Philly’s Clap Your Hands Say Yeah recently saw a change in lineup after the departure of three of its members, but do not fret, they are back as a duo and as good as ever. The band now consists of guitarist/vocalist Alec Ounsworth, and bassist Matt Wong, featuring Sean Greenhalgh as drummer on their newest project. CYHSY is currently on tour promoting their fourth album, Only Run, and played a spectacular show Saturday night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, with funky brother-duo Stagnant Pools as opener.
CYHSY’s self-titled, self-produced and self-released 2005 album was nothing short of brilliant and made them beloved amongst bloggers of the day, heralding their instant indie-rock stardom. Tracks like the wildly fun “Clap Your Hands!” to the sweet (and personal favorite) “Blue Turning Gray” and the uber cool “Gimme Some Salt” had the makings of classic feel good, dance-like-nobody’s-watching tunes. Two albums and a few solo offerings from lead vocalist Ounsworth later, CYHSY have returned to prove that they still have the same energetic vibe that made them darlings early in their career.
Only Run features an array of synth-tunes, full of head bopping beats that will make you sway. “As Always” is a rhythm roller-coaster that alternates between simplicity and melodic chaos. Though you can hear slight differences on Only Run compared to their 2005 gem, the simplicity of this new album is marvelous enough that you don’t really notice the missing links.
On stage, Ounsworth’s voice radiates around a room like no other. His desperate, disheveled tone sings tunes that haunt and move. There’s no doubt that CYHSY is phenomenal on stage – they work a crowd like their lives depend on it, with enthusiastic strumming, drumming, and dancing; it’s difficult to not be blown away by their boundless skill. The vibe at MHoW was undeniably bustling, with everyone either rocking out or singing along. I invited a guest that had never heard of CYHSY before to accompany me, and by the time we left the venue she had fallen in love and was an instant fan. While the setlist drew heavily from Only Run, there was a healthy mix of perennial favorites like “This Home on Ice,” “The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth” from their debut and “Satan Said Dance” from Some Loud Thunder, a song they’ve played live since their earliest shows and a terrific showcase for Ounsworth’s signature warble.
When it was time for the encore, the crowd wasn’t ready to say goodbye, and it seemed as though the guys weren’t either. They launched into a shimmering rendition of their latest single “As Always,” moving into “Heavy Metal” with such a great, loud and contagious energy that it shook the house, proving that they can hold their own as a duo just fine.
CYHSY are taking a brief break from tour before embarking on another three-week journey, beginning in Pittsburgh later this month. See dates and watch the video for “As Always” below. Only Run is available now.
07-24 Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe
07-25 Cincinnati, OH – Fountain Square
07-26 St. Louis, MO – Old Rock House
07-27 Kansas City, MO – The Riot Room
07-28 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
07-29 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
07-30 Boise, ID – Neurolux
08-01 Vancouver, British Columbia – Biltmore Cabaret
08-02 Seattle, WA – The Crocodile
08-03 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
08-05 San Francisco, CA – The Independent
08-07 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
08-08 San Diego, CA – Casbah
08-09 Scottsdale, AZ – Pub Rock Live
08-11 Austin, TX – The Mohawk
08-12 Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s
08-13 New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jacks
08-14 Birmingham, AL – Bottletree
08-15 Chattanooga, TN – Miller Plaza
08-16 Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle
08-17 Richmond, VA – The Camel
In 2002, guitarist Hayden Thorpe and guitarist Ben Little met in the charming town of Kendal in the Lake District of England. After eventually outgrowing their small town, they exchanged the rolling hills of the Lake District for the industrial streets of Leeds, where their careers began to kick off after picking up percussionist Chris Talbot and bassist Tom Fleming along the way. Christening themselves Wild Beasts, the band has since moved to London, and have put out four records with Domino Records: Limbo, Panto (2008), Two Dancers (2009), Smother (2011), and now, the aptly Present Tense (2014).
Present Tense marks some serious artistic progression for Wild Beasts. While its eleven tracks won’t reach out and grab the casual listener, serious fans will love the album, which demands an attentive listen lest the details that make the album great be lost. The poetic lyrics that blur the line between sarcasm and genuine romance and the stylized and theatrical vocal interplay craftily incorporated into the album could easily be missed while listening on the subway going home from work, distracted by busking acrobats swinging from the handrails. There’s so much here that should be absorbed carefully and slowly, much of which is owed to the fact that the band composed digitally, painstakingly programming and piecing each element together.
The record doesn’t stray too far from the pop tenets that marked their previous albums; rather, it strikes a balance between the obvious and the subtle. While some tracks might swing in either direction (the melodic pop contours of “Sweet Spot” and the slow-moving “New Life” best represent the record’s polarities), the rest fall somewhere in the middle, providing the goods to satisfy one’s aesthetic and philosophical palate. There’s a considerable amount of vocal interplay; Fleming, Thorpe and Talbot, all with their trademark stylistic vocals, both compliment and contrast each other, something that the band uses to their advantage. During the darker, more guttural “Nature Boy,” Fleming’s baritone intensifies the atmosphere and adds to the masculinity of the track. “Palace,” however, the most romantic track on the album, sounds sweet and fanciful coming from Thorpe’s higher register. While most tracks highlight one vocalist over the others, most of them include at least some interaction, filling each track at some point with rich texture and harmonic complexity.
As the title of the record would imply, the most refined intricacy on Present Tense is the sense of nowness and balance that builds subtle suspense throughout the album. While all of the songs have a slow to moderate tempo, there is rarely a shortage of excitement. Wild Beasts artfully create grandiose expectancy without the least bit of flash, a feat that is best exemplified on “Pregnant Pause.” The song begins with a tentative keyboard section while the vocals whisper over the skeleton melody. The guitar peeks its head in, softly picking away at a fuller melody, indicating that the slow build is reaching its climax. Sometimes it seems like a lost cause, Thorpe coos, breathe a second, feel that pregnant…pause. The music doesn’t explode, yet we know that we’ve arrived. This compositional mastery of tension is also evident on “Mecca.” Again, Wild Beasts utilizes a stripped down introductory section, this time with no instrument to mark the tempo, and when the main melody arrives, we cherish it all the more.
Like the previous work of Wild Beasts, Present Tense is a dense album, with endless intricacies accentuated by the personal, yet mystic lyrics. The concept of balance is an overwhelming motif throughout the album, one that manifests itself both thematically and musically. The band strives to strike a balance between sarcasm and sincerity, between accessibility and mysticism, literal and figurative, soprano and bass, and the list goes on. This point is perhaps most poignantly articulated in the lyrics for “Sweet Spot”: There is a guardless state, where the real and the dream may consummate. Maybe this guardless state is what the gang had been searching for during the making of Present Tense; now, it seems, they’ve come very close to finding it.
Check out the video for “Mecca” and Wild Beasts’ US tour dates below.
WILD BEASTS US TOUR DATES:
Thu July 10 – New York, NY @ Hudson River Parks’ River Rocks (Pier 84)
Fri July 11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer w/ Mutual Benefit
Sat July 12 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club w/ Mutual Benefit
Mon July 14 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair w/ Mutual Benefit
Tues July 15 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre w/ Mutual Benefit
Wed July 16 – Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club
Fri July 18 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
Sat July 19 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
Denver indie pop group Tennis is back with their newest single “Never Work for Free” from their third album Ritual in Repeat, due out September 9 via Communion Records. With the help of Patrick Carney (The Black Keys), Jim Eno (Spoon) and Richard Swift (the Shins), the husband-wife duo return with a sound that is still completely theirs but more developed and perhaps more daring. In preparation for the release of this album, the band went on tour with sister act HAIM last spring. Once the new album is out, they will headline a North American tour in the fall.
Active since 2010, Tennis’s debut album Cape Dory was released with critical acclaim, especially with the origin story surrounding it. Inspired by their time sailing around the Atlantic together, the story has since been romanticized and restructured, often to the ire of the band members. Their second album, Young & Old, was the first to be produced by The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney, which has more concrete, mature themes but still showcases the band’s nostalgic pop sounds.
For “Never Work for Free,” Alaina Moore’s voice is the clearest it has ever been, with no filters or layers to distract from the bright vocal harmonies that highlight her saccharine voice. It’s a vibrant, fresh song, appropriate for coastal road trips in a red convertible and impromptu dance parties during late-night grocery trips. Vocally, Moore is at her strongest, boldly reaching new heights during the chorus and then sinking to mellow tones during the verses and bridge. The repetitive percussion and dreamy synths mixed with her soothing singing ensure that this song will not leave your head nor will you want it to. The track is available for free download from the band’s website, and you can stream it via Souncloud below.
During a weekend visit to Montreal, I happened to catch fellow Concordia University Alumni Spencer Krug, a.k.a. Moonface, playing live at La Sala Rossa. Having recently fallen hard for his 2013 album Julia With Blue Jeans On, there was no way I would miss the chance to see him play in the city that I called home for two years. Krug’s began recording as Moonface nearly four years ago, after stints in Wolf Parade, Frog Eyes, Sunset Rubdown, and Swan Lake. His solo records tend to revolve around a singular musical motif, often given away by his record titles; 2011’s Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped is exactly what it sounds like, also serving as a footnote to his process as sole songwriter, while 2012’s With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery gives a titular nod to the Helsinki-based outfit that performed on the record. Cryptically titled by comparison, Julia With Blue Jeans On is composed entirely of his voice and his piano, but it’s far from minimal – not only are the songs lyrically vivid and his signature vocal style arresting, the piano lines are intricate, emotive, and dynamic. As Moonface, Krug brings it all together with such ease and undeniable raw talent it’s almost ridiculous.
The venue, La Sala Rossa, is a Spanish restaurant and bar that hosts a variety of events (including Flamenco performances), right in the heart of Montreal’s infamous Boulevard Saint-Laurent. Equipped with charming chandeliers and a small center stage, the venue sets a perfect atmosphere for artists to play a more intimate set. Sea Oleena, a fellow Canadian musician also based out of Montreal, opened the show. She played a quiet, short set with only her guitar, the audience sitting at her feet in awe. Her voice can only be described as wispy and enchanting, and she was so charming that I wasn’t even bothered by the fact that there were several French Canadians practically sitting on top of me (heads up: if you’re in Brooklyn, you can catch her when she plays Silent Barn on July 11th).
It was nearly 10pm when Moonface took the stage to an audience was bursting with anticipation, considering the show had started at eight o’clock. Opening with “Black is Back in Style,” Krug played feverishly with his eyes closed, as if there was no one else in the room with him, his left hand dancing out a slow and steady melody while his right pounded out a desperately fast rhythm as though attached to a mad genius. Moonface wields the kind of talent that you can sit and watch for hours on end without noticing that time is passing by. Watching him play was kind of an entrancing experience for me, one that can be compared to going to a church service and being captivated by a sermon. Then again, I have a bit of a flair for the dramatic. What followed was an hour of the most intense and beautiful cuts from Julia, including “Eveyone is Noah, Everyone is the Ark” and “Love The House You’re In,” a personal favorite.
Off stage, Krug seems like someone you could chill and have a cheap beer with at a grungy bar. During his performances, he is a force to be reckoned with. It’s those aforementioned hints of madness that are particularly captivating, his ferocious concentration and artistry bordering on revelation. As it was my first time seeing him play, I found myself wondering how it’s possible for any one person to be so talented and focused, how someone could deliver such a vibrant performance with an essentially limited palette. Maybe it’s my Canadian pride amplifying my admiration. But his roots don’t really matter; coming from anywhere, he’d still sound amazing, and his voice and piano are all he really needs.
I sometimes forget just how much I love Sia. Then she puts some new music out into the universe and the feels just come flooding back to me. The Australian songstress could really do no wrong in my eyes, and I can hardly contain my excitement over the release of her sixth album, 1000 Forms of Fear, available July 8th. As a preview of what to expect on her new album, the immensely talented singer has shared another single, titled “Big Girls Cry.” The track is reminiscent of Some People Have Real Problems-era Sia and is nothing short of awesome.
Despite achieving mainstream success via collaborations with everyone from Christina Aguilera to Eminem to Celine Dion, as well as penning one of the most heartbreaking songs of the 2000s that you just couldn’t escape, “Breathe Me,” Sia has always held onto her eccentric vibe. It’s well worth noting that she also puts on one hell of a vibrant live show. Sung in her raspy, breathy voice, Sia’s lyrics have a way of pulling deep empathy out of a listener. If you don’t believe me, just listen to “Lullaby” from Some People and let me know how it goes.
That Sia’s back catalogue might leave you feeling like you’ve just had your heart ripped out (whether you have or not) is fine, really, especially with the delivery of “Big Girls Cry.” It’s Sia’s gift of absolution, a reminder from the artist herself that it’s always okay to let out a big, ugly cry, no matter what Fergie told you in 2007. It’s also a big “up yours” to all those in the music industry and beyond who keep telling women to toughen up. Sia charmingly reassures us that you can be a big girl and still break down in uninhibited vulnerability, especially when your heart is breaking. And if Sia tells you that it’s okay to cry, then it’s gotta be okay. In some ways, that stance is a lot tougher than stifling emotions and sucking it up.
I won’t confirm nor deny whether the song actually made me cry – maybe I just had something in my eye – but you can check it out for yourself below, totally unafraid of judgement should you feel the need to weep. If you pre-order 1000 Forms of Fear on iTunes, you get an instant download of “Big Girls Cry,” and that’s certainly nothing to be upset about.
Ever since their psych-pop debut album Dry Land is Not a Myth (2012), White Arrows’ sound has proven to pervade the alt-rock scene, particularly in their native Los Angeles. The premiere of their newest track “I Want a Taste” precedes the release of their sophomore album In Bardo, due out in September. The new album’s namesake represents the band coming into a new stage in their career, a liminal state for the band in which they must bridge the gap between being an “up-and-coming” act and a seasoned one, and that involves a great deal of introspection. Experience-wise, they’ve transitioned easily, touring as support with bands like Cults, The Naked and Famous and Santigold. These perspectives are precisely what we get with “I Want a Taste,” a slight enough departure from their regularly up-tempo, pop-oriented sound to demonstrate that the band is coming into their own.
The song opens with a whirring bass, contrasting starkly with vocals harmonies that ring clearly through the steady electronic beat that backs most of the track. About halfway through, a wildly unexpected heavy guitar interlude interrupts the pensive quest of the track up to that point – a raw, ragged burst entirely new to the band’s repertoire that enhances the psychedelic subtleties at the foundation of the song. Its grandiose scope reflects both the buzzy whirlwind that White Arrows came up in as well as their practiced ability to project dynamic sonic textures to wide audiences, like those they’ve played to at Coachella and Sasquatch.
Much like debut single “Leave It Alone,” “I Want a Taste” is a well-produced, unifying track that promises strong momentum for a band with a lot to offer going into their second album. White Arrows is currently on tour with The Neighborhood and will embark on a headlining tour very soon. Check out visuals for the song below:
When I met the Banshee Bones crew my interest was immediately sparked. They looked like 1970s rock stars that had joined a funky motorcycle gang, freshly beamed from a time machine into 2014. So when they invited me to their gig at Bar Sinister I couldn’t refuse, even though I had never heard their music.
I was excited and a little nervous for the show, especially since the locale seemed to be part music venue and part fetish bar. Needless to say I was glad I wore black. The stage was set up on the back patio, already drawing a peculiar crowd of apathetic Goths, old-fashioned punk rockers and possible witch doctors. Banshee Bones’ lead singer Eugene Rice wore a bright white pantsuit (bell bottoms included), in stark contrast with the black clothing and creative makeup of the band’s fans. A fountain of candles glimmered near the red-lit stage, reflected off of the disco ball hanging over the band. It was Banshee Bones second time at Bar Sinister and the cheering of the crowd proved that they were happy to have the band back.
In addition to Rice, Banshee Bones consists of his brother Ryan on drums, Salem Romo on bass and Joe Perez on guitar. The Rice brothers hail from Vermont, and met Joe at Hollywood’s Musicians Institute when Joe complimented Ryan’s Aerosmith tee. Joe, originally from Indiana, began jamming with the pair, and their search for the last member began. As if by an act of fate, Ryan sat next to Salem at a free mastering clinic. They started talking about music, specifically Salem’s interest in playing bass, then ended up going their separate ways, but throughout the next month Ryan continuously bumped into Salem, who’d spent most of his life in the L.A. scene. Eventually, Ryan’s bandmates encouraged him to invite Salem to join the group for a jam session; his playing rounded out the overall sound and the band was at last complete.
Over the last three years Banshee Bones have toured throughout the West in a Coachmen trailer, further proof they came (almost literally) out of a time machine. They’ve also released Life & Limb, a self-produced EP, and their debut album Birds of Prey, with no plans to stop touring or recording. At their shows, they often wear Venetian style “plague doctor” masks, half black and half white, to represent the dualities in personal identity. They believe that every person can choose good or evil but they must know what lies underneath their mask to discover their true nature.
As midnight rolled around the ensemble took the stage. Banshee Bones’ ever-shifting sound and energetic set kept the attention of the audience piqued. Eugene’s serious pipes gave the performance an air of pure rock opera with some metal-style screams mixed in. They moved seamlessly from head-banging rock with haunting undertones to grimy, almost punkish abandon. Billing themselves as “experimental heavy rock,” the band’s style is at times a bit hard to pin down. A more descriptive phrase from their Twitter bio that reads “Rock and Roll married your dark progressive side” goes a little further in accurately assessing their whole vibe. In the grand tradition of hard rock performers, almost all of the band’s members had stripped to just their pants by the middle of the set, but none could seem to truly keep their cool – when their hair wasn’t covering their faces the wide smiles they all wore were obvious to the crowd.
Banshee Bones a scheduled to play a handful of dates in local Los Angeles clubs over the next month. The video below is a few years old but still gives a sense of their showmanship, though you’ll want to catch them live for the full effect; you can keep tabs on Banshee Bones via Facebook.
No one could accuse LA outfit The Peach Kingsof making records that are too long or boring. Since 2011, the group–cornerstone members Paige Wood and Steven Dies, along with a revolving assortment of friends and drummers–have put out three releases, the longest of which is six tracks. The most recent release, the Mojo Thunder EP, stays true to the template: it’s a brisk listen at five tracks, though this is the first Peach Kings release that hasn’t left me wanting more.
The group’s discography is filled with tiny masterpieces of carefully crafted simplicity. The Kings marinate doo-wop in the loneliness blues of Wood’s voice, then fleck it with surprising dub step highlights; they make meaty, complex songs crammed with different influences and nods to various eras. Who wouldn’t want a full-length album of that hotness? . But Mojo Thunder concentrates on developing one sound–a cinematic, glamourpuss groove–instead of spinning through the band’s wheelhouse. The single “Be Around” is all electric guitar riffs and cymbal shimmers as Wood sings the first verse, “Every silver lining’s got a razor’s edge/ We are victorious, now off with their heads,” at the high end of her register. The drama continues with the rockabilly-tinged title track and the understated but lust-driven “Say What.” The tunes are good–groovy and infectious on first listen–but if you’ve listened to Handsome Moves, you can’t be satisfied with Mojo Thunder. There isn’t a single example on this EP of the sort of stripped-down track that, on both the previous records, gave Wood a chance to stretch and flex her shape-shifting, powerhouse voice. Consider “Lonely,” off Handsome Moves: when The Peach Kings play to the more vulnerable end of their spectrum, they make some of their best songs.Though Mojo Thunder is fun to listen to, the EP focuses on being hooky and theatrical at the expense of bearing soul.
Check out “Hold On,” my favorite track off the Mojo Thunder EP, below!
These days, it seems no one is impervious to nineties nostalgia, least of all Burger Records, who release Whoop Dee Doo on July 29th, the first album of new material from grunge-pop aficionados The Muffs in ten years. The three-piece, consisting of lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Kim Shattuck, bassist Ronnie Barnett, and drummer Criss Crass, is scheduled for several West Coast Burger-sponsored bashes, including this past weekend’s Burger Beach Party USA at the Del Monte Speakeasy located in the heart of Venice.
Arriving a bit late for sets from labelmates Audacity, The Tyde, The Aquadolls, and Collen Green, my peers and I descended into the dimly lit bar decorated with twenties style lamps and red leather couches. The crowd consisted of people of all different ages, sporting every style from summertime surf grunge to bohemian fifty-year old mom swag. Once The Muffs took the stage it became clear that they’re touring veterans; you could tell immediately that they have been performing together for years. Perhaps best known for having had their cover of “Kids In America” (originally by Kim Wilde) featured in one of my most favorite movies, Clueless, the band has gone through numerous lineups and released five records via Warner Bros. and Reprise Records, but have always retained a bouncy, feel-good vibe.
Kim had a huge smile on her face the whole show, aggressively singing upbeat surfer rock songs to a crowd of moshing admirers. Their new material, much in the vein of their early catalogue, is comprised of perfect riffs made with power chords we all know and love, hard hitting bass lines, and drum beats that make for some truly inspired head-banging. Though The Muffs’ set was about 45 minutes long, it felt like only fifteen minutes in which both the band and their audience had a blast. Kim’s banter in between songs consisted of making fart jokes and recalling times on past tours where she “made out with a lot of girls.” Their onstage presence perfectly accompanied their clever, humorous, and emotion- driven songs, which made for an incredibly enjoyable and satisfying show. There’s no word yet on whether a national tour will happen, but The Muffs are playing a few more Burger shindigs, listed below. In the meantime, check out lead single from Whoop Dee Doo, “Up And Down Around.”
THE MUFFS // UPCOMING SHOWS:
Sunday, July 6 – Oakland, CA @ Burger Boogaloo (Mosswood Park)
Saturday, July 26 – San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
Saturday, Aug. 2 – Santa Ana, CA @ Burger a-Go-Go (The Observatory)
Justin Vallesteros began Craft Spells as a bedroom pop project, so it’s only fitting that for the band’s sophomore release, he’s returned to those reclusive roots. With the 2009 release of some enigmatic demos that would go on to make up the bulk of highly-anticipated debut Idle Labor in 2011, Vallesteros built buzz amongst bloggers, signed to Captured Tracks, and assembled a touring band. Craft Spells also released an EP, Gallery, in 2012, seemingly predicting that such prolific output would continue. The band toured while moving its home base up and down the West Coast, but Vallesteros found himself distracted and uninspired by surroundings in Seattle and San Francisco. He moved back in with his parents, spent his days writing and skateboarding, and completed Nausea, a deeply introspective album more orchestral, ambitious and accessible than anything Craft Spells has released to date. In the midst of a brief tour that included a stop at Brooklyn’s Northside Festival, Vallesteros answered some questions about the new directions he’s taking with his project.
AudioFemme: It seems like your aesthetic has changed slightly since Idle Labor; do you feel like that’s true? In what ways has the band evolved over the last four years?
Justin Vallesteros: Yes, it’s been four years. A lot has happened to me personally and the new record is a good representation of what I went through. The aesthetic changed cause I change, we all change. It wasn’t a conscious decision, I’m just a different person. Evolving like a Pokemon.
AF: Did you feel a lot of pressure in making a second record in terms of how critics would inevitably compare it to the first?
JV: I knew a lot of the fans of Idle Labor would tilt their head to it, it was definitely a side bust. I’m gonna make what I want though, so there was no stopping what I was writing. I can’t be that guy who makes pastel-like music all my life. I’m a real person with feelings. Maybe the next release will be the happiest shit I’ve written, or the saddest, who knows?
AF: It’s been two years since you’ve toured with the band. Anything you’re nervous about or excited to get back to?
JV: Excited to take people out of their night life, putting their phones away and bringing them into our world for an hour. It was cool playing to packed show at the Warsaw in Brooklyn and looking up midway and didn’t see one phone and everyone in silence. That rules.
AF: The new record has some great orchestral flourishes and also some really pretty quieter moments, particularly in the juxtaposition of the last two tracks. How did arranging it all come together?
JV: It’s good to take the album through different worlds and landscapes as it goes. It’s better than writing a whole album of single guitar line jangle pop.
AF: You’re releasing the demos alongside the album in a special edition. What’s your reason for that?
JV: If you like J Dilla or Nujabes, you will love these demo versions of Nausea. It’s gonna sound awesome on cassette too.
Stream single “Breaking The Angle Against The Tide” below, order the LP on Captured Tracks, or, if you’re on the West Coast, you can catch Craft Spells on tour in July at the dates below:
7/16 – Santa Cruz, CA – Catalyst Atrium
7/17 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
7/18 – San Diego, CA – The Hideout
7/19 – Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room
7/20 – Los Angeles, CA – Part Time Punks at the Echo
A gourd is a good omen. It was strung off the mic stand on stage left of the Highline Ballroom like a nectar-heavy plum, latticed with beads and primed to drop any second. I was trying to sort out the stage set-up…guessing how many band members would be waltzing out to accompany Seun Kuti come set time. I could identify most of the instruments despite a whale-sized hand drum lying on its belly with two-inch block letters carved in the side. It was clearly a percussion instrument, but like none I’d ever seen. The behemoth cylinder summed up the evening to come: I had a vague idea of how everything would go, but I didn’t really know what I was getting into.
When I first heard Seun Kuti’s name, I figured he was related to the late Afrobeat pioneer and political activist Fela Kuti. What I came to discover was that Seun is in fact Fela’s youngest son, and he’s been touring with his father’s original backing band Egypt 80 for half of his life. Only 14 when his father passed, Seun immediately became the lead singer of Egypt 80, and his 17 years of performing have made an enviably captivating and gifted musician of him.
When I arrived at the Highline Ballroom, I waded through the venue’s usual crowd of young urban professionals sipping Stella Artois. DJ Rich Medina was spinning both traditional and revivalist Afrobeat tossed in with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and other bands I wished my LG flip-phone could have Shazammed. There was a buzz in the crowd–a sort of communal knowledge that the moment Egypt 80 came out, we’d all be dancing far too hard. I kept staring at that beaded gourd, grinning with the kind of anticipation that brews right before an energetic performance. I mean, how often do we get to see a 12+-piece ensemble these days? We see a guy with a laptop and an effects pedal and we call it a band, but this is a fullband.
Medina’s set eventually dies down. Egypt 80’s 73-year-old keyboardist Lekan Animashaun steps on stage in a boldly printed tunic with matching hat and pants. “Good evening, gentlemen and ladies” he says in a thick Nigerian accent.
I immediately see where this is going.
“I say gentlemen and ladies, because, where I come from, the man comes first.”
It was like a record scratching. Lekan’s culturally-fueled, tepid sexism immediately watered down my state of elation. It doesn’t help that I write for a feminist music outlet, but after unavoidable wincing I managed to refocus on becoming excited again, despite the unnecessary remark.
The remainder of Egypt 80 poured onto the stage. 11 musicians and a pair of back-up singers/dancers, both scantily clad beauties with Crayola-hued face paint and beads dripping off every bit of them. The group played a song written by Lekan, a bit more on the traditional side of Nigerian music than what I’d heard from Seun’s recordings. Naturally this number served as an intro for Seun, who came prancing out shortly after its conclusion.
He practically flew onto stage, an alto sax slung around his neck, decked out in slate blue digital camouflage pants, a matching button-up, and of course, loafers of the same print and color. I was dumbstruck by how attractive he was. He has a powerful, feline face with a wide set nose and flaring nostrils that suggest fury even when he’s grinning.
Seun was performing in overdrive from minute one. When he wasn’t singing, he was wailing on sax, never ceasing to dance in either scenario. It was a small stage for 14 people to occupy, and he managed to make it microscopic considering how much space he monopolized. He moved in staccato, ass-out, flailing gyrations that were as sexy as they were foreign. His particular style of dance exemplified the charm and arrogance that make up his character: at one point he referred to himself as “a very beautiful man.” You’d like to argue, but he’s not wrong in the least.
With the help of his back-up singers Seun removed his shirt, revealing a “Fela Lives” tattoo across the width of his shoulder blades. Throughout the set he paid respects to his deceased father, interspersed with political diatribe denouncing the Westernization of African women and the IMF, or “International Mother Fuckers” as Seun coined it. Though as impassioned as his speeches were, his geriatric band seemed to be rolling their eyes behind his bare back. Few of them under 60, they responded to Seun’s energy like cynical uncles that used to babysit him. It was as if they were saying: “You think you’re a hotshot now, but we’ve all changed your diapers.” To make matters worse, Seun was literally flicking sweat all over them with every gesture-I saw the bassist flinch several times, just slightly dodging bullets of perspiration.
Though the subject matter driving Kuti’s music is far from cheerful, his music is undeniably upbeat and danceable. Steady drums anchor searing horns and jubilant vocal melodies…it’s truly music anyone could enjoy. But Afrobeat’s contagiously kinetic nature doesn’t deny its origins; this is protest music, but not the sort that is sung as a device of nostalgia or Western ennui. The issues Seun describes are current and severe, dealing predominantly with the exploitation of African resources and the attempted bleaching of Nigerian culture. The most exhilarating aspect of Kuti is his ability to relay these political messages with a shameless rage that is lacking in most contemporary music, and then move an entire room to dance at the same time. It’s the kind of magnetism his father had, and would no doubt be proud of. “Fela Lives” indeed.
Decade-defying, dance-inducing electronic music has always been LCD Soundsystem’s signature calling card and it’s an ethos that obviously extends to the latest collaborative project from founding member Pat Mahoney and The Juan MacLean’s Dennis McNany.
Dubbed Museum of Love, the duo channels a glimmering discotheque groove with a brand of electro-punk funk that’ll be familiar to any diehard DFA fan. Case and point is the latest offering from their upcoming self-titled LP called “In Infancy,” which combines the best of signature DFA-esque distortions with a dash of whimsical wonk and transcendental swoop. Filled with scuzzy synths, croon-embracing choir vocals and an unstoppable drum machine, it’s a shimmering, funk-loving spin on the duo’s past musical endeavors as groove-inducing, avant-electro staples.
Relaxing in its hazy dance floor drift, “In Infancy” coddles your ears. Swaddled by sweeping angelic harmonics gradually melting into an ethereal polyphony of sound, it invokes a series of blissful ideas content in their otherworldly leanings. But that’s not to say it lacks direction, as the entire track is driven by an incessant beat that could make even the sourest of four-on-the-floor adherents sway back and forth a bit. And it should, as it’s a gentle disco-influenced lullaby for the glamorous, cowbell-obsessed embryo within you.
The heir apparent to the Human League’s brand of decade-straddling balladry, it’s as if Mahoney and McNany squeezed all of the disco-embracing essence lingering within MTV’s New Wave playlists from between 1977 and 1983 and put it all into one genre-spanning track. And while some purists may argue otherwise, in all honesty, what better time in musical dance history is there to distill? After all, tracks that glide through time, space and external dimensions are the backbone of pop music. And in my opinion, it’s all for the better if this post-modern dance-punk can turn into something as fun and surprising as “In Infancy.”
“Snakes and Hawks” is not your typical track about a predator seeking out its prey; sure, the song sticks its talons into our brains with its catchy opening synth riff, but it doesn’t sweep us off to an untimely end.
Instead, the six piece San Antonio band sing along to a tune that is all too convincing about being seemingly innocuous. Musically, the song is plain ol’ fun. The Hawks have a straight-out-of-the -garage appeal to them that is apparent in their ability to maintain a high energy track for a little over four minutes (pretty unusual for a punk band). Every member also does vocals, giving it an anthemic aesthetic that makes one feel like they are in the middle of the pit at one of their shows. Its variety of musical breaks is what makes it last through the repetition and progression of the lyrics, from its sing along vocal melodies to the bridge where it breaks down with a sludgy guitar riff and male and female vocals singing back to one another.
What makes this song stray into the pop punk category is its MIDI like synth that pervades the whole track and its seemingly sweet lyrics. Thematically, it’s all about predation, but not in the “Hungry Like A Wolf” kind of way. Rather, it’s about being wily, tricking a person into believing you’re harmless. Its got the nice guy appeal initially but takes a turn when the line “you’ve got snakes, I’ve got hawks” turns into “she’s the snake and I’m the hawk.” By the time the bridge arrives, he’s sneaking into the girl’s bed and the song comes to a catchy close with its last melodic sing along.
Whether or not it dupes us into believing its intention is more sweet than it actually is, it forces you to see through to the end of the prowl. The song is the first track off of the band’s sophomore album What Team Am I On? via Texas is Funny Records July 22nd
Innovatively-minded, Luna Aura is a part of a generation of artists who strive for societal change through their creative endeavors in the music industry. Her songs, all self written and co-produced, are filled with hypnotic beats and catchy lyrics. Each track is a singular and organic exploration of Luna’s sound, which makes the EP fascinating and keeps us on our toes. If her music in and of itself didn’t make her cool enough in both her daily life and in her creative work, let me add that she is a serious advocate for gender equality. Luna has a strong and dazzling personality, quirky and self-aware in equal measure. Last week I had the delight of talking to Luna on the phone about her musical career and the path to her forthcoming debut EP.
AF: When did you first get into making music?
LA: I first started singing at a really young age, about 3 or 4 and then I started writing songs when I was about 10 I was a dramatic little one, writing about relationships and all these things that I have never experienced, that I’ve just observed in other people. I learned how to play guitar around the age of 15 and started going out and performing my own music and that’s what I’ve been doing for the past 5 years or so and just over the last year I’ve been producing all of my own music and all of the music that you hear today.
AF: Did you run into any nay-sayers in your family or were you supported?
LA: I was so lucky as a kid because I had loving parents. We weren’t well off by any means you know my dad was a cop and my mom was a stay at home mom and I have four other siblings so it was kind of a packed house. We each have our own individual quirks and talents but no matter what they are our parents always said that they will support us 100 percent in whatever it is that we want to do. For this I think it was difficult for my parents because I didn’t want to go to school and I didn’t want to go to college, I just wanted to focus on this. I’ve always had a pretty entrepreneurial spirit, I’ve never wanted to be the person that waited for someone else to tell her that she was ready to do something, I just wanted to do it. I think once my parents saw this drive in me and saw the success behind it and of course the talent that was leading it they’ve been nothing but supportive. And my whole family has been so loving and supportive throughout the whole journey from when I was so small until now.
AF: You have a very unique sound; how did you develop that?
LA: When I was younger I listened to three things: pop music, hip-hop & rap or country. I was obsessed with all three of those genres growing up so a lot of my influences are from those three genres. I think I just love the shininess of pop and the fact that so many people love it and it’s so infectious. For rap & hip-hop I love the way it feels and the way to made me feel when I was growing up and with country I love the storytelling behind it. I appreciate all the storytelling in country music and all the songs that I have loved. I think today I’m just blending all of that together so with the synths and the beats and all of that, the rhythm comes from my hip hop & rap background, the storytelling comes from my country background and the ultimate big picture of it is very much pop. I’m going with what’s natural to me. It’s the first time in my life that I’ve done that. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to immerse myself in different genres none of them ever worked because I was forcing it. Now with this EP it’s 100 percent natural and from me; it’s everything that makes me feel right.
AF: What is your writing process?
LA: When I’m producing I am always with my buddy Sean and we’re always at his place doing it. I tend to write in my room a lot. I think it is only due to habit though because when I was younger I wasn’t showing people these songs that I was writing. I was just doing it by myself in my room and then hiding my little notebook so I think as a habit being in my room and just kind of being by myself and being in my own space with no distractions just becomes “my home” when it comes to song writing.
AF: You live in Phoenix right? Describe the music scene there.
LA: It’s definitely, because it’s so small, somewhat of a family. When there are artists out there or bands that are really doing a good job and you know kicking butt, I feel like everyone likes to come together and collaborate. This person wants to meet this person and that person wants to meet the next person and do all these ‘collabs’. So I feel like, more than anything, it’s like a small little family.
AF: What is your experience as a female artist?
LA: I don’t want to say it’s difficult but it is kind of difficult. I think that there’s a lot of social pressures when it comes to being a female artist. People expect you to be sexy and they expect you to be sultry and always be beautiful and to never really show any side other then that, especially as a pop artist. For me I have always been obsessed with people like Joan Jett and Gwen Stephani and Janis Joplin and these women that were just owning it. They weren’t being feminine by any means they were just performing and they could hold the stage like any other man. And I feel like for me that’s where I come from, that’s where I’m going and that’s where I am. So when it comes to live performing you can see that side more. When it comes to the promo photos and all of that I am very feminine and brightly colored and all of that, but you’ll really see the tomboy in me while I’m performing. You have to prove yourself definitely as a female artist, more so then a man would have to prove himself.
AF: So what do you do outside of making music, any hobbies?
LA: Just like crime fighting, basic stuff like that. I like working out, kind of but not really, never mind I don’t like working out. There’s not much you can do in Arizona cuz it’s like 110 degrees at all times. I read and write music and I like coloring my hair a lot. Which is why in like every picture you see of me my hair is a different color. So part time crime fighter, part time hairdresser.
AF: Who, dead or alive, would you want to sit down and have a cup of coffee with?
LA: Maya Angelou, for sure, who just recently passed away and which was completely heart-breaking for me because she was somewhat of a mentor for me.
AF: In what way?
LA: With a lot of her writings and she’s just one of the most amazing women to ever exist and I would do anything to have had a cup of coffee with her.
AF: Dream collaboration for a song?
LA: That’s so hard! Right now, you know what I am so in love with Twenty One Pilots right now. So inspired by Twenty One Pilots – I just think that they’re both just so talented and when it comes to the writing and all the elements within it they are just geniuses. I love those guys. You’ll actually see an influence they have on me in the music videos that are coming out this summer too.
AF: Anything else you wanna divulge? State secrets?
LA: I don’t know. I’m eating pizza rolls right now. My EP is going to be released on August 26th of this year. My song “Radio” is available on ITunes, Spotify and Amazon currently. I’m going to be performing at the Summer Ends Music Fest in September with Foster The People, Kittens, Fitz and the Tantrums and bunch of other really cool people. So I guess I’d want people to know that.
Luna Aura’s self-titled debut EP will be released on August 26th and will be followed by her performance at the Summer Ends Music Festival on September 28th. Watch her debut video here via Youtube:
On June 18, Florida duo SALES played an intimate and charmingly awkward set at tiny venue Comet Ping Pong with local Maryland band Go Cozy as the opening act. The DC show was their second stop on their small east coast tour in preparation for the band’s debut album out later this summer. Their understated music fit perfect with the low-key atmosphere of the space.
I’ve been to my fair share of live shows in DC but this was my first time going to Comet Ping Pong, a full-time bar and restaurant known for its handmade pizzas. It was out of the way from my usual music stomping ground of U Street, tucked away in Northwest DC that was far from a metro stop but at least had one bus stop in front of it. The low-set stage was at the back of the restaurant, partitioned by a flimsy curtain. To say the area was intimate is an understatement; the exposed brick and open ceiling beams made me feel like I was catching a secret show in a hidden barn.
The band – comprised of Lauren Morgan and Jordan Shih – shuffled on stage with their equipment, setting everything up by themselves. There were some shy waves and forced small talk as the members tried to make themselves at home on the personal stage.
Both Morgan and Shih seemed uncomfortable in front of the modest crowd but at times, there were real moments of ease and calm that hit both musicians once they really got deep into a song. Unfortunately, their set was plagued by technical difficulties but they pulled on through, even if they had to restart some songs several times. The crowd was generous and forgiving, encouraging the band to keep going and dancing along. Morgan’s pizzicato vocals matched her precocious guitar playing and were a joy to hear live, her notes flitting up and down erratically but endearingly. At times, their songs felt one-dimensional – there’s only so much you can do with pre-recorded beats and two guitars – but the pair’s personal approach to songwriting translated easily to their live performance, making each track a sort of precious event. Both performers were focused on their music rather than the audience but there were moments of playful banter that seemed genuine. It was only their second show on this brief tour, and it seems likely that SALES will get more comfortable with each experience.
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Lauren Morgan of SALES before she does her “famous” guitar switch.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Only New York City could have produced DAMEHT. This is a trio of musical omnivores, and they’ve soaked up influences in new-wave, electronic, top-40 radio, house and classic rock. Even elbows-deep in a dirty punk guitar riff, their songs ooze Michael Jackson-esque, big-stage pop glamour. In a nod to their Hispanic backgrounds, the group injects plenty of salsa and merengue beats into their songs.
Rivington Starchild, Lucas Garzoli and Roman Lewis have been playing together since 2007 as The Mad. DAMEHT, their current project which launched in 2012, is a homage to their previous moniker, only reversed. The trio will release their debut EP called In Perfectothis coming July. It’s hard to talk about DAMEHT without mentioning their high-octane performances, but based on what we’ve seen so far from the new EP–such as the flashy first single “I Love You Too!” and corresponding video, which collages cellphone-filmed footage crowd-sourced from the grungiest and most impossibly cool underground parties across New York City–much of the group’s energy will translate into studio recording.
DAMEHT’s synth-based new single “The Greek” keeps pace with “I Love You Too!” as a party anthem. Though it doesn’t necessarily possess the same instantaneous catchiness as the latter–a testament to ILU2’s structural integrity–it still gets our blood pumping, and leaves us stoked for what’s to come next from these dapper gents.
In Perfecto will be out next month, and you can go hereto learn more. Listen to “The Greek” below via SoundCloud.
Everyone’s had a broken heart. That’s why songs about love gone wrong are so ubiquitous; as listeners, we crave relatable lyrics telling tales of liars and cheats and unrequited crushes. We make playlists to deal with love’s letdowns, and as we sing along and we might have a good cry or hit the gym to take it out on a punch bag with our ex’s name on it. Either way, there’s no denying the catharsis inherent in woeful ballads and sassy bangers alike. Lovelorn listeners take heed: Emmy Wildwood has arrived with her debut EP Mean Love, a smoldering new crop of post-breakup jams. Over the course of four songs, she skewers toxic relationships, calls out distant lovers, and offers up a healthy dose of how to get over all that and move on.
Wildwood is a force to be reckoned with, and it goes way beyond her savvy, straight-for-the-throat anthems. She’s performed in a wide range of musical projects, fronting punk-rock outfit VELTA and alt-country band The Stone Lonesome and appearing regularly as “Lizzy Strandlin” in all-girl Guns N’ Roses cover band. And that’s just her sonic resume; she’s worked in fashion for years, both as a stylist and as proprietor of Tiger Blanket in Williamsburg. She also operates a record label of the same name, which will release Mean Love on June 24th. Not only did we chat with Wildwood about her EP, her songwriting process, Alfred Hitchcock, and the harsh realities of dysfuntional relationships, AudioFemme is pleased to present an exclusive streaming premiere of the record. Check it out below while you read Emmy Wildwood’s words of wisdom.
AUDIOFEMME: Congrats on the EP! We can’t wait to share it with the world; the songs have such irresistible hooks, and your voice is incredible. In your words, what describes the sound you’re going for on your solo project?
EMMY WILDWOOD: Well, I have a primarily punk background – I am from Tuscon, Arizona, and there’s not a lot of people, kids particularly, playing music. Except for boys, and boys played punk, where I was from. So I learned to play power chords and punk stuff early, so that I could be in bands because there was no one else playing in any other kind of band back then. So I’ve always played punk, and then I got into more distinguished music later, so there’s sort of an influence of pop singer-songwriters and things like that. But for me it always comes back to rock n’ roll and punk so I would say that that’s pretty prevalent in the voice. Even though there’s a pop sound it’s always pretty driven by a lot of nasty electric guitar sounds. I would say it’s electronic pop with a very punk feel.
AF: It definitely hearkens back to the era that produced great punk rock-inflected pop acts like Cyndi Lauper and Blondie. You use vintage drum machines to achieve that sound?
EW: We sure do. I had this idea that I wanted to just do electric guitar and electric drums, [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][particularly] LinnDrum, which is like a seventies big honkin’ horrible hugely heavy drum machine. Prince used it on his Dirty Mind album which is the one he made in his living room and it sounds really gnarly and grungy and I wanted to make something like that. LinnDrum is a big part of where this project started.
AF: So when you’re recording these songs, is it primarily you at home, alone? I know you’ve had some producers come in and work on it as well, but as far as the recording process, how do you go about that?
EW: I cut a bunch of demos on my own over the last couple of years, just electric guitar and voice. And I sent this new set of songs to my friends Zach Jones and Greg Mayo. Zach and I were in a three-piece garage rock trio called VELTA. He’s in this big pop band called Great Big World – they have that song “Say Something” with Christina Aguilera – and he got this huge drumming gig and has been touring a lot, and Greg plays with everybody in New York. They’re both amazing producers, they both play a bunch. They’re really good friends of mine. I’ve known them for a long time and they knew I wanted to do this and they’re huge Prince fans, huge pop fans, and I’ve played with them for so long I felt like they knew me so well so I called them up to help me make this particular sound happen cause I knew it wouldn’t take too much to make them understand what I was trying to do.
AF: So it made sense to approach them because you’d had so many prior conversations about how you wanted your solo stuff to sound?
EW: Yes. And just like, having been friends with them, we had common love of the same sort of stuff. It was one of those things where you don’t really have to have a conversation, somebody just knows you, and knows what you’re trying to get across, it was a lot of that cause they’re such good friends. And I respect them both musically so much. They both have amazing taste. I understand melody, and rhythm and ideas, and I’ve been doing this a long time, but they’re like really studied. They have all the stuff in the library, they can make anything I wanted to happen, happen. They’re really amazing musicians and they were incredibly important cause I definitely couldn’t have done that on my own. Especially some of the weirder, more creative stuff that’s on there that’s bizarre-sounding.
AF: Well how about the writing process? You mentioned that you had demoed the tracks before you even went to them, and I think there’s a lot of really interesting concepts and themes within the record, so can you tell me more about where you were as you were writing this and influenced the material?
EW: I had a lot of demos from sort of a tumultuous last two years. Definitely driven by breakups, I will say that. Also a lot of changes. I moved out on my own for the first time after a big breakup and I wrote probably 35 or 40 songs that weren’t being put to use. I had this sort of collection it was really hard to choose; I picked three of those songs that I wrote and I demoed those out. “RVR LVR” was the fourth one which I brought to the space. We were gonna do another, sort of heavy tune that I had written called “Rosewater,” and they were like, “Man, do you really want this EP to be like, this heavy? Don’t you want something like, super fun on the record?” And I was like, “Well… I have half of a super fun song.” I didn’t have a lot of “super fun songs” written, you know what I mean? I was dealing with some health stuff too. So it could’ve been this really really heavy EP but they sorta helped me put this more fun spin on the whole entire thing because they co-wrote this fourth song with me. Because of them of them I have an EP which made my life a little bit more fun that what was going on.
AF: I think lyrically, these songs are definitely dark and heavy in subject matter, but I feel like they’re written so poetically. That’s maybe too flowery a term, because there’s also a lot of anger and bite there, but its not like you’re calling anyone specific out. A lot of times you’re blaming yourself in these situations as much as you‘re blaming another party. And it’s so straightforward, so uncomplicated – just a collection of these charged phrases that feel very powerful as a whole.
EW: Lyrically, I’m always really honest. Some people worry about things coming off a certain way. I don’t like to be shocking on purpose, but if my honesty is shocking that’s cool to me. I like to say things in a way no one’s ever heard before, I like to play things in a way people haven’t heard before. I mean I guess that’s what we’re all trying to do. Lyrically I was just really honest and really proud about that and lyrics are something that I’ve always put a lot of time into. It’s something that’s really important to me because I listen to lyrics very intensely. The words make me feel much deeper about the music. I didn’t even know that I was blaming myself as much as I was blaming myself until you said that but that’s totally true.
AF: Well a lot of what you’re referencing on this record, particularly on the first two tracks “Mean Love” and “Stung,” are really relatable scenarios. We’ve all been in a dysfunctional, toxic situation, either with a lover or a friend or even in business relationships. There are a lot of sycophants out there. And if you spend enough time in those kinds of situations, you risk becoming a sycophant yourself. The lyrics to “Blondes” in particular kind of talk about that. It’s layered under poppy, rock-driven production but the words are very sinister and violent. Can you talk a little bit about the metaphors you’re using? Or should I call the cops?
EW: [laughs] You probably don’t need to do that! I read this article actually, on Alfred Hitchcock, his movies and how he always cast blonde girls because they looked “better in blood” on screen, cause the red stood out better. And it stuck with me for a long time but then it sort of became this thing, this imagined scenario, this song. This one I would say is less autobiographical, although it always becomes that, somehow, for me, relating it back to a personal situation. The song tells a story of a relationship where one partner is angry at somebody besides the person they’re taking their anger out on. I just used that metaphor of the blonde girl as the other girl. It’s a violent song because I’m comparing that to a horror film, but that’s where that metaphor came from. Don’t call the cops, it’s all good.
AF: I have read a little bit about Hitchcock’s relationship with Tippi Hedren, who starred in The Birds and some of his other movies and the reality of his behavior toward her is more terrifying than most of his actual movies I think. He was really obsessed with her, and did terrible things to her…
EW: Yeah, he pushed her. That’s the whole thing. I feel like we sort of do this to each other in relationships, it’s this recurring theme. He pushed her to get an emotion out of her that he needed to draw power from, that the movies maybe drew power from. Just to make it more passionate, more emotional, he pushed her to these extreme places to get something out of her, and was also totally obsessed and in love with her. I was totally fascinated by that whole concept of pushing somebody and all of that sort of obsession and craziness that follows love.
AF:Obviously it’s a painful thing to have a romantic falling out with someone or a separation, but especially having now channeled all of that into the EP, do you feel like that’s a thing that has pushed you and been transformative?
EW: It did push this EP. I had a really significant twelve-year breakup. I was with someone since I was a teenager. But “RVR LVR” is actually a happy song, and “Stung” is heavy but it’s a happy song too in the sense that it’s [about] falling in love again and learning to trust somebody again and somebody loving you even though you’re, sort of, to put it UN-poetically, screwed up, or not as strong as you feel like you were. It’s really hard to go into a new relationship when you had an idea of what your whole life was gonna be like, constantly evaluating every new thing, [thinking] is this hard because this is not right, or is this hard because I thought it was gonna be another way and it’s a different way? And someone being patient with you through that. “Stung” is definitely about being in love again and someone loving you through something hard like that.
AF: You mentioned “RVR LVR” – that’s a definite favorite of mine. It almost gives the whole EP a fairy-tale ending, not just for the mythical imagery of someone rising out of the mist so-to-speak, but it’s also a breath of fresh air after all the weightiness.
EW: Good! It wasn’t the last one we did, but it was the last written. I was so excited to have it because it just sort of rounded off the EP in a way. I hadn’t seen a close to where it was gonna finish off. I didn’t know if we should do five songs or six songs or three songs or a mixtape. And then we wrote “RVR LVR” and I was like “Oh! It’s these four. That’s it.” And the guys felt that too. It was just understood, and we all felt the same way. So it was sort of a breath of fresh air to the EP in general just sonically. “RVR LVR” is about the fun stuff. It’s about like, going out and getting someone and winning someone over, so there is happiness to it. There’s a lot of honest things about what it is to break up and fall in love again and evaluate yourself through it and evaluate your partner through it.
AF: So what ended up happening to these other songs? Will they go onto an album or is it time to put that phase of your life behind you and move on? I’m sure you’re still writing new things.
EW: Where do all the lost songs go? You know, a lot of people in their lives have concentrated on being like, the best guitarist in the world or being the best singer in the world. I wanna be a great singer and I’m always trying to get better at guitar, but for me it’s always been about writing the song. I wanna have the perfect ‘song moment.’ I write so much – that’s really what I spend my time doing, almost to the point that it doesn’t feel like a choice. I don’t sit down and practice, I sit down and write. [I have] a lot of songs that I just have never produced. They’re just floating somewhere in my hard drive. I don’t know if they’ll be significant to any particular project in the future, but you never know. Actually, [with] “Mean Love” I had the chorus for a long time, and it just shaped up two years ago. But there are a lot of songs that maybe will never be heard by anyone besides my pug, Pilot.
Pilot the Pug, Keeper of Lost Songs
AF: Then again, maybe you have something that’s rolling around in the ether that will be a huge hit.
EW: That would be great. You know, I feel like things like that are always surprises. There are songs that are still my favorites that I wrote, you know, seven years ago, that I think are cool songs that maybe I’ll use an idea from eventually. With the EP, to bring it back to the theme behind it… for me it’s like I’m only able to reflect on things once they’re processed. I’m like a lot of emotional human beings [in that] when things are really difficult I can’t even pay attention to them. I went through this breakup a while ago, like three years ago. I had trouble even talking about it for a really really long time. It’s something I will never forget because it has shaped a lot of these last few years for me but I’ve moved forward in a really great way. I like to reflect on the dark things and my innermost secrets and my weird feelings. I’ll always be a little dark in my writing but as far as that chapter being closed, it’s closed, and it’s cool to have this EP, listen to the songs, and be like “Holy cow, did I write that?!”
AF: Would you play these songs to your ex? Do you think he’s heard them?
EW: I have no idea. That’s pretty funny. What’s funny is these songs aren’t even particularly personally about him but more about what resulted because of him, and things that have happened since him. I don’t even know what he’s thinking. I don’t really care. I have a boyfriend now who is amazing. Actually, he co-wrote “Stung” with me. He’s a singer, too and a music writer, like you. He gets it.
AF: So I’m really interested in what you’re doing over at Tiger Blanket. It’s both a record label and a clothing store?
EW: Tiger Blanket is a label that I started a really long tome ago. It was just sort of a fantasy. Any record I made on my own or with friends we would put out under the Tiger Blanket label, but it really came into fruition a few years back with a country music project that I was in, believe it or not, called The Stone Lonesome, that we put out on vinyl. And then I realized that this label needed to be a vinyl label, because I love vinyl, and no one was buying CDs. People were collecting things in limited runs which were something that I liked in particular. Then when I opened my store in Williamsburg it all just came together. I’ve always worked in fashion to make money – cause we all know how profitable music is – so I’ve always worked on styling and [finding] vintage stuff. It became a lifestyle concept – you buy the outfit and you buy the record that you wanna listen to while you get ready to go out to see the show that you’re gonna go see. Unfortunately our landlord has followed the trend of this neighborhood and bumped it all up. So we have to find a new home, location TBD, so right now we’re focusing primarily online. But we’ll have a new release in August and out first piece of clothing specific to the brand that is our own in-house design in August as well.
AF: What records, other than your own, have you released so far?
EW: Last year we released Mother Feather, do you know that band?
AF: I actually do, we booked them for our Scene X Sound event! They’re playing June 26th in LIC on the roof of the Ravel Hotel.
EW: Oh, awesome! They’re kick ass. We also put out Erin Mary and the West Island, sort of a sixties-sounding vibe. She wrote the whole record from the voice of a dead little girl ghost.
AF: Ooooh, creepy.
EW: Yeah, it’s very creepy. I love these sort of conceptual groups and bands, and it has been all girls so far which was not necessarily my intention, but I just put out what I liked and what came in front of me, and what I created a bond with, music I fell in love with and I put it out. I have a few bands in the works, but we’re just seeing how those projects shape up right now and we’ll probably do another release in the Fall.
AF: I have no idea how you find the time to do all this! You’re also in a pretty cool cover band, I hear.
EW: Oh, right! Guns N’ Hoses! Yeah, we play a lot, our next show is June 28th at Bowery Ballroom. I joined two years ago, maybe more that that now. We started by playing all of Guns N’ Roses Appetite for Destruction album and now we’re doing Use Your Illusion as well. It’s wild, because I liked Guns N’ Roses… it was on the radio when I was a kid, I loved their performance, I loved Axl – I thought he was frickin’ bad ass. But joining this band made me get way deeper into their music and see how cool they really were and what they were doing was super innovative. I got way deeper in the catalogue and if anything it’s made me a way better guitar player. It’s harder stuff than I was used to playing – punk rock songs and Nirvana and Weezer – it’s not the same stuff. So it made me a better guitar player, that’s for sure.
AF: GNR, and that type of hair metal rock n’ roll in general, has been pegged from the get-go as both innately masculine but also sort of goofy. It’s macho but almost to such an extreme that it’s kind of a joke. As a group of women playing that music, how do you feel that changes it?
EW: We put on a show, we try and play our characters. We curse at the audience, we drink, we jack on stage, it’s all part of the show. It can be incredibly goofy. As far as us being girls doing it? I don’t know, maybe it sheds light on how ridiculous it really is. But really I think things always sort of come back to the spirit of that band. They were just nuts. They were crazy, they were living up what people really think is the insane rock n’ roll lifestyle and they fully embraced that and they were super proud to be gross and wild and addicted and promiscuous… I mean that’s what half the songs are about. It is a novelty because we’re all girls and they weren’t, but we hope that people come and they’re impressed by the playing, which they usually are. We do it because the songs kick ass, and we do it cause it’s funny and because people like it. We didn’t think it was gonna be as big of a deal when we started it as it turned out to be.
AF: People love their cover bands. Particularly with the era GNR came from, playing that genre… there aren’t a lot of modern bands that have that sound, and people who listened to bands like that in their heyday are barely interested in new bands doing that anyway. They want to hear those classic albums.
EW: Oh Yeah, I mean it’s fans of Guns N’ Roses coming. They don’t care… I mean, they think it’s cool we’re girls, but it’s fans that wanna hear the songs played live, that’s for sure.
AF: That sounds totally awesome. In terms of your solo project, though, what are your hopes for the EP? Where do you want to see it go, who do you want to hear it?
EW: This! These conversations are what I would like to have happen. Someone to hear something, think it’s cool, spend the time actually reading the lyrics and seeing that maybe it’s surprising compared to how it sounds sonically. If this happens like twenty times or ten times or five times, that would be really satisfying to me. And if the songs go somewhere else, sneak into a television show or a commercial, that would be wonderful too. I won’t make any big plans for them because I believe they will find their audience. I think we’ll be playing them [live] in July. That’s the first show.
AF: What will your live performances entail? Will you play with a full band or will it be a more stripped-down solo performance?
EW: It’s definitely me, Zach and Greg. Zach plays drums and synth stuff, Greg’s a guitar player and plays some synth stuff, and I’m gonna play a little electric guitar, some songs with and some without. But I will tell you that all three of us are fairly raucous performers and the live show is always fun when we get together. I like to lose myself a little bit on stage and get a little gnarly and eat my hair and sweat, all the good punk rock stuff.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Nostalgia is a sentiment twice as easy to conjure as it is to exalt. Though Zach Condon’s ability to summon wistfulness for something never experienced is a talent all its own. Beirut’s hiatus from the American tour set has left us all ripe for pining, and their return to Brooklyn for the headlining spot at Northside Festival quenched the long dry mouths of fans. It was the first time the band had played together live in the past six months, and their most recent show in Brooklyn since 2011 – I’ve been kicking myself ever since I missed their last gig here, waiting impatiently for them to come back.
Though nostalgia is prone to distort, my memory did not deceive me; Beirut hasn’t withered a bit in their absence. If anything they’ve roused more desire from listeners than ever, and this was tangible in the moments before they came on stage. I got to 50 Kent only seconds prior, and managed to weave through the crowd with shocking ease until I was twenty feet from stage left. Condon appeared in a mild-sheened slate gray suit upholstering the frame of a 28 year old whose disposition is well beyond his age.
With a band as full-bodied as required by Condon’s compositions, one can find security in knowing that Beirut will always put on an exceptional show. Condon switched between trumpet, ukulele, keyboard, and of course his satiny vocal style, while his band supplied textural elements via upright and electric bass, trumpet, trombone, drums, and accordion.
Despite being a group of overwhelmingly talented musicians, there was not a speck of ego coating Beirut’s performance. They played as many fan-favorites as they could cram into an hour and a half long set without seeming rushed or impersonal. These included “Elephant Gun,” “Nantes,” “Sunday Smile,” “East Harlem,” and countless others. Condon was largely reserved the entire night and kept his banter to a humble minimum. His focus on the music was impenetrable, and the joy he was extracting from it palpable. He seemed reticent yet giddy, as if playing these songs alone in his room would bring him as much satisfaction as the ears of thousands.
Condon’s body of work and attitude towards his craft are marks of the truest incarnation of musician. This man did not choose to write music – it simply was not an option. Composing is as vital to someone like Condon as an appendage, or even nourishment. This isn’t his day job, it’s his very means of digestion. His brand of sound is one sodden with longing for a bygone era, one he never lived through. Yet his passion for the timeworn tunes of the Balkan, Mariachi, and Francophone persuasion sustains itself void of irony. There is high romanticism in Condon’s pieces, but no detachment. What he has to offer as a songwriter is the interpretation of world folk music as filtered through the bugle of a contemporary herald, one whose respect for these genres is only matched by his love of them.
As the night wound down, Condon was bashfully dodging the long-stem roses being flung at him, eventually picking one up and bowing graciously. It takes a rare human being to accomplish so much at such a young age while still retaining a polite, boyish charm…though somehow Condon simultaneously seems to harbor the heart and mind of a 97-year-old sage. Where this balanced demeanor comes from I’ll never know. What I do know is, I’ll be waiting evermore impatiently until Beirut’s next Brooklyn performance.
Dan McGee, of Chapel Hill garage rock band Spider Bags, does not have time to grow orchids or build model ships. He works triple duty these days, with a family, a job, and a brand new record, Frozen Letter, due to come out on August 5th via Merge Records. When I called McGee last week, though, he didn’t seem to mind the stress. In fact, being busy suits him: in the early stages of recording Frozen Letter, McGee realized that his wife was pregnant and that he had nine months to get the record finished, but the focus that pressure gave him–and the rest of the group, with Rock Forbes on drums and Greg Levy and Steve Oliva switching off on bass and guitar–led to the Bags’ most cohesive album to date. Here at AudioFemme, we got our paws on “Back With You Again In The World,” the first single off that album, a couple of weeks back, and we were psyched to hear that the Bags haven’t abandoned the sloppy and earnest feistiness that’s always made their music so much fun to listen to. But the musical ESP between the four Spider Bags is no accident, and it’s more apparent than ever on the new record that even when the music is at its noisiest and dirtiest, there’s a complex dialogue going on beneath the surface.
AudioFemme: Congrats on the new record coming out, we’re so excited! What has it been like recording Frozen Letter?
Dan McGee: We started recording in late June-early July last year, with the same engineer I’ve been working with for a while now, Wes Wolfe. I had a lot of ideas for this record and I went into the studio just wanting to see which songs worked together and which didn’t. I wanted to get four or five done. Then, while we were doing them, my wife came to visit with my daughter, and she was smiling a lot, and I was like ‘Oh man, you’re pregnant, aren’t you?’ And she was. So then I realized that I had to think about this record a little bit differently, because I had to get it done in nine months. Instead of doing five songs that weekend we ended up sleeping in the studio and doing eleven. There are eight songs on the record, but we tried three more just to see how they would fit. Actually, this is the closest I’ve ever come to making the record I started out thinking I wanted to make.
AF: So recording it all at once actually had a positive influence on the finished product?
DM: Yeah! It had that external focus, you know? Made me narrow my choices down. Sometimes I think I can get a little too spread out, so it helped that there was a really strict time limit. It was actually the record that I really wanted to make, that I’ve been wanting to make for a while.
AF: That’s fantastic. So what about it makes it the record that you had envisioned?
DM: I had an idea for a cycle of songs. I really wanted to make a record that sounded like a classic rock record, that was mixed like the old AC/DC records, or like Dark Side Of The Moon. I wanted to have songs on the record that would lend themselves to that. There’s only eight songs on the record, you know, and I wanted them to be in kind of a cycle that would have a theme, though that theme wouldn’t be real specific. And I wanted it to sound like a seventies rock record. That was kind of the concept I had going into it, and we got pretty close. I’m stoked.
AF: When you start writing individual songs, are you thinking about the general sound you want to aim for? Do you start with a riff or a chord, or just an aesthetic you want to produce?
DM: Recording songs and writing them is different for me, but most of the time when I’m writing songs I’ll have a pretty good idea–before I actually strum the guitar–what the chorus is, or the melody for the verse. When I start picking through the song on guitar it starts taking on its own life. I don’t ever really go into any specific song with any kind of concept. It’s not the same as a record, where you have to really try to have an idea of what the record is, as a collection. I’ve made a few records now, and some of them are better than others, but I think the better ones are the ones where I’ve had a really clear concept of how the songs relate to each other and how they sound together. I think that’s really important, because the songs that relate to each other are the ones that people identify with, and the other songs fall through the cracks. If I don’t have a concept for a record, I’m not doing all the songs justice. You can’t just put all your best songs on a record, because it just doesn’t work that way. People don’t hear it that way.
AF: Where did you get the idea for the title of the record, Frozen Letter?
DM: It’s from a song on the record called “Coffin Car.” That song starts with an image that I had of walking in the snow and picking up–out of the snow–a big…you know those oversized kids’ magnets that you keep on the fridge? Just the tip of one of those sticking out of the snow, except it’s giant. It’s a pretty ambiguous image. Whenever two words are together, it gives you a feeling, but it could mean anything. It could mean nothing.
AF: What’s the music scene like where you live, in Chapel Hill? Are you a big part of it?
DM: Yeah, I’m definitely a big part of it. When I first moved here eight years ago, it seemed like the musical heyday was kind of in the past–some of the older clubs were closing down, you know, not as many people were involved in the scene–but there’s been an upsurge, and a big part of that has been independent record stores opening again. When I first moved here, Bull City Records in Durham had just opened and that was huge, because it really gave a focal point for musicians and people who like music to hang out. Since then, there’s another record store that’s opened in Chapel Hill called All Day Records. It’s a pretty varied scene. There’s way more rock and roll [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][in Chapel Hill] than there was when I first moved here. There’s also a really cool underground noise scene. Synth-driven scene. I feel lucky to live in a town where there’s a really solid scene like that. Even though people play different music and there’s different genres, everybody supports each other, because it’s still pretty small here. There’s not a lot of ‘Oh, I’m not going to that show because it’s a rock and roll show,’ or ‘Oh, I’m not going to that show because it’s a noise show.’ There’s three clubs. You know that if a guy is booking a show at this particular club it’s probably going to be interesting and cool, so you might as well just go.
AF: How did you come to live in Chapel Hill?
DM: I was traveling with a band, I was in in New York, and I had a couple of weeks off. I had friends that I knew from New Jersey who had moved to Chapel Hill. It was kind of nice to come here and relax for a couple of weeks, to be somewhere with a couple hundred dollars in my pocket, sleep on somebody’s couch, enjoy the open air. I met my wife one weekend while I was here and we totally fell in love. A year later I was like, holy shit, I live in Chapel Hill!
AF: How has having a wife and family changed your relationship with rock and roll?
DM: It’s crazy–when I was younger and on the road a lot, friends would talk about having kids and stuff and I would wanna leave the room because I was afraid I’d get the bug. But it’s funny, because at least for me, it’s given me a tremendous amount of focus where I haven’t had focus before. It just enriches your life. It makes things, in an amazing way, have constant perspective. It’s hard because I really miss being on the road. I used to love being on the road and I have a lot of friends all over the country who I don’t get to see as much as I used to. But things change, and I feel totally grateful for my family and lucky that I was able to see this part of life. I can’t imagine not being a father. I have two daughters.
AF: How old are they?
DM: My oldest daughter, Dell, she’ll be three in August. My youngest was born in March, she’s just three months old.
AF: Have they been to any of your shows?
DM: Dell came to a show last year and it totally blew her mind. It was in a bigger club, so she and my wife were standing in the back. She could tell it was me up there and she was totally amazed, and she thought I played the drums because the drums were the loudest. But she was jazzed for the rest of the day, jumping around and singing, totally inspired. But she doesn’t get to come to too many, because they’re usually pretty late at night. And loud.
AF: So what are your plans for after this record comes out? Do you have any hobbies or extramusical activities that you’re excited to get back to?
DM: I don’t have a lot of time, between music, family, and work. I have a lot of interests, but I don’t have time to build ships or anything. Family, music, work. That’s it right now. Maybe when I’m sixty I’ll start growing weird flowers in a greenhouse somewhere.
AF: Are you going to start touring?
DM: Yeah, totally. We’re planning to be on the road–we’re just waiting for a couple of things to fall into place. I want to be on the road as much as possible, to promote this record as much as possible. I feel like it’s the best record we’ve made as a band and I want people to hear it, I want to be out there playing the songs. Nothing’s solid yet, we’re waiting for some things to fall into place. But we’ll be out there, for sure.
AF: Do you like playing live more than recording in the studio, or is it just a totally different experience?
DM: Lately–well, I like them both. I always liked playing live more than recording. In the past, the guys I recorded with wouldn’t necessarily be the guys I took on the road, so we’d learn a song with the band on the road, and then we’d record in whatever town we were stopped in before I lost those guys, and then I’d get back, put another band together, and teach them the songs. But now, with the musicians I have, it’s a totally different process. We record the songs, and if there’s something I feel I didn’t get right when we were recording, we can work it out onstage. The songs have a life, within the three of us playing them together, which is really cool. You can feel a song still growing after we record it. Playing live is a lot of fun especially with the guys I have now. It’s just the three of us onstage, and we have really good communication together. It’s nonverbal communication, where it’s like we’re experiencing something together on this entirely different plane. Very wild.
AF: Your uptempo songs are so high energy, it must be a huge rush to play them for a crowd.
DM: It really is. It’s like this burst of energy that puts everything in life into perspective–like, ‘Oh yeah, this is what I love to do.’ It feels great. There’s a reason why I have two jobs. It makes sense.
Frozen Letter will drop August 5th via Merge Records. To tide you over, here’s the second single from the album, the jangly and raucous “Japanese Vacation.” Like many Spider Bags songs, this track can be read a couple of different ways: at its most basic level, it’s a fun-loving track and unimpeachably simple hook. Behind the catchiness, of course, is something mysterious and even kind of sinister. Lines like Every step is soft and cruel/Like how the raindrops feel/To the swimming pool stick out on “Japanese Vacation,” with imagery that’s ambiguous but vivid. Listen below!
The first thing I want to know is: how many cigarettes do I have to smoke to sound like Andrew Katz? I’m entertaining the thought of purchasing a carton…or eight. Nashville-based rock quartet Clear Plastic Masks have just released their debut album Being There on Serpents and Snakes Records, and it’s nothing short of brazenly badass. In this moment of ambient, minimal, chill-wave anti-sound it’s endlessly comforting to hear a band that makes no apologies for their lack of ambiguity. These guys make pure rock and roll, no holds barred. However, their allegiance to a classic sound doesn’t betray their ability to be relevant – they in no way sound dated or cliché. These are just four guys, playing their hearts out, and maybe losing a lung or liver in the process.
Being There is a fully fleshed-out record equipped with the proper instrumental formula to give me an eargasm (did somebody say organ????) There’s just something about good old guitar, bass, drums, and a B3 that gets me. Throw in a front man with a voice like gravel and molasses in a food processor, and well, I’m sold.
One of the most positive aspects of the record, aside from how tight the band plays and how attentively it’s produced is the diversity it conveys. CPM is the kind of group that could very easily record a handful of songs that are indiscernible from one another, and yet the album provides an admirable range of sounds without coming off as disjointed. The first two tracks on the LP, “In Case You Forgot” and “Outcast,” are characteristically raucous, whereas “Baby Come On” takes us to a slow, sexy place with twangy doo-wop guitar and the sultrier side of Katz’s barrelhouse voice. “Pegasus In Glue” returns the listener to the realm of snotty scuzz rock that could easily share a bill with Black Lips or a Southern-fried version of The Strokes. The distant reverb in the vocal track makes for a more punk audio profile, and it’s certainly a jam to bounce around to.
Throughout the remainder of the record the boys volley between references to Blues, Soul, Gospel, traditional Hawaiian music (“Aliens”), and maybe even a little Randy Newman (“Hungry Cup”). Being There’s closer, the down-tempo ballad “Working Girl,” is probably the least innovative piece on the LP, but it’s nowhere near a bad song – just a little more sonically generic and lyrically unoriginal than the rest of the album.
With so much momentum from their very first record, I suspect these fellas have a few more in ‘em at the very least. That is, if they don’t wear themselves out first.
Check out Being There in full via Spin Magazine here.
Charlotte, NC rockers Flagship recently wrapped up the Three of Clubs tour, co-headlining with Terraplane Sun and Little Daylight in over twenty five cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Nashville and Chicago. Their self-titled debut album, which was produced by Ben Allen (who has worked with Animal Collective, Washed Out, and Youth Lagoon) has been getting a ton of buzz since its recent release on Bright Antenna Records and can be best described as a folk-rock tour de force.
The band came together in 2011 when solo singer, songwriter and guitarist Drake Margolnick joined local musicians Matthew Padgett (guitar, backing vocals), Michael Finster (drums, programming) and Grant Harding (keys) to from Flagship. In 2012, Christopher Comfort joined on bass. Since then, they have become a staple of their hometown club scene and were voted Best Local Band for Charlotte Magazine’s 2013 Bob Awards.
Michael Finster took some time while touring in the UK to talk to us about their past tour, his musical idols, and the future.
AF: Where do you draw inspiration from when writing lyrics for your songs?
MF: I personally have no part in writing any lyrics, but I know that all the lyrics are pulled from different life experiences that have all happened at different times.
AF: How did the collaboration with Ben Allen as producer on the album come to be?
MF: Whenever we were preparing to record our debut album, we were sifting through different producers. Ben Allen was the name that we felt fit the most in the whole equation. We just truly loved what he had done, and had respect for him.
AF: What would you say is your creative process when writing and recording a new song?
MF: Our creative process is literally just getting in touch with ourselves and what we feel the song needs. Whenever we start writing, we typically know what a song should feel like as soon as it starts. Things just become clear to us very easily when it comes to direction.
AF: What do you like most about going on tour? And what’s the hardest part about it?
MF: The best part about going on tour is meeting brand new people everyday and connecting with people who connect to us through our music. Its truly a beautiful relationship. The hardest part about tour is the lack of independence. At home [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][we have] vehicles and individual lives, on the road, we basically have one vehicle and one schedule. It becomes difficult to have alone time.
AF: You just wrapped up the Three of Clubs tour along with Terraplane Sun and Little Daylight. What was your favorite moment from the tour?
MF: My favorite moment from that tour was one specific night in Seattle, WA. We typically like to change around the lyrics to other bands’ songs when we are out on the road. We had all changed around some lyrics to a Little Daylight song. Whenever that song started in Seattle, we all rushed to the front of the stage and shouted our revised (and perverted) lyrics. The looks on their faces were priceless.
AF: What are some other bands and musicians you’d like to tour with in the future?
MF: I would love to tour with some of my personal idols. The National, U2, Coldplay, Noah and the Whale, Arcade Fire, St. Vincent…
AF: I know The National and U2 were big influences for Flagship. What else did you guys grow up listening to?
MF: We all grew up listening to an assortment of music. A lot of it was kind of crappy. I personally grew up in the church and spent a lot of time listening to some Christian punk bands and other things like that. I also really got into Motown as well as the Beatles, and Michael Jackson. I feel like Michael Jackson transcends all generations.
AF: Your self-titled debut album has gotten some really awesome reviews and has, in a way, set the stage for you guys. What’s next for Flagship?
MF: I am currently answering these questions from the UK which is cool because we are touring here at the moment, but we are doing some regional touring over the next month, as well as some writing. We are very ready to write.
AF: What are some of your favorite venues you’ve ever performed?
MF: My personal favorite venue was Stubbs BBQ in Austin, TX. We played on the outside stage in front of a huge crowd. It was amazing.
AF: What are your must have staples while touring?
MF: Whenever I’m on the road, I absolutely have to have my herbal green tea. It calms my body from a hectic touring life. I also need Naked juice drinks. Those make me feel healthier. I also need my headphones, just to shut myself out every now and then and center myself.
AF: Do you think living in North Carolina has had an impact on your music style?
MF: I think everything I have experienced in life has some sort of influence on my musical style. North Carolina brought me together with all the guys in the band, so that is obviously a direct influence. I don’t think that any particular NC music has had an influence on me, but I do believe I’ve been affected by every person I’ve met there.
AF: What has been the most surprising or unexpected part about your journey as musicians?
MF: I think in my personal experience, the most unexpected part about my journey has been changing my expectations for things. I remember being a young musician in high school, and dreaming of being on a label and touring the country, then actually achieving those things and not feeling like I always expected I would. It’s not that life is a disappointment, it’s just that things aren’t always as glamorous as you think. You work your ass off to achieve something, and once you think you’ve achieved it, you work more, and then work even more. Real success comes to those who can find joy in the amount of work they put into their craft.
Flagship are playing festivals and scattered dates throughout the summer. Check out their lyric video for “Break the Sky” below:
Jenny Lewis has had a long and fruitful career since she began singing as the lead vocalist for Rilo Kiley back in 1998. After putting out five albums with the band – Take Offs and Landings (2001), The Execution Of All Things (2002), More Adventurous (2004), and Under The Blacklight (2007) and rkives (2013) – Rilo Kiley called it quits. During this time, Lewis moonlighted with The Postal Service, providing the female vocal counterpart to Ben Gibbard’s rather infamous electronic project on their debut album, Give Up (2003). Lewis also formed her own band with Johnathan Rice, appropriately named Jenny And Johnny, releasing their debut album I’m Having Fun Now in 2010. Jenny Lewis has also had a successful solo career, and has released two solo albums to date – Rabbit Fur Coat (2006) and Acid Tongue (2008), as well as a soundtrack for Very Good Girls starring Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen in 2013. Once a child actress herself, Lewis is now set to release another solo album, Voyager, via Warner Bros. Records on July 29th. She’s been performing teasers from the record at live performances, but now she’s officially released “Just One Of The Guys,” the first single off of the upcoming album.
Produced by Beck (who also provides the background vocals), the track is reminiscent of the floating and relaxed country/indie/folk blends that both artists are known for. “Just One Of The Guys” rolls through each verse and chorus with accented 2nd and 4th beats (on a steady 4/4 metre) that acts to keep the song moving while the slow tempo relaxes the mood. The drums actualize this rhythm as an electric guitar lazily strums over the beat. While the bells in the background add to the charm, nothing is more charming than Lewis’ vocals. While she rests in her middle range for the majority of the tune, she stretches into her soprano towards the end of the track, and the breathy beauty in her voice is fully realized – a fragility artfully counteracted by Beck’s lower, grumbling vocals.
Regardless of its musical pleasantness, “Just One Of The Guys” is actually a pretty angry song. The frustration and dismay inherent in the narrative are mapped out plainly in the opening lines: “All our Friends, they’re getting on, but the girls are still staying young.” Lewis goes on to tackle the particular nuances of gendered double standards, in particular society’s approval of older, single, bachelors and subsequent disapproval of unwed, motherless women of a certain age. It’s not just societal faults that plague Lewis; as the chorus continues into the second verse, she wonders at the thing inside that won’t let her be as disaffected as her cooler male counterparts. And it’s not just her feminine emotions getting the best of her, but also that pesky biological clock. While her honesty is nearly cringe inducing, the last bridge of the song reflects a shoring up of resolve and a recognition of the strength of the so-called “weaker” sex: “I’m not gonna break for you, I’m not gonna pray for you, I’m not gonna pay for you, That’s not what ladies do.” The simplicity of the song belies the potential complexity of its content, and while it’s not clear if Lewis is really attempting to buck tradition or desperately give into it, it is still, in its way, astute and astoundingly relatable. It’s not quite “Just A Girl” but it’s got all the makings of a successful indie pop hit.
Jenny Lewis is currently in the middle of a national tour; Voyager comes out on July 29th. In the meantime, check out the lyric video for “Just One Of The Guys” below:
Shortly after Irish black metal outfit Altar of Plagues announced their breakup last summer, the group’s frontman James Kelly unveiled the first glimmers of a forthcoming album to come from his electronic side project WIFE. I–along with pretty much all the metal fans I know–wasn’t ready to be consoled. Altar of Plagues’ disbanding came on the heels of their third and best studio release Teethed Glory and Injury, an album that I loved for its ability to deconstruct and rework the music’s sludgy layers, its clipped, nightmarish, often waltz-time beats, and the near-visual landscape created by the album’s texture and subtle details. WIFE, on the other hand, was a kind of spacey electro-pop endeavor–no more metal. Was Kelly just being a contrarian? Was he trying to show off his eclectic musical range? Was he simply quitting while he was ahead?
Maybe, but a listen to WIFE’s new album What’s Between, which came out June 9th on Tri Angle, goes a long way toward elucidating the jump between Kelly’s work with Plagues and where he is now. From the first track, “Like Chrome,” What’s Between demonstrates a lot of restraint. It’s an establishing shot that takes its time in developing, expunging any other thoughts and sounds that may be rolling around a listener’s head, effectively clearing a space for the music to come.
That music is strange–slightly dystopian, slightly doom-y–and though I would not call the collection optimistic, Kelly finds a way to develop a sense of wonder, awe, and curiosity as a result of the spaciousness he creates. Even the scary songs, like “Tongue,” get their spookiness from suspense. If an Altar of Plagues album were a horror film, What’s Between would be a psychological thriller. “Tongue” uses every sound at its disposal, shaking and rattling twitchily, like a monster waking up from hibernation and flexing all ten of its talons. That said, the music’s aggression remains implicit, and at no point dominates the album.
The nine songs on this album run about average length, varying from two and a half up to just over seven minutes, but often feel as if they’re on the long side. Many of the tracks, especially “Tongue” and “Heart Is A Far Light,” contain several moods. A poppy and playful couple of minutes give way to larger dreamscapes or house-like heartbeat rhythms. It’s not as if Kelly was ever a conventional black metal musician, but those looking for something to put up the horns to will find it, sort of at least, in “Salvage,” whose distinct and aggressive beat hearkens back to the pounding three-four rhythms of Teethed Glory songs like “God Alone.”
Now that I’ve listened to the album, this observation sounds like it should have been obvious from the beginning, but Kelly’s fixations and devices aren’t all that different as an electronic musician than they were when he was making metal. The album–like the first two Plagues albums, White Tomb and Mammal–runs a little introverted, more interested in developing its themes than in engaging the listener. To be fair, it took three albums to make Teethed Glory. It seems like Kelly could have chosen any aesthetic–metal, electronic, pop, or any other–and go about making music in a similar way: he builds a minimal foundation and expands to fill the space between the walls he’s erected. In the case of Altar of Plagues, Kelly followed the black metal thread until he was satisfied he’d reached the end of the line, and then he moved on. If What’s Between isn’t a perfectly realized electronic pop album, that probably means that WIFE’s not done yet.
Listen to the eerie “Tongue,” off What’s Between, below via SoundCloud. What’s Between is out now on LP, CD and digital release via Tri Angle. Get it here!
Last April, Pittsburgh native Girl Talk dropped his latest EP Broken Ankles in collaboration with Philly rapper Freeway. Several years had passed since his last album, 2010’s All Day, and he had taken a pretty significant hiatus from his relentless tour schedule in 2013, so needless to say, fans have been waiting for something big in the making. The EP doesn’t fail to disappoint, and sees the performer taking bold risks.
Girl Talk – a.k.a. Gregg Gillis – is known for his mash-ups and samplings, combining hip hop, rock, and pop songs into single tracks for a lively, up-beat listening experience. From his first album Secret Diary in 2002, to his breakout 2006 LP Night Ripper and its successful follow-ups, he has sampled everyone from Avril Lavigne to Outkast. But during his break last year, he decided to create more focused beats. With over seventy tracks under his belt, he approached Freeway in the hopes of doing their first collaboration together. In a press release, Gillis says he chose Freeway because of the rapper’s creative, improvisational ability; Freeway is known to have written all of his verses in his head without ever writing down his lyrics. “I wanted the album to be diverse, and I wanted someone who could maneuver around quick changes mid-song. Freeway is the rare rapper who sounds natural on all types of beats, ranging from cut-up soul to menacing synth-jams. His energy is unreal, and he’s able to keep up with any production,” said Gillis.
Gillis has a reputation for vigorous performances, so the team-up with the prolific rapper has, as expected, produced a vital, high-energy collection of tracks. It’s hard to tell that it’s the duo’s first collaboration; Girl Talk’s production and Freeway’s flow is impressively cohesive and full of life.
The EP opens with “Tolerated”, a track heavy with anthemic trumpets and a forceful flow that will have listeners throwing their bodies to the steady, hyped beat. Featuring a verse from Waka Flocka Flame, this track is all about power and showing these haters who’s really the boss. The transitions in this EP are smooth and endless, melding one track to the other much the way that Girl Talk has stitched together tracks on his previous LPs. “Tell Me Yeah” has a more melodic, soulful beat that somehow seamlessly transitions to the harder, grimier “I Can Hear Sweat”. The EP mellows out a bit with the angelic rhythms for “Suicide” and then turns to something more pronounced and confident with “Lived It,” highlighting the deliberate placement of each track as a stand alone but also as an interconnected entity. Freeway delivers his lines with grit and strength which perfectly mixes with Gillis’ relentless beats.
Broken Ankles is fire, lit with endless vitality and intensity. With featured performances from Jadakiss and Young Chris as well as the aforementioned Waka Flocka Flame, this EP was made for sweaty, muggy summer nights spent in crowded basements on makeshift dance floors. It’s an especially important moment for Gillis to show that perhaps his mash-up mixing days have moved on to something more sustainable, placing him in a realm of all-star hip-hop producers primed for future collaborations.
Broken Ankles is available for free download on DatPiff. Watch the video for “Tolerated” below and scroll down for tour dates:
Also check out Girl Talk’s live show dates:
Fri. June 20 – Dover, DE @ Firefly Music Festival
Wed. June 25 – Sun. June 29 – Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
Sat. July 12 – Seattle, WA @ CHIVEFest Seattle
Thu. July 17 – Sun. July 20 – Pemberton, BC @ Pemberton Music Festival
Sat. Aug. 16 – Portland, OR @ Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Sun. Aug. 31 – Philadelphia, PA @ Made in America Festival
Fri. Sep. 5 – Sun. Sep. 7 – Boston, MA @ Boston Calling
Fri. Nov. 7 – Sun. Nov. 9 – Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest
Ticket Giveaways
Each week Audiofemme gives away a set of tickets to our featured shows in NYC! Scroll down to enter for the following shindigs.
