Chicago shoegazers Diagonal were already high on my list of favorite new bands for 2018 with their LP Tomorrow released back in July. Apparently bursting with energy, they released a new EP of material, You Are Free, just a couple weeks ago. It’s five tracks of mind-bending riffs mixed with fuzz, psychedelic touches, and enough reverb to power an eighteen-wheeler.
The LP opens with the bass-heavy “Spending Time,” which blends psychedelic riffs with buzzsaw guitars that remind me of early RIDE tracks. “Wise Mary” has a great fade-in that is like a swarm of bees glide toward you across a field. It then swirls and buzzes around you like those same bees, but it keeps a comfortable distance without overwhelming you. “Sines” is a mesmerizing track of instrumental shoegaze rock that is perfect for escaping gravity. I love when bands are brave or carefree enough to include instrumental tracks on records, and this one is top notch.
The opening guitars on “Can’t Be Real” sound not unlike a warning klaxon, heeding you to the massive bass and drums coming your way in just a few seconds. Those later give the floor to a shredding guitar solo that almost turns singer Andy Ryan’s vocals into backing vocals. The EP closes with “Send for Me,” which contains the clearest vocals on the record and sounds like an Oasis track if Oasis fully embraced their shoegaze love and stayed away from petty squabbles.
It’s another solid record from Diagonal. You need to get on their bandwagon now. They’ll become Riot Fest headliners in no time (which would be great).
I am severely late to the Khruangbin party. I’d heard snippets of their gorgeous album, Con Todo El Mundo, but the full album somehow escaped me nearly the entire year. I’m glad to have caught up, however, because their third record is a lovely mix of jazz, psychedelia, and Iranian / Middle Eastern funk grooves.
Starting with the soulful “Como Me Quieres” (“How Much Do You Love Me”), guitarist Mark Speer produces such clear, beautiful tones that the general vibe around you instantly changes upon hearing them. It slows down everything and gets your mind to notice how fast everyone else is whizzing by you. “Lady and Man” is just as nice, with Speer’s love of Middle Eastern guitar riffs coming to the fore, and drummer Donald Johnson puts on a clinic in solid backing grooves (and does so through the whole record). “Maria Tambien” sizzles from the first chord and doesn’t let up for the next three minutes. You’ll swear you’re riding in a taxi through Marrakesh while you’re listening to it.
“August 10” is a blissful, laid-back track with a bass groove so subtle by Laura Lee that it’s almost like a lover’s whisper across your pillow. “Como Te Quiero” brings in psychedelic reverb on Lee’s vocal sounds to nice effect. You could set your watch to Johnson’s beats on “Shades of Man.” They’re so precise that they almost sound like they were created in the Matrix, but he’s just that good.
Lee keeps repeating “Yes” on “Evan Finds the Third Room,” a funky cut that gets you dancing and features one of her phattest bass grooves. She and Speer just cut loose while Johnson keeps them rooted enough to not go over the cliff. “A Hymn” is suitably mellow and meditative. By the time “Rules” arrives, you realize that Con Todo El Mundo is possibly the best make-out album of 2018. In fact, “Friday Morning” is a perfect song to play while fixing breakfast for your lover after a great Thursday night.
This album is one of the prettiest I’ve heard all year, and a better cure for a hectic day than Netflix and chill.
Following last year’s cover of “O Holy Night,” Texas space-psych rockers Dayluta Means Kindness have released their version of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” for 2018. It’s an instrumental jam that keeps the core of the song and sends it into orbit. It’s only a buck to download it, so drop them some change while you’re in the Christmas spirit.
Keep your mind open.
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Chicago power-punks Axis: Sova tighten up but still keep plenty of live-to-tape fuzz and fury on their newest record – Shampoo You.
The opening riffs of “Terminal Holiday” are a great example of that. The guitar fuzz is almost funky and then almost psychedelic while the Peter Hook-inspired bass keeps you from free-floating beyond gravity.
The guitars are pure new wave on “New Disguise.” The skronks and squeaks are great, and the drum beat is like something from an early Knack record. “Crystal Predictor” is one of the sharpest post-punk tracks of 2018 with a catchy chorus and guitar chords that shred one moment and then ooze the next.
The dual vocals on “Dodger” are a great touch to an already keen track that is louder than you realize at first. “Stale Green” slows down the tempo but ups the power and grooves. The bass groove on “Shock Recognition” could be from a Cure B-side, while the guitar solos border on noise rock cacophony and the electric drums are so precise that they might cut you.
The album ends with the Black Angels-like “Same Person Twice,” which might be about reincarnation or being stuck in repetitive relationships. I like that they decided to end the record on a slightly mellow note. It’s like a cool-down after a high-intensity spin bike workout.
This is one of those records that gets better with each listen.
You know you’re in for a psychedelic music treat when an album opens with a track entitled “The Intergalactic Drifters Inn Welcoming Center Theme Song Pt-1.” Recorded between the Dunes‘ home land of Australia and their part-time homeland of Texas, the psych-giants’ newest (and self-titled) record is a welcome addition to 2018 releases. I’m a longtime fan of the band, and learning this record was coming out this year was like getting an early birthday present.
The opening track mixes shoegaze guitar droning with desert wind synths and didgeridoo tones to put you in the right frame of mind without the need for any kind of of, ahem, enhancements. It will do the work for you. “When You Wake Up” then bursts into your brain like the sun coming through the window after a long night of partying. The reverbed vocals speak of either sleeping off a bad trip, putting the past behind you, or reincarnation (“When you wake up, it’ll be all right.”). It could be all three for all I know. Just let the wall of distortion wash over you.
Psychedelic surf guitars step up front and center on “Making Friends with Codeine.” It’s appropriately trippy and catchy as all get-out. The cleverly titled “(Just Because You’re Not Being Followed Doesn’t Mean You’re Not) Paranoid” reminds me of Black Angels‘ tracks in that it’s creepy, rocking, and mind-melting all at the same time.
“Mountain” is something the Yeah Yeah Yeahs would’ve created if they’d become a psychedelic rock band instead of an art-punk band. The tribal of drums of “New Old” drive the track for over seven minutes of powerful psychedelic rock complete with vintage keys and guitars that stomp their fuzz pedals into submission.
“It feels like the bottom of the sea,” Stacie Reeves sings on “WKNDS” – a track heavy and weird enough to be on your playlist while doing deep sea research on bioluminescent fish or color-shifting cephalopods. “Pariah” is nearly nine minutes and it’s a fine journey toward a desert sunset while walking alongside an Aboriginal shaman.
“The Intergalactic Drifters Inn Welcoming Center Theme Song Pt-II” closes the record, letting us know that our tour of the cosmos has come to a conclusion. The Dunes have taken you on a journey that is difficult to describe, but you know it was mind-altering while you were on it. Thankfully, you can take the journey anytime you want and will probably notice something different every time.
Keep your mind open.
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A place called “Subterranean” seems like a perfect fit to see doom metal rockers Windhand. A lot of their songs cover subjects like graveyards, tombs, and ancient things best left buried. They played to a happy crowd of metal heads, goths, and music geeks like yours truly in the small club. Unfortunately for me, their opening band, Satan’s Satyrs, were wrapping up their set about the time I was walking up to the door. Yes, I could hear them from outside and even across a busy Chicago street.
Windhand were just as loud, if not louder. I hadn’t seen them since I caught most of their set at Levitation Austinearlier this year, and that was an open-air stage. This would be my first time seeing them in an enclosed space. I’m glad I brought my earplugs.
Emerging to a recording of spooky Halloween / haunted house noises, they opened with, what else, “Old Evil” and immediately unleashed thunder.
Lead singer Dorthia Cottrell was fully warmed up by the time they reached “First to Die,” and following it with “Forest Clouds” and “Grey Garden” had the entire crowd head-banging in unison.
One thing I noticed live that I now can’t believe I missed when listening to their new record, Eternal Return, was how Garrett Morris‘ guitar work often brings in distortion and effects with shoegaze influences. It’s no secret that I love shoegaze music, so this is probably one of the many reasons I like Windhand so much.
Everyone in the crowd was ready for the Grim Reaper to show up by the time Windhand got to “Red Cloud” and “Cossack.” It was a heavy, powerful performance that I needed after a work week that had me dealing with a staggering amount of paperwork until my eyes were sore.
Another breath of fresh air at this show was something you don’t see much of anymore – affordable merchandise. $20 T-shirts, $10 CD’s, cheap stickers, reasonably priced hoodies, and more were available at Windhand and Satan’s Satyrs’ booths.
Catch them before they leave for a bunch of European dates. Heck, go to Europe and see them (where I’m sure they’ll sell out most, if not all, of their shows). Let their power overwhelm you.
Keep your mind open.
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Made not long after he attended a week-long silent meditation retreat, Ron Gallo‘s excellent new album of Zen punk, Stardust Birthday Party, arrives at a crucial time in history when the rich are getting richer, the middle class is disappearing, the poor are being left behind, and people are still clinging to material and mental things that ultimately mean nothing.
“Who Are You? Point to It!” is the short, existential question that opens the record. Can any of us answer this question without words? It jumps into the Alan Watts and Eckhart Tolle-inspired “Always Elsewhere.” It’s one of the best singles of the year and has been my mantra since hearing it. Everyone nowadays seems to be somewhere other than where they really are in space and time. The song is a wild, blaring diatribe against this practice that will make you want to throw away your cell phone, take a breath, and experience the miracle happening right in front of you at this moment.
“Prison Decor” reveals Gallo’s love of Devo with the snappy sound and his playful and slightly weird vocals. “Party Tumor” brings forth Joe Bisirri‘s fat bass as Gallo sings about someone (himself, perhaps?) who constantly needs to be heard and craves attention (“I just need to be heard anytime, anywhere.”) even though this attention will bring no true satisfaction.
“Do You Love Your Company?” starts with a Tibetan meditation bowl clang and then asks if you truly enjoy being in the moment alone or if you seek verification from the illusionary world around you. Gallo’s guitars squawk and chug as much as his intense vocals. “‘You’ Are the Problem” is a wake-up call to everyone who thinks the world is against them but doesn’t realize the issue is within them.
“OM” has the universal chant layered over police sirens, wine bar chatter, and a warning from Gallo’s mind that the mind can’t be stopped, but his relationship with it can be changed. After all, “It’s All Gonna Be OK.” That track is full of fuzzed guitar riffs and some of Dylan Sevey‘s biggest rock drumming on the record.
“I Wanna Die (Before I Die)” is a Zen riddle. “It’s the point of my life,” Gallo sings. It’s the point of all our lives, really. Dying to illusion and freeing the true self is the only goal of all of our lives. Caroline Roseguest stars on “Love Supreme (Work Together),” which has her and Gallo singing about the nature of love, what it means to each of us, and how “God loves it when we work together.”
“Everybody’s trying to be some kind of something,” Gallo sings on “The Password” – a quirky track that reminds me of one of Frank Zappa‘s work. “I don’t even know the password to my own heart,” Gallo says. We all know the passwords to multiple social media accounts, bank accounts, and shopping clubs, but we don’t know how to unlock our inner treasure house.
“Bridge Crossers” discusses how the fear of death is irrational and seems to be a salute to one of Gallo’s teachers of spirituality. The album ends with “Happy Deathday,” a celebration of the end of illusions. “How hard we have to work for a false sense of worth…” Gallo sings. We all tend to lose sight of the joy inside us and right in front of us because it’s easy to succumb to fear. It’s relentless and will overwhelm your life if you let it.
If, like the alien mentioned in “Happy Deathday,” you’re wondering “what the fuck happened” to you, your family, your friends, and the world in general, then this album will be a welcome pleasure. It will remind you that you have what you need within you. You always have.
Keep your mind open.
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North American Fall/Winter Headline Tour Kicks Off Nov. 6th
(Khruangbin’s “Christmas Time Is Here” 7” Cover Art by Fuzzytown)
“…I defy you to put on ‘Con Todo El Mundo,’ the second album from Texas trio Khruangbin in the summer sunshine, or the winter dusk, and not be able to find some measure of peace and a source of animation.” — NPRMusic (NPR Music’s 40 Favorite Albums Of 2018 [So Far])
“Buy it, stream it, hear it, get it, live it: It’s been a spell since one of those all-things-to-all-people albums has come along, but Khruangbin’s second full-length, Con Todo El Mundo, seems to be just that.”
— VOGUE
“The result is a border-blurring convergence, one likely to propel whatever dance floor is lucky enough to receive it.” — Los Angeles Times
“…funky, jumpy tendrils of guitar, mixed with hazy washes of surf rock…” — Vulture
“On their second album, the Houston-based instrumental trio crafts a unique, psychedelic vibe that hangs between continents and eras.” — Pitchfork
“Drop a needle on Khruangbin’s latest album—and really, you should drop a needle on it because this music is meant for spinning on vinyl—and you’ll see visions.” — Relix
“It’s impossible not to like them.” — XLR8R
At the close of a marathon year supporting their breakthrough album, Con Todo El Mundo (out now on DeadOceans/NightTimeStories), Khruangbin return with an exciting addition – an update on Vince Guaraldi’s timeless “Christmas Time Is Here.”
“Growing up the three of us all had very different Christmases,” says bassist LauraLee. “But we recently discovered we all had the exact same favorite Christmas song. When we realized it, we sat down to play it and it came together instantly. In 15 minutes we had this recorded. It was like the best Christmas present ever.”
With ambling sweetness and a fresh, beat-driven groove, Khruangbin have taken this oft-covered classic and made it wholly their own.
Having just wrapped up a massive tour supporting LeonBridges, Khruangbin will hit the road next month for a slew of headline dates across North America. The tour kicks off in Phoenix on Tue. Nov. 6th and includes shows at TheFox Theatre in Oakland, The Wiltern in Los Angeles, The Vic in Chicago, the 9:30 Club in DC, two nights at Brooklyn Steel in NYC, and more. A full list of dates are below.
Tue. Nov. 6 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
Wed. Nov. 7 – Las Vegas, NV @ Vinyl at Hard Rock Hotel Casino
Fri. Nov. 9 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater — SOLD OUT
Sat. Nov. 10 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park — SOLD OUT Sun. Nov. 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Tue. Nov. 13 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst Wed. Nov. 14 – Chico, CA @ El Rey Theater Fri. Nov. 16 – Seattle, WA @ The Moore Theatre
Sat. Nov. 17 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom — SOLD OUT Sun. Nov. 18 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre Tue. Nov. 27 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue Wed. Nov. 28 – Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theater Thu. Nov. 29 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall — SOLD OUT Fri. Nov. 30 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Sat. Dec. 1 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall Thu. Dec. 6 – Boston, MA @ Royale — SOLD OUT Fri. Dec. 7 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club — SOLD OUT
Sat. Dec. 8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel — SOLD OUT Sun. Dec. 9 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel — SOLD OUT
Tue. Dec. 11 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre
Wed. Dec. 12 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse — SOLD OUT Fri. Dec. 14 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s Sun. Dec. 15 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre — SOLD OUT
Tue. Jan. 15 – Mon. Jan. 21 – Miami, FL @ Jame Cruise 17 Fri. Mar. 8 – Adelaide, SA @ Womad Festival Sat. Mar. 9 – Launceston, TAS @ Panama Festival Sun. Mar. 10 – Meredith, VIC @ Golden Plains Festival Wed. Mar. 13 – Melbourne, VIC @ Croxton Bandroom Fri. Mar 15 – Sydney, NSW @ Oxford Art Factory Sat. Mar. 16 – Brisbane, QLD @ The Zoo Thu. Mar. 21 – Shangri-La, Osaka @ Umeda Fri. Mar. 22 – Quattro, Tokyo @ Shibuya Club
“Hey, dude, we are a heavy stoner rock band with doom and psychedelic influences from Nicosia, Cyprus…”
That was the beginning of the e-mail that introduced me to Stonus. I love hearing from bands outside the United States that I might not have discovered otherwise. Stonus’ new EP, Lunar Eclipse, was another great surprise.
The psychedelic influences are evident right away on “Reflections,” on which we hear a quick tale of apprehension and approaching the unknown (or death, perhaps). “Aspirin” roars to life with siren-like guitars and fuzzy bass and drums before reverbed vocals seem into your mind. “Spiritual Realities” brings in the doom influences and seems to increase the atomic weight of the record.
The title track is eight minutes of psychedelia that seems to drift on desert winds or across the Mediterranean Sea. The Middle Eastern-flavored guitar is a great touch and I love how Stonus doesn’t rush the track. It moves at a great pace best suited for introspection or feeling like a bad ass. The album fades out with the short instrumental “Euphoric Misery.” I’m not sure if that’s referencing a bad trip or the misery of coming out of euphoria into reality, but it’s trippy either way.
This is good stoner-psych rock. I don’t know if a full-length album will arrive before an actual lunar eclipse happens (January 2019), but let’s hope so.
Keep your mind open.
[You should subscribe before the next lunar eclipse, too.]
This year was not only the first time my wife and I traveled to France, it was also the first time we traveled to Levitation France in Angers – a mid-size town about one and a half hours by train southwest of Paris. It was the sixth year of the two-day festival and we’d wanted to go ever since we started attending Levitation Austinin 2013. The dates finally worked out this year, so we made the trip.
First, the festival is held in Le Quai – a great performance space venue in Angers along the Maine River. It has at least five performance areas in it, and the festival uses two of them for shows, two for food trucks, one for merchandise, and one for a bar.
That’s the outside of the venue in the main food truck area. Immediately inside that big open door is the main stage (called the “Forum”). We didn’t start there, however. We started in the smaller performance space (“T400”) at the back with French garage rockers Wild Fox.
Wild Fox
They were the first band on the first day, and they came to make a statement. They threw down wild energy that whipped up the early crowd, ending by kicking apart their drum set, playing with broken strings, and churning out plenty of good feedback.
I’ve heard a lot of good things about the new album from La Luz, so we checked out their set on the Forum stage. They had a good crowd, and their California sun-drenched psychedelia was a nice match for the sun coming in through the window behind them.
La Luz
We grabbed a bite from the food trucks (where I scored some tasty Senegalese food), and then headed toward the T400 stage to check out Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs. On the way there, we passed Holy Wave doing their soundcheck on the Forum stage. They were playing Interpol‘s “Untitled,” much to the delight of myself and a woman who came running from the back bar to cheer them.
Holy Wave playing Interpol.
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
Pigs x 7 were so loud and heavy that we had to fade back a bit and leave their set early. I think my wife’s head was about to split open from the intensity. We caught Holy Wave‘s set. They’re another band I’ve wanted to see for a while, and they put on a nice set of Texas psych-rock and seemed to be having a great time.
Holy Wave not playing Interpol.
We then zipped back to the T400 stage to catch most of Prettiest Eyes‘ set. It was our favorite of the night. The electro-punk oddballs from Puerto Rico and Mexico put on a great show with crazy beats, boundless energy, and plenty of swagger. My wife picked up a button from their merchandise table afterwards. I need to get their latest album. John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees said at Levitation Austinthis year that they’re one of his favorite bands. It’s easy to see why when you see them live.
Prettiest Eyes
We headed back to the Forum stage to see the Soft Moon. If you haven’t figured it out by now, the two stages are so close together, and the set times staggered so well, that you can see every band that plays over the course of the two days without trouble (and usually see their full sets). We saw the Soft Moon at our first Levitation Austin festival, back when it was still known as the Austin Psych Fest. It was good to see them again and get a hefty dose of industrial dark wave.
The Soft Moon
We ended the first night with the Blank Tapes, who my wife was keen on seeing after she checked out one of their videos. They have a nice, mellow sound that blends some folk with their psychedelia. My favorite song during the set was one the lead singer wrote to sing to his house plants (“Not marijuana…Regular plants.”).
The Blank Tapes
On day two, we got to Le Quai in time to see Bryan’s Magic Tears start the show. They played a nice set of psych-pop, but hunger won over on us and we headed to the food trucks for some crepes and a great Senegalese chicken sandwich.
Bryan’s Magic Tears
Go! Zilla were on the Forum stage immediately after them, and they provided some nice psychedelic dinner music for us.
Go! Zilla
The biggest surprise of the day, and possibly the whole festival, was the set by Flamingods. They put on a wild set of Middle Eastern, Afrobeat, and psychedelic music that had the members changing instruments so many times that I couldn’t keep track of whom mainly played what.
Flamingods
We then caught Juniore on the Forum stage. They’re an electro / post-punk three piece from France who put on a quirky, neat set with one of them wearing a silver mask the entire time. My wife said it reminded her of a Sleestak from Land of the Lost.
Juniore
We were keen on seeing MIENat the festival since we’d been at their premiere live gig at Levitation Austin earlier this year. They didn’t disappoint and are well in the groove after a lot of touring to support their debut album of dark psychedelia.
MIEN
Another fun surprise was the set by French electro duo Oktober Lieber. They were heavier than I’d expected and threw down some impressive industrial dance grooves.
Oktober Lieber
The rest of the night was full of electronic music for us. First was French musician Flavien Berger – a one-man show of techno beats, vocal effects, and synth work.
Flavien Berger
We ended the night, and our first Levitation France festival, with Radar Men from the Moon, who played nothing but synths, keyboards, and sequencers instead of their usual guitars and drums. It was a great, powerful set that made us run for the merchandise room and buy their first record.
Radar Men from the Moon
We’ll definitely go back, but I’m not sure it will be in the cards for next year. We loved the festival and Angers. Cross it off your bucket list, too.
Keep your mind open.
At Le Quai, the fire extinguishers apparently spray siracha.
