Salem Wolves tap onto an unspoken darkness and power with ‘November’
The lost story of pro wrestler The Stranger unfolds deeper through the Providence rock band’s thunderous new single out Friday, June 21
‘The Psychotron Speaks’ is out July 26 via Tor Johnson Records
Watch the ‘So Desperate’ video on YouTube
Photo Credit: Black Cherry Creative
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BOSTON, Mass. [June 21, 2024] -- In pro wrestling, like a lot of things in life, the mark of ultimate success is fleeting. Once a wrestler gets to the top, the reign is often short-lived. The crash back down to the mat, both figuratively and literally, takes a painful emotional toll, and a supernatural possession can take hold as both the hero and the heel become hellbent on tasting victory once more.
That second rise to the top is chronicled in Salem Wolves’ thunderous new single “November,” set for release via To Johnson Records on Friday, June 21. The follow-up to May’s anthemic “So Desperate,” this blistering new track is the second offering from the Providence band’s forthcoming concept record, The Psychotron Speaks, which enters the arena digitally and on cassette on July 26 ahead of a release party in August.
Where the towering previous single aligned Salem Wolves frontman Gray Bouchard’s unease and anxiety in the most personal of moments, the barnstorming “November” delivers the listener right into the fever dream narrative of the album, which finds Danny Morton Jr., a down-on-his luck ‘80s-era pro wrestler who would re-emerge as The Stranger in the long-gone Southland Wrestling Association (SWA). With a career on the brink of irrelevance, The Stranger taps into a mysterious power delivered from the Psychotron, an unknowable and unthinkable eldritch device capable of bending the world around it and creating distortion, both aural and psychological.
And here, through ferocious guitars, a smothering propulsion, and cruising sonic density of “November,” we see the scenes of pro wrestling lost to time play out right before our mind’s eye.
“‘November’ is a heel turn,” Bouchard admits. “It’s about that feeling of coming in hot after you’ve been away from the game for some time. It’s a heralded return – not necessarily ‘to form’, but as a means to remake yourself in bloody countenance. It’s about how time and circumstances, sometimes as simple as the changing of the seasons, can influence you and compel you to be harder, colder, and less trusting.”
Bouchard, equipped with a cavalcade of memorabilia and ephemera from The Stranger’s sudden reign, from old torn event posters to weathered trading cards to an unearthed zine penned by the indefatigable Sol Church chronicling this unbelievable arc, races back and forth between his fuzzy memories of the past and his cloudy understanding of the here and now. His various adult life predicaments, not unlike what most of us deal with on the regular in the uneven and hostile world of 2024, aligns with these stories of the past; the ones he read about, or was told to, as a child growing up with wrestling always on the mind.
The bones of “November” were first built three years ago during the enduring band’s Hostile Music era, and would occasionally emerge in the Salem Wolves live set. As they entered the studio with Jay Maas to record The Psychotron Speaks – “Jay is a mad genius when it comes to making heavy music that contains a surprising amount of nuance and depth,” Bouchard notes — it came alive, perhaps in a supernatural and higher-calling sync with The Stranger’s own unlikely resurgence.
“‘November’ is a product of the darkness and power at the record's core,” Bouchard warns, careful to not go deeper into his own sordid emotions that birthed the song in the first place. “It fits into the mold of some of the more driving, dark songs we’ve written in the past but feels more powerful.”
What is present in the context of The Psychotron Speaks is a tale of redemption -- without acknowledging the cost. It takes Morton Jr.’s broken and bruised body, a living piñada for the superior wrestlers around him, and introduces us to how the Psychotron changed not only his career – but the course of wrestling history.
Bouchard relays the scene, recalling it like yesterday: “‘November’ speaks to the in-ring return of Morton Jr. as the Stranger in November of 1984 after nearly 3 months out from injury. If you read anything published about that time, a lot of folks say that was the real pivot point for the SWA – with The Stranger on top, the programs heated up, the matches got bloodier, and fans started to really go wild. But you don’t really hear much about how it felt to Morton, who was at the center of all of it. ‘November’ is me trying to get in his head, to think about how he set out to remake himself as this really terrible, scary heel and how that would slowly trickle into every thing the SWA did until its demise in 1990.”
It’s what led The Stranger to become the stuff of legend, even as Bouchard actively seeks out others who may have been exposed to the same stories. Pieces of the past come together throughout The Psychotron Speaks, relaying the tale of how this supernatural power enabled the wrestler to rise into the role of a main event talent, the champion he always felt was just out of reach. Nevermind that this power ultimately drove The Stranger and everyone around him insane, as love, power, addiction, and adoration would blend together as he lost his grip on reality and spiraled into the void.
“I’ve always taken a pro wrestling approach to music: Put on a show, get butts in seats, tell great stories at tremendous physical cost,” Bouchard admits. “I appreciate its lack of guile and artifice; it’s honestly dishonest. You know you’re seeing a work, being told a story, and asked to participate. But behind the work, real people are putting their bodies and minds on the line for entertainment.”
He adds: “Psychotron sprang to life as I thought about the fact I've spent more than half my life playing music professionally and some nights it still feels like I’m still fighting from underneath. Wrestling history is littered with great workers who got left by the side of the road while their opponents took off. There are a million reasons why this happens, but the idea of a guy who was a mid-card worker (on a good day) who couldn’t get over without some kind of disruptive force on their side resonated.”
With several accolades under their own championship belt, from countless Boston Music Awards nominations (Best New Band! Rock Artist of the Year! Song of the Year!) to endless press across New England to sharing stages with the likes of Diarrhea Planet, Roky Erickson, King Khan and the Shrines, Life of Agony, and whoever else, Salem Wolves ache for something more.
The first chapter arrived with a fist in the air on “So Desperate.” The next comes with a fist to the face called “November.” And as the storyline slowly unfolds, revealing itself in full in July as The Psychotron Speaks tears the proverbial mask off Salem Wolves’ grandest ambition to date, the only thing certain is the quartet’s decision to tap into the tale lost to time and relay it to a new generation.
“The response has been so amazing – it definitely validates our decision to really lean into the thematic elements of the record and embrace it as a concept,” Bouchard adds. “The scene for local artists has been tough lately – venues shuttering, navigating the still-present threat of Covid, and generally too many local bands playing local gigs to locals – so finding the enthusiasm for live music below the national headliner level has been tricky.”
But the chant of the crowd – whether it be under the bright lights of the wrestling arena or the brighter frights of the rock club down the street – calls the performer to something higher. It’s that taste at the top that must be replicated, even if one has to claw their way back to the top of the marquee through unsavory means.
“There’s so much entertainment out there that it's not enough to just be a great live band that writes good songs,” Bouchard concludes. “You need to elevate what you do, give it a hook, a gimmick. Every show must be a celebration; not just another Thursday night with your friends at the bar. We’ve had this in our heads for a while but with ‘So Desperate,’ we’ve seen what happens when you do more than just come out to the ring in clean white tights and an all-American smile. You don’t get over just because you’re good at what you do; you get over because you make it a spectacle.”
Media Contact: Direct press inquiries to Michael O’Connor Marotta at michael@knyvet.com,
and reach Gray Bouchard of Salem Wolves at salemwolves@gmail.com.
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Salem Wolves are:
Gray Bouchard: Vocals and Guitar
Justin Tisdale: Bass
Sam Valliere: Guitar
Steven Shepherd: Drums
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‘November’ production credits:
Performed by Salem Wolves
Music and lyrics by Gray Bouchard
Produced and mastered by Jay Maas
Drums by Don Schweihofer
Available June 2024 on Tor Johnson Records
TJR065 - Salem Wolves - The Psychotron Speaks Cassette
Funding was provided in part by a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, through an appropriation by the Rhode Island General Assembly, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and private funders.
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‘November’ single artwork:
Design Credit: Gray Bouchard
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‘The Psychotron Speaks’: July 19 on Tor Johnson Records
The Story: The Psychotron Speaks is a 12-song concept record telling the story of a down-on-his-luck pro wrestler receiving unsettling instruction and power from the Psychotron itself; an unknowable and unthinkable force of distortion. Love, power, addiction, and adoration all blend together as he spirals into the Void.
The Sound: Produced by long-time collaborator Jay Maas (Defeater, Bane), The Psychotron Speaks combines punk fury, post-punk shimmer, and growling garage rock into anthems. Over fuzzed-out guitars and pounding drums, the record is a dream of contrast: moments of echoing beauty exist alongside roaring feedback. Sometimes anthemic, sometimes keening, always emotional and vivid.
The Special Edition: The Psychotron Speaks will be released digitally and on a limited-edition cassette in July 2024 on Tor Johnson Records. In addition to the standard edition of the record, a special edition will be available with a number of bonus extras supplementing the lore of the record, including: Posters and signed 8x10s, Custom-designed trading cards, buttons, a 48-page zine.
The Psychotron: Accompanying the music, listeners are invited to visit thepsychotron.com to get a tantalizing glimpse of the world of the record and immerse themselves in the mythology of the Psychotron.
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Recent media praise for Salem Wolves:
“The lead single, ‘So Desperate,’ is a layered, anthemic post-rock cacophony, building and ebbing and flowing as it progresses. It’s a sound that would fill up the night sky on a late summer amphitheater stage but also wouldn’t sound out of place bouncing off the walls at a 400-capacity rock club.” _Dying Scene
“Two years after unleashing a dose of self-proclaimed ‘Hostile Music’, Salem Wolves wrestle with a deflated psyche on the first single from their July record The Psychotron Speaks. Trading the Providence band’s typical garage rock tumult for searing introspection, ‘So Desperate’ churns with vocalist and guitarist Gray Bouchard’s palpable unease.” _Boston Globe
“Riveting mid-tempo flare-up pushed by an agonizing vocalist, a firm rhythm section, and mental guitars. Vehement emotionality. Striking post-punk stroke.” _Turn Up The Volume
“...a dark and moody web.” _Boston Groupie News
“[‘So Desperate’] takes the band’s amped up garage rock sound and transforms it into this absolutely epic alt-rock sound. Frontman Gray Bouchard has always had a bit of a rock ‘n’ roll preacher aspect to his vocals, but “So Desperate” sees that multiplied. Salem Wolves have been teasing an arena rock ready sound recently, and this furthers that while keeping a dirty sound intact. This is just a huge song, but a natural evolution of one of our favorites.” _If It’s Too Loud
“‘So Desperate’ does not disappoint. It also doesn’t sound like anything the Rawk quartet has produced thus far. And maybe that’s due in part to producer Jay Maas (Bane, Defeater) and the upcoming concept record called The Psychotron Speaks. Whatever the reason, there’s no denying that this new track is anthemic through and through. It’s Salem Wolves’ very own ‘We Will Rock You’ if you will with some Against Me! and Gaslight Anthem feels and that kind of stadium-ready jam where you can immediately picture the set up at the show with vocalist/guitarist Gray Bouchard leading the crowd in chanting the ‘Oh ohhhh’s’ during the larger than life chorus.” _Rock And Roll Fables
“Produced by ex-Defeater guitarist Jay Maas, the track has an anthemic chorus that’s complemented by stellar harmonies and a pulsating structure. It’s also a bit more melodic than Salem Wolves’ highly amplified material, but it still packs a punch due to the instrumentation.” _Culture Beat
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Press Contact: Michael O’Connor Marotta at michael@knyvet.com
Band Contact: Gray Bouchard at salemwolves@gmail.com
Label Contact: Paul Dechichio at torjohnsonrecords@yahoo.com
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