Music To Check Out: Rostam At The Crocodile

June 2, 2026• byMichael Strangeways

Rostam Batmanglij, the Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter, producer best known as being part of the original line-up of Vampire Weekend, now simply goes by ROSTAM, and the out gay music star has just released his latest solo album, AMERICAN STORIES. He’s also touring in support of that album and he’ll be bopping into The Crocodile, on Sunday, June 7th. Tickets at https://www.ticketweb.com/event/rostam-american-stories-tour-the-crocodile-tickets/14762293

American Stories, his first album in nearly five years after 2021’s Changephobia, debuted on May 15th and “Like a Spark” was the first single released. Rostam, the son of refugee Iranians, features elements of traditional Persian music on the new album and fellow Iranian-American musician, Amir Yaghmai of The Voidz was one of many collaborators including Clairo and Tobias Jesso Junior.

From the press release:

“At some point in making this record I realized the album I wanted to make was one that reflected my identity as both Iranian and American…Pushing the most Iranian elements right up against the most American ones brought me a certain kind of joy. The first time I put microtonal saz melodies over Western guitar chords, I was thrown off by the way the two rubbed together. But the more I listened the more I became drawn to that rub. I became addicted to it.”
— Rostam

Rostam will continue his tour across the US before heading to Europe in September. The U.S. stops:

05/05 – New York, NY @ Anthology Film Studios (American Stories: A Concert Film screening)
05/11 – Los Angeles, CA @ Brain Dead Studios (American Stories: A Concert Film screening)
05/27 – San Diego, CA @ Music Box*
05/30 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Ford#*
06/03 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel*
06/05 – Vancouver, BC @ Fortune Sound Club!
06/06 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater!
06/07 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile!
06/13 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line KCMP/Electric Fetus*
06/14 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall*
06/15 – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House*
06/17 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair*
06/18 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall#*
06/20 – Washington DC @ 9:30 Club!

American Stories Tracklist:
01. Like a Spark
02. Back of a Truck
03. Different Light
04. Hardy (feat. Clairo)
05. Forgive Is To Know
06. To Feel No Way
07. The Road to Death
08. Come Apart
09. The Weight

About the Author: Michael Strangeways

As the Editorial Director/Co-Owner, Michael Strangeways writes, edits and does about a million other jobs for Seattle Gay Scene, Puget Sound's most visited LGBTQ news, arts and entertainment website now celebrating its 14th year as a media outlet. A semi-proud Midwesterner by birth, he's lived in Seattle since 2000. He's also a film producer who would like you to check out the Jinkx Monsoon documentary, "Drag Becomes Him" now available on Amazon.com. In his spare time, he gets slightly obsessive about his love for old movies, challenging theater, "otters", vodka, chocolate, "I,Claudius", Lizzie Borden, real books made out of paper, disaster films, show tunes, Weimar era Germany, flea markets, pop surrealistic art, the sex lives of Hollywood actors both living and dead, kitties, chicken fried steak, haute couture and David Bowie. But, not necessarily in that order.