In her latest album for Northern Spy Records, Shilpa Ray gets personal, political, and powerful on Portrait of A Lady. With her signature alto belt and harmonium accompanied by a range of other instruments, Ray delivers a timely record tinged with a balance of justified rage and critical contemplation. Not one to ever shy away from social commentary, Shilpa Ray tells off the patriarchy in Portrait of A Lady with 12 songs in just under 42 minutes.
The record also comes at a critical moment for abortion rights—just a few days after the album’s April 29th release, a SCOTUS document was leaked outlining the possible overturn of Roe v. Wade, which later came to pass in June, angering millions. This is a decision that has had dire consequences on the lives of birthing people everywhere, most especially where abortion is illegal. As the United States reckons with restricting access to essential reproductive care, amplifying the voice of an artist such as Shilpa Ray couldn’t be more important.
On her Bandcamp page, it is explicitly stated that the album is about Ray’s experience as a survivor of sexual abuse and assault with her adding: “This album is dedicated to the survivors. May we one day be able to reclaim ourselves.” With Portrait of a Lady, she has done the brave and important work of telling her story in a way that is deeply beautiful, dynamic, and riveting.
The track arrangement allows for plenty of punctuated rage through the interweaving of fast-paced songs with slower ballads while also making space for sadness. The record opens with a song dedicated to Brett Kavanaugh called “Straight Man’s Dream” where Ray throws multiple punches to the Supreme Court Justice through searing commentary. “Ever think you’d be an asshole in high school?/Then be appointed to the highest court of law?/Beers and bros, basketball and hoes/Sweethearts blacked out with your claws over her jaw. Male bonding homo erectus/boy talk with your dick in the stars/what a dream, man, what a dream. I hope you burn from your eczema.“ She repeats the last line a few times until the song’s end, making clear how she’d like to see Kavanaugh disintegrate.
The second song on the album is a reclamation in power. On “Manic Pixie Dream Cunt,” she turns up the heat with a fast-tempo track that features her signature howl with incredible vocal control: “You can go gas lighting/Go gas lighting/Cause Imma gonna burn this palace down/Burn this palace down!/Burn this palace down!” Ray yells throughout the song, clear on her intent to be as destructive as possible when it comes to tearing down structures of patriarchal power. “I’m a manic pixie dream cunt/Yeah I’m a manic pixie queen/I’m a manic pixie dream cunt/Livin’ the manic pixie dream/I’m manic/Up yours morality.” Clearly, she is pissed off and she’s also managed to channel her anger into a memorable and rocking track on Portrait of a Lady.
Shilpa Ray performing (photo by Kate Hoos)
At the end of the album’s A-side is “Cry For The Cameras,” a song where Ray delves into how stories of abuse can become sensationalized. The song features a heart-wrenching opener of “Your story doesn’t have a chance to survive/Unless it’s being heavily televised/Break out those big tears, my darling/Network tears, my darling/Look straight at the lens and learn how to cry.” She is acutely aware of how little the media actually cares about telling the stories of survivors and reminds listeners not to confuse media sensationalism with actual change. Stylistically “Cry For The Cameras” is the most surreal song on the record. She belts in a retro style against a backdrop of harmonium and lightly strummed guitars. The song maintains a slower pace throughout, with an obvious sadness setting the song’s tone.
In detailing her deeply personal experiences as a survivor of sexual abuse and assault, Ray makes sure not to leave out the topics of women working against their own interests and men masquerading as feminists. “Bootlickers of the Patriarchy” was released last November as a single ahead of the album and was written about Senator Susan Collins’ infamous press conference after the Kavanaugh/Blasey Ford hearings (read our review of the single). The song is an important reminder that indeed there are women in the world who are only interested in their own advancement at the expense of other women. “Male Feminist” provides essential commentary on the landscape of men pretending to fight for the rights of women and gender non-conforming people as a method of social gain.
Portrait of a Lady concludes with “Last Wave,” a track where Ray reflects on what she’s been through, and how she might react if feminism had a last wave. “Happy endings are not only for the rich/the thin veneer of civilization/and when we’re equal, I won’t know where to begin/wake me up and tell me what’s my endgame.” The song feels like a distant reality because it is. She is well aware that the fight for the rights of women and non-men is a never-ending fight, but one that is of course necessary. Luckily for us, we have a catchy, sharp, and powerful record to listen to as we work to alleviate the destructive nature of the patriarchy. “What fool thinks a woman could ever break like a little girl? I’ve been waiting with a bat in my hands to put your lights out in this world.”
Shilpa Ray performing (photos by Kate Hoos)
It cannot be overstated just how original Portrait of a Lady truly is. From personal anecdotes to incorporating current events, this is easily one of the most important and relevant releases of the year. Shilpa Ray should be considered an essential listen for anyone who remotely cares about good music and destroying the patriarchy.
Portrait of a Lady is out now via Northern Spy Records and is available on all major streaming platforms.
Julien Baker’s new EP, B-Sides, has arrived just in time for her tour with Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen. The songs were recorded during the Little Oblivions sessions but did not see release at the time the album came out in 2021. I personally have always loved Baker’s outlier/non album tracks the most, such as the various singles “Tokyo” and “Red Door,” as well as the covers and one-offs that have come out between albums and for compilations. This release finds itself comfortably among those tracks: a little bit different, but familiar at the same time.
And while these songs did result from the Little Oblivions sessions, I hear whispers of not just her latest work, but of all three of her albums within them. The lead single “Guthrie,” has the feel of being a throwback to the Sprained Ankle days; Baker at her most raw, just her and an acoustic guitar in a room, unembellished and pure. This song had previously been released as a bonus track on the Japan-only edition of the album while the other songs are being released for the first time. The other two tracks definitely fit more squarely in the sonic territory of the rest of Little Oblivions, featuring a full band sound (though with the instruments all being played by Baker herself) and lush production. And maybe it’s just me, but I also can’t help but think that if there were no drums on “Mental Math,” the shimmering guitars and warble of her voice might have fit into the track listing of Turn Out the Lights fairly seamlessly.
Julien Baker “Guthrie”
“Vanishing Point,” is my favorite of the trio of songs here, delving into the sweeping post rock she began exploring on the album (and has joked about), layers of guitars and keys swirling alongside the urgency of her plea “don’t feel bad.” While I very much enjoy her purely solo work and the songs that are more acoustic or based on only a few loops, these larger arrangements are what really show off her skills as not just a songwriter, but as a full fledged composer. Many of the songs on the first two records—both musically and lyrically—always felt to me as if they were somehow ready to burst at the seams, looking for more space to fill and exist within; with songs like “Vanishing Point” or “Hardline,” Baker has unlocked that bigger potential. The live setting has indeed seen some of those older songs get new, fuller arrangements to begin living different and fresh identities.
I described her live set as a thoughtful three arc narrative when I saw her in both New York and London within the last year, and the same can be said of this EP. It shows slices of her past work, glimpses of the here and now, and a distinct nod to the future. Only time will tell which direction she will head in fully, but this EP serves as a beautiful waypoint on the journey.
B-Sides is out now via Matador and available on all major streaming platforms.
When I think of the most exciting bands currently going in NYC, who consistently put on high energy and engaging performances, Winter Wolf is always one of the very first to come to mind. I love going to their shows and I’ve watched them (and played with them) for the last few years from their earlier duo lineup to the current trio of bassist/vocalist Jey Winters, vocalist Tony $ixx, and drummer Nate Harris and have seen them grow into a dynamic, powerhouse of a band.
I’ve also long been waiting for them to release new music and was absolutely thrilled the day I got to listen to Unwell, their blistering four song EP which is also their first recording as a trio. The band had this to say about the record: “This EP represents everyone who’s felt the effects of 2020 and life overall. The hardships, pain, and trauma have made us all unwell. However we’ve survived and become more vital than ever, this is our time to celebrate those victories while continuing to face new challenges with pride.”
The EP is intense and though short, it packs one hell of a punch with hard, heavy riffs and rock solid drumming from start to finish. The lead single “Blue Lights,” features huge bass and drums driving the song, accompanied with perfectly matched dual vocals from $ixx, providing the high falsetto, and Winters serving up the full low end with intense growls to match his killer riffs. A sharp condemnation to cops and police violence, they mince no words when they yell FUCK YOUR BLUE LIGHTS!“Eye of the Wolf” starts off a classic punk romper—a really fun sing along in the live setting and the perfect song to blast while cruising on a skateboard or flying down the highway with the windows down—and then wraps up with a feverish, fist pumping breakdown.
Winter Wolf “Blue Lights”
Surprising was the addition of guitar, also played by Winters, which is not something they have used in their live performances before, sticking to the bass/drums/vocals instrumentation. It really thickened up their sound and added a nice depth to the songs; this is most apparent on “Creep,” which has a lot of elements layered together for their most complex offering to date. The song also features some of Harris’ best drumming on the record and some really nice interplay vocally from Winters and $ixx. On the addition of guitar, Harris told me that it’s something they may consider for future releases, but they don’t plan to add it to their live show as of right now. Either way, the band sounds great with it, but they also sound just as good and can easily command the stage without it too.
Winter Wolf performing (photo by Kate Hoos)
The only real downside I can point to is that the EP is so short, but it is a really nice document of where the band has been and I think a nice preview of where they are heading. My hankering for a full length has only increased and I’m hopeful that is coming around the corner very soon.
Unwell is out now via Academic Punk Records and available on all major streaming platforms. Follow the band on Instagram to keep up with their future shows.
Do you have 22 minutes and 31 seconds? That’s the total running time of 95 Bulls lo-fi rager debut LP Go Home which came out just in time for your next trip to the beach. An accidental Brooklyn supergroup formed from loose members of local acts (Ash Jesus, Smock, Bipolar, Jelly Kelly, and Mystery Lights), they came together in the darkest corners of 2020, because as the band says “they all wanted to make music for fun while their bandmates were scattered but after one meetup everyone decided it was best to write a record and get married.” The band quickly began turning heads with their tornado of livestreams and outdoor performances any time and anywhere they could gather their gear and a crowd.
Pulling a crowd never seemed to be a problem for the band though, and very quickly they realized they were onto something, the “accidental turned purposeful,” according to the band. What ensued was an onslaught of singles, lots of cigarettes, power wheels, proms, and not very much basketball. Soon they were sharing stages with Wavves, Sheer Mag, Dirty Fences, and Sunflower Bean, playing venues like Bowery Ballroom and Bryant Park Summer Stage, and not to mention every hot show every time you turned your head in Brooklyn.
Like a rusty buzzsaw dropped into an old grimy bathtub of reverb, 95 Bulls are like listening to The Von Zippers with a mouthful of quaaludes and pop rocks in equal measure. Often the main melody line focus bounces between vocals, and guitar riffs, and keys, almost hypnotically pulling your brain under its spell, erasing your memory and then punching you right in the face. Unarguably, Emily Ashenden (vocals) leads the charge with her Janis Joplin meets Mia Zapata style grit and growl, but if you’re a guitar nerd, guitarist Zach Inkley is probably the shredder that tickles all your soft spots. At its core, Zach Butler (drums) and Dom Bodo (bass) are lock-stepped into the rhythmic pocket forming the true spine of the operation. For me personally, however, it’s really Kayla Asbell (keys) that provides the band’s signature as it’s that organ that immediately clues you in that you are indeed hearing 95 Bulls usually even before Ashenden’s distinctive vocals start.
95 Bulls performing (photo by Kate Hoos)
At times satisfyingly frantic, the record is rife with killer freakout tracks like “Crazy” and “Trichotillomania.” But for every song that has you gladly tearing out all your body hair and pow-pow-power wheeling yourself to the nearest bodega to slam a Red Bull and a bag of chips, the band birthed from beneath the bowels of popular live music spot Our Wicked Lady also delivers one like “Your Dad’s Watch” that explores darker grooves and heavier elements, leaving you lyrically a little terrified.
However, what this old punk rocker probably finds most impressive lies in the jammier loopier tracks like “Young Love” and “Red Nails.” Despite leaning hard here into a sonic area that can easily tread into boring and unremarkable repetitive jam band territory, 95 Bulls somehow sidesteps this entirely by creating a sense of urgency and purpose, clocking even their jam songs all in well under three minutes.
Go Home is an impressively solid debut from a band that was never supposed to happen. This Brooklyn ensemble of lovable misfits found themselves a musical conduit for their creative reservoirs and found each other when there was no outlet for live music. The songs themselves seek to connect rather than isolate. In these strange times, 95 Bulls doesn’t ignore the heaviness around them, but at the same time they find a way to embrace having fun amidst the madness. And we can certainly all use more of that.
Go Home was self released and is available on all major streaming platforms. Catch the band Aug 10th at Market Hotel with Namesake and LA Witch.
Scroll down for pics from the release show for Go Home (photos by Kate Hoos)
Jawbox casually dropped their first new music in 26 years recently which came as a surprise to me and just about everyone else. But a very welcome surprise as I have wondered if new music would be something that would result from their 2019 reunion and this is the first clue that it may indeed be coming. The announcement was low key and made on the band’s Instagram just a few days before the music was released on Bandcamp.
Though technically it could be said this is not in fact new music since it is two re-imagined songs from their 1991 debut album Grippe, “Grip” and “Consolation Prize,” along with a cover of Wire’s “Lowdown,” but either way you slice it, it’s still exciting. This release definitely gives me hope that the band is in the process of writing new music and perhaps this short EP is just a taste of things to come, a testing of the waters if you will to see how receptive their fanbase would be. These recordings also mark the first with new guitarist Brooks Harlan (Office of Future Plans, War On Women) who replaced Bill Barbot last year after Barbot moved to Vermont.
The band had this to say about the EP on their Bandcamp “As Jawbox rehearsed for shows with the addition of guitarist Brooks Harlan, we reworked a couple of songs from our first record Grippe. We felt those, as well as a Wire cover, were worth recording. Enjoy!” A short and sweet statement, that also cleverly keeps it close to the vest what their next moves may be studio wise.
Jawbox in 2019 (photo by Kate Hoos)
Jawbox is not the first band to revisit older work, and major artists like Beck and Conor Oberst (with Phoebe Bridgers) have recently announced their intentions to do the same with some of their material too. I think this is something I’d like to see more of because I’ve always found songs to not be static creations, but rather living entities that change and evolve over time as the artists who created them do (and recording techniques improve and budgets get bigger), so it has always seemed silly to me that just one recorded version would be the final word on any given song. There is nothing wrong with tweaks and revisions big or small so songs can live different lives at different points.
And while these re-imagined takes on Jawbox’s early work are definitely different—the drum fills more intricate on “Grip,” the guitars more nuanced and fuller throughout—they are overall not radical departures from the original recordings, but they don’t need to be. Rather they excellently represent the more mature version of the band that exists today: J. Robbins vocals more refined, the tempos more constrained, and notably Zach Barocas’ unique drumming leaving its mark on songs that were originally written and recorded before his tenure in the band. This EP is a must for any long time supporters (or even newer) and the comments on Bandcamp certainly prove that the fans are very ready to hear even more from the band.
Jawbox will play a three night residency at LPR in NYC on July 20, 21, 22nd, playing material from every era of their career.
The Revisionist EP was released exclusively on Bandcamp.
Find Out, the debut full-length album from Brooklyn’s Spite FuXXX, is like stepping into a swirling sonic cartoon, not unlike the effect of some very fun drugs. But you will eagerly suck this Kool-Aid down, and frontwoman MG Stillwaggon will pick you up in a hotrod made of flame, so no time to get ready, just go! There is no choice but to embrace the volcanic chaos of Spite FuXXX’s self-described “trash noise punk.” And like all good trips, you’ll find deeper meanings within the color pulsations, and you might come out the other end a better person with more clarity. If you’re lucky…sucka! No…really.
This album is political and surreal, danceable and thrashing, a shitload of fun, and it might even help you navigate the absurdity and nightmares of late capitalism. Stillwaggon and company are cruising through hell and back on waves of spacey synth (from Frankie L. Frances, also screaming out backing vocals), thoroughly danceable guitar riffs (skillfully played by Anaïs Valdez), and an always driving rhythm section (from the super duo of Alex Glueck on drums and Greg Albert on bass). So turn up the volume, slam yourself into overdrive, and take the journey to the Hollywood Burger King with Spite FuXXX. This junk food is good for you.
Stillwaggon’s raw vocals rush right out in the album’s first two tracks “Too Much,” and “Last Word.” Both songs are efficient punk anthems (clocking in at under two minutes each) of women who will not be controlled and will not settle for less than they deserve. The rapid-fire distorted guitar sounds and relentless rhythms are squeezed through the time warp feel of Frances’s synth sounds for a truly unique blend of noise and punk. Stillwaggon’s lyrics make it clear that she will not be quiet, no matter how uncomfortable it makes any man that she fuxxx: “I think I wanna start some shit…cuz baby watching you squirm in those jeans is even better than getting you outta them.”
Find Out’s third track, “Gates of Hell,” is when things really get wild. Stillwaggon slams her foot on the gas and the Spite FuXXX speedster careens off the road and down a hole into the underworld, where suddenly the uncontrollable heroines of the first two tracks are “kissing death by the gates of hell.” Ooooooh, Death! It’s sexy. And a little goth. And delightfully surreal and weird. But the standout song of the album is “Eat the Rich,” Stillwaggon’s exemplary lyrical gifts really shine on this fourth track, and in the name of taking down the one percent, a sentiment most of us can enthusiastically appreciate: “They watch us die while collecting their tax break / So let em cry as they watch their glass break / Whaddya think, broiled or sauteed? / Bet their champagne makes a great marinade” Yum, yum! Eat up, proles, this is your moment! All good satirical fun, or deathly serious? Who cares? Let’s dance! Spite FuXXX is gonna make you jump up and down until your brain has collided with your skull so many times you don’t care if this is a joke or if you actually are chewing on some rich asshole’s disembodied arm.
The frenzy continues in “Fuck Yr Star Magick,” another standout track, where the collective rage at the rich has morphed into freeform anger at the prophecy of the stars “Gemini rising up my ass! / Maybe it’s Mercury, Maybe it’s bullshit!…Your aura is piss yellow / L train rising, fuck right off!” a uniquely Brooklyn burst of aggression! The hallucinatory technicolor storm of it all is well-captured by visual artist Preston Spurlock’s video to accompany the fifth track, the groovy “Break Me”:
In the end, the Spite FuXXX roadster pulls up to the “Hollywood Burger King,” Find Out’s ninth and final song. They push you out into the parking lot, but before they drive off into the toxic neon sunset, you fall into the somewhat frightening joy of their raucous music once again. You will “sell your flamebroiled soul to the Hollywood Burger King!” But you had a great time, and you might even feel better about the impending apocalypse. Many thanks for the ride, Spite FuXXX!
Find Out is out now via Make Believe Records and available on all major streaming platforms.
