Category: Post-punk

Top 30 albums of 2017: #’s 5 – 1

Happy New Year!  What were the best albums of last year?  Well, these topped the list for me.

#5 – Blanck Mass – World Eater

The somewhat startling cover is a warning for a powerful, teeth-baring electro record that somehow catches all the chaos this year displayed.  There was a lot of early buzz about this record upon its release, and for good reason.  It’s a stunning piece of synthwave, dark wave, and psychedelic fever dreams.

#4 – All Them Witches – Sleeping Through the War

This psychedelic blues-rock was pretty much a lock for my favorite rock record of the year as soon as I heard it.  ATW brew up haunting tracks that range in subjects from being stuck in purgatory to internet addiction (which are pretty much the same thing).

#3 – LCD Soundsystem – American Dream

Their reunion was possibly the most anticipated of the year, and they proved they hadn’t lost a thing on this great record.  Front man James Murphy‘s lyrics are as searing as ever as he confronts aging, love, social media, partying, and Millennials.  One of the singles, “Tonite” (one of my favorites of the year) is a great example.  It’s a song about songs, but it’s also about the fears and joys of aging.

#2 – WALL – Untitled

This is a bittersweet choice because one of the best post-punk records, and best records in any genre, of the year is by a band who broke up before it was released or even named.  WALL‘s only full-length record is shrouded in mysterious lyrics about the current political landscape and the band itself.  It’s also full of sharp guitar hooks and sass that is sorely missed.  Consider yourself blessed if you caught one of their too few live shows.

#1 – Kelly Lee Owens – self-titled

I read a review of this album that described it as “a breath of fresh air.”  I’m not sure I can beat that description because this stunning debut is the most beautiful record I heard all year.  Ms. Owens’ synth soundscapes immediately seem to lighten gravity around you.  It’s a tonic for the toxic atmosphere we’re living in right now (both in the real world and in the one that blitzes us from cyberspace every day).  If 2017 got you down, listen to this album today and you will have a much better outlook on the year to come.

Keep your mind open.

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Top 30 albums of 2017: #’s 10 – 6

It’s my top 10 of the year.  Who’s here?  Read on for the first five.

#10 – Sleaford Mods – English Tapas

Bold, brash, and at times brutal, this is a punk rock album disguised as a hip hop record.  The minimalist beats get under your skin and the scathing lyrics stick it to the Man, ourselves, and everyone in-between.

#9 – Gary Numan – Savage (Songs from a Broken World)

This industrial powerhouse of a record was a great return for Gary Numan and a fantastic concept album (about life in a post-apocalyptic world) to boot.  It has some great riffs and Numan’s synth work is top-notch.  He shows no signs of slowing or aging.

#8 – Soulwax – From Deewee

Recorded beginning to end in just one take, this amazing record combines three drummers with four other people playing vintage synthesizers, drum machines, and sequencers.  It’s an impressive piece of work and it produced one of my favorite singles of the year – “Missing Wires.”

#7 – Honey – New Moody Judy

I picked up this album after hearing just one song from it, “Dream Come Now (another one of my favorite songs of 2017),” and was astounded by the rest of the record.  It’s fierce and chock-full of garage-punk riffs that flatten nearly everything else I’ve heard this year.

#6 – Slowdive – self-titled

This is one of the most beautiful records of the year and marked a big return for not only Slowdive but also the entire shoegaze genre.  Everyone wondered how this record would sound once Slowdive announced their reunion, and it exceeded everyone’s expectation.  It’s easily the best shoegaze release of 2017.

Who makes the top five?  Tune in on New Year’s Day to find out!

Keep your mind open.

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Top 30 albums of 2017: #’s 20 – 16

It’s top twenty time!

#20 – Brother O’ Brother – Neon Native

I’m happy to include some “local” (as in from the same state as I) cats on my list of top albums of the year.  This is a blistering garage-blues record that further proves you don’t need a lot of fancy gadgets and studio trickery to make hard-hitting rock.  They’re one of my favorite discoveries of the year.

#19 – The New Pornographers – Whiteout Conditions

This album is one of the best reactions to the year in politics that was 2017.  Band leader Carl Newman has openly spoken about how the 2016 election and his battle with depression formed a lot of the songs on this record, but it’s not all doom and gloom.  There’s a lot of hope on this fine power pop album, and we all need a lot of that right now.

#18 – Thundercat – Drunk

I didn’t expect to pick up a jazz fusion record this year, but this one is certainly outstanding and was all over the place in 2017.  It made the top of many lists, too, and for good reason.  It’s an incredible concept album about the day in the life of a guy who parties too much and knows he’ll probably regret it later.  It’s the closest we’ll get to a Frank Zappa album any time soon.

#17 – Priests – Nothing Feels Natural

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got on a big post-punk kick this year and albums like this are the reason why.  It’s a vicious takedown on corporate bigwigs, consumerism, and greed, and the music is sharp as a hatchet.

#16 – The Black Angels – Death Song

If you know me, then you’re not surprised that a Black Angels record made my top 30.  They’re one of my favorite bands, and this album is one of their hardest-hitting in a long while.  It, too, is a bit of a reaction to the 2016 election and the country we’re now living in and seeing on the nightly news, but the Black Angels also let us know that all things are transient and this, too, will pass.

We’re halfway to home!  Who makes the cut?  Come back soon to find out.

Keep your mind open.

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Priests – Nothing Feels Natural

This album almost slipped by me in this crazy year of alternate facts and a lot of yelling. I’m glad I saw a recent article about it that reminded me to buy Priests‘ Nothing Feels Natural, because it’s a sharp post-punk record and one of the records 2017 needed most.

The album begins with drummer Daniele Daniele‘s urgent beats before lead singer Katie Alice Greer comes in with her vocal style that immediately grabs you by the throat.  Soon, guitarist G.L. Jaguar and bassist Taylor Mulitz are slapping you around and Greer is singing, “It feels good to buy what you can’t afford.”  She’s put her finger in the eye of American consumer culture in under two minutes.  On “JJ,” Jaguar unleashes some clever surf rock hooks and Greer’s vocals go from menacing to playful while the lyrics keep twisting a knife into the culture of artifice we’ve created.

“Nicki” has some goth touches (mostly in Jaguar’s guitar and Mulitz’s bass) that catch you off guard before it flattens you with hard shoegaze riffs.  “Yes, it’s true, I want more,” Greer sings.  She’s just as easily seduced by consumerism and always projecting a perfect image as the rest of us, but the power behind her vocals lets us know she’s fighting temptation.  “Lelia 20” offers us some of that strength as Greer sings, “Things could be much worse.”  Never forget that (and you won’t forget Daniele’s great drumming throughout the whole track).

“No Big Bang,” with vocals by Daniele, is about disappointment and shattered illusions.  “Your mind keeps running along the same narrow track of logic for what feels like forever…” is just one of the insightful lyrics in this near-spoken word piece.  The title track has some of Greer’s best vocals and saddest lyrics.  “Perhaps I will change into something,” she begins as the rest of the band puts down great riffs and beats behind her.  Jaguar’s guitar soars on this cut, taking it to another level.

“Pink White House” is the first song I ever heard by Priests.  It’s fiery, vicious, and yet completely danceable as Greer keeps chanting about “Anything you want.  Anything, anything!”  It’s a wake-up call to walk away from the temptations of a new SUV, mindless sitcoms, dwelling in nostalgia, and thinking money will solve everything.  “Kneel at the feet of programming…You are just a cog in a machine,” she warns.

“Puff” has Greer saying she wants to start a band called Burger King (Who used to have the slogan “Have it your way.”) and use it to make others’ dreams come true.  It is, of course, a slap in the face of people who look to the media to solve their problems and make up their minds.  I love that the album ends with a song called “Suck.”  It’s slick as oil (Daniele, Jaguar, and Mulitz fire on all cylinders throughout it) and has Greer singing, “Please don’t make me be someone with no sympathy.”  She wants to care, but sometimes people make it so damn hard.

2017 was like that.  It was hard to care, but Priests know we must.  We are all each other have.  Nothing Feels Natural, both in title and content, is a glass of cold water in our collective faces.  Wake up.  Snap out of it.  Preach on, Priests.

Keep your mind open.

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Shopping announces 2018 North American tour dates.

SHOPPING ANNOUNCE 2018 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
IN SUPPORT OF THE OFFICIAL BODY

NEW ALBUM OUT JANUARY 19 ON FATCAT RECORDS
(photo credit: Matthew Williams)

“The Hype” is Shopping at its best: barbed invective set to a prickly, dancefloor-ready groove.” — Pitchfork

“one of Shopping’s loosest, funkiest songs to date. . . ‘The Hype’ is a great sign of things to come.” — NPR Music
Next month, Shopping are set to release their third full-length album, The Official Body, on January 19th via FatCat Records. The album sees Shopping — comprised of Rachel Aggs (guitar, vocals), Billy Easter (bass, vocals) and Andrew Milk (drums, vocals) — retaining their minimal dance-punk ethos while “amping up the party vibe.” Now they’ve announced they’ll bring the dance party on the road! In March, Shopping will head stateside for a North American tour taking them all across the US and Canada, including stops at both Savannah Stopoverand SXSW. The tour kicks off Thu. March 1st in Boston before heading down the east coast, across the southern states to the west coast, and back to the midwest. A full list of dates are below, with tickets on-sale now.

Watch Shopping’s “The Hype” Video – 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnAm6AphanY

Shopping Tour Dates:
Thu. March 1 — Boston, MA @ Great Scott *
Fri. March 2 — Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre *
Sat. March 3 — Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel *
Sun. March 4 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s *
Tue. March 6 — Washington, DC @ Union Stage *
Wed. March 7 — Asheville, NC @ Mothlight *
Thu. March 8 — Savannah, GA @ Savannah Stopover *
Fri. March 9 — Atlanta, GA @ 529 *
Sat. March 10 — New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa *
Sun. March 11 — Houston, TX @ Walter’s *
Tue. March 13 – Thu. March 15 — Austin, TX @ SXSW
Fri. March 16 — El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace *
Sat. March 17 — Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge *
Sun. March 18  — San Diego, CA @ Whistle Stop *
Tue. March 20 — Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room *
Wed. March 21 — Los Angeles, CA @ Resident * #
Thu. March 22 — San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop #
Fri. March 23 — Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar #
Sat. March 24 — Seattle, WA @ Vera Project #
Tue. March 27 — Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Wed. March 28 — Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
Thu. March 29 — Detroit, MI @ Delux Fluxx
Fri. March 30 — Toronto, ON @ Baby G
Sat. March 31 — Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz

* = w/ French Vanilla
# = w/ Lithics

Pre-order The Official Body:
via Bandcamp – http://bit.ly/2kZQL6Z
via iTunes – http://apple.co/2iBSknm
via FatCat Shop – http://bit.ly/2C3DGO8

Caroline Rose’s new album out February 23, 2018, but her new single, “Money,” is out now.

Caroline Rose Announces LONER,
New Album Out February 23rd On New West, And Tour

Watch Video For Lead Single, “Money”
https://youtu.be/NcOPz7Kby1A
Photo credit: Matt Hogan
An obsession with money, an unfaithful lover, an accidental pregnancy, misogyny, loneliness, death… This is just some of the lighthearted subject matter that make up LONER––the darkly comedic second album from songwriter/producer Caroline Rose, out February 23rd via New West. Armed with an arsenal of new instruments and equipment, an ever-growing sense of “ahhh f**k it,” two years of exploration, and a wicked sense of humor, Rose delivers a set of serious songs wrapped in a sprightly, angst-fueled pop burrito. In conjunction with the album announcement, Rose presents lead single “Money” and its accompanying video, a collaboration between Rose and director Horatio Baltz in which Rose plays all the parts and reveals her infectious spirit from the get go. As she tells Noisey, it’s “a sort of manic, paranoid mini-story” about the “way money corrupts and changes people.”

LONER began about three years ago following the release of Rose’s indie-folk-rockabilly-tinged debut album, I Will Not Be Afraid, an album penned while living in a van and traveling the country, which garnered praise from the likes of NPR and Rolling Stone. It captures the cheeky satire, comical musings, and often jarring mood swings––sometimes goofy, sometimes emotional––that make up much of Rose’s personality and marks a significant leap forward both sonically and emotionally, unleashing a burgeoning confidence teeming with character. “I needed to get more personal, more aggressive, more humorous and more sonically diverse than my older material,” says Rose. “It just felt like a bubble inside me that had been growing and was about to pop.”

Over the next year and a half, after moving into an apartment, Rose dove deep into production. She started collecting synths and recording equipment and tracking her material, eventually choosing to co-produce alongside Paul Butler at Panoramic Studios in Stinson Beach, California and their respective home studios. Rose brought to the sessions pre-recorded work the two used as a foundation off which to build, having written and arranged strings, played and recorded keys, guitar and bass, sampled layers of found and recorded sounds, and programmed synths and drums. She stepped up across the board, having a hand in mixing as well as directing creative control over all aesthetics regarding LONER, resulting in an album filled with catchy synth hooks, Ray Manzarek-esque Farfisa, surf guitar, depth of thought and a punk attitude. “I wanted to make sure everything was as me as it could possibly be.”

Watch Caroline Rose’s “Money” Video –
https://youtu.be/NcOPz7Kby1A

Stream “Money” –
http://geni.us/crmoney

LONER Tracklist:
1. More Of The Same
2. Cry!
3. Money
4. Jeannie Becomes A Mom
5. Getting To Me
6. To Die Today
7. Soul No 5
8. Smile! AKA Schizodrift Jam 1 AKA Bikini Intro
9. Bikini
10. Talk
11. Animal

Pre-order LONER –
https://store.newwestrecords.com/collections/caroline-rose-loner

Caroline Rose Tour Dates:
Wed. Mar. 14 – Sat. Mar. 17 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
Tue. Mar. 27 – Nashville, TN @ The High Watt
Wed. Mar. 28 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Thu. Mar. 29 – Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
Fri. Mar. 30 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
Sat. Mar. 31 – Washington, DC @ Songbyrd
Tue. Apr. 3 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade
Wed. Apr. 4 – Boston, MA @ Great Scott
Thu. Apr. 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas
Fri. Apr. 6 – New Haven, CT @ Cafe Nine
Sat. Apr. 7 – South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Showcase Lounge
Fri. May 18 – Gulf Shores, AL @ Hangout Music Festival

Download hi-res press images and cover art –
www.pitchperfectpr.com/caroline-rose/
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Oh Sees – Orc

John Dwyer is one of the busiest guys in rock.  He has so many variations of his band Thee Oh Sees that it can be difficult to keep track of them all.  One of the latest, which he’s just calling Oh Sees, has put out a fine record of psychedelic art-punk called Orc.

The album opens with the crazy, frantic “The Static God” – which appears to be a song about the whirlwind nature of battlefield combat.  Dwyer’s guitar is all over the place, but the chorus’ vocal hook has a wonderful pop twinge to it.  “Nite Expo” has 1980’s video game synths leading it before Dwyer’s guitar kicks open the door and catches you by surprise.  “Animated Violence” hits as hard as any metal track you’ve heard all year, both in the instrumentation (i.e., buzzsaw guitars and thunderous drums) and vocals and lyrics (revealing Dwyer’s love of Motorhead).

The longest track on the record (at 8:10), “Keys to the Castle,” is (on its surface, at least) about a bloody siege in a medieval fantasy kingdom.  I’m sure it’s probably a metaphor about how we’re actually destroying ourselves in these castles of loneliness and disconnection we’ve built thanks to the internet, but maybe I’m overreaching and should just enough the fun freak-out of a tune that it is (especially when the violin and organ creep into it).

“Jettison,” with its early Mick Ronson-like guitar work, is one of the grooviest songs about death in a long while (“Who likes sugar in their coffin?  The underground is twice as nice.”).  “Cadaver Dog” encourages the generation behind Dwyer to be leaders and not followers and be self-reliant instead of clinging to potentially deadly illusions.  “Drowned Beast” is a fuzzy salute to deepwater beast warriors who slay and eat everything in sight.  Three fun instrumentals, “Paranoise,” “Cooling Tower,” and “Raw Optics” are included.  The first has some subtle synths that might make you paranoid, the second is something you’d hear drifting out of a Mothers of Invention studio session, and the third (which closes the album) is a snappy blast of post-punk with a drum solo to boot.

Orc is a quirky, wild record, but you’d expect no less from Mr. Dwyer.  He excels at making quirky, wild rock that can melt your face one moment and intrigue you the next.

Keep your mind open.

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Ty Segall releases another single, and it’s one of the best of 2018.

LISTEN TO TY SEGALL’S NEW SINGLE, “THE MAIN PRETENDER”

Bang, bang, blammo! Ty Segall can’t stop pumping out the songs – and if your problem is that he’s got too many songs for you to hear, lucky you with your cute little problem! As Ty switches gears from rock to punk to pop music and then elsewhere, a wealth of great songs and singing and music is coming down fast; later we’ll have time to think about it. For now, ponder this new one: “The Main Pretender” aims to cull the herd by focusing its sights on a greatest common multiple of our society – people who just can’t see the forest for the head up their ass! Driven by an acidulous alto sax lick and a roiling bass line, “The Main Pretender” bounces like rubber and sticks like glue, exploding into a middle-eight-chorus progression that there’s no coming back from – and so there’s no need to even try. Mikal Cronin‘s saxophone, so urbane and sophisticated on the previous “My Lady’s On Fire,” here reaches for notes that were never wrote (perhaps a suggestion to pretenders everywhere to get free and reach for something outside of themselves instead!), setting the stage for a burning guitars-and-saxes-and-vocs climax. The production, with rough edges not only intact but deployed for maximum positive impact, is a marvel, forcing “The Main Pretender” into our frontal lobes, where it just won’t quit. They never do!
Ty Segall Tour Dates:
Sat. Dec. 9 – Mexico City, MX @ Hipnosis Festival
Fri. Dec. 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom [solo acoustic set] *
Sat. Dec. 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom [solo acoustic set]  *
Sun. Dec. 17 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel [solo acoustic set] #
Mon. Dec. 18 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel [solo acoustic set] #
Fri. Jan. 26 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
Thu. Feb. 1 – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium ^
Thu. April 26 – Austin, TX @ Levitation 2018

* = with OCS, Shannon Lay, all proceeds go to LA Kitchen
# = with OCS, Shannon Lay
^ = with Queens Of The Stone Age

Rewind Review: The Dirtbombs – If You Don’t Already Have a Look (2005)

In the liner notes to this excellent double album from Detroit rockers the Dirtbombs, band leader / guitarist / vocalist Mick Collins proclaims, “The best albums are all compilations, anyway.  Why?  Because they’re made up of SINGLES, duh.”

If You Don’t Already Have a Look is a full-length collection of downright dangerous singles and another disc of cover tunes.  Danger is missing from a lot of rock music nowadays, and the Dirtbombs were possibly the most dangerous band to come out of the Motor City since the MC5.  Even their songs that venture into soul and pop music always have a streak of menace hidden in them.

There are many standouts on the album.  The opener on the disc of originals is “Theme from the Dirtbombs,” a fiery song that sounds like it belongs in the opening credits of a 1960’s car race cartoon.  “The Sharpest Claws” is a theme song for dominatrixes everywhere.  “I’m Saving Myself for Nichelle Nichols (No. 3)” is one of the craziest punk rock songs in the last twenty years.  “High Octane Salvation” is an homage to muscle cars and sprinkles in some psychobilly riffs for good measure.  “Little Miss Chocolate Syrup” has a bass groove as sweet as the song’s namesake.

“Don’t Bogue My High” was, like many early Dirtbombs tracks, recorded into a dictation microphone.  It is thus gloriously distorted and trashy.  “Encrypted” is a satire of 1990’s Britpop.  “Broke in Detroit (Again)” has this cool 60’s surf guitar riff you can’t shake.  “Infra-red” is a weird, shapeshifting track with guitars that ooze around like the Blob and “Candyass” is a solid rock track.  The lyrics of “All My Friends Must Be Punished” are some of the wittiest on the record.  “They Saved Einstein’s Brain” is a one-take punk rock classic.

The disc of cover songs includes great tracks by obscure bands like Cheater Slicks (“Possession”) and classics like Stevie Wonder‘s “Maybe Your Baby.”  Their cover of the Rolling Stones‘ “No Expectations” includes a Beatles tribute and a salute to the Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil.”  “Noise in This World” (originally by English Beat) fits in perfectly with the Dirtbombs’ sound, as does their fiery, almost unrecognizable cover of Soft Cell‘s “Insecure…Me?”  “Tanzen Gehn” is a song in German made for a German label while the band was in Germany.  It’s wonderfully funky.  “Crash Down Day” was written by a six-year-old and is still better than most current rock tracks.  Their cover of the Bee Gees “I Started a Joke” is one of the coolest Bee Gees covers ever (especially with the reverbed vocals).

It’s a great introduction to the Dirtbombs or an addition to your collection of your  material.

Keep your mind open.

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Bootblacks – Fragments

Brooklyn’s Bootblacks (Alli Gorman – guitars, Barrett Hiatt – synthesizers, Roger Humanbeing – drums, Panther MacDonald – lead vocals), play an interesting mix of post-punk, shoegaze, goth, and synthwave, and their new album, Fragments, is a showcase on how well they float between those genres.

Lead track “Hold & Dissolve” instantly plunges you into creepy synthwave with a good mix of live and processed beats.  It reminds me of some of A Place to Bury Strangers‘ tracks, but with vocals that sound more like Peter Murphy than Oliver Ackermann.  “The Longest Night” seems to be a song about the first night after MacDonald’s lover walked out on him.  Hiatt’s synth work on it blends so well with Gorman’s guitar riffs that it’s sometimes difficult to tell them apart.

If there’s any justice in the world, “Memory Palace” is currently tearing up goth and industrial night clubs throughout New York City and will soon be catching on across the country.  It’s like a Joy Division track if they had decided to be a dance band.  “Sudden Moves” is a journey down a wet road under a gray sky with occasional bursts of sunlight through the clouds (mainly from Hiatt’s synths).  “A Pale Fire” is a fast, almost poppy electro track, and “Reincarnate” is something that could be spun by a replicant Los Angeles dance club DJ in 2049.  I like how Gorman knows when to fade back and let the synths take the lead and when to step back up and shred.  She’s quickly becoming one of my new favorite guitarists.

“For You (Lois)” might be a love letter to Lois, or it might be an ode to Lois, or it might be a cynical takedown of Lois.  I’m not sure, but it is a cool cold wave track.  The closer, “Gone,” has definite Depeche Mode influences (especially in MacDonald’s vocal stylings) and synths that sound like something from a rare krautrock single.

My thanks to Bootblacks’ label, Manic Depression Records, for letting me know about this band.  They weren’t on my radar until MDR contacted me.  I’m glad they did because this is one of the most interesting finds of the year for me.

Keep your mind open.

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