Slow Pulp’s remarkable full-length debut “Moveys” is a testament to hard-fought personal growth. In the process of making their new record, the Chicago-based indie rock band powered through health challenges, personal upheaval, and a pandemic, all while learning how to be better songwriters and friends. Full of blistering energy and emotional catharsis, this compelling 10-track collection highlights the band’s resourcefulness and resilience to come together even when they were states away.
On Stray, the third full-length album from the sneering post-punk trio Bambara, the band is running on a full tank of fears that live inside all of humankind, invite death into the passenger seat with a canister full of kerosene, set the world ablaze, and watch it all burn with a lust as they inch closer and closer to an inevitable end. Since uprooting themselves from Athens to Brooklyn, lead vocalist and guitarist Reid Bateh, drummer Blaze Bateh and bassist William Brookshire have discretely entwined their debonaire southern gothic of their early work under the street lamps of big city streets, but ultimately, it’s the wild and reckless nature that thrives in the Big Apple at nighttime that has truly sparked a fire to ravage through flesh and soul here on their best effort to date yet yet.
Stray is also a modern day blueprint on how to resurrect tired motifs of death into rock music through a spiritual energy that never lets on as cliche. Credit that to Reid Bateh’s wicked hand at storytelling, as he colors Bambara’s hue of darkness with figures often mysterious, dangerous, and capable of a supernatural allure. Alongside his ‘mates, they splatter the canvas of their sound with their own blood as well as those they encounter. He does this all with damaged detail, like on “Miracle” where his muse writhes around a pole between the rolling bombast of brass and white hot neon in sleazy pace that feels like One Eyed Jacks’s doppelganger. On the full throttle trinity of “Heat Lightning”, “Serafina” and “Ben & Lily”, Bambara find bad company that adds an accelerant to their mix, surfing unhinged on razorblade riffs and pressing down the gas pedal in a way that bites into vice akin to their UK peers Idles.
When Bambara leaves nothingness to smoulder, the results can render a duality in their violent romanticism, be it heavently (”Made for Me”) or full of fire and brimstone (“Machete”.) Maybe it is the Devil who should be asking Bambara what he desires in exchange for whatever they’re harnessing, because as Stray professes, any work that finds its way through the shadows and can stare death straight in the eyes without flinching is on the level of some kind of unholy godliness.
The album, Stray (out on Feb. 14 via Wharf Cat Records),
We are happy to welcome Knot to Exploding In Sound Records with the announcement of their self titled debut LP, due out August 28th. The band is made up of our familiar friends Jonah Furman, Aaron Ratoff, Ian Becker (all of Krill) and guitarist Joe DeManuelle-Hall. In simple terms Knot is a bigger, more ruminative version of Krill, but it’s also something that’s distinct unto itself. And on the band’s debut album it’s easy to see that Knot has a perspective all its own. You can hear the first single “Foam” from the upcoming album
Releases August 28th, 2020 The Band Members
Jonah Furman: Vocals, Guitar
Joe Demanuelle-Hall: Guitar
Aaron Ratoff: Bass, Guitar (4, 9)
Ian Becker: Drums
Recorded by Julian Fader and Carlos Hernandez at The Honey Jar, Brooklyn, NY.
Brooklyn band Activity (which includes members of Grooms, Russian Baths and Field Mouse) released their terrific debut album, Unmask Whoever, back in March and have made a new video for one of its standout cuts, “Violent and Vivisect.” The video was shot in all four members’ homes during this time of coronavirus isolation and was put together mimicking the artwork for the album. “Our record coming out in the early stages of this quarantine put our release show and tour on hold,” says guitarist Jess Reese. “We had a lot of extra musical energy with nowhere to go. We can video chat to stay in touch, but playing tunes together over the web has technological limitations – the slightest time delay makes it impossible in real time. We play off each other, listening and responding as we go. It’s really illuminating how communicative and interactive we can be as musicians, even without using a single word. Anyway, we made this video. Each of us alone, in our apartments in New York and Philadelphia. Selfie mode engaged. Looking forward to a time when this is in our past and we can reconvene.” That video premieres in this post and you can watch that, and listen to the album,
Find yourself exhausted by the brand of vibe-y instrumentals and confessional song writing that permeates much of today’s popular music? You should check out the spooky avant-garde quartet Activity. Their eerie, minimal guitar-based orchestrations will drop you into an unearthly dwelling place, but their lyrics, often softly spoken or sung, are underscored by biting human truth. Activity features members of Grooms, Field Mouse and Russian Baths, and their debut album, Unmask Whoever, came out on March 27th via Western Vinyl.
Jess Zoë and Steve Travis Debut album ‘Unmask Whoever’ out now on Western Vinyl released March 27th, 2020 ,
Hand Habits, in partnership with Saddle Creek Records and Bandcamp, will be donating all of the profits raised from the EP to the Amazon Conservation Association, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, that has been protecting the Western Amazon for almost 20 years.
“Being a touring musician 8 months out of the year, you are exposed to a lot of varying degrees of climate change effects in a short period of time. From the gasoline that’s used to fuel touring vehicles, to the massive amount of plastic waste at the end of every show, to the carbon emissions released into the air by all the travel, it’s often not the most environmentally conscious career. I wanted to contribute, even if in a small way, to the efforts at work by the people at the Amazon Conservation Association for being dedicated to preserving such a vast and heartbreakingly crucial part of our ecosystem that has been threatened by wildfires, deforestation, and the effects of climate change.
I believe that writing and performing music can be a healing force, used for good, and not always for capitalizing on emotions and commodifying a personality or lifestyle. People need to be able to relate to each other, in times of joy, and especially in times of sorrow or struggle. The Wildfire Compilation, in partnership with Bandcamp and Saddle Creek, will be donating all of it’s funds raised to the ACA in hopes to lend a helping hand to those on the front lines of fighting climate change in places that may seem inaccessible to those of us unable to travel at length.
I chose 5 artists, Tara Jane O’Neil, Lomelda, John Andrews, Angel Olsen, and Kacey Johansing to interpret and cover my song “wildfire” that I wrote during the California Wildfires in 2017. All of these artists are dear friends and have all taught me a lot about the complexity of emotions in music.”
We only need to hear the opening, warped guitar lines of “Deep Web” to find ourselves lifted out of our chairs and taken to somewhere far more glamorous and unhurried. Given that we first covered the track back in February of 2015, it’s no mean feat that it still retains such a sense of glowing magic and it remains a key component of MagicPotion’s debut album, which followed this year via Stockholm’s ever-engaging PNKSLM label.
Handily, for both us and them, such pleasantries weren’t only savoured for that track, and across this record the band deliver a multitude of utterly delightful guitar-pop songs that hang in the air like the summer’s most fascinating breeze. Led by the delightfully soft croon of a voice, the Stockholm-based quartet make good on their early promise, delivering a collection of songs that simmer, glow, and grab in all the right places. “Golden Power” is exactly that, a spirited message delivered with all the languidness we’ve come to expect, while “Jelly” rivals “DeepWeb” for their most endearing moment, drifting effortlessly and captivatingly through dreamy guitar lines and a sumptuous atmosphere that will slow your day down to a crawl, no matter what situation you find yourself in.
The Buoys are giving us some real gig envy with their seventh new single “WAH” and its cathartic music video. The track is our first taste of their upcoming EP All This Talking Gets Us Nowhere (out July 10).
Making the most of the COVID-19 restrictions this punk-fuelled group of girls combined some of their favourite snippets from the recent festival season to present the track to us, whilst we impatiently wait for the world to press play on live music again. WAH is one of their many of their belters . Vocalist Zoe Catterall sums up the track with her words: “WAH speaks to the fact that capitalist ideology is why we’re told we can do anything whilst also being the largest obstacle in reaching whatever success we desire.” Catterall’s to-the-point chorus line sums up her statement perfectly well with the bellowed lyrics, “I don’t want to just be another number/ I don’t want to just be a part of you” and it’s seriously edgy.
But if the girls’ chaotic anthem-like vibe isn’t for you, skip forward to 1:10 to hear guitarist Hilary Geddes making her mark in the track with an absolutely beautiful breakdown – if you’re needing just a little bit of a time out. It’s an ultimate highlight of the track which completely changes its mood for about 18 seconds before returning quickly to some familiar quick and shouty words to close it off. It may be a little bit loud for the bedroom, but we can’t wait to be amongst the crowd for this one.
Video for “WAH” shot across various shows at the end of 2019/start of 2020 by April Josie. Edited by April Josie. Locations include Festival of the Sun, Farmer and the Owl, Fairgrounds, Party in the Paddock, Taronga Zoo. The Buoys single “WAH” out now via Spunk Records
In just a few years, Fremantle four-piece Spacey Jane have gone from playing small local shows to selling out tours across the country, starring on massive festival line ups Now after a series of well-received EPs and singles the indie-rockers are unveiling their debut album Sunlight. It’s the kind of first record you’d hope your fave new band would deliver. Building on the immediate charms of previously released singles – like ‘Good For You’, ‘Good Grief’, and ‘Head Cold’ – it’s an album brimming with glistening hooks and choruses you can imagine belting out in big venues and festival fields.
Fronted by singer/guitarist Caleb Harper’s distinctive voice and introspective lyrics, Sunlight balances breezy-sounding songs with emotional weight and heft. It might not reinvent the wheel, but it’s easily one of the smoothest indie rock rides you’ll enjoy from an Aussie guitar band this year.
“The feelings that overran my head were in the songs before I could stop them and I didn’t see the point in hiding it,” frontman Caleb Harper said, Given the maturity of the song writing on Spacey Jane’s Sunlight, you’d be forgiven for thinking the group are 20 years into their tenure rather than around 20 years into their lives.
Following the Western Australia’s group’s 2019 breakout BIGSOUND appearance, there couldn’t have been more buzz around their debut album. Fast forward some nine months and Sunlight is more than fitting of its hype. Spacey Jane have the potential to be our next big indie export so if you’re not already on them, take this as your warning.
Spacey Jane? More like “really good band,” am I right? An amazing group of people with amazing tunes and an amazing live set (bonus points for a very aesthetically pleasing collection of guitars). It’s always a pleasure to catch Spacey’s chirpy indie-rock bangers live and we’re really looking forward to witnessing the world domination that is surely coming their way.
A few months ago we shot a video for Good Grief and had a total blast doing it. But, sometimes things get delayed, and the tapes got held up for a coupla months at German customs. We’re stoked to finally get this out there, better late than never we reckon!
Spacey Jane have the potential to be Australia’s next big indie export, As most bands do, Caleb, Kieran, Ashton and Peppa came together through blooming friendships and lucky connections. A few jams later, the bond was cemented and the debut gig in Caleb’s dad’s backyard kicked it all off. In the year that followed, Freo’s very own garage pop outfit Spacey Jane went from backyards to bright lights, sharing the stage with the likes of Car Seat Headrest, Nothing But Thieves, Alex Lahey, The Jungle Giants & more, As you’d expect of an album titled Sunlight, there’s a summery sheen to everything. Affable melodies and jangling guitars are lounged in with warm back-up vocals and the occasional sparkling synth part. Even when they up the tempo, leaning into their wiry energy on ‘Good For You’ or the bouncing ‘Weightless’,
The Lemon Twigs seem to be a band whose bodies are in 2017 but their hearts and minds seem happiest in the past. BrianandMichel D’Addario lead the group and are joined by Danny Ayala (keyboard) and Megan Zeankowski (bass). In every feature and article written about The Lemon Twigs there is that consensus: they are certainly a little odd. Modern music, and music in past years, seems too safe, sanitised and predictable in many ways. The introduction of the quirky and quixotic band, a duo in the studio but band when playing live, is a breath of fresh air to the Green Room of music – a band that evoke blissful memories and extract a deep-down sensual sigh from the listener. Comparisons have been made with the band and two legendary names: The Beatles and Beach Boys.
The harmonies and 1960s Pop magic of the Liverpool legends and sun-kissed harmonies of Brian Wilson and co. are staples The Lemon Twigs employ – they update the music of both and provide their distinct spin on events.
Photographs of the brothers D’Addario, in some, evoke cynicism and strange remarks. One sees shots of them and gets a combination of hipster-gone-wrong and Billie-Ray-Cyrus-fed-through-a-blender-of last-minute-shopping-mall-clothes-shopping – the unmistakable whiff of mullet into the agenda. The boys’ talent is astonishing, though: considering they are still in their teens it makes their mature, accomplished and astonishingly ambitious music all the more unlikely and unparalleled. In a music world where similar-aged musicians, for the most part, write of indiscretions, love lives and anxieties: The Lemon Twigs are a much more sophisticated, glass-half-full kind of proposition.
All of these components go into the band’s music: you cannot hear one of their songs and be uninvolved or not register any reaction. The D’Addarios dad released some albums in the late-1970s and his musical talent, throw in the fact he was a multi-instrumentalist and producer extraordinaire, has been passed onto his sons – a genetic gift that beats diabetes or a receding hairline. The debut album from The Lemon Twigs, “Do Hollywood”, was met with critical acclaim with many saying the same thing: not only is there nobody out there like The Lemon Twigs but the sheer wonder, intensity and talent or display is audacious. Their best work may be ahead of them but there are not many debuts that are as transfixing, beguiling and nuanced as their debut release “Do Hollywood”. I have mentioned The Lemon Twigs being a ‘band’ but they are more a duo, to be honest. Most of the instrumental chores were handled by the D’Addarios – Brian plays, among other instruments, drums, guitar horns; strings and keys whilst Michael – such a completely amateur dunce! – ‘only’ plays guitar, bass; keys and drums. Both of the boys took up performance at school – Brian at elementary school; Michael from the age of thirteen . – and that all goes into The Lemon Twigs’ debut. There is never any bragging or ego-trip on display: every song is lovingly-crafted and possessed of soul and attention. If some albums tracks recall other acts – The Kinks on Those Days Is Coming Soon and Pink Floyd on Haroomata – the band’s most-famous duo of songs bring in the McCartney – Beach Boys dichotomy – the former’s Wings incarnation of I Wanna Prove to You and Beach Boys’ bliss on These Words.
It is worth noting how their debut album is a homemade, D.I.Y. work that should inspire many upcoming musicians. You do not need a well-stocked, gaudy studio (and all its tinsel and multi-track recorders) to produce something sumptuous, professional and world-class. There is some background chatter and ad-libs which give the L.P. an authenticity and relatable feel. Even if the songs seem born of superhumans and prodigious musicians; the snippets of chatter and tape-hiss brings it right down to Earth. The Lemon Twigs“Do Hollywood’s” mixed influences – some reviewers brought in names like Ramones and Supertramp – means their music is sumptuous and beautiful one moment; edgy, attitude-laden and spiked when needed. Few other artists can achieve those polemics and make them sound so natural and unforced.
At the time the boys claimed they’re “…just a couple of bozos from Long Island”. The guys have no interest in the city and all its life: where they live, about forty-five minutes outside of New York, is a lot less eventful and exciting than you’d imagine. They are not only brilliant musicians but modest and grounded. The brothers lust after California and its sun, sea and beauty – seemingly much more conducive to their brand of Beach Boys-inspired sounds. One wonders whether the calm and contemplativeness of their N.Y. base have resulted in focus, quiet and calm; allowed them to create the music heard on Do Hollywood. Would California, and all its allure, charm and distractions lead to less inspired and sensational music (something more ordinary and predictable?). The album itself was recorded in California – if its words and origins sit in New York – but the guys had their upbringing and parents’ record collection to thank. Raised on a combination of “the greats”, including The Beatles and Beach Boys, it is small wonder they were bitten by the music bug. As Brian stated:
“It all goes back to that for us. But when we write, we’re not trying to emulate those things – it’s just our idea of what a song should be is based on the principles set in those decades”
Brian’s heroes included Pete Townshend and Procul Harum Brian distills it thus: “It seems that popular music has become simpler over time”
That is a sentiment shared by Michael who claims music of the ‘60s and ‘70s was more complex and challenging: today’s standards are lower but that, as stated, is not always a bad thing. Michael went out to reason modern classics like Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, in addition to its quality and political themes, stand out because the music around it is so simple and, compared with previous decades, unsophisticated. That might raise eyebrows with some but it is hard to argue against that assumption.
The Lemon Twigs, therefore, are keen to bring music forward by bringing in the past. Whether it is reverse-evolution – or tribute to their heroes – you just know the kind of music that was playing around the time Do Hollywood was written.
The demand is out there and extends across three continents. Few bands manage to accrue that kind of adulation and popularity after their debut album. To some, The Lemon Twigs are an oddity of Ziggy Stardust proportions; to others, they are an acquired taste. For those who listen carefully and share common bonds – the love of legendary harmony-makers, Beach Boys and the peerless Pop instancy of The Beatles – you find so much to fall in love with. One blast of These Words’ chorus or I Wanna Prove to You and its man-from-another-era peculiarity and you are hooked and helpless.
What I do know is the brilliant mind;s of Brian and Michel D’Addario seem perfect for journalistic craniology . It may seem condescending to say such a thing but the Americans are in a league of their own: a luxuriant, heart-warming sound that will see The Lemon Twigs…
I hope that you all are safe right now, and have found some moments of joy in amongst all the upheaval and worry and sorrow of the last three months. My lockdown has been up and down, with moments of despair, moments of gratitude, and lots of tiny gifts in the form of love and humanity. I cannot wait until we are all through it and can be together in one room again!
I’m also really sorry I didn’t write at the beginning of the pandemic. I felt a twinge of deep deep shame when a friend told me she’d been even been contacted by a former drug dealer with a ‘supporting our customers during this difficult time’ message. In my defence, I’d like to blame my baby! I hope you know that this community has provided a lot of solace for me, and I composed about 20 newsletters in my head while tending to my small human.
But here we are, somewhere in the middle, and I have some news. My fourth album, will be released on Bella Union on October 9th, and the first single comes out today. It’s called “Dandelions/Liminal”, and it was written in New York the summer after the 2016 election, after I’d dabbled with some Buddhist philosophy on a music residency in China. It’s a happy song about co-existing with sorrow in the summer, and that’s pretty much still where I am right now.
The rest of the album was mostly written in Hong Kong in late 2017, during a precious, peaceful time that began with the Mid-Autumn moon. That story will gradually be revealed as the songs and videos and texts come out, but we all know already that a lot has changed in Hong Kong since that time. I am immensely proud to have written this album for that city, and to know a piece of my heart is there. Now I get to share a piece of my heart with you.
I should stop before I paraphrase any more 90’s lyrics, but here is the single and album pre-order. Be in touch and let me know your news.
Emmy the Great new song “Dandelions/Liminal” released on Bella Union 2020-07-07 Emma-Lee Moss
