Los Angeles queercore / post-punk quartet French Vanilla’s new album, How Am I Not Myself?, is brash, bold, funny, a dare for all of us to do something terrifying – let our true selves come out of our shells and face the world.
The instantly groovy “Real or Not” starts the album with funky bass and Sally Spitz’s hooping and hollering vocals that dance almost as much as Daniel Trautfield’s saxophone. Spitz more or less asks if we’re are living our truth or succumbing to outside influences and living a lie for someone else’s sake. “Lost Power” is a sharp takedown of Spitz’s former lover. “All the Time” was the first single off the album, and it’s as funky as hell with Greg Shilton putting down chops as slick as the shine on James Brown’s boots.
“Friendly Fire” is a clever track about the stresses of queer folk realizing their nature while in a straight relationship. Guitarist Ali Day unleashes a cool guitar riff on “Protective” that’s somehow jagged and fuzzy at the same time. The whole track brings to mind early B-52’s records with its urgent rhythm and excellent vocals by Spitz.
Trautfield’s sax gets another good workout on “Suddenly” (He seems to be everywhere at once on the song.), which also boasts another fabulous bass line to back it. It builds to a hip-shaking groove and, I can attest, is great for a workout playlist. “Joan of Marc,” the wonderfully titled “Bromosapien,” and “Move Along, Move Ahead” stick a feminist middle finger in the eye of misogyny, “man-splaining,” sexism, and body / sex shaming.
“I saw the future. I held it up to my face. It was absolutely fascinating,” Spitz sings on “Sensitive (Not Too Sensitive).” The album ends with this track encouraging all of us to follow French Vanilla’s path and live true in what could be a fascinating future if we choose to have it.
How Am I Not Myself? is a question we all need to ask ourselves, sometimes daily, and it’s an album we all need to hear.
Keep your mind open.
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I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to see Chromatics. I’d read the stories about how band leader Johnny Jewel had destroyed all physical copies of their next album, Dear Tommy, following a near-death experience in 2015. I thought, “Well, it was good while it lasted.” I later learned, however, that Jewel and company had re-recorded the album with additional songs added onto the original material. So I thought, “Well, maybe there’s hope yet.”
It turns out I was right because Chromatics announced a summer tour last year and I was able to snag tickets to see them at Chicago’s Park West before they sold out. It would be Chromatics’ first show in Chicago in six years and they were bringing their Italians Do It Better label mates Desire and In Mirrors with them.
After going through a four-stage security check more extensive than one conducted by the TSA, we were inside and facing the IDIB merchandise table that was practically set up like a flea market with its large neon sign, tables of LPs, and racks of T-shirts. I snagged a big tour poster for just five bucks.
In Mirrors started the show with a set of goth wave music that combined heavy synths with near-spoken word poetry and excellent fashion. Each band member looked like they just walked out of a cool men’s clothing store. They also revealed it was Johnny Jewel’s birthday that evening and thanked him for his extensive contribution to their music.
In Mirrors
Mr. Jewel came out next with his other band, Desire (fronted by his wife, Megan Louise, no less), who put on a nice set of shoegaze / synth wave (“Shoe wave?” “Synth gaze?”) that included a lot of songs about love, nights in the city, and, of course, desire. Megan Louise tossed out red roses to the crowd (particularly anyone on a first date) and led everyone in singing happy birthday to Mr. Jewel.
Desire
Everyone was buzzing hard for Chromatics by this point, and they came out to a neat electro start with a wild video show highlighting time moving in different directions. It was indicative of their music – retro and futuristic.
Chromatics
They started with their classic, “Lady,” but stopped the set afterward so Jewel could address a man in the crowd with, “Hey, man, are you okay?” I thought maybe someone was so drunk they could barely stand or perhaps ill or even overcome with emotion from seeing them live, but it quickly became apparent that the guy was drunk AND being a jackass – to put it mildly.
Jewel told him to calm down, not be a dick, and let everyone do their own thing. This is where the security personnel at Park West began to fail. No one showed up to check this guy out or escort him away from the front of the stage. The guy took offense to someone in the crowd during the next song, “Kill for Love,” and slugged somebody. The band called for security, telling them someone had just been punched, and finally one lone bouncer showed up who was at least sixty pounds heavier and thirty years older than the drunk jerk. The drunk struggled with him for a moment, pushing him away and “arm wrestling” with him.
I handed my tour poster to my wife and was three steps away from putting the guy in a rear choke hold and dragging him to the nearest exit. I’m not kidding. I was advancing on this guy and he had no idea I was behind him. I don’t write this to brag. I write this to highlight the lack of Park West security involved in this situation. I, a music blogger who also happens to be a police detective, was going to have to step in and help this lone bouncer because he had no back-up against a young, fit, and angry drunk who was actively resisting him. Luckily, he told the bouncer he’d walk out on his own and then left before I needed to grab him and before he and bouncer had a slugfest in the middle of the crowd.
Park West failed the sold-out crowd and Chromatics for not having security at the front of the stage as soon as Jewel called out the drunk. They should’ve been there before Jewel stopped talking. Instead, they weren’t and someone got hit by this dude. That’s a potential lawsuit, and it would’ve been one if someone had been seriously injured or worse.
Chromatics, and the crowd, sprung back with positive energy once the “one bad apple” (as Jewel called him) was gone. They played “Night Drive / Paradise” and “Back from the Grave” and I was happy to hear one of their newest singles, “Time Rider,” live for the first time. It didn’t disappoint.
They were enjoying their return to Chicago by the time they reached classics like “Cherry” and “I Want Your Love.” They closed the first set with their stunning cover of Neil Young‘s “Hey Hey, My My.”
Lead singer Ruth Radelet (who might be a vampire as she doesn’t appear to have aged in the last ten years) came out for the encore and delivered her beautiful rendition of Springsteen‘s “I’m on Fire,” which is more emotive in a live setting than you can imagine.
Ruth Radelet was on fire at Park West, and in all our hearts.
They ended the night with “Shadow” and their cover of Kate Bush‘s “Running Up that Hill.” Radelet and Jewel thanked everyone for a good night, with Jewel thanking everyone for overcoming the bad energy at the start of the show. It was a good return for them.
Two people behind me were yelling, “Dear Tommy when?” as he walked offstage. I thought, “That’s only for he to know and us to find out.” You can’t always rush art, and the first couple singles we’ve heard this year promise good things to come.
Keep your mind open.
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Ezra Furman is pleased to announce his new album, Twelve Nudes, due August 30th via Bella Union. 2018 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. Additionally, Furman shares the lead single / video, “Calm Down” (aka “I Should Not Be Alone”) and announces a North American and European tour (all dates below).
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.
Throughout Twelve Nudes, Furman uses both personal and outward experiences to communicate intense frustration. On punk-rock track “Rated R Crusaders” he explores his Jewish identity and the Israel/Palestine conflict, while “Trauma” seethes with the spiritual malaise brought on by watching wealthy bullies accused of sexual assault rise to power. Furman is well-aware that America is balanced on a knife-edge between white male supremacy and the dream of universal opportunity; hence the references to Mexico, slave-owners and US “founding father” Ben Franklin in “In America.” “One of my goals in making music is to make the world seem bigger, and life seem larger,” Furman explains. “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.”
Immediate proof is offered by “Calm Down.” The track, insanely catchy and bound up in a compact two minutes and 22 seconds, is a cry of panic and despair. “Desperate times make for desperate songs,” says Furman. “I wrote this in the summer of 2018, a terrible time. It’s the sound of me struggling to admit that I’m not okay with the current state of human civilization, in which bad men crush us into submission. Once you admit how bad it feels to live in a broken society, you can start to resist it, and imagine a better one.” The accompanying video, directed by Beth Jeans Houghton, follows the same hand drawn aspect of previous videos, but with vibrant color and a comic book style.
“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.”
Ezra Furman will shortly embark on a European tour. Then, he will bring his energetic live shows stateside before returning to Europe later this year.
Twelve Nudes Tracklist: 1. Calm Down aka I Should Not Be Alone 2. Evening Prayer aka Justice 3. Transition From Nowhere to Nowhere 4. Rated R Crusaders 5. Trauma 6. Thermometer 7. I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend 8. Blown 9. My Teeth Hurt 10. In America 11. What Can You Do But Rock n Roll
Ezra Furman Tour Dates:
Sun. July 21 – Benicassim, ES @ Benicassim Festival Tue. July 23 – Cork, IE @ Cyprus Avenue 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)
Rock giantesses Sleater-Kinney are back with not only a sharp new, electro-twinged single, “Hurry On Home,” but also a list of tour dates throughout North America starting in October. “Hurry On Home” is a hot cut about hotter love with a blistering guitar solo from Carrie Brownstein. Don’t miss this tour. Many dates, if not all, are sure to sell out.
10/9/19 – Spokane, WA – Fox Theatre
10/11/19 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory Concert House
10/12/19 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
10/13/19 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
10/15/19 – Minneapolis, MN – Palace Theatre
10/16/19 – Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theater
10/18/19 – Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre
10/20/19 – Louisville, KY – Old Forester’s Paristown Hall
10/21/19 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
10/23/19 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
10/25/19 – Washington, DC – The Anthem
10/26/19 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE- Indoor
10/27/19 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore
10/29/19 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
10/30/19 – Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre
10/31/19 – New York, NY – Hammerstein Ballroom
11/1/19 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
11/3/19 – Toronto, ON – Rebel Complex
11/4/19 – Detroit, MI – Majestic Theatre
11/5/19 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
11/7/19 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
11/8/19 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues
11/9/19 – Austin, TX – ACL Live at the Moody Theater
11/11/19 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
11/12/19 – San Diego, CA – The Observatory North Park
Alex Cameron presents the new single/video, “Miami Memory,” directed by Cameron, and starring himself, his business associate and sax player Roy Molloy and actress Jemima Kirke. A love song to the city, “Miami Memory” embraces the lustful air of Miami and explores both Alex’s personal relationship with both the city and his girlfriend. Throughout, Alex’s sultry and playful delivery embraces themes of sex positivity, love and reflection. Premiered this past Sunday on KCRW’s Henry Rollins’ show, “Miami Memory” is the first new music Cameron has released since 2017’s Forced Witness.
“‘Miami Memory’ is a story about how we audition in the present for our future selves to enjoy in retrospect. In that way, tender memories that we share together are captured in thought and stored with the same electricity that keeps our heart beating,” says Cameron. “It’s a gift for my girlfriend Jemima, and it is dedicated to the artist Greer Lankton and her partner Paul Monroe. I am lucky to have learned that a group of people can be a shining light.”
Cameron has announced a fall European and North American tour, including shows in Chicago, Toronto, New York and Los Angeles. North American tickets are on sale now.
“Through layers of warm harmonies, spirited drum fills and bright guitar riffs, Shane Butler and multi-instrumentalist Caity Shaffer craft a kaleidoscopic world that steadily builds on its own momentum” – NPR Music
Olden Yolk – the duo of songwriters Shane Butler and Caity Shaffer – shares their single from Living Theatre, their sophomore album, via Trouble In Mind. “Grand Palais” is “about the frivolous search to seek some semblance of spiritual understanding in various places, things, and people outside of ourselves. Much of the song was written through improvisation in the studio alongside percussionist Booker Stardrum, whose frantic drumming is a driving force in the song. Weaving vocals, synthesizers, and tempo switches all encapsulate the dual feelings of desperation and euphoria found within this type of pursuit,” explains the band.
Olden Yolk is on tour in support of Living Theatre. They’re joined by Ryan Jewell (drums), Peter Wagner (bass) and Frank Maston (synths/keys). A full list of dates is below. Stream “Grand Palais” – https://youtu.be/977uBeouGb4
Wed. May 29 – Detroit, MI @ Outer Limits Lounge Thu. May 30 – Chicago, IL @ HideoutWed. May 31 – Grand Rapids, MI @ House Show Thu. June 1 – Columbus, OH @ Dirty Dungarees Fri. June 2 – Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog Fri. June 7 – Sonoma, CA @ Huichica Festival Wed. June 19 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon (LA record release show) Thu. June 20 – San Francisco, CA @ Make Out Room Fri. June 21 – Portland, OR @ Turn Turn Turn w/ Adam Torres Sun. June 23 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern Sat. Oct. 12 – Portsmouth, UK @ The Festing Sat. Oct. 13 – Exeter, UK @ The Cavern Mon. Oct. 14 – Brighton, UK @ Komedie Studio Tue. Oct. 15 – London, UK @ Lexington Wed. Oct. 16 – Bristol, UK @ Louisiana Thu. Oct. 17 – Birmingham, UK @ Hair & Hounds 2 Fri. Oct. 18 – Manchester, UK @ YES Sat. Oct. 19 – Oxford, UK @ Ritual Union Festival
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.
Palm Daze (L-R: Ryan Heath, Tyler Delaune, Eric McClung)
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.
Bayonne creating aural magic.
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.
“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.“
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.
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.
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