The Fat Angel Sings

“Elephant” – the duo’s heavy-hitting 2003 garage-rock masterpiece that unleashed rock’s last truly world-conquering riff.

On their fourth album and first for a major label, The White Stripes distilled all of the elements of their raw and electrifying combination of punk, blues and garage-rock into 14 shots of dark spirit that became their definitive statement.

Driven by minimalist drums, the manic yelp of angst in Jack White’s voice and the unpredictable menace of an extraordinary palette of visceral guitar sounds, this time ’round the duo adorned their sound with the addition of piano, keyboards, extra vocals, harmony parts, White’s archtop-plus-Whammy masquerading as bass, and a tendency towards the weird. But while their sound veered restlessly between twee and childlike and punitive and punky, it was always more about what they left out than what they added in.

Their cultivated minimalist ethos extended to recording the record in just over two weeks in London’s Toe Rag Studio, where none of the equipment was manufactured after 1963: the liner notes proclaim that “no computers were used during the writing, recording, mixing and mastering of this record.”

Jack White referred to “Elephant” as his “guitar album”. Even leaving aside that riff for a minute, the rest of “Elephant” is teeming with wild, combative guitar playing courtesy of White’s Airline ‘JB Hutto’ Res-O-Glass through an EHX Big Muff Pi then a DigiTech Whammy, and Fender Twin and Silvertone 1485 amps: some of it smuggling evil intent behind a sheen of disarming innocence, some of it unvarnished and confessional; yet more channelling the demons of the Delta.

“Black Math” is unadulterated, greasy sleaze; its solo is satisfyingly batshit crazy. On “There’s No Home For You Here”, White’s guitar delights in vandalising the song’s comically overwrought Queen-like vocal harmonies with a six-string spraycan of feedback and fuzz.

Even in gentler moments, rage is never far away: “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself’” string rakes and split-second howls of feedback are like a ball of barely suppressed anger, finally released in a frenzy of dirty fuzz in its final minute.

But “Ball And Biscuit’” backdrop of out-and-out blues bravado is where Jack White finally succumbs to the lure of full-fledged guitar solos, peeling off three startlingly chaotic, animalistic soundscapes that foreshadow the abrasive Whammy-smeared soloing antics of his later records.

Contrasts abound as the album stretches out: where “The Hardest Button To Button’s” clever riff is a perfectly formed, precision-tooled earworm (with Michel Gondry’s video turning its rhythm into a playful stop-motion-style movie), “Little Acorn” is a slab of dumb-downed edge-of-breakdown riffery ushered in by a self-help story about a determined squirrel: “Give it a whirl, be like the squirrel,” White urges us, before “Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine” stuttering killswitch-mimicking solo offers a final shot of his relentless, manic lead style.

But it’s “Seven Nation Army”, the album’s opener and lead single, that overshadowed the album as a whole to quickly become the band’s signature song. A winner of a Grammy for Best Rock Song, its almighty riff has been adopted as sport’s unofficial anthem and called the “second-best-known guitar phrase in popular music” (after (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction).

Recorded on White’s early-60s Kay K6533 hollowbody tuned to open A for slide, even though the song is in the key of E, its ‘bassline’ was created using the Whammy’s octave-down setting. White wrote it while soundchecking in Australia in a hotel while on tour. Unbelievably, when he played it to Ben Swank of Third Man Records, the label executive felt that White “could do better”; White initially vowed to save the riff for if he ever had the chance to write a Bond theme, but thankfully he didn’t wait to unleash it – although he even had to persuade his labels to release the song as the album’s first single.

At least some of his muso friends appreciated it, as we see in this scene from It Might Get Loud; and its creator remains delighted that the riff has taken on a life of its own.

“[It] makes me feel proud that I was a conduit and antenna at one moment in time for other people to help express themselves,” White told the Detroit Free Press. “The less people know where it came from, the more it is ingrained in the tradition of folk music; and the more it feels anonymous to the public, the more I’m fulfilled as a songwriter.”

On release, “Elephant’s” ambitious and playful blend of contradictions thrilled most critics, but left some dismissing it as a variation on a winning but limited formula, and others frustrated at how knowingly contrived it all was.

Regardless, the album transformed the emergent White Stripes into world-renowned rock stars and saviours of rock, whether that status suited them or not. Readers of Mojo voted it top in a poll of albums that ‘shook the last 20 years’ in 2013 – and it bears repeating that since “Seven Nation Army” stomped all over our brains, no guitar record has had such a universal impact.

The White Stripes, “Elephant” (2003, XL)

• Jack White, guitars, vocals, piano, mixing, production
• Meg White, drums, vocals
• Holly Golightly, vocals

In honour of the 20th Anniversary of “Elephant”, The White Stripes are celebrating with two special releases! Largely recorded over two weeks in April 2002 at London’s analogue Toe Rag Studios, the Grammy award winning album includes “Seven Nation Army,” “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself,” “The Hardest Button To Button,” and “There’s No Home For You Here”.

“Elephant (Deluxe)” is out via Third Man Records and sees the remastered HD audio of the original studio album joined with the band’s July 2nd, 2003 27-song set at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom from their “Elephant” Tour.

A limited edition 2xLP version of the original album will be released on Red Smoke (1st LP) & Clear with Red & Black Smoke (2nd LP) coloured vinyl released on Friday, April 21st.

After more than a decade as a fixture in Philadelphia’s musical scene, Meg Baird returns to its warm and loving embrace, and more, this May. With the release of her latest solo offering “Furling” in October and a west coast run already under her belt, Meg Baird is headed back to the Atlantic–this time with esteemed duo Damon & Naomi! Since the demise of Galaxie 500, Damon & Naomi have worked as a duo, exploring folk music, psychedelia, and collaborations with like-minded musicians. No stranger to allied partnership herself, Baird will perform not only her own solo sets but joint performances with Damon & Naomi.

Of this exciting combination, Damon Krukowski writes: “We love Meg the person and we love Meg the singer and we love Meg’s new album! Psyched to be doing these shows together, first in a while for us and can’t think of a better way to reenter the rhythm of performing than to be with a friend. Naomi and Meg have collaborated previously, on two videos together – and did you know both Meg and I like to play drums…and Charlie Saufley will be joining Meg with electric guitar? So you never know what we might all cook up to do together while we have the chance. “

“Furling” moves through the breadth of Meg’s musical fascinations and the environments around them – edges of memory, daydreams spanning years, loose ends, divergent paths, secret conversations under stars – all led by a stirring, singular voice calling experience and enlightenment, elation, and ecstasy into bloom.

“Furling” by Meg Baird, out on LP/CD/Digital on January 27th, 2023 on Drag City.

In May of 1996, with a handful of releases under their belts, the kings of the insanity sound, then known simply as: The Champs, began recording their magnum opus, “III”. This time their sights were set beyond the still diminutive cassette format and trained squarely on a gatefold double album — the perfect medium for Total Music  Over the next year, in between touring up and down the west coast, the band began to moold their Kubrickian monolith.

In May of 1997, after lugging a console, tape machines, speakers and a smattering of outboard gear up three flights of stairs, the band mixed the album in the bedroom of a third floor apartment, directly overlooking the 280 freeway. Ultimately, the eclectic San Francisco label, Frenetic, took the plunge and generously emptied their modest coffers to fund the manufacture of “III”, which was released under the legally distinct band name: C4AM95.

After the release of “III”, The Champs continued to tour the US, embarking on (and completing) six tours before the turn of the millennium. It was at this point the powers that be at Drag City International realized they could sit on the sidelines no longer and committed to release the band’s aptly titled follow-up, “IV”. However, one obstacle stood in the band’s way to global dissemination of Total Music : the seemingly benign moniker they had saddled themselves with so many years earlier. After much discussion and consultation with The Oracle, it was determined that adding the supplemental “Fucking” to The Champs name would clear up any confusion regarding another band of the same name from the 1950’s and provide lasting legal indemnification.

For this special 26th anniversary edition of “III”, the album was remastered by the band from the original master tapes, lacquers expertly cut by John Golden and artwork restored by forensic experts at Drag City. Long sought after on eBay, Discogs and the like, this will be the first time that this master stroke of musicality will be made widely available.

Listen to the first taste of “III”, “Dale Bozzio”, and pre-order your double LP for May 26th! on Drag City Records

The Telescopes issue their 15th album marks a complete change in dynamics; here we have the poetry of motion, solid grooves to the fore, leaving crystallised trails across a fluttering undercurrent of uplifting rhythm and hooks.

Lawrie’s voice, usually treated as an instrument equal to the rest of the sound now takes the reins, engaging the listener in a melodic swirl of radiant harmony that speaks, sometimes in a whisper, of love as revolution. every song on the album stands its ground, each one unique. everything from the composition to the performance, arrangements and production are leaps beyond previous offerings. this is an album to get lost in on the dance floor or headphones in equal measures.

The Telescopes are an all embracing concern that began in 1987, the only constant being sole composer/ instigator, northumbrian born Stephen Lawrie. “Of Tomorrow” is the 15th album from the Telescopes, the fifth for Tapete.

The album was created entirely by Lawrie at his studio in Shropshire, it is a departure from what the press often refer to as a ’wall of throb’ when describing the dense merge of noise and sound synonymous with most of the telescopes output.

releases May 19th, 2023 via Tapete Records

Chroma are one of Wales’s best-kept secrets, this fearsome Welsh three-piece have been producing righteous bilingual noise pop for the last few years, powered by visceral guitars, pummeling drums and Katie Hall’s powerhouse vocal performances. Now they’ve signed to Alcopop! Records, and shared their new single ‘Don’t Mind Me’ It also serves as the first taste of their forthcoming debut album, due out later in 2023. Laced with chunky fuzzy bar chords, and twitchy drums, it serves as a platform for Katie’s incendiary vocals that chart her struggles with mental health, magnifying her personal experiences and raging at the unfairness of the mental health system, it’s a universal struggle and offers an “I’ve been there too” lifeline to many who have suffered with their mental health, especially since lockdown. “Oh my head is hazardous!” she exclaims over this most explosive chorus, ‘Don’t Mind Me’ hits hard in more ways than one! Katie Hall: “Don’t Mind Me” is about my personal struggles with my mental health.

When we started Chroma, writing lyrics quickly became one of my main outlets to process my feelings. The song is about recognising when you’re in a spiral and trying to catch yourself. Also, I wanted the lyric ‘Don’t mind me I’m just having a breakdown’ to help people who are feeling isolated feel like they’re not alone. When I’m going through a rough patch, I always turn to music to make me feel better. I want people who are going through something, whatever it is, to listen to the song and feel seen.”The track arrives ahead of the band’s appearances at SXSW in Texas, which include a slot on the Focus Wales showcase on March 16th, and the Alcopop! Records showcase the following day.

Debut album is coming via Alcopop! Records in 2023

Vocalist and guitarist with the Los Angeles’ psychedelic rock band, Wand – has announced his third solo album, “Western Cum”. It will be out on June 28th via Drag City. Hanson produced the album himself, and it also features his brother, Casey, on bass, drummer Evan Backer, and pedal steel player Tyler Nuffer.

The first single from the upcoming album is ‘Housefly’. And it’s a cracker. Bringing readily, and very happily to mind Crazy Horse’s 1971 debut album – in particular, the song ‘Downtown’ – ‘Housefly’ is a bright, breezy, rollicking country-rocker that springs right out of the traps, full-to-bursting with feeling and groove. The western themes of Cory’s previous “Pale Horse Rider”, made flesh in the form of an electric band, lashed with gleaming guitar strings to tracks whose gnarled, proggy path only climes to the top of the listener’s Compulsion Index. From steel to synth, from old-school ballad to nu hardcore and ambient, Cory Hanson and band run the table of modern rocks.

For fans of ragged, sagging but melodic amp death…Cory from psych-rock beasts WAND is back with a solo gem.

After finding an old 60’s amp in a guitar store Cory has been inspired to release an album of glassy chimes and torn speaker roughness all iced by his Young-esque vocal melodies.

“Housefly” is from “Western Cum”, available on LP/CS/CD/Digital on June 23rd, 2023, from Drag City Records.

Chicago’s Slow Pulp recently signed to ANTI- Records and have shared a new single, ‘Cramps‘, Big-hearted scuffed up noise pop, that’s dynamics hints at bands from the ’90s like Celebrity Skin era Hole but keeps its eyes firmly fixed on the horizon. Fuzzy riff trailed, barrelling percussion and fists aloft chorus lines, it’s both exultant yet also about searching for more in your partner, the anthemic squall of singer Emily Massey’s “I want everything” scream, is kickass; I love this!

“The song came out of a jam at practice right after I had proclaimed that my period cramps were particularly bad that day,” the group’s Emily Massey said in a statement. “It is about searching for things you wish you had in other people and creating this character in your head that has all the physical and emotional attributes you feel that you are lacking.”

Slow Pulp are about to head out on a European tour with Death Cab For Cutie, and then they’ll be opening for the Pixies stateside in May.  

Life’s full of complicated decisions, supporting Slow Pulp isn’t one of them. A great track that straddles the line between making you want to bust out on the one hand, but also contemplate where you’re at and where you’re going on the other.

Slow Pulp released their debut album ‘Moveys’ in late 2020, “a record that is packed with a thousand deft little flourishes of texture which together add up to a deeply entrancing whole,” said NME. It was not crafted quickly; Massey moved home to Wisconsin during the album’s writing process after a trifecta of issues arose: the COVID pandemic, a Lyme disease diagnosis and a car accident her parents were in that required her help in getting them back on their feet. Slowly but surely her health improved, and the band was able to collaborate in a new way and click into place.  

released February 27th, 2023

Written by Slow Pulp

“Manzanita” is the common name for a kind of small evergreen tree endemic to California which has strong medicinal properties. It’s also the name of the brand new full length by visual artist, writer, songwriter, and musician Shana Cleveland. “This is a supernatural love album set in the California wilderness,” Cleveland explains. The combinations of words and song structure are so strong throughout that one hardly notices Cleveland’s nimble fingerpicking on first listen, or how much is packed into the arrangements. The lyrics are satisfyingly direct, with the buoyantly whimsical descriptions typical of the 1960s New York School of poetry. It’s peppered with the kind of unexpected turns that make the words more modern, and in their spookiness they are more West Coast, Cleveland says:

This is a love album that’s somehow populated with the insect world, ghosts, and evil spirits. Sonically, “Manzanita” sits in a meadow similar to her previous solo records, set back and away from the genre-recombinant garage pop of her band La Luz. This is part due to the fact that there’s a different sonic palette in use here. While Cleveland continues to play guitar and vocals; Abbey Blackwell (Alvvays, La Luz) play the bass; Will Sprott plays the keyboards, dulcimer, glockenspiel, and harpsichord—little of which would have been out of place on her previous two solo records—Sprott also adds layers of synthesizer infused with the sounds of the natural world. 

Shana Cleveland performing live in the KEXP studio. Recorded February 8th, 2023.

Songs: Quick Winter Sun Faces In The Firelight A Ghost Walking Through Morning Dew

Shana Cleveland – Guitar / Vocals Will Sprott – Keyboards / Vocals Chris Icasiano – Drums Abbey Blackwell – Bass

Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles has released a cover of the Stones’ “Under My Thumb” from her upcoming album, “The Deep End”.

The covers LP, which was produced by Peter Asher, features 13 songs made famous by the Stones, Squeeze and Leslie Gore, as well as more recent artists like Billie Eilish, Ed Sheeran and Brandy Clark. “The Deep End” will be released on April 7th, just a few days after Hoffs publishes her debut novel, This Bird Has Flown.

“I’ve listened to that song on repeat since it came out in the mid-’60s,” Hoffs said in a press release. “I had an epiphany when I really thought about what the song is about, and it ignited this idea to do my own spin on it — to change the gender and see how it felt. What if the roles are/were reversed and the boy is under her thumb? It was exhilarating to give it a new spin, to flip it on its head, or on its ass. It’s a sassy, irreverent song, so it was extremely pleasurable to turn the tables.”

Backing the Bangles co-founder on the track are famous sidemen, guitarist Waddy Wachtel, bassist Leland Sklar, drummer Russ Kunkel and backing singer Ledisi, plus Jeff Alan Ross on vibes and a string quartet arranged by Steve Aho.

Baroque Folk Records Released on: 2023-03-08