New York City’s SKORTS has announced their debut album Incompletement will be released on October 31. An album that represents pure passion from their live shows, pressed into permanence — polished, stadium-ready rock with a DIY edge, today’s news arrives with the release of the new single and video “Burden.” The first track off of the upcoming record, the vocal heights of “Burden” are hypnotic, as the band cathartically declares: “Whether it’s yours or mine, it’s an honor to bear your burden and that is as certain as the elements of this earth.”
STREAM “BURDEN”
WATCH THE OFFICIAL VIDEO
PRE-SAVE INCOMPLETEMENT
On today’s single, lead guitarist Char Smith shares that “Burden” is, “A song from the VERY early days that fell out of our live rotation for a while and almost got completely swept under the rug but our producer, Teddy O’Mara, wanted to bring it back. It was one of the two original demos we released to SoundCloud (‘Cyclops Girlfriend’ being the other). There is a video of us playing it in its original form somewhere but the groove and structure really got refined in the studio. Alli recorded the main guitar riff on my ‘69 Gibson SG Special.”
Today’s official video, directed by Nick Charnas, shows the human body as something that can be both beautiful and uncomfortable at times. Vastly different from the band’s previous video for the Jazzercize-esque “Eat Your Heart Out,” “Burden” is understated, yet abstract, while letting the focus be on the power of the band’s vocals — Watch.
Incompletement is a word that SKORTS made up. “To us, it means allowing oneself to live and create in an ever-changing state of impermanence.” The album is more than SKORTS’ greatest hits — the tracks their fans have eagerly been waiting for since first hearing them live. It also includes two never-performed songs that showcase a more tender side of the band. Recorded across three Brooklyn practice spaces, Incompletement will be out in full on October 31.
Over the last few years, SKORTS has generated a frequency all their own when it comes to their live shows, first from word-of-mouth around New York City, and then outward ripples. In August, they supported The Velveteers on their North American tour, with a mix of their own headline dates interspersed. Following a handful of other dates around the US, SKORTS will head to Europe in November and December for their first shows across the continent. See all upcoming dates here and below.
For those who have yet to experience SKORTS live, the band was asked by WFUV to stop in for a NY Slice Session recently. Fans and new listeners alike can keep an eye out for new tour dates very soon.
UPCOMING TOUR DATES
NORTH AMERICA
September 24 -New York, NY – Silver Lining Lounge (Lipps Service Live!)
October 2 – Philadelphia, PA – Kung Fu Necktie
October 3 – Richmond, VA – Get Tight Lounge
October 4 – Kill Devil Hills, NC – Swells’a Brewing
EUROPE
November 14 – Pesaro, Italy – Circolo Arci Mengaroni
November 18 – Nantes, France – Black Shelter
November 19 – Rouen, France – Le 3 Pièces Muzik’Club
November 20 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Oedipus
November 21 – Paris, France – Supersonic
November 22 – Siegen, Germany – Beautiful Vortex Festival
November 23 – Kusel, Germany – Kinett
November 24 – Bamberg, Germany – Live Club
November 25 – Berlin, Germany – Schokoladen
November 27 – Sønderborg, Denmark – Mejeriet
November 28 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Loppen
November 29 – Göteborg, Sweden – Viva Sound Festival
November 30 – Oslo, Norway – Goldie
December 2 – Kiel, Germany – Fahrradkinokombinat
December 3 – Hamburg, Germany – Muzikclub Hamburg
December 4 – Dresden, Germany – Ostpol
December 5 – Frankfurt, Germany – Hafen 2
December 6 – Schaffhausen, Switzerland – Rasa Radio
ABOUT SKORTS:
At SKORTS’ first show, an amp exploded — call it a freak accident or a catalyzing prophecy — either way, from there was born a band that refused to arrive quietly. And with their debut Incompletement (October 31st), the group is packaging that power to deliver the album their fans have been waiting for since the group first started taking NYC stages by storm.
SKORTS is a product of creative chemistry and sweet serendipity. The foundation for the band was laid when lead singer and guitarist Alli Walls made what she calls her “big romantic gesture to music” and moved from Denver to New York City in 2021. Upon arrival, she hit it off with Char Smith (lead guitar) at a local guitar shop, and the duo laid down some demos. Char connected with Emma Welch outside a bar, and just like that, the band had their bassist.
Since that first show, SKORTS hasn’t stopped. For the last few years, the band has been everywhere, riding the wave they’ve swirled up themselves while forging their sound on stages across New York City—earning the title of Oh My Rockness’s Hardest Working Band in 2024; taking the crown at Our Wicked Lady’s Winter Madness battle-of-the-bands tournament that same year; and catching the eye and ear of radio icon Alisa Ali, who invited them to record a live session for 90.7 WFUV in early 2025. The band––completed by drummer Max Berdik– has also been cutting their teeth on tour, packing bigger and bigger rooms with returning fans and new recruits, all keen to stake their claim and earn the right to say I knew them when.
For more information on SKORTS, please visit:
Instagram |Bandcamp |Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music | TikTok
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