Black Eyes, the influential experimental/art punk/post punk band, had a blink and you miss it career—only existing from 2001-2004—and thus are the kind of band many of us discovered posthumously, myself included. Having found them in the nascent ether of mp3 blogs not long after their breakup, I’ve been listening to them for a very long time at this point and their self titled debut is one of my favorite records of the early aughts, but I still never thought seeing them and their legendarily intense live show outside the realm of a low quality YouTube video was a thing that would be possible. I figured it was a footnote in history and they were just one of those bands I’d have to accept never having seen live. Flash forward to today, right here in the waning hours of 2022, and the band has re-emerged from retirement to grace us with their presence, the feverish and chaotic fury of their sound a much needed salve in these hellish times
They have announced a 20th anniversary re-issue of their 2003 self-titled debut on Dischord and three East Coast shows to coincide with the release: 4/7/23 Washington DC at Black Cat, 4/8/23 Brooklyn at Market Hotel, and 4/9/23 Philadelphia at First Unitarian Church. No word at this point if these shows and the re-issue are it, or there may be more coming, but either way, this is joyous news. Pre-orders for the record will soon be available directly from Dischord.
Their bio via Dischord reads:
Black Eyes are Dan, Daniel, Hugh, Jacob, and Mike. They began playing as Black Eyes in August of 2001, although most of the band had played together previously in Trooper and The No-Gos before that. The band’s first-full length was released on Dischord in 2003 following several singles on Ruffian Records and Planaria. Black Eyes created a unique live experience as the members made a symmetrical shape on stage, two drummers, one on either side of the stage, two bass players, one at the back and one at the front, and one guitarist in the middle. Their shows were chaotic and often melted down into frenzied, rhythmic jam sessions, with most of the audience partaking in the mayhem by the end of the set. After an extensive tour with Q and Not U, the band released their second full-length, Cough, in May of 2004. This album introduced saxophone to the mix and relied more heavily on improvisational and dub influences that were hinted at in their earlier work. The band broke up shortly before the album was released, at the height of their popularity.
See some of the aforementioned low quality YouTube footage:
LA garage punks The Paranoyds recently dropped their stellar new album, Talk Talk Talk (Third Man), and hit NYC for their first show in over two years, kicking off Halloweekend. They took the stage at Market Hotel in bright colorful outfits, as if telling the crisp autumn air to fuck off. Paper Magazine once likened them to splitting the difference between The Go-Go’s and Bratmobile and I think that still rings true. They’ve got all the snark and bite of the riot grrrl bands that came before them coupled with great pop sensibilities to round things out, making for some catchy as hell tunes. And it makes for a seriously killer live set too. I especially enjoyed the vocal interplay of bassist Staz Lindes and guitarist Lexi Funston who trade off on lead, with Laila Hashemi coming out from behind the keys for a turn on lead vocals (and jaunt into the crowd) for a song too, all three backing each other up when not on main vocals.
This date came right in the middle of their cross country tour in support of the album, and after a stand alone four show run supporting Jack White as well as an appearance at Desert Daze, so they were more than primed, firing on all cylinders with a tight, super fun set. And NYC definitely missed them during their time away (no) thanks to the pandemic. The crowd welcomed them with open arms and plenty of active participation and singing along throughout the night, complete with one fan climbing the infamous support column in the middle of the floor at Market, wearing his Paranoyds shirt and exuberantly rocking out towards the end of the night. A fitting end for a raucous set.
The night was opened BK local garage wunderkinds, 95 Bulls, who also released an album this year, Go Home, which has been in heavy rotation at FTA headquarters. Helmed by the powerful “Janice Joplin meets Mia Zapata” pipes of Emily Ashenden, and fueled with plenty of organ and a driving rhythm section, this band is always a ton of fun to watch. Direct support came from Tchotchke, the up and coming indie trio which features Anastasia Sanchez (drums/lead vocals) and Eva Chambers (bass/backing vocals) formerly of Pinky Pinky. The trio is rounded out by guitarist Emily Tooraen and builds on the foundation they established in their earlier project, with Sanchez’s solid drumming and particularly unique vocals taking a lot of the central focus. Their self titled debut album arrived this past summer and they are a band to keep your eyes on for sure.
This lineup was a fun one, a perfect kickoff to Halloweekend and one of the highlights of my Rocktober, a month that saw me at shows ranging from L7 to Steve Lacy, DIY punk to EDM, and lots of stuff in between. Out of many, this is one I won’t soon forget!
Scroll down for music vids from each band and pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
Petrol Girls are one of the most crucial political post hardcore bands currently going. Their latest album, Baby, was released this past June, it is unflinchingly feminist and sharply critical of the interlocking systems of oppression that seek to crush all who are not rich, white, cis, straight and male. And it’s also their most ambitious offering yet musically, an incredibly nuanced and complex record with clever compositions and arrangements, far from the usual “crash and bash” sound the words “political hardcore band” tends to bring to mind. The songs are full of twists and turns with rich layers to uncover as you listen again and again.
I’ve admired this band from afar for some time, and listened to their first two records—2016’s Talk of Violence and 2019’s Cut & Stitch—many times before I first got the chance to see them when I was on a trip to the UK in 2019. That performance left me shaken (in a very good way) and I was very much looking forward to seeing them in the States in March 2020 which unfortunately never came to pass because their tour was scrapped due to visa issues right as Covid loomed on the horizon. And with the onset of lockdown and the ensuing turmoil for musicians (and everyone) resulting from the pandemic, it was unclear for a long while if or when I’d ever get to see them again.
Flash forward to last month while I was in the UK again for a wedding and all of a sudden the wait was over. Because while I may have been there to celebrate my loving friends, fortunately for me, Petrol Girls magically booked a show in Cardiff during the time I was there and doubly lucky, I’m friends with people who both live in Wales AND love going to shows as much as I do, so the night before the wedding the bride, groom and many friends from the wedding party all headed to the show to celebrate. I always love to shoot shows when I can while traveling too, because obviously I love music, and it’s always a plus seeing bands that are harder for me to see back home. (I also don’t really know how to ever effectively take time off from my life in New York and just take it on the road with me wherever I go. There is that too!)
While I waited patiently to see them again, I got to know the new record and was very excited to see the songs performed live. This album is as musically ambitious as it is politically incendiary and sees the band expanding beyond the boundaries of the hardcore/post hardcore sound from their previous albums. While those styles still absolutely are the framework within which they exist, Baby sees the band exploring sounds that feel more like electronic music at times (“One or the Other,” “Baby, I Had an Abortion”) and even delve towards a hip hop feel with the flow of the music and the lyrical delivery in “Sick & Tired,” which is one of my favorite tracks from the album. You can read more about their process in this very interesting track by track breakdown of Baby with vocalist Ren Aldridge, where she talks about some of the sounds and the political motivations behind the songs.
Petrol Girls in Cardiff
Lyrically, Aldridge addresses many topics from femicide, abortion, bodily autonomy, mental health, hypocrisy and inaction/hand wringing on the left, male violence, police brutality, nationalism and much more from an rageful, astute and well researched place. Some of my favorite lyrics of 2022 come from “Preachers”: I don’t want to be saved, I guess I’ll be damned. As well as her unflinching, absolutely no fucks given about anyone else’s feelings in “Baby, I Had An Abortion” when she declares Baby, I had an abortion AND I’M NOT SORRY! Both lines are just as cathartic and powerful to yell along to as the closing lines of 2016’s anthem to bodily autonomy, “Touch Me Again,” where she screams Touch Me Again and I’ll fucking Kill You! no less than a dozen times. Seeing that song live in particular is one of the most powerful experiences I’ve had at a show and I’m someone who goes to shows for a living, so a lot of them; not much has held a candle to that.
Because I’m generally not good with identifying how a particular sound was created, I was very keen to learn how they made the new songs and now having seen the songs played live, I was even more impressed to see that they haven’t brought in computers and keyboards to accomplish their expanded palette like I thought they might have, rather guitarist Joe York built the songs with pedals/effects with drummer Zock Astpai using a sample pad, keeping the setup relatively simple while still being able to expand greatly on their sound. And given how different this record felt, I was also unsure if they had made a “studio” record that might not sound the same live, but the songs resonated live in an incredible way and were as fully formed as they are on the album, a perfect transition from record to stage.
The safety and comfort of the audience were major themes of the show both times I’ve seen the band, with Aldridge making repeated calls for all cis men to move away from the front to allow space for “women and my non binary mates” to be at the front, freely able to enjoy the show. At the 2019 show, she called out a specific bro for being too aggressive and crowd killing saying “I’m not going to take your aggro shit,” which obviously gets my full seal of approval each and every time. I want to enjoy a show with an active crowd sure, but there are ways to have a crowd have a good time, be active and working together to keep it fun/safe without it turning into a violent mess where people feel unsafe/unwelcome or worse, get hurt (sadly something that has happened to me countless times over the years and several times this past year alone).
This is something I have seen more artists being cognizant of and calling out more recently and I hope it continues; artists talking about it directly is the first and most effective way to ensure everyone feels safe and welcome at shows, and that things don’t careen out of control. At this most recent show, the band cheekily called for a “Waltz of Death” (a play on the old macho hardcore standard, the “wall of death”) and invited the audience to dance and waltz together during “One or the Other,” which everyone gleefully undertook for one of the most delightful things I’ve seen at a show in a while.
Waltz of Death!
As for the rest of the evening, it was a sonically mixed bill with each band playing a different style. But that was of no concern to anyone there, everyone enthusiastically supporting all three acts (I love the local scenes I have interacted with in the UK so much for this, not like the jaded NYC crowds I so often encounter). Opening the show was Newport, Wales based band, Murder Club, who played a set of catchy indie synth/pop. Direct support came from Cardiff band, Telgate, who put on a theatrical performance and self describes as “fiery queer aggro-glam band from South Wales with a duty to start riots in 6″ platforms 💋” (I unfortunately missed shooting their set but hopefully I can see them again next time I’m over that way.)
After the show, I asked York at the merch table when he thought Petrol Girls might finally make it to the States and he said while nothing is concrete yet, they are hoping for the latter half of 2023. I’m certainly hopeful for that too. Until then, I will continue to keep this critical band on heavy rotation in my life.
Scroll down for videos, setlist, pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
Setlist: Clowns, The Sound, No Love for a Nation, Sick & Tired, Monstrous, Survivor, Fight For Our Lives, Harpy, (Big Mouth not played), One Or the Other, Preachers, Baby I Had an Abortion, Touch Me Again
Fresh off of performaning at LEVITATION in Austin and with a show at Red Rocks Amphitheater with King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (with whom they share several members) tonight, 60s psych twinged punk band, The Murlocs, are kicking off their headlining North American tour with a bang and bringing their energetic and outrageous live show on the road, heading to Philadelphia on 11/7 and criss crossing the continent over the next three weeks. To celebrate, they released a video of “Living Under A Rock,” recorded live at The Forum in Melbourne this past February. The band will also take part in a Reddit r/indieheads AMA on Sunday, Nov 6 at 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific (Monday, Nov 7, 9am Melbourne, Aus).
Check out the video below as well as all 2022 North American tour dates.
The Murlocs 2022 North American Tour:
11/7- Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
11/9- Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
11/10- Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
11/11- Montreal, QC @ Théâtre Fairmount
11/12- Toronto, ON @ Axis Club
11/14- Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
11/15- Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
11/16- St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
11/17- Omaha, NE @ Reverb Lounge
11/18- Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
11/20- Boise, ID @ Neurolux Lounge
11/22- Seattle, WA @ Neumos
11/23- Vancouver, BC @ Richshaw Theatre
11/25- Portland, OR @ Star Theater
11/27- San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Long running Canadian hardcore band, Fucked Up, have announced a brand new album, One Day, and shared the passionate title track.
The album is so named because it is literal—the album was written and each band member contributed their parts in twenty four hour time periods. The idea to approach the album this way came to guitarist Mike Haliechuk towards the end of 2019, who said it helped him “reconnect with the core of his and the band’s songwriting essence in the process.” He explained “I wanted to see what I could record in one day. After you’ve been in a band for this long, you lose track of what your sound actually is,” continuing, “Twenty-four hours can feel like a long time, but you can get a lot done then, too. It can feel like forever and one minute at the same time. If you work on something for one day, it can end up being really special.”
Each band member completed their parts remotely, adhering to the twenty four hour rule in place for their contributions. Drummer Jonah Falco saying “I got this email from Mike saying ‘I made this record in one day, and I want you to record drums on it—but you can’t listen to it before you get into the studio’. I saw layers upon layers of guitar loops, and I dove in head-first and came out with a finished record.”
Vocalist Damian Abraham was set to complete his vocal parts when the Covid lockdowns hit and the album was subsequently shelved for two years to allow the band to complete their epic Year of the Horse project. But the delay and the isolation of lockdown did have creative benefits and Abraham returned to writing lyrics for the first time since 2014’s Glass Boys. On the lyrical themes he elaborated “What do I want to say to friends who aren’t here anymore? What do I want to say to myself? There was a lot of inner reflection going on, and after retreating into the fantasy world withYear of the Horse, this record is like we’re returning to real life,” also saying that at the time “It almost felt like it might be the last time I’d ever get to record vocals for anything.”
“This record is about how we see time passing in our lives,” Falco continued “It represents the realization of what Fucked Up’s songwriting process has always been, which is the genesis of an idea from one person spread to other members. All of the development happened spontaneously with this album, which meant no time to second-guess. You had to be confident.”
One Day cover art
The song is paired with a new music video directed by Colin Medley who said “When I first heard ‘One Day,’ it sounded to me like a song about two people overcoming all odds to find love and happiness with each other. Right away I knew that I wanted to tell the story through two dancers. I decided to shoot at the Great Hall in Toronto the day Fucked Up were scheduled to play a show there. I plotted out the basic structure of the video, deciding that it would end with the two characters searching for each other in the crowd as Fucked Up performed on stage.” The dance performances were choreographed by Lauren Runions and feature dancers Amanda Pye and Tavia Christina.
Watch the video below and stream the track on all major streamers. One Day is available for pre-order now and releases in full on January 27, 2023 via Merge.
