Reviews – Page 63 – 7th Level Music

Live: Oh Sees, Prettiest Eyes, Jimmy Whispers – October 12, 2019 – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL

It was the first of two sold-out shows at Chicago’s Thalia Hall for Thee Oh Sees and Prettiest Eyes. Joining them was Chicago’s Jimmy Whispers. I had yet to see Mr. Whispers, and I hadn’t seen Oh Sees since Levitation Austin last year in a small outdoor venue and Prettiest Eyes since Levitation France last year win a multi-purpose performance center.

Jimmy Whispers played a quirky set of bedroom / lounge rock that had one guy behind me saying, “I feel like I’m in a John Hughes movie.” Mr. Whispers sang songs about love and making love, taking on a sound and groove not unlike a Gary Wilson show.

Prettiest Eyes were up next and a complete switch from Jimmy Whispers’ set. They unleashed controlled chaos with wild tracks off their new album, Volume 3. Keyboards shrieked, bass thundered, and drums crashed. The Latino psych-rockers sang most of their tunes in English, unlike when we saw them in France and they kept the lyrics in Spanish for the most part. The songs are good either way, and they’re always energetic performers.

Speaking of energy, there’s always plenty of it during an Oh Sees show. You could probably power the air conditioning system in a Tucson ice cream parlor with the energy they create. They played a great mix of older and new material from their current album, Face Stabber. The mosh pit erupted immediately with “The Static God” and rarely stopped after that.

Other highlights included “The Dream,” “Tidal Wave,” “I Come from the Mountain,” and “Animated Violence.”

A treat and a surprise for me was when they played all twenty-plus minutes of “Henchlock” from the new album. It was even better than I hoped it would be.

It was another excellent performance. Both drummers played in unison and in different time signatures without tripping over each other. Frontman John Dwyer shredded the whole set. Beer was thrown, a lost shoe was held up by someone in the pit, I found an Oh Sees shirt that no one claimed as I held it up (and it was even my size), and I returned a man’s house keys to him I found in the pit during a brief break in the action.

As I said after I first saw them, everything you’ve heard about an Oh Sees show is 100% true. Don’t miss this tour.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: The Schizophonics – People in the Sky

San Diego’s husband-wife duo of singer / guitarist Pat Beers and drummer Lety Beers, otherwise known as The Schizophonics, are legends in their hometown for good reason. Their live shows are bat-shit crazy. Their second album, People in the Sky, is equally so.

The album starts with “Something’s Got to Give,” and it might be your speakers. Pat Beers’ voice already sounds like he’s been up all night drinking and smoking and Lety Beers is beating her kit like she’s angry about that damn dog next door that won’t stop barking all night…and it’s only the first track. “Steely Eyed Lady” is like a gas guzzling muscle car burning up miles while blasting The MC5 on the tape player. The comparisons of the Schizophonics to The MC5 are unavoidable. Pat Beers’ vocal stylings and Lety Beers’ beats are clearly influenced by the Detroit legends, while Mr. Beers’ guitar work combines garage, surf, punk, and psychedelia.

“Nine Miles” has a lot of crunchy guitar riffs to back Mr. Beers’ lyrics about hard work and the sacrifices one makes for love. The title track discusses mind expansion and controlling one’s emotions. “The One I Want” is a hot cut about a hot lover. “Battle Line” has some of Mr. Beers’ best shredding, and the track that follows it, “Not Gonna Change My Mind,” has a Hendrix-like solo that sizzles like a hot skillet sauteing habanero peppers.

“Long Way to Go” has a great dirty blues groove to it that reminds me of backroom jam sessions Howlin’ Wolf might have played. “Every day’s a lifetime, baby. We got a long way to go,” Pat Beers sings before unleashing a short but furious solo. The beat on “Show Me Your Eyes” mixes so well with the guitar fuzz that I’m not sure which one is playing lead (which is probably the point). I love that they included a song like “Like a Mummy,” which combines 60’s garage rock speed and “monster rock” grooves on an album that was released on Halloween. Also, Pat Beers goes nuts on it with his guitar. Every time you think you’ve heard him burn up all his energy on one track, he unleashes another hidden reserve from somewhere and makes your jaw drop.

“Down, I’ve been so down and out about you. Out, I’ve been so out of mind for you,” he sings on “Down and Out.” It’s a solid cut and one of the best tracks on a record full of impressive tunes. The closer, “She’s Coming Back,” has Pat Beers trying to convince himself that a lover will return, but even he’s not sure he believes it.

This is a top-notch rock record. If you’ve been looking for an album to blast away the cacophony of the 24-hour news cycle or the banality of the rat race, start here.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Infest the Rats’ Nest

I once read a comment on a YouTube video of “Planet B,” a track from King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard‘s newest album, Infest the Rats’ Nest, that said the following:

“Interviewer: What genre do you play? / King Gizzard: Yes.”

That comment refers to how the Australian psych-rockers went from releasing a blues boogie / synthwave record, Fishing for Fishies, earlier this year to Infest the Rats’ Nest – one of the best thrash metal albums of the year. They’ll play whatever they feel like playing.

The album is a companion piece of sorts to Fishing for Fishies in its environmental message. The first half of Infest the Rats’ Nest is all warnings about how we’re trashing the Earth and the second half is a story of people trying to flee our dying planet but being stonewalled by rich elitists.

“Planet B” gets the album off to a crunchy, angry start with fierce double drumming and dire warning vocals like “Paralyzation, scarification, population exodus…There is no planet B! Open your eyes and see!” “Mars for the Rich” has a cool groove to it (wicked bass licks, Grateful Dead-like drumming), showing that KGATLW didn’t want to completely abandon their psychedelic roots. Lead singer Stuart Mackenzie sings the tale of a child seeing images of Mars on television and wishing he could go there to escape the poisoned Earth, but knowing only the rich will escape environmental doom.

“Organ Farmer” is bonkers. You can barely keep up with the energy of it. It’s all runaway train guitars and drums that sound like they’re about to collapse. “Superbug” switches to stoner metal jams reminiscent of Sleep while Mackenzie sings about a super virus sweeping across the planet.

“Venusian I” has epic shredding behind a tale of trying to flee to Venus because the Earth is doomed. “Space is the place for the new human race,” Mackenzie sings at the beginning of “Perihelion” – a space rock with crushing drums. He and the rest of KGATLW want to escape the Earth, but will their efforts to reach Venus be successful? “Venusian 2” hits you like a spaceship trying to survive re-entry burn as it blazes across the Venusian sky, so it’s difficult to say if the trip is a safe one.

The mosh-inducing “Self-Immolate” is as fiery as its name would imply. The whole band sizzles across it while the lyrics tell a tale of blazing heat on Venus and the agony of leaving one dying planet for another that’s a perpetual inferno. The album ends, fittingly, with “Hell.” Mackenzie, now dead, is terrified as “Satan points me to the rats’ nest.” and everything, like Earth and Venus, is burning all around him.

Heavy stuff, but it’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, so don’t worry. KGATLW made Infest the Rats’ Nest to not only warn us of the effects of climate change, but also to salute their appreciation of thrash metal and have some fun playing stuff that they have admitted is hard to play. As a result, they put out a thrash metal record that can hold its own with heavyweights in the genre.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Palm Daze – Controls (2017)

I became aware of Palm Daze when I saw them open for Bayonne in Tucson, Arizona earlier this year. They played a cool blend of electro and psychedelia that I enjoyed. Controls is a five-song EP they put out two years ago that sounds like it could’ve been released yesterday.

The weird warping synths of “Angles Pt. 1” get the EP off to a trippy start, and then “Company Calls” takes us into full synth wave mode with bright keys, distant vocals, and sharp beats. “Angles Pt. 2” seems to nod at Vangelis‘ Blade Runner score, and why not? The synths move like slow waves across a mountain lake and the vocal effects turn the lyrics into alien communications. The title track has near hip hop drum beats behind video game synths, and “Everything, Everyday” ends the EP with big, bold synths that fade into sounds like a dwindling Morse code message.

It’s an interesting EP and one that produces different thoughts upon multiple listens.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Vapors of Morphine – Lyons, Colley, Dupree Live at the Lizard Lounge 5/25/2007

Recorded before they were officially known as Vapors of Morphine, Jeremy Lyons, Dana Colley, and Jerome Dupree were playing and recording dark delta blues tracks and mixing in low rock touches. This live album, recorded twelve years ago, sounds like it was performed last week.

Their version of “Worried Life Blues” has a bit of swing to it that showcases some of Lyons’ musical influences gained while living in New Orleans. “Screamin’ and Hollerin'” is the first track to let Dana Colley’s baritone saxophone cut loose, and we’re all better for it. The groove of “Red Apple Juice / Waiting for My Baby” is downright infectious. You’ll be humming the song for days after you hear it.

“Hard Times Killing Floor” shows why low rock and blues go so well together. Colley’s saxophone puts down the rails for Lyons sad vocals and Dupree’s subtle drums keep a hint of danger floating around the room. “Ain’t Gonna Marry” has a great swing to it as Lyons sings about sending a “Dear Jane” letter to a lover as he moves on down the road. His guitar solo is also sharp as a knife on the track.

“Know” is one of my favorite Vapors of Morphine tracks, and this version is as good as any of them. All three members have a swinging good time on it. “Hurricane” is another song of theirs that’s become somewhat of a classic by now. Colley’s saxophone reverb effects bring to mind a swirling storm as Dupree’s drums roll in the thunder and Lyons’ guitar is the driving rain.

Lyons’ guitar is in full swampy blues mode for “Louisiana Blues,” which is a sizzling rocker. “Special Rider” ends the set with a true low rock tune. The drop-tuned guitar, the warped saxophone sounds, and the slow, almost buzzed-drunk drums produce a great feeling. The album ends with the soundcheck version of “Red Apple Juice,” which is a nice addition.

It’s a cool record, and like their collaboration as The Ever Expanding Elastic Waste Band, a neat piece of history in the band’s formation.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Sleater-Kinney – The Center Won’t Hold

Sleater-Kinney‘s newest record, The Center Won’t Hold, is, unsurprisingly, a wallop to the senses. It covers anger over the current political climate, the never-ending onslaughts of media and advertising, and the often fragile nature of relationships.

The title track starts off the record with slinking industrial beats before erupting into fiery anger and Carrie Brownstein‘s vocals reaching shriek levels. “Hurry On Home” is a sexy tune accentuated by electro beats about missing a lover and wanting something real and tangible in a world of fake social media profiles and Second Life avatars. The electro touches continue on “Reach Out.” They’re peppy and then the lyrics of “When I looked down, I was a mess.” reach you, making you wonder what’s coming. The song is another about wanting to find a human connection amid internal and external chaos. “With one sharp breath, my chest expands. My body is my own again,” Corin Tucker sings the joy of finding that connection.

“Everyone I know is tired, and everyone I know is wired to machines. I just scream ’til it don’t hurt anymore,” Brownstein sings on the excellent “Can I Go On” – a song about how easy it is to get down in this day and age. “Restless” has brutal lyrics about love like “My heart wants the ugliest things, but I’ve learned to love the ugliest things like you and me.” “Do you feast on nostalgia? Take please from pain?” Brownstein asks in “RUINS” – a near-industrial track that explores a crumbled relationship. “LOVE” starts with video game beats before Janet Weiss puts down a wicked drum groove and Brownstein sings about embracing the adventure that love can be.

“We’ve been rehearsing our whole lives,” Brownstein says on “Bad Dance.” It’s a song about the seductive worlds pushed on us by mass advertising and the idea of pushing back against them. “The Future Is Here” has Tucker wishing for a human connection in a world of online relationships. “I met my date on a tiny screen. I reach for you in the empty sheets,” she sings. Anyone who resists her is a fool. The snappy bass on “The Dog / The Body” roots the song as it swells back and forth between soft verses and big choruses.

“But I’m breaking in two, ’cause I’m broken inside.” are the last lyrics of “Broken,” which is the last song on the album. It’s a sad song about the loss of a relationship or at least a human connection in our increasingly digital world. The song and the lyrics (and the album’s title) are even more poignant now due to drummer Janet Weiss leaving the band not long after the album was released and before Sleater-Kinney started their current tour. Brownstein has said the band will continue with her and Tucker, who started the band without Weiss. At least Weiss left on a good album. She didn’t phone in anything on it, and neither did her former bandmates.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Khruangbin – Hasta El Cielo

The newest record from Khruangbin, Hasta El Cielo, is a dub version of their excellent album Con Todo El Mundo. Khruangbin’s beautiful psychedelic world music is ripe for dub remixing, and Hasta El Cielo (“See you in heaven.”) is lovely.

“With All the World” is sends you along a warm river cruise with the first track, stripping away your cares. “Sisters & Brothers” has a crisp drum groove and some of Laura Lee‘s funkiest bass riffs. “Mary Always,” the dub version of “Maria Tambien” from Con Todo El Mundo is suitable for Italian spy thrillers.

Donald Johnson’s drums on “Four of Five” are so slippery that the song almost sounds like it was recorded underwater. “How I Love” uses delay and echo effects well (as any good dub recording should), with Mark Speer’s guitar sounding a hundred miles away and yet right in the room with you. The organ work on “Sunny’s Vision” is a nice lead-in to a top shelf tequila smooth tune. “A La Sala” has some neat ambient electro touches. “The Red Book” and “Order of Operations” are other trippy tracks that take away your day-to-day worries.

The title track is a snappy track that not only relaxes you but also makes you feel like a bad ass at the same time. The digital version of the album comes with two extra tracks – “Rules” (with superb echoed vocal sounds) and “Como Te Quiero” (a soft track with sharp as a razor drums).

This is such a cool, mellow record that trying to describe it is nearly useless. It’s best if you hear it. It’s best if everyone hears it.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: The Ever Expanding Elastic Waste Band – self-titled (2010)

Friends Jerome Deupree (percussion and drums), Dana Colley (saxophone, harmonica, and vocals), and Jeffrey Lyons (bass, banjo, guitar, vocals) got together in 2009 to start working on some shows and to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the death of Deupree and Colley’s friend (and in Dupree and Colley’s case, former bandmate in Morphine), Mark Sandman. They decided to play some Morphine tracks and other songs they’d written, and demand for more gigs soon grew to the point where they decided to record a record as The Ever Expanding Elastic Waste Band. This would be a couple years before they changed the name to Vapors of Morphine and released A New Low, but the first hints at what was to come were here on this album from 2010 that combines studio tracks with live cuts.

“Hurricane” begins the album with a dark blues cut that sounds like it’s from a gothic film that takes place in a seedy Mississippi town in the middle of August. Colley’s saxophone is pushed through multiple effects pedals along the track, creating a mind-warping effect. “Different” continues this psychedelic swirl amid Deupree’s jazz drums and Lyons vocals about how all of us, despite our differences, are walking the same path in this reality.

“Pulled Over the Car” is a wicked groove tune from Morphine’s catalogue about a time Mark Sandman fell asleep at the wheel. The slinky sounds of “Let’s Take a Trip Together” are great example of low rock – trippy vocals, reverb saxophone, sexy drums, warped bass. “Thursday” is another fine example with its heavy baritone sax and darkly comic lyrics (again, from the late Mark Sandman) about an extra-marital affair that goes wrong after going so right for so long. “All Wrong” has all the punch of the original Morphine track, with all three men putting down serious chops on their respective instruments.

I love that they included the instrumental “Kitchen Closes at Midnight” on the album. It’s a neat psychedelic jam played with toys as well as the band’s respective instruments. The blues / bluegrass track, “Know,” written by Lyons, is the type of song that makes you stop in your tracks when you hear it. The dark saxophone tones, the vaguely country guitar, and the yearning-for-love vocals make you want to track the band down as soon as possible. The album ends with another live cut and another instrumental – “Palestrina.”

It’s a cool record. One that will impress you and anyone else who hears it.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Lindstrom – On a Clear Day I Can See You Forever

Hailing from Norway, Hans-Peter Lindstrom has delivered a four-song album (the shortest track is 8:49) of ambient-disco-lounge music that is almost more of a feeling than a genre – On a Clear Day I Can See You Forever.

The title track (which was mostly improvised, and the rest of the tracks, while pre-planned, were done in one take) opens the album with synthwave subtlety that floats from your speaker like a three quarters-filled helium balloon moving across city rooftops in a low breeze. The rave synths and beats of “Really Deep Snow” move in so effortlessly that they catch you a bit off guard.

“Swing Low Sweet LFO” is the soundtrack to a 1980’s crime film set on Venus. The closer, “As If No One Is Here,” almost sums up the entire album. Lindstrom creates musical soundscapes that seem to be perfectly at home if no one is listening. They are songs of synth dreams that come to you as you sit in a train car warmed by the rising sun. They are strange yet pleasant visions you can’t explain. They are the sound of an artist enjoying free expression without limits.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Shonen Knife – Sweet Candy Power

“Please call us to your party. Riding on a bison’s back, singing Flying Jelly Attack. We’ll be there,” lead guitarist Naoko of Shonen Knife sings on the first track, “Party,” of their new album – Sweet Candy Power.

It’s a perfect opening for a fun record of power hooks, punk rock drumming, and good time grooves. Any Shonen Knife album is a breath of fresh air and a vacation from the blues and bad news of the world, and this one is no exception.

“Dizzy” is a garage rocker about not feeling well to the point of putting on your pajamas wrong, but it’s nothing that a good night’s sleep and a cup of coffee can’t cure. The title track is already a crowd favorite at their live shows, and it’s no surprise. It has a great shouting chorus and chugging riffs that get you moving like you just ate a handful of Pop Rocks.

“My Independent Country” encourages all of us to take care of ourselves and stand for our beliefs. It’s a heavy rocker with hits of British metal with Naoko singing lyrics like “There are no rules. I make laws by myself. I’m a ruler and loser. Everything is in my hands.” “Wave Rock” brings in some surf riffs, which makes you think it would be a song about the ocean but it’s actually a song about desert rock formations.

The band’s drummer, Risa, takes over lead vocals on “Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches” – a song about her two favorite foods coming together to create the greatest culinary treat on Earth (to her at least). It’s as fun a song as the name implies. On “Never Never Land,” Naoko sings about losing her sunglasses on a Disney park ride. It has a bit of a Green Day vibe to it with its slow groove and synths.

“Peppermint Attack” has a wicked bass grove by Atsuko and her sister, Naoko, singing about being attacked by mosquitos and engaging in a “great battle” with them using peppermint spray, alcohol, and water. Atsuko sings lead on the bright, sunny “California Lemon Trees,” which I imagine was inspired by the trees in her backyard in Los Angeles. The final song on the album is “Match 3” – a salute to games like Candy Crush and Bejeweled, to which Naoko is hopelessly addicted (“Match 3 in my brain, Match 3 in my mind, Match 3 in a train, Match 3 in my bed.”).

There’s nothing to not like about this record. It’s fun from beginning to end and just what everyone needs right now.

Keep your mind open.

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