Planes Mistaken for Stars Return to Kick Off ‘Riot Season’

Well, if it isn't Planes Mistaken for Stars! It's been a while — a decade, actually — since y'all granted us Mercy, your third album, only to break up the band nine months later. It was a huge bummer, but at least all your members stayed active with the punk on pause, pursuing other styles with other projects, including Wovenhand, Bull in Heaven, Hawks and Doves, and Ghost Buffalo. (Man, that's a lot of animals.)

But you were bound to return, weren't you? In 2010, Planes started playing shows again. First an appearance at that year's The Fest, followed by a full-fledged North American tour. We first realized something big was up last year, when you reissued Mercy on Deathwish, Inc., and revealed you were "quietly and persistently" working on new music. And now, you're back-back with your fourth album Prey. Just in time for your 20th anniversary next year!

Produced by Sanford Parker (YOB, Leviathan, Wovenhand), the record sees you tempering all that blistering hardcore with some good ol' Americana, inspired by guitarist/vocalist Gared O'Donnell's travels to middle America. As a band hailing from Colorado as well as Illinois, it's safe to say you know the region well, so you're well aware that, while the heartland is generally a pretty cheery place, it's also an area of the country mired in social turbulence, spontaneous violence, and depressions of both a personal and economic nature. "Riot Season," the latest taste of the forthcoming record, mirrors these conflicts accordingly, sending a bevy of styles off to war: grunge, punk, post-hardcore and even some wayward folk. It speaks to a newly sharpened focus, as well as a heightened attention to detail — which means this wait was worth it, and we forgive you. At least, for the most part.

Planes Mistaken for Stars will release their long-awaited fourth album Prey on October 21 via Deathwish, Inc. They'll hit the road for a brief North American tour shortly thereafter.

PLANES MISTAKEN FOR STARS, PREY TRACK LIST
1. "Dementia Americana"
2. "Til' It Clicks"
3. "Riot Season"
4. "Fucking Tenderness"
5. "She Who Sleeps"
6. "Clean Up Mean"
7. "Black Rabbit"
8. "Enemy Blinds"
9. "Alabaster Cello"

PLANES MISTAKEN FOR STARS on TOUR
Oct. 26 — Chicago, IL @ Township
Oct. 27 — Cincinnati, OH @ Northside Yacht Club
Oct. 28 — Savannah, GA @ Dollhouse Productions
Oct. 30 — Gainesville, FL @ The Wooly (THE FEST)
Oct. 31 — Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
Nov. 1 — Nashville, TN @ The End
Nov. 2 — St. Louis, MO @ Fubar
Nov. 3 — Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th Street Collective
Nov. 4 — Austin, TX @ Sound On Sound Fest