Reviews – Page 56 – 7th Level Music

Kestrels’ new single “Grey and Blue” features J. Mascis and a wall of shoegaze sound.

On Dream or Don’t Dream, Halifax’s Kestrels live out a guitar freak’s wildest fantasies. The supercharged shoegaze rockers’ fourth full-length album features spellbinding mixing from John Agnello(Sonic Youth, Alvvays, Kurt Vile, Cyndi Lauper) and mastering engineer Greg Calbi (David Bowie, Lou Reed, Television, Blondie). Together, they constructed a towering devotional to tone with blazing riffs, powerhouse drums, and swooning hooks emerging from an enveloping haze.

WATCH: Kestrels’ “Grey and Blue” feat. Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis video on YouTube

The first single, “Grey and Blue” is a fuzzy, reverb drenched power-pop track featuring soaring solos from Dinosaur Jr‘s J Mascis. Guitarist and vocalist Chad Peck explained, “”Grey and Blue” is a song about being carefully and uncharacteristically optimistic and vulnerable. This song came at the end of a really rough period in my life and it captures the nervous excitement of that time. My thinking tends to get narrow and shallow during bad periods, and when I feel things start to change it’s almost overwhelming; I’m not sure if I should trust it, but I have to push forward anyway. It’s a good feeling when you meet someone who makes you feel like your eyes can open a little wider and makes the echos skip through your brain.”

Dream Or Don’t Dream was largely written on the sofa of Ash‘s Tim Wheeler, but Wheeler is not the only guitar aficionado that Peck has in his contact list. “J Mascis plays two solos on this song. It’s still weird to say that out loud,” Peck explains. “We opened for Dinosaur Jr at this wild secret show in Amherst, MA. I met Luisa, J’s wife, and his longtime engineer Justin Pizzoferrato there. Luisa invited us over to their place and J gave us a tour of his studio and just kept handing me different guitars to try out (“This was what I used when I recorded “Out There”…). It was surreal. When we were tracking this song, Justin mentioned that it would be a good song for J to play on and he set it up for me. Thanks Justin! Thanks J! He did 7 takes and they are all incredible. Maybe I’ll release the other 6 takes someday.”

Dream Or Don’t Dream is out on July 10th on Darla Records. It is available for pre-order here.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Hive Mind PR.]

Rewind Review: Minami Deutsch – With Dim Light (2018)

“They’re a Japanese band that plays krautrock,” is essentially the first description I read of Minami Deutsch after I heard they were going to play the 2019 Levitation Music Festival. I was immediately intrigued by this notion and decided to look up some music by the band. I heard a couple tracks from their 2018 album With Dim Light and was intrigued further. Their blend of krautrock rhythms and Japanese psychedelic music was a neat combination. Seeing them live at Levitation 2019 was the deal-sealer. They put on one my favorite performances of the festival weekend and I knew I had to hear With Dim Light in its entirety. I learned they are far more than “a Japanese band that plays krautrock.”

Keita Ise‘s opening bass line on “Concrete Ocean” is an unexpected, but more-than-welcome post-punk element that drips into a wicked drum lick and guitars by Kyotaro Miula and Taku Idemoto that incorporate jazz and surf elements. “Tangled Yarn” adds some shoegaze to their 1960’s psychedelia, with Miula’s vocals being reverbed almost to the back of the room and his guitar echoing off the walls to hit you from every angle.

“Tunnel” was the first Minami Deutsch song I ever heard and was the cause of my desire to find more. The instant urgency of the guitar and beat hook you from the outset. It’s like the anticipation before a chase that breaks into a wild scene running through a dark city street, a foggy nightclub, a backroom mahjong game, a modern art gallery, and an aquarium. “I’ve Seen a U.F.O.” has some of Ise’s fuzziest bass alongside slightly muted drums. Miula’s vocals are barely perceptible, preferring to highlight the bass, drums, and guitars instead of the other way around.

The slow, acoustic start to “Bitter Moon” is a wild contrast to the psychedelic freakout of the previous track, but it’s more of a slow drift at the end of a race than an abrupt stomping of the brake. The closer, “Don’t Wanna Go Back,” has a cool, bouncy guitar riff all the way through it while Ise roots the track with an unstoppable groove and the high-hat / snare work is as crisp as an oyster cracker.

With Dim Light is more than krautrock. It’s krautrock, shoegaze, psychedelia, surf rock, and even bits of garage rock. It’s also worth your time. I hope they release more music soon.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Here Lies Man – self-titled (2017)

The debut, self-titled album by Here Lies Man from 2017 was unlike a lot of rock that came before it. Their music was described with a simple question, “What if Black Sabbath played Afrobeat?” It’s a question to make you ask, “Wait…What?” Once you hear HLM, however, you think, “Yep, this is what it would sound like.”

The massive opening riffs of the album on “When I Come To” (the only lyrics in the song, by the way, apart from “Oh God! Wake up!”) grab you by the neck and shake you, and the organ stabs only serve to make you quake further. The African rhythms are immediately apparent and are downright infectious. Those beats roll like a bubbling river on “I Stand Alone.” The drum breakdown halfway through the track is outstanding.

“Eyes of the Law” brings the funky organ to the forefront, and “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” covers one of HLM‘s favorite topics – death (“Your life ain’t goin’ nowhere…You ain’t goin’ nowhere.”). “Letting Go” grooves so hard it will stop you in your tracks as HLM sings about leaving this world to find better things beyond, embracing the beauty of impermanence. “Let go or be dragged,” as the Zen proverb says. The mostly instrumental “So Far Away” is a trippy track, and the African rhythms are back in full swing on “Belt of the Sun” (and check out those wicked organ riffs!). The echoing organ stabs, Superfly-like bass, chant-like drums, and fuzzed-out guitar on the closing title track all combine for a killer ending to a killer debut.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Live in Paris ’19

Recorded at L’Olympia in Paris, France October 14, 2019, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard‘s Live in Paris ’19 is one of three live albums they released for animal welfare charities during the massive wildfires sweeping Australia (many of which, by the way, are still burning). All proceeds from these albums go to these charities, and all three were released well before KGATLW‘s “official” live album – Chunky Shrapnel (review coming soon).

You can tell right away that the Parisian crowd is ready to go nuts from the opening notes. The show starts with the instrumental “Evil Star” before breaking into a sprint with “Venusian 2” and “Perihelion” from Infest the Rats’ Nest. “Perihelion” hits the hardest of the two. “Crumbling Castle” is the second longest track on the album (at nearly nine minutes), and the crowd never stops cheering for it the entire time. It tears into “The Fourth Colour” so fast it almost makes your head spin.

“Deserted Dunes Welcome Weary Feet” and “The Castle in the Air” are a great pairing to slow things down just a touch before the rocking “Muddy Water.” “People Vultures” is a crowd favorite (as is anything from Nonagon Infinity, really) and sounds like it’s almost at double the normal speed. The swing of “Mr. Beat” is always fun to hear live. Hearing the crowd sing along to Stu Mackenzie‘s opening flute on “Hot Water” is delightful.

They’re grooving ands swinging on “This Thing.” “Billabong Valley” is always a crowd favorite as Ambrose Kenny-Smith takes over on lead vocals to sing a tale of a gunman. “Nuclear Fusion” is a personal favorite because of the cool Middle Eastern microtonal groove of the whole thing. “Anoxia,” the always rocking “All Is Known,” and the always hip-moving “Boogieman Sam” follow, and the show wraps up with a dive back into thrash metal with another personal favorite – “Mars for the Rich” and then over twelve minutes of the wild, swirling, mind-melting “Am I in Heaven?” – which contains bits of “Altered Beast” and “Cyboogie” as well.

You might think that after this whirlwind of an album is finished – just like any show by these wacky fellas.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Ohmme – Fantasize Your Ghost

Chicago’s Ohmme have released one of the more intriguing albums of 2020 so far – Fantasize Your Ghost. The title brings to mind the idea of planning for the afterlife and settling affairs now while you can. It’s also a bit of a fun idea – thinking about who and / or where you would haunt if you were a ghost (if you had the choice, of course).

The weird, melting guitars of opening track “Flood Your Gut” let you know that the album will be an interesting journey, and the double vocals of Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart cement that fact as they sing about someone whose ego won’t let them see the forest for the trees when it comes to a relationship (“The tallest person that I ever met couldn’t even reach your head…Your whole vision’s not enough.”). “Selling Candy” is a sweet tribute to growing up in their Chicago neighborhood, sneaking out of the house, and daring to cross the big street to buy a hot dog from the grumpy hot dog vendor – and the Nirvana-like guitar chords on it are no slouches.

The fat, fuzzy bass of “Ghost” is great, as is the thumping chorus of Cunningham and Stewart singing about being “sick of looking at the stupid look on your face” while the object of their annoyance is preoccupied with bogus metaphysical journeys. The guitar solo on this track is nothing short of wild, and the opening lyric is nothing short of Zen (“You are the product of a happenstance.”). “The Limit” has Ohmme singing about a relationship coming to an end (“If human nature makes you a stranger, I can’t give you time if I can’t afford it.”).

“Spell It Out” has a similar theme as the use the image of dirty dishes in the sink and dust on the shelves as a metaphor for a relationship that has grown dull from lack of attention. “Twitch” tackles the light-hearted topic of existence (“Everything bores me and everything hurts. Is this what it means to be a human machine?”). The song builds to a lovely psychedelic haze before a quick fade-out. The following track, “3 2 4 3,” takes on another light-hearted subject – aging (“Looked in the mirror the other day, caught my reflection. My mouth had moved a different way. The muscles were straining…Different today but I’m the same.”). The sharp bass line under the bubbling vocals brings the song up to another level.

“Some Kind of Calm” is a lovely song about trying to quiet one’s mind amid a world of constant entertainment and noise. The instrumental “Sturgeon Moon” wouldn’t be out of place on some early 1980’s industrial album with its odd timing, boiler room guitars, and “falling down the stairs” percussion. The closer, “After All,” is a pretty track about being okay with getting away from the hustle and bustle of the world, and other people. It’s especially fitting in these times of self-isolation as they sing, “Seek your cocoon” over and over. We’ve all been forced to live in and re-examine our cocoons and lives. Is that necessarily a bad thing?

This album certainly isn’t a bad thing. Give it a spin and get lost in it.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: The Well – Samsara (2014)

I’m going to make a bold statement. The Well‘s debut album, Samsara, came out six years ago and might have changed the course of Texas doom metal, and perhaps doom metal everywhere.

Sure, there have been and still are many fine doom bands putting out excellent records influenced by Black Sabbath, early Pink Floyd, King Diamond, Blue Cheer, and Blue Oyster Cult, but what separates those bands from being great doom bands is that they sometimes forget to ease back a bit on all the “Old Ones from a dark hole in space are going to kill us all” stuff and just groove.

The Well (Lisa Alley – bass and vocals, Ian Graham – guitar and vocals, Jason Sullivan – drums) excel at the former and are off the chain in regards to the latter. Samsara‘s opener, “I Bring the Light,” tells a tale of some sort of magic for about three minutes before it explodes into a jaw-dropping sonic blitz that must’ve made everyone who heard it live for the first time stop dead in their tracks or spit out their Lone Star in disbelief.

“I felt the sun upon my face and began to run,” they sing on “Trespass” – a tale of shamans and encroaching dead things suitable for creating a Dungeons and Dragons game based on its lyrics. Speaking of such lyrics, another quest for your adventuring party could start from the opening ones of “Eternal Well” (“I saw a vision in the swirling mist, the stones are bleeding to the lion’s fist.”). Alley’s bass sounds like the heartbeat of a blood-spattered ogre throughout it. Graham’s riffs on “Refuge” sound simple at first but are deceptively wicked when you pay attention.

“Mortal Bones” begins with a sample of Rod Serling talking about ancient Egyptian temples before Graham’s guitar and Sullivan’s thunderous drum fills hit us like a sandstorm. The groove that kicks in near the three-minute mark is a prime example of what I mentioned in the second paragraph of this review. The Well love to groove and began leading the charge to help doom gets its groove back with this album.

Their cover of Pink Floyd’s “Lucifer Sam” is a fun addition, and is fuzzier than the subject of the song. “Dragon Snort” bellows and roars like some kind of 11 hit dice monster, and the weird breakdown of guitar distortion and feedback is disorienting at first, then hypnotizing, and then shaken by Alley and Sullivan’s anvil-heavy thuds. The closer, “1000 Lies,” dissolves like a melting black candle around the two-minute mark into a smoky trip of Alley’s reverb-heavy vocals, Graham’s oozing guitars, and Sullivan’s hypnotic cymbals and then kicks back into head-banging riffs before you get lost in the fog.

The title of Samsara is fitting for The Well’s first record. “Samsara” is the Sanskrit word for the cycle of death and rebirth. The Well started from the fragments of other bands and was reborn into something new, and it feels like they’re turning doom metal into something new as well.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Mirabelle – Late Bloomer

As the story goes, Laurence Hélie was riding high many years ago after releasing two critically acclaimed folk-country albums. She was a bright star in the Quebec music scene and then she just…stopped.

She went into what she described as a “musical depression” and was done with music. It was so deep that , according a recent press release, “guitar strumming made her skin crawl.”

Then, for reasons even she can’t explained, she began singing and playing, now songs filled with anger and fury. She channeled her love of 1990’s female-led bands like The Cranberries and Mazzy Star into something outside of her folk-country comfort zone. Going there inspired her to change her musical identity to Mirabelle and create Late Bloomer.

The album lets you know right away that this won’t be a folk-country experience (but hints of her former genre are there). The opening synth bass of “One in a Million” flows into Hélie’s breathy vocals about not blaming someone for turning off the light of a relationship. The beat is slow country blues, but the synths are an ambient creek running past her back yard. “Betty” starts with early 90’s bass sludge and mixes in what sounds like harpsichord as Hélie’s vocals bounce along the beat with ease with fuzzy guitars to help her glide along.

The bossa nova groove of “Phénomène” is delightful, as are Hélie’s French vocals. “My head is full of black clouds. I’m done with all the noise in the background,” she sings at the opening of “Wall.” Aren’t we all done with that noise? It’s a lovely jam track with electronic beats and guitar strumming that definitely won’t make your skin crawl. The feel of “Rose White” reminds me of some of Zola Jesus‘ works, and Hélie’s love of Cranberries lead singer Niall Quinn is evident in her vocals on the track.

“Teenage Dreams” would’ve been an alt-rock hit in the mid-90’s. Just listen to that chugging riff and those bright synths and tell me I’m wrong. The opening acoustic guitar and bass of “Daddy Long Legs” sounds inspired by some of Alice in Chains‘ songs. “Cheated” is a soft ode to “going through the motions” in a relationship and how temptation is everywhere, and sometimes great to taste, but the feelings afterward can be “like a car crash.”

By contrast, Hélie sings, “You don’t know how good it is to feel.” at the beginning of “Magic Spell,” letting us know she made it through the heartbreak from the previous track. The closer, “Don’t Forget to Breathe,” is advice we could all use. Being present is always the best choice, but admittedly is often easier said than done. The song is brooding and even a bit spooky (“No amount of scented candles can make it undone.”) with piano chords that almost sound like a funeral dirge.

Late Bloomer is a fine record, and the title is a fine reflection of this moment in Hélie’s career. She’s found her voice again and a new way to express it. We could all be so lucky if we ever enter into a depth that seems insurmountable.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Conor at Hive Mind PR.]

Review: Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts VI: Locusts

The second of two free instrumental albums offered by Nine Inch Nails in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ghosts VI: Locusts is darker than its predecessor – Ghosts V: Together. The track titles alone don’t bring to mind hopeful images like the last album. Many of the tunes on Ghosts VI: Locusts could easily fit on a horror film score.

“The Cursed Clock” is just such an example – bleak piano and creepy timing. “Around Every Corner” brings in a lonely trumpet and sounds not unlike passing buses to remind you of a film noir. “The Worriment Waltz” is a good title for what a lot of people are doing these days. “Run Like Hell” is surprisingly subtle (and that great trumpet comes back to haunt us in it).

“When It Happens (Don’t Mind Me)” starts off with Dario Argento-film score manic percussion and synths. The sounds of “Another Crashed Car” bring to mind images of an open cell phone (probably being used pre-collision) call going unanswered and windshield wipers scraping across cracked glass. “Temp Fix” is short and…odd.

“Trust Fades” fades right into “A Really Bad Night.” The two themes go well together. “Your New Normal” is like a strange breath across your neck, and “Just Breathe” might be the creepiest song on the album. “Right Behind You” calms things down a bit.

“Turn This Off Please” is the longest track on the album (over thirteen minutes) and slinks around the room like some sort of smoky adder. The piano on “So Tired” is like something you’d hear on the score to Exorcist III. The closing track is “Almost Dawn,” which is a bit uplifting after all the doom and gloom of the previous tracks. Yes, it still has some creepy elements in it (like that warped music box) but it still conveys a sense that the sun will come out soon and we’ll all embrace the light.

Nine Inch Nails seem to be acknowledging that things look bleak, but they also encourage us to not become overwhelmed. Things will turn around in time. All things are impermanent, even suffering.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: The Well – Pagan Science (2016)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Dead Ghosts – Automatic Changer

Dead Ghosts don’t waste time on their latest record – Automatic Changer. The Canadian psychedelic outfit gets freaky right away with opening track “Freak,” which is heavy on trippy guitars and most of the vocals are heavily reverberated shouts.

The first single from the record, “Drugstore Supplies,” has a fun, fast buzz to it that sounds more San Francisco than Vancouver. “Swiping Hubcabs” seems to bend back upon itself as swingin’ 60’s organ sounds swell around you. The beats, harmonies, and guitars of “Holdin’ Me Down” are positively Beach Boys, but with a lot more fuzz – which is not a bad thing.

“Blackout” packs a loud punch and brings in garage rock elements to great effect, and the breakdown on it (complete, I think, with coughing from someone smoking too much…something) is outstanding. “You Got Away” keeps the garage rock coming, and “Turn It Around” brings in some psych-country to the mix. Check out that lead guitar if you don’t believe me. “Merle” keeps this flavor, but also adds some groovy hippy road music to the mix. It brings to mind images of driving down a sunny road in your shaggin’ wagon with all the windows down and the 8-track blaring.

The weird, warped guitars on “Jerry’s Dead” are as liquid and thick as lava lamp goo, and that addition of distant saxophone squawks is a great touch. The chugging riffs of “It’s Been Too Long” push that shaggin’ wagon’s pedal to the metal as they sing about missing a girl (“It’s been too long since I saw you…”). Is it coincidence that the next song is called “In and Out” (a euphemism for sex in A Clockwork Orange), or that the song lasts under two minutes?

The opening drum fill on “Tell Me How” is worthy of a disco track and then the song becomes a booming psych-surf track. The title track moves along like a rickety but dependable truck hauling a bunch of surfers to the beach or hippies to a love-in. “Bad Vibes” is surprisingly upbeat with surf riffs hopping around the forefront of it. It flows (or perhaps, “oozes” is a better way to describe it) into the aptly named final track, “Say Goodbye” – a short, spaced-out fuzzy jam.

It’s a fun record filled with groovy guitars, indiscernible lyrics, garage rock drums, and solid bass that will automatically change your mood when you hear it.

Keep your mind open.

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