Monday and Tuesday offered up a handful of newly released gems, so tonight’s being dedicated to recapping the best of the best. Mogwai crafted a stunning, effects-heavy video for their jaw-dropping “Teenage Exorcists“, which was more than enough to fill the featured music videos slot. Grooms, fresh off of their performance on Death By Audio’s final night, released the punchy, shape-shifting “Doctor M”. Cave People added to their growing momentum- and Older‘s growing expectations- with the rousing “Brace“. Then Trust Fund went ahead and added another great piece to their already ridiculously impressive year (their split with Joanna Gruesome remains one of 2014’s best releases) by teasing their debut record with “Cut Me Out”, one of their sharpest songs to date.
No One’s Coming For Us is the name of Trust Fund‘s upcoming record and the title continues the band’s bizarrely winsome streak of self-deprecation. Coming hot off the heels of their compilation-best contribution to the stacked Jam Kidsand one of the more fascinating music video projects in recent memory, Trust Fund had already seemed primed to see their recognition skyrocket. “Cut Me Out” advances that possibility with an easy grace, sounding both refined and revitalized. Harmonies, as always, seem to come effortlessly to the quartet and their grasp on dynamics remains absurdly compelling. Primal drumming collides with guitar work that’s simultaneously sugary and vicious, acting as a perfect complement to the band’s compelling stylistic aesthetic. It’s explosive, it’s spiky, and it’s tantalizingly sweet, all adding up to a perfect first look at a record worth salivating over in anticipation. Trust Fund hasn’t missed the mark yet and it’ll come as a genuine surprise if No One’s Coming For Us doesn’t wind up as one of 2015’s very best- “Cut Me Out” already has them greeting it at full sprint. Try to keep up as they go.
Listen to “Cut Me Out” below and pre-order No One’s Coming For Us from Turnstile.
Another day’s come and gone, leaving another arsenal of treasures in its wake. Telekinesis teased an upcoming Polyvinyl 4 Track Singles Series 7″ with the vibrant “Can’t See Stars“, Prawn gave the world a glimpse at an EP appendix for last year’s Kingfisher via the stunning “Built For“, and both The Bug and Earth showcased their mastery of sprawling tension on the collaborative “Cold” off of their upcoming Record Store Day 7″. Grooms advanced their psych-damaged and decidedly askew take on pop with the excellent, punk-leaning “Doctor M“. Rounding out the single streams was a fiery Delta Five cover from Audacity and an extraordinarily promising two-song preview of the upcoming split between Joyce Manor and Toys That Kill.
Nano Kino made their enticing self-titled EP (the band’s debut effort) available for streaming (and purchase) over at bandcamp, which was more than enough to cover today’s full streams. Music vidoes had another impressive showing, with solid turn-in’s like Kim Deal’s dryly comedic “Biker Gone“, the unbridled ferocity of Robot Death Kites‘ “Sleep Deprived“, L.A. Witch’s quietly hypnotic “Heart of Darkness“, and “Madora“- yet another ingenious clip from Beverly (the band continues to do absolutely wonderful things with the visual medium). Even with all of those managing to become easy standouts, it was the relentlessly devastating video for Iceage‘s “Against The Moon” (a song that this site already emphatically praised) that hit with the hardest impact.
Directed by the formidable team of Marten Masai Andersen and Kim Thue and starring the inimitable Dan van Husen (best known for his work in Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu The Vampyre and Federico Fellini’s Casanova), “Against The Moon” is shot in striking black-and white and accentuates the song’s inherent sadness. Missa Blue and Louis Backhouse round out the cast in deeply tragic turns that allow them to bare their characters scars. Implicit violence permeates nearly every frame of “Against The Moon”- much of it lensed in a style that comes off as a hybrid between classic noir, western, and horror- with van Husen’s nameless character incessantly leering at the prostitutes played by Blue and Backhouse; his face often a sick portrait of twisted satisfaction.
In the press copy, it states that the video’s intended to double the dichotomy between affirmation and repentance that’s present in Elias Bender Rønnenfelt lyric set. While aspects of that do come through (with a vengeance), it’s the ambiguity that winds up taking centerstage; nearly all of “Against The Moon” is composed of effortlessly arresting one-shots, refusing to let its characters intertwine on an explicit or definitive level. Every moment of staging is rooted more in suggestion than cause or consequence, forcing the viewer to face an array of uncomfortable questions and grapple with things as essential as empathy. It’s a revolving door of character study, presenting each subject with equal care, unafraid to focus in on what appear to be their lowest moments. It’s a psychological nightmare. It’s a brutally meticulous examination of standards. It’s a an unfailingly harsh reminder of life’s darkest corners. It’s beyond important; it’s necessary- and, most of all, it’s a masterpiece.
Watch “Against The Moon” below and order Plowing Into The Field Of Love here.
To close out tonight’s posting spree, there’ll be a few more gems in this introductory paragraph and then another look at Screaming Females‘ upcoming Rose Mountain to bring this bout to a close. Darlings teased the casual sprawl of the noise pop that’ll undoubtedly be populating their upcoming Feel Better with “Mein the Sky“, a track that single-handedly ensure Feel Better‘s status as a record to be met with anticipation. A curious pair of videos surfaced in the just-now-released clip for Jawbreaker’s classic “Boxcar” and a shadowy night drive provided the visual template for Total Control’s future classic, “Flesh War“. On the full stream front, Kid Wave unleashed torrents of shoegaze-inspired noise-punk with their incredible GloomEP, which deserves to be regarded as one of the year’s best. Then, to top everything off, Screaming Females dug their nails and teeth deep into the vicious “Ripe”- and in doing so, earned the last feature spot of the night.
“Ripe” accompanied the announcement of Rose Mountain (due out via Don Giovanni on February 24), the band’s follow-up to 2012’s career-best effort, Ugly. With “Wishing Well” having already provided a first look at the band’s upcoming record- and especially with “Ripe” augmenting it- the band’s trend of continuously topping themselves seems set to continue. Guitarist and vocalist Marissa Paternoster seems to be experimenting with a subtle restraint that’s paying massive dividends for the new batch of songs thus far, allowing the coursing energy of the music to be emphasized more fully than ever before. Unsurprisingly, Paternoster’s riffs remain as blistering as ever and her vocal delivery’s still incredibly impassioned and laced with a staggering amount of conviction.
Jarrett Dougherty’s drumming’s still as powerful as it is precise but the work King Mike lays down on bass is easily among the best of his career. Paternoster and Mike trade riffs with a deranged glee, building “Ripe” into an unshakable basement punk bruiser. At some point over the course of the song’s three minute and 17-second run time, it seems like “Ripe” lights a fire underneath itself, pushing everyone in the band to play like their lives depend on equally fiery performances. This eventually leads the trio straight into one of the best bridges they’ve concocted, aided by some brilliant production work that rivals what Albini managed to accomplish with Ugly. By the time “Ripe” comes to its severely punchy conclusion, Screaming Females have outrun another grenade blast of their own design. Should all of Rose Mountain live up to the promise of its first two tracks, 2015 will have a very early Album of the Year contender.
Stream “Ripe” via the somewhat disconcerting video below and make sure to pre-order Rose Mountain from Don Giovanni as soon as it’s a possibility.
Part 3 of tonight’s ongoing series of coverage for the great little bits and pieces of entertainment to have surfaced in the past two days operates like its precedents: four items worth looking into and one feature spot. That there is a feature spot to be granted shouldn’t demerit anything that gets mentioned in this space, though. Everything that earns a link on this site is put there for a reason; if it’s linked, don’t make the mistake of missing out on what it leads to- because it would be a massive mistake. Things like Bugs in the Dark‘s visceral gut-punch of a record, Cross My Heart Little Death, don’t come around often and neither do songs like The Chemistry Experiment’s delicate “Channel Light Vessel“, which pulls in aspects of several genres to create a soft-edged psych-pop tapestry. A pair of music videos worth several looks also fought their way out into the world; Medicine‘s aggressively warped kaleidoscopic head trip for “Move Along – Down the Road” and the breezy charms of Quilt’s clips video for “Mary Mountain“. Then, to complete everything, there was the sophomore effort of Brooklyn’s ragtag crew in Slight (for those keeping score at home, that’d be Painted Zeros and Trace Mountains member Jim Hill, LVL UP‘s Greg Rutkin, and Catalonia’s Alberto Casadevall).
Run, which follows the band’s excellent townie490, may take the the track total from five down to two but it certainly doesn’t skimp on the band’s key elements: hooks, melody, fuzz, crunch, personality, and left field basement pop. The title track kicks things off at a full sprint, with promises of remaining level-headed enveloped in the adrenaline rush of the music. Rutkin proves to be a force behind the kit, urging everything forward while Hill’s guitar and synth work seems intent on trying to outstrip everyone, leaving Casadevall to keep everything in check with workmanlike bass lines. There’s a clear 90’s influence culled from the band’s powerpop pull and slacker punk aesthetics but they’re supplied with a modern worldview and a sense of history that supports the contrast that always exists between brave modernity and the tried-and-true.
While “Run” may skew towards a weird, contained combination of Lost Boy ? and Superchunk, the track that follows it- “The News”- veers more towards Sloan with Slight’s fuzz-is-bliss identity starting to punch holes through their influences before too long. Synths serve as a warm bed for a track that darts, cuts, and charges just as fiercely as “Run”, only at a slightly slower clip. After everything clicks and sends it rocketing upward, it fades out in a bout of feedback (and one tastefully subtle synth interjection) leaving nothing but a trail of smoke in Slight’s wake. If the band’s next release is even half as good as this pair of tracks, Slight could be the next in line to break out and make a serious name for themselves.
Listen to Run below and snag the band’s young discography from their bandcamp.
The past few days have been incredibly kind for new releases. So much so that it seems criminal to attempt to contain them all in one post, which is why there will be several appearing throughout the night, each containing a few links to other very worthy items. For this round, that includes a scrappy lo-fi video from Bully for their wonderful “Brainfreeze“, Painted Zeros‘ cameo-heavy clip for their outstanding slacker pop anthem “Too Drunk to Function“, King of Cats‘ newest brilliant lo-fi basement pop outing “Ulcers” (which also features Joanna Gruesome’s Owen Williams behind the kit), and Illusion– a relentlessly spiky post-punk EP from Honduras. While, again, all of those were incredible releases, there was an inherent magic contained in Band Practice‘s slow-building indie pop triumph “Bartending At Silent Barn”.
Spearheaded by Miscreant Records mastermind Jeanette Wall, Band Practice takes Wall’s wealth of hard-won history and sculpts it into arresting presentations-with “Bartending At Silent Barn” being the finest to date. Starting off with nothing but a clean palm-muted guitar, a mid-tempo gait, and Wall’s narration of a rough show at the Brooklyn DIY staple, it slowly delves into inner thoughts and outward apologies as the show continues, always brought back by the refrain “sorry, here’s your beer; sorry i got weird”, making it painfully relatable for just about anyone who’s ever served drinks. It’s that keen eye on a semi-uncomfortable reality that transforms “Bartending At Silent Barn” into an oddly moving experience even before it blooms from a plaintive atmosphere into a towering- and obscenely gorgeous- falsetto-laden indie pop number at the close. Even better: that change is brought about by an inverted refrain- “you say, you say, keep the change” slowly progresses into “you say, you say, things will change”. That those words are brought to vivid life by the music itself is a warm final reassurance; Wall’s an extremely talented songwriter, Band Practice is worth a lot of excitement, and Make Nice– the release “Bartending At Silent Barn” is taken from-is a record that deserves an extraordinarily high level of anticipation.
Listen to “Bartending At Silent Barn” below and keep an eye on this site for updates on Make Nice.
Now that all of the great music videos and full streams from the first part of this week are accounted for, it’s time to turn the lens to the handful of single songs that managed to stand out. JOYA crafted a punchy tune that wielded an 80’s new wave punk influence masterfully with “Regale“, The Velveteens unveiled a beautiful indie pop slow-burner titled “Loneliness“, and California X came out swinging with career highlight “Nights In The Dark“- which will also serve as the title for their forthcoming record. My Drunken Haze gave life to the oddly hypnotic “Yellow Balloon“, Step-Panther gave a guided heist tour in their curiously dynamic “Nowhere“, and School ’94 revealed their gorgeous 80’s-indebted ballad “Like You“. Despite all of those songs being worthy of their own write-ups, it’s hard to just glaze past something as powerful as Kal Marks‘ “It Was A Very Hard Year”.
One of 2013’s strongest records was Kal Marks’ sprawling, gloom-infused post-punk masterpiece Life Is Murder, Now, only a year later, they’re preparing to release what will be one of this year’s best EP’s- Just A Lonely Fart. All of the implicit dread that informed Life Is Murder is still incredibly present in Just A Lonely Fart, which was previously teased with lead-off track “Zimmerman“. While “Zimmerman” dealt in political explosives with sharp social commentary, “It Was A Very Hard Year” pulls the reins back and delves into something equally terrifying; what it means to be human. Both songs (and their inspirations) were touched on in the interview that accompanied the song’s premiere, lending a greater insight to the thought processes driving Just A Lonely Fart. Empathy plays a heavy factor and manages to punctuate the incredibly tense “It Was A Very Hard Year” in surprisingly engaging and intriguingly subtle ways. It’s a brilliant closer that builds itself into a hurricane before settling into a quiet oblivion, successfully casting Just A Lonely Fart as one of 2014’s most striking releases. Don’t make the mistake of letting this one fall to the wayside.
Listen to “It Was A Very Hard Year” below and pre-order Just A Lonely Fart from Kal Marks’ bandcamp.
With another traditionally huge Monday just about in the books, it’s time to recap a large portion of the great material that was released. NPR’s First Listen series was typically stocked and contained Bedhead‘s discography as well as the upcoming records from Big K.R.I.T. and Hookworms. There was also the aggressively bleary noise-psych of Energy Slime’s debut 7″, New Dimensional. Stereogum played host to a slew of impressive song premieres: Lemuria‘s sprightly “Froggy Smoke“, Chief Scout’s kinetic basement pop stunner “Oh Shit“, Whirr‘s newest heavy-hitter “Ease“, and Cloakroom‘s Matt Talbott-assisted “Dream Warden“. In other reaches of the internet, The Sidekicks announced a new record and signing with Epitaph with the typically excellent “Deer” and Diarrhea Planet continued to up the anticipation for their upcoming EP, Aliens in the Outfield, with the absolutely stunning closer- and very likely their career-best- “Peg Daddy“. Empty Apartments’ punchy lo-fi treasure “Lefty (Cardboard Box)“, Terrorista’s jumpy basement punk brawler “Darren vs Bag“, and The Coathangers‘ savage Gun Club cover all also found their way into the world.
To round things out there were also outstanding new music videos that included a tantalizing introduction to what will be a multi-part series from Kevin Devine via “She Can See Me“, an intense visual stimuli overload in the form of Naomi Punk‘s “Television Man” video, Desert Sharks’ revenge fantasy in “crazycrazy“, and Elbow’s artful ode to motorcross in the artfully composed “New York Morning“. There was also The Twilight Sad‘s gorgeous black-and-white clip for “Last January“, Yesway’s hauntingly minimalistic “Let Go“, and Appomattox‘s celebratory career-ending exclamation point in the skate-heavy video for “Yr Soul“. While all of those operated on various levels of unique excellence, it’s tough to outmaneuver that towering scope of one of the year’s most powerful albums- especially when the music video for one of its best songs feels so perfectly assembled.
LOSE is a record that carries the burden of the heavy emotions that come with the loss of a close friend. “Warning” is one of its few moments of total exhilaration; a release of the pent up frustration, angst, despair, and complete helplessness in the face of death. It’s a staggeringly powerful moment on the record and hits stratospheric heights when paired with- and accompanied by- the record’s implicit narratives. In the brilliantly directed music video, Cymbals Eat Guitars are reverted back to youth via teenage stand-ins who deliver some commendably impassioned (and entirely convincing) performances as they mimic the song. A sense of well-placed nostalgia is subtly added in through quick cuts revealing some classic posters and albums that likely served as influences for the band (and for Benjamin High, whose early departure was the event that inspired much of LOSE). “Warning” is lovingly edited and gorgeously lensed, it’s a video that manages to evoke a deeply-felt well of emotions. It’s a surprisingly moving complement to a song- and record- that deserved nothing less.
Watch “Warning” below and buy LOSE directly from Barsuk here.
A lot of great material came crawling out of the woodwork today on all three major fronts. On the music video side of things, two more woods-set music videos continued this week’s increasingly eerie visuals, courtesy of The Afghan Whigs’ “Lost in the Woods” and Greylag’s “Yours to Shake“. Over in the territory occupied by full streams, there was Smack The Brick, a characteristically insane new EP from fearless art-punkers Guerilla Toss, a gloriously punishing psych-indebted punk stomper from Aj Davila Y Terror Amor called Beibi, and Farewell Foolish Objects a sprawling post-punk masterpiece from The Gary which very nearly took today’s feature spot- and may very well see more coverage here in the near future. For single streams there was a fascinating collaboration between PC Worship and Parquet Courts, a new tune for the deluxe version of one of this year’s best records- Burn Your Fire for No Witness– carrying the tongue-in-cheek title of “May As Well“, and “Kid“- a heart-on-sleeve blue collar punk anthem from Standards. Additionally, there was a typically spiky new demo to surface from another one of the year’s best efforts- Lost Boy ?’s Canned– called “Boring Jr” and Communions’ giddy indie-pop grandeur came to light in the form of “Love Stands Still“.
One of the strongest songs to come to light, though, was one that avoided detection when it first came into being a few months back: Filmstrip‘s “Don’t You Know”. Taking cues from bands that pioneered the merging of noise, post-punk, and early emo (a la Sunny Day Real Estate, Shellac, and The Wrens) and bringing in a fair bit of early 90’s slacker revivalism (along with a few nods to Canadian powerpop), Filmstrip have managed to craft an identity that feels as familiar as it does unique. As aggressive as the song feels, it’s also surprisingly accessible and will play well to the sensibilities of genre specialists across a very wide spread. There’s a real sense of both history and craftsmanship that accompanies “Don’t You Know”, rendering it a compulsively fascinating listen. Well-informed, well-tailored, and brimming with a raucous energy, it’s a very tantalizing first look at the band’s upcoming record- Moments of Matter- which is due out via Exit Stencil Recordings next week. Tightly-knit and aggressively kinetic, “Don’t You Know” cements Filmstrip’s status as a band that’s not worth overlooking.
Listen to “Don’t You Know” below and pre-order Moments of Matter here.
A lot has happened in the four-day leave that this site took- a leave that officially ends with this post- and there are so many things to cover. It’d be foolish to pretend that this week didn’t just belong to Sleater-Kinney, who released a career-spanning box set, a new single (that was accompanied by a lyric video), and announced their official return. As tempting as it was to take a stab at waxing poetic over everything that band and their return means, their reputation’s already been earned and a million similarly-minded sites will be doing that in the weeks to come. Instead, today’s light will be shined elsewhere and ultimately fall on the band that’s earned the most mentions on this site without ever getting the feature spot. Before Girlpool gets their well-deserved due, though, all three of the regular fields will be recapped, in the order that follows: single stream, full stream, and music video.
Legendary Wings teased their upcoming basement punk ripper Do You See with the excellent “Weather Advisory” while Kal Marks did the same for their forthcoming EP with the forward-thinking bruiser “Zimmerman“. Portastatic proved they haven’t lost a step with the surprisingly great indie pop tune “Hey Salty” and Mitski‘s lead-up campaign for Bury Me At Makeout Creek remained perfect with the entrancing “I Will“. VLMA’s “Slime” and Cellphone‘s “Bad Medusa” were both post-punk stompers good enough to snag each act a handful of new followers. Chris Weisman celebrated the completion of his long-gestating album Monet In The 90‘s by previewing the record with the quietly mesmerizing “Working On My Skateboarding“. Vacation put forth an incredible Jesus And Mary Chain cover, Dirt Dress continued their impressive evolution with “Twelve Pictures“, and Caddywhompus continued extending what have become increasingly massive creative strides with the near-perfect “Entitled“. Davila 666 unveiled the tantalizing “Primero Muertas” in advance of their upcoming record, Pocos Años, Muchos Daños, just as Parts & Labor offered a glimpse at their upcoming record, Receivers, with the outstanding “Nowehre’s Nigh“. Art Is Hard’s Pizza Club series entered its final stretch with Broadbay’s newest noise-punk excursion “Plasticine Dream“, Primitive Parts made a rousing case for being a band to watch out for with “The Bench“, and Wildhoney became the latest act on the stacked Deranged roster to start breaking through on the strength of their towering shoegaze number “Fall In“. Circulatory System turned a few heads with the noise-damaged psych-pop of “It Never Made A Sound” and site favorites Saintseneca released a lovely Lucinda Williams cover. To round things out in the more ambient-leaning fields, there was a stunner from James Blake and a gentle new piece from The Greatest Hoax that easily swam its way into the realms of the sublime.
As for full streams, most of the talk in regards to this week will be dominated by the year-end-bound RTJ2, which is to be fully expected when a sophomore effort absolutely topples its heavily acclaimed predecessor- but don’t let that distract from a slew of other investment-worthy releases. Lace Curtains’ A Signed Piece of Paperalso managed to exceed the record it follows in terms of artistic merit- which is a trait that it shares with The Twilight Sad’s Nobody Wants To Be Here And Nobody Wants To Leave. The Unicorns’ Nick Thorburn made his uniquely charming score for the SERIAL podcastavailable via bandcamp and Fleeting Youth Records made their essential 33-track Blooming (A Fuzz-Fucked Compilation) mixtape (which more than lives up to its name) available for streaming via soundcloud. French For Rabbits premiered their arresting folk-inflected Spiritsover at Stereogum while NPR’s First Listen series hosted the premiere of Medicine‘s extraordinary Home Everywhere. The Omecs crafted a winsome throwback punk record which they’re now streaming on their bandcamp. Another record to be released via bandcamp, spit’s Getting Low, came dangerously close to being today’s feature by virtue of being a masterful work from an extremely promising songwriter (John Romano) that expertly straddles a curious line between Exploding in Sound and Orchid Tapes. Easily one of this month’s most fascinating records, it’s currently available over at bandcamp for a generous name-your-price fee. Don’t hesitate; this is music worth being in a wide array of collections.
In the music video category, Hurry had a blast with their clever clip for “Oh Whitney“, Dilly Dally got shrouded in smoke for “Candy Mountain“, and S gave the Tacocat bassist some peace of mind in the video for “Vampires“. Ought danced their hearts out in “New Calm, Pt. 2“, Thurston Moore conducted a nightmarish clip for “Speak to the Wild” (Los Angeles Police Department’s woodland excursion for “Enough Is Enough” was far less menacing), and Split Single inverted normalcy with their positioning for “Monolith“. Broken Water set things up with no shortage of caution in “Love and Poverty“, The Coathangers cheekily provided what’s ostensibly both a puppet-centric video and a left-field visual tour diary in “Drive“, and Beverly cemented their beautiful stylistic approach to the music video format with “Yale’s Life“. DTCV mined a bevvy of filmic influences and utilized them to perfection for “Electrostatic, Inc.” while Public Access TV took a similar route for “In The Mirror“. Allo Darlin’ kept things amusingly (and effectively) simple for “Bright Eyes“, Nano Kino set the airy “New Love” to a hypnotic visual collage, and Mannequin Pussy remained as energetic and unapologetic as ever with their lo-fi production for “My Baby (Axe Nice)“.
Now, that’s a lot of material to go through for just about anyone but none of those items hit with as hard of an impact as Girlpool‘s absolutely devastating animated video for “Plants and Worms”. From this video alone, it’s shockingly easy to see why such a huge subset of journalists and musicians have latched onto Girlpool so fiercely; their world-weariness, entirely relatable socio-political commentary, and compositional skills all suggest both an age and stage of career that’s vastly accelerated from the actuality of their current positions. The duo, Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad (17 & 18 years of age, respectively), are moving at an accelerated pace- release follows release, idea follows idea, and there’s barely any time for an active listener to breathe. Impressively, all of those pieces carry their own distinct identity and they’re frequently accompanied by weighty topics that most songwriters experience an immense struggle to present without tipping into the cloying or cliché. It can be hard to resist the temptation of excess when dealing with important messages and this is where Girlpool excels; not only are their thoughts presented articulately- they’re presented in a manner that’s plaintive enough to be devoid of any easy derision. There’s a deep-rooted humanism and empathy that’s present in their work which is something that will always be admirable- and in their deceptively minimal compositions, the music carries the burden of the weight of those topics to a degree that seems to mirror the band’s inherent level of mutual support.
For “Plants and Worms” they wound up pairing with illustrator Catleya Sherbow, whose art here also acts as a double for Girlpool’s processes. In the Rookie premiere of “Plants and Worms”, Tucker and Tividad give an interview that lends some insight to their history, ideals, and intentions, while revealing that “Plants and Worms” is about accepting the world and how much it has to offer once fear and trepidation is reduced to the point of near-elimination. Neither get any more specific than that- but they don’t need to because the illustration makes a variety of specific instances of everyday fear entirely evident: body image issues, self-image, depression, loneliness, and self-destruction. In Sherbow’s illustrations, everything’s presented as it would be in a children’s book; there’s a soft quality that undercuts the severity of the video’s implications providing a thoughtful contrast that suggests the darkest aspects of the song are universal- but also definitively states that they can be overcome. It’s a crushingly powerful video that becomes impossible to shake after one watch and positions Girlpool in the unlikely position of being a young duo who could (reasonably) become two of this generation’s sharpest social commentators. “Plants and Worms” is likely just the beginning- and it’s already too important to miss.
Watch “Plants and Worms” below and pre-order Girlpool (the EP which “Plants and Worms” is taken from) from Wichita here.
What a day. There was no obvious choice for a feature until LVL UP’s “Big Snow” premiered over at Impose. On the surface, that’s a bland statement- but looking at the company that “Big Snow” joined today, it’s one hell of a testament to LVL UP. In the single song department there were some legitimately great songs: Run The Jewels’ pulverizing new (Zach De La Rocha-featuring) scorcher “Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck)“, Dollface’s impossibly breezy indie pop gem “Churchyard“, Daddy Issues’ distortion-laden post-punk dirge “Ugly When I Cry“, and a bracing new Crow Bait song- “Separate Stations“- that incorporates members of Iron Chic. There was also Dasher’s foreboding noise-punk minimalism piece, “Teeth“, as well as Vetter Kids’ “I’m Just Your Newest Bluest” which is a perfect representation of the band’s modernist take on classic 90’s emo and noise-punk. “A Million Random Digits” proved that …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead are far from being done while Wedding Dress’ “Somewhere Darker” makes it clear that Wedding Dress are anxious to make their introduction to the world.
Cellphone also posited themselves as a band ready to make a notable entrance with an enticing and mysterious trailer to promote their upcoming Excellent Condition. Denmark’s Mimas returned to the fold in a big way with the characteristically impressive live-edit clip for “Kissinger’s Jaw” (fans of Exploding in Sound who aren’t well-versed in Big Scary Monsters would do well to take note of this one) and Tangerine released a delightful video for another indie-pop keeper, “You’ll Always Be Lonely”. Ex Hex got in on the action as well, releasing a knockout video for Rips highlight (one of many) “Waterfall“. For full streams there were stunners from The Grayces, Thurston Moore, and a mildly insane (and wildly heavy) split between Big Neck Police and Dog.
Everything hyperlinked in the two paragraphs above stands as both a great way to share music worth listening to and acts as a very long-winded way of saying that featuring “Big Snow” wasn’t a foregone conclusion- at least not until the riff kicked in at the :26 mark. It’s the third song to be streamed from a just-released split between LVL UP, Krill, Ovlov, and Radiator Hospital. “Big Snow” is a song that’s actually been featured on this site before in an admittedly roundabout way- it was the feature piece in the band’s Serious Business session that was featured on Watch This. Even with Hoodwink’dbeing one of this site’s top contenders (if not top contender) for Album of the Year honors, “Big Snow” manages to stand out as one of the best songs to spring out of the band’s discography.
Having just seen LVL UP take the roof off of Chicago’s Beat Kitchen (pictured above, more to come on that later), it’s allowed the cementing of some previously-held opinions in regards to how the band functions. First and foremost; this is a truly collaborative effort with everything working as a complement to its surrounding elements at an obscenely high level. Second, this music works best as a victory lap for the disenfranchised; it’s both a rousing call to action and a well-meaning embrace for the people who were told they’d never live up to their potential or lived on the fringes of culture. LVL UP’s never been one to shy away from the unconventional (or the irreverent) and that’s a trait that takes bravery to embody. “Big Snow” hints at all of these elements and includes a rare treat; every one of the band’s vocalists (Dave Benton, Nick Corbo, and Mike Caridi, respectively) joins in for one last rousing harmony run before that surging, blissed-out guitar riff rallies the song to its fade-out finish. If Hoodwink’d wasn’t already proof, “Big Snow” certainly cements what’s become an unavoidable fact: LVL UP are one of today’s best bands and they deserve all the accolades that are bound to fall their way.
Listen to “Big Snow” below and pre-order the split it’s on from Double Double Whammy here.
Heartbreaking Bravery 