Nashville’s All Them Witches will be returning to the U.S. and Canada for another tour in support of their excellent album Sleeping Through the War. The tour starts November 3rd in North Carolina and ends November 18th in Milwaukee. Don’t miss them if you get the chance to see them. They are great live and amiable chaps to boot.
NOV 3 • Cat’s Cradle • CARRBORO, NC
NOV 4 • The Southern Cafe and Music Hall • CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA
NOV 5 • Rock & Roll Hotel • WASHINGTON, DC
NOV 7 • The Foundry at The Fillmore • PHILADELPHIA, PA
NOV 8 • Music Hall of Williamsburg • BROOKLYN, NY
NOV 9 • Higher Ground • SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT
NOV 10 • Fairmount Theatre • MONTREAL, CANADA
NOV 11 • Lee’s Palace • TORONTO, CANADA
NOV 12 • The Bug Jar • ROCHESTER, NY
NOV 14 • Ace of Cups • COLUMBUS, OH
NOV 15 • Hi-Fi • INDIANAPOLIS, IN
NOV 16 • The Mill • IOWA CITY, IA
NOV 17 • Turf Club • ST. PAUL, MN
NOV 18 • The Back Room at Colectivo Coffee • MILWAUKEE, WI
I rarely buy an album based on a single track, but Honey’s new album, New Moody Judy, was an exception to the rule. I heard the first single, “Dream Come Now,” and thought, “Damn, I need to hear more of these cats.” and then pre-ordered the record.
It was a wise decision. New Moody Judy’s opener, “Wage Agreement,” blares out of your speakers with a wild mix of Stooges and Mudhoney influences. The guitars are loud, fuzzed, and urgent. “Urgent” might by the best word to describe the entire record, really. Every song wants to grab you by the arm and shake you until you snap out of it (whatever “it” is for you).
The sharp angles and explosive drums of “Dream Come Now” could power a rocket to the moon, or the scrawniest person to knock down someone three times as big as them. The title track throws in dashes of cosmic stoner rock and Nick Cave vocal styling. “Speed, Glue” isn’t, I’m sure, about people who can stick things to other things in a quick manner. The fuzzy bass and warped guitars are at the forefront of this amazing instrumental.
“Hungry” almost spins out of control with heavy bass, avalanche drums, and crazy guitar that sounds like something you’d hear on an out of control UFO. The band’s Mudhoney influence is front and center on “Bagman,” which sounds like something Mudhoney might’ve unleashed on a Seattle bar’s dilapidated stage in 1992. That means it’s a killer rock track, by the way. “Power” brings back the Stooges influence and MC5 touches as well. It never lets up from the first chord, which is the type of rock we need right now. The closer is “Peggy Ray” – a fierce garage-punk assault that you’ll want to play during your next free-run, skate, or even casual stroll around town.
This is one of the best rock records I’ve heard all year. I need to see these cats live. You need to see these cats live, and we all need this record.
Blacktop Records has recently signed Kill Surf Citywith a cassette tape release planned for later this year. To celebrate the signing and the 12th
anniversary of Blacktop Records the label will be releasing a compilation album Oct 27th on compact disc/digital featuring a brand new unreleased
song from Kill Surf City titled “Transistor.” The compilation also features tracks from Kevin Seconds (7seconds) Jonah Matranga (onelinedrawing) Open Hand, Wheatus, MC Lars and Green Jelly.
Electro-pop quartet Yumi Zouma‘s new album, “Willowbank,” is a delightful breeze blowing across the first nice day of spring, a tall glass of lemonade on a hot summer day, a romp through dry leaves in the fall, or the first clean snowfall of winter – take your pick. It’s a delight.
“Depths (Pt. 1)” gets off to a snappy start with a toe-tapping beat and bouncy vocals, and the follow-up, “Persephone,” is about as perfect of an electro-pop song you’ll hear this year.
The Cure-like bass of “December” will get you moving, even if you’re seated. “Half Hour” is a pretty love song with subtle percussion and synths and excellent use of male-female vocals during the chorus. The beats on “Us, Together” remind me of early 1980’s New Order tracks, but the guitar is straight-up shoegaze.
“Gabriel” might be a song about having a crush on a ghost. I’m not sure, but it is pretty dream-pop nonetheless. “Carnation” is one of the sexiest songs on the record with lyrics about staying in bed all day and letting the world go by without a care except for each other.
The beats on “In Blue” are so slick that you might fall down when they spill out of your speakers and onto the floor. They’re dance floor-ready on “Other People,” which is about thinking twice before and after a break-up (“Took it hard when I sent you out to sea. I think I love you, but I could be wrong.”).
The synth bass on “A Memory” is the soundtrack of your favorite 1980’s video game you played once at a cousin’s house and could never find after that. “Ostra” has a light soul / R&B vibe to it that I love.
The album ends with “Depths (Pt. II),” a song about how love changes as we grow older, uses many of the same lyrics as the first part but now at a slower, more ethereal pace.
Get this record if you need a break from anger, online rants, or work B.S., or even if you just love dream-pop and shoegaze music. It’s one of the loveliest records of the year.
Django Django – David Maclean (producer/drummer), Vincent Neff (vocalist/guitarist), Jimmy Dixon (bass) and Tommy Grace (synths) — return, exploring new sounds with their third full-length album, Marble Skies, out January 26th on Ribbon Music. It’s a concise and focused album that recalls their dynamic, genre-blurring debut and its handmade, cut-and-paste approach. Today, the album launches with lead single, “Tic Tac Toe,” a rousing, trippy rock number, and its accompanying video.
Following the release of Django Django’s 2012 Mercury Prize-nominated debut and 2015’s Born Under Saturn, the process for Marble Skies began with a back-to-basics approach in line with the DIY ethos of the band’s early days. In late 2016, Django Django (minus Maclean) assembled at Urchin Studios in Tottenham, London with Metronomy drummer Anna Prior to experiment with new material. After ten days of recording, there was plenty of raw material to send to Maclean for him to edit, refine and evolve before the band rejoined for recording proper. Marble Skies was completed in mid-2017 in their small, equipment-crammed studio in north London – a similar environment to the first record, which was recorded in Maclean’s bedroom.
While Marble Skies features hazy Zombies-like summer pop, hypnoic Krautrock grooves, Jamaican dancehall influences and electro pop, lead single “Tic Tac Toe” nods to Django Django’s more rockabilly-inclined influences. It was cut from the same long recorded jam that produced “WOR” and “Shake and Tremble.” Directed by John Maclean, brother of Dave and director of the critically acclaimed modernist western film Slow West, the “Tic Tac Toe” video depicts Neff enjoying a day-trip to a beach town which takes a turn to the sinister, when a ghost train puts him on a collision course with a grim reaper inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal. As John Maclean explains: “The film could be about the fading era of the beach arcades, time moving too fast, love and games, horror and happiness but it is actually about a man who needs to go buy a pint of milk to make a cup of tea.”
Marble Skies will be released digitally, CD, standard LP and a deluxe colored starburst vinyl via the Ribbon Mart.
One of my best friends and I first saw and heard the Psychedelic Fursin the early days of MTV and thought they had the weirdest name of any band we’d seen. They soon became favorites of ours and I’ve been keen to see them for years. The day finally arrived when I could see their first of two nights at Chicago’s Thalia Hall (one of my top three favorite venues in the city) on October 17th.
Rockers Bash & Pop opened for them, and my friend, Steve, and I got there in time to check out the last three songs of their set. They had a good blend of hard rock and a bit of garage punk.
Bash & Pop
It was a good crowd for a Tuesday night, and an interesting blend of aged punks, young hipsters, and music fanatics. The Psychedelic Furs came out and opened with “Dumb Waiters.” I’d guessed this would’ve been their closer, but they unleashed it right away and grabbed everyone’s attention.
Getting right down to business with “Dumb Waiters.”
What especially grabbed my attention is how lead singer Richard Butler‘s voice has seemingly not aged. He sounded great, as did the entire band. Mars Williams, the saxophone player (who also used to play for the Waitresses), shredded the entire night.
L-R: Mars Williams, Richard Butler, Tim Butler, and Amanda Kramer
The double whammy of “Pretty in Pink” followed by “Love My Way” had the entire crowd jumping. One guy to my right was almost in throes of ecstasy by this point. “Until She Comes” and “The Ghost in You” were also especially sharp.
“Pretty in Pink”
The lyrics of “All That Money Wants” is rather biting in this country right now, and they ended with “Heaven” before coming out to two encores. The first had a powerful rendition of “Sister Europe” that cooked up a witches’ brew of post-punk, acid jazz, and shoegaze. The second was a performance of the song I thought they’d have as the opener – “President Gas.” Like “All That Money Wants,” you can’t help but hear the lyrics in a new light right now.
A killer rendition of “Sister Europe”
It was worth the wait to see them, and $40.00 for a signed tour poster was a steal.
Makeness Signs To Secretly Canadian & Shares New Single “Loud Patterns” Listen Here
November/December North American Tour Dates With Jungle
Up and coming Scottish producer Makeness, aka Kyle Molleson, has signed to Secretly Canadian and debuted his new single, “Loud Patterns.”
“Loud Patterns” is framed by thundering, low-end frequencies that capture a raw, frenetic energy. It offsets this abrasive shell with intricate synthetic soundscapes and vocal melodies, teasing elements from his forthcoming record. This marks Makeness’s first new music following support slots with Holy F**k, Midland and Avalon Emerson and June’s self-released Temples Works EP.
From the expansive electronica of his debut four track Rogue EP in 2015 — a record that drew comparisons to Jon Hopkins — to 2016’s collaboration with Tri AngleRecords’ Adult Jazz, and the post-punk flecked disco of single “Other Life,” Makeness has always been keen to explore new landscapes. “Loud Patterns” is a testament to this exploratory spirit and with it, his continued musical evolution.
Starting next month, Makeness will support Jungle on a two-week North American tour. These shows mark Makeness’ first time performing live in the states. A full list of dates is below.
NEON COVEN RELEASE COVER OF DEPECHE MODE “NEVER LET ME DOWN AGAIN”
October 12th, 2017 – Neon Coven, the new industrial rock band from Los Angeles, CA, featuring Jacob Bunton (Adler/ Lynam) and Ace Von Johnson (Faster Pussycat) has released their take on Depeche Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again” today. Produced by Bunton, the song is available on the band’s official YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38RXFOPqtpw
Neon Coven is comprised of Anthony Montemarano (vocals), Jacob Bunton (bass), Ace Von Johnson (guitar), and Kyle Cunningham (drums).
From Los Angeles, CA, Neon Coven abandoned much of the ethos of the tradition of heavy rock to create an intellectual and theoretical sound, linked to an emphasis on anthemic, synth-heavy dance-rock. The band’s debut EP Risen was released in February via New Ocean Media. The EP can be streamed at this location: https://open.spotify.com/album/1DSKprFqDMWhoj8ttiY5d8
For more information, check out the band’s Web Properties:
As the story goes, LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy (lead vocalist and jack-of-all instruments for the band) had no plans to make this record. He was content to stay in retirement after the band closed the door on their legacy with a massive sold-out show in New York City. He couldn’t stop writing songs, however, and all of that creative energy had to go somewhere. It went into the band’s newest record, and one of the best records of the year, American Dream.
The themes are American Dream are familiar ones to LCDSS’s work – love, aging, trying to stay hip, partying, and emotional disconnect in the digital age. The first track, “Oh Baby,” has Murphy pleading for a lover to come back to him as synths beats bubble underneath his vocals. The wicked bass and beats on “Other Voices” underlie the scathing message directed at adults acting like spoiled children instead of sticking up for themselves and others. “Time isn’t over and times aren’t better so it’s letting you down. You keep dragging back to it, keep going back to the well,” Murphy sings before telling us that we’re still babies and pushovers. Vocalist / keyboardist Nancy Whang claims, “It sounds like the nineties.” at one point. We’re back to the emptiness that decade only twenty years later. The final verse is particularly damning: “You’re just a baby now. You should be uncomfortable. Fake like you mean it.”
“I Used To” is a classic example of Murphy realizing he’s an aged hipster and remembering when he thought he was going to change the world (which, in some ways, he has). It’s a track Gary Numan would love, as it sounds like early Tubeway Army material but with vocals more soulful than robotic. The best lyric is “Oh sure, we’re talking tough, yeah, we’re talking tuff, but on suburban lawns in prone positions.” “Change Yr Mind” has LCDSS verging into post-punk with Murphy’s chop guitar work and the snappy beat. Murphy laments his younger days of being Joe Cool with self-introspective lyrics like “I’m not dangerous now, the way I used to be once. I’m just too old for it now, at least that seems to be true.”
“How Do You Sleep?” has Murphy wondering about a former lover who warned him about cocaine even as she was diving into addiction and left him stuck hanging out with “vape clowns.” It’s almost a goth track with its deep bass and Pat Mahoney’s tribal drumming. It’s a stunning piece that I’m sure is a highlight of their current live shows.
“Tonite” is one of the wittiest songs Murphy’s ever written as he salutes and takes down modern pop music (and growing older) at the same time with wicked beats and synth work. His lyrics are brilliant and include gems like “You’re getting older – and there’s improvement unless you’re such a winner that the future’s a nightmare,” “You’ve lost your Internet, and we’ve lost our memory,” and “…embarrassing pictures have now all been deleted by versions of selves that we thought were the best ones.”
“Call the Police” was one of the first songs off the record. It’s soaring synths and Go-Go’s bass propel Murphy’s lyrics about fake rebellion and forgotten passions (“The old guys are frightened, and frightening to behold. The kids come out fighting and still do what they’re told.”).
What is the “American Dream” alluded to in the album’s title track? It’s love. In particular, love that is often right in front of us but we choose to ignore out of fear it will be painful or difficult or might lead to further responsibility. The track is vintage synths, finger snaps, and Murphy’s passionate vocals (“So you kiss and you clutch; but you can’t fight that feeling that your one true love is just awaiting your big meeting, so you never even ask for names. You just right through them as if you already came.”).
“Emotional Haircut” sounds like a forgotten Love and Rockets track with Murphy’s savage guitar work and Mahoney’s wicked drumming. Murphy sings about knee jerk reactions to tragedies and then not being able to move past them at a later date (“You got numbers on your phone of the dead that you can’t delete and you got life-affirming moment in your past that you can’t repeat.”). The album’s closer, “Black Screen,” is almost a darkwave track as Murphy remembers a lost friend or lover who might be dead or simply taking a vacation from the worldwide web. In this day and age, both are equal for many.
LCD Soundsystem wants us to remember that the American dream is achievable if we remember that it’s not about money. It’s about love, helping the little guy, acknowledging our rough past, and not repeating the same mistakes. The nation will be better off if we at least try.
Easily one of the best acoustic albums I’ve heard all year, Mark Vickness‘ Places is just him and an acoustic guitar that he plays in the “modern finger style” method, which involves using the guitar as both a stringed and percussive instrument.
There are no vocals on the record, only songs about and inspired by places Vickness has visited either alone or with his family over the last few decades. The impressive “A Thousand Islands is about a lake in the Sierra Mountains where he proposed to his wife. The almost sad “Wind River” is about a place in Wyoming. The images of “Prince William Sound” and “New York City” are obvious, but Vickness’ skill is anything but ordinary. He makes his guitar sound like chimes, an old clock, a dulcimer, and even a sitar at some points.
“Flight of the Rays” is about seeing manta rays swim through the ocean near Hawaii, and Vickness does a great job at bringing the peaceful yet strange images to find with his guitar. “Bishop Pass” is about another spot in the Sierras and would be great for a drive up there.
“NYC 2.0” is about a return trip Vickness made to the city two years ago. The song is a bit darker and funkier than the earlier track, reflecting his new perspective on the Big Apple. The three-part “Wonder Lake Suite” is his salute to Wonder Lake in Alaska and is almost a meditative experience.
The album ends with “I Must Tell Jesus.” It’s a classic spiritual song that was the favorite of Vickness’ adoptive grandmother, and his imagining of it for the acoustic guitar is both a loving tribute to her and a nice update on a wonderful gospel standard.
Places is a good record if you’re into instrumental guitar and looking for something to chill you out after a day of bad traffic, pointless meetings, and bad coffee.
Keep your mind open.
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