The Fat Angel Sings

Neil Young’s “On the Beach“, an album that, to put it mildly, is not a very sunny one. Young himself called it one of the most depressing records he’s ever made — and that was after he wrote and recorded the famously funeral “Tonight’s the Night”. But that album could be joyful at times, like the groovy movie in “Speakin’ Out,” or the fried eggs and country ham in “Albuquerque.” You won’t find any breakfast delights on “On the Beach”, but you will find three songs with the word “blues” in the title.

Every hardcore Neil Young fan worships “On the Beach“, and not just because it became a cult rarity within a decade of its release. It stopped being pressed on vinyl in the early Eighties, effectively vanishing from view, and it wasn’t released on CD until 2003. You can hear “On the Beach” anytime now, as easily as you can hear After the Gold Rush or Zuma, but it’s lost none of its uniquely haunting beauty.

There’s simply nothing like it in his catalogue. We love “On the Beach“ because it’s the most raw and personal Shakey ever got, the moment he rooted himself in his melancholy, drank up the pain, and used it to push further than he ever had. He was incredibly bummed out — and very, very, very stoned. We wouldn’t have him any other way. 

You can thank the honey slides for that. The infamously potent concoction of fried weed and honey fuelled the recording sessions at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, which is probably why the music feels like a frenzied high on the verge of becoming a very bad trip. (Neil told an audience that year that the secret ingredient was “poor-grade marijuana, worse than you get on the street. You take it and you get your old lady, if you got one, to cook it up on the stove.”) The peak of that honey-slide haze comes when he takes on a wild-eyed, Manson-esque persona in “Revolution Blues,” barreling around L.A. on a destructive spree. “Remember your guard dog?/Well, I’m afraid that he’s gone!” he sings, with a menacing grin you can hear through the speakers. He goes full Tex Watson in the final lines: “Well, I hear that Laurel Canyon is full of famous stars/But I hate them worse than lepers and I’ll kill them in their cars.” 

 “Heart of Gold Pt. 2,” it’s not. But even in this sweat-soaked nightmare, Young manages to toss in a glimmer of his real-life despair, admitting, “But I’m still not happy/I feel like there’s something wrong.” Looking back, he was absolutely correct about that.

His bleak mindset at the time was the result of several factors, mainly his crumbling relationship with actress Carrie Snodgress, the woman who had inspired him to write “A Man Needs a Maid” just a couple of years earlier. “Pretty dark, not really that happy,” he said in the definitive 2002 biography Shakey. “I think it was a period of disillusionment about things turning out differently than I had anticipated. I think I was starting to realize what a fucked-up life I had chosen for myself with Carrie.”  

His career wasn’t bringing him much joy, either. Refusing to satisfy audiences who wanted another Harvest (“I can’t write the same book every time,” he told Rolling Stone in 1975), he made the movie soundtrack Journey Through the Past and the live album Time Fades Away, the latter recorded on his massive, miserable Harvest tour. Neither one came close to matching the gigantic commercial success he’d seen in 1972.  

Young wasted no time clapping back at the critics, kicking off “On the Beach” with the rollicking “Walk On.” The opening lines set the tone for the rest of the record. “I hear some people been talking me down/Bring up my name, pass it ’round.” The track, recorded with his right-hand man Ben Keith and the Crazy Horse rhythm section of Ralph Molina and Billy Talbot, sounds almost dementedly upbeat. The lesson: Do not piss off Neil Young.  

But that was just the start of his complaints. Like many people in the summer of 1974, he was feeling burned out by the Patty Hearst kidnapping, the Watergate scandal, and other lurid headlines. “I never knew a man who could tell so many lies,” he says of Nixon on “Ambulance Blues.” The disgraced president resigned two weeks later. If the hippie dream had ended with Altamont and the Manson murders in 1969, now it felt like the world was just rubbing everyone’s face in it. Nihilism was the mood of the day, and it struck a chord with Neil. 

On the iconic album cover that he designed with Gary Burden, Neil stands on an overcast Santa Monica Beach in a cheap white-and-yellow polyester suit. Tacky floral patio furniture sits in the foreground, next to the taillight of a 1959 Cadillac sunken into the sand. (Another old dream dead and buried.) “SENATOR BUCKLEY CALLS FOR NIXON TO RESIGN,” reads the headline of a local paper. But Young isn’t paying attention to any of it. He’s turned away from the camera, hands in his pockets, looking out at the ocean. The sky is about to rain. 

“You go down to the beach and watch the same thing, just imagine every wave is a different set of emotions coming in,” he told Melody Maker in 1985. “Just keep coming. As long as you don’t ignore it, it’ll still be there. If you start shutting yourself off and not letting yourself live through the things that are coming through you, I think that’s when people start getting old really fast, that’s when they really age.”  

“On the Beach” has a seriously impressive list of personnel, from the Band’s Levon Helm and Rick Danko to his CSNY bandmates David Crosby and Graham Nash. That’s what being Neil Young in the early Seventies got you. But the most notable guest at this doomer shindig might be Cajun slide-guitar ace Rusty Kershaw. Not only did he cook and distribute those honey slides with his wife, Julie, and play some swampy fiddle to boot, he’s also responsible for shaping the sound of “On the Beach“. Kershaw convinced the band to sit extremely close together in the studio, and made sure they didn’t rehearse prior to recording, creating an intimate, intuitive vibe. With a ginormous beard and overalls, he was a figure known for his joyful debauchery. Young wasn’t in the right headspace to be the life of the party. Kershaw did it for him.  

Few records have a more staggering Side Two than “On the Beach“, an emotional bulldozer of just three songs. “The whole B side of this album, you can just put it on and get lost,” Father John Misty once told us. “You can get stoned and go inside this little universe. And when the song ends, go back to the beginning.” It starts with the title track, a stormy, stunning glimpse into Young’s mind as a celebrity and perpetual outsider. He needs to be surrounded by others, but he can’t bear to socialize with them. He’s thinking he’ll get out of town, get out of town. The hand drums, played here by Keith, make this one spooky dirge. 

Young laments and processes his fallout with Snodgress in the devastating “Motion Pictures (For Carrie),” his most vulnerable moment on the record. “I’m deep inside myself, but I’ll get out somehow,” he promises. The song is so intense and personal that Young has only played it a single time, when he premiered “On the Beach“ material at a surprise show at New York City’s Bottom Line in May 1974. Catching it live is the ultimate holy grail for fans.  

The record culminates with “Ambulance Blues,” a nearly nine-minute masterpiece that is widely regarded as one of his very best songs, second only to “Powderfinger.” It starts with a wistful look back at his early career, playing in Toronto coffee houses like the Riverboat and living in an apartment at 88 Isabella Street. He’s so bummed out, he’s even mourning his old apartment building as if it were a tragic heroine: “Oh Isabella, proud Isabella/They tore you down and plowed you under.” 

That era was not even a full decade in the past, but Young was painfully nostalgic for it, yearning to go back to a simpler time. His voice sounds deeper, weathered, and a bit distant — which was intentional. “Robert De Niro gained fifty pounds for Raging Bull, Neil did the same thing for his music,” bassist Tim Drummond said. “He was smoking two packs a day to get a late-night, frog-in-his-throat voice.”  

Using his aching harmonica and a melody he later admitted he nicked from English folk master Bert Jansch, Young continues to reflect on everything that’s happened since those early days, including the dead-end state of CSN (“you’re all just pissing in the wind”) and the recent deaths of Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten and roadie Bruce Berry. “An ambulance can only go so fast,” he says. “It’s easy to get buried in the past/When you try to make a good thing last.” He tells a surreal story about a kidnapping plot and gets some parting shots in at those ungrateful critics and President Tin Soldiers. Then the needle swings back and “On the Beach” ends. Fifty years later, it’s still echoing in our heads.

Experimental indie rock lifers Oneida came to their 17th album in circuitous fashion. Singer/guitarist Bobby Matador created templates for songs from his home in Boston, and then sent them to the rest of the band in NYC to finish. “We were working out the songs in New York without Bobby. We would start outriding the riffs, and then Shahin and Jane would add wild, out-of-tune licks,” says drummer Kid Millions.

“It seemed so perfect.” What started as straightforward, hooky songs in the same vein as Oneida’s 2022 album “Success” turned darker, looser and decidedly louder. “Expensive Air” rocks with defiant fists in the air, and with those ragged riffs (and Kid Millions’ heavy-on-the-fills style) they really rip it up. Bobby says if “Success” was “like laughing in a car gunning carelessly through an ice storm,” then “Expensive Air” is “how you laugh at yourself as the car spins into the ditch, or a tree. Same trip, but a little closer to the bone.” Buckle up.

A song is a song until it isn’t, until it’s pushed to its limits and beyond to become harder, faster and more dissonant. The music on Oneida’s 17th full-length album, “Expensive Air”, all started as tightly structured, melodic rock songs—very much in line with the non-stop bangers of “Success” from 2022—but along the way, they changed.

released July 19, 2024

Oneida is:
Kid Millions
Bobby Matador
Hanoi Jane
Barry London
Shahin Motia

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings release their 10th album together, “Woodland”, on August 23rd. Here’s the first single.  Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee at Welch and Rawlings’ own Woodland Sound Studio. Produced by David Rawlings. “Woodland is at the heart of everything we do, and has been for the last twenty some years,” the duo say. “The past four years were spent almost entirely within its walls, bringing it back to life after the 2020 tornado and making this record. The music is (songs are) a swirl of contradictions, emptiness, fullness, joy, grief, destruction, permanence. Now.”

On their first original composition since 2011, Welch and Rawlings demonstrate their penchant for deeply personal song writing and compelling performance. A journey through their clear adoration of folk and country music, ‘Empty Trainload Of Sky’ is the perfect accompaniment to a summer’s evening, even if you don’t reside on a ranch in the rural United States.

Acony Records is proud to announce “Woodland“, the new album from Gillian Welch & David Rawlings. “Woodland” comes out on August 23rd,

Laura Jane Grace unleashed another new punk song with her new band The Mississippi Medicals, “Karma Too Close.” “How’s your Karma? Coming a little too close for comfort? Mine too,” she says. “Take heart, keep your focus, keep going and also don’t forget to kick back and listen to the rippin electric sitar solo that Mike Patton plays.”

Europe! Uk! Ireland! You have asked and now here is the answer! I’ll be heading across the proverbial pond this November for a full month long run. Unfortunately some of the Mississippi Medicals have prior touring obligations but the good news is this will still be a full band tour. I’m bringing Paris Campbell Grace with me and we’ll be backed by Jacopo Fokas on bass & Ramirez O’Riley on drums and with that said I give to you “Laura Jane Grace & the Trauma Tropes”! We’ll also be joined on this run by Pet Needs opening the show… Oh, and John Gerhardt will be there holding the stage down too!

Recorded as part of the same daydreaming puzzle as “Unwishing Well”, “Still Clouds at Noon” brings out the slowcore/sadcore elements that drift through The Reds, Pinks & Purples’ melancholy catalogue. Donaldson names ’90s hometown San Francisco acts such as American Music Club and the more obscure Timco as pivotal to his guitar playing and development as a songwriter, both of which shine bright here. The slower tempo ballads on “Still Clouds…” often culminate in heavy fuzz drenched codas and showcase the more abstract poetic side of Donaldson’s lyricism. There’s an inherent pop-sensibility always at work though, with ear-worm melodies appearing over intoxicating circular riffs.

Formerly a Bandcamp only digital release, this white vinyl version is remastered and adds two unreleased tracks, one featuring Mark Monnone from Australian pop-legends The Lucksmiths on bass. Tour/Bandcamp exclusive, edition of 500 on black vinyl.

released July 22nd, 2024

Vancouver duo Japandroids announce their fourth and final record ‘Fate & Alcohol’ out October 18th. At once a return to form, and a thrilling step forward, this album is a monument to the chemistry they’ve honed over nearly two decades side-by-side.

Japandroids have returned with their first new album in seven years (not including 2020’s live LP) called “Fate & Alcohol“. The first single to be released from the project, “Chicago,” begins with—surprise, surprise—a flurry of guitars beneath Brian King singing of “two shots of the good stuff” and “being tired of being tired.” A bit cliché, I guess, but also, this shit rips harder than Malört. When he sang about sweating through his shirt?

“On our last record we wanted to broaden the definition of a Japandroids song and purposely left our demos quite open and malleable so that we had more flexibility to experiment in the studio,” King shared in a press statement. “At the time, this approach was new and exciting, and inspired us to be bolder, to take more chances.

We were aiming for a more cinematic take on our signature sound. This time, we made certain that every song ripped in our jam space before [producer] Jesse [Gander] ever heard it. If you listen to our first demo of ‘Chicago,’ it’s obviously much rougher than what you hear on record, but it’s all there. Even on a blown-out iPhone recording, the energy was obvious, and the feeling cut through loud and clear.”

releases October 18th, 2024

All songs written by JAPANDROIDS

Laura Jane Grace is a major figure in today’s rock scene as both a solo artist and the front person of Against Me!, which she founded in Naples, FL in the late 1990s. As a working artist, she has released four solo offerings and seven albums with Against Me!, and in 2012 went public with her gender transition in the pages of Rolling Stone. In her music, she continues to detail her journey all while staying true to her earlier themes of outspoken political critique – environmentalism along with personal and social liberation – with a base in American music including country and folk-rock, with a penchant for noise and anarchy.

“I’m Not A Cop” is taken from latest album, ‘Hole In My Head’

Eight CD Box Set include’s a massive 88 tracks and explores the era which included four Faces studio albums “First Step”, “Long Player”, “A Nod Is As Good As A Wink…To A Blind Horse”…, and “Ooh La La” as well as several solo albums that Rod Stewart recorded with most of the band “Gasoline Alley, “Every Picture Tells A Story”, “Never A Dull Moment”, and “Smiler“. 

Amongst the many rarities is a stereo mix of the May 13th, 1971, Paris Cinema concert, which was only broadcast in mono, and a February 1973 show that was never aired due to the BBC’s concerns over the band’s on-stage banter with the rowdy audience (!). All audio has been remastered with the full participation of the remaining band members Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood and Kenney Jones.

The Blu-ray includes newly restored footage of the Faces’ April 1972 appearance on Sounds for Saturday

This large format set comes with a 48-page booklet with new commentary from surviving band members and archival quotes from Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan, and BBC broadcaster John Peel, the latter of whom was very important, as the band acknowledge:

Rod Stewart says, “If it wasn’t for John Peel, the Faces would never have broken through”. Ronnie Wood concurs, “He gave the Faces our first break” as does Kenney Jones: “John Peel helped the Faces so much in England, in the press and on his show.” 

It is therefore appropriate that John Peel’s Christmas Carol Concert rounds out the collection. Originally broadcast on Boxing Day 1970, this unique holiday performance features Stewart singing “Away In A Manger” and a Christmas carol medley sung by a choir that includes the Faces, their roadies, John Peel, Marc Bolan of T-Rex, and others. 

​“Faces At The BBC: Complete BBC Concert & Session Recordings 1970-1973” will be released on 6th September 2024, via Rhino Records.

XTC’s 1986 album “Skylarking” is to be reissued on CD and Blu-ray and, for the first time, on 200g heavyweight vinyl through Ape House/Panegyric Records on September 27th.

The album is the second of the band’s reissues to feature a new Dolby Atmos remix from Steven Wilson (1984’s “The Big Express” was reissued last year) from the original multi-track studio master tapes.

The CD/Blu-ray also features the 2016 album mix as well as bonus album track mixes, also by Wilson and is presented in replica mini-vinyl style packaging with booklet including photos and album lyrics. The vinyl version comes presented in a gatefold sleeve with lyrics inside and features the 2016 Steven Wilson mix.

“Skylarking” was recorded by Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory with Tubes member Prairie Prince filling in on drums, and was a concept album of sorts, about a nonspecific cycle, such as a day, a year, the seasons, or a life.the album was produced by Todd Rundgren. Rumours of tension between Partridge and Rundgren were rife.

The album’s major hit, “Dear God“, was originally left off the album, forcing Geffen Records to pull the original and reissue the album with the track included. The 2010 reissue featured Partidge’s original idea for the album sleeve.

With the release of Cigarettes After Sex’s third album, “X’s“, the band finally takes center stage as not just one of today’s preeminent indie bands, but as one of the most globally accomplished acts across any genre. Filled with raw, imagistic, sometimes smutty vignettes set to entrancing, slow burn pop songs, bandleader Greg Gonzalez captures every emotion a romantic arc inspires.

The Modern indie pioneers Cigarettes After Sex return with their third album, pivoting from their former 50’s and 60’s influences to pop touchstones 70’s and 80’s. Over these burgeoning, dark melodies lead vocalist and bandleader Greg Gonzalez focuses on one relationship, purging his feelings with brutal intensity. 

Soaring slo-mo balladry and shimmering ambient washes beneath the echoic guitar melodies and Gonzalez’ always haunting vocal syrup. It’s as enchanting and ethereal as ever, and will no doubt be a big hit like everything else they’ve done. A beautifully rich, decadent return for Cigarettes After Sex.