Review: Little Big League/Ovlov | "Year Of The Sunhouse," "Pure Bliss Choices" b/w "The Great Crocodile"

The venerable Tiny Engines label will release in August a split 7" featuring tremendous tunes from Philly indie-rock dynamos Little Big League and Connecticut fuzzmasters Ovlov. Two-thirds of the record has been in the wild for some time, in the form of advance streams of Little Big League's "Year Of The Sunhouse" and Ovlov's possibly career-defining tune "The Great Crocodile," and just today the final piece of the aural puzzle was revealed. We feel pretty comfortable saying that if you buy just one split single this year (which would be weird, but let's not make this about us...), this is the one.

With "Year of The Sunhouse," fronter Michelle Zauner and co. channel the electrifying sprawl of the foursome's terrific 2013 long-player These Are Good People, whilst simultaneously tightening the space surrounding the act's dueling guitars. Essentially the tune delivers 2:10 of unmitigated hook, and -- despite that fidelity to and focus on the said hook -- "Year Of The Sunhouse" is perhaps their most expressive track to date. The song gives voice to Ms. Zauner's convictions about her future and contrasts them against the apprehension of those around her. Just today LBL premiered its second tune from this doozy of a release, "Pure Bliss Choices," over on Wondering Sound. The slightly longer workout boasts the same cutting guitar work and evocative imagery upon which the band has built its reputation. The song's double-barreled chorus delivers ringing distortion alongside a wholly arresting vocal melody.

Ovlov's side, "The Great Crocodile," plays out like a response to its titanic full-length am's finale "The Great Alligator." It is a towering, six-minute tour de force, rife with riffage seemingly cloned from the classic Dinosaur Jr. release You're Living All Over Me, with chugging rhythms courtesy of Ovlov's current all-Hartlett-all-the-time back line. The recording is the first to feature the relatively recent 'lov addition, second guitarist Morgan Luzzi, who has been performing with the Hartletts of late. Of all the Exploding In Sound bands, Ovlov has always seemed most suited to emo comparisons, so its pairing on the split platter with LBL makes a lot of sense. The Nutmeg staters make further inroads into that scene this summer, as future dates include shows with Topshelf's Donovan Wolfington and Run For Cover's (recently reactivated) Basement (that's a house show in JP and opening slot at the Sinclair, respectively). "Year Of The Sunhouse" and "Pure Bliss Choices" b/w "Year Of The Crocodile" is available for pre-order now in a limited edition of 1,000 flat vinyl circles with a groove cut in each side. The pressing includes 125 opaque bright orange singles, 225 opaque bright yellow singles, 300 translucent peach singles, and 350 boring old white singles [completists can get all four for $20 but, really, will four copies of the same single really fill that void in your life? -- Ed.]. Pre-order yours from Tiny Engines right here before they disappear. We last wrote about Little Big League here in November, when the quartet played a hot and local show with Paws and Idiot Genes. More recently, Zauner released under the moniker Japanese Breakfast a collection of seven solo tracks written as part of a blog exercises; check out the excellent Where Is My Great Big Feeling right here. -- Dillon Riley

Idiot Genes, Chandos, Flat Swamp, Strange Mangers | O'Brien's Pub | 7 June

Is this the last show flyer you'll see that refers to Boston anxiety-pop heroes Chandeliers by that name? Maybe! Attentive fans likely saw the threesome announce a name change late last month, and know that henceforth the act will be called Chandos (look, we already put it in the headline). We'll leave it to you to speculate for yourselves why a band might make that kind of change, although if you've ever googled them you've already figured the easy part of it out. And, really, it's what's on the inside that counts, right gang? Whether their amps have "Chandeliers" or "Chandos" stenciled on there matters little; it's the trio's characteristic jittery jangle that puts the proverbial asses in the figurative seats. Which is hopefully where they'll find you tomorrow night, specifically at O'Brien's Pub in Allston Rock City. There Chandos anchors a ridiculous evening of aural entertainment that also includes fuzz-faces Idiot Genes -- one of the first signings to the new Eye Design Records label -- as well as candied-punk purveyors Flat Swamp and the more progressive, twinkly indie rock of Strange Mangers.

While Chandos and Idiot Genes have been known quantities to us for years -- we last wrote about Idiot Genes here in November, and our coverage of Chandos goes back to 2010, as we said here -- Flat Swamp and Strange Mangers had not yet traversed our ear canals until early this week. We're happy to report both make rock sounds we like. We're particularly interested in Flat Swamp, which features Ovlov drummer Theo Hartlett on the guitar and sing-sing and also counts among its number Grass Is Green drummer Jesse Weiss. You read that right: this band, which is very good and wears its Weezer influence right there on its collective, comically oversized novelty sleeve, has two key players that are also drummers. It kind of takes some air out of all of those old hackneyed drummer jokes, yeah? Maybe they can get Dave Grohl on their next record... In the meantime, we certainly recommend you check out their cassette El Jefe/Nicolas Cage Match, which was released a year ago by Midnight Werewolf, and which contains lotsa windows-down-driving-fast-shouting-along-fist-pumping anthems. You like those, right? Indeed, every act on the bill tomorrow night has something hot for you to hear, so spend some time now with the links below, put on your socially acceptable pants tomorrow, and come check out the show with us tomorrow night. Full details are at this Facebook event page. Support the spleen.

Regolith A2E3: Sean Tracy Presents Dye's Alone

Did you feel like we left you hanging? We apologize for the delay, but a bunch of real-life stuff got in the way of our publishing this, the final installment of Sean Tracy's plunge down the time-sensitive cataracts in the songwriting challenge barrel we here at Clicky Clicky call Regolith. We think you are going to agree it was worth the wait, however. We are very pleased to be able to present to you today the fruits of Mr. Tracy's labor, which he is attributing to his project Dye (which, of course, we first told you about here in A2E1). It's an EP titled Alone, a particularly fitting moniker, as Dye typically includes Tracy's cohort Sam, but here of course, per Regolith rules, does not. The Alone EP contains five concise compositions touting gauzy rhythm guitars, gently perforating leads and bass work, a warm low end and spectral vocals. The short collection is shot through with a sedately stunned vibe, not unlike that of The Cure's 17 Seconds, but its compositions are more densely populated by guitars, hinting at Tracy's love of C86 and shoegaze sounds. Alone is eminently listenable, and while in the interview below Tracy expresses dismay at the quantity of material he was able to complete in 30 days, there is no questioning its quality. The EP is streaming at the Clicky Clicky Bandcamp page and also embedded at the foot of this post. Read and listen on. -- L. Tiburon Pacifico

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

Sean Tracy: It went all right. I feel pretty good about it, but there a ton of things that I wanted to do over [or] add. I wrote 12 songs and I'm turning in four-and-a-half, so...

CC: What were the biggest challenges and frustrations?

ST: The biggest challenge was definitely recording the vocals. Personally, I'm not someone who is much of a creative writer, so writing lyrics is typically something I dread/dislike very much. Just getting the time to record them was hard enough, but then getting vocal takes that I actually felt good about was a different story.

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

ST: I'd say the second thing is closer to what happened. I pretty much had to write stuff as I recorded it, and even while I typically do that, I would still have [other] ideas that were literally more thought-out than I had for this project. At the end, I had gotten to the point where I was having to write vocals/lyrics and guitar parts at the same time.

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

ST: That's a hard question, probably "17." I spent the most time on it, and gave it the most thought out of any of them. To me, it seems like kind of a weird one, but I was really happy with how the instrumentals came out, if nothing else.

CC: What song or songs do you wish you'd had more time to work on? Do you see yourself re-doing any songs in the future, in any of your bands?

ST: The song I wish I had more time to work on was "Ripped." Lots I wanted to try out for that one that I just didn't have time for. And... maybe? Not in the immediate future.

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

ST: I guess the answer to that is, um, all of them, at least not without at least 3 other people to play them with me...

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?

ST: If i could work with anyone else I'd probably have to say my friend Sam Glassberg, who I used to be in a band with. I feel like we could probably have written a full album if that were the case.

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?

ST: I've learned that I tend to be pretty spontaneous, and that sometimes I have a hard time being my own editor. I guess that's why working with others is beneficial. Having multiple points of view is probably for the best.

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

ST: Store all your project files in the cloud forever (I just lost my external HDD and my Macbook, within two weeks of each other. Still trying to get over that).

Normally here we'd tease the next Regolith artist-in-her-or-his-own-residence, but at this point we are still hammering down start dates and batting orders for some prospective participants. In the meantime, get cozy with Alone, and keep an eye out for news about the release of the debut full-length from Chandeliers, which Tracy referenced in A2E1. Chandeliers play a very hot bill in Boston June 7 at O'Brien's, along with Idiot Genes, Flat Swamp and Strange Mangers. We last saw Tracy performing with Bedroom Eyes at the incredible Soccer Mom record release show early this month (which, incidentally, seems like 1,000 years ago now), but Tracy has since left that band.

Previously:
Regolith A2E2: Sean Tracy Writes 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 Writing Songs Under The Gun
Regolith A1E1: Reuben Bettsak Is A Songwriter
Introducing... Regolith

That Was The Show That Was: Little Big League with Paws, Idiot Genes | Great Scott | 14 Nov.

We've expended plenty of words over the past year talking about the impossibly fertile music scene in Philadelphia right now, so we won't reiterate that again here. What we will tell you is that among the many top-shelf acts currently operating out of our executive editor's former hometown is Clicky Clicky faves Little Big League. We were pleased to be able to catch the hotly tipped indie-punk foursome Thursday at Great Scott, on a stacked bill sandwiched between rising Allston scuzz-punks Idiot Genes and present tourmates Paws, and, oh boy, was it a doozy.

The Philly quartet's expansive emo sound takes on a harder edge when the band presents it live. Guitars sliced through the front of house mix, gliding along to the cadence set by the rhythm section. Leading lady Michelle Zauner's dynamic vocals became strained as she pushed her voice above the buzz of crashing cymbals. This is not a knock on Little Big League in the least; rather, it shows a dimension of the band different from that represented by the (relatively) controlled performances on its thrilling debut long player These Are Good People, which was released by Tiny Engines in August. If anything, we dug the live versions even more than their recorded counterparts, no mean feat considering how hard we fell for Good People. For a relatively young band, Little Big League boasts a wealth of good tunes, and they ran through a pile of them Thursday with gusto. The patient and yearning rocker "Lindsey," easily one of the better album openers of 2013, was particularly triumphant, with short bursts of ringing distortion punctuating the tune's soaring chorus

Scottish garage punks Paws headlined, and their melodic, sloppy and gear-destroying jams capped a great night. Having seen the trio at Great Scott previously when they were out supporting their debut Cokefloat!, we had some familiarity with Paws' live look and sound, and it's a beautiful thing. Sure, they flub a few notes here and there amidst frequent drum malfunctions, and a guitar pedal, or two, or three, shuts down... but that's rock 'n' roll, baby. Thursday these great Scots [see what we did there? -- Ed.] composed their set almost exclusively from their forthcoming "Adventure Time"-inspired sophomore LP Youth Culture Forever, and, based on what we witnessed, you all will be psyched to hear it when it comes out. Indeed, few of the new songs are downright fierce. In a touching moment of tour camaraderie, LBL sent up a little gift to Paws, a Finn The Human action figure from the aforementioned "Adventure Time," an animated series that is also a favorite of this writer. Go figure. The Paws/Little Big League tour closes tonight in Chicago, after which the bands go their separate ways. Paws heads to the west coast while Little Big League winds their way back to Philadelphia via Boston yet one more time: the quartet headlines O'Brien's in Allston Rock City Nov. 22. Stream all of These Are Good People via the Soundcloud embed below, and buy the record from Tiny Engines right here. -- Dillon Riley

Little Big League: Bandcamp | Facebook | Tumblr

Today's Hotness: All Dogs, Idiot Genes, Soft Focus

>> You are going to start hearing Columbus, OH-based indie-punkers All Dogs' name quite often. The young, female-led trio is signed to Salinas Records, a label the music cognoscenti have come to know well for releasing the crucial indie rock platters from Swearin', Waxahatchee and Radiator Hospital over the last two years. Indeed, All Dogs' music neatly fits into the label's aesthetic: the threesome's four-four rockers burst with energy even at the mid-tempo that characterizes the opening pair of tunes from the very enjoyable self-titled, debut 7" that Salinas released last week. The rudimentary instrumentation leaves a lot of space for fronter Maryn Jones' clear and evocative voice to take a starring role, and hers (which recalls that of Bettie Serveert fronter Carol Van Dijk at times) is particularly affecting during the doleful closing cut "Say," certainly a highlight even among this very strong four-song collection. The All Dogs 7" is available via mail order now, and easily worth double the $5 asking price, so click this link to get yours from Salinas before the first run is gone, 'cause these are gonna go fast. All Dogs don't have any shows booked until next month, but Boston fans should take note now that further out in the future the band will be at Great Scott Jan. 21 supporting their very, very hotly tipped labelmates Waxahatchee, who just finished a triumphant strand of UK dates. We expect that will be a show everyone will talk about all through the late winter and into the spring, and we advise you to get tickets ASAP because the buzz is only going to get louder. And that may or may not be your tinnitus talking. What? I can't hear you, the phone keeps ringing. What? Stream the exquisite All Dogs single via the Bandcamp embed below. All Dogs are already at work on songs for a full-length, and previously issued a very fine split tape with Slouch.



>> You thrilled the sandpaper-across-the-face vibes of its self-titled EP at the beginning of the year, which included the bouncy shouter "The Charles Mansion," and now Allston Rock City fuzz-pop standouts Idiot Genes are back with another eight-pack of beery, big-muff anthems. Idiot Genes come by all of their bashing and feedback and sludge honestly: the new collection, titled Lousey, was recorded in the quartet's practice space earlier this fall. The set is thronged with throaty belters including the breakneck bomp of opener "Regular" and the more moderately paced "Soaked Pillow." The latter's lyrics evoke an easy smile, particularly the closing chant "WHEN I DREAM I DROOL! WHEN I DREAM I DROOL!" It's tempting to employ the word "primitive" here to try to capture the essence of the foursome's collective appeal, but that word would not do justice to the way Idiot Genes' music will infiltrate your consciousness. Lousey was released via Bandcamp on Hallowe'en; stream it via the embed below and then click and paywhutchalike to acquire the digital files for your personal use. Idiot Genes are playing on a ridiculously good bill (presented by Allston Pudding) Nov. 14 top-lined by UK-based indie sensations Paws and Philadelphia nu-emo stars Little Big League, who rule. We featured Idiot Genes' "The Charles Mansion" during New Music Night 10 last spring.



>> There was little actual use of soft focus employed by Soft Focus, the scrappy, youthful Cambridge, Mass.-based indie pop group whose music we have been enjoying lately, and who, sadly, have apparently already called it a day. But perhaps the threesome's name evinces itself in other ways. Soft Focus gradually resolved over the past year with a couple of singles, and now comes the posthumous Day EP, which showcases well the band's bashing, gleeful style. Jangly, sometimes angular guitar lines announce each of the four songs here, and the ensuing performances and production suggest that the trio's music is an apt soundtrack for a swinging basement show. One can almost see (smell? -- Ed.) the beer stains, smiling faces and taped-up Christmas lights as tunes like the yearning, head-bobbing opener "POG" ply their charms. Drummer Garren Orr keeps the snare tight and fast, while lead singer Joe Holcomb delivers emotional, punk-braised vocals -- which incidentally, recall those of Shout Out Louds fronter Adam Olenius -- without clouding the carefree character of the tunes. On EP highlight "Summer Sin" the band executes perfectly. Crisp lead guitar proclaims a bright melody and presents 12-string resonance, which in sum reminds this reviewer of George Harrison's work on "Nowhere Man." While that influence is likely not front of mind for Soft Focus, their listing of Bloc Party as an inspiration frames the Day EP in an interesting light. It's evidence of a younger generation of DIY musicians taking decade-old references and reshaping them into part of their own musical identity. It is hard to know whether such influences would have continued to guide the band's music, as this EP and one other referenced at Bandcamp would seem to be the final transmissions from Soft Focus (two of its principals have apparently gone to the west coast). Even if that next EP fails to materialize, the Day EP is a fine way to go out. It was released to the wilds of the Internerds Oct. 2 and is available as a pay-what-you-choose download; stream it below and then click through to make it your very, very own. -- Edward Charlton

Show Us Yours #14: A Giant Dog

[Yes, somehow, miraculously, after a four-year hiatus, we are resuscitating our ancient feature Show Us Yours, wherein Clicky Clicky asks notable bands about where they make their magic: their practice spaces. It has always fascinated us to no end to see where bands spend their time shaping their sound, and that curiosity has only intensified now that we're 10 years removed from playing in our last (relatively) serious band. Let's dig in. -- Ed.].

We were compelled to check in on Austin-based garage punks A Giant Dog earlier this month after listening to their completely arresting new collection Bone three times in a row. With our inbox constantly overflowing, we don't ever listening to *anything* three times in a row these days -- unless it's a vinyl 12" we're too lazy to pull of the turntable -- so we knew the quintet was one worth digging into a little deeper. Bone, a melodic and driving collection of shouty garage-rock anthems, was issued two weeks ago on Tic Tac Totally and the quintet is out on the road this month promoting its release. Indeed, A Giant Dog will perform at O'Brien's Pub in Allston Rock City this coming Sunday on an insane bill with Earthquake Party, Idiot Genes and Ex-Magicians. Not only is that Cinco De Mayo, but, well, this band is awesome, so if you are fortunate enough / young enough / stupid enough to use Cinco De Mayo as a reason to be out drinking on a Sunday night, why not smarten up for a second and see a kick-ass band while you are at it. We were fortunate to be able to wrangle A Giant Dog fronter Sabrina Ellis to share a little bit about the good-looking practice space pictured above, as well as the optimal activity to accompany listening to A Giant Dog's concise rockers and the band's potential demise (that last one, not really). Bone, A Giant Dog's second full-length, is available now via Midheaven right here, and we've embedded a stream of the entire album below the interview. If you need to be sold on the record before diving in, we suggest starting with the fiery, completely non-P.C. album closer "Teasin' Ass Bitch." Bon appetit!

Clicky Clicky: So why do you use this space?

Sabrina Ellis: This space is my husband Seth's recording studio [Superpop! -- Ed.] and also side B of our duplex. We bought the place condemned and turned it into a recording studio. A Giant Dog practices here because it is paid for and we're a bunch of broke-asses. Also, the air-conditioning doesn't hurt.

CC: Is there an idiosyncracy or quirk of the space that has affected one of your songs, or even your overall sound?

SE: The violent orange of the walls has us writing some disturbing material lately. Horny and deranged material. Our former space was the garage at the Giant Dog House. The garage is definitely what gave us our garage sound. The garage is like the vagina of a house. The hot, dark place where music embryos grow.

CC: You walk into your space. What's the first thing you smell?

SE: Incense. To cover the weed smell. Because The Bad Lovers were just recording in here. There's also this awesome, musky, old tube amp smell at Superpop.

CC: I remember a friend telling me about 20 years ago that the perfect rock song length was the amount of time it took to smoke a cigarette. I think at the time he pegged that at about three-and-a-half minutes... which, now that I think about it, seems kind of fast. But he was a heavy smoker. Anyway, most of your songs are around two minutes long. What's the perfectly suited activity to accompany one's listening to a single song from the new record?

SE: At about two minutes each, our songs are perfectly timed for a young man's first sexual encounter.

CC: You're out on the road for a couple weeks. Besides the tour, what do the next six months look like for the band?

SE: Pretty bleak, to tell you the truth. I sense a huge falling-out between the members of A Giant Dog on this tour. We wont be able to handle the pressure or the fame. Decade-long friendships are about to be torn apart on this bitch. We'll get a little crazy one night and do and say some things we'll regret. We wont be able to look each other in the face anymore. The next 6 months will see us on individual downward spirals, wondering what went wrong. Common story. What a shame.

A Giant Dog: Bandcamp | Facebook

Previous Show Us Yours episodes:
Shapes And Sizes | Dirty On Purpose | Relay | Mobius Band | Frightened Rabbit | Assembly Now | Meneguar | Okay Paddy | Charmparticles | Calories | Sun Airway | It Hugs Back | Lubec