Rock – Page 130 – 7th Level Music

One new single isn’t enough for Ezra Furman, so he’s released two ahead of “Twelve Nudes” due August 30th.

With his highly anticipated new album, Twelve Nudes, due August 30th via Bella Union, Erza Furman has shared two new tracks from the LP. For Furman, new single “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend” “Is a romantic song of transgender longing. It’s another entry in my series of ‘I Wanna’ songs (in the tradition of the Ramones). I thought it was time we had an ‘Earth Angel’ for the queers. Of course because it’s an Ezra Furman tune, there’s a little bit of desperation, religion and body-talk.”. It comes with a brilliant video directed by Alix Spence, who shared that; “Listening to the song and speaking with Ezra, I saw our two dancers, Brandon Mathis and and Jobel Medina, as physical manifestations of internal suffering. I wanted to literally have us wrestle with ourselves and the complexities of our personal struggles.

Of the additional single “Evening Prayer”, Furman states: “It’s our rallying cry. We music fans go to shows for transcendence; it’s like being called to prayer. But as Abraham Heschel said, ‘Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism and falsehood.’ I want all our fans to become activists. We punk fans have so much energy to give to the fight against injustice, i.e. the abuse of the poor by the rich, i.e. climate change. So this is one to get you in the mood.”

Last year was a championing year for Furman – since the release of the “layered, baroque pop melodrama” (Billboard) Transangelic Exodus, Furman has garnered immense praise, both for Transangelic Exodus and the soundtrack he created for Netflix’s Sex Education (he and his band also appeared in an episode). Twelve Nudes, his new and “spiritually queer” punk record, continues this same wavelength, and is an incendiary and inspiring follow-up. Across the album, Furman channels pent-up energy, distinguished by sharp, lacerating observations, confessions and proclamations.

Twelve Nudes was recorded quickly in Oakland in Fall 2018 and was mixed by venerated producer John Congleton (Sharon Van Etten, St. Vincent). The result is an album that is less stereotypical punk than raw, raucous rock’n’roll. The album has two spiritual heroes – the late great punk Jay Reatard and Canadian writer and philosopher Anne Carson. The title stems directly from Carson, who used the term “nudes” to describe the meditations she used to deal with intense pain in her life.

“This is our punk record,” says Ezra Furman. “We made it in Oakland, quickly. We drank and smoked. Then we made the loud parts louder. I hurt my voice screaming. This was back in 2018, when things were bad in the world. The songs are naked with nothing to hide.”

One of my goals in making music is to make the world seem bigger, and life seem larger,” Furman concludes. “I want to be a force that tries to revive the human spirit rather than crush it, to open possibilities rather than close them down. Sometimes a passionate negativity is the best way to do that.”

Watch the video for “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend” –
https://youtu.be/8e1h31hVGSw

Listen to “Evening Prayer” –
https://youtu.be/nuUnAAUSgf0

Watch the Video for “Calm Down” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLecVxlnZG8

Pre-order Twelve Nudes –
http://smarturl.it/ef_twelve

Ezra Furman Tour Dates:
Wed. July 24 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
Thu. July 25 – Galway, IE @ Galway Festival
Sun. July 28 – Topcliffe, UK @ Deer Shed Festival
Thu. Sept. 5 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
Sat. Sept. 7 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall (TICKETS)
Sun. Sept. 8 – Detroit, MI @ El Club (TICKETS)
Mon. Sept. 9 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace (TICKETS)
Tue. Sept. 10 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz P.D.B. (TICKETS)
Wed. Sept. 11 – Cambridge, MA @ Sonia (TICKETS)
Thu. Sept. 12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (TICKETS)
Sun. Sept. 15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts (TICKETS)
Mon. Sept. 16 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage (TICKETS)

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Clutch, Killswitch Engage, and Cro-Mags “JM” – Clyde Theatre – Ft. Wayne, IN – July 16, 2019

The last show I saw at Fort Wayne, Indiana’s Clyde Theatre was the Flaming Lips with Le Bucherettes, which was a communal psychedelic experience and not the type of place in which a mosh pit breaks out while someone screams at you with rage and fury. Now, however, I was seeing three bands who brought plenty of rage and fury – Clutch, Killswitch Engage, and Cro-Mags “JM“.

My friend and I walked in as Cro-Mags “JM” were unleashing their rage with a furious hardcore punk rock set. The “JM,” by the way, stands for “John Mackie” – as in vocalist John Joseph and drummer Mackie Jayson. Joseph and Jayson are two of the longest-serving members in the legendary Cro-Mags band (which has gone through multiple lineup changes). Joseph talked about songs written in 1989, such as “Street Justice,” when there was no such thing as being an online troll (“You said what you needed to say face to face. You didn’t hide behind a keyboard. And if you had to put your fists up, you threw down.”). It was a fast, hard set, yet no mosh pits broke out, which I found baffling.

I’d heard of Cro-Mags from my high school punk rock days, but I’d never heard anything by Killswitch Engage despite the fact they’ve been together for two decades. My metal music collections leans toward stoner and doom, so metalcore is a mostly unexplored genre for me. They put on a heck of a show, bringing relentless energy and a packed house. A lot of people showed up for their set, and a few small mosh pits broke out during it. Crowd surfing was even more popular. A particular highlight was the live debut of their newest single, “I Am Broken, Too.” Lead singer Jessie Leach‘s vocal stylings reminded me of Ronnie James Dio, so I was delighted to hear them close their set with a cover of Dio’s “Holy Diver.”

Clutch came out gunning with the always-invigorating “X-Ray Visions” and “Firebirds!” Bassist Dan Maines had some technical issues in the first two tracks that kept him from putting out as much sound as he wanted, but a couple swapped cables and batteries fixed the issue by the time they got to “Gimme the Keys.”

Psychic warfare is real, and Dan Maines’ bass apparently shoots lasers.

The crowd had thinned a bit, which is a shame, because a lot of the metalcore fans who left missed a great groove-rock show by Clutch that included a lot of tunes I’d never heard live before such as their version of the blues classic “Evil,” the rare cut “Willie Nelson,” “Smoke Banshee,” “Hot Bottom Feeder” (which my friend loved for both the groove and the fact that the entire song is a crab cake recipe), and “Rats.”

Clutch lets us know that Willie Nelson only smokes killer weed.

They ended the night with an encore of “H.B. Is in Control” and “How to Shake Hands,” two more songs I hadn’t heard live until now. I’ve always loved how Clutch changes up their setlist every night. They keep a core of a few tunes for each show but mix in whatever else they want to play. I wish more bands did this, but not every band is as confident as them. So, go see them. It will be a unique experience.

Keep your mind open.

Thanks to Doug Weber of New Ocean Media for getting me a press pass to the show.

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Anna Meredith’s new single, “Paramour,” is a good omen for her upcoming album – “FIBS” – due this October.

Anna Meredith – “one of the most innovative minds in modern British music” (Pitchfork) – today announces her eagerly anticipated second studio album, FIBS, out October 25th via Black Prince Fury. Alongside the announcement, she shares the lead single / video, “Paramour.” The one-take video and song forbids you from turning away. Its sweeps, jerks and wrong turns pin your ears to the speakers whilst heading for warp speed at a blistering 176 BPM, rounding out with an (utterly unexpected) tuba-led half-time rock-out.

Arriving three and a half years on from the release of her debut studio album, Varmints, an album that juxtaposed hulking slabs of cross-rhythm and electronics with brittle gusts of delicate confession and irresistibly addictive pop melody, FIBS marks her first new music since the soundtrack of original compositions for the Bo Burnham directed film Eighth Grade. Meredith is a well-known classical composer, having been Composer in Residence with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and regularly commissioned by orchestras around the world. Additionally, she was the first female composer to be commissioned for both the First and the Last Night of the Proms and was recently named a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s birthday honours list for services to music, making her Anna Meredith MBE.

FIBS is 45 minutes of technicolour maximalism, almost perpetual rhythmic reinvention, and boasts a visceral richness and unparalleled accessibility. It is no Varmints Part 2. Instead, if anything, it’s Varmints 2.0, an overhauled and updated version of the composer’s soundworld, involving, in places, a literal retooling that has seen Meredith chuck out her old MIDI patches and combine her unique compositional voice with brand-new instruments, both acoustic and electronic, and a writing process that’s more intense than she’s ever known. Despite Meredith’s background and skills these tracks are no academic exercise, the world of FIBS is at both overwhelming and intimate, a journey of intense energy and joyful irreverence.

FIBS, says Meredith, are “lies — but nice friendly lies, little stories and constructions and daydreams and narratives that you make for yourself or you tell yourself”. Entirely internally generated and perfectly balanced, they can be a source of comfort and excitement, intrigue and endless entertainment. The eleven fibs contained on Anna Meredith’s second record will do all that, and more.
Watch the Video for “Paramour” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjmZLaymJU8

Pre-order FIBS –
http://smarturl.it/FIBS

Download hi-res jpegs and images of Anna Meredith –
https://pitchperfectpr.com/anna-meredith/

FIBS Tracklist:
1. Sawbones
2. Inhale Exhale
3. Calion
4. Killjoy
5. Bump
6. moonmoons
7. Divining
8. Limpet
9. Ribbons
10. Paramour
11. Unfurl

Anna Meredith Tour Dates:
Sat. Aug. 3 – Hackney, UK @ Visions Festival
Fri. Aug. 23 – Helsinki, FI @ Helsinki Festival
Mon. Feb. 3 – Leeds, UK @ Belgrave Music Hall
Tue. Feb. 4 – Manchester, UK @ Gorilla
Wed. Feb. 5 – London, UK @ EartH
Thu. Feb. 6 – Bristol, UK @ Trinity
Sat. Feb. 8 – Glasgow, UK @ Art School
Sun. Feb. 9 – Coventry, UK @ Arts Centre
Mon. Feb. 10 – Brighton, UK @ Old Market

Keep your mind open.

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Dry Cleaning release “Magic of Meghan” ahead of debut EP – “Sweet Princess” due August 16th.

London’s Dry Cleaning announce their much-anticipated debut EP, “Sweet Princess,” due August 16th on It’s OK. In conjunction with today’s announcement, they present a video for the lead single, “Magic of Meghan.”

The release of “Sweet Princess” continues a period of fervent activity from the band, despite having no music online. Dry Cleaning have already seen significant interest, playing early headline shows and meaningful support tours. They possess something entirely different to the rest of the pack – their wiry, excitable post-punk and new-wave paired as it is to surreal, detached vocal narratives in the form of a predominantly spoken word delivery.

Firm friends for years, the band (Lewis Maynard, Tom Dowse, Florence Shaw & Nick Buxton) only started making music after a karaoke party in 2017 inspired a collaboration. They wrote instrumentally to begin with and six months later Shaw, a university lecturer and picture researcher by day, joined on vocals with no prior musical experience. They recorded the six-track “Sweet Princess” EP before playing their first show only last year.

When they started they knew they wanted to make simple music, direct and uncomplicated. The musical influences were clear – the Feelies, the Necessaries, the B52s and Pylon as a starting point. The garage / rehearsal space had a huge influence on the sound as it was so small and intimate; anything unnecessary was to be left behind. A discussion among the four band members about how to make the prospect of performing as comfortable as possible for Florence (a first timer) ahead of the band’s first rehearsal as a four piece, led to her using her speaking voice. There were several references for this; Will Powers, The Anaemic Boyfriends and Grace Jones, among others.

The video for “Magic of Meghan” was made by Sheffield based artist Lucy Vann. Vann investigates, records and reinterprets overlooked behaviours and occurrences in the everyday, in this case through moving image, but she also works with photography, writing, sound, objects and performance. Her work balances between a state of tedium and interest, and attempts to reveal something beyond the immediate surface of daily life. As for the lyrical content of the song itself, well, it’s clearly a song celebrating Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex.

“The song acknowledges that following the lives of those in the public eye can provide people with an escape; an outlet for difficult emotions, and subsequently help them to cope with hard times in their lives,” says Florence Shaw. “The song is, in part, intended to serve as a thank you to Meghan for this service (‘You got engaged on the day that I moved out. It’s ok. She’s a smasher, perfectly suited to the role’). The song also aims to highlight how the news media dissect her decisions (‘Never has one outfit been designed, to send so many messages’) and the creative ways they conceal the misogyny and racism that is sometimes behind what they write about her (‘You’re just what England needs, you’re going to change us’).”
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “MAGIC OF MEGHAN” –
https://youtu.be/FRbpWEXkBic

PRE-ORDER “SWEET PRINCESS” HERE –
https://orcd.co/drycleaning

“SWEET PRINCESS” EP TRACKLIST:
1. Goodnight
2. New Job
3. Magic of Meghan
4. Traditional Fish
5. Phone Scam
6. Convention

DRY CLEANING TOUR DATES:
Fri. July 19 – Suffolk, UK @ Latitude Festival
Thu. Aug. 8 – Brighton, UK @ Prince Albert *
Fri. Aug. 9 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Sat. Aug. 10 – Leicester, UK @ O2 Academy
Fri. Aug. 16 – Breacon Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival
Wed. Aug. 21 – London, UK @ Schacklewell Arms
Thu. Aug. 22 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds
Fri. Aug. 23 – Manchester, UK @ YES (Basement)
Sat. Aug. 24 – Birkinhead, UK @ Future Yard Festival
Sat. Oct. 19 – Bristol, UK @ Simple Things Festival
Sun. Oct. 20 – Cardiff, UK @ SWN Festival

*= w/ Bodega

Keep your mind open.

[It would be magic if you subscribed.]

Clutch covers ZZ Top for their Weathermaker Vault series.

Clutch announce the release of “Precious And Grace”. The single is the second in a series of new studio recordings that comprise the newly launched Weathermaker Vault Series and the first new official music Clutch is making available since the release of their critically acclaimed album, Book Of Bad Decisions. Future tracks will follow as part of the new series throughout the 2nd half of 2019. These songs are bound to become another classic milestone in the band’s stellar career.

“Precious And Grace” was mixed by 6X Grammy Award winner and Clutch collaborator, Vance Powell (Wolfmother, The Raconteurs,Arctic Monkeys). A video for the song can be viewed at this location: https://youtu.be/9RvJt7MGziM

“It should be fairly obvious by now that Clutch are huge fans of ZZ Top,” states vocalist Neil Fallon. “They’re a band that we grew up listening to – and we still listen to them to this day. ‘Precious & Grace’, from their classic Tres Hombres LP, is easily one of our favorite ZZ Top songs and that’s really the only story behind the choice.” Clutch has curated their own Spotify playlist “Clutch’s Heavy Rotation” at this location: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3NlZsjNNOoCvwjCv58mcNR

On Friday, Clutch will embark on a co-headlining tour of the US with Killswitch Engage that also includes Clutch’s curated Earth Rocker Festival in Inwood WV.

Clutch & Killswitch Engage Co-Headline US Dates: Tickets available here. Fri/Jul 12th Syracuse, NY at SI Hall Sat/Jul 13th Inwood, WV at Earth Rocker Festival @ Shiley Acres Sun/Jul 14th Myrtle Beach, SC at House Of Blues Tue/Jul 16th Fort Wayne, IN at The Clyde Thu/Jul 18th Sioux City, IA at Hard Rock Casino Fri/Jul 19th Cadott, WI at Rock USA Festival Sat/Jul 20th Peoria, Il at Tailgate N’ Tallboys Festival Mon/Jul 22nd Tulsa, OK at The Brady Theater Tue/Jul 23rd St. Louis, MO at The Pageant Thu/Jul 25th Bethlehem, PA at Sands Bethlehem Event Center Fri/Jul 26th Asbury Park, NJ at Stone Pony (Outdoors) Sat/Jul 27th Bangor, ME at Impact Music Festival Sun/Jul 28th Montreal, QC at Heavy Montreal Festival Tue/Jul 30th Huntington, NY at The Paramount Thu/Aug 1st Columbus, OH at Express Live (Outdoors) Fri/Aug 2nd Pittsburgh, PA at Stage AE (Outdoors) Sat/Aug 3rd Port Chester, NY at The Capitol Theater Sun/Aug 4th Worcester, MA at Palladium (Outdoors)

Keep your mind open.

[It would be precious if you subscribed.]

Review: Bad Sports – Constant Stimulation

Texas punks Bad Sports (Daniel Fried – bass and vocals, Orville Neeley – guitar and vocals, Gregory Rutherford – drums) have been blasting in the indie scene for over a decade, and their newest album, Constant Stimulation, brings fire, rage, wisdom, snark, and riffs. Plenty of riffs.

They’re off to a fast start off with “Giving In,” with its Social Distortion-like swagger. “If it feels like giving up, it’s giving in,” they sing, calling on all of us to keep fighting. “Don’t Deserve Love” and “All Revved Up to Kill” bring in a touch of pop-punk and 1960’s garage rock vocal stylings. “Comes Close,” like the two songs before it, are love songs, or rather songs about the sometimes frustrating / fun nature of love. “When one comes close, but you don’t get no answer…” they sing, deciding not to finish the sentence because we all know what they mean. Nelly’s guitar solo vents our and their frustrations.

“Gains and Losses” is a middle finger at the current U.S. economy, its inequality, and the emptiness that wealth can bring (“Doing nothing, saying nothing, paying someone after the fact.”). “Leave your conscience behind,” they sing on “Ode to Power” – a fitting lyric aimed at those who crawl over the weak to get where and what they want. The title track focuses on our addictions to technology and our fears of silence (“I need constant stimulation, in my ears and in my eyes. I need constant stimulation or I don’t sleep at night.”). It’s a post-punk gem with great drumming from Rutherford, who puts down a beat that sounds simple but is actually damn hard to play once you realize how good he’s keeping (fast) time through the whole track.

The groove on “Easy Truth” is as hard as the lyrics (“All the things I knew I could rely on, they’re not there anymore, to hold true. And I tried for so long to deny it, anyway, but nothing’s going to change for me or you…Nothing’s going to change unless you want it to. Something has to change soon. That’s the easy truth.”). It’s a bit of a Ghandi reference, encouraging us to be the change we want to see in the world. It seems to me that they dabble a lit bit in psychedelia with “Everything We Wanted” (the upped fuzz taking front stage from the low-volume vocals).

“Cardboard Suits” again encourages us to change our worlds, be they local or global, for the better (“Reading headlines won’t make being here get any better. You can’t just wait for things to be divine while falling face-first for egregious disguises.”). Fried’s bass groove on “Distant Life” brings Joy Division rhythm to a fist-raising anthem.

The song closes the digital download of the album, but the CD has seven additional tracks. Among the standouts are “Don’t Get Your Hopes Up” (a great punk title on a fun punk track about hypocrisy in religion.), the sizzling “Living with Secrets,” the heavy / fuzzy bass-driven “Anymore,” and the almost-goth “Pacify My Love.”

It’s a cool record that I’m glad I stumbled upon last month. You’ll dig it if you like indie punk.

Keep your mind open.

[I don’t know if I deserve a subscription, but I’d love one.]

Bleached releases “Rebound City” ahead of new album and upcoming tour.

Bleached – the Los Angeles-based duo of sisters Jessie and Jennifer Clavin – share their fourth and final pre-release single, “Rebound City,” from their forthcoming album, Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough?, due July 12th via Dead Oceans. Bleached have championed their new direction through a trio of exhilarating singles; “Kiss You Goodbye,” “Hard To Kill”, and “Shitty Ballet.” “Rebound City” is a guitar-driven, power-pop song that paints the landscape of a disintegrating 1980’s Sunset Strip era. Throughout, Jennifer references various mishaps – waking up with a friend’s ex, an obsession with a stranger, and the remorse that comes with breaking someone’s heart. “This song is a brief history of the mistakes I’ve made…except there really are no mistakes, they’re all lessons in the end.” Just like the crumbled rock ‘n’ roll glam era that “Rebound City” draws upon sonically, rebound relationships are born from nostalgia of better times, and sparkle with false intrigue and decorum. “It’s a one way Boulevard,” Jennifer sings, and she’s not wrong.

Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough? is Jessie and Jennifer Clavin’s first LP written from a place of sobriety. That clear-eyed perspective serves as the guiding force in every corner of its sound, yielding a courageous, honest, and sonically ambitious album.

Bleached returned to their dynamic as sisters – Jessie handled the bulk of the instrumentation and Jennifer handled the lyrics and melodies. Producer Shane Stoneback (Vampire Weekend, Sleigh Bells) helped open every door to experimentation, wanting to be exploratory while keeping the sound singularly Bleached. The album glimmers with inspiration found in touring with the likes of The Damned and Paramore whose arena-ready, incisively catchy pop was a palpable influence helping to push Bleached’s sound in a new realm.

Following a hometown record release show in Los Angeles, Bleached will kick off their North American tour in September. All dates are below.

Listen to “Rebound City” – https://youtu.be/inxS8IrzHak

Watch: “Kiss You Goodbye” – https://youtu.be/InvEKijp7WM “

“Hard To Kill” Video – https://youtu.be/bQYgcc02m5c

“Shitty Ballet” Video – https://youtu.be/v8pGMcSylH4

Pre-order Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough? – bleached.ffm.to/dontyouthink

Bleached Tour Dates: Thu. July 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge Thu. Aug. 22 – London, UK @ The Lexington Sat. Aug. 24 – Reading, UK @ Reading Festival Sun. Aug. 25 – Leeds, UK @ Leeds Festival Thu. Sept. 5 – San Diego, CA @ The Casbah Fri. Sept. 6 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House Sat. Sept. 7 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar Mon. Sept. 9 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda Tue. Sept. 10 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada Wed. Sept. 11 – Houston, TX @ Satellite Bar Fri. Sept. 13 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa Sat. Sept. 14 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Hell) Sun. Sept. 15 – Raleigh, NC @ Motorco Tue. Sept. 17 – Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall Thu. Sept. 19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere Fri. Sept. 20 – Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA Sat. Sept. 21 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall Mon. Sept. 23 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern Tue. Sept. 24 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement Wed. Sept. 25 – Nashville, TN @ Exit In Fri. Sept. 27 – Urbana, IL @ Pygmalion Festival Sat. Sept. 28 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry Sun. Sept. 29 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall Mon. Sept. 30 – St. Louis, MO @ Firebird Tue. Oct. 1 – Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room (Outdoors)* Thu. Oct. 3 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall* Fri. Oct. 4 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room* Sat. Oct. 5 – Boise, ID @ The Olympic* Mon. Oct. 7 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile* Tue. Oct. 8 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret* Wed. Oct. 9 – Portland, OR @ Star Theater Fri. Oct. 11 – Oakland, CA @ New Parish* Sat. Oct. 12 – Los Angeles, Ca @ The Lodge Room* *= w/ Dude York

Keep your mind open.

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Here Lies Man are “Clad in Silver” on their upcoming EP – “No Ground to Walk Upon.”

“An evolutionary step forward for their sound.” – Metal Hammer

“A woozy wall of Afrobeat inspired fuzzbox riff worship and pounding circular rhythmic power, Here Lies Man connect the stoner rock underground straight to downtown Lagos.” – The Quietus

“Here Lies Man are still really, really good at making riffy, rhythmic psychedelic rock that sounds like the ’60s/’70s but still feels fresh today. Fans of anything from Nuggets to Ty Segall and King Gizzard should take note.” — Brooklyn Vegan

“This is a band ahead of their time.” — The Obelisk

Los Angeles quartet Here Lies Man share the lead single from their forthcoming 7-song mini-album No Ground To Walk Upon today. Hear and share “Clad in Silver” via YouTube and Bandcamp.

Dinked, the UK collective of independent retailers, are offering an exclusive special edition of the release that comes with a signed picture of the band, a patch, and a tote bag, on purple vinyl with orange swirl. For more information see Dinked HERE.

Here Lies Man took the music world by storm in 2017 with their self-titled debut positing the intriguing hypothesis: What if Black Sabbath played Afrobeat?

Since that time, Here Lies Man has expanded and expounded upon their sound and ideas of heavy riff rock and psych within the ancient rhythmic formula of the clave. The L.A. based band comprised of Antibalas members have toured relentlessly over the past 2 years, while also releasing a second album, You Will Know Nothing and an EP, Animal Noises, both in 2018.

No Ground to Walk Upon is due worldwide in August 2019. It continues with an ongoing concept of HLM playing the soundtrack to an imaginary movie, with each song being a scene. The lead single “Clad in Silver” is the soundtrack snippet of a journey to the imaginary place called home, which can never be arrived at. With every step, the character imagines getting closer, but it is a hallucination that fades in and out of perception.

Rough Trade named Here Lies Man in their prestigious Top 10 Albums of 2017. BBC 6 & Classic Rock Magazine deemed it among the year’s best, as well as countless other press outlets singing its praises. 2018’s You Will Know Nothing furthered the band’s reputation for genre-smashing rhythmic experimentation, topping many year-end lists as well as earning features from countless metal and indie rock outlets, plus cover stories in weekly papers. No Ground to Walk Upon is the next step in the band’s rapid ascent to what is bound to be influential upon riff based rock.

“We’re very conscious of how the rhythms service the riffs,” explains founder and vocalist/guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Marcos Garcia (who also plays guitar in Antibalas) of the band’s sound. “Tony Iommi’s (Black Sabbath) innovation was to make the riff the organizing principle of a song. We are taking that same approach but employing a different organizing principle: For Iommi it was the blues, for us it comes directly from Africa.”

No Ground To Walk Upon also includes an interesting conceptual mathematics to the entire proceedings, a theme begun on the prior album. “There are interludes between each song that are 2/3 to 3/4 of the tempo of the previous song,” Garcia says. “The reason it breaks down to 2 over 3 or 3 over 4 is that everything in the music rhythmically corresponds to a set of mathematical algorithms known as the clave. The clave is an ancient organizing rhythmic principle developed in Africa.”

Garcia and cofounder/drummer Geoff Mann (former Antibalas drummer and son of jazz musician Herbie Mann) recorded the mini-album much like they did their previous releases, at their own L.A. studio on a Tascam 388 8-track tape machine. Additional layers were recorded with former Antibalas keyboardist Victor Axelrod and other contributors in various other locations, all while the band continued its rigorous touring schedule.

Here Lies Man has already spent much of the past three years on tour, with dates supporting Antibalas, Earthless and Fu Manchu, as well as headlining treks through the EU & UK. The remaining months of 2019 and 2020 will see the band once again performing at numerous International festivals (including Austin’s Levitation Fest in November.)

No Ground to Walk Upon will be available on LP, CD and download on August 16th, 2019 via RidingEasy Records.

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll feel like I’m clad in silver if you subscribe today.]

Priests release disco cover version of Danzig’s “Mother.”

LISTEN TO “MOTHER” http://amzn.to/priests

WATCH “JESUS’ SON” https://youtu.be/sAEuo7TS2D8

WATCH “GOOD TIME CHARLIE” https://youtu.be/PXGTRqwpO1o

WATCH “THE SEDUCTION OF KANSAS” http://smarturl.it/TheSeductionOfKansas

Ahead of their US tour in support of The Seduction of Kansas (released earlier this year via Sister Polygon Records) Priests today have released an Amazon Original song, “Mother,” a cover of Danzig’s iconic 1988 signature song. “Mother” is available to stream and purchase only on Amazon Music. Taken from Danzig’s self-titled debut, a classic produced by Rick Rubin, “Mother” is a track that Priests often perform live and play in the van while on tour. The cover was recorded in a day with multi-instrumentalist Don Godwin at Tonal Park in Washington, D.C., and features bassist Alexandra Tyson. For the recording, Priests re-work the track with a more dramatic, danceable edge.

“This whole album (Danzig) is actually pretty sexy, something it doesn’t get enough credit for. We thought we’d tease this out a little more in our cover by re-imagining it with a ‘Let’s Dance’ era Nile-Rogers-producing-Bowie kind of glamor. Plus, what better way to subvert expectations of a Danzig song than by sprinkling it with a little disco panache? We assume this cover won’t be for everybody, but that’s the whole point of committing to creative decisions now, isn’t it?”

Listen to “Mother” (Amazon Original) only on Amazon Music: http://amzn.to/priests

Amazon Music listeners can simply ask, “Alexa, play the new song by Priests” in the Amazon Music app for iOS and Android and on Alexa-enabled devices, or find the track on the global playlist “The Setlist,” celebrating the best music of the moment in indie rock.

PRIESTS 2019 TOUR DATES Mon. June 17 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn Tue. June 18 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa Thu. June 20 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Fri. June 21 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda Sat. June 22 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada Mon. June 24 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister Tue. June 25 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar Wed. June 26 – San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar Thu. June 27 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom Sat. June 29 – Oakland, CA @ Starline Social Club Mon. July 1 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall Tue. July 2 – Vancouver, BC @ The Bitmore Wed. July 3 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos Sat. July 6 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court Sun. July 7 – Denver, CO @ Lost Lake Tue. July 9 – Kansas City, MO @ The Record Bar Wed. July 10 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway

PRAISE FOR THE SEDUCTION OF KANSAS

“[The Seduction of Kansas] reinvents the entire idea of Priests, finding bold new ways of expressing their rage against soulless consumerism and empty empire. It’s an LP full of disco ghosts and subtle threats, sideways glances and radical moves.” – Rolling Stone

“Priests’ breed of elastic post-punk is as danceable as it is thought-provoking. On their sophomore LP, The Seduction of Kansas, the D.C. trio locks into rubbery grooves that beckon for the freewheeling boogying of Converse-clad clubgoers.” – Billboard

“Priests prove themselves to be highly intellectual and creative songsmiths, drawing on not only their D.C. punk roots but also some adventurous pop sensibilities, all while serving up searing, sage commentary on Middle American ideals.” – Paste

“[The Seduction of Kansas] finds Priests pushing in all sorts of directions, forever dismissing any shorthand descriptions of them as a punk band.” – Stereogum

“a dizzying display of theoretical references and pop culture detritus, one that induces a pleasurable nausea similar to being at the centre of a mosh-pit — blissfully lacking in control, totally at the mercy of those around you.” – Exclaim!

“A merry-go-round of styles and themes, The Seduction Of Kansas isn’t a departure so much as a reminder of the band’s foundations.” – AV Club

PURCHASE THE SEDUCTION OF KANSAS Sister Polygon pre-order – http://sisterpolygonrecords.bigcartel.com

iTunes Pre-order – https://apple.co/2TvJs3c

Priests Online: website: http://www.666priests666.com/ spr

website: http://sisterpolygon.com/ bandcamp:

https://priests.bandcamp.com/

twitter: @PRIESTS_TWEET

facebook: @priestsband

instagram: @insta_priests

Keep your mind open.

[Mother, tell your children to walk their way to the subscription box.]

Possible Humans’ quirky-cool debut album, “Everybody Split,” is due out August 2nd.

LISTEN TO “ASPIRING TO BE A BLOKE” https://tinyurl.com/y5dyjlpl

Melbourne’s Possible Humans have announced their debut album, Everybody Split, will be out August 2nd via Trouble in Mind. They also share the lead single from the album, “Aspiring To Be A Bloke.” Formed in 2012 as a loose amalgamation of some solo projects, they existed mostly by way of reckless and ambitionless improv jams in the city’s most notorious third-rate rehearsal space (now defunct). The group was initially four – Leon Cranswick and Hewitt brothers Steve, Mark and Adam – but soon Adam’s longtime partner in crime Samuel Tapper started showing up to fan the flames.

Demos of actual songs soon circulated, with all members contributing. The earliest recorded result was a 7″ made on 8 track reel-to-reel and cassette at the old Kensington Wool Sheds and released by Sydney pal Sam Wilkinson on his Strange Pursuits label. “Cuz” and its flip “Toroid” were written by Mark and Steve respectively, though lines of authorship in the group were blurring.

The improvised tape Ringwood/Ozone followed, released as spontaneously as it was played. Of all its preposterous details the most ironic is that Steve, the band’s ‘spiritual leader’ and original creative force, did not play on it. Did not even turn up that night. Which was an interesting twist to the band’s new Stooges-like communism. No one, least of all PH members, can tell who was playing what on it. Instrument-swapping was rife in the early days. These days, however, usually find Mark on drums, Sam and Steve doing most of the singing, and Adam and Leon doing everything else. Influences have probably always included Guided By Voices, Neil Young and Wire.

A lot of the songs on Everybody Split were first recorded – or demoed, in hindsight – at Sound Recordings, Alex Bennett’s splendid all-analogue studio in Castlemaine. But the songs needed more time, and the tunes hit their stride some years later alongside new ones with Alex Macfarlane (Twerps, The Stevens) at the helm, whose DIY approach to recording did the trick. Macfarlane, a longtime fan of the band, released this debut LP on his own Hobbies Galore imprint and the limited 200-pressing run sold out in a day.

During the album’s short time of availability, it caught the ear of Pitchfork, who, despite the album not being widely available yet, chose to bestow it with a praise-filled review. Comparisons to bands like The Clean or fellow Melburnians Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever are apt, but, as with most RIYL suggestions, limiting. Like Rolling Blackouts C.F., the frequently carefree and propulsive music is replete with deeply philosophical and sharp-witted lyrics. The lyrical content touches (among other things) paranoia, the comedies of insect social media use, freedom and other existential complications, sympathetic galloping, and leaving the amusement park after “too many goes on the gravitron.” As far as lead single “Aspiring To Be a Bloke,” Steve Hewitt describes it as “the whimpering man in the strong dog and vice versa… sarcasm and paradox at the roots of depression.”

PRE-ORDER EVERYBODY SPLIT https://bit.ly/2KtvtJY

Keep your mind open.

[Aspire to subscribe today.]