Posts Tagged ‘Look Alive’

The STROPPIES – ” Look Alive “

Posted: June 5, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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“Look Alive” by The Stroppies is released today. Having initially been moved back a month due to complications relating to COVID19, the record now arrives at a time of even more distress and concern. Tough Love and The Stroppies stand united in our support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Please see below for the band’s views on the matter. We hope the music can bring some relief in these dark and uncertain times.

“It feels strange to be promoting and releasing music in the midst of what has been a strange and traumatic year for everyone. This feeling is even more acute in light of the recent events in Minneapolis and the global raising of consciousness around the adversity faced by black people and black communities the world over.

The Stroppies will be donating 100% of profits from any copies of Look Alive sold through our to the aboriginal led Literacy for Life foundation until our copies are gone- in addition to this we will donate 100% of the profits from anything sold on our Big Cartel to this charity over the next week. We have also set up an ongoing donation of $20 a month in the band’s name that will be debited monthly and indefinitely.

Australian customers please order through us and through this channel to support this initiative.
For any overseas customers you can click the link below to purchase the record through regular channels.
We hope you enjoy the record and look after each other.

Stroppies x”

The STROPPIES – ” Look Alive! “

Posted: May 3, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Originally starting as The DIY home recording project of Angus Lord and Claudia Serfaty, The Stroppies have now evolved into what some might call a “proper band”. Following on from their 2017 demo cassette and a sling of singles, 2019 saw the release of their debut LP Whoosh!, a studio-based affair that evolved The Stroppies sound, underpinned with a newly discovered melodic classicism. Look Alive!, their latest effort which was recorded only months after the bands return to Australia after their second European tour of 2019, represents a marriage of the two different styles of Stroppies recordings and rounds out an incredibly productive twelve months for the group.

Look Alive! Is the sound of The Stroppies honing their craft under new and unfamiliar conditions. Written mainly on the road then finished and recorded at home with whatever was on hand with only three of the four members present, it is according to the band’s singer/guitarist Angus Lord, “an EP forged in circumstance. A sum total of fleeting vignettes on scraps of paper, voice memos and iPhone notepads all collated between soundchecks and long stretches in a tour van pieced together over weekly jams. We didn’t want to waste much time when we got home so we opted to record it ourselves”. For a band who began with the initial idea to create “open-ended music, collaged quickly and pieced haphazardly together”, it is in some sense a return to their true self. 

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Lead single ‘Holes In Everything’ presents the band at its pop best: “If I could disappear into the atmosphere, I would be around you all the time” sings Lord, before swiftly throwing shade on the sentiment in the chorus, “It’s always frightening what I think”. It’s this penchant for push and pull of light and dark splashed against the backdrop of trepidation and humour that make The Stroppies records so endearing and open-ended. Though undeniably pop structure orientated, the bands propensity for re-inventing and re-appropriating their recording and writing process ensures that nothing starts to fossilize. Indeed, Look Alive! is that most intriguing of records precisely because it represents two ideas at the same time – the sound of a band in flux, but also the sound of a band becoming more sure footed as they walk their crooked line.

Releases June 5th, 2020.

The STROPPIES – ” Holes in Everything “

Posted: March 4, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Aussie janglers The Stroppies return in fine form today with a new mini-album that wraps up their recording work from the last year. Vaulting off of their excellent album from last year, the band continues to capture the overcast sway of kiwipop from days past, calling back echoes of The Clean, Able Tasmans, and Tall Dwarfs. They buoy their sunny strums with heavy-sighed harmonies and a hummable heft of organ that gives the song staying power.

The band’s sticks to your ribs more than some of their peers with an ability to let angst and insecurity bask in the sun of their strums – giving their songs a more substantial kick then some of their cohorts. They continue their run at UK label Tough Love and while this might be another short one (something the band seems adept at) these eight songs still feel like a vital part of The Stroppies’ path. The LP descends to the decks on May 1st.

Taken from the record, Look Alive, out 1st May 2020 via Tough Love Records.

GUSTER – ” Look Alive “

Posted: January 16, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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“Look Alive” is the best Guster album in a very long time. In fact, there is something about this album that makes it feel like an effective reboot of sorts for the beloved Boston band. They just sound reinvigorated, from the beautiful, opening title-track, to the pop-radio-ready “Hard Times.” “Terrified” is among one of their strongest songs to date, as is the bold, slowly building, “Not for Nothing.” The best moment comes, though, on playfully bizarre “Overexcited,” where a tweak-y, strange synth-line is paired with vocals sung in a fake British accent about being nervous about a crush. It sounds weird on paper but it is a bit of a joyous revelation.

This is a really impressive set of songs.

Guster’s new album Look Alive is out now on Nettwerk Music Group & Ocho Mule Records.

GUSTER – ” Look Alive “

Posted: January 23, 2019 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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The Boston rock veterans of Guster are back after a four-year break with a new album titled Look Alive. The band appears to have been restless in the interim, as this new album incorporates everything from grand, arena-style pop hooks to the whimsical balladry of ‘60s groups like the Kinks.

In case you quit the internet last week, our new album Look Alive comes out on January 18th and you can head on over to www.guster.com this very second to hear a whole third of our new record, check out the full track listing, and pre-order or pre-save how you see fit. The bands 8th studio album is out today. Look Alive is an inspired and fulfilling place to have arrived after 27 years of creativity.

Now, also feast your eyes on the album cover! It was embroidered by a fabulous artist named Nikki Virbitsky.

“Overexcited” is from Guster’s new album, Look Alive, out now on Nettwerk Music Group & Ocho Mule Records.

GUSTER – ” Look Alive “

Posted: January 2, 2019 in MUSIC
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Look Alive

Their new album is called “Look Alive” and it comes out January 18th on Nettwerk Records. We’ve shared a couple of tracks and a few little snippets of information so far, but now we’re ready to get serious. We have a new song called “Look Alive” which is track 1 on the album Look Alive, The cover art for Look Alive was embroidered by a fabulous artist named Nikki Virbitsky.

Given their fondness for populist precepts, Guster ought to find plenty of inspiration for their upcoming album, and given its prescient title Look Alive, one would imagine that the band’s in a generally upbeat mood. Word is that it was recorded in a vintage keyboard museum in Calgary, Alberta, and that despite the chilly temperatures, the mood was quite merry. It remains to be seen—and heard—how being set free in a building filled with archaic keyboards might have had a lingering impact on their new music, but given Guster’s generally upbeat antics, we’re guessing that they made the most of the opportunity. Perky piano and sizzling synth ought to temper the tableau.

Look Alive is available for pre-order now, Standard Black Vinyl, and a Deluxe Clear Vinyl variant. The deluxe comes with a special fabric-wrapped hardcover book, exclusive embossed cover, and a 10 page layout with printed sleeve & band portraits. We’ve included a bonus track, “When You Go Quiet,” on physical copies to entice people to actually order them — but we need not harp on this. Guster fans have supported our music, shared our music, and encouraged our creativity from the beginning. It is an honor to present Look Alive to you guys. After 27 years, it’s an album that will be a major part of our legacy.