The regular jewel case edition of Rick Witter & The Dukes debut album – The Year of the Rat – is available now, priced only £8.99.
The CD will officially be released on September 10th, but you can buy it now direct from the band and receive a free button badge with each order.
Click here.
A promo video for the album’s title track has been filmed by Shed Seven guitarist Paul Banks and his new production company, DigiFish. Check it out below.
The Dukes were formed in late 2005 by the ex-Shed Seven front man, together with Stu Fletcher (Seahorses / The Yards) on bass, Rob Wilson on guitar and Matt Lunn (Colour Of Fire / The Officers) on drums.
The band have been described as having a “harder, rockier edge” than Shed 7, but still with Witter’s trademark vocals and sing-a-long choruses.
The Year of the Rat features eleven tracks produced by the band and Will Jackson (who’s worked with Pigeon Detectives and Embrace amongst others). It was recorded late 2006 / early 2007 at Soundworks Studios in Leeds.
The full track listing for the album is as follows: The Year Of The Rat / He Was The Boy Who Waited So Long He Forgot What He Was Waiting For / The Other Way Around / The Devil Will Be Waiting For You / Flying Blind / Sleeping In Airports / Sky Falls Down / Forever Gone / Torn Up Memory / Pull Together /Dead On Arrival.
The Dukes have completed two UK tours and played a string of individual dates. They’ll be spending the Autumn writing new material, before embarking on more live dates in February 2008.
For those of you who missed The Dukes in session on Clint Boon's XFM show recently, you can listen to the tracks now by clicking here
www.xfmmanchester.co.uk
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Hey there Rick, was good to see you on Friday after all these years (it has been a long time!) Good to see you looking well - shame you were feeling a bit worse for wear but no doubt I'll bump into you again in another few years if not before lol! Take it easy and glad things are going good for you. Catch you soon. Kate
Just ordered the CD & shirt, can't wait to get it.
Stuart, you absolutely blow my mind every damn time. How did you get started? Any other projects, other than the Yards, I should know about? You're awesome.
Great gig at the Academy2 in Birmingham, Rick proved he's still got it and The Dukes sounded awesome. Look forward to hearing you again sometime in the future and I'll see you at the Shed Seven gig in December.
