That Was The Show That Was: Perfect Pussy, Joanna Gruesome, Potty Mouth and Love Of Everything | The Sinclair, Cambridge | 27 Aug.

There was a moment very early into Welsh noise-pop quintet Joanna Gruesome's headlining set at The Sinclair Wednesday that emphasized just how important its collective voice is, separate and apart from band's music. Fronter Alanna McArdle, sensing senseless aggression from a certain subset of overzealous concertgoers, stood at the lip of the stage and figuratively shot venom out of her eyes through the extended outro of set opener "Secret Surprise" as she slowly shook her head in disgust [shades of Mackaye in '94, we dare say -- Ed.]. Message received -- by most. By show's end, spurred at least in part by one woman's trip to the hospital, McArdle had again addressed the ever-shrinking pit, this time demanding the bad actors' swift exit from the venue, and to the cheers of nearly everyone in the audience, they solemnly obliged. Good guys win. Three cheers.

Between those moments of punk rock social engineering transpired an extremely impressive set that delivered would-be hit after should-be hit from Joanna Gruesome's boundlessly vital Slumberland debut Weird Sister [review]. While the world awaits a new collection of what will likely be equally exciting noise-pop, the Gruesomes plays the short game, releasing a winning series of split singles, including -- most crucially -- 7" records with fellow fuzz traffickers Trust Fund and present tourmates Perfect Pussy. We were treated Wednesday to the Welsh unit's sides of both singles, including an utterly gorgeous take on "Jerome (Liar)" from the Trust Fund release, a tune that makes a strong case for the argument that Joanna Gruesome has far larger things ahead of them. Following McArdle's call-out near the end of its set, the band ripped through a totally lethal rendition of its undeniable sonic calling card "Sugarcrush," pushing the tune's raging undercurrent into a swell of all-encompassing noise as McArdle coldly stormed offstage well before the beat dropped out. We couldn't help but feel like Boston let the band down big-time.

Prior to that legendary exhibition of noisy prowess, current champions of unadulterated distortion Perfect Pussy unleashed a powerful, sub-30 minute cathartic release of sonic energy. The band didn't really play all that many "songs" -- the bit of music rendered closest to its recorded counterpart was the drifting, confessional "Interference Fits" -- instead choosing to run everything into the ground in two-to-three-minute shifts punctuated by short tuning breaks and occasional thanks from fronter Meredith Graves. It goes without saying that we were stunned at what we believe was Perfect Pussy's first show in Boston at Tufts University last year prior to the release of its Captured Tracks debut Say Yes To Love [review], but Wednesday's performance stands head and shoulders above. Delivering tenfold on every captivating element of Love, Perfect Pussy are a transcendent act whose conviction and commitment to complete aural immolation make its music literally awesome to behold.

Western MA garage-punk standouts Potty Mouth performed second on the bill, with new guitar player Ali Donohue from Fleabite in tow, and proffered an array of as-yet-unreleased tunes. Readers will recall we delivered a positive assessment of Potty Mouth's still-rad debut Hell Bent via Vanyaland last year, but the act's newer jams are poised to substantially raise its game. Largely doing away with the brittle, surfy lead guitar lines scattered across Hell Bent in favor of a increased heft and melodic chug, the songs practically beg for Justin Pizzoferratto's production, which we're given to understand is Potty Mouth's next move, and a smart one at that. Chicago-based one-man-band Love Of Everything -- or for those in the know, Bobby Burg of Joan Of Arc fame -- opened the night mixing live guitar, bass, and synth loops with found percussion and camera flashes, among many other things. His songs are pure jangle-pop beauty, and Mr. Burg's live show is a horse of a different color, entirely, and commenced a near-perfect night of music quite nicely. -- Dillon Riley

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

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



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



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

Today's Hotness: Potty Mouth, Psapp, Swearin'

>> So we endeavored to deliver some real talk in our review of Potty Mouth's full-length debut, which was published in the fine electronic pages of Vanyaland Friday. We wrote about gender and double-standards and all-female bands, if only because when we came up in the scene decades ago those sorts of discussions were an everyday occurrence. We don't hear them much anymore, which is probably more a function of our spending 1/3 of our life at work, another 1/3 interacting with those under the age of five, and the final 1/3 either asleep or wishing we were asleep, than anything else. If we have one misgiving about the piece it is that it may read as if we felt like the Northampton, Mass.-based foursome needed defending. Nothing could be further from the truth. These women are as capable of staking their place in the world as they are of creating a terrific rock record, which is what they've done with Hell Bent. Sure, the collection does not invent the wheel, and as we stated in our piece, it neither aims to instruct (think Bikini Kill) nor does it get arty (think The Slits). This is the reason we set up the Vanyaland piece by referencing legendary California punk acts JFA and The Descendents. If you take a wide view on the first decade of punk rock, we think California bands more than those of any other scene kept punk fun, playful. Yes, Dead Kennedys brought serious political game, yes, Uniform Choice delivered straightedge rage in spades, and, yes, there are other notable outliers. But California punk's collective determination to keep punk fun, maybe even somewhat innocent, is a notion we feel Potty Mouth shares. We think you'll like Hell Bent, and we encourage you to check out our piece at Vanyaland via the link above. Before you click away, however, check out the two tracks from the record, "The Spins" and "Damage," that we've embedded below. Old Flame releases Hell Bent Tuesday, and you can order it right here.





>> Four years used to seem like a long time... and we suppose it still is in the life of a rock 'n' roll band. That's how long it has been since we've heard a squeak, skronk or ding from UK-based toytronica duo Psapp. We suppose the band is best known for having a song used as the theme to a teevee show in the US, but their records are all enjoyable and quirky in a sort of Tracey Thorn-meets-Tom Waits kind of way. News arrived last week that the duo was back, with a new song in tow and a promise that a new LP is not far off. The new tune "Everything Belongs To The Sun" touts a jagged, percussive groove, which underpins singer Galia Durant's incantatory vocals. It's not nearly as melodic as the powerfully poignant ballads that highlight Psapp's catalog, such as "Tricycle," or the brilliant click-and-cut tour de force "Leaving In Coffins." But "Everything Belongs To The Sun" exudes energy and confidence, and leaves us eager to hear more of the new music the band has promised. We'll keep you updated. In the meantime, stream the new song via the embed below.



>> Philly-based punk-pop superheroes Swearin' announced Friday it will release a sophomore set entitled Surfing Strange later this fall. The quartet's collection, described by some as both heavier and moodier, will be issued by Salinas Records in the US Nov. 5, and via Wichita in the UK the prior day, because that is how the UK rolls. Surfing Strange presents 11 songs, including the preview track "Watered Down," a thumping, mid-tempo strummer sung by Kyle Gilbride. Swearin' are touring the UK in October with its literal sister band Waxahatchee, and then will return to the US for a long strand of dates that stretches from mid-November through mid-December. Swearin's self-titled debut was one of our favorite records of 2012; Wichita is releasing it in the UK next month, meaning two Swearin' releases will be issued in back-to-back months over there, meaning UK music fans should be feeling pretty happy right now. Stream "Watered Down" via the Soundcloud embed below.

That Was The Show That Was: Bent Shapes Feels Weird Release Show With Potty Mouth And Krill

[Photo courtesy of Brad Searles] Shows like Sunday's at Allston landmark Great Scott are the reason why our favorite bands seem to be getting more press in, say, Pitchfork than the Boston media these days. The bill alone speaks volumes for the admirable diversity of our beloved little scene: there were the paranoid insectoid ruminations of Krill, the brash punk stylings of the hotly tipped Potty Mouth, and the whip-smart post-punk jams of Bent Shapes. It was the latter act's release show, and Bent Shapes certainly brought that nebulous "it" live in a big way. Much to our delight, Potty Mouth and Krill also delivered memorable sets.

Bent Shapes took the stage a little after 11 and quickly brought the proverbial house down. The trio's new record Feels Weird -- out today and now streaming at Pitchfork Advance -- is incredible, a hard-earned tour de force from one of the best indie pop band in Boston. They wear their influences proudly, to be sure, but the true appeal to Bent Shapes' fizzing sound is its tight songcraft, a trait that dates back to its early days as Girlfriends. Songs like "Big Machines" and set closer "Behead Yrself Pt. 2" neatly cram melodies and counter-melodies into shiny, breezy post-punk nuggets. None of that gets lost in the act's live show, either. Stripped of some studio polish, the songs register with even more conviction, all strained vocals and loud, crashing cymbals. Out-of-towners might not realize, and the unfamiliar wouldn't know it from the pop euphoria of Feels Weird, but Bent Shapes are veterans of the city's basement scene and were right at home on a small stage like Great Scott's. The show not only felt like a victory lap for the group, but also seemed to celebrate how far the Boston scene in general has come of late, especially this summer. At the end of it all, Bent Shapes had a totally rad encore walk-on moment, too -- not bad for a Sunday night in late August.

First up Sunday were JP's premiere bugcore trio Krill, who not long ago threw a record release show of their own on the very same stage. Dedicated readers of all things Clicky Clicky know we are big fans of that joint, Lucky Leaves. Dare we say it fucking ruled. This is a band that originally intended to release said sophomore set embedded in soft balls of mozzarella, a notion that speaks volumes about the trio's collective, warped persona. That sense of absurdity translates to the stage, as well: within seconds of opening their set, fronter Jonah Furman performed a sight gag for the crowd. Just before lumbering into dub-inflected album standout "Never A Joke," Mr. Furman began pulling what looked like a long roll of toilet paper of his front pocket... to muted applause. The dynamic set that followed offered older tunes, a healthy dose of Lucky Leaves (and we all learned recently that Lucky, indeed, is leaving), and a bit of their newly-written "concept album about wanting to play shows with Pile." Furman's piercing, emotive voice paints him as a natural, if unconventional frontman. Western, Mass pop-punkers Potty Mouth anchored the middle of the bill, delivering a fun-loving, shambolic set pulled largely (if not exclusively) from their pending debut Hell Bent. The catchy brat rock struck a clean, pleasant contrast to Krill's paranoiac parables, even if they had to borrow Aaron Ratoff's guitar. -- Dillon Riley

Bent Shapes: Facebook | Tumblr | Soundcloud

Review: Bent Shapes | Feels Weird

With this long-awaited debut full-length -- and the years of work it represents -- Boston trio Bent Shapes can lay claim to a place among the nation's preeminent indie pop bands. Although we're hard-pressed to think of a contemporary act whose work is as smart, economical and fizzing with energy, and the effort instead leads us back to the early Feelies catalog or Unrest's Imperial f.f.r.r. for meaningful analogues. Since its early days when it used the name Girlfriends, Bent Shapes has shown it can consistently construct bracing pop nuggets, and this facility has carried over from its singles and cassette releases to Feels Weird (a title, fans may recall, that almost became the band's name). Indeed, the long-player -- out Tuesday on Father/Daughter Records -- touts for its full, ephemeral 27-minute duration the potency and immediacy of a brilliant single. This is little surprise, as the majority of Feels Weird has been issued as a single or b-side or in some prior form. But no matter the reason, the collection is one of the most listenable of the year, a sort of pre-emptive Compact Snap! for one of the city's most promising combos.

​​​For as refreshingly minimalist and pointed as the album is, Bent Shapes exhibit a noteworthy range in terms of timbre and songcraft (particularly for a trio leveraging the traditional guitar/bass/drums configuration). The result is panoply of sounds emphasized by rotating lead vocal duties and variations in tension and intensity. There's the breezy pop of "Check My Vitals," the venomous scene crit of the album highlight "Brat Poison" (previously issued as the b-side to the flexi-single released right after the threesome changed its change), ​the uptempo, hip-shaking jangle of "Big Machines" and "Boys To Men," and the staccato power-pop karate chops of opener "Behead Yourself, Pt. 2." ​Evidence of the band's evolution over time can be found in the thoughtful production choices throughout the record. The nostalgic air of "Hex Maneuvers" is limned by the spectral reverb on the guitars​ in the verse, the fury of "Brat Poison" is made more potent with the application of distortion to the vocals and a storming, scalene rhythm conjured by drummer Andy Sadoway and bassist Supriya Gunda.​

Mr. Potrykus stands out as a particularly clever lyricist even in a wicked smaaaahhht town like Boston; he has an uncanny way with meter and melody that colors observations such as his assurance in the brilliantly arranged "Bites And Scratches" -- which, along with "I Was Here But I Disappear," is a new version of song first released in 2009 on a self-titled Girlfriends cassette -- that "the past, you can trust, will mess you up, but hang on to love, it'll be enough to save you somehow." Of, course, his view is not always as optimistic and congenial; indeed, our favorite moments of the record are Potrykus's biting remonstrations in the aforementioned "Brat Poison."

Father/Daughter releases Feels Weird Tuesday; the set is available as an LP (pressed to traditional sad black or bone and electric blue-colored media), CD or download, and pre-orders are being taken right here. Vinyl orders are packaged with a download code and an 11 x 17 poster. The band fetes the album tomorrow night at Great Scott in Boston with a release show that includes sets from Western Mass.-based indie rockers Potty Mouth and the telepathic fear and loathing of next-level bugcore trio Krill. We speculate this show will sell out, so you'd be wise to take the appropriate measures to ensure your intentions at entertainment are met. There are a number of tracks from Feels Weird available to stream, and we've collected embeds of most of them and posted them below. Finally, in case you missed it, we spoke to all three of the members of Bent Shapes in May to learn a little bit more about where they make the indie pop magic; read that feature right here.

Bent Shapes: Facebook | Tumblr | Soundcloud

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