>> It's been some time since we last heard from shoegaze luminaries Coaches, but that's little surprise. In our interview a year ago with band mastermind Brady Custis, he said Coaches works slowly and methodically. Add to the mix that the band in the past year relocated to Brooklyn and changed up the lineup (for example, drumming duties are now executed by Infinity Girl cannoneer Seb Modak), and one gets a sense of how the quintet has filled its days. But at long last it has announced it is releasing Shush, a dynamic, dynamite and highly textured EP of big-guitar post-punk, later this month. The four-song set explodes out of the gate with back-to-back thrillers. First comes the feedback-spangled, fuzz-bass fueled rocker "That Not This;" the tune starts smart and gets smarter, injecting hard rhythmic changes that culminate in a muscular groove. This is followed by the first preview track from the short set, "Elizabeth Warren," which is refreshingly what one hopes it will be: a raging rocker detailing an infatuation with the wonderful and wise U.S. Senator from the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It's safe to say this is the only song you will hear that says longingly of Warren, "Elizabeth, the trouble is you're for the people but I'm just one person." The more subdued but no less engaging "Blond Cop," which alternates between slinky and roaring, and the relatively ambient gloomer "Death Etiquette," round out the EP, and these tunes are similarly strong. And so while Shush is a late entrant in 2015, it surely counts among the best EPs of the year. The increasingly crucial Disposable America label releases the set in a limited edition of 100 pink or yellow cassettes Dec. 11, and you can pe-order a copy right here. Coaches fêtes the release of the EP at the recently announced Noise For Toys II, a Toys For Tots benefit house show in Allston Rock City Dec. 12. The bill also features Western Mass. 'gaze heavyweights Kindling, Boston's rising demigods Elizabeth Colour Wheel, and Gold Muse, the new project featuring members of Soccer Mom, Earthquake Party! and Swirlies. For venue details, ask a punk; in the meantime, go buy a new, unwrapped present for a kid, as that is the preferred entry fee to the big, big rock show. Stream the aforementioned "That Not This" and "Elizabeth Warren" via the Bandcamp embed below. We last wrote about Coaches a year ago here, when we got a look around the band's rehearsal space for our Show Us Yours feature.
>> We're very taken with the gentlemanly pop sound of Boston trio Du Vide. Indeed, not since the heyday of local legends Pants Yell! have we been so hopeful about the state of the city's indie pop. The threesome's recently released sophomore EP Clutter features three accomplished compositions that exhibit terrific playing and songcraft. Opener "The Hell It Is" blends elements of slowcore and coctail jazz drumming and guitar work with introverted, downcast vocals whose vibe suggests Chet Baker and Sam Prekop, while being more sonically akin to those of Conor Oberst. The song hits a firm crescendo and is carried off by one big guitar chord. The succeeding tune "A Sharp Inhale" ups the rock quotient at first, but then vacillates between explosive and delicate moments, highlighted by big emotive singing at one extreme and velvet soft drumming at the other. The pretty, acoustic ballad "Word Vomit" provides the EP's final word, where somewhat morose lyrics share space with thoughtfully layered guitars. The lyrics are particularly strong, grabbing the listener with elongated vowels and presenting some small truth writ large: "it's been a long weekend, a long night so far..." According to this recent Facebook post, Du Vide is nearly finished recording a debut long-player, which we're very keen to hear. The band's next live appearance will be Jan. 6 at Arlene's Grocery in Manhattan, but we've got it on pretty good authority that you'll be able to see the band live not long after that back in Boston, so stay tuned. Clutter was released to the wilds of the Interpants as a digital download Nov. 2; stream the entire thing via the Bandcamp embed below, and click through to download it for any price. Du Vide's prior EP In Hiding was issued as a digital download in May, and the band has also released two digital singles, all of which we'd rate as crucial.
>> Bradford Krieger is a number of things: one-time talent booker at River Gods, operator of Hanging Horse Studios in Norwood, Mass. (where he has recorded hitmakers of the day including Dirty Dishes, IAN and Horse Jumper of Love), and now those of you keeping score at home can also mark Mr. Krieger down as the man behind Big Nice. That a studio guy would also make music is little surprise; that his apparent first outing so deftly packs great detail (such as the vocal harmonies in the Flaming Lips-echoing tune "Upwards," or the backwards stick strikes of "Vino") into relatively spare arrangements is quite noteworthy. The aforementioned tunes feature on a recently released short stack simply titled EP1, which was released to the wilds of the Internerds as a digital download Nov. 4. Krieger coaxes some very nifty sounds, but tastefully downplays them: the second minute of the jaunty instrumental "Vino" builds upwwards from a sturdy 12-string melody line, then throws octave pedal into a knot of particularly slippery guitars. The gently swinging "Ta Dum" underscores the EPs fresh, snappy vibe, bashing and popping its way toward a series of chords played on an organ that meander away like one affected by dementia. Closer "Moss" is not only the most conventional tune of the set, but also its highlight: not bad for a casual strummer that clocks a mere 87 seconds. Stream the entire kebab via the Bandcamp embed below, and click through to download for any price. And keep your fingers crossed that Big Nice eventually manifests itself as a live entity. We'll be waiting.
We're less than a week away from the kick-off of Boston's legendary annual battle of the bands, The Rock 'n' Roll Rumble. Now in its thirty-sixth year, the event pits 24 acts against one another in a friendly competition that results in one band being crowned champion, and a whole bunch of people having a real good time. Contending acts tend to be well-established, and as a group are referred to as the "class" of the given year. The Class of 2015 isn't as long on Clicky Clicky faves as prior classes have been, although we certainly hope to see Soft Pyramids, Drab and Nemes do well. Clicky Clicky, of course, tends to focus on newer bands making sounds that sit squarely in the indie rock/post-punk wheelhouse. We've alluded in recent pieces to a new wave of acts we're excited about rising up from the Boston underground, and we figured now was as good a time as any to formalize our thoughts on the matter. It's not necessarily a counter-narrative to The Rumble; after all, all music fans want people to like and support pretty much all music. So, if you like, think of this as a look into the crystal ball at acts that could be Rumble contenders in the future.
We prefer to think of the acts highlighted below -- up-and-coming dream-pop quintent Californian Sleepovers, shoegaze luminaries Dæphne and Elizabeth Colour Wheel, and upstart emo polymaths Shark Rock! -- as the freshest now sounds of the Boston underground. These are acts still tracking demos in their apartments, (mostly) sheltered from the relatively cavernous rock clubs and dank basements where Boston’s tremendously fertile ecosystem germinates, all messing around within vaguely related shoegaze/emo genres. The sharing of members, friends, and bills among them helped us connect some dots and were, in part, the inspiration for this feature. We should say the feature is not exhaustive: despite popping onto our radar in 2013, we're sort of lumping Julius Earthling in (mentally, anyway) as a Clicky Clicky Class of 2015 act; and we're starting to feel the same way about Burlington, Vermont's Sleeping In. But for now, read up on the bands below, whose futures are looking pretty bright, if not quite so Rumbly just yet. -- Dillon Riley and Jay Breitling
Californian Sleepovers
Californian Sleepovers is a five-piece ensemble whose dual, boy-girl vocal attack is the salient marker of its sound thus far. Despite being together for little more than a year, the group has crafted a remarkable, expansive and blissed out sound reminiscent of that of international dream-pop phenoms Big Deal. A central figure in Californian Sleepovers -- and, indeed, in the scene this feature memorializes -- is Nick Paredes, who both plays in the band and serves as the quintet's in-house producer. Scan whatever "liner notes" you can find for the music released to date by the bands included in this piece and you'll likely to find Mr. Paredes' name listed somewhere therein. We're given to understand that his own Projectorhead Studios was recently menaced by an apartment fire and subsequent flooding in Allston. In addition to the obvious ways, this is particularly unfortunate, as the pad seems to serve as a de facto HQ for many in Clicky Clicky's Class of 2015. We wish the residents of said apartment luck in finding a new home, and hope said home allows for those affected to continue to help shape the loud rock sounds of the day. In the meantime, we have Californian Sleepovers' debut EP Back In My Day to consider. The three-song set presents infectious, gaze-y pop that plays fast and loose with rhythmic stability. The band's forthcoming gigs include a house show somewhere in the Greater Boston area with Dæphne and a show at O'Brien's April 21 with Elizabeth Color Wheel. That latter show is billed as a sorta fundraiser for Projecthead, so your price of admission is certainly money well-spent. Below, peruse some short notes about the band and stream and download the aforementioned EP.
CC: Who does what when you guys make the rock sounds?
We're a five-piece band. There's Nick Paredes on the electric ukulele, Kevin Schlotterback on guitar, Ryan Higgins on bass and Wil Tecla plays the drums (& the cymbals). Charlotte Wright and Nick Paredes team up on vocals.
CC: Where and when did Californian Sleepovers form?
The band originally formed in the fall of 2014, but has since had new members added to complete the sound. We hail from Boston, Massachusetts, but the members come from all over the US.
CC: How would describe your sound, that is, if you have a singular one you've settled on?
Our sound is still evolving at this point, but we've relied on a shoegaze-y description for ourselves so far.
CC: Have you played many shows yet? If so, how have they gone?
We've had one show so far, that went well! Now that we've released our EP, we're looking to book more.
CC: Tell us a bit about the EP.
Our first EP is called Back In My Day. It was self-recorded & mixed by us in Nick's apartment.
CC: What's next?
Sleepovers, bowling, band practice. We're actually working on a four-song split with [our friends] Elizabeth Colour Wheel, and we're working on a music video soon [It's at the top of this feature -- Ed.]. Also, we'll be featured on a shoegaze/dream-pop compilation coming out of Hacktivism Records!
Dæphne
As we remarked in one of our Top Songs of 2014 roundups, coverage of Dæphne's fuzzy, uniformly thrilling four-song demo was curiously absent from much of Boston's music media. Be that as it may, the Family Vacation EP, and especially its majestic third number "Driving Down a Country Highway Blasting Weezer," is a winner. Immaculately recorded (considering it is referred to as a demo), the set showcases fronter Alexa Johnson's moony emo-isms, steeping them in layer upon layer of sepia-toned fuzz. Dæphne's improbably potent sound -- at once totally modern and positively nostalgic -- would mesh nicely with those of the artists in the stable of Allston indie heavyweights Run For Cover Records, something we noted previously. For now, Dæphne's music has found a home with forward-thinking Texas blog/label collective Funeral Sounds, from which you can acquire a cassette of Family Vacationright here. We're given to understand the band is playing a house show somewhere in the near future, as well as a stacked showcase at Out Of The Blue Too Gallery in Cambridge. Below are additional particulars about the quartet, and make sure to stream Dæphne's stunning demo below those.
CC: Who does what when you guys are making the rock?
Alexa sings, Laura plays bass, Ryan plays guitar, and Julian plays drums.
CC: Where and when did the band form?
[We] formed in boston in March 2014.
CC: How would describe your sound, that is, if you have a singular one you've settled on?
Smashing Pumpkins with a good singer.
CC: Have you played many shows? If so, how have they gone?
We've played around 20 shows, most have been good except one at O'Brien's where we played at midnight and no one was there.
CC: Tell us a bit about the Family Vacation demo.
It was recorded in one day in an apartment with our old drummer and no click.
CC: What's next?
World domination...
Elizabeth Colour Wheel
Attentive readers will recall that we premiered the debut, eponymous EP from this fantastically named quintet just a few weeks back. A bracing four-track sampler characterized by the band's deft balance of tension and release, as well as fronter Adessa Campbell's chilly, arresting vocals, Elizabeth Colour Wheel's short-player is already one of the more remarkable things we've heard this year. As of this writing, the EP has yet to see a physical release, but we're given to understand that a run of tapes is forthcoming via a new outfit called Braindead Media. Elizabeth Colour Wheel also recently went into the 88.1 WMBR Pipeline studio for a session, which was a suitably raucous time, and you can download a recording of that right here. As noted supra, the band's got an upcoming gig on April 21 at O'Brien's in Allston Rock City, and details for the event are right here. Scroll down for a little Q+A and another shot at the stream of the excellent EP.
CC: Who does what when you guys make the rock sounds?
Adessa Campbell – Lead Vocals/Fiddle; Alec Jackson – Keyboard/Synth/Guitar/Backing Vocals; Billy Cunningham – Bass; Emmett Palaima – Guitar; Nate Patsfall – Drums.
CC: Where and when did Elizabeth Colour Wheel form?
We started about a year ago when we met in Boston. We're originally from all around the states... Utah, New Jersey, Montana, Texas, and Virginia.
CC: How would describe your sound, that is if you have a singular one you've settled on?
The best way to put it would be loud and abrasive guitars and drums with soothing vocals (most of the time).
CC: Have you played many shows yet? If so, how have they gone?
We've played a fair amount in the area, including a small northeast tour when we hit New York and Philly. We actually feel our live show is where people can actually understand what we are about.
CC: We've already given our thoughts about your recent EP, but what else can you tell us about it?
Well as I said before, we prefer our live sound so we recorded the whole thing live with minimal overdubbing (just vocals and some synth parts). We also only tried each song once or twice to keep the "fresh" energy that the early takes tend to have.
CC: What's next?
Future is looking pretty fun right about now. We have quite a few local shows in Boston coming up and we're currently working on booking another tour of the northeast with our good friends in Gamma Pope. We also have a split release in the works with our buddies in Californian Sleepovers and we have a bunch of new material we've been playing, so maybe another EP or possibly a full length will be in the works over summer.
Shark Rock!
Perhaps the most light-hearted of this impressive crop of bands, Shark Rock! are a two-piece that deal in an alternately crunchy and twiddly, yet entirely unpredictable, emo-core sound. Featuring the talents of one member of Elizabeth Colour Wheel, this Berklee-based band -- an important distinction, considering most of these groups also feature Berklee students but don’t quite identify as such -- makes music that rarely ends where it began. There is a lot of quirk, and it is good: among Shark Rock!'s three known recordings is a quasi-cover of "Don't Fear The Reaper" entitled "Sued By The Cult," in which they lift the melody and lyrics from the Blue Oyster Cult classic to illuminate a song ostensibly about actually being sued by the classic rock greats. Maybe? Shark Rock!'s eponymous demo, while mostly an exercise in testing a variety of sounds, is especially re-playable due in large part to the two-piece's keen musicianship, which strikes a bit of a contrast with the demo's admittedly questionable audio fidelity. The pair played a house show tonight, but it probably already happened, so you will have to remain vigilant for your next opportunity to be Shark Rock!ed. Take a look at some consistently great answers from the duo, and stream its demo, below.
CC: Who does what when you guys make the rock and roll?
Mike Costa plays drums. Emmett Palaima plays guitar and sings.
CC: Where/when did the band form?
We met last fall at Berklee. We had talked to each other a little bit beforehand, but mostly we met through the band. I (Emmett) hit up Mike because I had heard he was a drummer that knew what was up, and we started jamming and writing together.
CC: How would describe your sound, that is, if you have a singular one you've settled on?
Haha, maybe Shark Rock? We try to do our own thing more than fit into any genre. The one big thing that we always stick to is that we try and get the fullest possible sound out of only two members. Other than that, the mindset is to just write what we write and to make it as good as we can from there. If we come up with an idea we think would be cool or funny, we usually just go for it, no matter what it is. That's how the "Don't Fear the Reaper" cover in "Sued By The Cult" happened. However, all that said, we do have a heavy tendency towards math rock and noise and are very influenced by bands like Tera Melos, Hella and Lightning Bolt, in terms of rhythm and abruptness. Actually, though, a lot of the harmonic sensibility actually comes from bluegrass being mixed with more modern styles.
CC: Have you played any shows yet? If so, how have they gone?
We've played our first show [March] 15, with The Exploration, Shakusky and Settler. It was in Billy Philhower's awesome basement for a bunch of emo kids. We got a great reception and playing with The Exploration was super cool, so overall we were really happy with how it went, especially for our first show. We also got to borrow this massive Orange cab from Settler, which seemed really appropriate on "Sued By The Cult."
CC: Tell us a bit about your demo, which we love.
Our intent with the demo was mainly to get our music out there so we could start playing shows and letting people know that we're a thing. The way we did everything on it was pretty DIY/lo-fi and not always exactly the correct way of doing things, the drums were recorded by Nick Paredes at Propellerhead Studio in early December, then Emmett added guitars, vocals and additional production over our winter break with the help of our friend Max Deems in Austin, TX, who mixed and mastered it for us. We tried to go for more of a room sound on the guitar so it would fill more space, we had a lot of far mics and at one point were also running it through this little bass amp stuck inside a bathtub. It was kind of difficult to get everything to sound right, but in the end we ended up with what we wanted, a demo that was fun to listen to. We made some tapes that sold really fast, and we're restocking for our next show.
CC: What's next for y'all?
We're recording our first album this summer, entitled Summer's Ending, slated for release in late September to early August, around the time that summer will actually be ending. As opposed to the demo, we're going for more of a high fidelity sound for the album. The goal is to make it something of an epic of the summer, the listening to which will be a really cohesive experience. We're also looking into touring around the same time as the release to support the album, hitting dates around the Northeast, most likely with Macaulay Sulkin. Until then, we're just playing around Boston as much as possible. The next thing we're playing is a house show on April 4 [Sorry this piece didn't publish in time, lads -- Ed.]. We also have a live video in the mixing/editing process we're going to release soon, [which was] recorded by Nate Patsfall and filmed by Sam Colby.
We had reason to be a little down as the credits rolled on 2014, as a number of our favorite local acts had called it a day. But 2015 has already been marked by a number of exciting new discoveries -- which will be a subject of a forthcoming feature from Staff Writer Dillon Riley in coming days -- as well as welcome returns from... uh... somewhere? This latter designation is almost entirely set aside for rising Boston noise-pop trio Julius Earthling. As we said here a couple months ago, the act kind of dropped of the map after the release of an initial EP titled For: a couple years back. But its very ambitious follow-up, titled NFL Bliss and a real blinder, is so worth the wait. The new EP's six songs show an exponential degree of development both in terms of songwriting and production; perhaps most notable from a rock consumer's standpoint are the collection's bounty of Weezer-grade hooks, Algernon Cadwallader-level vim (particularly on the euphoric strummer "Motorcycle Tricks" and the frantic "575"), and scads of skewed smarts in evidence at every turn. What is responsible for the major step forward for the band, whose roots stretch back to 2009, whose rhythm section has played together since they were young teens, and which almost -- impossibly -- called itself Fetal Castro? We took our questions straight to the act, couching them within the context of our long-suffering Show Us Yours feature, which takes a look at the practice spaces of the hitmakers of the day with an eye toward learning both what makes the band tick, and what their next moves will be. The Earthling's Anthony DeRosa (bass guitar), Cam McClusky (guitar, voice) and Sam Nickerson (drums) were all super gracious with their time, and we think you will agree that this 25th episode of Show Us Yours is among the very best we've ever published.
Clicky Clicky: So why do you use this practice space? What makes it the best space for Julius Earthling right now?
Sam Nickerson: We used to practice at Brighton Sound Museum in a space we shared with some old friends and some fashion punx.
Cam McClusky: Then some of Sam's gear went missing and we got "the boot."
SN:The Roots, The Radicals...
Anthony Derosa: So Brad -- who recorded us and put out our first record -- invited us to Hanging Horse in Norwood.
CM: Which is also a full recording studio and where we recorded NFL Bliss, and our first EP. So it is a hike and hard to schedule sometimes, but there's a triangle window and I'd live [t]here if I could.
CC: Triangle window aside, is there an idiosyncrasy or quirk to the space that has affected the sound of one of your songs, or even the overall sound?
AD: It's a huge room and definitely has a signature sound. You can always tell when someone recorded there. We rolled a Harley Davidson in through the garage doors and recorded it for the intro of "Motorcycle Tricks."
CC: You walk into your space. What's the first thing that you smell?
CM: The control room always smells like Crizz.
AD: Aged trinkets everywhere. Thrift Store Rejects.
CM: That's our next band...
SN: It's in an old industrial area, so maybe poison?
CC: The new EP blows us away, as it is more than just a substantial step forward from the For: EP. It's more like two or three steps forward. NFL Bliss shows so much development, in a number of different areas: more ambitious compositions, more technically proficient, bigger hooks. I guess Clicky Clicky is just interested in how that happened? Is it just a question of having a greater skill set and different influences feeding into the two EPs? Did you sell one or more of your souls?
SN: It all depends on your gait and the size of your steps, really.
CM: I can personally say that I had no idea what I was doing while writing the music music for For:. I did build a massive pedal board between releases, which sucks to carry around, but now there's more cartoon sounds. And I do think For: was more of a feeling-out process, and now, with every song we write, we just try to out-do the one before.
AD: I don't know.
CC: NFL Bliss was originally supposed to be eight songs -- what happened? Holding something back for a possible full-length (we hope)?
AD: We sold the other two to ESPN. I mean HGTV.
CM: "MTV Cribs." But really, we're looking to do maybe two songs on a 7" later in the year.
CC: Had it survived, do you think the level of bliss in the XFL would be higher than in the NFL?
CM: Short Answer: YES. Long Answer: Things just didn't go as planned. If it had managed to survive and prosper the way Vince McMahon intended, we'd be looking at a level of bliss never seen before. Imagine the combination of Wrestlemania and a perpetual, season-long Super Bowl. On a more serious note, The XFL's one and only season was in 2001. I'm not saying all of the blame lies with 9/11, but that definitely didn't help. We let the terrorists win.
SN: The bliss levels in Slam Ball, however: THAT'S another story.
AD: Wrestlemania is on my birthday this year.
CC: All that aside, what do the next six months look like for Julius Earthling? Any plans to get out and tour the EP?
CM: I'm hoping that Natalie Portman will be 6 months pregnant with my child. I can't speak for anyone else in the band on this issue. But yes. More shows in New England for the time being, and hopefully getting on the road late this summer.
SN: Just hoping we don’t end up in court. A great man did say once: "This copyrighted broadcast is the property of the National Football League. Any rebroadcast or reproduction without the consent of the NFL is strictly prohibited."
NFL Bliss was released to the wilds of the Interzizzles March 18, and you can purchase the short set as a digital download or CD and pin combo dealy via the act's Bandcamp right here. The band is slated to play this gig in Allston Rock City Saturday, but thereafter presently has no live dates booked, or at least none that we are aware of, but as you saw above, more shows and perhaps a tour are in the cards for later in the year. We can't imagine this EP won't be enough to net The Earthling a deal to put out that 7" they're pondering, and we will certainly keep you abreast of all developments. Not fully caught up on the long, stuttering history of Show Us Yours? Surf the links below the embed of the EP, which is also a thing you should be hitting "play" on right now, yes?
>> Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love has one of those names that make this blogger say "ugh" and throw up his hands like a salty, aging newsman from the era of paper broadsheets, in a sort-of "what the hell am I supposed to do with this" gesture. Not that any of you saw that. Nevertheless, the English duo's forthcoming fourth LP Last presents significant, curious charms; it's the kind of record that surprises with noisy unpredictability, quiet intimacy and unflinching sincerity. All of this manifests as a somewhat unsteady aesthetic, with songs ranging from spare, droning folk efforts ("Goodbyes," "Little Heart") to the crashing slowcore gem "Dispel," a highlight of the collection that touts some rocking twinned lead guitars. The fuzzy strummer "Burrow" plays the role of able single, or if it doesn't it should, with a beautiful melody and easy vibe, while the ambitious interstitial "Dandelions" slowly descends from a charred haze of distortion into a slow-turning elegy reminiscent of noise-pop heroes Flying Saucer Attack. Last, incidentally, is purposefully named; the set is the final word from the decade-old band, which for a time had six members but now counts among its number just its founders, brothers Kelly and Ellis Dyson. Last is being issued as a co-release of perennial underdog Audio Antihero and Miami's Other Electricities. The collection, of course, is notable for a number of things beyond its fearless range, but it is interesting that after threatening to throw in the proverbial towel for quite some time, London's Audio Antihero is issuing its first vinyl record. Indeed, the little label that could will handle all non-US vinyl orders for Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love's LP, while Other Electricities will fulfill orders destined for American postal addresses; the set -- which is due Feb. 16 -- will also be sold as a digital download. Last will be celebrated with a release show Feb. 19 at The Servant Jazz Quarters in Dalston, London; also on the bill are mighty Clicky Clicky faves Superman Revenge Squad, as well as Owl + Mouse. Stream the aforementioned "Burrow" and "Dispel" as well as a tune called "Harvesting" via the Bandcamp embed below, and click through to pre-order the LP or download.
>> Boston indie punks Julius Earthling seemed to drop out of sight after releasing its debut EP in 2013, but last week the outfit made a welcome return with the first preview single from its forthcoming sophomore EP NFL Bliss. The Jamaica Plain-based noise-pop trio's short set will be issued March 18, and the frenetic and fuzzy first-listen "575" is a dynamic, deftly executed rocker. Beyond its appreciable hooks, "575" is notable for cycling through a series of moods and rhythms, from chunky garage riffage, to a mathy, odd-timed bridge, and into a smooth new-wave section marked by sturdy reverb on the guitar and a beat anchored by a rain of sixteenth notes against the hi-hat. In our estimation the tune is evidence that Julius Earthling is one of the most promising young acts coming up out of the Boston underground at the moment, so we suggest you keep an ear on them. We as yet have no information about what else NFL Bliss might contain, or whether it will be self-released or issued by a label, but either way the set will be celebrated with a release show March 18 at Allston Rock City's O'Brien's Pub. The bill also features the Clicky Clicky-approved Digital Prisoners of War alongside Grave Ideas and Laika's Orbit. Julius Earthling's debut EP For was released in November 2013 on New Neighbor (or at least, that's what we wrote at the time -- looking at the New Neighbor catalog it appears that the label never actually issued For for some reason). Stream "575" via the Bandcamp embed below, and check out a video for the title track to Forright here.
>> Veteran Boston shoegazers 28 Degrees Taurus return to the live stage Wednesday, top-lining a solid night of rock and roll music at Cambridge, Mass.' Middle East Upstairs. The act pledged earlier this month here to release a new long-player in 2015, and teased the new release with a new tune in late December. That song was the very nice "Hearts Were Made," which we'd have more to say about if Bandcamp weren't capping free streams of the song, or at least *our* free streams of the song (is this really a thing? we've never encountered this before). But for those of you not cut off, we suggest streaming "Hearts Were Made" via the embed below. We last wrote about 28 Degrees Taurushere in April 2013, at a time when the band's future seemed uncertain. The proverbial ship seems to have righted itself, an impression bolstered by the act's steady schedule of area gigs last fall, and we look forward to hearing more music from the mind of Mr. Liu and Ms. DaCosta. Wednesday's show also features the slightly skewed, wholly folksy bompedy-bomp of Somerville's Thick Wild, whose 2012 full-lengthO Sinister Force is both eminently listenable and a very fine way to pass the time. So what the hell, go to a show Wednesday, people.
>> Attentive readers may recall our preview piece for the Ash Gray Proclamation's summer blowout Summer Fades, which featured among others Boston power-pop luminaries Slowdim. When we checked in with Slowdim's Paul Sentz he disclosed that he and bassist Ana Karina DaCosta were writing material for a possible EP and were also contemplating recording a washed out, slowed-down version of their tune "Wishing Well," complete with mandolin. Well, the duo has delivered, and in a big way. The new recording touts a very cool, icy drone that plays against the usual "down-home" sound of a mandolin; indeed, it goes nicely with the cooler, autumn weather. Mr. Sentz' lead vocal when separated from the denser, punchier context of the original iteration of the song is revealed to be gentler, sweeter, a bit forlorn, even. And the delay on the electric guitar as the new version fades softly acknowledges Sentz's affinity for the guitar work of David Howell Evans. We are very pleased to be able to premiere the song for you here via the Bandcamp embed below. The original version of "Wishing Well" shines brightly in the second slot of this year's debut full-length Slowdim, which was released in March and which we reviewed right here. That self-titled effort is slated to pop up on ITunes soon, although if you've been waiting for the record to appear on ITunes before you purchase it, well, you've got issues that we can't even begin to know how to address.
>> We've got a small circle of solid sources who regularly recommend stuff to our attention, something Clicky Clicky is grateful for, and, frankly, thrives on. We were pleased to get a good tip from friend-of-the-blog Jeff Breeze (he of Pipeline! fame) recently, which tip pointed us in the direction of relatively new Jamaica Plain-based noise-pop trio Julius Earthling. The threesome are poised to release Nov. 1 on Allston's New Neighbor Records a five-song cassette EP titled For. There's little to be learned out on the wider Internets about Julius Earthling, but we expect that is a situation that won't persist, as the title track to the forthcoming EP is a barn-burner that will certainly garner attention. The waltz-timed tune is centered around a tumbling cycle of scritchy chords, a shouty vocal and an unhinged lead guitar, which taken in sum suggests a keen ear for the finer sounds of the contemporary underground as well as, perhaps, an appreciation for old Flaming Lips sides. The EP was recorded by Bradford Krieger at Hanging Horse Studios in Norwood, Mass. last spring, and Mr. Krieger also mixed, mastered and takes a production credit on the recording. Check out "For" for yourself via the Bandcamp embed below, and be prepared to see these guys drill up into the underground like a triumvirate of amped Dig-Dugs, because they've got something going on that people are going to be stoked about.
>> Sticking with new noise but jumping continents, upstart Aberdeen, Scotland-based indie label/events concern Cool Your Jets issued in mid-September a bracing first split-single featuring tunes by acts Pinact and Min Diesel. We're particularly taken with Glasgow-based duo Pinact's nice pair on the A-side, "Beauty Freak" and "Yusef." Each one is a rough-hewn guitar anthem that echoes the hyper-kinetic sound of indie legends Husker Du or, say, notable contemporaries No Age. "Beauty Freak" commences with a few moments of rising amp noise before popping off into a heavy boogie groove, where as "Yusef" slows the pace and intensifies the beat to cultivate more of a head-banging, fist-banging mania. Pinact have two prior releases under their belt, one a somewhat more emo, three-song 'zine/EP highlighted by the chaotic rocker "Flake" (and with art by Clicky Clicky fave Joey Fourr) issued in February of this year, and the other a 2012 EP titled Spill Your Guts, Let Out Some Noise that is also filled to the brim with melodic bangers. Fans who purchase the Cool Yr Jets split on vinyl will receive the music as a digital download that includes three additional numbers: "Squeak" and "I Don't Think You'll Ever Know" from Pinact and "Celery" from Min Diesel. Stream the A- and B-sides below, and click through for an opportunity to hand over whatever your equivalent of four British pounds plus shipping is in order to obtain the physical item.
