Exclusive: Bandits Premiere the Sludgy, Sinister New Song ‘Wheels’

When John Demitro, the frontman for Denver psych-rockers BANDITS, sings, “And the wheels roll on,” he’s making a hard-and-fast promise.

Demitro’s voice is almost menacing in its placement just slightly beneath the mix on “Wheels,” a song that Diffuser is thrilled to premiere today (listen below). The singer-guitarist is surrounded by a dark, bluesy swirl of guitar riffs, his sister LuLu's bass and Andrew Oakley’s drum crashes that all come to a head with a fever-pitch squeal in the song’s final minute.

"Wheels is about picking up the pieces and moving on," the frontman told us. "We went through a lot of transitions as a band in the last three years. 'Wheels' describes those."

The song is indicative of BANDITS' move into heavier, murkier fare than we last heard on the trio’s 2014 EP Change.

“Wheels” will appear as the B-side on the band’s forthcoming “Kill Tonight” 7”, which is due out in March. The single was mastered by Grammy-winning engineer Brian Gardner (Jack White, Queens of the Stone Age). You can listen to the title track over at the band’s SoundCloud.

BANDITS have a handful of U.S. tour dates on the horizon, including stops in Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska.

BANDITS Tour Dates
Feb. 17: The Bottleneck - Lawrence, KS
Feb. 18: The Bridge - Columbia, MO
Feb. 20: Garden Bowl - Detroit MI
Feb. 21: Annabell's - Akron, OH
Feb. 25: Don Pedro - Brooklyn, NY
Feb. 26: Bowery Electric - New York City, NY
Feb. 28: Elbo Room - Chicago, IL
March 1: Vaudeville Mews - Des Moines, IA
March 2: Duffy's - Lincoln, NE