Screaming Females are taking a month off from their tour of the U.S. and Canada and are then off for six dates Down Under for the first time. Fans are already excited for their first shows in the land of Oz, so don’t miss them if you’re there. They put on a fantastic show and might not get back to the land that gave us Mad Max and Razorback soon.
Keep your mind open.
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I’ve wanted to see Screaming Females live since 2012 (when I discovered them while working for WSND), and was delighted to see they were playing barely over an hour’s drive from my house last Sunday at the Brass Rail in Fort Wayne, Indiana. They were gracious with their time and kind enough to let me interview them while sitting in their touring van. I’ll have a full transcript of that interview soon, and I’m working on an audio version that I’ll play on a future show on WSND.
The night started with the Ron Gallo 3, a fun punk trio who played a loud set of songs like “Kill the Medicine Man,” “All the Punks Are Domesticated,” and “Why Do You Have Kids?”
Up next were Ft. Wayne’s own Dead Records, who dropped a loud, fast, screaming set on the crowd of friends and new fans.
Screaming Females then got on stage for their first gig in Ft. Wayne. I’m not sure how many people there knew who was about to play, but I saw a few of us singing along within moments. Everyone else stood dumbfounded for the first three songs because Marissa Paternoster, Jarrett Dougherty, and “King” Mike Abbate almost flattened the place.
I’d seen videos of their performances, so I had a slight idea of how powerful they are live (especially in a small venue like the Brass Rail). The videos don’t do them justice. They have a chemistry that can only be created through lots of performances and deep friendships. Paternoster, who is without question one of the best guitarists today, emotes power through her vocals as well as her axe (which she straps around her waist instead of over her shoulder, giving her even more of a gunslinger presence).
As much as Paternoster wields her guitar like Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars, Dougherty hits his drums like Franco Nero blasts a Gatling gun in Django and Abbate drops his bass riffs like James Coburn drops dynamite in Duck You Sucker. The two guys in the band get into heavy grooves that make Abbate break into grins and Dougherty to go into what appears to be Zen-like meditative trances.
The fans had snapped out of their stunned state by the time the band played “Empty Head” from Rose Mountain. Paternoster thanked everyone for coming to their first Ft. Wayne gig. “Please move here!” A man yelled, echoing the thoughts of everyone in the room.
“Leave It All Up to Me” and “Ripe” were other crowd favorites, and they were cooking with gas by that point.
They closed with the powerful, stunning “Triumph,” which is a fitting end for such a set. It was a triumphant debut for them in a town they hadn’t played in before then.
A friend of former bandmate of mine, Chad, saw the show with me, and he’d only heard one song (“Hopeless”) by the band before seeing them live. He was shaking his head in a bit of disbelief by the end of their set.
“She’s not fucking around, is she?” Chad said.
“No, she’s not,” I told him.
And now I’m telling you. Screaming Females aren’t fucking around.
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Jarrett for getting me a press pass to the show, and to him, Marissa, and Mike for being such groovy cats.]
Radiohead’s newest record, A Moon Shaped Pool, is about the illusions, dreams, and perceptions we create regarding love. The album gets off to a somewhat frightening start with the sharp string instruments and dark lyrics of “Burn the Witch.” The video for it features a stop-motion animation version of The Wicker Man, a film about illusions and deception (and horror) in a remote English village. Thom Yorke sings about “red crosses on doors” and falling prey to myths as the song builds to Psycho shower scene pace and then cuts to “Daydreaming” – with synth and piano instrumentation that causes your mind to drift elsewhere. Yorke’s lyrics are backwards at the very end, leaving you wondering what the hell just happened…much like you would when returning from a daydream.
“Decks Dark” talks of “a spacecraft blocking out the sky, there’s nowhere to hide. You run to the back and cover your ears, but it’s the loudest sound you’ve ever heard in your darkest hour.” It’s bleak until the other lyrics of “It was just a laugh” come into the song. The bass line on this is wicked, and I love the angular, stabbing distorted guitar licks in it.
“Desert Island Disk” is a term coined by British DJ’s to describe records you’d take with you if you knew you were going to be stranded on a desert island. The song mentions waking up from “a thousand years of sleep” and how “different kinds of love are possible.” It’s easy to think that it’s a song about coming out of the closet, but I think it’s more about waking up from the illusions we’ve created around us. The acoustic guitars on the track are excellent as synths build and then disappear behind them.
“Ful Stop” claims, “You really messed up everything,” but also says, “Truth will mess you up all the good times.” Yorke seems to be singing about how the fantasy he’d created in a bad relationship is finally broken. Is it a good or a bad thing? Only Thom Yorke knows the answer, but the shoegaze / goth wave feel of the song leads one to believe he’s angry about it either way.
“Glass Eyes” is about the hollowness of strangers and love that’s not really there anymore. It’s a somber song with near-funeral dirge piano and synths and strings that move around like ghosts in an old church. On “Identikit,” Thom Yorke admits that he doesn’t want the illusion of false love to end (“When I see you messing me around, I don’t want to know.”). The tick-tock percussion stands out among the jangling guitars, spacey synths, and chorus that sounds like it was recorded in a big concrete bunker.
“The Numbers” is a subtle (in its instrumentation, certainly not the lyrics) power to the people song about the 99% shaking off our shackles and reclaiming happiness. “We call upon the people. People have this power. The numbers don’t decide. The system is a lie.” There’s more excellent string work. I can’t remember so many good string arrangements on previous Radiohead records.
“Present Tense” is about a man fighting for love. “In you I’m lost. I won’t turn around when the penny drops. I won’t stop now, I won’t slack off, or all this love will be in vain.” The backing vocals are a bit ethereal, making you think that voices in Thom Yorke’s head are encouraging him the whole time.
In “Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief,” Yorke lets his lover know that “all you have to do is say, ‘Yeah.’” He’s willing to embrace the illusion if that’s what it takes. It’s an excellent track with more of those great piano chords only Radiohead can seem to make work.
The album ends with “True Love Waits.” It’s a sad song Thom Yorke wrote in 1995 about begging a lover to return and being willing to do anything to make a relationship work. “I’ll drown my beliefs to have your babies. I’ll dress like your niece and wash your swollen feet. Just don’t leave.” The band’s been looking for the right album / moment to release it, and this album is perfect for it.
A Moon Shaped Pool is about how love can be a fragile fantasy. It can be a comfortable illusion that, once shattered, either delivers agony or ecstasy. Would you want to be put back into the Matrix if you were pulled out of it? Would you embrace illusion for the feeling of love, even if you knew it was false? Many would, for the risks in finding new love and a true path are frightening.
There is a Zen koan about the nun Chiyono being enlightened while carrying a pail of water:
In this way and that I tried to save the old pail,
since the bamboo strip was weakening and about to break,
until at last the bottom fell out.
No more water in the pail!
No more moon in the water!
Radiohead’s newest album reminds us that love can be like the moon in the water. You think it is there, but it is only there until the bottom drops out and the illusion is shattered. You can find true love past the illusion, or you can cling to it. The choice is yours.
Keep your mind open.
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This five-track EP from TV on the Radio was recorded for the National Public Radio program World Café in Santa Monica, California not long after the release of their excellent album Seeds. It’s a great slice of live, raw power from the prog / funk rockers.
“Caffeinated Consciousness” is big rocker that’s as smooth as silk covering a gravel road. “Will Do” is always welcome. It’s one of TVOTR’s biggest hits and easily one of their greatest love songs. This performance is groovy, hip, and a little dangerous. “Red Dress” never ceases to be a stunner, and this live version is sharp as a tack.
“Province” is sweet, with fine guitar work throughout it, and the vocal interplay is even better. The closer, “Repetition,” is a little trippy as it moves from a repetitive beat with shoegaze guitars over it to a brash beat with rapid-fire vocals.
TVOTR has been high on my must-see list for years, but the dates never work out when they get close. This EP can’t substitute for a live show, of course, but it certainly is a nice appetizer to the gourmet meal a full concert would be.
Keep your mind open.
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The Duke Spirit (Oliver “Olly” Betts – drums, Toby Butler – guitar, Luke Ford – guitar, Rich Fownes – bass, Liela Moss – vocals) is among my favorite bands. I love their blend of rock, soul, and psychedelia. I expected their newest album, Kin, to be much like their previous releases and settled in to listen to a good rock album.
What I got was what could be the best shoegaze album of 2016.
I never expected the Duke Spirit to embrace shoegaze so deeply. There were shoegaze touches on previous records, of course, but the album’s opener, “Blue and Yellow Light,” announces right away that Kin will be a dreamy, fuzzy, reverbed goldmine. The guitars in “Blue and Yellow Light” open like a blooming rose and then Lelia Moss’ layered vocals swirl around you like a pair of honeybees. It’s a stunning opening, and “Sonar” continues the shoegaze trend. It sounds like something you might hear from Atlantis (wavy vocals and rolling drums). “Wounded Wing” is simple and lovely and a fine showcase of Lelia Moss’ vocal work. The band keeps it calm with crisp cymbal work, soothing piano chords, and guitars you’d hear playing in a Windsor McCay comic.
“Hands” brings the rock you’re used to with the Duke Spirit, but it still keeps the shoegaze edge, which is fine by me. The first single, “Here Comes the Vapour,” is psychedelic joy with echoed vocals in the chorus, spaced-out drums, vapor-like bass licks, and guitar that slides into the room like sunlight through Venetian blinds.
I’m fairly certain someone’s playing a saw throughout “Pacific.” If it’s not a saw, it’s a Theremin. Either way, it’s great. It’s a sweet song about finding love in the simplest moments. The groove of “Anola” is in your head within seconds and you find yourself nodding along to it throughout the whole track. Betts’ drums are like a march and Moss’ vocals glide around like a hawk watching a mouse in a field.
“Side by Side” is, for lack of a better term, “classic” Duke Spirit with chugging rock guitar by Butler and Ford while Moss rocks the mic and Betts beats his kit like it owes him money. “100 Horses Run” starts off like a John Carpenter movie score track, and Moss’ haunting vocals keep it on the edge of scary. “Follow” is another beautiful love song – the type that the Duke Spirit does so well. The guys create a gorgeous soundscape while Moss’ vocals hypnotize the listener.
This album is a great return for the Duke Spirit after a five-year hiatus. I hope the next one doesn’t take as long, but it will be worth the wait if it’s as good as Kin.
Keep your mind open.
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Power rock duo Deap Vally‘s new album is due out September 15th and is titled, I kid you not, Femejism. This is perhaps the greatest album title of all time.
Deep Vally’s full-length debut, Sistrionix, was my favorite album of 2013. Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards came out gunning with that record, and I played it for everyone I could find and bought it as a Christmas gift for my goddaughter.
The first single off Femejism, “Royal Jelly,” reminded us that these two ladies are high-level rockers and left us hungry for more. They’ve since released “Smile More,” and it’s a killer power anthem.
You can pre-order Femejism now, and ordering through Deap Vally’s website can get you cool gear like signed Polaroids, shirts, and even a glow-in-dark blue vinyl LP. Get it while you can.
Keep your mind open.
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It pays to pledge your support.
I discovered earlier this year that one of my favorite bands, The Duke Spirit, had a PledgeMusic campaign to support their new album, Kin (review coming soon). Apart from buying a digital download or physical copy of the record, they had other fun perks such as guitars, drums, one-of-a-kind notebooks handmade by lead singer Liela Moss, and lyric sheets hand-written by Ms. Moss. The notebooks were sold out, but I was happy to discover the lyric sheets were not and also at a stunningly affordable price.
This arrived in the mail yesterday.
I must admit that I hesitated to open it, because I knew the song I had chosen. It was the title track off the Duke Spirit’s first album – “Cuts Across the Land.”
You ask why I hesitated to open something I’d bought, had shipped from England, and eagerly awaited to frame and hang on my wall? It’s because “Cuts Across the Land” nearly made me weep when I first heard it. It’s not because the song is maudlin or reminds me of a past relationship or the loss of a loved one. It’s because the song is so damned good it almost made me cry.
I’m fairly certain I first heard “Cuts Across the Land” on the greatest radio station on Earth – BBC 6 Music. I remember that I stopped doing whatever I was doing at the moment and just listened. I was transfixed. It was perfect mindfulness. I realized after the first chorus that I was misty-eyed. I thought, “Where has this band been my whole life?”
So I got misty again when I opened this and read it. I will always treasure this because it is not only something made by one of my favorite bands, but it reminds me of how music can move us and take us out of the ordinary.
Keep your mind open.
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Bop, mod, and rockabilly aren’t dead, despite what you might think, because Corpus Christi’s The Blind Owls (Josh De Leon – guitar and vocals, Jesse De Los Santos – guitar and vocals, Carlos Garcia – bass and vocals, Dylan Romel – drums and vocals) are not only keeping it alive, they’re blaring from the clubs to the house across the street.
“Goodbye” shows off the band’s obvious early Beatles influences, but don’t dismiss that wicked surf guitar in it and almost punk styling on the chorus. “This Ain’t True” has Buddy Holly-like vocals and guitar work, and “Don’t Bother” is a bellowing mod-rocker with a bass lick so good from Garcia that it’s probably gotten him laid numerous times.
“Hypnotized” brings psychedelia into the mix, which is always cool with me. “That Girl Is Mine” has great guitar work from all three axe-men and Romel’s tick-tock drumming shows how sometimes simple techniques are best. “Come On” is pure fun power pop that would make Buzzcocks proud. The bluesy rock of “Unwanted Man” gets better with each listen, and “Cold Hearted Woman” has Romel cutting loose with some of his best chops.
The Blind Owls are keeping a sadly neglected genre of rock alive while others in their age bracket are whining about how terrible the Warcraft movie is. Keep at it, lads.
Keep your mind open.
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I’ve been meaning to pick up A Place to Bury Strangers’ 2009 album, Exploding Head, for years. I have no excuse other than it was never for sale on CD whenever I’d see them live. I love the band, so shame on me for taking seven years to pick up this fine record.
The opener, “It Is Nothing,” displays Oliver Ackermann’s (vocals and guitar) love of My Bloody Valentine. His guitar sounds like he’s playing it upside-down and backwards while his vocals seem to be coming from the bottom of an empty pool. “In Your Heart” is one of my favorite APTBS tracks. It has the stabbing guitar chords, chugging synth beats, lyrics about screwed-up relationships (“Don’t say you’ll be with me again. There’s nothing there, it’s dead.”), and David J-like bass I love from their songs, and it slays live.
Tribal drumming grounds “Lost Feeling” as Ackermann pleads with his girl to come back to him, but he knows he’s not even on her radar. It’s like a great lost Bauhaus track with even more blaring guitars. “Deadbeat” is nothing but, as it has some of the hardest, slickest beats and bass on the record. It’s an instant mosh pit creator, so be careful where you play it.
“Keep Slipping Away” is like early Cure but with more reverb, heavier amps, and not as much moping. “Ego Death” is heavy goth rock with a chorus that might knock you out of your boots. “Smile When You Smile” is equally heavy and a bit creepier. “Everything Always Goes Wrong” could be the theme for every Three’s Company episode by the title, but the sound of it is better for a modern Euro-horror film.
You’d think the title track would be loud enough to make your head explode, but APTBS wisely flips it around to make it a catchy industrial track with almost a dance club bass line and vocals free of reverb. The closer is one of their hardest and loudest live tracks – “I Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart.” As fast as it is on the record, it’s twice the speed live.
Don’t be like me and wait seven years to add this to your collection. It’s essential noise-psych.
Keep your mind open.
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