Clutch, Killswitch Engage, and Cro-Mags are heading on the road together this summer across the United States in what will surely be one of the loudest tours of 2019. Tickets to all dates are on sale now. Some of the dates include festivals like Clutch’s Earth Rocker (July 13), Rock Fest (July 19th), and Impact Festival (July 28th).
Clutch never disappoint live, so don’t miss your chance to see them.
Keep your mind open.
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I happened to be in Tucson, Arizona on the same night of the final show of Bayonne and Palm Daze‘s most recent tour. I’d wanted to see Bayonne since I’d heard his fine album Primitives and missed his set at Levitation Austin a few years ago.
They were playing at a small club in downtown Tucson called 191 Toole (named for the address). It’s a nice small venue with no bad places to stand for a view of the stage. It’s the kind of venue I’d love to own – small bar, good-sized room, ample parking, not far from a college campus. Fewer than forty people showed up for the gig, probably due to that weekend being graduation weekend for the University of Arizona. It’s a shame for those who missed it, because Bayonne and Palm Daze closed their tour with a great show.
Palm Daze, the Austin psychedelic dream-pop three-piece opened the show and played most, if not all, of their 2017 EP Controls (review coming). Eric McClung and Tyler Delaune bounced back and forth with synths, bass, and percussion while drummer Ryan Heath laid down serious chops. I was hooked by the third song.
Mr. Heath joined Bayonne (Roger Sellers) onstage for drum kit smashing while Mr. Sellers sang and played synths, guitar, and / or percussion, looping a lot of it on top of each other for great effect. Many artists would’ve phoned in a performance on the last night of a tour to a crowd of fewer than forty people, but Bayonne went for broke as he wowed the crowd with tracks of not only Primitives, but also his fine new record – Drastic Measures (again, review coming). Empty water bottles, sweaty towels, and broken drum sticks littered the stage by the time they were done.
This small show currently has the top spot on my list of best concerts of 2019, and will probably remain in the top 10 by the end of the year. Bayonne is playing Lollapalooza this year, and I can tell you his set will be a must-see if you are there.
Keep your mind open.
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Back with their first album in far too long (20 years), L7 make a much-needed and much-requested return in a time of “alternate truths,” “pink taxes,” xenophobia, and Orwellian bliss with Scatter the Rats. The name of the album is, I suspect, a call to action. The rats are everywhere and we need to make them run.
The opening guitar riff on “Burn Baby” slaps you awake and soon guitarist Donita Sparks is singing about how “…you think I’m a fraud, and I know you’re a fake, but when it’s all said and done we all burn at the stake.” It also sounds like they mix guitar chords with kazoo blasts, which is great. “Fighting the Crave” puts aside the tongue-in-cheek humor for gunslinging bass from Jennifer Garner and some of drummer Dee Plakas‘ most dangerous chops as Sparks sings about trying to resist a hot lover. It’s a track Motley Crue wishes they could’ve written.
“Proto Prototype” has co-guitarist Suzy Gardner on lead vocals, and she sounds like a were-tiger casting a 7th level conjuring spell. The song is that dangerous. “Stadium West” is currently one of my top ten singles of the year. It’s a fun, fast rocker that I can’t wait to hear live. “Murky Water Cafe” has Gardner’s vocals almost taking on a southern rock edge as she sings about a New Orleans dive bar and the weird, murky things that happened (still happen?) to her there. Also, her solo on it is sharp as a switchblade.
I’m willing to bet “Ouija Board Lies” has a great backstory. Is Sparks singing about getting turned on by a ghost? Or is she angry with the ghost about it not being what she expected? Hell, I’m not even sure it’s about a ghost at all. I do know that her riffs and Gardner’s riffs are a great one-two punch throughout the track, however. “Garbage Truck” is a tune about running into a screwed up relationship (“My love’s like a garbage truck. Get wasted and I’ll pick you up.”).
Plakas’ beats on “Holding Pattern” are a clinic on how to ground a rock song and how sometimes subtle power is best. I’m intrigued with the title of “Uppin’ the Ice.” “Hit the ground, take in the sights, all bow down ’cause we’re uppin’ the ice,” Sparks sings. It’s a call for women to get cold. Revenge is best served that way, after all. Gardner turns up the collar on her leather jacket and slips on a pair of brass knuckles on “Cool About Easy.” Don’t screw with her. She will jack you up and leave you whimpering.
The title track closes the album and has Sparks and Gardner sharing vocals about cleaning out rats, pigeons, and other vermin polluting and corrupting all of us. Their sights are set on Washington D.C., in case you weren’t aware. The dirty blues touches on the guitar solos are great, and Finch’s bass pretty much dares you to stand in front of it.
It’s great to have L7 back with not only all four original members, but also with a solid record. They are touring all over right now, so don’t miss your chance to see them.
Keep your mind open.
[Subscribe before you scatter.]
“In classic Webster style, the spring-appropriate song, titled ‘Flowers,’ effortlessly blends healthy doses of both Americana and hip-hop influence for a final product that can be summarized with two words: Atlanta excellence.” – Paste
“Faye Webster has a golden voice, projected in ‘Flowers’ through a prism of crystal-clear production.” – Consequence of Sound
“Webster’s songs can be disarmingly direct and sorrowful.” – Pitchfork
(“Rising”) “The 21-year-old singer has a natural ability to fuse indie-folk with laid-back R&B.” – Rolling Stone
Faye Webster – 21-year-old Atlanta-based singer-songwriter and decorated photographer – shares a new single, “Right Side of My Neck,” from her forthcoming album, Atlanta Millionaires Club, due May 24th via Secretly Canadian. Following previously released “Flowers,” “Room Temperature,” and “Kingston,” “Right Side of My Neck” is gorgeously built by brass and strings, and zeros in on the lingering scent and uncertainty of new love. “For me I find that sometimes the best songs come out from the exact moment,” says Webster. “This song I didn’t think about writing or what I was doing, I was fresh from a feeling and that’s when I get some of my most honest and relatable songs.“
Listen to “Right Side of My Neck”– https://youtu.be/UwHI4MMM_DI
Atlanta Millionaires Club is a genre-bending collection of songs, bringing together Webster’s feather-light vocals, intimate songwriting, and her acumen for being strikingly vulnerable and brave. Pulling from a familial lineage of folk storytelling and time spent in Atlanta’s hip-hop scene, Webster’s work is a study of duality, weaving through her own introversion and heartbreak; it’s an idiosyncratic sadness punctuated by fleeting observations and an unexpected, sly sense of humor.
“Everything is way personal. I’ve never been that kind of person who can read a book and then write a song about the book,” Webster says. “I have to write about very personal things for me to even want to write.”
Faye Webster will headline a North American tour this month. Additionally, she will appear at Bonnaroo later this summer.
Listen to “Right Side of My Neck”–
https://youtu.be/UwHI4MMM_DI
Watch the video for “Flowers” –
https://youtu.be/qq_Jm_QC4go
Watch the video for “Room Temperature” –
https://youtu.be/nMybE4Ge6hM
Watch the video for “Kingston” –
https://youtu.be/-5_tGEao_GQ
Pre-order Atlanta Millionaires Club –
https://fayewebster.ffm.to/atlantamillionairesclub
Faye Webster Tour Dates
Fri. May 24 – Manchester, UK @ Dot to Dot Festival
Sat. May 25 – Bristol, UK @ Dot to Dot Festival
Sun. May 26 – Nottingham, UK @ Dot to Dot Festival
Tue. May 28 – London, UK @ Bermondsey Social Club
Wed. May 29 – London, UK @ Bermondsey Social Club
Fri. May 31 – Hilvarenbeek, NL @ Best Kept Secret Festival
Mon. Jun 03 – Paris, FR @ La Boule Noire
Sun. June 16 – Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
Tue. June 18 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Wed. June 19 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern
Fri. June 21 – Toronto, ON @ The Drake
Sat. June 22 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe
Sun. June 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Mon. June 24 – Allston, MA @ Great Scott
Wed. June 26 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
Thu. June 27 – Washington, DC @ DC9
Fri. June 28 – Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
Sat. June 29 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Keep your mind open.
[The subscription box is on the left side of the page, not my neck.]
Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough? is what Jennifer Clavin asked herself when she hit a turning point in her life. It’s also the title of the new Bleached record, out July 12th via Dead Oceans, and Jessie and Jennifer Clavin’s first LP written from a place of sobriety. That newfound perspective serves as the guiding force in every corner of its sound, yielding a courageous, honest, and sonically ambitious album. Throughout, the Clavins radiate the power and bravery of facing addiction, of letting go of the past and becoming open to a radically different future of self-love, acceptance, and newfound honesty. Today, the sisters present its lead single, the defiant, yet playful “Hard to Kill” and its accompanying video, and announce a North American headline tour (all upcoming dates are listed below). Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough? follows 2016’s Welcome the Worms and 2017’s “Can You Deal?” EP. The sisters began writing the album in early 2018 in a Los Angeles practice space and with friends and co-writers in Nashville. “Writing these songs while sober became somewhat of a spiritual experience,” Jennifer says. “I had to let go, trust the process, and allow an energy beyond my control to be present.” In writing and recording, Jessie handled the bulk of the instrumentation and Jennifer handled the lyrics and melodies — it was important to the Clavins that the entire record return to their dynamic as sisters.
Producer Shane Stoneback (Vampire Weekend, Sleigh Bells) helped open every door to experimentation, wanting to be exploratory while keeping the sound singularly Bleached. The resulting LP is explosive, grappling with the past; its twelve tracks mark some of the sisters’ most visceral, rawest songwriting to date — and some of their best. 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.
This new direction is clear with “Hard To Kill” and previously released “Shitty Ballet.” As described by Jennifer, “Hard to Kill” is about “staring down the road towards death and realizing I needed to wake up and get out of my selfish patterns of self destruction.” The video, directed by another sister team, Juliana and Nicky Giraffe, depicts the Clavin sisters in defiance of the shadows of their past, utilizing their talent and wit to set themselves free into a liberated new beginning.
The exclusive Dead Oceans preorder bundle includes limited edition black/red/brown tri-colored LP (only available through this bundle), cassette, and a getaway car accessory pack with a “Valley To LA” bumper sticker, “Somebody Dial 911” air freshener and Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough? metal keychain.
Watch the Video for “Hard To Kill” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQYgcc02m5c
Pre-order Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough? –
bleached.ffm.to/dontyouthink
Watch “Shitty Ballet” Video –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8pGMcSylH4
Don’t You Think You Have Enough?Tracklist
1. Heartbeat Away
2. Hard to Kill
3. Daydream
4. I Get What I Need
5. Somebody Dial 911
6. Kiss You Goodbye
7. Rebound City
8. Silly Girl
9. Valley to LA
10. Real Life
11. Awkward Phase
12. Shitty Ballet
Bleached Tour Dates:
Mon. May 20 – Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theater *
Tue. May 21 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant *
Wed. May 22 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall *
Fri. May 24 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Hall *
Sat. May 25 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Union Events Center *
Tue. May 28 – Pomona, CA @ Fox Theater *
Fri. May 29 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park *
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
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
Tue. Oct. 1 – Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room (Outdoors)
Thu. Oct. 3 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
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
*= w/ Refused and The Hives
Keep your mind open.
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I hadn’t seen Washington D.C. post-punks Priests since the 2017 Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. They were promoting their excellent album, Nothing Feels Natural, at the time, and they put on a lively afternoon set under a bright sun. Seeing them at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall would be the first time I would see them playing tracks off their new album, The Seduction of Kansas (which is currently my favorite album of 2019), in a small club, and since one of their original bassist, Taylor Mulitz, amicably left the band to form Flasher – a good band in their own right.
Opening them were a fun band called Gurr, who hail from Germany (despite a drunk in the crowd loudly asking if they were from France or Canada). They played a loud post-PUNK that had an infectious energy you couldn’t ignore. They revealed that their touring van had been burglarized at a previous gig and all of the money they’d made on tour so far was gone, but they were still upbeat.
Priests came out with “Good Time Charlie,” one of the first singles released from The Seduction of Kansas. It was immediately evident that the new tracks take on a dangerous edge live, even with some low bass troubles for Alexandria Tyson at first (which were fixed by the sound crew by the time Priests reached the stinging “YouTube Sartre” and the defiant “Not Perceived”). Katie Greer’s vocals on “The Seduction of Kansas” were almost spooky at some points. She had us hypnotized and even a bit frightened.
A highlight was when drummer Daniele Daniele came to the front and sang lead on “68 Screen” and “I’m Clean.” She accidentally stepped on an effects pedal at one point during “I’m Clean,” cutting out some of the programmed drumming for a moment. “It’s live music, folks! You’ll never hear that version again,” Greer said before they tore into “Pink White House” from Nothing Feels Natural.
G.L. Jaguar was shredding by the time they reached “Texas Instruments” and closed with the knockout punch of “Jesus’ Son.” I walked out of Lincoln Hall with one word in mind – “dangerous.” In a small venue, with the powerful lyrics, vocals, and instrumentation behind them, seeing Priests was like being in a room with four somewhat frisky panthers prowling back and forth along the far wall. They encouraged you to play with them, but you knew they could maul you at any moment.
Keep your mind open.
[Why not subscribe before you split?]
[Thanks to Jim DeLuca and Jacob Daneman of Pitch Perfect PR for providing me with a press pass to the show.]
L7’s highly anticipated and long-awaited new album, Scatter the Rats, will hit us like a boot to the face on May 3rd. They’ve already announced a U.S. tour for this summer, and now they’ve released another single to make us hungrier for the full album – “Stadium West.” It’s a solid cut covered in menace and danger. You can check out the video here.
Keep your mind open.
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Ty Segall is pleased to announce special 2019 residencies in Los Angeles, New York City and different European cities. Joined by the Freedom Band, each night of the residency, Segall will perform select albums from his catalogue in full, including Melted, Goodbye Bread, Emotional Mugger, and Manipulator, plus a to be announced set.
Segall will bring his fervent live show to the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles every Friday from July 26 – September 27. The first 500 people to purchase 3 or more tickets to different LA shows will receive a limited 7” of new, unreleased music. Next, he will play five consecutive nights at New York’s Warsaw October 1 – October 5. The first 500 people who buy 3 or more tickets to different NYC shows will get an exclusive, limited poster created and signed by Segall in New York. Following New York, Segall and the Freedom Band will head overseas to play Paris, London, Berlin and Haarlem, NL.
Ty Segall & Freedom Band Tour Dates: Fri. July 26 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays ??? + Melted) Fri Aug. 2 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays ??? + Melted) Fri. Aug. 9 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays ??? + Melted) Fri. Aug. 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays ??? + Goodbye Bread) Fri. Aug. 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays ??? + Goodbye Bread) Fri. Aug. 30 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays ??? + Emotional Mugger) Fri. Sept. 6 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays ??? + Emotional Mugger) Fri. Sept. 13 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays ??? + Manipulator) Fri. Sept. 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays ??? + Manipulator) Fri. Sept. 27 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays ??? + Manipulator) Tues. Oct. 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (Ty Segall plays ??? + Melted) Wed. Oct. 2 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (Ty Segall plays ??? + Melted) Thurs. Oct. 3 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (Ty Segall plays ??? + Goodbye Bread) Fri. Oct. 4 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (Ty Segall plays ??? + Emotional Mugger) Sat. Oct. 5 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (Ty Segall plays ??? + Manipulator) Wed. Oct. 9 – Paris, FR @ La Cigale (Ty Segall plays ??? + Melted) Thu. Oct. 10 – Paris, FR @ La Cigale (Ty Segall plays ??? + Manipulator) Fri. Oct. 11 – London, UK @ Oval Space (Ty Segall plays ??? + Melted) Sat. Oct. 12 – London, UK @ Oval Space (Ty Segall plays ??? + Goodbye Bread) Sun. Oct. 13 – London, UK @ Oval Space (Ty Segall plays ??? + Manipulator) Tue. Oct. 15 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg (Ty Segall plays ??? + Melted) Thu. Oct. 17 – Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat (Ty Segall plays ??? + Melted) Fri. Oct. 18 – Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat (Ty Segall plays ??? + Manipulator)
Keep your mind open.
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Tickets are on sale for the first announced shows at the Austin, Texas Levitation Music Festival. Powerhouses like Russian Circles, John Cale, the Black Angels, Chelsea Wolfe, Red Fang, Warish, Here Lies Man, Kurt Vile, Dinosaur, Jr., Black Moth Super Rainbow, A Place to Bury Strangers, and the KVB are already scheduled.
Weekend general admission passes are $395.00, but they have tickets for individual shows if you’d rather not drop that much cash. Don’t wait too long to get your tickets. Many shows sold out last year.
See you there.
Keep your mind open.
[Levitate over to the subscription box before you split.]
Ian Graham, guitarist and vocalist for Austin, Texas doom rockers The Well, had a bad 2018 – according to a press release for their powerful new album, Death and Consolation: “2018 was a strange, dark year. A lot of change going on in my life, there was a lot of depression and coming out of it over the last year. I wanted to call this Death and Consolation, because in life that’s a constant.”
It’s an appropriate title because the power chords, heavy lyrics, thunderous bass (courtesy of co-vocalist Lisa Alley), and almost heart-stopping drums (courtesy of Jason Sullivan) on the record are both creepy and invigorating. Graham also says, ” “I feel like this album is almost more gothic. We’re big fans of post-punk.”
That goth influence comes out right away on the opener, “Sabbah,” with its growling bass and lyrics of “flowers sliced by assassin’s steel.” Listening to “Raven” is like stomping on the gas pedal of a 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner while Satan is chasing you in a Dodge Coronet Super Bee down a winding mountain road at 12:01am.
“Death Song” isn’t a cover of the tune by the Black Angels (another Austin psychedelic powerhouse), but I’m sure the Black Angels would appreciate its Black Sabbath-meets-Thin Lizzy vibe. “Cup of Peace” could be a Joy Division track if that band upped the fuzz and spent more time in dimly lit libraries full of massive books chained to iron racks.
“Eyes of a God” gets off to a spooky, whispered start and then breaks out a serious rock groove that blends metal with late 1960’s garage rock while Graham sings about touching a land that lies beyond the sun. “Act II” starts with a sample (probably from a horror film I have yet to see) of someone trying to banish a holy man from getting closer and then breaks into a song about ancient evil being unleashed on the world…or is it? The sample at the beginning seems to indicate that The Well knows there are bright things beyond the veil that even Lovecraftian Old Ones fear. Oh yes, and the song is an absolute wall-flattener.
“Freedom Above” is a slow burn under a bubbling cauldron, whereas “This Is How” is a fuzzed-out raging fire that claims, “This is how the world ends, drowning now in flames. This is how the world ends, nightmare of the sane.” You don’t get much more metal than that. The closer is “Endless Night” – a dark tune about dark things dragging Graham (and the rest of us) to even darker places. It’s packed with sludge, menace, and guitar riffs deadly as a battle axe.
I’ve come to love doom and stoner metal over the last few years, and Death and Consolation is one of the best records I’ve heard in that genre. The Well is at the top of their game right now. I need, you need, we all need to see them live, and we all need to hear this record.
Keep your mind open.
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