Hello all!
It’s been a while… But, in my defence, I have made a magazine….
Yes! It’s all about whether punk is still relevant / still exists in 2016. It features Joanna Gruesome, Communions, Misty Miller, The Fairweather Band, Baby Strange and lots more from some very talents people. Here it is!
Saturday 29th August, I’m sure, hosted many a raucous night out, but I doubt any of them quite like Art Is Hard’s 5th birthday party. As young, eager gig-enthusiasts from a part of the country that seldom sees exciting gigs (cough-Devon-cough), we snooped around The Exchange, Bristol, in search for wristband distribution two hours before the first band were due on, preparing for some rowdy post-lunch entertainment. Two hours later, however, we were granted just that.
Kicking off the bill at Stag & Hounds were Exeter-based Skeleton Frames, who, quite rightly, didn’t hold back with their heavily distorted and incredibly loud guitars at 2:30pm. There was an extreme juxtaposition between the four or five blokes rocking out on their instruments and the front-woman curled up on the floor swooning soft, mellifluous vocals. I was trapped between the punk side of me thinking “yeah, cool” and the sensitive side of me thinking “do you think she’s alright?”.
A lot of bands associated with Art Is Hard seem to share their band members, which became more and more evident during the day, but firstly when Caramel wandered on stage, of whom Max and Owen from Joanna Gruesome are a part of. I was, of course, band member spotting in the crowd while they set up and managed to pick out Roxy Brennan (Two White Cranes, Grubs, new singer in Joanna Gruesome) a couple of people away. Caramel’s set was probably the definition of an ‘informal set’, with bandmates singing riffs to each other in order to decide which song they wanted to play next. When they kicked off though, they really kicked off. Despite being stood directly next to the left speaker, I loved the raucousness of the shouty vocals of Owen layered with more shrill and sassy female vocals. Caramel were definitely one of the highlights of the day.
Clashes between bands were fairly rare during the course of the afternoon, but we did have to choose between missing the end of Fruit Bomb (featuring Ben from Nai Harvest) or missing the beginning of Grubs (feat. Roxy, Owen and Jake May), but It Must Be Grubs, if you’ll pardon the album pun. Their set was charmingly shambolic. An example of this would be front-woman Roxy saying “Can we play Good Times? It’s my favourite one. I can’t remember how it goes… what was the first line again?”. Nevertheless, it was wonderfully danceable set, especially during singles Gym Shame, Dec15 and, most recently, Windwaker. You could even buy their debut album (on yellow vinyl) at the merch stall a week before its release.
Not to sound like we were stalking Roxy the entire day, but next on the agenda was Two White Cranes. It had the most surreal crowd atmosphere. Friends and fans of the band cheered excessively after every song and pretty much anything Roxy said, even if it was just “We’re Two White Cranes”. It was brilliant. They’d set up upstairs in the Stag & Hounds in a charming little room with a banner behind the stage area saying “Hardly a party”, but it was the perfect spot for the somewhat mellow but uplifting sound of Two White Cranes.
Bruising, Birdskulls, Bloody Knees and Nai Harvest all seemed to blend into one giant moving band. The turbulence of guitar reverb and feedback rang in my ears as each band took to the stage, back to back, for two hours. There were moshes, beer spillages (purposeful or accidental, we’ll never know), screaming, air punches, loss of clothing and at one point a loss of a Bloody Knees drummer.
I think the favourite of the night had to be Trust Fund (who I interviewed back in January here). Their allotted time was from 22:15-22:45 and come 22:20, exhausted from our day of non-stop gigging, I just wanted to go up to Ellis, who was, at the time, chatting to his fellow band members in the crowd, and tell him to play already. Little did I know they were last minute planning the opening to their set. The DJ simmered down the background music to reveal thumping caused by the four band members stamping and jumping on the floor amongst the audience, who then starting shouting a song (I can’t quite remember which song), and I instantly regretted by previous thought outburst. Immediately after they jumped up on stage and started playing. Surrounded by many friends, amusingly, singing along to the lyrics of Forevre “Sick of my songs / more sick of my friends songs / all of my friends songs / so boring”. It was messy and loud but in a brilliant and together way. A lovely finish to our day.
’til the 10th birthday party.
Aliment can only really be described one way: three bearded Spanish blokes who make a hell of a lot of noise. There comes a point in one’s tedious day to day activities when you need to surrender to the control of your limbs and just freak out, and there’d be no better record to freak out to than Aliment’s Silverback. It’s totally audacious, extremely reckless and brilliantly infectious.
The album is kicked off immediately with raucous guitars and raw vocals. At only 1:14, Razor is a short, sharp wake-up-and-face-the-day call; a track that would undoubtedly cause a riot of a gig. This ethos evidently clings on throughout the entire record as track two Car Crush blunders in quickly after the ending notes of its predecessor with snare drums snapping through rowdy guitars in anticipation before all instruments and vocals mash up into one, making the lyrics somewhat indecipherable but it doesn’t matter because the noise is brutally fantastic.
I wouldn’t say the sound of Aliment was an original one as hints of fellow Spanish punks The Parrots along with other bands, new and old, such as Fidlar or The Clash, can be heard. That, however, is never necessarily a bad thing. Not everybody craves idiosyncrasy, but everybody needs chaos.
An impatient chugging in the chorus and the clear guitar riff of Maniac sets it out from the rest of the record, or at least the first two songs. There’s so much raw energy in each track, and even stretching to 22 minutes long, it’s enough to completely tear you apart and exhaust your energy, but in the best kind of way.
The fuzzy vocals and broken up melody of track seven Bad Blood II scream Black Lips, and following track No Fuzz at only a mere 53 seconds is the musical equivalent of three seven-year-old boys on bikes in tightly-crammed china shop. Layer after layer of reverb along with increasingly raw vocals and a contagious “ooh’s” make this, if even possible, the most raucous track on this record.
Aliment wrap up their album with title track Silverback, which opens with howling feedback and ends abruptly, as you’d expect of a punk record. To conclude, Aliment are certainly that freak-out band you need when you’re in one of those inevitable life-induced ruts.
Montreal’s Ought just released a beautifully enigmatic new single Men For Miles, which shifts between crackled post-punk obscurity and a somewhat vulnerable delicateness. Arguably an ambiguous opener for forthcoming album Sun Coming Down, but only a fool would argue against it.
Guitars vault from a fuzz of jangley echoes to a bouncy, yet still fuzzy erratic riff underneath equally erratic low to high vocals in a brilliant Parquet Courts-esque style. Singer-frontman Tim Darcy utters over a barbaric bass line “there were men for miles / there were men for miles / and does it just bring a tear to your eye” followed by a contrasting almost falsetto imitation of the lyrics “a tear to your eye / a tear to your eye”. This single is so infectious and totally audacious in the way it swoons between it’s extremes, between contentious and mellifluous.
Ought are definitely stirring something for this new album (out on Sept 18th via Constellation Records) so it’s not one to miss. They’re doing a handful of shows in the UK in September with Shopping including End Of The Road festival before heading out on a North American tour in October so catch them while you can.
RELEASE DATE (ALBUM): 18 September 2015
RECORD LABEL: Constellation Records
FOR FANS OF: Joy Division, Parquet Courts, Eagulls, Speedy Ortiz, Ty Segall
I sincerely doubt you could find a band quite like Hinds, who seem to have the ability to demolish your life-induced anguish and cause you to actually do something reasonably productive, even if, in my case, it’s just trying to figure out one of their songs on guitar and dance to it manically around my bedroom. It shouldn’t then come as any surprise that this band are my new favourite this summer.
Chili Town was published by the band via Soundcloud this morning and captioned it with the self-motivational note “fuck it dude, why are we always the weak one in our lyrics??? what’s wrong with us??? so yeaaaaahhh we made it! we wrote a winner song! …right?”. Everyone needs a winner song first thing on a Tuesday morning and Hinds definitely delivered.
The introducing jangley strums of guitar brighten the track immediately. Vocals bounce and intertwine both playfully and hazily between singers Ana Garcia Perrote and Carlotta Cosials, which make you feel you’re floating. This, along with an underlying, demo-esque echo and fuzz. Lyrics “I am stealing your cigars / just ’cause they’re closer than mine” do put Hinds, inspiringly, in that headstrong “winner” position in a totally non-pretentious and humorous way – the best way to be.
A mention of a debut album was also slipped in the song’s caption, but the details are still frustratingly unannounced. For now you’ll just have to catch them at the handful of festivals they’re due to play such as Secret Garden Party (this weekend) or End Of The Road (4-6 September), or even in their home country of Spain at DCODE (12 September) or Solar Fest (11 September). Just, whatever you do, never take your ears off this band.
RELEASE DATE: TBA
RECORD LABEL: Lucky Number Music (Europe)
Mom and Pop (US)
Nothing really comes close to that slightly delusional sensation of stumbling upon a noise that causes you to put down whatever significant possession you may be holding in order to mutilate the internet in search for more and more and more of that noise. That noise, my friends, would be the brilliantly melancholic guitar pop of my most recent discovery, Molars.
As the destructive snare intro of opening track Love commences, soon joined by soothingly deep yet gloomy vocals, I immediately think Joy Division. That, of course, not being a dreadful thing. I also can’t help but hear a hint of fellow Leeds-based musicians Eagulls but with significantly less yelling and more swooning. Over layers and layers of engulfing distortion and echo, the lyrics “I won’t be ashamed of being in love” are repeated in what I feel is a heartfelt manner. A somewhat enigmatic, yet at the same time explosive, opener for the EP.
Each song no shorter than three and a half minutes, the melancholic Ian Curtis-esque vocals glide beautifully through the rest of Eee Pea, but always with a juxtaposing tone of underlying optimism – the somewhat chipper bass lines of track two, Almost, and track four, Talk, being perfect examples of this.
A brilliant mix of noisy, hazy, gloomy, soothing and slightly hypnotic in parts (the instrumental in track three, Normal, in particular). I couldn’t recommend this EP enough.
DOWNLOAD: http://mmmolars.bandcamp.com
TRACKLIST:
1. Love
2. Almost
3. Normal
4. Talk
FOR FANS OF: Joy Division, Eagulls, The Drums, The Smiths, Drenge
Summer is evidently well on the way and fusions of lust, optimism and infatuation are undoubtedly spiralling their way through Copenhagen’s four-piece, Communions. Their fresh new teaser track Out Of My World is taken from forthcoming eponymous EP to be released June 1st via Tough Love, and judging by this bustling new single, one that may well soundtrack your summer.
These five and a half minutes of summery bewilderment start with hazy reverb-ed guitars alongside a playful riff and lust-fuelled lyrics such as “You’re so out of my world / I don’t even know your name / no boy or girl / has made me feel the same”. This track is just absolutely bursting with that overwhelming sensation of desire and excitement and freedom.
The forthcoming EP consists of five tracks, including Out Of My World (and on limited edition baby blue vinyl for all you hipsters) so I’d strongly suggest getting your mitts on one ready for the summer season.
RELEASE DATE: 1 June 2015
TRACKLIST:
A1. Forget it’s a Dream
A2. Wherever
A3. Restless Hours
B1. Summer’s Oath
B2. Out of My World
RECORD LABEL: Tough Love
FOR FANS OF: The Drums, Stone Roses, Yung, Viet Cong
LA duo Girlpool unleash, with only a bass and electric guitar, a beautifully uncomplicated new single Ideal World, along with super exciting details on debut album Before The World Was Big to be released via Witchita records on June 1st later this year.
A fuzzy bounce of individual notes harmonise between an electric guitar and a bass guitar, preceding the first 10 seconds or so of the track, until joined by the harmonious vocals of Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad declaring lyrics such as “I thought I found myself today / no one’s noticed things are okay” and “now I’m only certain that no one is free” illustrating a sense of uncertainty or distrust in the world around them. Dreamy guitars twinkle in gaps between vocals and all I can think about is that I want to be part of Girlpool. With the track coming to a close, lyrics melodically descend with the lyric “Tranquillise me with your ideal world” and an outburst of brilliant distorted electric guitar.
Girlpool are currently touring the States, and will be for a couple more months as well as, I’m sure, a handful of UK festivals such as recently announced End Of The Road, so be sure to catch them when you can.
RELEASE DATE (ALBUM): 1 June 2015
RECORD LABEL: Witchita Records
FOR FANS OF: Waxahatchee, Peggy Sue, Slutever, The Courtneys
The almighty rock’n’roll madman, Ezra Furman, and his band, The Boyfriends, tease us with bustling new single Restless Year, along with the exciting announcement of his signing to Bella Union (joining the likes of The Flaming Lips, The Walkman and Father John Misty) and forthcoming album.
We can hear that Restless Year, is almost immediately drenched in effervescence, especially in the introducing charm of a guitar riff which later playfully frolics beneath backings of “ooh’s” and “aah’s”. As frontman Furman chants lyrics such as “snapping my fingers / walking around”, you can’t help but subconsciously adopt a raucous sassiness. Perhaps slightly more synth-based than most recent album Day of the Dog, but that doesn’t necessarily mean less guitar… It’s what I’d call a splendid mix. Although falling somewhat astray from the madness of numerous instruments, it’s not difficult to hear Furman’s idiosyncratic audaciousness we revelled in with Day of the Dog.
Word on the street (or rather, Ezra Furman’s Facebook page), Shepherds Bush Empire is the place to be on October 22nd later this year. Having experienced these boys’ brilliantly mad live performance, I can say with certainly that you’ll be dazzled, but in the most rock’n’roll way, of course.
RELEASE DATE (ALBUM): TBA but sometime in Summer
RECORD LABEL: Bella Union
FOR FANS OF: The Walkman, Father John Misty, Courtney Barnett, Parquet Courts
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