RX Bandits announce breakup plans after summer U.S. tour

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RX Bandits fans were shocked and saddened Tuesday to learn that this year’s summer U.S. tour would be the band’s last. A brief statement was released via Sargent House, RX Bandits’ L.A.-based management company and record label.

This from the band via Sargent House’s website:

Dear friends,
We would like to express our love and appreciation for all that you’ve done for us and how much a part of our growth you have been. We have all mutually decided that this summer will be our last tour. We love each other and love you all and hope to see you at the shows.

Although firm dates for the final tour haven’t been announced, it’s been slated to start June 25 and will last through July, said Sargent House founder Cathy Pellow. Though the Long Beach-based band may be calling it quits, Pellow said, it still plans to make music in different permutations, something it has done for years in various side projects, including Coke vs. Bills, Love You Moon and Technology. However, the band has no plans to tour or record under its RXB moniker, Pellow said. Currently, singer-guitarist Matt Embree and drummer Chris Tsagakis both have separate projects in the works to be released on Sargent house.

‘They definitely feel like didn’t want to overstay their welcome,’ Pellow said. ‘They wanted to go out on top.’ The band, formed in 1995, has undergone a constant stylistic metamorphasis since the early ‘00s, shedding its ska roots for a progressive mix of pummeling prog, reggae and soul as well as scattershot sounds from a dozen other genres.

In addition to the final tour, the Bandits are scheduled to play at the Barn at UC Riverside on April 20, the Bamboozle festival in New Orleans April 29-30 and the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club Coming Out Party at Mariner’s Point in San Diego on May 14.

-- Nate Jackson