That Was The Show That Was: Japanese Breakfast with Porches, Rivergazer | The Sinclair | 5 Oct.

[PHOTOS: Tiffany Law for Clicky Clicky Music Blog] The reverbed keys and dense shoegazey guitars on Psychopomp, Michelle Zauner's full-length debut with her latest project Japanese Breakfast, represented a sharp stylistic pivot away from the music of her beloved and much-Clicky Clicky'd Philly indie combo Little Big League. That and the fact that Psychopomp was largely inspired by the loss of Ms. Zauner's mother to cancer provided ready-made narratives ahead of the long-player's release. But the big story for Psychopomp, which was issued last spring, has to be its superlative songwriting, which couches concise hooks and earworm choruses within expansive production. It is one of the year's more arresting releases.

Last Wednesday night at Cambridge, Mass.'s Sinclair the band ran through a tight live reworking of the record, while mixing in a number of affirmative nods to certain key influences. Among the live set's highlights were performances of widely heralded album preview tracks. Japanese Breakfast's cover of Birthday Girls' "Everybody Wants To Love You," whose sprightly indie pop guitar leads -- admittedly something of a tonal outlier on record -- practically blossomed in a live setting. Better still was the band's sparkling rendition of "In Heaven," a track that doubles as Psychopomp's thesis statement, and one that felt particularly cathartic presented on stage. Multi-instrumentalist Nick Hawley-Garner flipped between guitar and keys throughout the set, working to animate Psychopomp's lush and at times Smashing Pumpkins-indebted arrangements.

Even so, and aside from a gorgeous cover of The Cranberries' eternal teen-pop smash "Dreams," the night's biggest moment was Japanese Breakfast's set-closer, an as yet-untitled new tune touting bubbly synth and auto-tune styled vocals from Zauner. For this, she abandoned her guitar and bounced around the stage, underscoring this reviewer's hunch that the band may be heading in a poppier, and perhaps thrillingly experimental, direction. Following its show at The Sinclair, Japanese Breakfast played two sold-out "hometown" shows in Brooklyn and Philadelphia; next week the act heads across the ocean for a three-week tour of the UK and Western Europe. Stream all of Psychopomp via the Bandcamp embed below and click through to purchase the set on vinyl, cassette or as a digital download.

Popular New York group Porches headlined the night, proffering plenty of cuts from its moody, swaying Domino Records debut Pool. Bandleader Aaron Maine has grabbed headlines for taking his project in a bolder direction away from its earlier downer folk-rock. He now leads a much looser live outfit, and has become something of an enigmatic focal point: video clips now depict his slightly off-kilter delivery and dance moves. There are few indie groups out there with as strong a stage chemistry, which likely accounts for the incredible live takes on Pool highlights "Car," "Mood," and "Braid." New York alt R&B outfit Rivergazer, whose Kevin Farrant also plays guitar in the Porches live band, opened the night with tasteful numbers from its recent Only 4 U EP. -- Dillon Riley

Japanese Breakfast: Bandcamp | Facebook



Related Coverage:
Review: Little Big League/Ovlov | "Year Of The Sunhouse," "Pure Bliss Choices" b/w "The Great Crocodile"
That Was The Show That Was: Little Big League with Paws, Idiot Genes | Great Scott | 14 Nov.
Today's Hotness: Little Big League

YouTube Rodeo: Ovlov's "The Great Crocodile" Live At Little Elephant

[UPDATED: They un-broke up. Go back to whatever it was that you were doing.] In retrospect it seems a bit corny, but we read this book by Richard Bach as a tween that made a big impression on us at the time called "Jonathan Livingston Seagull." What we recall is that each time the eponymous protagonist achieved some sort of perfection in terms of his chosen avocation (flight), he was elevated or reincarnated to chase more profound ideals. We here at Clicky Clicky prefer to think that is what is happening to Ovlov, the Connecticut indie rock institution that called it quits today. Never forget.

Ovlov's "The Great Crocodile" is part of a split single with Little Big League due later this summer on Tiny Engines. Pre-order the single here.

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

Today's Hotness: Grass Is Green, Porches., LVL UP, Eugene Quell

The last time Boston-based progressive indie goliath Grass Is Green graced these electronic pages they were party to the epic local release show in July for Speedy Ortiz' year-defining Major Arcana. Now the dome-crushing quartet is back with a new long-player of its own, due next month. The set, Grass Is Green's fourth, is titled Vacation Vinny, and believe you us it is massive and formidable [review pending]. The set was recorded in September with Julian Fader and Carlos Hernandez at The Silent Barn; that's the same team behind Krill's Lucky Leaves and a flotilla of additional compelling now sounds. Ahead of its release via the mighty Exploding In Sound, Grass Is Green has loosed to the wilds of the Internerds a single, "Vacation 2.0." The song is a sure-fire crowd-pleaser, rife with stop-start dynamics and crisp, brittle guitars. The foursome whips through multiple time signatures during the brisk, three-minute blast without ever losing control of the song's central melody. "Vacation 2.0" is a dizzying bit of math-punk that comfortably packs enough ideas for four different songs despite its short running time. Stream the song via the Soundcloud embed below, and then hit this link to pre-order the full-length. Vacation Vinny will be released Jan. 14 as an LP or download, by which time Grass Is Green will already be out on its first tour of 2014 along with the aforementioned Speedy Ortiz (all confirmed dates and TBAs are listed below the embed, for you pre-planning party people). A local release show for Vacation Vinny is slated for Jan. 25 at the Cambridge Elks Lodge, with an absolutely insane bill featuring Krill, Ovlov, Palehound and Trespasser. -- Dillon Riley



01.03 -- New Haven, CT
01.04 -- Philadelphia, PA -- The Keystone
01.05 -- Baltimore, MD -- Floristree
01.06 -- Richmond, VA -- Strange Matter
01.07 -- Chapel Hill, NC -- Local 506
01.08 -- Columbia, SC
01.09 -- Jacksonville, FL
01.10 -- Tampa, FL
01.11 -- Tallahassee, FL -- Office Lounge
01.12 -- Atlanta, GA -- Capsule Gallery
01.13 -- Birmingham, AL --The Forge
01.14 -- Nashville, TN --The Stone Fox
01.15 -- Knoxville, TN
01.16 -- Charlottesville, VA --Tea Bar
01.17 -- Washington, DC
01.18 -- Northampton, MA

>> We've spent a significant amount of time of late grooving to the recent split from Porches. and LVL UP. Fans of both know the acts are fixtures in the New York DIY scene, the former having released their debut long player Slow Dance In The Cosmos via Exploding In Sound earlier this year, and the latter recently wrapping dates with Clicky Clicky faves Little Big League and Pile. As fate would have it, Porches. and LVL UP are on very friendly terms, a dividend of which was the release last week of a very enjoyable split 7" on the Birdtapes label. Porches. owns the A-Side, delivering a smoldering bit of downer folk with "Strapping Young Weirdos" alongside "Townie Blunt Guts," a bouncing ode to the depressing reality of a lifetime spent in one's hometown. Fronter Aaron Maine is an excellent storyteller, which makes it easy to root for the suspect characters that populate his perma-bummed tunes. LVL UP, who rule the flip, get compared to early Weezer with some regularity. While the act certainly packs pop hooks into its guitar sludge, LVL UP excel when they keep things short and sloppy -- call it self-editing by proxy, something Weezer has long since forgotten in their race to the bottom of painful self-parody. LVL UP's second cut on the single, "Bad Blood," is probably their best song to date, so this split (released Nov. 26) is a crucial listen. You can pick up the vinyl here, or download the tracks over here right now. -- Dillon Riley



>> And what turns out to be our third and final bit of Exploding In Sound related news for Today's Hotness: the debut single from fuzz-rock newcomer Eugene Quell. A preview of a soon-to-be-released and apparently eponymous debut EP from Mr. Quell, the song "Weird Purr" was our formal introduction to the man; according to his Bandcamp outpost Quell has been banging around the UK indie scene for two decades. Despite the deep UK roots, "Weird Purr" proclaims a distinct American influence, as certain elements of the tune echo early Modest Mouse and Pixies. Indeed, with its slick acoustic intro and insistent rhythm, the track wouldn't be too far out of place on The Bends, easily Radiohead's most American-sounding record. Even so, Eugene Quell (knowingly or not) distinguishes his work from that of the aforementioned monsters of indie rock. Layers of distorted guitar pile up and fade out within seconds of entering the mix, burning in breaks that hint at a cathartic release that never quite transpires. The song is all build with no clear-cut pay-off, making for an arresting introduction to a project we will have our collective ears attuned to in the coming months. Eugene Otto Quell is set to be released as a free download New Years Day via Sonic Anhedonic and Exploding In Sound right here. Stream "Weird Purr" via the Soundcloud embed below. -- Dillon Riley

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

Today's Hotness: What Moon Things, Little Big League, Fridge Poetry

>> At least The Bradys had their popcorn trail... With the half-attention/limited attention span we employ on a regular basis given the various demands on our time, sometimes we paste a link in a text file to revisit later, only to completely forget any and all context for it. So we send out heartfelt thanks to whomever it was that pointed us to the Bandcamp page of What Moon Things recently, because the quintet-or-trio-we-can't-tell's new tune "Squirrel Girl" -- posted to Bandcamp late last month and embedded for your enjoyment below -- is a stunner. The groop appears to be based out of New Paltz, NY, as best we can tell, and formed just last year. But it has made good use of that short time, as between "Squirrel Girl" and "Astronaut..." the band has already written two tunes that we've returned to again and again this weekend. "Squirrel Girl" melds psych, shoegaze and post-punk styles into something dense, noisy and beautiful, creating an arresting sound that hints at influences like classic Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse. What Moon Things recently added bassist Chris Kehoe to a lineup that as best we can tell also includes guitarist Jake Harms, John (with no surname) on drums, Kyle James on synth and some person or thing called Metamorphic manning synth, bass and percussion. The presumed five-piece (it appears only three band members are present in the video linked supra for "Astronaut...") are preparing a full-length, and previously issued a digital single, "White Indian Ghost" b/w "Storm Moon," in August 2012 (available for download here). We're excited by the possibilities before this young band, and recommend them to your attention posthaste. Stream the swerving anti-anthem "Squirrel Girl" via the embed below.



>> Just when you thought we couldn't find more bands to like coming out of Phiadelphia right now, here comes Little Big League. The rising guitar-pop quartet, fronted by Michelle Zauner and including former Titus Andronicus drummer Ian Dykstra, will release via Tiny Engines next month a debut full-length called These Are Good People. The set touts dynamic indie punk tunes highlighted by neatly arranged guitars that leave plenty of room for Ms. Zauner's affecting, high alto (which works in that range that always reminds us of Kiss Me Deadly's Emily Elizabeth). These Are Good People is at its best at its most ambitious, and you can hear the band pushing itself in the record's thoughtfully constructed and produced centerpiece "Sportswriting." Its composition is patient, there is noticeably more reverb applied to the guitars, and Zauner offers her most emotional vocal of the record. These Are Good People is out Aug. 6, and it will be available on a vinyl 12" or as a digital download. Pre-orders are being taken now right here and include t-shirt or poster bundles, cheap downloads and a 20% off checkout code, according to Little Big Leagues tumblr. Stream the first three cuts from the nine-song collecton via the Bandcamp embed below. Little Big League previously issued a 7" single, "Tokyo Drift" b/w "St. John," in April 2012. Little Big League is presently on tour and will play a show in Boston at Church on July 21 before making their way back to Philly for a record release show at The Fire on the 25th.



>> Junior Elvis Washington Laidley, the chief architect of the Birmingham, England-based electropop project Fridge Poetry and drummer in noise-pop titans Johnny Foreigner, would seem to have stumbled on something of a vocal muse for the former concern in Philly punk fixture Evan Bernard. The pair met when Mr. Bernard signed on to drive Johnny Foreigner around North America last fall. The pair first collaborated on the epic, yearning ballad "I'll See" from Fridge Poetry's April Soweto Slo Mo EP that we wrote about here, and now Bernard's heart-felt singing now graces a second Fridge Poetry jam, "Like Poetry," a remix of which was recently posted for auditory consumption at Bandcamp. The "Froback Remix" of "Like Poetry" situates Bernard's characteristically nostalgic and soaring vocals within a sparkling array of tinkling piano and a crashing, crash cymbal-heavy jungle beat. It's unclear whether it will be this remix or a different version that will be included on a planned forthcoming EP from Fridge Poetry. But according to the project's Bandcamp the EP will be called Leen van Pelt and will feature additional collaborations with JoFo tour mates Playlounge, Mutes (the project of Johnny Foreigner guitar tech James Brown), and a fellow named Paul Rafferty (who is not this guy). We will, of course, bring you further bulletins as events warrant, but in the interim get set to bliss out to Fridge Poetry's latest and greatest via the embed below.