Rock – Page 41 – 7th Level Music

L7’s Donita Sparks teams up with Dick Dale for “Rhythm Surfer” on Dark Brown’s upcoming “American Instrument” album.

L.A. based composer/musician Bryan Lee Brown shares the first single today from his forthcoming album under the Dark Brown moniker, American Instrument. The track, “Rhythm Surfer” features one of the last recordings of guitar icon Dick Dale — lending his legendary and oft-imitated “Machine Gun Staccato” style to the track, alongside L7 guitarist/vocalist Donita Sparks on the entrancing tune. Hear/share “Rhythm Surfer” on all DSPs HERE and Bandcamp HERE.

Brown has assembled a short series of mini-documentaries about the sessions for the album, with the first episodes covering the “Rhythm Surfer” sessions at Dave Catching‘s fabled Rancho De La Luna. Watch/share Dick Dale‘s fight club (HERE), Donita Sparks on Dick Dale fandom (HERE). Official video HERE. More to come soon.

American Instrument is conceptually just as expansive and ambitious as the lush soundscapes within. An 18-song album featuring an array of legendary guest musicians, its theme likewise embodies a profound meditation on selfhood and the Other.

Dark Brown is the creation of Los Angeles composer and musician Bryan Lee Brown. American Instrument is the fifth album under that pseudonym, but Brown has an extensive life-long career in music: Scoring Dave Grohl’s HBO series Sonic Highways (2014) and documentary film What Drives Us (2021) as well as countless other films, TV shows and commercials, drumming for Dick Dale, as well as numerous stints as a session musician.

The album was recorded over a 12-year period at 7 different studios. It features guest appearances by surf guitar innovator Dick Dale, John Stanier (Battles, Helmet), Brad Wilk (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave), Alfredo Ortiz (Los Lobos ,Beastie Boys), Eric McFadden, Jon Theodore (QOTSA), Donita Sparks (L7), marching percussionist Marcus Joyner, Dave Catching (Desert Sessions), Jose Medeles (The Breeders, Author) and more.

The predominantly drummer-heavy line up is another element of the album’s exploration into Brown’s relationship with drumming, both musically and socially. Brown has a personal connection to almost everyone who played on the album. In a way, the album unites many common threads (personal and philosophical) throughout the musician’s life.

Slated for release in Fall 2024, American Instrument combines abstract minimalism with melodic psychedelia to create a vast ranch of soundscapes. Brown’s now signature sounds of melodic percussion, droning guitars, tremolo and propulsive rhythms permeate the tracks, with each guest musician’s personality leading the songs in many directions with each of their unique personalities shining through. Case in point, Dick Dale’s unmistakable guitar pyrotechnics on 2 album tracks, recorded in 2013 at Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, bring all of his larger-than-life sonic imprint into a completely new world where the surf guitar meets counterpoint rhythms, post-rock ethereality and anthemic hooks. “Spacetime (feat. Brad Wilk)” finds the Rage Against The Machine drummer’s powerful backbeat driving a psychedelic haze of Hendrix-style guitar warped through haunting sounding tubular bells. “Miami Rute (feat. Jon Theodore and Alfredo Ortiz)” juxtaposes Latin percussion with soaring Pink Floyd-ian drones and ominous vocal chants. Throughout, a wide variety of sounds and musical styles explore the very meaning of rhythm and impact of the uniquely American instrument, the drum set, and its place in the course of human history.

American Instrument will be available digitally via Memory Bulldozer Records on September 10, 2024. Pre-order/pre-save HERE.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Live: The Damned and The Dictators – Concord Music Hall – Chicago, IL – June 02, 2024

I hadn’t seen The Damned in a while, but when I heard that their 1980s lineup, the lineup from when I’d discovered them (via The Young Ones airing on MTV in, most likely, 1985), was doing a tour, I knew I had to catch one of their shows. Who knows when I, or anyone else, would get to see Paul Gray (bass), Rat Scabies (drums), Captain Sensible (guitar), and Dave Vanian (vocals) together on stage again? It was the first tour they’d played together since 1989 – the year I graduated high school. Long-time keyboardist Monty Oxymoron had also joined them for the tour.

The Dictators, legendary punks in their own right, opened the show with a great dose of garage punk and had a fun banter with the crowd with tracks like “Pussy and Money” and a cover of Blue Öyster Cult‘s “Dominance and Submission” – which was all the more of a treat when you consider that their drummer is BÖC founding member Albert Bouchard.

Getting a good spot to see the stage at Concord Music Hall means you need to get there early, so we scrambled for a spot upstairs where we could see The Damned launch into their fun set and my girlfriend could lounge on a bench seat when she wanted.

The Damned broke out with a good mix of older and newer tracks, opening with “Ignite” and “Wait for the Blackout” (always a cool tune) and “The History of the World (Part 1)” and “Melody Lee.”

“Generals” and “Stranger on the Town” were nice to hear, and their cover of Barry Ryan‘s “Eloise” was a big hit. Vanian’s voice, as always, was in great form, and pretty much perfect on “The Invisible Man.” They had stomped the gas pedal to the floor by the time they hit “Noise Noise Noise” and never let up after it.

It took a while for a pit to get started, but it was in full swing by the time I joined it during, of course, “Neat Neat Neat.” I’m happy to say that the pit was started by people at least thirty years younger than I and that I wasn’t the only guy in his 50s in the pit and the young’uns loved having us older folks in there.

After ending the main set with “Smash It Up,” the band came back on and the young folks started an appreciation chant for Rat Scabies, who was humbled by it and stood up from his kit for a bow. It was great to see and hear that, as he’d been long missed by fans (although he has released material on his own, mind you).

Ending with “New Rose” and a psychedelic cover of MC5‘s “Looking at You” was a great way to send all the punks, goths, and weirdos out on a high note. They’ e wrapped up their U.S. tour, so I hope you got to see them. Go see them in the UK and Europe this fall and winter. You won’t regret it.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go!]

Live: LCD Soundsystem – Aragon Ballroom – Chicago, IL – May 26, 2024

It was the third night of a four-night residency for LCD Soundsystem at their favorite Chicago venue, the Aragon Ballroom. They’ve done shows there in the past, and it was the last place I’d seen them years ago. It was good to catch them again. One can’t help but wonder if James Murphy is going to pull the plug on the band for a second time.

They got off to a great start with “Us V Them” and soon surfed into “I Can Change.” “Tribulations” was another great spot in the set, and one I hadn’t heard live in a long while.

The crowd was great, many of whom had been to the first two shows and were already planning on coming to the fourth. It was warm in the Aragon, as it always is, but a little more so since everyone was dancing and going wild as they turned the whole place into a disco.

“Yeah” was a great touch, as it was the first time they’d played it on this tour (which they called the “Kinda Tour”), and “Losing My Edge” was, as always, an absolute ripper. I’d forgotten how good a track “Tonite” is until they played it live.

“Dance Yrself Clean” and “All My Friends” made for a great encore, but the nicest moment of the night was their tribute to the late Chicagoan and music producing legend Steve Albini during “Someone Great.”

It was great to see them again, and great to be in such a fun crowd. LCD Soundsystem never disappoint.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

Review: L’appel Du Vide – Metro

The members of Germany’s L’appel Du Vide (Flatty – guitars, synths, sequencers, Friday – drums, Rene – vocals, Suse – bass, vocals, piano) describe themselves as “gloom punks.” That’s an apt description of both them and their debut album, Metro. It mixes doom with post-punk, darkwave, industrial, and a hint of psychedelia.

Starting with “Nacht” (“Night”), they get off to a raucous start with Suse’s bass leading the charge. The whole song feels like a fight could break out at any moment. “Verschwiegen” (“Secretive”) has Flatty unleashing (Dare I say?) Thin Lizzy-like riffs that turn into psych-metal meltdowns.

“Offenbarungseid” (“Oath of Disclosure”) starts off with goth dread and then kicks in the door to the underground club and causes a mosh pit to break out an absinthe and clove cigarette-filled ashtrays to spill everywhere. “Woanders” (“Somewhere Else”) builds from a quiet bass drum beat to a fiery post-punk punch in the face. Suse’s bass on “Verbrennen” (“Burn”) is absolutely crushing, and everything else is on fire around it. It reminds me a bit of a Pixies track with its frequent changes in volume levels.

“Fleisch” (“Meat”) opens side two of the album with Flatty’s guitars and Friday’s drums taking on a gothic touch…until they and everything else into erupt into a punk rager. “Warteschliefe” (“Holding Pattern”) returns to the post-punk buzz, but doesn’t skimp on the punk part of that genre. Rene’s growling, snarling vocals are the prime example of that.

“Ausgeliefert” (“Delivered”) chugs along with heavy bass from Suse and cosmic-level shredding from Flatty while Friday opens and closes his hi-hat so fast that you think it’s going to break at any moment. “Fragezeichen” (“Question mark”) ends the album with more goth-punk stuff that borders on horror-punk with the slight sense of dread throughout it.

It’s a wild record, and a delightful discovery this year. I’d love to catch their live show and see and hear how they create all of this buzzing, slightly creepy rock together.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here!]

[Dank an Flatty!]

The Black Angels announces European and western U.S. tours.

The Black Angels are soon back on tour, this time heading to Europe in mid-September through early October with pals The Dandy Warhols.

A good chunk of those shows probably will sell out, so don’t hesitate to get tickets.

Not to rest for too long, the psych-giants come back to the U.S. afterwards to embark on a west coast tour just ten days later, this time with Soriah and Daiistar.

They’ll also headline a stage at the 2024 Levitation festival sometime during Halloween weekend as well. Don’t miss them. They never disappoint.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]

Friko releases Radiohead cover and announces 2024 tour dates.

Chicago band Friko — vocalist/guitarist Niko Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger — shares a cover of Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” and announces performances at Lollapalooza, Newport Folk Festival, and Fuji Rock, a North American tour supporting Royel Otis, and the band’s first European headline run. The band just wrapped their first North American tour in support of Where we’ve been, Where we go from here (out now on ATO Records), playing shows with Water From Your Eyes, WILLIS and Mind’s Eye. Their cover of Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” has become an exciting surprise during recent live dates. They performed it at their sold-out, headlining record release show at the 1000-capacity Metro in Chicago, and will continue to captivate larger and larger audiences throughout the rest of 2024.

Listen to “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” (Radiohead Cover)

An essential new addition to Chicago’s long lineage of forward-thinking indie rock, Friko transforms every song into a moment of collective catharsis. Known for their high-energy live show, Friko aims to deliver a live experience that’s fantastically disorienting in its emotional arc. Mastered by Heba Kadry (Björk, Big Thief) and engineered by Jack Henry and Scott Tallarida, Where we’ve been, Where we go from here embodies a sonic complexity befitting of a band that names Romantic-era classical music and the more primal edges of art-rock among their inspirations. Friko hopes that their music’s emotional potency might have a galvanizing impact on audiences.

Purchase Where we’ve been, Where we go from here

Watch Friko’s “Where We’ve Been” Video
Watch “Crashing Through” Video
Watch “For Ella” Video
Watch “Crimson to Chrome” Lyric Video
Listen to Friko’s “Get Numb To It!”

Friko Tour Dates:
Fri. June 14 – Chicago, IL @ Q101 PIQNIQ (Taste of Randolph)
Tue. July 9 – Evanston, IL @ SPACE
Thu. July 18 – Indianapolis, IN @ Rock The Ruins ^
Fri. July 26 – Niigata, JP @ Fuji Rock Festival
Sun. July 28 – Newport, RI @ Newport Folk Festival
Sat. Aug. 3 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
Sun. Aug. 4 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall (Lollapalooza Aftershow)
Thu. Aug. 8 – Nashville, TN @ Bobby Nashville (WNXP Event)
Wed. Aug. 28 – Louisville, KY @ WFPK Waterfront Wednesday
Mon. Sept. 9 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall %
Wed. Sept. 11 – Rochester, NY @ Essex Music Hall %
Thu. Sept. 12 – Toronto, ON @ History %
Fri. Sept. 13 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre %
Sat. Sept. 14 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee %
Sun. Sept. 15 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue %
Thu. Sept. 19 – Champaign, IL @ Canopy Club (Pygmalion Fest)
Tue. Sept. 24 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer %
Wed. Sept. 25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel %
Thu. Sept. 26 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel %
Fri. Sept. 27 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club %
Sat. Sept. 28 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues %
Mon. Sept. 30 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern %
Tue. Oct. 1 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl %
Tue. Oct. 8 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre %
Wed. Oct. 9 – Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater %
Mon. Oct. 14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether %
Tue. Oct. 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether %
Wed. Oct. 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ Palladium %
Fri. Oct. 18 – Oakland, CA @ The Fox %
Sun. Oct. 20 – Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom %
Mon. Oct. 21 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre %
Tue. Oct. 22 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum %
Sat. Nov. 2 – Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet
Sun. Nov. 3 – Brussels, BE @ Les Nuits Weekender
Tue. Nov. 5 – Rennes, FR @ L’Antipode
Thu. Nov. 7 – Paris, FR @ Pitchfork Avant Garde
Sat. Nov. 9 – London, UK @ Pitchfork Festival London
Sun. Nov. 10 – Bristol, UK @ Louisiana
Tue. Nov. 12 – Manchester, UK @ YES
Wed. Nov. 13 – Glasgow, UK @ King Tuts
Thu. Nov. 14 – Dublin, IR @ Workman’s Club

^ supporting Hippo Campus
% supporting Royel Otis

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Dez Dare – A Billion Goats. A Billion Sparks. Fin.

Australian musician / producer / happy weirdo Dez Dare‘s new album, A Billion Goats. A Billion Sparks. Fin. sounds as intriguing and quirky as its title.

Opener “Got a Fire in My Socket” is a song about what its like to have a neurodivergent brain in a world that’s constantly clamoring for your attention. Dare mixes solid drum beats with post-punk guitar riffs and weird keyboard bloops. “Matter Vs. Matter” is about hoarding not only physical stuff, but e-clutter and mental trash as well (“10,000 options across 30,000 featured posts.”), and the only way to clear it out is by blasting it with fuzzy guitar power.

“10,000 Monkeys + An Argument with Time” uses sounds from what seem to be 16-bit video games to highlight how time is easily wasted even in a time in history when all this technology is supposed to save us time. “No One Wants to Hear It” is a fun takedown of virtue signaling with crunchy guitars and fight scene drums.

According to Dare’s notes on the album, “Gotta Cold Feeling” is about “That time when someone talked about something so boring, so long, it felt like time had fractured.” Haven’t we all been there at some point? “Entangled Entropy” is Dare apologizing for his sometimes uncontrollable behavior and explaining what it’s like to be autistic (“The wires don’t connect sometimes. Don’t you see? My waves aren’t free.”).

On “Call My City, Don’t Call My Telephone,” Dare pleads with everyone not to waste his time (or anyone else’s). God bless him for calling out time wasters, “shirtless bros,” and “standing in line” with his shredding solo and growling bass. “Josephine Says Explode” has Dare encouraging us to let our emotions out now and then. That stuff will eat you from within if you don’t.

The Osees-like fuzz and funk of “Schrödinger’s Apocalypse” is a fun track about living in a time of uncertainty, and how perhaps ignoring the uncertainty is the best path. “The Elasticity of Knowing” takes down racists and xenophobes by challenging them (and all of us, really) to travel and experience other cultures in order to see and acknowledge that others exist outside our little cocoons.

Finally, on “A Billion Voices Screaming, Hello Void!”, Dare encourages us to embrace the end and not fear death (“When the call comes, fear not for what’s been done, we all return to where we begun…”). The garage rock drums and distorted guitars certainly help give you confidence to step into the void.

This is a fun, wild record that mixes punk lyrics with touches of Zen. Don’t skip it.

Keep your mind open.

[I gotta warm feeling that you’re going to subscribe today.]

[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Review: Punchlove – Channels

Every now and then, you hear a new band described as arriving “fully formed” on the scene. It’s actually true in Punchlove‘s case, as they sound like they’ve been making shoegaze since at least 2010. You hear their debut album, Channels, and think, “This can’t be their first record.”

Yet, it is, and opening track “Breeze” hits you as heavy as any track Hum would’ve put out in their heyday with roaring guitars and crushing drums. The album was created not only post-pandemic, but also post-move from one continent to another. Jillian Olesen and Ethan Williams landed back in NYC after being forced out of Prague by the COVID-19 lockdowns. They met up with other NYU music technology students and Punchlove was born.

So were songs like “Screwdriver,” which sounds like The Cure meeting Failure in a battle of the bands. The ethereal fuzz of “Pigeon” is wondrous to behold. “Dead Lands” might be about Jillian Olesen’s feelings about returning to the U.S. to find it shut down and essentially empty thanks to the pandemic. It’s a lovely track.

“Apartment” is warped and weird. Every guitar and vocal in it sounds like it was partially melted in a studio fire that almost got out of control. “Birdsong” flies back and forth between bursting guitars and subtle chords. “Guilt” takes those bursting guitars and somehow pushed them further until it feels like you’re racing downhill with the band in a tour van without brakes.

I don’t know which is louder on “Elapse,” the driving guitar riffs or the drums hit and cymbal crashes that sound like Godzilla kicking over a power line tower. The album closes with “Corridor,” which could be thematically interpreted as a song beginnings or endings depending on where the corridor leads. It’s the softest song on the record and probably the most haunting as well.

This is all fine shoegaze stuff from Punchlove, who are already far ahead of other current bands in the genre. A lot of people are scrambling to catch up while Punchlove is making it look easy.

Keep your mind open.

[Punch your e-mail address into the subscription box while you’re here. I’d love that.]

[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media.]

Review: LAIR – Ngélar

Indonesian psych-funk? I’m there all day.

That’s what you get with LAIR and their new album, Ngélar – an album that salutes the band’s hometown, Jatiwangi, and the earth that provides most of the areas income through terra-cotta production, and discusses the struggles to reclaim that same land from deforestation.

“Tatalu” gets things off to a fast start with wild beats and exotic guitar work. “Pesta Rekyat Pabrik Gala” takes on a sorrowful tone that sounds like a call to ancient ancestors and spirits. “Tanah Bertuah” has more stellar guitar work from Tedi Nurmanto. “Hareeng” is almost desert rock with beautiful vocals from Monica Haspari. “Boa-Boa,” with its car horn honks, fuzzy bass riffs from Andzar Agung Fauzan, is one of the coolest songs on the record and will go straight onto your psych-rock playlist.

The chant-like vocals on “Bangkai Belantara” dance back and forth between power and celebration. “Kawin Tebu” is a lively track that makes you want to dance, sing, and invite strangers to a party at your house. The title of the album, after all, refers to a local custom in Jatiwangi of musicians roaming around the town, playing music for anyone, and celebrating whatever happens to need celebrating. “Setan Dolban” brings in some synthesizers and these cool microtonal guitars that would make King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard drool.

If you didn’t know LAIR was from Indonesia, you might think they were from the Algerian desert upon hearing “Gelombang Pemecah Malam,” which is a brief instrumental of sand dune rock. The closer, “Mencari Selamat,” is a lively song of thanks and uplifting beats made to help you forget troubles.

This is one of the most uplifting albums I’ve heard so far in 2024. It comes at a time when we need music like this to expand our horizons and jolt us out of any bad funks we’re in right now.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

Steve Albini loved music more than money.

Steve Albini, who recently died of a heart attack at just 61 years of age, might have been the last producer who frequently and joyfully stuck his middle finger in the eye of the music industry. He enjoyed being outside the mainstream, even when working with well-known acts such as Nirvana.

Nirvana were rulers of the radio, college campuses, pop culture, and practically everything else after the success of Nevermind. The whole world wanted a new album, and they went to Albini to produce it. That album became In Utero, which was originally considered “unreleasable” by the band’s label – which Albini and the band found baffling and, looking back, humorous…especially since it’s sold millions of copies by now.

Albini, by the way, collected no royalties on In Utero, or any other album he produced. He only charged his production fee of less than eight hundred bucks a day, and he’d often let friends use his studio for free. He could’ve been a millionaire off royalties from In Utero alone, but he didn’t care about that. He cared about music first and foremost and helping bands catch something raw and pure (“If a record takes more than a week to make, somebody is fucking up.” – from a letter he wrote to Nirvana before the In Utero recordings began).

He was one of the last to not really give a crap about what labels, radio programming managers, and music festival promoters thought. He openly hated most music festivals (and, somewhat famously, Steely Dan), and only played Primavera Sound in Barcelona with his band Shellac…who were due to release a new album, To All Trains, ten days after he died.

The list of Albini’s credits is insane. His most famous works are In Utero, Pixies‘ Surfer Rosa, The Jesus Lizard‘s Pure, and P.J. Harvey‘s Rid of Me. The following is a list of albums he produced that I personally own:

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – self-titled album (1992), Acme (1998), Xtra Acme USA (1999), and Plastic Fang (2002), Failure – Comfort (1992), Helmet – Meantime (1992), Nirvana – In Utero (1993), Pixies – Wave of Mutilation: Best of Pixies (2004), Living Things – Ahead of the Lions (2005), Screaming Females – Ugly (2012), Live at the Hideout (2014), and Rose Mountain (2015), Man or Astroman? – Defcon 5 4 3 2 1 (2013), Flat Worms – Antarctica (2019), Fuzz – III (2020).

Antarctica, by the way, was my top album of 2019.

Albini will be greatly missed, but he left a big legacy and massive shoes to fill. I hope someone picks up his band-loving torch and runs with it.

Keep your mind open.

Enjoy this Albini-produced banger.

[Don’t forget to subscribe.]