Earth Tongue at the Raccoon Motel -- May 21.
Thursday, May 21, 6 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
Touring in support of their recently released album Dungeon Vision that New Noise magazine deemed “easily one of the best heavy, riffy albums of the year,” the New Zealand-based alt-rockers of Earth Tongue headline a May 21 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, their latest also hailed by Tinnitist as a recording that "pulses with human energy, fuzz guitars, bone-battering drums, and hauntingly tuneful vocals."
As stated at AllMusic.com: "New Zealand duo Earth Tongue play a fuzz-laden blend of proto-metal, stoner rock, early prog, and psychedelia that manages to be tuneful and crushingly powerful at once. Earth Tongue started as a side project for Gussie Larkin of Mermaidens but developed a strong following of its own after their 2019 album, Floating Being, became an underground success among fans of idiosyncratic heavy rock. After five years of live work, the band sounded tighter and just as muscular on their sophomore release, 2024's Great Haunting, and the Ty Segall-produced Dungeon Vision arrived in 2026.
"Named for a black mushroom in the Geoglossaceae family, Earth Tongue was formed by singer and guitarist Gussie Larkin, who formed the noted indie rock band Mermaidens in 2013, when she was in high school. In 2016, Larkin and her partner Ezra Simons were visiting Portugal when they attended a festival devoted to heavy rock of all sorts, and they were inspired by the force of the music. Before long, they struck upon the idea of launching a heavy group of their own, and with Larkin on guitar and vocals and Simons on drums, they started writing songs rooted in thick, fuzzed-out guitar and simple, pounding drums, with lyrics informed by classic science-fiction movies. Before 2016 was out, Earth Tongue played their first show in Wellington, New Zealand, and it didn't take long for them to make a name for themselves in the Antipodes, with their reputation next spreading to the United Kingdom.
"Striking a deal with the British psych-oriented label Stolen Body Records, Earth Tongue's debut album, Floating Being, was released in 2019 and earned enthusiastic reviews around the world. The duo ramped up their touring schedule, making frequent trips to Europe and the United Kingdom and opening shows for Ty Segall and Queens of the Stone Age. In 2024, the band came to the United States for the first time to perform at the South by Southwest Music Conference, but as many artists learned that the United States military was one of the festival's sponsors, a boycott was organized in protest of America's military involvement in the war in Gaza, and Larkin and Simons opted to boycott as well, though they were able to play other shows organized in Texas. The maverick American indie label In the Red approached the band with an offer to release Earth Tongue's second album, Great Haunting, which arrived in June 2024. The pair's next LP was recorded in Los Angeles with help from Ty Segall, who engineered and mixed the album. Titled Dungeon Vision, the record was released in February 2026."
Earth Tongue brings their tour to Davenport on May 21 with additional sets by Pink Fuzz and Cough n' Flop, admission to the 6 p.m. concert is $15.88, and more information and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
