Today, The Slaps — “the burgeoning post-rock group” (Line Of Best Fit) comprised of guitarist Rand Kelly, bassist Ramsey Bell, and drummer Josh Resing — announce Mud Tracks, a new EP of knotted ambience and uncanny soundscapes due out February 21. It’s the follow-up to 2024’s Mudglimmer, an “adventurous” (Stereogum) record that presented a collision of spontaneous composition and earnest, threadbare folk.

Alongside the EP announcement, they share “Bunny (Sam Prekop Remix),” a re-work of the Mudglimmer highlight concocted by none other than Chicago legend Sam Prekop, known for his exceptional work as a solo artist and as part of The Sea and Cake.

Listen to “Bunny (Sam Prekop Remix)” here and watch a visualizer for the track here.
Pre-save Mud Tracks EP here.

Of the remixing process, Prekop says: “The Slaps sent me an absolutely lovely piece of music to remix, or you know do something with. It’s a real aching beauty and presents exactly the perfect challenge that confounds and demands some tough work. The piece felt like it was all there, but the openness and minimalism seemed the perfect invitation. I tried adding new elements to what was happening, but felt they were always mere distractions — what to do?

After working on it for a bit I started to miss what was taken away, so the coda, I think fittingly reforms the group and my last idea was to play a simple but hopefully the right synth line, as if I were there. It was my pleasure.“

Both strange and beautiful, Mudglimmer finds the group emerging from the specter of indie oblivion with a raw, expressive, and idiosyncratic sound. It’s a stunning DIY comeback story, a doubling-down on avant-garde impulses that pays immediate dividends. Faced with professional and personal hurdles that threatened the band’s continuation, The Slaps dug deep into improvisation (even recording an EP at Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago, a hub of the city’s rich free jazz scene and home of the Sun Ra / El Saturn Collection) and traditional country songwriting.

It’s a record that finds The Slaps reconfigured and reenergized — finding purpose in becoming fully, unashamedly, their own wonderfully confounding thing.

Listen to Mudglimmer here.
Read more about The Slaps and Mudglimmer here.

The Slaps are touring behind Mudglimmer through the spring, including shows with Hemlock and Sarah and the Sundays. Full dates are below.

TOUR DATES

2/05/25: Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club*
2/06/25: Portland, OR @ Show Bar*
2/07/25: Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s*
2/08/25: Olympia, WA @ Wild Man Gastropub*
2/09/25: Vancouver, BC @ The Pearl*
2/11/25: Sacramento, CA @ Harlows*
2/12/25: San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
2/13/25: Ojai, CA @ Underground Exchange*
2/14/25: Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room*
2/16/25: Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon*
2/18/25: San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar*
2/19/25: Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar*
2/21/25: Oklahoma City, OK @ Resonant Head*
2/22/25: St Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill*
3/18/25: Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry^
3/20/25: Washington DC @ The Howard^
3/21/25: New York, NY @ Irving Plaza^
3/22/25: Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club^
3/23/25: Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom^
3/25/25: Montreal, QC @ Bar le Ritz^
3/26/25: Toronto, ON @ The Cave^
3/28/25: Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar^
3/29/25: Indianapolis, IN @ Hoosier Dome^
3/30/25: Detroit, MI @ The Shelter, Saint Andrew’s Hall^
4/1/25: Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line^

* = with Hemlock
^ = with Sarah and the Sundays