Bad Sports | Heartbreaking Bravery

August 6, 2016

Mercury Girls – Holly (Stream)

mercury girls

A very full week of new material was essentially topped off over the past few days with excellent new songs from Fond Han (who nearly claimed this post’s featured spot), Bad Sports, Black Marble, Twist, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, JEFF The Brotherhood, Tennis, Swimsuit Addition, Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam, His Clancyness, Duchess Says, benjamin783, Tom Brosseau, and Happy Place. There were also great music videos that were offered up by the likes of Trust Fund, Hazel English, Izzy True, Attic Abasement, Vomitface, Beach Slang, Katie Dey, Jude Shuma, and, jordaan mason. While the full streams weren’t as plentiful as they were at the start of the week dozer, Porridge Radio, Drowse, Skux, Creative Adult, and Cay Is Okay managed to end the category on a series of strong notes.

At the end of 2015, Mercury Girls found themselves poised at the top of this site’s odds and ends list, thanks to their scintillating demo and live tracks compilation. Since then, they’ve been on a tear, readying their forthcoming full-length and finding time to participate in a four-way split and release an extraordinary 7″ in the process. Earlier on in the week, the band offered a glimpse at that forthcoming four-way split (with The Spook School, Wildhoney, and Tigercats rounding out the other three slots) by way of “Holly”, another sweeping gem of a song that masterfully blends the best of post-punk and powerpop into something that manages to become bittersweet and triumphant simultaneously.

“Holly” also sees the band’s knack for playing off each other increasing to a velocity that’s practically unmatched, generating the kind of momentum that will cause enough impact to knock out just about anybody. Whether it’s the surging guitars, the soaring vocals, the punchy rhythm section, or the band’s astonishing knack for composition, the band continues to seem mistake-free, casually igniting a fire that seems like it could burn forever. Mercury Girls, now several small releases into their career, have yet to release a track that feels anything less than miraculous.

In roughly three minutes, the band conjure up a winsome atmosphere, flawlessly navigate some galvanizing dynamic shifts, and offer up the kind of cohesive, grand-scale artistry that only the best bands ever manage to achieve. With “Holly”, Mercury Girls continue their breathless pursuit of perfection and — importantly — are showing no signs of diminishing returns (which is a fate that relentlessly plagues their niche genre). Inspired, breathtaking, and warm enough to be its own blanket, “Holly” has the capacity to inspire people to start their own bands. When all’s said and done, no compliment can be higher than that one.

Listen to “Holly” below and pre-order Continental Drift here.

December 15, 2014

Watch This: Vol. 59

Video mixtapes aside, it’s been quite a while since a standard volume of Watch This has been posted. This is due to some lingering technical complications but, rest assured, everything that’s been posted over the past few weeks has been studied and collected. It’s why tonight will see the posting of five new installments of the (usually weekly) series. Great live music collides with outstanding documentation in each and every one of the forthcoming entries. Ranging from full sets to DIY takes to stunning single song performances, the contents of this post- and the posts following- cover a wide breadth. All of it’s worth remembering. For the sake of time, convenience, and to avoid all of the inevitable redundancy, this current installment (Vol. 59) will be the only one to contain a written lead-in. All of tonight’s subsequent posts will follow the same pattern that the series has implemented all along: 5 great live-take videos that have emerged since Watch This‘ last five entries. So, as always, relax, turn on the speakers, turn up the volume, lean back, and Watch This.

1. Benjamin Booker – Have You Seen My Son? (WNYC)

Benjamin Booker had a breakout 2014 that saw him light up a number of festivals, earn the ardent support of outlets like NPR, and release a fairly extraordinary self-titled LP on a revered label. While all of that adds up to an impressive tally, it’s the live department where Booker and his cohorts excel. Teeming with determination and moxy, the trio also knows how to let its hair down and are capable of just going off at any given moment. For WNYC, they make their way through a raucous set that includes Benjamin Booker highlight “Have You Seen My Son?”- and it’s undeniably powerful.

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2. AJ Davila Y Terror Amor (KEXP)

Beibi was one of the best records to be released by Burger Records this year- yet it never quite received the love it deserved. AJ Davila (also of Davila 666) put together a rousing collection of songs with the Terror Amor collective. KEXP recently brought the band in for a session and they made the absolute most out of the time they were given. Infectiously catchy and exploding with personality, this session doubles as a perfect introduction to the band for the uninitiated.

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3. OBN IIIs (WKNC)

OBN IIIs are an absolute force to be reckoned with in the live department. It’s become nearly indisputable (especially following the incendiary Live in San Francisco) and isn’t all that surprising, considering the band’s collective pedigree. Here, they tear through a blistering 10-minute set for WKNC with ease and the overall performance eventually becomes something like a battering ram. If there’s smoke by the end of “Standing”, it’s either coming from the gun that OBN IIIs are holding in one hand or because of the lit fuse in the other.

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4. Ex Hex (KEXP)

Mary Timony’s newest project, Ex Hex, was one of 2014’s more pleasant surprises. Rips, the band’s full-length debut lived up to its bold title with an excess of finesse. Yet, for as good as the record is, seeing the band live is an entirely different experience. Everything takes on a more visceral edge and their performances turn into showcases for tasteful showmanship. KEXP invited the band into their studios to film a live session that turns into a comprehensive document on how to do things right.

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5. Lightning Bolt (unARTigNYC)

Much was made over the closing of beloved venue Death By Audio. The final weeks of shows there turned into hot-ticket events for everyone eager to preserve its memory. Tribute pieces trickled out and their were definitive look-backs that were published. Death By Audio took it upon themselves to create a documentary of the venue’s final days. A slew of think-pieces arrived and were guided by the hands of very capable writers. Another pair of hands held the camera that filmed the last performance in the venue from legendary noise-punk duo Lightning Bolt. Most of the set on display in this video captures the raw fury that’s constantly present in their music but takes a sharp left turn a little before the 9-minute mark where the video ceases becoming a document and starts becoming a statement. For more than 20 minutes, unARTigNYC loops drummer Brian Chippendale’s heartfelt two-word salute to Vice, the establishment credited with Death By Audio’s corporate takeover. “Fuck Vice”, over and over, an inescapable mantra that fully captures the mindset of a legion of people; some close to the venue and some far removed. “Fuck Vice”, over and over, looped into oblivion. “Fuck Vice”, over and over, until there is nothing left. “Fuck Vice”, over and over, echoing out into eternity. “Fuck Vice”, over and over, until everything fades to black.

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January 19, 2014

Watch This: Vol. 9

As hyper-aware readers may have noticed, there hasn’t been much in the way of worthwhile live performance videos to post over this past two week stretch. This is often an inevitability during the new year midwinter dead zone. Fortunately, this allows both time and space to reflect on the things that may have been missed throughout or before this site’s existence. One of those is the dearly-missed BNTYK (short for Be Nice to Your Kids), which seemed to stand for everything Heartbreaking Bravery does. While BNTYK only lasted for a frustratingly brief amount of time, while they were around they offered up the most professional high-quality presentations of live performances from a murderer’s row of great basement bands. Below, you’ll find five of their absolute best. Enjoy.

1. Swearin’ – Here to Hear

Swearin’ are often at their fieriest when Kyle Gilbride’s allowed to take the control. When he’s offered the opportunity it’s very rare that Gilbride doesn’t just fucking go off. “Here to Hear” is easily one of the most impassioned songs in the bands repertoire and the way they feed off each other here is so infectiously joyous that it’s hard to just watch once. Swearin’ still holds up as one of the best LP’s this young decade’s produced so far and this video will always serve as an admirable document of a band exerting their energy because they believe in the thrill of it. It’s raw, visceral, and genuinely beautiful.

2. Bad Sports – Terrible Place

There aren’t many bands that can boast a discography as strong as Bad Sports. For an early run, they’ve already produced a few records that could find themselves categorized as basement pop classics. “Terrible Place” is a very strong indication of this and their committed performance here nicely underscores how hard this band worked to make that happen. Sweat pours down faces, heads are kept down, and there’s a general air of defiant determination. Here’s hoping this band sticks around for a long time to come.

3. VIDEO – Nothing Lasts Forever

The blood-caked upper teeth, the restlessness, the pure exhilaration of airing out unbridled frustration. VIDEO play up their classic hardcore influences to the absolute maximum capacity and wind up stronger for it. “Nothing Lasts Forever” is an appropriately short, sharp, and pointed blast of music. To write any more words on the matter would only do it a disservice by opposing what it stands for. Watch it below.

4. Teenage Cool Kids – Uncast Shadow of a Southern Myth

Teenage Cool Kids are one of the more singular acts playing the circuit right now and have done everything in their power to make their presence known. Notoriety wasn’t a difficult task for them; songwriting this absurdly good is bound to attract a fair share of followers. They became a band many turned to in the wake of The Goodnight Loving’s tragic dissolution as the two bands share(d) some similar aesthetics. Here, with “Uncast Shadow of A Southern Myth” the band demonstrates all of their understated strength for all of its worth.

5. Waxahathcee – Michel

Book-ending this list with the pairing of the Crutchfield twins feels appropriate for a myriad of reasons. There’s perhaps no pair of people on the planet that so fully embodies what Heartbreaking Bravery believes in (and the same was likely true for BNTYK as well), aptly illustrating the lengths and emphasis of musical influence. “Michel” is a slight aberration in the BNTYK series as its primarily shot in darkness and, naturally, features only Katie Crutchfield and her taped-up acoustic guitar. It’s a characteristically stunning moment from one of this generations clearest voices. Watch it and reminisce of better times- times when the world had BNTYK in it.