The Fat Angel Sings

Gemma Laurence is a indie folk artist from the coast of Maine, now based in Brooklyn. Her debut LP “Crooked Heart” came out in 2019, The American folkie Gemma Laurence makes a deep impression on her latest release “Lavender” with intimate and emotional folk songs and beautiful vocals, but also dares to colour outside the lines with special sounds

Gemma Laurence’s “Lavender” starts as a standard folk album with acoustic guitar, banjo and a beautiful voice, but as the album progresses, the American musician shows that she is not a standard folkie. Gemma Laurence’s voice is not only exceptionally beautiful, but she also interprets her personal songs with great feeling. Furthermore, in the often very atmospheric instrumentation she occasionally looks for adventure, making “Lavender” much more than the umpteenth folk album of the moment. The more I listen to it, the more impressive this album becomes. “Lavender” could just be one of the big surprises of 2022.

released November 4th 2022

Behind the name Brimheim lies Helena Heinesen Rebensdorff. The Danish musician was born in the Faroe Islands, but now lives in Copenhagen. With can’t hate myself into a different shape Helena Heinesen Rebensdorff has delivered a very personal album. It is an album on which psychological problems are central, making Brimheim’s debut album a dark coloured album.

Brimheim is active in a genre in which it has been crowded in recent years and in which it is gradually becoming really overcrowded, but with “can’t hate myself into a different shape”, the Danish musician have made an above average good album. Brimheim impresses in several ways on her debut album.

The debut album of the Danish musician Brimheim it is an interesting album that can go along with the best within indie rock and indie pop. Also in 2022, piles of albums by young female singer-songwriters appeared again with a penchant for some melancholic indie pop and indie rock. Saturation is now firmly lurking, but it would be a shame if this were at the expense of the music of the Brimheim. The debut is now almost a year old, but can’t hate myself into a different shape is an album that still deserves all the attention. Helena Heinesen Rebensdorff’s alter ego has made a personal and dark album, but her songs can sound surprisingly accessible and at the same time stimulate the imagination. Special album.

To start with, I really like her vocals on the album. Helena Heinesen Rebensdorff sings mainly whisper-soft, but nevertheless brings a lot of variation to her vocals. Certainly in the somewhat supercooled passages, the vocals on can’t hate myself into a different shape are close to those of Phoebe Bridgers, but Helena Heinesen Rebensdorff can also sing a lot more powerfully and expressively and then has a clear sound of her own.

The beautiful voice is one of Brimheim’s strongest weapons, but as mentioned, there is more. Also musically can’t hate myself into a different shape is an interesting album. Brimheim’s music has the spatial and darkness that characterizes so many Scandinavian albums, but the copenhagen musician’s debut album is also an adventurous and versatile album.

Brimheim’s music is often relatively sobre and atmospheric, but a number of tracks on the album are much fuller. Brimheim’s song therefore covers the entire spectrum from Scandinavian ice princess music to the more exuberant indie pop and indie rock as it has been made a lot in recent years, especially in the United States.

released January 28th, 2022

Baltimore trio Pinkshift are very much at the forefront of that movement. Signed to pop-punk heavyweights Hopeless Records, the trio are smack bang in the middle of a scene infamous for its dominant white-male perspective. They fit in perfectly, while also shaking things up drastically. “Love Me Forever” is the band’s debut album, which arrives after last year’s “Saccharine” EP. Like that release, these 12 songs bristle with raw personal emotion, all within the context of the greater world at large and the various systems in place that have held people of color back—particularly in America—for centuries. 

That’s all conveyed through lyrics about anxiety, depression, insecurity, and heartbreak—to name just a few of the subjects that vocalist Ashrita Kumar tackles across the album. Whether they’re spitting out rageful defiance, as on blistering opener “i’m not crying you’re crying,” or unconvincing, ironic affirmations as on “cherry (we’re all gonna die),” the vocalist packs generations of trauma into their voice, but channels them into their own specific experiences. It’s the same with the sneering animosity of “Trust Fall” (“I really hate you,” Kumar sings over an urgent melody courtesy of guitarist Paul Vallejo and drummer Myron Houngbedji, “but you’re just a mirror of the past”), the breakneck blast of “Burn The Witch” and the stirring riffs of “Cinderella.”

A mix of punk, post-hardcore, grunge, as well as pop—at times, there are undeniable nods to No Doubt at their most visceral here—“Love Me Forever” is a stunning burst of influences and experiences, all of which coalesce in a swirling swathe of anger and injustice, not least on brutal penultimate track “let me drown.” Yet beneath it all, there’s also a real vulnerability, too. Just listen to the lyrics of the title track, or if that’s not obvious enough, “in a breath”—the gentle but powerful piano ballad that slows everything down right in the middle of the record. Regardless of the statement it makes within a racially homogenized scene, this is a phenomenal album. Taking that into account makes it utterly indispensable.

In March, Long Island, New York’s Oso Oso (Jade Lilitri) released “Sore Thumb”, one of our favorite albums of the mid-year. The emo mastermind now returns with “De Facto” a troubled love song featuring propulsive drums from Jordan Krimston. Lilitri airs out feelings of guilt (“Violent eyes did it again / Lost my way, path less taken”) and defeat (“This familiar slope, are we headed there? / And if I’m being real, I just don’t care / what happens anymore / I laid my shit out on the floor”), but the song’s defining emotion is the kind of love to which all those headaches pale in comparison. “When you’re not near, I feel nothing at all,” Lilitri punctuates each chorus, each word somehow hookier and more melodic than the last.

He takes a quick solo, then breaks the song down to nothing but Krimston’s racing beat and a lone guitar, singing, as if from a distance, about a dream where he “fell through the TV screen / The change was small, nothing really new / Still reciting lines with everyone but you.” It’s a characteristically irresistible Oso Oso song about the kind of connection that matters most. 

“sore thumb” wasn’t supposed to exist as it does. But when Jade Lilitri, the brainchild behind the beloved Long Island emo project Oso Oso, lost his cousin/guitarist/creative partner Tavish Maloney, who had been helping him record new tracks in 2021, he felt compelled to put them out — no changes necessary. It diverges from the band’s power pop to be a bit more subtle and strange, but the hooks still arrive, and do so exuberantly. Ultimately, it rages with Lilitri’s sweet, bro-y motto that Oso Oso’s become known for: that nothing will ever be better for the soul than hanging out with your friends. Kick back, pour one (a gatorade, obviously!) out, and let the inside jokes (and maybe a few tears) roll. 

Released on: 2022-10-04

I’ve been obsessed with the runaway rogue narrative of Ethel Cain since I heard her single ‘Crush’ at the end of 2021. After playing her EP, “Inbred”, on repeat, I was thrilled to see that the American songwriter was releasing her debut album, “Preacher’s Daughter”, this year.

Permeated by a palpable sense of lust, her evocative lyrics, reverb-heavy instrumentation and stunning vocals make for truly divine listening. From opening track ‘Family Tree (Intro)’, through to the sultry ‘Gibson Girl’ and stunning ‘Ptolemaea’, it’s the most sensual of sermons that absolutely sets my cells on fire every time I listen to it.

Hayden Anhedönia, also known by her stage name Ethel Cain, uses Cain as a precautionary tale about the effects that familial and religious pressure can cause on a person’s outlook on love and acceptance, and the dark path that trauma can lead a person down, which, as “Preacher’s Daughter” demonstrates, often has dire consequences.

“Preacher’s Daughter” conjures images of endless Midwestern plains, sweet tea, scorned housewives, and empty Southern church pews, save for one woman looking for salvation. With the record, singer-songwriter Ethel Cain created a gorgeous, tragic world that both looks lovingly, but also with disdain, at Americana. At times, she goes pop (“American Teenager”), and others, she taps into her goth and rock influences (“Family Tree,” “Gibson Girl”), and even hymns (“Sun Bleached Flies”), all to tell the story of the character Ethel Cain’s journey on the road, only to die at the hands of a cannibalistic killer.

Throughout it all, she’s as vulnerable as she was on the second floor of that “house in Nebraska.” It’s an album that’s sure to go down as a modern classic in American gothic. 

Seeing Ethel Cain perform live at Heaven earlier this month was also an experience I will never forget. Long live Mother Cain.

The Senders are the great lost band of New York Punk. Begun in 1976, they were peers of all the early legends – Ramones, Blondie, Heartbreakers, etc. Their brand of dangerous sidewinder r&b, with a twist of rockabilly, shook the rafters at CBGB and Max’s Kansas City…” 

The New York rockers The Senders are one of the great unheralded outfits to emerge from the punk scene, and it’s hard to tell whether their relative obscurity was a purposeful move or pure bad luck. While their compatriots the New York Dolls and the Heartbreakers were snagging major label deals and international tours, the Senders stayed put and stayed under the radar.

The folks in the know, however, grok what the rest of the known universe has been missing, which might be one reason why Left For Dead Records put together this double LP compilation that plucks from the group’s slim discography and slaps a truly juicy morsel on the fourth side. Leading up to that last disc flip are a spectacular assortment of rip-snorting originals, choice R&B and blues covers and the complete “Seven Song Super Single” recorded for Max’s Kansas City’s in-house label.

Rounding out the set is a fierce live recording of the Senders at Max’s in 1978 augmented by former NY Doll Johnny Thunders. The late guitarist’s presence adds some extra juice to the proceedings as they turn lead Sender Phil Marcade’s originals and a cover of Them’s “I Can Only Give You Everything” over under sideways and down.

released November 18th, 2022

No matter how little you come within ear or eye shot of punk rockers Dwarves, it’s not something you easily forget. The Chicago-bred group play with an unrelenting speed and fury, dusting off an album’s worth of paeans to drugs, sex, sex on drugs and other nihilistic concerns in less time than it takes to watch a sitcom without commercials. And they adorn their records with provocative images and titles like the three naked, blood-covered bodies found on the cover of 1990’s “Blood Guts & Pussy”.

To close out the year, Dwarves have begun a reissue campaign of their earlier work, starting with the three albums they recorded for Sub Pop in the early part of the ’90s. The band’s relationship with the label was a fraught one, particularly after they announced the stabbing death of their guitarist HeWhoCannotBeNamed.

It turned out to be a hoax, and Sub Pop cut them loose as a result. Working with the Seattle label did give Dwarves a huge boost sonically as they were able to work with producer Jack Endino on “Blood”, record “Little Girls” at Butch Vig’s Smart Studios and run future Foo Fighters collaborator Bradley Cook through the wringer to make “Sugarfix”.

All three records sound like sharp, swift kicks in the teeth from a pointed boot — all leathery fury and metallic spew — on these new vinyl editions. And with their short original run times, there’s plenty of space on each slab for bonus tracks that don’t feel or sound squeezed in.

Merge Records is thrilled to release the 35th anniversary edition of “Neurotica”, the 1987 power pop and alternative rock opus by Redd Kross. By this point, it seems obvious that classic rock helped influence the bands that would go on to launch the hardcore movement. But in 1987, when the L.A. quartet Redd Kross dove headfirst into power pop and glam with “Neurotica”, it was practically sacrilegious for punks to wear those influences on their sleeve—a move that Sub Pop co-founder Jonathan Poneman considered “really punk.” Redd Kross may have started out in the same scene that incubated the likes of Black Flag and The Circle Jerks, but their unabashed taste for the sweetness of Beatles harmonies and all manner of pop-culture tchotchke may as well have put them in another world.

“Neurotica” could be viewed as a This Is Your Life-esque document of what brothers Jeff & Steve McDonald had been working toward creatively since starting Redd Kross in their Hawthorne, CA living room circa 1978. The songs quake with punk rock fury. And how could they possibly have shaken off the untamed energy of their early Red Cross years which laid a foundation for Southern California hardcore punk and DIY culture. But fury is only part of their formula. To find the other parts, travel back to the ‘70s, when the McDonald boys lived for nothing but Saturday morning cartoons, sugary cereal, bubblegum pop singles, Beach Boys LPs, Partridge Family TV specials and the arena rock guitars of KISS and Cheap Trick.

Whereas most self-respecting punk rockers would have sneered at ‘60s/‘70s radio and pop culture schmaltz (even if they secretly liked it), that was all a tremendous part of the Redd Kross DNA. And the McDonalds wore those influences on their dayglo sleeves. They decontextualized the macho, sometimes saccharine, sound of classic rock, celebrating its bombast without falling into its pretentious pitfalls. They played what sounded good to them. If along the way they could convince you that those David Cassidy AM radio singles were actually great and subversive in their own way, that was just an added bonus. Their technicolor punk rock was first explored on “Teen Babes From Monsanto” in 1984. But “Neurotica” is where the Redd Kross sound gelled into something miraculous. The McDonalds enlisted a grand crew: guitarist Robert Hecker, keyboardist Paul Roessler (Screamers, Nervous Gender) and Roy McDonald on drums (The Muffs). In the producer’s chair was Tom Erdelyi aka Tommy Ramone, one of the originators of punk rock melody. Unshakeable hooks on tracks like “Peach Kelli Pop” inspired rave reviews upon release.

“In an age when too many bands base their music either on calculated career moves or heavy-handed pretentiousness,” the LA Times wrote, “Redd Kross is as breezy as a kiss in the wind, a band born to rock in a world that forgot how.” Decades later, Pitchfork would revisit the album with a glowing review: “Pop culture nostalgia was to Redd Kross what LSD was to the Butthole Surfers; their music was delivered with just as furious a passion, but their love for Beatles-esque pop harmony shone through as much as any punk sensibility, and their Kinks influences, entirely free of irony, served as lyrical substance over their powerful, hi-octane hooks.” Plain and simple, it’s just a fantastic piece of art. Unsurprising that something of this caliber would hatch from the minds of two brothers who changed the face of punk rock before they were old enough to drive a car and the face of alternative rock before they were old enough to rent one.

Produced by original Ramones drummer Tommy Erdelyi, it’s easy to see why “Neurotica” went on to become a cult classic that galvanized groups like The Replacements, Nirvana, Superchunk and others. This version from Merge Records marks the album’s second reissue, and this time it comes with 12 demos that contrast enough with the finished songs that they justify purchasing the album again. Befitting of the music’s spirit and temperament, this new version doesn’t come with liner notes so much as a napkin note from the band’s original A&R rep Geoffrey Weiss, who writes “Neurotica” changed the world, even if it took a little longer than we planned.”

This reissue will be available worldwide on a single CD or colour vinyl 2LP. Both formats include the original album, remastered by JJ Golden (Pearl Jam, Thee Oh Sees), as well as 12 previously unreleased demos from the era

 The Flaming Lips celebrated the 20th-anniversary of their classic 2002 album, “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots”, with the release of an expansive box set that also includes B-sides, demos, remixes, radio sessions, two concerts, and other assorted rarities from the era. The CD set includes over 50 tracks never released and dozens of rare tracks. The LP box set has 40 tracks never released on vinyl and over 30 previously unreleased tracks. “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots: 20th Anniversary Edition” will be available, via Warner Records, on all streaming services and as a 6 CD box set (featuring 100 tracks) released on November 25th to mark the 20th anniversary year.

A 5 LP package (featuring 56 tracks) will land on April 14th, 2023– released later than the CD box set due to the long vinyl production timeline. Additionally, there will be a limited edition D2C exclusive edition of the 20th Anniversary Deluxe 5 LP Vinyl box set pressed on Baby Pink vinyl – also released on April 14th. Over the course of 2023, all the material released in the 6 CD box set will also make their way to vinyl. The two live albums included in the set, and the 25-minute demo “Psychedelic Hypnotist Daydream” will be available as separate vinyl releases. Additionally, the ‘Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell’ and ‘Fight Test EPs’ will be released on vinyl for the first time in Spring 2023.

In other LIPS news, The Flaming Lips “Space Bubble Film” is featured exclusively on The Criterion Channel now. This concert documentary, directed by Wayne Coyne and Blake Studdard chronicles the logistical challenges of putting on a show at the height of the pandemic filmed in the band’s hometown of Oklahoma City in 2020. “The Space Bubble Concerts” would feature both band and audience encased in individual transparent, prophylactic Space Bubbles to insure a Covid-safe live LIPS experience connecting in a in a joyous, safe and socially distanced communal way never tried before.

Originally released in July 2002, “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” remains the commercial high-water mark in The Flaming Lips ‘wild four-decade journey, giving the Grammy award-winners their first RIAA certified Gold Record. As the eagerly awaited follow-up to 1999’s masterwork, “The Soft Bulletin”, “Yoshimi” proved that singer/guitarist Wayne Coyne, and multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd had yet another masterpiece in them.

“Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” is a sci-fi-themed quasi-concept album that cast The Flaming Lips’ most playful and profound songs to date in a wondrous swirl of ambient electronics, digital beats, and psychedelic splendor. The record yielded the band’s top-streamed track, “Do You Realize??” (a timeless stargazing anthem that, in 2009, was named the Official Rock Song of the band’s native Oklahoma) and also landed the Lips their first-ever Grammy Award® win for the cosmic album-closing instrumental Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia).

The 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition provides a complete 360-degree view of the band’s creativity during this period. Several unheard demos show a rare peak at the band’s creative process.

The box set also collects B-sides and outtakes, from epic fan favorites like “Assassination of the Sun” to fun, folky serenades like “Thank You Jack White” (For the Fiber-Optic Jesus You Gave Me). There is also a treasure trove of radio sessions including idiosyncratic overhauls of Pink Floyd’s “Lucifer Sam” and Breathe, Radiohead’s “Knives Out”  and Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head“. In addition, the set includes a lush instrumental version of Do You Realize??, that has been requested by fans to play at both weddings and funerals.

Of special note are the two concert discs, which showcase the two sides of The Flaming Lips’ ever-enlarging brain: the endearing, intimate storytellers (captured in a banter-heavy 2002 private show for a small crowd of radio-contest winners in Boston) and the masters of thundering, confetti-strewn stage spectacle (as heard in an electrifying 2003 performance at The Forum in London). As a whole “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots: 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition” is an essential portrait of rock’s most restlessly creative band at the peak of their powers.