Review: Johnny Foreigner | Mono No Aware

In the key scene of the 1997 film that takes its name from the quote, Jack Nicholson's Melvin Udall remarks to fellow patients populating the purgatory of his psychiatrist's waiting room, "What if this is as good as it gets?" It is an unsettling and even disorienting idea, that what you have and what you are, your construction of your self, are unlikely to ever again change for the better. But (thankfully, as it makes this painfully protracted metaphor work) Mr. Udall does change, and grow, spurred by renewed self-awareness and a revitalized sense of self. Far from being a condemnation to a static, flat existence, a revelation such as Udall's can be freeing. That weightless feeling of revelation-fueled freedom powers the tremendous new long-player from Birmingham, England guitar-pop titans Johnny Foreigner.

Johnny Foreigner, of course, was at nothing like Udall's dead-end prior to the release of Mono No Aware, its fifth album. Quite to the contrary, we've often referred to the four as England's greatest band, and it has created one of the most enviable catalogs in independent rock music, ever. But -- as co-founder and guitarist Alexei Berrow told Upset Magazine here earlier this year -- the veteran act has had to come to terms with its station within the pop music firmament, and now eschews focusing on negative externals and orients itself toward simply being the best band it can be for a frothing fan base cultivated with great care over the last decade.

Call it real life (births, deaths and near-deaths), call it maturity (marriage, parenthood): whatever "it" is, it has caught up with Johnny Foreigner, but none of it has blunted the legendary band's fire and passion [excised refutation of Neil Young's tired binary]. Indeed, the quartet's new set is invigorated by and celebrates the stuff of life, from Mr. Berrow's opening incantation/confession/deep insidery reference -- the Udall moment, if you will -- "it stings to admit, I can't foresee a day when we buy speedboats from this," to the ensuing recitation of his recent brush with mortality ("literally centimetres away from death," he told Upset) in the instant classic "Undevestator" (which, as we noted here, would seem to present the inverse of "Devestator," the closing number of the band's triumphant fourth LP You Can Do Better) and onward through the collection's 11 songs. Chief songwriter Berrow doubles down on incorporating -- deftly, pellucidly -- autobiography into the music ("...it's lucky sadness triggers the songs..."), making the stuff of life part and parcel of the band's capital A Art using a mature lens whose poignancy springs from the album's titular concept.

There is an astonishing amount of detail packed into its briskly paced 35 minutes, yet Mono No Aware succeeds in every direction. There are the blitzkrieging singles and should-be singles that are Johnny Foreigner's stock-in-trade, such as the brilliant rager "If You Can't Be Honest, Be Awesome" and fiery "The X and the O," respectively. Other successes are perhaps more subtle but substantially more exciting. Even 10 years on the band continues to best itself in terms of songcraft, adding progressive flair to a genre which -- let's be honest -- too often gets to coast on the right chords, the correct pedals. The brightly burning centerpiece of the record is the wild, vivid and deconstructed anthem "Our Lifestyles Incandescent," whose verses feature thrilling vocal arrangements structured around the voice of Chicago polymath Nnamdi Ogbonnaya. Indeed, impressive vocal arrangements are a hallmark of the set.

Johnny Foreigner even weaves intricate and beautiful sonic detail into its bangers on Mono No Aware, as in the final, orchestral section of the aforementioned "If You Can't Be Honest" (which touts strings and horns arranged by the great Nick Cox, formerly of Sheffield, England progressive pop luminaries Screaming Maldini and now out under his own shingle as a composer/producer/arranger). Mono No Aware closes with a sublime fade-out, largely along a sustained low D before the chord progression resolves, a terrifically smart echo of the delicate notes of the aforementioned "Mounts Everest." The effect, for the put-it-on-Spotify-and-put-it-on-repeat generation anyway, is of a dream starting over every time the crushing, sparkling ballad "Decants The Atlantic" -- which is among the greatest (and most self-aware) songs in a Johnny Foreigner oeuvre rife with sublime album closers -- slips beneath the proverbial waves and is reborn with "Mounts Everest." It's magical sequencing compounding brilliant songwriting.

Despite having a decade under its collective belt, not to mention four long-players and a dizzying number of singles and EPs, Mono No Aware is completely devoid of complacence, and perhaps this is why Johnny Foreigner could never find itself in Udall's tight spot in the first place (remember Udall, from the first paragraph?). Instead, the record celebrates perseverence and a career staked out largely on the band's own terms (especially when it mattered). The album was released Friday by the venerable Alcopop! Records in the UK and in the U.S. by Philadelphia's Lame-O Records. The domestic LP is pressed to pink media and is available in a limited edition of 300 pieces, which can be purchased right here. UK fans or dedicated fans willing to shell out for jazzy imports have a broader array of purchase options. In addition to a traditional compact disc of vinyl 12", bundles are available which deliver the music alongside your choice of a t-shirt, posters by guitarist Lewes Herriot and Irene Zafra, some sort of movie script dealie, badges, and yet more posters (there are 10 posters relating to songs on the album, and true heads flush with cash can get the 10-poster Royale With Cheese bundle right here). UK vinyl is an edition of 200 blue pieces and 500 orange pieces, and by the time you read these words the blue may have sold out. That's what you get for ignoring our advice Friday morning. Stream Mono No Aware via the Sporkify embed below.



Johnny Foreigner: Bandcamp | Facebook | Internerds

Prior Johnny Foreigner Coverage:
Postscript: Johnny Foreigner's "Stop Talking About Ghosts" Review: Johnny Foreigner | You Can Do Better Review: Johnny Foreigner | Names EP
Review: Johnny Foreigner | Johnny Foreigner Vs. Everything
Cut The Rope And Jump Off: Johnny Foreigner On Alternate Timelines, Optimism And Everything
Review: Johnny Foreigner | Certain Songs Are Cursed EP
Review: Johnny Foreigner | You Thought You Saw A Shooting Star But Yr Eyes Were Blurred With Tears And That Lighthouse Can Be Pretty Deceiving...
Review: Johnny Foreigner | Grace And The Bigger Picture
Review: Johnny Foreigner | WeLeftYouSleepingAndGoneNow
Review: Johnny Foreigner | Waited Up 'Til It Was Light
Review: Johnny Foreigner | Arcs Across The City EP
That Was The Show That Was: Johnny Foreigner | Bowery Ballroom

Review: Yr Poetry | Rocket Season EP

We are dogged by an apparently false (or at least presently unconfirmed) recollection of a use of the term "rocket summer" beyond its obvious references within popular fiction and execrable emo. What we recall is a piece of dialogue dubbing "rocket summer" a season in which the lives of a group of young people begin to take off -- you know, like rockets. We thought we'd find the verbiage in the crucial '90s indie-scene film "Half Cocked," whose story features a crash pad called Rocket House, but a repeat screening last week proved fruitless. Instead of continuing to cast about for support for our possibly dreamed-up memory, we're just going to get to these (long-suffering) points: Yr Poetry released last week a thrilling new six-song EP of taut, melodious indie anthems called Rocket Season, and -- as a result -- it is hard not to feel like the project has taken off (slightly adjusted title or no).

Longtime readers will not need the history lesson and can scroll ahead, but neophytes take heed: Yr Poetry is Alexei Berrow and Junior Elvis Washington Laidley of invincible Birmingham, England fight-pop four Johnny Foreigner, although the project is doubly once-removed from that concern via each gentlemen's respective solo endeavor (guitarist Berrow's Yr Friends, f/k/a Yr Dead Friends, and drummer Laidley's Fridge Poetry). Rocket Season, Yr Poetry's second EP, opens on a high with the thunderous basher "Don't Call Me Shirley," a song that tells of a powerful infatuation whose shuddering energy and vivid, desperate vocals echo the electrifying jolt of new, seemingly inescapable love. Given he is endlessly clever, its easy to believe Berrow uses the tune's closing words ("...that boy, still gets you...") as a nod to "Still Got It," the final track of the pair's titanic 2014 debut mini-album No Tribes. Or at least it is easier to believe that than it is to believe that Berrow named a song after a running gag from one of the greatest comedies ever filmed. Either way, the onion-skin layers of yearning and poignancy embedded in the crashing chords and cymbals of "Don't Call Me Shirley" are terrifically affecting.

The EP's 15 minutes transpire rapidly, never presenting a chance to sag, and the tone is generally raw and aggressive: think Johnny Foreigner's thrashing "Who Needs Comment Boxes When You've Got Knives," from the act's triumphant 2010 EP You Thought You Saw A Shooting Star But Yr Eyes Were Blurred With Tears And That Lighthouse Can Be Pretty Deceiving With The Sky So Clear And Sea So Calm [review], and you'll have an idea of Berrow's headspace when writing this short collection. The mid-set charmer "We Are Not The Champions" stands out. The tune condenses the sardonic conceit of Built To Spill's majestic "You Were Right" into a similarly sharp-witted but elegantly architected rocker. It is worth remarking that there seems to be something in the zeitgeist with the sentiment "We Are Not The Champions," as LA's DTCV uses virtually the same title for a completely different rocker on its dazzling LP Confusion Moderne, due next month.

Berrow told Goldflake Paint recently that Yr Poetry is "super proud how [Rocket Season] turned out and vaguely side-eye confident that it stands as a rad piece of music without being propped up by a *side project of.. tag... so who knows, maybe this is our mainstream breakout project." He is an avid reader of sci-fi, so it is very likely the title of the EP was carefully selected, for both its similarity to, and differences from, Ray Bradbury's epochal classic "The Martian Chronicles," whose first chapter is titled "Rocket Summer." Yr Poetry's chosen title if anything is stronger, as it suggests an ability to adapt, and -- importantly -- to return. It underscores the momentum of the project. although that momentum will likely be knocked sidewise with the release of the aforementioned Johnny Foreigner's hotly anticipated next full-length, which may very well street before 2016 burns out.

Rocket Season was recorded over a weekend in Johnny Foreigner's rehearsal space by James and Josh from Mutes; the set was mixed by music-recording-guy extraordinaire Dom James. Yr Poetry self-released Rocket Season as a CD and digital download March 24, and a special pre-order bundle was on offer the week prior to release right here.The bundle included a handmade, numbered and signed CD, an A4 poster, lyric sheet and black t-shirt with a yellow-printed rendering of the collection's ace cover image, but it appears orders are no longer being taken. For those who missed the offer of physical merch, the set should be on Bandcamp soon. For now, stream the entirety of Rocket Season via the embed below.

Yr Poetry: Bandcamp | Soundcloud



Related Coverage:
Today's Hotness: Fridge Poetry
Johnny Foreigner Side Project Tsunami: New Music Pending From Yr Poetry, Yr Friends and Fridge Poetry, Hear Titanic "Still Got It" Now
Today's Hotness: Fridge Poetry
Today's Hotness: Fridge Poetry
Today's Hotness: Fridge Poetry
Today's Hotness: Yr Friends
Today's Hotness: Yr Friends
Today's Hotness: Yr Dead Friends

Premiere: Mutes' Hook-Laden Negation "Less Existence"

Mutable Birmingham, England guitar band Mutes returns this month with an appealing new set that pushes out against the project's stylistic boundaries. Indeed, mastermind James Mutes jokes the short collection Inertia should have been called James Gets A Synth. But despite an IDM-acknowledging introductory track and some prominent electronic flourishes throughout, synth isn't actually the hallmark of the record: it's acoustic guitar. Inertia foregrounds James' acoustic playing in the delightful, finger-picked and delicately buzzing "Soft Spots" as well as the easy strummer "Killing Speed." We are pleased to premiere for you today the deceptively bright track "Less Existence." The acoustic-led tune touts the aforementioned electronic flourishes as well as vocal harmonies, and it is the most uptempo and groovy spot on the EP. The breezy vocal melody -- and particularly the head-bobbing, hook-laden negation "...the problem is I don't exist..." -- recalls the strong songs long-gone Philadelphia indie heroes Mazarin (recently reincarnated as the current and delightful concern Light Heat) proferred at the turn of the century. Inertia also boasts dazzling ambient passages, and strings a number of these together to form the cinematic "Long Wave Goodbye," which is so evocative a closer you can easily imagine production credits floating upwards across the picture plane. The most haunting track on the EP might be the shimmering, crookedly waltzing mood piece "Incidental Host."

It bears mentioning that Inertia is a solo collection. While James has built up a stable of players to support his songwriting over the last year or two (including the great Junior Laidley of Brit guitar-pop titans Johnny Foreigner) Mutes has evolved into a project that can and will change shape around the songwriter, in much the same way our beloved Lilys is mastermind Kurt Heasley and a rotating cast. So with its latest release Inertia, Mutes reverts back to its original sole proprietorship, and -- interestingly -- in doing so the music Inertia presents is reminiscent of the act's persistently dreamy, self-titled debut EP from 2014. Inertia will be self-released as a digital download Feb. 23, and digital pre-orders are already available via Bandcamp right here. Mutes begins recording a new full-band album this week in London, and all proceeds of the sale of Inertia help bankroll the new album sessions. James Mutes will perform a solo set to open the mighty Ringo Deathstarr's March 9 show in Birmingham; Clicky Clicky faves Yr Poetry, the collaboration of Johnny Foreigner principals Alexei Berrow and the aforementioned Mr. Laidley, is also on this incredible bill. Stream "Less Existence" via the embed below.

Mutes: Bandcamp | Facebook



Prior Mutes Coverage:
Show Us Yours #28: Mutes
Today's Hotness: Mutes
Today's Hotness: Mutes
Today's Hotness: Mutes

Today's Hotness: Johnny Foreigner, Presents For Sally

>> Today is a lot of things. Like this happened and this happened and this happened. But today was also the day that UK It labels Alcopop! Records and Dog Knights Productions released a terrific quad-split 12" featuring Clicky Clicky all-time-faves Johnny Foreigner and regular-time faves Playlounge, along with top peer acts Doe and Doctrines. Each band contributes two exclusive tracks, and Johnny Foreigner's "All Yr Favourite Bands Are Dead" and "Flooding" are the first new songs we've heard from the band since the release of its titanic 2014 LP You Can Do Better [review]. We've been able to listen to "All Yr Favourite Bands Are Dead" for months since the split LP was announced, and it delivers in a big way. The tune is a fetching and waltz-timed admonition that firmly pokes at the eyes of bands that re-form only to parade past glories. And while it can be hard to swallow given such criticism potentially condemns greatest-of-all-time rock combos The Replacements (who, of course, already kind of condemned themselves), Archers Of Loaf, and Pavement, it is still harder not to sing along with Johnny Foreigner's incisive and typically weapons-grade chorus "no new songs, we'll just play the old ones, once a strident voice turned to karaoke." It is well worth noting that the Doe, Doctrines and Playlounge tunes on the split that are streaming now all rock hard, and we are eager for our copy to arrive in the mail so we can hear all eight cuts. The record is available now on yellow 12" vinyl from Alcopop! and orange 12" vinyl from Dog Knights, and we expect it will eventually be available as a digital download, as half the songs are sitting right here at Dog Knights' Bandcamp dojo. £10 will get you either 12", but £18 will get you both, obsessives, so hit up the Alcopop! store before these are all gone. Stream four of the eight aforementioned songs via the Bandcamp embed below. While we've got you here, we would also like to report that there is a new tune from Yr Friends out there in the digital ether available for ear huffing. Avid readers will recall that Yr Friends is the (increasingly active) solo vehicle of JoFo fronter Alexei Berrow, and the project landed a terrific cover version of All Saints' "Pure Shores" (also embedded below) on a recently issued digital compilation called Sad Girls Clubbing, which can be downloaded for free right here. Readers will likely also recall Mr. Berrow collaboration with JoFo drummer Junior Elvis Washington Laidley's Fridge Poetry project, which is brilliantly called Yr Poetry. There is apparently a new Yr Poetry EP in the works, so life will continue to be pretty grand for some time.





>> To what can we attribute the rhythmic bounce that propels "Wishawaytoday," the deliriously great summer single that served as the harbinger for Presents For Sally's recently released sophomore set Colours & Changes? My Bloody Valentine's blindingly brilliant "Drive It All Over Me" is an obvious reference point, but we suppose the rhythm also echoed prominently within the Madchester sound that followed on its heels at the dawn of the nineties (think Northside's woozy banger "Take 5," The Wonderstuff's earth-shaking "Caught In My Shadow"). Ultimately, from whence it sprang is no matter: "Wishawaytoday" is fantastic, and we suppose the delicate, shifting vocal harmonies in the verses may actually be the most arresting thing about the tune. Also notable is the record's richly ethereal title track, which again applies a dance-able beat but also emphasizes the Bristol, England-based gaze trio's strengths composing beautiful ambient instrumentals. Colours & Changes elsewhere is filled with spectral vocals and crumbling guitars and strong vibes, with the pensive "Sing" approaching but not quite matching the giddy appeal of the aforementioned single. Saint Marie Records released Colours & Changes Sept. 11 as an LP, CD and digital download. All three formats are presently available via Darla Records' digital storefront; the 250-piece color vinyl edition is apparently nearly sold out, so act fast if you are so jazzed. Presents For Sally formed in 2009 and issued its debut long-player A Touch of Joy, A Touch of Sadness the following year; the threesome has also issued a few singles and a compilation track. Stream "Wishawaytoday" via the Bandcamp embed below, and watch a video for the cut right here.

Today's Hotness: Katie Dey, Yr Friends, Ultimate Painting

>> What is this thing, this beautiful and singular thing that is weird like The Phenomenological Boys but twinkles and creaks and bleeps like Rounds-era Four Tet? It's the new (and perhaps debut?) full-length from Melbourne, Australia producer Katie Dey, that's what, and its curious, dizzying blend of electronic and acoustic sounds makes for remarkably rich and textural compositions. The inspired seven-song collection, titled asdfasdf, was released by Brooklyn's Orchid Tapes June 11 as a cassette and (paywhutchyalike) digital download. Opener "Don't Be Scared" comes on like the old J Mascis rarity "A Little Ethnic Song," but spectral, high pseudo vocals, slippery tones and disjointed rhythms assemble and dissemble across the stereo field and take the song to unexpected places quickly. The biggest hooks on the set come in the relatively (relatively) conventional uptempo waltzer "Unkillable," an 80-second burst of pure sunshine. "H o e" is denser and ups the guitar quotient, but instead of seeming yet more conventional, the track underscores the amazing breadth of sounds, structures and styles Ms. Dey employs on her truly remarkable collection. The first pressing of 140 pale green cassettes already sold out in basically a day and a second (color: violet) is already on offer from the label for USD $7.50 right here. The cassettes come packaged with a stamped tea bag, guava candy, a sticker, and a handwritten thank you note, so the choice for the discerning listener here is obvious (assuming you have access to a working tape deck). Orchid Tapes has also released music from other hitmakers of the day including Alex G and The Bilinda Butchers. Stream all of asdfasdf via the Bandcamp embed below; it was originally self-released April 28.



>> We've been remiss in pointing out that there is a terrific new Yr Friends EP out in the wilds. Indeed, the five-song set was issued last month and is titled Over You, and it presents another serving of the decidedly subdued jams that songwriter Alexei Berrow -- best known as the fronter of Birmingham, England indie goliaths Johnny Foreigner, don’t ya know -- typically reserves for his solo releases. Over You opens with two delicate and downcast ruminations, "Cities Without Libraries" and "Tom Doesn't Work Here Anymore," which draw listeners in with their pretty melodies, strong vibes, and Mr. Berrow's earnest, relatable verbal portraiture. "Five More Years" marks a turn outward, as Berrow takes a chance to tastefully condemn the recent re-election of the Tory government in the U.K. The tune has a similar feel to the classic Johnny Foreigner b-side "For The Chains." The highlight of Over You is the actually quite funny "New Placebo Is Shit." It is tenderly sung, despite the humorous skewering of said new Placebo, and the overall sentiment feels akin to that of Nosferatu D2's peerless ode to disappointment in one's favorite bands, "A Footnote." Over You is available as a digital download via the Yr Friends Bandcamp right here, and you can stream the entire thing via the embed below. Yr Friends recently pieced together a short strand of rare live dates, more or less to support the release of Over You, but the dates have run their course and there is no telling when the project will pop back in to focus. Fortunately, Berrow has other fish to fry: Johnny Foreigner have been practicing and playing shows, and there was some social media chatter earlier in the spring about the progress being made on the forthcoming, fifth Johnny Foreigner LP. The quartet's triumphant prior set, You Can Do Better [review], was released in March 2014 in the UK and into the domestic market via Lame-O Records later that same year. There was never a proper U.S. tour despite the Lame-O issue, so here's hoping Johnny Foreigner will return to America before too long... perhaps go on tour with The Weaks, do something like that... that'd be awesome, right?



>> We're big fans of Ultimate Painting, the fruitful collaboration of Veronica Falls' James Hoare and Jack Cooper of Mazes that issued a studied and cool self-titled debut long-player last year. Covering the rollout of singles from that release in these electronic pages was a pleasure, as each new tune felt like a rediscovered slice of AM radio gold. We're pleased to report here that only six months after that first outing, the London duo has announced a new LP and propounded a great new teaser track to boot. "Break The Chain" is the first track from Green Lanes, the aforementioned follow-up LP due Aug. 7th via Trouble In Mind, which also released Ultimate Painting. The LP takes its title from the neighborhood where Mr. Hoare has a home studio, which is where the set was recorded to one-inch tape; Mazes drummer Neil Robinson plied his rhythmic trade on the recordings. As with everything the band has released to date, the tune is a warm, analog pop dream: clean guitars calmly strum along to a loping drum cadence complemented by sweet, everyman vocals within a precise, mid-heavy mix. Ultimate Painting notably breaks from traditional verse-chorus architecture after the first minute-and-a-half of sweetheart guitars, halting the song to spotlight a piano that beefs up the tune's tender, "Penny Lane"-esque groove. Perhaps acknowledging the song's increased strength due to the addition of the piano, the band sticks to a series of refrains about "chain smoke breaks," suggesting the lyrics concern addiction, although gentle concessions elsewhere alert the listener to the fact that Ultimate Painting would accept them regardless. As yet, pre-orders are not being taken for Green Lanes, but keep an eye on this page at the band's digital storefront for the inevitable availability. Ultimate Painting return to the Boston area Sept 19, when it will play an 18+ show at Cambridge, Mass. Middle East Rock Club's upstairs room. Full event details, such as they are this far out, are available here. Stream "Break The Chain" via the Soundcloud embed below. -- Edward Charlton

Johnny Foreigner Side Project Tsunami: New Music Pending From Yr Poetry, Yr Friends and Fridge Poetry, Hear Titanic "Still Got It" Now

Remember the mid-summer news, that two Johnny Foreigner-related side-projects were Voltron-ing together to form still another permutation? Well, even if you don't, the fruits of the union of Johnny Foreigner guitarist and singer Alexei Berrow's Yr Friends project and drummer Junior Elvis Washington Laidley's Fridge Poetry project -- which operates under the nomme de guerre Yr Poetry -- are due Oct. 10 in the form of a cracking mini-album titled No Tribes. The raw and ready seven-song set was recorded with long-time engineer Dom James and will be released via the Yr Friends Bandcamp as a digital download and hand-made, limited-edition CD with booklet like it's the year 200x. Given the slack and subdued vibe of Yr Friends, and the burbling emo-tronics of Fridge Poetry, No Tribes is actually a bit of a surprise. Rather than expressing an average of the two side projects' sounds, the short set is, well, a complete face-rocker. Explosive standout "Bae Ruthie" is massive, with crushing distortion in the lead guitar riff (a sort of inside-out rendering of the riff from Johnny Foreigner's titanic 2010 rocker "Who Needs Comment Boxes When You've Got Knives"), breakneck drumming and Mssrs. Berrow and Laidley desperately harmonizing on the ridiculously catchy chorus "is that all you've got to say?" Impossibly powerful and poignant hooks seem to come to Berrow with disturbing ease, or at least ludicrous frequency, and closer "Still Got It" powerfully delivers with the repeated declaration -- delivered over a storming flurry of strumming and thrilling battery of snare and cymbals from Mr. Laidley -- "I survived a pop-punk summer, shiny heartbreak on the radio." The tune is on par with legendary JoFo album closers "The Coast Was Always Clear" and "Absolute Balance," and is definitive proof that Yr Poetry and its music shouldn't be treated as a secondary effort: No Tribes is the real deal. It is unclear whether we can expect to see Yr Poetry performing live again; our recollection (which may be faulty) is there was a single live performance over the summer. Johnny Foreigner are preparing for a short jaunt to South Africa at the end of the month, and there have already been rumblings about making a fifth proper full-band LP, so the band remains busy.

But not too busy to keep Yr Poetry's component parts from releasing even more new music shortly. Yr Friends' Yr Friends Don't Care What You Look Like EP was to have been released earlier this week, according to a recent email blast, although we have as yet not seen the project hit the Interwhatzitz (although, as we note below, Goldflake Paint has a taste). The new EP comes relatively hot on the heels of another EP issued in August called Yr Friends Ruined It For All Of Us, notable not only for being terrific (the tune "Hella Negatives (Version 2)" is dazzling and delicate and so, so pretty), but also for the inclusion of a cover of Hole's "Malibu." The same recent email blast to the JoFo list last week stated Fridge Poetry will release a new EP Oct. 15 titled Omstart Sessions. Given the title, we can only imagine the material contained therein will have been recorded at the aforementioned Dom James' Omstart studio in Birmingham, England, which as we failed to mention supra is the hometown for everyone we've been talking about here. Fridge Poetry's prior efforts -- particularly its collaborations with The Weaks' Evan Bernard -- have rocked most steadfastly, so we are eager to hear these new songs as well.

Stepping back for a moment, we are extremely happy to be getting so much new music from Johnny Foreigner and its related projects these days. The Birmingham fight-pop heroes recently very quietly passed its 10th anniversary as a band, although a 10th anniversary of bassist Kelly Southern joining up is still a couple years off, apparently feels more like something more worth noting, and is slightly more likely to be celebrated by the somewhat anniversary-adverse act. A recent, somewhat viral Twitter bleep noted with awe how much The Smiths accomplished in just five years; as a fan we're grateful that we are still able to see and hear what Johnny Foreigner are doing 10 years on, and hopefully will be able to say the same thing in another five and perhaps even 10 years. We are pleased to be able to offer a stream of the aforementioned Yr Poetry joint "Still Got It" below. We recommend turning it up quite loud. To hear more newness, check out Goldflake Paint's aforementioned triumvirate of exclusives from the three pending releases right here. And because we're totally jazzed by it right now, below "Still Got It" we're posting all of Yr Friends' Yr Friends Ruined It For All Of Us, as it hit the Internerds whilst we were on holiday this summer and as a result we didn't give it the digital ones and zeroes it deserved at the time.

Today's Hotness: Johnny Foreigner, Bent Shapes, It Looks Sad., Frontier(s)

>> We couldn't let this bit of news completely slip by without trumpeting it once more here, given our self-proclaimed status as the publication of record for all things Johnny Foreigner. So, in case you missed it in the mad run-up to our vacation last month, the Birmingham, England-based noise-pop titans have signed with Philadelphia's Lame-O Records to release its music in the U.S. The first fruits of this relationship is a weird virtual "mix tape" released a few weeks back called Worse Things Happen At Sea; it collects an unusual assortment of mostly previously released material, probably as many deep cuts as greatest hits, we'd say. Highlights include a session version of the opener to Johnny Foreigner's incredible 2014 LP You Can Do Better, "Shipping," as well the lead cuts from its titanic third LP Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything and devastating 2010 EP You Thought You Saw A Shooting Star But Yr Eyes Were Blurred With Tears And That Lighthouse Can Be Pretty Deceiving With The Sky So Clear And The Sea So Calm. The real deep cut is "Candles," a track that originally appeared on demos collections that pre-date any of the quartet's official album releases, and perhaps the most welcome return is the twinkling ballad "199x," whose only prior release to date was on the compact 2011 odds and sods set There When You Need It. Not that anyone's counting besides Clicky Clicky Music Blog, but the deal with Lame-O -- which is home to Johnny Foreigner BFFs The Weaks and has also put out music by Modern Baseball -- is the Brummie's third North American deal in its decade of existence. A 2008 deal with Nettwerk can most charitably be described as a non-starter (or even non-existent); Johnny Foreigner then signed with Chicago's Swerp in 2012 to release the excellent Names EP. It's unclear what will come next after the release of Worse Things Happen At Sea; the aforementioned You Can Do Better, which was released earlier in 2014, has not been released in the U.S., so we would hope that Lame-O might be able to make that happen (for that matter, besides Names, basically none of Johnny Foreigner's roundly excellent catalog has been properly issued on this side of the Atlantic, so, uh, you know, someone get on that). In related news, it would seem to be an unofficial off-season for Johnny Foreigner, as fronter Alexei Berrow recently disclosed he is working on new material for his solo guise Yr Friends, and drummer Junior Elvis Washington Laidley has similarly disclosed he has turned his attention to new recordings by his electropop project Fridge Poetry; the two projects even merged under the name Yr Poetry for a live date earlier this summer. Laidley, incidentally, has also signed on to drum for a new, full-band version of Birmingham's Mutes, which will make its live debut Aug. 15. Further bulletins as events warrant! For now, bask in the weird glory of Worse Things Happen At Sea via the embed below.



>> Another piece of news that fell in the gap during our vacation: Boston indie-pop heroes Bent Shapes issued recently its first new material since downsizing its official personnel to a two-piece. The release came in the form of a 7" plexi-disc put out by Olympia, Wash.-based "micro-indie" (redundant?) label People In A Position To Know. The disc itself is a legit piece of art, a flat, two-sided, lathe-cut plexiglass circle that carries the band's logo and the song titles on its front side; the disc comes in three colors in a hyper-limited edition of 25 pieces per color scheme (yellow/brown; black/teal; blue/brown). "It's thick and heavy and pretty pointy at the edges," fronter Ben Potrykus told Improper Bostonian recently. Fortunately for fans, the odd media is still not as snappy as the music. The A-side touts the tune "86'd in '03," which Bent Shapes has been performing live since at least its release show for Feels Weird a year ago. The flip-side carries a cover of a The 2x4's lost-classic Boston punk tune "Bridgeport Lathe" (whose title, incidentally, would be incredibly meta if it turns out these lathe-cut discs were actually fabricated in, say, Bridgeport, CT, or better still, Bridgeport, PA). "86'd" in particular is a stunner, compressing all the jagged changes and vocal hooks of the standout 2013 long-player Feels Weird [review] into a two-minute blast that proves the recent line-up shuffle has done nothing to squelch the band's fizz. One can acquire her or his own copy of "86'd In '03" b/w "Bridgeport Lathe" from People In A Position To Know right here, or at Bent Shapes' upcoming show later this month at TT The Bear's Place in Cambridge, Mass. But one, of course, should act expeditiously, even decisively, given the extremely limited quantities involved here. Stream both cuts below, then stream them again. -- Dillon Riley



>> In what we can only hope is a viable trend in indie band branding, one of the latest acts from the indefatigable Tiny Engines stable is the relatively new It Looks Sad. To dispel any confusion, yes, that is a full stop tagged to the end of the Charlotte-based quartet's name [counterpoint: special punctuation, symbols or use of capitalization in band names has been a deplorable scourge since at least NSync, whose name we will not grace with the once-requested-by-publicists giant asterisk. See me after class, Riley. -- Ed.]. The post-#emorevival self-parody via name is not the band's most distinguishing trait, however -- which is saying something, as the band initially traded under the signicantly more unwieldy moniker It Looks Sad, That's Why I Said It's You. No, more importantly, the native Carolinians favor an atmospheric approach to its music, injecting palpable elements of dream pop into an expansive sound. It's a key distinction that interestingly situates It Looks Sad. stylistically closer to bands on Captured Tracks than the foursome's hometown label peers. It Looks Sad.'s music is no less emotional, though. Fronter Jimmy Turner's reedy vocals do plenty to convey that, buffeted by airy guitar playing that ranges from mopey to soaring, in a manner not terribly dissimilar to the impressive contemporary work by New Yorkers Cymbals Eat Guitars. It Looks Sad.'s debut release for Tiny Engines is a four-song EP titled Self-Titled. During its sub-twenty-minute runtime, the quartet packs in nearly as many ear-catching hooks. The act's playing comes tightly into focus when it slows the tempo, consolidating into a loose groove on the standout track "Fingers" [video]. Here the band falls in around a high, trebly, circular riff that persists throughout the song, outlasting even a forceful, crash-cymbal aided chorus. Despite having just four songs out, It Looks Sad. exhibits an admirable mastery of its chosen musical argot at a time in its career trajectory when other young bands are struggling to break out of the bedroom. We're eager to hear where the band heads next. Self-Titled is slated for release later this summer, and it can be pre-ordered from Tiny Engines on 7" vinyl (in a limited edition of 500 pieces available in salmon, seafoam or cream) and/or download right here. Stream the entire short stack via the Soundcloud embed below. -- Dillon Riley



>> From the other side of the Tiny Engines spectrum comes another fairly new act, Frontier(s), which is helmed by Chris Higdon of '90s emo luminaries Elliot. The Louisville-based quartet dropped its second release, an EP titled White Lights, via the aforementioned label Tuesday. Drawing influence from the D.C.-styled post-hardcore sound that birthed first-wave emo acts such as Embrace and Rites Of Spring (and, honestly, maybe even a bit from '80s hair metal), White Lights feels a lot like the logical sonic mean of Higdon's prior acts, the early '90s hardcore collective Falling Forward and the aforementioned Elliot, despite the long passage of time since either of those groups have been active. More importantly, though, the EP feels vital and fresh, not a throwback to another time, much in the same way as the tremendous and recently released reunion album from Braid, No Coast. White Lights certainly carries in its five songs a certain amount of world-weariness, but doesn't feel bogged down with comeback emotions. Frontier(s) is at its best on set closer "Bare Hands," where the foursome sounds as if it has a lot to prove, despite its notable pedigree. You can grab White Lights from Tiny Engines on 12" vinyl and/or digital download right here, and stream the entire EP via the Soundcloud embed below. -- Dillon Riley