Boris- W

Boris- W

 

 

Ah, the many sides of Boris. Many of us fell in love with the Japanese trio for their brain-rattling, bowel-shaking, ungodly guitar tones and riffs. Led by guitar hero, Wata—usually positioned in front of an impressive skyline of Orange amplifier stacks—Boris shows are often aurally overwhelming experiences. But on the heels of their 2020 thrash-focused excursion, NO, Boris emphasizes the more ambient and hazy sides of their sound on the intriguing new record, W.

 

The band says NO and W are intended to be companion albums, with the overarching title, NOW. The aggression of NO gives way to more subdued sounds on initial third of W. “I Want to Go to the Side Where You Can Touch…” opens the record. Wata’s hushed vocals whisper over booming drums and various droning and feedbacking guitars before stopping abruptly. “Icelina” then quietly tiptoes in with shimmering guitars and electronic synth and percussion treatments. Wata’s vocals remain hushed but clearer atop the softer musical bed. Her guitars stay subtle on the goth/industrial “Drowning by Numbers.” Takeshi’s bass and Atsuo’s drums move to the fore, providing a bit of funk and a bit of glitch. 

 

It’s not til the fifth song, nearly halfway through W, that we get a barrage of Boris-style downtuned riffage. The instrumental “The Fallen” does not disappoint. An intro dirge of heavy sludge segues into more propulsive chugging, then to a final slow-motion explosion of big drums and deconstructed guitar. 

 

W continues its exploration of dynamics and subtlety with the lullabye, “Beyond Good and Evil,” featuring beautifully executed soft/loud dynamics. “Old Projector” is a spooky instrumental with EVOL-era Sonic Youth atmosphere that evokes a sort of zombie spaghetti western. From there, the band veers into a pounding doom outro before the song stops abruptly. 

 

Boris saves its most expansive statement for near-last with the hypnotic “You Will Know (Ohayo Version).” Takeshi and Atsuo leave wide spaces for Wata’s distant guitar noise and soft vocals. The drums go silent as the band envelopes the tune in more atmospherics of guitars, electronics, synths, and possible accordion? (The liner notes say Wata plays accordion on the record, but I haven’t definitively found where.) “You Will Know” fades out to a brief ambient vignette “Jozan” that closes the album.

 

It’s nearly impossible to disentangle music creation of the past two-plus years from the backdrop of the global pandemic. If NO was a blistering sonic statement of the frustration and despair of the early days of COVID-19, W mostly aims to soothe some nerves, albeit with the occasional outburst. It reminds us that these are incredibly challenging times for people all over the planet and that many of us have reacted and navigated the times similarly regardless of our where we live. Though it might soon become cliché for bands to put out their “COVID records,” their musical statements of a scary and bizarre time, it’s only helpful to be reminded that this has affected everyone everywhere. If that can’t unite us as a global species, what can?

 

is out now via Sacred Bones Records and available on all major streaming platforms.

Singles of the Week 1/14-1/20/22

Singles of the Week 1/14-1/20/22

 

Take a guess at who this mystery band is from my 35mm archive circa 2000

 

It was another great week for new singles, and I dove into quite a few. Several caught my fancy and I discussed as many of them as I could below, offering up some rapid fire takes (and perhaps some nerdy anecdotes) on what I found myself hitting repeat on. There are also a few stragglers from the week before that I missed (oops) before last week’s list was written up.

 

Don’t be shy, let us know what you think in the comments and feel free to suggest new stuff too! I will write up as many songs as humanly possible. (Aka what my work schedule allows for since sadly, I don’t get to work on Full Time Aesthetic full time. But maybe someday!)

 

Onward…

 

 

A Place To Bury StrangersI’m Hurt. The seminal Brooklyn noise band is gearing up to release their latest album, See Through You, on frontman Oliver Ackerman’s own label Dedstrange. Musically the song is glitchy and gothic, a slow and winding affair in which the pain expressed throughout it becomes palpable. Ackerman had this to say on the lyrical themes via a press release: “‘I’m Hurt’ is the sound of friendship dying. At the time of writing this song, I was going out of my mind dwelling on conflict in my head and beating myself down while trying to rebuild my faith in humanity which is reflected in the actual structure of the song. The drums build with this frustration and a desire to scream with no voice. Listen closely to the vocal phrasing of ‘I’m Hurt’ in the chorus and you can hear the self-doubt and failure I was experiencing at the time.”

See Through You arrives on 2/4.

 

APTBS performing

APTBS performing in 2016 (photo by Edwina Hay)

 

 

BitchYou’re The Man. Capital B aka Bitch, of Bitch and Animal fame, has been solo for a number of years now and is usually known for rock and folk punk stylings, but is now poised to release her first pop album, the synth heavy Bitchcraft on Kill Rock Stars on 2/4. This song has a danceable groove and fun musical vibe but don’t be fooled, the subject matter is anything but lighthearted and the lyrics pack a sharp political message. Read more about the process of making the album here.

 

BODEGAThrown. The latest single from Bodega’s upcoming album, Broken Equipment, showcases what the band is best at – experimental post punk – this song with a driving intensity, lyrically seeming to touch on feelings of discomfort and dissolution, perhaps even confusion, with the very notion of existence. Feelings many of us can relate to in our current world (I for sure can). The full album is due 3/11 on What’s Your Rupture? 

 

Bodega performing

Bodega performing in 2019 (photo by Kate Hoos)

 

 

MonoScarlet Holliday. There’s not much by these instrumental greats I don’t love, this enigmatic and sweeping release being no exception. It is part of a three song EP that will be out on 3/4/22 Pelagic Records and they had this to say on the label’s website:

After COVID-19 first swept the world in 2020, MONO felt compelled to make a special little gift for the Christmas holiday. The accompanying message was simple: “Wishing everyone good health, happiness, and good cheer in the new year.” Originally made at home in isolation, this digital-only release consisted of two new MONO songs: “Scarlet Holliday” and “First Winter.”

Now, to commemorate the 2021 holiday season, MONO has reworked and expanded Scarlet Holliday into a very special 3-song EP (now including the brand new song, “Epilogue”). Recorded at home and at Electrical Audio by longtime collaborator, Steve Albini, newly mixed by John McEntire and mastered by Bob WestonScarlet Holliday is finally being released into the world on limited-edition 10” vinyl, as well as all digital formats. In their unflappable determination to shine light into the darkness, MONO explains: “These songs were written with the idea of new hope for the new year since this time has become unforeseeably dark for many in the world.

 

PLOSIVSBroken Eyes. This band comes with an impressive and lengthy resume for the collected members- John Reis (Rocket From The Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes and many more), Atom Willard (RFTC, Against Me!, The Offspring and many more), Rob Crow (Pinback, Optiganally Yours, Heavy Vegetable and many, MANY more) and Jordan Clark (Mrs. Magician). And if that seems like a lot of previous bands listed, it is, and it is also but a mere scratch of the surface of their total output. Pinback and Drive Like Jehu are among my all time favorite bands, so I was more than a little excited when I first learned of PLOSIVS.

 

They are a true sum of their parts, but there are absolutely some very distinctive signatures of the individual members, their sound blending the chugging intensity of Hot Snakes or DLJ with the soaring vocal melodies of Pinback, really combining some of the very best elements of those bands strengths into a musical dream come true (for this listener anyway). This is the band’s second single from their upcoming self titled debut (due out 3/17 on Swami Records) and they will be touring in March and April, hitting NYC (along with Meat Wave) for their very first show here on 3/18 at Saint Vitus. You can count on me being front and center for that. Take a listen to the song below:

 

 

(I’ve been a long time fan of Rob Crow and have a full post in the planning stages that will be devoted to taking a look at his extensive body of work from Thingy to Other Men, Goblin Cock to The Ladies and many more. Of course Pinback will get attention too. And yes, even Fantasy Mission Force, one of his more obscure offerings that I finally added to my collection last year, will get some love.)

 

Proper.Milk & Honey. This is the latest single from their upcoming album, The Great American Novel, a sweeping and cinematic indie opus produced by Bartees Strange and featuring horns from Jer Hunter of We Are The Union and Ska Tune Network as well as backing vocals from Lily Mastrodimos of Long Neck. Different from the harder edged “Red, White, & Blue,” it shows the scope of all the band has to offer musically and is an exciting glimpse of the album to come. The album is due out 3/25 on Father/Daughter and Big Scary Monsters.

 

Check out the official music video below:

 

 

 

Sonic youth in&out cover

 

Sonic Youth In & Out. This is a track from SY’s seemingly never-ending vaults, a live jam taken from a 2010 soundcheck. I was a very big fan of the SYR series of EPs that were mostly instrumental and this definitely feels like it would fit right in with that series – though this song does have whispey vocals from Kim Gordon that at times are just vocalizations without lyrics (though there are some of those too) and seem almost like an afterthought to the music. This song will be part of In/Out/In (due out 3/18), a collection of rarities and unreleased material from the early 2000s. The announcement of this collection has of course has sparked some speculation that the band may be reuniting, speculation which was put to rest by guitarist Lee Ranaldo who said in this Rolling Stone article that the band has had offers over the years but that they have “not entertained it at this point.”

 

Wet LegMaterial Girl (Madonna cover). Two things I love more than most other things are first, covers that flip the script on the original version of the song and second, early 1980s era Madonna (a recent purchase of a used copy of The Immaculate Collection for my car has seen some serious NYC traffic jam airtime). Wet Leg has managed to nail both of these things in their latest release, a cover of the decade of excess classic, “Material Girl,” recorded during a Sirius XM session when they were in NYC playing a blitz of sold out shows late last year (see pics from their Baby’s All Right show).

 

For their version, they more or less preserve the vocal melody (with some minor alterations) while musically taking the song from a new wave bop with an infectious synth bass line and a steady driving beat to a dark wave feel – the bass now dirgey instead of bouncy, with off kilter drums and paired with shimmery shoegazey guitar. I don’t know about anyone else, but that really works for me! I love a good cover as much as the next person and as I mentioned, I particularly love when bands change things up and make it radically different from the original while still maintaining some semblance of it – a tricky balance but something Wet Leg has easily nailed here. Their highly anticipated self titled debut album will arrive 4/8 on Domino. Among many other people, I am very much looking forward to it. Check out Wet Leg’s take on the iconic Madge jam below:

 

 

 

 

Singles of the Week 1/6-1/13/22

Singles of the Week 1/6-1/13/22

Guess what records these are and you win!

 

I full on admit that FTA has woefully been missing the boat on covering singles, not because we didn’t want to, but because I kept telling myself “oh it’s a lot to keep up with all that is coming out on a regular basis and then review it all” which I (not so) deep down knew was just an excuse and a pretty weak one at that. But as far as new year’s resolutions go, I knew I wanted to make sure I was writing at least something every day (which I had fallen off doing the last few months) and besides that, I made another one to explore more new music in general just so I could broaden my own horizons and get to know more outside of what I was already listening to and discovering… which as far as things go, actually is a lot overall but I still felt like I was a step behind on keeping up with new releases or checking out enough new/new to me artists. Worthy resolutions for sure and ones that also meant by extension, the blog would benefit by no longer missing this proverbial boat because too much great music was passing us by and there really is no good reason for that. Besides, there is a certain beauty in a listicle and who doesn’t love one, so why not use the format to talk about new songs? Good idea right? RIGHT!

 

And so here we are! For right now, this is just me, myself, and I spouting some rapid fire opinions/thoughts/nerdy anecdotes on new stuff that came out over the previous week that I gave a listen to but the other contributors may eventually share thoughts too. Expect this post every Friday (so singles released that day will be included in the following weekly post) and don’t be shy to send suggestions on things you heard that you think we should check out too or to send in your material as well.

 

Now let’s get on with it, some singles I heard and enjoyed over the course of the last week…some are by artists I already loved and a few were new explorations/discoveries for me. All get my seal of approval for whatever that may be worth. Read on!

 

Allegra KriegerTaking It In. Brooklyn based singer/songwriter Allegra Krieger has released the first single from her upcoming album Precious Thing. Featuring a conversational melody in the verse, Krieger has said the song is about “holding onto a moment in time.” The song is anchored by a repetitive and wistful ear worm in the form of a folky finger picked guitar line and the song begins with just this and Krieger’s voice. Soon other instruments peek around the corner and start to layer over top to build up the song- but never to a sweeping crescendo or intense level which is fine, I can definitely do mellow. The song is far too well produced to be considered bedroom pop, but it has a little bit of that undercurrent and I can see it appealing to fans of the style. And full disclosure, I had been completely unaware of Krieger’s music before I discovered this via Northern Spy‘s Instagram page on the day it was released and what a happy accident (of sorts anyway). The full length is due out 3/4 on Northern Spy and I’m very ready to explore more of what Krieger has to offer.

 

CloakroomFear of Being Fixed. The new album, Dissolution Wave, by these heavy shoegaze greats is set to drop in just two weeks (1/28 on Relapse Records) and the third single “Fear of Being Fixed” came out this week along with a new video (watch here). This band is known for their dirgy, sludgey riffs and to me have combined the best parts of two of my favorite 90s bands, Hum (the giant guitar sounds) and Catherine Wheel (the vocal melodies), to create a sound that I want to return to again and again. You can bet I’m highly anticipating this album and their return to NYC.

 

Cloakroom (photo by Kate Hoos)

 

Ed Schrader’s Music BeatThis Thirst. The first time I saw Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, they were still in their earlier bass/drums duo form with Schrader singing and simultaneously beating the hell out of a floor tom at the late great Death By Audio. Though the band is still made up of the core duo of Schrader and bassist Devlin Rice, they have grown significantly in terms of sound since then, adding a full drum kit along with other instrumentation. “This Thirst” is the first single from their upcoming new album Nightclub Daydreaming and is a groovy retro rock jam, featuring guitar and piano along with a jazzy twist on Schrader’s signature baritone lilt. The album is due out 3/25 on Carpark and the band will next play Brooklyn on 4/23 Union Pool. (I am torn between this show and El Ten Eleven the same night….this is going to be a very hard one to decide!) Watch the video below:

 

 

Frank Turner– A Wave Across A Bay. Frank Turner’s new album FTHC is due out 2/11 and ahead of it, he released a new single, this poignant tribute to his friend Scott Hutchinson of Frightened Rabbit. Directly addressing Hutchinson throughout in the lyrics, Turner said this about the song “I still miss my friend Scott everyday. His passing left such a huge hole in so many lives. I wrote this song in his honour and memory” continuing that the song was “hard to write and record.” I got emotional even on the first listen through so I can only imagine being in the writing process and putting those emotions temporarily aside to lock it down in the recording studio- surely not an easy task. The song is on the new album and will also be released on a special 7 inch with proceeds going to Tiny Changes, the charity organization created in Hutchison’s memory to help those with mental illness. (See pics from Turner’s fall run of shows in NYC/NJ/Philly.)

 

Frank Turner performing

Frank Turner (photo by Ray Rusinak)

 

Keefchamber– Blaze The Lord. I discovered this band at a house show this past summer (actually it was a garage. See pics here) and was immediately in thrall of them. Doom, sludge, blackened stoner metal, this band is a two piece bass and drum outfit but even without guitar, they have a wall of sound 10 feet thick. I’ve always been a massive fan of bass and drums (meaning the instrumental pairing, not the electro driven genre) and generally go for things a little more on the punk side of the spectrum but definitely will fuck with stoner metal so these guys easily snared me before the first song they played even ended. In my review at the time, I said they reminded me of a slower and doomier godheadsilo, which is an assessment I still stand by. I thought this was an instrumental song at first but then I realized there were vocals that were very low in the mix. I’m not sure if this is an intentional thing or not, but thinking about it after subsequent listens, it would seem that it was since it’s almost a darkly ethereal presence floating around somewhere in the distant mist of the song and it does augment the cataclysm swirling around it. Take a listen below and be the judge on that:

 

 

Los BitchosPista (Fresh Start). Los Bitchos were a 2020 quarantine discovery for me and on the strength of their live KEXP performance, I was immediately hooked on their infectious cumbia inspired jams. I admittedly need to explore cumbia more in depth as a genre but I am a big fan of instrumental music overall which is what initially attracted me to their sound. I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of a full length, as they had not much in the way of available material at the time I discovered them, just a few singles that have since been taken down from streaming platforms to make way for the new album. But now the wait is almost over and their debut full length, Let The Festivities Begin! will arrive 2/5 on City Slang. The record was produced by Alex Kapranos (of Franz Ferdinand) and will feature a number of the songs from the KEXP session with other previously unavailable tracks and the band will embark on a UK/European tour soon after; hopefully fall 2022 will see them head to the States.

(And for those who are supreme punk nerds like me, you might be interested to know that Bitchos drummer, Nic Crawshaw, is also the drummer of Dead Arms, who are one of my favorite UK punk bands. Which of course also makes her even more impressive behind the kit when you hear the full range of her versatility as a drummer/percussionist.)

 

Los Bitchos on KEXP

 

Mitski Love Me More. This is the latest single from Mitski’s anticipated new album Laurel Hell (out 2/4 on Dead Oceans) and is a pure new wave inspired bop. Being a child of the 80s, I really couldn’t help but imagine myself zooming down the highway, wind in my hair circa 1986 with this song blasting on the car stereo.

 

PlaceboTry Better Next Time. A midtempo straight up rocker, I was a bit unsure about it at first and thought it sounded a little middle of the road for this band (a band I really love by the way), falling a little flat of my expectations. But a few more listens and I warmed up to it, Brian Molko’s signature warble and the driving bassline thawing my initial indifference. This is the latest single from the upcoming album Never Let Me Go and is now paired with the two previous offerings “Surrounded by Spies,” and “Beautiful James,” each song landing on a different feel. Given that each song seems to have it’s own vibe going on, I’m very interested to hear what the record sounds like and how it will coalesce into a full album.

 

SasamiSay It. I admit I am pretty late to the party with Sasami. Before I heard this song, I had never really given her much of a listen, but lately I seem to be seeing her name all over the place so I told myself okay stop right now and give this artist listen. (Remember the resolution about broadening my horizons? Here it is in action.) I realize now it was a pretty foolish move on my part to not listen to her sooner but now that I have, I plan to get caught up quickly and have already started. After finally giving a critical listen to her when this single came out last week, I dug into her 2019 self titled debut which is firmly in the indie lane, while this newer material that is part of her upcoming album, Squeeze, is very markedly not. The material that has been released thus far has a harsh, driving, and riff heavy electro metal edge that at times is straight up shredder vibes (“Skin A Rat,” “Sorry Entertainer”) and at others is more industrial in feel (“Say It”).

 

I have to say, despite being a brand new fan of really mere days, I am still very surprised to hear the transition and wonder what long time fans made of it. I certainly enjoy the heavier sounds very much and think it’s an exciting direction for her to go in. All that being said, there is also the fourth song that was released, “The Greatest,” which so far (to me at least) is a real wild card in that it is not a metal jam at all, rather a solid alt rock song, so what the rest of the album is going to be like is anyone’s guess. But one thing is clear, a very adept, talented and surprising song writer was at the helm and this is going to be a very interesting journey once the rest of it arrives on 2/25.

 

 

Soul GloJump!! (Or Get Jumped!!!)((by the future)). This crucial Philadelphia hardcore band signed to Epitaph in 2021, and this week released the first single from their upcoming full length on the label, Diaspora Problems (out 3/25). A blistering hardcore ripper, huge lightening fast riffs chug alongside drumming that may be tempting to call frantic… which, granted may be outwardly true, but that is hardly a bad thing and most definitely doesn’t mean drummer TJ Stevenson’s execution isn’t incredibly precise and expertly controlled all the way through; they have some serious chops, making this drummer (aka me) a little (aka a lot) green with envy. Vocalist Pierce Jordan binds these musical elements together with rapid fire lyrics and screams and in fact is one of my favorite current punk vocalists, seamlessly fusing screamo style and a nimble hip hop flow into his delivery. And if this is just the first taste of the body of work to come, I absolutely can’t wait to get a listen to the full album in March. Watch the video below:

 

 

 

TVOD “Steady Crushin” ft. Chauncie Shamoni. One of Brooklyn’s most exciting live acts, TVOD has also been busy in the studio, first putting out the EP Victory Garden at the end of 2021 (one of my favorite releases of the year) and now has headed into 2022 with a brand new single “Steady Crushin.” A slightly more subdued offering compared to some of the other material, Shamoni provides the main vocal during the first part of the song with TVOD lead vocalist Tyler Wright not appearing until the halfway mark of the song. The two alternate lines from there on out as the music rises and reaches it’s crescendo with a brief synthy and guitar driven outro bringing the track home, one which I really can see turning into an extended jam session live. And speaking of that, I for one can’t wait to rock out to this song at a show (their recent January show was postponed and has been rescheduled for 3/2 at The Sultan Room. Tickets here).

 

TVOD performing

TVOD (photo by Kate Hoos)

 

J. Robbins/Her Head’s On Fire split 7inch

J. Robbins/Her Head’s On Fire split 7inch

 

J. Robbins may be best known as the frontman of Jawbox, but the list of projects he has led and been involved with stretches much longer than that. His work began with Government Issue in the 80s and continued long after Jawbox ended in 1997, seeing him create albums with Burning Airlines, Channels, and Office of Future Plans, as well as building a successful career as a recording engineer and producer.

 

In 2019, Jawbox returned to the stage for the first time since the late 90s and saw Robbins release his first solo album simply under his own name, Un-becoming, on Dischord Records. Now he’s back with another solo track, “Uncle John,” this time one side of a split single on New Granada Records. Fans of his past work and solo debut should enjoy this as well, with Robbins’ signature melodic yell kicking off the song immediately. Personally, I’m a big fan of the vocal mixing here. The rest of the space is filled completely with driving guitars punctuated by rapid fire snare, courtesy of Peter Moffett (Robbins’ bandmate in Burning Airlines who also played on the solo LP) for a perfect slice of post-hardcore. 

 

J. Robbins performing

J. Robbins performing in 2019 (photo by Kate Hoos)

 

 

 

The other side of the split is “Certain As” by Her Head’s On Fire, a group made up of members of Saves the Day, the Bomb, Small Brown Bike and Garrison. The track is no less energetic musically, even with a few parts that trend slightly towards… dare I say sludgey? There are ample opportunities for headbanging here, interspersed with heartfelt hand-on-heart choruses. 

 

The 7-inch single is available from New Granada in a limited quantity of 300, along with the digital version at Bandcamp.

Phonodelica- The Drowning Valley

Phonodelica- The Drowning Valley

 

 

Donia Jarrar thinks big. Writing, recording, and performing as Phonodelica, her stunning and often sparse piano compositions usually comprise a larger ovearching theme, where they achieve their full actualization. Beautiful on their own, but more powerful together—a bold idea that resonates through her work, ideas, and activism.

 

Jarrar recently received the 2021 Young Artist of the Year award from A M Qattan Foundation, a Palestine- and United Kingdom–based nonprofit organization, for her large-scale work, Into the Ether and Out of Our Anguish. Her life as a Palestinian woman informs and inspires her work, reflecting the sadness, anger, perseverance, and, ultimately, the hope she and many Palestinians across the world feel about their struggle for a free Palestine.

 

In December, Jarrar released The Drowning Valley, the first part of Into the Ether and Out of Our Anguish. In her previous work, Seamstress, she focused on the stories and histories of Palestinian women as told by the women themselves. Her latest work imagines a post-occupation future within Marj Sanur, a valley located in Jenin, a city in the occupied West Bank of Palestine, and also the home village of her father. Known as “The Drowning Valley,” the area is surrounded by a chain of mountains and various other towns. During the rainy winter season, the valley becomes a shallow lake, hence the nickname. The lake is a beautiful phenomenon but also means disaster for the nearby farmers whose crops are destroyed in its formation. Also, the impacts of the global climate crisis on the region has caused the lake to become permanent, as opposed to its traditional appearance every 10 years. Further, the lake has served as an inadequate stand-in for the Mediterranean Sea, which few West Bank and Jerusalem ID holders are able to see due to the Israeli government’s discriminatory policies and embrace of apartheid against Palestinians.

 

It is here that Jarrar imagines a sort of parallel universe, a spiritual plane wherein Palestinians have achieved supernatural powers and teleportation, allowing them to transport to the sea and into the ether to other spiritual planes inaccessible to others. The Drowning Valley begins with the title track, a foreboding solo piano piece of plaintive melody. This is followed by another version of “The Drowning Valley,” with a string quartet. The melancholy piano melody of the first version becomes more stirring and insistent within the context of the quartet, Jarrar’s piano theme continuing to haunt underneath.

 

Another solo piano piece, “Extinction,” follows. Dedicated to the memory of the Gazan wild rabbit, it evokes in the listener’s mind (or at least this one’s) a camera surveying the landscape, rugged, beautiful, and subject to multiple manmade pressures. For those who buy the record on Bandcamp, there is the bonus track “Reservoir,” which showcases another side of her writing. It begins with pulsing synths alongside interviews and field recordings conducted by her colleague of Riham. We hear people within the West Bank towns of Nablus, Bethlehem, and Ramallah, discussing water and access to water. This gives way to a solo piano interlude and then recordings of children in the Jalazone Refugee Camp in Ramallah, established in 1949 as indigenous Palestinians were forced out of their homelands during the violent founding of Israel in 1948.

 

The Drowning Valley ends with “Offerings II,” a companion piece to “Offerings,” which was released last summer, and featuring a dramatic video of Jarrar playing the piece, clad in a red dress and shrouded in red light.

 

This initial part of the Into the Ether… project, while quietly mournful and aching, also becomes a vehicle for contemplation and reflection on the often-ignored stories and histories of the Palestinian people. Jarrar offers us this solemn introduction to her project as a reminder of the harsh realities that currently exist within occupied Palestine, but she also imagines a path out of oppression and forward to freedom. The hope that awaits within the entire Into the Ether… work might inspire us to imagine and create pathways out of all the forms of oppression and injustice we see and experience daily.

 

The Drowning Valley is available now on all major streaming platforms. It comes with a bonus track and videos when you download on Bandcamp, where you an also read more on the themes and imagery that inspired the work and order the sheet music.

The Homeless Gospel Choir/Teenage Halloween split EP

The Homeless Gospel Choir/Teenage Halloween split EP

 

 

What a pleasant surprise to wake up on New Year’s Day only to discover that The Homeless Gospel Choir and Teenage Halloween had released a new split of two new songs each on Don Giovani Records. I say, “pleasant surprise,” but quite honestly anyone who’d actually been paying attention to their socials shouldn’t have been surprised at all since both bands had either hinted or flat out stated that there would be something new out on the first.

 

The Homeless Gospel Choir’s pair of songs, “Harrisburg Shoes” and “Pittsburgh Shoes,” seem to me to be Derek Zanetti’s obvious nod to their moving to Harrisburg from their lifelong home of Pittsburgh during the pandemic. The songs go much deeper however and appear to be tropes for Zanetti’s dealing with the loneliness and isolation which the pandemic has wrought on all of us.  

 

“Harrisburg Shoes” opens with anthemic guitar chords blaring, followed by booming drum beats before Zanetti sings “and just like that it begins, we’re singing for your suffering.” The song itself could be pure power pop if the band was more jingle jangle and less in your face reverb, but nonetheless it works perfectly. Homeless Gospel Choir is a punk band and this song rocks like any punk song should. There’s even a nice homage to the ultimate punk band, The Clash, in the middle of the song where Zanetti sings, “I’m all lost in the superspreader rhetoric.”

 

Next up is “Pittsburgh Shoes” which starts out with a slow early 1960’s retro vibe bringing to mind the musical soundtrack of American Graffiti (and I mean that in a 1000% good way). The first 40 seconds of the song deals with what so many of us felt during the pandemic with words like “sitting in your room and every day just feels the same.” But then Derek and crew (Maura Weaver, Megan Schroer, Craig Luckman, and Matt Miller) take the song to a more upbeat place (at least musically), and all of a sudden the listener finds themselves immersed in a distortion fueled, thunderously loud guitar punk rock song. And lyrically too, the tone changes as the song’s protagonist realizes that the sun will rise through the gloom and that real friends made along the journey WILL be there for them…and of course they will be “PLAYING THEIR KAZOOS.”

 

Homeless Gospel Choir performing

The Homeless Gospel Choir performing in 2019 (photo by Ray Rusinak)

 

 

It appears that the use of shoes in both of these songs is a beautiful metaphor for needing to accept change, to embrace change and ultimately use change as a bridge to the past. It came down to needing new shoes in order to get to a new place (beginning) in Harrisburg, PA and then upon finding themselves there, they needed another pair of shoes that would allow them to ultimately make the journey back to their beloved Pittsburgh.

 

To this one particular listener, these two songs from Homeless Gospel Choir just might be some of the best stuff Zanetti has ever put out. And I for one can’t wait for their new album to drop.

 

The flip side to this split consists of two ragers from Philadelphia’s (by way of Asbury Park) queer punks Teenage Halloween. Their first song, “Floating,” starts out fast and furious and from there never misses a beat. What appears to be a break up song upon early listens with the catchphrase “I don’t want your empty promise, I don’t need your easy fix,” it appears upon further listening to be a retort to present day politicians as well; especially when you realize that the response to the previous refrain is “I wanna burn the city down.” 

 

Musically the band embraces all kinds of styles in less than two minutes, something which might turn off some listeners as a band trying to do too much all at once. But in this instance, I didn’t feel this to be the case at all. Quite the contrary, the varying styles blend together seamlessly, with the tune starting out with a classic pop punk structure before climbing into an almost ska like rhythm for the bridge and then we get a scorching psycho-billy guitar riff before we fall back to the pop punk ending of the song.  

 

Teenage Halloween performing in 2019 (photo by Kate Hoos)

 

The final song on the split is entitled “Burn,” and as the title suggests it is a burner. Again, Teenage Halloween manages to pack a whole lot into a mere 1:50 minutes of music. The opening notes of keyboards lull us into thinking we might be getting a slow ballad, but this lasts all of three seconds before singer Luk Henderiks begins belting out with their raspy vocals. Listening to “Burn,” you can almost feel how much fun this song is going to be in a live setting, yelling the words along with the band.

 

All in all, this split EP shows great promise of things to come in hopefully the not too distant future from both Homeless Gospel Choir as well as Teenage Halloween. Now we can only hope that this damned pandemic burns itself out so that we can get to see both of these bands (amongst many others of course) live once again.

 

The Homeless Gospel Choir/Teenage Halloween split EP is available now from Don Giovanni and on all major streaming platforms.