I've been a music fan since my parents gave me a record player for Christmas when I was still in grade school. The first record I remember owning was "Sesame Street Disco." I've been a professional writer since 2004, but writing long before that. My first published work was in a middle school literary magazine and was a story about a zoo in which the animals could talk.
Formed somewhat on a whim, Gustaf (Lydia Gammill – lead vocals, Tine Hill – bass, Vram Kherlopian – guitar, Melissa Lucciola – drums, Tarra Thiessen – percussion and vocals) were playing packed gigs across the country in record stores, apartments, basements, pubs, and even SXSW festival stages before they even cut their debut album – Audio Drag for Ego Slobs. The result is an album created by a band who’d cut their teeth on the road and came into the studio with a power pack of post-punk poppers.
“You say that I’m much to old to be low-fi,” Gammill sings on the opening track, “Mine.” The groove of it is undeniable, rooted in Hill’s bass lick and the tippity-tap of Lucciola’s hi-hat. The song seems to about reclaiming dignity and an attitude of “I really don’t give a rat’s ass.”
“Book” has Gammill demanding proof of erroneous claims of her life being false. It keeps the dance grooves rolling and into “Best Behavior.” “I wanted you to know that I was good today,” Gammill sings, possibly letting her lover know that she wasn’t up to anything naughty…Well, perhaps a bit. “Dream” is a song about weird love, with Thiessen repeating “We love you.” while Gammill claims, “You’re doing great.” and then both of them stating, “It was only a dream.”
Kherlopian’s guitar takes on a bit of a yacht rock feel, which I love, on “Liquid Frown” – a song that seems to be about being under so much relationship stress that it makes you nauseous. Hill’s bass is in full funk mode on “The Motions,” and the backing vocals are warped (like they are on many tracks) to reflect Gammill’s perplexed state of mind at the world in general. “Common sense seems so pedestrian,” Gammill sings on “Cruel” – one of the wittiest tracks on the album with the band flipping off romance.
On the flipside, “Dog” is about someone Gammill didn’t really find attractive or think much about until she saw the guy’s dog. “It took a little effort to see. Hey, who’s that pulling the leash?” “Package” ups the anger a bit before the slightly psychedelic “Happy” comes in to close the album with Gammill saying, “I hope you’re happy getting what you want…I’m out here singing alone.”
As the kids would say, don’t sleep on this album. It’s one of the best post-punk records of the year.
The four members of London’s post-punk rockers TV Priest (Nic Bueth – bass and keyboards, Charlie Drinkwater – vocals, Ed Kelland – drums, Alex Sprogis – guitar) started making music when they were young lads, but they put their musical aspirations aside to get “real jobs” and do various adulting things. Luckily for us, the four of them got back together, with a bunch of “real life” experience under their belts, to create and release their solid full-length album Uppers.
The album is solid from beginning to end, full of bangers, heavy riffs, and witty, scathing lyrics. Bueth’s opening bass on “The Big Curve” alone is enough to shake you out of your cubicle chair and make you want to smash that damn copier / fax / scanner that always smears your papers. Kelland’s drums on “Press Gang” are like an anxious heartbeat of a sprinter before the starting gun (which is the sound of Bueth’s bass and Sprogis’ guitar).
“Leg Room” has krautrock synths and Drinkwater singing above, under, and around, Bueth’s bass stabs – which hit like Michael Myers’ knife. “Hey, buddy, normalize this,” Drinkwater sings / chants on “Journal of a Plague Year” – a song about dealing with you-know-what and how it altered all of us, for good or bad (“And the new normal sets in…”).
After the brief, instrumental “History Week,” “Decoration” comes in with its clever lyrics about everyone seeking their fifteen minutes of fame (“I’m through to the next round. Yes, I’m through.”). “Well, all I can do is talk. My God, I’ve never had an original thought!” Drinkwater claims on “Slideshow” – a rocker that skewers the emptiness of online culture.
“How you feelin’?” Drinkwater keeps asking while Sprogis’ guitar drones and squeaks like a robotic animal of some sort and Bueth and Kelland’s rhythms match the anxiety everyone’s been feeling since 2019. “Powers of Ten” fades into what sounds like radio or communications satellite static – a fitting image of everyone looking for something in the ether during the pandemic.
“This Island” brings in brighter synths to dance alongside the bold guitars as Drinkwater sings about creating a new reality, albeit a possible guarded one, out of life-altering events. The album ends with “Saintless” – the longest track on the album – which swells and swirls like a whirlpool of guitars and cymbal crashes amid Drinkwater’s steady, yet slightly nervous vocals.
To sum it up, Uppers is one of the best post-punk records of 2021.
Keep your mind open.
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Bubbling up from NYC’s underground music scene, Weak Signal‘s new album, Bianca, roars with dark post-punk energy mixed with early 1990s alt-rock riffs.
“I’m the enemy of the world. Nothing ever really dies,” they sing on the album’s opener, “I’m a Fire,” putting down loud guitar riffs alongside their lyrics. The chugging bass on “Voice Inside My Head” is infectious.
“I don’t wanna go to work. Me and my friends were out all night…” opens the heavy, sludgy “Drugs in My System” – a song about dealing with party aftermaths. “Barely a Trace” sounds like a somewhat dusty, slightly warped record you’d hear playing on a jukebox at the back of a diner in a David Lynch film. “Come Back” is a simple, yet haunting track about regret and loss accentuated by rising synths and mantra-like guitar riffs.
“Zones” has this same kind of mantra sound before the bolder, faster “Don’t Turn Around,” which wouldn’t be out of place on a record from A Place to Bury Strangers. “Borderzone” is probably the mellowest track on the album, drifting in and out like smoke. “Devotion” brings back sharp-edged riffs that come into the track, rattle you a bit, and then meld back into the shadows.
“I’ll go where I want to go, and I’ll love who I want to love,” Mike Bones sings on “I’ll Stay,” a beautiful track about finding freedom through self-realization. “Sorry” is a nice companion to it. It’s still mellow, but a bit upbeat, and it’s a nice warm-up before the loud, weird finish of “Too Strong.”
It’s cool record, and perfect for certain moods (gray days, late nights).
Keep your mind open.
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Chicago’s Brett Naucke teamed up with two other well-respected Chicago musicians, Natalie Chami and Whitney Johnson, to create Mirror Ensemble– an album that combines synthwave, ambient, and even a bit of indie rock to make a meditative gem.
“Vanity Well” gets things off to a mood-altering start, and then “The Glass Shifting” comes in sounding like something from the new Dune film score. The longest track on the album, “A Look That Tells Time,” takes its time to stretch out and let you relax into it with its temple-like bell sounds and lotus flower-drifting-on-a-lazy-river.
“Catch Your Breath,” at a quarter of the previous track’s length, is a short meditation, while “Parallax” is the sound of sunlight shining through a prism. Trust me, you’ll feel this when you hear it. “Rose Water” is equally delightful, while “Sleep with Your Windows Open” is going to become your new favorite song to put on your bedroom speakers this summer. The closer, “Late Century Reflection,” ends the album with slightly up-tempo beats and synths that rise like a flock of birds from the edge of a still lake.
It’s a lovely record, suitable for meditation, making out, or even just walking around the neighborhood.
Keep your mind open.
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Named after the gardens people were encouraged to start and tend during World War Two, Cold Beat‘s new album, War Garden, is a lovely collection of synthwave, 1980s pop, and optimism created during the pandemic and written, in part at least, via Zoom.
Opening track, “Mandelbrot Fall,” begins with thick 16-bit video game bass and peppy blips while lead singer Hannah Lew sings “There’s nothing to explain, I’m trying anyway.” That’s basically been my motto for the last month. “SOS” starts off like a sad scene in an episode of Stranger Things, but soon blossoms into a happy skate around the roller rink. “Tumescent Decoy” has bright synths bouncing around lyrics about finding paradise within and within lonely times.
“Weeds” brings in shoegaze guitars that are as dreamy as the lyrics. “See You Again” sums up the band’s (and everyone else’s) feeling during the onset of the pandemic. It has a twinge of sadness to it, but an underlying hopeful vibe as Cold Beat knew they’d eventually reunite in person – or even beyond the void if (when) it came to it. “Arms Reach” is a soft caress while “Year Without a Shadow” is almost an industrial dance club floor-filler.
The synths on “Rubble Ren” are as soothing as a Jacuzzi. Lew’s vocals on “Part the Sea” flow like waves while the synths rise like crests and then splash onto the shore. “Leaves and Branches” is just as uplifting. The album ends with the optimistic “New World” – a track to give us hope as we emerge from our self-imposed exiles.
War Garden is one of the more hopeful albums of 2021. Give it a spin if you need a boost.
What’s bold? Releasing your debut as not just an EP, but as a double EP. Berlin’s Jealous did exactly that with their Lover / What’s Your Damage? release for Oliver Ackermann‘s Dedstrange label. It’s a wild mix of shoegaze, synthwave, post-punk, art rock, and other things you can’t quite define.
Uri Rennert‘s heartbeat drums on “K-Hole II,” the opening track of the Lover EP, set up a dark tone for the entire record. Paz Bonfil‘s guitar is perfectly suitable for a spaghetti western villain’s theme music. Adi Kum‘s vocals spin around you like playful ghosts. Her bass on “Blackeye” is thick enough that it might give you one. “Debbie Downer” has, as you can imagine, a dark vibe, and the fast and furious “Fast Cars” isn’t a cover of the Buzzcocks rocker, but rather a fierce rocker of their own with Bonfil’s guitar sounding like he’s strangling it at some points. It builds to a wild pace, with Rennert almost dismantling his kit as he plays.
Kum’s somewhat grumpy bass starts off “Gravity,” the first song on the What’s Your Damage? EP. It builds to a heavy-hitting, pulsing track that grabs your attention and doesn’t let go for about four minutes. “Cowboy ‘Kelly’ Katastroph” is a straight-up post-punk bliss, as is “Sharp Bones / Broken Claws” – with Bonfil’s guitar riffs as sharp as its title. “Slaughterhouse 3000” ups the fuzz a bit and the playfully bratty vocals even more. The EP ends with “Thunder,” which highlights the dual vocals from Bonfil and Kum.
It’s good stuff, and many thanks for Dedstrange for bringing it to us.
Matching with an accompanying concert film, The Beths‘ Auckland, New Zealand, 2020captures the band’s performance at Auckland Town Hall during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic in one of the few countries that took the pandemic seriously at the time and was still able to hold live music events. The band’s joy at performing in front of a home crowd, and after so long of not being able to do so, is heard in every note – as is the bliss of the crowd.
The cheers before the opener of “I’m Not Getting Excited” are infectious, as is the opening guitar riff from Jonathan Pearce as Elizabeth Stokes actually encourages the audience to get so excited that their heads might explode. “Great No One” rocks and rolls straight into “Whatever” – with the whole crowd yelling / singing the title (and pretty much everything else) along with the band. “It’s not just the dawn that breaks,” Stokes sings on the sizzling “Mars (The God of War)” – a song about wishing she could move beyond a bad break-up.
The live version of “Future Me Hates Me” is as bouncy and loud as you’d hope it would be. “Jump Rope Gazers” is just as lovely live as on the album of the same name, if not more so. “Uptown Girl” blasts by you with some of Tristan Deck‘s fiercest drumming. His beats on “Happy Unhappy” get you dancing.
“Out of Sight” makes the turn toward the final act of the show, with Stokes thanking everyone behind the scenes at the show afterwards. You can hear the emotion in Stokes’ voice as she thanks the crowd before the band launches into “Don’t Go Away.” Benjamin Sinclair‘s bass line on “Little Death” is like a hummingbird zipping around the room. “Dying to Believe” closes the show, with the entire crowd singing along, before the band comes back for an encore of “River Run” that fades into a blissful state.
Not only is this a joyful recording, it’s also a good-sounding one. Stokes points out at one point that the sound crew has to work in a large, echoing chamber – and they do it quite well.
Tuareg quintet Imarhan announce their third studio album, Aboogi, out January 28th, 2022 on City Slang, and today presents the lead single/video “Achinkad.” The diversity, beauty, and struggles of life in Imarhan’s home city of Tamanrasset in Southern Algeria are reflected in the songs on Aboogi, the first album the band recorded on their native soil in a studio they built themselves. It features Sudanese singer Sulafa Elyas and Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys, plus Tinariwen’s Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni and the poet Mohamed Ag Itlale (also known as Japonais) from the Tamanrasset artistic community. Following the exhilarating Temet(2018, City Slang), this new album is as serene and open as the desert it emerged from.
Imarhan’s Aboogi Studio, named for the structures their nomadic forebears built when establishing settlements, is the first professional recording studio in their city, meant to serve the Saharan region’s community of musicians, many who’ve never had access to high-end recording gear before. It seemed only natural to also call the resulting collection of songs Aboogi, a nod to the new collective space they had established, as well as the resilience of their culture and people. “Aboogi reflects the colors of Tamanrasset, what we experience in everyday life,” says bandleader Iyad Moussa Ben Abderahmane, aka Sadam. “We give space to the wind and the natural energies, to the sun and the sand. We want to express their colors through music.” There is incredible warmth embedded in these steady, lilting rhythms and patiently strummed acoustic guitars, derived not just from the natural environment but from the community that surrounds them.
Imarhan’s musical world has always been expansive, based in the traditional sounds of the Tuareg people but fiercely individualistic and embracing of the many styles they encounter. On Aboogi they emerge as a truly global group, united with their collaborators in a spirit of resistance and social change. This connection is sensed in today’s “Achinkad” video, which shows the band playing music around a fire and dancers shuffling throughout a desert.
Of the song, Sadam says, “It’s a tribute to our people and to our land. The Tuaregs have been present since ancient times and they are still here, present to their land, faithful to their people, grateful to their ancestors, to their culture, and fully, heavily attached to their nature. They travel through the times and they are always here with this land part of their identity.”
The songs on Aboogi are of-today, bridging the past, often referencing ancestral texts, and the future. They address many current issues affecting Imarhan’s community, from oppressive laws to great economic disparities. “You must be in solidarity with your people at all costs, until the end,” says Sadam. The featherweight, festive music on Aboogi belies its fierce sense of conviction and justice. These complexities are what make Imarhan’s music so prescient – beauty and tranquility intermingle with strife and heartache, creating a dynamic view of life for those subjugated by over a century of colonialism and lopsided revolutions but blessed with true community, art, and culture.
Imarhan’s confirmed tour dates in Europe are listed below. Tour dates are forthcoming for the United States. Pre-order Aboogi
Imarhan Tour Dates Wed. Mar. 9, 2022 – Rennes, FR @ Théâtre L’Aire Libre Thu. Mar. 10, 2022 – Tourcoing, FR @ Grand Mix Sat. Mar. 12, 2022 – Brighton, UK @ Green Door Store Sun. Mar. 13, 2022 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club Mon. Mar. 14, 2022 – Manchester, UK @ YES (Pink Room) Tue. Mar. 15, 2022 – Bristol, UK @ Exchange Thu. Mar. 17, 2022 – London, UK @ The Dome Fri. Mar. 18, 2022 – Gent, BE @ De Centrale Sat. Mar. 19, 2022 – Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat Sun. Mar. 20, 2022 – Brussels, BE @ AB-club Mon. Mar. 21, 2022 – Den Haag, NL @ Paard Wed. Mar. 23, 2022 – Copenhagen, DK @ Alice Thu. Mar. 24, 2022 – Berlin, DE @ Badehaus Fri. Mar. 25, 2022 – Erfurt, DE @ Franz Mehlhose Sun. Mar. 27, 2022 – Genève, CH @ PTR L’Usine Tue. Mar. 29, 2022 – Lyon, FR @ Ninkasi Wed. Mar. 30, 2022 – Paris, FR @ La Gaité Lyrique Thu. Mar. 31, 2022 – Rouen, FR @ Le 106 Club Fri. Apr. 1, 2022 – Orléans, FR @ Astrolobe Sat. Apr. 2, 2022 – Toulouse, FR @ Le Connexion Mon. Apr. 4, 2022 – Valencia, ES @ 16 Toneladas Tue. Apr. 5, 2022 – Madrid, ES @ Clamores Thu. Apr. 7, 2022 – Braga, PT @ Teatro Circo Fri. Apr. 8, 2022 – Lisbon, PT @ Music Box Sat. Apr. 9, 2022 – Sevilla, ES @ Sala X Sun. Apr. 10, 2022 – Alicante, ES @ Alacant Mon. Apr. 11, 2022 – Barcelona, ES @ La Nau
Earlier this year, CHAI released WINK, their Sub Pop debut that “maintain[s] the unwavering commitment to self-love and community that makes their music so endearing” (Pitchfork). This embracement of community is often found in their electric live shows, and today, CHAI announce their WINK TOGETHER NORTH AMERICA TOUR, plus a sold-out west coast run supporting Mitski. For a preview of what to expect at one of CHAI’s fun, aesthetic driven shows, watch the tour trailer below. WATCH CHAI’S TOUR TRAILER
CHAI TOUR DATES (NEW HEADLINE DATES) Fri. Feb. 4 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall Sat. Feb. 5 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club Sun. Feb. 6 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry Wed. Feb. 9 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace Fri. Feb. 11 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair Sat. Feb. 12 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry Sun. Feb. 13 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage Tue. Feb. 15 – Brooklyn NY @ Elsewhere Thu. Feb. 17 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel * – SOLD OUT Fri. Feb. 18 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz * – SOLD OUT Sat. Feb. 19 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern * – SOLD OUT Mon. Feb. 21 – Birmingham, AL @ Iron City * – SOLD OUT Tue. Feb. 22 – New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre * – SOLD OUT Thu. Feb. 24 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Outside Lawn) * – SOLD OUT Fri. Feb. 25 – Dallas, TX @ The Bomb Factory * – SOLD OUT Sat. Feb. 26 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater * – SOLD OUT Mon. Feb. 28 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren * – SOLD OUT Wed. March 2 – Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Expo Hall * – SOLD OUT Thu. March 3 – Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Expo Hall * – SOLD OUT Fri. March 4 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater * – SOLD OUT Sat. March 5 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater * – SOLD OUT Mon. March 7 – Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall * – SOLD OUT Wed. March 9 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre * – SOLD OUT Thu. March 10 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre * – SOLD OUT Sat. March 12 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile Sun. March 13 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge Tue. March 15 – San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo’s 365 Club Thu. March 17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom *= supporting Mitski
Brooklyn band BODEGA announces its long-awaited second album, Broken Equipment, out March 11th, 2022, on What’s Your Rupture?, and shares the infectious lead single/video, “Doers.” Inspired by self-help books and vlogs, it tackles the toxic side of forced productivity and slyly pokes fun at Daft Punk with its central mantra of “bitter, harder, fatter, stressed out.”
Of ‘Doers’, the band’s Ben Hozie offers: “Sometime on tour near the end of 2019 I found myself reading and watching a plethora of self-help books and Youtube vids. This started from a genuine desire for spiritual and physical improvement but I soon started noticing how advertisements everywhere were utilizing the language of self-help. I was being programmed. This ideology of constant productivity forces you to treat your own body, mind, time, and friends as products to mine. As a result the world becomes a smaller, duller place. All artists (all people) desire to be productive. Yet… If a photo is taken of you in the woods: for all millennia you’ll always be stuck in the woods.”
The accompanying video – directed by Ben alongside BODEGA co-founder Nikki Belfiglio, and drawing inspiration from Ryan Trecartin, Hype Williams and Slipknot – continues to take aim at the 21st century’s incessant productivity/positivity cycle.
Ben explains: “For the advertisement (music vid) for the track we teamed up with our old pal Joe Wakeman (who used to perform with me and Nikki in BODEGA BAY). We shot at the old abandoned IBM offices in Kingston, NY (where Nikki and Joe were born and raised) and a gym and a parking garage in Bushwick. The video stars Dr. DOER, a misunderstood monster who simply wants to issue directives and inspire his team of ghouls to #greatness.”
The follow-up to the band’s acclaimed debut album, Endless Scroll(2018), and 2019’s Shiny New Model EP, Broken Equipment was inspired by a book club. In the early months of 2020, the Brooklyn art-punk incendiaries gathered together with close friends to study the works of a wide range of philosophers. Passionate debates lasting long into the night became a regular occurrence, motivating the band to become as ideologically unified as the weighty tomes they were reading. Broken Equipment is BODEGA’s attempt to interrogate the external factors that make them who they are, propelling existential quandaries with tongue-in-cheek humour, highly personal lyrics, and irresistible grooves.
Since BODEGA’s formation in 2016, Ben and Nikki have experienced a rare meteoric rise. The duo double as filmmakers, earning acclaim for their 2020 erotic dramaPVT Chat starring Peter Vack, Julia Fox, and other recognizable faces from the Safdie Brothers’ cinematic universe. When the pandemic forced them to hit pause, they used the opportunity to regroup with drummer/performance artist Tai Lee, bassist/book club leader Adam See, and lead guitarist Dan Ryan. Broken Equipment was produced by Ben himself with Bobby Lewis, BODEGA’s NYC live sound mixer. The record was mixed by Bryce Goggin, whom the band sought out for his work with Pavement, and Adam Sachs (WIVES).
The album’s 12 songs are set in present day New York City, packing in references to contemporary issues of algorithmic targeting, media gentrification, and the band itself. Watch BODEGA’s “Doers” Video
