Ron Gallo Previews New Album Stardust Birthday Party with “It’s All Gonna Be OK”

In January, Ron Gallo released his EP Really Nice Guys, which he followed in February with his hilarious Really Nice Guys documentary, in which he swore off rock music in the pursuit of jazz and skateboarding. Now, Gallo is back with big album news: He’ll be following up his debut record HEAVY META this fall with Stardust Birthday Party, due out Oct. 5 via New West. Although not as far away from his debut as, say, a jazz album, Stardust Birthday Party is described as a spiritual 180 from HEAVY META.

Where Gallo describes HEAVY META as his “frustrated with humanity” album, Stardust Birthday Party aspires to self-exploration and renewal—his own “human evolution” album. On HEAVY META’s “Please Yourself,” Gallo sings, “Trying to please everybody. You just let everyone down,” and on “All the Punks are Domesticated,” he dives into the troubles of the music industry and how no one has anything to say, or anything important at least: “All risk is paralyzed. Meanwhile, the pop tarts climb the pop charts.” And if all the punks are domesticated, then who is out there shouting for change? Well, Gallo is, but on Stardust Birthday Party, he’s changing himself to find himself.

“I think at one point I wanted to change the world,” Gallo said, “but now I know I can only change myself, or rather just strip away everything that is not me to reveal the only thing that’s ever been there. And that’s what this album is about, it’s me dancing while destroying the person I thought I was, and hopefully forever.”

The first single from Gallo’s forthcoming album is the almost-convincing “It’s All Gonna Be OK.” Listeners enter the track through the climbing guitar line and find themselves met by multiple layers of Gallo telling them, “It’s All Gonna Be OK.” The title line is interspersed with the less reassuring lyrics that “complacency is killing me” and there’s “lots of dead going into the sea.” Still, “It’s All Gonna Be OK” keeps coming back like a mantra, with breathless conviction. Despite the fact that “It’s all gonna end someday,” the punk energy isn’t writhing, isn’t angry really—it is just as urgent though, as Gallo shouts over all that’s wrong now and in the past. He and his fuzzy guitars and crashing drums are drowning that out to look for and make a positive transformation. The horn Gallo was playing around with in the Really Nice Guys documentary even makes an appearance at the end, like a siren dying out, which is its own fun, encouraging moment.

On his forthcoming record, Gallo confronts anxiety and self-loathing, and then opens up into a more positive outlook, like on “It’s All Gonna Be OK.” He even pays tribute to John Coltrane’s own spiritual awakening on “Love Supreme (Work Together!).” You can find the full tracklist for his album down below.

Gallo will be supporting Stardust Birthday Party on tour this fall in a series of headliners and will also be playing festival dates. Gallo will be joined by his bandmates Joe Bisirri and Dylan Sevey. Tickets for the November tour go on sale Aug. 10. You can preorder Stardust Birthday Party here.

In 2016, we followed Gallo around for a “Day in the Life” and after the debut of HEAVY META in 2017, Paste named him one of the 20 best new artists of 2017, so be sure to catch him when he comes to town if you can.

You can listen to “It’s All Gonna Be OK” below and a performance by Ron Gallo from the Paste Studio beneath that. Find the tracklist of Stardust Birthday Party and Gallo’s tour dates further down.

Stardust Birthday Party Tracklist:
01. Who Are You? (Point To It!)
02. Always Elsewhere
03. Prison Decor
04. Party Tumor
05. Do You Love Your Company?
06. “You” Are The Problem
07. It’s All Gonna Be OK
08. I Wanna Die (Before I Die)
09. Love Supreme (Work Together!)
10. The Password
11. Bridge Crossers
12. Happy Deathday

Ron Gallo Tour Dates:

August
03 – Montreal, Quebec @ Osheaga Festival
05 – Montauk, N.Y. @ Surf Lodge
12 – Lausanne, Switzerland @ PALP Festival
13 – Pisa, Italy @ Musica W Festival
14 – Ravenna, Italy @ Hana-Bi
15 – Wintherthur, Switzerland @ Musikfestwochen
16 – Prague, Czech Republic @ Altenburg 1964
17 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Bitterzoet
18 – Hasselt, Belgium @ Pukkelpop
20 – Leeds, U.K. @ Headrow House
21 – Manchester, U.K. @ The Ritz *
22 – London, U.K. @ Moth Club
23 – Brighton, U.K. @ The Hope & Ruin
24 – Eindhoven, Netherlands @ Fuzz Club Festival
25 – Charleville-Mezieres, France @ Cabaret Vert Festival
29 Bordeaux, France @ Relache Festival
30 – Guadalajara, Spain @ Gigante Festival
31 – Miranda de Ebro, Spain @ Ebrovision Festival

September
01 – Barcelona, Spain @ Sintonitzza Festival
02 – Madrid, Spain @ Joy Eslava *
03 – Lisbon, Portugal @ Sabotage
04 – Porto, Portugal @ Hard Club *
21 – Lincoln, Neb. @ Lincoln Calling Festival

November
01 – Columbus, Ohio @ Ace of Cups
02 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ White Rabbit
03 – Davenport, Iowa @ Raccoon Motel
04 – Chicago, Ill. @ Lincoln Hall
06 – Toronto, Ontario @ Garrison
07 – Montreal, Quebec @ Ministere
08 – Burlington, Vt. @ ArtsRiots
10 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ First Unitarian Church
11 – Boston, Mass. @ Brighton Music Hall
12 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
13 – Washington, D.C. @ DC9
14 – Raleigh, N.C. @ Kings Barcade
15 – Charleston, S.C. @ The Royal American
16 – Atlanta, Ga. @ The Earl
17 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Basement East

(* = w/ The Black Angels)