My wife and I were delighted to learn that Garbage would be playing in Paris while we were on vacation there. I was surprised we managed to score tickets at face value, and even more surprised by the intimacy of the venue – the Bataclan. I expected a much bigger place, but the small size made the show louder, closer, and better.
Openers Dream Wifeput down a raucous set of garage punk about subjects like female empowerment and ending gender bias. The people tending their merch table were having a great time all night.
Garbage came out to a lively crowd and were soon tearing through hits from their second album, Garbage 2.0. It was the 20th anniversary tour of the record, so you had to expect it. They played other hits, of course, and lead singer Shirley Manson had the crowd in her hands within moments of the first notes she sang.
They tore through tracks like “Deadwood,” “Wicked Ways” (which included parts of Depeche Mode‘s “Personal Jesus”), and “The World Is Not Enough” – the Bond theme they did from the movie of the same name back in 1999. Other highlights included “Medication,” with Manson telling the story of how she had to deal with health care in the U.S. after nearing dying of flu while on tour, “I Think I’m Paranoid,” “Sleep Together,” “Dumb,” and “Push It.”
They closed with “The Trick Is to Keep Breathing,” a new song called “No Horses” (which Manson said is about an environmental apocalypse), and “Cherry Lips” (which Manson said has become the Garbage concert anthem).
It was a fun show with an appreciative crowd. You can’t ask for much more than that.
International experimental musicians Exploded View (Annika Henderson hailing from Berlin and Hugo Quezada and Martin Thulin from Mexico City) explore themes of punishment and isolation (physical, mental, social) on their new album Obey.
They open with the instrumental “Lullaby,” which could be the opening theme to a Mario Bava movie, and then slide into the sultry “Open Road,” which could be the opening theme to David Lynch’s next movie. Henderson’s voice hypnotizes you within moments and Quezada and Thulin’s instrumentation ranges from weird lounge jazz to dreamwave. “Dark Stains” brings in krautrock bass and synths while Henderson sings about lost time and a lover’s deceptions.
“What would you do if your love was gone tomorrow and you never found the words to say?” Henderson asks on the haunting synthwave track “Gone Tomorrow,” in which Exploded View implores us to not wait and not to be afraid to find love. The unsettling title track is about obeying not only laws but also the unwritten rules of society (both in the flesh and online) which can get you ostracized if you don’t tow the line. Henderson’s voice seems to be on the outside of the song, like she’s being punished for not conforming. I can’t help but think of another filmmaker when hearing this track – John Carpenter. It seems to flow out of his film They Live.
“Sleepers” is one of the best synthwave tracks of the year, with buzzsaw guitars, sunlight-bright synths, dark bass, and Henderson’s vocals calling out to you through your dreams. “Letting Go of Childhood Dreams” is about the sometimes cold nature of reality. Again, Henderson’s vocals seem distant, almost like she’s fading away as the synths drift into every corner of the room.
The catchy “Raven Raven” is probably being blasted in goth dance clubs across Europe by now. If not, it should be. It’s perfect for dark rooms, make-out sessions, late night Metro rides, and catching the eyes of a raven-haired maiden as she looks at you over a cup of jet black espresso at 2am. “Come On Honey” brings in chaotic guitars and frenetic percussion while Henderson’s vocals keep us and her bandmates grounded (but just barely). The closing track, “Rant,” is appropriately urgent. Henderson implores us one last time to embrace life, love, and beauty. “Life could be so damn simple, if you let it,” she sings.
We’re too busy obeying, however. We’re obeying advertising, 24-hour news cycles, social media, and the expectations and opinions of others and not trusting our own minds, eyes, and hearts.
Stop obeying. Start living. That’s the message of Exploded View’s Obey.
Sae Heum Han, otherwise known as mmph, has released his second EP of electronic instrumentals – Serenade – and I’m not sure I can describe it better than the official press release for it, which states: “Melodically focused, orchestrally informed and rhythmically driven, each of Serenade’s five songs utilize a different classical trope to create Wagnerian suites in miniature. ‘Minuet’ is a stately dance in triple time (performance), ‘Tragedy’ is a play (death), ‘Elegy’ is a mourning poem (death), and ‘Serenade’ is a courtship song often played in the open air (love).”
“Minuet” is indeed a performance, with big, crashing guitars, percussion, and synths before lush pianos and strings take over the track. The choppy synths on “Tragedy” remind me of a crashing helicopter (or at least the sounds of such an event when seen in action films), which is appropriate for the title. They become almost angelic wails at one point.
The middle track, “Woodlawn,” starts and stops with chopped-up beats that resemble panicked breathing and uncertainty. “Elegy” is the creepy little synth brother to Mussorgsky’s “A Night on Bald Mountain.” The synths become gothic chants and the beats are the flapping of demon wings. The title track’s themes of love and courtship is evident from the first few notes. Synths bloom and burst and chase each other around like giddy lovers.
Serenade is an impressive piece of work. It’s bold and artful, and one of the more interesting electronica albums this year.
Starting with an odd, distorted chant (“Bashmuuu”), Magic Wands‘ newest album, Abrakadabra, is both meditative and exciting. The sudden burst of “Nocturnal” (one of the best shoegaze tracks of 2018) is like a stage magician throwing down a small flash bomb onstage. Synths move like dancing handkerchiefs and singer / guitarist Dexy Valentine (whose name WordPress keeps wanting to autocorrect to “Sexy Valentine,” by the way) sings, “I’m invincible when I’m with you.” Well, sign me up for any required heroics, Mrs. Valentine.
The jangly guitars of “Houdini” by Dexy and Chris Valentine bounce all around the room, and the guitars on “DNA” come at you from multiple directions. Don’t miss Tommy Alexander’s bass on it because it’s so smooth it might slide right by you if you’re not careful. “Realms” almost lures you into a dream, and “Loveline” is wonderful dream pop. The band refers to their sound as “lovewave,” and that description is apt on this track (and the whole record, really). “New Device” brings back the shoegaze, and “Chains and Fur” belongs on your boudoir playlist. I love how both Chris and Dexy Valentine layer their vocals over one another on the track.
That “double vocal” effect is just as good, if not better, on “Diamond Road,” which begs to be played in a convertible driving across the U.S. on a lonely night. Drummer Pablo Amador puts down some wicked beats on “Julie Ann Gray” as Dexy Valentine’s vocals are slightly muted yet covered in reverb. It’s like a lost Dum Dum Girls track. “Big Life” is a lovely close to a lovely record…unless you get the digital download that comes with the bonus track “Puzzle of Love.” It’s worth it. The guitars are bold and bright and the beats are playful.
As I mentioned above, Abrakadabra is a lovely record. “Lovewave” might be your new favorite thing after hearing this.
Keep your mind open.
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The winner of Most Intriguing Album Cover of the year might go to Clutch‘s new release – Book of Bad Decisions. The cover doesn’t feature a book at all, just a painting of a bald eagle on a branch either looking at something off to its right or looking back at us with perhaps apathy or vigilance. Then there’s the title. What bad decisions make up this book? Does it refer to a certain as-yet unnamed book? Let’s not forget the bald eagle is a symbol of the United States, and that symbol has turned its back on us. Has it done so because of our bad decisions in recent times? Is Clutch, who are lovers of history, warning us through a simple image that we are at risk of losing what makes this country great?
The album opens with a tale from the history of the band – “Gimme the Keys.” It’s the story of one of their earliest gigs when they played a small summer festival / large party in the middle of Corn Field Nowhere, USA, and were accused of stealing a microphone from another band and / or the party’s coordinators. It opens with fuzzy feedback and then turns into a blistering fire that only Clutch seems to know how to unleash. One of the best parts is hearing Neil Fallon re-enacting his words to the band’s accusers. Tim Sult‘s guitar moves back and forth between metal and psychedelia with ease.
“Spirit of ’76” is another history lesson from the band, possibly referring to 1776, the political landscape of 1976 (in which Fallon mentions a “farmer with peanuts in his hand” – Jimmy Carter?), or even the 1975 album of the same name by Spirit. Knowing Clutch’s catalogue like I do, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s all three. Jean-Paul Gaster‘s beats on this will have you doing bass drum kicks under your desk before you realize it. The title track opens with almost drone-metal bass from Dan Maines and talks of dark clouds and leads to killer shredding by Sult.
“How to Shake Hands” has Gaster going bonkers while Fallon takes on elections and political campaigning. Fallon claims he’s going to release all information about UFO’s and “put Jimi Hendrix on the twenty-dollar bill and Bill Hicks on the five note” once he’s President. He could probably win on those three promises alone. “In Walks Barbarella” brings in a horn section as Fallon sings about his childhood love of science fiction, “weaponized funk,” and hot women. In other words, Clutch has written a tune about yours truly.
Jerry Lee Lewis-like piano runs through “Vision Quest.” The nearly backward opening drums on “Weird Times” are appropriate, and Gaster’s cowbell was probably begging for mercy by the time he was done laying down the drum tracks. I like the music box-like underlying sounds of “Emily Dickinson.” It has a great swagger to it as well that probably flattens crowds when played live. “Sonic Counselor” has a dirty fuzz to it that makes you feel a bit mean, and it probably should be on your newest workout playlist.
“A Good Fire” starts with bluesy drums as Fallon sings about the joys of bonfires in autumn and the whole band is soon burning up behind him. “Ghoul Wrangler,” apart from having a cool title, takes off like a dragstrip racer off the line and doesn’t look back. As much as it rocks, “H.B. Is in Control” rocks even harder (which almost seems impossible). Gaster sounds like he’s having the time of his life behind his kit and Maines’ groove is so solid that you could build a skyscraper atop it.
“Hot Bottom Feeder,” believe it or not is Neil Fallon’s recipe for crab cakes. Seriously. The only thing better than the fact that Clutch put a recipe song on their new album is how damn good the song is. It’s one of their best blues-laced rockers in a long while, full of Sult’s hot guitar licks and the band’s humor. “Paper & Strife” sizzles past you at the speed of an out-of-control train engine, and the closer, “Lorelei,” practically has Fallon yelling to the heavens about the murmuring rock of legend in Germany that has possibly lured many ships to a watery grave.
Book of Bad Decisions is another good rocker from Clutch, who never swing and miss. Historical themes are nothing new to Clutch records, but they’ve woven them into this album with more subtlety and cleverness than usual. They’ve warned us to always keep history in mind, because, well, you know what happens when you forget it.
Produced in part with Kelly Deal of the Breeders and Pixies, Protomartyr‘s four-song EP, Consolation, packs more punch than many double albums in the punk, post-punk, neo-rock, or alt-rock genres.
The opening squall of “Wait” is like the sound of the gates opening at the Kentucky Derby, and the band are four horses running in peak form. Vocalist Joe Casey growls, yells, and snarls while drummer Alex Leonard seems to put down four different beats at once.
“Same Face in a Different Mirror” would be a great title for a giallo film from the 1970’s, and Greg Ahee‘s opening guitar riff is indeed creepy enough for a stylish Italian slasher film. It’s like Protomartyr put Joy Division, Editors, and Bauhaus in a juicer and extracted the micronutrients from all three for one track.
The last two tracks feature Ms. Deal on backing vocals. The first is “Wheel of Fortune,” and it’s easily one of the best tracks of the year. It comes out swinging, not giving you much time to breathe in the first minute before it breaks down into something that sounds like the soundtrack from a ghost film. Casey’s vocals slowly rise from the ground (lifted by Scott Davidson‘s fine bass work), unleashing some of his inner NickCave before the band kicks down the door. Davidson’s bass walk opens “You Always Win” and Casey sings about a troubled relationship he can’t bring himself to leave while Ahee’s guitar shoegaze riffs are subtle and stunning at the same time and Leonard unleashes a quick drum solo, which are sorely missing from rock nowadays.
Consolation is sharp as a knife and one of the better EP releases of 2018, so don’t skip it.
Mexico’s Le Bucherettes manage to combine psychedelia, garage rock, snotty punk, and disco fever all into one band. Their third album, A Raw Youth, covers everything from pre-2016 election anxiety to serial killers.
“Shave the Pride” gets it off to a loud, wild start with lead singer Terri Gender Bender belting out lyrics about anger and arrogance (“The size of your rage drowns my urge for lovin’.”). “Mallely” has the disco synths of Jamie Aaron Aux and the powerful drumming of Chris Common throwing you into dance fits. “Reason to Die Young” has Gender Bender claiming there’s “no sign of life in this hell hole,” but her assured vocals feel reassuring. Her Iggy Pop influence can’t be denied in her vocals and stage presence, and it’s in full view on “La Uva” (“The Grape”) in which Pop sings guest vocals with her. It’s a wild, Pixies-like track with its ebb and flow of volume and controlled, distorted chaos. “Sold Less Than Gold” is a lyrically brutal song about child slavery that’s almost disguised as a pop song with its bright synths.
“Stab My Back” is a giant middle finger to a man who once tried to keep Bender down. It’s like a Yeah Yeah Yeahs song combined with a kick in the nuts. “They Fuck You Over” has Bender drawing a line in the sand against the 1% (“‘Winners’ never touch skins. They know how to eat like bulldogs. They fuck you over…I try to manage this game by doing the worst that I can.”).
“Witchles C Spot” is a bold, almost Metric-like tune about toxic love, fetish sex, and obsession. It’s sexy, scary, and sinister all at once. “The Hitch Hiker” is about a serial killer, and might be an ode to the 1986 film The Hitcher. “Lonely & Drunk” is a powerful build up of synths, drums, and weird bass as Bender’s vocals slither out of your speakers as she sings about bad decisions made during bad times. The bizarre title of “Oil the Shoe if the Critter Knew Any Better” is perfect for the weird lyrics about ghosts, eating your vegetables, and how screwed up a relationship can be if one doesn’t face fears. The closer, “My Half,” is a warped song about love and possibly Bender’s Electra complex with guest guitar and synth-bass work by John Frusciante.
It’s a wild, weird record. Le Bucherettes were on my list of bands to investigate for a while, and I’m glad I finally got around to it. You should, too.
Coming in with possibly the wittiest album title of the year (Future Me Hates Me), New Zealand’s the Beths show up with some much-needed pop-punk and joie de vivre right now.
The fun fuzz that opens “Get No One” is somehow topped by the delightful rhythm guitar that follows it. You’re tapping your feet right away and wanting to blast the album’s opener out of your car as soon as possible. The title track is as fun as you’d hoped it would be as lead singer Elizabeth Stokes tells us about how she’s setting herself up for “future heartbreak, future headaches,” but she’s still going through with a relationship. “Uptown Girl” isn’t a cover of the Billy Joel song (although I’m sure they’d have fun with that), but it is a raucous salute to partying all night and the aftermath that often brings.
“You Wouldn’t Like Me” has Stokes warning a potential lover about the hazards of dating her. “You wouldn’t like me if you saw what was inside me,” she sings, but the peppy nature of the song leads us to believe that was she thinks are faults are in reality charms. “Not Running” has an urgent energy to it (despite the title) with Jonathan Pearce‘s guitars constantly moving forward and not looking back.
“Little Death” is a rocker about orgasms. “Happy Unhappy” has Stokes both lamenting and loving the start of a new relationship and how its going to break her out of her comfortable rut. “River Run: Lvl 1” might refer to a video game I’ve never played, but the theme of a lovers’ game seems to run through the whole tune. The groovy grooves, rock anthem drums (by Ivan Luketina-Johnston) and vocal harmonies of “Whatever” make it one of the catchiest tracks of 2018 (and I love the subtly heavy bass by Benjamin Sinclair on it). The album ends with “Less Than Thou,” another love song in which Stokes gets in her own way when it comes to love, but powers through it with shining guitars and happy beats.
Future Hates Me is one of the peppiest and most clever albums of the year. It’s a perfect summer rock record, or a perfect record for breaking your winter blues if you’re in New Zealand this time of year.
Keep your mind open.
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It was a grey night. Rain had been falling. My wife was on the phone with her boss and trying to sort out work drama that had been bothering both of them for a week. She and the whole Ft. Wayne area, it seemed, needed a boost of love and fun. They got it from the Flaming Lipsand Le Bucherettesat Ft. Wayne’s Clyde Theatre on August 16th.
My wife had never been to a Flaming Lips show. All I told her was that it would be wild and there would be balloons and confetti. I didn’t want to spoil anything for her.
We walked in just at the start of Le Bucherettes’ set. I’d heard of them somewhere before and made a note to check out their stuff, and this was my first full exposure to their work. It was a wild mix of psychedelia and art punk fronted by a wild Latina (Le Bucherettes hail from Mexico) who seemed to be the child of Iggy Pop and Poly Styrene after they’d had sex in an Aztec temple. They threw down a wild set that even had Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips crouching at stage right to take photos of them. My wife and I thought they needed to play next year’s Levitation Music Festival in Austin. They’d fit in perfectly there, and we picked up their last album at the merch table not long after their set.
Le Bucherettes
The beginning of the Flaming Lips’ set began with their cover of “Also Sprach Zarathustra” and then “Race for the Prize” off The Soft Bulletin, which included the following (of course):
My wife was already grinning by this point, and the grin never left her face the entire night. She laughed in disbelief at the giant inflatable robot that stood at center stage over Wayne Coyne during “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” – which Coyne described as a song not just about a young, female Japanese karate master fighting evil robots, but more about “Your friend who tells you they’re going to do something impossible, but they don’t know it’s impossible, and instead of you telling them it’s impossible, you tell them…Yoshimi you won’t let those robots defeat me.”
“Fight Test” is always a welcome addition to their sets, and the “Golden Throat” microphone version of the national anthem was a weird treat. This show was the first time I heard “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song” as well as “The Castle,” which Wayne Coyne described as a sad song, but it doesn’t feel overwhelmingly sad when he sings it. It still sounds hopeful to me.
“The Castle”
Coyne then put on rainbow wings and jumped on a light-up unicorn that was pulled through the audience while he sang “There Should Be Unicorns,” which took on a near deep-house beat and feel live. It’s cool on Oczy Mlody, but it’s better live.
They busted out “She Don’t Use Jelly,” which was well-received by the crowd (and was one I’d hoped they’d play), and “The Captain” after that. There was a small temporary stage in the middle of the crowd, and I figured it was for when Coyne stepped into a giant plastic sphere and crowd surfed to it during their cover of “Space Oddity.” I’d seen him do it at the inaugural Middle Waves Music Festival two years earlier. I was right, and my wife, a big Bowie fan, nearly cried when she realized what song was coming.
They wrapped up the set with “How??”, “Are You a Hypnotist?”, “The W.A.N.D.”, and “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton” before coming back for “Do You Realize?”
“That made me happy,” my wife said afterwards. “I needed that.”
It’s easy to forget that Jailbreak was Thin Lizzy‘s sixth album because Jailbreak was their commercial breakthrough and is so good that it often overshadows some of their earlier work.
The title track kicks off the album, and it’s essentially a line in the sand for every rock album that came after it. If you’re a rock band currently practicing in a garage or basement, you need to hear “Jailbreak” and realize that you had better come up with an opener with as much fire as this or your band is already doomed. Good luck with that, by the way, because matching the crunchy groove of it is nearly impossible. The groove on “Angel of the Coast” is almost as jaw-dropping. Drummer Brian Downey doesn’t screw around on this or any other track. The slight bluesy sound of “Running Back” (with nice keyboard additions by Tim Hinkley) is a nice switch-up by the band.
The way Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson‘s guitars play off each other on “Romeo and the Lonely Girl” is impressive in its subtlety and talent. “Warriors,” a song about drug addicts, has vocalist / bassist Phil Lynott singing and playing with swagger. I can’t figure out how he keeps up his killer bass line while singing like Iggy Pop, and the guitar solo on it is a thing of beauty.
“The Boys Are Back in Town” is, of course, their biggest hit in the United States (and pretty much everywhere else). It shouldn’t surprise anyone, really. The beat is straight-up rock, Lynott sings about guys everyone knows, and Gorham and Robertson’s guitars play for the cheap seats. “Fight or Fall” could almost be a Steely Dan track with it’s jazz guitar and drum touches. “Cowboy Song” is a rocking ode to rodeo riders, cattle wranglers, and heartbreak. The closer, “Emerald,” has enough guitar shredding for two albums, let alone one song. Remember how I suggested you should try to match “Jailbreak” when opening your album? It wouldn’t hurt to close with something as excellent as “Emerald” either.
Jailbreak is a classic that actually wasn’t heralded much in its time until “The Boys Are Back in Town” won the NME Award for Best Single in 1976. It has since grown to influence hundreds, if not thousands, of other bands, and to blast out speakers around the world.
Keep your mind open.
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