Summing up a two-song barrage in the KEXP studio by New Zealand’s Salad Boys, DJ Kevin Cole remarked that the band sounds like “the best of The Feelies, The Velvet Underground and Yo La Tengo in one song.” While it makes a lovable racket — channeling those and other legendary bands from its hometown Flying Nun label — the Christchurch trio dreams bigger and woozier, infusing all kinds of influences (classic indie rock, fuzzy dream-pop) into its energized psychedelic sound.
Singer-guitarist Joe Sampson took the band’s name from misheard lyrics of The Feelies’ “Fa Cé-La,” thinking he’d heard, “You said it was the salad boys / Everything is all right.” But those last words couldn’t be more true when you listen to Salad Boys‘ exhilarating session in the KEXP live room.
Salad Boys came together at the end of 2012 with members from other illustrious Christchurch groups T54, Bang! Bang! Eche! and the Dance Asthmatics. Recorded, the Salad Boys are deceivingly charming, presenting a careful but curious balance of well-informed pop melodies, hypnotizing rhythms and heady instrumentation.
The group’s self-titled mini-album released in 2013 caused something of a mini-sensation, receiving praise from the likes of Stolen Girlfriends Club, Mess and Noise, hhhhappy.com and many more. In real life, the Salad Boys perform a wondrous assault: a charged up blitz of clanging guitars, intoxicating drones, head-down acid repetition and an abundance of dazzling pop hooks. This notoriety has scored the group a wealth of engagements up and down New Zealand including slots at the Camp a Low Hum and Chronophonium festivals, gigs with Sebadoh, The Bats, & Parquet Courts as well as a highly honorable spot performing as backing band for David Kilgour of legendary NZ group The Clean.
2015 finds the band prepping their proper full-length debut “Metalmania” out in September on Chicago label, Trouble In Mind Records & routing a full coast-to-coast US-tour in Sept/Oct including a stop at Gonerfest in Memphis, TN.
Kindness of Strangers is the second song unveiled from the new Courtney Marie Andrews’ much anticipated full-length album, “May Your Kindness Remain”, which will be released March 23rd on the ever reliable Loose Records in the UK and elsewhere via Fat Possum Records/Mama Bird Recording Co.
The new track takes a confident step away from the straight ahead, classic country/folk route to take in a little gospel, some church organ and even a little soul. It locks into a sweet groove whilst her incredible vocals remain centre stage and more than justifies the buzz that is building around her.
With the title of their 2017 release, Dirty Pictures (Part 1), Philly rockers Low Cut Connie had already telegraphed what was on the way.
“What a schmuck I would be if I didn’t have a part two, right?,” frontman Adam Weiner says,
The songs on Part 2 were largely conceived along with the band’s brothers and sisters on Part 1 – but the new batch is less a continuation than a mirror image; a flip side of the coin.
Over the course of four albums since 2011, Low Cut Connie has been hailed as carriers of rock ‘n’ roll’s torch, drawing comparisons ranging from Jerry Lee Lewis in his piano-arsonist prime to the New York Dolls, the Replacements, and others voted most likely to go completely off the rails. The reputation for true analog danger was earned by putting on wildly physical live shows, where Weiner was as likely to climb his battered upright as pound its keys, and where everyone involved, onstage and in the crowd, wound up drenched in sweat.
Dirty Pictures (Part 1), still for the most part barreling full-tilt, veered into introspection, both commentary (“Death and Destruction”) and mourning (a passionate cover of Prince’s “Controversy”). Recorded at Memphis’ Ardent Studios, Part 2 digs deeper into emotional complexity, with inward cuts like “Beverly,” a propulsive heart-buster about intimacy; the yearning, propulsive power ballad reveals the gulfs of space that can grow between people, pushing them worlds apart even when they might be in the same room.
“I had an idea that there were two different vibes, two different kind of groups of songs, but you never know what happens until you get in there and start swinging away,” Weiner explains. “About halfway through the process, I knew that it kind of had an A and B trajectory, in my opinion. Like there were all these songs that felt really grimy and dirty, and then there were these other songs that felt a little more emotional, a little more fully realized in a way.”
Part 2, he says, is more “character driven, exploring the way people and their emotional lives are a little more than this bar-culture thing that we had been doing for a while.”
The push toward interiority is no tone-down for Low Cut Connie. “Beverly” leaves its spare, poignant string intro quickly behind, snowballing downhill into a glam-tinged piano plea for re-connection and recovery of what’s been lost. Stretching songwriting muscles to encompass the wider, complicated spectrum of human emotion, after all, need not preclude a breathless rager of a performance.
Dirty Pictures (Part 2) comes out May 18th via Contender Records.
Volume 3 in God Unknown Records Singles Club series. Ten split 7″ records delivered straight to your door individually or two at a time over the space of 12 months.
THE BLIND SHAKE / MINAMI DEUTSCH / CHARLES HAYWARD / GRUMBLING FUR / RAINBOW GRAVE / TOMAGA / MAINLINER / THOR & FRIENDS / RATTLE / KURO / CASUAL NUN / LUMINOUS BODIES / ORTHODOX / EXPO 70 / FATHER MURPHY / WOVEN SKULL / HIPSHAKES / MAI MAI MAI / SLY & THE FAMILY DRONE AND DEAD NEANDERTHALS.
Alex Luciano and Noah Bowman describe the music in their band Diet Cig as “slop pop.” The self-coined genre nicely sums up the duo’s work, from their short-and-sweet songwriting to the fuzzy guitar jangles. But the best way to get acquainted with the two is through the video for “Dinner Date” in which Luciano plays an arm-wrestling champion. Her opponents are at least a head taller than her, but she knocks them out with ease. Likewise, her tendency to crank the music from a whisper suddenly to a gutsy scream can catch any casual listener who expected a soft, shy type by surprise.
“Dinner Date” is part of the duo’s single release 7”, Sleep Talk/Dinner Date, released in last year. Before the small single, though, Diet Cig first made their name through Over Easy. Luciano wrote the songs in the five-track EP in her bedroom, and the shut-in angst can be felt in the highlight track “Harvard”. “How’s your new Ivy League girlfriend,” she mockingly asks her ex-partner in the scrappy diss track. It ends with her singing “you know I was better” but not before dismissing her enemy’s college sweater.
“Dinner Date” also shares a similar just-over-it attitude. Over a simple, buzzing guitar riff, Luciano rolls her eyes at her mom, dad and a whole gang of friends who she no longer talks to. “And maybe if you took me out to dinner, I would like anything to last longer than a year,” she signs off the single, with an air of exhaustion.
Diet Cig’s total output is a bit slim, with seven songs spread over an EP and a 7” single, both out via Father/Daughter Records. But the duo doesn’t need much more when the songs already have a defined voice in Luciano’s raw songwriting. Their music already won over the fans and critics in the US.
When we first introduced Diet Cig at the beginning, they had barely played any shows and were just gearing up to release their debut. As 2015 closes, they’re poised on the edge of greatness. That’s due in large part to their boundless live energy, but also the strength of the jump-around-your-room joyous Over Easy, which only seems to get better with age. It’s a collection of fuck-you songs of incomparable measure, ones that never take themselves too seriously but still cut close to the heart. Sharp lyricism and an ambling forward momentum are sure to leave you, well,
Roots-rock five-piece The Moondoggies are poised to release their new album “A Love Sleeps Deep” on Friday, April 13th on LP, CD, digital, and cassette. Epic lead-off single “Easy Coming” is available now for your listening pleasure . Produced by Erik Blood (Shabazz Palaces, Tacocat), the album sees the Northwest band mining psychedelic, groove-based territory that was only hinted at on previous recordings. The Moondoggies are also returning to touring, and will hit the road in support of A Love Sleeps Deep in mid-April.
A Love Sleeps Deep’s bones rattle with all the seismic changes of the last five years since the release of The Moondoggies’ Adios I’m a Ghost. While the Washington band got lumped in early on with the woodsy folk-rock/Americana movement that sprung up in the Pacific North- west in the 2000s, the core Moondoggies sound has always been rock in the more classical sense–more groove-based than Woody Guthrie. A Love Sleeps Deep crystalizes that.
Gathered from all four corners of the globe, London-based girl gang Yassassin deliver off-kilter pop with lashings of personality. Developing a reputation for riotous live shows and the songwriting to back it up, the serrated edges and bass bounds of ‘Pretty Face’ that dance across your ears and explode into singalong stomps could literally be a punky yet melodic anthemfor the #metoo campaign and a large two finger salute to misogyny. The ghosts of The Slits and Lush swirl around elements of these tracks but never intrude. Spiky, tuneful and bursting with attitude Yassassin are frankly a bloody brilliant proposition!
A Man I’d Rather Be (Part I) is the latest Bert Jansch boxset release from Earth Recordings (26th January). Having purchased two myself (On the Edge of a Dream and Living in the Shadows) I can testify that they’re really something special, even if you own an old vinyl copy somewhere. For the latest they focus on Bert’s seminal 1960s output (alongside his only album as a duet with Pentangle bandmate John Renbourn) this four-disc set covers an era that forged creative paths for everyone from Neil Young to Johnny Marr. New listening notes from Bill Leader, as well as unseen photographs from Brian Shuel complete this special collection. It’s available in CD and LP format and covers the albums Bert Jansch, It Don’t Bother Me, Jack Orion and Bert and John.
“I particularly like his second record. The album before it [1965’s Bert Jansch] is more revered and held up by most journalists as being the seminal one, but I think the songs are better on It Don’t Bother Me, particularly the title track. The fact that they were both recorded in a kitchen at his mate’s house is another reason why it has never dated.” – Johnny Marr
Where to start with a career as prolific as that of Bert Jansch? Why, the beginning of course. Bert’s first studio (though as Bill Leader rightly points out, that’s a bit of a stretch) albums capture a man whose star is truly on the rise. It also marks his most prolific period – these four LPs were written, recorded and issued in just two years; a testament to not only Bert’s abundant musicality but to a time for music that was changing – excitedly – from minute to minute. From Bert’s masterclass in elegant, melodic, one-man-and-his-guitar fingerpicking on his self-titled LP, to the beginnings of something altogether more exotic on ‘Bert and John’, these records are nothing if not a remarkable insight into the changing face of folk music at the time.
For those unfamiliar with Jansch’s oeuvre, this is a real treat; you won’t find a more comprehensively produced collection. ‘A Man I’d Rather Be’ includes all the original liner notes (from both Keith De Groot and Bert himself) as well as new ruminations from Bill Leader (who recorded much of Jansch’s nascent work) as well as never-before seen photographs by the illustrious Brian Shuel. For those in the know, this is a chance to revisit these extraordinary albums, revel in new insights and add some – perhaps more listenable LPs – to sit alongside their love-worn originals.
“Simply, I think Bert was a truly unique musician. Somehow he could elegantly bridge differing musical and singing traditions to sing and play in a way that sounded only like Bert Jansch.” –Anne Briggs
Live at The Isle Of Wight Festival – the last concert ever filmed of The Doors will be issued for the first time next month.
The concert footage has been restored and colour-corrected and the entire show has been mixed into 5.1 surround sound from the original multi-tracks by Bruce Botnick.
The performance was filmed in August 1970, in front of 600,000 people. Ray Manzarek described the performance as “subdued but very intense” adding, “we played with a controlled fury and Jim was in fine vocal form. He sang for all he was worth, but moved nary a muscle. Dionysus had been shackled.” This is a reference to Jim Morrison’s Miami obscenity trial which was at the time ongoing and weighing heavily on the band.
The fairly short but historic set includes such staples as Roadhouse Blues, Break On Through (To The Other Side), andLight My Fire.
This release is available as both blu-ray+CD and DVD+CD combo packs, although annoyingly, it looks like the former is exclusive to North America/Canada. Standalone Blu-ray and DVD are also available and all the DVD and Blu-ray elements contain a bonus feature This Is The End, with interviews conducted by the film’s original director Murray Lerner with Krieger, Densmore, original Doors manager Bill Siddons and archival interview footage of Manzarek from 2002.
New York, NY (December 14, 2017) — The historic last concert ever filmed of The Doors is now available for the first time. Eagle Rock Entertainment proudly presents The Doors: Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970 on DVD+CD, Blu-ray+CD and Digital Video on February 23, 2018.
This is the last known unseen performance of The Doors in existence, The Doors: Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970 has been completely recut and remixed, from the original film footage. Fully approved by The Doors, this previously unreleased concert was meticulously restored via the latest 21st century technology, color correcting and visually upgrading the original footage. The entire concert, which is now presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital sound, was mixed from the original multi-track audio by longtime Doors engineer / mixer / co-producer Bruce Botnick. Fans may have caught a glimpse of this performance in the 1997 Isle of Wight film Message To Love, however this DVD presents The Doors’ set with the full-length songs in maximum visual and sound quality.
The scene is August 1970… Frontman Jim Morrison’s ongoing obscenity trial, from an incident a year prior in Miami, weighs heavily on the band. “The Last Great Festival” is taking place in England, which boasted a venerable who’s who of 1970’s top acts: Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, and more… The band touches down on the Isle of Wight. The show must go on.
The Doors: Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970 captures and showcases the essence of this poignant performance, as well as offering a snapshot of the era, with footage of fans (over 600,000 in attendance) tearing down barriers and crashing the gates to gain access to the event.
The Doors hit the stage at 2:00AM on August 30, 1970, delivering a set that further proved the musical power that marked them as a beacon of the Summer of Love. In this 84-minute DVD, Morrison, organist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore traverse such staples as “Roadhouse Blues”, “Break On Through (To The Other Side)”, and “Light My Fire”. Illuminated by a mere red spotlight (the band wasn’t informed that they needed to bring their own lighting equipment) gave the show an eerie crimson hue, almost echoing the figurative weight of the trial.
“Our set was subdued but very intense”, Manzarek later stated. “We played with a controlled fury and Jim was in fine vocal form. He sang for all he was worth, but moved nary a muscle.
The DVD is completed with bonus featurette “This Is The End” – 17 minutes of interviews conducted by the film’s original director, Academy Award-winning Murray Lerner with Krieger, Densmore, and original Doors manager Bill Siddons. Additional archival interview footage with Manzarek from 2002 is also included in the featurette.
The Doors made an enormous impact on the music world in their few years of existence before Jim Morrison’s passing in 1971. The Doors: Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970, which joins Eagle Rock Entertainment’s rich canon of The Doors’ films (Classic Albums: The Doors; When You’re Strange; Live At The Bowl ’68 ; Feast Of Friends ; R-Evolution ; Live In Europe 1968 ; Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story Of L.A. Woman , No One Here Gets Out Alive – The Doors’ Tribute To Jim Morrison ; and SoundstagePerformances ), captures a pivotal moment in their history.
This was the day 49 years ago that San Francisco rock band Quicksilver Messenger Serviceunveiled their finest hour, at least in commercial terms. March 17th, 1969 marked the release of ‘Happy Trails,’ their second album for Capitol Records and their one LP to win gold certification in America. When it comes to groups graced with two lead guitarists, one often earns more ardor than the other. Sometimes that’s understandable, like when one player takes more of the solos. But in a case like Quicksilver Messenger Service, it’s a mystery. In their heyday, John Cipollina tended to get more attention than Gary Duncan, though they both made dazzling contributions to their albums and concerts.
Cipollina’s distinctly ringing tremolo, a kind of sonic special effect that achieved a shivery resonance on the highest notes. In fact, Duncan has his own distinct tone and his overall work showed nearly as much invention and scope as his partner’s. You can hear their interplay best in the band’s oceanic jams,
Quite unusually for a sophomore record, ‘Happy Trails’ was a live album, taken from performances by the band at the famed Fillmore East and Fillmore West venues. Even more ambitiously, the first side of the disc was a suite of songs, running more than 25 minutes in total, based around the theme of Bo Diddley’s‘Who Do You Love?’, in no fewer than six episodic interpretations. Quicksilver’s version divided into seven sections, with different sub-titles. One dubbed When You Love, featured a long, and highly creative, five-minute jaunt from Duncan that drew from jazz as well as psychedelia, underscored by a Latin-influenced bass line. It’s forceful and ruminative at once. Cipollina took the reins during the How You Love segment, letting his chilling tremolo spin through loop-de-loops, broken by distinct cries phased to shoot back and forth between the speakers.
The first and last of these were versions of the song itself, with notable roles for the band’s guitarists John Cipollina and Gary Duncan. The first even nudged into the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 91. But the middle passages were all written by the members of QMS themselves, titled (with a hint of humour) ‘When You Love, ‘Where You Love,’ ‘How You Love’ and ‘Which Do You Love.’
“Quicksilver goes into it at full speed,” wrote Greil Marcus in his Rolling Stone review at the time, “John Cipollina’s guitar alternately harsh and sweet, clashing with Gary Duncan’s rhythm, Greg Elmore’s drumming simple and solid, never an iota of sloppiness, not a note missed.”
Who do you love and Mona are excellent examples of QMS live , the audience interaction is exciting and enervating, Cipollina’s guitar playing is ecstatic and moving. Calvary is like a psychedelic spaghetti western and is quite in place and a good ol’ boys yippee ay yay ending in Happy Trails means a great trip is guaranteed for all you heads out there
This is simply the San Francisco live,’acid rock’, sound at its best. Obviously comparisons with the Dead will be made but for reasons well expressed by the other reviewers here they are pretty meaningless. I can understand why opinions are divided over this album, It is one of the great, maybe the greatest, guitar album(s) flowing in a way that no other has ever equalled. Don’t look for structured songs here just, to quote the Airplane,”ride the music”. One of the two or three albums that would be in my top ten whenever you asked me.
The second side of ‘Happy Trails’ started with another gem from the Bo Diddley catalogue, ‘Mona,’ and three more band compositions including Duncan’s 13-minute instrumental ‘Calvary.’
The album artwork was designed by Globe Propaganda, described as “an advertising agency specializing in hip, progressive material.” Soon afterwards, Globe designed covers for the Charlatans and It’s A Beautiful Day. 23 years after its release, in 1992, ‘Happy Trails’ went gold, testament to the lasting contribution of Quicksilver Messenger Service as was the fact that it landed at No. 189 on Rolling Stone’s all-time top 500 albums.
