MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD To Release 'Do Not Resuscitate' In February 2011

Sometime towards the end of 2006, MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD vanished. They had just spent a solid two years promoting their third record, "Merciless", with a grueling tour schedule that had taken them, quite literally, around the world – from São Paulo to Helsinki; from Seattle to Cape Town; from Lisbon to Auckland and their final show at CBGB in New York City. And then, suddenly, they were gone. No shows, no updates, no interviews – nothing. They didn't even issue the typical (and ominous) "we're taking a break" memo. The line had simply gone dead. MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD from New York City had disappeared without a trace. Then, in early 2007, the band released a cryptic statement through their record label expressing their desire to "bow out of the mass appeal madness"; declaring they wanted nothing to do with the "glossy culture" anymore. And that was it — again. Not another word for the rest of the year. Naturally, rumors swirled almost immediately about a breakup, lineup changes, record company disputes, members being detained in and/or relocating to foreign countries, members splitting up to start various new projects, etc. Truth be told, no one really knew what to think. It was odd for a band like MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, who had basically written the book on touring until exhaustion, to just pick up and, well, leave the game. Something was definitely up — but they weren't talking — so, inevitably, our imagination ran wild.

Word eventually spread that MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD had begun work on a new album. They didn't have any songs for us to hear just yet, but they had a title: "Do Not Resuscitate". "Do not resuscitate"? — MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD was writing a living will? Would this be their last goodbye — their final album? Was the band telling us that they would deny CPR if they stopped breathing or their heart stopped beating? What did it mean? The band had fired their publicist, their manager (and just about everyone else who had been working for them) and for the next two years they continued to randomly transmit cryptic missives regarding how they felt about the state of underground music coupled with the progress of the new record, potential release dates, song titles, their "new direction" and so on. It was the first time in a long time we thought there may be a light at the end of the labyrinth after all.

By now MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD had been off the road for three years and everything was changing. Their contemporaries were falling apart or breaking up, no one was buying CDs anymore and the club where the band had played its first show (CBGB) was now a high-end fashion boutique. But somehow in the midst of a paradigm shift, the mystery surrounding MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD grew: vocalist Rob Fusco, bassist Matt Miller and drummer Colin Kercz had all "moved away from New York City and gotten married," guitarist Justin Brannan was now rumored to be in Washington, D.C. "exploring a career in politics"; I heard the band hadn't been "in the same room together since 2006" and guitarist Rachel Rosen was apparently "hiding out in Baltimore" — either busy dissecting organs at a university named after a wealthy abolitionist or "pregnant with someone from BREAKDOWN's lovechild", I can't quite remember which. Suffice to say, in the Internet age, it wasn't very hard for fans to work themselves into a lather conjuring up the band's whereabouts or future plans. The less we knew, the more rumors grew.

Then, in early 2009, MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD updated their atrophied website; simply posting a picture of someone holding a Memorex CD-R. "MPB DNR 1-19-09 Final Mixes" was written on the disc in blue ink. But as soon as their fans were about to exhale, the web site remained this way for the next year — without any further updates or press releases — and we were back where we started: wondering. Was this what the band had so proudly alluded to years prior when they said they were "bowing out of the mass appeal madness" and wanted nothing to do with the "glossy culture" anymore? Maybe this was all part of some brilliant plan to throw people off their trail? Either way, they sure were confusing us — but we were hooked and waiting to see what would happen next. What's that saying about how you won't know what you had until it's gone? Let's just say MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD's absence had a left a serious void in the scene.

Finally, here we are — about to stick a fork in 2010 and set the table for 2011 — some five years have passed since MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD played a show but we still care — and we're still waiting. We're patient because we know they're real. We wait because we know they'll deliver… eventually. The calendar and the clock have become irrelevant to MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD and I think, in a way, we admire that. Let's be honest: a band like MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD doesn't name their record "Do Not Resuscitate" unless they've got nothing left to lose — and this is when a band is at their best — when they have nothing to prove and they don't owe anything to anyone. This may be the best Dear John letter we've ever fucking heard. Look for a special 12" vinyl version of DNR to be released on MorseCode Records/Bullet Tooth.