Oh yeah, Hex Fest is really happening at the end of the year. You saw the thing about Achilles playing here, right (ahem, look)? Yeah, stay tuned because in a few more days I'm going to give a few more details on things. Don't be stupid, keep an ear to the ground, or an eye to the sky because I only advertise using subsonic thumping transmissions and smoke signals.
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ALPHA HOPPER, “Last Chance Power Drive”
What the heck did I just listen to? How many weird subgenres and odd
reference points can I shoehorn in here to attempt to describe Alpha Hopper? You got a vocalist that sounds like
Polly Styrene mixed with Yasuko from Melt-Banana. Musically things bounce from post-punk weirdness with creepy
leads, and clunky post-hardcore (think a somewhat more aggressive Unwound at
times) to very 90’s riot grrl style, and more modern spazzcore stuff. It’s a weird stew, but I’m thoroughly
enjoying it. If you’re feeling a
bit adventurous I’d suggest you do the same. (One Percent Press/Radical Empathy)
DOWNTOWN BOYS s/t
So this Providence-based band is kind of everywhere now,
seemingly blowing up out of nowhere.
The thing is, though, they have been around for a bit and this LP (which
is essentially a demo from a few years back) shows them in an embryonic sort of
form. It shows a group displaying
their now-trademark blend of punk chords, deep saxophone flavor, and shouted
vocals in both English and Spanish.
But it’s a band that hadn’t quite found it’s footing just yet. Things don’t mesh as perfectly as they
do now. The ideas are there, no
doubt, but the vocals are a little more random and off-rhythm (they still are,
to a point, but it works effectively these days to command attention). The saxophone is a little more present
as well, also vying for attention when sometimes restraint makes more of a
lasting impression. I don’t want
to knock it because what Downtown Boys are doing now (especially on the
excellent “Full Communism” from last year) is so good, and this record just
shows what they were working towards.
I guess if you prefer the revolution to come off as a bit more scrappy
this is a pretty good place to catch some of that fire. (One Percent Press/ Radical Empathy)
HELMS ALEE, “Stillicide”
The opening track on Helms Alees’ new record starts with the
piano coda that closes out their very first LP, “Night Terrors”, before it
mutates into a maelstrom of swirling distortion and thunder. They have had two records between these
two, so it’s kind of interesting the Seattle trio recall a tidbit from their
first LP on their fourth long player.
I guess it shows that since that time they have remained a strange,
bewildering beast, but have grown in many ways as well. It’s that touchstone from the past
opening a door to reflection, yet showing what’s new. What remains consistent is how Helms Alee is the bewildering
sound of hiking through the redwoods on a foggy morning before reaching a beach
in the Pacific Northwest. You look
in one direction and there’s the water- calm and cool. You look behind you and trees rise up
like skyscrapers. And in front of
you are some of the most majestic mountains you’ll see. It’s at once mesmerizing and beautiful,
but you also realize the hugeness of all these things, how little you are, and
it’s sort of terrifying and weird.
That’s the sound of Helms Alee.
They can twist and turn with odd rhythms, sinewy melodies, harmonized
and haunting female vocals. But
they can quickly hit the distortion and come off as the most thunderous
sasquatch of a beast you’ll ever hear between drummer Hozi Matheson Magullis’
polyrhythmic tom rolls, Dana James crushing low end and Ben Verellens howling
baritone. Whether it’s the
continuous crush of the title track and “Galloping Mind Fuk” (sic), or the
long, slow burn meandering of “Creeping You Company”, to a perfect combination
of all their styles (melodic, weird, and pretty to beefy and mean) on
“Andromenous” this new LP is really an excellent addition to an already stellar
catalog from a great band.
(Sargent House)
KINDLING, “Everywhere Else”
It sure is popular now for bands to do the whole shoegaze
thing. For the most part I’m
fairly pleased with the current tidal wave of bands copping this style. I’m sort of wondering how many of these
bands are ex-members of NeurIsis worship bands? Kindling, to their credit, spring forth from totally chaotic
spastic hardcore band lineage. But
that’s not important. What is
important is that Kindling is a good listen. This is their first LP after a cool little EP last year and
it’s filled with upbeat, punk-informed walls of guitars and atmospheric female
vocals that bring to mind both the fairly obvious My Bloody Valentine, as well
as the sounds of Lush. They’re not
re-inventing the shoegaze wheel by any means, but they certainly do it quite
well, keeping things energetic, loud, occasionally heavy, and fun. Definitely recommended. (No Idea)
MULTICULT, “Position Remote”
Multicult would probably wholeheartedly agree that they
share quite a bit in common, sound-wise, with the revered Jesus Lizard- snarled
and howled vocals, knotty and intricate guitar lines, and one of the best damn
bass tones you’ll ever hear. But
where Jesus Lizard were all proficient musicians that gave the illusion that
all their music was careening off the rails at all times, Multicult present no
illusions to how calculated and precise their somewhat misnomered
categorization of ‘noise rock’ really is.
Every note, riff, grating guitar scree, or gnarled bass dirge has been
fine-tuned to sound exactly as it is intended. You will hear no difference whatsoever between this record-
excellently recorded and engineered- and their live show, aside from a very
loud ringing in your ears once they are through since they play so fucking
loud. So yeah, The Jesus Lizard
can be master magicians at making you think they’re just being fucking awesome
off the cuff. Multicult offer a
very similar level of talent, as well as a strikingly similar sound, but with
an air of astounding determination and intention. This is easily their best sounding record yet and the songs
are pretty dang good too.
(Reptilian)
NIGHTWATCH zine #12
This is the metal issue. Oh, maybe I should back up. Night Watch is an art zine featuring loads of artists
contributing work towards a theme (hence, ‘the metal issue’) and a couple
interviews with some of the artists.
They have had many of the same contributors throughout their run, but
have added some excellent new ones as well. They may as well have titled this the Lemmy memorial issue
because he shows up in many of the pieces throughout this zine. The stand-outs include the Motorhead
board game of Life spread, Phil Guys ‘What Me Worry’ Lemmy, Edward Justin
Wright’s indecipherable metal guy diagram, and especially Ryan Besch’ Dan
Clowes-meets-Charles Burns “Sin Town” piece. This whole thing is wrapped up in a wildly detailed metallic
ink cover. Fun times. (Night Watch)
POWDER ROOM, “Lucky”
For whatever reason I thought this band was going to be
heavier and noisier than they were when I gave their last LP, “Curtains” a
cursory spin and sort of dismissed it.
The thing is, this band is really good. It just takes a little while for their music to sink
in. At least on this new record
they very much nailed it, as they say.
Taking the attention to detail, allowing space for songs to breathe, and
a similar heaviness and direction of Young Widows, and couple that with some of
the pedal board love and rocking nature of a group like Roomrunner I’d say
Powder Room have a good thing going on.
There is a bit of confusion with this record as the liner notes allude
to all 11 songs being on the record, and in a particular order, when in fact a
song from each side is missing and instead show up as a bonus 7” that comes
with the LP (probably due to time constraints). It’s a minor concern though as it all works out in the
end. I especially enjoy when these
guys are moving slow, particularly on the creepy and ungodly heavy “Black
Dress” (which happens to have a very catchy and sing-along-able chorus) and the
bluesy “Workaround” (which also happens to have a great harmonica section that
could only be topped by Unsanes’ “Alleged”, but in a far less scummy, far more
positive, yet equally heavy sort of way).
Even though the slow and heavy comes off better on this record, opening
track “Vanburner” has an alarming urgency that draws you right in with it’s
repeated bleeps and galloping rhythm. (Learning Curve Records)
TRUE WIDOW, “AVVOLGERE”
I was quite vocal about this Texas band’s last LP,
“Circumambulation” and how I just wasn’t into it really. I mean, compared to their first two LPs
it was kind of a downer, and not in the way that this band kind of pride themselves
on being. I thought, with time,
I’d re-visit it and see if things changed. Nope. It’s
still pretty dull. So I have to
say that it’s very good to know that on their fourth LP True Widow have once
again found some of that magic that made their first two records so excellent,
but in a sort of different way. On
the first pair of LPs they dished out True Widow really excelled at doing a
loud-quiet-loud thing to give their somber shoegaze/stoner rock some great
dynamics. With “Circumambulation”
they seemed to mostly give up on that loud-quiet-loud thing and went for
somewhat flat versions of their overall style. “AVVOLGERE” (whatever that hell that means or stands for)
continues to sort of abandon the loud-quiet-loud thing, which is sort of disappointing,
but they have made the majority of songs here a bit more upbeat and added a
considerable amount of hooks in the riffs to keep things interesting. It’s the small changes with this band
that make the difference. A casual
listener might not be able to notice, but it’s at least what I’m picking up,
for what it’s worth. Whatever it
is, I’m into it and knew I’d enjoy this record right from the start of the
first song, “Back Shredder” once I started humming it for the rest of the day
after one listen. Glad to see they’re
back on their game and doing cool stuff.
(Relapse)
VINCAS, “Deep In the Well”
This Georgia three-piece lays out some dirty, greasy rock
that both reminds me of Cows in it’s repetitive and wild noisiness, but also of
The Birthday Party in it’s stark, creeping evil. It’s not quite what I had expected, but I’m into it. Maybe there’s a hint of goth to it, due
to the low, baritone vocals and cold post-punk elements. But it’s a little too loose and erratic
to start wearing black nail polish and lighting candles to. So, I guess I’m getting a bit of a
Jesus Lizard vibe too. But TJL
borrowed heavily from The Birthday Party.
So, yeah, kind of back to square one with my references. Hell, the dudes in Psychic Teens ought
to meet up with these characters.
They’d probably really get along well. Fuck around with this for a bit while watching “Scorpio
Rising” and then wander out in the desert for a couple weeks and let the
concepts of death and weirdness sink in.
(Learning Curve Records)
Bonus Round:
THE FAREWELL BEND, “In Passing”
I’ve made a big to-do about Dischord-related type bands
through these older reviews, particularly from the short-lived Slowdime label
(Kerosene 454, Regulator Watts, etc).
The label may have been based in DC, and distributed by Dischord, but
the bands weren’t relegated to just being from DC. Case in point, the post-Boys Life/Giants Chair off-shoot
Farewell Bend. The group hailed
from that vast expanse of nothingness known as the Midwest and featured the
exceptionally unique nasally vocals of Boys Life frontman Brandon Butler, the
extra-tight snappy drumming of Giants Chair alum Paul Ackerman, and bassist
John Rejba, also of Boys Life.
From the rolling, almost post-hardcore rhythm of “The Pen Ran Out Of
Ink” to the more upbeat and anthemic feel of “Go Easy” there’s no doubt that
vibe of other mid/late 90’s Midwest emo bands of the Caulfield Records roster
is quite present here. Think more
early Jimmy Eat World, the less weird/more rocking aspects of Drive Like Jehu,
a good bit of Superchunk, and for a more modern example Boston’s Krill. A lot of people tend to think the
epitome of 90’s Midwest emo might be The Get Up Kids or Braid, but this is
pretty far removed from Braid’s poppy technicality or Get Up Kids lowest-common-denominator
pop rock, even though if Farewell Bend were to have played with either of those
bands (and I imagine they probably did at one time or another) it would work
out just fine. I feel like what
they were doing was a great example of indie/emo of the region for the
time. They got a great big room-y recording
out this, their lone full length, with a bunch of great rocking songs with
substance (even being able to create a great sing-along part out of the line “A
little too much time spent fucking around”). Yet it’s the longest, and most out-of-place song on the
record, “St. Christopher” that is easily my favorite. It’s slow and steady repetition through most of the song of
“Help is on it’s way/ Gotta head to the freeway/ Help is on it’s way/ In the
Western sky” before it breaks into a very upbeat section, followed by the
stop/start crescendo with the chorus of “They say I waste my life/ Maybe they’re
right”. It’s a heck of a song I
tell ya. Currently not too sure of
what the individual members are up to aside from Brandon Butler, who played
some shows as part of a briefly reunited Boys Life earlier this year and has a
very part time band going with Ryan Patterson of Coliseum called Six Bells. But this here, this is easily my
favorite project he has been involved in, even though it’s not the most
known. (Slowdime Records)
