“Fingerless Gloves” sounds restless and chaotic, with Kevin Barnes cycling through three different aesthetics – warped hyperpop bounce, macho riff rock, classic fey Of Montreal synthpop – within just the first 30 seconds. It holds together through sheer force of will and a gleeful “fuck it” playfulness, and it makes you feel like you’ve been zapped into the brain of someone who thinks and feels much faster than you do. In terms of the Of Montreal catalogue it’s pretty similar to the bonkers energy of Skeletal Lamping, but there’s a different charge to it – less frazzled, more at peace with an identity full of apparent contradictions. There are songs in which ping-ponging through genres and tones is an expression of an unstable state of mind but “Fingerless Gloves” sounds more settled in a sense of identity, and like a statement of pride in being fractured and strange. I mean, check out how triumphant Barnes sounds at the climax, screaming “I Feel So Safe With You Trash!!!!” over super-charged video game thrash metal. That’s some maniac joy right there.
Holy Sons from Brooklyn, New York, The music of Emil Amos is at once intimate and expansive. Under the name Holy Sons, as well as with bands Om, Grails, and Lilacs and Champagne, Amos harnesses boundless sonic textures to embellish delicately crafted songs. His music balances cues from classic and indie rock traditions with a tenderness and sense of foreboding through unparalleled artistry. Holy Sons’ first double album “Raw and Disfigured” showcases Amos’ mastery of songcraft through a seemingly impossible combination of subtle yet potent gestures, bold arrangements and resolute vulnerability. Raw and Disfigured stands as Amos’ most ambitious and comprehensive album yet, a panoramic gallery of songs as beautiful as they are crushing.
Raw and Disfigured draws thematically from the archetypal tale of Quasimodo and classic ghost story imagery to illustrate the “hero’s journey” in the time of a coming apocalypse. Album opener “The Loser That Always Wins” acts as the album’s thematic thesis and traces the tale of an underdog triumphing against all odds. From the opening swells, Amos creates a sense of mystery and tension. Melodic sections pierce through the thick fogs of unease with gliding choral harmonies and guitar lines. The looming threat of apocalypse hangs in the air of “Cast Bound King” and “Permanent Things” which gives way to sun dappled catharsis.
Songs like “Lady of the Hour” and “Transformation” serve as vistas amidst the gloom with sweeping pastoral layers and melodies that grasp towards hope rather than resignation. Amos pays homage to one of the greatest champions of the underdog in outsider pop music with an anthemic cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Held the Hand.” Closing piece “Bloody Strings” quietly draws the curtains on the album, borrowing melodic phrases from “Permanent Things” and reconfiguring them into a funeral march towards acceptance of our inevitable decay.
The recording of Raw and Disfigured took place largely at Sonic Youth’s studio Echo Canyon West. Amos, who plays the bulk of the instruments and sings the majority of the vocals throughout the album, is joined on a few pieces by drummer Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), as well as album and WFMU in-house engineer Ernie Indradat. The swirling atmospheres of “Lost in the Fire” and “Slow To Run” (featuring Shelley) invoke the spaced-out textures of Spacemen 3 to colour Amos’ moving pop structures. “Coiste Bodhar” buttresses the album’s cinematic undercurrent across nine minutes of instrumental grandeur as affecting as the touchingly raw electric piano and voice duet of the album’s final minutes.
Holy Sons’ songs contain entire epochs, elegantly stretching the bounds of pop songs. Amos’ lyrics are as immediate as they are haunting, spilling out across the expense of entire lifetimes. A keen observer, Amos describes the world from the darker side. Rich vocals draw you into an exotic atmosphere of mystical musical sounds, while classic lilting guitar lines entice you further. Raw and Disfigured proves the enduring power of the rock ballad without dwelling on the nostalgic tropes. The ballads of Holy Sons are ballads for these dark times.
Emil Amos’ (Grails, OM) fantastic double LP from last year, “Raw and Disfigured”, is back on orange wax. The first press of this sold out super quickly,
Trace the arc of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s evolution and it shows an accomplished musician and composer sounding ever more confident, constantly refining and broadening his sound and indulging an ever wider set of influences. Few have been as consistently brilliant, eclectic, and intimate; fewer still have done so while being defiantly, 100% independent, refusing to sign deals that compromise artistic vision. ‘New Fragility’ is a continuation of this, yet it also stands apart as one his strongest collection of songs yet. Personal yet universal, ‘New Fragility’ confronts numerous modern ills.
‘Where They Perform Miracles’, a song concerning spirituality and alternative methods of healing, harks back to Ounsworth’s time as an anthropology student doing fieldwork in Mexico, while Dee, ‘Forgiven’ is an intimate look at what harm anxiety, and the over-prescription of certain medication, has on the vitality of youth. The song contains one of Ounsworth’s strongest vocals yet – a quivering beacon that shifts from a wail to a low grumble in the blink of an eye, a remarkable expressive instrument that sits perfectly amid the understanded orchestration. For 15 years, it’s been one of music’s most distinctive voices, and it’s never sounded as rich or poised.
America is still reeling from Trump’s presidency and his attempted last grab at power, rallying the Far Right for a riot at the White House, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah try to understand the events and bring about a sense of healing on sixth album New Fragility.
“No one seems to be speaking to what I feel like is inescapable. The political environment around the world, but especially the United States – I don’t understand why people don’t try to at least touch on it.” – Alec Ounsworth, Powerful and anthemic, New Fragility is ten tracks which conjures some of the Springsteen magic, and finds strength in sensitivity rather than becoming an outright protest record. By connecting emotionally, rather than making political statements, it becomes all the more compelling.
“New Fragility” Out February 12th, 2021 VIA CYHSY / Secretly Distrubution.
This week Philadelphia-based trio Another Michael shared the song “Row,” another sneak peek from their upcoming album. “New Music and Big Pop” will be out next Friday (February. 19th) on Run For Cover Records,
Frontman Michael Doherty speaks about the song in a press release: “‘Row’ is a song that I built around a rhythm guitar line that to me, resembles the feeling of rowing a boat. I wanted to create a song that allowed our acoustic and electric elements to ring out as one texture, and to showcase the range of musical styles that we’ve touched on since the start of this project.”
For Another Michael, it all boils down to trust. In mid-2017, the critically acclaimed indie three-piece packed their bags and collectively relocated from Albany, NY to a shared house in West Philadelphia. This move signalled not only the start of a new chapter for the trio, but also a deepening of the bonds that would come to define their captivating debut LP, ‘New Music and Big Pop.’ “It’s hard for a group of people to get closer than living together,” says bassist and producer Nick Sebastiano. “The stronger our connection grew, the more it shaped the music we found ourselves making.”
It should come as little surprise, then, that ‘New Music and Big Pop’ is Another Michael’s most collaborative work yet. Recorded in a small A-frame house-turned-makeshift studio outside Ferndale, NY, the record finds the trio pushing their sound in a dreamier, more folk-influenced direction, building songs around vulnerable, intimate performances using an ethereal palette of breezy guitars, subtle keyboards, and layered harmonies. As on the band’s early EPs, singer and songwriter Michael Doherty’s mesmerizing voice is front and centre here, calling to mind Robin Pecknold or Ben Bridwell in its reedy, crystalline timbre, but it feels more at home than ever before amidst the album’s lush, Technicolor landscape, which the band partnered with producer and fellow housemate Scoops Dardaris to create. The result is a masterfully understated record that belies its status as a full-length debut, a thoughtful, poetic, collection all about growth and change, hope and faith, endings and beginnings, delivered by a band that’s only just begun to scratch the surface of their story.
The band has previously shared the songs “Big Pop,” “I Know You’re Wrong,” and “New Music” from their upcoming album.
“New Music” by Another Michael from the 7″ / 2 song digital single ‘New Music’ out now via Run For Cover Records
UK trio Mush release new album “Lines Redacted” and here’s one last new single before the whole album drops. “The concept for “Hazmat Suits” bizarrely predates the pandemic,” explains frontman Dan Hyndman. “It then quickly became relevant and I retroactively rewrote some of the verses. I saw a group of guys in Hazmat Suits going into a building in Leeds town center around March, it was a really strong image that made me pick the tune-up again. It evoked a real modern dystopian vibe.”
The Leeds three piece, Mush’s new album Lines Redacted is out this week. Politically on point without being didactic, musically uncompromising yet as catchy as the Kent variant and as funny as it is coruscating, it’s Album of the Day on BBC 6 Music today and is getting praised to the rafters elsewhere:
“One of the finest British guitar records of recent years” 8/10 UNCUT “Rallying against aggravating, absurd political realities with passion and humor, the Leeds post-punks offer a tongue-in-cheek counterpoint to dourer contemporaries” Pitchfork “Twisty indie rock that pulls from the gamut of the arch and angular” Brooklyn Vegan
Pale Waves‘ next album ‘Who Am I?’ singer/guitarist Heather Baron-Gracie has revealed is out now. Baron-Gracie confirmed the news when she responded to a fan on Twitter who posited the idea that the Manchester band’s follow-up “is just chilling on a hard drive somewhere”
Pale Waves’ debut album, ‘My Mind Makes Noises’, was released in 2018. In a four-star review, “Pale Waves’ debut album packs a whole lotta love. ‘My Mind Makes Noises’ is an album that obsesses over break-ups and make-ups, as well as dizzy affairs and their bitter fallouts – purposefully telling the story from all different angles. It’s the perfect record to summarise the band’s rise from Manchester’s little secret to one of the most adored new bands in the country.”
“This is the perfect title: ‘Who Am I?’“, says Pale Waves’ lead vocalist Heather Baron-Gracie of the band’s stellar second album. “It’s simple. It’s easy to understand. It represents where I was in my life, ready to embark on that journey to become the better version of myself.”
With its release date pushed back by not only a near-fatal bus crash but a world-shaking pandemic, too, the arrival of the follow-up to 2018’s Top 10 LP ‘My Mind Makes Noises’ feels like a hard-won triumph. Informed by the Manchester group’s collective struggles with fame and its spoils, it’s a bracingly candid effort that explores the physical and mental constraints of growing up in the spotlight. “I feel like as an artist you feel vulnerable all the time,” Baron-Gracie continues on the real meaning behind the album’s title. “Putting yourself on show to the world is intimidating, and I do have mini freakouts quite often about it.
“I tend to feel vulnerable a lot of the time, but it really helps people. The music that I write is there for them, and creates a safe space. So all that vulnerability, all those feelings of me freaking out are worth it.”
‘Who Am I?’ is open, authentic and honest – a record which Baron-Grace explainswas heavily inspired by the unflinching strength of legendary alt-rock artists Courtney Love, Alanis Morissette and Liz Phair. Making the album also gave the frontwoman the space and confidence to explore her sexuality openly through the band’s lyrics, a personal subject that was left untouched when recording Pale Waves’ debut three years ago.
“This is the first time where I’ve been so open about my sexuality,” she says. “I needed to represent the LGBTQ+ community in a healthy and positive manner. I didn’t want to jump into it too soon… I needed time to figure myself out even more. Our fans, some who are gay themselves, finally feel represented in a healthy way – and they feel understood. I’m really glad that we can do that for them.”
Adelaide’s Teenage Joans talk making “juice box punk-pop” and how Camp Cope and Tired Lion have inspired them, Not many acts can say they’ve sold out a 200-person capacity room before even releasing their debut single – but Teenage Joans can. The Adelaide duo of guitarist Cahli Blakers and drummer Tahlia Borg (who both sing) speak about the experience with a sense of awe, yes, but also in a way that humbly says: we went through hours of hard work and failed side projects that led up to this point.
“We both had played in bands before in school with people who just weren’t as passionate,” Blakers says. It’s a Thursday morning and the pair are sitting on Zoom, from the comfort of their bedrooms. Blakers is rocking a WAAX tee, a gritty Brisbane punk band they recently shared a bill with. “I don’t think it’s skill level,” she adds. “If someone’s got a lower skill level but a lot of passion, it can always work. Whereas [when] we were jamming with people who had high skill levels or whatever, but weren’t as passionate as us, it just always fell apart.”
The two then-high school students teamed up in 2018 following Blakers’ short stint as a solo artist. Borg hosted the inaugural jam session at her house. A two hour-session turned into Blakers staying for dinner, and the rest, as they say, is history. Their personable lyrics, dynamic stage presence and joint willingness to share the good, bad and confusing parts of life right there on stage made for a kickass live show. Teenage Joans soon advanced to bigger venues, supporting the likes of Ruby Fields and The Hard Aches. The pair focused on “mastering their craft” on-stage before ever releasing a taste of music, so by the time the launch for their first single came around – a not-so-intimate party for ‘By The Way’ at Adelaide’s Crown and Anchor – they already had a small army of fans. “The song came out a few days before and everyone knew all the words by the time the gig came up,” Blakers explained. “Having this song that everyone just knows every single word to because they’ve chosen to listen to it enough to learn the words was just like, the craziest feeling ever.”
Flash forward to 2020 and Teenage Joans caught the attention of music lovers and industry members alike when they entered triple j’s beloved Unearthed High competition – which they went on to win, as announced on the day of Borg’s year 12 psychology exam. Their sophomore track ‘Three Leaf Clover’, which is about embracing self-love even as you feel like you don’t fit in, immediately won hearts across the nation.
Teenage Joans have dubbed their music “juice-box punk-pop”, nodding towards the cathartic nature of pop punk as a genre and how powerful it can be as a vessel for understanding the world around you. As for the “juice box” bit, Blakers says it “kind of means lyrics that feel nostalgic and feel like you could consume as a young person, but also have a heavier kind of meaning that people can relate to. So we try to keep our lyrics pretty quirky and fun and relatable, but also try and spread a message through that.” She notes the “juxtaposition is really cool.”
Still in their teens, both Blakers and Borg have a lifetime of learning to do. The pair openly admit this as they speak of their latest single ‘Something About Being Sixteen’. “This song of all of our songs is the most nostalgic. We wrote it about feeling things that you feel when you are 16 and old enough to have figured out enough of the world so far to kind of know what’s going on, but not old enough to have experienced, like, a first heartbreak or… Just a lot of big monumental things like first career, big move or whatever,” Blakers explains.
The peppy cut soundtracks a slow-burning yet necessary breakup: “This is overdue, I’m getting over you,” they wail over and over. Borg thinks of it as an “emotional outlet” that’s helped her make sense of the situation. Here Teenage Joans contrast blunt lyrics with a pastel-tinged music video in a way that feels fresh but also borrows from some of their biggest musical influences: namely the aforementioned WAAX and Tired Lion’s Sophie Hopes (who mentored the pair after their Unearthed High win).
“I love Camp Cope; they’re one of my favourite bands,” Blakers excitedly adds. “They were one of the first bands that [made me realise] I could pursue music… just watching them play and hearing the message they speak through their music. I was like, that’s so cool! I don’t have to limit myself to just playing by myself.”
Similarities between the two bands are clear: both Camp Cope and Teenage Joans offer unapologetic and raw song writing, crafting sing-along choruses that stay with you long after the music has stopped. No life experience is off the cards and nothing felt is too shameful to share.
“We just want people to know that we’re just trying to make a space for everyone,” Blakers concluded. “We just want to make everyone feel happy and have fun.”
Atlanta-based indie-rock all stars Manchester Orchestra composed of rhythm guitarist-singer-songwriter Andy Hull, lead guitarist Robert McDowell, bassist Andy Prince and drummer Tim Very will shortly release their lush sixth album “The Million Masks of God”.It is a true pleasure and joy to finally share the first piece of music from our sixth full length album “The Million Masks of God”. It’s near impossible to put into words what this album means to us on a personal level. I’m amazed and grateful at how so much hard work from so many incredible people ended up working together to finally get us here. I’m so happy it’s here. This record, what it’s about and what it represents holds a particularly intimate place in our hearts. Writing it, creating it, building it, destroying it and rebuilding it together over the last two and a half years has been the most gratifying challenge of our career so far. I hope that you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed creating it. Thank you for your continued support of our band. We can’t wait to go on this next journey together.
This exclusive vinyl variant is 140g on “sea blue.” The Million Masks of God is limited to only 500 copies,
Formed in 2011 by vocalist and songwriter Tom Beer and guitarist Dan Lucas, Bull’s mission is simply to make the music they wanted to listen to, inspired by their 90’s heroes such Pavement, Yo La Tengo and the Pixies. The rest of the band came together through a mix of friendships and happenstance. Drummer Tom Gabbatiss joined after he and Tom jammed together in bars while they were back-packing round Thailand, and Kai West had previously used to jump up on stage with the band and “Bez” (verb meaning to dance badly while intoxicated) before they eventually let him play bass. A unique group within the city’s already eclectic scene, the band’s sound mixes together their alt-rock influences along with Tom’s down-to-earth song writing and a particularly wry sense of humour that comes naturally to the four Yorkshiremen.
Lead cut ‘Eugene’ is no different: it twists and turns with the power of a band in total control of their exploration. Beach Boys inspirations find their way into this slow burner, which turns up and up to a 90s slacker crescendo.
Currently ‘Track Of The Week’ on BBC Radio 1, The band Bull came into the studio recently to perform a live version of their single ‘Disco Living’. They’re one of our favourites, so much so we did a record deal with EMI Records to release their album, it’s really very good and we can’t wait for you all to hear it.
This band is so going to blow up soon. Great tunes, Long-time Yorkshire live band Bull have today announced their debut album “Discover Effortless Living”. After signing to EMI last year (becoming the first York band to sign with a major since Shed Seven), the four-piece have shared a stream of excellent grunge-tinged singles.
Sacred Shrines are signed to Californian label Rebel Waves Records at the end of 2017 and since then have been working tirelessly on tracks for their sophomore LP ‘Enter The Woods’. The band are no strangers to the sometimes precarious path of the independent artist, with the constant pressures of moving forward as a group resulting in an evolving line-up since the release of the first LP. Adding in a global pandemic to the mix, the band took longer than anticipated to finish their 2nd album, but this time of reflection, regrouping and adversity had a significant part in shaping ‘Enter The Woods’.
“The first part of ‘Trail To Find’ that came to me was the opening guitar riff which you can hear on the electric 12 string. From that point, the various sections came one by one and when I had decided on the final melody, this usually leads to an impression or direction for the lyrics. To me, this song tells the story of the abandonment that happens at the end of a relationship and how weird it can be that two people can share their lives so closely, but then go their separate ways as strangers – as if they never knew each other.”
If their first album was a sort of statement of arriving, like an alien spacecraft crash-landing on an undiscovered planet – ‘Enter The Woods’ is a tale of losing your way and the time spent in the wilderness without a map to guide you. The album was recorded at various studios around Brisbane and was mixed by a carefully curated list of engineers from across the globe, chosen specifically with particular tracks in mind. The list includes familiar names like Michael Badger and Donovan Miller (Forevr), but also some new faces – James Aparicio (Spiritualized, Grinderman) and local talent Dan James and Matt Weatherall.
The album’s themes cover a gamut of human emotion – mental illness, loss, betrayal, isolation, failure and self-belief to name a few and is another heady collection of cosmic sounds and diverse songwriting that further propels the band towards the far-out reaches of their own musical landscape.
Sacred Shrines’ new album, ‘Enter The Woods’ releases April 23rd on Rebel Waves Records
The Fat Angel Sings 