Premierage/Previewage: Wheat Heralds Sixth Set With "Hey Eugenio," Gigs With Eldridge Rodriguez Saturday

[Photo: Paul Chiera / remixed by Clicky Clicky] The rituals of summer are nice, but it is bittersweet seeing them come and go after looking forward to them for so long (said the guy who just got back from an annual beach jaunt -- Ed.). And maybe this is how fans of area indie rock veterans Wheat feel: without delving into any hard analysis, drummer Brendan Harney agrees with our observation, that it seems like the band -- makers of shoulda-been hits including 1999's "No One Ever Told Me" or the even older, heart-punching ballad "Soft Polluted Blacks" -- typically plays shows in the summer and then largely uses the cooler months to hole up and write songs, or play Sudoku, or do whatever it is rock luminaries do. Summer inevitably fades, and only the promise that another one's coming makes that kinda OK. So, yeah, Wheat is playing a show this Saturday in Cambridge, Mass. (more on that below), but what can they offer as a salve once the show is but a memory?

Cheer up, Francis: it just so happens the act is closing in on the completion of Blazed, the sixth full-length of a 20-year career during which it has made records with Small Factory's Dave Auchenbach and renowned knob-twiddler and Mercury Rev guy Dave Fridmann and perhaps even another Dave, who knows? The forthcoming set has been under construction for about a year, and Mr. Harney reports the band is "getting into the final stages of getting the vocals down right, and making sure everything is nip and tuck." A final track listing won't be set until the songs are all complete, but two tunes destined for the forthcoming collection are already in the wild. What's more, we're pleased to premiere for you today a third that is said to have made the proverbial cut, namely the little pop wonder "Hey Eugenio," which you can stream via the topmost Soundcloud embed below.

To recap the recent moves, the band released the subdued bouncer "Walking Song" to fans back in February, and followed it up with "Stay Up Late" in May. Newcomer "Hey Eugenio" is a charming and detailed miniature, a simple love song, according to Harney. The deconstructed number's lyrics pour out like sweet and thick syrup among playful electric piano, tastefully understated guitar licks, canned percussion and a rising firmament of synth. Will the band play it and/or other new tunes at the aforementioned rock show? Oh yeah, about that: pay attention. It's this Saturday at the fabled Middle East Rock Club, and it is an early show, with doors at 7 and Wheat performing at 9. So don't show up at the usual time and be caught flat-footed, unrocked and likely mocked. Hitmakers Eldridge Rodriguez will open the show with a full-band set, and we strongly suggest arriving in time to see that foursome turn in what is typically a fiery performance. Perhaps Cam's fabled white suit will even make an appearance? We make no promises. Either way you should get yourself a ticket right now, arrange an Uber, weed your garden, trump your towers, whatever it takes to ensure that you will be at the rock show. Rock show.

Wheat: Facebook | Internerds | Soundcloud

Review: Greg Lyon | Landlocked To The East

Boston scene veteran Greg Lyon has been getting it done since the late '90s, fronting acts including Pending Disappointment and playing sideman to local legend Eldridge Rodriguez and, more recently, the mighty The Beatings. As a solo artist in recent years, Mr. Lyon has (somewhat ironically) revealed more and more of himself the further he recedes into the shadows of the scene. Metropolis-straddling label Midriff Records whisked out Lyon's stirring solo debut Nowhere Near Poughkeepsie in late 2010, and the set brightly illuminated the depth and breadth of Lyon's songwriting via skeletal balladry, folksy musings and post-punky strummers. But live shows were few and far between, and after contributing a sparkling, blissed-out cover of "Paralyzed" (and smashing cover art) to Clicky Clicky's 2012 Ride tribute comp NOFUCKINGWHERE, Mr. Lyon vanished from the public eye... err... ear.

Now comes a vibrant and long-awaited sophomore set, some two years in the making, wherein Lyon directed his attention to a backlog of what turns out to be very impressive material. The new collection Landlocked To The East presents a huge step forward for Lyon in terms of arrangement and production. You'll note we are not saying he proves himself here to be an even better songwriter. This, of course, is almost certainly empirically true, but the fact is that Nowhere Near Poughkeepsie was filled with great songs, and wrongfully slept-on by many. If anything, Landlocked To The East evidences Lyon's greater confidence in his own songwriting chops, or -- at the very least -- that taking two years to make a record very much agrees with him. Whatever the truth may be, on the new set Lyon presents lusher sounds and increasingly nuanced arrangements, which together conspire to make Landlocked To The East a very rewarding listen. The highlight of the set is the opener "Western Ave Drug Mule," an almost-seven-minute number whose final, slowly spinning five minutes sound like one long chorus. A kick and snare drum finally arrive at the close of the fourth minute, ushering in a firm cadence over which layers of vocals pile up, merging with cycling harmonics and faux strings to form a dizzying mesh that falls away abruptly to reveal the acoustic strums underpinning the composition at the close of the song.

The excellent, uptempo rocker "Vast Departures" is also notable for its rich layers: maracas put a finer point on the driving rhythm after the first chorus; the second chorus swells with subtle synths; and a final verse briefly permits spectral voices to cross the stereo field unfettered. All these little layers, all the nuance, echoes the shifting and detailed beauty of the early Mercury Rev catalog, although Mr. Lyon's songwriting remains rooted in a folksy realism (exemplified here, perhaps, by the three-quarter-timed, harmonica- and piano-appointed strummer "If I Could Sing") that leaves no room for that act's unbridled psychedelia. But even Lyon's more folk-leaning material -- such as "Sorry Virginia" -- touts an aural fullness that is the hallmark of this impressively varied collection. Close seconds for best tune on Landlocked To The East are the smoothed-out, poignant ballad "Shiny New Caps" (a perfect candidate for the b-side to "Western Ave Drug Mule," were a single from the collection ever be pressed) and the yet-more-subdued, piano-led and impressionistic number "I Have Bottomed Out."

We're very pleased to be able to premiere two of the aforementioned tracks, namely "Western Ave Drug Mule" and "I Have Bottomed Out," both of which you can stream via the Soundcloud embed below. The entirety of Landlocked To The East will be available to stream via the Midriff Records blog here from tomorrow, and we recommend you click that link and spend some time with the record once the Brothers Keiber, the proprietors of Midriff, get their act together and get the stream active tomorrow. Midriff is not fond of doing pre-orders, so sit patiently on your hands and wait until next Tuesday, when you will be able to purchase Landlocked To The East from Midriff as a digital download via the label's digital storefront right here.

Greg Lyon: Bandcamp | Faceblah



Prior Coverage:
Clicky Clicky Music Presents... N O F U C K I N G W H E R E : 11 Boston Bands Perform Ride's Classic 1990 Album
Greg Lyon with Soccer Mom | PA's Lounge, Somerville | 4 December
Be Prepared: Greg Lyon | Nowhere Near Poughkeepsie | 4 Dec.

Today's Hotness: Happy You, Nothing, Crying

>> Far be it from us to invade the purview of the artist, and tell her or him what to do. All the same, and as much as we absolutely love it, wouldn't the terrific new record Giggle from New York dream-pop septet Happy You be even more terrific if it were sequenced in reverse? Turn the record on its head, and it leads off with the angular, It Hugs Back-esque stunner "Chummy," with its wonderfully melodic and relatively mellow chorus, and then slides into the set's cracking title track right in the crucial number two slot. And how could you not want "Giggle" in at number two? With another undeniable melody mainlined via breathy vocals, ample fuzz and ethereal feedback gently leads the song up to a near dead-stop. There a curious and quiet bridge -- reminiscent of early Mercury Rev -- introduces an ecstatic, but all-too-brief sax solo that foreshadows (if you are going by the Clicky Clicky-approved alternate sequence) the totally bananas sax playing that sets off the buzz-sawed strummer "Blood Blood Blood." Alas, as Giggle was already issued digitally Tuesday, and vinyl pre-orders are already being taken for a planned Dec. 5 LP release date, our proposed running order will remain unofficial. But you could also do a lot worse than starting your record off as Happy You does, with the optimistic and giddy blaster "La La La Summer," which casts a spell with charming and innocent lyrics "summer's coming and we're hoping that its good" and "spitting in the wishing well is better than goodbye." Frontwards or backwards, Giggle is a very rewarding listen, and we're hopeful the act makes a trip to Boston before too long. There appears to be a local connection, too, as Coaches' Brady Custis is listed as an additional performer at the Happy You Bandcamp, which we highly recommend you visit forthwith to grab the download and pre-order the 12" vinyl. The first edition of the LP is 300 pieces pressed to random-colored vinyl. Happy You's next show, according to the banner at its Facebook dojo, is tomorrow night at a house in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, so, uhhhh, ask a punk? While you sort that out, stream all of Giggle via the embed below.



>> Earlier this month Philly's resident existential noise-thugs Nothing unleashed to the wilds of the Internets their first new original material since their crushing debut LP Guilty of Everything. The song, a dense, chugging number entitled "July The Fourth," arrives as half of the band's contribution to a split 12" due from Run For Cover Nov. 18. The other side of the platter features tunes from the self-described bad boys of nu-gaze, Whirr. "July The Fourth" is the short set's final cut, and it sheds the hazier gloom found elsewhere in favor of a more charged and chaotic, twin-guitar attack. We still fondly recall with precise detail seeing these acts at Boston's Great Scott last year. Nothing's Domenic Palermo wildly stage dove into a crowd of, errr, no one, and Whirr played so loudly the walls and ceiling ominously shook all around us. And so we are collectively psyched for this split 12", which will be released in an edition of 5,000 pieces with an etched B-side available in myriad color options (black appears have already sold out, but pink, baby blue, cream/green, and green/baby blue/yellow starburst apparenty remain). The media in question comes packaged with a special behind-the-scenes DVD titled In The Studio that we presume captures aspects of the recording sessions, which will surely prove entertaining and/or illuminating. Stream "July The Fourth" via the embed, and pre-order the record right here directly from Run For Cover. -- Dillon Riley



>> In other Run For Cover news: Crying, the chiptune-oriented trio that includes LVL UP's Nick Corbo and Whatever, Dad's Elaiza Santos along with a (figurative) cat named Ryan, disclosed that it will release a first set for RFC imminently, a double EP titled Get Olde/Second Wind. The release combines the first physical manifestation of the Purchase, New York-based threesome's 2013 debut on the A-side with with a brand new six-song companion EP on the flip of a single LP. The band is already streaming one of the new songs from Second Wind entitled "Batang Killjoy." The briskly paced and fresh-faced tune proffers a sharper, crunchier edge than the balance of the material on the relatively light Get Olde, replacing the former's dream-pop sheen with slicker alt-rock riffage. The tune also has one of the most romantic lyrics we've heard in a while: "yr girl is in the pew / I feel insane sitting next to you." You can pre-order Get Olde/Second Wind from Run For Cover right here. The set is available in an edition of 1,000 pieces pressed to blue, pink, white and blue/pink starburst media. Crying will go out on tour Nov. 11 with Modern Baseball, Knuckle Puck and Somos, a tour that last more than a month. The road show rolls into Boston Dec. 14 for what will surely be a hot evening at the olde town's fabled Paradise Rock Club; the show is all ages and doors are at 6PM. Grab tickets for the show here, and stream "Batang Killjoy" via the embed below. -- Dillon Riley

Today's Hotness: Oupa, Mercury Rev, Walter Schreifels

>> Do you remember all the confusion about Yuck and Yu(c)k, how the latter was a side project of the former? Probably not, these are the things that trouble only the most ridiculously fanatic among us. Our position on this was why bother confusing us, just pick one name and we'll accept the fact that you make guitar music and quieter music. Well, our unspoken and un-offered advice has gone unheeded, but the good news is that things are now somewhat less confusing. Yu(c)k is now Oupa. We know, you are relieved. But this is important; in case you were not aware Oupa is the solo vehicle of Yuck fronter Daniel Blumberg, and we love Yuck. Oupa plans to issue in July (via an as-yet unannounced label) a full-length set titled Forget, and although the collection will likely contain some songs with which we are familiar, it's the new stuff that we are most excited to hear. Here's an embed of the presumed titled track to Oupa's debut, which is pretty enough, but not as gripping as "Automatic" or as devastating as "Weakend." One final tangential thought -- doesn't the art above for Forget remind you of this?

Forget by Oupa

>> Let's just say at the top that we like old Mercury Rev better; Boces in particular. But even so, we think it is notable that the band's breakthrough record Deserter's Songs is being reissued May 15 by Co-op Music. The record, originally released in 1998 and Mercury Rev's fourth, so potently evokes specific good times. Nothing sexy, nothing exciting, just this: the first time we heard the record we had just flown into Charlotte, North Carolina, where our best friend picked up me and the missus and drove us in his Jeep on small roads out to a lake house in Morganton. The windows were open on the Jeep, the night was warm, and we cranked Deserter's Songs, and it was just perfect. The lead track, "Holes," in particular just haunts you. Co-op's reissue packages the collection with a second disc containing demos, outtakes and b-sides. To remind folks of how great this record is, the band is giving away the tune "Opus 40." Have a listen, maybe that first night it's warm enough for you to leave the windows open. European fans can catch the band when it unleashes a strand of live performances in mid-May; the full itinerary is at Mercury Rev's web dojo right here.

Mercury Rev -- "Opus 40" -- Deserter's Songs [reissue]
[right click and save as]
[watch your favorite digital storefront for pre-order information]

>> We really did not know this until H-Dawg From Accounts Receivable told us: apparently there is already another Walter Schreifels solo record in the offing. According to an interview with Alter The Press from April 2010 (you read that correctly, we're reading this a year late), a new Schreifels solo set was "85% done." The same interview says that the reason it hasn't seen the light of day yet is because Mr. Schreifels was releasing the Rival Schools record (the wonderful set Pedals, issued last month) in the interim and wanted to take time to properly promote that. In the same interview Schreifels states the new solo set will be titled Jesus Is My Favorite Beatle, but it is hard to tell whether he was joking or not. Considering how roundly excellent Rival Schools' Pedals is, we expect it will be promoted through the summer, but who knows? Either way, we are excited for the new solo collection, and we'll keep you apprised. Schreifels' debut solo collection An Open Letter To The Scene was our second-favorite record of 2010 [review here].

>> While we weren't the most rabid or vocal fan, we are sorry to see neo-emo luminaries Joie De Vivre call it a day. The band's song "Summer In New London," which opened their 2010 collection The North End, was one of our Top 10 songs of 2010, although we ended up being to busy to publish our list (we did give The North End a nod in our aforementioned albums list). Sorry Joie De Vivre. There is apparently one more album in the can that will be issued post-humously. We look forward to hearing what the members of Joie De Vivre do next.

Fergus Lawrie On Album Of The Year Contender Yoyodyne

[PHOTO CREDIT: Alex Woodward/Crimson Glow Photography] We've raved about Projekt A-ko's towering debut Yoyodyne so much already that a review at this point would be superfluous. Instead, we've asked band fronter Fergus Lawrie for a track-by-track breakdown of the record, whose official release date is Monday in the U.K. Mr. Lawrie was kind enough to oblige, but first we do have these remarks: if there is anything disappointing about Projekt A-ko's full-length debut it is that, at least for the time being, the band is solely a recording unit, and no touring to tout the record is planned. This is a shame, as we believe Yoyodyne is the best record released in 2009 to date. Lawrie, et al.'s potent amalgamation of early (read: good) Mercury Rev, Teenage Fanclub and mid-period Dinosaur Jr. would certainly win fans were the band to snag a slot on a hot tour supporting, say, Dinosaur, or Johnny Foreigner, or... well, it doesn't really matter. There's no tour to look forward to for now. There's also no distribution, no press agents (beyond some help from Darren Walker of Filthy Little Angels, who initially hipped us to the record), no advertising -- Yoyodyne is wholly DIY, released on Projekt A-ko's own Milk Pie imprint, only available by Internet order and in select shops in Glasgow. The good thing is there are more recordings in the offing, including what promises to be a shattering cover of Drop Nineteens' "Winona," which is one of Lowrie's all-time favorite tracks (and one of ours, as well). So we've that to look forward to. Now let's see what Lawrie has to say about the songs on Yoyodyne.

Track One: Hey Palooka!

"How’s it feel to be surreal, how’s it feel to be corporeal?" The oldest song on the album written (as a development from Urusei Yatsura songs "Plastic Ashtray" and "Majesty") as part of an ongoing effort to get to grips with "Winona" by Drop Nineteens, an all time favourite song of mine -- we’re working on recording a cover version just now. The long intro to "Hey Palooka" is kind of meant to be intentionally frustrating to people who expect bands to put the obvious "hit" song at the front of the album. The tracklisting was devised by my friend Captain Polaroid as I felt too close to the songs. I think he did a great job of creating a flow and making the album a real grower. Also includes the phrase "pyroclastic flow" (thanks to Kenny!).

Track Two: Nothing Works Twice

"A unique confluence of movement and time -- or not." Sardonic attempt to acknowledge the futility of being in a band coupled with a warning to stop being in a band whilst still being in a band, doh! At one point we actually literally rip off Pixies as opposed to being "heavily influenced" by them or whatever...

Track Three: Supertriste Duxelle

"A gown of Martian spores." Possibly a Stereolab song with the drone surgically removed. Lyrically seeking synthesis of retro / sci-fi / historical / hardboiled / personal / microbiological inspirations. I tried to be fearless with words for these songs even if it meant overdoing it a bit sometimes.

Track Four: Here Comes New Challenger!

"Hey Keiko, give a little milk!", "I tried, but my tears were wine." A light-hearted romp through mortality and the human condition. All post-modern pop is self-aware and in this case the last verse serves as a critique of the song itself [This is totally our favorite part, too -- Ed.].

Track Five: Xavier

"Wish I had a luminous left arm!" An historical epic. A long time was spent structuring this song and I guess it just about hangs together. References include 1) a saint who lived in a cave in Fife and copied the Bible by the light of his glowing right arm and 2) The Bangles. The guitars actually sounded even more foul and brutal until Steven Ward -- who did an incredible job producing and engineering the album -- ditched a couple of Fender Twins we’d used in the recording from the mix. I love Elaine’s vox on this song, especially at the end. It's been great having her start to sing and I hope she’ll be doing a lot more.

Track Six: Molten Hearts

"Eyes like atomic decay, hearts melt like snow bouquets." Finally, the secret truth about Dr. Phibes and Vulnavia! This was the last song written for the album and a lot of fun to record and play; I’d love to play it live. The drums and some of the guitars + vox for this and "Ichiro," "Scintilla" and "Black Empire" were recorded at CaVa studios in Glasgow by Geoff Allan.

Track Seven: Scintilla

"Jars of State moonshine." Drunken Cosmonaut fires death ray at random, or thinks he does. We had a "2001: A Space Odyssey"-type arrangement for the middle drone, but it made the section too exciting so we dropped it in order to save all the extra instrumentation until the end of the album. The Tommy Cooper-style guitar solo was completely unrehearsed and done in one take -- I’m not sure whether to be proud of that or not...

Track Eight: Ichiro on 3rd

"The mind democratic, the heart is a fascist." Ichiro Suzuki [outfielder for the Seattle Mariners, according to Wikipedia -- Ed.] trapped in the jaws of America. He fantasises about a past lover before hitting a home run. He runs towards Japan. Too late, he’s already dead!

Track Nine: Otaku Blue

"Kevlar Superstar do your vinyl best." Underground Celebrity-obsessed geek thinks he's a robot. The alternative stars sing to him from the chorus to try and make him see sense. Nearly all the vox for this album were done in one take (yeah, I know, it shows!) apart from the little scream before the final verse which I had to do about 12 times before it sounded remotely convincing. That was in The Diving Bell with Marcus Mackay, who recorded some of the guitars and vox [he also recorded Frightened Rabbit's Sing The Greys, or at least parts of it -- Ed.]. My voice is knackered from belting out "Kewpies like Watermelon."

Track Ten: Utopia

"Anatomise thy foppery, just don’t fake on me now." Yes, the chorus is a Swirlies reference! It's possible the album breaks out in a fit of optimism at this point before collapsing into noise. We used a lot of effect boxes in a feedback loop to create the sonic squiggles at the end.

Track Eleven: Black Empire

"No man is an island but I am an isthmus." Some nice crisp drum fills from Ian. The distorted vocals were created using a baby monitor.

Track Twelve: Yoyodyne (Scintilla II)

"You only really exist in the days you fight." These last two songs were arranged by my friend Richard Spiller, an amazing musician who does a lot of music for TV shows. "It is nice party after all" is a line from a Bollywood film I was watching one night, "Angelica of despair" from an online poetry generator. Oedipa Maas from "The Crying of Lot 49" makes a brief appearance. I particularly like the arpeggio which decays into nothing at the end of the song, inspired by a visit to Glasgow’s premier minimal art/sound/noise festival Instal. Entropy in action.

Track Thirteen: Don’t Listen To This Song

"I made you love me then I let you down." I wrote the lyrics for this on the train to the recording so they’re kind of scratchy and unfinished, but it suits the song. This song is a spell. Don’t listen to it -- it can only work if you do, like using the video in "The Ring" or the disk in "Pulse" or the phone no. in "Cell."

Today's Hotness: Sea And Cake, All Tomorrows Parties, Bob Mould

>> The new video for veteran, Chicago-based indie rock act The Sea And Cake's "Weekend" is very good -- but the song itself is amazing. The track, from the band's forthcoming long-player Car Alarm, is perhaps the most sonically forthright return to the blissed-out electropop sounds captured on the quartet's peerless 1997 effort The Fawn. This is interesting, because when we reviewed the quartet's previous record Everybody here in April 2007, we noted that the collection reminded us of one of our two favorite records from The Sea And Cake to date, The Biz. The Biz is more guitar-oriented than its successor The Fawn, and we're wondering if Car Alarm might similarly be more electronically oriented than Everybody. We suppose time will tell. And while the video -- posted here to Pitchfork.TV last week -- complements very well the tune's carefree feel, it is hard not to just focus on the gorgeous melodies floating among a clutter of digital tones and held aloft by persistent acoustic guitar strumming. The Sea And Cake's eighth record in fifteen years, Car Alarm will be released by Thrill Jockey Oct. 21. More details and ordering information is online right here. Below are The Sea And Cake's fall tour dates, which include a show at The Middle East Rock Club here in Cambridge, Mass. Nov. 12.

09/27 -- Chicago, IL -- Symphony Center
11/07 -- Philadelphia, PA -- First Unitarian Church
11/08 -- Washington, DC -- Black Cat
11/10 -- New York, NY -- Bowery Ballroom
11/11 -- Brooklyn, NY -- Music Hall
11/12 -- Boston, MA -- Middle East
11/13 -- Montreal, PQ -- La Sala Rossa
11/14 -- Toronto, ON -- Lee's Palace
11/15 -- Chicago, IL -- Empty Bottle
11/28 -- Portland, OR -- Doug Fir Lounge
11/29 -- Seattle, WA -- Chop Suey
12/02 -- San Francisco, CA -- Great American Music Hall
12/03 -- Los Angeles, CA -- Troubadour
12/04 -- Los Angeles, CA -- Troubadour
12/05 -- Pomona, CA -- Glass House
12/06 -- San Diego, CA -- Casbah

>> Esteemed independent radio broadcaster WFMU will air and stream certain live performances from next weekend's sure-to-be monumental All Tomorrows Parties Festival, which is being curated in part by legendary shoegaze quartet My Bloody Valentine and includes performances by it, Dinosaur Jr., Lilys, Mercury Rev, Polvo, Yo La Tengo and many others. WFMU has not yet received permission from all performers to bitcast and broadcast their performances, but it is working on securing as many assents as possible. A list in this blog post seems to say that we'll be able to hear sets from many of the bands we listed above, as well as sets from Bob Mould, Low, Brian Jonestown Massacre and others; hit this link to see what is hopefully an expanding roster. We're gutted to have to miss this festival, so the fact that WFMU has stepped into the breech for all of us out here in radioland is greatly appreciated.

>> Speaking of Bob Mould, the storied songwriter and former fronter of Hüsker Dü and Sugar will publish an autobiography in the fall of 2010. Mr. Mould has signed and agreement with Little, Brown to release the book, which will be written in tandem with veteran rock journalist Michael Azerrad. Mr. Azerrad previously wrote the excellent "Our Band Could Be Your Life" as well as the highly regarded "Come As You Are: The Story Of Nirvana." One of our favorite Mould jams is "Celebrated Summer," which was released by Hüsker Dü as a single in 1984 to promote the album it was released on, the epic New Day Rising. Since the autumnal equinox is just a week away, the song feels appropriate. Enjoy.

Hüsker Dü -- "Celebrated Summer" -- New Day Rising
[right click and save as]
[buy Bob Mould, Sugar and Hüsker Dü records from Newbury Comics here]

>> Our friend BrighAAAAm has been talking about The Flaming Lips' movie-in-progress "Christmas On Mars" for about seven or eight years. And, after seeing some tantalizing footage in the band documentary "Fearless Freaks," the feature film is finally upon us. It apparently began screening recently in New York, although the possibility of a broader release may be hamstrung by the fact that Lips fronter Wayne Coyne insists that the film only be viewed in a special screening room with a custom sound system. Earfarm has more details and awesome video clips right here.

Today's Hotness: Fields, Mercury Rev

>> Loyal readers may recall that six weeks ago we guest posted at Keep Hope Inside, which along with Another Form Of Relief pretty much holds it down for us as far as British music blogs are concerned. Keep Hope Inside celebrated its second anniversary by asking like-minded souls to post about their favorite British record of the prior two years. And while we weren't too good at following directions -- we picked an American EP released by a British band -- we deemed London-based Fields' excellent 7 From The Village EP as our favorite (non-Johnny Foreigner-issued) record while also throwing in our take on the band's major label debut Everything Last Winter. The guest post, now that we re-read it, is pretty comprehensive. So check it out here.

All of the blather above is just background and context for some real news, which is that we received through proper channels this afternoon a brand new and apparently finished track from Fields. It's called "Worst Love," and it's a low-key but well-appointed and orchestrated acoustic strummer with some bleepy sections, pianos, lead guitar lines, more bleeps, and so on. One thing that it definitely is: an improvement on the demo of the track that has been posted at Fields' MySpace since March, which we wrote about here. The new version of "Worst Love" benefits from real drumming and instrumentation gently situated throughout a stereo field that seems to waver from a light gravitational push and pull among twinkling electronics and natural reverbs. We're still hopeful the band has another urgent uptempo rocker like its now-classic "Brittlesticks" up its sleeve, but "Worst Love" ain't too shabby. The tune will be on Fields' forthcoming sophomore set, which is as yet untitled but expected to be in stores (at least in the UK) by the end of the year. Grab the MP3 below and revel.

Fields -- "Worst Love" -- Preview MP3
[right click and save as]
[buy Fields records from Newbury Comics right here]

>> A new Mercury Rev track made the rounds of the Internet today, and we love its decidedly non-organic feel. As the band's music retreated from the early, guitar-driven semi-psychedelics of the early record Boces and into the contemplative, more traditional balladry, we were slightly disappointed. Sure, there are few songs released in the last decade more beautiful than "Holes," from Mercury Rev's breakout 1998 set Deserter's Songs, but we love the overblown early tracks like "Bronx Cheer," "Something For Joey," and "Snorry Mouth." The new track is called "Senses On Fire," and while it is not a return to form in the sense that the tune sounds like something from Boces, it is a pronounced step away from the naturalistic Mercury Rev sound that won the act substantial acclaim. Instead, "Sense On Fire" deploys drum sequencers and an arsenal of synths to create something approaching a dance track. Really. The vocal does little more than repeat the title over and over again, but singer Jonathan Donahue's voice is very pleasantly reminiscent of David Goolkasian of The Elevator Drops, and honestly if we hadn't been told beforehand we probably would be more likely to believe "Senses On Fire" is an Elevator Drops track than a Mercury Rev track. Hit this link and snatch the file from Pantsfork and hear it for yourself. Mercury Rev intends to release two records on Sept. 29; Strange Attractor will be given away for free, and Snowflake Midnight is going to cost you -- unless you steal it off the Intertubez.

YouTube Rodeo: Brushes with Mercury Rev's "Something For Joey"

Folks not familiar with Buffalo, NY-spawned Mercury Rev's back catalog may be surprised to learn that they once could almost out-Flaming Lips the Flaming Lips. And that at one point guitarist Jonathan Donahue played with the Lips; Rev bassist Dave Fridmann of course has recorded the Lips many times. The Allmusic entry for Mercury Rev is full of other revelations and we recommend reading it. We turned onto Mercury Rev, and this song in particular, long before we became Flaming Lips fans. We were in the brand-new-at-the-time studios of Bucknell University's radio station in late '93 or early '94 when we came across a cardboard box full of discarded promo materials sitting next to a brown plastic trash barrel. These included a demo cassette we still have featuring three tracks from Mercury Rev's sophomore set Boces, "Something For Joey," "Bronx Cheer" and "Snorry Mouth." We've listened to the tape hundreds of times, and yet we'd never seen the video above before stumbling upon it the other night. We didn't watch much TV in the early and mid-'90s, and we think that may be why. Or, perhaps because the video features at least one recognizable porn star, some topless women (tastefully covered with cartoon stars here) and suggestive (if silly) imagery it was never aired in the first place. All the same, this may be one of the best, or at least ridiculously excessive, music videos ever made. Note that this video is on YouTube with the permission of SonyBMG, but embedding is disabled. We guess AOL didn't get the memo on that, eh? Or they have better licensing terms. Here's some more classic Mercury Rev the band is offering at its site, a live performance of "Carwash Hair" from 1996.

Mercury Rev -- "Carwash Hair (Live)" -- Houston, TX 2/8/1996
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