The Fat Angel Sings

Julia Jacklin thought she’d be a social worker. Growing up in the Blue Mountains to a family of teachers, Jacklin discovered an avenue to art at the age of 10, thanks to an unlikely source: Britney Spears.

Jacklin chanced upon a documentary about the pop star while on family holiday. “By the time Britney was 12 she’d achieved a lot,” says Jacklin.”I remember thinking, ‘Shit, what have I done with my life? I haven’t achieved anything.’ So I was like, ‘Mum, as soon as we get home from this holiday I need to go to singing lessons.’

Classical singing lessons were the only kind in the area, but Jacklin took to it. Voice control was crucial, and Jacklin flourished. But the lack of expression had the teen seeking substance, and she wound up in a high school band, “wearing surf clothing and doing a lot of high jumps” singing Avril Lavigne and Evanescence covers. It wasn’t much but she was hooked.

Jacklin’s second epiphany came after high school. Travelling in South America she reconnected with high school friend and future foil Liz Hughes. The two returned home to the Blue Mountains and started a band, bonding over a love of indie-Appalachian folk trio Mountain Man and the songs Hughes was writing.

“I would just sing,” says Jacklin. “But as I got my confidence I started playing guitar and writing songs. I wouldn’t be doing music now if it wasn’t for Liz or that band. I never knew it was something I could do. “

Now living in a garage in Glebe and working a day job on a factory production line making essential oils, the 25-year old found time to hone her craft – to examine her turns of phrase, to observe the stretching of her friendship circles, to wonder who she was and who she might become. That document is Jacklin’s masterful debut album, “Don’t Let The Kids Win” – an intimate examination of a life still being lived.

Recorded at New Zealand’s Sitting Room studios with Ben Edwards (Marlon Williams, Aldous Harding, Nadia Reid), Don’t Let The Kids Win courses with the aching current of alt-country and indie-folk, augmented by Jacklin’s undeniable calling cards: her rich, distinctive voice, and her playful, observational wit.

You can hear it in opener ‘Pool Party’, a gorgeous lilt bristling with Jacklin’s tale of substance abuse by the pool; in the sparse, ‘Elizabeth’, wrestling with both devotion and admonishment of a friend; in detailing the slow-motion banality of a relationship breakdown in the woozy ‘L.A Dreams’; and in her resolve to accept the passing of time on the snappy fuzz of ‘Coming Of Age’. The album hums with peripheral insights, minute in their moments but together proving an urge to stay curious.

“I thought it was going to be a heartbreak record,” says Jacklin of Don’t Let The Kids Win. “But in hindsight I see it’s about hitting 24 and thinking, ‘What the fuck am I doing?’ I was feeling very nostalgic for my youth. When I was growing up I was so ambitious: I’m going to be this amazing social worker, save the world, a great musician, fit, an amazing writer. Then you get to mid-20s and you realise you have to focus on one thing. Even if it doesn’t pay-off, or you feel embarrassed at family occasions because you’re the poor musician still, that’s the decision I made.”

In person Jacklin is funny, wry, quick to crack a joke. It makes the blunt honesty and prickly insight laced through her song writing disarming, a dissonance she delights in. “Especially coming from my family,” says Jacklin. “They don’t talk about feelings at all. I love writing songs about them and watching them listen and squirm. To me that’s great. I enjoy it.”

The title track was the last song Jacklin wrote for the album. “My sister’s getting married soon,” she says of the closer. “And it hit me – we used to be two young girls and now that part of our lives is over. Seeing her talking about wanting to have a baby and…it’s like, man I can’t believe we’re already here.”

Don’t mistake this awareness for nostalgia. “It’s not that I want to go back to that time at all,” says Jacklin. “It’s trying to figure out how to be responsible when you don’t identify with who you were anymore.”

“All my friends at this age are freaking out. Everyone’s constantly talking about being old. “Don’t Let The Kids Win” is saying yeah we’re getting older but it’s not so special. It’s not unique. Everyone has dealt with this and it’s going to keep feeling weird. So I’m freaking out about it too but that song is trying to convince myself: let’s live now and just be old when we’re old.” 

Originally released October 7th, 2016

The period of the Eighties widely regarded as the low point of Dylan’s musical career, a time when he struggled to find relevance in the MTV era and released a series of tacky, rudderless albums that were savaged by fans and critics. Even Dylan himself refuses to defend his output from the time. “[I was] pretty whitewashed and wasted out professionally,” he recalled in his 2004 memoir Chronicles: Volume One. “I’m in the bottomless pit of cultural oblivion. You name it. I can’t shake it.” 

But the newest chapter of the bootleg series, Springtime In New York (1980-1985), forces us to re-evaluate this notion completely. The overwhelming amount of material in this set 54 unreleased songs total — proves that even at Dylan’s lowest point, he was still capable of writing great music, even if the best songs often didn’t wind up on his albums.

The five-disc collection focuses on 1983’s “Infidels”, while also shedding light on the records that bookend it: “Shot of Love”, the last of his born-again Christian albums, and the glitzy “Empire Burlesque“. The former showed Dylan continuing his divisive streak of born-again Christian albums while the latter is an excessive, shimmery affair that has more in common with She’s So Unusual than Highway 61 Revisited. 

After the high bar he had set for himself in the ‘70s, courtesy of such albums as “Blood on the Tracks” and “Desire”, not to mention his groundbreaking Rolling Thunder Review tour, Bob Dylan had clearly raised expectations when it came time to embark into the ‘80s. That said, his initial outing of the decade, “Shot of Love”, didn’t bode well for what might follow. Another of his so-called “Christian albums,” its songs were generally weak, and with the exception of “Lenny Bruce,” “Heart of Mine” and “The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar” (a rocker relegated to B side status), it was best forgotten.

Fortunately, Dylan quickly rebounded with his next two studio efforts, “Infidels“, produced a bonafide Dylan disciple Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, and “Empire Burlesque”, which featured various members of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, Mick Taylor and Ron Wood offering support. Neither album was hailed as a triumph, but they did show Dylan was still capable of writing great songs even when nobody seemed to notice.

“Springtime In New York” takes a narrow focus on the first half of that otherwise obscured decade and manages to cull enough gems to justify a full five-disc box set. Of course, the Bootleg series has excelled and even accumulated honours for unearthing outtakes, live material, and other unreleased offerings, but this particular volume actually exceeds expectations, especially given that the basis for this compilation seemed rather slim, to begin with. Nevertheless, it manages to gather together some prime offerings, most of which outshines the initial work. For example, two tracks originally intended for “Empire Burlesque”—“New Danville Girl” and “Dark Eye”—offer reason to wonder why they weren’t included in that album originally. Each of them is that good. Alternate takes of “Jokerman” and “Don’t Fall Apart On Me Tonight,” all songs that first appeared on “Infidels”, suggest Dylan had plenty of quality music to choose from. So too, “Angelina,” “Price of Love” and “I Wish It Would Rain,” recorded during the “Shot of Love” sessions, are actually far better than anything on the finished release.

There are curiosities of course—unlikely attempts at “Let It Be Me,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Abraham, Martin and John,” “Sweet Caroline,” and “Angels Flying Too Close to the Ground” reflect that fact that Dylan hadn’t tired of covering classics long after Self Portrait had again given way to original work. A live version of “License To Kill,” culled from an appearance on “Late Night With David Letterman” sounds frayed around the edges, but makes for an interesting entry regardless. Likewise, disc one is comprised almost entirely of rehearsals, giving a glimpse of Dylan’s creative process in motion.

Like the various Bootleg boxes that preceded it, “Springtime In New York” boasts an impressive hardcover book that provides essential facts about each album’s origins, rare photos, and extensive studio notes that detail the sessions in thorough detail. A new video for Bob Dylan’s “License to Kill” has been released, featuring a new remix version of the 1983 original along with previously unseen footage from the “Infidels” sessions. It’s tied to “Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series Vol. 16 (1980-1985)“, a five-disc set that includes material recorded from 1981’s “Shot of Love”, 1983’s Infidels, and 1985’s “Empire Burlesque”.

The video was shot on April 30th, 1983 at the Power Station in New York City. This was near the end of the six-week Infidels sessions and footage includes the entire band, including guitarist/producer Mark Knopfler, guitarist Mick Taylor, keyboardist Alan Clark, bassist Robbie Shakespeare, and drummer Sly Dunbar. “License to Kill” contains one of the most baffling lines in Dylan’s Eighties catalogue: “Man has invented his doom/First step was touching the moon.” Dylan attempted to explain it. “What’s the purpose of going to the moon?” he asked. “To me, it doesn’t make any sense. Now they’re gonna put a space station up there, and it’s gonna cost, what — $600 billion, $700 billion? And who’s gonna benefit from it? Drug companies who are gonna be able to make better drugs. Does that make sense? Is that supposed to be something that a person is supposed to get excited about? Is that progress? I don’t think they’re gonna get better drugs. I think they’re gonna get more expensive drugs.”

Naturally, Dylan aficionados will likely view this once again as part of a holy grail, but even the casual collector may see the need to add this to their collection. “Springtime In New York” could be considered one of the richest seasons of all. Two weeks ago, a video for “Don’t Fell Apart on Me Tonight (Version 2)” was released that was shot around the same exact time as the “License to Kill” Video.

Springtime opens with rehearsals for Dylan’s Musical Retrospective Tour in the fall of 1980, where he was backed by the under-appreciated singer Clydie King. The shows were billed as a return to some of his older songs, following his strict gospel-only setlists, but instead of “Simple Twist of Fate” we get several wildcards: covers of hit songs at the time, like Bill LaBounty’s “This Night Won’t Last Forever” and Dave Mason’s “We Just Disagree” (he also reportedly covered “The Rainbow Connection,” but unfortunately it didn’t make the cut). Perhaps because Dylan never intended the public to hear them, these renditions are intimate, raw, and even joyous. Close your eyes to his take on “Sweet Caroline,” and you’ll forget someone else wrote it.

While the original “Infidels” demonstrated Dylan’s genius ability to assemble a band — Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler (who produced the album) and Alan Clark, the Stones’ Mick Taylor, and the reggae duo Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare — he left many of the best songs off the album in favour of duds like “Union Sundown.” Gems like “Foot of Pride” and “Someone’s Got a Hold of My Heart,” later reworked as “Tight Connection to My Heart” on Empire Burlesque, would have made the album infinitely better.

And then there’s “Blind Willie McTell,” one of his finest songs of his career. A great version was released on the first chapter of the Bootleg Series back in 1991, but this one is even better, as Dylan wails “There’s a chain gang on the highway/I can hear them rebels yell” with sparkling clarity. There are two takes of “Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight,” and the first, a desperate, slow-burning plea, arrives like a gust of wind to the throat. How is it that we’ve gone nearly 40 years without hearing this? 

On a different version of “Sweetheart Like You,” the sweetheart in question is no longer wearing a cute hat, but a pair of boots. This doesn’t change the misogynistic tone of the tune, where Dylan points out, “You know a woman like you should be at home, that’s where you belong.” (Reflecting on the ballad in an interview, he admitted, “That line didn’t come out exactly the way I wanted it to.”)

The “Empire Burlesque” material has been stripped of producer Arthur Baker’s synths and gated drums. What remains are the tracks in their purest form — like a sprawling “New Danville Girl” that clocks in at nearly 12 minutes. But the highlight is undoubtedly Dylan’s legendary 1984 performance on Late Night With David Letterman. In the same way that Neil Young grew fascinated with New Wave and linked up with Devo, Dylan recruited punk band the Plugz for his appearance. The energy he fed off the young musicians was so palpable that Letterman asked, “Is there any chance you guys can be here every Thursday night?”’

If Dylan had gone on tour with these guys, would he have had a more successful decade? If he had kept his best songs on the albums, would they now be regarded classics? It’s these kinds of what-ifs that make “Springtime” so gripping — and so essential.

With their ninth full-length album – the aptly titled ‘9’ – out in the world today, Jamie Terry from psych machines Pond unveils some of his favourite lyrics of all time. The band that keeps on giving, having pushed their self-proclaimed “polished psych-pop” to its outer reaches, reinvent themselves yet again.

Pond have become a psych-rock institution by holding their explorative instincts close to heart over the last decade. From the fuzzy squall of 2013’s breakthrough ‘Hobo Rocket’ to the refined, melodic pop tones heard on 2019’s ‘Tasmania’, the Perth gang have always moved forward on their own terms, unfazed by the endless links to world-beating sister band Tame Impala.

They hit upon an even more ruthless revelation going into their ninth album, though, with frontman Nick Allbrook explaining: “After three albums of polished psych-pop, we’ve earned our reward of doing something completely fucked.” They set out to achieve this by adopting methods of their heroes Can, recording jams to tape and then chopping them up to achieve creative anarchy. It’s their biggest leap into the unknown yet.

Pond – “Take Me Avalon, I’m Young”

“Winnie-the-Pooh lying with his legs in the air, impotent, singing those were the days i was young and hungered for flesh like a bear. Now I’ve grown toy, on a turning display out of sight. An overgrown boy, lost in a world turning very very slowly to night”

Bass-heavy opener ‘Song For Agnes’ proves the band weren’t half-arsing their intentions. The operatic, grand track beams with positivity as Allbrook joyously sings: “There’ll be nothing but blue skies from now on, baby”. The pulsating electro anthem flows organically into a cosmic jazz outro, which offers the first glimpse of sonic experimentation on offer.

The dazzling mish-mash of sounds and influences rarely lets up. Party-ready anthem ‘Human Touch’ thrashes with taut energy and a dose of post-pandemic lyricism: “I need some human connection / I need some human touch / Been behind these screens so long.” That’s just before the lively and jubilant funk anchored ‘America’s Cup’ arrives with undercurrents of eighties ’80s synth-wave;a nother highlight comes with ‘Pink Lunettes’, which cuts in with a pounding modulated sequence that’s primed for strobe-lit dancefloors.

It’s a lot to take in, but the compact and well-executed transitions make sense of the chaos. There is some respite, though. ‘Take Me Avalon I’m Young’ packs an understated groove with orchestral backing, while ‘Toast’ shows a more sentimental side to the band; it’s a deeply romantic airing with the more lo-fi, melodic sound underneath starry-eyed lyricism: If the water dries / Like the morning dew / Life’s too short / To be away from you.”

It’s can be a risky game to thrown yourself into so many different styles on a record, let alone within individual songs. Yet – from Bowie to Kurt Cobain and William Burroughs – artists of all kinds have found joy in such surrealist methods of cutting up their work and putting it back together. Having perhaps taken their psych-pop to the edges of what’s possible, Pond deserve this moment. Hopefully, it proves a gateway to a new era for the band that keeps on giving.

Spinning Top Records Released on: 2021-10-01

Guitar, two drummers, and… no bass player? Bring it on says Colorado-based The Velveteers.

It’s little surprise that Black Keys frontman and Easy Eye studio/label owner Dan Auerbach gravitated to the hard-wired trio. After all, the Keys began their career with just drums and guitar, which, while it didn’t last, provided their initial brush with fame. While The Velveteer’s murky, occasionally abrasive attack is a far cry from most of Auerbach’s other projects like soul diva Yola, deep bluesman Robert Finley and the retro pop of Shannon & the Clams, the heartfelt intensity in these dozen tunes clicked with him.

It has been a long road for singer/guitarist Demi Demitro and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Baby Pottersmith. Formed in 2014 when only in their mid-teens, it took six years hammering away at an approach and songs until they felt comfortable enough to lay them down for posterity in a recording studio. Along the way the twosome expanded to a trio adding second drummer/multi-instrumentalist Jonny Fig to fill out the sound. A surprise call from Auerbach who wanted to record them after seeing some live clips and videos was the payback for that long gestation period.

While a few acoustic interludes peppers this generally harder-edged debut, in particular on the early single “Brightest Light” that kicks off acoustic and gradually grows into a darker and louder close, the majority of selections find The Velveteers’ plowing territory somewhere between the more pop-oriented strains of The Pixies, Sonic Youth and Siouxsie & the Banshees.

Bring thumping glam in the snotty “Choking” where Demitro spits out Two-faced, head case/Blowing my mind/You cut your tongue off with a razor/At the scene of the crime with the baby-doll venom of The Divinyls’ Christina Amphlett, a bit of blues in the riff rocking “Charmer and the Snake” (You think you’re the charmer/you’re really the snake), the punk attack of “Beauty Queens” and some serious metal licks in the opening “Dark Horse” for a diverse,  potent and consistently engaging set.

The years of woodshedding resulted in a swagger and confidence, aided by Auerbach’s sure production hand, that explodes out of the speakers. The vibe is tough and raw, made meatier with synth bass (OK, so there is some bass), subtle keyboards and even, yikes!, strings (but only on closing ballad “Limboland”).

As singer and primary guitarist Demitro is naturally the focal point. Her alternately powerful and passionate vocals exude personality, and the songs with acoustic and electric approaches are varied enough to never fall into predictability. It all coalesces into one of the more impressive, duskier (Am I living in a nightmare daydream? she asks in the mid-tempo title track) guitar-driven albums of the year.

From the new album ‘Nightmare Daydream,’ available October 8th:  

Frightened Rabbit are releasing “The Work”, a book of lyrics and illustrations by the late Scott Hutchison, lyricist, vocalist and songwriter of Frightened Rabbit.

The limited hardback edition presents the band’s complete lyrics (including B-sides and rarities) with handwritten excerpts by Scott, alongside his illustrations, many of which have never been seen before.

The book is meant both as a celebration of and tribute to Scott’s unbridled creativity. It aims to fulfil l his wishes by being the book that he wanted to create and had spoken of creating before his death.

“Seeing this book come to life has been something of a bittersweet experience. Reading the lyrics without music really brings home the stark reality of what Scott was going through and at the same time highlights the talent of someone who I consider to be one of the best songwriters in the world. This would’ve been a different release had Scott been involved but we all felt it was important that his lyrics be celebrated and given the spotlight they deserve. As Scott has said, these words were always meant to be accompanied by music, but the impact of digesting them without is no less great. Pick up this book of words, hold it, share it and immerse yourself in the world Scott created by opening not only his heart but his whole soul to the world.” Grant Hutchison

Steely Dan has set the “Absolutely Normal Tour ’21,” which begins, on October 5th. The U.S. tour will hit 15 cities over 28 concerts before wrapping on November 20th. In addition, Steely Dan’s “Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live!” and a live version of Donald Fagen’s acclaimed 1982 solo album “The Nightfly” will both be released through UMe on September 24th. (Both albums will also be available on 180g vinyl on October. 1st.)  Donald Fagen has simultaneously released these two new live albums — one under the nearly 50-year-old banner of Steely Dan; one billed as a solo album — that revive some of the most pungently written and exquisitely arranged and played music of the 20th century. “Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live!” is the first official live album of material from that band … sans the late Walter Becker, of course, who died in 2017, but performed by Fagen with a crackerjack ensemble that makes it sound as fresh as it ever has. “The Nightfly Live,” alternativly, uses that same big band to revive the full track list from Fagen’s 1982 solo debut, which ranks alongside “Aja” and other Steely Dan classics in the minds of most fans.

The first live Steely Dan album in more than 25 years, “Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live!” was recorded across tour dates at New York City’s Beacon Theatre, The Met Philadelphia, and more, and showcases selections from the band’s extraordinary catalogue. Fagen’s “The Nightfly Live” was performed live by the Steely Dan Band. 

Concertgoers can expect a set from Steely Dan’s extraordinary five-decade plus catalogue as well as The Nightfly.

Fagen: Back in the fall of 2019, we were at the end of the tour and had 16 more shows, and the band was sounding so good. We’d been out for a couple months, and I thought it should be documented. In a way, I wanted to show off the band. The band we have now has been together like four times longer than the original Steely Dan band, so we really jibe on stage. So I asked the front-of-house mixer if he could make a professional recording off the board, and he said, “I gotta run a few pieces of equipment, but I could do that.” And so he recorded the last 16 shows, a couple of which were “Nightfly” album shows. I loved the way it was recorded: There was a lot of separation, and there wasn’t all this reverb you hear on a lot of live albums. It’s clean. And so I picked the best Steely Dan performances from a couple shows, and most of the “Nightfly” were from one night at the Beacon Theater, but there were a few other better performances I picked for a couple of the other tunes. And, yeah, I thought it came out really good.

Vocalist, Rhodes, Melodica: Donald Fagen

Drums: Keith Carlock Bass: Freddie Washington, Guitar, Rhythm Arranger: Jon Herington Guitar: Connor Kennedy , Piano, Keyboards: Jim Beard , Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Percussion, Horn Arranger: Michael Leonhart , Trombone: Jim Pugh , Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone: Walt Weiskopf, Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet: Roger Rosenberg , Vocals, Percussion: Carolyn Leonhart , Vocals, Percussion: Catherine Russell , Vocals, Percussion: La Tanya R. Hall , Vocals, Percussion: Jamie Leonhart

The new songs from Vancouver trio Curves scratch a lot of itches. “Crybaby,” the opening track of their lo-fi project “Women’s Fitness Centre“, is one of the funniest, grubbiest songs I’ve heard in a while, evoking crazed eyes and violent giggles, and the tune itself is pretty damn good, too. Their disheveled vocals are bratty to the core, heightening the humour of their lyrics, which find the narrator berating themselves as a “loser,” “substance abuser,” “bonafide crybaby” and, perhaps the sharpest dagger, a 2012 Mitt Romney voter. They also mimic the cries of an actual baby with a snotty snarl, a fitting inclusion to a song full of bluesy punk crud. Then comes the happy-go-lucky guitar pop of “Models,” which is sonically cleaner, but also packs some smirk-worthy lyrics. “No, you’re not a famous model / But you’re full of things that I wanna bottle,” they sing with charm. Curves sound more moody and aloof on “Skinny Bitch,” a song about the burning fear of loneliness, and they show their soft, sentimental side on “Malt Liquor,” an ode to clumsy, young love. They even hold the unique honour of releasing the best Galaxie 500-esque tear-jerker about a forklift (“Never Leave a Forklift Running If You Aren’t Certified”). The pretty melodies, garbled background voice, backwards guitar loops and chorus vocals that start to trip over themselves create this wonderful, ’90s lo-fi sound, simultaneously triggering feelings of warm safety and heartbreaking regret.

While virtually all the songs on Women’s Fitness Centre are a scrappy good time and prime candidates for a sticky dive bar, especially if you’re feeling washed up and just wanna drown your sorrows with friends around, you’d be selling yourself short if you didn’t also use these for a good cry in your bedroom or some menacing laughter during your morning commute to the city.

Jet Simon – Guitar/Vocals
Sarah Richards – Bass/Vocals
Luis Gonzalez – Drums/Backing Vocals

Released August 10th, 2021

Following a string of boisterous post-punk and dance EPs, Stranded (aka Atlanta-based artist and producer David Mansfield) is back with his first full-length, “Midnight Sun“. The album also marks the relaunch of Double Phantom Records, Mansfield’s underground label, which has released music from Atlanta bands like Algiers, Balkans and Carnivores. “Celine’s Dilemma“, was his first EP as Stranded, that arrived in 2018, which was followed by a pair of EPs in 2020, “Long Dusk” and “Post Meridian”. The trio of EPs traverse house, disco and post-punk, emitting both joy and agitation as their dissonant instrumental layers snake in and out of one another. 

“Midnight Sun” is a bit of a departure from these dense electronic collages, opting instead for a guitar-based sound, which results in Stranded’s most straightforward release yet. But Stranded hasn’t abandoned his left-field quirks or broad influences—his rhythm-driven post-punk still folds in dance-inflected beats, bubbling synth tones and cold vocals. Perhaps the biggest change is that Mansfield occasionally swaps a brightly coloured sonic palette for a darker, more grim one. Midnight Sun is slightly ominous, particularly the bluesy gothic-rock number “The Last Word,” the electro-meets-Bauhaus opener “A Testimony” and the harsh stonking of “Crossed Lines.” However, the interlocking guitar mazes of “Hesitation” add some ribbons of colour, as do the affecting chorus of “Wayward Haunted’’ and the cascading twinkles of “Fallen.”

With Mansfield at the helm of all the vocals and instrumentals, Midnight Sun is another thought-provoking, danceable addition to Stranded’s diverse back catalogue.

David Mansfield– Production, Performance, and Writing

From the upcoming album, “Midnight Sun”, out 24th September 2021