7th Level Music

Interview: Carbon Decoy

In case you’re not aware, Caron Decoy is an excellent doom / psych-rock band out of Detroit, Michigan whose newest album, Crush the Sun, explores mythological themes while unloading cosmic, colossal riffs. The trio of Jared Jordan (bass), Earl Mudd (guitar), and Casey Rowe (drums and vocals) were kind enough to participate in a short interview with me about their influences, other Detroit bands, and interests outside of music.

7th Level Music: I’m intrigued by your band’s name. Why the play on carbon decay, changing it to decoy?

Carbon Decoy: Honestly, it was just two words that we thought sounded cool when put together. We definitely were thinking of atomic structure and matter using the word carbon (evident with our first single “Atomic #6“), but there wasn’t much else that went into the name.

7LM: Greek mythology themes are prominent on Crush the Sun, with the story of Icarus and the characters of the Sirens being in the forefront on those tracks. Has mythology always been a favorite subject or inspiration, or did all of you gravitate toward it on this record for a particular reason?

CD: Mythology is definitely something that we all have a strong interest in and a subject we likely will continue to draw inspiration from.

7LM: Some riffs on Crush the Sun reminded me of heavy southern rock, and the opening riff on “Forest of Lies” has a great blues sound to it. Are some of those 1970s bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, and Mountain or Delta blues artists influences on all of you?

CD: We are all very influenced by the bands from the 70s. Mountain is a huge inspiration for the entire band. Creedence Clearwater Revival is another. The Delta Blues are at the core of many of our songs and a lot of Earl’s guitar work.

7LM: That being said, are there any influences you all have that some of your fans might find surprising?

CD: A lot of folks might be surprised to find out how influenced the entire band is by classic/outlaw country music. Honestly though, you never know what we are listening to when we’re cruisin’ in Casey’s Safari. Willie Nelson, Herb Alpert + The Tijuana Brass, Electric Wizard, Wu-Tang Clan, CCR. It’s like a box of chocolates in there.

7LM: While we’re on the subject of bands and other musicians, are there any other Detroit scene bands you all love and think more people need to hear?

CD: Detroit is thriving and busting at the seams with great music. We could go on and on and undoubtedly will forget someone, but just a few of our favorites include Glass Chimera, Cherry Drop, Sonic Smut, MRKT, Eck!, The Cult of Spaceskull, The Velvet Snakes, Dunamis, Winds of Neptune, Duende! and so many more.

7LM: Do you have any tour plans soon, or festivals you hope to make it to in 2026?

CD: We are taking it pretty easy in 2026. Jared added a new baby to his family this year. We have a short Midwest tour planned for the fall, and will likely add a few one-off dates through the summer.

7LM: I always like to wrap up with this story and question: I once heard an interview with Ray Charles, and in it he said he sometimes got a bit depressed because most people only wanted to talk to him about music. So, outside of music, are there other things you’re all fascinated with, or interested in, or just enjoy?

CD: Earl is an incredibly talented photographer and has a passion for film. Jared has a small farm and loves working cattle and gardening. Casey is an extremely skilled builder and loves working with his hands.

All thanks to Carbon Decoy and Ksu at Discipline PR!

Keep your mind open.

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Francis of Delirium remind us “It’s a Beautiful Life” with her new single.

Francis of Delirium—the project of Luxembourg-based musician Jana Bahrich—announces her second album, Run, Run Pure Beauty, out May 29th via Dalliance Recordings, and releases the single/video, “It’s a Beautiful Life.” The epitome of a modern artist, Jana does most things herself, no matter how painstaking—writing, producing, directing, often handpainting t-shirts the day of shows when the band have run out of merch. This has given her band, Francis of Delirium, a unique identity, with her rock confessionals breathing a new life into the genre and her paintings creating a striking design aesthetic.

Francis of Delirium released their first single, “Quit F**king Around,” in 2020 as Jana was finishing high school. Shortly after its release, she signed to Dalliance Recordings and proceeded to release three EPs: All Change (2020), Wading (2021), and The Funhouse (2022). While the EPs fizzed with promise, the debut Francis of Delirium album, Lighthouse (2024), landed its punches. Seeking a more vulnerable and open sonic palette, Jana wove in pop elements to create anthems that celebrated heartbreak and love. Paste praised the album as “a rewarding experience that captures a talented, young artist at the crossroads between adolescence and adulthood,” and NME raved, “Bahrich’s choruses, almost every one, are lump-in-your-throat gorgeous.”

Produced by Jana and long time collaborator Chris Hewett, and mixed by Nicolas Vernhes (Deerhunter, Dirty Projectors, Silver Jews), Run, Run Pure Beauty continues in this vein, notably on the previously released, “Little Black Dress,” and today’s new single, “It’s a Beautiful Life.” The song immediately hits with an undeniable chorus and euphoric guitars. Lyrically, Jana is searching for beauty within, basing the song on vignettes snatched from moments away: “A coffee I had with a pianist who was about to play a Philip Glass piece at the Philharmonie in Berlin, watching a couple break up on a New York City park bench, walking past a choir rehearsing in a basement, and examining a loneliness that feels ingrained into daily life,” Jana says. “I’m not denying pain but trying to find the beauty alongside it.”

The song’s must-watch video, directed by Kiyan Agadjani, captures the eternal teen movie summer with aplomb. Of Agadjani, Jana says, “He sent me his short film Arman & Elisa and I was incredibly impressed. A year later, I went to him with an idea about gay basketball and he was in. We started referencing movies like Little Miss Sunshine, Space Jam and Juno and wrote a treatment about a rag tag team called ‘The Rats’ going up against a professional team, ‘The Giants’. The video ended up being about perseverance and connection, both on and off screen. We cast a lot of our friends, musicians, artists and filmmakers from Luxembourg and I’m still not totally sure how it happened, but it took us eight months to finish.”

Watch the Video for “It’s a Beautiful Life”

Live, Francis of Delirium are Jana (guitar and vocals), Jeff Hennico (bass), and Denis Schumacher (drums). Together, their brilliant quiet-loud dynamic and tight interplay elevate Jana’s songs. Over the last five years, they’ve headlined shows, played festivals, and toured across Europe and North America with the likes of Blondshell, The Districts, Horsegirl, Briston Maroney, Soccer Mommy, and Bôa, who they will support in Europe this spring.

Run, Run Pure Beauty is an excavation of hope in bleak times; its songs of discovery, despair, and perseverance ultimately serve as a mirror on its creator and is a brilliant next installment in the Francis of Delirium arc.

Pre-Order Run, Run Pure Beauty

Watch the Video for “Little Black Dress”

Francis of Delirium Tour Dates
Sat. April 18 – Paris, FR @ Élysée Montmartre *
Mon. April 20 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso *
Tue. April 21 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich *
Thu. April 23 – Ursus, PL @ Klub Progresja *
Fri. April 24 – Poznań, PL @ TAMA *
Sun. April 26 – Köln, DE @ Bürgerhaus Stollwerck *

* supporting Bôa

Keep your mind open.

[It’s a beautiful life when you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Killing Joke – Extremities: The Albini Demos and Live Beginnings ’88

It’s barely spring and we already have one of the best reissues of the year – Killing Joke‘s Extremities: The Albini Demos and Live Beginnings ’88.

Way back in the mid-1980s, guitarist Geordie Walker and drummer Martin Atkins linked up with legendary producer Steve Albini in his Chicago studio and there recorded mixes and demos for what became known as the “Black Cassette” and would end up in different variations on KJ’s 1990 album Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions.

Beginning with the demo version of “Money,” (later known as “Money Is Not Our God”) the heavy, fuzzy bass from Paul Raven hits you right away while Walker’s guitars sound like pirate transmissions from a hidden kingdom under the earth. The “Unreleased” demo has a wicked drum beat and guitar riffs that would later inspire scores of shoegaze bands. “Scrape / North of the Border” (The “Scrape” title was later dropped for the album release.) gets you moving with his wonky guitar sounds and undeniably great beat. The “Reflex mix” of “Money” rounds out Side A of the album, turning the song into a warped, wild version and clearly showing how much KJ influenced Nirvana.

Side B is a rare recording of a secret show from Birmingham, England on December 20, 1988 that happened to be Atkins’ first live gig with the band, and it also includes tracks that would appear on Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions two years later. Jaz Coleman‘s vocals and keyboards are bonkers right out of the gate on “Extremities,” installing panic and power into the crowd. Walker’s squealing, seemingly melted, feedback-heavy guitar only adds to the chaos.

“The Fanatic” somehow sounds both distant and in-your-face at the same time. Coleman sometimes mutters and sometimes roars. Walker steps back and then charges forward. Atkins and Raven click together and keep it from becoming too frantic, but just barely managing it. “Wake up!” yells Coleman after introducing “Intravenous.” How anyone could have been sleepy-eyed during this show is beyond me, because KJ were shaking the entire venue by this point. “Intravenous” only gives you a couple moments to catch your breath during its pounding drums, high-pitched guitar feedback moments, and rolling dam waters bass.

“You see, we’re the laughingstocks…” Coleman says as the last track, “Beautiful Dead,” begins with his spooky synths and voice before his bandmates pummel the audience (and us over thirty years later) with pure force. There’s a neat moment when it almost sounds like Coleman is playing his own song on his synthesizers while Walker, Raven, and Atkins are doing their own thing and it still works quite well. The funky groove of the song during the verses is also a neat switch-up around the blast furnace choruses.

Killing Joke proved through songs like these, and many albums still to come, that they weren’t laughingstocks. They were in on the joke, knew the joke, and exposed the joke. These recordings are a great find for fans of not only them, but also post-punk and industrial music.

Keep your mind open.

[The joke’s on you if you don’t subscribe.]

[Thanks to Dan from Discipline PR.]

Jesca Hoop stirs up a “Big Storm” with her new single.

One month from today, Jesca Hoop will release her new LP Long Wave Home. The seventh solo album from the California-born, Manchester-based songwriter took shape amidst a period of both personal and geopolitical upheaval: a web of schisms that seemed to reflect one another as they unfolded. It is the first album Hoop produced by herself, and it marks both a fresh start and a deepening of her extensive, multifaceted discography.

In the past, Hoop had worked with a roster of seasoned, brilliant producers: John Parish (PJ Harvey, Tracy Chapman); Tony Berg (Taylor Swift, boygenius); and Blake Mills, (Fiona Apple, Alabama Shakes). Hoop learned from all of these partnerships. As she embarked on her seventh album, she was ready to apply that knowledge from the cockpit.

Hoop recorded Long Wave Home in studios around the United Kingdom. She asked her collaborator Jesse D. Vernon to arrange accompaniments for her songs, then set out in a camper van to meet session musicians and begin tracking. Her travels took her to The Shed in London, Empire Sound on the Isle of Wight, and J&J Studios in Bristol. Throughout the process, she worked closely with engineers Tim Thomas (Bright Eyes, British Sea Power) and Leo Abrahams (Belle & Sebastian, Frightened Rabbit) to foster the sound she envisioned for the album. Under her careful hand, a populous, dynamic sound emerged.

So far Hoop has released two singles from her new LP, “Caravan” and “Designer Citizen.” Today Hoop is announcing a new run of tour dates and sharing a third single from the record, a track called “Big Storm.”

Hoop says of the track:

“There was a moment, many years ago, when I was ready to ditch everything—everyone I knew and everything I was doing. I gave away all my possessions, keeping only the essentials. I sold my car. I bought a plane ticket. The plan was to leave without notice. Then the biggest storm in recent history blew my getaway plan to bits. It grounded all planes and halted travel. I was forced to face my life. Myself.

The storm taught me there is no cheat code for life—no easy way out. At the same time, my life—my happiness—is my responsibility. Mine and only mine.”

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media.]

Lambrini Girls punch rich elitists in the gut with “Cult of Celebrity.”

Brighton’s own Lambrini Girls, the explosive duo of Phoebe Lunny (vocals/guitar) and Selin Macieira (bass), share their new single ‘Cult of Celebrity’. From its opening guitar lick, the duo’s new song is a relentless, thrashing indictment of the dark underbelly and backdoor dealings of the world’s global elites that has been exposed in recent years.

On the new track the band say: “The age old tale, of selling your soul to the devil has been fabled accounts of high society for years. However due to recent events come to light- it turns out that the elite are very much actually, the devil incarnate, baby eating, pedos. What a fucking surprise! They had no souls to sell in the first place.”

‘The old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters’ Antonio Gramsci (courtesy of Lambrini Girls)

The single is also accompanied by a music video directed by London-based filmmaker and director Harv Frost (The Last Dinner Party, Laufey).

Watch / Listen to ‘Cult of Celebrity’ HERE

Tour Dates

Sun 05 Apr 26 – Paaspop, Schijndel – Netherlands

Sat 11 Apr 26 – Coachella Valley, Indigo CA – United States

Sat 18 Apr 26 – Coachella Valley, Indigo CA – United States

Tue 21 Apr 26 – Variety Playhouse, Atlanta GA – United States

Wed 22 Apr 26 – The Orange Peel, Asheville NC – United States

Fri 24 Apr – 26 Warsaw, Brooklyn NY – United States SOLD OUT

Sun 26 Apr 26 – Paradise Rock Club, Boston MA – United States SOLD OUT

Mon 27 Apr 26 – Théâtre Beanfield, Montreal QC – Canada

Tue 28 Apr 26 – The Concert Hall, Toronto ON – Canada

Thu 30 Apr 26 – Metro, Chicago IL- United States SOLD OUT

Fri 01 May 26 Majestic Theatre, Detroit MI – United States

Sat 02 May 26 – The Vogue, Indianapolis IN – United States

Mon 04 May 26 – Delmar Hall, St. Louis MO – United States

Tue 05 May 26 – The Granada Theater, Lawrence KS – United States

Thu 21 May 26 – Bearded Theory, Derbyshire – United Kingdom

Sat 23 May 26 – Dot to Dot, Bristol – United Kingdom

Sun 24 May 26 – Dot to Dot, Nottingham – United Kingdom

Sat 06 Jun 26 – Primavera Sound, Barcelona – Spain

Fri 12 Jun 26 – Bonnaroo, Manchester TN) – United States

Sun 14 Jun 26 – Warped Tour, Washington DC- United States

Thu 25 Jun 26 – Patrick Henry Village, Heidelberg – Germany

Fri 26 Jun 26 – Vainstream Rockfest, Munster – Germany

Thu 09 Jul 26 – Musilac, Aix-Les Bains – France

Fri 10 Jul 26 – 2000trees Festival – Gloucestershire – United Kingdom

Mon 13 Jul 26 – Les Nuits De Fourviere, Lyon – France

Fri 17 Jul 26 – Malakoff Rock Festival, Nordfjordeid – Norway

Sat 18 Jul 26 – Bukta, Tromso – Norway – Norway

Fri 31 Jul 26 – All Together Now, Waterford – Ireland

Fri 07 Aug 26 – Boardmasters, Newquay – United Kingdom

Tue 11 Aug 26 – Sziget Festival, Budapest – Hungary

Thu 13 Aug 26 – Oya Festival, Oslo – Norway

Fri 14 Aug 26 – Way Out West, Gothenburg – Sweden

Sun 16 Aug 26 – Flow Festival – Helsinki – Finland

Fri 21 Aug 26 – Pukkelpop, Hasselt – Belgium

Sat 29 Aug 26 – Rock en Seine, Paris – France

Tickets available HERE

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Amy at After Hours PR.]

Review: The Shits – Diet of Worms

Looking at that album cover, you might think at first glance that you were in for a folk record, or maybe a “goth country” album, but then you notice the title is Diet of Worms (possibly after the assembly in which Martin Luther was told to recant his writings and views or be labeled as a heretic – spoiler alert from the 16th century: He didn’t.) and the band’s name is The Shits and now you’re even more intrigued.

Then the opening dissonance of the first track, “In a Hell,” arrives and you’re locked in because you want to hear where this is going. The snarling vocals arrive while drums, bass, and guitars circle around you like angry hounds and you’re thinking, “Okay, let’s do this.” This goes on for over seven minutes and ratchets up the power for the whole album. You look at the album cover again and begin to think something bad has happened (or is still happening) in that house / barn…and, by the way, is the whole area on fire?

The Shits seem to believe the whole world is on fire, judging by the rumbling rage in every track. The guitars on “Tarrare” almost sound like the repetitive ramblings of a madman. “Then You’re Dead” sounds like a Stooges B-side covered in ashes and played on a turntable with a vulture perched next to it and using its beak for the needle. The bass line and drums hits on it are relentless.

Speaking of bass, the bass notes on “Change My Ways” are thick as tar. I think the song is about being pressured to change from every angle of society in this modern world: Eat this, do this workout, sleep in this position, take this supplement, listen to these podcasts, read this book, invest your money with me! It never ends unless you change another thing – the desire to change at all. Could The Shits be hiding a Zen lesson in the distortion and shouts?

There could be another one hidden in “Joyless Satisfaction.” The title alone could allude to the emptiness that often accompanies materialism and attachment. We buy and buy and buy and so often have remorse afterwards. The thrill of the purchase is soon replaced by the dread of having yet another thing to move, dust, or take up space. The same goes for doom-scrolling, influencer idolizing, and so many other things that take up our mind-space. The track’s guitar riffs are all jagged and rusty and likely to harm you if you’re not careful.

The title track is a gritty, nervous, writhing thing with an abrupt ending that catches you off-guard. “Thank You for Being a Friend” has a groove that, believe it or not, reminds me of Thin Lizzy. It’s not a cover of the Golden Girls theme song (which would be amazing), but I think is about both true and false friends, and how sometimes it’s difficult to figure out which is which. The album ends with the menacing “Three O’Clock in the Morning.” It feels like the sensation of stumbling home after a drunken brawl in a Waffle House parking lot, or the dread of waking up for another early shift, or coming back from one that ran late, or the lonely dread that sometimes creeps in when you wake up for no apparent reason. It yells and spits at you, creeps around you, pulls at you, and generally unnerves you.

The whole album does. That’s what it’s supposed to do, and why The Shits made it. It’s as unsettling as the album cover or being handed a bowl of worms to eat. It’s meant to shake you up and shake you out of the trap you don’t even know is around you.

One final note: You can’t be a band called “The Shits” and not be a solid, damn good band. It just wouldn’t work. You’d be written off as a joke band.

The Shits are no joke.

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll have joyful satisfaction if you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Dan at Discipline PR.]

Live: Gary Numan and Tremours – Vogue Theatre – Indianapolis, Indiana – March 29, 2026

The seemingly ageless electro icon Gary Numan summed up his show at Indianapolis’ Vogue Theatre well when, during a pause in his set, he said, “I didn’t know what to expect, but this is fucking amazing.”

This was the fourth time I’ve seen Numan and his band, and they always bring it. Each set feels better than the last, and this one was loud, powerful, and a performance.

First up were Tremours, a good shoegaze duo from Los Angeles. They put on a solid thirty-minute set of reverb-thick guitar and echoing vocals from Lauren Andino and hypnotic drumming from Glenn Fryatt. My friends with me at the show were reminded of Belly, Lush, The Sundays, and Ladytron during their set that was both dreamy and drone-y.

Numan and crew came out at 8pm sharp and opened with two bangers out of the gate – “Halo” and “Metal.” Right away, the whole band was clicking and the crowd, which ranged in ages from twenties to seventies and band shirts ranging from Nitzer Ebb to All Them Witches, was cheering. Many hadn’t seen Numan before then, and I think he hadn’t played in Indianapolis in quite a while, so everyone was hyped.

L-R: Harris, Chris Payne, Numan, Slade, Jimmy Lucido

Guitarist Steve Harris was in great form, creating weird riffs and baffling people with his strange antics that seem to be a reflection of how all the sounds are affecting his brain. Teaming him with Tim Slade on bass is genius because the weird energy they bring creates a strange dance that works well with the roar of sound they create.

Following his classic “Down in the Park” with “M.E.” was a great addition to the set. I’d never heard him play it live before then, so I was over the moon. After that, Numan and his lads took a moment for him to tell us why his new album wasn’t finished or released for the tour — mainly due to his wife, Gemma, undergoing multiple serious health scares. As a result, his songwriting has been seriously delayed. He heard some new music playing from the bedroom of his daughter, Raven, and had planned on stealing part of it for a new track. He asked who it was, and she said, “It’s me.” The next thing we knew, Raven Numan joined her dad and his band on stage to perform her song “Nothing’s What It Seems.”

After rousing applause for her, Dad Numan unleashed two more heavy-hitters: “Ghost Nation” and “Love Hurt Bleed” (which always kills live). He played, “Cars,” of course, and I love how he puts a different spin on it with each tour. My friend, Bill, said, “It’s like I never heard that song before.”

He ended the main set with “Are Friends Electric?”, which has rapidly become my favorite song to hear during his shows. It just hits you. The encore included “The Gift” and “My Name Is Ruin.”

You couldn’t help noticing how often Numan and his band were smiling and laughing. At one point during the show, Numan thanked the crowd and said, “I didn’t know what to expect (playing at a small venue in Indianapolis on a Sunday night), but this is fucking amazing.”

Yes, Mr. Numan it was.

Keep your mind open.

Thanks to the chap who scored this and let me photograph it.

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[Thanks to Dave for the press pass!]

Just in time for Holy Week, Eve Maret releases “Gethesmani.”

Eve Maret (sounds like “muh-ray”) is a Nashville-based experimental artist and composer who employs a wide array of electronic media and techniques in her various disciplines, exploring the possibilities of personal and communal healing through creative action.

Over twelve tracks, her upcoming album Diamond Cutter is an exploration of the space where strength meets vulnerability. The title comes from an ancient Buddhist text of the same name, and it’s out April 17th.

Drawing inspiration from nineteenth-century orchestral and choral works, the Fluxus movement, Kosmische Musik and funk, Eve makes use of digital and modular synthesizers, a vocoder, clarinet, electric bass, guitar, and field recordings to create works that range from lush cinematic compositions to space disco. Eve’s music practice is a conversation with her numerous curiosities, manifested in the form of video art, drawing, dance, ritual, and cymatics.

Today, Eve shares the single, “Gethsemani.” The song came to her in a dream while she was visiting a monastery, and she later actualized the music she heard in her head. Named after the biblical garden, the track is inspired by Eve’s Catholic upbringing, a part of her past that she admits is complicated and racked with guilt. Fast forward to today and Eve had a bit of a viral moment on her Instagram page recently, where a clip in which she was dressed as a nun during a recent live set resulted in one of her widest audiences yet on the platform.

On the new single, Eve shares: “Growing up Catholic was…complicated. It was a decision that was made for me, and it’s all that I knew. I was taught that from the moment I was born, I was sinful. Not only that, but with a name like Eve, I truly felt responsible for anything bad that happened around me.

“Dressing up like a nun and playing music felt like a random idea at first, but in retrospect, my life has been building towards this culmination point for years. I’m re-contextualizing my wounds to empower myself. I’m taking the parts of Catholicism I appreciate and re-appropriating them. I am devoted to music, to knowing myself, and to having fun in the process.”

Check out the new video and single via YouTube, pre-order the album here, and see below for upcoming live dates in Knoxville and Memphis.

Eve’s music has been featured on Echoes Radio and Iggy Pop’s BBC radio show Iggy Confidential. “Synthesizer Hearts,” off of Eve’s 2020 release, Stars Aligned, appeared on BBC Radio 6 Music’s B-List in December 2020 and premiered on Mary Anne Hobbs’ BBC Radio show “Music From The Near Future.”

In 2021, Eve contributed to Moebius Strips, an audio installation and companion album honoring the work of electronic music pioneer Dieter Moebius. Other contributors include Geoff Barrow (Portishead, Beak), Sarah Davachi, Jean-Benoît Dunckel (Air), Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo), Phew, Hans-Joachim Roedelius (Cluster, Harmonia), Michael Rother (Harmonia, NEU!) and Yuri Suzuki. She has been praised by the likes of WIRE Magazine, Chicago Tribune, DJ Mag, Bandcamp, and more.

In 2022 and 2023, Eve and her collaborators Dream Chambers and Belly Full Of Stars composed a live-score for FW Murnau’s 1922 film, Nosferatu, which they performed in theatres across the United States. Collaborating is an important aspect of Eve’s creative path, and she has an on-going dance music project called GLAZIER with her partner Scott Glazier, as well as a synth-rock duo, Eardrummer, with longtime friend Adrienne Franke. Eve has performed across the United States and internationally, alongside artists such as William Tyler, Guerilla Toss, MATMOS, JEFF the Brotherhood, and Lydia Lunch.

In addition to her personal creative practices, Eve is committed to providing avenues for others to create and uplift one another. In 2018, She, Jess Chambers, Deli Paloma-Sisk, and Arlene Sparacia founded Hyasynth House, an electronic music collective and education center for female and LGBTQIA+ artists. Together they facilitated workshops, performances, and community-wide conversations in an effort to support and empower marginalized groups.

The founders went their separate ways in 2019, but Eve continues to lead electronic music workshops and to organize live music events in Nashville and beyond, including her work co-producing Nashville Drone, a 6-hour music experience featuring 13 regional artists across genres, in an effort to create an immersive space for the community to connect and recharge.

Eve Maret Live Dates

April 18 – Knoxville, TN – the Pilot Light

May 30 – Memphis, TN – Memphis Concrète

Las Cruxes’ new single is stone “Frio.”

Beneath the rollicking exterior of Yayo Trujillo’s Las Cruxes lies a tender heart. His Omaha-based solo project-turned-collective will release its third full-length, Las Cruxes, out April 24 via Conor Oberst’s Million Stars label. Today, Trujillo shares the single “Frio,” which explores the necessity of sadness atop distorted fretwork and a chugging beat. Spanish-language lyrics probe the desire to scream until nothing comes out while hoping you said the right things. It is cathartic and human.

On the track, Las Cruxes’ Yayo Trujillo shares: “‘Lo sé, lo sé, que nunca seré feliz, te prometo, siento que me muero,’ is how I feel every single day. The dreadful feeling of putting on a smile for the person you love. The mirror doesn’t talk back.
We need sadness in our lives.”

As a native of Los Angeles, music guides Yayo Trujillo. “It all started hanging out with my older brother, who used to play traditional boleros to serenade his girlfriend,” he recalls. “I was lucky enough to tag along.” With a notable following in Mexico and Latin America, his Las Cruxes project has evolved in moves between Mexico City, San Francisco, and Omaha. He also spent years in Pastilla, a Latin rock institution on Aztlan Records and BMG.

As a Nebraska-based artist, it seems inevitable that Trujillo would encounter hometown hero Conor Oberst. After gigging at his bar, Pageturners Lounge, he signed a deal with Million Stars — the label now issuing Las Cruxes’ self-titled third full-length. The album embraces straightforwardness, favoring live performances captured on classic consoles with vintage microphones. The sessions were led by Bright Eyes affiliates Taylor Hollingsworth (Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band) and Adam Roberts at ARC Studios. It bears traces of new wave, shoegaze, and lofi experimentation.

Across 12 cuts, Spanish vocals crest over fuzzy melodies and pounding grooves. “The writing process was the same as everything else — very ‘let’s do this,’” Trujillo reflects. “No thought to it — just very natural, free flowing.” Opener “El último” unfolds with a driving bassline that escalates in a raucous chorus. “No creo que pueda olvidarte / No creo / No creo,” Trujillo repeats atop rickety fretwork. On “Déjà vu,” searing riffs interrupt brooding verses. Closer “By Frank” is the only English language piece, propelled by shakers and woozy organs. “I know it’s a lie they’ll never really tell you / I know it’s lust / I’ll never really tell you,” he proclaims in the refrain. Las Cruxes weaves macabre insistence with themes of mental collapse and romance.

Las Cruxes doubles as a solo practice and fluid collective, both on record and live. “I write everything, but I do it thinking about who is in the band at that moment — who’s wearing the Las Cruxes suit that week,” Trujillo muses. This time around, he tracked the majority of the instruments himself, though a handful of peers were invited to contribute. In addition to a cast of Omaha locals, Californian Ellie English (L.A. Witch) appears on drums. Jeffrey Davies (The Brian Jonestown Massacre) and Jorge Vilchis (La Gusana Ciega) were tapped for guitar. The record channels simplicity at its finest.

Keep your mind open.

[It would cold of you not to subscribe.]

[Thanks to Andi at Terrorbird Media.]

Review: Stuck – Optimizer

Chicago’s Stuck approached their new album, Optimizer, with the sense that they and the world at large are in the passenger seat of an out of control car. Things are spinning out of control, racing toward disaster, and we’re all trying to optimize our social media profiles, bodies, hobbies, food, and minds.

“It’s hard to know what you want, and to know it is worse,” says lead singer / guitarist Greg Obis at the beginning of Optimizer‘s opening track, “Totally Vexed.” He’s unsure what to do about not only his life, but things in general, just like the rest of us (“Take a look around. Everybody’s down.” / “You don’t know what you want.”). The song bristles with post-punk nervousness and Tim Green‘s pulse-slightly pounding-in-your-temples beats. “Instakill” is a song about fitness influencers and the weird world of fitness culture. It sound like some of Devo‘s earlier, punkier tracks with its strange, popping synths, David Algrim‘s robot bass lines, the slightly tortured guitar riffs, and the lyrics poking fun at people striving to be like everyone else.

“Sicko” is about subjecting ourselves to the relentless grind of not only work, but also maintaining social media profiles and projecting fictionalized best versions of ourselves. Algrim’s bass hits hard on “Deadlift,” another track about body image and our troubling relationships with it. “Less Is More” roars with punk fury. “Fire, Man” smirks at the emptiness of a lot of rock music nowadays.

“Net Negative” brings early Wavves tracks to mind with its catchy guitar hooks and snarled vocals like “I think that it’s funny connection’s tearing us apart.” “It Isn’t” is a stark look at how we’re being deceived every day, either by people, algorithms, or media (social and otherwise). “Punchline” has Stuck (and the rest of us) looking for some kind of, any kind of meaning to all of this chaos around us. It’s the track that reminds me most of Gang of Four (“You know something I don’t. A universal truth. I’m not in on the joke.”) through its solid bass and straight-to-the-gut lyrics.

The album closes with “GG.” No, it’s not a reference to G.G. Allin. “On a pitch black road, don’t know where it goes,” Obis sings on it. We’re back to the out-of-control car metaphor and how Obis feels like he’s holding on for dear life as he grieves over how a loved one has changed and seems intent on plunging them both to their doom.

Or maybe Stuck feel like most of the country has changed and is content to drive us all off a cliff rather than admit they’re afraid, or wrong, or rather afraid of being wrong. We’re all tempted and told to optimize our lives, produce more, consume more, and ignore the billionaire boots grinding us all.

Optimizer fades out with the same distortion that fades in the record. It’s a loop, spinning and spinning until we decide to take action and give it a rest — just like the traps we’re falling into every day. Stuck have held up the mirror. We have to accept what we see in it. Acceptance can lead to action, and that is optimizing.

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll feel optimized if you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]