Today's Hotness: What Moon Things, Family Video

>> Last week brought the first official new sounds from What Moon Things since the trio moved from upstate New York down to Brooklyn, the compelling darkwave number "Party Down The Street." Sure, there was the nice short stack of spacey jams casually and digitally released at the end of 2015 entitled, well, Space Jams, which fans shouldn't overlook and which also offers some indication as to which label might release the three's planned sophomore full-length. For sheer drama and major hookage, "Party Down The Street" -- which will likely feature on said forthcoming LP -- can't be beat. The song's arrangement comfortably sprawls through breathy verses (that exhale apparent reverse reverb), and anthemic, noisier sections where guitars swirl over the song's mechanical rhythm track. In said verses, Mr. Harms' vocals are impressionistic and emotive, but when he bellows "my face lit up like a question mark" the narrative focuses and the song catches fire. It also doesn't hurt that "Party Down The Street" echoes not just a little vintage and celebrated sounds from bands including The Cure. The tune closes with a tasteful, downbeat denouement, pulsing kick and boxy electro-snare into a roomy reverb while guitars slowly unwind the melody. No release date or title for What Moon Things' next record have been announced, but the band is presently on tour and we expect fans are hearing some new songs out there in the rock clubs of the American South as the Things venture to and from the annual SXSW music confabulation (Arkanas tonight! Full tour dates below). Hot Grits released What Moon Things' self-titled debut full-length in June 2014 as a vinyl 12", CD and digital download; that LP is presently in its second pressing. Stream "Party Down The Street" via the Soundcloud embed below.

3/10 -- Maxine's -- Hot Springs, AR
3/11 -- Denton 35 FEST -- Denton, TX
3/14 - 3/20 -- SXSW -- Austin, TX
3/21 -- Gasa Gasa -- New Orleans, LA
3/23 -- Blind Mule -- Mobile, AL
3/24 -- TV Land -- Tallahassee, FL
3/25 -- 1904 -- Jacksonville, FL
3/27 -- Will's Pub -- Orlando, FL
3/28 -- Tin Roof -- Charleston, SC
3/29 -- Brookland Tavern -- Columbia, SC
4/1 -- Slingshot FEST -- Athens, GA
4/4 -- The Camel -- Richmond, VA
4/6 -- Songbyrd Cafe -- Washington, DC
4/7 -- Old Mogul Theatre -- Montclair, NJ



>> The persistence of bass player jokes is one of those modern mysteries. After all, examples of notably talented bass players that can write songs aren't all that hard to come by: there's that McCartney guy, that Tweedy guy, and locally in Boston, just off the top of our head and only picking one, there's Jenny Mudari from Feral Jenny and Bent Shapes (whose album release show is tonight in Allston Rock City, doncha know?). As it turns out, Clicky Clicky faves Fog Lake have a talented, songwriting bass player as well. Her name is Jen King, and her project Family Video last month issued an understated but fierce set of indie pop songs called Places To Sleep. Sure, the St. John's, Newfoundland-based act's music isn't as deeply haunting as that of Fog Lake, but it is similarly affecting and occasionally even as downcast. Family Video's 11-song set features scruffy, guitar-centric songs that bash and pop through spare arrangements and echo in places the confessional songwriting of Liz Phair and the fizzing verve of Tiger Trap. Asymmetrical opener "You In The Night" morosely plods through pretty, chiming verses in the first 90 seconds, but soars for the final two minutes on the strength of spiraling, melodic lead guitar and steady synth tones. The cracking album highlight "My Sister's House" showcases buoyant bass playing and glistening guitar jangle, and escalates into a proper rave-up spangled by an urgent quarter-note cadence on the snare in its final third. "Winter Shadow" -- as well as its more poignant, delicate, acoustic iteration "Winter Shadow (Revisited)" -- presents Ms. King voicing the unguarded, forthright request "won't somebody smack me and make me feel realize..." The song's emotional heft compounds as its lyrics cast in different directions for deliverance from loneliness (it also references listening to the radio, which always gets songwriters a check-plus from Clicky Clicky's executive editor). Places To Sleep was recorded to and mixed on a four-track machine, and Fog Lake's Aaron Powell contributed synth to three cuts and vocals to the tune "Empty Bed;" he's also mentioned in the song "Aaron In The Basement." Family Video self-released Places To Sleep to the wilds of the Internerds Feb. 16. Stream the entire collection via the embed below and click through the purchase it as a paywhutchyalike download.

Regolith A3E3: Supriya Gunda Presents Choices

Wait, wait, wait! Come back! We've got that final installment of the third Regolith -- you know, the one featuring Supriya Gunda of Digital Prisoners Of War? As with installment two, there was some delay in dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's, because life is like that. But we are nonetheless very pleased to be able to present to you the fruits of Ms. Gunda's labor, a concise yet dreamy four-song EP titled Choices. As you will see in her interview responses below, the creation of this music was not without its challenges. But that real-ness is sort of the stock-in-trade of Regolith, non? And honestly, we don't really hear the struggle in the music, which is impressionistic and appealing. Choices, which clocks in at just over 10 minutes, opens with the pretty "Norman." The song foregrounds a chunky beat and pretty synth arpeggio, while Gunda's voice floats in and out of a misty middle ground. The tune faintly echoes '80s visionaries Eurythmics circa Touch, which is a pretty good row to hoe in this blog's opinion. "Privilege" opts for more a more jittery synth cadence and more aggressive beat, but still somehow establishes a placid, contemplative vibe with Gunda's intimate, indistinct vocal. All of Choices is embedded in full at the bottom of this blog post, and we encourage you to take a moment to go hit the play button right now. Read Gunda's thoughts on the new collection and the Regolith process below; if you missed the first two installments, click here and then here. We are extremely grateful to Supriya for participating in the Regolith 30-day songwriting challenge. The next Digital Prisoners Of War show is June 2 at Lilypad in Cambridge, Mass., during which Gunda will be performing solo, as her DigiPOW bandmates will be otherwise engaged. You can experience what we assume will be the full-band DigiPOW experience next on June 18, when Gunda, et al., open a very, very solid evening of indie music that also includes hitmakers Halfsour, Feral Jenny (which is fronted by current Bent Shapes bassist Jenny Shapes) and Baltimore lo-fi pair Romantic States (makers of this fine jam). Full deets on the June 2 show are right here and information about June 18 is right here. And stay tuned for our announcement about our fourth installment of Regolith, why don't you? -- L. Tiburon Pacifico

Clicky Clicky: So how did it go? Do you consider the results a personal success? A failure?

Supriya Gunda: It went harder than I thought! I ended up recording everything through the built-in mic on a $200 computer. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a success.

CC: What were the biggest challenges and frustrations?

SG: Time, mostly. Equipment, as a byproduct of time. It made me appreciate the resources other humans provide.

CC: How were you able to work around or overcome these challenges?

SG: Built-in computer microphone! Ha. I recorded stuff, like, in my car, I started to like the sound of digital clipping, I didn't finish most of what I started. The only [digital audio workstation] my computer could handle was Audacity.

CC: Did you find that your approach to writing and recording for this project changed over the course of the 30 days, or did you begin by finding an approach that worked (time-wise), and just apply that to everything?

SG: I don't think I ever found an approach that worked time-wise, but this really did give me a perspective on what 30 days actually feels like. Usually I don't notice time has passed until it's long gone. This wasn't really an exception to that, but I guess it enhanced my awareness in general that I was a person alive on this earth for a month.

CC: What song do you think came out the best?

SG: I'm not sure any of them did. But I do think I got some decent ideas in there, maybe.

CC: What song or songs do you wish you'd had more time to work on? Do you see yourself re-doing any of these in the future with DigiPOW or any other project?

SG: I'll probably use this as a source for ideas from which to build different songs in the future. Not sure any of this would truly work in a band setup, nor should it.

CC: Are there any songs you did for this project that you couldn't re-create live?

SG: I COULD probably recreate it all live, but I would choose to do things differently live.

CC: If there was one person or piece of equipment you could have brought in for the project, who or what would that have been?

SG: I used a sample of my friend Richard Lewis reading from the paper about the "British Coal Gas Story", which was [about] the prevalence of sticking one's head in the oven when coal-gas was around in the '60s and '70s. Once they took the coal-gas away, the suicide rate dropped dramatically. So I suppose he was there in spirit. If there was one piece of equipment I would have brought, it would have been a high-functioning studio.

CC: Did you learn anything about how you write and record music? What specific or quantifiable lesson, if any, did you learn that will help you in the future?

SG: Haha, yes. I learned I can' really force it. I don't know if I could be a Max Martin now. I just gotta be me.

CC: If you could travel into the future and speak with the next Regolith participant, what one piece of advice would you give them?

SG: Clear your damn schedule. Don't go to work. Get yourself a cabin in the woods. And don't come back after the 30 days.

Previously On Regolith:
Regolith A3E2: Supriya Gunda Is Writing Songs Under The Gun
Regolith A3E1: Supriya Gunda Is A Songwriter
Regolith A2E3: Sean Tracy Presents Dye's Alone
Regolith A2E2: Sean Tracy Is Writing Songs Under The Gun
Regolith A2E1: Sean Tracy Is A Songwriter
Regolith A1E3: Reuben Bettsak Presents Emerald Comets' Inside Dream Room
Regolith A1E2: Reuben Bettsak Is Writing Songs Under The Gun
Regolith A1E1: Reuben Bettsak Is A Songwriter
Introducing... Regolith

Bent Shapes, Charly Bliss, Chandos, Fucko | O'Brien's Pub, Allston Rock City | 28 February

This goddamn bill being put on by the quality dudes over at Eye Design on Saturday night. Just gaze upon it.

We've spilled a formidable pile of digital ink championing Boston indie luminaries Chandos and Bent Shapes, so these are known quantities both. But just so we are all up to speed: Clicky Clicky fave anxiety-pop heroes Chandos just last month released its hotly anticipated and just plain hot full-length debut Rats In Your Bed via Carpark (tap the embed below), and scene stalwarts Bent Shapes are in the process of mixing its planned sophomore full-length (here they is in the studio), and if this snippet is any indication, the record is going to smoke. These acts are at the peak of their powers, so there is no need for us to resort to exhortation, you know you should step out Saturday and see them. Hash tag step out and see them Saturday.

On the other hand, its been a long-time coming that we formally introduce readers to New York indie pop quartet Charly Bliss. Fronted by Eva Hendricks and lauded far and wide by many including Clicky Clicky faves Johnny Foreigner, the band wields an unshakable tunefulness built up from a foundation of classic pop chops. Ms. Hendricks' bratty, earworm-inducing vocal melodies run full bounce alongside Spencer Fox's inventive and often fuzz-addled guitars, a pairing that evokes pleasant thoughts of Blue Album-Weezer, and to a lesser extent the Slumberland sound, without crossing over into mimicry. According to evidence on the Interwebs, Charly Bliss recently logged time in Western Mass. tracking its debut LP with hitmaker Justin Pizzoferrato. In the meantime, the band already has a couple EPs out, including its most recent three-song helping Soft Serve, which the quartet pressed to vinyl disks and self-released last summer for the public's enjoyment. We've embedded Soft Serve below; click through to get a copy of the vinyl now, as we don't expect they will last long, especially once the new record is out and goes Vesuvius. Be sure to give the EP's middle jam "Urge To Purge" some extra attention, as it made one of our Top Songs of 2014 lists, meaning it is top quality.

Opening the evening and not to be missed are Boston fuzz-rock newcomers Fucko, an act firmly lodged on our watch list. In addition to having one of the all-time great monikers in rock history, and legendary merch, the quartet shows considerable promise on its rockin' three-song demo, which was released to the wilds of the Internerds a year ago. It's all killer and no filler, touts a nice big bass sound, and we would particularly direct your attention to the closing track "Kind Of Mean It." Fucko, too, has a full length in the can, and for some time now, so we expect it is just a matter of time before college radio DJs are struggling to come up with acceptable ways to refer to the band on the air. A word of caution: a bill as hot as Saturday's might require some thinking ahead, so for folks who'd like guaranteed entry, we suggest snagging tickets right over here. -- Dillon Riley and Jay Breitling

Today's Hotness: Kindling, Tyrannosaurus Dead, Feral Jenny

>> Sepia-toned Velocity Girl dreams and young women in tall Doc Martens, that's what an excellent new collection of songs from upstart Western Mass.-based combo Kindling makes us think of. Their set, titled Spare Room, presently has nine songs, but a Facebook status from the band a few weeks ago indicates the universe of songs will grow as the band continues writing and recording (or will once the band gets a new vocal mic, dang). In its current iteration as of press time, Spare Room comprises nine songs including a cover of Wire's "The 15th." Spare Room is filled with big fuzzy guitar strummers and subdued vocals that swim just beneath the surface of the duo's controlled cacaphony. "Escapism" touts a pop bounce and bright lead guitar line that makes it perhaps the Kindling tune most analogous to the output of the aforementioned, Maryland-bred indie rock legends. Kindling's two-person configuration likely sets them up for comparisons to contemporary UK heroes (and pairs) Playlounge and Nai Harvest, as well, but that is certainly fine company to be in, non? Gretchen and Stephen, Kindling's surnameless (for now anyway, these things eventually always sort themselves out...) principles, certainly don't struggle to give their recordings a full sound, with dense guitars, cracking snares and sizzling cymbals filling the stereo field like so much fireworks and cotton candy. The highlight of Spare Room is also the pair's loudest and dreamiest number, "Became." Here overdriven guitar compresses into a vast cloud from which Gretchen and Stephen's vocals gently whirl around each other in a head-nodding, pretty chorus accented by alternating shaker and cymbal crashes; it's a perfect song. Kindling only just created the aforementioned Facebook page for itself late last month, so we're assuming the duo is quite new. Given the great music they've written so far, we are very eager to hear what comes next. Stream all of Spare Room via the Bandcamp embed below; the music is also on offer as a paywhutchalike download here, or, if you are lucky enough to run into the band, there is photographic evidence of some CDs or CD-Rs, too.



>> London-based Oddbox Records disclosed recently that the delightful Brighton quintet Tyrannosaurus Dead is planning to record a debut full-length with Rory Atwell that will hopefully be released before the year is out. Based on this Facebook status from last week, it sounds as if tracking starts at the end of the month. To set the stage for what will surely be a bracing set of noise-pop, Oddbox has gathered up all of T-Dead's various recordings to date, including the Pure//Apart 12" EP we wrote about here last year, for a CD anthology titled, quite obviously, Greatest Hits. The CD also contains the band's self-titled EP, the Lemonade EP, a track from a Reeks Of Effort cassette compilation called GUTS, and the 7" single "Bed Dread" b/w "Oyster Boy You're A Blast" issued by San Diego's Bleeding Gold Records last July. In all, Greatest Hits touts 16 tracks, and it is the first time any of them have been released on CD, which means Tyrannsaurus Dead is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the inevitable comeback of CDs, once all the hipsters get sick of vinyl again... lulz. We're expecting big things from the planned new long-player, and hope that the sort of success that has met peer groups Joanna Gruesome and Playlounge is just around the corner for T-Dead. While we all wait for the end of the year to get here, listen in to the brilliant tracks "Buried In The Ground" and "1992" via the embed below. Each tune touts big guitars, big melodies and smart vocal interplay, with affecting lyrics of longing, youthful confusion and stunted ambition. The chorus of the blistering rocker "1992" repeatedly advises "you should lower your expectations," before pleading "can I always dream of you?" It's classic stuff. Greatest Hits is available now for £7 via the Odd Box Bandcamp page.



>> The snappy tunes of Boston-based lo-fi concern Feral Jenny never quite emerge from beneath a blanket of gentle fuzz -- perhaps even tape hiss, do the kids use the tape machines anymore, we wonder? -- but that doesn't in any way obscure or detract from the appealing character and able songcraft found on its latest collection. Feral Jenny is the nom de rock of Jenny Mudarri, and her short set Bedrooms was recorded in her childhood bedroom. It's got a homespun sound, to be sure, and calling the set anything besides a demo might be an overstatement, but there are great songs here. Underneath the scuzz and of-the-moment, surf-styled leads, there's an urgent energy that will easily translate to the stage once Ms. Mudarri gets Feral Jenny out of the bedroom. The rough edges belie the workings of a mind that seems to appreciate tidy organization: vocal layers and harmonies are neatly applied, guitar reverbs are weighed and dialed thoughtfully -- the compositional chops are all there. Its also not hard to hear the youthful energy of, say, Potty Mouth, or the introspective scab-picking of Manors in these six songs. Opener "Say The Word" blasts off with a Wyld Stallyns-esque guitar flourish and then locks into an uptempo frug of garagey chords, over which Mudarri elongates vowels and stacks vocal melodies. She aims to put a band together in Boston, but at present Mudarri is concentrating on figuring out how she can perform this new material herself without sacrificing its layers and harmonies. An earlier collection of Feral Jenny songs from 2012 titled Bowie, Too is even lower-fi, but possibly even more charming, so we recommend you stroll over here and have a listen. Bedrooms was issued at the beginning of March and you can listen to the whole deal via the Bandcamp embed below. Mudarri previously fronted the Burlington, VT pop-punk act Nancy.