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Category: Post-punk
Protomartyr – Consolation
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 Nick Cave 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.
Keep your mind open.
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Rewind Review: Le Bucherettes – A Raw Youth (2015)
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.
Keep your mind open.
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Wharf Cat Records has brought us a new post-punk supergroup -Public Practice.
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Shopping announce fall tour dates for North America.
Shopping To Return Stateside For Fall North American Tour
In Support Of The Official Body, Out Now On FatCat Records
Playing Hopscotch, OctFest, Basilica Soundscape, And More
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Fat Possum Records to remaster and re-release four classic X albums.
FAT POSSUM RECORDS TO RELEASE REMASTERED X ALBUMS IN 2018
‘LOS ANGELES’
‘WILD GIFT’
‘UNDER THE BIG BLACK SUN’
‘MORE FUN IN THE NEW WORLD’
Photo: Gary Leonard
Fat Possum Records and X are teaming up. Effective immediately, Fat Possum Records will begin distributing for the world four classic X albums; ‘Los Angeles’ (1980), ‘Wild Gift’ (1981), ‘Under The Big Black Sun’ (1982), and ‘More Fun In The New World’ (1983). There are plans to release remastered versions of all four albums by the end of 2018. More details to come.
Formed in 1977, X quickly established themselves as one of the best bands in the first wave of LA’s flourishing punk scene; becoming legendary leaders of a punk generation. Featuring vocalist Exene Cervenka, vocalist/bassist John Doe, guitarist Billy Zoom, and drummer DJ Bonebrake, their debut 45 was released on the seminal Dangerhouse label in 1978, followed by seven studio albums released from 1980-1993. Over the years, the band has released several critically acclaimed albums, topped the musical charts with regularity and performed their iconic hits on top television shows such as Letterman and American Bandstand. X’s first two studio albums, Los Angeles and Wild Gift are ranked by Rolling Stone among the top 500 greatest albums of all time. The band continues to tour with the original line-up fully intact. In 2017, the band celebrated their 40th year anniversary in music with a Grammy Museum exhibit opening, a Proclamation from the City of Los Angeles and being honored at a Los Angeles Dodgers game where Exene threw out the first pitch and John Doe sang the National Anthem. The band continues to tour with the original line-up and are currently on the road, including select dates with The Psychedelic Furs.
X Tour Itinerary:
July 25 SOMO Village Event Center – Rohnert Park, CA (w/The Psychedelic Furs)
July 27 Oregon Zoo Summer Concerts – Portland, OR (w/The Psychedelic Furs)
July 29 Woodland Park Zoo – Seattle, CA (w/The Psychedelic Furs)
July 31 The Rockwell/The Complex – Salt Lake City, UT (w/The Psychedelic Furs, The FIXX)
Aug 2 The Ogden – Denver, CO (w/The Psychedelic Furs)
Aug 17 The Cave – Big Bear, CA
Aug 18 Burton Chase Park – Marina Del Rey, CA
Aug 19 North Park – San Diego, CA
Aug 22 Marty’s -Tustin, CA
Aug 23 Marty’s – Tustin, CA
Aug 24 Weins Family Winery- Temecula, CA
Aug 31 Del Mar Hall – St. Louis, MO
Sept 2 Muddy Roots Music Festival – Cookeville, TN
Sept 3 The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
Sept 4 The Cat’s Cradle – Chapel Hill, NC
Sept 5 The Neighborhood Theatre – Charlotte, NC
Sept 7 Sidetracks – Huntsville, AL
More Dates To Be Announced!
Los Angeles (1980)
1. Your Phone’s Off the Hook, But You’re Not
2. Johnny Hit and Run Paulene
3. Soul Kitchen
4. Nausea
5. Sugarlight
6. Los Angeles
7. Sex and Dying in High Society
8. The Unheard Music
9. The World’s a Mess, It’s In My Kiss
Wild Gift (1981)
1. The Once Over Twice
2. We’re Desperate
3. Adult Books
4. Universal Corner
5. I’m Coming Over
6. It’s Who You Know
7. In This House That I Call Home
8. Some Other Time
9. White Girl
10. Beyond and Back
11. Back 2 the Base
12. When Our Love Passed Out On the Couch
13. Year 1
Under the Big Black Sun (1982)
1. The Hungry Wolf
2. Motel Room In My Bed
3. Riding With Mary
4. Come Back To Me
5. Under the Big Black Sun
6. Because I Do
7. Blue Spark
8. Dancing with Tears In My Eyes
9. Real Child of Hell
10. How I (Learned My Lesson)
11. The Have Nots
More Fun in the New World (1983)
1. The New World
2. We’re Having Much More Fun
3. True Love
4. Poor Girl
5. Make the Music Go Bang
6. Breathless
7. I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts
8. Devil Doll
9. Painting the Town Blue
10. Hot House
11. Drunk In My Past
12. I See Red
13. True Love Pt. #2
For more information on X live shows, please contact:
For Fat Possum/reissue press inquiries, please contact:
Keep your mind open.
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Pitchfork Music Festival Artist Spotlight: Melkbelly
Chicago noise-punk outfit Melkbelly are playing one of the earliest sets (1:45pm on Friday) at this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival in their hometown, and it would be well worth leaving work early to see them. Their fierce rock has an edge to it that will slap you out of your doldrums and fire you up for the rest of the festival. Their 2017 album Nothing Valley was one of the best of the year, and I’ve heard their live performances are game-changing. Don’t miss them.
Keep your mind open.
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Bodega – Endless Scroll
BODEGA‘s Endless Scroll is probably my favorite post-punk record of 2018 so far. Consisting of Nikki Belfiglio (vocals), Heather Elle (bass), Ben Hozie (guitar and vocals), Montana Simone (drums), and Madison Velding-Vandam (guitar), the quintet offering a sharp commentary on hipsters, the digital age, sex, masculinity, femininity, and politics.
No track better sums up their thoughts on the world of 2018 than the opener – “How Did This Happen!?” Aren’t we all asking that every day here in the U.S.? “It’s the world now, don’t discriminate. Everyone is equally a master and a slave,” Hozie sings. Preach it, brother. He name checks failing bookstores, people curating their playlists more than their relationships, and people angry for no damn reason. “Bodega Birth” shows off more of Elle’s slick bass lines as Hozie and Belfiglio sing about how the internet, which should be the greatest educational tool of all time, is now a colossally boring shopping mall.
Elle’s bass takes the lead on “Name Escape” as Hozie sings about how he can’t remember names of people he sees all the time, even though he can notice things like someone wearing different pants than the last time he saw him. Also, he doesn’t often care (“Have I heard the latest something ’bout so-and-so? / No, I have not, my son. Now I don’t want to know.”). Again, preach it, brother. “Boxes for the Move” is a story of heartbreak following a break-up as Hozie leaves his lover’s place with “fifteen soggy boxes” of stuff and wishing he had the booze that used to be in the boxes he got from the liquor store. “I Am Not a Cinephile” is a collective middle finger to movie snobs and other ultra-hipsters.
Hozie and Velding-Vandam’s squeaky guitars on “Can’t Knock the Hustle” sound like alarm klaxons or steel being hammered by a blacksmith. Belfiglio invites us all to love ourselves (if you get the drift) on “Gyrate” – even if you want to do it “in the middle of a party, in the middle of the floor.” “Jack in Titanic” is Hozie’s commentary about modern expectations of masculinity. It’s wonderfully catchy, and is currently tearing up airwaves in England. I’ve heard it on BBC 6 Music every time I listened to the station for the last three weeks. “Margot” is a tale of internet lust (ending with a computerized voice saying, “I touch myself while staring at your chat text box.”).
Elle and Simone are in perfect synch on “Bookmarks” while Hozie and Belfiglio sing about how easy it is to get distracted from work when the endless internet is in front of you. “Warhol” has the band proclaiming “Form against everything” and making fun of people thinking their fifteen minutes of fame is still in effect. “Charlie” is their latest single and a touching tribute to a friend of Hozie’s who drowned on New Year’s Eve 2007. “Williamsburg Bridge” sounds like a Velvet Underground track with Elle’s bass groove, Simone’s tribal drumming, and Hozie and Velding-Vandam’s guitars squawk in the background. “Truth Is Not Punishment” has Hozie singing about worrying about his mother and trying to convince a friend that honesty is the best policy (even when he’s not sure he believes that). The guitars in it build to near-manic levels, reflecting Hozie’s angst.
This is one of the best and catchiest albums of 2018 so far. I’m glad that post-punk is having a great revival, and bands like BODEGA are leading the charge.
Keep your mind open.
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Japanese post-punkers CHAI to reissue debut album on Burger Records.
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Flasher releases new video and single – “Who’s Got Time?”
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