.: Sauna Youth

Showing posts with label Sauna Youth. Show all posts

August 21, 2015

Show Us Yours #28: Mutes

It's been some time since we've checked in on 'gazey indie punks Mutes. Time was the Birmingham, England-based act was a project propelled by just one dude, erstwhile and surnameless Johnny Foreigner guitar tech James, and its music was the stuff of gauzy dreams. That approach yielded captivating results and resulted in a couple EPs and digital singles over the last two years, many if not all of which were scrutinized in these electronic pages. Mutes' first EP as a quartet and on a proper label dropped earlier this summer, bearing a familiar name -- Starvation Age -- but a notably expanded sound. The short set presents five tracks, including new iterations of two of Mutes' more placid earlier guitar reveries, and builds to a roaring finish via an agitated, propulsive title track. With such dynamic growth on display, we thought it high time that we check in with James to learn about where the present, enlarged iteration of Mutes makes its magic, and what the rising band has in store for the future.

And an over-large tangent: our truest readers will note that this episode of Show Us Yours is not the first to feature a spacemate of Clicky Clicky faves Johnny Foreigner: way back in January 2009 in Show Us Yours 10 we featured hitmakers Calories, who at the time shared a different space with Johnny Foreigner. We suppose this is an example of high-quality acts tending to gravitate toward one another; we're told that Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam -- perhaps the most visible heir to Calories -- still practices near Johnny Foreigner (and Mutes) even now. We're grateful to James for taking the time to show us around the spot and for giving us an update on all things Mutes. Read our full exchange below.

Clicky Clicky: So why do you use this practice space? What is it about the space that makes it the best place for Mutes right now? Did you have to change spaces once Mutes became a full-band project, or are you still in the same spot?

James: We use it because we share it with Johnny Foreigner (who [drummer] Jr [also drums for]) so it's convenient and more spacious (having two kits in one room is not preferable). And it's run by a couple of really cool guys, Matt and Nigel, who rent out the rooms at an incredibly good price. There's always cold beers in the fridge, it's 24hr access and, most importantly for Josh and I, we can leave our gear there and use our own amps. If I ever have to so much look at a Laney valvestate head perched upon a generic Marshall 4x12 again I will shoot myself. I never had a space when I was doing it solo -- I'd rent the hourly room there for £5 an hour, which is super cheap.

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

J: Mmm, I'm not sure. I think the general energy of the place -- the ease of access and the laid-back atmosphere -- allows you to chill the fuck out when rehearsing, which lends itself to creativity more than "we have two hours here and we still need to find some breakables." We're gonna record more with our 8-track in there hopefully -- then we'll see!

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

J: Stale smoke and sweat.

CC: Was there some question in your mind that led you to fill out the band with additional members? And if so, what was that question?

J: I never intended to 'go solo,' it just sort of happened as a by-product of that first EP. I figured it would be a waste to put it out and sit around, so I got the sampler, watched a lot of Grimes live videos, and went for it. It just so happens that the next batch of songs I wrote needed real drums, although when I recorded Starvation Age I was still the only member of Mutes. But I always wanted to be in a band with other people. Playing solo can be a depressing and expensive experience, especially when you aren't exactly cranking out hits.

CC: Do you think that whatever we can agree to call the indie rock scene has progressed to the point where there is less bias against one-man bedroom pop bands? Do you find that folks like radio programmers and club promoters take Mutes more seriously now that it is more of the standard many-dudes-with-guitars formation?

J: I think promoters are more reluctant to book solo acts because simply put you have 1/4 the pulling potential of a full band. I played a few more solo shows when we were going through a lineup change and it reaffirmed why I stopped them in the first place -- it's a pain keeping an eye on your gear, you can't split any costs, and you rarely get paid because you don't have the manpower (i.e. Jr) of a full band. So yeah, being a full band has absolutely aided us in terms of getting shows and stuff.

CC: We spoke off-line about this, but we thought we'd raise it here as well. One thing that confused us about your terrific recent EP Starvation Age was that you recycled the title from a two-song digital release you did in 2013. Which we suppose is no worse than Weezer putting out multiple self-titled albums. But what about the title speaks to you so much that you wanted to use it twice?

J: I think I used it back in 2013 because it sounded nice, and those two songs ended up going on this full EP. But the title definitely has relevance to the release and its lyrical content. I think I came up with the title when I was going through a bit of a horrible phase of food-avoidance and just generally feeling like I was lacking as a human being. Plus I took down that 2-song thing before this was announced and I didn't really think anyone would notice (you were the only online site who covered that first release, ha).

[At this point the interview had gone somewhere unexpected. We were concerned by James' frank statement regarding his troubled relationship with food, concerned for him personally, but didn't want to delve more deeply into his private life than this interview, supposedly about his band's practice space and music, warranted. We talked this over with James, who was comfortable expanding on his remarks for publication. -- Ed.]

J: This was around 2 years ago, and it's better now. I think anxiety and a persistent uneasiness in my stomach, on top of issues I had with my own body image, all contributed towards it. I have a somewhat stressful relationship with eating, but not to the extent that I'm worried about it. I've certainly been in close quarters with people who do have more serious issues, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I love food and I hate food, too. I've put myself in positions where my appetite has been dictated by guilt rather than nutritional need and that can be particularly stressful on people you're close to. It's important to recognise these problems, I feel fortunate to be in a position mentally where I've never succumbed to it fully, but I would urge anyone who needs help, or even just advice, to speak openly about it as soon and as much as possible. Disordered eating is complex and can be hard to admit to yourself. It requires support and understanding, no matter how trivial it might seem if you're not going through it.

[Before continuing on, we wanted to amplify James' sentiment that those struggling with their relationship with food should seek help. These are real issues; food avoidance was classified as a medical condition under the latest revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the DSM-5, in 2013. If you or someone you know needs help, we urge you to contact a health professional. Now. And now, back to our regularly scheduled interview... -- Ed.]

CC: One of my all-time favorite bands did a non-comeback comeback record, and the last song leads with this awesome line "I have to finish this song, or the world will remember me wrong." You made a crack on the Mutes Facebook about releasing the new tune "Knotting Off The Vein" because "Death could be around the corner," and it made us wonder whether you actually, you know, consider things like mortality and a legacy and all that. Maybe you were just taking the piss (is that still a phrase people use?...)

J: I was half-taking the piss! I think when you're a band as small as we are, and unable to play as much as we'd like due to real adult life, the only thing you can do is write and release as much as possible to fill that activity-void. I also have become recently acutely aware of my own mortality, it keeps me up, so that's definitely on my mind a lot recently. I do think music, and art in general, is the closest you can come to ensuring your own immortality, provided what you're doing doesn't get forgotten with you. But it's an over-saturated space, and we're all baying for attention, so I don't know how successful anyone but the most influential of us will be in actually 'living forever through art' or something. But at least we're all immortalised on the Internet!

CC: What does the rest of the year look like for Mutes?

J: Hopefully more shows here and there, and lots more writing. We've got about 13 songs that ned finishing up, and more will be rearing their heads in the interim, so hopefully we'll be able to record again sometime soon! And sign that mega 360 deal we've all been holding out for.

November 20, 2014

Today's Hotness: Hideous Towns, Her Magic Wand, Primitive Parts

Hideous Towns - Hideous Towns EP (detail)

They come from the land down under, but their name is lifted straight from a track on The Sundays' legendary debut Reading, Writing & Arithmetic, which is the reason why Melbourne foursome Hideous Towns first caught our eye. The quartet's stirring shoegazey ballad "Undone" is set to feature on a forthcoming Beko Records comp titled Oz Do It Better Vol. 2, which is slated for release in 2015. But a little Googling tells us that the swaying noise-pop gem was included on a self-titled, debut EP Hideous Towns self-released just last month, and you can stream the entire short set via the Bandcamp embed below. We recommend you do, as the Aussie act -- which has apparently only been playing shows about a year -- certainly channels a Sundays vibe, although the dense guitar work and pretty vocals on "Undone" and elsewhere on Hideous Towns aren't as uniformly intricate or fluid as those of Sundays' David Gavurin and Harriet Wheeler, respectively. We admit the comparison is an unfair one, and we should be clear that the merits of Hideous Town's EP are many and should be celebrated separate and apart from the work of the UK legends (who are apparently a functioning operation again, we learned in recent days). Where The Sundays are more literal and dour, the Aussie act is more abstract and aggressive. "Undone" and its shuddering, gigantic chorus is undeniably the highlight of Hideous Towns, but the song's beauty and majesty are recreated on the succeeding track "Devolution," and the vocal harmonies in the relatively spare and placid closer "Pets" are riveting and affecting. Hideous Towns fête their self-titled EP with a release show Saturday night at Boney in Melbourne; the bill also includes Bad Family, Zig Zag and Basic Spirit. We imagine most readers aren't going to be hopping a plane to make the show, so take comfort in the fact that the favorable exchange rate means you can get the EP for less than a buck a song in USD. We think you will find that to be money well spent.

>> Who remembers 2010? Anyone? Maybe a few of you? No... OK. Well. Way back when we devoted some of our attention to the Parisian dream-pop project Her Magic Wand, which had just self-released a notable EP titled Catch A Rainbow. We were surprised to get an email from mastermind Charles Braud earlier this month, reporting that a new single from Her Magic Wand was in the offing, and directing our attention to the understated, perhaps Dntel-inspired electro anthem "Everything At Once." Mr. Braud tells us that "Everything At Once" concerns itself with the phenomenon of synesthesia, which he ably defines as "a neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway and where letters or music can be perceived as inherently colored." The lyrics do much of the heavy lifting in driving this point home, but really it is Braud's dreamy delivery amid stormy, electric crescendoes that provides the most exciting moments of "Everything At Once." The song chases a desperate electro pulse, the rhythm tracks drawing out cool synth chords that deeply layer as the canned beats pile up and white out in the tune's smouldering choruses. The tune is a taster for a forthcoming full-length set recorded over the course of 10 months and mixed last summer by Stephane "Alf" Briat, who has worked with basically every French rock act you could name if given 30 seconds. We certainly recommend the single to your attention, and you can stream it via the Soundcloud embed below; click through a link there to purchase that jawn from Apple's ITunes digital music store.

We feel compelled to mention here that at this point Apple = "The Man;" the company presently touts a market capitalization of $676 billion dollars and recorded a net profit of $8.5 billon dollars for its 2014 fiscal fourth quarter closed Sept. 27. Read about the alleged human rights abuses attributed to the company right here. If we choose to, we can make the world a better place. How's all of that for a tangent?

>> Nervy and spikey post-punk has been the Brighton, England-based Faux Discx label's stock-in-trade, and it is backing a winner in a forthcoming single from the sorta supergroop Primitive Parts. The trio is comprised of a who's who from label affiliates Cold Pumas, Sauna Youth and Male Bonding, and its new offering is the single "TV Wheels" b/w "The Bench," which you can stream in all of its glory via the Bandcamp embed below. B-side "The Bench" in particular is a strummy and cool hip-shaker, just a little bit of attack on the guitars, tambourine and hand-claps driving an inevitable groove toward a gloriously rudimentary guitar solo that emphasizes the band's garagey bona fides. "TV Wheels" would sell tens of thousands of singles if it were a new Dandy Warhols song, but we don't imagine that Faux Discx will be able to keep the single in stock no matter who recorded it, as the two-minute tune is air-tight (indeed, some pre-orders have already shipped). Primitive Parts previously issued in February its debut single "Open Heads" b/w "Signal" on Sexbeat, and also had its cover of The Yummy Furs' "Chinese Bookie" featured on Faux Discx's 2013 comp Collective Hiss. Faux Discx releases "TV Wheels" b/w "The Bench" Monday as a 7" single in a humble paper sleeve with insert, pressed in a limited edition of 300 pieces. Primitive Parts are planning a UK tour for 2015. We previously wrote about Cold Pumas here two years ago; the act disclosed in September it had recently wrapped recording on its own sophomore effort.

May 10, 2013

Today's Hotness: Mahogany, Snowden, Teardrop Factory

>> Like Tom Waits, art-pop concern Mahogany keep getting weirder while staying the same (to whit, Wikipedia describes the once-octet thusly: "an electric music-based multidisciplinary media ensemble currently working in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and other locations"). After only faint rumors and dead-ends in regards to the follow-up to their massive, brilliant and still misunderstood 2006 album Connectivity!, the band has finally released a new song. And it's a doozy, too. "Phase Break" is an eight-minute cycle of beats, choruses, and synths that incorporates elements of house music and disco into Mahogany's purposefully modernist, architectural dream-pop. As with "Leo Ryan (Our Pharoah's Slave)" by this blog's beloved Lilys, Mahogany synthesize myriad ideas and carefully constructed sounds into a full-blown mini-suite that plays as much as a mediation and art project regarding a beloved form as it does a coherent piece of music. That, however, is exactly what will likely please patient fans of the Mahogany cult; arguably anyone that fully understands where this band is coming from will appreciate the continued and pronounced proclivity for pop eccentricity. The group -- here just the duo of Jaclyn Slimm and founder Andrew Prinz -- fuses elements of Cocteau Twins bass-chord groove with every manner of analog drum patches, pristine cello work and Ms. Slimm's elegant vocals. At the two-minute mark, the song takes the first of many turns as a funk bass line enters; later, Mr. Prinz's familiar vocals announce the delightful "phase break" chorus. Additional playful twists ensue and exhaust in due course their saturated and crafty intentions, allowing "Phase Break" to meet the lofty expectations of fans who've been waiting on a sign from Mahogany. Incorporating elements of dance music will hopefully win Mahogany an even larger share of fans, although it is the complicated joys of its non-traditional compositions that should really wow admirers. We are eager to hear and see what magic the band conjures next. -- Edward Charlton

>> For many twenty-somethings, the post-punk and garage-rock renaissance in the early years of the new millennium served as an introduction to the wider world of indie music and its antecedents. Sure, those Interpol and Franz Ferdinand albums may have gotten less play once those early dorm parties were over and listeners found, say, PiL and This Heat, but one never forgets their first true loves. Another memorable band of the last decade for many was Atlanta's Snowden, fronted by Jordan Jeffares. The act hasn't released a new full length since 2006's potent debut Anti-Anti on Jade Tree. But come May 14 that all changes, when Serpents And Snakes releases No One In Control, the act's long-anticipated sophomore full-length. Much has changed in the musical landscape over the past seven years, but Snowden's vision remains pleasantly consistent. Indeed, the new collection is a fitting successor to Anti-Anti, and combines moody distorted synth and bass textures with spindly guitar riffs and clean, almost tribal drumming. While the grungy "Hiss" and new-wavey "The Beat Comes" keep the pace up like prior repertoire highlights "Anti-Anti" and "Kill The Power," much of No One In Control abides in a slower tempo that makes the band's dream pop all the dreamier. The synthetic 12-string acoustic atmosphere of "Anemone Arms" echoes '80s alt. acts like Crowded House or The Church; it's an unexpected but well-reasoned reach that works well for Snowden. The opening title track of the new collection even evokes the choral elements of a band like Ride, relying on singer Jordan Jeffares’ syrupy voice, which is glossy and tuneful throughout despite his monotone delivery. Snowden resoundingly delivers the goods on No One In Control, leading one to wonder why Jeffares waited seven years between long players (although, it should be noted there were EPs in 2007 and 2010). Regardless, like an old college friend, it's great to hear from him once again. Snowden embarks on a month-long U.S. tour May 30, and will play a Boston date at Great Scott June 26; full tour dates are posted right here. -- Edward Charlton

Stream all of No One In Control at Soundcloud right here.

>> England’s Faux Discx has been steadily inching up our list of 2013's record labels to watch, given that, as our executive editor so succinctly stated recentky, "it seems to be building a nice little universe of stuff." We first encountered the concern in 2012 when it issued Cold Pumas' excellent post-punk platter Persistent Malaise. On May 27 it will release Brighton, England lo-fi rockers Teardrop Factory's debut, the Topshop EP, in a limited edition of 300 vinyl 7" records. As with the other label signatories (including the brilliantly monikered Sauna Youth as well as Vision Fortune, among others), Teardrop Factory effortlessly combine messy, youthful energy with fully-realized songwriting and rich, analog (sounding) production. The band dares to keep their cards close, and so we're left with colorful intrigue and only one member's first name -- Andy. "Vanity Unfair," the preview track from the EP, is sadly not a cover of the classic single from The Ocean Blue. But it is nonetheless a brief, but gratifying, stormy two-chord rocker. Riding the groove, the singer (presumably Andy) offers a quick spoke-sung verse before his distaff counterpart steers the tune into a relaxed, brooding chorus. Distorted bass chug and reverbed drums (dig that massive wave of washed crash and ride cymbals), lend the tune the flavor of a frenzied live performance. The downcast energy recalls O.G. downer-pop Anglos like Eternal, Secret Shine or Jesus & Mary Chain. The production on "Vanity Unfair" touts a perfectly proportioned blend of hi-fi direction and the full-frequency onslaught of the best lo-fi (which, truly, makes us wish indie groups would ditch the fake "digi-studios" or completely lazy indifference and make stuff like this). The Topshop EP is another winner for Faux Discx, a label that is proving it knows where it's at when it comes to rich, analog guitar pop packaged with a little bit of mystery, a little brashness, and a whole lot of understated class. Pre-order here, and stream "Vanity Unfair" via the Bandcamp embed below. -- Edward Charlton