When Richard Thompson began writing songs for his latest album, “Ship to Shore”, the artist was instinctively drawn to his own musical roots, employing them in the service of fashioning a deep and diverse 12-track collection that pulls from various styles, genres and eras, but remains unmistakably Richard Thompson. There’s the rumbling, Motown-style rhythm that propels “Trust,” and the straightforward riff-rock of “Turnstile Casanova.” The drone-y “The Old Pack Mule,” an “old man’s song” that takes musical cues from 1600s-era European music, and “Life’s a Bloody Show,” an ode to “snake-oil salesmen and hucksters” that floats on a glammy, cabaret-like melody that’s “almost like a parody of a Noel Coward song, or something from Berlin in the 1920s,”
Thompson says. “I liked the idea of having a strong base to work from and reaching out from there,” he says. “And I think of my base as being British traditional music, but there’s also Scottish music, there’s Irish music. There’s jazz and country and classical. As far as I’m concerned, once you establish your base you can reach out anywhere. It’ll still be you ringing through, wherever you decide to go musically.”
Released on May 31st via New West Records, Ship To Shore is Thompson’s follow-up to his 2018 studio album “13 Rivers” and his 2021 memoir Beeswing.
Pissed Jeans is sharing the Joe Stakun-directed official video for “Cling to a Poisoned Dream,” a bruising meditation of harsh truths, and a highlight from their excellent sixth album “Half Divorced,” out this Friday, March 1st, worldwide on Sub Pop Records.
The twelve songs on “Half Divorced” skewer the tension between youthful optimism and the sobering realities of adulthood. Pissed Jeans’ – Matt Korvette (vocals), Bradley Fry (guitar), Randy Huth (bass), and Sean McGuinness (drums) – notorious acerbic sense of humour remains sharper than ever as they dismember some of the joys that contemporary adult life has to offer.
“Half Divorced” has earned praise from the likes of MOJO (★★★★), and UNCUT. In their 8/10 review, the latter says, “Almost 20 years on, this lot are still kicking against the pricks with their ferocious hybrid of (post-) punk, hardcore and sludgy grunge.
Track titles here such as ‘Anti-Sapio’ and ‘Cling to a PoisonedDream’ suggest their view of the status quo remains brutally realistic, but as always it’s leavened with tunefulness and dark humour. Matt Korvette is a misanthropic force of nature, whether ticking off the negatives of cities from Boston to Rome (‘Everywhere Is Bad’) or addressing adult responsibility (‘Helicopter Parent’). ’80s hardcore rules, as on closer ‘Moving On,’ which taps Bob Mould’s chiming intensity, but PJ throw it off course, notably on Killing Joke-esque epic ‘Junktime.’” Meanwhile, “God Is In the TV says the album’s “…throttling compulsion and an undeniable lightness of being make for a winning combination,” and Record Collector succinctly adds “It’s a corker.”
Bully (aka Alicia Bognanno) has digitally released an intimate piano ballad entitled “Atom Bomb.” Bognanno says, “The song was originally recorded with a drum machine and electric guitar; it was also quite a bit faster. When I played the demo for JT Daly (producer), he had the idea of moving it to the piano. I remember saying out loud, ‘Can you believe I’m trusting anybody like this?’ We both started laughing because starting off as someone who used to record, mix, and produce their own records to avoid the vulnerability that comes with working out creative ideas in the company of others, it was a huge step for me. That was our first real bonding moment, acknowledging that we were mutually up for trying new things and seeing each other’s ideas through before one of us shut it down.”
Bree Marie Fish directed the accompanying live video recorded and shot at MMK studios in Nashville, TN
This stand-alone track follows the release of “Lucky For You“, which garnered praise and notices from The New York Times, NPR Music, Rolling Stone, The FADER, Stereogum, Pitchfork, and more. Additionally, Bognanno recently contributed original music to the Apple TV show Buccaneers and was featured on Militarie Gun’s recent song “Never Fucked Up Twice.”
Bully is currently on a tour of North America, performing in a rare solo setting while supporting Grouplove.
Slowdive was an English alternative rock band that formed in 1989. The band was formed in Reading and primarily consisted of Nick Chaplin (bass), Rachel Goswell (vocals, guitar), Neil Halstead (vocals, guitar), and Christian Savill (guitar). Several drummers played with the band, including Ian McCutcheon, Adrian Sell, and Simon Scott.
Signing with Creation Records, Slowdive’s early singles received glowing press and chart placement. Their debut single, Slowdive, thinly veiled an indebtedness to the Byrds and My Bloody Valentine, with no traceable punk influence Just after Slowdive’s recording,
The sleepy escapist psychedelia of both “Morningrise” and “Holding Our Breath” made significant impressions on the British indie chart.
The press dubbed them part of “The Scene That Celebrates Itself” – a small, loose, conglomerate of like-minded bands who could be seen at each other’s shows, frequently hanging out together within the same circle. This “scene” included Lush, Moose, Swervedriver, Curve, and Blur.
This anthology compiled and annotated by Mojo’s Kieron Tyler is a fine stepping on point for anyone interested in the works of Slowdive. This is the first in series of releases by the band on Cherry Red Records.
Seattle noise pop legends Chastity Belt share “Chemtrails.” It’s the third single ahead of the band’s upcoming album “Live Laugh Love“, out March 29, 2024 via Suicide Squeeze Records. The song was initially conceived as a product of jamming, but the end result flaunts a sharpness that calls to mind a moody side of 2000s alternative rock. “Someone like me can’t let go of anything / Moments move like chemtrails in my mind,” singer Julia Shapiro drawls on the chorus, over a blunt guitar riff and pounding drum groove. Inspired by haunting memories that can’t be let go, the song is accompanied by a fittingly spectral video directed by Ertuğrul Yaka.
On the track, Julia Shapiro offers: “Chemtrails” started off as a jam when we were rehearsing for an upcoming tour. I started playing that initial lead guitar part without thinking, and the rest came together pretty naturally after that. Gretchen’s drums along with Annie’s bass really drive the song – the drums remind me a bit of Protomartyr (love those boys!), and Lydia’s lead guitar line in the chorus is very rock n roll. The lyrics are about not being able to let go of things and retracing memories in your head. I reached out to Ertuğrul Yaka about animating something to the song because his work is often pretty dark and introspective, and he came up with a video that really fits the vibe.”
On the video, animator Ertuğrul Yaka shares: “Every person has the hope of finding their other half throughout their lives. I tried to explain the deprivation suffered by a person who cannot find her other half. The smiley mask is the persona that she shows to other people. The moon is a metaphor describing the search for couples to each other. At the end of the song ‘I’m painting us a picture in my head’ based on the lyrics, I made the reunion inspired by ‘The Lovers’ painting by Rene Magritte.”
It’s a phrase you might encounter in a certain type of cursive on the wall of a certain type of home. On the opposite end of the mood board, it’s also a stick-and-poke tattoo on Chastity Belt guitarist/vocalist Julia Shapiro’s left ankle (just below a highly improvised Shrek), and the title of the band’s fifth album. It’s fun, it’s funny, but it’s also sincere, not unlike the band’s history—a joke that became real because it was always real—and the enduring bond that has been their band’s foundation for the past 13 years.
In their decade-plus together, the four-piece—Shapiro (she/her), Lydia Lund (guitar, vocals – she/her), Gretchen Grimm (drums, vocals – she/her), and Annie Truscott (bass, vocals – they/them)—have created a resonant body of work. The early days of “Nip Slip” and “Pussy Weed Beer” (hits from their iconic debut full-length “No Regerts”, which recently celebrated 10 years) and the “Cool Slut” era of 2015’s “Time To Go Home” were raucous bonanzas of dry wit and self-evident feminism. A newfound gravity on 2017’s “I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone” shifted the lyrical mood toward introspection as they continued to refine their trademark sound: lush intertwining guitars, meticulous rhythms, a careful balance of melancholy and optimism. Two years later, the dreamy Chastity Belt marked a renewal of vows to their musicianship and friendship, each member coming into their own as artists, convening with a fresh perspective on collaboration.
“Live Laugh Love” is a natural continuation. Against the bizarre backdrop of the past few years, Chastity Belt remained a supportive space for the members to grow and experiment, drawing on the ingredients most essential to their process since the beginning: authenticity and levity. Recorded over three sessions in as many years (January 2020, November 2021 and 2022), the focus became more about enjoying their time together in the studio than making it feel like work. Their ease and familiarity with engineer Samur Khouja in LA, who also recorded their last album, made for a particularly enjoyable process, even using extra time to work out a couple joke songs to entertain only themselves (fingers crossed we hear their medieval jig, “Shilling for the Shire,” on a bonus edition someday). Once completed, they returned to renowned engineer Heba Kadry (Bjork, Slowdive) who mastered the album.
Album opener “Hollow” sets the tone with a gently driving rhythm while guitar layers stream like sun rays through an open car window. A warmth radiates through Shapiro’s voice, even while grappling with feeling lost and stuck. “The older I get,” Shapiro says of the lyrics, “the more I realize that I might just always feel this way, and it’s more about sitting with the feeling and accepting it, rather than trying to fight it.” That wisdom seems to anchor “Live Laugh Love”. Chastity Belt has never shied from navigating the spectrum of difficult emotions, and an existential thread weaves throughout the subject matter. And yet the songs feel more grounded than ever; there’s a sense of quiet confidence and self-assurance that comes with being less numb and more present. Facing discomfort takes more fortitude, after all.
“Live Laugh Love” finds the members in their prime as musicians. Their parts trace intricate patterns over one another, but there’s room to breathe between the layers. Everyone contributes to the writing, sometimes switching instruments, and for the first time, all four members sing a song. It’s never been more apparent that they are creative siblings, cut from the same belt. “We’ve been playing music with each other for over a decade,” says Shapiro, “so it really does feel like we’re all fluent in the same language, and a lot of it just happens naturally.”
“Laugh” seeks in the balm of friendship, aware of the anticipatory nostalgia that hits during a good time that you’re already missing before it’s gone; the heavier guitar tones on “Chemtrails” streak ominous chord progressions over Grimm’s precision timekeeping, lamenting memories that won’t fade easily. During a transitional time, Truscott came across a note in their phone that read, “it’s not hard all day, just sometimes,” which inspired a poignant line in the chorus of “Kool-Aid,” their first song as lead vocalist on a Chastity Belt recording. Another standout, “I-90 Bridge” shines with a silvery melody that soars as Lund belts one of the most resounding moments on the album: “Tell your girlfriend she’s got nothing to fear/I’m set in my head/My body’s a different story.” The track “Blue” saunters nonchalantly with a wink; you can almost hear Shapiro’s smile as she sings“Faking it big time/So I can hit my stride/Man, it feels good to be alive,” channeling early Chastity Belt channelling early ’90s before channelling the late Elliott Smith in a spiral of distortion and insight: “Don’t get upset about it/It’s gonna pass/Tell all your friends about it/They’re gonna laugh.”
“We have such a strong sense of each other’s musical inclinations” says Lund. “I think this allows for a lot of playfulness…we can kinda surprise each other, like a good punchline would.”
Living, laughing, loving… maybe it really is that simple.
Chastity Belt “Chemtrails” Suicide Squeeze Records
PJ Harvey has shared the music video for “Seem an I.” The visual, filmed at England’s Kennel Farm, was directed by Colm Bairéad and stars Ruth Wilson.
“Ruth and I became friends after working together on Clio Barnard’s film Dark River,” PJ Harvey said in a press statement. “I have always greatly admired Ruth’s work as an actor, so had long harboured a dream that we might work together again in some way. When the opportunity to work with Colm Bairéad came up I knew him to be a director Ruth thought highly of, as I did, so it felt right to ask her if she would star in the film.
I find the resulting short film beautiful and moving for having Ruth’s magical presence, and Colm’s unique vision.” Ruth Wilson added, “I have always been a huge fan of PJ, so it was a great privilege to work alongside Colm and Polly to bring ‘Seem an I’ to visual life in this mysterious and hypnotic short film. There is no better way to spend a day in the magical world of PJ Harvey.
Hot on the heels of releasing new single “Legendary Tippers” , Les Savy Fav are back with their first new album in 14 years!
Almost out of necessity, Les Savy Fav’s sixth LP was born in a pocket reality: singer Tim Harrington’sBrooklyn attic. “A freaky barn,” as he calls it, the room was built over the ruins of black mould and plywood, a de facto studio. Different from anywhere they’d ever recorded, the space allowed for a much-needed rebirth for the long-running post-hardcore band. In that in-between, they pieced together what would become their latest evolution, “OUI, LSF”, growing the album’s title and cover art out of a patch of grass. “The record grew organically — literally and figuratively,” Harrington notes wryly.
The Brooklyn group has shared the new song “Guzzle Blood” alongside an animated music video by Christy Karacas. Singer Tim Harrington described the song as dropping “you into the bottom of a dark well. In a lot of ways, the rest of the record is about the things we do to climb back out.”
Though members Harrington, Seth Jabour, Syd Butler, Harrison Haynes, and Andrew Reuland have been making music together since 1995, they didn’t want to rely on well-established strokes for “Oui, Lsf”. “When we finished our last record, there was a sense that if we were going to do more, we wanted to do something more ambitious,” Harrington said. “I think it took us a while to even get in a space where that was possible.”
Oui, LSF, the follow-up to 2010’s “Root for Ruin” and the band’s sixth full-length LP overall, spans 14 songs, “Oui, LSF” arrives May 10th (via Frenchkiss/The Orchard).
The Cleveland rock band Cloud Nothings are back with a new album. “Final Summer”, It’s their eighth full-length LP and follow-up to 2021’s “The Shadow I Remember”, arrives April 19th on Pure Noise Records – marking a departure from longtime label home Carpark. Get a taste of what’s to come with “Running Through the Campus,” a new song that comes with an Errick Easterday-directed music video, .
True to its title, the single takes its inspiration from bandleader Dylan Baldi’s daily runs through a nearby college campus. “Occasionally it’s after dark when I end up there, and the emptiness of it at night stands in stark contrast to the hectic and crowded early mornings,” he explains. “‘Running through the Campus’ is about an intrusive thought I can have on those late-night runs, about whether or not it’s slightly depressing that I’m out running around alone while everyone else is gone and actually doing something, probably with other people.”
Back in the autumn, Cloud Nothings shared “Final Summer’s” title track. Both that song and “Running Through the Campus,” like the rest of the album, were recorded with Jeff Zeigler, mixed by Illuminati Hotties’ Sarah Tudzin, and mastered by Jack Callahan.
The cheekiest band in the land is back with “Rockmaker”, The Dandy Warhols’ 12th studio album. Produced and recorded by the band at their studio/funhouse The Odditorium in Portland, “Rockmaker” sees the “Bohemian Like You” hitmakers celebrate their 30th year together with a sprinkle of glitter on their grime.
Accompanied by guests Debbie Harry, Slash, and Pixies’ Frank Black, The Dandy Warhols wrangle paranoia, untangle anxious discontent, and lust after life while the dance grooves go deeper, heady drones get weirder, and riffage fit for bong rips hammers.
“Rockmaker” is the Dandy’s clearest statement yet, at no sacrifice to their outre leanings. This is the sound of outsider alt-psych fixtures looking in as the walls come down.
The Fat Angel Sings 