Burlington, Vermont’s Robber Robber are one of those bands who defy easy categorization. I don’t know if they’re unpigeonholable but they do incorporate a bunch of disparate elements into their off-kilter brand of indie rock. One of the first things you notice on their debut album is the drums; co-founder Zack James has a unique style that is both lithe and powerful where live drumming hits side-by-side with either triggered samples or drum machines. He gives the band a unique backbone that effortlessly slips between easy groove and industrial clank, and locks in step with Carney Hemler’s bass. Then there’s the guitar interplay between singer-guitarist Nina Cates and Will Krulak; their instruments dance around each over, sometimes slashing, sometimes blurring together, sometimes slapping you in the face. Cates’ vocals are chameleonic as well, capable of a breathy coo that lends itself to “Wild Guess” shoe gazier moments (“Sea of War,” “Seven Houses”), but also banshee wails and heavy-attitude snarl.
Robber Robber are at their best and most memorable when throwing curveballs — the push-pull mechanics of “Backup Plan” and playful ripper “How We Ball” — which thankfully makes up most of “Wild Guess”.
It’s been five years since the last Wand album and a lot has gone on in their world since “Laughing Matter”. The band’s line up changed significantly — only singer-guitarist Cory Hanson and drummer Evan Burrows remain from their original line up and since Hanson released two very good solo albums, including last year’s unfortunately named “Western Cum”. With new members inspiring new sounds, in particular Evan Backer who comes from a music composition background, Wand went back into the studio to quietly blow up their sound. Hanson mostly left guitar duties to Rober Cody and played Fender Rhodes electric piano instead, while Backer arranged strings and horns while the band got inspired by Miles Davis’ electric albums from the ’70s.
The result is “Vertigo”, a record unlike anything they have made before that still retains their Wand-iness. Gone are the guitar heroics and in their place are subtle, simmering arrangements and songs that don’t follow traditional pop arrangements and often flow into seamlessly into the next. This all makes for an “album” album, in the ’70s sense, where you’re meant to listen to the whole thing as a piece. “Vertigo” is not “difficult” but it does benefit greatly from dedicated listening — it’s a great headphone album — and there are no shortage of standouts, including the syncopated horn blasts of “Mistletoe,” the dreamy, jazzy “Lifeboat,” and the swaying, subtle stunner “Smile.” (There are also plenty of guitars here, just not the towering riffs of their previous records.) “Vertigo” has a lot of big ideas and impressive moments packed into a mere 39 minutes, but all of them flow naturally and nothing is overstuffed. Ten years on from their debut album, Wand continue to grow and surprise in wonderful ways.
Wand is Cory Hanson, Evan Burrows, Robert Cody, and Evan Backer.
Reissues of Spooky Tooth’s “It’s All About” and “Spooky Two”
Proper Records, in collaboration with Universal Music Recordings, are reissuing “It’s All About” and “Spooky Two,” the first two albums by the much-loved and greatly missed Spooky Tooth.
The band’s line-up (guitarist Luther Grosvenor, vocalist Mike Harrison, drummer Mike Kellie and bassist Greg Ridley) joined forces with American keyboardist/vocalist Gary Wright in October 1967 and formed Spooky Tooth. Wright was introduced to the members by Chris Blackwell, the founder of IslandRecords renowned for promoting Progressive Rock,
In the 21st century, Spooky Tooth remains somewhat under the radar. Despite being signed to Island Records and offering a heady brew of heavy blues and soul, their music, beloved by the underground in the late ’60s, is still ripe for rediscovery. Formed from the group Art, featuring vocalist Mike Harrison, guitarist Luther Grosvenor, bassist Greg Ridley, and drummer Mike Kellie, Spooky Tooth came into being with the addition of American-in-London keyboard player Gary Wright, suggested by Chris Blackwell.
“It’s All About” (1968)
Recorded at Olympic Studios and produced by Jimmy Miller, who was also behind the boards for Spencer Davis Group, Motörhead, Traffic, the Rolling Stones and Blind Faith. their debut album, “It’s All About,” is a powerful blend of soul-tinged rock, suffused with sweetness on both originals and carefully chosen covers. Released in June 1968, it includes a version of Bob Dylan’s “Too Much of Nothing,” a blistering take on the Nashville Teens’ “Tobacco Road,” and the Jimmy Miller-Gary Wright co-write “It’s About A Roundabout,” On this dreamy cut, vocalist/keyboardist Gary Wright demonstrates some sharp melodic and compositional instincts. which has a driving beat reminiscent of Northern Soul. “It’s All About” is a lovely, often surprising album that offers a unique listening experience.
This full-length debut from British blues-rockers Spooky Tooth has a tone similar to Traffic with its psychedelic take on the influential pop and soul music of the ’60s. The few cover tunes including Janis Ian’s “Society’s Child” but original songs like the soulful ballad “It Hurts You So” and “Bubbles” (with its Beach Boys sensibility) are the real standouts.
Although Spooky Tooth eventually became better-known for their straightforward blues-rock, the trippy pop of It’s All About counts as a career highlight for the group. Fans of late-’60s British rock are definitely advised to check out this impressive release.
“Spooky Two” (1969)
Released in March 1969, “Spooky Two” is heavier and less quirky than the debut. It includes a remarkable version of Larry Weiss’ “Evil Woman,” a heavy nine-minute blues track that established Luther Grosvenor as one of the great British guitarists of his era. Gary Wright’s originals shine on this album, with tracks like the Cream-inspired “Lost In My Dream” and the storming “Better By You, Better Than Me,” later covered by Judas Priest. Mike Harrison’s voice is in fine form throughout, making “Spooky Two” one of the great British rock records of the late ’60s.
“I’ve Got Enough Heartache” whines and grieves with some sharp bass playing from Greg Ridley, while “Better by You, Better Than Me” is the catchiest of the songs, with its clinging hooks and desperate-sounding chorus. The last song, “Hangman Hang My Shell on a Tree,” is a splendid example of the bandmembers’ ability to play off of one another, mixing soulful lyrics with downtrodden instrumentation to conjure up the perfect melancholia. Although Spooky Tooth lasted about seven years, their other albums never really contained the same passion or talented collaborating by each individual musician as Spooky Two.
Both “It’s All About” and “Spooky Two” are presented with meticulous attention to the detail of the original UK first pressings and are available on audiophile 180gm vinyl. Whether you’re replacing much-loved originals or adding to your collection afresh, this is a great way to enjoy such enduring and influential music.
The band members, Grosvenor later joined Mott the Hoople in the 1970s (replacing Mick Ralphs who left to form Bad Company), adopting the name Ariel Bender. Kellie later joined the Only Ones in the late 1970s also performing with them in 1980s. Ridley became a member of Humble Pie.
Thursday, July 25th, Billy Joel participated in his final show of a record-breaking franchise run at MadisonSquare Garden. The historic night yielded the Piano Man a pair of esteemed titles, including the most lifetime performances by any artist (150) and the most consecutive shows (104) at the Big Apple venue. During the night, guests turned up to assist in the celebratory spirit of the occasion, including appearances by Jimmy Fallon and Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose, who helped Joel and his audience of nearly 20,000 strike the specialty of the occasion.
Billy Joel told the crowd, “Let me mention a couple of things that we’ve done. We were the first group to play at Yankee Stadium [in 1990]. We were the last band to play at Shea Stadium [in 2008]. We played Berlin the night that the Berlin Wall came down [in 1990, so not quite]. We were the first American full-fledged performance in the Soviet Union [in 1987]. And we were the first band to play after Castro came to power, and we played Cuba [1979]. We played in front of the Coliseum in Rome for a half million people [in 2006]. And the food was great. But out of all of them, this is the best. There’s no place like this.”
The conclusion of Joel’s franchise run at The Garden arrives more than 10 years after the first-ever residency performance and 50 years after his debut at the venue, which initially occurred on December 14th 1978. To commemorate the achievement, comedian and television host Jimmy Fallon raised the final banner to the rafters. “Who else does this? No one else does this,” he exclaimed, bubbling with jubilant energy.
Next, Joel’s daughters, Della and Remi, appeared on stage and sang “My Life” alongside their dad. After a couple more tunes, the locationally fitting “New York State of Mind” was added to the course of classic material, acting as the preamble to “Allentown” and “This Is the Time.” plus “Allentown,” “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,” “Movin’ Out,” “Piano Man,” “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,” “You May Be Right,” “The River of Dreams” racked up the title of consecutive plays at each of the musician’s MSG gigs.
Rock maven Rose assisted Joel on a cover of the Wings “Live and Let Die.” Last night’s rendition was not the first time Rose had taken on the Paul McCartney hit; notably, Guns N’ Roses received Grammy recognition for their take on the layered favourite featured on their “Use Your Illusion I” album. The pair continued their collaborative stage time with AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.” They previously performed the cover in 2017. Just when it seemed the guests had retired for the night, Rose returned, this time during the night’s final number, “You May Be Alright.”
Besides sit-ins and well-deserved accolades, the night was, in its simplest form, highlighted by the thrill of fans gathered to share in a historic musical experience, as captured via the night’s energy during “Piano Man.” Watch a pro-shot video provided by Madison Square Garden.
In the summer of 1973, Genesis re-signed their contract with Charisma Records. Manager Tony StrattonSmith said they got “a much-improved deal” despite their being able to get a better one with a bigger label, but the group were loyal and trusted Charisma with their careers. With a new agreement in place and thus a green-light for a new album, Genesis recorded “Selling England by the Pound” at Island Studios in August 1973, It was the second Genesis album that John Burns co-produced. Peter Gabriel contributed lyrics based on the idea of commercialism and the decline of English culture and the rise in American influences. Its title refers to a UK Labour Party slogan to make it clear to music critics who may have thought Genesis were beginning to “sell out” to the US.
The record was released in October 1973 to a positive critical reception, though slightly more muted than for “Foxtrot“. The “Selling England by the Pound” tour visited Europe and North America between September 1973 and May 1974. Their six shows in three days at The Roxy in Los Angeles were well received by audiences and critics. The success of the tour earned the group the “Top Stage Band” title by readers of NME.
“I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)” was released as a UK single with “Twilight Alehouse”, a non-album track recorded in 1972; its release in February 1974. Its success led to an offer for Genesis to appear on BBC’s national show Top of the Pops; the group thought this would not suit their image, and they declined the offer. The setlist is complete and features all five of the main songs from the “Selling England” album.
One of the very best shows Genesis played during the North American leg of the tour took place at the University of Montreal in Canada, on 21st April ‘74. A stunning performance this superb concert was also recorded for live FM radio transmission across Canada, and synched too in the USA and across Europe. Tracks: This recording is probably one of the most widely circulated Genesis bootlegs.
It’s particularly great to hear a live version of ‘The Battle Of Epping Forest’ which surely must have been one of the most difficult songs to play live that Genesis ever had. Peter Gabriel takes on all the individual characters very well and gives them an individual voice and it is a brilliant version. Closing with an excellent version of “Supper’s Ready” where Gabriel again implements his vocal armoury, whereby, he’s virtually telling a story within a story.
Setlist:1 Watcher Of The Skies 8:54 2 Story Of Britannia 1:45 3 Dancing With The Moonlit Knight 8:51 4 Story Of Romeo And Juliet 1:59 5 The Cinema Show 11:18 6 I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) 6:29 7 Story Of Five Rivers 1:25 8 Firth Of Fifth 10:01 9 The Story Of Henry And Cynthia 1:49 1 The Musical Box 11:03 2 Horizons 2:09 3 The Battle Of Epping Forest 12:31 4 The Story Of Old Michael 3:02 5 Supper’s Ready 24:37 6 Outro 0:37
Live FM broadcast recorded at Centre Sportif De L’Université De Montréal, Canada, 21st April 1974.
Crack Cloud has always been something beyond a rock band: both profound and grand, vaporous and elusive.
The first iteration of Crack Cloud was formed nearly a decade ago as a proxy-rehab outlet on the fringes of Calgary. Over time, two EPs and accompanying visual pieces were produced out of the residence known as “Red Mile”. By 2017, several members had relocated to Vancouver, working out of harm reduction centers and low-barrier shelters. Sobriety, self-reformation and the idealism of their work further formed an ethos for Crack Cloud. It was during these years that the band produced their astounding 2020 album ‘Pain Olympics’. At once, their vision became expansive, cinematic.
Now, ‘Red Mile’ is a bit of a homecoming. Members have returned to Calgary. But Calgary/home has become a liminal space, a place of flux. After a decade of personal and collective growth, what does home even mean? ‘Red Mile’ is, for them, something like samsara: a return and a rebirth.
‘Red Mile’’s sound breathes expansive energy into the circuitous, street bound sonics of Crack Cloud’s prior material. Fizzling synths intertwine with chiming pianos. Songs layer like Russian nesting dolls; one may find a Ramones chorus set within a desolate Western prog soundtrack only to watch it erupt into a joyous anthem. Real-ass guitars — alternately lilting, scuzzy and soaring — ring out across wide sun-bleached spaces. In 2024, the cumulative effect is (in rock instrumentation terms) naturalistic. Any whiff of embalmed nostalgia is absent. Even the close of the album – a winding, alllllmost Jerry Garcia guitar noodle that leads us out of ‘Red Mile’ – is delivered without sentimentality.
Principal songwriter Zach Choy’s lyrics are cutting but merciful, with a sharp self awareness that never slides into self-satisfaction. Crack Cloud as artists are critical — and ultimately as forgiving — of themselves as they are the melting world around them. The songs balance an easy charm and cathartic power: affirming life without denying death.
This is the definitive history of Sarah Records; the Bristol-based label that signed the acts no major label would touch but who you wanted to hear.
Sarah put out a board game, produced cut ‘n’ paste fanzines and stuck two fingers up to the mainstream music industry. Sarah was your secret world and it was located in the heart of Bristol. Sarah Records lasted for seven years, nine months and 11 days.
In These Things Happen, those who were there at the beating heart of the indie-pop world reveal the deepest, darkest secrets of what really went into making Sarah’s pop masterpieces. Featuring almost 130 interviews, including at least one member of every single band (as well as the world exclusive first interview with Christine of Christine’s Cat fame), this book is an oral history of a defining moment in pop history.
Who stripped naked on stage to another band’s drum solo? Why did Julian Knowles sleep with his boots on his stomach in Hull? Whatever happened to Mr James C Urchin? All of these burning questions and more will be answered in this book. With no tatty old gig flyer left unturned in the pursuit of exposing the true political pop pandemonium that went on in the wonderful world of Sarah Records.
Fireflies. June Bugs. Cicadas. Menthol Lights. Heirloom Tomatoes. Duke’s Mayonnaise. Cherokee Purples. American Aquarium frontman and songwriter BJ Barham knows that the smallest details often make for the most vivid memories.
For nearly two decades, American Aquarium have pushed toward that rare form of rock-and-roll that’s revelatory in every sense. On “The Fear of Standing Still”, the North Carolina-bred band embody that dynamic with more intensity than ever before, endlessly matching their gritty breed of country-rock with Barham’s bravest and most incisive song writing to date. As he reflects on matters both personal and sociocultural—e.g., the complexity of Southern identity, the intersection of generational trauma and the dismantling of reproductive rights—American Aquarium instill every moment of “The Fear of Standing Still” with equal parts unbridled spirit and illuminating empathy.
Recorded live at the legendary Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, “The Fear of Standing Still” marks American Aquarium’s second outing with producer Shooter Jennings—a three-time Grammy winner who also helmed production on 2020’s critically lauded “Lamentations“, as well as albums from the likes of Brandi Carlile and Tanya Tucker. In a departure from the stripped-down subtlety of 2022’s “Chicamacomico” (a largely acoustic rumination on grief), the band’s tenth studio LP piles on plenty of explosive riffs and hard-charging rhythms, bringing a visceral energy to the most nuanced and poetic of lyrics.
Mixed by four-time Grammy winner Trina Shoemaker (Queens of the Stone Age, Emmylou Harris), “TheFear of Standing Still” shares its title with one of the first songs Barham wrote for the album—a soul-baring look at how raising a family has radically altered his priorities and perspective. In the process of creating what he refers to as “a record about growing up and growing older,” Barham also found his songwriting closely informed by his ten years of sobriety, as well as his ever-deepening connection with American Aquarium’s community of fans.
Produced by Shooter Jennings, features Katie Pruitt and Jamie Lin Wilson and songs co-written with Lori McKenna, Hailey Whitters, Stephen Wilson Jr., and Pruitt.
Tony Iommi has unveiled an epic new instrumental song called “Deified” to coincide with a new perfume of the same name, released in partnership with Xerjoff Group. The Black Sabbath riff-monger coproduced “Deified” with keyboardist and longtime collaborator Mike Exeter. Additional personnel includes Karl Brazil on drums, Laurence Cottle on bass and orchestration by Ben Andrew.
“Deified” marks Iommi’s second joint venture with Xerjoff behind the 2021 fragrance Monkey Special, which was also accompanied by an instrumental song called “Scent of Dark.” “I’m really excited about our new perfume and after the success of our last one [Monkey Special],
I hope that you’ll like “Deified” as much as I do,” Iommi said in a statement. “We’ve gone through the same process of trying different samples of perfume over the last year until we came up with this one, and I really like it.”
Guitar, Producer – Tony Iommi Keyboards, Producer – Mike Exeter Drums – Karl Brazil Bass – Laurence Cottle Orchestration – Ben Andrew
Sliding between the bodies in the street, cutting across the contrails that bisect our sky, Wand find melody and the anxiety beats as they hum the soundtrack for a new gravitational center. Seeking connections against the plan of niche interest and anonymity, Vertigo is the sound of slippage, rocks of contradiction (in soft focus); feet lost, regained, lost again, a multi-chromatic swaying, more automatic, associative, directed, in time.
Wandies – and all conceivable others! New album release bonus offer for the hardcore among yer: now, you can Turn On, Turn Off, and Tune Into the Vertigo Bundle – your choice of format on the new Wand record (LP-CD-or-CS),
Wand’s album “Vertigo” out on Drag City Records on July 26th 2024,
The Fat Angel Sings 