Ducktails | Heartbreaking Bravery

July 21, 2015

Radioactivity – Intro/Battered/Slipped Away (Music Video)

The past handful of days have been keeping 2015’s embarrassment of riches trend alive via outstanding releases in all of this site’s regularly covered categories: single streams, full streams, and music videos. For the sake of brevity, these streams (and the following items) will be listed solely by the artists involved- though all of these links are well worth clicking and reflect strongly on the state of contemporary music.

In the full songs department we received great new items from a handful of artists that included: Reservations, Monogold, Total Makeover, Foals, Hinds, Cowtown, Lithuania, Drinks, Pearl Charles, Connor La Mue, and Museum Mouth. Full stream found strong representation through upcoming releases from Philadelphia Collins, Vundabar, Rat Boy, Ducktails, Feeling Feelings, and Dark Thoughts. Music videos, much like the preceding two categories, had an excessively strong haul with outstanding new clips from Screaming Females, Krill, S, Findlay Brown, Laura Marling, Aaron Taos, Dum Dum Girls, and Kurt Vile. The same feat holds true for today’s featured piece; Radioactivity’s minimal three-track music video that unifies Silent Kill tracks “Intro”, “Battered”, and “Slipped Away” as one visual presentation.

The entire affair, as noted above, is extremely minimal and the premise is incredibly simplistic: Radioactivity plays three songs in a garage warehouse. How its executed is what gives this clip its life; each song brings the cameras progressively closer to the band as they perform before finally drawing in so close that the frame starts incorporating the technicolor exterior tubes to divide the shot in a barebones special effect trick that provides a surprising amount of visual punch. Of course, this being Radioactivity, the songs don’t need a lot of visual finesse to carry through or offer some sort of elevation; they’re already just about perfect. A compact blast teeming with the band’s characteristically snarling energy, this is a video that embraces their no-frills attitude and emphasizes what makes the band truly great.

Watch “Intro/Battered/Slipped Away” below and order the band’s excellent Silent Kill from Dirtnap here. For those of you in the Brooklyn area, you can catch the band at Baby’s All Right on July 30. Tickets for the show can be ordered here.

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July 8, 2015

PWR BTTM – Ugly Cherries (Stream)

Wednesday, for whatever reason, has become a traditionally stacked day for the release slate. Today’s already ushered in more than a dozen notable releases from all across the world, spanning about as much terrain musically as it does geographically. Music videos wound up with a fairly strong outing and included some stunning visuals that were brought into focus by the likes of Ducktails, Creepoid, Destroyer, and Albert Hammond Jr., constituting the strongest showing for the format in weeks.

Curiously, the full stream category was completely absent from the day’s proceedings (so far, at least) but that did make room for another impressive haul of singles. Donovan Wolfington got a little heavier and a lot more focused with “Ollie North“, Manatree ushered in some tropical tones through their sccuzzed-up indie pop number “Animal Qualities“, Wand and Sunflower Bean continued to revel in psychedelia with “Stolen Footprints” and “The Stalker“, respectively.

Ultimate Painting continued sharpening their shambolic, widescreen Americana via “(I’ve Got The) Sanctioned Blues“, Tenement released the winningly scrappy demo take of Predatory Headlights standout “Hive of Hives“, and Cold Beat continued to create compelling tapestries by merging distinctly left-field influences once again in the tension/explosion masterclass “Cracks“. Fake Palms let loose the pulverizing “Sparkles“, Palehound released another stunner in “Healthier Folk“, Antarctigo Vespucci continued subverting expectations and delivering at an unreasonably high level with “Impossible To Place“, Diät resurfaced with the urgent, punishing “Toonie“, Autobahn brought out a similarly menacing gut-punch through “Society“, and Chelsea Wolfe deepened the foreboding overtones of those last two numbers with the slow-burning “After the Fall“.

While any number of those songs could have been selected as the feature for today’s post, the distinction goes to a duo that’s earned some coverage here in the past: PWR BTTM. Today the band not only announced their upcoming record and the necessary details but released the title track as well. Father/Daughter and Miscreant will be joining forces once again to release the excellent Ugly Cherries on September 18. And while “Ugly Cherries” is fairly representative of the full-length’s best qualities, there are still a variety of surprises and nuances to explore once the record drops.

Until then, though, we’ve got “Ugly Cherries” to place under a lens and obsess over. If the song sounds familiar, it may be due to the fact that it’s been a staple of the band’s live set for quite some time- or maybe you’ve heard it playing as the theme song for the excellent live series that’s hosted by Play Too Much. Maybe you just think the chord progression lead-in is “Undone — The Sweater Song” (it’s not but you’d probably be forgiven for the confusion). Any way that it gets processed, though, the simple unavoidable fact is that it’s an absolute powerhouse of a song, swinging for the fences and connecting with a startling emphasis.

PWR BTTM, a band that consists of Benjamin Hopkins and Liv Bruce, have developed the kind of rapport that most bands can only dream about achieving. From their impressive musical synchronicity (they frequently switch guitar, drum, and vocal positions) right down to the atypically engaging stage banter that peppers their energetic live show, there’s an intrinsic connection that’s both palpable and natural- something that translates to the studio versions of the songs.

“Ugly Cherries” hits some of the duo’s favorite beats (gender identity, examination, doubt, shamelessly bombastic shredding, and acceptance, among them) without ever losing its sense of urgency or vitality. As a powerful display of finesse and deceptive strength, it’s a near-perfect mission statement for the band. As a warning shot for the record that’s now on its way out into the world, it might be enough to incite a riot. I’m almost positive they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Listen to “Ugly Cherries” below and order the record from site favorite(s) Father/Daughter Records (in association with Miscreant Records) ahead of its September 18 release date by following the label hyperlinks.

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June 9, 2015

Happy Diving – So Bunted (Stream)

Once more, with feeling: I’ve been caught up in travel arrangements over the past week and a half but I haven’t let new music escape me during that time. I’ve kept a detailed record of everything that’s caught my attention and, unsurprisingly, the bulk of those materials were single tracks. As was the case in the previous two posts, a list of 15 of the strongest highlights to emerge throughout that time frame have been included below the embed of the song earning the feature spot. In this case, that song’s a blistering reminder of the myriad strengths of site favorites Happy Diving.

The band’s exhilarating debut for Father/Daughter Records (another site favorite), Big World, established the band’s identity as well as their reputation for crafting feedback-heavy downer pop. Taking just as many cues from 90’s alt. as shoegaze, the band have conjured up yet another sharp blast of reverb-laden melancholy with “So Bunted”, the title track from a forthcoming 7″ that also marks their first release for the increasingly impressive Topshelf Records (Happy Diving’s signing follows a series of impressive moves from the label and the acquisition of Happy Diving rates as one of their strongest). Effortlessly pairing melancholy with urgency has always been one of the band’s strongest draws and “So Bunted” is a masterclass in that particular dynamic, creating a compelling whirlwind of soaring guitars and bleak emotions. Not a single moment of the track’s 134 seconds are wasted and if this is indicative of what Happy Diving has in store for Topshelf, then we’re all in for one hell of a ride.

Listen to “So Bunted” below and pre-order the 7″ from Topshelf directly here. Beneath the embed are 15 more songs that deserve paragraphs worth of praise and to be added to just about any collection.

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Broen – Iris
Jessie Jones – Sugar Coated
FFS – Call Girl
Creepoid – Shaking
Weaves – Tick
Cyberbully Mom Club – No-Fun
Oscar – Stay
HEALTH – Stonefist
Ducktails – Surreal Exposure
Hibou – Dissolve
The Armed – Paradise Day
theweaselmartenfisher – Draw Back Your Bow
The Rashita Joneses – My Finger
Operation Simon – Innervation
Blacklisters – Cash Cow

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May 24, 2015

Weed – Thousand Pounds (Music Video)

Although the last post’s collection of music videos represented some of the finest clips to have emerged in the past week, it didn’t quite cover everything. The past seven days have been a solid outing for the format, producing some memorable clips. While there are still a few yet to come, this post tackles the majority of the remainder of what’s gone uncovered from that week-long time frame so far. Included in those videos is STS x RJD2’s live edit of the brassy, soulful “Doin’ It Right”, Ducktails’ intriguingly pensive “Headbanging in the Mirror“, Pet Sun’s mildly disturbing, effects-laden “Never Quit“, and Candy Darling’s quasi-nightmarish “Going Straight“. Weed’s “Thousand Pounds” gets this post’s headline for finding a visual aesthetic so perfectly suited to the band’s shoegaze-tinged take on basement punk. Utilizing grainy black-and-white visuals and some compellingly simplistic visual effects, the band’s found a unique platform to showcase their driving sensibilities. Lightly damaged, strangely mesmerizing, and heavily nostalgic, “Thousand Pounds” is a great example of a band embracing their identity.

Watch “Thousand Pounds” below and pick up a copy of Running Back, the record “Thousand Pounds” appears on, from Lefse here.

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May 12, 2015

T. Hardy Morris – My Me (Stream)

Back in 2011 I saw Dead Confederate play an incendiary set at Summerfest in a baffling early afternoon slot to roughly 100 people. It was a surreal experience that validated a lot of my growing suspicions about the way the hype machine works (at the time, the band was in the midst of the tour for their critically acclaimed debut effort) but it also shed light on guitarist/vocalist’s T. Hardy Morris’ seemingly intrinsic talents and his impossibly engaging presence. Over the years following that performance, he’s cultivated that talent into something even sharper, cutting his teeth on a variety of projects (including, but not limited to, Diamond Rugs). He’s set to release another solo record, Hardy and the Hardknocks: Drownin’ On A Mountaintop, and is previewing it with “My Me”, one of the most electrifying songs of his already fairly vast discography.

Of course, “My Me” was only one highlight in a sea of great releases from the past week’s treasure trove of material, so before it gets dissected, a few other notable titles will get the mentions they deserve. The titles in that category (and in this collection) are as follows: Liza Anne’s wistful “Ocean“, Robert Pollard’s cheeky “Take Me To Yolita“, Maribou State and Pedestrian’s collaborative effort “The Clown“, The Bats Pajamas’ lightly menacing “Wrong House“, Walleater’s mesmerizing “Sin Eater“, Rosetta’s bombastic “Untitled V“, Ducktails’ shimmery “Headbanging in the Mirror“, Citizen’s murky “Cement“, and a stunning new demo entitled “Your Heart” that came courtesy of site favorites Girlpool. While all nine of those tracks deserve as many plays that they can get, it’s the latest from T. Hardy Morris that- somewhat unexpectedly- snagged this post’s headline.

“My Me” is another strong example of Morris’ grasp on how to combine genres that don’t seem like they would complement each other at all into something surprisingly immediate (and immediately accessible). Taking cues from country, shoegaze, sludge, and punk, “My Me” is a masterclass in eclecticism, sure, but it’s also an absurdly catchy song that revels in an endearingly youthful enthusiasm. Morris has been impressive since “The Rat” put him on the map but “My Me” is another piece of evidence that Morris is progressing steadily as a songwriter as he goes, making him one to continue watching. The rise/fall vocal dynamic is used like a weapon in “My Me” and the muddy guitars behind his howls (and pointed commentary on self-exploration) push the song to incredible heights. A sunny melody runs through everything, lending the whole affair a feeling of fun that’s become uncommon in today’s musical landscape (which is also why the whistle at approximately 1:24 makes me smile every time I hear it and will undoubtedly remain one of my favorite musical moments from this year as it barrels along). While “My Me” bodes well for Hardy and the Hardknocks: Drownin’ On A Mountaintop, it’ll be hard to care if anything tops “My Me” because we still get a song this perfect out of the deal.

Listen to “My Me” below and pre-order Hardy and the Hardknocks: Drownin’ On A Mountaintop ahead of its June 23 release from Dangerbird here.

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