Bringing you exclusives from tomorrow’s papers, Impose’s Week in Pop first helps you begin to make sense of today’s hyped up headlines. First in big band break-up buzz: Guided By Voices once again threw in the towel; Lil B released the Basedmoji app; Rihanna versus Thursday Night Football, drugs, alcohol, and Robin Thicke’s even blurrier-slurrier lines; Seth Rogen got hired as Waka Flocka Flame’s 50k a year official blunt roller; or how about an essay think piece from Perfect Pussy’s Meredith Graves; or “Meat Free Mondays” with Macca; maybe a tacky Kent State Sweatshirt via Urban Outfitters; but rejoice as Audioslave reunited on stage again, but another live Strokes gig might not be in the cards; September 23 will now be known as “David Bowie Day” in Chicago; Jack White versus The Foo Fighters and Rolling Stones; and Apple and has created a link to remove U2’s Songs of Innocence from their recent forced gifting on iTunes.
But turning a few pages and moving the conversation forward into the future, we are proud to present a host of world exclusives, interviews, insights and premieres from Dinosaur Feathers, Carl Creighton, News For Lulu, Bummer Vacation, Is/Is, Medicine, The Yetis, Lazyeyes, co-curated by Pictureplane, and more — in no particular order.
DINOSAUR FEATHERS
Even before the official announcement of their third album, CONTROL, Brooklyn has been buzzing about the upcoming album from Dinosaur Feathers. In press releases and glossy overviews, much fuss is being made about Rhythm Nation-Janet and Curtis Mayfield fixations from visionary mastermind Greg Sullo, working with the Naptimes production team to release the most mega-lithic work to date, available October 7 from Ernest Jenning Record Company. On the world debut of Dinosaur Feathers’ new album single, “Impossible”, hear the possibilities of revised and altered interpretations of 80s rhythms and blue ahead of a special album release party this Saturday, September 20 at Brooklyn’s Shea Stadium, alongside Lazer Background and Howth. The maximum level of gossip, mumbles, and whispers was confirmed when Howth frontman (also interviewed in this feature) Carl Creighton expressed his unyielding admiration for Dinosaur Feathers, and had the opportunity to interview with Greg Sullo following the debut.
“Impossible” proves to be everything you’ve been patiently waiting for all summer, or ever since 1989. But before you get hung up on date pigeonholes and other identifying marks that indicate location—all that is thrown out with the bathwater as some of the most obsessive upgrading of outdated former-high tech mixing methods takes over. Naptimes see to it that every isolated and disparate component of Greg’s audio puzzle is kept in the keyboard-Crock-Pot. Sounds chirp out from all corners, lovable drum-machine sequences click and clap, keys pop out, pop away and rain down on the listening audience as Greg unleashes one of the most memorable song opening falsetto we have heard all September: “What the fuck can I say? I kept to myself, just one asshole making trouble, when I wanted nothing, so what?” It’s your contender for song of the week, off the upcoming CONTROL album you have waited all year for or more.
Getting deep down in the latest Dinosaur Feathers chapters, Greg Sullo got interviewed by one of his biggest fans and contemporaries, Howth’s Carl Creighton:
My introduction to Dinosaur Feathers was the fabulous Whistle Tips album released in 2012, the first with your current label Ernest Jenning. A lot has changed with the band since that release, not the least of which being the geographical distance between members. How did this effect the writing process and creative direction taken with CONTROL?
Being removed from everyone else sort of wiped the slate clean. So, while there was no explicit decision to change direction, the distance definitely allowed for changes that may not have occurred had I stuck around NYC.
What inspired the album title and the synth-pop soul sheen of CONTROL? What musical influences did you draw upon?
When I first moved to Oakland, I was listening to a lot of Kiss 98.1, which plays early 80’s R&B. Somehow that led to me listening to Prince’s Dirty Mind over and over, as well as Janet Jackson’s Control, whose title we stole.
Who’s playing on CONTROL? What was the recording process like?
I recorded most of the parts myself. Luckily, I had some incredibly talented friends in Oakland who were able to help me realize some ideas I couldn’t pull off myself. My buddy Jacob Fiss-Hobart played all the sax parts. And my buddy Michael Coleman played most of the keyboards. Almost all of the record was recorded in my bedroom in Oakland. My housemates were definitely patient and a bit confused – especially when I was recording all the high vocal harmonies. The people who lived downstairs once asked me, ‘who’s the girl who keeps singing?’
I’d like to touch on Touching for a moment. For those who don’t know, lead singer Greg Sullo of Dinosaur Feathers has smartly enlisted his bandmate’s other band Touching to support him on this nationwide tour. What was the progression of getting everybody on board for that? How long is the tour again?
It was clear early on that we were going to have to change things up when we played this material live. We wanted our live show to be the Curtis Live (Curtis Mayfield) to CONTROL’s Curtis and/or Roots. That meant stripping things down and reducing the arrangements to their most necessary parts. While the style is a lot different from Touching, those guys have the musicianship and they were on board to go out on the road for 5 weeks. It was a coup.
I was lucky enough to be at your Death By Audio show a couple weeks ago, your first with Touching, and the tightness of everybody as a unit was even more remarkable considering you had only one practice under your belt. And the old school soul sound you guys captured is so different than the progressive stuff Touching normally does. What explains this phenomenon? Similar influences as artists? A mind meld?
Mind meld, mostly. Recording the album in my apartment was cheap, so we had some extra money to spend on a first-class quality mind meld. Also – I think everybody really committed to the idea of trying to play like a real tight, old school soul band. There are a few Touching-esque moments in the course of the set though, which offer a pretty amazing contrast.
CONTROL has a very clear direction both sonically and in the songwriting. I personally found that unwavering commitment to style really refreshing. Do you know what direction Dinosaur Feathers might be going in for future material? No idea. This live setup is real great. I’d love to do something that captures that, but logistics may prevent that from being possible. We’ll see.
Have you heard Erik Gundel of Touching’s remix he did of my band Howth’s “Secret Goldmine” song?
How has hearing this remix impacted your perspective on life?
Funny you should mention that. I’ve specifically put off listening to Erik’s remix for that very reason. Right now my perspective on life feels pretty solid, I don’t want to mess with that. But I know there will come a time when I need to shake things up and it’s reassuring to know that the Erik Gundel remix of Howth’s “Secret Goldmine” will be there waiting for me.
It would also be cool to hear your thoughts on Death By Audio closing and the evolution of the DIY scene in New York. Greg, what are thoughts on this, and how does the scene here [in NYC] compare to the west coast?
The scene here is much better than any scene I personally found in Oakland. Death By Audio was actually one of the few feeds I follow on Instagram and I would gaze at it wistfully from a few time zones away. The most refreshing thing about the DIY scene from a macro perspective is the fact that it will find new ways to thrive, especially in this city.
But DBA closing is a real shame. It’s especially sad, because it’s closing so Vice Magazine can open offices. It’s one thing when some soulless real estate magnate tears down DIY spots to build a condo. But Vice is a magazine which proffers and profits by adopting a punk/DIY/anti-authoritarian image. The lesson: Vice is bullshit. DBA is the real thing. They’ve committed themselves to music and art for so long. It’s sad to see some corporation masquerading as people who care about art put them out of business. Fuck Vice.
Dinosaur Feathers’ CONTROL will be available September 23 from Ernest Jenning Record Co. Catch the release gig Saturday, Septemer 20 at Brooklyn’s Shea Stadium.
CARL CREIGHTON
Joining us again is Howth’s Carl Creighton, introducing the world debut of his strange-baked homemade visuals for “Mommie’s Brownies”. Giving us Brookings earlier this year from Mecca Lecca Recording Co, Carl has recorded an EP pair of singles with “Mommies Brownies” and electric organ decay and echo winds of “Gratification Immediate” while working with Andy Swerdlow from Shark? to complete Creighton’s newest solo album The World is a Beautiful Place
I have a more beautiful music video for that that might get me sued by someone cause it was filmed at Nickelodeon world in the Mall of America. But I think it’s pretty and Impose readers would like that as well, though for completely different reasons than the “Mommie’s Brownies” silliness.
Never an artist known to take a break from the recording process, Carl Creighton’s band Howth has been deeply involved in recording an ‘epic ninja turtles concept album’ over the past four years, currently deciding on release directions with Blake Luley leaving the band to focus more on his Ajnabi solo moniker. But ready your eyes, ears and mind for the random conversations between figurines, Google search screens, Sennheiser headphones, and more oddities of intrigue on his self-baked video for “Mommie’s Brownies”. The song’s mysterious delivery and steady marching drum beat presents the secret life of day to day so-called inanimate objects around the house objects with a taste and feel of home and a mother’s love. Jive along to the song’s secret lives and recipes, and stay for the supper call as Carl’s mom’s announces, “dinner’s ready” at the song and video’s conclusion. Join us following the video premiere for our interview with the always entertaining, Carl Creighton.
While the mind wanders toward THC-enriched edibles, give us the story behind how “Mommie’s Brownies” was born, and was your mom feeding you pot brownies as a tyke?
This is embarrassing and probably a little too revealing for my employers to read, but I don’t remember a lot about how Mommie’s Brownies was made. I know I wrote a guitar riff. And that I was hanging out with my brother. Or maybe not. I was definitely alone when I recorded it. So yeah, no brother. His drum set though.
And then there’s that visual piece, where the trippy altered states of the song’s sound messes up our concentration as we follow the back and forth conversations between a Winnie the Pooh and Piglet toy, a Google home screen with a blank search field, Sennheiser headphones, and then a surprise finale involving a troll doll. Did you really experience something of this ilk whilst in an altered state, maybe under the influence of a potent brownie edible?
I know it definitely looks like I was mellower than normal when making this video. It was mostly NyQuil. I had a bad cold and called out sick from work. I can never do nothing, so I started messing around with iMovie. I made this in about an hour. I just took the pictures of each thing and then wrote what I thought they’d say to each other. I was lucky I’d chosen things that had such different perspectives. Google is like a God that doesn’t like being questioned. Winnie the Pooh is a really chill dude. Sennheisers would smoke cigarettes if they were people. I grew up with Rudy the Troll doll! I’m probably gonna cuddle with him tonight now that I think about it.
Tell us more about the EP that “Mommie’s Brownies and “Gratification Immediate” are found on, and how they were formed following your album, Brookings, from earlier this year. How was this EP a departure from Brookings, and can you tell us about the album that is also still in the works?
I recorded “Mommie’s Brownies” and “Gratification Immediate” in my mom’s basement in Minnesota. I grew up in that house and she’s selling it next spring, so being able to capture those songs there means a lot to me. It’s also the same place I recorded Brookings.
The subject matter of the EP is indulgence. The culture of consumption. I was reading Kiekegaard’s Either / Or at the time and there’s a lot in there about whether it’s better to live for the moment or for future moments. And all the reasons people have vices. That inspired the subject matter for these songs and some of the songs on my more sleepy solo album coming out in November sometime. That one’s more along the lines of the Brookings album. Just me and a guitar. Though I started playing around with making a drum out of the guitar on this new one, which sounds pretty awesome. Especially since Shark? drummer extraordinaire Andy Swerdlow is mastering it. What he’s sent me so far sounds so cool.
How has the process and approach evolved for you?
I’ve been having a lot of fun playing with different people, both in Howth and my other band Trivial Pursuit. These folks inspire me to challenge myself, which has helped my music a lot. I used to write songs to just confess about stuff and now I write songs because I love music. Working with Blake Luley has been the biggest influence in that regard. He made me listen to music differently. He made me interested in how it was made.
[Ed’s note — Carl’s band Trivial Pursuit is playing the Trash Bar tonight at midnight, September 19. He even made the following promotional video, Star Wars intro style.]
And then there is the ‘Turtles’ secret project, where you have been recording this four year, ‘ninja turtles’ concept album with Howth, and now with Blake focusing on Ajnabi solo wise, when and where will the public hear and see this Howth labor of love?
Who knows! It’s really good though. Gonna make a music video for a song called “Leonardo” next month for Halloween! Unless I just jinxed the whole thing by saying that. And I wonder how much people might think this is all a joke. It’s not! It’s a really good album! We recorded it at Seaside Lounge with Charles Burst. Live to tape. All the amps in the same room, which makes the entire record sound so classic. I’m really in love with it. I’m excited to find a way to get it to people.
Where do you find the separations and perpendicular cross sections from your solo work as Carl Creighton, Howth, and any other project you might work on?
There is a pretty big distinction between the music I make on my own and what I make with others. For my solo stuff, I can control every element. And the final product might be closer to what I intended, but it lacks the surprise that working with other musicians brings. There’s also just more life in music played by a group of musicians as opposed to just one. I can hear each personality in each part of a Howth song.
I also started playing drums and singing in this band Trivial Pursuit with Jesse Newkirk of Steel Phantoms on guitar and Dane Zarra on bass. For the most part I just write the drum parts and melodies, which is a whole different world than anything I’ve done before. It’s really liberating.
Insights and particulars on how to emulate the Creighton / Howth sound?
Try lots of stuff! Don’t be afraid! And definitely spend a lot of time alone writing songs on your bed with your guitar.
Keep up with Carl Creighton via Bandcamp, and catch him with Howth supporting Dinosaur Feathers tomorrow, Saturday, September 20 at Brooklyn’s Shea Stadium (last Howth show with Blake Luley), also playing October 15 at Muchmore’s, and November 1 at Cameo Gallery.
NEWS FOR LULU
Unveiling an exclusive advance listen to their album Circles available September 29 from Urtovox / Audioglobe, Pavia, Italy’s News For Lulu presents some good feeling vibes to chase away the bad news of the world. Recorded over this past year in Omaha with Saddle Creek guests like Laura Burhenn of Mynabirds, Postal Service, and Azure Ray’s Orenda Fink, with a little help from Ben Brodin. With a similar independent tenacity found among their compatriots at the We Were Never Being Boring collective and label — News For Lulu’s band of Andrea Girelli, Emanuele Gatti, Matteo Baldrighi, Nicola Crivelli, and Umberto Provenzani transform their combined collective talents and influences to audio textures to match their moods, and took time to talk with us over long distance lines.
Dipping toes in to the uncertain great unknown, “Into Nowhere” begins the album’s journey through life’s circular schemes and chasms, arriving to the season axis twister, “Spring Burns”. The forms from singer-songwriter pop traditions found throughout the world and over the decades, News For Lulu performs music to slow down the thoughts that run too fast on the gorgeous soul chamber song for sincere moments of pause, “Follow And Run”. Perseverance is portrayed through the cadence of synth keys of teeth grinding strain on, “Grin and bear it”, taking absent minded flights on the wings of, “Eagles”. Sentiments are securely fastened to the sleeve cuffs on the still life snapshots like “Say Hello With a Wave”, back to the globe shifting and calendar ripped conundrums of “do we need to get wasted, do we need to wait for night, do we need fireworks or just kisses” on “News Year’s Eve”.
With more of their trademark tricks of surprises and unpredictability in their compositions and arrangements, News For Lulu draws aural metaphors and symbols of passing time on the eclectic earth washing with, “Rain”. The expectations placed on and the shortcomings of others and ourselves are explored through the incredible orchestral kissed arrangement of “Your Uniform” that like nearly every song on Circles is worthy and warrants multiple listenings to get the full grand scope of the group’s shared visions. Bouquets banished with leaves and petals charred, dried, and fried on the break-up blues of “Flowers in the Oven”, to the funky cacophony of calamities and curiosities of “Oh No”. Leaving you with the closing hymn of their title track, “Circles”; those blurry, melting metaphysics of shared ESP connections and over awareness are taken over by a certain calm that these limited words along cannot signify in full scale. Circles of sun, moon, stars, shapes, colors, and patterns slowly move and dissolve into the mind’s eye and into the ever-effervescent atmospheres. Join us following the premiere listen to Circles in it’s entirety, where we got a chance to get to know News For Lulu’s Andrea, Emanuele, Matteo, Nicola, and Umberto a little bit better.
How did News for Lulu first begin, and what brought you all together as a group?
Umberto: Well, it’s an old fashioned tale. Pavia is a small town, and ten years ago there was just one record shop where you could find interesting stuff. On the wall, just beside the shop door, people placed their paper messages, with no particular rule or order (people selling their Ibanez guitars, bands in the constant search of a drummer, and so on). Andrea, our keyboard player, put a note up, searching for “People interested in post rock, soundtracks, electronica, to start an instrumental project.” Actually, it wasn’t easy for our singer to get a foot in the door, but he pretended he was able to play the guitar too. That’s how we met, in the next few months, and it was so great that it happened, in this desert.
What’s the story on your name?
Andrea: It would probably be exciting to say that there’s a secret connection between our music and John Zorn’s album “News For Lulu” that only the sharpest musical mind will be able to find. But no…actually there’s no big thinking behind this story. Though we love many of Zorn’s albums and live performances, you shouldn’t think of our name as a tribute. When we had to decide, we wrote down a list of inspiring words, expressions, names of albums and movies that we loved. News For Lulu simply sounded great. Also, it can be easily read and pronounced, no matter what your native language is.
Give us a description about what the Pavia scene is like. Perhaps, some local artists that you all really like?
Nicola: Pavia’s scene practically doesn’t exist. There are musicians and bands like everywhere, but with no musical connection, and a few places to play. We would say that the city is culturally absorbed by Milan, that is pretty close. Italy, generally speaking, has a huge problem with musical culture in these days, so Pavia is kind of a mirror for this: it’s a chill beautiful town, medieval looking, full of conservative people anchored to their comfortable lifestyle…but on the opposite is the perfect place to feel isolated and write music with no distractions.
When we started playing, we were close friends to a great band called Ultraviolet Makes Me Sick, they also published two records with the Australian label Camera Obscura and we recorded with them our first album, “Ten Little White Monsters”. Unfortunately they haven’t played together for a long time. As of today, we really like a band called Oh Lazarus!, they recently opened for The Devil Makes Three in Milan and they play this weird old-style american folk, with a great attitude.
How did Laura Burhenn and Orenda Fink’s contributions affect the recording of Circles?
Nicola: We were really determined to have a sort of female choir on the album, I remember we’ve been pretty clear about creating an atmosphere in between classic soul, Pink Floyd’s “Dark side of the moon”, and 70s mainstream rock in the mood of Fleetwood Mac. Talking about this things with Ben (Brodin, who recorded and mixed the record), he suggested Laura and Orenda. We were already Azure Ray and Mynabirds fans, so that was stunning in itself, but when they showed up they really outdid everything we planned: both of them have this strong personality and they took their own spaces, in a way that sounded different, but nothing less than perfect.
What was it like when you all were in Omaha, working with Ben Brodin on the Circles album?
Matteo: Working with Ben was just easy and amazing. He understood immediately what we wanted, especially how the album should have sounded. We really gave him just a few inputs about drum sounds, keyboards and the albums we listened to in the last couple of years, in order to recreate the mood you can feel when you hear songs such as “Follow and run” for instance. Meanwhile, he was able to catch the good vibes in every track, to make them sound perfect and natural, even with that huge amount of layers. He also played vibraphone and guitars here and there. He was part of the project since the first day and, for this, we always felt comfortable and we’re so glad we have worked with him, we developed a real friendship with him during the recording, making bad jokes and hanging out together at night. Those weeks really felt like a dreamlike vacation in the middle of the U.S., and in the end we also had a record we were so satisfied with .
How do you all go about writing really sentimental and soulful songs like “Follow and Run”?
Nicola and Umberto: It’s a natural process, you start in your twenties, writing punk wave songs, having no idea of what “writing a song” is. Then, slowly, you start to love more and more what you hated before and you find yourself wishing you could write something sexy and intense (and secretly listening to Phil Collins). We all love so much soul music, so we started “Follow and Run” as a gospel song on piano, then we added that late 70’s groove we were looking for, so the song turned dramatic and sexy. When we were nearly ok, we thought it would be natural to have those mellow background vocals you hear in the song (Laura and Orenda turned to be perfect for that, we were so lucky), so the lyrics just went with the flow, underlining that boy-girl dialogue and that feeling of being so stuck with your thoughts, that you really need to keep moving.
What are all of your plans for this fall/winter for News For Lulu?
Umberto: We already have some booked gigs and, hopefully, more are coming with the release of the record. We really love to play live, even if our show is growing more and more challenging, and we are always re-arranging tunes, sometimes to make them work better on stage, or because the gig is very small and you have to turn the whole thing into an acoustic set, or sometimes just for fun. We also really need to make a new video, the first official one, but we’re the worst at planning and writing it, we always disagree or let it fly by. Probably we’ll just need someone who’s taking us into a studio and say: “Ok. Stand there. Smile, please. Do this thing. Ok guys, you’ve been great, Bye.”
News For Lulu’s Circles will be available Sepember 29 from Urtovox / Audioglobe.
BUMMER VACATION
Bummer Vacation present the world premiere of life extension-expansion request, “Aye Mas Tiempo Que Vida” off their album from the debut album Creative Differences. Available via digital on Bandcamp, and on Cassette Store Day via Lo-Life Recordings and on vinyl later this Fall through WIZARDVIZION,
“Aye Mas Tiempo Que Vida” gets all the time in the world you could want from life, squeezing the juice from the world’s proverbial lemons. The thrashing delivery of discord found on the title track opener becomes refined on “Mas Tiempo”, where romantic inklings take over like a rogue wave grabbing the hapless heart out to the deep blue sea. Bummer Vacation’s expressive guitars carry on through songs like “Candor”, forever toying with incidental background noises and effects heard in full blast on the experimental “Logan Int’l 5:47 AM”, the home bound bummer days of “Bummer Condo”, to the Canadian competitive indie humor of “-11 in Montreal, But Who’s Keeping Score?”. Effects and ephemeral energy that exhibits dreamier sides of Fort Worth (also the home of dream pop headquarters imprint, Saint Marie Records) in the art of becoming undone on “Unglued”, or the creative ultra-pop patterns that recall the Cosby film classic on “Ghost Dad” and “Ghost Dad Goes to Church”. A group and album not to be missed, Bummer Vacation’s Paul, Ryan, Ricky, and Tyler join us after the following listen to “Aye Mas Tiempo Que Vida”.
Give us your impression of the Fort Worth scenes?
Paul Hernandez: Strong. Well connected and intermingled. Any given night you’ll see members from punk, country, garage, hardcore, indie, and metal bands at your show and at others shows. And if not at your show then at one of two bars everyone hangs out at. It’s a very large tight-knit community. More and more people getting involved and helping each other out. I just moved there a year ago but was already well aware of the diversity involved within the scope of the Fort Worth music scene. Everyone helps each other out and the scenes spillover into one another. Everyone in the hood hangs with dudes who run venues so sometimes we don’t need promoters to get involved to build a stacked lineup. It all blends well somehow. Blame the alcohol.
Ryan Torres-Reyes: A lot of really rad people who support each other and a few of the opposite but we don’t let them affect us much. It is home to some super homies and uber-bruhs, who all make incredible records and are building a vibrant music community. All in all it’s a cool place to call home, but I personally am not looking to settle here.
Tyler Moore : Really diverse, lots of stuff going on. You’re seeing more and more people stay and help create a music scene here rather than move to LA or NY.
Ricky Williford: It’s definitely an up and coming situation. We have cultivated a place to play music with our friends, and it makes all of the hard work we put in a lot less work, and a lot more fun.
How did you all first meet up, and then how did the establishment of Bummer Vacation begin?
Paul: I’ve known Tyler since we were teenagers. Grew up going to shows and what not and even played in another band before this for a couple months a few years back. Ricky and I met after I joined a Ft Worth band called Doom Ghost that did a split with War Party on Lo-Life. I’d had several two piece projects/ideas going at the time, but really just didn’t happen because of schedules and time. Most of these projects/jams sort of led to me evolving my writing style to what it is now with Bummer. We would go over to Ricky’s afterwards to watch Simpsons, talk about records and get next level chill zone going. We also did a few tours together with War Party while I was still in a Dallas band called Sealion. Boopie and I were formally introduced at SXSW 2013 when we were both in our previous bands. Huge huge fan of his music at the time and still am. We were hanging out at a mutual friends show and ended up talking for a while and became good friends really fast mostly due to the fact he is a very genuine dude which is why I love him. When Ryan’s band, Skeleton Coast, went on indefinite hiatus and I was no longer in Sealion, I contacted him about pursuing this project with me that summer. He’s the only person that I knew who could help me see this through with the way I’d envisioned it. Phenomenal guitar player who I knew would not just play what I was working on but change it for the better and also come up with amazing ideas. I put some demos up on Soundcloud to show friends and potential bandmates. Tyler and Ricky each approached me about joining which was really awesome because of how close we are and how talented they are, very much an easy decision for me. So it all came together relatively fast. I started writing in August of last year, moved in September, jammed towards the end of October and played a surprise set kinda show (3-4 songs) in December at War Party’s album release. Basically all of our previous/current bands reputations, and level of respect we all had for one another is how all this happened. We had lots of interest right off the bat because of it and everything just evolved quickly. I don’t think anyone really saw this happening, but once it did it was hard not to pay attention to it.
Ryan: Paul hit me up during the summer of ’13 asking if I would be down to work together on some stuff. He had just split with Sealion, a surfy punk outfit based out of Dallas, and wanted to create something from scratch. I had just met him formally a few months prior during SXSW, and my previous band, Skeleton Coast,had recently just went on a indefinite hiatus, so I was definitely down to work with him. Tyler and Paul go way back, so that was a no-brainer, and Ty and Rick ( His names Ricky not Mikey btw) are in our brother band War Party so he jumped on the drums. We had a few practices then our first semi show in late December with only 3 or 4 songs
Tyler: Paul and I knew each other from when we were in high school, me and Ricky grew up in the same punk DIY scene and play in War Party together. Ryan appeared in my bedroom one night after I saw a UFO. All my clocks had stopped and he handed me a DOD Chorus pedal.
Can you all describe the most bummer of a summer imaginable.
Paul: Oh. Yes. Being kicked out of a band you love two days after getting home from tour and then one month later your long-distance girlfriend whom you’re in love with breaks up with you two days after you get home from visiting her. I mean either that or knowing you’ll never have another break from school to do nothing but watch the Bone Thugs n Harmony ft Henry Rollins cover of “War” on tv all day at your best friend’s house. Basically being an adult sucks.
Ryan: Every summer being an adult is a bummer of a summer. They’re just hot months out of the year for me now.
Tyler: Uhh, July 1914. The Western Front, that shit would suck pretty hard.
Ricky: Hanging out with Taylor mills.
Did you all ever hear that proto-rap Love track from the late 60s called “Bummer in the Summer“? It’s a futuristic banger still.
PH: Just jammed this so hard while eating a burger with pineapple and avocado on it in Joliet IL. V much felt that jam. Will listen to again and again. Thank you for that btw! Never heard of them but the Foo Fighters’ “Wasting Light” album cover def has. Just sayin’…v similar. (Update: walked in to a record store in Springfield, MO just now and found this on vinyl. so tight).
Ryan: No, but it’s way rad! Thank you for showing this to us. bang bros.
Tyler: That piano track is the tits.
Ricky: No, but that’s almost our name haha.
What’s the secret to create those dreamy time signatures and mellow-tempos of “Aye Mas Tiempo Que Vida” from Creative Differences?
Paul: Practicing very loud. That song is so much fun to play because I get to just get weird with it. Ryan had the intro and chorus riffs laid out which gave me plenty of room to just kinda do whatever. The song definitely wrote itself. It came together very well and dynamics play a huge role in it. We knew the verse had to just sit back and chill out so we dropped it down to one guitar for the most part and used the second to accent the first and get it that vibe going. Tyler did his thing on the bass and it really helps build the transitions and makes them easier to feel out and hit harder. Ricky just gets in that zone with Ty and they do that so well together. This was probably one of the first songs we all really came together to write as a band. Like I said practicing loud helped us just really feel it and get into it. This song actually opened up the song writing process for everyone else to be more vocal about song structures instead of myself writing the song or anyone else. We listen to each other’s ideas about how it should sound and we try different things.
Ryan: I think a majority of it is how much track layering we did with the guitars, plus Ricky’s slacker-esque vibe on the drums really let it groove the groovy wave. Jordan Richardson, our producer and brother in arms, helped us achieve that milky sound too. But not too milky, kind of a glossy yet nasty feel. He’s really pro at that shit.
Tyler: Whippets and cargo pockets. I can’t divulge any more information.
Ricky: I think we focus more on what sounds good, rather than how many times we play something.
How do you ever get more time back out of life, or at least what’s the Bummer Vacation method of squeezing a holiday out of every minute?
Paul: Time stands still if you can finish a gallon of ice cream in five minutes. That’s feeling all the feels at once. Think about it. I’m very fortunate to be able to tour for a living, work for other bands out on the road and meet new and interesting people every day. I worked hard for it and I take full advantage of what life has to offer me and I love it. So much time and sacrifices but it helps me enjoy being home with my dudes so much more and being in this band. We rarely play shows so when we do we give it everything we got. I just sat down and played guitar for the first time in a month and it felt so incredible. Right now more than anything else though I wish I could spend way more time with my family who lives in another city and I’m only home every other month or so if that. I do get to see them before I leave and after I get home though, so I look forward to touring as much as possible (get to see my Godson this week shout out to the yungin’ Noah. Love you baby boy) I think we all value and cherish family time and we don’t want to get in the way of that for any reason. We’ll be squeezing out lots of sweat out on an upcoming short Midwest run from Oct 2-11 right after Index Fest in Dallas [September 28] very much looking forward to being in a van with these dudes!
Ryan: Man, we really like to use our time wisely. We all have jobs and girlfriends, some of us have two or three jobs and Paul goes on tour with Reverend Horton Heat a good amount of time out of the year. So when we get together we like to hang out eat, drink, fuck around with some music and make fun of super self important dongs. Friends and Family really are important to us and chillin’ with them can make the time fly by but its all worth it. Tour is gonna be like a holiday for sure as well. We have a little Midwest tour coming up at the beginning of October and we’re all pretty eager to get in a van together. I’m really looking forward to it, feels like camp or something. Attitude is a big thing too.
Tyler: I drink a lot of Topo Chico. Makes you really use your time better. Might end up going to law school because of how focused it makes me. Thanks Topo Chico!
Ricky: DRUGS.
What was the process like of Creative Differences, and what kind of creative differences possibly arose between you all during the making of?
Ryan: Honestly there really isn’t much of that shit going on between us. We all trust each other and each others ears, and usually have the utmost patience when writing together. On the record we really just had fun and whatnot. Ha ha, if Jordan hadn’t been there it would’ve taken us a lot more time to record. I mean he’s not a hard ass or anything, actually the complete opposite, he just knows when its time to work and work hard, but we were all fairly laxed in the studio. I think the record permeates that a bit.
Tyler: The album came together pretty easily for us. We have all been playing for almost 10+ years so when it came down to playing this style of music, everything clicked. No creative differences really. Playing with these guys is pretty easy. No one acts like an asshole when it’s time to get stuff done.
Ricky: It was a time of uncertainty and a lot of aggression that had no outlet for me. The process of recording it really gave me a release for everything in my life that I felt I needed to prove.
Excited for the physical release of Creative Differences via Lo-Life Recordings on Cassette Sotre Day, and the vinyl release due in Fall via WIZARDVIZION. What other Cassette Store Day releases are you guys excited about?
Paul: Thanks! We are pumped to be able to release it that day. Very cool that it worked out for is that way. Oh man sooo many releases that are sick. We have some friends dropping stuff that day so let’s start with our homegirls (and homeboy) in Bitch Brick sour lil bbs in Fou (DreamySoundz), our dude Britt Robisheaux with his cool new cassette singles label Most Efficient Recordings releasing the Dylan Francis Doyle jams, Tyler’s fav dude in the world PUJOL, my ninjas The Memories, also really pumped for Cymbal Eats Guitar, the Graveface Comp, Fear of Men, Vivian Girls, J Dilla, Karen O, The Hussy, Foxygen, yuk., Weedeater, Chuck Ragan, Andrew Jackson Jihad, Townes Van Zandt, Cloud Nothings, and White Lung.
Ryan: Our girls in Bitch Bricks are going to have a really gnarly tape coming out, and Fou’s “Boy” is another one I’m mega stoked on. The Vinyl release is what I’m really itching to get out. Steve Steward, the man who heads WIZARDVIZION (alongside Jordan too) has been nothing but posi-vibes for us. So very stoked on that.
Other Fort Worth bands and artists that you guys would like to give a shout out to?
Son of Stan (the 5th Bummer, our producer and bestie all rolled into one. New EP Georgia on October 7 gonna blow everyone away!). Oil Boom (best band in DFW right now) Tidals, Ronnie Heart, Fungi Girls, Toy Gun, The Fibs, War Party (Ricky and Tyler’s other band) Patriot, Calhoun, Duell, Fogg, The Longshots, Cleanup, Pinkish Black, Sin Motivo, Space Beach, Bitch Bricks, Year of the Bear, and a bunch of super rad Dallas/Denton artists that I would consider tight with the Fort Worth crowd, as such, Blackstone Rangers, Cutter, Hex Cult, Power Trip, Sealion, Super Sonic Lips,True Widow, Mercury Rocket, Ape Hangers, Datahowler, Narrowhead, Dome Dwellers, Bad Beats and a few more that I’m sure I am forgetting.
Also big shout out to the people who have helped us make things happen:
WIZARDVIZION
Lo-Life Recordings
Dreamy Soundz Records
DreamyLife Record Store
Bummer Vacation’s Creative Differences album is available now via Bandcamp, and available on cassette on Cassette Store Day, September 27 via Lo-Life Recordings, to be pressed on vinyl later this Fall through WIZARDVIZION.
IS/IS
Having released their beloved self-titled earlier this year via Manimal / Loose; Is/Is duo of Sarah Nienaber (from Web of Sunsets, Gospel Gossip) and Sarah Rose are about to release Shadow Days September 23 on Moon Glyph, sharing the planet lit paths of, “Before the Stars”. Where their debut self-titled album found an organic gaze of guitar-gauzy observations and the ghost graces of Midwest gothic embraces on Web of Sunsets’ Room of Monsters album from End of Time Records; Nienaber and Rose ready new psychic songs that intersect the roads traveled from yesterday with eyes fixed on the heavy lidded highways ahead.
Winters in Minneapolis, Joshua Tree demos, and making Portland, Oregon their new home; Shadow Days combines the experiences, emotions, and creative experiments that move souls and sound gently like chaft in the breeze, rolling in tumbles across state lines. “Before The Stars” is like a campfire-story telling beneath the twinkling night sky, as if Webs and Is/Is were one big super group. Those midnight passages and smoke-signaled camping trails hike ahead on the slightly affected-wavy vocal effects on “December”, before “Blank Sky” leaves you looking with wonder into the infinite, unconditional love, and cradling arms from the mythologies of the stratosphere. The chords from the guitars strum and disappear into the fades of atmospheres, and the lingering luster left behind from Nienaber and Rose’s harmonization. “My Time (Taking)” takes the entire environments that the two Sarahs have built over the course of the past three songs, and then turns them into an inverted journey into interior patches and personal channels, to the cowgirl slow ride into the endless sunset. Closing out their new cassette, Is/Is brings it all back around again, in a sound that counts the places traveled, the paces counted, and days passed echoed out in the lamplighter torch bearing burner, “Palmers”. Joining us following the advanced but limited listen to Shadow Days are both Sarah Rose and Sarah Nienaber who recount their creative journeys and prolific output from the past couple years, months, and recent days.
Sarah R: The self-titled was officially released back in February, but we also did a limited run on cassette last August. We put that out and went on a three month US tour which included spending a month in Joshua Tree. We went there in hopes of writing/recording a new record. One of the songs, “My Time (Taking)” we recorded out there and it ended up on Shadow Days, but it wasn’t until we were back home that we really felt inspired and focused… that said, we wrote these songs not thinking anyone would ever hear them.
What events occurred in between that you feel had a big creative impact or shift?
Sarah R: We got back to Minneapolis just in time for winter with no money, no practice space and no drummer. We set up what we needed to record and just stayed up late writing and recording songs as much as possible. We had no intention of releasing these songs at the time which gave us a kind of freedom.
Sarah N: Shadow Days is very much a product of circumstance. It doesn’t sound like anything we’ve done before, because we didn’t have the same set of tools we’d had in the past. We were kind of up against a wall, and we didn’t know what to do but we knew we didn’t want to stop making music, so we adapted and used what we had: a couple of microphones, a guitar amp, a room, each other. When we went on that long tour, I think we learned that we can’t rely on anybody other than ourselves. Never count on other people to make something happen for you. I think we had to learn that in order to give ourselves permission to make this album.
Maybe this is just my hearing, but Shadow Days moves in the those haunted, folky-country-steeped specters found on Sarah Nienaber’s Web of Sunsets. Has the world of Webs impacted the songwriting nature of Is/Is to make it more holistic?
Sarah R: On Shadow Days, Sarah N would write the guitar parts and I would write lyrics kind of simultaneously. Previously we had always worked together to finish songs that I had mostly written alone, but this time we really worked together in a way we never had before. I think any similarities between Shadow Days and Web of Sunsets lie in the fact that Sarah N had a stronger role in writing these songs and having no drummer to work with kept these songs more mellow and stripped.
Sarah N: Web of Sunsets definitely taught me how valuable openness and space in recorded music can be, and that knowledge definitely translates to this album.
That is awesome that you’re releasing Shadow Days via Moon Glyph. How did this partnership come about with the experimental imprint?
Sarah N: Winter was ending and we were leaving for Portland soon… we realized we’d amassed a decent collection of songs. We picked our favorites and I emailed some very rough mixes over to Steve at Moon Glyph. He was like, “I can tell there are good songs here. I’d like to hear them mixed.” So, we had a month or maybe less before we were to pack up and move. Neil is amazing and worked with us to get the songs mixed quickly. We’re really happy and excited that Moon Glyph liked it enough to put it out. We’ve been fans of the label for a long time.
Give us the scoop on how you both recorded the album in Joshua Tree and then home in Minneapolis, completing it and then relocating to Portland, OR.
Sarah N: We went to Joshua Tree to demo-out full-band Is/Is stuff, some songs that we had been working on for a while, some that we wrote there. Our drummer at the time was pretty intently focused on working on his solo stuff when we were there, which we weren’t prepared for, so it left us to kind of reinvent our whole idea of what we were doing in the first place. We set up our recording space outdoors, next to the side of the house. We recorded tons of weird stuff, mostly just the two of us, but “My Time (Taking)” was the only track that really holds together with the stuff we did later in Minneapolis, even though it’s kind of an oddball. We tracked every instrument and every vocal through the same guitar amp on that one. When Neil went to mix it he was like, ‘WHY did you do it like this?’ Anyway… I think we learned a lot about ourselves, what we wanted to do, and how to do it when we were out there. That place is still kind of in us… growing and changing and revealing what’s what, even now.
How are things currently Portland? State of the indie scenes there?
Sarah R: Portland has been great so far. We played a ton of shows around town this summer and as far as I can tell there has been a pretty positive response to what we are doing. Since reuniting with our original drummer Mara we have been working on writing new songs and we’re gearing up to record another full length this winter.
How do the two of you writing and arrange your songs? What is the Is/Is song writing method, or what circumstances and situations are the most creatively conducive?
Sarah N: Like Sarah Rose said before…in the past it’s been what I would say is a pretty ‘normal’ songwriting method. She would sketch out a rough idea for a song on her own, and then we would come together as a band and put the pieces together. Sometimes that would happen in the studio, but usually it would just happen organically at rehearsal. Shadow Days was different than anything I’ve done in any band really. I would sit and write guitar parts on-the-spot, recording as I went along, kind of building one on top of the other. I’d play a chord progression at Sarah Rose, and she’d either say, ‘That sounds good,’ or ‘move those two chords around,’ or ‘play that part longer…’ kind of arranging things simultaneously as I was putting them down. We’d spend a couple hours doing that and while I would record the parts, she would sit on the other side of the room and write the lyrics and the melody. Sometimes she’d fold laundry while she did it. She was always done with that by the time I was done getting the guitar tracks right. Then we’d get her vocals down, followed by whatever weird overdubs we could think of. We were working on a one-song-a-night writing and recording time-frame. I joked that we were running a “hit factory.”
Who else have you all been enjoying listening to lately?
Sarah R: Donnie and Joe Emerson Dreamin’ Wild was our everything this summer. The three of us have been listening to a lot of (in no particular order) The Liminanas, The Kinks, Gene Clark, The Left Banke, Lewis, David Kilgour, Ted Lucas, Mac DeMarco and Lou Reed (everyday).
Under-represented artists that you all love that need more attention?
Sarah R: Our good friends The Chambermaids in Minneapolis are working on a new album right now, keep your ears peeled for that one!
The new Is/Is release of Shadow Days will be available September 23 from Moon Glyph, and Bandcamp.
MEDICINE
“Move Along-Down The Road” with the new cut from LA’s own living legends in their own right, Medicine, sharing a little something off their upcoming album Home Everywhere available October 28 from Captured Tracks. We were nosy enough to track down Medicine’s own Brad Laner who was so kind as to respond to our inquiries about the band’s mind waving, sonic, kinetic dissonance present throughout “Move Along-Down The Road”.
“Move Along/Down The Road” doesn’t really contain any actual harmonic dissonance. It’s all about building up the nicest traditional harmonies we could muster. A good excuse to revel in music for music’s sake. However, every element is distorted beyond belief because maybe we got a little too excited, as tends to happen. So perhaps cognitive dissonance as opposed to harmonic? I wish I knew how to feel at home everywhere, like a wild animal or a baby. The title is more aspirational than self-descriptive in that way. Wouldn’t it be great to feel at home everywhere?
LAZYEYES
Brooklyn quartet Lazyeyes gave us a taste to the follow up from their 2012 self-titled EP and “Darling Dear” single with “Islip”. Frontman Jason Abrishami of The Twees enlisted bassist Paul Volpe of Triple Cobra with Eastern Hollows’ percussionist Jeremy Sampson to round out the band. The new single rehashes hometown feelings through glances at the way things were, the way the former consciousness re-adapts to retreading old stomping grounds, further illustrated in the emotion wrought memory rush of guitars. Following the listen to “Islip”, founding member Jason wrote us an in-depth behind the scenes look at the single, with some words on what’s next for Lazyeyes.
Our new single “Islip” initially came together in the summer of 2013. We had released our debut EP several months prior and were working on the collection of songs that would eventually become this new record. The track is named after the town of Islip out on Long Island — a sort of reference to finding yourself ‘back home’ in a couple different ways. Lyrically it’s about movement — movement toward new things in your life, away from the old person you once were, but also the feeling of uncertainty in regards to what lies ahead for you. Sometimes you go through stuff in your life that leaves you questioning who you are — telling yourself, ‘No, I’m not like that anymore…’ And yet sometimes, despite your best efforts, that isn’t always true. Maybe you’re actually just ‘back home’ again — back to the old ways and what may or may not have been better days. But, feel free to look at the lyrics below and draw your own conclusions – that’s kinda the whole point, right?
We wrote the music like we write all of our stuff — collaboratively, with all of us playing off each other and working through ideas until we could settle on something. We take a lot of time to demo and flesh stuff out together before going into the studio to start recording in earnest. The song was meant to be fast-paced and uptempo from the beginning, reflecting that lyrical theme of being propelled into some kind of unknown.
The drums for this EP were done at Smoke and Mirrors Studio in Brooklyn. We tracked guitars, bass, and vocals at a handful of locations — our drummer’s house for a few things, our rehearsal space for some others, and we put the finishing touches on it at the Black Bell Records studio. We spent the better part of a year working on these tracks and over the course of that period we came to realize that our producer and engineer, Erik, had become a sort of band member in his own right. It was really helpful to have another fresh set of ears there that we trusted — someone who shared our vision — during the whole recording and mixing process. We could not have made this record without him, and that is not an overstatement.
Listen to more from Lazyeyes via their Bandcamp. Find them playing Rough Trade NYC on September 26.
THE YETIS
Philadelphia’s The Yetis dropped an advance listen to the A-side off their upcoming 12″ single, “Little Surfer Girl”, that dreams of California coasts, no matter if you’re on the opposite ocean side. Christian, Nick, Stefan, and Patrick run through the poppy hooks of beach based ball games, surf competitions, and more, produced by Kyle “Slick” Johnson. Nick Gillespie talked to us the Allentown by Philly connection, providing a unique look at one of today’s most exciting rising acts.
The Yetis are a four piece from Allentown, PA. We aren’t really from Philly, me and Christian just went to school there but I dropped out. There’s Nick (me) (20 yrs old) on rhythm guitar and vocals for this song, Christian (21 yrs old) on lead guitar and harmony vocals as well, Stefan (20 yrs old) on bass guitar and Patrick (16 yrs old) on drums.
The scene in Allentown is really cool. Allentown is dead but our high school Parkland High School was in the suburbs and was pretty vibrant. I’d say the Allentown indie rock scene is our extended friend group from Parkland High School. The Trap Doors are another band that Christian and I play in and help record, songs by Eric Lunchanksy.
We are also getting pretty big at Temple University because of house shows where we cover rare 60s songs like “Where have you been all my life” by Arthur Alexander mixed in with our mostly original set. We have about 20 other good songs, mostly non-surf related.
We wrote little surfer girl in our garage attic in the dead of winter last December. We were all in huge peacoats and snow jackets and just practicing for our debut New York City gig at Cameo Gallery (January 4th, 2014). Christian said we should just jam. Usually when we are freezing at band practice we fantasize about being warm at the beach surfing. So Christian broke out the opening chord progression and it just completely flowed out, bass, drums and guitar. We consciously did the rhythm and lead guitar 50s style to get the Beach boys early singles effect. When I stepped up to the microphone after playing the chords together for 5 minutes I thought of Chuck Berry and Alex Turner and the first verse came out almost exactly as it is. We added the surf part on the spot and I finished the lyrics in my room at home that night. We did the demo and got featured in NME!!
Then this summer we saved up our cash and recorded with Kyle Slick Johnson in Philadelphia in one day. Next we are recording a new single for a Rough Trade NYC and London store compilation.
The Yetis’ new 12″ will be available September 30 via Bandcamp.
FF takes us through the grip of yesterday through the guiding light of guitars on “Past Year”, found off their upcoming album, Lord, available October 21 from Couple Skate Records. The Seattle three of Claire Nelson, Harley Thompson and Michael Abeyta are shining examples of everything wonderful that is happening right now in the upper western corners of indie America, where DIY culture continues to hold tight to a certain sanctuary. In the world of FF, yesterday was the future you were transfixed on the day before yesterday.
Releasing a translator app to go with, take a look at the Pomp & Clout video for Yelle – “Complètement Fou”, off the upcoming album of the same name available September 30 from Kemosabe Records.
From Pat Murray for Glass Cannon, it’s an only-in-Philadelphia adventure featuring Has-Lo & Castle in the video for “Famished”, taken off Live Like You’re Dead from Mello Music. It’s kind of what you image and wish every music video would be, mic holders and producers walking forward and center through the trains, stations, streets, interspersed with snippets of vintage found film footage.
Mr. Twin Sister dropped the dance-along foot-stepping-shuffle, “In the House of Yes”. Here you can kick your feet down easy street to these spirited dance inspiring steps.
Grouper’s Liz Harris desribes the making of her upcoming album Ruins, available on Halloween from Kranky, in the following terms: “Recorded pretty simply, with a portable 4-track, Sony stereo mic and an upright piano. When I wasnʼt recording songs I was hiking several miles to the beach. The path wound through the ruins of several old estates and a small village.The album is a document. A nod to that daily walk. Failed structures. Living in the remains of love. I left the songs the way they came (microwave beep from when power went out after a storm); I hope that the album bears some resemblance to the place that I was in.” Listen to the homeward bound comforts of solitude on “Call Across Rooms”.
Stockholm’s Korallreven are going to release their second album, Second Comin’ November 4 from Cascine, following up 2011’s An Album By, and one upping the mortal coils of constraints and limitations on, “Death Is Not For Us”. The mechanisms and cogs of life turn and echo the vibration of human warmth, while shimmering like a pinwheel with connective firework sparklers. Big things are ahead on the Stockholm group’s sophomore outting, as they are joined by I Break Horses’ Maria Lindén, folks from the Tensta Gospel Choir, globally sourced percussion instruments, and the always incredible, Cornelius. An experience to heard, lived, and loved in return.
Transformer drop a clubbed-up slice of jacuzzi jet-wave pop with an advance listen to their Feel The Beast EP dropping September 14 on London imprint, Numerology Records, home to Pyrénées, Eone, Murder He Wrote, etc.
Tycho dropped visuals for the ‘Official Performance Cut’ of “See” to kick off the Awake tour that is rolling now from now through January 4.
What’s more, Ghostly International psychic-labelmates Beacon take a re-twist and alternately rendered form of “See” to set the senses shooting into the furthest depths of perceptions.
Get a listen to Minnow’s “Indian Summer” from their upcoming Trembles & Temperance album available November 11 From Anchor Eighty-Four. It builds like an old trad song from far ago, and yet so close nearby, and then bursts into a loud phemenon of it’s own orchestrated nature.
Take a gander at the Patrick O’Dell video for Kevin Morby’s “All Of My Life”, from the upcoming Still Life available October 14 from Woodsist Records. Watch as Morby’s neighbor, the honorable Tim Presley (White Fence, Darker My Love, Nerve Agents, etc) introduces a performance that takes on an Old Opry or Bakersfield style showcase of troubadour saints of the great southwest.
Tetherball, the project of studio wizard Steve Voss stomps some “Booss” on the ground and ballroom floor with a cut from his upcoming album, Whimsy available October 28 from Silver Point Records. The guitar grooves out maneuvers to shake a leg and foot around to, fresh from Nashville.
Playing tonight at Baby’s Alright, check out BRONCHO’s video for “Class Historian” off their album, Just Enough Hip To Be Woman, available now from Dine Alone Records. The George Salisbury / Delo Creative video features frontman Ryan Lindsey caught in a school daze dream of phone chords, dream gals, and subtexts that move between, above, and beneath the scanlines.
Driftless Ambient 1 comes out September 23 on Driftless Recordings, and we got the Joel Ford remix of North Americans’ “2004”. Once again, Joel “Airbird” Ford proves that he’s the mensch of the mix, as he re-alters the already altered landscapes for new terrain, new atmospheres, complete with distorted and flickering drum samples.
Nashville duo Ugly Kids Club are are about to drop their self-released Head Games EP September 30, rocking you with some good electric pop on, “Good Love”.
With Sharon Van Etten’s tour starting October 3 through December 11, check out The Juan MacLean’s remix of Sharon Van Etten’s “Our Love”, originally off the Jagjaguwar album, Are We There from JagJaguwar. MacLean gives a whole new synth lean to the song that features Sharon’s vocals in the mix of bubbling and rolling swaths of keyboard notes.
Sydney’s Mere Women dropped the turf claiming take over on, “Our Street” off the album Your Town available now from Poison City Records. An update of “When I’m Sixty-Four”, questions of permanence and persistence linger in the lines about walking down familiar roads while growing old, frail, and pale together.
Check out the Matthew Griffin video for “Fear” from Yes I’m Leaving ‘s album Slow Release available September 29 from Homeless Records. Get ready to ride the two minute rollercoaster that is about to send waves of all the anxieties and misgivings you have about everything put to angst ridden garage fodder.
Following up the much lauded Alternate/Ending EP for Ninja Tune, Sacramento by NYC Lee Bannon has declared the forthcoming of the Main/Flex EP slated for release November 4 from Babygrande. Sharing “MFS-1” featuring Hak from Ratking, the EP boasts appearances from the late DJ Rashad’s TEKLIFE collective with Deejay Earl, and Charlie Benante of Anthrax, where the nu-jungle is broken into the new-new in tek sounds where there is no way to convey what algorithm or set of agreed upon sequences and formats will come, or won’t come into play here. This is the world of Lee Bannon, and we are invited to feel it, and live in it how we please.
Check out the Katie Brockie directed and Max Howard-Martens animated video for The Bats and The Clean’s own, Robert Scott, for “Vertigo”. Find this on the NZ legend’s upcoming album, Green House available later this fall from Flying Nun Records. Here vertigo, anxiety, and adventure await all.
Long Island’s own The Glazzies “Spill” out a little something to keep on keeping on with fresh, rioting riffs ahead of their upcoming album available in early 2015 on Old Flame Records.
Slim Twig is going to release his originally Calico Corp issued album, A Hound At The Hem October 28 on DFA Records. As longtime fans of both this album, Slim Twig’s solo work, and collaboration’s with U.S. Girls’ Meg Remy; and if you missed A Hound the first time around, don’t blow this chance too. Watch the wonderful puppet addled video from Emily Pelstring for the Rhodes pounding rocker, “All This Wanting”.
Brooklyn’s Tim Fite dropped the social media obsessed cut about ‘liking’ things in the URL world, and how the absurdity translates in the IRL realm on “Like”, off iBeenHACKED, available October 7.
Peep Paul Clipson’s Super 8 shot film of abstract orange, yellow, and red sunsets on the video for Arp’s “Pulsars e Quasars” off the 12″ of the same name available September 23 from Mexican Summer. The silky soft and vaguely reminiscent sounds and delivery from Alexis Georgopoulos will recall the breaking of many an evening, and the recanting of the night’s endeavors and delights in the sweetest hangovers that you never want to depart.
With the Wayne Interest album available now from Innovative Leisure; Tijuana Panthers’s own Phil Shaheen made the following video for “Money Jar” ahead of their November tour dates with Mariachi El Bronx. Enjoy Shaheen’s visuals of a b/w tic-tac-toe, baseball match, with a light spinning in the center and spitting silhouettes throughout the video’s frames.
Our buddies The Rich Hands are dropping this cassingle for Cassette Store Day, through a cooperative release through the San Antonio imprints Secret People and Yippee Ki Ya. And now let the Texas dudes sweet you off your feet on “Take Me Away”, recording at SxSW as a Converse Rubber Track at Big Orange Studio, following up the riotous fun of their album, Out of My Head. Find them on tour October 1-11, and keep up with all of our coverage of The Rich Hands here.
From Rome with psyched out garage love, check out the new Trans Upper Egypt single, “Mountains”, that scales the mountains ahead of their new album available November 4th from Monofonus Press. Listen as cataclysms collide with bass lines, UFO noises, and what sounds like amplified brass through the hi-watt stacks.
Night lights and fancy lights intersect in the Escape Plan Productions video for Austin cool cats, Young Tongue, and their night lit video for “Cat Calls”. Face paint, animal masks, strange events, and colorful image projections are shown on the band that makes this one for the senses.
Valery Gore released the Chandler Levack video for, “With The Future”, where romantic departures and differing directions take play amid zappy synths and Valery’s genuine and expressive delivery. Find this off the album, Idols In The Dark Heart. Valery Gore wrote this on the song:
[“With the Future”] is about a relationship coming to a restless end, where one person knows what they want out of life while the other lacks direction.
We also have the Markus Hofko video for Auclair’s “Mersea Mersea Me” that transports the listener and viewer into the forthcoming world of intrinsic and intimate connections of the Semaphore EP, available September 29 from Kit Records.
Solai sent some sun-drenched vibes of tightly held holidays spent beneath the ball of perpetual fire on, “Islands In The Sun”. It’s all the reflective relaxation packed into a song that feels like a hundred holidays in the sun enjoyed in a consecutive order of arranged opportunity of appearance and endless, driftless appeal. Keep close ears out for more coming from this LA based artist.Chris Pope wrote us the following on the track:
“Islands in the sun” is a combination of warm and cool, space and confinement, having everything and nothing.I have a bunch of really old 50s-70s tube recording equipment, and the studio gets like 90 degrees. I feel like I’m in an original Jamaican studio. No AC, sweating like crazy, and making music all day.Coming out soon is a video for “LES”. The video follows a zombie skater throughout a day.
PICTUREPLANE’S WEEK IN POP
Pictureplane, aka Travis Egedy has continued to reshape the energy of how we understand music and ourselves — most recently with The Alien Body mixtape and “Self Control” video — and today he co-curates Week in Pop with some picks of pure audio-physical inspiration:
Here are some songs that have been giving me life and energy lately. Much love!
Musumeci, “Tag Fur Tag (Traxx Edit )
This is a brand new driving and relentless edit of an old obscure italian cold wave band, mesumeci, from 1985. Re-released by the awesome Mannequin Records.
Teengirl Fantasy, “Lung” Ft. Lafawndah
This is about to come out on Teengirl’s brand new Thermal EP in November, and any new Teengirl Fantasy release is a cause for celebration. I am roommates with Logan, one half of Teengirl Fantasy, so it was really cool to be able to hear this track progress in his bedroom and to get to know Lafawnduh, who is a really talented vocalist. I highly recommend seeing Teengirl Fantasy live, they have been totally killing it lately with this new stuff.
DJ Punisher, “Untitled A1”
No fucks given. Distorted and blown out filth techno for the freaks. Punish me, DJ Punisher!
Youth Code, “Consuming Guilt”
This song blew me away when I first heard it. Only in my wildest fantasies could i make music this heavy. Youth code are one of the best groups out right now in my opinion. This shit will go down as a stone cold timeless classic.
DJ Dog Dick, “She Weed”
Big shoutout to Max Eisenberg AKA Dog Dick and this legendary based music video. Dog dick floating free in the natural realm…. oceans, salt flats, mountains, he is a true american folk hero!
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