Tracklisting:

1 Pranging Out
2 War of the Sexes
3 The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living
4 All Goes Out the Window
5 Memento Mori
6 Can't Con an Honest John
7 When You Wasn't Famous
8 Never Went to Church
9 Hotel Expressionism
10 Two Nations
11 Fake Streets Hat

The first single, "When You Wasn't Famous", drops March 27th.

older news from pitchfork:

The Streets' Third Album Due in April
James Gregory reports:
This just in from Pitchfork's woefully underworked white-guy-rapper news desk: Resident UK pub poet Mike Skinner will return this spring with his third Streets LP, which has just been nailed down for an April 25 U.S. release on Vice Recordings-- two weeks after its April 11 UK street (ha) date.

Titled The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, the disc will follow up Skinner's 2004 sophomore effort (and Pitchfork's third-favorite album of that year), A Grand Don't Come For Free. While the tracklist is yet to be issued, we predict "geezer" will show up in at least one title.

As far as what fans can expect, it seems the overall mood of the disc will split the difference between the Streets' tight 2002 debut Original Pirate Material, and the rap opera of Grand. As a press release informs us:

"The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living is a completely autobiographical record that covers various things that have happened to Mike over the past few years since he's become a well known figure in the UK - there's love, loss, scandal, violence, sex, drugs and a whole load of bad behavior and regret. It's a true story. It's not a 'story' record like his last LP, but the thread of Mike's reality runs through every song."

Skinner recently told NME, "After A Grand Don't Come For Free, I was like, 'What am I going to write about?' I can't moan I've got no money any more, but then it gradually dawned on me that my life is so crazy! You'd never believe some of the stuff that's happened to me along the way in countries far away."

He added, "This album is going to be a bit more polished and bit faster, hopefully exciting." Yes, hopefully!

A handful of buzz-perpetuating shows have also been announced in the UK, with four dates set for this February. A U.S. tour is also tentatively scheduled for June of this year, but no firm details have yet surfaced. Alas, faithful geezers, we'll stay on top of further developments. Street life:

02-15 Norwich, England - U.E.A.
02-16 Sheffield, England - Leadmill
02-17 Bath, England - Pavillion
02-18 London, England - Astoria

_______________________

I loved A Grand Don't Come For Free. Hope this is just as good.

Can't wait for this. A Grand Don't Come For Free blew me away and claimed 3 weeks of my life.

Definitely looking forward to this as well. Hopefully that US tour will happen (and come to Dallas )

I heard his first album and thought it was some of the worst stuff I'd ever heard. Maybe I should give it another chance if so many people like him...

= J

I liked both albums so will be very interested to hear the new one.

I've never heard his first album, but A Grand Don't Come For Free is one of my favorite albums of recent years. I eagerly await the new release.

That is one of the funniest things I have ever read in the Music forum.

I can't wait for this disc. One of the very few new albums I'll be buying in 2006.

A Grand Don't Come For Free is simply a genius work of art. Original Pirate Material is slightly weaker, but fantastic tracks like Sharp Darts, Geezers Need Excitement, and Don't Mug Yourself make it overall a great listen.

I would like to get a chip, a magical chip like a poker chip that will allow me to use it so that one anticipated album of this year doesn't suck. I would have liked to use it on the Belle and Sebastian album but it was too late. I shall use it on the new Streets album. I really hope it doesn't suck.

Updated first post w/ tracklisting and first single.

I never thought the first two The Streets albums were that great. Yes, they were good and they had some good songs. But seeing them on (flawed) lists like NME's Top British Albums of All Time makes me scratch my head. Is "Fit But You Know It" a great song? Of course it is. I understand the compliments but not the adulation.

As Tarantino said, maybe I need to hear it a bit more for the greatness to sink in. (Why was his comment funny auto? He wasn't saying he was changing his mind because people liked the music, he just said he'd give it another chance.)

It seemed highly amusing to me that the music was "some of the worst stuff he'd ever heard" and yet he was willing to give it another chance solely on the basis that it was popular.

When I hear music that generates such an extreme reaction, I don't think that my mind will (can) be changed based on how many other people enjoy that particular type of music.

I'm all for people coming around on music (especially music I like) but the comment struck me as absurd at the time. Still kind of does.

Great news. Can't wait.