New Music: Jamila Woods, Heavn

Posted on 2016/06/24 | Leave a comment

Jamila Woods “Heavn” (Closed Sessions)

Jamila Woods is a Chicago-based poet, educator, playwright, and community activist.  As if that weren’t enough, she’s also a singer possessed of an airy, languid voice that is the centerpiece of a fantastic new track, called “Heavn”.

Woods enters cooing modified lyrics from The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven”, calling for a “trick” that “makes you love someone”; that “makes the winters warm”.  The response is a paean to the joy of lasting love, free of (and in the face of) societal constructs and restrictions.  Taking a hand, Woods leads a dynastic journey to a past where “great-great-great-great-great-great” grandparents “didn’t need a ring or a broom” to make their love eternal, the refrain “I don’t want to run away with you/I want to live our life right, here” providing comfort.

The track is a welcome throwback to the early days of the so-called ‘neo-soul’ movement, at the intersection of spoken word and hip hop.  “Heavn” glides along a looped, propulsive tribe vibe instrumental sampled from The Roots’ Dilla Joints cut, “Eve”, the mix reminding me of personal favorites like Ambersunshower, touching down via a prolonged outro.  Transportive.

“Heavn” looks to be the title track of Wood’s forthcoming, debut record on Closed Sessions.  Can’t wait to hear more of this.  You can do the following thing on fbook, her site, and SoundCloud.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Single Review: Swami John Reis and Metz, “Caught Up”

Posted on 2016/06/24 | Leave a comment

Swami John Reis and Metz, “Caught Up”/“Let It Rust” 7” (Swami Records, 4/16/16)

Red beans and rice, corned beef and cabbage, guacamole and, well, pretty much everything – some things just go well together.  Consider, then, a musical smoothie featuring John Reis (a/k/a, “Speedo”, a/k/a “Swami”) and Toronto’s Metz, who got together on Reis’ home turf of San Diego to lay down tracks for what would become a 2-song 7”.

“Caught Up” is one of those songs, and represents a perfect blend of unhinged garage rock/post-hardcore of Reis and the heavier, detuned punk/Nirvana influence of Metz.  The warp speed Johnny Cash “train” beat prevalent on Reis projects like Hot Snakes (see, particularly, Audit In Progress), pulsed with Metz’s heavy riffage and Cobain yelps.  Throw in a little surfy wang bar action and you got yourself some boss tuneage.  Bon appétit.

The Swami/Metz collaborative 7” was released for Record Store Day on Reis’ Swami Records label. Physical copies (as well as mp3 downloads) appear to still be available, via Midheaven. Do it to it.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

New Music: Nots, Entertain Me

Posted on 2016/06/23 | 1 comment

Nots, “Entertain Me” (Goner/Heavenly)

New from great Memphis band, Nots.  Burbling forth with whorls of scrappy, wah-wah guitar noodling, a propulsive drum beat kicks in from under a blanket of fuzz.  By equal measures the snotty new wave punk of the their excellent debut album (which we reviewed here) and the more psych-freeekout, experimental, even funky feel of last year’s “Virgin Mary”, the band continue to forge a unique amalgam of their influences.  Singer/guitaritst Nathalie Hoffman shouts “entertain me/tell me what to see/…tell me who to be” as a kind of dismissive mantra for the vapid, selife-sticked, kardasherized zombie hordes, as the track dissolves into a free-form, no wave jam around the 4:30 mark.  Put down your phones and listen up.

Per the good folks over at Stereogum (whose article contains Hoffman’s explanation of the track), “Entertain Me” will feature on Nots’ second album, “Cosmetic”, due September 9 on Goner (US) and Heavenly (UK).  It’s available to pre-order now, here, and you can keep up with the band’s other activities, here.

1 Comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Review: Vanishing Twin, The Conservation of Energy

Posted on 2016/06/07 | Leave a comment

Vanishing Twin, “The Conservation of Energy” (Soundway Records)

“The Conservation of Energy” is a slice of breezy, psych-flecked sophisti-pop (so many hyphens!) courtesy of London’s Vanishing Twin (formerly known as Orlando, also the name of the band’s lead singer).  There’s a strong whiff of gauloises, drawing in the flavors of bands like St. Etienne, Stereolab, Broadcast, and The Style Council.  Featuring a gentle breeze of a drum beat, organ, flute, and Orlando’s shimmery vocals, the track weaves a continental drift through a sun-dappled, pastoral jazz-folk vibe, with the lyrics’ natural imagery – matter, flowing seas – adding to the languid feel.  The song streches its legs into an absolutely blissful, wordless middle third at around the 2:30 mark, before returning to the main melody.  While a rather abrupt fade out breaks the spell.

Psych-pop bliss.

“The Conservation of Energy” is taken from Vanishing Twin’s to be released debut album, due on Soundway Records in September according to their PR group. You can find the band on fbook and also on Soundcloud, with Orlando’s earlier releases available on this Bandcamp page.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Review: Rakta, Intenção

Posted on 2016/06/06 | Leave a comment

Rakta, “Intenção”

We were first introduced to São Paolo’s Rakta via their excellent self-titled album from 2013, and we’ve been following them ever since.  “Intenção” is the a-side of their latest 7” single, and carries on where they left off with 2014’s “Tudo que é sólido” 7” and their 2015 Rakta em Transe project with fellow Brazilians Cadaver em Transe.

Where earlier cuts layered garage and psych elements over a punk bedrock, “Intenção” continues to push the psych and the goth to the fore, even adding touches of early industrial – you get a sense of the Banshees in their trippier days (think Join Hands or Juju), the “in your faceness” of bands like Birthday Party and Crass, as well as moody psych rock bands like 13th Floor Elevators.  The track opens with a heavy, foreboding bass line and chaotic peals of guitar over a steady, tribal beat.  The feeling is primal, the song lurching forward like some sort of colossus.  A war dance around the firelight, or in the cellar beneath a single, bare bulb.  Not meaning to give short shrift, b-side “A Busco do Circulo” sounds like Roky Erickson jamming with Lords of the New Church – so, also great.

Scary?  Exhilarating?  Why not both?  “Intenção” is out now on Dama da Noite Discos/Nada Nada Discos (BR) and Dê o Fora (ESP), and is also available for download through Rakta’s Bandcamp page.

You can also check the band on fbook where, amongst other exciting discoveries, comes news of a forthcoming LP on Iron Lung (US), Dama da Noite Discos/Nada Nada Discos (BR) and Dê o Fora (ESP).  As if that weren’t enough, there’s also tour dates in North America and Japan to look forward to this summer!

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

New Music: Primetime, Going Places EP

Posted on 2016/05/20 | Leave a comment

Primetime, “Going Places” EP (La Vida Es Un Mus, 5/16/2016)

Primetime are a four-piece punk band working out of Londontown.  “Going Places” is the second EP, following 2014’s self-titled endeavor.  Two word review: we likey.  Want more words?  Read on, then…

This is a seriously fun, poke in the eye of a record.  In the tradition of folks like Billy Childish (and related acts), Stiff Records artists like Wreckless Eric, The Slits and more recent artists like Nots and Nervous Twitch, Primetime sing deceptively simple songs about everyday concerns:  waking up/not wanting to wake up; relationships/not wanting to deal with relationships; being in control/feeling like you’re losing control; and pheromones, lots of pheromones.  It’s as deliriously snarky as it is insidiously catchy.

Highlights are many, but think fast, as the whole EP isn’t more than seven minutes long.  “Pervert”’s showcases a great, kind of inverted machismo, beginning with the line “if I’m a pervert/and you’re a stain on my dirty mind/…I want to tear off your shirt”, lead singer Claudia delivering a deadpan warning to an unnamed other that if he/she takes too long getting in da bed, she’ll “start without [you]”.  “Anyway” starts with a beat reminiscent of The Go-Go’s “Our Lips Are Sealed”, with lyrics describing being  distracted by someone while simultaneously not (wanting to) give a shit.  The bass/drum combo is rock solid, allowing the guitar room to move and the vocals to strut with a cheeky grin and a one-fingered salute (or two, depending on your locale).

“Going Places” is out now, via La Vida Es Un Mus – grab it now on the labels’ Bandcamp page.  More can be found about Primetime on fbook and the twit.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , ,

New Music: The Raveonettes, Junko Ozawa

Posted on 2016/05/19 | Leave a comment

The Raveonettes, “Junko Ozawa” (self-released, 4/29/16)

Screen-Shot-2014-09-04-at-20.37.59

We’ve been fans of The Raveonettes for ages – they had us at “Attack of the Ghost Riders” and we’ve never let go.  “Junko Ozawa” is both the band’s latest release and the April installment of their “Rave-Sound-of-the-Month” club, which sees the band releasing new material, well, monthly (Ed – cheers, Capt. Obvi).  This one’s named in honor of a noted Japanese video game music composer.  That’s her picture, above; the official, lyric video is below.

“Junko” represents a potent marriage of the JAMC-meets-Eddie-Cochran sound of their earlier material and the newer, sleeker noir/shoegaze/surf (shurfnoir?) dance party of their more recent output.  The track features a tight, minimalist electronic sound paired with blips, bleeps and bloops suitable for one of its eponym’s games.  Sune Rose Wagner’s treated, helium vocals – which sound a bit like Prince in his “Camille” days – begin unfettered, then are gradually weighed down by static and other distortive noises, as he sings “the friends I lost/were never meant to be”.  Game over.

“Junko” is my joint favorite of the four monthly tracks released by the band thus far, together with January’s icily beautiful, 808 inflected, “This World Is Empty (Without You)” – don’t make me choose!  Check that one out, here.

Happily, The Raveonettes singles club for the 21st century project looks to be turning into a full-blown full-length.  Head over to the band’s Pledgemusic page for more info.  Rave on.

Follow along with the band, and sign up to receive monthly ‘sounds’, on their website.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

New Music: CC Dust, Never Going to Die

Posted on 2016/05/13 | 4 comments

CC Dust, “Never Going to Die” (Perennial/Night School)

CC Dust is a project involving MaryJane Dunphy, lead singer of frabjulicious Olympia, WA punk band Vexx, and David Jacques.  With “Never Going to Die”, she brings the energy and passion of that band from the pit to the dance floor.

Dunphy here sounds a bit like a combo of Alison Moyet and Lene Lovich, croon-whooping over a long lost 4AD track, with Jacques weaving a Hooky baseline.  The deep echo and reverb overlay on the bass and vintage-sounding programmed beats cloak the song’s glistening new wave bedrock in a bit of a goth and early industrial chill – whatever you want to call it, it’s a well-crafted track as good for dancing to as it is for just being with.

As it is with Vexx, Dunphy’s voice inhabits the song.  Moving from gutteral to delicate and back, it’s physicality caroms around, over and through the melody in a way similar to Dunphy’s live presence (check the video below), further animating the already dramatic arrangement.

Recorded last year, “Never Going to Die” is taken from a forthcoming, 5 track 12” ep, due soon(?) from Perennial (US – preorder here) and Night School (Europe).  Speaking of Europe, CC Dust is playing dates therein (venues included where I could find).

June

5 – Osramhuset, Copenhagen (DK)
7 – Hamburg (DE)
8 – De Gym, Groningen (NL)
9 – Butcher’s Tears, Amsterdam (NL)
10 – Au Picolo, Paris (FR)
11 – DIY Space, London (UK)
12 – Hope & Ruin, Brighton (UK)
13 – Undertone, Cardiff (UK)
14 – Tenterhooks, Dublin (IRE) 
15 – Barcelona, Sala Almo2Bar (SP)
18 – Valencia (SP)
19 – Logroño (SP)
21 – Leeds (UK)
22 – The Poetry Club, Glasgow (UK)
23 – Servant Jazz Quarters, London (UK)
24 – Soup Kitchen, Manchester (UK)
25 – Berlin (DE)
27 – Klub Famu, Prague (CZ)

https://vimeo.com/140188795

4 Comments

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Album Review: Empty Markets, Stainless Steel

Posted on 2016/05/10 | Leave a comment

Empty Markets, Stainless Steel (12XU Austin, 4/8/2016)

Churning, relentless, fantastic new hardcore/punk from Austin, TX three piece, Empty Markets.

Stainless Steel marks the group’s debut, lead singer/guitarist Drew Schmitz having previously been involved in bands like Cruddy and Hex Dispensers.  While there’s definitely a whiff of the old school – “Pink and Barren World” sounds like an interpolation of “Teenagers from Mars”, and the sonic energy recalls past masters like Black Flag, The Offenders and Die Kreuzen – Empty Markets, like other newer bands like Ex-Cult and fellow Texans, Institute, incorporate noise, post-punk and post-hardcore (think Drive Like Jehu) ambience into the punk template, elevating it past d-beat rehash or mid-tempo, street punk boredom.

Front to back, this is one of the best new punk records I’ve heard in years (coming from a somewhat jaded, ‘old school’ – like, early 80s – h/c guy).  The arrangements, as well as the playing, are both muscular and extremely tight throughout.  Schmitz’s guitar playing is inspired.  The rhythm section of drummer Jordan Rivell and now former bassist Wendy Wright create crisp, sharp rhythmic blasts.  Wright (replaced, since the album’s recording, by Stephen Svacina) has a driving, out front bass style that recalls folks like Mikey Offender, and her vocal interplay with Schmitz is a consistent highlight.  Loud.  Sweaty.  Cathartic.  Recommended.

Stainless Steel is out now, on 12XU, and can be purchased via Empty Market’s bandcamp page or the label’s site. Find out more about the band on their fbook page.

Highlights include: “New Religion”, “Pink and Barren World”, “Rash Decision”, “Bulging Affidavits”.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Review: The Monsieurs, “High School Star” 7″

Posted on 2016/05/05 | Leave a comment

The Monsieurs, “High School Star” (Goodbye Boozy Records)

https://soundcloud.com/goodbye-boozy-records/the-monsieurs-high-school-star

Following their crazy good (and, in parts, just plain ol’ crazy) 2014 self-tltled album, Boston scuzz-punk rockers The Monsieurs are back with a new double-a side single, “High School Star/Jack of Hearts”.

We here at thegrindinghalt wanted to give a glowing review of The Monsieurs (the album) but were, frankly, to busy listening to it and breaking shit to actually get around to writing one, so…if you haven’t yet experienced that aural Misfits/Ramones/Monks/Sha Na Na knife fight (actual knife fight, mind, none of that West Side Story or “Beat It” nonsense) do so, ok?  Great, thanks.

Anywho, “High School Star” continues the three chords and a cloud of dust assault of the full-length.  The band is at full strength here, piledriving their way through roughly two and one-half minutes of relentless rock.  Singer Andy California still sounds like he’s sing/screaming through a swarm of bees over a Hilken Mancini guitar slash reminiscent of “Wild Thing”, while Erin King provides the rhythmic stomp.  While I’m missing, a bit, the backup ‘sha la las’ so prevalent on the album, this still rages.

“High School Star” is out now on Goodbye Boozy Records, a label out of Teramo, Italy that is also home to other great bands like Sick Thoughts and The Husbands.

Check out The Monsieurs on fbook or the twit.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , ,