Opening with a brisk, dynamic, and hummable instrumental riff, “How To Quit Smoking” advances quickly from there into a verse so confidently melodic as to recall some lovely, imaginative amalgam of Belle & Sebastian and The Smiths. Papercuts’ master mind Jason Quever sings with the barest hint of a British accent that he actually doesn’t have and a baked-in wistfulness augmented by vocals that are mixed down into the center of the rhythm section. He sounds to me like someone singing on a budding spring day about how he actually misses the autumn.
This one is propelled by a classic backbeat as well, but note what a different vibe. Despite Quever’s gentle presence the song bounds forward with a determination reinforced every time the opening riff cycles back through. There’s an extra songwriting trick in here that, to my ear, adds to the song’s pluck: the way that in most of the verses, the third lyrical line picks up without any rhythmic space from the second line—listen at 0:36 for an example (the second line ends with the words “on the ceiling,” the third begins with “Read a book,” directly on the next beat, in the same measure). This is a small gesture that you’re probably not intended to notice, but it’s a wonderful flow-enhancer in just the right place.
Quever has been recording as Papercuts since 2004, including one record for Sub Pop in 2011. Long based in San Francisco, he recently moved to Los Angeles. His latest album is Parallel Universe Blues, on which “How To Quit Smoking” is the third track. It was released on Slumberland Records in October 2018. You can listen to the whole thing on Bandcamp, and then buy it there in your preferred format (digital, CD, vinyl).
Autonomy can be damn frightening. The realization that arrivies after a breakup, before a solo move, following a graduation, etc.—that you’re actually in this thing alone and it’s only you in the driver’s seat can leave you feeling scared silly. Or it can leave you feeling high on independence and excitement. Julia Jacklin’s “Crushing” is a striking search for self, a call to upend that which tethers you down. But it’s also rooted, deeply, in a sense of calm.
The Aussie songwriter’s ability to process emotion is out-of-this-world sharp, and this album is her best, most piercing work to date. This album “Crushing” can change from melodic balladry to anthemic rock at the drop of a hat. And for its entirety, Jacklin, slowly gaining cred as one of the most underrated singer/songwriters working, basks in a newfound clarity. Crushing is the brave story of a woman, and an artist coming into her own. Securing that agency, however, was no walk in the park. Jacklin clearly had to sort through mountains of wreckage to arrive here, but the album’s autobiographical nature is what makes it so affecting. Jacklin has said, and in writing it, she realized “how not very special” she is (evident in “Body” as she sings, “It’s just my body / I guess it’s just my life”). But in recognizing the non-exclusivity of her experiences, she made something singular.
This video for “Pressure To Party” (directed by Julia and Nick Mckk) features Julia and her siblings, plus a guest appearance from Body Type.
Julia Jacklin performs “Don’t Know How to Keep Loving You” for a World Cafe Session with contributing host, Kallao. Recorded live at WXPN Studios in Philadelphia on 1/23/2019.
Rock’n’roll evolves, shifts, mutates—and persists. Anyone who doubts this need only listen to “Seventeen” which performs the magic trick of weaving a classic-sounding song out of strands and blocks of textures that never quite existed in music’s “classic rock” heyday. A heavy beat offsets a desultory piano line, synthesizers at once ferocious and distant blaze around the edges, guitars eventually squonk onto the scene, all while Van Etten sings poetically of longing, nostalgia, and destiny—lyrics at once concrete and slippery, a deft interweaving of adult and teen-aged introspection that as a listener you intuit more than comprehend. The song rumbles and, eventually, roars. A master of subtle melodic gestures, Van Etten along the way crafts a chorus that slays with muted glory.
You can hear Bruce Springsteen in the anthemic energy of this song, and while I get the comparison, leaving it at that diminishes Van Etten’s accomplishment. The entire album in fact strikes my ear as a brilliant example of how to be a 21st-century rock’n’roller—taking the bones of archetypal rock music , and then planting your own individual 2019 self, with all its accumulated know-how and influences, right into the heart of it. Since we last heard from Sharon Van Etten (2014’s Are We There), she has become an actor, a film composer, a mother, and a graduate student in psychology. Which is just to say that she has quite a formidable self to align with one type of creative expression or another. When it came time to record a new album, she opted for a producer, John Congleton, known for synth-pop stylings, and arrived at the studio inspired by the dark, reverberant music of Portishead and Nick Cave. Something arresting was bound to come of all of this, and it did in the form of the enigmatic but majestic Remind Me Tomorrow, which was released in January on Jagjaguwar Records. That’s where you’ll find “Seventeen.”.
You can listen to Remind Me Tomorrow, and then buy it, on Bandcamp, where it is available digitally, on CD, or on vinyl. And in case you missed it, another song from the album, the brilliant “No One’s Easy To Love,”.
Hatchie is the world of Harriette Pilbeam. Step inside her mind; a dreamy landscape where cascading synths, jangling guitars, propulsive rhythms and white noise undulate beneath irresistible pop melodies. Rather than focusing on the external world of her life in Brisbane, Pilbeam turns her gaze inwards, making a soundtrack out of her daydreams, setting her emotional life to song.
‘Without A Blush’ is taken from Hatchie’s debut album ‘Keepsake’ out June 21 on Double Double Whammy, Heavenly Recordings
The Skids were they just punks with O-levels, or new wave cop-outs, or just chance-takers and opportunists? The answer is probably a combination of all three. Far more important, however, is the fact that they left behind a clutch of great, if sometimes pretentious, singles. On album, it was hard not to get a little miffed at Richard Jobson’s would-be aristocrat pop nonsense. Still, this debut album release had some good tunes, courtesy of pre-Big Country StuartAdamson, like “The Saints Are Coming” and, of course, the wonderful “Into the Valley.”
Anti-war themes are a recurring motif in the album. There are also a great deal of references in singer Richard Jobson’s lyrics to the band’s home region in Scotland, “Scared to Dance” was the first album to feature Stuart Adamson’s ‘bagpipe styled guitar playing’, which would be the trademark of his later band Big Country.
Scared to Dance has been well received by critics. Ira Robbins of Trouser Press called the album “excellent […] Using loud guitar and semi-martial drumming for its basis, Jobson’s hearty singing sounds like an 18th century general leading his merry troops down from the hills into glorious battle
The album was preceded by the single “Into the Valley”, released on 16th February 1979, which reached No. 10 in the UK Singles Chart, “Into the Valley” became popular as adopted and sung by fans of Dunfermline Athletic F.C., the band’s local football team.
Of huge importance to Skids fans is that the CD reissue includes the original live B-side to the latter, “TV Stars,” a song which will mean nothing to anyone who didn’t grow up watching British television, but a whole heap to those who did. ‘Scared To Dance (Expanded)’ is a three CD reissue of the Skids seminal debut album through Caroline International.
Each disc comes in it’s own cardboard wallet and is housed in a clamshell box featuring the original ‘Scared To Dance’ artwork.
Disc one contains the original album expanded with nine bonus tracks. Disc two features 12 previously unreleased 1978 studio demos (long sought after by collectors of the band) and a third disc contains a complete live show from late 1978 at the legendary London Marquee from which the b-side ‘T.V. Stars’ (Albert Tatlock!) was taken. Also included is a 28 page bookle t with lyrics to the album, pictures of all relevant singles and detailed liner notes.
Originally released in February 1979 the album spent ten weeks in the UK National Charts, eventually peaking at number 19. It spawned the singles ‘Sweet Suburbia’, ‘The Saints Are Coming’ (which was covered by U2 and Green Day in 2006 as a charity single in the wake of Hurricane Katrina) and the track that catapulted them into the top 10 ‘Into The Valley’.
All though maybe not the first punk band on everyone’s lips – Skids are without doubt one of the most important. They were big influences on rock behemoths U2 and the Manic Street Preachers, and having reformed in 2017, they have been playing to sold out shows and festival across the UK with more announced in 2018.”
U.F.O.F. is the highly anticipated third record by Big Thief, set to be released on 3rd May 2019 via 4AD Records.
U.F.O.F. was recorded in rural western Washington at Bear Creek Studios. In a large cabin-like room, the band set up their gear to track live with engineer Dom Monks and producer Andrew Sarlo, who was also behind their previous albums. Having already lived these songs on tour, they were relaxed and ready to experiment. The raw material came quickly. Some songs were written only hours before recording and stretched out instantly, first take, vocals and all.
“Making friends with the unknown… All my songs are about this,” says Lenker; “If the nature of life is change and impermanence, I’d rather be uncomfortably awake in that truth than lost in denial.”
Band Members
Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, James Krivchenia, Max Oleartchik
‘UFOF’ by Big Thief, from the new album ‘U.F.O.F.’, released May 3rd on 4AD Records.
Flightless darlings and bluesy garage misfits The Murlocs are cookin up another fresh batch of charmers down under. Ambrose Kenny-Smith and the boys are calling this fourth full-length Manic Candid Episode. Chances are good that there will be a heaping supply of harmonicas.
There are two variants, both limited to 2000 each. Check those out below, watch the videos and then saunter through that ‘buy’ portal for some of that tasty wax. Watch out for that razor sharp shipping charge though. She’s a doozy.
This is the official pressing of the ‘Manic Candid Episode’ the 4th full length LP from The Murlocs. Released March 22nd, 2019
From the Violent Banks of the Kaaterskill’ showcases selected works from Simone Felice’s extensive and breathtaking catalogue. This collection will be released on Felice’s newly launched label Mighty Hudson Records / Warner Music Australia and truly captures Simone’s rare gift as a songsmith, poet and visionary.
This special anthology is vivid proof that Felice’s rabid cult following is sure to grow into the stuff of legend. ‘From the Violent Banks of the Kaaterskill’ includes raw ballads of squandered grace and dereliction, songs of transient lust and whispered hopes at last light, all delivered with a haunting urgency that speak directly to the wilderness we all possess within.
From The Violent Banks Of The Kaaterskill‘ showcases selected works from Simone’s extensive and breathtaking catalogue. Recorded live in the studio with guests including his brothers The Felice Brothers, Simone Felice was a founding member of The Felice Brothers, the internationally acclaimed Catskill Mountain based group whose seminal self-titled album remains one of the most influential works of this century’s indie-folk revival. Simone has also released albums as part of The Duke & The King, and two solo albums, and he’s worked with the likes of the Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons, two of the many artists who are vocal in their love of Simone’s work.
In 2010 Simone underwent emergency open-heart surgery to halt the degenerative effects of a childhood fever. It was this dance with death – coupled with a need to tell his own story – which prompted him to walk the solo path. This special anthology is vivid proof that Felice’s rabid cult following is sure to grow into the stuff of legend. ‘From The Violent Banks Of The Kaaterskill’ includes raw ballads of squandered grace and dereliction, songs of transient lust and whispered hopes at last light, all delivered with a haunting urgency that speak directly to the wilderness we all possess within.
For more info on Mighty Hudson’s latest projects, including Simone Felice at the producer’s helm for The Lumineers highly anticipated sophomore release,
Chrysalis are set to release a deluxe edition of Generation X, the self-titled 1978 debut album by one the British punk band that featured a young Billy Idol.
As well as Idol, the band featured Tony James (bass), Bob ‘Derwood’ Andrews (guitar) and Mark Laff (drums). Two non-album singles (‘Your Generation’ and ‘Wild Youth’) preceded the album, while a third, ‘Ready Steady Go’, was included when the long-player was released in March ’1978.
The new deluxe edition has been remastered from the original production tapes and is available as both a two-CD and a 3LP vinyl set. Both include all the A-sides and B-sides from this era, along with 11 previously unreleased recordings including some unheard mixes created a the time by Alan Winstanley, prior to producer Martin Rushent completing his final mix of the album.
This deluxe edition comes with previously unseen photos and newly commissioned sleeve notes from Adrian Thrills and is released on vinyl and CD on 26 April 2019.
Gender-fluid, playful, but built on classic songwriting, Sundara Karma have established themselves as a singular new British rock band, in the time it took to dream up and broadcast one magnificent debut album – thus far. Still all only in the region of 22-23 years of age, but together as a unit since they were 14, their collective confidence now manifests, as they pull off a bold and future-forward metamorphosis, rematerializing with a second album called ‘Ulfilas’ Alphabet’, which intrepidly ventures into collaborative tech-exploration, and is poised to mount an irresistible charge on the pop charts’ upper échelons.
Oscar Pollock, most are agreed, is a supernova star in waiting. Strikingly blonde-haired and blue-eyed, but ever wrestling with an outsider identity, he’s one of few contemporary artists who can draw (and frequently has!) realistic comparisons with David Bowie. Like the Thin White Duke, his second batch of songs derives from a compulsive absorption of ideas, from disparate sources ranging from Buddhist/occultist literature and Hindu singer Krishna Das, through to contemporary pop icon Ariana Grande, and Tears For Fears in their mid-’80s maximalist pomp.
Informed by all those and more, ‘Ulfilas’ Alphabet’ was made with a burning desire to sound colourful, wild, forward-looking, full of optimism and revelatory zeal. Says Oscar, “We were definitely out to mess with people’s heads, to make music that paints a picture, and transports you somewhere. We didn’t want to be limited by that thing of, ‘Oh no, we can’t do that, it’s too many instruments, we won’t be able to do it live…’ Nah! Minimalism went right out of the window. We wanted to throw the kitchen sink at it. Sometimes we had to rein things back in a bit, but mostly, we let the boat go out really quite far – as far as it could go!”
Oscar and his compadres were keen to engage at the forefront of contemporary music-making, to use the sound palette of the moment, and hopefully extend it. To that end, they enlisted a freshly-minted production alliance coined on Everything Everything’s ‘Get To Heaven’, where that band’s own in-house studio wunderkind Kaines, aka Alex Robertshaw, would record the band’s music, raw and exploratory, then pass the tracks on to Los Angeles-based Stuart Price, whose elite-class pop CV includes work with Madonna, The Killers, New Order and Pet Shop Boys, to be streamlined with an expert sprinkling of aural magic.
This winning formula has worked wonders all over again, as Sundara Karma re-emerge revolutionized with a sound from a new dimension. Upfront tune ‘One Last Night On This Earth’, which was premiered on 30th October on BBC Radio One as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record, effervesces with hi-spec sonic invention, adding momentary pizzazz to the carpe-diem message in Pollock’s song.
“I wanted to write about an extra-terrestrial who’s been sent to Earth to observe human interaction,” explains Oscar, of that delirious anthem. “The being’s mission is to find an emotion that their species has never felt before but it ends up finding nothing…until it falls in love the night before it has to leave and realises, ‘Aaahh, this is the trick, this is the game we haven’t been playing!’”
A joyful sense of ‘eureka moment’ runs right through ‘Ulfilas’ Alphabet’, which’ll surely transmit to the buying public in 2019, sending Sundara Karma into the Big League they were always destined for…
Oscar Pollock spent his early years in Singapore, until he was seven, when the family moved to England – to Bourne End, near Maidenhead. One of the first friends he made at school was Haydn Evans, later to become drummer in Sundara Karma. Oscar acquired his first guitar aged eight, and his songwriting adventure began right there. “It just felt right for me,” he shrugs, “you know something’s true when you don’t think about it – it just happens.”
The music he heard from his folks included Bowie (from his mum), while his father, a party DJ, introduced him to a whole gamut of classic pop-rock, from Thin Lizzy and Pink Floyd, to The Smiths and Shirley Bassey. He’d later find his ‘own stuff’ in post-millennial acts like The War On Drugs, but his early teens were a tumultuous time in his family, and his father relocated them to nearby Reading. Oscar started at a new secondary school, and there met lead guitarist Ally Baty and bassist Dom Cordell; quickly reconnecting with Haydn Evans, Sundara Karma (Sanskrit for ‘beautiful action’) was born, says Pollock, as “a reaction to the void of Reading”.
Aged 17, circa 2013, the band were signed by indie label Chess Club on the strength of an online posting of early composition, and were already gigging heavily during their A-level year. Shelving plans to go to uni, they’d released two EP’s, supported Swim Deep and Wolf Alice around the UK (“party central!”) and played their first headline tour before 2015 was out.
Oscar’s songs, as spirited up in their tight-knit group, evoked the skyscraping majesty of early Arcade Fire, as well as Bowie’s ‘Hunky Dory’, amid themes of loneliness, identity crisis and precocious self-awareness. Released in January ’17, their debut long-player, ‘Youth Is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect’, also showcased a depth of cultural engagement rare in ’Teens music, with inspiration drawn from Manet, Plato and Lama Marut, and even then Pollock talked of this collection as only “the tip of the iceberg – I don’t even know if it captures us totally, or everything we have to say.”
Still, the album shot to Number 24 in the UK, and took Sundara Karma to unimaginable heights. Their fifth UK headline tour culminated with an euphoric sold-out show at Brixton Academy, and at last year’s Reading Festival, which the four of them had attended together as kids, with dreams of one day playing there, they were anecdotally the weekend’s biggest draw in the second-stage tent, with scores of latecomers forced to listen from outside.
As touring rumbled exotically onwards through Japan, South Korea and Indonesia, “meeting people who’d literally waited years to see us play live”, Oscar says it was all “so much fun, filled with a huge amount of joy”, and it never got too much, because there’d be breaks in the itinerary “for me to be reclusive and go into writer mode at home”. And so ‘Ulfilas’ Alphabet’ was percolating.
