Hand Habits, the working sobriquet of Meg Duffy, first entered our sphere in 2015 backing Kevin Morby at a house party. Their weapon of choice is the guitar, an instrument they wield with aplomb. However, to focus too heavily on this one attribute is to miss the greater whole of the songwriter. On the eve of their sophomore lp, Placeholder, Duffy cut a three-track LagniappeSession for Aquarium Drunkard. Recorded over a three month period in Los Angeles and New York City, the selections simultaneously echo Hand Habits roots and aspirations. The artist in their own words, below …
Hand Habits :: Albatross (Fleetwood Mac)
People love to either forget about Peter Green or love to say they only like Fleetwood Mac for the early Peter Green records. Of course Christine and Stevie, along with all the various iterations, hit hard song after song. But it’s this record and song that really prove to me that the essence (swirls scotch around in glass) of Fleetwood Mac was conceived long before “Dreams” was dreamt. The lyricism of the guitar is extremely crushing. It feels symphonic and hopeful. When I was learning this tune, I realized that there’s an ‘hour long loop’ of “Albatross” on youtube…and the song really allows for repetition. Recorded with Chris Nelson and Branden Stroup in downtown LA.
Hand Habits :: Only Living Boy In New York (Simon And Garfunkel)
To me, this song is perfect. The second time I heard it was (fittingly) via a cover, courtesy of a band that used to exist in Albany called The Red Lions. They covered it in a packed out attic, and at the time I thought it was the best band I’d ever heard in person. The show exists in my memory as a warm, teary picture of nostalgia. A very good friend of mine who has since passed on was there, and we both just stood smiling in awe of the harmonies during the song’s closing. Gigantic and everlasting. This recording, my cover, was done in NYC with Sam Owens right before he moved out of his place in the city to live upstate. It felt right — a freezing cold Sunday in NY — just me, Sam and Lina Tullgren and a tape machine.
The first time I heard AA Bondy’s When The Devil’s Loose coincided with a lot of other firsts in my life. I had just moved to Albany after living in Schenectady. I got my first job bar-backing at a venue. And I started writing songs of my own after having backed many other songwriter’s bands. I sang along with this record many a night in my tiny brick bedroom with a window that faced a brick wall. My good friend Emily Sprague showed it to me and we would harmonize along with the songs. The rhythm section crushes me with its simplicity. When I first moved to Los Angeles, listening to this record felt like an old friend; complete with a housemate in the basement putting up with my singing along. I found out that Bondy was living outside of the city, looked him up, and had the pleasure of sharing some of my songs with him. He’s a mystery to me, still. I made this recording in my old bedroom in Glendale. I think you can hear my upstairs neighbours walking around.
Lagniappe (la·gniappe) noun ˈlan-ˌyap,’ – 1. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. 2. Something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus.
Sonic Youth uploaded another rarity to their ever-growing Bandcamp archive , sharing “Live In Bremen 1991”. Here’s what drummer Steve Shelley had to say about the latest release:
Live in Bremen was recorded at the Aladin Music Hall on August 27th 1991, just halfway through the 12 day European tour that would later become immortalized in The Year Punk Broke documentary directed by our friend Dave Markey. In Bremen we returned to the familiar – a smaller-sized indoor venue – after playing to gargantuan, surreal-sized audiences at the Reading Festival and Pukkelpop. The Aladin had opened in 1977 and had hosted bands such as Golden Earring, Foghat and Blue Öyster Cult, but on this night Sonic Youth, Gumball and special guests Nirvana were also on the bill. Two different bootleg SY records were released from this concert; The Mira Tapes, sourced from an audience recording and Live In Bremen, a semi-official bootleg picture disc with a Yoo-Hoo (a NJ-local chocolate beverage drink) bottle cap – supplied by the band – as the cover star.
This concert was also the source for some of the audio used for The Year Punk Broke film score and it’s subsequent short (This Is Known As) The Blues Scale. Now for the first time, and from our own audio source, the entire Sonic Youth in Bremen set (minus encore) is presented here (complete w/a tape-flip during I Love Her All The Time).
Following the release of The Cramps second single ‘Human Fly / Domino’ in 1978, frontman Lux Interior was quoted as stating “I think it would be great if we were considered the band that made people pay attention to the past again“.
Now some 11 years following Lux’s untimely passing, it is clear that his aim has partially become his legacy. An entire industry has sprung up loosely linked to the legendary record collection curated over 40 years by both Lux and life partner Poison Ivy; from the ‘Born Bad’ vinyl compilations, the ‘Songs The Cramps Taught Us’ variants, through to the ‘Beat From Badsville’ collections on the Stag-O-Lee label, to an array of similar releases courtesy of Cherry Red Records imprint Righteous Psalms. The Cramps have been responsible for shining a light on some of the most obscure 45’s, introducing people to weirdest of novelty singles, wild dance crazes, spoken word craziness colliding with hot rod madness, and some truly warped instrumentals.
“Records, Records, Records” presents another 52 of such gems; spread across 2 CD’s housed in a jewel case with sleeve notes written by Dave Henderson (MOJO), the entire collection being remastered from the original sound source.
Opening with the sax torched sleaze of Johnny Moore & His New Blazers ‘Bullfrog’ originally the B-side of their 1959 take on ‘San Antonio Rose’ (a decent copy of would set you back around £50) which The Texas Playboys first released some 6 years earlier, sticking with nature theme we get ‘Wooden Bird Twist’ from the Buddy Vincent Orchestra, a frenetic sax heavy instrumental complete with warped cuckoo noises that came out via United Artists (USA) – no-one seems to know the date of release, such care on behalf of the label may explain why it was Mr Vincent’s sole release.
Another artist with just a sole release to their (wonderful) name is Steve King & The Echelons here with ‘Satan Is Her Name’ the flip of ‘Long Lonely Road’ – as odd as it sounds this actually reminds me of Space ‘Female Of The Species’ albeit with the breathy “ahh lover” from the temptress in question.
Jack Hammer (born Earl Solomon Burroughs) doesn’t live up to the potential of his non de plume, instead delivering a smoky jazz ‘Concrete Desert’ – that said he co-wrote ‘Great Balls Of Fire’ so he can be forgiven for pretty much anything! Don Sargent And The Buddies brought the bongo’s along to the 1959 recording of ‘Voodoo Kiss’ complete with Don’s pleading vocal courtesy of the equally obscure Hollywood based Catalina Records which was owned by former one-stop shop owner turned writer and label bass Dan Shea, together with co-author and co-owner Jack Bowman.
The Vibes ‘Pretty Baby (I Saw You Last Night)’ is an incendiary gem, originally released on the Perspective Sound label in 1958, fronted by Ronnie Franklin (AKA David Gates who later formed Bread), the production is dire, but his one hammers along, no doubt assisted by the chugga chugga loco percussion.
And then we come to Dr. Horse with his ‘Jack, That Cat Was Clean’ a doped down blues infused semi spoken word corker that glorifies a ‘cat’ about town complete with “silk slacks that cost him seven bills” – though this pales in comparison to the demented novelty of Bob McFadden’s ‘Bingo’ where he calls the numbers on the B-side of ‘Shake, Rattle And Roll’ which you look to shell out around £40 to get an original Brunswick label copy of. The Sherwoods ‘Monkey See, Monkey Do’ is a distortion heavy belter complete with (perhaps) a kazoo.
No self-respecting Cramps themed compilation would be without a couple of dance novelty tracks; we get The Marcels ‘Twistin’ Fever’ followed by The Isley Brothers 1961 Ohio region hit ‘Teach Me How To Shimmy’ which gets all sensual yet still retains the brothers gospel roots. It’s good to hear Donna Dee ‘Nobody’s Gonna Hurt You’, the flipside of her 1961 Counsel Records‘Television’ single; written by Eddie Cooley who passed away in April 2020 this one has a real ‘Fever’ vibe to it, from the pace and instrumentation. Dee had a great voice that sadly wasn’t captured often enough.
Glen Goza’ ‘Goshamody Whatabody’ should be familiar to anyone interested in the collection, it’s been featured on both the ‘Desperate Rock N Roll!’, and ‘Rockabilly Rarities’ series. Glen fronted the Damangos, though confusingly they were also fronted by Rohny Lofton; either way this is pure rockabilly belter, complete with hiccupped vocals, pitched yelps all over a rollicking utterly non-PC tale of romance, or at least desire, but as Lux regularly reminded us; the best rock n’ roll was about sex!
Glen continued to record into the 80’s – have a lookout for ‘Heaven Needed a Champion’ a bizarre tribute from 1984 to David Von Erich, a Texas wrestler on the verge of the big time who died whilst on tour in Japan.
Another rockabilly gem is ’Hot Rod Boogie’ courtesy of Jack Kitchen & The Rock-A-Billies – this one came out via DJT Music though the release date wasn’t listed on the single and has been lost in history; structurally similar to ‘Johnny B Goode’ and dramatically different to Disc 1 closer ‘Valley Of Tears’ from Bobby Rebel who despite the great name only managed this one release which was coupled with ‘Teardrops From My Eyes’ – maybe it was the one trick pony theme that failed to make this heart wrenching sizzler a breakout hit.
Skip Cole & His Hi-Spots open Disc 2 with the instructive ‘Do The Whip’ as Suave Records attempted to bring yet another new dance craze to market, before we veer off into a slew of instrumentals including the guitar picking of The Jaguars ‘Roundabout’ complete with some sultry sax honking, the whole piece gaining dark tension vibe, whilst Les Elgart gets suitably steamy with ‘Voodoo Drums’ though seeing images of Les clutching his trumpet it’s hard to believe he could of dreamt up such exotica!
We then return to novelty trash, this time it’s the regular examination of the primate kingdom as we get The Go-Rillas ‘(I Go) ‘King Kong’ which was actually comedian Soupy Sales in disguise. Sales real name being Milton Supman, he recorded from 1950 and took on Christmas, Frankenstein, Elves and even covered ‘Speedy Gonzales’ in the mid-60’s, however he took on a doo-wop angle for this slow burner with some neat backing vocals, ahead of a selection of ape like noises.
Big Daddy And His Boys (care required if searching for him on Google!) offer a faithful cover of Andre Williams 1956 hit ‘Bacon Fat’ – which as you will be aware was a regular in The Cramps live set right up to the late 80’s. They never formally recorded and released the track, a live version taking up the B-side on the ‘You’ll Never Change Me’ 7” bootleg crept out of Sweden in 2014 having been recorded live at The Peppermint Lounge some 12+ months on from the ‘Smell Of Female’ live set.
El Pauling And The Royalton offer some impassioned marital advice over a solid soul tinged R & B during ‘Now Baby Don’t Do It’ which came courtesy of the Ohio based Federal label in 1960. Philadelphia was the home of Sunnybrook Records who in 1962 put of The Four Sportsmen’ second release and provided this compilation with its title; it’s a well-produced doo wop ride, strapped to a solid rock n’ roll beat, also worth digging out is their ‘Jelly Roll Brown’ – surely the title of which has a link to ‘Jelly Roll Rock’ which was released some 3 years earlier; this again being faithfully covered by The Cramps.
‘Pretty Plaid Skirt(And Long Black Sox)’ by The Night Riders is the source of The Cramps ‘Cornfed Dames’ and will be familiar to anyone with a copy of ‘Born Bad. Volume 6’, originally released via Sue Records in 1959 – a decent original copy of which will set you back a minimum of £150!
Johnny Gentle ‘Milk From The Coconut’ was a Phillips Records attempt at cashing in on the teen dream-boy pop in 1959, Gentle AKA both John Askew, and Darren Young was a handsome lad who hailed from Liverpool and at one point toured Scotland with The Silver Beetles. Gentle later moved to Jersey, where he worked as a joiner, before settling in Kent, and has made appearances at Beatles fan conventions. In 1998 he co-wrote a book, ‘Johnny Gentle & the Beatles: First Ever Tour’
The unfortunately named The Five Blobs offer up ‘Rockin Pow Wow’, this was the B-Side to ‘From The Top Of Your Guggle (To The Bottom Of Your Zooch’ – I’m not kidding, that was the title of this studio band, the lead vocals being over dubbed during a different recording session; it’s a bizarre vocal harmony novelty record that I guess looked to sound in some way like a (as then described) Red Indian camp fire.
Max Falcon was a Canadian rockabilly singer, his debut 7” ‘Money Back Guarantee’ providing a hit for Barry Records in 1962, this resulting in Falcon joining the house band at The Peppermint Lounge, same title but sadly not the same location as The Cramps regularly played at.
The vocal delivery from Bob Lee on the deranged ‘Wanted For Questioning’ is worth the admission fee alone, sadly this seems to be Bob’s sole release having been released by Dot Records in 1957, gravelled vocals over a three note stabbing piano, and brushed skins – that said to get hold of an original would like many others here cost you upwards of £60.
Stand by for ‘Hot Rod Queen’ from Roy Tann which starts off all softened rock n’ roll, and then is rudely interrupted by the sound of dragsters revving , screeching rubber and what sounds like the engineer arsing about with an elastic band – did Roy ever get to hear the final mix ahead of release, listening to this I’d hazard not.
And then we come to Mad Man Jones ‘Snake Charmer’ – a genuinely unsettling car crash of rumba beats, some sort of attempt at African rhythms and an off-kilter vocal that was someone’s idea of sounding like a python.
We finish with another novelty release from Dot Records, this one featured Walter Brennan introducing us to ‘Space Mice’ (of course he is!!) courtesy of a lisped vocal over the soundtrack to a crap version of The Jetsons, bizarrely Brennan went onto release at least a dozen albums, and appeared in such films as My Darling Clementine (1946), Red River (1948), Rio Bravo (1959), and How the West Was Won (1962). He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in Come and Get It (1936), Kentucky (1938), and The Westerner (1940), making him one of only three male actors to win three Academy Awards. He didn’t win any awards for his musical efforts!
Another excellent collection of truly insane recordings, that can only leave you wondering quite what the artists and labels were actually smoking!
Track List:
DISC ONE
1. BULLFROG – Johnny Moore & His New Blazers
2. WOODEN BIRD TWIST – Buddy Vincent
3. HAUNTED SAX – The Night Caps
4. SATAN IS HER NAME – Steve King And The Echelons
5. CONCRETE DESERT – Jack Hammer
6. DEATH POWDER, COLD STEEL – Johnnie Morisette
7. VOODOO KISS – Don Sargeant And The Buddies
8. PRETTY BABY – The Vibes
9. HEY HULLY GULLY N.2 – Van Prince And His Complex
10. JACK, THAT CAT WAS CLEAN – Dr Horse
11. BINGO – Bob McFadden
12. TREMBLIN’ – Birdie Green
13. MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO – The Sherwoods
14. I WANT HER BACK – Dick Jordan
15. TWISTIN’ FEVER – The Marcels
16. TEACH ME HOW TO SHIMMY – The Isley Brothers
17. TIE ME TIGHT – Bobby Kayli
18. KNOCK KNOCK – Carol Fran
19. NOBODY’S GONNA HURT YOU – Donna Dee
20. ANY WAY YOU WANTA – Harvey
21. GOSHAMODY WHATABODY – Glen Goza
22. HOT ROD BOOGIE – Jack Kitchen With The Rock-A-Billies
23. THE GIRL THAT RADIATES THAT CHARM – June Alexander
24. DON’T GO – Vince Everett
25. DREAMRIDE – Dick Katz
26. VALLEY OF TEARS – Bobby Rebel
DISC TWO
1. DO THE WHIP – Skip Cole
2. ROUNDABOUT – The Jaguars
3. VOODOO DRUMS – Les Elgart
4. LA LLORONA (THE WEEPER) – Elisabeth Waldo
5. SORCERY – Sabu
6. BAD – Cozy Cole
7. I GO (KING-KONG) – The Go-Rillas
8. THE SLIB – JC Davis
9. CAT WALK – Jack Costanzo
10. BACON FAT – Big Daddy And His Boys
11. PEOPLE WILL WALK OVER YOU – Miss D
12. NOW BABY DON’T DO IT – El Pauling And The Royalton
13. RECORDS, RECORDS, RECORDS – The Four Sportsmen
14. PRETTY PLAID SKIRT – The Night Riders
15. BLACK CRACK – The Shardells
16. MILK FROM THE COCONUT – Johnny Gentle
17. RISE UP AND WALK – Troy Dodds
18. MY BUDDY’S GOT MY BABY – Earl Haynes
19. ROCKIN’ POW WOW – The Five Blobs
20. MONEY BACK GUARANTEE – Max Falcon
21. KILLER – Sparkle Moore
22. WANTED FOR QUESTIONING – Bob Lee
23. VAMPIRA – Bobby Bare
24. HOT ROD QUEEN – Roy Tann
25. SNAKE CHARMER – Mad Man Jones
26. SPACE MICE – Walter Brennan
The delightful Honey Lung have dropped another slice of twinkly, summery indie gold off their forthcoming EP – say hello to Big! , Emboldened new EP ‘Post Modern Motorcade Music’ lands on May 29th, led by a brand new single from the four-piece.
A group who formed following a fateful Gumtree ad, there’s nothing contrived about the chemistry that fuels ‘Big’, with its raucous shoegaze recalling Swervedriver at their peak.
Short and succinct, the crisp production shines fresh light on the nuance of the band’s songwriting, adding a little extra power in the process.
Taken from the band’s forthcoming Post Modern Motorcade Music EP coming on the 29th May, Big is streaming everywhere now. Watch the new video for the single below and be sure to pre-save the EP – you won’t regret it!, This is the product of one of the most turbulent and emotional periods we’ve had as a band, but it tells the stories of the experiences, the relationships, the growth, the good and the bad we’ve all felt since we starting making it all those months ago
Performed by Honey Lung, and recorded with Andrea Spiteri and Michael Smith in London.
Honey Lung are:
Jamie Batten
Harry Chambers
David Sherry
Omri Covo
Big Scary Monsters is an independent currently label based in Oxford. It has so far been responsible for releases from the likes of Minus The Bear, Andrew W.K., Pulled Apart By Horses, Gnarwolves, Kevin Devine, Into It. Over It, Cursive, Meet Me In St Louis, Bear vs Shark, Toe, This Town Needs Guns, Tall Ships, Matt Pryor, Walter Schreifels, Joyce Manor, Algernon Cadwallader and many, many more
Surfer Blood will now release their fifth studio album “Carefree Theatre” on the newly announced date of September 25th.
It’s an album not as much looking back as coming full-circle. The Carefree Theatre in West Palm Beach, FL was the only venue in town for most of the band’s childhood; it’s where kids would go for everything from touring punk bands to community theatre productions. It was the kind of experience that would expose a twenty-one year old songwriter to a world outside of Florida, inspire him to start a band, and tour the country. It’s the kind of resilience and hard-work that that’s admirable in our disposable age, and it looks like the band’s output won’t be slowing down anytime soon: ten years, four full-length records, and a few line-up changes later, the band has re-centered itself with its tightest and most focused songs in years.
The album sees them return to their first label Kanine Records. It was written and recorded in South Florida and is the first record the band has released since John Paul Pitts, the singer and main songwriter, moved back to the state, The news comes with the release of the album’s new single “Summer Trope.” The appropriately titled track does have a very chill summer-feel to it, with a fun music video to go along with it.
Find the video for “Summer Trope” available to watch below.
“Summer Trope” from the forthcoming album Carefree Theatre, out Sept 25, 2020 on Kanine Records.
A very old saying goes that no one saves us but ourselves. Recognizing and breaking free from the patterns impeding our forward progress can be transformative — just ask Bully’s Alicia Bognanno. Indeed, the third Bully album, SUGAREGG, may not ever have come to fruition had Bognanno not navigated every kind of upheaval imaginable and completely overhauled her working process along the way.
“There was change that needed to happen and it happened on this record,” she says. “Derailing my ego and insecurities allowed me to give these songs the attention they deserved.”
SUGAREGG roars from the speakers and jumpstarts both heart and mind. Like My Bloody Valentine after three double espressos, opener “Add It On” zooms heavenward within seconds, epitomizing Bognanno’s newfound clarity of purpose, while the bass-driven melodies and propulsive beats of “Where to Start” and “Let You” are the musical equivalents of the sun piercing through a perpetually cloudy sky.
On songs like the strident “Every Tradition” and “Not Ashamed,” Bognanno doesn’t shy away from addressing “how I feel as a human holds up against what society expects or assumes of me as a woman, and what it feels like to naturally challenge those expectations.”
But amongst the more dense topics, there’s also a lightheartedness that was lacking on Bully’s last album, 2017’s Losing. Pointing to “Where to Start,” “You” and “Let You,” Bognanno says “there are more songs about erratic, dysfunctional love in an upbeat way, like, ‘I’m going down and that’s the only way I want to go because the momentary joy is worth it.’”
The artist admits that finding the proper treatment for bipolar 2 disorder radically altered her mindset, freeing her from a cycle of paranoia and insecurity about her work. “Being able to finally navigate that opened the door for me to write about it,” she says, pointing to the sweet, swirly “Like Fire” and slower, more contemplative songs such as “Prism” and “Come Down” as having been born of this new headspace. Even small changes like listening to music instead of the news first thing in the morning “made me want to write and bring that pleasure to other people.”
An unexpected foray into the film world also helped set the table for Sugaregg when Bognanno was asked to write songs for the 2019 movie Her Smell, starring Elisabeth Moss as the frontwoman of the fictional rock band Something She. “It got me motivated to play music again after the last album,” she says. “I loved reading the script and trying to think, what music would the character write? People asked if I’d play those songs with Bully but the whole point was for them to not be Bully songs. It was nice to get my head out of my own ass for a second and work on a project for someone else,” she says with a laugh.
A highly accomplished engineer who ran the boards herself on the first two Bully albums, Bognanno was ready to be free “from the weight of feeling like I had to prove to the world I was capable of engineering a record, and wanted to be content knowing for myself what I can do without needing the approval of others to validate that.”
So for SUGAREGG, she yielded recording and mixing responsibilities to outside collaborators for the first time and trekked to the remote Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minn., an unexpected return to her home state. Behind the console was John Congleton, a Grammy-winner who has worked with everyone from St. Vincent and Sleater-Kinney to The War on Drugs and Modest Mouse. “Naturally, I still had reservations, but John was sensitive to where I was coming from,” Bognanno says. “He was very respectful that I’d never worked with a producer before.”
The studio’s rich history (classics such as Nirvana’s In Utero, PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me and Superchunk’s Foolish were recorded there) and woodsy setting quickly put Bognanno’s mind at ease. Being able to bring her dog Mezzi along for the trip didn’t hurt either. “I had never tracked a record in the summer, so waking up and going outside with her before we started each day was a great way to refresh,” she says.
SUGAREGG features additional contributions from longtime touring drummer Wesley Mitchell and bassist Zach Dawes, renowned for his work on recent albums by Sharon Van Etten and Lana Del Rey. Dawes and Bognanno met at Pachyderm to work on parts just two days before tracking, “but it ended up being so much less stressful than I had expected and I loved it,” she see says. “Zach wanted to be there to help and make my vision happen.”
With 14 songs on tape, Bognanno and friends left Pachyderm thinking SUGAREGG was done. But once back home in Nashville, she realized there was more to be written, and spent the next five months doing exactly that. Moving to Palace Studios in Toronto with Graham Walsh (Alvvays, METZ, !!!), Bognanno and Mitchell recorded “Where to Start” and “Let You,” which proved to be two of the new album’s key tracks.
Ultimately, SUGAREGG is a testament that profound change can yield profound results — in this case, the most expressive and powerful music of Bognanno’s career. “This is me longing to see the bigger picture, motivated and eager for contentment in the best way,” she says. “I hope the happy go lucky / fuck-it-all attitude shines through some of these songs because I really did feel like I was rentering a place I hadn’t been to in a while and was excited to be back there.”
Slow Pulp’s remarkable full-length debut “Moveys” is a testament to hard-fought personal growth. In the process of making their new record, the Chicago-based indie rock band powered through health challenges, personal upheaval, and a pandemic, all while learning how to be better songwriters and friends. Full of blistering energy and emotional catharsis, this compelling 10-track collection highlights the band’s resourcefulness and resilience to come together even when they were states away.
On Stray, the third full-length album from the sneering post-punk trio Bambara, the band is running on a full tank of fears that live inside all of humankind, invite death into the passenger seat with a canister full of kerosene, set the world ablaze, and watch it all burn with a lust as they inch closer and closer to an inevitable end. Since uprooting themselves from Athens to Brooklyn, lead vocalist and guitarist Reid Bateh, drummer Blaze Bateh and bassist William Brookshire have discretely entwined their debonaire southern gothic of their early work under the street lamps of big city streets, but ultimately, it’s the wild and reckless nature that thrives in the Big Apple at nighttime that has truly sparked a fire to ravage through flesh and soul here on their best effort to date yet yet.
Stray is also a modern day blueprint on how to resurrect tired motifs of death into rock music through a spiritual energy that never lets on as cliche. Credit that to Reid Bateh’s wicked hand at storytelling, as he colors Bambara’s hue of darkness with figures often mysterious, dangerous, and capable of a supernatural allure. Alongside his ‘mates, they splatter the canvas of their sound with their own blood as well as those they encounter. He does this all with damaged detail, like on “Miracle” where his muse writhes around a pole between the rolling bombast of brass and white hot neon in sleazy pace that feels like One Eyed Jacks’s doppelganger. On the full throttle trinity of “Heat Lightning”, “Serafina” and “Ben & Lily”, Bambara find bad company that adds an accelerant to their mix, surfing unhinged on razorblade riffs and pressing down the gas pedal in a way that bites into vice akin to their UK peers Idles.
When Bambara leaves nothingness to smoulder, the results can render a duality in their violent romanticism, be it heavently (”Made for Me”) or full of fire and brimstone (“Machete”.) Maybe it is the Devil who should be asking Bambara what he desires in exchange for whatever they’re harnessing, because as Stray professes, any work that finds its way through the shadows and can stare death straight in the eyes without flinching is on the level of some kind of unholy godliness.
The album, Stray (out on Feb. 14 via Wharf Cat Records),
We are happy to welcome Knot to Exploding In Sound Records with the announcement of their self titled debut LP, due out August 28th. The band is made up of our familiar friends Jonah Furman, Aaron Ratoff, Ian Becker (all of Krill) and guitarist Joe DeManuelle-Hall. In simple terms Knot is a bigger, more ruminative version of Krill, but it’s also something that’s distinct unto itself. And on the band’s debut album it’s easy to see that Knot has a perspective all its own. You can hear the first single “Foam” from the upcoming album
Releases August 28th, 2020 The Band Members
Jonah Furman: Vocals, Guitar
Joe Demanuelle-Hall: Guitar
Aaron Ratoff: Bass, Guitar (4, 9)
Ian Becker: Drums
Recorded by Julian Fader and Carlos Hernandez at The Honey Jar, Brooklyn, NY.
Brooklyn band Activity (which includes members of Grooms, Russian Baths and Field Mouse) released their terrific debut album, Unmask Whoever, back in March and have made a new video for one of its standout cuts, “Violent and Vivisect.” The video was shot in all four members’ homes during this time of coronavirus isolation and was put together mimicking the artwork for the album. “Our record coming out in the early stages of this quarantine put our release show and tour on hold,” says guitarist Jess Reese. “We had a lot of extra musical energy with nowhere to go. We can video chat to stay in touch, but playing tunes together over the web has technological limitations – the slightest time delay makes it impossible in real time. We play off each other, listening and responding as we go. It’s really illuminating how communicative and interactive we can be as musicians, even without using a single word. Anyway, we made this video. Each of us alone, in our apartments in New York and Philadelphia. Selfie mode engaged. Looking forward to a time when this is in our past and we can reconvene.” That video premieres in this post and you can watch that, and listen to the album,
Find yourself exhausted by the brand of vibe-y instrumentals and confessional song writing that permeates much of today’s popular music? You should check out the spooky avant-garde quartet Activity. Their eerie, minimal guitar-based orchestrations will drop you into an unearthly dwelling place, but their lyrics, often softly spoken or sung, are underscored by biting human truth. Activity features members of Grooms, Field Mouse and Russian Baths, and their debut album, Unmask Whoever, came out on March 27th via Western Vinyl.
Jess Zoë and Steve Travis Debut album ‘Unmask Whoever’ out now on Western Vinyl released March 27th, 2020 ,
