Elvis Perkins has been good to us this year. In March, he released his non-solo debut, the ominously jubilant Elvis Perkins In Dearland. That same month, he treated some lucky San Diegans to a rollicking, intimate performance at M-Theory Records. And now, just when it seemed that Mr. Perkins couldn’t have anything else up his sleeve for us in the near future, he goes and announces a new EP.

Set to be released October 20th on XL Recordings, The Doomsday EP features six tracks, including the titular song in its Elvis Perkins In Dearland incarnation and a new slower version [MP3]. The EP was recorded in three days at Machines with Magnets in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and will almost certainly sound “earthy.”

In typically oblique fashion, Perkins had this to say about the EP:

“We call this thing The Doomsday EP for obvious reasons, and its middle name to which it also answers is The EP of the Id. Being drawn to the many faces of the American strain it seems we have more or less subconsciously produced a collection speaking to/and or from several of them at once. It’s a document of impulses sleeping egos and their superiors let pass to tape. I myself didn’t know what these songs sounded like in the hands of EPID until they were processed and played back. You have a song that arrived like the rest of us by boat, a selection from the Sacred Harp, a rock ‘n roll heralding the eternal advent of rock ‘n roll, an ode to the soul of the undead and, finally (and firstly), two takes on a single song called Doomsday, one which comes from our March release and the other which leans in the direction of its original conception as something of a gospel number. And here they all are, risen from their cribs and graves, under one moonlight while their folks and undertakers look the other way.”

If anybody has any idea what Perkins is talking about, please let us know.

As if the new EP weren’t enough, Perkins and his tireless Dearland band are touring as if Doomsday really were upon us. The massive cross-country jaunt includes a stop at San Diego’s Casbah, which will afford a chance at redemption to unfortunate souls who missed Perkins’ M-Theory show. For the final leg of his tour, Perkins and company will be supported by Bowerbirds, who just last week graced San Diego with their resplendent folk musings.

The Doomsday EP Track List:

Doomsday
Gypsy Davy (Traditional)
Stay Zombie Stay
Stop Drop Rock and Roll
Weeping Mary (J.P. Reese)
Slow Doomsday

ELVIS PERKINS IN DEARLAND TOUR DATES:

9/2 – Elvis Perkins (Solo) at Housing Works – New York, NY (Yellow Bird Projects Presents)
9/3 – Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, OR
9/5 – Bumbershoot Festival – Seattle, WA
10/02 – The Casbah – San Diego, CA
10/03 – Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA
11/04 – Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival – San Francisco, CA
10/31 – Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble – Woodstock, NY
11/1 – Mountain Stage – Charleston, WV
11/3 – The Southern – Charlottesville, VA
11/4 – Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall – Asheville, NC
11/5 – The Earl – Atlanta, GA
11/6 – Cafe 11 – St. Augustine, FL
11/7 – The Social – Orlando, FL
11/9 – Club Downunder – Tallahassee, FL
11/10 – Bottletree – Birmingham, AL
11/11 – The Parish – New Orleans, LA
11/12 – Walters On Washington – Houston, TX
11/13 – The Parish – Austin, TX
11/14 – House of Blues – Cambridge Room – Dallas, TX
11/16 – Sticky Fingerz Chicken Shack – Little Rock, AR
11/17 – TBD – Nashville, TN
11/18 – TBD
11/19 – TBD
11/20 – Gargoyle Club – St. Louis, MO
11/21 – TBD – Chicago, IL
11/30 – Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA
12/01 – The Hi Hat – Providence, RI
12/02 – Rock and Roll Hotel – Washington, DC
12/03 – First Unitarian Church – Philadelphia, PA
12/04 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY
12/05 – Music Hall of Williamsburg – Brooklyn, NY

10/02 – with Cave Singers
10/03 – with Other Lives
11/03 – 11/21 with A.A. Bondy
11/30 – 12/4 with Bowerbirds