Following their first two singles, Brooklyn’s own Horrible Timing is back with their debut EP, Late To The Party. Billed as “anxious pop punk” the band makes good use of their punk, alternative and emo influences, blending them into a satisfying mix of riffs, bounce, and anthemic vocals, sure to please fans of groups like Jimmy Eat World and Alkaline Trio.
Starting off with a bang is the kinetic lead track “Things Could Be Stranger,” which really highlights the driving guitar sounds of Patrick Saccenti and vocals (and harmonies) of Melissa Licciardello. Bassist Christian Lovrich and drummer Anthony “Smallz” Strano keep things pinned down on the rhythm section.
The previously released single “Inconceivable” is a high point, and according to the group’s Bandcamp is “a song about trying to say “I love you”, with Licciardello getting personal and singing “Just kiss me goodnight and see where this all goes / Don’t throw it all away because I can’t say- / I try my best to bend, but I just can’t break / Give me time, a song, and a line / I’ll let you know that I-“
Producer and engineer Jerry Farley (Sick of It All, Lamb of God, Every Time I Die) has really done a great job with this record, bringing out all the grit of the guitars and fullness of the rhythm section without burying the vocals, letting them fill the space. It’s a slick sound without being overproduced. The energy is high right up until the end on closer “Nothing To Write Home About,” with soaring choruses of ‘woah-oh-oh’s’ that will certainly have crowds singing along at live shows. Their release show will be on March 11th at Young Ethel’s.
Gina Birch may be best known for co-founding the legendary post-punk band The Raincoats in 1977, but she has remained a fixture on the scene for a very long time, both as a musician and as a filmmaker and music video director. Now Birch is releasing her first solo album, proving that old punks never die. I Play My Bass Loud melds decades of influences, spanning punk, rock, reggae and more into a cohesive statement from a supremely creative mind.
The title track stakes a claim and makes a statement right out of the gate, with lyrics like “Sometimes I wake up and I wonder, what is my job? – I play my bass loud!” Birch notes “There’s the whole thing about women playing their music and wanting to be heard, wanting acknowledgement or the space to do it. The bass is sometimes assigned as a lesser instrument, and yet because of reggae and the creativity of a lot of women players, it has always been a creative and phenomenal instrument.” Fittingly, the song and video features four other women bassists: Emily Elhaj (Angel Olsen), Mikki Itzigsohn (Small Wigs), Staz Lindes (The Paranoyds), Hazel Rigby (TBHQ) and Birch herself, dancing around with choreographer Brontez Purnell.
“And Then It Happened” is a spoken word track, Birch’s poetic words laid over a bass melody and swirling distortion, which fades perfectly into the lead single “Wish I Was You.” Here we find fellow musical legend Thurston Moore on “thrash chords and noise action.” It’s a hell of a catchy tune, buoyed by Birch’s musing on aging and being ‘cool,’ before she concludes “so many brilliant people I wished I could be / time has carried me forward, now I’m happy with me.”
Birch is undoubtedly a trailblazer and inspiration for her work with The Raincoats, and with tunes like “Feminist Song” and “Pussy Riot,” she is still tackling the place of women in the world, singing on the latter song “some people think we’re trouble / dangerous, profane / but we’re just doing our best to be free, wild, sane.”
On the very melodic “I Am Rage,” Birch sings “rage, I am rage, I’m a bubbling burning cauldron of rage,” words that are almost at odds with the soft way Birch delivers them. In a deftly executed turn, the next song is an ode to shoes over a dark dance beat “I Will Never Wear Stilettos.” “Feminist Song” is a retooling of a song that has appeared in Raincoats sets that mixes spoken word (“So when you ask me if I’m angry, I say why the hell would I not be?”) with the full-throated chorus “I’m a city girl, I’m a warrior, the city made me this way.”
The record was recorded with Youth (of Killing Joke.) “It was a fabulous experience to record at Youth’s in Wandsworth,” says Birch. “Youth likes my passion and my bad guitar playing. I like his attitude, so calm and focused… in a Zen kind of way. We are in fact opposite sides of the same coin.”
Birch is obviously in a very creative time of her life, working on painting as well as music, saying “It’s like a dream come true. I’ve been working hard in my artist’s garret, mostly painting, but always writing songs. An idea forms in my head and I write it or paint it, and now it seems, these ideas are blooming wildly, reaching over the wall!”
I Play My Bass Loud is out now via Third Man Records and available on all major streamers.
Miss Grit is the project of New York-based musician Margaret Sohn, created “to function as an outlet for their own analysis and expression of self.” After two EPs (Talk, Talk in 2019 and Impostor in 2021) which explored identity and relationships, their debut album, Follow The Cyborg, delves deeper into these issues. Taking inspiration from the idea of a cyborg (and from related films and literature, such as Ghost In The Shell and A Cyborg Manifesto), Sohn intertwines such futuristic concepts with their experiences as a mixed-race, non-binary artist to create a deeply personal yet relatable multifaceted record, packed dense with modern themes while remaining catchy to the ear.
Befitting a modern sounding album with a title like Follow The Cyborg, there are synthesizers aplenty here. But the guitar lines that punctuate many of the songs are spine chillingly good, and it would be doing the album a disservice to simply call it electronic. There is an organic use of electronic sounds—this isn’t club music, but there are beats aplenty, and the rhythms will have listeners tapping their toes and moving to the groove.
Kicking off the album is “Perfect Blue,” a track that shares a name with Satoshi Kon‘s famous film dealing with identity, performance and reality. With a gentle beginning that slowly builds through jagged edges and swirling vocals, it’s a great preview of what to expect from the rest of the album. “I’m not going back / I’ll be all I’ve consumed I’m what you asked / I’ll be the perfect blue / Can take a breath now” Sohn sings, staking out their awareness of the demands of the world around them and their attempts at actualization in the face of it.
The singles “Nothing’s Wrong” and “Like You” are well chosen, showcasing Sohn’s use of both slower and mid range tempos as a basis for building a song. Steady rhythms really are the backbone of this record, which Sohn uses in almost Kraftwerk-like precision as they build layers over top. On “Lain (phone clone)” Sohn hits upon an anxiety I’m sure many of us relate to, singing, “Hold up your hands if you can’t hold up the act / Hold up your hands if your two lives overlap / Hold up your hands if you want your memories back / Hold up your hands and let go of your phone clone” (For those of you who may not be versed in anime, the song title references Serial Experiments Lain; suddenly I wonder what a Miss Grit cover of the Lain opening theme would sound like…)
By the time Follow The Cyborg reaches the end on “Syncing,” Sohn is dealing with both individual realizations and interpersonal connections: “I’m starting to move on my own now / And I don’t want to forget how / … When we sync up…(my heart was open, for you) I’ll be there soon (hold up your hands, like you, can take a breath now).” It’s a softer, pulsing song that nonetheless maintains the energy built up through the previous nine tracks, and lists Nicole Rodriguez aka Pearla as a co-writer.
Miss Grit (photo by Hoseon Sohn)
Sohn performs the guitar, vocals, and synths on the album, with various other musicians making guest appearances throughout on strings (Dorothy Carlos on cello, Yaz Lancaster on violin), drums (Greg Tock and Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint), piano (Ben Talmi) sax (Kacey Fassett) and bass (Zoltan Sindhu, although Sohn handles the bass as well on the final track.) The record was recorded and produced by Sohn as well—it’s easy to see why NME called them a “polymath” in 2019.
Follow The Cyborg is an intricate record that will reward repeated listens. Prior to the album’s release, Miss Grit played a hometown release show at Baby’s All Right. They will hit the road in the UK in April with Bartees Strange.
Follow The Cyborg is out now via Mute Records and is available on all major streamers.
Originally the project of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Nicole Harwayne, Uncle Pizza has expanded to a four piece and explored a more band-oriented sound for their new album frog era, recorded in a studio they built in Williamsburg. The band has been gigging in preparation for the release, and I imagine the extended lineup brings a lot of life to these songs.
After an absolutely groovy opening track (“leo corillo beach”) the album moves further into the emo and punk influences claimed by the band. “iowa skyz” is one of these (and I’m tempted to call it Midwest emo because of the title, heh.) There are also fun poppier songs like “owogami fwogs” that put me in mind of Athens bands like Elf Power or Folklore.
The theme of the album is change and Harwayne shares: “all the [vocal] samples are interviews we did with people who worked on the album about their relationship with change.” And indeed the vocal samples are the thread that tie the album together.
There’s a lot of emotion in Harwayne’s vocal delivery, especially on tracks like “-___-” “I hope you don’t see me trying, don’t want to seem like I’m lying.” The emoticon as song title is in line with the playful vibe of much of this record. The record ends with the lovely “summermoth,” joyous chorus of other voices backing up Harwayne’s.
better living started as a two piece composed of vocalist/guitarist Gavin Siebrass and drummer Greg Klepczyk. Under this lineup they recorded the EP Lemons three years ago. But times have changed, and their debut LP crush features the current lineup that is rounded out by guitarist Sam Gaylert and Jorge B-R on bass.
On this record, the band weds their influences of grunge, hardcore and pop-punk. It’s energetic from start to finish. Two recent singles chosen from the album are “stupid song,” a musically-upbeat number that proves to be a pretty good bop, and “untitled,” a tonally darker, harder song leaning heavily on the bass. It’s a smart choice of the band to showcase the varying moods on crush.
The noisier songs like “hellgodbabydamnno” are the strength on the album, while the catchiest song on here is the humorous yet depressing “danny devito.” There’s a vibe on this album that reminds me a lot of the punk bands I grew up with 20 some years ago, which I promise is a compliment. Fun local bands you can catch live and also put on your skate mix are important to the musical ecosystem.
crush was mixed by Siebrass and mastered by Matt Goings; the production is fairly drum-forward, not necessarily a bad thing as the percussion does drive the songs forward well. Still, I’d like to hear the guitar lines better, as they’re pretty fun. “cold comfort” does a good job of bringing the distorted wail of the guitars forward, with some quiet-loud dynamics that make it a highlight.
better living can be found on Instagram and Soundcloud; crush was self released and is available now on all major streamers.
