“No band has ever sounded quite like The Privates.”
That’s a quote from 2006, and it holds up.
For their seven years together, the Nashville indie rock outfit was a favorite of resident record geeks and the local press, who dubbed them “fiercely catchy, smartly arty and bursting with ambition” and among the era’s “top three bands to arise out of Nashville.”
On stage and on record, the band quickly won hearts and minds with controlled blasts of choppy post-punk rhythms, yearning melodies and general six-string chaos. The sound ricocheted off the walls of local dives and basements, and dipped into the sonic wells of Supergrass, The Strokes, Brian Eno, Deerhoof, The Walkmen and other fixtures of their CD binders. The band’s incendiary live show even inspired a short sci-fi film: Dylan Allen’s The Privates (2017), starring a fictionalized version of the band.
Unfortunately, Nashville was as far as the band ever staked a claim. In fact, they never played a show outside of their home state.
Still, The Privates were on the road. All four members, then in their 20s, had full-time gigs touring and recording with more established acts, including The Features, Lambchop and The Pink Spiders. It was a booming time in Nashville’s rock scene, a period that saw the rise of Kings of Leon, Paramore and Be Your Own Pet.
From 2004 to 2009, The Privates released two albums and two 5-song EPs, and quietly played their final regular show in 2010. Aside from a one-off reunion in 2013, the members haven’t performed, written or recorded together since.
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…
UNTIL NOW.
The Privates—Dave Paulson, Ryan Norris, Keith Lowen and Rollum Haas—have reunited to write and record two brand-new songs, “Don’t Take It Out On Me” and “Old Times.” They will bookend the band’s first-ever vinyl release, a best-of collection entitled We Are Really Rocking Now, Haven’t We?, which will be released on YK Records. The 14-track set also features remastered selections from the band’s entire discography, including “Heart’s Got a Hole,” “Pocari Sweat” and “You Never Take Me Dancing,” and features a gatefold sleeve with photos and artifacts from their original run.
In 2010, the band stopped booking shows, but never formally broke up. To mark the 10th anniversary of their first show, the band reunited in 2013 for a one-off gig, playing their debut album in its entirety. In 2023—20 years after their formation—they returned to Jeremy Ferguson’s Battletapes to record the new songs.
Plans are underway for a reunion concert/record release celebration in Nashville later in 2024.
