I've been a music fan since my parents gave me a record player for Christmas when I was still in grade school. The first record I remember owning was "Sesame Street Disco." I've been a professional writer since 2004, but writing long before that. My first published work was in a middle school literary magazine and was a story about a zoo in which the animals could talk.
Levitation France has announced the first group of bands scheduled to play the 2022 festival in the cool town of Angers. This is also the first year the festival will be a three-day event. Tickets are on sale now.
The lineup is already looking good. The Brian Jonestown Massacre will surely bring in a large crowd, and it will be cool to see Kim Gordon perform. Death Valley Girls and Frankie and the Witch Fingersalways put on good performances, and I won’t miss Automatic‘s set.
A Place to Bury Strangers has a new rhythm section (the husband and wife team of John and Sandra Fedowitz on bass and drums, respectively) and with it Oliver Ackermann‘s most personal album to date – See Through You. The album is full of nods towards the band’s past sounds, continuing explorations of familiar themes (i.e., the insidious way technology continues to separate us), and movements to the future and new ways of pushing the sonic envelope.
The references to Ackermann’s past bandmates are inescapable, and he’s made it no secret that the lineup change, the pandemic, and the world lockdown changed his perspective on pretty much everything. The album’s opener (with its cool, robotic bass lick from John Fedowitz), “Nice of You to Be There for Me,” might be a sarcastic jab or it might be a genuine acknowledgment. It’s up to us to decide, as much of APTBS’ music is always open to multiple interpretations. Ackermann’s guitar work on it is somehow disjointed and jazzy at the same time.
“I’m Hurt,” however, pretty much tells you how Ackermann’s feeling. Sandra Fedowitz’s beats in it are pure industrial, perfectly backing up the dark, heavy feel of Ackermann’s mind. The song belongs in a modern giallo film. “Let’s See Each Other” might be the friskiest song Ackermann’s ever written. “Open your heart to me. Explore the fantasy, we’ve got the chance to be together. Let’s meet up late tonight, indulge in pure delight…” I mean…come on! Then again, knowing Ackermann, the song is probably about online fantasies and how they never pan out to be what you think they will.
“I never thought you’d get so low,” Ackermann sings on the fuzzy “So Low.” One interesting thing about See Through You is how the album has some of Ackermann’s clearest vocals yet it doesn’t slouch on the raw, loud power of APTBS’ catalogue. “So Low” is a good example of this. You can make out pretty much every word, but it’s still as loud as a saw mill. Just to surprise you, however, “Dragged in a Hole” is almost the opposite on the vocals, as they’re almost melded with the monster growls of Ackermann’s guitar and John Fedowitz’s bass.
“There’s no way to make it right. It wasn’t even done on purpose. You should know it’s not your fault, and I know no one deserves this.” Those are the opening lyrics of “Ringing Bells,” a track in which Ackermann apologizes to someone (Past bandmates? A former lover? Deceased relatives?) and Sandra Fedowitz goes completely nuts on her drum kit, being the yang rage to Ackermann’s yin grief. “I Disappear (When You’re Near)” has a cool, warped darkwave vibe to it that makes it a standout.
“Anyone but You” is surprisingly peppy with happy dance rhythms provided by Mr. and Mrs. Fedowitz. I can’t help but wonder if “My Head Is Bleeding” is a sort of sequel to “To Fix the Gash in Your Head,” one of APTBS‘ earliest tracks. “My back’s against the wall,” Ackermann sings on “Broken” – a track with frenetic energy to reflect his state of mind. John Fedowitz cranks up his bass on “Hold on Tight,” which you need to do throughout the entire track because it might knock you flat.
Synths and guitars meld well together on “I Don’t Know How You Do It,” almost to the point where you’re not sure where one ends and the other begins. It’s a strong shoegaze track, and a tip of the hat to The Jesus and Mary Chain with its sound. This sound continues on the uplifting closer, “Love Reaches Out,” with Ackermann singing, “I’ll always have the warmest thoughts of you.”
See Through You is one of APTBS’ most interesting releases as of late, even improving on the HologramEP released not long ago that started exploring these themes of loss and hope. Ackermann is always exploring and innovating, and this record sets his bar even higher for the next.
Mostly made and recorded while he was self-isolation in Canada, Jacques Greene‘s new EP, Fantasy, came out of Greene’s exploration into presence and the blissful side of solitude.
The first track on the album, “Taurus,” hooks you within six seconds with its killer beats and meditative vocal sounds. “Memory Screen + Fantasy” is layered with trance beats, ambient chords, and images of Greene reliving his childhood through, like many of us, his computer or phone screen and memories.
According to Greene, “Relay” was made on multiple machines and recorded straight live and only fiddled with a bit in later editing. It’s a fun track that sounds like hip video arcade music. “Sky River” has thick electro-beats backed with haunting, smoky vocals from Somimagae about awakening the light within us. “Got to leave here. You are not the only one.” are the only lyrics of “Leave Here,” the closing track on the EP that, as Greene puts it, are “…kinda the most direct reference to the Get Me the Fuck Out of Here vibe of this whole record.”
Mission accomplished, Mr. Greene. This EP, brief as it is (just over twenty-one minutes), is a wonderful escape from winter chills, lockdown blues, or wherever you find yourself wishing for peaceful space.
Following the fêted success of 2021’s Wet and Tired, The Wife Guys of Reddit are back with their forthcoming single “Pig Fat” – a song that poses two questions:
What would happen if I literally decided to fight God?
What would happen if God turned out to be a little bit sexy?
Arion Xenos and Niamh MacPhail once again lend their vocal talents to the track, melding their trademark irreverence with a healthy dose of spunk. The addition of seasoned instrumentalists Elise Atkinson and Angus Fernie to The Wife Guys of Reddit’s ranks shines through on this single, with the band concocting their thickest sound yet. While their hardest studio release to date, this shift should come as no surprise to those who have managed to catch one of the band’s protean live shows; Xenos said of “Pig Fat”: “With the band being able to flesh out the single together in the studio, we were able to properly experiment and push the boundaries of what we want The Wife Guys to be: “Pig Fat” bridges that gap between mellower past studio releases, and the wired energy of our live performances.” Not content with stopping there, the single release will be accompanied by a found footage horror-inspired homemade video, demonstrating the full creative prowess of this outfit.
In spite of their recent inception shortly before Christmas 2020, the self-titled ‘purveyors of soupy rock’ have already sparked interest in DIY circles across the globe, gaining coverage in BBC Radio Scotland with Vic Galloway, NARC. Magazine, Tenement TV, Amazing Radio with Jim Gellatly, and KXSF Radio, among others. The band are additionally looking forward to weirding out the 2022 live circuit at Left of the Dial Festival, The Great Western, NXTGN Festival, and supporting She Drew The Gun on tour; as well as working on their forthcoming EP, produced by Catholic Action’s Chris McCrory.
Failure have announced a North American tour in support of their recently released, widely-praised sixth album, Wild Type Droid.
Ken Andrews said of the live outings: “I have not been this excited to bring new material to the stage since Fantastic Planet. Prepare yourself for an out-of-body experience.”
The dates, which kick off on June 2 in San Diego and run for five weeks before culminating in a hometown show at Los Angeles’ Regent Theatre, are on-sale today at 10 am local time. All shows will open with a special preview of the forthcoming Failure documentary.
Wild Type Droid (https://failure.ffm.to/wildtypedroid) arrived in December via the band’s own label, Failure Music. Rolling Stone called the 10-song collection “incredibly expansive,” Guitar World described the album as “one of the most inspiring alternative guitar records to arrive in 2021,” and Paste Magazine said the trio “make a career-defining statement.”
“To me, it captures a lot of the new musical approaches and techniques we were going for on this album, but somehow is still quintessential Failure,” Ken Andrews explained as news of the album was revealed. “We’ve been together long enough to know that some of our best ideas come directly from these experimental sessions. For this album, we simply cultivated that methodology for a much longer time than we have in the past. It brought out the trio aspect of the band. There was a feeling we could really push the individual parts further away from each other and let the more interesting and challenging combinations take center stage.”
Failure is Ken Andrews (vocals, guitar, bass, programming), Greg Edwards (vocals, guitar, bass, keys), and Kellii Scott (drums, percussion). Forming in early ‘90s Los Angeles, the trio have released six albums: Comfort (1992), Magnified (1994), Fantastic Planet (1996), The Heart Is A Monster (2015), In The Future Your Body Will Be the Furthest Thing from Your Mind (a series of EPs released as an album in 2018), and Wild Type Droid (2021). The group is considered one of the era’s most influential rock bands with Vice, in an all-encompassing retrospective upon the band’s return saying: “While many of their contemporaries became prolific by releasing an ungodly amount of materials, Failure’s [initial] three-record catalog is minuscule, but just as important in terms of content, style, and music texture.”
Formed by the members of the beloved and now defunct New York post-punk band Pill and their NYC underground peers Eaters, P.E. have been trafficking in boundary-pushing, dystopian grooves since the release of their mesmerizing first single “Top Ticket” in 2019. Collaborating with artists like Parquet Courts, Xiu Xiu and Liars, the band have developed a growing cult following that has continued expanding as they come to broader attention with the release of their first LP Person, in 2020 and last year’s The Reason For My Love EP, which have earned praise from outlets like Stereogum, BrooklynVegan, Bandcamp, The Guardian (who had the EP’s title track on their 2021 Best Songs You Haven’t Heard list) and Pitchfork (who had the EP on their list of Great Records From 2021 You May Have Missed). Today, the band are returning to announce their most fully-realized artistic statement to date, an album called The Leather Lemon that will be released on the buzzing Brooklyn label Wharf Cat Records (Palberta, Water From Your Eyes, Lily Konigsberg) on March 25th, and sharing that album’s first single “Blue Nude (Reclined)” which is premiering today on FADER.
LISTEN: to P.E. – “Blue Nude (Reclined)” on YouTube // FADER
Writing about the band’s last single The Guardian said that P.E. channel “the fidgety, dark, and inescapably danceable sound of Mudd Club-era, underground bands like Bush Tetras, the Contortions and ESG,” and this latest single feels like a further refinement of that direction. Their sound is far from a retread however, as they process the sounds of the 70s and 80s Lower East Side through the filter of contemporary influences and recording techniques, using surprising building blocks to create something that is as effective as pop music as it is forward-looking.
“This was one of the first songs we wrote for the new record, shortly after settling ourselves mentally & physically around the country,” singer Veronica Torres says of the song. “With all of our tour plans scrapped in the initial wave of the pandemic, the five of us decided to put our energies into writing new material for the next record, trading files back and forth in order to shape our new sound. “Blue Nude” quickly became an inspiration for the rest of The Leather Lemon – something that foregrounded both the song and the sound, as fun as it was abstract.”
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P.E.‘s sophomore album, The Leather Lemon (Wharf Cat Records, out March 25, 2022), ushers in a new era for the New York band. A wild ride through chewy bubblegum pop, sweeping synthetic orchestrations, and mutant club beats, the album slides ever closer to the fully-realized pop sensibility only winked at with their debut album Person (2020) and subsequent releases.
Digging into mystery, romance, and sex appeal with The Leather Lemon, the group — composed of members of Pill (Mexican Summer/Dull Tools) and Eaters (Dull Tools/Driftless) — centers its sound within a Bermuda Triangle of dance music, electronic composition, and experimental rock. Members Jonathan Schenke, Bob Jones, and Jonny Campolo play within pop parameters, building upon free-form collaboration to create a fluorescent groove machine that harnesses the energy of their frenetic live shows. Singer Veronica Torres explores her softer side, expanding her vocal repertoire from spoken word and jagged growls to cherubic and sensuous psalms. Sax virtuoso Benjamin Jaffe’s chiseled experimental tone is heard in an extended solo of true romance in “Tears in the Rain,” a somber surrealist duet penned by Torres and Andrew Savage, singer/guitarist of Parquet Courts.
Recorded primarily at Schenke’s Studio Windows in Brooklyn, NY, The Leather Lemon was cultivated from a fertile creative period between spring 2020 and summer 2021, which also yielded 2021’s acclaimed The Reason For My Love EP, of which Pitchfork writes:
The quintet refines their impulses on their 2020 debut Person and transforms them into a body-moving EP. The jittery electronics are still there, but the drum cuts feel sharper and lighter, bringing a sense of structure to what could easily be shapeless. Vocalist Veronica Torres abandons spoken-word and leans fully into singing about poetry, beauty, and the contours of the body. Her lovely vocal stretches fill up the space once occupied by industrial bass drops. Sensuality suits them well.
The Leather Lemon is a reckoning record for the times; an album of psychedelic resurfacing, real-time response to world events, and soft, sympathetic magic. This is a collection of songs shaped by five individuals who embrace music-making as a way to center themselves in times of uncertainty; it’s resilience and imagination given shape. The Leather Lemon is a true sweet-and-sour listening experience, an album as bright and clear as it is fractured and fun. Get turned UP and ON with the electrifying new lemon drop from P.E.!
The Leather Lemon will be released on Wharf Cat Records on March 25th. It is available for preorder here.
The Philly punk scene is a powerful thing. It should come as no surprise that this bastion of hard hitting punk rock would be a lodestone for some of the best metal punk talent in the world! Such was the case for vocalist/guitarist Phillipa Tank of California Motorhead tribute band Motorbabe, and now frontwoman of the hard hitting punk thrash band, Roadkiller. After an initial burst of shows, Roadkiller quickly recorded their self-titled debut EP, a record fated to make your ears bleed in all the right ways. Created with the goal of fusing punk, hard rock and crossover thrash whilst still remaining uniquely Roadkiller, Phillipa is on a mission to write songs to get your blood pumping. With dreams of constant touring and a dedication to quality songwriting, Roadkiller is more than just another punk band. We are witnessing the birth of a well oiled machine, representing the magic of all the underground has been and will be.
Phillipa Tank shares “This is the second single off of my upcoming record Pick of the Litter, featuring the inimitable Dave Witte (Municipal Waste, Melt Banana, Discordance Axis) who nailed my song ‘Slicker than Oil’. We shot down at Graffiti Pier, directed and filmed by my awesome crust-lord, drone pilot friend, Botgrinder.” Dave Witte adds “Phillipa Tank‘s ROADKILLER songs are rocking and full of energy. It was really fun to play the tune and film a cool video to boot! Also to be included among a really great group of drummers playing on the record is equally as exciting.“ 2022 will see the release of Roadkiller‘s first full length record “Pick of the Litter“, featuring stacked guest spots of iconic drummers across the heavy music spectrum.
About ROADKILLER: Phillipa Tank is ROADKILLER. Phillipa is the vocalist, singer and composer of the music and lyrics of all of the songs on the record. She is also the guitarist and founding member of all girl Motorhead tribute band, Motorbabe. Five guest drummers participated in the recording of the upcoming ROADKILLER album, Pick of the Litter: Dave Witte (Municipal Waste), Jess Margera (CKY), Donald Tardy (Obituary), Tommy Akerholdt (Turbonegro) and Adrian Aguilar (Exmortus). Phillipa invited each drummer to record a song that best fit each drummer’s style of playing. Each session was filmed and a total of five videos will be produced.
Fully embracing their love of John Carpenter film scores, and horror movies in general, Boy Harsher‘s newest record is actually the score to an original short horror film written, produced, and directed by them – The Runner.
The album’s first notes on “Tower” immediately set the dark, creepy tone and both unsettle and intrigue you. You don’t know where this is going, but you’re willing to risk the danger to find out where it leads. “Give Me a Reason” brings in a sexy vibe, with smoky vocals by Jae Matthews that have an underlying menace to them. She could very well be singing, “Give me a reason to love you.” or “Give me a reason to kill you.” at any moment.
“Autonomy” is a peppy new wave bright spot on the record, with guest vocals from Cooper B. Handy. “The Ride Home” switches back to giallo film dread and terror as it slithers around the room like some sort of killer dressed in a black trench coat and holding a gleaming straight razor. “Escape” is trippy synthwave made for a nightclub that took over an abandoned arcade.
“Machina” is another sexy number, this one with guest vocals from MS. BOAN, reminiscent of early Human League tracks. An untitled piano / synth track follows, and its lovely and unnerving at the same time. The album closes with “I Understand” – a brief, dritting track that fades away like a last breath.
So, yeah, it’s all perfect for a horror film soundtrack.
Today, Orange County-bred Vicky Farewell announces Sweet Company, her debut album, out April 8th on Mac’s Record Label, and presents a visualizer for its lead single, “Are We OK?” Possessing a rare combination of elite musicianship and singular vocal performance, Farewell produced, arranged, and engineered Sweet Company herself. Her particular knack for pocket-driven ear worms match the album’s melancholy tone with whimsical notions and unbridled joy.
Farewell’s emergence as a solo act is the latest chapter in an already impressive career. A classically-trained pianist, songwriter, and producer, Farewell began to flourish at the epicenter of the funk-addled and deeply experimental Angeleno musical ecosystem alongside The Free Nationals in the studios of Shafiq Husayn (of Sa-Ra Creative Partners) before graduating to the legendary hip-hop producer Dr. Dre. Boasting writing credits on Anderson .Paak’s acclaimed GRAMMY-nominated album Malibu (Best Urban Contemporary Album) and the GRAMMY-winning album Ventura (Best R&B Album); it was in the company of these giants that Farewell found her sound, and—at their urging—she ultimately found her own voice.
Today’s “Are We OK?” was born at the height of pandemic uncertainty, conveying the palpable vulnerability of that fraught period. “‘Are We OK?’ was the first song I ever wrote and produced to completion on my own,” says Farewell, “Honestly, I never considered myself much of a singer until I made this song. It really paved a way for the rest of the record.”
Grounded by the pandemic, Farewell channeled her artistic energy into a vehicle she could operate from the comforts of her own home. The ability to work with little to no input from the outside world is a hallmark of the scene that made her, and this approach affords Farewell the freedom to perfect her output. Though the first track came from her decision to write tunes for fun, Farewell was encouraged to record a full-length record by the more established artists in her orbit who were digesting these early demos. Upon finishing Sweet Company, Farewell played the album for Mac Demarco and was offered a deal on the spot: “I’ve known Vicky for several years now, she’s a good friend and a ripping musician. I’m super excited to be working on this release with her. Vicky shared a couple of the songs with me as she was making them a while ago, and it’s been cool to watch the rest of her process in putting it all together. I love all these tunes, I’m happy Vicky’s allowed us to help out with them, and I’m really excited for everybody else out there to have a rip on them.”
Sweet Company cements Farewell as a true record producer, complete with the confidence to let the music do the talking. For Farewell, it’s “all about the music and the music is fucking good.” Sweet Company is a bold statement of artistic capacity delivered in feather-light refrains, bursting phasers, and robust arpeggios that conjure pastels and the tender nostalgia of a childhood crush. Farewell finds herself fully realized in the span of eight tracks painstakingly designed to shatter industry norms.
Sweet Company Tracklist 1. Prelude 2. Sweet Company 3. Kakashi (All of the Time) 4. Believe Me 5. Are We OK? 6. H.W. 7. Forever 8. Get Me
Trip Villain is a Brooklyn-based power duo that fuses synth-laden psychedelia with the prehistoric stomp of doom metal. Trip Villain is Josh Musto (Tragedy, ex-ShitKill, ex-Netherlands) and Damien Moffitt (Leach, ex-ShitKill, ex-Netherlands). Today, Trip Villain released their new dance-punk single/title track “Won.” This is the third single off their upcoming debut LP, Won, which drops February 22nd. Accompanying the single is a live in-studio performance of the song shot at Rad Hazard Studios.
Guitarist Josh Musto and drummer Damien Moffitt share “The title track, ‘Won’ was the first jam we came up with as Trip Villain. The prompt we gave ourselves was ‘heavy, sexy, dancey,’ and once our friend, Trip-Pop artist, Leach recorded a guest vocal, it gelled beautifully. Lyrically, ‘Won’ is about breaking free from bad relationships and controlling your own destiny.
An instant digital download via Bandcamp of the three singles “Won”/ “The Villain”/”Is This Love?” comes with a preorder of either the digital album Won or the two-track 7″ flexi-disc of “The Villain” & “Ego Death.”
The 7” Flexi-Disc is two tracks (The Villain, Ego Death) and comes with a full album download via Bandcamp. 7” Flexi-Discs will not ship until late-March.
Trip Villain explains“Won is the culmination of the two of us playing together in various bands since we were thirteen. We wanted to make an album that punches as hard as the riffy metal bands we grew up with, but with the emotional depth and synthy sparkle of the psychedelic music we’re influenced by as adults. Since most of these songs were born out of improvised jams, our seventeen years of musical chemistry is front and center. The sound we ended up with lands somewhere between the metallic grooves of Helmet and the tripped out ecstasy of The Flaming Lips, all with a deep reverence for the almighty RIFF.”
Two previously released singles from the upcoming album, Won, “Is This Love?” and “The Villain”are also currently streaming HERE on Spotify
