May 30, 2011
That Was The Show That Was: Get Help with E.R. and Soccermom
Thursday night at PA's in Somerville, Mass., three of Boston's best -- we're fudging New York/New Jersey-based Get Help's geographical bona fides here on purpose because of history, man -- brought their A game for an evening packed cheek to jowl with rock that howled. Beatings co-fronter Eldridge Rodriguez stuck the landing on a gripping and occasionally curious set that drew heavily from his superlative 2011 solo long-player You Are Released. The collection grafts onto Rodriquez's characteristically intense guitar shouters electronic beats and samples, and it was interesting to see drummer Dennis Grabowski, who also detonates the cans for The Beatings, play to electronics triggered live by a guy that we assume was Ray Jeffery, co-producer and recording engineer for You Are Released (among other E.R. recordings) brother Dave Grabowski (formerly of Scuba, now of Midriff Records' own Louder My Dear, which features Dennis Grabowski on guitar). Those electronics also writhed in the breaks between songs like a dimly lit pit of snakes, limning the already dark tunes with an ethereal, unsettling dimension. The set was highlighted by Mr. Rodriguez, resplendent in a white suit, delivering a scalding iteration of "Run MF Run;" the live rendition was augmented with a new bell sample and the explosive choruses were gratifying.
Gracious hosts for the evening Get Help obliged listeners with a set almost solely drawn from the quartet's wonderful sophomore record The Good Green Earth, although said set closed memorably with the undeniable, pogoing title track to its 2008 debut The End Of The New Country. Unsurprisingly, the highlights of the set otherwise were our favorite tracks from The Good Green Earth: closer "Crooked Streets" -- rendered here without the sadly beautiful organ backing -- and the strident strummer "You Should Be Home By Now." We'd like to see these guys play more often.
You Should Be Home By Now by Get Help
Jamaica Plain-based Soccermom brought the evening to a kaleidoscopic close with a dazzling set forged from dense guitars and desperate vocals. The quartet, fronted by longtime scenemaker Dan Parlin, was simply brilliant, regularly bending over-driven chords and slide guitar around a decisive rhythmic attack. New drummer Justin Kehoe, he formerly of The Migration Trap, was remarkably fluid and understated behind the drum kit, and seems to be a perfect complement to the extant Soccermom alchemy. We heard new material in the set and it gives us high hopes that the band will garner the recognition it deserves very soon -- if only from the legions of music fans out there waiting for a contemporary take on early Lilys or early Polvo. Soccermom intends to issue later this year a 10" EP titled You Are Not Going To Heaven, and we've heard some of the recordings and they are terrific. If you haven't heard the band's debut single, here's one of the tunes.
Soccermom's "High On Dad"
E.R. and Get Help fans can catch Mssrs. Rodriguez and Skalicky in their natural habitat fronting The Beatings this Friday -- while R.S.V.P.s last -- in Charlestown at an event being helmed by the RSL Blog. So get with that. Soccermom returns to the stage Saturday night at The Beachcomber in Quincy, and again July 16 at Precinct in Somerville, Massachusetts for the Guillermo Sexo record release party.
Gracious hosts for the evening Get Help obliged listeners with a set almost solely drawn from the quartet's wonderful sophomore record The Good Green Earth, although said set closed memorably with the undeniable, pogoing title track to its 2008 debut The End Of The New Country. Unsurprisingly, the highlights of the set otherwise were our favorite tracks from The Good Green Earth: closer "Crooked Streets" -- rendered here without the sadly beautiful organ backing -- and the strident strummer "You Should Be Home By Now." We'd like to see these guys play more often.
You Should Be Home By Now by Get Help
Jamaica Plain-based Soccermom brought the evening to a kaleidoscopic close with a dazzling set forged from dense guitars and desperate vocals. The quartet, fronted by longtime scenemaker Dan Parlin, was simply brilliant, regularly bending over-driven chords and slide guitar around a decisive rhythmic attack. New drummer Justin Kehoe, he formerly of The Migration Trap, was remarkably fluid and understated behind the drum kit, and seems to be a perfect complement to the extant Soccermom alchemy. We heard new material in the set and it gives us high hopes that the band will garner the recognition it deserves very soon -- if only from the legions of music fans out there waiting for a contemporary take on early Lilys or early Polvo. Soccermom intends to issue later this year a 10" EP titled You Are Not Going To Heaven, and we've heard some of the recordings and they are terrific. If you haven't heard the band's debut single, here's one of the tunes.
Soccermom's "High On Dad"
E.R. and Get Help fans can catch Mssrs. Rodriguez and Skalicky in their natural habitat fronting The Beatings this Friday -- while R.S.V.P.s last -- in Charlestown at an event being helmed by the RSL Blog. So get with that. Soccermom returns to the stage Saturday night at The Beachcomber in Quincy, and again July 16 at Precinct in Somerville, Massachusetts for the Guillermo Sexo record release party.
May 23, 2011
YouTube Rodeo: Johnny Foreigner's "With Who, Who And What I've Got"
Filmed live at the Birmingham, England-based noise pop titans May 9 show at AZ in Aachen, Germany. If, like us, you are saying "where the hell is Aachen?" the answer is halfway between Antwerp and Wiesbaden, right on the border where Germany meets Belgium. Don't say we never learned you nothing. Speaking of our favorite English act, how badly do we want one of these arts and crafts sets? Limited series of 25, includes the comic. And a beermat from Aachen. See how we brought that full circle? Watch this space, but make sure to save one for us.
May 22, 2011
Today's Hotness: The Answering Machine, Christie Front Drive
>> The news is going stale at this point, but we'd be remiss if we didn't mark the passing of beloved indie-pop luminaries The Answering Machine. The Manchester, England-based foursome posted a handwritten letter to its web site Monday morning disclosing that -- after six years -- its members have ceased making music collectively and under the The Answering Machine brand name. A vinyl release of the band's recently issued sophomore set Lifeline [review here] -- previously rumored to be announced this spring -- will now be realized as a posthumous release as a thanks to fans. When we saw the note first thing Monday we were startled, but the news also placed Lifeline in an interesting perspective. On the whole, the set's tone and tenor was resigned and sometimes sad, and you have to wonder if thoughts about the future of the band were already crystalizing during the recording sessions. Either way, Lifeline's introspective tone was far removed from the scritchy, exuberant and wide-eyed guitar pop of the band's cracking full-length debut Another City, Another Sorry [review here]. Both are great albums, of course, and we encourage you to obtain them if you have to this point disregarded our prior exhortations. The Answering Machine, we salute you. We are sad to see you go, and we look forward to any new musics your various components create. Let's feel the face-melting title track to Another City, Another Sorry together one more time, shall we?
The Answering Machine - Another City, Another Sorry by HeistOrHit
>> It's an odd coincidence that fewer than 12 hours after we were cuing up the amazing Boys Life/Christie Front Drive split 10" -- and posting a video for one of the songs to Facebook -- we encountered news at BrooklynVegan that Christie Front Drive will reunite for at least one show, which show will take place in July in Brooklyn to celebrate Magic Bullet Records' reissuing of the Christie Front Drive discography. The Denver-based quartet previously reunited for a single show in 2007 after initially shuffling off this mortal coil in 1997. If you don't own this record (released on the legendary Crank! label), well, then we feel really, really bad for you.
May 21, 2011
The Hush Now Prep Memos, Remastered Constellations Due June 14
Boston's The Hush Now are poised to unleash a double-barrelled blast of swirling dream pop in the form of a third full-length and a completely remixed and remastered second iteration of its sparkling 2009 sophomore set Constellations. The new record is titled Memos and it is slated for a September release date; the quintet hopes to promote the release with an ambitious tour later in the fall. Constellations -- which the band will offer for free download via its web site from June 14 (Flag Day!) -- was remixed by Benny Grotto at Allston's Mad Oak Studios; Grotto recorded Memos and also was responsible for mixing The Hush Now's 2010 EP Shiver Me Starships. The revamped Constellations includes the heretofore unreleased outtake "The Atheist" but leaves aside original album-closer "Carousel." Also new is a surprisingly hot dance remix (yeah, you read that correctly) of the song "Thorns" created by notable Australian producer and songwriter Tony Cvetkovski.
Longtime readers may recall our first encounter with The Hush Now was during the sessions for the sophomore record, specifically while founding member Noel Kelly was laying down the vocal for "The Atheist." We are pleased to learn the soaring, horn-spangled number is getting the digital single treatment, and you can stream the track via the Soundcloud embed below. Train your gaze, if you have not already done so, on the art for the single above, which was created by Allston's Doug Gately (not Don -- Ed.). A fellow named Jared Tharp crafted the updated art for the remixed Constellations, which you can also see above. The Hush Now play a record release show to celebrate the re-issue June 18 at O'Brien's Pub in Boston with locals The Susan Constant.
The new version of Constellations is intended to help build hype for Memos. The sessions for the new record -- which is being mastered by Jeff Lipton at Peerless -- wrapped very recently and yielded 13 tracks recorded in a breathless eight days. Ten of the tunes will appear on Memos; the remaining tracks will be released as one-offs for various purposes which will become apparent to you. So are you ready to rock?.
The Hush Now's "The Atheist"
The Hush Now: Internerds | Facebook | YouTube | Flickr
May 15, 2011
Today's Hotness: Gold-Bears, The War On Drugs, Yuck
>> Oh man we love this new Gold-Bears tune "Record Store," and we have high hopes for the rising, Atlanta-based quartet's full-length debut Are You Falling In Love? The album was released earlier this month by the obviously dominating and awesome Slumberland Records (although a note at the web site indicates the vinyl version is delayed until June 7). "Record Store" radiates a classic Slumberland sound saturated in fuzzy guitars, espousing big melodies, and rocking most steadfastly. Gold-Bears, who play PA's Lounge in Somerville, Massachusetts Wednesday, formed in 2010 and the band centers around songwriter Jeremy Underwood, formerly of the act Plastic Mastery (555 Recordings/Magic Marker Records). If the rest of the record sounds anything like the song embedded below, we imagine we'll listen to Are You Falling In Love? until people are sick of being around us. Buy the record from Slumberland right here.
"Record Store" by Gold-Bears
>> While we've been looking the other way, Philadelphia's The War On Drugs has been up to a lot. The remarkable folk-rock droners recently announced they would issue a sophomore full-length Slave Ambient Aug. 16 on Secretly Canadian. The collection -- which will be issued as a 45RPM double LP, as well as in those new formats the kids like -- was recorded in a number of places including Jeff Ziegler's Uniform Recording studio. Secretly Canadian is offering the tune "Baby Missiles" as a teaser for the new collection; fans will recognize the rhythmic foundation as very similar to the uptempo shuffle of "Taking The Farm," a stand-out track from The War On Drugs' superlative debut full-length Wagonwheel Blues, which was one of our favorite records of 2008. "Baby Missiles" updates the prior track with some "Walk Of Life"-style synth lines, some Springsteen-esque harmonica wail and a touch more frenetic energy. Taken in sum, the tune succeeds in making us want to hear the rest of Slave Ambient post-haste. In other news, The War On Drugs issued last fall a second EP Future Weather, which completely passed us by, and you can buy that thing right here.
The War On Drugs -- "Baby Missiles" -- Slave Ambient
[right click and save as]
[pre-order Slave Ambient sometime soon from Secretly Canadian right here]
>> We've been remiss in noting that London-based indie rock upstarts Yuck will self-release a double A-sided vinyl single June 27. The young outfit's release touts a non-album track "Milkshake" etched into one face; the grooves on the other face will recreate the sounds of the song "Shook Down" -- from the band's excellent self-titled debut issued by Fat Possum Feb. 15 -- when it is correctly scratched by a "stylus" or "needle" affixed to the tone arm of a record player. Not sure why Fat Possum did not issue this single, but perhaps Yuck's was a one-album dealy, or maybe Fat Possum just didn't want to participate in the vinyl release. The quartet returns to the U.S. in mid-July for two weeks of dates beginning at the Pantsfork festival in Chicago and ending with a date at The Troubador in Los Angeles July 30. "Milkshake" is a pretty strong guitar jam, and if you want to do the proverbial try before you buy, hit the Soundcloud stream below. We think you'll dig it. The inimitable Ric Dube -- host of the delightful More Lost Time podcast -- reviewed Yuck's recent Boston show right here in late April.
"Milkshake" by Yuck
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