28 | October | 2014 | Heartbreaking Bravery

October 28, 2014

Happy Diving – Big World (Album Stream)

A few of 2014’s most interesting releases surfaced this week and continued to expand 2014’s shockingly great output. There was Glish‘s unflinchingly heavy and absolutely monstrous self-titled shoegaze stunner, easily both one of 2014’s finest and most fascinating records. Sundials continued crafting excellent 90’s punk-indebted left-field powerpop with their Kick EP, which is also their first effort for Topshelf Records and Espectrostatic offered up the eerie, foreboding ambient psych masterpiece Escape From Witchtropolis just in time for Halloween- and some seriously great accompanying album art. Then there was the full stream of a record that’s (rightfully) earned a lot of love on this very site: Happy Diving’s Big World.

Ever since Happy Diving came roaring into view with songs like the irresistibly charged-up “Weird Dream“, Big World has been the kind of record teeming with enough potential to elicit salivation. Now that it’s finally out in the world, all of that anticipation has been obliterated; Big World annihilates those expectations. Savage, fuzzed-out, damaged, and absolutely massive even before it hits the halfway point, it’s a record that pays off Father/Daughter Records’ early investment in the band with what’s easily one of the year’s most essential records. Sequenced and produced to perfection, even the minutiae manages to come off as enviable. Only a little over a year into their career, Happy Diving are swinging for the fences and connecting with just about everything that falls into their aim(s). Bottom line: don’t miss this and support something great while it unfolds in the present.

Listen to Big World below and pre-order it from Father/Daughter here.

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October 28, 2014

The Gotobeds – Wasted On Youth (Music Video)

There were a small handful of great music videos to be released in the past few days. These videos covered a very wide spectrum, from Frankie Cosmos’ Justin Bieber-centric “Art School” clip to Hamilton Leithauser’s gorgeous “5 AM”, all awash in soft saturation and noir-ish cinematography. Buzzcocks’ “It’s Not You” made a strong case for the band’s ongoing relevancy and undeniable importance, Sharon Van Etten proved her music videos can be just as quietly arresting as her music with the Carla Juri-starring, Sean Durkin-directed “Your Love Is Killing Me“, and Grouper’s “Made of Air” achieved the unenviable task of living up to Grouper’s inherently cinematic nature by combining sped-up edits and superimposed images of nature to create a feeling of total unease.

It’d be a waste, of course, not to mention the DIY clip for The Gotobeds’ “Wasted On Youth”. The Gotobeds’ brilliantly titled Poor People Are Revolting may very well wind up being one of the year’s most overlooked records and warrants much more attention than it’s been getting (even with the NPR First Listen distinction). Poor People Are Revolting is a collection of bruising, visceral post-punk that refuses to pull punches. “Wasted On Youth” takes a similarly unapologetic approach in both premise and execution; it’s mostly just the band mock-running and allowing themselves to goof off for a few minutes in front of a green screen. No more, no less- and it winds up being an immensely entertaining 87 seconds. All in all, it’s yet another testament to a commendable DIY ethos and an important reminder that it’s alright to loosen up every once in a while.

Watch “Wasted On Youth” below and order Poor People Are Revolting from 12XU here.

October 28, 2014

Cherry Glazerr – Nurse Ratched (Stream)

Over the past few days a fair few songs have found their way into the world. Among them were Low Culture’s characteristically blistering “Oh Jazelle”, a severely damaged noise-psych bruiser from Timmy’s Organism, a strong reminder- in the form of “Now I Understand“- that The Proper Ornaments’ Wooden Heads is worth year-end consideration, a pulverizing shard of wiry post-punk from newly-signed Captured Tracks act MOURN, a sprawling world-builder from the dream collaboration of The Bug and Earth, and the absolutely gorgeous piano-led “Bell’s View” from Grandaddy mastermind Jason Lytle. One of the tracks that stuck out most, though, was “Nurse Ratched”, a new highlight from basement poppers Cherry Glazerr.

With their new EP, Had Ten Dollaz, out today, Cherry Glazerr continue a career-launching 2014 with panache. Haxel Princess kicked things off for the band back in January and they’ve only managed to increase their momentum. Back in September, the band first flashed material from Had Ten Dollaz with the Yves Saint Laurent-commissioned title track and now they’ve provided all the supplementary material. While Haxel Promise was good, it suggested a greater promise from a band that was still developing; “Had Ten Dollaz” and “Nurse Ratched” both showed an unexpected acceleration on the attainment of that promise. “Nurse Ratched”, in particular, shows how well the band’s perfected a laid-back atmosphere that still manages to feel fiercely propulsive. Make no mistake, Cherry Glazerr is fully aware of the fact that they’re a band on the rise and they’ll continue to make waves strong enough to match their music’s deceptively powerful undercurrent.

Listen to “Nurse Ratched” below and order Had Ten Dollaz from Suicide Squeeze here.