Rock – Page 116 – 7th Level Music

Protomartyr come out swinging with “Michigan Hammers.”

Protomartyr release a new single/video, “Michigan Hammers,” off of their new album, Ultimate Success Today, out July 17th on Domino. Following “Worm in Heaven” and “Processed By The Boys,” “Michigan Hammers” is fierce with staccato guitar and thrashing percussion. Singer Joe Casey’s voice is forceful and insistent: “The Michigan Hammers are on their way // A chant from the end of the bar, not all of them on pills // Break apart the surface lot // What’s been torn down can be rebuilt // What has been rebuilt can be destroyed.”

The accompanying video was directed by Yoonha Park, who was responsible for the band’s “Wheel of Fortune” and “Don’t Go To Anacita” videos, and was built entirely of found stock footage. “This video is a retelling of a well-known Michigan folk tale that describes timeless themes of greed, power, death and rebirth and nothing short of the conflict of good and evil,” says Park.

Joe Casey further explains: “Couldn’t make a ‘proper’ video due to the miasma. So why not make one using what tools remain? That’s sort of what MICHIGAN HAMMERS is about I think – building with rubble. It’s probably about that and mules, syndicates, too many parking lots, camaraderie, the ideal happy hour, failure, and takin’ what they’re givin’ ’cause we’re workin’ for a livin’ until we start takin’ it to the streets. Or something like that.”
WATCH PROTOMARTYR’S VIDEO FOR “MICHIGAN HAMMERS”

STREAM “MICHIGAN HAMMERS”

Protomartyr is Joe Casey (vocals), Greg Ahee (guitars), Alex Leonard (drums), and Scott Davidson (bass guitar). Ultimate Success Today features guest musicians Nandi Rose (vocals) a.k.a. Half Waif, jazz legend Jemeel Moondoc (alto sax), Izaak Mills (bass clarinet, sax, flute), and Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello).

Ultimate Success Today is available to pre-order now on LP, CD and digital formats. A limited blue-in-red colored edition of the LP is available exclusively on the Domino Mart.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “WORM IN HEAVEN”

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “PROCESSED BY THE BOYS”

PRE-ORDER ULTIMATE SUCCESS TODAY
Domino Mart | Digital

PRAISE FOR “WORM IN HEAVEN”

“pretty uncharacteristic one for the group, restrained up until its final shuddering moments. Moody and meditative, it’s almost what would pass as a ballad in Protomartyr’s world.” – Stereogum

“relatively low-key and mellow, following a slinky guitar line while singer Joe Casey reflects about how close he is to heaven’s gates.” – Consequence of Sound

PRAISE FOR “PROCESSED BY THE BOYS”

“The seismic first cut off the Detroit band’s fifth LP Ultimate Success Today rattles with “cosmic grief beyond all comprehension.” Its video, a bizarre tribute to the Brazillian meme “Gil da Esfiha vs Galerito,” is equally discombobulating.” – The FADER

“On lead single ‘Processed By The Boys,’ out now, Casey once again casts his drunken-philosopher gaze on the world’s ills, backed by a reverb-laden stomp that builds into the kind of cacophony this band does best.” – Stereogum

“the classic wall-of-noise feel of a Protomartyr track” – Paste
Protomartyr Online:
https://www.facebook.com/protomartyr
https://soundcloud.com/protomartyr
http://pitchperfectpr.com/protomartyr
https://protomartyr.bandcamp.com
http://www.dominorecordco.us/artists/protomartyr

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Jess Cornelius takes us for a walk across the “Kitchen Floor” and down Hollywood Boulevard.

Jess Cornelius announces her debut album, Distance, out July 24th on Loantaka Records, and presents a new single/video, “Kitchen Floor.” Cornelius first began writing the songs that would comprise Distance after moving from Melbourne, Australia to Los Angeles. At the time, she was excited to start fresh after several years as the primary songwriter in the band Teeth and Tongue. But the distance she addresses over the album is hardly a geographical one. Instead, Distance finds a deft songwriter analyzing the space between society’s expectations and her own dreams, the illusion of love and the reality of disappointment, and a past she is ready to let go of and a future she could have hardly imagined.

Distance documents a songwriter in the pursuit of living life on her own terms. As Cornelius puts it, “A lot of the record was about me deciding to continue this nomadic lifestyle of being a musician. People would ask me if I was going to have a family and a lot of the songs are about me being ok with not pursuing that path. It was about coming to terms with the choices I had made. . . And then two years later, I’m knocked up and married! I couldn’t have imagined that.”

With the help of producer Tony Buchen, Distance became a roving affair, recorded in a string of Los Angeles studios with delicate and emphatic contributions from the local music scene, including Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint), harpist Mary Lattimore, Emily Elhaj (Angel Olsen), Stephanie Drootin (Bright Eyes), Jesse Quebbeman-Turley (Hand Habits), whistler Molly Lewis, Justin Sullivan (Night Shop, Kevin Morby) and Laura Jean Anderson.

While the sonic tones and textures on the album evoke certain classic staples of Americana, soul and rock and roll, Cornelius’ lyrics anchor the songs to a deeply personal place. She sings of a miscarriage, a messy romantic affair, and the frustrations that come with having a partner. As she says, “I am a fan of classic songwriting but I would hope that the lyrics are not of any time historically but rather this time of my life as a woman.”

Cornelius gave a first taste of Distance with “No Difference,” released last year. On new single “Kitchen Floor,” Cornelius maps the space between the bedroom and the front door over a Roy Orbison tinged rave-up, lamenting the coming pain: “This is gonna be a hard one.” Its accompanying video, the first in a series in which she plays a familiar female character trope, was filmed by Cornelius and her partner on an iPhone at 5am in Los Angeles so they wouldn’t encounter any people. “I have a weird fascination with Hollywood Blvd — it’s such a grotesque place most of the time,” says Cornelius. “But I knew we’d have the chance to experience it deserted and empty, and it was like a different place. I’d been watching a lot of ‘last human on earth’ apocalypse-type films. Mostly, the concept behind the clip was to have this character just owning it. There are so many things pregnant women are not ‘supposed’ be doing, like having casual sex with strangers. There’s a loneliness, too, that I wanted to get across in the clip, but ultimately she’s in a state of friendliness with herself and the world.”

The journey over Distance is a celebration of this newness. New beginnings and new perspectives on endings. From the chaos of a vagabond lifestyle to expecting a child just weeks before the albums’ release and researching the most sustainable ways to tour in the coming years. This is the distance Cornelius covers over the course of the albums’ ten songs. The result is an album where listeners get to hear a songwriter in the midst of a true transformation.

Watch Jess Cornelius’ “Kitchen Floor” Video

Watch “No Difference” Video

Pre-order Distance

Distance Tracklist
1. Kitchen Floor
2. No Difference
3. Body Memory
4. Easy for No One
5. Here Goes Nothing
6. Born Again
7. Palm trees
8. Banging My Head
9. Street Haunting
10. Love and Low Self Esteem

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[Thanks to Pitch Perfect PR.]

Squid release intriguing new single – “Broadcaster.”

Brighton-based five-piece Squid – comprised of Louis Borlase (guitars/vocals), Ollie Judge(drums/vocals), Arthur Leadbetter (keyboards/strings/percussion), Laurie Nankivell(bass/brass) and Anton Pearson (guitars/vocals) – release a new single, “Broadcaster,” the AA-side companion to their recent offering “Sludge.” A limited edition vinyl pressing of “Sludge” and an extended version of “Broadcaster” will be released on June 26th via their new label, Warp Records.

“Broadcaster” is built around an arpeggiated synth sequence conceived during a writing session in a woodland cabin by Arthur whilst the rest of the band were out hiking. As the song develops, guitars, drum machines and delays join the fray, pushing the track into its chaotic and visceral crescendo. All this works as the perfect foil to Ollie’s oblique lyrics.

“Lyrically the track was inspired by the visual artist Naim June Paik and his TV Garden installation,” says Ollie. “I thought it blurred the lines between a dystopian and utopian vision. I imagined what it must be like living synonymously amongst nature and technology in the most literal way I could imagine, with TVs towering over me amongst forests.”

Paired with their richly percussive and sonically evolving “Sludge,” “Broadcaster” opens up Squid’s sound without abandoning the experimentation and playfulness that made them such an exciting prospect when they burst on the scene just over a year ago. The band recently released a fan-sourced lyric video for “Sludge” inspired by a followers’ interpretation of the single. Squid fans around the world – and the band themselves – have contributed views from their isolation to create the visual.

The restless creativity of these new singles point the way forward for Squid, a band constantly expanding on their propulsive spectrum of sound.

Check Squid’s website for updates on live performances.

Listen to Squid’s “Broadcaster”
https://youtu.be/A7iqWuMdiqM

Listen to “Sludge”
https://squid.ffm.to/sludge

Pre-order “Sludge” b/w “Broadcaster” Limited Edition Vinyl
https://squid.ffm.to/sludge

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[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Clutch to perform virtual concert for charity with three opening acts on May 27th.

Clutch will perform a streamed concert titled “Live From The Doom Saloon Volume 1” on May 27th. They will be supported remotely by Crowbar, Blacktop Mojo, and Saul. This unique online concert format has been produced in conjunction with Sound Talent Group (STG), and LiveFrom Events and will use cutting-edge streaming technology to close the distance between the bands and the fans for an amazing virtual concert experience.

Tickets are on sale now at this location: www.livefrom.events/DoomSaloon

The show will be available for On Demand Viewing starting at 4PM EST on Thursday May 28th and will be available for 48 hours into Saturday, May 30th. The ticket price will remain the same for those viewers that were not able to join the live broadcast. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Angel Flight and Musicares.

Through a network of more than 1,800 volunteer pilots, Angel FlightWest provides free air transportation for people who need to travel long distances to access medical care and other essential services across the 12 Western states. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, AFW pilots have flown 150 missions to deliver more than six tons of PPE and other crucial supplies to the Navajo and Hopi Nations and other rural clinics, while also arranging commercial flights for medical personnel who are traveling to serve on the front lines, with tickets donated by Alaska Airlines.

For more information, visit https://www.angelflightwest.org/

Doors – @ 3:50PM EST Saul – 4PM EST (9PM UK time) Blacktop Mojo – 4:30PM EST (9:30PM UK time)Crowbar – 5:05PM EST (10:05PM UK time)Clutch – 5:50PM (10:50PM UK time)

For more information, check out the band’s website: www.pro-rock.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/clutchband

Instagram: www.instagram.com/clutchofficial

Twitter: www.twitter.com/clutchofficial

Official: www.pro-rock.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/officialclutch

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Maggot Heart unleash “Mercy Machine” from upcoming sophomore album.

Berlin based hard rock band Maggot Heart shares the title track to their forthcoming sophomore album Mercy Machine today on all DSPs. Yesterday, the track premiered via Brooklyn Vegan HERE. Hear & share “Mercy Machine” via Bandcamp, Spotify and Apple Music.

Linnéa Olsson‘s Maggot Heart is back with their sophomore album, which will be released on Linnéa’s brand new record label Rapid Eye Records. The Swedish guitarist and songwriter, based in Berlin since 2012, has made her band a much talked about force in the underground with their extensive touring (alongside Earthless and Voivod among others), cross-over hard rock sound, and punk ethos.
The city as a throbbing organism is one of the fundamental themes of Maggot Heart, explored in several songs on City Girls (2017) and Dusk to Dusk (2018). On Mercy Machine (2020), the machinery of night runs on the steam of many bodies. Locked inside a prison of flesh the spirit will not soar, only in unity with the body can divine alchemy be achieved. Mercy Machine is a rock album about sex, death and the pursuit of freedom.

This album was put together by Linnéa, long-time drumming partner Uno Bruniusson and bassist Olivia Airey (as well as on-and-off collaborator Gottfrid Åhman) at the end of 2019, and once again recorded in Stockholm, Sweden with award-winning producer Martin “Konie” Ehrencrona (Viagra Boys, In Solitude) in February 2020. It highlights Olsson’s catchy, but strangely jarring songwriting in ten cutting tracks, swerving back and forth on the rock genre-spectrum. These songs contain a highly entertaining blend of urgency, bleakness and undeniable attitude which may or may not appeal to fans of Voivod, The Stooges, and The Jesus Lizard.
The incredible cover artwork is by Kristian Valbo, known to metal fans as the drummer for Obliteration.

Mercy Machine will be available on LP and download on July 10th, 2020 via Rapid Eye Records. Pre-orders are available HERE.

On the Web: maggotheart.bandcamp.com / maggotheart.com /
rapideyerecords.com

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[Thanks to Dave at US / Them Group.]

PAINT releases new single, “Ta Fardah,” from upcoming album – “Spiritual Vegas.”

Having first made his mark as a songwriter and guitarist for Los Angeles’ Allah-Las, Pedrum Siadatian has etched out a place of his own with his solo work as PAINT. After an eponymous debut in 2018, PAINT has now returned with the ambitious Spiritual Vegas – due July 10, 2020.

On Spiritual Vegas, Siadatian’s singular touch is unmistakable. Here we find an emboldened artist coloring outside the lines, unleashing an opus both idiosyncratic and focused – cohesion through diversity. The first single from the album is “Ta Fardah.”

“The song is an ode to 70s/80s Iranian melodrama, with a video depicting a man falling in love with a TSA agent,” Pedrum explains. “Quarantine resulted in a homemade metal detector and security screening room”.

Pre-order ‘Spiritual Vegas’ now to immediately receive 2 bonus tracks “A Short While” + “Ta Fardah (Instrumental)”

Spiritual Vegas Tracklist

01. Intro (Phor Phaedra)
02. Strange World
03. Grape St.
04. Lanolin
05. Flying Fox
06. Ta Fardah
07. Why Not, Tick Tock?
08. Meet Me (In St. Lucia)
09. Land Man
10. Tongue Tied
11. Ballad of Adelaide
12. Well Of Memory/ODAAT
13. Impressions
13. Outro (The Lines I Drew)

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You actually should be excited about The Beths’ new single – “I’m Not Getting Excited.”

The Beths share a fervent new single/video, “I’m Not Getting Excited,” from their second album, Jump Rope Gazers, out July 10th on Carpark Records. Following the rambunctious lead single, “Dying to Believe,” “I’m Not Getting Excited” is an urgent track about imposter syndrome. The track opens with driving guitar and a jockeying melody before bursting with a crashing rhythm section. The band performed the single on their “Live From House 2” live stream earlier this morning.

“People always ask ‘are you excited!?’ and it’s a fair question, because exciting things do happen to us sometimes,” says Elizabeth Stokes. “Support slots, overseas tours, music releases. Stuff we’ve dreamed about for years. So the correct answer is always ‘yes.’ But the truth is that deep down there’s a tiny Liz saying, ‘don’t get excited.’ She is certain that anything good that could happen will most likely not happen, because of a freak accident. Or because somebody finally realises that we aren’t worthy, shouts ‘phony!’ and takes everything away. I wrote ‘I’m Not Getting Excited’ last year, well before everything really did get taken away. From everyone. It feels like the song has a new context, but we don’t know what it is yet. And now we all share a blurry, uncertain future.”

The official video was filmed during the first month of lockdown in New Zealand. It’s a spooky more-is-more collage of animated night terrors. The directors Sports Team “turned our laundry into a film studio and spent our inside time mastering the art of stop-motion animation. We animated old towels, all the cardboard in the house and The Beths themselves… frame by bloody frame. There’s a lot of scary imagery in the song that we wanted to play on. There’s a madness too, in the contradiction between what the song is about and its frenetic energy. It has defined the lockdown for us—being locked indoors but furiously busy.”

Watch “I’m Not Getting Excited” Video:
https://youtu.be/lvYrJxNwW5I

The Beths are Elizabeth Stokes (vocals/guitar), Jonathan Pearce (guitar), Benjamin Sinclair (bass), and Tristan Deck (drums). Jump Rope Gazers is the follow-up to Future Me Hates Me, “one of the most impressive indie-rock debuts of the year” (Pitchfork). The album received glowing praise and appeared on many year-end lists including Rolling Stone, NPR, Stereogum, and more.

Jump Rope Gazers tackles themes of anxiety and self-doubt with effervescent power pop choruses and rousing backup vocals, zeroing in on the communality and catharsis that can come from sharing stressful situations with some of your best friends. Touring far from home, The Beths committed to taking care of each other while simultaneously trying to take care of friends living thousands of miles away. That care and attention shines through on Jump Rope Gazers, where the quartet sounds more locked in than ever. Jump Rope Gazers stares down all the hard parts of living in communion with other people, even at a distance, while celebrating the ferocious joy that makes it all worth it.
Watch “I’m Not Getting Excited” Video:
https://youtu.be/lvYrJxNwW5I

Watch “Dying to Believe” Video:
https://youtu.be/CkzI93Aqztk

“Live From House” live streams:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2LoGf5dgISPCRk8epZGpw_iXKO9Mi6um

Pre-Order Jump Rope Gazers:
https://smarturl.it/thebeths_jrg

The Beths Tour Dates:
Sun. Nov 8 – Perth, WA @ HBF Park*
Wed. Nov. 11 – Melbourne, VIC @ Marvel Stadium*
Sat. Nov. 14 – Sydney, NSW @ Bankwest Stadium*
Tue. Nov. 17 – Brisbane, QLD @ QSAC Stadium*
Fri. Nov. 20 – Dunedin, NZ @ Forsyth Barr Stadium*
Sun. Nov. 22 – Auckland, NZ @ Mt Smart Stadium*

*w/ Green Day, Weezer and Fall Out Boy

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR!]

CHAI help us stay positive with two new singles.

The Japanese quartet and advocates of NEO-Kawaii CHAI release a new single, the self-championing “Ready Cheeky Pretty,” and an accompanying video. Following the recently-released “NO MORE CAKE,” “a weird, bafflingly catchy interrogation of beauty standards” (Stereogum), “Ready Cheeky Pretty” promotes self-love and finding motivation and confidence from within. Over jubilant synth and a steady snare, CHAI sing: “we are the upbeat cheeky monkeys ! // look up the mirror // oh! It’s pretty monkey! // we are good already // keep it real.” The band elaborates on the track: “KEEP IT REAL Go back to the real you! It’s all about moving forward and living by instinct! To go forward with the voice of your heart! Nothing symbolizes this more for us than the carefree nature, strength, and purity of a monkey. We pay homage to this in Ready Cheeky Pretty because we feel that animals have the ability to be REAL more than humans. It’s this type of song! Take a listen!

Its accompanying video, co-directed by Hideto Hotta and by bassist YUUKI, is largely made of colorful, animated drawings (all illustrated by YUUKI). It also features famous paintings and video clips and images of the band intertwined throughout. It was shot entirely at YUUKI’s home and is centered in a world where CHAI is getting back to their real selves. As YUUKI describes, “it isn’t so much about shooting CHAI with a specific vision like any other MV, but more so about ‘putting CHAI into’ a vision that WE have.”

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “READY CHEEKY PRETTY”
https://youtu.be/zuiIplaXsUc

Throughout quarantine, the band has started live streaming three times a week – YUNA on Monday’s, YUUKI on Wednesday’s, and MANA and KANA on Friday’s. These livestreams can be viewed on the band’s Instagram at 11pm ET / 8pm PT. Yuna has also created her own Youtube / IGTV series called “HELLO, I’M YUNA!,” which covers all of YUNA’s interests from interviewing her fellow band members, to cooking, to giving an inside look at song and music video releases. Her “journalist alter-ego,” YUNA-jana, is featured as the main interviewer. It’s adorable and we suggest you tune in.

Additionally, CHAI has covered Kyu Sakamoto’s “Ue o Muite Arukō” or “Sukiyaki Song,” the unofficial anthem of Japan that is often sung to uplift during hard times. The lyrics “Ue o Muite Arukō” translate to “I Look Up As I Walk” and tells the story of a man who looks up and whistles while he is walking to avoid his tears from falling down. Everyone has been affected in different ways by COVID-19, some more than others. CHAI made this video using only what they could find within their homes to bring positivity, fun, and keep the music going.

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “SUKIYAKI SONG”
https://youtu.be/_tQLnrE552Y

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[Thanks to Jaycee at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Ohmme announce new tour dates and single – “Selling Candy.”

“Ohmme’s music feels experimental and strange yet still accessible, with an underlying gut-level rumble that keeps its songs from floating into the ether.” – NPR Music

“You might think OHMME is a mantra, but it’s in fact the place to be to hear remarkable music from a Chicago band in rare form” – Chicago Tribune

“Their latest single, ‘Ghost,’ has more narrative shape, yet its acute details are preserved…The instrumentation is minimal at first, but a wheedling guitar solo preserves the static. The two women clear a path through this haze with a final, unambiguous declaration: ‘I’m sick of looking at the stupid look on your face.’” – Pitchfork

Ohmme – the Chicago-based duo of Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart – share a new single, “Selling Candy,” and announce rescheduled tour dates. “Selling Candy” is the third single they’ve released that appears on their new album, Fantasize Your Ghost, out June 5th on Joyful Noise Recordings. Following “Ghost” and “3 2 4 3, “Selling Candy” is riveting. The track, which has only six lines, is filled with Cunningham and Stewart’s harmonies, which soar over heavy, sludgy guitar and pummeling percussion. Eventually, the song ends in a noisy freakout.

“‘Selling Candy’ was pieced together from little snapshots of my childhood growing up on my block in Chicago,” says Cunningham. “It felt like its own tiny world where I could explore my imagination, enjoy independence from my parents, and meet all kinds of people, including the pissed off hot dog vendor from whom I bought a boiled hot dog from as often as I could get my hands on a buck.”

Listen to Ohmme’s “Selling Candy”
https://lnk.to/SellingCandy

Fantasize Your Ghost is the direct result of the band spending more time on the road than in Chicago. It’s deeply concerned with questions of the self, the future, and what home means when you’re travelling all the time. Early sketches of Fantasize Your Ghost‘s tracklist were demoed at Sam Evian‘s Flying Cloud Studios in upstate New York through intensely collaborative and open sessions. The album was recorded over a six day session in August 2019 at the Post Farm in southern Wisconsin with journeyman producer Chris Cohen.

Though 2018’s Parts showcased their wildly burgeoning influences and talents, Fantasize Your Ghost captures the astounding magnetism and ferocity of their live show. It encapsulates the thrilling and sometimes terrifying joy of moving forward even if you don’t know where you’re going. It’s an album that asks necessary questions: When life demands a crossroads, what version of yourself are you going to pursue? What part of yourself will you feed and let flourish and what do you have to let go of? This is a record of strength, of best friends believing in each other. Unapologetic and brave, Ohmme are ready to figure it all out together.

Additionally, Ohmme announce rescheduled North American tour dates for January 2021. Following their supporting dates with Waxahatchee in October, they’ll play a headlining tour in the new year. A full list of dates can be found below and tickets are on sale now.
Watch the Video for “Ghost”
https://youtu.be/hstB_R4pahw

Watch the Video for “3 2 4 3”
https://youtu.be/n9E9ngQ9lVI

Pre-order Fantasize Your Ghost
http://joyfulnoi.se/FantasizeYourGhost

Ohmme Tour Dates
Sat. Aug. 8 – Ripon, WI @ Avrom Farm Party
Sun. Sept. 27 – Austin, TX @ Scholz Garten %
Mon. Sept. 28 – Houston, TX @ Satellite %
Tue. Sept. 29 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West %
Thu. Oct. 1 – Nashville, TN @ Exit In %
Fri. Oct. 2 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom %
Sun. Oct. 4 – Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theatre %
Mon. Oct. 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer %
Tue. Oct. 6 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere %
Thu. Oct. 8 – Winooski, VT @ Monkey House
Fri. Oct. 9 – Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre %
Sat. Oct. 10 – Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts %
Mon. Oct. 12 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theater %
Tue. Oct. 13 – Detroit, MI @ MOCAD %
Thu. Oct. 15 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center %
Fri. Oct. 16 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room %
Sat. Oct. 17 – Maquoketa, IA @ Codfish Hollow Barn %
Sun. Oct. 18 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre %
Sat. Jan. 9 – Kansas City, MO @ The Record Bar *
Mon. Jan. 11 – Denver, CO @ Lost Lake *
Tue. Jan. 12 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court *
Wed. Jan. 13 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux *
Thu. Jan. 14 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge *
Fri. Jan. 15 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza *
Sat. Jan. 16 – Vancouver, BC @ The Fox Cabaret *
Mon. Jan. 18 – Reno, NV @ Holland Project *
Tue. Jan. 19 – Bolinas, CA @ Gospel Flat Farmstand *
Wed. Jan. 20 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill *
Thu. Jan. 21 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst Atrium *

* = w/ V. V. Lightbody
% = w/ Waxahatchee

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[Thanks to Brid at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rewind Review: The Well – Pagan Science (2016)

Pagan Science, the second album by Austin, Texas’ doom rock trio The Well (Lisa Alley – bass and vocals, Ian Graham – guitar and lead vocals, Jason Sullivan – drums), has an interesting cover. The image at first appears to be a veiled angel (complete with halo), but closer inspection shows the halo is dim and crude, the silk veil is either a clear plastic tarp or a shower curtain, and the angel is either a store mannequin or a sweaty woman who is either exhausted or euphoric, or both – which is probably how you’ll feel by the time you’ve finished listening to it.

“Black Eyed Gods” (Maybe the ones who drew that crude halo?) opens with fiery riffs from Graham and Alley and Sullivan being in lockstep from the first beat drop. Graham sings about crimson skies and literal and metaphysical fires burning everywhere. A brief interlude called “Forecast” (“I think the golden age is ahead…Pagan science.”) proceeds “Skybound” – a song that chugs along like some sort of blood-fueled war tank.

The band’s love of Cream (and, to be sure, Black Sabbath) is on display in “A Pilgrimage” with its tuning and rhythm and Graham singing about his deep hate: “Can you feel the hate inside me? Hate that drags me on? Only happy with my sword beside me, keeping me strong.” To be blunt, how fucking metal is that? The back and forth vocals between he and Alley on the track are outstanding, as is the addition of Alley’s moans / cries to those black eyed gods mentioned earlier.

“The children of the forest didn’t know if they should dance or run,” Graham and Alley sing on “Drug from the Banks” – a song about something found in a creepy forest. I love how The Well doesn’t rush this song, they let it bubble like a witches’ brew until they’re ready to serve it hot and pungent.

“No mercy for the sinners, we’ve drawn a line in blood,” Graham and Alley sing at the opening of “Byzantine” while Sullivan hammers out a beat that sounds like chanting orcs. One could argue that this drawn line was done in challenge to other doom metal bands who might try to ape The Well‘s power. “One Nation” is a tale of war and what, if anything, is left behind after it.

The instrumental “Choir of the Stars” follows and drifts like a smoky haze into the fuzzy, heady “Brambles.” “Serpents on the land crossing paranoid sands,” Graham sings, perhaps reflecting a state of constant worry so many of us find ourselves in each day when we are faced with things beyond our control (or even comprehension). The groove of “I Don’t Believe” rocks with not a little bit of swagger, and Graham and Alley’s vocals have that same swagger…and a touch of menace as they face harsh reality (“I don’t believe in anything anymore.”) and “Sacrifice illusions to the sun.”

“I Don’t Believe” closes the album, but picking up the digital version of Pagan Science will score you the bonus track “Guinevere” – which is well worth it. It sounds like a dark(er) Alice in Chains cut and Alley’s vocals are prominent throughout it.

The sorcery / science of this album is powerful stuff, indeed. You should experience it head-on, lest it creep up on you from the shadows.

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