For the past few years, this site’s paid close to attention to the work being done by Kindling, one of the more promising names in the new wave of shoegaze acts that have been releasing exceptional music. Stephen Pierce, one of the band’s guitarist/vocalists, has emerged as a source of inspiration in those times. Overcoming injury and contributing to items that aimed to make a positive change. Character is often reflected in music so it’s no surprise that Kindling’s has always been both reassuring and incredibly tantalizing.
The band released an outstanding full-length entitled Everywhere Else just a handful of months ago and are releasing an appropriately retro-minded clip for one of the record’s highlights, “Black Eye”. Using hazy overlays and strange coloration, the band invokes memories of a variety of classic ’90s clips from shoegaze, grunge, and downer punk acts. Fittingly, the visual approach also speaks to the narrative of “Black Eye”, which is driven by feelings of alienation and despair.
That sense of sadness permeates through every frame of “Black Eye”, even as the Alle Kern-directed clip eventually settles into determined resilience. “Black Eye” is a smoky, nostalgic, emotional gut-punch that never feels its length. Kindling’s constantly in the center of the tornado that’s perpetually swirling around them and the clip somehow illustrates, at least in part, how at home they are in those surroundings. Incredibly compelling and even a little thought-provoking, “Black Eye” is the band at their best. Why take shelter when you could get swept up in the fray?
Watch “Black Eye” below and pick up Everywhere Else here.
For nearly three years, the Watch This series has been focusing on the best live videos to emerge in that given, immediate week. The project’s nearing its 150th installment and during that entire run, it’s been rare that this site has given a standalone feature to a live clip. In many of the recent Watch This installments there have been Boxfish Sessions from the emergent Cuttlefish Collective.
The clips being shot, produced, and unveiled by that camp are unified by a sense of loving care; it’s abundantly clear they love the artists that they feature. It’s something that continues to be a heartening source of small inspiration for anyone with any interest in documenting live music. With all of that in mind, it’s both an honor and a privilege to be premiering their latest, which centers on Horse Jumper of Love‘s Dimitri Giannopoulos solo project, Slugger, and a new track entitled “hotel swimming pool”.
An achingly meditative piece, “hotel swimming pool” is performed and lensed with the moving tenderness that’s come to define the work of both parties. As the camera surveys Giannopoulos, the patterned backdrop, and the audience, the clip becomes impossibly immersive with “hotel swimming pool” serving as the siren call. “hotel swimming pool” and this session both tell acutely-realized stories to mesmerizing effect, leaving a lingering sense of anticipation for whatever comes next for both projects. Dive in and get lost in its magic.
Watch “hotel swimming pool” below and keep an eye on this site for more updates on the project.
A lot of friends and memories have been made over the course of these past three years and Lost Boy ? qualify in both categories. In the spirit of the season, looking back, and looking ahead, this post will focus on two of the project’s Halloween-themed offerings. “Haunted House”, the most recent, finds the Davey Jones-led act in amusingly weary mid-tempo mode, navigating holiday-appropriate imagery to effectively underscore the sense of exhaustion that prods the song towards its perfect “I’m not mad, just disappointed” hook. It’s another perfect example of Jones blending a punchy pathos with an endearing whimsicality in an incredibly fascinating composition.
“Hallowen” a song from several years back that Jones put together with Boats recently resurfaced and falls in line with the handful of Lost Boy ? tracks that are driven by restless, reckless abandon. From the absolutely insane, quasi-nightmarish industrial ambient fever dream that ends “Halloween” to its deliriously spry opening, there’s not a moment of the track that isn’t ridiculously compelling. A snarky and irreverent narrative propels “Halloween” to stratospheric highs while Jones delivers the vocals with an excess of conviction and sends everything hurtling heavenward with a riff-happy chorus section.
Both songs are perfectly in keeping with the fiercely independent sensibilities and strong DIY ethos that Heartbreaking Bravery was built to celebrate. Whether it’s the “Happy Halloween!” that closes out the main section of the latter track or the distorted, modified vocal effects that pepper the former, Lost Boy ? also hit moments of uninhibited joy, showcasing a love for making art that exists well outside the confines of industry pressure. Exhilarating, heartening, inspired, inspiring, and timely, it’s hard to think of a better pair of songs to celebrate today.
Listen to “Haunted Hose” and “Halloween” below and keep an eye on this site for more updates on Lost Boy ?
A New York institution for some years now, Real Life Buildings’ members have been extremely active in the DIY punk scene and accumulated an impressive pedigree. It’s easy to forget that fact when they play, though, as their music sounds so complete. Here, the project takes to the WKNC studios and delivers an inspired set of slightly askew basement pop. It’s a series of thrilling moments from a band that more than deserves their continuously growing reputation as one of the state’s finest acts.
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2. Yohuna – Apart (Radio K)
In Patientness, the Johanne Swanson-led Yohuna delivered one of the year’s most quietly compelling releases. Operating as a trio for the live shows, Yohuna recently stopped by the Radio K studios and offered up a gripping take on “Apart”, one of the many highlights from Patientness. Calm, collected, and enticing, it’s a perfect example of the project’s innate level of talent.
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3, Porches – Car (KEXP)
When Watch This was in its earliest stages, Porches. would make infrequent appearances that mostly came courtesy of fan-shot footage of solo performances. In that time, the project’s reach has considerably widened, the period at the end of the name’s been all but abandoned, and it’s successfully transitioned into a full band that boasts an incredible cast of musicians. Porches hit a career highlight with “Car” and they recently gifted KEXP with this arresting run through the song. Good luck escaping the vice grip of that miraculous hook.
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4. Julia Jacklin – Pool Party (The Current)
The ascendant Julia Jacklin’s been making quite a splash lately, drawing comparisons to the likes of Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen, and Leonard Cohen. Just a few seconds into this gorgeous run through “Pool Party” and it’s abundantly clear that Jacklin’s tapped into that intangible element that can propel talented people to new levels of fame. A beautiful performance of a gorgeous song, it’s hard not to just leave the clip on repeat.
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5. Mitski – Your Best American Girl (Colbert)
Anytime anyone from the DIY circuit starts succeeding on a grander level, it’s a heartening development, especially in the cases of artists that stay true to their convictions. Watching Mitski sit in with Stephen Colbert’s house band and lead them through selections from a discography that’s been well-covered here in the past served as a moment of triumph. The cherry on top? A full, heartfelt rendition of “Your Best American Girl” — one of 2016’s best songs — with the house band urging the song forward. All told, it was a well-earned, inspiring moment from an artist whose work deserves to be celebrated.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This series of posts reflects back on some of the best material to be released over the past few weeks. Each post with this heading is a part of this series. After this series has concluded regular coverage will resume.
One of the most effective ways to discover new artists is through the lens of other artists. Petite League‘s Lorenzo Cook was kind enough to provide such an introduction via a recommendation to The Wisconaut, a retro-leaning, punk-tinged basement pop project from a young Wisconsin-based musician. Dad, the project’s latest release, is a two-song EP that quickly demonstrates what makes the project so intriguing; an informed sense of musical history, a reserve of energy, and a commitment to the material, which frequently sounds like a slightly more polished take on the type of music that the Black Lips were peddling over their earliest releases.
Neither “Salt Shaker” or “Pipe Dream” exceed the two-minute mark but both songs come loaded with conviction, feeling, and an infectious lightness. Dipping into a ’50s doo-wop influence and expertly combining in with proto-punk aesthetics, The Wisconaut still manages to find a way to sound decidedly modern. The clever lyrics are well above par, the vocal melodies are earworms all on their own, and each of the songs pack enough power in their running times to start a whole host of parties. Fun, impressive, and surprisingly substantial, Dad‘s does more than enough to make sure that this won’t be the last time the name The Wisconaut is printed on these pages.
Listen to Dad below and keep an eye on this site for more updates on the project.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This series of posts reflects back on some of the best material to be released over the past few weeks. Each post with this heading is a part of this series. After this series has concluded regular coverage will resume.
A strange amount of comfort can be found in invoking nostalgia by staying true to trends from decades past. Walkingshoe takes that philosophy to stratospheric heights with “All the Wrong Places”, which combines that approach across multiple decades and congeals those tendencies into an astonishingly coherent whole. ’60s instrumentation, ’70s composition, ’80s excess, ’90s aesthetics, and ’00s manipulation all find fascinating ways to connect on “All the Wrong Places”, leaving the song as a modern day miracle.
Impressively, from second to second, all of the nostalgic points are incredibly malleable. The most dominant frame of reference is likely the slacker pop movement of the late ’90s and early ’00s that found an unassuming figurehead in Ben Kweller. Walkingshoe, while not too far removed from Kweller and his ilk, still comes across as refreshingly new. Bold and unpredictable, “All the Wrong Places” is the sound of a new artist finding an engaging voice. It’s an extraordinary feat and it deserves to be recognized, shared, and celebrated.
Listen to “All the Wrong Places” below and download it here.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This series of posts reflects back on some of the best material to be released over the past few weeks. Each post with this heading is a part of this series. After this series has concluded regular coverage will resume.
Earlier this week, The Van T’s reminded everyone of their formidable strength with the rousing “Fun Garçon”, a sharp blast of pop-friendly basement punk. Scrappy, melodic, and incredibly forceful, “Fun Garçon” brings a shoegaze influence to the forefront and grounds itself with the swirling, reverb-soaked lead guitar line that dominates the proceedings.
Every decision the quartet makes on “Fun Garçon” propels the song forward, sending it blindly hurtling towards an inevitable moment of impact with reckless abandon. Riding a wave of excess adrenaline, The Van T’s draw power from sheer aggression and never look back at the terrain they’ve scorched. Unwieldy and wildly entertaining, “Fun Garçon” finds The Van T’s fully charged and ready for anything. With the momentum they’re building, it’s best to try to get on board, if only to avoid getting absolutely flattened.
Listen to “Fun Garçon” below and keep an eye on Bloc+Music for the November 25th release of “Fun Garçon”.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This series of posts reflects back on some of the best material to be released over the past few weeks. Each post with this heading is a part of this series. After this series has concluded regular coverage will resume.
Every now and then, a relatively unknown band will emerge with a song that makes a whole lot of people sit up and take notice. Splashh’s “Rings” is definitely one of those songs, a taut basement pop number that swings from hard-charging, lo-fi punk to expansive, impressively orchestrated psych-pop on a dime. The former constitutes the verses while the latter transforms the chorus section into a genuine standout moment.
Either would work to an exhilarating degree on their own but in finding a way to fuse them into a successful marriage, Splashh reveal a mixture of ambition, maturity, and fearlessness that can be hard to find. In three and a half minutes, the quartet re-enforces their singular identity and execute complex ideas with a startling amount of confidence and conviction. If this is a decent indication of what we can expect from Splashh’s forthcoming Waiting A Lifetime, expect to be hearing a lot more about that record as the year winds to a close.
Listen to “Rings” below and keep an eye on this site for more updates on Waiting A Lifetime.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This series of posts reflects back on some of the best material to be released over the past few weeks. Each post with this heading is a part of this series. After this series has concluded regular coverage will resume.
In a few weeks, Forth Wanderers will release Slop, one of 2016’s best EP’s. “Slop” and “Know Better” have both already found release and been featured on this site and now the band goes three for three with “Nerves”. Opening with an intriguingly ominous guitar figure that sounds like a Morricone sketch, “Nerves” quickly kicks into full gear, affecting the kind of mid-tempo charge that’s quickly becoming the band’s calling card.
For all the starts, stops, frenetic drumming, and dreamlike vocals, “Nerves” never sounds like anything less than a very complete whole. If a lesser band took stabs at a similar approach, the song would likely disintegrate under the complexities. Here, those complexities energize an already incredibly tantalizing song. It’s another casual masterwork from one of the most intriguing emerging acts on the circuit. Dive in and find some casual bliss in navigating its twists and turns.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This series of posts reflects back on some of the best material to be released over the past few weeks. Each post with this heading is a part of this series. After this series has concluded regular coverage will resume.
Last year Bruising very quickly established themselves as a site favorite and they’ve only solidified that status in the time between the release of “Think About Death” and now. Just a few short days ago, the band unveiled the electrifying “I Don’t Mind”, which finds their sound reaching exhilarating new peaks. In full control of their craft, the band leans into a towering, dynamic basement pop anthem leaving nothing but smouldering wreckage in their wake.
In just under three minutes, the band offers up a striking reminder of their preternatural abilities with melody and composition. There’s a sense of ennui but it’s offset by a frantic sincerity that continues to pay massive dividends for the band. Every second of “I Don’t Mind” is impressive and continues to heighten the anticipation for the day the band issues their debut full-length. Until then, “I Don’t Mind” will be on repeat until the other half of the band’s forthcoming single finds release.
Listen to “I Don’t Mind” below and pre-order I Don’t Mind b/w Rest In Peace Kurt Donald Cobain (1967-1994) here.
Heartbreaking Bravery 