Following a massive year for both his bands the Hard-Ons and Nunchukka Superfly – and before another big year gets into gear with the Hard-Ons and their national co-headline tour with Redd Kross – Peter ‘Blackie’ Black, guitarist and songwriter extraordinaire, has today released the new single and video “Congo Line to the Rest Room” and announced the release of two new solo albums – his first since he released two solo albums in November 2020 – on February 6, 2026. He has also announced a run of solo shows up and down the East Coast in Feb & March.
Entitled The Boss is Gone Gone Gone and A Bowl of Spiders, the two records were made simultaneously over a 9-month period, once again at Pet Food Factory with Jason Whalley and Jemima Perry-Ewing, then mixed at Parliament Studios by Lachlan Mitchell and mastered by John Ruberto.
Sez Blackie: “It’s two albums again ’cause I just had too many songs I wanted to record .. Boss is Gone is purely acoustic – again I wanted to see if i could pull off something so quiet – and Spiders is eclectic.. and like everything i do i always hope the new stuff is better than what I’ve done before :-). How I differentiate these songs (from Hard-Ons or Nunchukka songs) for the most part is very easy. Some are personal and I wanted to do them myself, some I wanted to experiment with and one I was told ‘save that for ya solo album Blackie” so i did hahaha’. I’m really really happy with both…”
Highlights across the albums are plentiful. On A Bowl of Spiders there’s the single “Conga Line to the Rest Room” (“I wanted to try synth pop…”) the stomping, uplifting “There is Love” (“I was getting into gospel..”), and the hooky power pop of “Clap Your Hands”. The variety of guitar tones is astounding. The Boss is Gone Gone Gone kicks off with “Pumas on the Sleeve”, a snippet of acapella pop a la Beach Boys, and “Push Push Push” reprises that vibe, with help from Screamfeeder’s Tim Steward’s backing vocals. ‘Acoustic’ doesn’t just mean guitars… “Toss and Turn”, a duet with the Neptune Power Federation’s Lauren Friedman is another vocal stunner, and “Long Long Drive Ahead of You” is almost country, and features yet another stunning vocal arrangement, with harmonic help from Blackie’s Hard-Ons bandmate Tim Rogers.
The Boss Is Gone Gone Gone will be available on white 12″ vinyl (100 only), black 12″ vinyl and digitally – The Boss Is Gone Gone Gone | Peter Black | Peter Black Solo
A Bowl of Spiders will be available on yellow 12″ vinyl (100 only), black 12″ vinyl and digitally – A Bowl of Spiders | Peter Black | Peter Black Solo
And Blackie will tour the album nationally in Feb, before the Hard-Ons hit the road with Redd Kross. See below for dates.
