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.
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.
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 Zappaalbum any time soon.
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.
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.
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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I must admit that the Pitchfork Music Festivalcrams a lot of stuff into a small park. I’m used to larger spaces like Levitation Austin, but Pitchfork gets a lot of bang for its buck at Chicago’s Union Park.
Speaking of cramming, the lines to get in were long, but moved well when my wife and I got to the festival close to 2:00. By the end of the day, we were hearing stories of the line to get in wrapping around the block and going the whole length of the park. One friend posted on Facebook that it was almost as bad as getting into the massive Star Wars Celebration convention.
Once inside, I was surprised to see how close two of the stages are to each other. The Red and Green Stages are almost a stone’s throw apart. Mandy and I wondered how noisy it was going to be with the bands playing on each stage, but the Pitchfork programmers wisely schedule the bands so that none are playing on the Red and Green stages at the same time.
We missed Madame Gandhi‘s set, unfortunately, but arrived in time to see Priests.
Priests
They played a set that proved post-punk is alive and well and had a fun time. I later picked up their first record at a record fair located on the park’s tennis courts. We had plenty of time to wander after their set and that’s when we discovered not only the record fair, but also a print and poster fair, a book fair, a craft fair, and plenty of food vendors. I walked out of the record fair with not only that CD by Priest, but also CD’s by Waxahatchee, Screaming Females, and Vacation. I might go back for a Chicago Cubs World Series Champions poster and a cute one of animals reading books.
We wandered to the Red Stage to catch the Thurston Moore Group, who put down a loud punk / noise rock set with hammering guitar solos and thunderous bass. Moore told a funny story about Henry Rollins’ too during the set, so that was a treat.
Thurston Moore Group
We went straight back to the Green Stage to catch Danny Brown, who came out to Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.” He quickly got the crowd jumping with his crazy rhymes and booming beats. Water and water bottles were flying in every direction from a mosh pit that broke out in front of the stage. There was a lot of call and response stuff between Brown and the crowd, who I’m happy to say looked sharp and healthy (check out his lyrics if you’re wondering why I was concerned).
We stayed in our spot for about an hour to wait for LCD Soundsystem, who got a big cheer just from raising the biggest mirror ball I’ve ever seen above their set.
The crowd kept building as their 8:10 start time grew closer. It was so packed at one point that I had difficulty raising my arms to get this photo.
I’m glad I’m not claustrophobic. That’s the Red Stage behind us, and this is just half the crowd for LCD Soundsystem. Mandy’s checking her phone to my left.
LCD Soundsystem started their set ten minutes early, bringing seemingly enough people for an Earth, Wind, and Fire tribute band with them. They burst out of the gate hard and fast, and the crowd seemed to release energy it had been storing all day. Their big hit “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House” was the second song of the set, so they didn’t waste time.
How it looks when Daft Punk is playing at your house.
A mosh pit broke out next to us at one point, and this aging punk rocker had to get into it and show these young hipsters how its done. Other highlights included “Trials and Tribulations,” a lovely and loud version of “New York I Love You, but You’re Bringing Me Down,” and “You Wanted a Hit.”
LCD Soundsystem won’t be your babies anymore.
I warned Mandy as they started “Dance Yrself Clean.” “This whole place is going to go ape shit,” I said. She had no idea what I meant and thought the entire crowd was going to break into a mosh pit. She was pleasantly surprised when instead we all pogoed when the song kicks into full gear. It’s as great as you can imagine.
Dancing ourselves clean with LCD Soundsystem.
They closed with a wild rendition of “All My Friends.” It was well worth the waits (the hour before their set, and a few years since they called it quits) to see them. I had been bummed that I missed them when they were first on the scene, so their set at Pitchfork was my main reason for buying weekend passes. They didn’t disappoint, and lead singer James Murphy performed with a bad back and keyboardist Nancy Wong with a bum knee – although neither showed much signs of impairment (Murphy stretched at one point, and Wong would sometimes take his arm to walk from one spot on stage to another).
This is how you end a set. Stay home if you can’t bring this kind of energy.
Getting out of the festival was a big harder than getting in since the main entrance and exit isn’t huge. We plan to look for a VIP exit tonight. On the way out, a young man behind said to his friends, “Mosh pits were fun when I was a sophomore three years ago. Now, I’m not so sure.” The old punk rocker in me wanted to give him a backwards elbow shot to the face and say, “I’m getting into pits at twice your age!”
Washington D.C. punks Priests have unleashed a lot of post-punk / no wave protest music in the last year, and the world is better for it. They’re smack dab in the middle of the current political climate’s hotbed, and they’re not just speaking out, they’re shouting out. A lot of their songs build to high tension, which is an apt reflection for much of the country right now.
Priests open the Green Stage at the Pitchfork Music Festival on July 14th. It’s sure to be a raucous way to start the day.
Keep your mind open.
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PRIESTS SHARE VIDEO FOR “PINK WHITE HOUSE” AND ANNOUNCE TOUR DATES
NOTHING FEELS NATURAL OUT 1/27 ON SISTER POLYGON
Today, Priests share the video for their new song, the presciently titled “Pink White House,” and announce an extensive tour in 2017. The song comes off their forthcoming debut full-length, Nothing Feels Natural, out 1/27 on Sister Polygon Records. Singer Katie Alice Greer had this to say of the song and video:
Lyrically, this is a Priests song I am maybe most proud of to date. I am very inspired by the filmmaker Adam Curtis, the first time I saw “It Felt Like A Kiss” I thought, man, I want to start a band where I can write lyrics the way this guy makes films, like these politically pointed surreal avant-garde narratives, and then I met Daniele and we started Priests. So for me, “Pink White House” is a step towards achieving this style of lyricism. I’m excited about that. Musically we wrote the first half and then were like, “where do we go from here?” We wanted the second half of the song to feel like you’re in a new scene of the story, where “come on palm trees” starts. It was very fun and adventurous for us, writing this way! For the video, I wanted to do something playing on the notion that pop culture repackages your identity and sells it back to you for “entertainment.”
Priests have also announced and extensive tour in 2017 in support of the new record. Don’t miss a chance to see one of the most dynamic and exhilarating bands in the country.
PRIESTS TOUR DATES: Thu. Nov. 10 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Broad w/ Rhys Chatham Sat. Jan. 28 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Night Bazaar Fri. Feb. 3 – Philadelphia, PA @ Everybody Hits Sat. Feb. 4 – Boston, MA @ Great Scott Mon. Feb. 6 – Montreal, QC @ Casa del Popolo Tue. Feb. 7 – Toronto ON @ Silver Dollar Room Wed. Feb. 8 – Detroit, MI @ UFO Factory Thu. Feb. 9 – Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen Fri. Feb. 10 – Madison, WI @ Rathskeller Sat. Feb. 11 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry Wed. Feb. 15 – Vancouver, BC @ 333
Thu. Feb. 16 – Seattle, WA @ Vera Project Fri. Feb. 17 – Portland, OR @ Disjecta Sat. Feb. 18 – Eugene, OR @ The Boreal Sun. Feb. 19 – Oakland, CA @ Starline Social Club Mon. Feb. 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echoplex Wed. Feb. 22 – San Diego, CA @ Che Cafe Thu. Feb. 23 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar Fri. Feb. 24 – Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole Sat. Feb. 25 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf Mon. Feb. 27 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda Tue. Feb. 28 – McAllen, TX @ Yerberia Cultura Wed. Mar. 1 – Houston TX @ Walter’s Thu. Mar. 2 – New Orleans LA @ Siberia Fri. Mar. 3 – Tallahasee, FL @ Wolf’s Den Sat. Mar. 4 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn Sun. Mar. 5 – Durham, NC @ Pinhook Sat. Mar. 11 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
PRAISE FOR “JJ”
“‘JJ,’ the new song from the excellent Washington punk band Priests…begins with flickers of surf rock, the sort that inspired and also began to suffocate indie-punk circa 2009. But in the hands of this band, the sound gets harsher and less lithe. When the frontwoman Katie Alice Greer begins to sing, it eradicates any ease that style connotes: “I thought I was a cowboy/because I/Smoked Reds! Smoked Reds! Smoked Reds!” And in the video, the band members are filmed up close as their faces are aggressively poked and prodded. It is a siege — surf’s down.” – The New York Times
“Over surfy, shimmying guitars and a twinkling piano, Greer and her elastic growl reflect on bygone self-assurance, days when cigarette brands could work like masks.” Pitchfork [BEST NEW TRACK]
“If 2014’s Bodies And Control And Money And Power EP explored how politics informed the band’s personal lives, then “JJ” dives into the weirdness of the interpersonal — not offering solutions, just asking more questions, which has long been Priests’ M.O. In the melodic mayhem, a “rich kid, low life in a very big jacket” becomes a stream-of-consciousness portrait of human relationships, particularly from a woman’s point of view. Greer doesn’t so much howl and scream but rather growls and coos like Eartha Kitt wound up and snapped into a surrealist punk rage.” – NPR Music [Songs We Love]
“Priests veer hard here into groovy ’50s sock-hop sounds without losing the immediacy that marks them as one of the greatest young DIY bands of this moment.” – Stereogum [5 Best Songs of the Week]
