26 – Nottingham, England @ Bodega
05/31 – Barcelona, Spain @ Parc del Fòrum (Primavera Sound Festival)
06/11 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos
06/12 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
06/14 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
06/15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex
06/16 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
06/19 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
06/21 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
06/22 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
06/23 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
06/25 – Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa
06/26 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
06/27 – New York City, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
06/29 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
06/30 – Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel
07/03 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
07/07 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret