Houses new EP and pending name change

The band soon to be formerly known as Houses

​After a lot of hard work and some trying starts and stops, Houses will be releasing Winter, the fourth EP in its seasonally-themed album series on August 5 and 6 at the Hi-Dive. The two-night stint will bring the band together with the likes of Bad Weather California, Fingers of the Sun, A. Tom Collins and more, and give Houses a chance to play all four records in their entirety -- the poppier Spring and Summer for the first show and Fall and Winter the following night.

"This record is a culmination of some really bummer crap that happened in my life, expressed through music," says vocalist and bandleader Andy Hamilton. "It's full of tunes that are a blast to play but really kind of a drag."

On the brighter side, bandmate Mike Marchant says that Winter allowed for some collaborative songwriting, and the end result was a pretty perfect union of ideas. "Andy still does the bulk of the writing," says Marchant, "but this time, he and I wrote some of it together, which ended up working really well."

There will be some changes in the group's line-up too, like the addition of Mark Shusterman of Nyota (or Constellations, as the outfit was known until last month) on keys. Houses also plans on changing its name to, well, something else. The group isn't quite sure to what yet, but Marchant says the fact that there is a Chicago-based gentleman who released one record under the moniker last year -- even though the band is getting ready to put out its fourth -- was enough to inspire a change.

The record will be for sale beginning August 5 at Twist and Shout and at the show, along with any remaining physical copies of the first three EPs. A limited number of four-EP sets will also be available for purchase, and Houses has promised a few extra surprise musical goodies inside.