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.
Hi! Hello! Here we are with some bite sized goodies and a taste of a some new things that we dug that came out in the last week (ish), quick fire responses to some great new music we think you should check out. This week Chantal, Kate and Mike weighed in on some killer songs and have the scoop on plenty of new tunes, give ’em a listen!
Beach Fossils– Dare Me. The second single from the upcoming album Bunny is a song “about conflict, friendship and the intoxication of new love. Willing to let yourself be stupid, vulnerable, pissed off and forgiving” says Beach Fossils’ singer Dylan Payseur. In the familiar vain of their past work, this song is a fervent bedroom pop ear worm, the insistent guitars will swirl around in your brain long after the song has finished. Bunny releases in full on 6/2. [KH]
Big Bliss– A Seat at the Table. “We went on to be the first generation in American history to do worse than our parents,” Tim Race explains about the newest Big Bliss song. The song was written while suffering a particularly bad bout of Covid and was inspired by the media’s processed and packaged handling of tragedy throughout recent history. “Television offered us just enough distance that life appeared able to go on, only with another modicum more generalized mortal fear than the time before,” says Race.
Big Bliss is no stranger to pressing its thumb down on the necks of our society and searching for a pulse. Race (guitar, vocals), along with his brother Cory (drums) and Rose Blanshei (bass) shot a beautiful video spanning all corners of NYC that powerfully depicts both the eroding ugly decay and the sheer density and majestic wonder of our human experience despite the broken promises of elder generations. “Our greatest threat is being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Their new album, Vital Return, is expected later 2023 on Good Eye Records. [MB]
Chime School– Coming To Your Town. This upbeat janglepop tune feels very seasonal. But it’s not all t-shirt weather over here: “Coming To Your Town” is “a feverish attempt to describe the reactionary political moment that seemed to infect the Bay Area during the pandemic.” The b-side is a cover of the Buzzcock’s “Love You More,” a song well suited to Chime School’s style, and they update it well. The band is currently playing selected dates on the West coast. [CW]
Clairo– For Now. A brand new demo from the bedroom singer turned indie pop darling bringing her back to her roots. All proceeds go to benefit Everytown and For The Gworls. [KH]
Death Goals– Year of the Guillotine. Each single the UK based queer screamo noise punk band releases ahead of their upcoming album A Garden of Dead Flowers is louder and faster than the last, expressing deep rage at the injustice queer people face on a daily basis that continues to poison society and threaten our very existence. But Death Goals aren’t going to take shit laying down and aren’t afraid to let anyone in their vicinity know that. “Year of the Guillotine” announces itself with a gut wrenching scream, battering ram drums and skin tearing guitar, giving a sonic voice to the painful frustration daily survival in an often hateful world can be. The band wrote on their Instagram “This song is dedicated to the trans community in this time of unparalleled hostility,” and further shared:
“‘Year Of The Guillotine’ was a song written as a response to the UK Tory government’s neglect of the LGBTQIA+ community. Neglect that has continued to fester and sadly we are living in a time of incredibly vocal hatred towards our community, not just in the UK but worldwide. But, try as they may, we will not disappear. You can’t erase us.”
The breakdown of the song sees the band getting into some HEAVY chugging hardcore territory with a very clear message screamed again and again: YOU CAN’T ERASE, YOU CAN’T ERASE OUR EXISTENCE before the song falls off into blackness. A Garden of Dead Flowersreleases in full on 5/5. [KH]
The Drums–I Want It All. The Drums are a one man band these days, with only Jonny Pierce remaining, but the music remains much the same. “I Want It All” is an introspective piece about being strung along, with electronic drum beats, jangly guitars and Pierce’s voice full of longing wondering “tell me was it so hard / to give a little tenderness?” The Drums will be touring this summer, including a New York date at Webster Hall on 8/3. [CW]
Echo Moth– ‘Till You Merge. I’ve been a long time fan of experimental guitarist and composer Yana Davydova and the work she has created as both a solo artist and with Woodhead and the various musicians who move in and around that collective of artists. Perhaps my favorite though was the band she fronted, Echo Moth, which released the album Murmurs in 2016. I booked shows for and gigged with her and her various collaborators a lot in those days despite most of my bands being loud, much more rowdy punk bands; being a big group of true music lovers regardless of genre, it all worked. As life has taken other turns in the ensuing years, we haven’t played together in a long time and haven’t seen each other much of late but always stayed in some loose contact online.
And thus, I was thrilled to discover this week via the cesspool of the internet (it’s not all bad all the time!) that she is back under the Echo Moth moniker, releasing under that name for the first time since Murmurs and has a new album on the way later this year. The first single “Till You Merge” serves as a beautiful continuation of the journey of the first album, lush layers of guitars and dreamy vocals backed by her longtime collaborators, bassist Dmitry Ishenko and drummer Charles Burst. The as of yet unnamed album doesn’t have a release date yet, but it instantly has become one of my most anticipated records of 2023. Catch Echo Moth performing at Bushwick Public House on 4/20. [KH]
Holy Wave–Cowprint. A languid, dreamlike song full of atmosphere and harmonies, “Cowprint” is “a story of instant connections and missed opportunities” and comes across like a fading memory. The single has a pleasing, 70’s AM radio sound that also puts me in mind of the Clientele, and gets a little synthy and weird at the end, like any good dream should. The band recently signed with Suicide Squeeze and are planning an album in the later half of the year. [CW]
Louise Post–Guilty. This is a really fun track, and a little poppier than much of her work under the Veruca Salt moniker in the 2000’s after the departure of Nina Gordon (Post kept the band name). It’s probably a good thing Post is putting out fresh music under her own name, as “Guilty” does have a nostalgic 90s fuzz but also feels very modern, proving she can still keep up with the times. Bass driven and catchy, “Guilty” is a certified bop and a great addition to spring playlists. After a three decade career, she will be releasing her first ever solo album, Sleepwalker, out June 2nd on El Camino. Post shares:
“I have always identified as a sleepwalker. I slept-walked around my house routinely when I was a child, and even down the street. I believe in hindsight it was me trying to process what was going on in my home with my parent’s troubled marriage. As far as I know, I stopped sleepwalking after the divorce when I was eight, but it has always been a part of me that I feel protective of a little girl who I feel sad for.”
Post will launch a tour in support of the album which will hit NYC at Bowery Ballroom on 7/15. [CW]
Phantom Signals– basement. Proving sometimes all that’s necessary is an acoustic guitar and nice set of pipes, Melody Henry, delivers a sweet simple vocal over a soft strum that in itself invites you to pull in closer. But very quickly, the voices start to layer like choir of uncertain angels, joining and stacking their waves of sound until the intensity reaches a crescendo of euphonic resonance. With “basement,” Phantom Signals continues to over-deliver by simply releasing uniquely unassuming and authentic music that taps right into the human experience. [MB]
Pink Mexico– Dungeonhead. We wrote this up in Single Serve 036 and this week, the band released a brand new video to go along with it which we were very excited to premiere. Check the video out and pre-order the album on Bandcamp now. [MB]
Proper.– Milk & Honey (Luna Tunes remix). The latest track by eclectic collective trio, Proper., came out last week. A remix of the popular “Milk & Honey” from last year’s The Great American Novel, it’s a peppy reimagining of their original anthem and a banger reinterpretation. Often dancing across the lines of emo, prog, and even hardcore, the trio made up of Erik Garlington (guitar, vocals), Natasha Johnson (bass, vocals) and Elijah Watson (drums) borders on chill-wave here but they always keep the Black American identity at the core of everything they do.
Garlington recently talked to Rolling Stone who was covering the release of their video for “Jean” which celebrates the life of Jean Jimenez-Joseph, who died in ICE custody. He shared:
“From the jump, I wanted to be really punk and make white people uncomfortable. But as I got older and exited my early twenties, I would rather express the Black experience and show how beautiful it can be as a southerner, as a Black person, as a queer person, as an autistic person—and through the roots of rock music, that would be the best way to do it. I grew up listening to rap also, but I really wanted to see what I could do with a guitar and a band behind me.”
I had the pleasure of catching Proper. perform live last month at Purgatory on the Brooklyn stop of their tour with our mutual friends, Toronto band, Pseudo for their final tour and there was so much love and respect in the room. Jonathan Lyte (Pseudo frontman) who was also filling in on second guitar with Proper, took a moment to speak about what the band meant to him growing up. He said that as a kid, seeing someone who looked like him up on a stage performing this kind of music was the game changer that made it seem possible that he could start a punk rock band. [MB]
Pynch– Tin Foil. The latest from the London based indiepop group who are just about to release their debut album, this song deals with “how complex and overwhelming the modern world can be” and shit if I don’t feel that hard. The band’s Spencer Enoch shares:
“When we play live I always jokingly introduce ‘Tin Foil’ as being about conspiracy theories but really, I think it’s about how complex and overwhelming the modern world can be. It feels like we’ve been in one form of crisis or another for my entire adult life and this song is about our over-exposure to that level of stimulation and the need to escape it all and ‘get lost forever. It’s definitely one of our most upbeat and irreverent song so it feels right to be releasing it at the beginning of spring and just before the album comes out.”
Howling At A Concrete Moon is out 4/14. [KH]
White Beast– Fencewalker. This Richmond duo ticks a lot of boxes for me, those boxes being a two piece bass and drums band that makes sludgy, noisy loud rock music. (If you missed my recent list of my favorite two piece bands, this was a major recurring theme of my favorite bands. You can read that list here.) This song sees bassist/vocalist Jeffrey Rettberg teaming up with a new drummer, Sam Roberts (Private Hell, Fried Egg), releasing the follow up to the 2021 White Beast EP.
It’s a mid tempo rager that pulls back the curtain on things being “just fine” on the hellscape rock we live on, orbiting through time and space pretending we don’t see the world burning around us, the emperor’s clothes long gone Rettberg screaming Goddamn / Everything is fine / Goddamn /When is it your next time? in the chorus. This is the first taste of their upcoming full length, Suffering Time, though no release date has been announced yet. I also love the video which perfectly pairs with the song, melted dolls and all. I can’t wait to hear what the rest of the album has in store. [KH]
Warm Blanket,the extraordinary fourth album from the Los Angeles-based group Worriers, found the project’s singer and central songwriter, Lauren Denitzio, having an epiphany. They realized, after years of recording and touring with an underground/punk aesthetic, that Worriers isn’t really a band; it’s a solo project. Thus, Warm Blanket possesses the heady discovery of an artist’s first album, but with a decade’s worth of aesthetic experience and wisdom behind it. The resulting record gives us a Worriers with a sparser sonic landscape (often only guitar or synth/keys, drums, and Denitzio’s beautiful voice and poetic lyrics).
Denitzio recorded and mixed all of Warm Blanket at their home, with Atom Willard (Against Me!, PLOSIVS, Social Distortion) providing drums remotely. The songs are brief in length, and constantly leave the listener wanting more. Denitzio plunges deep into memory here at times, looking for their roots as a musician, and recalling their early experiences with love and heartbreak, those bittersweet early journeys of the heart that never leave a person. But the album also offers some cutting ironic critique of the absurdity of trying to survive in late-stage capitalism, the struggles of which are perhaps what inspired them to ponder their past here.
“Doomscrolling,” the first track, immediately demonstrates Denitzio’s unique ability to write infectious pop songs about encroaching doom, as the lyrics spell out anxiety about various things in the world that are falling apart. In the chorus, they confess, “I keep my fingers crossed that it all collapses later.” But even as this collapse seems inevitable, their songwriting is pop perfection, so you might be standing at the edge of the end of the world, but you’ll be dancing with Worriers on the precipice.
“Prepared to Forget,” Warm Blanket’s melancholic second song, turns Denitizio’s focus from the horrors of the present to loves and losses of the past. The song finds them sorting through the disappointment and heartbreak of watching an old friend make the same self-harming mistakes over and over. The album continues on this more intimate memory trip for the next few songs, with the eponymous third track really putting the beauty of Denitzio’s voice front and center, building to one of the more rocking choruses on the release, where they shows off their guitar skills as well.
The fourth song, “Power Pop Mixtape,” one of the most fully upbeat tracks of the record, glimmers with the flirtations of youth in the 90s, when making someone a mixtape was a sweet gesture of admiration or seduction. The bridge of the song features Denitzio’s vocals suddenly processed differently, and the effect is of a voice traveling through time. The following track, “Creep,” begins with lyrics about “the tape you made me,” connecting the two songs directly. The sparseness of the instrumentation goes further on “Creep,” as well, with no drums, only guitar and Denitzio’s plaintive singing: “You don’t think you’re a creep, but you know that they do.” The pronouns of that chorus shift every time, just as our perceptions of ourselves and each other shift over time. It’s amazing how much feeling is packed into each of these brief songs. “Creep” clocks in at just over two minutes, but there is so much going on emotionally!
“Pollen in the Air” concludes the intense and nostalgic tone of the middle of the album with a synth-drenched, slowly building power ballad, and the first truly driving bass line of the record. The song feels like being sun-drunk in summer and in love for the first time. With “Murder Ballad,” Warm Blanket effortlessly shifts in tone and theme, and for me, the shift was also temporal, from memory back to the flawed struggles of the present day. “Murder Ballad” features only piano and drums, and Denitzio’s haunting voice and words of desperation: “It’s not a problem unless you say something…so I killed him instead, with a baseball bat under my bed.” The potential for violence appears again in “Never Quite Kicks In,” a fantastic chillwave track describing the possibility of frustrated office workers crawling over their desks and throwing printers out windows. But the toxic positivity always reigns, and that rage never quite kicks in…maybe making it even more dangerous?
Warm Blanket concludes with the hesitant optimism of “Provisional Hope” and the slow build of “You Don’t Need Me,” and upon arriving at the end of the album, I immediately started over from the beginning. Whether it’s frustration with the present state of things or an urge toward sweet nostalgia that motivates you, turn out the lights, turn on Warm Blanket at top volume, and abandon yourself to the beauty of Denitzio’s new chapter of Worriers.
The genre-defying creative force that is Deerhoof released their 19th LP, Miracle-Level, last Friday, and the eleven tracks on this transcendent record more than live up to its name. Next year, Deerhoof will celebrate thirty years together as a band, after forming in San Francisco in 1994, and although the line-up has shifted over the years, the present personnel are beyond formidable, including Satomi Matsuzaki on vocals and bass, Greg Saunier on drums, and guitarists Ed Rodriguez and John Dieterich. This album also marks two first for the band—the first time that they have released a record entirely in Matsuzaki’s native language, Japanese, and it is also the first album Deerhoof has ever fully captured in its entirety in a recording studio, bringing in producer Mike Bridavsky to help shape a unique and timely musical manifesto at his studio, Russian Recording. Miracle-Level finds Deerhoof looking the grim reality of the present-day doomscroll firmly in the eye and shaking it into oblivion with an effervescent beam of complex sonic hope.
The album begins with “Sit Me Down, Let Me Tell You A Story,” and Matsuzaki’s vocals certainly do begin to weave a compelling narrative that’s intriguing even if you don’t speak Japanese. It’s clear from the dynamic cadences of her vocal delivery and the fluctuations of the music from the band that we are embarking on a story journey, and the tale will take us to unexpected places. The second track, “My Lovely Cat!” delivers surprise stops on the trip, with electro-crazy guitar sounds, pouncing and slinking around just like a lovely cat, yes! (In a funny twist, Bridavsky was also the owner of the late great internet sensation/superstar cat, Lil Bub. And while this song wasn’t written specifically for her, it is dedicated to her memory.)
Brivadsky describes the unique guitar sonic magic as:
“this seemingly overcomplicated setup, which turned out to be the defining sound of the record, involv(ing) John and Ed playing semi-hollow body guitars in an isolated room, with each guitar split into three separate signals: one through their pedals into an amplifier; one from dedicated microphone pointed at the guitar, run into a second amplifier, and one that summed both of the guitars’ direct outputs into a fifth, highly distorted amplifier that combined both guitar signals.”
Whatever the technical experiments were that occurred to discover the unique aural universe of Miracle-Level, I’m in complete approval. The special guitar effects relax during the third song, “The Poignant Melody,” where Matsuzaki’s vocals float with a nuanced ethereal energy. “Everybody, Marvel,” the album’s fourth track, delivers a more rocking 90s-esque vibe, with fuzzier guitars and a more traditional song structure. (The vocals also start jumping octaves in a way that’s ridiculously catchy in what might be called the “chorus” in the second half of the song.)
“Miracle-Level,” the release’s sixth and eponymous song, starts out as essentially a slow-jam, Deerhoof-style, with the vocals floating over a sparse electronic piano. A double-clap feel drum-line kicks in underneath as the melody ascends, and even though I don’t understand the specific words Matsuzaki sings, I can feel that she’s reaching toward some kind of miracle that might save us all. Could it be? It’s right at her fingertips. This song shimmers.
The album continues to mesmerize with the infectious groove and storm of guitars on “And the Moon Laughs,” moving into “The Little Maker,” which offers the record’s most hypnotizing bass lines; there’s lots of great bass lines to choose from along the way too, but “Maker” definitely presents my fave.
Deerhoof (photo by Mike Bridavsky)
“Phase-Out All Remaining Non-Miracles by 2028” and “Momentary Art of Soul!” deliver the most prog-rock experiences of the record, where after the slinky “non-miracles” are phased out, one’s art of the soul takes on a fever pitch of Philip Glass-inspired frenetic energy. Matsuzaki’s voice rides the wave of the instrumental fluctuations on “Soul,” the penultimate, and longest, song on the album, clocking in at just over five minutes (still quite short by prog rock terms).
“Wedding, March, Flower,” concludes Miracle-Level with a contemplative almost-ballad, where drummer Greg Saunier and Matsuzaki switch places; she plays the drums and he sings lead. About the writing process for this final song, Saunier shared:
“I was flirting with my partner Sophie and sent her a video of me humming and playing the piano. Deerhoof was starting to get songs together for our next record. No one had suggested we needed any tender piano ballads, but Sophie convinced me to show it to my bandmates anyway. I was so touched when they were into it. The real kicker came when Satomi wrote lyrics. They were in Japanese, so when we first rehearsed it, I wasn’t even sure what I was singing. But Satomi had written a love song about a wedding. Satomi and I ended our marriage over 10 years ago, and it hasn’t always been easy for any of us to keep the band going. Our songs have always been one way that we all process our feelings with each other. Co-writing and performing ‘Wedding March Flower’ with her was really intense.”
Miracle-Level is full of such beautiful, strange, and imaginative intensity. After almost thirty years of such inspiring creative collaboration, Deerhoof seem like they have a lot to teach the rest of us. If you’re not already among the indoctrinated (or even if you are), then start listening to Miracle-Level exhaustively. It might show you a better way.
Miracle-Level is out now via Joyful Noise and available on Bandcamp and all major streamers. Deerhoof is currently on tour in support of the album.
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.
Hi! Hello! Here we are with some bite sized goodies and a taste of a some new things that we dug that came out in the last week (ish), quick fire responses to some great new music we think you should check out. This week lots of the crew—Chantal, Kate B, Kate H, Mike and Ray—weighed in on some killer songs and have the scoop on plenty of new tunes, give ’em a listen!
Bad Optix– Raid. Legions of punk fans have been holding their breath since 1989 for an Operation Ivy reunion. And while Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman have continued to play together for decades in Rancid and found great success, the rest of the members had not collaborated again in over 30 years. That is now a thing of the past as original OPIV vocalist Jesse Michaels (who more recently has also played in Classics of Love) and guitarist Tim Armstrong have joined together for a new band, Bad Optix.
Their first song is straight up jangly Jamaican ska, no punk yelling or distorted guitars in sight. Michaels and Armstrong trade off on lead vocals from verse to verse, backing each other up when not on lead, each lending their trademark gritty growls to the song albeit in a more subtle form. This is sure to have many fans buzzing about what is coming next and has almost definitely has renewed hope that OPIV may one day ride a beat up skateboard into their hearts—and onto the stage—again. This is the first release of the Hellcat Singles Club on Armstrong’s label Hellcat. [KH]
The Beths– Watching The Credits. Full disclosure, as anyone who knows me or has been following me on FTA or my socials already is aware, I am a full on unabashed Beths fan boy. Last year’s Expert In A Dying Field was my favorite album of 2022 (read our review). Evidently, “Watching The Credits” was recorded during those sessions and was left off the album because it “didn’t fit.” Whether that means it didn’t fit physically or thematically remains to be seen, but upon listening to this tune on repeat for the last 24 hrs, I have to imagine that there are innumerable bands out there that would KILL to have a song like this and to think it couldn’t make The Beths cut is simply mind boggling.
A fast paced sugary sweet power pop nugget, “Credits” doesn’t visit any new territory for The Beths, but it doesn’t need to. It follows their tried and true formula of smile inducing, sunshine provoking, crunchy/jangly guitar, harmony driven power pop which this band has down to a science. Check out pics from their recent sold out show at Brooklyn Steel. [RR]
Death Valley Girls– Feel the Colors. Anyone familiar with Death Valley Girls knows that lead vocalist and songwriter Bonnie Bloomgarden is searching our world (and all possible worlds) for meaning and inspiration, and she’s exploring new possibilities for existence again in their just released single, “Feel the Colors,” which is a stand alone follow up to their recently released full length, Islands In The Sky (read our review). This extremely danceable song delivers the band’s fantastic psychedelic-a-go-go fun while ruminating on the special perspectives of cyborgs.
Bloomgarden interviewed “cyborg activist” Neil Harbisson for the podcast Podsongs(along with creator and musician, Jack Stafford), and “Feel the Colors” shimmies and shakes with all the details she got from Harbisson about how the antenna planted in his brain enables him to perceive color in sound waves.(And yes, he really got that implant so that the British government would recognize him as a cyborg.) So if you’re seeing rainbows in the rocking fluctuations of “Feel the Colors,” don’t be alarmed, just ride the synesthesia wave, and consider yourself ahead of your time. [KB]
Hotline TNT– If We Keep Hangin Out. The now NYC-based indie band led by singer-songwriter Will Anderson has shared a new single from their just released tape, Spring Disco. “If We Keep Hanging Out” plunges into melancholy longing, with distorted vocals coming through a haze of exhausted emotion. “If we keep hangin out / I think your love will come around,” Anderson sings repeatedly throughout this lo-fi ballad, and you feel for the guy. Hopefully the unrequited nature of this love will turn around for him if he just keeps on. [KB]
LOCKSTEP– Weave. This Nashville trio debuted with a single in 2021, and are back with a new track that melds spacey post-rock with a doomy, heavy center. The drums really solidified this one for me, pulling the song from a dragging, meditative tempo to a pulse. Their debut EP Arrival will be out May 19th. [CW]
Panchiko– Until I Know. If Panchiko hadn’t lived up to the hype (little known CD from 2000 discovered in a used bin in 2016, goes viral, band reunites after 20 years) it wouldn’t be surprising: after all, how many musicians who never “made it” still have the chops after stepping away for so long? But a demo from all those years ago has finally been realized in its fullest studio form, and it does in fact justify the reappearance of the band. Buoyed by a really catchy main guitar riff and an almost breathy vocal delivery, “Until I Know” is what the band calls “top down cruising misery pop” and it helps keep the anticipation high for Failed At Math(s), which will be out May 5th. [CW]
Paul B. Cutler– For the Children. Producer and guitarist Paul B. Cutler (best known for his work with The Dream Syndicate and 45 Grave) delivers a blistering new song, “For the Children,” the first single off his upcoming LP, Les Fleurs. Cutler’s guitar work shreds through the track at breakneck speed, while underneath the vocals are whispering an intense social critique: “All around the world/ Little boys and girls / Sick of all the liars in this world.” In the claymation-esque video for the song, all of the adults appear two-faced, with glowing eyes and demon claws, as the distorted voices of a distant children’s choir back up Cutler’s mutterings and shrieking guitar. A perfect song to have in your ears on the days when the state of the world makes you want to give up, but somehow, you don’t.
Despite his long resume and years making music, this is Cutler’s first solo album and has been in the works since 2014. He shares:
“the philosophy I had while producing it, it’s punk. I come from the original punk, before it was a genre. Before it was a ‘sound.’ When I got to LA in 1977 there were about 20, maybe 30 bands and they all sounded very different. The Screamers, the Deadbeats, so many different takes on what music could be. There was no chance for commercial success so we all just did what we wanted. I never stopped. So philosophically I consider this punk rock, made in its original spirit although nobody would recognize it as such. I am a punk to this day.”
Salamander– Ride. The latest from Brooklyn’s very own amphibian band, this one sees them less in the glitchy territory of their EP tooth/waste, which was released earlier this year, and really leaning firmly into the dream pop side of their sound and more of a full rock band feel. You can catch the band gigging around BK and NYC and keep up with all of their happenings on their Instagram. [KH]
Shannon Minor Group– In Your Eyes. Last year I had the honor and the pleasure of being involved in a songwriting workshop involving a small group of fellow Brooklyn songwriters each writing, recording, and submitting a new original song each week to the group. This was my first introduction to the talents of Shannon Minor outside of her projects of which I was already familiar and in which she usually plays the less fronting role as drummer (Batsbatsbatsghostghostghost, The Senior Year, etc). “In Your Eyes” is the debut release from Minor’s new solo project, and it exudes a wonderfully stripped down beauty.
And one thing is clear, the hard hitting drummer and Booked By Grandma co-founder has traded in her sticks for an acoustic guitar and smooth sweet harmonies. There’s an honest and nurturing spirit to its tone that has almost a Joan Baez quality. You can hear each slip and squeak and slide of the guitars’ strings and resonant interplay reminiscent of the late Jim Croce, and its angelic melancholy washes over your whole body like a dream and a hug. I hope there’s more on the horizon from the Shannon Minor Group because if “In Your Eyes” is any indicator, we are in store for some truly special music to come. [MB]
Scowl– Psychic Dance Routine. The title track from Scowl’s soon to be released new EP, it shows the band continuing to expand their sonic palette away from the straight up hardcore they first gained attention for, fusing indie and alt grunge for an exciting new direction that channels bands the sound and rage of bands like Hole and Babes In Toyland. The accompanying video was directed by the band’s guitarist Malachi Greene and sees vocalist Kat Moss in a ballet studio dancing in a sequined outfit, performing her own dance routine, but things might be more than they first appear. Moss shares:
My perspective of being consumed as the version of myself that is “performing” has shifted dramatically, while simultaneously grappling the experience of being a feminine artist in a world that doesn’t always take you seriously.
I made an effort to change perspectives back and forth lyrically because I felt that would have the most impact with the message I was trying convey. ‘She’ll never be your animal, she’s got her own personal hell.’ In its simplest form I’m explaining that nobody can corner me into their perception of who I am and that I’ve got my own shit to deal with. By using ‘She’ I’m making it clear that I’m also speaking about a feminine experience. ‘Can’t handle your control, think of the love I’d give.’ is me begging the listener to relinquish the grip they have on me and questioning if they’ll allow me to be the earnest and vulnerable person I truly am.
Psychic Dance Routine will release in full on 4/7 via Flatspot Records. [KH]
Sorority Grrrls– Dead Babies On The Floor. This is the debut single from the new Newcastle, England based feminist punk band and it packs a grungy punch, wearing its influences on its sleeve. (I’m a big fan of the Pretty On The Inside font used on the cover art.) And while SG do make their influences known—bands like L7, early Hole, Bikini Kill and The Distillers—those earlier artists serve more as a guiding light to lead the way; this is a song that strikes a good balance to stand on its own without getting overly bogged down in what came before them either.
They also definitely benefit from the much better recording techniques available to DIY bands of today vs. the lower quality recordings of similar style bands in the late 80s and early 90s. It’s really nice to see the full circle coming around in the new wave of riot grrrl and feminist bands making music today, who are also much more inclusive in their approach than was often the case 30 years ago, an unfortunate part of the legacy of the original wave of riot grrrl. There will be a b-side to this single released later in April and it’s an exciting first taste of what this band has to offer. Looks like I’ll need to be planning a trip North next time I hit the UK. [KH]
Squid Pisser– My Tadpole Legion (feat. Yako of Melt Banana). You better hold on for dear fucking life the minute you hit play on this chaotic no wave-hardcore-noisy thrasher because it is going to give you whiplash. The band who self describes as “eviscerat[ing] the ego and and all things serene with their own vibrant form of vicious and mucky hardcore” who “[slam] down dolphin corpses at breakneck speeds” has certainly nailed it right on the head as to what their sound is like. And to make it even more of a wild ride, Yako of fellow masters of rapid fire experimental noise, Melt Banana, contributes vocals.
This is the title track from their upcoming LP and the video features alien like fish asking for money, weird baby dolls and masks that reminded me of the infamous nuclear mutant toilet dwelling nightmare creatures from the 1994 episode of The X Files, “The Host,” which, going on 30 years later, still kind of low-key scares me! My Tadpole Legion features a host of guest artists and was mixed by Kurt Ballou at Godcity Studios and releases in full on 4/14. [KH]
TEKE::TEKE– Gotoku Lemon. Pairing a groovy beat with their trademark interweaving guitar and flute melodies, the newest single from TEKE::TEKE’s upcoming Hagata LP is fun and funky. Singer Maya Kuroki extols listeners to try their ‘magic lemons’ (English translation: “Everyone come closer! / Divine effect, immediate remedy for all diseases! / Try these lemons, try them! / Try these magic lemons that wake you up with just one drop!”) over the backdrop of an animated collage video created by Kuroki and guitarist Serge Nakauchi Pelletier. Hagata will be out June 9th on Kill Rock Stars. [CW]
TROLLER– Out Back. A superbly creepy track, where a ticking electronic drumbeat and hypnotic guitar strumming are overlaid with the contrasting, languid croon of bassist and singer Amber Star-Goers, who draws the lyrics out as if she is casting a spell. It all adds up to a dark, textured, haunting sound. Their new album, Drain,is out May 26 on Relapse. [CW]
War Honey– I Don’t Blame the Rats.I first became aware of War Honey when they released their debut EP Shard to Shatter on vinyl via Handstand Records at the end of 2020. More than two years later, the newest single by the quartet showcases the everlong and ongoing dance between Gaby Dana’s vocal prowess and the dense atmospheres surrounding Ben Fitts’s guitar work. The former band-campers, turned roommates, turned bandmates clearly know how to complete each other’s musical phrases in a way that only a prolonged shared creative space can foster.
Dana’s simmering operatic power and Fitts’ delicate ethereal melancholy are all the more enhanced beautifully by the dynamic rhythms rounded out by David Bloom (bass) and Ian Ackerman (drums). “I Don’t Blame the Rats” oscillates between creating air and suffocating the spaces through which it breathes. War Honey is a band that creates a lot of room in which they can play, and it’ll be curious to see where they take us next. [MB]
waveform*– Firework.waveform* play around with nostalgic emo, shoegaze and bedroom-pop sounds on this song, which all get turned on their head when the crescendo hits, recedes, and then returns again with a harder, grungy guitar sound. There’s a pretty nifty solo, too. This is the second single so far released from the upcoming Antarctica, which is out May 12th on Run For Cover. Read our thoughts on the first single, “Lonely.” [CW]
