The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis have announced their second collaborative album, Deface The Currency, out Feb. 20 via Impulse! Records. The band, formed in Washington, D.C., were brought together by Anthony Pirog, who spent his childhood listening to Fugazi. After connecting with the band’s drummer Brendan Canty and bassist Joe Lally, they formed the Messthetics and, alongside saxophonist Lewis, they released their self-titled LP in 2024.
Deface The Currency is the culmination of the Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis performing 150 shows together in just a year. “The more you know someone, the better the relationship is, the more enriched it becomes,” Lewis says. “It’s like a cast-iron skillet: The more you keep cooking in it, the better the food gets. So I think that’s what you hear on the record, and you hear an urgency of now.”
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Ahead of its release, the Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis dropped “Gestations” and a trippy video with juxtaposed clips of the band performing and traveling on tour.
The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis will embark on a headlining run across North America, which begins in Portland and concludes in D.C. Watch the video for “Gestations” and check out the tour dates below.
The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis 2026 tour dates
04/17 – Portland, OR @ Star Theater
04/18 – Seattle, WA @ Clock-Out Lounge
04/19 – Vancouver, BC @ Wise Hall
04/25 – Raleigh, NC @ Kings
04/26 – Asheville, NC @ Ayurprana Listening Room
04/27 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
04/28 – Lexington, KY @ Singletary Center for the Arts
04/30 – Chicago, IL @ Constellation
05/01 – Detroit, MI @ Third Man Records
05/02 – Toronto, ON @ 918 Bathurst
05/03 – Erie, PA @ Centennial Hall
05/04 – Kingston, NY @ Tubby’s
05/05 – Boston, MA @ City Winery Boston
05/06 – New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
05/07 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Pittsburgh Jazz & Poetry Festival
05/08 – Philadelphia, PA @ Solar Myth
05/09 – Washington, DC @ The Black Cat
