Joyride! | Heartbreaking Bravery

October 18, 2016

Okkervil River – Call Yourself Renee (Music Video)

okkervil

Monday issued a series of notable streams from acts as varied as The Men, Very Fresh, Dark Blue, Lou Barlow, Lindsey Mills, Cave People, Fruit & Flowers, Beautiful Dudes, and Squirrel Flower. Additionally, there was a small list of impressive music videos that came courtesy of Slow Pulp, The Blow, Moby & The Void Pacific Choir, Louise Burns, and Black Kids. Finally, some exceptional full streams that arrived via Joyride!, Hillary Susz, Title Tracks, and Sun Angle rounded out the day in memorable fashion. Okkervil River found themselves snagging the feature spot on the back of yet another impressive music video from Away.

Following in the visually arresting footsteps of its Away counterparts, “Call Yourself Renee” sees the band delivering their most vivid — and undeniably modern — presentation to date. Centering around two protagonists, the Bret Curry-directed (and shot) clip opts out of a literal interpretation of the lyrics and presents a slice-of-life look at the characters. It’s a decision that pays massive dividends, imbuing “Call Yourself Renee” with a subdued sense of mystery, which keeps the viewer guessing at the clip’s final destination.

Only Away, the band’s most gentle work, doesn’t deal in tidy resolutions and understands that the journey can be far more important. “Call Yourself Renee” holds true to this belief, letting its characters find a way to an ambiguous, open-ended exit point. While the two principle actors — Tyler Bates and Joy Curry — give committed performances that are difficult to shake, the band does manage to make a few appearances, grounding “Call Yourself Renee” with a sense of place that tethers everything together.

By the calmly assured ending, the clip’s firmly established a spell of its own, creating a realistic world that’s practically impossible to want to leave. Even with the visual asides that find Bates and Curry posturing for the camera, there’s a soft empathy that slowly drives “Call Yourself Renee” towards an unassuming transcendence. It’s a remarkably tender clip and a comprehensive visual realization of Away, serving as a perfect complement to the band’s most relaxed tendencies. There’s genuine moments of humanism, beauty, and confidence in every frame, leaving “Call Yourself Renee” as one of the most unexpectedly mesmerizing clips of the year.

Watch “Call Yourself Renee” below and pick up Away here.

October 13, 2016

A Two Week Toll: Streams

It’s been a little over two weeks since this site’s run regular coverage. After the 1,000th post, there was a decision to be made over whether to continue on Heartbreaking Bravery in a severely limited capacity, a full capacity, or use the A Step Forward compilation as a final exclamation point. Before long, continuing on with a daily regiment felt like the right decision. This post and the dozen plus posts that will follow will all be a coordinated effort to get caught back up to the present release cycle.

The opening trio of posts will all feature a laundry list of items that are more than deserving of attention while the ensuing posts will be dedicated features for a singular item. A few Watch This installments will be posted and the rest of the coverage will be split into the three major tiers: streams, music videos, and full streams. Kicking things off is this collection of outstanding songs to have emerged during the brief hiatus. Dive in and go swimming.

Crying, Hellrazor, Cassels, Slowcoaches, Coaster, Halfsour, Private Interests, Minihorse, Very Fresh, Honeyblood, Fucked Up, Terry Malts, Kevin Devine, Joyride!, Teen Suicide, LA BÊTE BLOOMS, The Exquisites, Penelope Isles, Nice Try, Dag, Jess Williamson, Chemtrails, Really Big Pinecone, John K. Samson, Soviet Soviet, American Wrestlers, Fake Limbs, The Tuts, Lubec, Carroll, Girlboss, Gladkill, Hollow Everdaze, Boogarins, LOKIT, Parlour Tricks, Vanishing Life, Wistappear, gobbinjr, Dmitry Evgrafov, Hidden Ritual, Lucidalabrador, Many Voices Speak, Future States.

Flamingosis, Sexy Jesus, Magana, Glacial Pace, Plastic Flowers, Super Unison, WTCHS, Tape Deck Mountain, Dexateens, Planes Mistaken for Stars, The Flat Five, HMLTD, Wovoka Gentle, Homebody, Pop & Obachan, Soft Pyramids, Fascinations Grand Chorus, Warhaus, Future Death, Emily Reo, Affordable Hybrid, Light Fantastic, Temples, Michael Chapman, Hiss Golden Messenger, The Dazies, Hippo Campus, Doubles, Lolahiko, Youth Funeral, Lou Barlow, Pure Moods, Floating Room, James Parry, I’m Glad It’s You (x2), Communist Daughter, Henry Jamison, and J Mascis.

June 6, 2015

Hey Hallways – Anything At All (Music Video)

Continuing the recent trend of emerging (or, in this case, re-emerging) items that were featured or teased by the writers kind enough to participate in A Year’s Worth of Memories series is Hey Hallways’ first music video, “Anything At All”. Of course, it wasn’t the only music video to surface over the past few days. It was joined by the likes of Titus Andronicus’ typically fiery “Fatal Flaw“, YAWN’s gorgeously lensed “Overflow“, Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room’s surprisingly great lyric clip for “Enemies“, Beach Baby’s intuitive, sensual “No Mind No Money“, Craft Spells’ effects and editing masterclass “Twirl“, and Birdstriking’s urgent, damaged “Monkey Snake“.

In the very first installment of a A Year’s Worth of Memories Radiator Hospital‘s Cynthia Schemmer (who also serves as managing editor for the rightfully-celebrated She Shreds) waxed ecstatic about Hey Hallways’ Absence Makes the Heart Forget, singling out “Anything At All” specifically. It’s easy to see why: the song’s a knockout punch that demonstrates the vast range of Jason Brownstein’s considerable talents (he also plays in both Joyride! and Permanent Ruin). Now, that song has its own music video- a collage of home movie aesthetics that bristles with genuine feeling. That kind of raw honesty is something that’s impossible to duplicate and difficult to convey but it comes across effortlessly in both song and video, providing a brief glimpse at Brownstein’s quiet charisma. Ultimately, “Anything At All” is the exact kind of song (and clip) that has the power to inspire others to start creating their own art and that alone’s worth more than words could ever convey.

Watch “Anything At All” below and pre-order Absence Makes the Heart Forget from Salinas here.

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