Category: Reviews

Review: Deeper – Auto-Pain

The cover of Chicago post-punks Deeper‘s new album, Auto-Pain, features an image of Northwestern Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago – a hospital known for its modern architectural style…that was demolished in 2015. Healing, death, illness, impermanence, and presence are themes weaved throughout the album.

It opens with “Esoteric,” as guitarists Mike Clawson and Nic Gohl (who also sings lead) lead us by the hand with catchy hooks while Gohl asks “Is it any wonder I feel so old?” He’s bogged down by the pressure of living under constant demands from all angles. The song breaks into bright synths and power riffs that bring Wire records to mind. “Run” has some guitars just as bright and shiny as before, and other with a lingering sense of anger behind them.

“This Heat” could be a tribute to the band of the same name (and the sharp guitars certainly are reminiscent of This Heat), but I suspect the song is about the heat of emotions and trying to tame them. “I’m so sick” Gohl repeats again and again, as well as “You’re crossing the line.” He’s ready to burst with rage as his temperature rises. “It’s all right” is repeated often on “Willing,” and you’re not sure if Gohl is trying to convince us, his bandmates, himself, or all three groups. I love the way the guitars sound like warped records, and Shiraz Bhatti‘s beats (influenced by sounds heard as a kid at pow wows he attended with his family) on it are wicked.

“What’s the point of living this life?” Gohl sings on “Lake Song.” A repeated line in the chorus is “I just want you to feel sick.” The lyrics take on heavier weight when you learn that Clawson killed himself after leaving the band during Auto-Pain‘s recording. He had battled depression for a long time. The band was stunned, as you can imagine, and “Lake Song,” with its dark synths and krautrock beats, feels like Gohl, Bhatti, and bassist Drew McBride working out their grief in the track.

The synths burst forth with new light and the guitars throw fits with new fire in “Spray Paint.” On “4U” the synths and guitars almost become manic, probably reflecting the stress building on the band at the time. McBride’s admiration of Peter Hook is on full display on “V.M.C.” and “Helena’s Flowers” – two tracks that deal with obsession and attachment.

“The Knife” brings to mind early stuff from The Cure as Gohl sings about feeling best when one realizes most of life is nonsense. It can be a depressing thought, and Gohl has admitted that depression is the main theme of the album and the recording of it was a healing process for he, McBride, and Bhatti. The closer, “Warm,” has Gohl’s guitar sounding like it’s stumbling across a desert landscape in search of a cool place to rest. “Is this the cure you believe in, or just another cast line?” Gohl sings. The last line of the song and thus the album is “Inside I close the door.” Does he mean inside the safety of his home or inside the domain of his mind? I’m not sure if it matters either way. He has found a way to shut out the noise, and wouldn’t we all be better off if we could do that?

The title, Auto-Pain, is a reference to Brave New World and a substance that lets you feel everything at once. Could we deal with such a wave of emotion? Would we end up enlightened if we did, or crushed? Sometimes the reward is worth the risk.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Radar Men from the Moon – Subversive I (2015)

It’s a bit difficult to describe the music of Radar Men from the Moon (who are actually from the Netherlands). Is it psychedelia? Prog-rock? Synthwave? Shoegaze? All of that? None of it? I’m not sure. They were all playing synthesizers, sequencers, and drum machines when I saw them at Levitation France a couple years ago, and Subversive I is heavy on electronica and synths, whereas other albums are more guitar-based. I do know, however, that everything I’ve heard from them is good.

Subversive I is the part of a triptych of albums released in consecutive years starting in 2015. Subversive I is only four instrumental tracks, but the shortest one is six-and-a-half minutes long.

That one is the first track, “Deconstruction,” which starts off with fuzzy synth bass and sharp drum beats before robot pulse guitars come in to get you moving. It’s an industrial dance track in many ways, again making RMFTM difficult to categorize.

“Habitual” takes on a darkwave tone with guitars that sound like they were recorded in a dark tomb and bass and synths that sounds like some…thing pounding and clawing it’s way out of that tomb.

“Neon” is the longest track on the album at eleven minutes and sixteen seconds. It starts quiet and brooding, like a slow, building rain hitting a tin roof. It turns into a theme for a cool futuristic mystery-thriller movie you think you’ve seen but never have.

The closer, “Hacienda,” is the most “in your face” song on the record with its buzz-saw guitars and “Peter Gunn”-like bass that gets under your skin.

Subversive I, like a lot of RMFTM’s work, is one of those albums that changes the feel of the room when you play it. It’s one of those albums that makes people ask, “What is this?” Sometimes they ask it out of intrigue, other times out of confusion, and other times out of apprehension. If that doesn’t make you want to hear it, I don’t know what will.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Public Image Ltd. – This Is What You Want…This Is What You Get (1984)

The fourth album by Public Image Ltd., This Is What You Want…This Is What You Get, came out in the Year of Orwell – 1984. The world was in the middle of the Cold War and people were wondering which side was going to first heat it up. It was the “me decade” here in the U.S. for Wall Street tycoons who were grabbing all the wealth they could while the rest of us were waiting on Trickle Down Economics to make our lives easier. Spoiler alert: We’re still waiting.

John Lydon and guitarist Keith Levene were working on the album and had an early mix, entitled Commercial Zone, completed. Levene took it to Virgin Records, but Lydon abandoned the project and re-recorded all of it to create This Is What You Want…This Is What You Get.

It starts with the buzzy “Bad Life,” which was the first single off the record. It mixes funky bass with cool horn blasts as Lydon sings, “This machine is on the move. Looking out for number one.” It’s a nice shove at 1980’s yuppies stepping on others to get what they want. The title of the album is repeated over electric drum beats toward the end of the track (and throughout the album).

“This Is Not a Love Song” was Lydon’s poke at people who kept asking him, “Why don’t you write a love song?” He write a brassy jam that mostly repeats the title and ended up being one of his biggest hits. “Happy to have and not to have not. Big business is very wise. I’m crossing over into the enterprise,” he sings, telling all of us that he could take the money and run if he wanted.

Louis Bernardi‘s bass on “Solitaire” is downright nasty. You could easily slap it onto a funk record and it wouldn’t sound out of place. “Tie Me to the Length of That” is a reference to Lydon’s birth, even referencing the doctor who slapped him when he was born. It crawls around the room like a creepy goblin. The horn section echoes from the background like some sort of distant warning.

“The Pardon” has Lydon calling people out for being resistant to change. The beat is a weird tribal jam that is hard to describe but one that sinks into your head. “Where Are You?” is barely controlled chaos as Lydon searches for…someone. I’m still not sure whom.

“1981” is a post-punk classic with Lydon ranting about everything he could see was going to go wrong in the decade and how he figured it might be best to leave England for a while. The drums are sharp, the baritone sax angry, the cymbals sizzling, and the lyrics biting: “I could be desperate. I could be brave…I want everything in 1981.”

The album’s title is repeated again at the beginning of the last track – “The Order of Death” – killer drum beats back dark piano chords. The guitar chords are like something out of a Ridley Scott film score. It’s a cool ending to a cool record, and somewhat of a forgotten post-punk classic.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor – SikSik Nation

Back in 2006, Detroit psych-rockers Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor were known as the garage rock band SikSik Nation. They record a four-song EP that never saw the light of day…until now.

The EP opens with power drumming and chords on “Power Couples,” with vocalist Sean Morrow sounding a bit like The Cult‘s Ian Astbury. Drummer Rick Sawoscinski beats his kit like he expects the rented studio time to end at any second. Morrow’s guitar and Eric Oppitz‘s bass on “New Face” has some of the psychedelic touches (space rock guitar solo in Morrow’s case) and heady fuzz (Oppitz’s bass line) the band would later refine when they became SOYSV. The honky tonk piano in it is another great touch.

“You’re rising up now, but she’s always got you down,” they sing on “Murder on My Lips,” which ups the fuzz and power even further from the last track. This must flatten walls when its played live, as must “Sold Gold Souls.” The final track screeches like a Detroit auto plant’s assembly line at full production during an earthquake. The whole track rumbles with menace and chants of “Sell my soul, it’s solid gold.” before it melts into a weird warp that wouldn’t be out of place on a doom album.

It’s great to hear SOYSV so raw, angry, and hungry. SikSik Nation is the map to the psychedelic trips they would later take. It’s must-hear stuff for fans of the band, or anyone else.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Elephant Stone – Hollow

I first heard most of Elephant Stone‘s new album, Hollow, at the 2019 Levitation Music Festival in Austin, Texas when they played a good chunk of it on the inside stage at Barracuda. I’d heard a couple of tracks ahead of the gig and was intrigued by the heavier-than-normal sound. That sound was even heavier live, and the theme of the album – a story set in an apocalyptic future in which people are trying to flee a dying Earth to another planet – takes on even more weight when you hear it live and / or in its entirety.

The album opens with “Hollow World” – a track brimming with Elephant Stone‘s trademark psychedelia and lyrics about having to finally say goodbye to Mother Earth because the human race has succeeded in destroying it. “Darker Time, Darker Space” is a quick interlude as doomed Earthlings fly into unknown space in hopes of finding something better.

“The Court and Jury” decide who leaves, however. Lead singer / bassist / sitarist Rishi Dhir‘s vocals sound like they’re coming through a faulty intercom system on an old spacecraft and his sitar sounds like circuits working overtime as the ship lands on the “Land of Dead.” This was the first track I heard off Hollow. The bass and drums are heavy and the guitar shreds for just under two minutes of raw power.

“Keep the Light Alive” brings in a children’s choir to represent the new generation of Earthlings alone on what could be a hostile new world. “This place is far too cold,” Dhir sings on “We Cry for Harmonia.” The Earthlings are quickly realizing the new planet might end up as wasted as the old one (“How can you fill this space with air you cannot breathe?”). Gabirel Lambert‘s guitar solo on this track is top-notch, by the way, and the backing synths and hand percussion only elevate the song higher.

“Harmonia” is dreamy psych accented by Dhir’s sitar and more of that groovy hand percussion. Dhir’s bass takes center stage on “I See You” (and how about that wicked high-hat work by Mile Dupire, too?) – a groovy track with some light pop touches that could be a radio friendly smash if enough DJs give it a chance.

“The Clampdown” isn’t a cover of The Clash song (although that would be great), but rather a song about the Powers That Be coming after those of Earth living in underground communities. The dark synths underline the menace of the lyrics. The synths are bright on “Fox on the Run” – the title of which seems to reflect the hunted Earthlings making another run for it. “House on Fire” has the Earth, or is it the new world, burning while people try to ignore it. The guitar on it is like a distant warning klaxon, but the synths are still bright – giving us some hope while things crumble around us. The album closes with more hope on “A Way Home.” The Earth has been all but abandoned, but the ones who remain realize they can repair it and build something new while old karma continues to build new paybacks on the new world inhabited by the privileged few.

It’s a wild record, and I don’t think anyone expected a concept album with doom overtones from Elephant Stone, but it’s great that they’re pushing the envelope and exploring new avenues.

And, yeah, the new stuff sounds great live.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Randy Holden – Population II (2020 reissue)

Randy Holden, former guitarist and vocalist of metal pioneers Blue Cheer, debuted his first solo album, Population II (because it was just Holden and his drummer / keyboardist Chris Lockheed – and it’s also a term for a star cluster with heavy metals in it), in 1969 to stunned audiences. He recorded the proto-doom metal record with sixteen 200-watt Sunn amps in an opera house and troubles with releasing it bankrupted Holden. The album was bootlegged and copied many times, but RidingEasy Records has unleashed it in a new, high quality remaster that sounds like, as Holden once put it, “Godzilla walked into the room.”

The album opens with the cosmic sludge of “Guitar Song.” Holden moves back and forth between heavy stoner psych and gold old-fashioned metal shredding. Lockheed keeps the drums minimal, letting Holden’s guitar take center stage. Don’t ask me to figure out the meaning of “Fruit Icebergs,” just enjoy the epic riffs and iceberg-heavy drums as they come at you like an unstoppable force. The song (with lyrics about enjoying colors and heaven, among other things) is so massive that there’s a groovy break in it entitled “Between Time” in which Holden sings about loving his guitar before “Fruit Icebergs (Conclusion)” comes back for nearly another two minutes.

“Blue My Mind” could refer to Holden’s time in Blue Cheer or a woman who once gave him a wild ride. Either way, Lockheed thumps out the heartbeats of a titan while Holden’s guitar seems to be the marching music of an orc army. The album ends with the stunning ten-minute long “Keeper of the Flame.” Holden compares women to beautiful blue skies and rainbows, but don’t let the lyrics make you think the track is some sort of acoustic hippie love jam. It’s a chugging blues-influenced rocker that sounds like an out of control big rig truck at some points.

This could easily be one of the top reissues of 2020, and it’s a treasure if you’re a fan of cosmic / stoner / doom rock. Many thanks to RidingEasy Records for giving it a proper release.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: The KVB – Submersion

Submersion is a great name for this EP from The KVB (Kat Day and Nicholas Wood). Listening to it is like indulging in a night of psychedelic shoegaze music and then sinking into a warm pool, or lying down on a comfortable bed, or finding a comfy couch in the back of a nightclub.

The title track opens the EP with shimmering synths and simple guitar strums as Day and Wood’s vocals almost chant to us from behind a wall of mist. The synth bass builds and Wood’s guitar lights up the room like a mirror ball. “Outlands” has a great synth-bass groove throughout it that gets your toes tapping and torso writhing.

The alternate version of “Into Life” (from their 2018 album Only Now Forever) is a sultry, breathy make-out track you’ll want to permanently keep on a playlist for such activity. The next two tracks, “Above Us” and “On My Skin,” are also from the same album but remixed by The Holydrug Couple and Miniami Deutsch, respectively. The Holydrug Couple’s mix is, at you might expect, full of trippy synths and heavy reverb on the vocals. Minami Deutsch’s, also as you might expect, turns the song into a krautrock dance track that brings to might sun breaking through gray clouds.

Submerse yourself into this EP. You’ll be better off for it.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Forever – Close to the Flame

As the story goes, singer-songwriter June Moon (also known as Forever) had just left a terrible relationship and was inspired to write her new EP, Close to the Flame, by a ghost. I’m not sure I can write something that will make you more intrigued by the EP than that, but I’ll give it a whirl.

The opening song, “Blur,” is a Portishead-like groover that details the murder of the woman who would become the aforementioned ghost. It hides a sad story amid bedroom grooves. “Make It Happen” (featuring guest vocals by Just John) is a sharp house cut with Moon’s vocals bouncing around the room like a happy sparrow.

“Devotion” has these cool organ chords throughout it and weird beats that sound like they’re underwater. Speaking of such things, “Diving Bell Blue” has Moon saying goodbye to her ex and assuring herself that “everything is going to be better.”

Moon’s falsetto is nicely matching with synth-bass and chill beats on “Brad.” The ghost at the beginning of Moon’s story has become an angel by the time we reach the closer, “Adonis.” The slow, subtle beats of the track are like the wind pushing the fluffy cloud of Moon’s vocals.

For a record made after a bad relationship ended, this EP sure is lovely – but that’s probably the point. Moon found new life and peace while making it, and she’s kind enough to share it with us.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Karney – Better

This five-song EP from San Francisco’s Karney (sometimes also known as the Karney Band) is led by singer-songwriter-guitarist Anna Karney and was a surprise delivery to me by her label.

The title track, “Better,” is gets things off to a good start with hard-hitting drums from Jeff Herrera and Karney’s lyrics about taking charge of our lives in dark times. “Trust” is another uplifting track, not unlike a gospel song with its strong themes of acceptance and trust in something greater than the self.

Karney’s faithful cover of Led Zeppelin‘s “Ramble On” is a good one that takes on a hint of country flavor that works well (since, after all, country and blues are strongly linked). “Snake Oil Salesman,” has a bit of a psychedelic surf flair and lyrics (and a poem by Haji Hajimicheal) that I think reference a deceitful lover or the Grim Reaper (or possibly one and the same being). The closer, “Round and Round,” is a slightly mournful tune (with nice accordion work by Julie Wolf) that highlights Karney’s road-weary vocals.

Better is a nice little rock EP that would’ve escaped my radar were it not for Karney’s label sending it to me. I thank them for the gift, and Ms. Karney for the fine work indeed.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Gary Wilson – Tormented

Bedroom rock maestro Gary Wilson has returned with one of his best albums in a while – Tormented. Since the painting of Wilson on the cover shows him wearing a Carnival of Souls shirt (a ghost story movie about a woman pursued by a mysterious man as she’s drawn to a beach-side park, which could be the theme of an entire record by Wilson), I can’t help but wonder if the title of the album refers to the Roger Corman film of the same name. In that movie, a man is haunted by the ghost of his former lover, and that is certainly a theme present in all of Wilson’s work – including this record.

The album ends with the short, weird “A Special Day,” in which Wilson and other ghostly voices mention it’s his girl’s birthday again and he’s planted a tree in her honor. “Happy Birthday to My Girl” follows it, and Wilson, with a jaunty keyboard groove behind him, sings a birthday song to his lover after she’s moved far away from him, oblivious to the fact that he’s bought new shoes for a date with her that will now never happen.

The synths on “The Sin Eater” are Donald Fagen-esque and Wilson’s vocals are a plea for his mysterious girl to not be afraid of the one who can take away her pain. “Oh that sounds real nice,” he sings at the beginning of “You Looked Cool in Outer Space.” He’s right. The tune is one of his funkiest and smoothest in a while.

“The Merry Go Round” is a piano-backed poem about Wilson spending another lonely night at his favorite park, where he goes every single night to think about the girl he mentions in “Midnight and You.” She’s another girl he can’t have or who he knew once but has long forgotten him. “I Married Lisa Last Night” is a brief instrumental that reminds you that Wilson is a fine pianist indeed.

“It’s Almost Midnight” is another ode to the nightlife Wilson loves so much, but he promises he’ll have his girl home before then. “Frank Roma Is Tormented” is a plunge into saxophone riffs and eerie madness. “Where Did You Go?” reminds us that “Every night is Friday night” when you’re with Mr. Wilson as it bops along a quiet, lonely road into outer space or through the North Side Park in Wilson‘s hometown of Endicott, New York (which, in case you didn’t know, is a very small town).

The title track is another creepy poem that drifts into a question Wilson asks on every record – “Where Is Linda?” It’s a hip track with more smooth synth work from Wilson, and once more the question goes unanswered. ‘The Wind” is the third poem on the album, with Wilson calling for various women as he hears their voices from afar.

The title of “Gary Lives in the Twilight Zone” could be an understatement. His albums indicate he lives in a mysterious place that shifts from dreams to reality until they are blurred and merged. Each one of his records lets us explore this odd place with him. His synth solo is great and the drums on the track are particularly snappy. The album closes with the fourth poem – “A Sad Town” – in which Wilson tries to swim to Toronto but ends up at an amusement park, tries again, but doesn’t make it – leaving us to wonder if he drowned in Lake Ontario and if Tormented is actually an album made by a ghost (a ghost who is currently touring, by the way).

I’d be fine with that. Ghosts follow Wilson around all the time, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s been one all along.

Keep your mind open.

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