Last month, Ovlov emerged from a long layoff following their beloved 2018 LP TRU to announce their 3rd full length Buds, with a track called “Land of Steve-O.” Described by NPR as a “track that transcends into an unhinged, euphoric catharsis before fading and forcing us back into reality,” the single was warmly received by outlets like Stereogum, FADER, Uproxx, Paste, MTV and BrooklynVegan, and set the stage for the Connecticut band to release one of the more anticipated full lengths of the fall on November 19th via longtime label home Exploding In Sound. Today, Ovlov are sharing their second single from the LP, a track called “The Wishing Well,” alongside a Stereogum feature that dives into the band’s history, and speaks to some of their peers about their enduring influence.
LISTEN to Ovlov’s “Wising Well” on YouTube & READ: Ovlov’s interview w/ Stereogum
Combining the band’s signature squall with singer/guitarist Steve Hartlett’s engaging sense of melody and backing vocals provided by Erin McGrath of Exploding In Sound label mates Dig Nitty, the track explores the way society treats people who are experiencing mental health issues.
“‘The Wishing Well’ is about how much I dislike and disagree with certain ways cops and some people of the DIY indie rock scene respond to a situation involving a person with mental health issues,” explains Hartlett. “”Ideally, only people who are well educated in mental health should be dealing with these situations, with methods that attempt to avoid harm on anyone involed, rather than these blanket procedures that are only designed to punish and seem emotionless.”
Following its genesis release from the label co-founder himself, Galway native KETTAMA invites Brisbane locals and close pals X CLUB. to lay down the riddims for G-TOWN002.
Having met the lads at their GRID night in Brisbane during his Australian tour, G-TOWN Records label head KETTAMA alongside Shampain are familiar with the dutty duo. Shampain actually interviewed the pair for the VSN World website (a concept that started as a club night run by the label heads), so you could say this is a dream link up of sorts. They may be on the other side of the world but make no mistake, X CLUB. are honorary G-TOWN members.
Following releases on Steel City Dance Discs and 1Ø Pills Mate, alongside appearances on Mall Grab and Miley Serious’ Rinse FM shows, the duo of Ben Clarke & Jesse Morath have cemented their reputation as one of dance music’s most exciting doublets with their distinctively large productions – channeling influence from grime, electro, hardcore and techno – and capturing the minds and hearts of dance music fans with their big-room, uncompromising attitude. Punishingly beautiful, devastatingly cinematic; X CLUB.’s back catalogue invites a sea of oxymorons to the shore, blending euphoria and darkness – with one eye on the past and another to the future – to perfectly capture the mood of the modern-raver.
‘Concentrate’ kicks things off with a swirling blend of textured atmospherics and driving kicks that soon manipulates into a steppy electro-techno hybrid drenched in heads down energy. ‘Inna Trance’ swaps the serious for the fun with something that sounds like a blend of quintessential X CLUB. and the progressive, trance-like sounds of Radiant Love in Berlin; bouncy techno for those that like to smile while they dance.
‘Sports That Require Petrol’ incites images of joyriding youths doing donuts in parking lots and sweaty bodies bumping into one another in packed-out clubs; an ode to the hardcore era that contributed to the birth of the X CLUB. concept, before ‘Elevation (Journey Mix)’ guides us on a blissed-out trip through emo-dreamscapes and tears-in-the-club energy that wouldn’t sound out of place dropped in the middle of a Bicep performance.
Today, Marco Benevento shares his latest single, “At The End Or The Beginning” (listen/share). Diving deep down a psych-funk rabbit hole, the singer/songwriter/keyboardist captures the zeitgeist with lyrics like “we can walk and keep our distance, the whole world changed in an instant,” as he delivers a dose of blissed-out escapism where listeners can recontextualize these troubled times through a surrealistic-slanted optimism and the pure joy of an irresistible groove.
“Where are we? At the end or the beginning? It’s been a strange few years not being able to hug our close friends or play shows and to see so many people struggling from this pandemic that came out of nowhere,” says Benevento. “So the idea was inspired by what we’ve all been living through. The lyric says it all, we can’t wait for the clouds to lift up for us…this one time.”
Co-written with San Diego-based poet/lyricist Alfred Howard, “At The End Or The Beginning” hints at what’s to come from Benevento in 2022 as he puts the finishing touches on a new studio album. In the meantime, Benevento and his band featuring bassist Karina Rykman and drummer Dave Butler perform a handful of select shows to close out 2021, including a sold out two night run at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock this weekend, a three night stretch at one of his favorite rooms The Press Room in Portsmouth on November 11-13 and Brooklyn Bowl over Thanksgiving weekend.
Over the course of seven studio albums and countless shows around the world, keyboardist Marco Benevento has drawn praise from tastemakers far and wide. Los Angeles Times has written, “it’s safe to say that no one sees the keyboard quite like Marco Benevento’s genre-blind mashup of indie rock, jazz and skewed improvisation,” while NPR Music raves that Benevento combines “the thrust of rock, the questing of jazz and the experimental ecstasy of jam.”
Indeed, Marco Benevento’s music cuts a wide swath, seemingly connecting the dots in the vast space between LCD Soundsystem and Leon Russell, His songwriting is smart and earthy, yet simultaneously pulsating with dance rock energy. Benevento’s high energy live shows have led to numerous high profile appearances, ranging from CarnegieHall to Pickathon. In the studio, he’s collaborated with the likes of Richard Swift (The Shins, Nathaniel Rateliff), Leon Michels (Lee Fields, Freddie Gibbs) and Simone Felice (The Felice Brothers, The Lumineers) among others.
Upcoming Shows
November 13 – Portsmouth, NH – The Press Room (Sold Out) November 27 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl December 11 – Miami, FL – North Beach Music Festival
Today, Manchester, UK-based trio Mandy, Indiana unveil the video for “Bottle Episode,” the lead single from their debut EP, ‘…’ out digitally November 19th via Fire Talk Records (physically out December 10th). “When I first heard ‘Bottle Episode,’ the driving drum beat immediately spawned dizzying, restless images.We created visuals that matched the track’s chaotic energy by physically putting a camera through torment,” says director Max McLachlan.
The band elaborates: “A key element of the track is movement and finding interesting ways for the camera to move was an idea we thought was worth exploring. The shoot was all very improvised with extras fighting over a camera, launching it in the air, smashing it on the ground, and attaching it to a drill. The camera becomes as much the subject of the video as the people and locations.” Watch Mandy, Indiana’s Video for “Bottle Episode”
Valentine Caulfield (vocals/lyrics) and Scott Fair (guitar/production) met a couple of years ago when their respective previous bands shared a bill. Caulfield was drawn to Fair’s aspirations to write beyond genre, while Fair was instantly taken with the singer’s magnetic stage presence and harsh, visceral vocals delivered in her native French. The pair also enlisted Liam Stewart (percussion), a touring musician who’s powerhouse rhythmic presence compliments the pair’s vision—emphasizing raw energy and emotion over meticulous composition to create a singular cathartic experience. The songs on ‘…’ EP were recorded in a variety of spaces, from rehearsal rooms and home studios to cavernous industrial mills. Including new remixes by Daniel Avery and Club Eat, as well as previously released singles “Alien 3” and “Nike of Samothrace,” the EP finds Mandy, Indiana bridging the worlds of post-punk, noise, and industrial dance music to create their brutal pop sound.
Mandy, Indiana will play their first shows in the US at SXSW 2022 as part of the official lineup. Pre-order ‘…’ EP
Mandy, Indiana Tour Dates Sat. Nov. 20 – Salford, UK @ White Hotel # Fri. Nov. 26 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall % Fri. Dec. 3 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom % Sat. Feb. 26, 2022 – Leeds, UK @ Dark Arts Festival March 14 – 20, 2022 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
# = supporting Part Chimp % = supporting The Horrors
Century Egg is a band of escape artists with a focus on playing visceral punk rock. Today the Halifax, Nova Scotia-based quartet are sharing their new single, “Moving On” which makes up the first half of a double A-side single release, the second of which will follow next month. The new track, released via Forward Music Group, marks the return of the band following their Bandcamp Daily and Exclaim-tipped EP, Little Piece of Hair which was released earlier this year (watch the video for “Do You Want To Dance?” here)
Following previous spots opening for the likes of Lido Pimienta – a self-proclaimed fan of the band with Robert Drisdelle, guitarist in Century Egg producing a track on her Polaris Prize-winning album, La Papessa – Partner, Julie Doiron, and more, Century Egg will be performing at Toronto’s Handlebar on November 14 and La Sala Rosa as part of M for Montreal (Mothland’s stage) on November 19 to celebrate the release of these new tracks. This new single, “Moving On” further cements their inspirations taken from Asian pop and rock artists such as Faye Wong, Jun Togawa, Spitz, Cui Jain, Pu Shu, along with the driving post-punk rhythm section and blistering guitar work taken from The Stooges, Thin Lizzy, etc.
Speaking about the new single, Century Egg says: “This is a song about trying to detach yourself from your past and let go of the trauma that holds you back from finally feeling better.”
Century Egg is made up of singer, Shane Song (she/her), bassist/backing vocalist, Matty Grace (she/her/they/them), guitarist, Robert Drisdelle (he/him) and drummer, Megumi Yoshida (she/her). Away from Century Egg, Song works as a visual artist/video game artist, Grace plays in numerous bands including Cluttered (tipped by Laura Jane Grace of Against Me!), Drisdelle plays and arranges with Lido Pimienta (amongst other projects) and Yoshida performs in Bad Vibrations, Dog Day, Not You and more.
Keep your mind open.
[Move on over to the subscription box while you’re here.]
[Thanks to Gabriel at Clandestine Label Services.]
London-based band Dry Cleaning continues their incredible year with a spring 2022 North American tour. Their debut album, New Long Leg, out now via 4AD, is one of 2021’s most praised albums thus far, championed by The New York Times, Pitchfork, New Yorker, Entertainment Weekly, and more. Since its release, the band has completely sold out their US fall run, which starts this Wednesday at Los Angeles’ Teragram Ballroom. The spring 2022 leg will see the band visiting many US cities for the first-time ever. Tickets for these shows will go on sale Friday, Nov. 12th at 12pm EST, but will be sure to sell out quickly, so the band is offering a pre-sale to all subscribers of their mailing list, which will be live Wednesday, Nov. 10th at 10am EST.. A full list of dates can be found below.
DRY CLEANING TOUR DATES (new dates in bold) Wed. Nov. 10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom – SOLD OUT Thu. Nov. 11 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel – SOLD OUT Sat. Nov. 13 – Portland, OR @ Vitalidad Movement Arts Center – SOLD OUT Sun. Nov. 14 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theater – SOLD OUT Tue. Nov. 16 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle – SOLD OUT Wed. Nov. 17 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle – SOLD OUT Fri. Nov. 19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel – SOLD OUT Sat. Nov. 20 – Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel – SOLD OUT Sat. Nov. 27 – Nottingham, UK @ Nottingham Arena ^ Tue. Nov. 30 – Cardiff, UK @ Tramshed ^ Wed. Dec. 1 – Hebden Bridge, UK @ Trades Club – SOLD OUT ^ Thu. Dec. 2 – Norwich, UK @ Norwich Arts Centre – SOLD OUT ^ Fri. Dec. 3 – Brighton, UK @ The Dome ^ Wed. Jan. 19, 2022 – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie * Thu. Jan. 20, 2022 – Lyon, FR @ Le Périscope * Fri. Jan. 21, 2022 – Milan, IT @ Circolo Magnolia * Sat. Jan. 22, 2022 – Bologna, IT @ Covo Club * Mon. Jan. 24, 2022 – Vienna, AT @ Chelsea * Tue. Jan. 25, 2022 – Prague, CZ @ Futurum * Wed. Jan. 26, 2022 Berlin, DE @ SO 36* Fri. Jan. 28, 2022 – Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen – SOLD OUT * Sat. Jan. 29, 2022 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow * Mon. Jan. 31, 2022 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje * Tue. Feb. 1, 2022 – Brussels, BE @ Orangerie, Botanique * Wed. Feb. 2, 2022 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord – SOLD OUT * Fri. Feb. 4, 2022 – Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown – SOLD OUT * Sat. Feb. 5, 2022 – Tourcoing (Lille), FR @ Le Grand Mix * Mon. Feb. 14, 2022 – Liverpool, UK @ Arts Club Theatre % Tue. Feb. 15, 2022 – Dublin, IE @ The Button Factory – SOLD OUT % Wed. Feb. 16, 2022 – Belfast, IE @ Empire Music Hall % Fri. Feb. 18, 2022 – Edinburgh, UK @ Summerhall – SOLD OUT % Sat. Feb. 19, 2022 – Glasgow, UK @, Queen Margaret Union (Venue upgrade) % Sun. Feb. 20, 2022 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club – SOLD OUT % Tue. Feb. 22, 2022 – Birmingham, UK @ The Mill % Wed. Feb. 23, 2022 – Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory % Fri. Feb. 25, 2022 – Manchester, UK @ Academy 2 – SOLD OUT % Sat. Feb. 26, 2022 – Sheffield, UK @ Leadmill % Sun. Feb. 27, 2022 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms – SOLD OUT % Tue. March 1, 2022 – Portsmouth, UK @ Wedgewood Rooms % Wed. March 2, 2022 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 – SOLD OUT % Thu. March 3, 2022 – London, UK @ O2 Forum Kentish Town % Wed. March 30 – Leicester, UK @ O2 Academy & Thu. March 31 – Cambridge, UK @ The Junction & Fri. April 1 – Manchester, UK @ Strage Waves @ The Ritz Sat. April 2 – Newcastle, UK @ Boiler Shop & Thu. May 12 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern Fri. May 13 – Montreal, QC @ Théâtre Fairmount Sun. May 15 – Somerville, MA @ Crystal Ballroom Tue. May 17 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church Wed. May 18 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall Thu. May 19 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar Fri. May 20 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Sat. May 21 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West Mon. May 23 – Houston, TX @ Satellite Tue. May 24 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada Wed. May 25 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas Sat. May 28 – Mexico City, Mexico @ Palacio de los Deportes w/ Interpol
Washington, D.C.-based band Beauty Pill today announced their new EP Instant Night out December 3, releasing on limited edition vinyl, CD and digitally via Northern Spy Records and available to preorder here. Alongside the announcement the band is sharing the official video for “You Need A Better Mind“. On the track, Beauty Pill’s Chad Clark says:
“The Roland TB-303 is an old Japanese synthesizer that was designed to convincingly mimic the sound of a bass guitar. It was introduced in 1981, it sounded like a toy and failed miserably, and it was ultimately discontinued in 1984. It makes freaky, wiggly, cartoony sounds. It sounds fuck-all like a bass guitar. Why am I telling you this? One ended up in my hands for a week. I did a lot of silly stuff with it. I did come up with this one worthwhile riff, which I built a song around. The song is called “You Need A Better Mind.”
“It was recorded with my band in a single take at the end of a recording session for another song. We were tired. None of us cared that much if we failed. The fun spirit you hear in this song is mostly exhaustion… that kind of punchy exhaustion you get late at night when you’ll laugh at anything. The lyrics were inspired by the spooky/funny 10-minute movie “Rachel”. “The song is about the scourge of American loneliness. It is by far the fastest, easiest song Beauty Pill has ever created. We hope you like it.”
The EP’s title track “Instant Night” was originally written by Beauty Pill bandleader Chad Clark in 2015 after he watched Ann Coulter, as a guest on Real Time with Bill Maher, predict that Donald Trump would win the 2016 US presidential election. The Washington, D.C. based artist recorded and surprise-released the single in October 2020 out of urgency to inspire people to vote in the presidential election. Because the song was being recorded during the pandemic, and because Clark has an artificial heart that puts him at high risk for COVID-19, it was recorded on a rooftop, with meticulously planned social distancing.
“Instant Night” is Beauty Pill’s first single without drums, and it is also the first Beauty Pill song to conspicuously highlight the band’s woodwind quartet. The single was released alongside a music video featuring time-lapse footage of Trump, Lindsey Graham, and Mitch McConnell being drawn and depicted as monsters. The video was created and directed by the artist [ex-Beauty Pill member] Ryan Nelson.
MOTÖRHEAD…a life force, an energy, an attitude and the loudest, meanest, dirtiest music to smash the 20th and 21st centuries. With a bastard sound comprising an unholy synergy of rock, punk and heavy metal, MOTÖRHEAD comes coated in relentless, ear-curdling power. They were life-changing for millions, carrying a spirit and approach to life and music which proudly said, “Honey, we’re hoooome and don’t bother cleaning because we’re here to enjoy ourselves!” The ‘off’ switch was never employed in the MOTÖRHEAD lust for life, and they became legends as a result.
Leading the charge for their entire 40 year career was the cultural icon Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister, who swashbuckled around stages, streets and overseas like a glorious Mad Max pirate truthsayer, roaring for the good and screaming at the wankers. With his propulsive sound and lyrical might leading the charge, MOTÖRHEAD released 22 studio albums over those four decades, amassing chart topping records worldwide, a Grammy award and racking up around 20 million sales. Their hit song “Ace Of Spades” became MOTÖRHEAD’s anthem, perfectly capturing their attitude for millions, and punching giant holes in stereos worldwide to this day. Nothing was harder, nothing was faster, nothing packed more raw attitude and certainly nothing was louder, making MOTÖRHEAD a cultural elixir that was regularly imbibed across all genre lines. Don’t take our word for it, look around any heavy metal, punk or alternative gig, and you’ll see the indomitable warpig logo and MOTÖRHEAD gothic script on a t-shirt, a jacket, even an arm or leg or back (MOTÖRHEAD tattoos are everywhere), all sitting on the bodies of rockers, metalheads, punks, bikers, rebels, outcasts, freethinkers and even athletes all around the world. Yeah, that’s right, MOTÖRHEAD’s cultural reach remains virtually peerless to this very day (the one you’re living right now as you read this), and it continues to span fans young and old, igniting their adrenaline and giving them both entertainment and identity.
MOTÖRHEAD are proud to announce they are teaming up with MÖVEMBER for their annual fundraising campaign this year. Supporters are encouraged to ‘shave down’ on 31st October and grow a moustache – or in this case your very own ‘Lemmy Mo’, through the month of November, to raise funds and awareness. All funds go directly toward supporting men’s health projects across mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer.
By joining team MOTÖRHEAD and growing your own Lemmy Mo’ you’ll be raising much needed funds for MÖVEMBER and all the great work that they do. The biggest fundraisers will have a chance to win a selection of very special MOTÖRHEAD prizes!
Everything Louder Forever This collection is the definitive assembly of MOTÖRHEAD songs which have created this cultural phenomenon, and represents the first time all eras of the band’s recorded history have been represented in one place. And we feel that if in this mad, mad world we’re living in, some aliens decide to drop by your house for tea and demand an explanation as to, “what the fuck is this ‘MOTÖRHEAD’ is that we keep hearing and feeling bits of in our extra-terrestrial houses millions of miles away,” you could happily play Everything Louder Forever and know that the question will be thoroughly answered. Buy two copies though, because you know they won’t leave without taking one themselves! Or something like that anyway…
Georgia Harmer, Toronto-based singer-songwriter, and the newest signee to Arts & Cras, introduces herself to the world today with “Headrush.” Coming from a family of artists and poets, including aunt and labelmate Sarah Harmer, Georgia cut her teeth as a backing vocalist for Alessia Cara before beginning to focus on her own music. This debut single presents Georgia’s striking voice—a cross-hatching of Joni Mitchell’s birdsong, the emotional vulnerability of Adrianne Lenker and the seductive tones of Hope Sandoval. “Headrush” opens with cascading drums that fall into a deliberate stride, filling out with rich melodies accompanied confidently by electric guitar draped in distortion.
“Headrush” is a slow-burn with melodic release, alight with electricity, but tinged with the melancholy of late summer : “Hours go by / Let’s drink up the sky / And spend some time / Being little kids.” Georgia’s music is sweetness personified, but with a depth of emotion, style, and hunger that belies her twenty-two years. “I miss moments when I’m no longer in them,” Georgia says. “‘Headrush’ is about wanting to go back to a moment and be completely present. Back to that summer day I didn’t realize was heaven until it had passed, only grasping its potency in retrospect.”
Recorded live off the floor with friends crammed into the corner of a converted West Toronto garage, “Headrush” embodies that DIY essence, harnessing lightning in slow, measured doses. The accompanying video, directed by Jimmy Vi, captures this energy.
Watch Georgia Harmer’s Video for “Headrush”
Georgia Harmer Tour Dates Mon. Nov. 22 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall ^
Tue. Nov. 23 – Kitchener, ON @ Centre in the Square ^
^ = w/ Dan Mangan
Keep your mind open.
[Rush over to the subscription box while you’re here.]
The curators of the popular Brown Acid compilation series of long-lost vintage 60s-70s proto-metal singles share a new track today via Decibel Magazine from the first edition of a new series titled Scrap Metal. Following chronologically where Brown Acid leaves off, Scrap Metal scours the world for long-lost, rare and unreleased Heavy Metal from the late-70s through late-80s. Hear/share The Beast‘s (featuring Scott Ruth, later of Dim Mak and Ripping Corpse) 1983 punk-metal hybrid “Enemy Ace” HERE. (Direct YouTube and Bandcamp.)
Album opener Rapid Tears‘ anthem “Headbang” premiered previously via Metal Injection HERE (And YouTube.) “69 in a 55”, a 1983 track from Bay Area band Air Raid launched via Ultimate Classic Rock HERE (and YouTube.)
Brown Acid & Scrap Metal series are created and compiled by L.A. based RidingEasy Records and Permanent Records.
By now you’re probably familiar with our wildly popular Brown Acid series of rare, lost and unreleased proto-metal and stoner rock singles from the 60s-70s. In the endless pursuit of those glorious gems, we often uncover equally brilliant rarities from the late-70s to late-80s Golden Age of Heavy Metal that also just must be heard, but they don’t fit the series’ aesthetic. Scrap Metal: Volume 1 collects some of the greatest unknown and lost Heavy Metal tracks, long buried beneath the avalanche of the era’s classic output.
We all know the old adage that history is told by the winners. But sometimes the losers tell the best stories. And while none of these bands found fame and fortune, this artifact and the volumes to come are testament to the enduring power of heavy music. You can hear the blood, sweat and beers that went into each of these singles. The recordings may be low budget, but the inspiration and talent is immutable. Not only are the amps turned up to 11, the boyish sexual innuendo is cranked to 69. You can hear the convergence of influences — NWOBHM, thrash, glam metal, doom, etc — colliding at once as the era birthed a wellspring of subgenres.
Many of these singles are self-released and were thus limited to a small run of copies. Those that remain are hoarded by collectors and sold for exorbitant amounts. We’ve collected the best of the best for you here. As with Brown Acid, all of these tracks are licensed legitimately and the artists all get paid. Because it’s the right thing to do.
Scrap Metal: Vol. 1 will be available everywhere on LP, CD and download on November 12th, 2021 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available for digital at Bandcamp, physical pre-orders at RidingEasy Records.
