Unlike with many bands that became popular in the 90s, this is not a reunion tour: Placebo has continued to release music since then. Although 2022’s Never Let Me Go is their first full length album since 2013’s Loud Like Love, there was an EP and an MTV Unplugged performance in the meantime to tide fans over. And in that span of time they have both changed and not—every album has its own vibe, if you will permit me to use the word, but Placebo always sound like Placebo, and they brought that sound to Brooklyn Steel this past weekend.
A very different band from Placebo at first glance, Big Joanie were an excellent choice of opener. Guitarist Stephanie Phillips, bassist Estella Adeyeri and drummer Chardine Taylor-Stone—all three provide vocals—are a UK trio who proudly declare themselves as a Black feminist punk band. Currently touring in support of their second album Back Home, which is out on Kill Rock Stars and Daydream Library Series, the two Brooklyn Steel shows were their first ever in NYC and the band made a special trip here just for them. While talking to the crowd they noted the influence of Placebo as a “queer punk awakening” for many people.
Musically, Big Joanie moves through riot grrrl to post-punk to synth-pop to create a sound all their own. They started out laid back on stage but built energy as the show progressed. A mix of analog and digital drums paired with synth support lent a unique edge to their rock, and their harmonies are the cherry on top. A highlight for me was during their single “Sainted,” when Adeyeri switched to guitar and absolutely shredded.
Between songs, the band called for support for trans people both here and across the pond and encouraged the audience to read Black feminist literature (“think about the centrality of Black women within the nexus of oppression”) and to join and stand in solidarity with trade unions. Their calls to action drew applause from the crowd (although I noted the only people near me who yelled support while Taylor-Stone was still talking were men—they got the spirit I guess, but read the room.)
I was left excited to check out more of Big Joanie’s music, and to hopefully catch them on their next visit to NYC in May at either Union Pool (5/25) or Baby’s All Right (5/26).
Big Joanie at Brooklyn Steel
After a long lead up and a pre-recorded message asking fans not to view the show through their phones—“enjoy this fleeting and temporary moment”—Placebo launched into the opening track from Never Let Me Go, “Forever Chemicals” (perhaps one of their best songs ever, no exaggeration). Sporting a new look with long hair and a mustache, singer Brian Molko’s voice is exactly the one you remember. The band is down to two members now, Molko and Stefan Olsdal on guitar and bass, but a complement of touring musicians rounded out the lineup. The sound was tight as hell, and accompanied by visuals of the band mixed from live video in real time.
The setlist leaned heavily on new material. Never Let Me Go is metallic and jagged in the harder parts and blissed and chilled at times, and the songs were particularly sharp in a live setting. Tracks like “Twin Demons” and “Hugz” sounded huge in the mid-size venue. Placebo are a band known for their dark tones and moody lyrics, and much of their new material could be seen as misanthropic (“Try Better Next Time” in particular seems to have given up on humanity, extolling them to “grow fins, go back in the water” since we’ve fucked up so badly this go around) but there are moments of beauty to be found as well. “Happy Birthday In The Sky” was dedicated to Molko’s brother who passed away last year. Molko also noted his grandmother is from Canarsie and related his memories of Brooklyn.
Placebo at Brooklyn Steel
Of course subject matter aside, Placebo are excellent at hooks and their anthemic choruses make them a band people can sing along with live. Olsdal was energetic throughout the show, extolling the crowd to clap at times. Molko is in my opinion an underrated and under-discussed guitarist, who gets vicious tones from his stable of guitars and surgical downpicking.
There were some older tunes interspersed throughout, including “Bionic” off their debut and “Slave To The Wage” from Black Market Music. My favorite Placebo song “Too Many Friends” made an appearance as well. The lyrics “all you people do all day is stare into a phone” was made particularly ironic, as Molko reiterated the band’s request for no phones after that number. It is of course their prerogative to make such a request, and as Molko told Vice last year, “We’ve had shitloads of time to think about the demands that are placed on us—being photographed and fetishised and surveilled—and how it makes us feel.” But in this day and age of Instagram, it can take a little prodding for an audience to play along.
The three song encore consisted of new track “Fix Yourself” bookended by two covers: Tears For Fear’s “Shout” and Kate Bush’s “Running Up THat Hill,” a song which is having a bit of a renaissance, but that Placebo covered way back in 2003. After some extended playing around with noise and pedals, the night was over. Some audience members were doubtlessly wondering where the hits from Without You I’m Nothing had gone, but as a band still moving forward, that too is Placebo’s prerogative.
Scroll down for setlist, pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
Setlist: Forever Chemicals, Beautiful James, Scene of the Crime, Hugz, Happy Birthday in the Sky, Bionic, Twin Demons, Surrounded by Spies, Chemtrails, Sad White Reggae, Try Better Next Time, Too Many Friends, Went Missing, For What It’s Worth, Slave to the Wage, Song to Say Goodbye, Come Undone, The Bitter End, Infra-Red Encore: Shout (Tears for Fears cover), Fix Yourself, Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush cover)
On his new album Strange Strangers, singer-songwriter Devon Church pulled from many inspirations—nature, the Bible, relationships, Buddhism—melding musings on love and spirituality into gorgeously composed folk and alt-country songs with lush production and delicate melodies. It’s a natural step forward from his debut, 2018’s We Are Inextricable. On that album, Church had explored his folk tendencies while still treading the electronic and pop territory of his previous group Exitmusic. Unsurprisingly, Church draws comparisons to Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan (Desire-era vibes are high here) and is indeed inspired by them, but fans of 2000’s artists like Crooked Fingers and Jason Molina will find a lot to love in this record as well.
There is a slowly rolling vintage country feel to much of the album, but the extra touches like synths and guitar effects bring it up to modern speed. Church dual wields songwriting skills and musicianship, performing all the instruments himself except for violin (Jesse Kotansky) and drums and hand percussion on “Ephemera” (Gabriel Galvin and Chris Campisi respectively). Also present through much of the album are the backing vocals of Church’s wife Ada Roth. Her voice is not just there for extra color, but provides another set of bones for the songs, supporting Church’s low croon from above. Roth is also an accomplished artist, and contributed artwork for the record and direction for the stunning video for “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” which is also credited to Church and Jared Van Fleet.
The lyrics hold a number of Biblical references, yet Church notes that the “use of biblical imagery is often a foil for other cosmic messages—gleaned from psychedelics, love affairs, Buddhism and Kafka.” Indeed, lines like “rolling the stone from my tomb into a pornographic sunrise” (”Slouching Towards Bethlehem”) and “Jesus was a genius, but I prefer his earlier stuff / no one talks about carpentry much these days” (”This Is Paradise But Not For Us”) trade literal interpretations in for metaphor and dark humor.
Highlights on the record include the opener “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” “Bored of The Apocalypse,” and “All Is Holy.” On “Flash Of Lightning In A Clear Blue Sky” synths emerge to turn the tone towards airy and atmospheric (a sense furthered by the lyrics: “I’d like to / surround you / so that you feel / completely held”). And “Winter’s Come” is a beautiful duet that at the end hits epic highs, acting as a nearly penultimate closer before the lovely waltz-like “Since I Fell.” (The actual last track on the record is “Deer Park,” a short instrumental.)
Recorded and mixed by Church and mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri, the production quality is rich and makes sure to keep Church’s distinct voice forward in the mix while not losing the tapestry of everything else going on. For a vocals/guitar based style of music, the beats on this album are truly standout, with varied rhythmic choices interspersed throughout. While there are some live drums on the album, at the release show Church performed with a vintage drum machine rather than a live drummer, and it works surprisingly well.
Canadian trio The Dog Indiana bill themselves as “not your grandma’s psychedelic grunge rock,” and indeed their newest album Burnt Ends features sounds that feel pulled out of the ground rather than from any trippy ether. The band has built off their work over the past six years and their previous album, Fractured, Murky and Liquid (2018) and EP, Never (2020), to bring out a record of doomy, jagged noise rock.
Most of the tracks on the album are energetic and aggressive, featuring relentless guitar and bass from Clark Ridge and Thomas Service. Santiago Garcia’s drums tones range from clattering to guttural, while the vocals (also from Ridge and Service) often sound as if they were recorded in a metal garbage can, which works really well.
The first three tracks—“Elixir,” “Hydroxydramaqueen” and “Golden Pavilion”—all flow into each other in a clamorous riot. The commotion takes a break during most of “Black Mollies,” with quieter guitar plucking and singing rather than screaming, before a tempo switch brings us back up to speed. I’m unsure if the lyrics are a metaphor or actually about fish (“see you through the glass / slack jawed, but elegant / swear you’re looking back”).
That track and “Matchsticks” are truly where they touch on the “psych” part of their self-description, while “The Hanged Man” gets really doomy. There is enough variation in the songs to keep the nine track album from sounding all the same. The highlight of the album for me is “Loaf,” which has an excellent guitar riff propelling it along, although I wish the rumbling coda at the end were taken to a further conclusion.
The overall effect of the record is dark and gloomy, but with enough of a punch to keep its head above the sludge. The band calls Burnt Ends “an exploration of the feelings of helplessness and isolation that shook so much of the world in the last few years” and it is a pretty intense listen, but a rewarding one.
Burnt Ends is out now via Early Onset Records and available via Bandcamp and all major streamers. Follow the band on Instagram.
It’s always great when a band that kicks ass live is able to kick just as much ass on a record, and Desert Sharks are locked in on their new EP, The Tower. Now including Cait Smith on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, the sound that lead singer and bassist Stephanie Gunther, lead guitarist Sunny Veniero, and drummer Rebecca Fruchter achieved previously is only sharper and tighter. That sound has been described as “gloom punk”—a moniker apparently bestowed upon them by Bandcamp, as noted by Gunther in an interview with Full Time Aesthetic—and it’s an apt name. Desert Sharks meld their grungey punk to dark tones, which when paired with Gunther’s compelling voice becomes rather catchy. Following their 2019 album Baby’s Gold Death Stadium the band made a foray into cover songs, releasing two singles in 2021 paying tribute to Til’ Tuesday with “Voices Carry” and T-Rex with “20th Century Boy.” The Tower is their first original material since then.
The Tower pushes off right from the gate with the single “Medusa:” no waiting for the good stuff, just 4 hits of the cymbal and boom—bass, guitar and vocals kick right in, “He wanted to show me the bottom of the ocean.” The lyrics were inspired by the myth of Medusa to create what Gunther calls “anthem of feminine rage and reclamation of power.” “I’ll turn you into stone,” she declares.
“Sleepy Pie” is a bit more frenetic. “If you wanna love me, how can you live without me?” the lyrics ask in this sweet yet sinister track. “You make me a flesh and blood fantasy.” The video finds the quartet in a sleepover gone wrong (I know we all remember at least one incident in our teens with a seance or a ouija board, right?) and cleverly uses the tarot card imagery. (The lilies from the video for “Medusa” also appear, and it’s cool to see the band using a cohesive aesthetic.)
The record moves around in tone, exploring sometimes a doomier sound (“Emotional Breakdown”) and sometimes a poppier one (“Ego Death”) but the band never stops rocking. Even the slowest feeling track, the 6/8 time “Shadows,” induces headbanging. Fruchter’s drumming really drives everything forward, and Veniero and Smith’s one-two guitar punch nails it down over Gunther’s bass, while her voice is beautifully complemented by Smith’s backing vocals.
Title track “The Tower” is a truly epic closer, full of rolling toms and grinding bass and guitar, complete with a wailing solo. “I know things will never be the same / still I’m holding on to what remains,” Gunther sings, and it all ends on a chant of “the end… the beginning.” It all fits perfectly with the theme of the Tower card, on which Gunther elaborated: “I dabble with tarot. I’m not going to act like I’m an expert. I had a tower year [in 2022]. The tower card is one of the most intense cards because it represents major upheaval, chaos, and destruction. But on the other hand, it offers space for newness, enlightenment, and change.”
The production by Jeff Berner hits the sweet spot, crisp and clear without being slick. Gunther notes that the recording process was a bit different this time around; with the band practicing less in person after the upheaval of the past few years, they learned new technology: “…all our previous times going in to the studio, we didn’t have demos really. Like, we had phone demos from the practice space. Being pushed to work with GarageBand more, we switched our writing style to where it’s like, let’s actually record it out how we want the final product to sound.” The band enjoyed their studio time with Berner, with Gunther saying: “The way it feels when you record with Jeff Berner is that you have this other member in your band who is just as excited and just as dedicated to getting the sound that you want.“
Desert Sharks in 2022 (photo by Kate Hoos)
Desert Sharks are sometimes compared to the greats like L7 and Veruca Salt, and it’s warranted: The Tower is Desert Sharks at the top of their game, able to hold their own with those beloved bands. As this is an EP (six tracks long), I’m reminded of Blow It Out Your Ass, It’s Veruca Salt, possibly that band’s best work. Sometimes shorter is better as a showcase.
The Tower doesn’t feel short, though. The EP is one solid track after another, and the songs are so fully realized that by the time those six tracks are over, the listener has had a complete experience. It’s the best work that Desert Sharks have put out to date, and it’s poised to be a breakthrough for them.
After moving to New York City in 2010 from her native Jerusalem, singer, songwriter, and guitarist RONI has been recording music ever since, both under her current moniker and as Rony’s Insomnia. Her newest single “Don’t Look At Me Like That” is a dramatic, dynamic soulful song with a bluesy feel and soaring vocals. The drums hit a particularly satisfying groove behind the layered guitar solos.
Of this track, RONI says “To me, after spending most of my life in male dominated fields and environments, being made to feel, or sometimes told, that I am not as capable or capable at all, ‘Don’t Look At Me Like That’ is the ultimate self empowering song, as well as an answer to toxic patriarchal stares.” The video was edited by RONI using footage from various live performances, with graphics by Toby Verhines and we have your exclusive first look here on FTA!
RONI will be touring in April this year along with her live band, which features Tom Shani on bass and Pat DiPaolaon drums.
Produced by RONI , Jason Alexander Reyes and Jonathon Meier.
Written by RONI with assistance from Thomas Barranca
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Pat DiPaola at 727 Studios in Brooklyn.
