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.
These guys have been such an exciting find. A dark and emotional kind of indie pop, Marlin’s Dreaming are absolutely killing it over in New Zealand. Well curated and visually captivating, there’s mystery and a moody sophistication to their sound which we just can’t get enough of.
Have a sneaky taste of what they have going with this dope clip for Floating. All we can say is that we want to be mates with the boys from Marlin’s Dreaming. lets hope they make it to the UK.
Band Members
Tim McNaughton – Guitar
Oscar Johns – Bass
Hamish Morgan – Percussion
Semisi Maiai – Vocals/guitar
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.
A deep rift defined the early relationship of guitar gods Stephen Stills and Neil Young. It complicated their first band, Buffalo Springfield, as well as their subsequent four headed-monster, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. The conflict worked to their great advantage, however, in their fiery instrumental interplay. Their dynamic came to a thrilling head on the classic CSNY live album, 4 Way Street , released in 1971. While the first disc of the double set focused on acoustic tunes, the second saw the band charge through a sustained electric foray. All the songs in the second half featured glorious solos but the greatest, and longest, could be found in 13 and 14 minute takes on NeilYoung’s “Southern Man” and Stills “Carry On”. Throughout each, the guitarists thrust and parry, using their instruments as emotional swords. Stephen Stills would spin a dominant solo over the riff while Young would answer back with sniping licks. Then they’d reverse those roles. At times, the players chime, at others clash, creating a play of synchronicity and tension as compelling as a pas-de-deux.
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.
With their debut EP ‘Call Me Out’ released last year in June via Almanac Recordings, London-based four-piece Sea Girls share its title track- and we like it a lot. With loud jangly guitars, a baritone vocal not too dissimilar from ex-Chapel Club’s Lewis Bowman, a catchy earworm chorus and plenty of fuzzing energy, ‘Call Me Out’ has a big Maccabees-like vibe.
The band have had a lot of play on the BBC Music Introducing show, So far we’ve loved every single track they’ve put out so far. When you see a new Sea Girls track drop into your inbox, you just know it’s gonna be good! These lot are true masters of the indie pop anthem and this makes for some amazing singalong moments live, could be the band to see this summer festival season.
