I WILL WRITE A MYSTERY FOR YOU TO SOLVE: An Oral History of Lilys' Astonishing Eccsame The Photon Band

|| by EDWARD CHARLTON || [updated] This month marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Lilys' powerful and mysterious Eccsame The Photon Band, a unique collection even among the oeuvre of Kurt Heasley, the band's notably restless songwriter and only constant member. For our money, it is certainly one of the most engaging -- if underheard -- indie rock albums of the '90s. Like a lot of great music, the album's creation owes a debt to that rare and singular cocktail of youth: chance, environment and a positive open-mindedness shared among the four men who created it. "Behold and open to the light," translates the title -- a sentiment that seems to have guided the principals behind it from the foursome's very first minute together.

As we listened to Mr. Heasley, drummer Harry Evans and producer Rich Costey tell the story of the album, we found that Eccsame The Photon Band was a roughly month-long flash of exhaustive inspiration -- a gnawing, melodic, experimental expression that sprang into being so suddenly it felt as if it were over nearly as soon as it had begun. Despite that, the music and production contained therein has continued to resonate with those involved, as well as with a fanatical cult following attracted to its atypical dream-pop charms. Among those, cryptic lyrics, crestfallen textures, occasional moments of loud guitar and a spiritual and devastating silence all continue to stun. To mark the aforementioned anniversary, Clicky Clicky spoke with Mssrs. Heasley, Evans and Costey about the summer of 1994, discussing a wide-range of topics including the philosophies, drum sounds and even the studio weeping that birthed a rare and unique aural document.

"I can't deviate out of the moment -- you get into the game of expectations, then you get into the game of disappointment," Heasley tells Clicky Clicky from his present home in Los Angeles. The sentiment arrives early in our conversation about the album, and it quickly becomes apparent that Eccsame was (and is) something of a mission statement for just that mentality.

The genesis of that notion came two years prior to the creation of Eccsame, spurred by some of the negative reception to Lilys' magnificent and now-legendary 1992 shoegaze debut full-length, In The Presence of Nothing. "I had no idea people would listen to this," he says of that collection, "Much less feel so strongly [about it]. It was ultimately just a group of friends making something in a basement for a few hours. I took it as the most extreme feelings [from some in the scene] of being left out of their own party."

Disappointed, but confident in the power of his on-the-fly approach, Heasley began to see how the band's process might function in the face of more standard and predictable musical norms.

In the wake of the flawless, power-pop injected A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns EP that was released the next year, Heasley made some life changes that would further create the conditions for an experiment like Eccsame. "I had new urban experiences because I had moved from Lancaster [Pennsylvania] into Philadelphia proper, living with some incredible people," he said, "Joey Sweeney let me sleep on his girlfriend's couch for weeks. It was just this ongoing live/work/play space and the amount of literature, cinema and old records that I was being turned on to for the first time was great. There, I had the feeling of going from 22 to 23, and the prevailing wisdom that 23 is the best worst year of your life. Slowly, there were responsibilities creeping in and the realization that 'this is not a dress rehearsal.'"

At the same time, the alternative/grunge zeitgeist of the prior several years was beginning to breed bad vibes. Not only did Kurt Cobain's death in the spring of '94 mark a dramatic shift in the mood of rock culture, but recent records by Talk Talk's Mark Hollis and Pale Saint's Ian Masters alerted Heasley to the loss of fidelity and subtlety in those buzzing times. "Those gated drums in '92," he exclaimed with a sigh. A trip to a Broadway production later that year would also make an impression on him. "Listening to what a five-piece pit orchestra could do literally blew me apart. Working from that level where everyone plays their part and has mastered themselves revealed a new world."

In the winter following the release of A Brief History Of Amazing Letdowns, Heasley began sketching out some fresh ideas. Those recordings would ultimately be released on 2000's Tigerstyle Records split with Aspera Ad Astra. As a historical document, the four songs reveal a remarkably clear vision of the minimal, dreamy sound that would ultimately define Eccsame -- what Stylus Magazine writer Andrew Unterberger described as "Not influenced by shoegazing as a genre, but rather as a principle."

It was time to enter the studio.

That summer, spinART Records agreed to provide five weeks of time at Studio .45, a converted turn-of-the-century Colt firearms factory in Hartford, Connecticut. It was also at that point that Harry Evans of power-pop standouts Poole and producer Rich Costey entered the picture.

Evans had known Heasley for a few years by '94, and had played on every Lilys release beginning with Presence. The two first met due to being physically larger guys in the scene who looked similar and both showed up at the same music store. "I was shopping there and somebody called me (Kurt's nickname) 'Wally' and I was like, 'no, I'm Harry!'" Evan says, laughing, "We happened to be at the store at the same time eventually and recognized each other due to that mix up. We started hanging out and eventually he asked me if I wanted to play drums for him. He played me "February Fourteenth" and I was like 'What the hell! Of course!'"

Following the release of A Brief History and the subsequent shows for that record, Heasley approached him with an idea. "Kurt was like, 'I want to make a record, and I want it to just be you and me.' He booked a lot of time. I hadn't heard any of the material, but he said we could learn it in the studio. Having faith in anything Kurt does, I agreed immediately," Evans reflects. That summer, the two loaded up a van with gear and made the trek to Hartford. There, they met producer Costey and engineer Mike Deming. Costey had been chosen based on work he had done with scene compatriots The Swirlies.

"I was doing a few records for spinART around that time, and at some point I ended up on a phone call with Kurt," Costey remembers, “He was an interesting character on the phone, and I still remember my first phone call with him -- rambling on and on whilst puffing on cigarettes the whole time. We must have connected somewhat. I liked the psychedelic aspect to [Lilys'] music a lot, based only on the album they had out the year before, and given the general monochromatic, conservative landscape of American grunge at that time, Kurt's music struck me as being a total technicolor garden. I had worked with The Swirlies, whom I think he begrudgingly respected, but those two bands were actually quite different in approach. The Swirlies were fighting their own limitations whereas Kurt never saw or felt any limitations at all... [He] was inventing his own landscape."

Setting up on the first day, Heasley and Evans filled out Studio .45's large, single-room with their instruments. Beginning at dusk, the duo at first had a hard time connecting. "On the first day we set everything up, Kurt was going to guide me through the songs," said Evans, "We started recording really late, but it was just not clicking. The first song we were working on was "FBI And Their Toronto Transmitters." Eventually I got super frustrated. While I had told myself initially that I was going to be really sober and work as hard as possible during the session, we ultimately took a break and I got REALLY high. We went back in and nailed it in the first take. I was like, "Aw, this is really disappointing (chuckles)."

"For the first 10 days Costey probably didn't think they were songs!," Heasley added.

After these initial hurdles, the duo settled into a groove, with Evans adapting to Heasley's ideas and advice regarding drumming. "There was a methodical thought to the way that the fills were put together. He really helped me to curb my ego, and I was willing to say 'I will listen to your ideas.' Ultimately, they proved to be great ideas. I had to be open," Evans remembered.

The songs gradually came together over the ensuing weeks, and many of the album's iconic textures began to take focus -- specifically, the massive, roomy drum sound that many Eccsame cultists rave about.

Costey recited the technical details for accomplishing this with aplomb. "The drum sound was a combination of several things: the hard, open space that the live room at Studio .45 presented; a precisely placed AKG 414 placed in between the kick and snare drums, aimed at the floor... heavily compressed with a Spectrasonics 610 compressor; and also the minimal and incredibly powerful, tasteful playing of Harry Evans. Listening to it today, it seems a study in how a drummer should play to the sound presented to him or her, as opposed to the other way around."

Mike Deming is also credited by the other three as being instrumental to the presentation. "I’ve got to credit him for that drum sound. He was a twisted, evil audio genius. He was crazy and so into what he did on a micro level," said Evans, referencing at least obliquely the album's often overwhelming negative space, best heard in the long, faraway intro and subsequent eruption of focus on "The Turtle Which Died Before Knowing."

Other subtle, genius moments were entirely due to chance. On some songs, different takes were mixed together and the resulting edits created things that thrilled everyone in the control room. "A couple of those moments where the vibrato on the guitar shifts patterns -- we couldn't have planned that, but that's the thing! We were open not necessarily to it being correct, but to it being right for what it was," Heasley said.

Other moments betrayed the quieter vibe with sheer power. "The Hermit Crab," "Kodiak (Reprise)" and "Radiotricity" all rock in places, despite being composed mostly with clean, bass string strums. Costey explains that the amping of the guitars went a long way in lending huge power to a quiet source, "One simple thing Kurt was doing with his guitar sounds at the time was to run two different tremolo pedals into two different amps," he said, "It's really simple, of course, but it made for an off-kilter, drunken, gurgling guitar sound that completely shaped the feel of the record."

Elsewhere, such as on the down-tempo lullaby-pop of "Day Of The Monkey," Costey sampled Evans' drums to create a hypnotic loop, later adding room recordings of him playing along to himself to add to the overall sonic fantasia.

The collaborative aspect between the four also played a key role in the shape of the album. "He had done Swirlies records," said Heasley of Costey, "So I was like 'throw me whatever note you think should be in this melody.' I think you can only do so many records where that special and fun ability exists."

As the sessions wrapped up, it was also clear that the process of achieving the album's menthol-cool psychedelia had thoroughly exhausted Heasley. Much of the tracking came down to the wire, and many of his vocal parts had to be recorded at the end in a prolonged series of takes.

"I spent the final 18 hours of tracking in the vocal booth," Heasley recalled, "By the time we were working on "Hubble" I was completely drained by the process, from all these different drives that went into the album. You can hear me crying at one point. I couldn't even stand, I was propped in a chair." Costey, aware of the strain and the reality of the moment, let the tape run. What followed was personal, uncomfortable and brilliant.

It's apparent when Heasley talks about "Hubble" that the song is special to him, referring to it as the closing sequence of the booster of the space shuttle falling to Earth. More importantly, it's a fitting end to the hyper-productive sessions that produced a collection of songs that were not only spacey-sounding, but physically so. Costey took the tapes to Water Studios in Hoboken, New Jersey and Philip Glass' The Looking Glass studio in New York for the rest of the post-production. There, he added many of the synth textures and final mixing details. SpinART had the album out by the end of the year.

And then... it was over.

"Kurt moved to California, I believe, shortly after we made the record," said Evan. "I feel like nobody really got it, understood it or appreciated it when it came out." No shows were played to support the release, which somehow makes the recording all the more mythical.

Within a year, Heasley transformed Lilys into the mod-rock powerhouse that would define the next phase of the group, with songs like "Nanny In Manhattan" (a version of which was recorded during the Eccsame sessions but lost with the master tapes) broadening the exposure of the band and leading to a record deal with Sire. Evans would continue a successful run as the frontman of indie pop savants Poole, an act that also recorded for spinART. Lastly, Costey would use his resume with bands from the East Coast dream-pop and 'gaze scene to begin work in Los Angeles, eventually engineering and producing a seemingly endless list of big-name musical personalities including Sigur Ros, Fiona Apple, Nine Inch Nails, Muse, Foo Fighters and self-professed Swirlies fans Mew, among many others.

Despite the very abrupt end to the Eccsame phase of Lilys, and the scattering of its participants, it is apparent that the three remember the time in the studio fondly, and all have an unshakable faith in the final product.

"I felt pretty good about the album when we had finished it," Costey adds, "It seemed fresh, inventive, and colorful. Kurt's writing isn't miles away from Syd Barrett territory, but as opposed to Syd, Kurt's lyrics were open and personal. I had hoped that it would be recognized a bit more for what I felt was something pretty unique at that time: Psychedelic indie with heavy fuzz, samplers, and 808s -- but it seemed to never really get the attention it deserved. Kurt went straight to The Kinks' Muswell Hillbillies [as the template] for his next album and finally had his talent recognized, but in the process it had always felt to me that Eccsame was just overlooked."

Most importantly though, the sense of trust between the album's principals appears to be the most defining and memorable part of the era. Listening to Evans and Heasley, in particular, speak of their relationship during that time illuminates a connection between kindred souls, a pair determined to create and build as a unit.

"I could never have that kind of naive trust again. You basically get [it] once." Heasley added somberly.

At times during this reflection, it shows that both might harbor some desire to work together again. In the age of '90s dream-pop band reunions, with acts including Slowdive, Medicine, Ride and My Bloody Valentine thrilling audiences once more, it wouldn't be seem that unusual for an influential lineup of Lilys to get back together, hopefully even for new music.

"He knows that I'm willing to work with him anywhere, anytime. At the drop of a hat, I'm in," Evans proclaimed, ever the dedicated bandmate, ignoring the thousands of miles between them.

That possibility is a dream for this blog, at least, and it is dreaming big that brought together those men in 1994 -- hedging their bets on chance and understanding. But big dreams can live on in unusual ways, and funny enough, it is because of the Lilys that this scribe first spoke to this editor at Clicky Clicky some five years ago. And, because of all of that, it has ultimately brought you, dear reader, to what may not yet be the final chapter in the story of a very special and evolving piece of art.

"Behold and open to the light."

Currently, Eccsame The Photon Band is out of print (spinART folded in 2007), and both CD and vinyl copies command steep prices in the collectors' market. Heasley has been negotiating the reissue of In The Presence Of Nothing and two other unspecified titles, and also the release of new music, according to news we reported here in March. Through the murky magic of the Internet, you can listen to selections from Eccsame via the YouTube playlist posted below. -- Edward Charlton



SELECTED PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
In Bloom: Lilys Poised For Massive Resurgence; New Music, Reissues And Live Performances Planned
That Was The Show That Was: Lilys with Prefab Messiahs | Lilypad | 15 June
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Today's Hotness: Crayon, Rocketship, Gretchen Lyme, Bare Pale

>> A dusty blue, early '90s Toyota Corolla: we can picture it in our head, we can smell it, we can see the cassette tapes it contained. And when we think of riding in the great Pete Torgo's car during our later college years, we think of Crayon's "The Snap-Tight Wars," a tremendous, hook-laden indie-pop classic we likely listened to often traveling north and south through New England lo those many years ago. In hindsight, the trio's song presents as a relic of its time: indeed, our (basically) middle-aged self is not as comfortable with the nakedly heartfelt lyric "I wore you as an emblem of, as a badge of my worth" -- delivered in bassist and fronter Sean Tollefson's distinctive, adenoidal vocal -- as our romantic and stupid 20-year-old self was, but such sentimentality at the time scanned as powerfully real. Now it seems representative of a sweet naïveté that perhaps hits a little too close to home when we honestly appraise our 20-year-old self. But of course, that is only one part of "The Snap-Tight Wars," whose cracking drumming, pulsing bass lines and squalling guitar in the chorus reveals a punk heart and renders the song a most-serviceable rocker. The production is lo-fi but clear and electric, and the song was perhaps the first major calling card for the little band from Bellingham, Washington. Or at least it was for us. "The Snap-Tight Wars" appeared on Crayon's terrific, sole full-length release Brick Factory, which is being reissued Tuesday by Athens, Georgia's Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records. HHBTM's reissue -- which at least roughly coincides, mathletes, with the record's 20th anniversary -- is actually Brick Factory's first release on vinyl; the 2014 issue has been pressed to yellow media in a limited edition of 500 pieces, and is also being released as a cassette. Purchase of the LP includes a digital download of 21 bonus tracks -- tracks from 7" singles, comps, 4-track demos and never-before-heard, unreleased songs -- and deluxe pre-orders include yellow vinyl, a cassette and button and apparently even more songs. The very fine people of Crashing Through Publicity have secured permission for us to offer a stream of "The Snap-Tight Wars," which is embedded below, and we highly recommend that if you have not yet gotten with the now sounds of 1994, get with them now and pre-order Brick Factory from HHBTM right here. Crayon did not survive 1994; Mr. Tollefson and drummer Jeff Fell not long after formed the consistently excellent indie-pop juggernaut Tulleycraft, which we wrote about here in these electronic pages as recently as April 2013, when the act released its wonderful sixth LP Lost In Light Rotation.



>> Well, what do you know? Like an old friend showing up at your front door, Sacramento-spawned dream-pop heroes Rocketship returned Oct. 31 with a new, surprisingly subtle tune. Released digitally on Nonstop Co-Op (an enterprise that appears to be connected to the band in some manner, and whose Bandcamp now contains what appears to be the entirety of Rocketship's catalogue), "That Old Black Magic" also was included on something called A. Kaffer's Halloween 2014 compilation, about which the Internet has basically nothing more to say. Though this reviewer was only previously familiar with the band's mid-'90s output -- most notably its titanic 1996 Slumberland Records set A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness -- new song "That Old Black Magic" hews close to Rocketship's tradition of technicolor melodies, unadulterated harmonies and pristine pop production flourishes. Incidentally, if you'll permit the tangent, Rocketship's web site contains this exciting nugget: A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness is to be reissued in the spring of 2015! [We will buy the shit out of that! -- Ed.] The lineup that made the aforementioned collection has long since disbanded, but the project led by pop savant Dustin Reske has been recording sporadically ever since. Now based in Portland, Oregon, Mr. Reske continues to map delicate pop case studies and the deceptively simple and almost overpoweringly sweet "Black Magic" is no exception. Downplaying the band's once-signature organ lines, the song instead complements the foregrounded vocals with rich strings and flutes and a spiraling harpsichord arpeggiation. The result is something more along the lines of a baroque-pop gem than the shoegaze- and noise-pop-indebted sounds of Rocketship's past. Which is in no way meant as a slight; there is a classic wartime vocal group charm and warmth to the new tune. Stream it via the embed below, and click through to download "That Old Black Magic" from Nonstop Co-op's Bandcamp. Rocketship was reconstituted as a live concern last spring, performing pop festival shows in New York and San Francisco, and we're hopeful that this new song (and Twitter chatter about a video) evidences that the act may yet be a going concern, that Reske still has more pop delights to reveal. -- Edward Charlton



>> Given the often isolated (isolating? -- Ed.] nature of ambient and drone music, a recent split-single featuring two particularly creative Glaswegian practitioners of same struck this reviewer as somewhat unusual. The pairing, however, is a great one, and together the mysterious synth artist Mosca and the fuzz-droner Gretchen Lyme proffer eight shifting, bending instrumentals that engage listeners with spooky, mindful zones. Mosca leads the charge with monochromatic yet expansive "Fire," a gorgeous and layered drone seemingly employs random application of pitch shifter to bend the piece in and out of focus. Panned, square-wave fuzz and gradually building volume ultimately overwhelm the aural space, but the piece carries such a cool, mid-range smoothness that it never becomes a chore for listeners. "Impulse" goes a more cinematic route, pitch-shifting an extract of an interview with a notorious serial killer and pairing it with a sad, slowly modulating synth melody that ultimately hones in on the discourse with laser precision, somehow coloring a strange, wistful beauty over a horrible dialogue. Gretchen Lyme's more dynamic tunes, however, steal the show, building upon Mosca's horrorshow blueprint and adding more movement and texture to the proceedings. "EggsEggsPeanutLegs," the absurdly titled standout, achieves this in spades. After a three-minute intro that transports the listener along creepy carnival alleyways, windblown streets and a distant, distorted rock guitar concert, a clattering electronic beat arrives. The rhythm establishes sufficient energy that allows the piece to gradually collapse upon itself in a schizophrenic cycle that shifts between a placid, icy calm and a free-jazz happening. "EggsEggsPeanutLegs" offers the sort of cerebral, unexpected musical twists that mark the best experimental music. Stream all of the self-released digital split via the embed below, and click through to grab the pay-what-you-like download, which was issued to the wilds of the Internerds Oct. 18. -- Edward Charlton



>> London shoegaze duo Bare Pale's twisting, turning rock couldn't be more dead-on, in terms of our tastes. The pair's latest effort, the brooding beauty "You Owe Me," lopes forward toward a mid-tempo buzz-kill, its clean and bent guitar strums sounding weighed down by a sense of grief, perhaps destroyed friendship. Down-tuned open chords and distant snare cracks lend the song an indistinct sense of menace and space, despite the relatively pared-down band set up. The three-minute number's strumming pattern and constantly warping notes recall The Swirlies and the legendary Boston act's classic 1993 BlonderTongueAudioBaton anti-anthem "His Love Just Washed Way," particularly in how the tune slowly bends and slides toward a slow-burn catharsis. There's a grittiness in the production, too, that gives "You Owe Me" youthful and homegrown vibes, touches of realism that increase the tune's emotional heft. "You owe me, everyday" the singer almost murmurs, right before the song erupts into a tangle of fuzzed-out guitar perfection. There is as yet no word on a follow-up to the tune -- hopefully a full-length set -- but if "You Owe Me" is any indication, we'll be writing about Bare Pale in these electronic pages again. The act self-released "You Owe Me" as a digital download Oct. 15. Stream it via the Bandcamp embed below, and click through to score the download for a single pound sterling. Bare Pale previously issued a cassette EP titled If It Is in Nov. 2012 and an even earlier demos set, both of which can be still be heard at Bandcamp right here. Bare Pale's next live engagement appears to be a show at London's Sebright Arms Dec. 16. -- Edward Charlton

Today's Hotness: Frankie Cosmos, The New Mendicants, Beach Volleyball

>> The hype surrounding NYC-based combo Frankie Cosmos belies the cloistered, personal vibe of their music -- proof positive, we suppose, that great songwriting finds its audience. The quartet, which is fronted by Greta Kline and includes among its number Aaron Maine of Porches., trades in the kind of plainly stated, lo-fi pop that lives and dies on personality. It's music that emphasizes unadorned, in-your-ear moments -- such as those that characterized Velvet Underground's third album -- as opposed to the blunt grandiosity and electronic immersion found more widely in today's underground. Frankie Cosmos' "Birthday Song" is a sweet, minute-and-a-half pop confection that recalls a certain stripe of indie pop that has not pinged the mainstream for years. The tune's biggest moments arrive at the end of each of the verses, when the drums shift into a half-time beat -- a trick borrowed from the metal and hardcore bands of our youth, perhaps, but it's very effective here, where Ms. Kline's vocals seem to get dragged down with a sadness that matches her year-closing observations and angst toward a changing world. Kline's wistfulness here is perfect and fresh for a band that hails from the Big Apple in 2014. With the success of Hospitality and now Frankie Cosmos, we're holding out hope for a full-blown indie pop renaissance emanating from New York City. "Birthday Song" is the second preview tune from the forthcoming collection Zentropy, a set of songs that is the first featuring a full-band iteration of Frankie Cosmos. Zentropy will be released as an LP by the Exploding In Sound-affiliated label Double Double Whammy March 4. The first 250 copies of the collection carried a screen-printed B-side and appear to have already sold out; another 200 pieces are pressed to white vinyl, and you can pre-order it right here. And although we do not know details and haven't yet cracked it open ourselves, fans would do well to note that Frankie Cosmos has issued what seems to be an even newer collection of recordings called Donutes, that can be snatched via Pukekos for free right here. Stream "Birthday Song" via the Soundcloud embed below. -- Edward Charlton



>> If this -- along with last year's Black Hearted Brother album -- is any indication of the way things are rolling, yesterday's indie pop and shoegaze pioneers are finding plenty of fresh inspiration in new trios that embrace collective legacies, adaptability and excitement. Here we are referring, of course, to Into The Lime, the tremendous new collection from The New Mendicants, a threesome comprising Joe Pernice (The Pernice Brothers), Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), and Mike Belisky (The Sadies). The set finds all three principles fluidly rotating duties while creating vibrant, cohesive work. With each successive track, it seems the band challenges itself again and again to create classic, harmony-laden pop in the vein of British Invasion bands such as The Hollies, Peter and Gordon, The Beatles pre-Revolver, and (more recently) XTC. Songs such as "Cruel Annette," "If You Only Knew Her," "High On The Skyline," and "A Very Sorry Christmas" all balance rich vocals that the light acoustic strumming, organ, and other period touches feel like the only extra weight the compositions could handle. The balance of the record emphasizes electric guitar, echoing at times Mr. Blake's Teenage Fanclub (with "Shouting Match") while coming as close to that classic band's power-pop euphoria as any combo in recent memory. Into The Lime, like BHB's Stars Are Our Home, so impressively balances the individual strengths of each band member that one can nearly cherry-pick them from any three-second clip form any song. Even so, the enthusiasm, songcraft and performances are so tight and fluid that it is hard to overstate the pop smarts at work. Perhaps the most telling gauge of success is this one: The New Mendicants on Into The Lime work free of whatever the confines of Teenage Fanclub, The Sadies or The Pernice Brothers might be, yet the disc feels like a welcome addition to any of their discographies. Buy the set from Ashmont Records right here, and stream the now seasonally inappropriate "A Very Sorry Christmas" via the Soundcloud embed below, and watch a beautiful and spare live iteration of "Follow You Down" right here. -- Edward Charlton



>> When we last tracked the arc of London shoegaze luminaries Beach Volleyball here last fall, we made sure to remark on the irony of their name, given the windswept, downcast vibe of the act's music. Now we are confronted with a second realization -- namely, that Beach Volleyball does classic, American-style shoegaze better than most American acts in the game. We're not the only ones taking a second look at the combo, as Oakland, Calif. and Berlin-based label Spiralchords announced late last month that it will reissue Beach Volleyball's full-length debut Broadcast later in February. The first teaser track from the collection this time around is "Contack," and it is a stunner. The short piece (short in shoegaze terms, anyway) is knotted and tense, and confidently arrays a driving group of chords. These bristle with texture, between the deep bass and droning, bending high notes, and the rhythm guitar's serrated tone applies an element of knife-fighting menace to the proceedings. Alex Smith's saddened drawl slips amid the textures, adding just the right pathos, contrasting against the noise rock danger and rolling drum beats. Closing with an ambient outro, the tune turns more contemplative as it slowly fades into greyscale. "Power Cuts," another pre-released tune (although, technically, all of them were "pre-released" last August), is similarly strong, and showcases again the driving snare and undulating bass of the rhythm section. These songs suggest a darker take on the early '90s, Isn't Anything-inspired rock of Americans all Lilys, She, Sir, Lorelei and The Swirlies -- bands unafraid to revel in mystery while staying true to their indie roots. Broadcast will be re-released digitally Feb. 28. Stream "Contack" below; it's not presently clear whether there will be a pre-order for the set, but keep watch at the Spiralchords Facebook page for additional release information. -- Edward Charlton

Today's Hotness: Palberta, The Derevolutions, Reindeer

>> My Pal Berta, the recently issued, self-released and free debut by upstate New York indie trio Palberta, sounds like a well-painted train about to derail: that's a good thing. The young co-eds that make up this no-wavey, dream-pop unit brim with ideas, raw energy and spunky charisma, which all find their way into My Pal Berta, a title which we presume is something of an homage to classic outsider rock act The Shaggs. Pal is an uncompromising assortment of savant post-punk noise moves and oddly heartening and forlorn backing vocals. A highlight of the set, the song "Sweat Pap," rides a deep, commanding bass groove before erupting into an exposition of the diverse elements of the threesome's sound. Soon after the start a duality emerges between the vocals, as a creepy, haunting background harmony underscores the lead singer's manic squeaks, squeals and exclamations. A menacing unpredictability in her leads manages to sound cute and terrifying at the same time. Meanwhile, the atonal guitar work recalls masters of the form, such as The Pop Group and Deerhoof, springing from melodic pings and scrapes to phased blasts of prickly distortion. This art-punk approach, and especially the devastating screams and grunts that eventually emerge, are delivered with such unwavering conviction that we cannot imagine Palberta staying below the radar for long. Like the hotly-tipped NY house-show now act Perfect Pussy, Palberta reveal an anxious and powerful female energy, and we can't wait to hear what happens next. Stream all of My Pal Berta via the Bandcamp embed below, and click through to download the album for any price. -- Edward Charlton



>> Now that My Bloody Valentine has finally delivered a sequel to Loveless after two decades, the burden of creating the next great follow-up arguably falls to the beloved Australian electronic troupe The Avalanches. Their 2000 classic Since I Left You not only was borne from strife similar to that which resulted in Loveless, but also the record from the Aussies similarly rewrote the rules of a genre and then -- abrupt silence. The wait continues, of course, but a recent single from an act called The Derevolutions reintroduces a similar sense of sample-heavy adventure that certainly calls to mind highlights of The Avalanches repertoire. The Derevolutions, as best as we can tell, hail from Northampton, Mass., and have been steadily releasing fresh slices of delicious sample-delica for months. Each song to date has featured fetching, new wave-inspired artwork, but otherwise carries nothing in terms of discographical detail other than a Mediafire link and a pointer to Facebook. That intentional anonymity only serves to heighten the mystique, in our opinion. Perhaps the best of The Derevolutions' small but blossoming catalog is the intoxicating "We Found That Beat." The tune rides an endless hook on its way to revealing a brilliant mixologists' song suite. "We Found The Beat" is more than just a killer groove, though: bouncy, bright guitars and echoey strings slide up against the undeniable Roland-808 backbeat to produce a syrupy bump-and-grind that induces serial head-nods, if not outright rug-cutting. Chirpy, cheerleader-esque vocals announce each new chorus and echo the kinetic and exuberant toasting of another early 21st century outfit, The Go! Team. The Derevolutions sugar-pop smarts and air of mystery make the act one to watch for 2014 within (and without) the increasingly thrilling Massachusetts music scene; two even newer tracks, the tropicalia-tinted "Crazy Janey" and the near-deliriously great "Pascualita," were recently added to this Soundcloud page (although now the latter has disappeared again... more mystery...), which we recommend monitoring closely. Stream "We Found That Beat" via the embed below, and click through to download it and the rest of The Derevolutions' brilliant offerings. -- Edward Charlton



>> It's very gratifying to see (well, hear) a longtime musical hero return from a prolonged absence with music that immediately lives up to their back catalog. It happened just last year with Kurt Heasley and his Lilys, via an amazing single "Well Traveled Is Protest" (not to mention Lilys' recently unveiled interpretation of the classic carol "Good King Wenceslas," which is streaming right here). "Well Traveled" reinforced the promise that the passage of time does not have to tarnish a unique mind. We feel the same excitement about Boston dream-pop luminary Seana Carmody and her new supergroup, Reindeer. The quartet, which also includes former members of Scarce, The Bevis Frond and Overflower, dazzles on two new tracks in ways similar to the mighty Swirlies of yore. "Tony," one of the aforementioned pair which surfaced at Bandcamp last month, is a subtly rolling, psychedelic indie pop strummer. Commencing with Carmody's cooing and reverse-delayed purrs, the tune quickly establishes a simple structure -- basic, yet rich with detail in the perfect tone of the guitars. Thereafter, Carmody's familiar lead comes into focus; time has not changed its innocent, child-like timbre and inflections. After the second minute, the song subtly slows in tempo and the guitars take on the same compressed and warbled vibrato character that coursed like blood throughout Swirlies' tremendous BlonderTongueAudioBaton. "Tony" is immediately joyous, albeit perhaps in a hard to define way (that may have more to do with nostalgia than we'd like to admit, since that makes us feel old). The second track, "Blue & White," is perhaps even more affecting, with a wistful melody, denser guitars and a more poignant vocal. Each song is available for a dollar at Bandcamp, and worth a lot more. Buy two, three, even ten copies, as perhaps that money will go toward a future Reindeer album that will bristle with more of these great compositions. We've embedded both tracks below for your auditory enjoyment. -- Edward Charlton

Today's Hotness: Jeff Zeigler, Boom Said Thunder, Nucular Aminals

>> [UPDATED] That Jeff Zeigler figuratively wears a lot of hats (although for a long time it seemed like he only had that knit one -- Ed.). Despite his recognized renaissance-man status in Philadelphia as a principal in progressive-shoegaze standouts Arc In Round and an in-demand producer (he's the go-to guy for Purling Hiss and The War On Drugs), Mr. Zeigler early this month quietly began posting brilliant solo tracks to Soundcloud. There fans will find the beautiful and abstract compositions "Opportunity (rough edit)" and "Saw The Life." The fractured songs are a departure from the relatively more formal music of Arc In Round; they meld painstakingly constructed ambience and feedback, spectral guitar and voice, space and spare beats into transporting, other-worldly compositions. Each one bears Zeigler's familiar wayward percussion and delayed guitar passages, and expands upon Arc In Round's measured interstitial soundscapes. Zeigler's new music echoes certain tracks off of The Swirlies' oft-misunderstood Cats of the Wild, Vol. 2 album and its head-spinning effect achieved by so much meticulously crafted chaos. Old school Philly types may even reckon that Zeigler's new songs' experimental bent recalls the music of erstwhile Philly peers Diagram. "Saw The Life" commences with subdued acoustic guitar; not long after a dreamy vocal spills into the mix a firm rhythm is established via tumbling, crunchy echoes and clanking guitar sounds. A brief chorus at the end reminds fans of the rare moments in which Zeigler explores his higher vocal range, a move that pleasingly builds tension without losing the smoky cool of his lower register. "Opportunity" adds more electricity with clean electric strums and a vacuum cleaner feedback blow that unhinges the tune and lifts it into the heliosphere. With such high-caliber music at hand, one can only hope that a solo gig in Philadelphia this Monday might be a harbinger of a potential solo record. But in the meantime Arc In Round has its own fish to fry: Friday the foursome revealed it is at work on a sophomore set and will release a remix record collecting stray tracks and remixes Tuesday via Soundcloud and Bandcamp. The collection includes contributions from experimental heavy-hitters Benoit Pioulard and A Sunny Day In Glasgow, among others. Listen to Zeigler’s "Opportunity (Rough Edit)" via the embed below. Clicky Clicky reviewed Arc In Round's self-titled debut long-player here last June. -- Edward Charlton



>> Cambridge, Mass.-based Boom Said Thunder recently issued its throbbing debut long-player Exist, a collection at turns tender, bombastic and then, well, even more bombastic than that. The trio's spartan approach eschews guitars -- and, really, any adornment at all beyond maybe that trill of ghostly keys on "Invisible People" -- in favor of heroic doses of over-driven bass, thunderous drumming and fronter Abby Bickel's out-sized vocals. There may be a formula to it, insofar as each of the 11 songs on Exist attacks directly at gut level (what was that '80s boxing video game? "body blow!" "body blow!" "uppercut!") and then makes quick work to move hips and nod heads. But Boom Said Thunder's strength on the album is using that same point repeatedly as a vehicle to successfully stage heavy moods, define heavy grooves and power big rock numbers from silence to cacaphony and back again. Ms. Bickel's voice perhaps superficially suggests that of Karen O., and the sheer force of the trio's music at times recalls the blunt trauma of Sleigh Bells, but Boom Said Thunder is able to substantially shade its work even with the few tools it allows itself. So the pretty ballad "Violet" taps the same sort of gothic melancholy as Nirvana's "Something In The Way," while album openers "Gold Rush" and "Destroyer" unapologetically rock face with a refreshingly overpowering amount of attitude that evidences a commitment to rocking out so strong that it would make many be-sweatered, bespectacled indie rockers a touch uncomfortable. Exist was self-released March 1, and the band celebrates said release Wednesday with a show at Great Scott in Boston. The album is available as a clear/purple haze 12" vinyl LP as well as a digital download; the band is also selling posters and t-shirts, and all of these are available via Bandcamp. Stream the LP below, that's what you should do now.

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>>Since hoodwinking Portland, OR-based correspondent Edward Charlton into thinking we operate a real publication, we've been needling him to throw insight our way into his adopted hometown's vibrant guitar-pop scene. One of his first tips from the indie rock Valhalla is veteran act Nucular Aminals (a reference to G.W. Bush's less-verbose moments?) and its recently issued "Alice Day" b/w "Come On" vinyl 7". The spooky single, out on Portland's own Hovercraft Records, features two new tunes from the psych-garage quartet and comes in the wake of a pair of long-players for legendary Pacific Northwest imprint K Records. "Alice Day" -- and its sparse arrangement of tense guitar strumming, droning organ, thudding bass and reverbed vocals -- patiently evidences a difficult-to-define sound that nods affirmatively to proto-post-punk and grunge influences (think The Wipers). Its lumbering bass line and fronter Robert Comitz’s sinister vocal melody each add a pleasing spy-noir glaze to the proceedings. Nucular Aminals' music at the very least conjures a singular, out-of-time feeling. Sure, "Alice Day" hints at '60s revivalism, too, but not to the extent the song echoes the parade of formulaic beachgazers that have dominated a wide swath of guitar pop in recent years. Instead, thinking Bleach-era Nirvana toying with a B-52s cover doesn't seem far off the mark. The Aminals recently completed a two-week European tour and will play an official release show for the "Alice Day" single April 11 at Portland's The Know. The single just recently appeared on Bandcamp and you can stream it and buy it via the embed below.

Today's Hotness: Young Prisms, Violens, Speedy Ortiz

>> Shoegaze purists rejoice! While waiting for the next Ringo Deathstarr platter to come along and provoke the tinnitus, might we suggest checking out another group of revivalists who have done their homework: San Francisco's Young Prisms. The quintet's second full-length, In Between, is due March 27 on the venerable Kanine Records, and the album's wide-eyed take on the genre evokes memories of a certain strata of superlative, bygone American pedal pushers (Ultra Cindy, Drop Nineteens, Astrobrite). While Young Prisms breaks no new ground either compositionally or sonically here, In Between's understated boy/girl vocals, churning guitar chords, and dazed, reverberant snare drum marches will delight enthusiasts of the genre (present company included). Throughout the mostly mid-tempo set, Young Prisms cultivates some great melodies, including that of lead single "Four Hours (Away)," the vocal of which notably taps a Mazzy Star-like lilt while the instrumentation strikes a light, Motown-flavored contrapposto. The real winner of the collection, however, is "Better Days," a wonderful tribute to "Sarah Sitting" by the mighty, beloved Boston group The Swirlies that touts a shifting melody and queasy guitar lead. In the way that Interpol took the vibe of The Chameleons and sexed it up for a new generation, Young Prisms aims to inspire a rising legion of 'gazers with seldom-heard references that have always deserved more attention. Pre-order In Between from Kanine right here, and check out the marvelous live set recorded at Shea Stadium last October via the embed below -- Edward Charlton



>> In a wonderful surprise last week, Slumberland Records posted to its Soundcloud page a new track from New York-based chord merchants Violens (an act which, incidentally, has remixed Young Prisms' "Floating In Blue"). The song, "Der Microarc," is from the act's upcoming album True, slated for release May 15th. Violens isa five-year-old progressive pop band that combines elements of '80s alternative rock sounds with early electro and broad vocal harmonies. Utilizing these tools, the band concocts a rare form of psychedelia via compositional weirdness, rather than relying on effects. Beautiful, odd chords and melodic turns can leave the listener disoriented even as they are dancing along. It's a rare musical feat that speaks of a musical intelligence and playfulness that the indie world can always use more of. "Der Microarc" is a quickly paced jam that displays a clarity that was missing on Amoral, the group's crowded yet superb 2010 debut. The song follows an effective four chord strum; a kraut groove filtered through the prickly surrealism of Daydream Nation. Better yet, the band seem to be tapping into the vibes of Mahogany's smashing Connectivity! album and its internationalist cosmo-pop. The signing of Violens could signal a welcome shift in the recent Slumberland roster, which lately has seemed to focus primarily on somewhat predictable presentations of the C86/ Black Tambourine legacy, as opposed to the label's more experimental past, including ground breaking releases from bands like Hood, Lorelei, Stereolab and Whorl. This thought alone is enough to make the anticipation for True unbearable. -- Edward Charlton



>> We don't know the age of Sarah Dupuis and the rest of Western Mass.-based Speedy Ortiz, but we imagine that they wish they were born 20 years ago. Because there's little doubt that Speedy Ortiz's recent single "Taylor Swift" would be garnering scads of major market FM radio play on the fledgling alternative rock-formatted stations that were springing up back then. And on the strength of the single Speedy Ortiz would probably be aboard a commercial flight to Los Angeles right now (well, right now 1992) to record a full-length for one of those major-backed, faux indie labels we had back then. But, of course, it is not the bizarro world of the early '90s we're currently living in. That, however, does not weaken the impact of "Taylor Swift," a crunchy, feedback-spangled, grunge-pop gem with a ridiculously catchy, swaggering chorus. The single, backed with the even-heavier but still delicious and angular "Swim Fan," was recorded by Paul Q. Kolderie at Mad Oak Studios and mixed by Justin Pizzoferrato, whose name you know from his work with Dinosaur Jr. and Young Adults, among many others. And, if a post on the band's Facebook page is to be believed, apparently naming their single "Taylor Swift" is a trademark violation, so the song title may be changing. Speedy Ortiz are slated to play the Pipeline! radio show on MIT's WMBR on April 24, and the band has a short series of tour dates in the Northeastern United States in late March that are posted to its Bandcamp page right here. It appears the band is currently recording a five-track EP at the Sex Dungeon in Philadelphia titled Sports, which we are now very eager to hear. Check out "Taylor Swift" and "Swim Fan" via the embed below.

Today's Hotness: The Swirlies, Good Dangers

>> [PHOTO CREDIT: Brad Searles] That distant rumbling you half-hear and half-feel can only mean that legendary chimp rock superheroes The Swirlies are powering up for an indeterminate span of time. We caught wind of the activity via a well-informed Facebook friend Tuesday, and confirmed this afternoon that, yes, in fact The Swirlies will play Philadelphia's Johnny Brenda's Saturday July 23rd. Curiously, the gig will be a matinee. We can't find other dates, not even at The Swirlies' web dojo, but we did notice that the band's bio was updated only last week. We have heard pretty credible information that additional but limited East Coast appearances beyond the JB's date are a possibility. Watch this space for more information. The Swirlies are best known for a series of spectacular releases on Taang! records in the early '90s, including 1992's What To Do About Them EP [MP3s], 1993's mind-blowing Blonder Tongue Audio Baton [MP3s] and 1994's Brokedick Car EP [MP3s]. The mercurial act last roared to life in the winter of 2009, and we wrote about the Philly and Cambridge shows here and here respectively.

The Swirlies' "Wrong Tube"

>> Speaking of 2009: it's been a long time coming, but Good Dangers, the London-based guitar pop outfit that rose from the ashes of spiky pop purveyors Assembly Now, has finally issued a debut single. We'd been in touch with the quintet -- which touts the core members of Assembly Now along with new member Jenny on keys -- as far back as November 2009 and had been waiting on new recordings ever since. We are happy to report it has been well worth the wait. The digital-only single -- a split with Peppercorn issued by Cosine Records May 31 -- features the Good Dangers' "So Unkind;" catch the stream below and watch the video right here. The music isn't jarringly different from the latter Assembly Now efforts, particularly the earnest vocals, but there is a new lush density and hypnotic repetition that clearly sets "So Unkind" apart. While the song is the band's first official release, we are excited to find that there are already three other videos posted to Vimeo: "Brasilia;" "Waves;" and "Beat Of Your Heart." All of the tracks are strong, and we're hopeful an EP or even full length is in the offing. Longtime readers may recall that Assembly Now's song "It's Magnetic" was [still is] one of our favorites of 2007, although our blog post from December 2007 saying as much was rendered useless by the shuttering of web playlister Imeem.

Good Dangers' "So Unkind"