Dance Hall Crashers expand "Purr" with seven unreleased songs, share "Ambush"

Dance Hall Crashers are revisiting "Purr", the album they first put out in 1999 through Fat Wreck Chords. An expanded reissue arrives on November 6 on streaming platforms, CD and double vinyl, bundling seven songs that have never reached a wide audience. The first of them, "Ambush", is out now.

Produced by NOFX's Fat Mike, the original record pushed the band beyond its ska-punk foundation, adding heavier guitar work and more intricate pop songwriting. The reissue frames that era with material that never made the final cut.

Four of the seven additions were tracked before the band went on hiatus, then disappeared from view until they turned up again this year. The remaining three had only ever been issued in Japan. The band called digging up the archive an unexpected gift and said sharing the "new" old songs with fans was the obvious next step.

The discovery also prompted a visual refresh. For the deluxe edition, the group commissioned new artwork from Sam Grinberg, an illustrator and animator who has worked with Dance Hall Crashers before. Pre-orders and pre-saves for the expanded version are already live.