Photo by Enno Kaptiz / digitally altered by Kosuke Kawamura
Japanese art-rock pioneers Buffalo Daughter have announced We Are The Times, their first new album in seven years, out on September 17th, 2021, alongside the first single from the record “ET (Densha)” available on all digital streaming services now.
Since their 1996 debut on the legendary Beastie Boys-run label Grand Royal, Buffalo Daughter has been recognized as an original and energetic standout in the modern Japanese music scene. Over their decades long career, The band has pushed their unique post-rock, new wave, and techno influenced sound to global success, from numerous world tours to collaborations with many prominent acts including Air, Blonde Redhead, Cibbo Matto, and Shonen Knife.
The music video for their new single “ET (Densha)” was created by Berlin based artist Ryoichi Kurokawa, illustrating the worldbuilding sensation of the track with a sense of delicate power. “ET (Densha) is our soundscape for the world we currently live in,” the band wrote in a statement. “Darkness and light, chaos and harmony, intensity and ease – they seem to be black and white, but are they really? Where are we going? Take the ET (electric train) and let the journey begin.”
We Are The Times started from an improvisation session with Masaya Nakahara as part of a tribute program for Takahiro Muramatsu(Smurf Otokogumi). The album took quite some time to record, growing and changing with the band members’ shifting lives and world views as they navigated the covid-19 pandemic. Though the record was created during a tumultuous period, it starts with the phrase “Music is the vitamin,” indicating Buffalo Daughter’s hope for positivity in the world of 2021; the band sought to create an energetic and optimistic project to combat our anxious times. The vibrancy of their sound on the album is perhaps best summed up in this quote from collaborator Masaya Nakahara:
“A bright fruit of electronic sound! Buffalo Daughter’s new sound shows the light for where we should head to in this chaotic world.”
“We Are The Times” will be released digitally and physical CD (only available in Japan) on September 17th with vinyl to follow on October 15th.
Keep your mind open.
[Take the short trip to the subscription box while you’re here.]
The career of the Toronto band Little Kid, the long-running project of songwriter Kenny Boothby, has taken a path as unlikely and idiosyncratic as their gorgeous, and intricately arranged songs. Formed in 2011, the band spent most of a decade accruing a cult audience as a DIY band, self-releasing 5 albums and numerous unusual releases (perhaps most memorably a run of made to order cassettes on which Boothby recorded songs chosen by the purchaser), before signing to Solitaire Recordings for their 2020 album Transfiguration Highway. The album was a massive success for the band, precipitating an explosion of critical appreciation that included earning comparisons to Damien Jurardo, Sufjan Stevens, Neil Young, Alex G, and Bon Iver in a Stereogum Album of The Week piece and high praise from outlets like NPR, The AV Club, Paste, DIY, Secret Meeting, Exclaim, World Cafe, Loud & Quiet, No Depression, and The Line of Best Fit among many others. Today the band are sharing their first new music since the LP, a single entitled “John Arnott” to celebrate ten years as a band and to mark the release of the Solitaire Recordings reissue the band’s fan favorite 2017 LP Sun Milk.
LISTEN: to Little Kid’s “John Arnott” on YouTube (Lyrics can be found here)
In keeping with the Christian themes that are often central to Boothby’s songs, “John Arnott” is a song about Pastor John Arnott, a central figure in a ’90s charismatic Christian revival centered around the Toronto Airport Vineyard Church known as the Toronto Blessing, as Boothby explains.
“The song is inspired by Pastor John Arnott, who started the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in Toronto, the site of the so-called Toronto Blessing – a charismatic Christian revival in the 90s and early 00s,” says Boothby. “I actually traveled up from Petrolia with my family to attend a service there, and later learned my partner was attending at the same time (though we didn’t meet until about 15 years later). Most of the churches I attended in my teens and early adulthood were led by pastors inspired by the movement that started at TACF: focused on performing miracles, receiving the Gifts of the Spirit, having direct spiritual experiences with God – frankly, they were all a bit ‘out there.‘”
Formed in 2019, LA-based Cuffed Up were born out of a search for “self acceptance and self-realization”, drawing lines from across the globe to the burgeoning post-punk scene in the UK, while leaning into ‘90s indie rock and grunge, creating a loud and rhythmic rainbow of post-punk that is fluid and versatile. Today, the band are sharing their crushing and vital new single “Canaries,” a rip-roaring track about reckoning with one’s shame, alongside the news that they have signed with Toronto-based record label Royal Mountain Records, home to Alvvays, Wild Pink, METZ and more. WATCH: Cuffed Up’s “Canaries” on YouTube The band explains that ““Canaries'” is about going down a path that you know is wrong, yet you keep going because some form of shame is driving you. Sometimes, we become numb to the burdens we carry. “Carrying the weight of stones/with pins to his bones” reflects that and the need to be vulnerable with yourself and not accept fate as is.”“
Pairing up with producer Brad Wood (Touché Amoré, Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair), “Canaries” is soaring yet direct, a visceral statement of intent from the band that expands on their refreshing self-titled debut that saw love from the likes of KEXP, NME, DIY, Bandcamp, and The Line Of Best Fit, as well as radio play on BBC 6Music and BBCRadio 1 and a supporting run with Silversun Pickups.
With support already from KCRW in Los Angeles and Double J in Australia, “Canaries” sees Cuffed Up embarking on a full US tour as main support for The Joy Formidable, beginning in Seattle on 11/26 and making stops in Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, New York, Philadelphia along the way and ending in Burlington on 12/18.
“Canaries” is out now on Royal Mountain Records. It is available here.
Tour Dates 11/26 – The Crocodile – Seattle, WA 11/27 – Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, OR 11/29 – The Independent – San Francisco, CA 11/30 – The Roxy Theatre – Los Angeles, CA 12/02 – Crescent Ballroom – Phoenix, AZ 12/04 – Bluebird Theater – Denver, CO 12/05 – The Riot Room – Kansas City, MO 12/07 – Turf Club – Minneapolis, MN 12/09 – Lincoln Hall – Chicago, IL 12/10 – A&R Music Hall – Columbus, OH 12/11 – Thunderbird Music Hall – Pittsburgh, PA 12/12 – 9:30 Club – Washington, DC 12/13 – The Sinclair – Boston, MA 12/14 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY 12/16 – Underground Arts – Philadelphia, PA 12/17 – Empire Underground – Albany, NY 12/18 – Higher Ground Showcase Lounge – Burlington, VT
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 hoo-oome 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.
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’ 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… Everything Louder Forever will be released October 29 via BMG Records. See below for full details of the Everything Louder Forever and be sure to visit www.iMotorhead.com for news and updates!
2CD & 4LP track listing:
Overkill We Are Motörhead Snaggletooth Rock It Orgasmatron Brotherhood Of Man In The Name Of Tragedy Bomber Sacrifice The Thousand Names Of God Love For Sale Killed By Death I’m So Bad (Baby I Don’t Care) Smiling Like A Killer Sharpshooter Queen Of The Damned Keys To The Kingdom Cradle To The Grave Lost Johnny The Game
Ace Of Spades Burner Stone Dead Forever Bad Woman Just Cos You Got The Power Stay Out Of Jail No Class I Am The Sword The Chase Is Better Than The Catch God Save The Queen R.A.M.O.N.E.S. Iron Fist Rock Out Dirty Love Shine Overnight Sensation On Your Feet Or On Your Knees I Ain’t No Nice Guy Sucker 1916 Choking On Your Screams Motörhead
Also available as 2CD, 2LP, 4LP, digital download, streaming and 360 Reality Audio.
Playing a home show still feels special for The Beths, who began playing shows in 2015 and quickly won over local audiences with a low-key approach that disguised their drive for excellence. Today, the band announces its first live recording and film, Auckland, New Zealand, 2020, out September 17th on Carpark Records. The announcement also comes on the three-year anniversary of the release of their debut album, Future Me Hates Me. Auckland, New Zealand, 2020 showcases the infectious energy The Beths bring to every performance. Native birds, wonkily crafted by the band from tissue paper and wire, festoon the venue’s cavernous ceiling while house plants soften and disguise the imposing pipes of an organ. The presence of the film crew isn’t disguised: much of the camerawork is handheld; full of fast zooms and pans. “Watching the film for the first time brought back all the emotions of 2020 for us. Sports Team have done such an amazing job of capturing the mix of anxiety and simple joy that was touring music in NZ at the time. We are so grateful that it happened and grateful to have it documented with so much love and care,” says lead vocalist/guitarist Elizabeth Stokes.
“Future Me Hates Me” is a fan favorite, as both band and audience feed off the mutual energy in the room.
After building a loyal following through live performances and their 2016 EP Warm Blood, The Beths signed to Carpark Records and released the debut album, Future Me Hates Me, in 2018. Jump Rope Gazers, released in July 2020, was a slower, yearning follow-up that still fizzes and sparks with pop-punk sensibilities. Immediately seized on by both fans and music critics as a bright spot during an otherwise dark year, Jump Rope Gazers was named Album of the Year at New Zealand’s national Aotearoa Music Awards in 2020, and secured the band awards for Best Group and Best Alternative Artist for the second year running. The releases catapulted the band straight into lengthy international tours that saw them support legends like The Pixies and Death Cab For Cutie as well as headlining increasingly large shows of their own.
Auckland, New Zealand, 2020 has its genesis in an urge to share the now-rare experience of a live show as widely as possible. The accompanying film makes the deep bond Stokes, lead guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, and drummer Tristan Deck clearer than ever: capturing the in-jokes they share with audiences during on-stage banter, and foregrounding their mutual preoccupations with the game of cricket and New Zealand’s native birds. It’s a collective exhalation, in one of the few countries where live music is still possible. They deliberately include the date and location, because “That’s the sensational part of what we actually did,” says Pearce. In a mid-pandemic world, playing to a heaving, enraptured home crowd feels miraculous.
The band will follow up the release of Auckland, New Zealand, 2020 with a North American headline tour in 2022. “Our last North American tour was in summer of 2019, which feels like a century ago. There is no way to describe how much we have wanted to be over there playing music. Finally it is happening?! See you soon. xo,” says Liz. An artist pre-sale will begin on Wednesday, August 11 at 10am local time, with a Brooklyn Vegan pre-sale running on Thursday, August 12 at 10am local time. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, August 13 at 10am local time. Tickets are available at thebeths.com. Fans can join the band’s new Patreon in the meantime.
Live Album Tracklist: 1. I’m Not Getting Excited 2. Great No One 3. Whatever 4. Mars, the God of War 5. Future Me Hates Me 6. introduction 7. Jump Rope Gazers 8. Uptown Girl
9. bird talk 10. Happy Unhappy 11. Out of Sight 12. thank you 13. Don’t Go Away 14. Little Death 15. Dying to Believe 16. River Run
Film Setlist: 1. I’m Not Getting Excited 2. Great No One 3. Whatever 4. Mars, the God of War
5. Future Me Hates Me 6. Jump Rope Gazers 7. Uptown Girl 8. Happy Unhappy 9. Out of Sight 10. Little Death 11. Dying To Believe 12. You Wouldn’t Like Me 13. River Run
Tour Dates: Fri. Sept. 17, 2021 – Auckland, NZ @ The Others Way Tue. Sept. 28, 2021 – Auckland, NZ @ Whammy Bar Wed. Sept. 29, 2021 – Auckland, NZ @ Whammy Bar Thu. Sept. 30, 2021 – Auckland, NZ @ Whammy Bar Fri. Oct. 1, 2021 – Auckland, NZ @ Whammy Bar Sat. Oct. 2, 2021 – Auckland, NZ @ Whammy Bar Fri. Oct. 22, 2021 – Tauranga, NZ @ Tauranga Arts Festival Sat. Oct. 23, 2021 – Hawke’s Bay, NZ @ Labour of Love Fri. Oct. 29, 2021 – Wellington, NZ @ San Fran Sat. Oct. 30, 2021 – Wellington, NZ @ College of Creative Arts, Massey University (AA show) Sun. Oct. 31, 2021 – Nelson, NZ @ Nelson Arts Festival Thu. Nov. 4 – Sydney, NSW @ Factory Theatre Fri. Nov. 5 – Brisbane, QLD @ The Zoo Sat. Nov. 6 – Melbourne, VIC @ The Night Cat Sat. Dec. 4 – Auckland, NZ @ The Outerfields
Thu. Jan. 20, 2022 – Washington, D.C. @ Black Cat Fri. Jan. 21, 2022 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts Sat. Jan. 22, 2022 – New York, NY @ Rough Trade (in-store signing) Sat. Jan. 22, 2022 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall Sun. Jan. 23, 2022 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair Tue. Jan. 25, 2022 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz Wed. Jan. 26, 2022 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace Fri. Jan. 28, 2022 – Chicago, IL @ Metro Wed. Feb. 2, 2022 – Calgary, AB @ Commonwealth Fri. Feb. 4, 2022 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret Sat. Feb. 5, 2022 – Seattle, WA @ NeumosSun. Feb. 6, 2022 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom Tue. Feb. 8, 2022 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent Thu. Feb. 10, 2022 – Los Angeles, CA @ Regent Theater Sat. Feb. 12, 2022 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar Tue. Feb. 15, 2022 – Austin, TX @ Parish Wed. Feb. 16, 2022 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada Fri. Feb. 18, 2022 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Hall) Sat. Feb. 19, 2022 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge Sun. Mar. 27, 2022 – Southampton, UK @ The Loft Mon. Mar. 28, 2022 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club Tue. Mar. 29, 2022 – Glasgow, UK @ St Luke’s Thu. Mar. 31, 2022 – Manchester, UK @ Club Academy Fri. Apr. 1, 2022 – Bristol, UK @ SWX Sat. Apr. 2, 2022 – Birmingham, UK @ The Castle and Falcon Mon. Apr. 4, 2022 – London, UK @ O2 Forum Kentish TownTue. Apr. 5, 2022 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde II Thu. Apr. 7, 2022 – Paris, FR @ Point Ephémère Fri. Apr. 8, 2022 – Lyon, FR @ Le Marché Gare Sat. Apr. 9, 2022 – Dudingen, CH @ Bad Bonn Sun. Apr. 10, 2022 – Lausanne, CH @ Le Romandie Tue. Apr. 12, 2022 – Milan, IT @ Biko Wed. Apr. 13, 2022 – Munich, DE @ Feierwerk Fri. Apr. 15, 2022 – Vienna, AT @ B72 Sat. Apr. 16, 2022 – Prague, CZ @ Underdogs’ Mon. Apr. 18, 2022 – Berlin, DE @ LidoTue. Apr. 19, 2022 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Ideal Bar Wed. Apr. 20, 2022 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow Thu. Apr. 21, 2022 – Cologne, DE @ Bumann & Sohn Fri. Apr. 22, 2022 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique Sat. Apr. 23, 2022 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Sun. Apr. 24, 2022 – Esch-sur-Alzette, LU @ Kulturfabrik
Today, Sam Evian announces his new album, Time to Melt, out October 29th on Fat Possum, and presents a new single/video, “Knock Knock.” Additionally, he announces a fall 2021 Northeast tour. Following a brief decampment to upstate New York to create his last album, You, Forever, Sam realized he could no longer resist the urge to escape the anxious city life. He and his partner, Hannah Cohen, split, building their refuge and Sam’s studio, Flying Cloud Recordings, in the quiet of a Catskills town. That reflective, relaxing environment inexorably shaped Time to Melt, a glowing set of soulfully psychedelic pop gems and a testimonial to the life and wisdom to be found when you give yourself the mercy of space.
During the last decade, Sam has become a preeminent collaborator, producing and engineering records for the likes of Big Thief, Cass McCombs, Cassandra Jenkins and Widowspeak. In their new home, he and Hannah hosted bands like house guests as he helmed their sessions. The coronavirus, though, clamped down on those interactions, largely sealing the couple from their longtime scene. So Sam tried something new: He sorted through more than 60 instrumental demos he’d recorded in the last two years and began shaping the most enticing of them into songs with help from Hannah and long-distance friends—Spencer Tweedy, Chris Bear, Jon Natchez (The War On Drugs), even strangers who sent him voice memos via Instagram. He took the unexpected time at home to dig deeper than ever before into his world of sounds and ideas, calmly considering our moment of prevailing chaos through a lens of newfound distance.
Time to Melt reckons with the weight of our time, even when it sounds largely weightless. New single “Knock Knock” taps Sam’s memories of race-and-class violence in the small-town South where he was raised and his subsequent reckoning with our crumbling American façade. The track, finished in June of 2020 as protests unfolded across the country, is a tribute to the perseverance of the vulnerable, who find community and joy in spite of the way centuries of miscreants try to deny it. “’Knock Knock’ is a song of commiseration,” says Sam. “It’s a conversation with my sibling, and really anyone else with a conscience. We talk a lot about the small town in Eastern North Carolina where we grew up, and why we left. Growing up we saw a lot of racism, violence, poverty, disparity, ignorance…all of it not so hidden under a veil of southern hospitality and dogmatic beliefs. A year later after George Floyd’s murder, I hope we can keep the conversation going. The veil is lifted for all to see. Knock knock – who’s there? A broken America.”
The song’s cinematic, light-hearted video, created by Josh Goleman and filmed in the almost completely abandoned town of Meltsville, New York, brings the Time To Melt album art to life.
Time to Melt is an album of sounds so pleasant and compelling that you put it on and follow the slipstream. There are songs of celebration on Time to Melt, paeans to whatever joy it is we find in life or love, such as the previously released “Easy to Love,” an ode to finding a new paradise outside of the city where you can plant love and literally watch it bloom. The album’s intoxicating rhythms and timbral webs are as settling, even seductive as an evening glass of wine. But whatever your day’s end ritual may be, it isn’t some idle exercise. It’s a place to unpack the pain and wonder, the suffering and promise of the moment, to reflect on where you have been and what might come next. In 40 striking minutes, Time to Melt sorts through a year of a life spent in rage and hope, lockdown and love.
The Sam Evian band will tour the Northeast this fall in support of Time to Melt. Sam (guitar, vocals) will be joined by Brian Betancourt (bass), Michael Coleman (keys), Sean Mullins (drums), and Liam Kazar (guitar, synths). Tickets are on sale this Friday, August 13th at 10am EST. Watch the “Easy To Love” Video
Time to Melt Tracklist 1. Freezee Pops 2. Dream Free (feat. Hannah Cohen) 3. Time To Melt 4. Knock Knock 5. Arnolds Place 6. Sunshine 7. Never Know 8. Lonely Days 9. Easy To Love 10. 999 Free 11. Around It Goes
Sam Evian Tour Dates Fri. Oct. 29 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom Sat. Oct. 30 – Woodstock, NY @ The Colony Wed. Nov. 3 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom Thu. Nov. 4 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair Fri. Nov. 5 – Asbury Park, NJ @ The Saint Sat. Nov. 6 – Washington, DC @ DC9 Wed. Nov. 10 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas Thu. Nov. 11 – Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts Fri. Nov. 12 – Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre Sat. Nov. 13 – Portland, ME @ Space Gallery Fri. Nov. 19 – Amagansett, NY @ Stephen Talkhouse Sat. Nov. 20 – Troy, NY @ The Hangar
Legendary South Sudanese pop star Gordon Koang releases a new track, “Disco,” off of his forthcoming Coronavirus / Disco 12”, out today via Music in Exile. “Disco” follows the recently released “Coronavirus,” but the new single was actually written by Koang in 1997.
Although it’s been a highlight in his live performances, this is the first time “Disco” has been recorded and made available for his audience to dance to at home. Written as a love song, “Disco” shares his trademark messages of peace and unity, dance floor style. Beginning with fast and almost rap-like vocal delivery in his native tongue, Nuer, the energy is high from the very start. With pulsating bass lines and interweaving instrumental melodies, the band is almost mesmerizing and urging in their accompaniment. When asked what he wants listeners to feel when hearing this song, he says “I need them to be happy, to listen to the song, to know that they will get advice from this song, to feel it in their heart, when they listen to music they will be comfortable, be happy!”
The Coronavirus / Disco 12” is his first offering since 2020’s “idiosyncratically joyous” (Bandcamp) Unity. After two weeks in hotel quarantine (following a visit to his family), Gordon and Paul returned to Melbourne, eager to record music once more. With lockdown lifting, Gordon headed to the studio with a new band featuring Zak Olsen (ORB, Traffik Island) Jack Kong (Baked Beans, Traffik Island), David “Daff” Gravolin (ORB), and Jesse Williams (Leah Senior, Girlatones). This new release is the result of these studio sessions, jamming and recording at Button Pusher in Preston, Melbourne.
The “Coronavirus / Disco 12” will feature a pull-out poster from Gordon, encouraging listeners to stay positive during this difficult time.
“The perspectives from which I write, jump erratically and can turn on a dime. Others grow and burn, only to sometimes vanish on the spot, just before the hat drops. . . My intention is to not rob the listener of their own fantasies by describing the annals of purpose which in turn, only unearth a fragile magic. I am interested only in the album’s response by its audience. The album is there to be digested, not by the front of your brain, but by the back. It is for the lover of labyrinths and quagmires.” — Caleb Landry Jones
Over the weekend, Caleb Landry Jones won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his role in the film, Nitram. Today, the actor, musician, and visual artist announces his new album, Gadzooks Vol. 1, out September 24th on Sacred Bones, and presents lead single/visualizer “Bogie.” The follow-up to his debut, The Mother Stone, Gadzooks Vol. 1 moves from joy to despair, from horror to glib humor. Its sounds range from spider-like wisps of neo-psychedelia through to vast swathes of synthetic chords; it’s thrilling, shocking, and wonderfully entertaining as each song starts and finishes in entirely unique places, often totally divorced from each other. Lead single “Bogie” lurches with brass and tumbling percussion. Caleb’s voice cuts through as he continues to enter new terrains.
Just a few months after recording The Mother Stone, Gadzooks Vol. 1 was written in Albuquerque, New Mexico while filming the dystopian themed film, Finch, alongside Tom Hanks. “I stole from what was around me, what fell out of the television, what passed below my windows, relationships, old and new. My frustrations, desires, day dreams and fears scattered themselves throughout my writing,” says Caleb. “It is a direct response to the album before it. I felt whatever I wrote next needed to be more consistent. I knew that I wanted to put everything down on tape. I wanted the same players as before but to go further.” He’d idle away his hours on location by focusing on creativity, and when filming stopped, Caleb knew he had to get straight back into the studio.
Caleb would soon link with the same cast who formed The Mother Stone, including producer Nic Jodoin, based out of the elegant Valentine Recording Studio in Los Angeles, and Drew Erickson who handled string and horn arrangements. Together, Caleb and Nic would work 18-hour days, bringing Caleb’s vision into focus. Recording to tape, Caleb would hack away at each take, reassembling the songs like Escher diagrams. “It’s like when you’re swimming in the pool and you’re doing a bit of butterfly, and then that gets old after a while. So then you start doing breaststroke, and then that gets old after a while. I think it’s just a reaction from the place where we were before.”
Part of a flood-tide of creativity – as its title suggests, a second half to this album is already on the horizon.
Gadzooks Vol. 1 Tracklist 1. Never Wet 2. Yesterday Will Come 3. The Loon 4. Bogie 5. Gloria 6. California 7. For A Short Time 8. A Slice of Dream 9. This Won’t Come Back
Mega Bog (the world-inhabiting moniker of song-animator Erin Birgy) presents a new single/video, “Weight of the Earth, on Paper,” off of her forthcoming album, Life, and Another, out July 23rd (vinyl out August 27th) on Paradise of Bachelors. Following “Station to Station,” “Weight of the Earth, on Paper,” stirs with lightly moving percussion, keys, and Birgy’s velvet voice. In the track, named after the collection of memoir tapes by the artist David Wojnarowicz, poppies sprout in Birgy’s shadow and scare her companion while harpies circle above Loch Ness. For the self-directed video, Birgy enlisted the help of friends, including Big Thief’s James Krivchenia (who co-produced the album), Adrianne Lenker, and more. “The video for ‘Weight of the Earth, on Paper’ came out more pure Mega Bog than I even expected,” says Birgy. “We are a community of deep friends and collaborators, who move through the world as scrappy little archeologists who love to play dress up. I’m so thrilled to have the friends I have show up and trust me over and over again, and I’ll always be there to do the same.”
Recorded over several sessions in various studios—the Unknown in Anacortes, Washington, Way Out in Woodinville, Washington, and Tropico Beauty in Glendale, California—Life, and Another features instrumental contributions from longtime and new collaborators, including Aaron Otheim, Zach Burba of iji, Will Segerstrom, Matt Bachmann, Andrew Dorset of Lake, James Krivchenia of Big Thief, Meg Duffy of Hand Habits, Jade Tcimpidis, Alex Liebman, and co-engineers Geoff Treager and Phil Hartunian. The album was written while Birgy cohabited with co-producer, engineer, and percussionist James Krivchenia in a small cabin near the Rio Grande. There, Birgy found herself often alone between their separate touring schedules. These isolations opened a familiar black hole of troubling projections, and any desire to remain positive continued to fold back into self-destructive thought and fear. Over time, a budding interest in mindfulness, attachment theory, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and rage gave way to new productive brain processes. These creative juices followed Birgy on the road and into subsequent lonely bedrooms as the songs continued to flow.
Departing from the humid spider plant nursery of previous record Dolphine (2019), Life, and Another brings us back to our home planet, into the rarefied air pressure of a desert valley where its fourteen songs were written and scattered like stones in the landscape, each one a precious gem chiseled by Birgy. It stages a semi-fictionalized drama in the interior self, with scenes of collective longing at the bowling alley, disputes over a distended memory outside the bar, and solitary circling on the patio, looking out over the yard in stubborn awe. These memories, from both past and future, bubble up throughout the album. Life, and Another is another fantastical off-world transmission and her most sophisticated, exploratory, and accessible statement yet.
A limited-edition Life, and Another photo and song book, featuring images, songwriting and studio notes, collages and texts by Erin Birgy, and drawings by Zach Burba, designed by Joel Gregory, is available exclusively via Paradise of Bachelors.
In 2020, Protomartyr’s tour was cut short due to the pandemic. Today, they announce a fresh North American tour in support of Ultimate Success Today, their “eloquent, paranoid, and ultimately thrilling” (The FADER) album released last year on Domino. For this tour, they’ll be joined by Kelley Deal from the Breeders/R. Ring (some lucky fans got a sneak peek of this lineup prior to COVID lockdown). Additionally, Protomartyr are making their Ultimate Success Today visual album public. The visual album presents a video for each song, all made during quarantine except for “Processed By The Boys,” and edited together into a seamless short film. The filmmakers responsible for each song’s video are Dominic Ciccodicola, David Allen, Nathan Faustyn, Joseph Howard (with illustrations by drummer Alex Leonard), Trevor Naud, Ashley Armitage, Yoonha Park, and Jeremy Franchi. Tickets can be purchased here.
