Tag Archives: shoegaze

New Music: The Raveonettes, Junko Ozawa

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

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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.

New Music: The December Sound, Real Reign

The December Sound, Real Reign (self-released, 3/11/2016)

Fantastic news that this long dormant Boston band has once again resurfaced.  Real Reign is a new, two-track release from The December Sound:  here’s hoping it’s a sign of more new things to come.

Lead track, “Speaking From Tomorrow” is a typically noisy cloudburst of a track.  Showcasing the band’s aural fission of shoegaze, industrial, drone and even a bit of britpop, the track thrums with a narcotic drumbeat, wall of noise guitars, and whispered vocals in the vein of Robert del Naja.  Second cut, “Just Let Go” shows a softer side, a psych drone and slow burning bassline reminiscent of Spacemen 3 or Loop slowly moprhing into a kaleidoscopic churn of, er, looped guitar effects and a mantra-like repetition of the titular refrain.

Real Reign is available now through on the band’s bandcamp.  In addition, you can – nay, should – now order The December Sound’s excellent 2007 debut, The Silver Album, directly from the band by messaging them via their Facebook page.

Review: Manhattan Love Suicides, Bikini Party/Birthday Kill 7″

The Manhattan Love Suicides, Bikini Party/Birthday Kill 7” (Odd Box Records, 1/15/2016)

We here at thegrindinghalt have been remiss in not expressing our joy at the return of Leeds, UK’s Manhattan Love Suicides, a band we loved during their first run; in particular, their eponymous 2006 debut and the follow-on extended single for “Kick It Back”.  The band’s new 7”, featuring a-side “Bikini Party/Birthday Kill”, comes hot on the heels of last summer’s excellent return album, More Heat! More Panic!

“Bikini” features paint-scraping peals of feedback and distortion o’er a whipcrack drum sound reminiscent of the JAMC.  Singer Caroline’s sneering vocals reply “unable to attend” (in a not-so-nice way) to the aforementioned party in favor of a “good birthday kill”. Emily Post would not approve. Emily Post can do one.

The very ‘80s hardcore-titled, composite b-side (so many slashes!) “Deserted Coastal Town/Action&Memory/What Am I Supposed To Do?” – think of it like the indie rock version of a German compound word – showcase different sides of the band.  The book ends here are both highlights:  ballad “Deserted” has bit of a Smiths vibe with its jangled chords and orchestrated chorus, while “What” is a delightfully short, sweet, fuzzy kick in the face.

The single is available now at the MLS bandcamp page, via Odd Box Records.  You can also check out the band here. Earlier releases can be found via Magic Marker Records and Squirrel Records – do yourself the favor.

New Music: bummed, smoking jewels

bummed, “smoking jewels” 7” (self-released, 3/13/2016)

A lovely slice of swooning dream-pop/shoegaze from Somerville, MA’s bummed (we’ve retained the band’s e.e. cummings approach to punctuation – please refrain from rioting with pitchforks and copies of Strunk & White).

This new single sees the band moving away from the more lo-fi aspects of their 2014 self-titled release (which is also well worth checking out).  A-side, “smoking jewels” features a jangly, finger-picked guitar melody over a muscular, start/stop rhythm; sheer, largely indecipherable vocals are dead center in the mix, swaddled in reverb.  B-side, “no reward” adds peals of feedback and a more steady, driving beat.

The 7” – as well as a digital version – is available now via the band’s Bandcamp page; hopefully, it’s a teaser for a new long-player. Check them out there, and here.

Album Review: Froth, Bleak

Froth, Bleak (Burger Records (CD, vinyl); Lolipop Records (cassette), 5/19/05)

New record from L.A., by way of El Segundo band, Froth.  While I missed the boat on their debut release, I stumbled across this one and, well, I really like it.  There’s some cool history of the band – which only formed in 2012 – out there.  Since it’s pretty easy to find on the interwebs (like, here), I won’t repeat it in detail here:  suffice to say, the band (by their own admission) started off as a bit of a “joke”, then remixed a song from their first record for Yves Saint Laurent’s fall 2014 men’s fashion show (which is likely why they are discussed in (en?) Vogue).  Oh, la la!

Froth cranks up the psychedelic edge of dream pop and shoegaze, calling to mind similar efforts by bands such as the Brian Jonestown Massacre (think songs like “Evergreen” or “Swallowtail”).  Lead singer Joo Joo Ashworth sings in a kind of dazed croon, sounding a bit like Donovan or, more obscurely, Al Stewart.

Bleak‘s nine tracks glide, swerve and swoon by in around thirty minutes or so, during which time the band blends elements of ‘60s psychedelic pop, garage rock, shoegaze and dream pop.  Familiar elements are collected and mixed to great effect:  the jangle-tinted psych pop of the title track; the BJM meets My Bloody Valentine of “Postcard Radio”; the “Be My Baby” beat in ballad, “Nothing Baby”; the psych stomp of “Saccharine Sunshine”.  Album highlight “Turn It Off” combines all of these into a swirling, glorious, tilt-a-whirl head rush of a track.

Bleak is out now and available for download on the band’s Bandcamp page.  Check them out, as well, on Facebook.  In August, Froth will be on tour supporting The Drums on a jog through the wide open spaces of the Western United States – tune in and drop out with them if you’re in the area.

Highlights include:  “Turn It Off”, “Bleak”, “Postcard Radio”.

Review: Flesh World, The Wild Animals In My Life

Flesh World, The Wild Animals In My Life (Iron Lung, 6/2/15)

Debut long player from San Francisco-based Flesh World, a fave of thegrindinghalt.com (check out our review of their mini-lp here).

In the proud tradition of bands like TSOL, Lords of the New Church, 45 Grave, The Damned, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Flatmates, Savages – bands grafting elements of other music onto a musculature of punk – on The Wild Animals…, Flesh World continue to push and prod at the edges of their sound:  goth, rough C86-styled indie pop and shoegaze shiver and shake together over rumbling punk and hardcore undercurrents.

The title track adds a glaze of shoegaze swirl atop Scott Moore’s jangly guitar line.  “Just To Tear Me Down” starts like a ramshackle take on “Under the Milky Way”, then morphs into a buzz saw goth/punk rocker, vocalist Jess Scott channeling Morrissey as she sings to someone who wants to “tear me up just to tear me down”.  “Strawberry Bomber” sounds like Dance With Me-era TSOL fronted by Mikyi from Lush.  Personal fave “Poolside Boys” recalls the JAMC covering “Everyday Is Like Sunday”.

Comparisons only go so far though – these songs live and breathe as a result of the band’s great sense of melody, pacing and energy.  Earworms abound here for the digging.  Dig in.

Gloomy and glorious.  Check the stream above and support the band here.  Also, be sure to go seek out the band at one of their upcoming shows (sadly, the halt exists in lands outside the current itinerary – *sniff*).

7/30 New York              Baby’s All Right
7/31 Philadelphia          Philamoca
8/1 New York                 Williamsburg Music Hall
8/2 Baltimore                Windup Space
8/3 Richmond               Strange Matter
8/4 Washington, D.C.  Black Cat

Highlights include:  “Poolside Boys”, “Strawberry Bomber”, “Shaved Head”, “Your Love Is Like a House”.

Spotlight Dance: Kult Country

Kult Country are a six piece hailing from Manchester, England. To date, they have released two singles, “Slowburn” and “Trembling Moon”.  The first came out last year; I just heard the new single last week, and so am making up for lost time a bit with this write up.

“Slowburn” (5/13/2013, Sways Records) is truth in advertising: a slowed-down, “No Quarter”ish groove unfurls into swirls of distortion pedal goodness.  Vocalist Yousif Al Kharagouli sounds a bit like the Richard Ashcroft of earlier, druggier Verve records fronting Chapterhouse or Slowdive.  B-side “Amongst the Dead Forever” is a different beast altogether, bursting forth with a choppy, motorik beat underlying a repetitive melody line and vocals recalling 80s industrial or darkwave.

New single, “Trembling Moon” (6/30/2014, No Self Records) shimmers.  Jingle jangle guitars float above a Ride-worthy, propulsive drum/bass combination running pell mell, tumble bumble into and through a baggyesque breakdown in the middle.  A cavalcade of influences, to be sure:  one hears Mighty Lemon Drops, Ride, Bluetones, Stone Roses…others…all blended together into a heady cocktail.  B-side ‘Atlas Haze’ harkens back to “Slowburn”, a musical swirl cone (can you tell it’s a hot, muggy day as I type this?):  one side chiming along like a lost cut from the first Smiths album, the other early period Verve (again) or perhaps Evergreen-era Brian Jonestown Massacre.  Spacey with scattered bits of droned melody throughout, “Atlas” feels like “Trembling”s end of the rave come down.

In a clash of senses, these songs feel textural, almost tactile.  From what I’ve read online, the band’s debut full length is set for release later this year.  On this evidence, it is one I’m looking forward to very much.  Check them out at www.facebook.com/KULTCOUNTRY.

Album Review: The Horrors, Luminous

Horrors – Luminous (XL Recordings, 05/02/2014)

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”.