Tag: Nu Normol

PLAYING THE BAY: Everything Sucks But At Least We Still Have Music

Boy Scouts – Taylor Vick portraits

Hey Bay Area music lovers,

It’s been a rough week. Most of us are stuck inside with naught but our family, roommates, or pets to entertain us. It’s easy to get caught in a worry spiral, but, as always, music comes through to save us all from ourselves (or our siblings).

Here’s some dope local releases from Playing the Bay alums that should be on your radar this week.

Celebrate Small Spaces with Nu Normal’s Lo-fi “Don’t Cry to Me” Video

The now eerily-named San Francisco band’s new video for “Don’t Cry to Me” is a DIY charmer. It gives off the vibe of a behind-the-scenes video, each band member making knowing eye contact with the camera as they flounce through a series of yellow-tinged vignettes, sometime cracking a grin amid rock n’ roll posturing.

Check out the band’s back catalog on Bandcamp.

Stare Moodily Out Your Window With Polkadot

Join self-professed “bay area baby punx” on a compact nine-song release aptly titled feeling ok that combines re-recordings of older songs with some fresh tracks. Compare this version of “dogs” to the one on their 2018 self-titled EP to hear the band’s evolution, from diary entry muttered into a four-track to surfy number with the sonic clarity of stepping outside post-rainstorm. The change in confidence (and, admittedly, technology) is palpable, and should give some inspiration to any other baby bands working to find their sound.

Check out the band’s other music on Bandcamp.

Do a Partnerless Waltz to the New Boy Scouts Single

Slow-burn royalty Taylor Vick of Boy Scouts has graced us with another ode to nostalgia: to a person, to a feeling, to an idea — it’s not quite clear, but emotions so often aren’t. In my album review of Free Company, I referred to Vick’s layered voice as sounding like “eerie twin camp counselors,” and I stand by this.

Check out Vick’s other music on Bandcamp.

POST-IT NOTE: Support Your Faves On Bandcamp (and Buy Their Merch)

Tours are getting canceled, venue stages lie dark, and your fave bands, local or not, are hard up. If you have the means, buying merch, donating to your go-to venues, or dropping a few extra bucks on Bandcamp’s adjustable pay scale can really help out the people who help you stay sane even when there is no global pandemic. If you don’t have extra cash, remember to share music with friends, and give Bandcamp a major shout-out for waiving their cut of sales last Friday to support artists.

Releasing some cool music? Know someone who is? Drop me a line on Instagram @carmakout. 

PLAYING THE BAY: Nu Normol Embrace Lo-Fi Sass on no love songs EP

nu normal new ep

Listening to San Francisco band Nu Normol’s new EP, no love songs, is akin to having a cassette tape slipped through your mail slot. Peel away the Scotch tape and recycled wrapping paper and you’ll know: you’ve been visited by the spirit of DIY rock n’ roll, conveyed in a conveniently-sized rectangle complete with Wite-Out flowers and nail polish petals.

no love songs by NU NORMOL

Album opener “don’t cry to me” is the stubborn little sibling to the EP’s title, the “I’m serious this time!” foot-stomp after everyone else rolls their eyes. It was only after repeated listens that I realized what it reminded me of — the Donna’s self-titled debut from 1997, where chanting choruses, gleeful cursing, and crackly, distorted vocals were part of the record’s lo-fi charm. All of that gum-chewing, eye-rolling attitude is still there on no love songs, but with a welcome heap of poeticism and lyrical sophistication that comes from having narrowly escaped adolescence. There’s a price to pay/don’t forget, the band reminds the song’s self-indulgent subject, flicking their crocodile tears right back at them like little glittering beads with each chorus.

The EP vacillates interestingly between tones; “warrior for hire” sounds like a 70’s war protest song with its soldier’s march riff, while “manhole” is the sort of song you find yourself muttering as you do chores around the house. The band, which includes new drummer Shavi Blake (replacing EP drummer John Kolisnekow) and punk band veterans Lizzy P. and Alice Choe on lead guitar and bass, respectively — sings it with a hypnotic, detached quality, the almost sole lyric  — not gonna give you my love anymore — repeating itself into oblivion, like when you say a word so many times it loses meaning.

“don’t wanna go home” is a standout, the bratty beginning jumping into a cover of The Beach Boy’s “Sloop John B,” thoroughly enjoyable in this new iteration of woman-fronted grungy rock. And in a surprising heel-turn to folk, “little black hole” closes the EP on a sweet note, albeit with some cutting lines (is my sensitivity threatening?). As the only song written by Alice Choe (all others were written by in collaboration with EP recorder and mixer Lizzy P.), it’s no surprise that it’s also the little black sheep, but Nu Normal’s willingness to jump from genre to genre shows a band looking to expand and experiment.

Follow Nu Normol on Facebook for ongoing updates.