Tough Love Records have partnered with West Coast imprint Mt St Mtn for the release of “Free Advice”, the instant slowcore/dreampop classic by San Francisco four piece, Cindy. The full album is available to stream/download now, while a highly limited transparent vinyl pressing will be released on 20th November. Limited to just 250 copies, this pressing follows the long sold-out edition of 100 released earlier in the year and which was previously only available in the US.
“Free Advice” offers a sombre-yet-uplifting take on sobered dream pop. Imagine if Galaxie 500’s On Fire didn’t have a guitar solo or if The Trinity Session was stripped of its folk & blues roots; it’s just pure mood. Like sitting in a half-empty movie theater that’s playing Alphaville or Wild Strawberries and watching patron’s heads briefly illuminated from the screen; Free Advice (as with all of the Cindy output) transfers you to these momentary worlds.
Cindy is Karina Gill on guitar/vocals, Aaron Diko on synth/keys, Simon Phillips on Drums/Percussion, and Jesse Jackson on Bass/Keys + Simon and Jesse on backing vocals. The songs on Free Advice are these moments in mood: Phillips & Jackson’s rhythms create the foundation, while Diko’s keys rise and fall. Gill’s guitar rattles, vocals brood, and lyrics create these narratives that depict observers, not necessarily wronged rather, cautious and investigative of the world around them.
This year San Francisco band Cindy were plucked from obscurity into internet cult fandom with their second album, but it may as well have been their first since they were so under the radar. Free Advice is a record that is made for these times. Super chill, nearly hushed vocals accompanied by glacial guitars and some nice synthesized sounds. Galaxie 500 fans take note and snatch it up before it goes out of print (again).
Nestled deep in the forests of Mendocino County in Northern California, huddled under the protective shade of towering redwoods and within earshot of frothy waves crashing against the Pacific coastline, squats a geodesic dome that has served as crucible for the experimental genius of Carlton Melton. Nature and Man operate under different logics. But here, Carlton Melton wholly entrusts this idyllic environment with the task of inspiring and guiding their musical improvisations. The Dome has been the ideal setting to facilitate their creativity. Without forcing a specific dynamic or theme, the band inhabits its womb-like confines to improvise, explore, dream. Their music draws on psychedelia, stoner metal, krautrock, and ambient atmospherics to convey, above all else, a mood.
A prickly guitar melody will float lazily, a wall of dissonant feedback will resolve into a hypnotic drone, or a colossal riff will exhume the soul of Jimi Hendrix. One hears Hawkwind or Spacemen 3 jamming with Pink Floyd at Pompeii Indeed, Carlton Melton have one foot in the ancient world and one tentacle in deep space. They are both the pack of proto-humans drumming with femurs in Kubrick’s 2001 and the film’s inscrutable monolith hinting at the universe’s mysteries. The “Stoned Ape” theory holds that early hominids ingested psychedelic mushrooms that provided an evolutionary boost to their brains, helping them blossom into Homo Sapiens. Imagine such cavemen trippin’ balls, their nightmarish visions sending them into feverish bouts of rage and then gentle moments of introspection. They very well could have heard the music of Carlton Melton rattling inside their skulls, first driving our ancestors mad then upward into a higher realm.
Andy Duvall (drums, guitar), Clint Golden (bass), and Rich Millman (guitar, synths) have yet to play Pompeii, but they have already wowed crowds at European festivals such as the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, Roadburn, and Desertfest Antwerp. Live, they are jaw-dropping. On record, mind-altering. In fact, with each album, Carlton Melton adds a subtle new element, synapses firing new neural connections. In 2020, they release new full-length Where This Leads, marking ten years of the band’s working relationship with their UK label Agitated Records and five years of recording with Phil Manley in his El Studio in San Francisco. With Where This Leads, the band rewires the listener’s mind. “Smoke Drip Revisited” is a ticklish acid flashback, “Porch Dreams” a dabbling in country psych, and “Closer” a driving, freak-out of guitar heroics.
One senses that the group is conveying a message that cannot be expressed verbally but only suggested through synth sighs, walloping rhythms, and soaring solos. Would Carlton Melton therefore be a group of stoned apes dizzily grasping for meaning or telepathic futurists communicating to us through crude man-made instrumentation?.
Carlton Melton from the 2XLP ‘Where This Leads’ to be released October 30th 2020 on Agitated Records.
Heaters from Grand Rapids, Michigan In the year 2015, it may be that only foolishness or forgetfulness can excuse being surprised by the pace and power of a rock and roll machine coming out of the holy state of Michigan. Yet such is the power of the perpetual energy expressed throughout “Holy Water Pool,” the new full-length album by Heaters on Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records.
If there’s an offer of salvation within “Holy Water Pool,” its one that comes with a catch: you have to risk drowning. Drowning in this case brought on by the rapid-rush of these eleven songs over forty-one minutes, creating an album that consistently offers explosion while also always keeping its fuse lit. “Kamizake” is the suitably deadly opener, as much an invocation of the ghosts of reverb past as it is a song. Broken shards of the Bo Diddley beat, detritus left behind by the three-eyed men of the Elevators, the amplifier-abuse-turned-illumination of The Warlocks – all feed the rich soil from which “Holy Water Pool” emerges. And perhaps nowhere on “Holy Water Pool” is the fruit of that soil better served than on “Master Splinter,” an instantly-under-your-skin gallop of greatness that lays bare both the unbridled joy and teeth-gnashing distress of what we like to call rock and roll.
Moments of “Holy Water Pool” threaten to turn into a wave pool, holy or not, given Heaters almost incongruous surf-city leanings. Sonically, this is more than the sum of its parts (and more than the sum of second-hand Ventures records, too) in the way it colours the band’s sound, with their relatively defined palette expanding to a depth that’s deceptively broad and ultimately breathtaking. “Gum Drop” is perhaps the albums sweetest treat, here the pace slowed to a somnambulistic shuffle, with the band threatening to disintegrate completely into the sound that grows ever more cavernous at every turn, tethered to reality only by the siren sound of saxophone. On the album ending “Dune Ripper,” our eyes initially crossed and read the title as “Duane Ripper,” as in the million-dollar twang delivered by Duane Eddy. It’s a ripper, for sure, and leaves little doubt that this dose of “Holy Water,” delivered with chilling efficiency by Heaters, has had its intended impact on our ears.
Onward flows the “Holy Water Pool,” the rambunctious and replenished flow of rock and roll, inviting all for a cleansing, refreshing dip. Jump in.
Laura Jane Grace wasn’t planning on making a solo record this year. In fact, she was planning on making a record with Against Me!, the band she’s fronted for the past 23 years. But clearly, nothing went according to plan this year. “We came home from the Against Me! tour we were on in March, and right before we left, we had been in the studio working on songs, and I had been working on them for months prior,” says Grace. As she sat at home, all of her tours cancelled, and the members of Against Me!—as well as her other band Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers—spread across the country, she was left with a batch of songs and no band to record them with.
“I sat around for a month-and-a-half at a home just being shellshocked being like, ‘What the fuck happened and what the fuck is happening with the world?’ As I started to get my bearings, I just came to the realization that waiting was going to kill the record and kill the songs. I spent two years working on all these songs, and the idea of throwing them away didn’t sit well with me,” says Grace. “But then I was like, ‘What am I waiting for?’ All I have to do is adjust my scope. I can sit here on my fucking ass and do nothing, or I can work.”
So, Grace got to work. She picked up the phone and called Electrical Audio, the iconic studio in her adopted hometown of Chicago, Illinois, to ask if she could make a record with famed engineer Steve Albini. The goal was to go in and document these songs exactly as she’d been playing them in her home, straight to analogue tape. When she hung up the phone, she had four days booked.
The result of the session at Electrical Audio is “Stay Alive”, a record that doesn’t just embody that title, it serves as the guiding principle behind its creations. But it also put life back into an industry that’s been ravaged by venue closures, cancelled tours, and delayed records. “By putting the songs out, that puts the label in work, that puts a photographer in work, that puts a graphic designer in work, that puts a merch company in work, that keeps it alive,” says Grace. “You hear on the news every day about people losing their jobs and everything collapsing, and I want to fight against that. The only way I can think to fight against that is to work.”
Across the 14 songs that comprise Stay Alive, Grace takes all her pent-up fears, anger, and anxiety and releases it, like an olive branch to the weary listeners who are feeling those exact same ways. As she says in “Blood & Thunder,” a love song to Chicago—or perhaps a mea culpa for “I Hate Chicago” on The Devouring Mothers album Bought to Rot—the album’s thematic premise is all but spelled out: “When you give in and quit / There’s a power to be found in it.” It’s an idea that may sound odd on its face, but it displays Grace’s commitment to no longer resisting the changes in front of her. On a record that sees her traversing the globe—from Marbella, Spain to Glasgow, Scotland to London, England to the Land of Oz—”Blood & Thunder” is a begrudging embrace of what can’t be changed; Instead of resisting the city she once loathed, she finds the beauty in the little things, like the moon rising over Indian Boundary Park, or the wind rolling up Western Avenue.
The album’s title is one that surfaces in the record itself, and serves as a subtle rejoinder to her Polyvinyl labelmate Chris Farren, who gifted Grace a hat that said “Can’t Die,” and she’s spent the last two years running in it every single day. By flipping the phrase on its head, Grace built her own message; one based around work, struggle, and reaffirmed commitments. In certain cases, songs like “Hanging Tree,” which has a chorus that builds to the phrase, “A burning crucifix and a hanging tree,” have been kicking around since 2017, but finally found a moment that made sense for it on Stay Alive. And in the case of “Shelter In Place,” a song about her own isolation and introspection, the pandemic finally gave words to a feeling she’d long had but was never able to accurately describe.
The songs that make up Stay Alive are documents of a time and a songwriter who experienced enough to find levity in the simple act of doing the work. Recorded with nothing more than an acoustic guitar, an occasional drum machine, and her own powerful voice, Grace’s distinct song writing signature is front and center. What’s more, she made it purely for herself. “I just want to put this out because it makes me feel alive and it’s giving me something better than sitting here losing my mind while the world falls apart,” says Grace. “It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about what you do. Just stay alive.”
Told Slant is Felix Walworth’s dark and evil band based in Brooklyn, New York.
Told Slant has released the third song from their upcoming full-length “Point The Flashlight and Walk”. According to songwriter Felix Walworth:”‘Run Around The School’ is about the allure of loving another regardless of reciprocity or the promise of being loved. It explores the beauty and delusion of pining, and of love’s power to satiate us even with its table scraps.”
All instruments and words by Felix Walworth Arranged, performed, and recorded by Felix Walworth
“The track transforms a playful playground taunt into an affecting quiver that lays bare some serious emotions. It’s twinkling and sad, weighed down by the heaviness of life never living up to expectations.” —Stereogum
“A song that is equal parts pure joy and hidden anguish, “Run Around The School” is exactly the tone that we know and love Told Slant for.” —Beats Per Minute
Carla Geneve has announced a national tour this August performing shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle! She’s taking her debut self-titled EP on the road, which was released in June via Dot Dash Recordings/Remote Control Records.
Carla’s also been announced on a national tour from September-October with HOLY HOLY.
To celebrate the announcement, Carla has shared a video for ‘Things Change’. The video was filmed on her recent debut tour of North America supporting San Cisco, Carla shares – “The video is a tour diary of sorts for my first ever shows in North America. It has been a year of big change for me and I felt like being on the road and touring was very significant of a big shift in my life. I wanted to capture some of the moments on the road that people don’t usually get to see – from travel to preparing for a show to everything in between.”
Carla Geneve recently brought her musical mastery and lyrical charm to the Live at Enmore studio, with an incredible version of Things Change.
Carla Geneve is a 21 year old singer-songwriter based in Fremantle, Western Australia. Backed by a captivating show and unique brand of brutally honest lyricism, Geneve established herself as one of Australia’s most prominent up and coming artists after the release of her breakout debut self-titled EP which saw her tour Australia prolifically playing sold out shows and festivals such as Laneway Festival & Falls Festival as well as tour with/support artists such as Cat Power, Kurt Vile, Julia Jacklin, Belle & Sebastien, Fred Armisen and more.
Her critically acclaimed debut self-titled EP was released in June 2019 via Remote Control Records/Dot Dash Recordings receiving praise from KEXP, Beats 1, Triple J and more. Geneve promoted the EP with her debut tour of North America was awarded the leading number of wins at the 2019 West Australian Music Awards taking home Best EP, Best Single – ‘Things Change’, Best Guitarist & Best Rock Act as well as Live Voice of The Year (WA) at the National Live Music Awards.
Geneve will release her forthcoming single ‘Don’t Wanna Be Your Lover’, the first from her debut album aided by extensive national/international touring, further solidifying her as one of Australia’s most exciting up and coming artists.
Carla Geneve singer songwriter from Perth, Australia
How do you describe a creative force like Poison Ivy? Born Kirsty Marlana Wallace and also known as Poison Ivy Rorschach, she was armed with a guitar and a strong desire for change. With her band The Cramps’ influence spanning over three decades, she led the alt-scene in New York at CBGB’s, the hallowed hall of punk which opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan’s East Village. A 350-capacity venue, its intimacy was a draw for other emerging bands such as The Ramones and Patti Smith. Ultimately, Poison Ivy had big hair and even bigger dreams, she was the driving force behind shaping the alternative music scene.
Rumoured to have taken the name ‘Poison Ivy’ from a dream while at Sacramento State University, she always aligned herself as an outsider, hence chosen to wear more revealing clothes and smokey make-up. Always keen to paint her life outside of the lines, she decided to work as a dominatrix at The Victorian, leaving her former job as a waitress due to the huge difference in pay. She met Lux Interior at College in 1972, who actually took his name from a car ad. This meeting prompted the birthing of her brainchild with Interior, who also became her late husband and the lead singer of their punk-rock band, The Cramps. Despite its changing line up from its creation in April 1976, until its disbandment in 2009 due to the death of Interior, they left a legacy yet to be diminished.
The Cramps were managed by Ivy, as both a band and a gang. She was an impressively accomplished lead and rhythm guitarist, always staying true to her artistic vision. The band brought the emerging genre of psychobilly to the forefront of people’s attention. Usually referred to as a cult band, they blended rockabilly and ‘60s garage rock with punk. They used pop culture as their inspirations and were a literal project of America. They quickly gained a reputation for their unusual, rockabilly-inspired music and wild live performances. The Cramps, with Ivy, Lux, and various other guitarists, drummers, and bassists, continued to release records and perform live until the fall of 2006, enjoying some commercial success (mainly in Europe) and acquiring a strong cult following worldwide.
The rockabilly element was partly due to Ivy’s admiration for American Shawnee Rock ‘n’ Roll musician, Link Wray, who was placed by Rolling Stone as 45/100 of the greatest guitarists of all time. They even covered the “King of Rock and Roll’s” track themselves, a strong rendition of the King’s hit track, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’. Early on, Ivy used a clear plexiglass Dan Armstrong guitar, then the unusual Canadian-made Bill Lewis guitar heard on the first few Cramps recordings. Since 1985 she has mostly used a 1958 Gretsch 6120 hollow-body. She uses Fender Pro Reverb amplifiers onstage, and smaller Valco and Allen amps in the studio.
Always thriving off the unusual, one of The Cramps most infamous shows was their performance at Napa State Mental Hospital. Some of their lyrics may have been regarded as being slightly near the knuckle, such as ‘Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?’, ‘All Women Are Bad’ or ‘Bikini Girls with Machine Guns’, with the latter being their sole Top 40 chart success. Also, Ivy posing as the track title also reiterated her unique persona and her tendency to step away from the norm, in a similar way to the likes of Jordan Mooney and Vivienne Westwood’s SEX.
Throughout the band’s career, they played with the idea of image and identity, after swapping their focus on B-side horror to sexual ventures. Not only were they ahead of their time with their music, image and love of horror, but the band itself was also split evenly with half men and half women, something which is still rarely seen decades later. They celebrated their relative longevity by marking their 25th anniversary with a re-issue of their post-I.R.S discography. Their last album of fresh material “Fiends of Dope Island” (2003), successfully set the band’s sound in front of the backdrop of the 21st Century.
Their last time performing as a band live may have been at House of Blues in Anaheim, California, in November 2006, but Poison Ivy and the band’s influence is yet to dwindle. They sparked the movement for horror punk and changed what people thought music should be. Poison Ivy herself acted as an inspiration for others to accept themselves as they truly were, and with her obvious guitar skills, became a role model for any girl to pick up an instrument. We can still learn a lot from one of the most underrated bands in alt-history.
The Albums:
Songs the Lord Taught Us (1980,Illegal Records)
Psychedelic Jungle (1981,I.R.S._Records)
A Date with Elvis (1986,Big Beat Records)
Stay Sick! (1990,Enigma_Records)
Look Mom No Head! (1991, Enigma)
Flamejob (1994, The Medicine Label)
Big Beat from Badsville (1997, Epitaph_Records)
Fiends of Dope Island (2003, Vengeance)
EPs
Gravest Hits (1979, Illegal)
Blues Fix (1992, Big Beat)
Live albums
Smell of Female – (live at the Peppermint Lounge) (1983, Big Beat)
RockinnReelininAucklandNewZealandXXX (1987, Vengeance)
Compilations
Off the Bone (1983, Illegal)
Bad Music for Bad People (1984, I.R.S.)
How to Make a Monster (2004, Vengeance)
The Cramps: File Under Sacred Music Early Singles 1978–1981 (2012, Munster)
If you’re interested in finding out more about Poison Ivy and The Cramps, make sure to read “Journey To The Centre of The Cramps” by Dick Porter
England’s Reading Festival has long welcomed artists large and small from around the world, and sometimes it welcomes back performers who have become global stars since their previous appearance. So it was on August 30, 1992, when Reading hosted Nirvana for the second year running. As we now all know it turned out to be one of the most exhilarating sets ever performed, not just by Nirvana, but by any band, any time, anywhere!
At the point when the band played the famous festival a year earlier, in the summer of 1991, they were halfway down the bill. They’d released their first record, ‘Bleach,’ on Sub Pop in 1989, but despite critical approval, it hadn’t troubled the charts. The ‘Nevermind’ album and its seminal opening single ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ were still a couple of months from release at the time of Reading 1991. When they came back 12 months later, Nirvana were a multi-platinum sensation and the biggest thing in rock music for a generation. ‘Nevermind’ had started a five-year run on the Billboard 200 that would deliver US sales alone of ten million copies.
On that Reading return, Kurt Cobain mocked rumours around the festival site that he had been hospitalised with a drug overdose by coming on stage In a wheelchair, pushed by music journalist Everett True, and faking a collapse. He was met by Nirvana’s bassist Krist Novoselic, who shook his hand and told the audience that “with the support of his friends and family, he’s gonna make it. Cobain pretended to struggle to his feet as he stood up in front of the microphone, sang a line from the Amanda McBroom song “The Rose,” then collapsed to the ground. After lying motionless briefly, Cobain returned to his feet, put his guitar on and the band immediately started their set.
True later recalled to Clash magazine that the wheelchair stunt “had been planned the previous night as a burn on those who’d been gossiping about Kurt and his wife [Courtney Love], who’d just given birth to Frances Bean: ‘Kurt’s in hospital, Kurt’s been arrested, Kurt’s OD’d, Courtney’s OD’d, the baby’s been born deformed…Nirvana’s drummer Dave Grohl recalled in a 2018 interview “I remember showing up to Reading ’92 and there being so many rumours that we weren’t going to play, that we had cancelled. I walked backstage and some of my best friends in bands that were opening would see me and say, ‘What are you doing here?’ And I’d go, ‘We’re fucking headlining!’ And they’d be like, ‘You’re actually going to play?!’ I didn’t realise there was any question that we were going to play.”
The performance at the festival was immortalized on the ‘Live At Reading’ CD and DVD, a film that had been bootlegged by fans for years and was finally officially released in 2009. The film, and the set, featured Nirvana staples including ‘Teen Spirit,’ ‘Come As You Are,’ ‘All Apologies’ and ‘Lithium’ as well as covers of tracks by bands like the Wipers and Fang. No one could know that the performance would turn out to be Nirvana’s last in Britain.
The performance included almost all of Nevermind, along with several songs from their 1989 debut album “Bleach”, the Sub Pop 200 compilation track ” and set list regulars “Aneurysm,” “Been a Son” and the 1990 single, “Sliver” It also included a cover of the Wipers’ “D-7,” which had been released as a b-side on the “Lithium” single in July 1992, and Fang’s “The Money Will Roll Right In” The band also performed the unreleased songs “tourette’s,” “All Apologies” and “Dumb,” all three of which appeared on their final studio album, “In Utero”, in September 1993. Cobain introduced “All Apologies” by announcing, “This song is dedicated to my 12-day-old daughter, and my wife. She thinks everybody hates her,” and then encouraged the crowd to chant, “Courtney, we love you!”
The performance of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” the band’s 1991 breakthrough single, incorporated part of the 1976 track by USA band Boston single “More Than a Feeling” at the beginning, a reference to the similarities between the two songs’ main guitar riffs. The show ended with Cobain playing the American national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner,” and the band smashing their instruments.
The Band:
Kurt Cobain – vocals, guitar
Krist Novoselic – bass guitar, backing vocals on “The Money Will Roll Right In”
Dave Grohl – drums, backing vocals
Alternately brash and endearing Melbourne foursome Twerps return with new single “Work It Out”, their first new material since last-year’s celebrated self titled debut album. After a three month stint in the US earlier this year, which took in SXSW and a 18 date tour supporting Real Estate, the band jumped back into the studio to record this new three song single, which emerges as a co-release between Chapter Music and New York label Underwater Peoples. While maintaining the band’s trademark cheeky charm, Work It Out shows a newfound confidence, an extra lick of polish. In contrast, B-side He’s In Stock is a driving, bratty complaint, while Recall admits catchily to forgetting the name of a one night stand. He’s In Stock was premiered on Stereogum in August, and picked up by the likes of The Fader, Pitchfork, RCRD LBL and many others. It has now had almost 40,000 Soundcloud listens.
The new single comes out just ahead of another North American tour in October, taking in CMJ showcases and a run of dates with Real Estate bassist Alex Bleeker. Before they leave Australia, they’re also performing at this year’s Sound Summit Festival in Newcastle (as part of celebrations for Chapter Music’s 20th birthday) and Brisbane Festival, then return- ing home in December to play at Meredith Music Festival.
Quarter-Life Crisis is a collaboration between Ryan Hemsworth and various artists who’ve come to prominence over the past couple of years, many of whom got their start playing scrappy DIY shows. The self-titled debut EP released on December 4th, 2020 features contributions from Frances Quinlan (Hop Along), Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), Charlie Martin (Hovvdy), Yohuna, and Claud. It showcases Hemsworth in a new phase of his career, one that is perhaps a bit less indebted to the nightclub dance floor. “It’s always been a goal to mix, like, 25% electronic sounds and 75% live indie rock sounds,” he says. Collaboration is paramount to Hemsworth’s process, and though he produced all of the instrumentation on the album, he left the lyrics and intention of the song up to the contributors. The resulting collection shapeshifts from track-to-track, taking on new personalities as it moves between artists.
Quarter-Life Crisis, Ryan Hemsworth’s new collaborative project, today shared another new track from their self-titled EP: “You & Me” featuring Claud. Quarter-Life Crisis’ debut EP also features collaborations with Frances Quinlan (Hop Along), Charlie Martin (Hovvdy), Hand Habits, and Yohuna. Collaboration is paramount to Hemsworth’s process, and though he produced all of the live instrumentation on the album, he left the lyrics and intention of the song up to the contributors. The resulting collection shape-shifts from track-to-track, taking on new personalities as it moves between artists.
Of the track, Claud said “Ryan sent me a bunch of really pretty guitar tracks around the time I had just moved to New York… it was a new city, I was alone, and I was definitely deep in my feels. The song sorta turned into a yearning winter love song. When I sent it back to him after I wrote it I asked him not to laugh at me for the corny-ness of the lyrics… sometimes lyrics just need to say it like it is.”
A newly released track “You & Me” featuring Claud. Taken from the Debut EP from Quarter-Life Crisis, the new project from Ryan Hemsworth, out December 4th. Featuring Frances Quinlan of Hop Along, Hand Habits, Charlie Martin of Hovvdy, Claud, & Yohuna.
The Fat Angel Sings 