Blonde Summer | Heartbreaking Bravery

April 11, 2017

Another Two Weeks Worth of Music Videos

Over the course of the past two weeks, an impressive slew of music videos have fought their way out into the world. While a very select few will be highlighted in the very near-future, it’d be inexcusable to dismiss the titles below without any recognition whatsoever. Provided that time wasn’t such a restrictive issue, each and every one of these would be receiving a feature write-up dedicated to analyzing what makes them great. Truly, each one of these clips is more than worth several viewings, so stop reading and start clicking. Who knows? This pool might just contain a few new favorites. Enjoy.

Charly Bliss, Girlpool, Hovvdy, Bad Moves, The Seams, PWR BTTM, Palehound, Aye Nako, Dude York, Wilding, Big Eyes, Alien Boy, Juliana Hatfield, B Boys, Big Thief, Monster Movie, Baked, Clipping., The New Year, Dead Leaf Echo, Craig Finn, Sparks, Wolf People, Sloan Peterson, The Calm Fiasco, Hoops, Pontiak, Toro Y Moi, Dream Wife, Slowdive, The Drums, Arc Flash, LT Wade, Shit Girlfriend, Nana Grizol, Plastic Flowers, R. Ring, Future Islands, Reptaliens, INVSN, Sharkmuffin, Marcus Norberg and the Disappointments, Lexie Roth, Stolen Jars (x2)

Bridges and Powerlines, Beach Fossils, Blonde Summer, Communions, The Wild Reeds, Little Star, Circle, Emotional, Boyhood, Akinyemi, Winstons, Souvenir Driver (x2), Hand Habits, Boss Hog, Grace Sings Sludge, Leather Girls, Trementina, Mutts, Kamikaze Girls, Hermano Stereo, Sleep Party People, Explosions In The Sky, The Buttertones, Tall Tall Trees, No Kill, Skaters, Mise en Scene, Danny Brown, Rubblebucket, Bleached, C Duncan, Slow Turismo, Conor Oberst, ShitKid, Aldous Harding, Gorillaz, Small Black, A Tribe Called Quest, and Michael Kiwanuka.

March 22, 2017

Music Videos of the First Quarter: The Honorable Mentions

A little over a week remains in 2017’s first quarter so it felt appropriate — especially considering the recent hiatus — to reflect on some of the best material to have been released over the course of these past three months. What started yesterday with the list of notable full streams will bleed into the following days. Today’s post shifts the focus to some of the most memorable music videos to have surfaced since the start of the year. All of the below videos piqued attention for one reason or the other, either on the film or music side, and deserve as many views as they can possibly receive. So dive in, click around, and explore. Good things await.

Future Islands, Eric Slick, J.E. Sunde (x2), The Spirit of the Beehive (x2, 3), I Am The Polish Army, Caitlin Pasko, Gurr, Retail Space (x2), White Reaper, Demure For Sure, Meursault, Rosie Carney, Pronto Mama, Touché Amoré, The Saxophones, Slow Bear, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Cass McCombs, NE-HI (x2), Chastity Belt, Francobollo, Ruby Bones, Blaire Alise & The Bombshells, PINS, Honeyblood, Idle Bloom, Hiccup, Xiu Xiu (x2, 3), The Youngest, Durand Jones & The Indications, Blonde Summer, Tobin Sprout

Hurray for the Riff Raff (x2), Beach Slang, Peter Silberman, Clipping., Molly Burch, Tijuana Panthers, Chick Quest, Chaz Bundick Meets the Mattson 2, Los Campesinos!, Wax Idols, The Shivers, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Bleached, Oceanator, Conor Oberst, Real Estate, D.A. Stern, minihorse, Drakulas, FACIAL, Tall Tall Trees (x2), gobbinjr, Parquet Courts, Band of Horses, Sam Vicari, Slothrust, Many Voices Speak, Happyness, Paul White, Strand of Oaks, Cosmonauts, NxWorries, Batwings Catwings, Mary Lynn

The Velveteins, Marching Church, Imaginary Tricks, Frederick the Younger, Moon Duo (x2), Christine Leakey, Walrus, No Ice, Froth, Nana Grizol, Bellows, Tyler Daniel Bean, The Walters, Flat Mary Road, Teen Vice, Woozles, Danny Denial, Night Shapes, Tough Tits, Swoon Lake, Harem, The Modern Savage, The Little Kicks, Crocodiles, We Leave At Midnight, Delicate Steve, The Smith Street Band, The Magnetic Fields (x2, 3, 4), Bin Chivalry, Summer Moon, JFDR, Six Organs of Admittance, Alex Lahey, Joan of Arc

Trentemøller, Leopold and His Fiction, Hippo Campus, Cherry Glazerr, Curse of Lono, Los Angeles Police Department, IAN SWEET, Surf Curse, Delicate Steve, The Black Angels, Timber Timbre (x2), Skaters (x2), Oxbow, Static Eyes, Young Romance, Space Camp, Bonnie Whitmore & Her Band, Quin Galavis, Tim Kasher, Slam Dunk, Daniel Romano, Big Lonely, Reptaliens, Sammus, Rainbrother, Callow, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Bill MacKay, Moody Beach, My Education, HOTT MT, Century Palm (x2), Arthur Moon

The New Pornographers, Campbell L Sangster, Son & Thief, Yohuna, Girl Scout, Tim Kasher, The Head, Perfume Genius, TW Walsh, Blood Ponies, Laura Marling, Dead Man Winter, Sean Rowe, Kate Crash, Warm Body, Free Pizza, Kidsmoke, John Wesley Coleman III, Hand Habits, Aye Nako, Dirty Projectors, Chris Bathgate, Holy Motors, The Two Tens, FOTR, Amy Klein, London O’Connor, Dan San, Lisa/Liza, Knox Hamilton, Swet Shop Boys, Homebody, No Joy, Sunday Morning, Callow, Local Natives, Fastball

Personal Space, Milemarker, Allison Crutchfield, Brother Ali, Garrett Pierce, High Contrast, Wilsen, Crazy Bones, Spookey Ruben, Mt. Doubt, Fufanu, Circles/Waves, Spinning Coin, BATYA, High Waisted, Hoan, Strange Lot, Tennis, Ex-Girlfriends, Thurston Moore, Skating Polly, Jammz, Annie Hardy, Early Riser, Jay Som, Communist Daughter, Colin Stetson, Analog Candle, CRYWANK, Cate Le Bon, Phoebe Bridgers, Geotic, Diagrams, Jenny Hval, Mastodon, CHILLEMI, Shocking White, The Cherry Wave, Oshwa

Skyway Man, Equators, The Superweaks, Luke Sital-Singh, Ivy Meissner, Redspencer, Run The Jewels, Spiral Stairs, Gothic Tropic, American Wrestlers, Moby & The Void Pacific Choir, Warhaus, Kodak Black, Annabelle’s Curse, The Obsessives, Heart Attack Man, and Harmony Tividad.

September 27, 2015

Hung Toys – Lurid (Album Review, Stream)

There have been several dozen records unveiled in the past few weeks that merit attention. One of the latest in that string of releases has been flying completely under the radar despite the pedigree of the musician responsible. While Geronimo! weren’t the most well-known band but they meant a lot to a small but devoted following. I was happy to count myself among the converted and having the band headline this site’s first showcase on their farewell tour was something I won’t be forgetting anytime soon. However, the more you pour yourself into something, the more it stings when the container shatters.

While Geronimo! is officially over, a few of the bands members are working on new projects- the latest being guitarist/vocalist Kelly Johnson’s solo venture Hung Toys. Earlier this week, Johnson’s project released Lurid a full-length collection that finds the songwriter immediately diving back into the propulsive effects of his old project. Opener “Gotta Drink Some Water” is a monster of a basement punk song that’s as bruising as it is intriguing. It’d be easy for the rest of Lurid to fall short in the song’s tremendous wake but Johnson manages to subvert and expand central ideas across the rest of the record, exploring a range of styles that recall everyone from Terry Malts to, of course, Geronimo!.

All of Lurid comes off as an incendiary gut-punch and only the title track, the record’s sprawling closer, exceeds the 2 minute and 10 second mark. At times the record plays like a gambit and runs the risk of appearing as a genre exercise. By the time the record’s halfway mark gets highlighted by the searing instrumental attack that is “Blendered”, it becomes clear that Johnson’s songwriting is too capable (and substantial) to be reduced to something that hackneyed. Lurid is a record that rewards investment and begs for repeat listens, wielding its unerring immediacy as a formidable weapon. Powerful, brute, and spectacular, Lurid stands as one of 2015’s most welcome- and unexpected- entries.

Listen to Lurid below and explore a list of some of the best records to surface over the past two weeks.

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The Yolks – Don’t Cry Anymore
Grubs – It Must Be Grubs
Alimony Hustle – BNOC b/w Zero Chill
Bob Keelaghan – Country Fresh: A Ghost Guitar Soundtrack
Hot Flash Heat Wave – Neapolitan
James Elkington & Nathan Salsburg – Ambsace
Salad Boys – Metalmania
Astronauts, etc – Mind Out Wandering
Nuclear Age – The Distinct Sounds of…
Pontiak – NOPE/JEPPE
Roger Lion – Roger Lion
Media Jeweler – $99 R/T Hawaii
Broomfiller – Third Stage Propellor Index
Guerilla Toss – Flood Dosed
Baston – Gesture
Yonatan Gat & Gal Lazer – Physical Copy
Carroll – Carroll
Blonde Summer – Paradise
Alone at 3AM – Show the Blood
Tedo Stone – To the Marshes
Jóhann Jóhannsson – Sicario
Diät – Positive Energy
BIG|BRAVE – Au De La
Rat Columns – Do You Remember Real Pain
Wand – 1000 Days
Tommy Stinson – L.M.A..O.
Lucern Raze – Happy & Astray
Summer Twins – Limbo
Blessed Feathers – There Will Be No Sad Tomorrow
Daniel Klag – Reality and Self
Dead Heavens – Adderall Highway
Loma Prieta – Self Portrait
Spencer Radcliffe – Looking In
Holy ’57 – Au Naturel

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August 26, 2015

Mike Krol – Neighborhood Watch (Music Video)

After a relatively slow start, the Tuesday push of new releases saw the content push rapidly accelerating and left us with a little under three dozen items to cover. Once again, there were some strong full streams from great artists like Infinity Girl, Modern Merchant, Wild Moth, Peterborough Pirates, and The Invisible Strings (as well as the 16th LAMC split, this time between La Luz and Scully). A handful of great music videos made their way out into the world, coming from acts like Potty Mouth, Findlay Brown, The Good Life, Django Django, Sea of Bees, Whitewash, and Floating Points. Then, of course, came the slew of single streams that included outstanding new entries from a field consisting of no less than Spencer Radcliffe, Low, Small Black, Sudakistan, Farao, Kevin Devine (covering The Cure), Varsity, Amanda X, Hurry Up, Blonde Summer, Library Voices, Antibodies, Active Bird Community, and Protomartyr. It was a lot to take in and literally everything linked above, as always, is worth checking out- but today’s focus falls to a name new to most but familiar to me: Mike Krol.

For years, Krol’s been involved with the DIY punk scene in the upper Midwest and found himself in frequent collaboration with the tragically under-appreciated (and sadly defunct) Minneapolis-via-Madison act Sleeping in the Aviary. It’s a collaboration that continues today (several of the band’s former members play on Krol’s upcoming Merge debut Turkey), which probably isn’t surprising considering how frequently they toured together (Sleeping in the Aviary was Krol’s backing band on more than one occasion) and the fact that Sleeping in the Aviary literally dedicated a song to Krol in its title on one of the best split 7″ records of the 2000’s.

Already a few great releases into his career, Krol’s deal with Merge has ensured a lot more eyes will be trained on his next few moves and so far, the songwriter hasn’t disappointed. After “This Is the News“, Turkey‘s fiery as hell lead-off track, it was abundantly clear that Krol’s wielding more power than ever- and doing it with an almost vengeful force. For his latest feat, he’s enlisted Rob Hatch-Miller and Puloma Basu to direct a screwball clip for Turkey highlight “Neighborhood Watch”. Adopting a vocal approach that has some uncanny similarities to Davey Jones of Lost Boy ? makes “Neighborhood Watch” sound immediately familiar (and endlessly enjoyable) on record, it’s the clip that pushes it over the edge. Emphasizing Krol’s penchant for irreverence and incorporating a barrage of winking edits, “Neighborhood Watch” infuses itself with enough self-effacing slapstick to make it one of 2015’s more enjoyable outings. For some tongue-in-cheek humor and yet another genuinely great song, this one’s going to be hard to beat.

Watch “Neighborhood Watch” below and pre-order Turkey from Merge here.

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Tag: Blonde Summer