Vietnam Returns With Album and Tour

After five years off the radar, Vietnam has once more returned to the music scene. They’ve got a new LP out, an A.merican D.ream, and kicked off their nationwide tour and record release on Thursday, February 28^th at the Mercury Lounge in New York, NY. For the next three months, the band will travel cross-country to play on their own and alongside other bands.

Michael Gerner is the creative head of the band and has assembled an entirely new ensemble for the new album. Reminiscent of Kings of Leon, Vietnam performs “apocalyptic street blues,” which combine Gerner’s vocals with uncommon instruments in rock—the violin and a moog to start with. The album is dark but not heavy, graceful in its sad symphony.

Vietnam has been with several record labels to date, including Vice Records, The Social Registry, Kemado Records, and now Mexican Summer. Their 2007 self-titled debut LP with Andres Santo Domingo’s Kemado Records was critically acclaimed, and was the last record before Gerner’s five-year hiatus. Now Vietnam is signed on with Mexican Summer, which was founded by Kemado in 2008.

The new album is a collaboration between Gerner and guitarist Nathaniel “Lefty” Maynard, who worked to get Gerner back to Brooklyn for over three years after he had moved to LA to work on analog soundscapes.

“We put all of our budget into recording the record,” said Gerner. “It just didn’t leave us with any money.”

With less than a month to the release date and tour kickoff, Gerner started a KicStarter fundraising drive to earn enough money to take the band on tour. In just four days, they had raised about $5,000, which they say will be enough to pay for a van, gas, and some food rations for the band while they tour for the first few weeks. They’ll avoid hotels as much as possible and hopefully manage to make it through the whole tour before running out of cash.

The musicians are all nervous about the tour, but they are all excited as well. “I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever been a part of,” said Gerner. “I’m super proud of the record.”