One Eleven Heavy – “The First P.O.W.”

It’s been a stretch since One Eleven Heavy has been on the speakers, so it comes as a welcome surprise this morning that the band has a new single out. The new cut comes in anticipation of Spanish summer tour, and in true 111 fashion, the song slips into the Cosmic American shadows to curl up with literate lilt that explores a cast of characters. Over a tapestry of barroom keys and the wah-heavy helix of guitars, the song recounts the tale of Sam Caldwell, one of the first casualties of the American War on Drugs. The band reaches for Hurricane-style redemption with this one, lacing their sublime slink with Caldwell’s run-in with the law.

“I was contemplating the federal possession offenses that Joe Biden had recently pardoned when I wrote it,” says Nick Mitchell Maiato. “It got me thinking about all those thousands of people over the years who’d unnecessarily felt the full force of those ridiculous laws. Sam Caldwell was one of the first two people [Moses Baca being the other] to get put away for selling weed, back in 1937—and he died within a year of being released, the poor guy. I thought he deserved a tip of the hat by being immortalized in song.” The new single is out now on the band’s Bandcamp and if you’re lucky enough to be around Spain this summer, you can catch them at the dates below.

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Spain June 2024
13th – Louie Louie, Estepona
14th – La Guarida del Angel, Jerez de la Frontera
15th – Black Lab, Barcelona
16th – Dabadabda, San Sebastián-Donostia
17th – Rock Beer the New, Santander
18th – Wurlitzer Ballroom, Madrid
19th – Loco Club, Valencia