Brooklyn-native rock band Sunflower Bean released on Friday a pulsating new single titled “Human For.” The single is the latest release off the band’s highly anticipated sophomore album, “Twentytwo in Blue”, set to be released March 23rd on Mom + Pop Records. Previous tracks from the album include “I Was a Fool,” “Crisis Fest” and “Twentytwo.”
“Human For” steps away from the melodic tones found in these previous tracks and does something truly experimental. The gripping bass lines of bassist/lead singer Julia Cumming start the song off with a high energy that is only amplified by her powerful vocals and unapologetic lyrics. The song then takes a darkly psychedelic turn as dissonant chords begin to play and a sound bite of a reverend can be heard in the background, talking about “salvation” and “sanctification by the spirit.”
The previously released tracks have all tackled issues taken on by a person coming of age, and “Human For” is no different. Like the tracks preceding it, “Human For” tries to accurately describe a unique aspect of the transitional phase from teenager to adult. In this case, the single talks about the unlearning of a belief system in order to find self-meaning and a personal truth. In an interview with The Fader, Cumming spoke more in-depth about the lessons she learned while leaving her teens and about the single itself:
Something I’ve noticed about getting older, at least with myself, is accepting people and being able to comment on the world more. “Human For” is urgent to the point of desperation and not needing someone else’s idea of religion or whatever you need to protect yourself. You can make that yourself. You can find reason in your own meaning.
Sunflower Bean are currently on tour they play the Rescue Rooms on Saturday, and will be touring until the summer, in support of this forthcoming album.
Listen to the band’s latest single below, Then, revisit the music video for their previous single “Twentytwo”
Hailing from Los Angeles, Starcrawler formed two years ago when lead vocalist Arrow de Wilde first met drummer Austin Smith. Shortly thereafter, guitarist Henri Cash and bassist Tim Franco joined the band. The group is known for their squalling riffs, thundering beats and incendiary performances, fronted by de Wilde’s otherworldly magnetism. The band have captivated audiences throughout their performances at this year’s music festivals.
This past May, 18-year-old Arrow de Wilde graduated from L.A.’s Grand Arts High School—but it wasn’t easy getting there. Leading up to her final days as a high schooler, de Wilde’s band, Starcrawler, was getting busier and busier: playing shows alongside groups like Ho99o9 and The Lemon Twigs, being featured by publications after their amazing live shows, and spending late nights in the studio with their producer, Ryan Adams.
Starcrawler’s debut single “Ants” b/w “Used To Know” is out now on Rough Trade Records on 7″ vinyl.
When Field Report’s Chris Porterfield started writing the follow-up album to 2015’s Marigolden, he was about to become a father for the first time. His forthcoming album Summertime Songs reflects all the anxiety, self-doubt, and hope that follow on from such a massive life change, but it also speaks to the context in which he was writing: the 2016 election.
The band’s sound adjusted for this new material. In the past, Field Report staked its name on the singer-songwriter’s M.O.: poetically charged lyricism confessed against an earnest guitar. On Summertime Songs, the bands casts its net wide, drawing in synths, up-tempo rhythms, and chromatic crescendos to electrify Porterfield’s lyricism with a resounding crackle. The opening song “Blind Spot” magnetically captures the moment a person can change another’s life. Porterfield describes himself in terms of space—“This heart is a cold cave, my mind is a parking lot”—but in recounting those absent places, he failed to account for the presence lingering in one. “You were in my blind spot,” he sings on the hook, the band’s backing vocals adding a touch of shoegaze.
Out this week, Summertime Songs is a remarkable step forward for Field Report, electrifying their music with a fresh undercurrent of emotion. Worry and talk—and talk about worry—have a special place within the singer-songwriter tradition, but so does physicality, movement, and life. “I love you in the low light baby, but let’s dance,” Porterfield sings.
The opening conversation in “Summertime Songs” is somebody asking “Why don’t you try summertime songs?’ and all of the things that that implies, which would be maybe more simplicity, maybe a little more upbeat, maybe a little less verbose. So there’s that, and then also me doubting my ability to be a good parent and maintain sobriety, and be as good as required for that kind of thing. It’s a bit Springsteen, it’s a big Arcade Fire, it’s a bit LCD Soundsystem, it goes into some soaring U2 stuff at the end, all tongue in cheek at first, but then it tied into this thing that felt right.
The latest release by this promising Brighton five-piece and signee’s to Liverpool’s excellent Deltasonic Records which was a double EP and a concept record of sorts entitled Eight, released last December. The double-EP contains touches of ‘60s classic psych (the group are named after a Cream song, after all), rock and contemporary synth-pop. Jake Smallwood and Josie McNamara intermingle vocals brilliantly, as on the devilishly catchy chorus of “Stole the I.V.” The EP’s kaleidoscopic, escapist lyrics mixed with dreamy soundscapes via distorted guitars and transcendent synths make for an overwhelmingly compelling listen. White Room have supported the legendary Paul Weller back in the UK,
‘Tucked Into the Electronic Wave’ is an extraterrestrial art-rock supernova, with tinges of krautrock, electronica, shoegaze, post-punk, psychedelia, and even a little jazz. It’s hypnotic, melodic and chaotic. The sound of a band making their statement of intent. Thematically, the EP is introspective; frontman Joseph Mumford mostly sings about his neurosis, and the discomfort that comes with being a young adult in a demanding world. Released January 26th, 2017
ll tracks written by Palm Honey
‘Stick The Knife In’ is taken from Palm Honey’s debut EP, Tucked Into The Electronic Wave, out now on HAHA Sounds Records.
Debut EP from Palm Honey is an impressive blend of experimental pop and melodic motorik forms. Tucked into the Electronic Wave borrows from math-rock, kraut-rock, minimalism and everything in between, but the funky and sophisticated songwriting keeps it sounding fresh.
Hampshire indie-rock trio Blaenavon had a big hit album 2017. They released their critically acclaimed debut album, That’s Your Lot, via Transgressive and Canvasback; they supported Alt-J in the UK; Then they supported Circa Waves and White Reaper in the U.S.; and they scored slots at last year’s Glastonbury, Lollapalooza and Osheaga festivals
That’s Your Lot is a triumphant mix of delicate ballads (“Swans”), indie-pop bangers (“Orthodox Man”), upbeat, funky guitar tracks (“Lonely Side”) and earth-shattering, climactic rock (“I Will Be the World”).
This London quartet have also set their sights on America, having announced their first North American shows in support of Pale Waves this coming March and April. Inheaven released their self-titled debut album last year via PIAS Recordings to critical acclaim and they’ve also released a new single this year, “Sweet Dreams Baby.” Their album is equally escapist and rooted in reality, with an overarching feeling of nostalgia, teenage dreams and romance as well as the resounding, rebellious beat of defiant political protest. “Drift” and “Sweet Dreams Baby” exemplify the band’s hazy, dreamy alt-rock, while “Treats” and “World on Fire” exemplify the youthful, punk spirit that 2018 desperately needs.
Hailing from northern Scottish town of John o’ Groats, Neon Waltz deftly infuses their music with the atmospheric beauty of the Scottish coastline. This six-piece’s distinct sound comprises grand, echoing percussion; majestic, glistening keyboards; warm, harmonious lead vocals, and melodic guitars with entrancing tones that feel both familiar and original. Though the band hasn’t made the trip to America yet, they released their shimmering debut album, Strange Hymns, via Ignition Records last year, and they’re currently working on a new EP.
Neon Waltz – ‘Perfect Frame’ (Official Video) Listen to ‘Perfect Frame’: Debut album ‘Strange Hymns’ out now
Band Members
Jordan Shearer, Jamie Swanson,
Kevin Swanson, Calvin Wilson,
Liam Whittles, Darren Coghill.
On January. 15th, 1970, one of the best ways to spell Rock and Roll was to use two letters and a number. hence the MC5, It was on this day that they released their first studio album “Back In The USA”. (Their first LP “Kick Out TheJams” had been a live album) It was/is pure unadulterated balls out Rock and Roll. Any list of the greatest Rock albums includes it.
Though the Motor City 5 reunited with slight line-up changes in ’92 and again in ’03, the punk progenitors’ legacy is rooted in a brief but influential three-album run starting in 1969. The second of those, 1970’s “Back In The USA”, The album marks a departure from the kinetic live performances of the band’s debut, “Kick Out The Jams”, and subsequently it didn’t sell as well as its predecessor. But the stripped-down aesthetic only amplified the MC5’s core influences of early rhythm and blues—exemplified in some loud-and-fast covers of Little Richard and Chuck Berry—and its political radicalism. The latter couldn’t be more overt on “The American Ruse,” where Rob Tyner takes down police brutality and superficial consumerist culture while distorted (and subversively American-sounding) blues riffs burn up around him.
Since it was impossible to top the in-concert exuberance of their debut, “Kick Out the Jams”, the MC5 re-emerged with a more refined sound for their sophomore effort, 1970’s “Back in the USA”, their first studio record. The music is comparable to other Detroit proto-punk rockers of the same era (the Stooges, Alice Cooper, etc.). As with the aforementioned peers, raw garage rock serves as the main ingredient for most of “Back in the USA”. Producer Jon Landau may have lessened the volatility of the MC5 as compared to JAMS, but the band was equipped with another great set of songs. Two covers bookend “Back in the USA” – an uptempo reading of Little Richard’s rock & roll standard “Tutti Frutti” kicks things off in fine fashion, while the album-closing title track was originally done by Chuck Berry. The original material ranges from the abstract “The Human Being Lawnmower” to the heartfelt soul ballad “Let MeTry,” a surprise highlight. Nervy, high-octane rockers bristling with pure adolescent energy–“TeenageLust” and “Call Me Animal,” among them–balance politically charged tracks like “The American Ruse.”“Back in the USA” may have been the MC5’s most conventional album, but it is still an endlessly listenable rock & roll classic. Chuck Berry meets Detroit anarchist punk, and the result is one of the great rock ‘n’ roll albums of all time!
This Is The Original Rolling Stone review:
Wop-bop-a-lu-bop-a-lop-bam-boom. Thud. “Tutti Frutti,” which opens the partly excellent MC5 album, is easily the worst cut on it, and in a way a clue to the rest of the record, which ends, stiffly enough, with “Back in the USA.” The MC5 have roots; or their producer Jon Landau does, or somebody does. Over four minutes of totally pointless music is expended in “proving” that fact—and regardless of the possible coy significance of this one-time “Killer Band” singing “Back in the USA” as if it was some kind of confession, the performances of the old rock are dead, like someone reciting the alphabet instead of using the letters to make words.
There are some first-rate songs on the album, some good musical ideas, and the musicianship is competent throughout, often fun, sometimes exciting. “Musicianship,” here, is used as a concept—the idea of a “solid, clean, tight and together” sound is as self-conscious as the total freak out the first LP was. Chuck Berry simply oozes from the album.
A group of teenage consciousness numbers fill out the album—a re-working of themes from the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent, old South Philly street music, and the like. There’s “Shakin’ Street”—the title predicts both the words and music; “Call Me Animal”; “High School”—sis boom bah, rah rah rah, and so on. And then there are the cuts that make it, make it all the way, that show the real talent and special gifts of this band.
“Teenage Lust” is just what is sounds like—urges all over the place, good hard rock (lacking any bass sound, as does the LP throughout, which is a drag), and those lines that Rob Tyner sings with such showmanship: “I need a healthy outlet for/ For my teenage lust.” If you don’t think that’s funny, you didn’t go to high school in the USA.
Coming off the humour and the drive of the music, the song cuts deep, like “I Get Around.” “The American Ruse” is probably the best thing the band has recorded; an attempt at phrase-making that just might come off:
I used to say the pledge of allegiance
Until they beat me bloody down at the station
They haven’t got a word outa me
Since I got a billion years probation
boom
’69 American terminal stasis
The air’s so thick it’s like breathin’ in molasses
I’m sick and tired of payin’ these dues
And I’m sick to my guts of the American RUSE!
That, in a few lines, is classic rock and roll song writing. It’s rarely done better. The chord changes that power the song seem to match up with the hurried tempo—the band can’t wait to get to that last line, and the impact of every moment is heightened by the rush. Virtually the whole album is fast and edgy—but the problem of the music is in its competence. And the problem of its competence is in its so-carefully worked out intentions. Nothing was left to chance.
Nothing was left to chance, it seems, because this album, and the songs on it, constitute a very conscious attempt to do for teenage America what the rock and roll of the Fifties did instinctively and naturally—create a young community of spirit, affection, excitement, and self-consciousness. It’s an attempt to define themes and problems and an offering of political, social, and emotional solutions. The clean, direct approach of the sound is the necessary vehicle for the straightforward consciousness of the message: “Look, kid, you’re not just some alienated sap bugged by the system, you’re part of a gang that doesn’t have rules yet, doesn’t have leaders yet, but it’s forming, kid, get on.” That’s what Peter Townshend did with “My Generation,” what Eddie Cochran did with “Come On Everybody.”
But the music, the sound, and in the end the care with which these themes have been shaped drags it down, save for two or three fine numbers that deserve to be played on every jukebox in the land. The street music of the MC5 has none of the animalism of the Good Rats (you might still find their brilliant LP—Kapp KS 3580) or uncontrollable drive of those first crucial sides by the Who. You can decide what to do, but if you feel like you know it all, like you’ve seen it all, when it comes time to make the music, there’s really nothing there but an idea.
Phil Spector once talked about the difference between “records” and “ideas”—”The man who can make a disc that’s a record and an idea will rule the world,” he said in his typically moderate fashion. The MC5 album, for the most part, remains an idea, because in the end it sounds like a set-up. “Teenage Lust” and “American Ruse” and “Human Being Lawnmower” break through, and they belong on singles, and on the charts. All the way up the charts. ~ Greil Marcus (May 14, 1970)
TRACKS:
All tracks composed by MC5, except where indicated.
Side one
“Tutti Frutti” (LaBostrie, Joe Lubin, Richard Penniman) – 1:30
“Tonight” – 2:29
“Teenage Lust” – 2:36
“Let Me Try” – 4:16
“Looking at You” – 3:03
Side two
“High School” – 2:42
“Call Me Animal” – 2:06
“The American Ruse” – 2:31
“Shakin’ Street” – 2:21
“The Human Being Lawnmower” – 2:24
“Back in the U.S.A.” (Chuck Berry) – 2:26
Any MC5 fans still out there? Happy 52nd Birthday to “Back In The USA”!!!!
In October 2015 Australian singer-songwriter Carl Coleman and Danish producer and pianist Caspar Hesselager released their debut EP Medication via Copenhagen-based label Tambourhinoceros (Rangleklods, Cancer, CTM). Waiting for the World to Turn (June 3rd 2016) was Palace Winter’s debut album.
The attention around Palace Winter has been evolving nicely since the debut EP in October 2015. Especially in the UK where the single “Soft Machine” was listed on BBC Radio 6 Music for 5 weeks and large media such as The Guardian and The Line of Best Fit have been fans from the get go.
When starting out the duo sent their own bits and pieces back and forth to find their own sound. A sound where the organic songwriting and guitar-strumming of Carl merges with Caspar’s skills as a producer and classically-trained pianist turned electro. The duo compliments each other very well; Carl is somewhat traditional in his songwriting and Caspar contributes with a more abstract approach resulting in the atmospheric, cinematic vibe of Palace Winter.
As a live band Palace Winter feeds of the energy of the audience when they bring their self proclaimed atmospheric krautrock to the stage. It can often be a hypnotic experience with the band’s wall of sound from the guitars and synth creating an intense vibe throughout the show. During the spring Palace Winter have been touring regularly building up to the album release including The Great Escape, Dot to Dot Festival and a headline show at London’s Shacklewell Arms. This summer they’ll be playing key festivals
“Take Shelter” is the lead single from Palace Winter’s forthcoming album “Nowadays”, released May 4th, 2018
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