Mapache Announce New Album Roscoe’s Dream, Out June 10 On Innovative Leisure / Calico Discos

LISTEN TO “I LOVE MY DOG,” AN ODE TO THEIR 14-YEAR-OLD BOSTON TERRIER, HERE

Today, Mapache — the Los Angeles-based duo of Sam Blasucci and Clay Finch whose “angelic harmonies weave between traditional folk and modern cosmic country music” (FLOOD) — announce their new album Roscoe’s Dream, out June 10 on Innovative Leisure / Calico Discos. These 18 tracks present a potent blend of quintessentially LA sounds — Flying Burrito Brothers-descended folk rock, Mexican boleros, outlaw country — as a lovingly crafted sonic scrapbook that depicts the effortless, intoxicating chemistry Blasucci and Finch have honed since their high school years.

Of course, Mapache owes a lot to another companion: Roscoe, a 14-year-old Boston Terrier who serves as the namesake, cover star, and guiding spirit for this new album. Naturally, the lead single from Roscoe’s Dream is the ambling and dreamy “I Love My Dog,” an ode to Roscoe’s trusty companionship. “I love my dog,” sings Blasucci as he begins to list Roscoe’s many talents. “Keepin’ the policeman out.” 

Listen to “I Love My Dog” here.  

As much an easygoing trip with Gram Parsons into the desert as a mad dash with the Grateful Dead away from the law, Roscoe’s Dream is the purest distillation yet of the distinct Mapache sound. Produced by longtime collaborator Dan Horne (Cass McCombs, Allah-Lahs) at his Lone Palm Studio, Mapache approached the project with an open-door policy, inviting friends like Farmer Dave Scher of Beachwood Sparks to contribute additional parts. They also recorded much of the project live in the room with a full band, seizing an opportunity to capture the group’s loose virtuosity and lend the album a welcome sense of dynamism as Mapache shifts gears from campfire harmonies to full band choogle. 

The finished product is an ode to the past as well as a bridge forward. Covers of songs like Bo Diddley’s “Diana” and Gabby Pahinui’s “Kaua‘i Beauty” act as nods to heroes of theirs, while the diverse array of originals highlight their unique ability to reprocess their influences into something lively and new. On “They Don’t Know At The Beach” they weave a dusky, dirtbag Beach Boys homage that tells a tale of lovers on the run from the feds, while on “Pearl To The Swine” they play a swaggering west coast hangover blues groove that is sweetened by Blasucci and Finch’s breezy harmonies.

Roscoe’s Dream follow’s last year’s 3, a lovingly crafted collection of covers that includes acknowledged classics — including a sun-dappled and swaying take on Stevie Wonder’s “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” and a romantically unhurried version of Sade’s “All About Our Love” — as well as inventive spins on songs by Allah-Las and Aussie psych-rockers Babe Rainbow. 

Mapache’s 2020 album From Liberty Street was described by Aquarium Drunkard as “a warm, pacific-breezed collection of country rock, western twang, Mexican boleros, and a touch of that Gram Parsons cosmic Americana fairy dust.” The group’s self-titled debut was cut live and raw around a single microphone and helped Mapache earn festival appearances at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and Pickathon, where Rolling Stone named their set one of the weekend's top highlights.

Mapache tour dates can be found here, more to be announced soon: https://www.mapachesounds.com/tour