Shoegaze – Page 21 – 7th Level Music

Kestrels’ new single “Grey and Blue” features J. Mascis and a wall of shoegaze sound.

On Dream or Don’t Dream, Halifax’s Kestrels live out a guitar freak’s wildest fantasies. The supercharged shoegaze rockers’ fourth full-length album features spellbinding mixing from John Agnello(Sonic Youth, Alvvays, Kurt Vile, Cyndi Lauper) and mastering engineer Greg Calbi (David Bowie, Lou Reed, Television, Blondie). Together, they constructed a towering devotional to tone with blazing riffs, powerhouse drums, and swooning hooks emerging from an enveloping haze.

WATCH: Kestrels’ “Grey and Blue” feat. Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis video on YouTube

The first single, “Grey and Blue” is a fuzzy, reverb drenched power-pop track featuring soaring solos from Dinosaur Jr‘s J Mascis. Guitarist and vocalist Chad Peck explained, “”Grey and Blue” is a song about being carefully and uncharacteristically optimistic and vulnerable. This song came at the end of a really rough period in my life and it captures the nervous excitement of that time. My thinking tends to get narrow and shallow during bad periods, and when I feel things start to change it’s almost overwhelming; I’m not sure if I should trust it, but I have to push forward anyway. It’s a good feeling when you meet someone who makes you feel like your eyes can open a little wider and makes the echos skip through your brain.”

Dream Or Don’t Dream was largely written on the sofa of Ash‘s Tim Wheeler, but Wheeler is not the only guitar aficionado that Peck has in his contact list. “J Mascis plays two solos on this song. It’s still weird to say that out loud,” Peck explains. “We opened for Dinosaur Jr at this wild secret show in Amherst, MA. I met Luisa, J’s wife, and his longtime engineer Justin Pizzoferrato there. Luisa invited us over to their place and J gave us a tour of his studio and just kept handing me different guitars to try out (“This was what I used when I recorded “Out There”…). It was surreal. When we were tracking this song, Justin mentioned that it would be a good song for J to play on and he set it up for me. Thanks Justin! Thanks J! He did 7 takes and they are all incredible. Maybe I’ll release the other 6 takes someday.”

Dream Or Don’t Dream is out on July 10th on Darla Records. It is available for pre-order here.

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Rewind Review: Cosmonauts – Lazerbeam (2012)

The EP Lazerbeam from Los Angeles, California shoegaze rockers Cosmonauts is a great introduction to their forceful and hypnotizing sound if you haven’t heard it before now.

The title track opens the EP, sounding a bit like a Hanni El Khatib track at first with its echoing vocals and early 1960’s garage rock beats, but then that fuzz comes in and takes you to another dimension. The song’s about realizing a relationship is coming to an end and not being able to do much about it (“Please don’t leave me, man. You’re the only one I can stand. Begging you not to leave me, babe. You’re the only thing that is sane…”).

“Cut Your Hair” gets off to a heavy start with guitars set to maximum growl and the dual vocals about embracing “the dark side of pain” set to heavy reverb. “Crocodile Teeth” keeps the fuzzed-out shoegaze sound going as the dual vocals of Alexander Ahmadi and Derek Cowart bounce off each other so much (and so well) that you’re not sure where one ends and the other begins. Oh yeah, their dual guitar work does the same thing, producing a mind-altering effect that’s hard to describe.

You might think a song called “Slower” would be a mellow way to end an EP, but Cosmonauts flip the script a bit and end the album with a rocker instead. The drums are like a chugging freight train while Ahmadi and Cowart’s vocals boom off the back walls of your house and the guitar riffs hit you in brisk waves.

Lazerbeam is short, but loud and bold. It takes you by surprise and immediately makes you wonder what else these cats can do. Check out any of their full albums for more great shoegaze.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Deeper – Auto-Pain

The cover of Chicago post-punks Deeper‘s new album, Auto-Pain, features an image of Northwestern Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago – a hospital known for its modern architectural style…that was demolished in 2015. Healing, death, illness, impermanence, and presence are themes weaved throughout the album.

It opens with “Esoteric,” as guitarists Mike Clawson and Nic Gohl (who also sings lead) lead us by the hand with catchy hooks while Gohl asks “Is it any wonder I feel so old?” He’s bogged down by the pressure of living under constant demands from all angles. The song breaks into bright synths and power riffs that bring Wire records to mind. “Run” has some guitars just as bright and shiny as before, and other with a lingering sense of anger behind them.

“This Heat” could be a tribute to the band of the same name (and the sharp guitars certainly are reminiscent of This Heat), but I suspect the song is about the heat of emotions and trying to tame them. “I’m so sick” Gohl repeats again and again, as well as “You’re crossing the line.” He’s ready to burst with rage as his temperature rises. “It’s all right” is repeated often on “Willing,” and you’re not sure if Gohl is trying to convince us, his bandmates, himself, or all three groups. I love the way the guitars sound like warped records, and Shiraz Bhatti‘s beats (influenced by sounds heard as a kid at pow wows he attended with his family) on it are wicked.

“What’s the point of living this life?” Gohl sings on “Lake Song.” A repeated line in the chorus is “I just want you to feel sick.” The lyrics take on heavier weight when you learn that Clawson killed himself after leaving the band during Auto-Pain‘s recording. He had battled depression for a long time. The band was stunned, as you can imagine, and “Lake Song,” with its dark synths and krautrock beats, feels like Gohl, Bhatti, and bassist Drew McBride working out their grief in the track.

The synths burst forth with new light and the guitars throw fits with new fire in “Spray Paint.” On “4U” the synths and guitars almost become manic, probably reflecting the stress building on the band at the time. McBride’s admiration of Peter Hook is on full display on “V.M.C.” and “Helena’s Flowers” – two tracks that deal with obsession and attachment.

“The Knife” brings to mind early stuff from The Cure as Gohl sings about feeling best when one realizes most of life is nonsense. It can be a depressing thought, and Gohl has admitted that depression is the main theme of the album and the recording of it was a healing process for he, McBride, and Bhatti. The closer, “Warm,” has Gohl’s guitar sounding like it’s stumbling across a desert landscape in search of a cool place to rest. “Is this the cure you believe in, or just another cast line?” Gohl sings. The last line of the song and thus the album is “Inside I close the door.” Does he mean inside the safety of his home or inside the domain of his mind? I’m not sure if it matters either way. He has found a way to shut out the noise, and wouldn’t we all be better off if we could do that?

The title, Auto-Pain, is a reference to Brave New World and a substance that lets you feel everything at once. Could we deal with such a wave of emotion? Would we end up enlightened if we did, or crushed? Sometimes the reward is worth the risk.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Radar Men from the Moon – Subversive I (2015)

It’s a bit difficult to describe the music of Radar Men from the Moon (who are actually from the Netherlands). Is it psychedelia? Prog-rock? Synthwave? Shoegaze? All of that? None of it? I’m not sure. They were all playing synthesizers, sequencers, and drum machines when I saw them at Levitation France a couple years ago, and Subversive I is heavy on electronica and synths, whereas other albums are more guitar-based. I do know, however, that everything I’ve heard from them is good.

Subversive I is the part of a triptych of albums released in consecutive years starting in 2015. Subversive I is only four instrumental tracks, but the shortest one is six-and-a-half minutes long.

That one is the first track, “Deconstruction,” which starts off with fuzzy synth bass and sharp drum beats before robot pulse guitars come in to get you moving. It’s an industrial dance track in many ways, again making RMFTM difficult to categorize.

“Habitual” takes on a darkwave tone with guitars that sound like they were recorded in a dark tomb and bass and synths that sounds like some…thing pounding and clawing it’s way out of that tomb.

“Neon” is the longest track on the album at eleven minutes and sixteen seconds. It starts quiet and brooding, like a slow, building rain hitting a tin roof. It turns into a theme for a cool futuristic mystery-thriller movie you think you’ve seen but never have.

The closer, “Hacienda,” is the most “in your face” song on the record with its buzz-saw guitars and “Peter Gunn”-like bass that gets under your skin.

Subversive I, like a lot of RMFTM’s work, is one of those albums that changes the feel of the room when you play it. It’s one of those albums that makes people ask, “What is this?” Sometimes they ask it out of intrigue, other times out of confusion, and other times out of apprehension. If that doesn’t make you want to hear it, I don’t know what will.

Keep your mind open.

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Why Bonnie release title track from upcoming EP – “Voice Box.”

Austin-based band Why Bonnie announces their new EP, Voice Box, out April 10th on Fat Possum. Via The FADER, they have premiered its title track and an accompanying video.
“Voice Box” fumes with quiet wisdom, and is “about the societal pressure to silence yourself, and the frustration and self doubt that comes with battling sexism,” says the band. Its video, directed by Shelby Bohannon, features the band and highlights the rift between reality and what is expected of a person.

Watch the Video for “Voice Box”
https://youtu.be/Ptt9ZEne38Q

The Voice Box EP celebrates unhindered expression through beguiling, propulsive guitar pop. Fuzzed-out guitars and crystalline vocals drive a tough-edged struggle in the space between suppression and artistic liberty. Front woman Blair Howerton explains: “It encapsulates a disconnect between my inner and outer world, and not being able to express myself authentically because of that. But, ultimately knowing I will crash and burn if I don’t.”

Why Bonnie is the dazzling, full-band emotional release of Howerton. In a decisive step to start performing her backlogged material, Howerton moved back home to Texas after graduating college in 2015. In Austin, Howerton joined lifelong best friend Kendall Powell, who she met in preschool. Powell’s classical piano chops swapped to synth for the new project. Both active in the Austin scene, guitarist Sam Houdek and bassist Chance Williams later joined to complete the lineup.

In 2018, the band emerged on petite indie outlet Sports Day Records with In Water. The EP eulogized Howerton’s older brother, who passed away years prior. Follow-up Nightgown expanded the effort, pulling lush Mazzy Star and Cranberries influences.

This spring, Why Bonnie will tour in support of Voice Box, including SXSW and dates with Squirrel Flower and Kevin Krauter. A full list of dates can be found below and tickets are on sale now.

Pre-order Voice Box EP
WhyBonnie.lnk.to/VoiceBoxEP

Voice Box EP Tracklist
1. Bury Me
2. Voice Box
3. Athlete
4. Jetplane
5. No Caves

Why Bonnie Tour Dates
Wed. March 18 – Austin, TX @ Beerland (High Road Touring Showcase)
Sat. March 21 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas (Burgermania)
Mon. March 23 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge *
Wed. March 25 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo *
Thu. March 26 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill *
Sat. March 28 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza *
Sun. March 29 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge *
Tue. March 31 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court *
Thu. April 2 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge *
Fri. April 3 – Omaha, NE @ (drips)
Sat. April 4 – Iowa City, IA @ Mission Creek Festival
Mon. April 6 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *
Tue. April 7 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas *
Wed. April 8 – Cleveland, OH @ Mahall’s *
Fri. April 10 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere
Mon. April 13 – Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
Tue. April 14 – Oxford, MS @ Proud Larry’s
Thu. April 16 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs)
Fri. April 17 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk Indoors
Sat. April 18 – Dallas, TX @ Ruins
Tue. April 21 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop Bar
Wed. April 22 – Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub
Thu. April 23 – Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary #
Fri. April 24 – Toronto, CA @ Baby G #
Sat. April 25 – Montreal, QC @ Brasserie #
Mon. April 27 – Allston, ,MA @ O’Brien’s Pub
Tue. April 28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle #
Wed. April 29 – Washington, DC @ Pie Shop #
Thu. April 30 – Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall #
Fri. May 1 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle (Back Room) #
Sat. May 2 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn #
Sun. May 3 – Nashville, TN @ DKRMTTR #

* = w/ Squirrel Flower
# -w/ Kevin Krauter

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Flat Worms push back against “Market Forces” with their new single.

Flat Worms, the Los Angeles-based trio of Will Ivy (guitar), Tim Hellman (bass) and Justin Sullivan (drums), announce their new album, Antarctica, out April 10th on Drag City Imprint, GOD? Records, and share lead single, “Market Forces.” Antarctica is for people invested in the future, despite a world in flames, deserts in permafrost, and everyone in their own corners, looking down into their hands. It considers the chaotic, dysfunctional contemporary landscape and reflects a situation that’s dire, but not hopeless.

Since the release of their 2017 debut LP – even since last year’s “Into the Iris” mini-LP – Flat Worms’ sound has hardened, with the polarities of psych and post-punk smelted into a brutal cobalt alloy. No doubt they’re aided by the Steve Albini-engineered sound rendered at Electrical Audio, where the album was recorded and mixed (in collaboration with Albini and Ty Segall) in six days. The rest of the evolution is down to Flat Worms, whose world view and musical viewpoint pulse with a remorseless drive and a sense of collaborative unity. Ivy’s cortex-scorching guitar leads are in united space with the full-body rhythm of Hellman’s bass and Sullivan’s drums.

Flat Worms’ social comment, bleak, yet earnest, is leavened with bone dry humor (the title track’s isolation conundrums: “My dog is smiling as I drive her to the park / we sit together in the kitchen after dark / I ask her questions / She just barks”) and caustic pronouncements. Lead single “Market Forces” kicks the modern malaise of alienation from our over-commodified social media mirror image. As market forces drives feels to capitalize on later, Flat Worms ask: Are you really helpless in this dynamic?

Listen to Flat Worms’ “Market Forces”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z73PY-bCUaY

Commitment. Intention. Collaboration. And a sense that we’re meant to enjoy what we’re doing. Even in the desert of Antarctica, Flat Worms are looking for the upside.

Flat Worms will play select shows throughout California and the UK this spring. All dates are listed below.

Pre-order Antarctica
https://ffm.to/antarctica

Antarctica Tracklist:
1. The Aughts
2. Plaster Casts
3. Market Forces
4. Antarctica
5. Via
6. The Mine
7. Ripper I
8. Condo Colony
9. Signals:
10. Wet Concrete
11. Terms of Visitation

Flat Worms Tour Dates:
Thu. April 30 – Oakland, CA @ Crystal Cavern
Fri. May 1 – Long Beach, CA @ Alex’s Bar
Sun. May 3 – Tucson, AZ @ Hotel Congress
Fri. May 8 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon
Thu. June 4 – Manchester, UK @ Pink Room @ Yes
Fri. June 5 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Sat. June 6 – Newcastle, UK @ The Cluny
Sun. June 7 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast
Tue. June 9 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds
Wed. June 10 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms
Thu. June 11 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla
Fri. June 12 – London, UK @ The Garage

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Cosmonauts – Persona Non Grata (2013)

The title of Cosmonauts‘ 2013 album Persona Non Grata is Latin for “Person Not Appreciated.” In the world of politics it refers to someone prohibited from entering or staying in a country. Cosmonauts are known for wall-to-wall shoegaze riffs that highlight lyrics of alienation and dissatisfaction (from the world in general to something as simple as the effort it takes to go to a party), so it’s a perfect title for an album reflecting themes of not fitting in anywhere.

The album starts with “Shaker” (which does indeed have a shaker prominent in its sound), in which the band sings about uncertainty and being dumbfounded by one’s own willful ignorance (“I can’t believe that I can’t believe that I can’t believe.”). “Sweet Talk” brings in psychedelic reverb to the rolling riffs and a solid rock groove in a song about murder.

“Wear Your Hair Like a Weapon” was the first single from Persona Non Grata. It’s a crunchy, echoing blast that tells the tale of a dangerous woman. The drum beat on it is wicked and the way it drifts into a trippy section near the end is great. The guitars on “My Alba” have a Middle Eastern sound that I love and might make a lava lamp materialize in your office or bedroom while you’re not looking.

“What Me Worry” was the slogan of Mad Magazine‘s Alfred E. Newman whenever confronted with something out of his control – particularly in the world of politics. The song keeps this attitude throughout it, but focuses it toward a relationship coming to an end (and the killer bass line and shredding guitar solos only make it better).

“I don’t worry about the other guys, ’cause they know me well and I’m cold as ice,” they sing at the beginning of “Pure Posture” – a song about posturing masculinity to hide insecurity. The opening guitars on “I’m So Bored with You” sound like saw mills in full operation. “Vanilla” is the song that follows. “Vanilla” is another term for “boring” or “plain,” especially in the bedroom. The song bounces along like a groovy dream and is hardly boring. The wink of it following “I’m So Bored with You” is inescapable as it tells the tale of girls coming to Los Angeles (the band’s hometown) and them pleading for her to go home and avoid the pitfalls of the city and new relationships there

“Dirty Harry” moves along as fast as an action film and almost dares you to keep up with it. The closer, “Summertime Blue,” ends the album with southern California shine that turns into prismatic colors swirling around you, even as the band sings, “Nothing ever seems to turn out right, and I’m staring at the sky…”

It’s more disconnection. Cosmonauts knew in 2013 that we were all racing down a road of distancing ourselves from others because we were too afraid to embrace the present and the light within us and everyone else. We made ourselves into persona non grata, never at home anywhere because we were too busy being elsewhere with our phones and computers. They, in the meantime, were using rock to propel into orbit and encourage us to kick down the barriers we’d created.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Leones, Diagonal, Necromoon – The Brass Rail – February 08, 2020

For a small place, Ft. Wayne, Indiana’s Brass Rail can pack in a lot of sound. This show of indie shoegaze and psychedelic acts was no exception.

First up was local band Leones, who played a good set of bass-forward shoegaze with thick Latinx psychedelic touches.

Second on the bill were Chicago’s Diagonal. I’ve been a fan of the band for a while now and was happy to finally catch them live. They played a sold psychedelia set of mostly new material from their upcoming album. One of the funniest parts of their set was how they kept referring to Gary Numan and playing parts of “Are Friends ‘Electric’?” after I played it on the Brass Rail’s juke box while they were doing their sound check.

Closing out the night was Ft. Wayne’s Necromoon, who are not a Dead Moon cover band. They play a mellower version of psychedelia than Dead Moon (and to be fair, few bands can match Dead Moon’s raw power) but still put out a lot of sound as they played songs about love and death and other subjects with a bright hope to them.

All in all, it was a fun night of live music in a small venue and a nice oasis in the dead of winter.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Ancient River – After the Dawn

Ancient River (J. Barreto – guitars and vocals, Alexis Cordova – percussion and vocals) describe their new album, After the Dawn, on their Bandcamp page as “A dark, moody collection of songs written primarily on the band’s tours.” That’s as accurate a description as any I could write, but I would add one word to it – “heavy.” This is easily the heaviest, fuzziest Ancient River record I’ve heard in a long while.

The opener, “So Long Ago,” almost lulls you into a euphoric daze at first before a wrecking ball of distorted guitar fuzz and massive fills smacks you in the face. “Trust in Me” has a malevolent chug running throughout it, like something moving at the bottom of a witch’s cauldron. Cordova’s drums on “Until the End” bring Black Sabbath to mind, and Barreto’s riffs alternate between psychedelic trips and skull battle ax skull-crushers.

“The Nothing” is a quick instrumental that leads into “King Freak,” which brings in a little shoegaze to the heavy fuzz assault. “With Love” pulls you down into a world of incense smoke and peyote visions. The album ends with “Under the Stone,” which is over eight minutes of heavy jamming that will induce slow, rhythmic nodding and upper torso undulations from the sheer gravitational pull of it.

I don’t know what kind of weird, creepy things Ancient River saw on their recent tours to inspire these songs. Perhaps they ran into the monster depicted on the cover while driving their van down a dark Pacific Northwest road or stopped at a roadside market somewhere in Montana to buy some handcrafted Native American jewelry and met a talking crow. Again, I don’t know. I’m not even sure they could explain it, but that’s okay. The mystery is sometimes better than the answer, and this album is a mystery that can have different solutions depending on the kind of day on which you hear it and / or your state of mind at the time. Open it and let it alter your perception.

Keep your mind open.

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ThunderStars release “Not That Far” from upcoming EP.

Austin shoegaze trio ThunderStars share a new single from their forthcoming album, Number Stations today via Treble Zine. Hear and share “Not That Far” HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

Echoes & Dust previously hosted lead track “Ride” HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

ThunderStars is a shoegaze/dreampop band from Austin TX. Formed in the fall of 2018, it marks the return to music of longtime Margot & the Nuclear So and Sos multi-instrumentalist, Erik Kang (guitar, lead vocals). The 3-piece solidified when Sven Bjorkman (drums), posted a random thought about creating a band to use the name ThunderStars, which was coined by his toddler daughter during a stress-fueled trip to the hospital.

This art-out-of-chaos theme has hung over the band since its inception. After their second live show, their bassist, Omar Richardson, was assaulted by a vagrant outside the venue, which resulted in a concussion and subsequent trip to the ER. This incident was covered extensively in Austin news, which raised the band’s profile unexpectedly. ThunderStars demos also were well received publicly, and the band subsequently received considerable radio and podcast plays, as well as show bookings with many touring acts.

Number Stations will be available on January 10th, 2020 on LP and digital on Mariel Recording Company. Pre-orders are available HERE.

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