Drop Nineteens

This week, our own Paula Kelley releases her third solo LP Blinking As the Starlight Burns out on Wharf Cat Records! As puts it, the album is “the sound of an artist reclaiming her voice, not by erasing the darkness, but by learning how to live alongside it.”

And tomorrow evening, you can chat with her live on while listening to a pre-release stream of the whole thing. Head to paulakelley.bandcamp.com for all the details.

San Fran: New Venue. Bigger! Better?
Looking forward to playing this long overdue show and sharing the stage with Sweet93, She's Green, and ee at The UC Theatre in Berkeley, CA.

Tix: https://app.opendate.io/e/drop-nineteens-november-07-2025-638041

A playlist to get you amped up for the killer bands playing at KICK San Fran (Nov 7) and KICK Brooklyn (Nov 21).

Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6GsDaQXoHSQgeWrlShzoWZ?si=48e57ca7638a4b8d

San Fran Tix (Nov 7): https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1C006306946D1D95

Brooklyn Tix (Nov 21): https://dropnineteens.eventbrite.com/




nyc
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KICK Playlist · Drop Nineteens · 16 items · 17 saves

Hey hey! New single and video, "Fools."
And, Looking forward to seeing you in November!

- KICK San Fran, Nov 7,
Tix: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1C006306946D1D95

- LA, And Always Forever, Nov 9
Tix: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09006305EBB0630D

- KICK Brooklyn, Nov 21
Tix: https://dropnineteens.eventbrite.com/

Pre-Order FOOLS 7": https://www.wharfcatrecords.com/store/dropnineteensfools

Written by Drop Nineteens
Mixed by Chris Greg McLaughlin
Mastered by Joe LaPorta
Video Directed by Liza Willsey

KICK on both coasts in November! We'll be joined by some of our favorite bands.

Presale is Thursday with all tickets on sale Friday at 10AM.

San Fran Tix: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1C006306946D1D95

Brooklyn Tix: ttps://dropnineteens.eventbrite.com

elsewhere
she's green

Our cover of Lana's 'White Dress' turns ONE today! To commemorate, we're streaming the demo (which some band members favor over the actual release), and, oh, Wharf Cat Records pressed up some limited 7"s with the demo on the B-side.

http://wharfcat.lnk.to/whitedressdemo

DN is thankful / fortunate to get (good) press, but John Wohlmacher gets us like few do, as expressed in his review of the Max Rose mixed '1991' in Beats Per Minute.

Album Review: Drop Nineteens – 1991 Music News, Reviews, Interviews, Videos and MP3s

Recently, there have been some accounts in the music press involving me and the co-producer of Delaware, Paul Degooyer. Because of the way this ancient history has been characterized, I feel it necessary to elaborate a bit on the subject and also set the record straight.

In early 1992, Drop Nineteens’ experience was limited to recording our songs on rented 8-track reel to reels, largely in our dorm rooms (see/hear1991). We had semblances of a vision for our debut album, but no experience recording in a modern 24-track studio where the clock is always ticking. Our label Caroline Records provided a modest budget for a young band, but studios are expensive as f**k, and time was limited to a couple weeks. We chose Downtown Recorders in Boston because it’s where Pixies recorded one of our favorite albums, Doolittle. Lyle Preslar from the band Minor Threat, then working as a project manager at the label, suggested his friend Paul DeGooyer help us navigate the studio and plot an efficient way towards a finished album at the end of those couple weeks. We were grateful to officially welcome him on board to co-produce our debut album with us.

Recording Delaware, while intense and a whirlwind, went relatively well as I recall. This was in no small part due to Paul’s production skills. But at the very end of mixing the album a second time (Keith Wood at Caroline correctly felt we could do better than our first pass), Paul and I came to loggerheads over the song Winona. Our discussion got heated. This kind of s**t happens every day in recording studios. We had an artistic disagreement over the approach to the mix. We were running out of time, under pressure, and over budget. So Paul did a mix, and at the end of the session, I took the 2” reel with me (still in my possession to this day) to Paul’s understandable consternation, so that Drop Nineteens could do our own mix without Paul (the final mix that ended up on the album). The way it all went down created a rift in my and Paul’s professional relationship from that point onwards, which was unfortunate, but not uncommon, unprecedented or unheard of between artists and producers since, well, forever.

Let me state the following loud and clear: Paul was essential and instrumental to every aspect of recording and mixing Delaware. As I steered Drop Nineteens (for better or worse), Paul steered the talented engineers and assistants at Downtown. He was in the trenches with the band and engineers every day, working tirelessly to help us shape the sounds of Delaware. If you are a fan of the sounds on that album, we appreciate the love, but Paul DeGooyer also deserves heaps of credit for what you’re hearing (conversely, if you’re not a fan of Delaware, just blame me).

Regretfully, Paul and I didn’t speak for years after working together on Delaware, but when I announced Drop Nineteens were returning after 30 years to record a new album called Hard Light in 2022, Paul, officer and gentleman that he is, reached out to us with kindness and valuable insight. It was big of him. That guy, among his many talents and achievements, has a great ear. We were lucky to work with him in 1992, and fortunate to have him on our side in 2022. I thanked him for his support by sending a Kick the Tragedy skate deck to his house, albeit without trucks and wheels which I figured he could handle himself (Paul DeGooyer, to no one’s surprise, has done quite well for himself since those early heady days at Downtown Recordets).

I hope the above sheds some light on what’s been written recently. And if, by chance, you don’t know what I’m going on about, sorry for the bother, get back to your Sunday.

Laters,
Greg