Pile, “The World Is Your Motel” (Exploding In Sound)
This little tornado blows through your farm in less time than it takes to scream “Auntie Em!”, so I’m gonna give it a short and sweet write-up. The track bucks and kicks amidst Fugazi-style stop/start pacing and stabbing guitar work, while singer Rick Maguire starts off sounding like Black Francis channeling Lee Ving and ends sounding a bit like Mark E. Smith. Great stuff.
There; you can come out of the cellar now…
From the album, You’re Better Than This, out now on Exploding in Sound (US) and Fierce Panda (UK). Also available on their Bandcamp page. Go forth and purchase.
Two new tracks, representing my first exposure to this London-based four piece. Both are taken from sophomore album, Heyoon, to be released by the consistently great Bella Union label.
The first, “Moongee” is trippy, moody, and vaguely psychedelic. A turn down down a dark, cobblestoned street, lamp posts encircled in fog, the moon creating a corona of misty, distorted light, stalked by a churning rhythm underpinning a swirly interplay between tense guitar work and detached vocals. Reminds a bit of Mezzanine-era Massive Attack.
The newest, “Stay”, is less languid – all stabby, post-punk guitar shredding and insistent drum/bass work. Think everything from the Banshees, up to Savages and Wytches, with more than a bit of the low end thump of early Bunnymen and even Interpol. Music to pogo to, ‘neath the strobes; sweaty, propulsive stuff. Check the video, directed by David Graham.
For a band that, I believe (at least in it’s current iteration), has only been around for 3 years or so, they have a very strong dynamic. Lead guitarist Jemma Freeman is a revelation; she has the ability to command through both the front and back of the mix. Vocalist Luisa Gerstein carries a bit of a Joni Mitchell-like vibe with her phrasing and intonation, while the rhythm section of Dan Blackett (drums) and Heloise Tunstall-Behrens (bass) keep it tight.
Their artist bio page on the Bella Union site ends with a suggestion – “climb inside and explore” – I second that emotion.
Flesh World, S/T MLP (La Vida Es Un Mus, 12/18/2013); A Line In Wet Grass 7″ (Iron Lung, 6/24/2014)
A band I first stumbled upon last winter through great Late Riser’s Club program on WMBR, and then again more recently via the MaximumRocknRoll page on Facebook – apparently, the universe was trying to tell me something (or just reminding me that I was going to write this review, like, several fucking months ago – but who’s to say, really?).
Flesh World is a great new(ish) punk band out of San Francisco, whose members are long-time denizens of that city’s diy punk scene (SF Gate went so far as to describe singer Jess Scott as a “scene figurehead”). Their debut self-titled mini-album is a prickly blend of Dead Boys styled punk, the JAMC, C86 distortion-blurred indie pop, Belly-style 90s indie rock (“Reckon and Know” sounds a bit like the Primitives pogoing with the Breeders) and newer “noire rock” bands like Rakta and (early) Raveonettes. One of those great records that manages to pack in the (right) hooks while making your ears ring.
Subsequent single, “A Line In Wet Grass” dials up the goth side of the band’s sound – the ritual drumming and guitar melody reminiscent of early Banshees. Another winner.
Highlights include: Reckon and Know, Sturdy Swiss Hiker, Lost My Heart in Transit Thru the Post, A Line In Wet Grass. Go like them.
Communions “Cobblestones” ep (4/23/2014, Posh Isolation); “So Long Sun/Love Stands Still” (Tough Love, 11/10/14)
First wide releases by this young Danish band, based out of Copenhagen and comprised of two brothers (Martin and Mads Rehof) and two others (Jacob van Deurs Formann and Frederik Lind Köppen), both released in 2014. A part of the much-discussed “Copenhagen scene” (patent pending), Communions do share similarities with bands like Iceage: drunken vocal phrasing, reverb-heavy post-punk married (on newer material) with travellin’, road-song aspects of older country – but come across as more wistfully romantic (with all of the heart warming and rending that this entails).
Much of Cobblestones takes 60s and 80s jangle indie/college rock (early Smiths, late Joy Division/early New Order), post-punk and even a bit of punk urgency (the insistent drum and bass on the title track are reminiscent of “God Save the Queen”), and buries them ‘neath a heavy coverlet of reverb. A strong effort – particular faves being the final two tracks, “Children” and “You Go On”.
So Long Sun/Love Stands Still shows a good deal of growth in a short period of time. “Sun”, begins with a bright, John Squirely guitar hook, before the bass and drums crash along as Martin Rehof’s vocals seem exhaled through a hookah (the higher register he employs on this single made it almost impossible for me to believe it was, in fact, the same vocalist). “Love” might be my fave of all, though – it is, in fact, quite lovely – Rehof adding a falsetto over a straight ahead rhythm and melody recalling the jauntier moments of The Smiths.
Very much looking forward to more from these guys in 2015 (and beyond). Check them out on Facebook and on their website.
The Horrors’ radical musical evolution is as interesting as it is distracting. True, the left turn away from from the garage-punk of the band’s eponymous EP and subsequent debut, Strange House, to the lush, navel gazing kraut rock psychedelia of excellent follow-up, Primary Colours, was a radical one. What’s been lost, however, in the (over)attention to – initially – their look (‘dangerous outsider punks, or NME-conceived art school wannabes?’) and next, the transformation of their sound (‘what will they do next?’), is the fact that the band has been consistently both interesting and challenging. [Disclaimer – I quite liked both the initial EP and the (now) much maligned Strange House. Sue me.]
Similarly, The Horrors’ new album – the aptly titled Luminous – seems to be discussed more for what it isn’t (i.e., another radical reinvention of the band’s sound) than what it is: a very confident and assured album. While the arrangements and overall composition more reshape than remake those on last offering, Skying, this is a well-oiled machine of a band that knows what it wants to sound like. In particular, the guitar work of Joshua Hayward throughout is fantastic, from Will Sergeant-style arabesque stabs, to wall of effect pedals, it serves as both a compliment and a counterpoint to the rapture.
If Skying nudged aside the curtains to let a bit of the outside in, then Luminous throws open all of windows, unlocks the door, and leaves the band squinting in the morning sun. The sound here is bigger, and the band’s ability to conjure a melody has never been stronger. Of course musically, at least (cough), bigger does not always equal better, and I was initially fearful at hearing lead teaser track “I See You”, which further expands upon the stadium-sized New Wave elements of Skying (think Simple Minds), with a fair amount of bloat resulting. Thankfully, the next track teased – the excellent “So Now You Know” – retains the playfulness and quirky bits that make much of this band’s work interesting. While certainly still “big” (and you can still hear some Simple Minds in there…alas) the sky scraping melody is surrounded by a sold foundation and sonic experimentation, and the balance of the album is in this latter vein.
But, is anything new, you ask? Ok, fine: two things register as new takes on the theme. The first, and most obvious, is a focus on groove. Gone, for the most part, are the straight motorik beats that marked large portions of both Primary Colours and Skying. In their place are are more sprightly, polyrhythmic drum and bass patterns, some bordering on baggy grooves. Luminous feels, at it’s heart, like a kind of dance record – one that might not make you twerk, but will very likely at least make you sway vigorously. For proof, look no further than standout track “In and Out of Sight” – gorgeous, and begging to be listened to cocooned in a buzzing, strobe lit glow.
The second is Faris Badwan’s voice. While always distinctive, his off-kilter croon has largely been pushed to the middle of the mix. Here, though, his voice glides atop of the kaleidoscopic swirl. His vocal range has also expanded into a higher register and seems more powerful than on past efforts. There’s even a ballad here – ! – pulled off quite well (“Change Your Mind”), which should soundtrack cool kid “anti-prom” parties for years to come.
So, no radical reinvention then, just a really good album that deserves to be heard.
Highlights include: “In and Out of Sight”, “So Now You Know”, “First Day of Spring”, “Change Your Mind”.
Eagulls are a Leeds-based quintet whose debut album I’ve been looking forward to for some time, having enjoyed earlier tracks like “Council Flat Blues”. The band is often given the “post-punk” tag, and it’s easy to hear why: their songs bring to mind equal parts early Killing Joke, The Cure and The Chameleons. There are also hints of the more adventurous side of new wave and of early 80s hardcore punk in the vocals.
While many bands these days, it seems, draw heavily from these same influences, Eagulls manage to blend these into something more than merely the sum of their illustrious parts and, on its eponymous debut album, the band has clearly refined its sound from earlier releases into a solid collection of songs.
The band seems to dip a toe or two in the water at first. Opener “Nerve Endings”, begins with swirling guitars, paired with sturdy, sold bass and drums, finally joined by vocalist George Mitchell, sounding a bit like “Seventeen Seconds”-era Robert Smith. While decent enough, it seems the aural equivalent of first few drinks in a pub crawl: the intent is there, but the inhibitions have not yet been cast aside.
It’s during the excellent middle portion of the album that the band conjures the raw emotion and vitality of the full-on bender: Mitchell trades his Smithian yelp for belfry-clearing shouts, which interplay wonderfully with the guitar work of Mark Goldsworthy and Liam Matthews. On this run of tracks, beginning with “Tough Luck” and continuing on through “Opaque”, the music stumbles and lurches blearily through waves of dissonant melancholy – all shades of blue and black – while kept on a (strained) leash by the excellent rhythm section of Tom Kelly (bass) and Henry Ruddel (drums). Proceedings reach euphoric, drunken clarity on twin highlights “Possessed” and “Opaque” – the stuff of raucous sing-alongs, the kind which possibly (de?)evolve into fisticuffs.
All said, a very satisfying debut. One complaint, however, is with the production, which bathes everything in something approaching cotton wool: it seems, at times, as though the band were recorded from the next room. While this does add to the already tense mood, it too often ends up blunting the impact. I look forward to seeing the band – June 18 at Great Scott! – to hear the difference live.
Psych-rock supergroup @mmmiiieeennn (ft members of @theblackangels, @ElephantStoneHQ & @TheEarlies) are today releasing their long-awaited second LP ‘MIIEN’ ⚡
You can stream and purchase your copy of the new album on deluxe gatefold vinyl and CD here: http://MIEN.lnk.to/MIIEN
