Month: July 2020

Review: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Chunky Shrapnel

The cover of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard‘s “first” live album (not counting the three live recordings they released earlier this year to benefit Australian wildlife charities), Chunky Shrapnel, features an image of a seven-headed hydra (the same number of guys in the band) surrounded by speakers hooked up to analog equipment to produce weird digital images signifying their already tremendous output of albums and songs, such as Infest the Rats’ Nest (bottom middle), “People Vultures” (bottom right), and even the cyborg Han-Tyumi from Murder of the Universe (second down from the top on the right).

It’s a neat image because it not only tells you what’s in store for you on this great live album, but also a nod to the blending of music and modern technology. The band released a Chunky Shrapnel concert film in a limited stream earlier this year. A full-blown theatrical / wide streaming release is in the works, but this album is a great taste of what to expect from it – and any live KGATLW show (which never disappoint).

The album is sprinkled with studio instrumentals (“Evil Star,” “Quarantine,” “Anamesis”) and the rest is stuffed with live tracks recorded in Luxembourg, Madrid, Manchester, Utrecht, London, Brussels, Milan, Berlin, and Barcelona) over the course of their 2019 world tour. The first live track is a wonderful, jazzy version of “The River.” It’s a neat choice to open your live album with a mellow track (that blooms into an epic jam around the three-minute mark) to get the listener grooving. “Wah Wah” gets the Madrid crowd chanting and jumping. “Road Train” is a nice, crazy follow-up, and the trippy “Murder of the Universe” lets them jam at will as Han-Tyumi’s vocals echo around them from some unseen machine.

The version of “Planet B” unleashed on the London crowd is downright dangerous, somehow sounding twice heavier and faster than the album version (which is already damn heavy and fast). “Parking” is a fuzzy two-minute drum solo that leads into the blazing “Venusian 2” and “Hell” that threaten to incinerate and / or flatten the Milan venue.

The bluesy, swaggering “Let Me Mend the Past” gets the Madrid crowd whooping and hollering. “Inner Cell” brings back a bit of menace. “Loyalty” and “Horology” both flow well together and ease us back down before nineteen minutes of “A Brief History of the Planet Earth” pieced together from four different shows. The song ebbs and flows, being manic one moment and euphoric the next. It’s full of noodling jams and more fuzz than a koala bear. There’s even a moment when they pass a beer through the crowd to their sound man accompanied by frenzied riffs.

It’s another great, stunning album from KGATLW – who by now are obviously unstoppable.

Keep your mind open.

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Neon Coven “Blame It on the Drugs” with new single.

Neon Coven, the darkwave, alternative rock band from Los Angeles, CA, featuring Jacob Bunton (Mick Mars, Adler, Lynam) and Ace Von Johnson (LA Guns, Faster Pussycat) has released its brand new single “Blame It On The Drugs” today via New Ocean Media. The song is the first single from the band’s upcoming debut full-length album Future Postponed. The lyric video is available on the band’s official YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1hhGIA50jE

Neon Coven is comprised of Anthony Montemarano (vocals), Jacob Bunton (Keyboards/guitar/bass), Ace Von Johnson (guitar), and Kyle Cunningham (drums). The band’s debut full-length album Future Postponed will be released October 30th. Produced by Jacob Bunton, the album features 11 tracks ranging from songs about survival and balance to emotionally charged anthems of empowerment. The songs live in the space between challenging the need for certainty and, ultimately, learning to accept uncertainty. “Future Postponed is set to inspire, intrigue and terrify all at once,” states guitarist Ace Von Johnson. “The material within runs a musical gamut, in which we as a band proudly exercise our ability to take bold strides in diversity. From dance-pop to goth rock, each song will take you twisting down a new road. I’ve worked on a lot of albums in my career, and thus far, this is the one I’m most proud of.” 

FUTURE POSTPONED track listing: 01. Blame It On The Drugs 02. Every Part Of Me 03. A World Without You 04. I’m The New Hit 05. Manic 06. Purgatory 07. Kiss Of Death 08. Spirits In The Hall (feat. Ramsey) 09. You’re Never Getting Out Alive 10. Dead To Me 11. The Other Side Of Nowhere 

From Los Angeles, CA, Neon Coven abandoned much of the ethos of the tradition of heavy rock to create an intellectual and theoretical sound, linked to an emphasis on anthemic, synth-heavy dance-music. The band came together when Von Johnson, Bunton, Montemarano and Cunningham formed the band as a side project on the suggestion of a mutual friend. “We were all on the Monsters Of Rock Cruise,” explains Bunton. “Our mutual friend April Lee said, ‘you guys should start a band.’ Ace and I had been friends for years, and we both met Anthony on the cruise. After we got back to LA, we started writing songs whenever our schedules would align.” The band released their first EP Risen in 2017 containing the songs “Bleeding Love” and “No One Knows You’re Dead,” both appearing in the horror movie Hesperia. The band followed the EP with a cover of Depeche Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again” in 2018. In 2019, the band released its second EP, The Haunting. 

For more  information: Facebook: www.facebook.com/neoncoven

Sound Cloud: www.soundcloud.com/neoncoven

Instagram: www.instagram.com/neoncoven

YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UC1tGFRXHUJGkQqeo2q-_oXA

Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ycnmlpk5

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Gerard at New Ocean Media.]

Review: Automatic – Signal

I stumbled upon Los Angeles trio Automatic while listening to a radio station from somewhere in southwestern France. I was immediately hooked by their goth / no wave sound and had to find more. Luckily, their new album Signal was already available. I knew after one listen that I had to own it.

Halle Saxon‘s fretless, fuzzy bass opens the album on “Too Much Money,” and Izzy Giuadini‘s synths add a buzzy air of menace throughout it while Lola Dompé‘s drums are as precise as an auto assembly line. “Calling It” was the track I heard on French radio that made me sit up and think, “Who is this?” Dompé’s drums take center stage on the track and the echoed vocals are cold and sexy at the same time. “Suicide in Texas” is a goth-wave / David Lynch movie dream track. Automatic have cited Mr. Lynch and Dario Argento as major influences, so that already makes them great in my book.

“I Love You, Fine” is one of the best song titles I’ve heard all year, and the lyrics might be the best ones about female empowerment in a relationship since The Waitresses‘ “I Know What Boys Like.” “Highway” is a danceable industrial gem suitable for your next late night drive to an after-party. Saxon’s bass groove on the title track is undeniable.

“I see you turn into humanoid,” they sing on “Humanoid,” which I can’t help but think is influenced by Gary Numan‘s work. Giaudini’s synths and Dompé’s percussion on it sound like some of Numan’s work with Tubeway Army – which is never a bad thing. “Damage” is another killer goth-wave track as Automatic sing about walking away from a relationship that they know isn’t going to end well.

“Electrocution” has Dompé and Saxon in perfect synch on an upbeat track about what can be a downbeat subject – emptiness (“The sound of laughter, and then it’s over. There’s nothing after.”). “Oh no! We’re goin’ nowhere!” they sing on “Champagne,” which I think is a song about superficiality. The closer, “Strange Conversations,” is like something out of a goth prom night with its romantic bass line, slightly bright synths, and almost-slow dance drumming. Lyrics like “I thought I told you, I can’t stand anyone at all.” and “I’ve lost my patience. All you do is let me down.” also help boost the goth feel of the track.

The album mixes goth, synth wave, and no wave so well it’s difficult to tell where one influence begins and another ends, but who cares? Automatic blend everything so well that Signal becomes a lovely, hypnotic record that will surely be among my top releases of 2020.

Keep your mind open.

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Psycho Las Vegas to return August 19 – 22, 2021 with nearly the same lineup as the cancelled 2020 festival.

The Psycho Las Vegas music festival announced its return in 2021 at the Mandalay Bay Casino Hotel August 19th (if you count the Psycho Swim daytime events, and why wouldn’t you?) through August 22nd.

Most of the original lineup has been announced as returning in 2021. Unfortunately, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Ty Segall aren’t listed as being part of the 2021 festival, but losing just two big bands out of a big lineup like that is a pretty good deal. Tickets for the 2020 scenario will be honored in 2021, and you can probably still buy tickets for the 2021 festival since many people who’d planned to attend this year won’t be able to make it next year.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Live in Brussels ’19

One of three live albums released by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard for Australian wildlife charities, Live in Brussels ’19 is a wild, heavy set drawing on a lot of material from Murder of the Universe, Nonagon Infinity, Infest the Rats’ Nest (their newest album at the time of this tour – October 2019), and Fishing for Fishies.

Opener “Evil Star” is a fuzzy instrumental appetizer to the meaty, heavy “Venusian 2.” The crowd is in full battle mode when they arrive at the sludgy “Superbug.” Lead singer Stu Mackenzie‘s vocals sound shouted to the moon and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Lucas Harwood‘s bass rooting the tune in a solid stoner metal groove. “The Lord of Lightning” begins as a neat psychedelic jam that gets the crowd clapping and grows into the powerful story of a wizard fighting a monster.

“Altered Beast IV” has some of Michael Cavanaugh and Eric Moore‘s best double drumming. The crowd goes wild for “People Vultures” – and rightly so, since it seems to be played at double the normal speed of the album cut. The groove of “This Thing” is undeniable, and Ambrose Kenny-Smith‘s harmonica work on it is always top-notch.

“Sense” slows things down to a happy vibe. “The Wheel” might be the trippiest song on the album. Kenny-Smith’s vocals are warped, and Mackenzie, Cook Craig, and Joey Walker‘s guitars move around each other like cats high on catnip. “The Bird Song” is always a delight – live or otherwise. The band always sounds happy while playing it, and you can’t help but partake in their joy.

“Down the Sink” has a fun new wave vibe to it. “Work This Time” floats the audience about five feet off the hall floor with its hazy, meditative feel. Plus, the guitar solo on it is great. The band then gets the crowd roaring again with “Robot Stop.” The opening chords alone make the audience frantic before it explodes into chill-inducing mania. “Big Fig Wasp” continues the chaos with its microtonal riffs. “Gamma Knife” comes at you like a whole swarm of the aforementioned wasps.

The closer, “Float Along – Fill Your Lungs,” is jaw-dropping. It’s a stunning piece of psychedelia that floats along for over twelve minutes and probably left the Belgian audience euphoric.

It’s another great slice of the King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard pie and does what any good live album should do – make you want to see them live as soon as possible.

Keep your mind open.

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