BY: DIGITAL WAX MEDIA STAFF 

 

While for some the name “Spin Doctors” may immediately evoke a blissful nostalgia for the alternative rock wave of the 1990s, the jam-band is thinking only of the here and now with the announcement of an upcoming tour and album of brand new material on the way.

Known for their jam-based live performances and handful of smash hits – such as “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” and “Two Princes” – the Spin Doctors enjoyed a great deal of success not only at the height of their commercial success in the 1990s, but in the subsequent decade as well. The band’s early-2000s material was warmly received by critics and saw inclusion in popular film soundtracks.

Nonetheless, Spin Doctors would embark upon an extend hiatus from releasing new music following the release of 2013’s If the River Was Whiskey, the band’s sixth LP.

This extended absence would reach a definitive conclusion on Friday, January 17, 2025, with the release of the group’s first new single in over a decade, the thundering, “Still a Gorilla.” The band don’t mess around a great deal with any sort of slow-burn theatrics, bringing the tune in with a stabbing electric guitar riff and thundering drums that, uncoincidentally, sound as though they came straight out of the jungle before kicking straight into the song’s first verse.

It would be tough to overstate the significance of drummer Aaron Comess in the overall direction of the song. According to Spin Doctors vocalist Chris Barron, “Still a Gorilla” actually began life as a Commes creation.

“Aaron had that piece of music around for quite a long time,” Barron said of what would ultimately become the band’s newest single. Conceptually, “Still a Gorilla” is said to explore the idea of being human and has been referred to by the band itself as, “heavy duty.” Musically, the track packs a powerful punch and maintains many of the unique quirks which made the music of the Spin Doctors so engaging from the time the group first emerged on the scene. This includes tight grooves accentuated by abrupt time signature shifts, as well as vivid and unconventional lyrical imagery which warrants revisiting several times over to pick up interesting, and oftentimes humorous lyrical nuggets one may have missed the first time around.

Despite the excitement bound to follow the announcement of new Spin Doctors material, the conceptualization and eventual development of the band’s recently announced upcoming LP, Face Full of Cake, has been anything but contrived. Comess points out that the record materialized organically, coming together as part of a low-stakes process of collaboration between band members.

“We weren’t really thinking of it as a record. We’ve gone through a lot of phases in our 35 years, and sometimes things really gel and sometimes they’re just extremely difficult,” says drummer Comess of the album-production process. “When we made this record, we captured a moment where it felt effortless. There’s a really fresh energy in the tracks — a sense of us discovering the songs as we played them.”

Spin Doctors fans are in for more than just an album of new material from the group, however, as announced alongside the album release was a tour which will officially kick off in February and will continue into the late spring. The run of shows will get underway on February 22nd in Saint Paul, Minnesota before moving on to Suquarnish, Washington, and then to Brooklyn, New York where the band will play an album release show at the Brooklyn Bowl. A May 25th performance at the Boston Calling Festival will precede a four-day run of shows at Park City, Utah’s Egyptian Theatre to conclude the tour.

Spin Doctors Face Full of Cake is scheduled for release on Friday, April 11, 2025, through Capitol Records. The band’s latest single, “Still a Gorilla” is currently available to stream. Shows announced as part of the band’s upcoming tour in support of Face Full of Cake can be seen below.

UPCOMING TOUR DATES:

Saturday, February 22, 2025 – Rock from the Heart – Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saturday, March 1, 2025 – Suquarnish Clearwater Casino Resort – Suquarnish, Washington
Saturday, April 12, 2025 – Face Full of Cake Album Release Show – Brooklyn Bowl – Brooklyn, New York
Saturday, May 25, 2025 – Boston Calling Festival – Allston, Massachusetts
Thursday, June 5, 2025 – Egyptian Theatre – Park City, Utah
Friday, June 6, 2025 – Egyptian Theatre – Park City, Utah
Saturday, June 7, 2025 – Egyptian Theatre – Park City, Utah
Sunday, June 8, 2025 – Egyptian Theatre – Park City, Utah