THE SMASHING PUMPKINS Releases New Free Song

March 18, 2011

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS have just released their ninth free track, "Lightning Strikes", via RollingStone.com. PUMPKINS leader Billy Corgan says the song is "dedicated with affection to Mark Tulin...and all our great Japanese fans who are in our prayers." Mark Tulin, the bassist and founding member of the pioneering psych-rockers the ELECTRIC PRUNES, died last month. Tulin played in the PUMPKINS and appears on tracks from the band's "Teargarden By Kaleidyscope" work. He also toured with Corgan in the band SPIRITS IN THE SKY in 2009.

"Lightning Strikes" is now the ninth song to be offered to fans via free download. It is from the PUMPKINS' "Teargarden By Kaleidyscope", an in-progress 44-song work. Since December 2009, the band has been releasing one song at a time for free, with eight of the songs also available on two physical EPs that were released in 2010.

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS — singer/guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist Jeff Schroeder, drummer Mike Byrne and bassist Nicole Fiorentino — recorded "Lightning Strikes", says Corgan, "by all the members of the band after we came off our last tour" at the end of 2010. "I feel this song organically hints at new directions without being forced."

"Lightning Strikes" has an interesting back story. Explains Corgan: "It was supposed to be more of a fun thing, a song originally written for the ELECTRIC PRUNES. But I found an element in it that suggested a bigger picture, and unfortunately I stole it back from them. The lyric in my mind combines the isolation of modern life with the need for a never ending romantic story."

For Corgan, the process of releasing music one song at a time "has inspired me to treat each song as its own thought as opposed to a collective mentality where songs need to fit together. It has definitely helped me to focus, and pay more attention to what I'm trying to say with each release."

In 2010, the PUMPKINS performed three runs of dates in the U.S. plus shows in Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South America. Asked about the band's touring plans for 2011, Corgan says: "We had no plans of going on the road this year, but now we may go to Europe in the fall, and if that happens, we'll play a few select dates in America."

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).