Heartbreaking Bravery

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Tag: Little Wings

May 13, 2016

Color TV – Anybody’s Girl (Music Video)

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Now that the past month or so has been all but brought up to speed, it’s time to re-adjust the attention to the releases that have been surfacing in the more present release cycle. This post will focus on the music videos that have managed to impress over the past few days, while ensuing posts will tackle some of the excellent songs and full releases to have emerged in that time. Color TV, a new act out of Los Angeles, gets the feature here but it’s also worth noting that a handful of other acts released impressive works as well, among them: Sick Sad World, Frigs, Littlefoot, Moving Panoramas, Snow Roller, Susan, Little Wings, The Blank Tapes, Mrs. Magician, Young Mister, Chastity, and Karen Meat and the Computer.

All of those videos linked above are more than worthy of attention but it was the retro-styled clip for “Anybody’s Girl” that grabbed the feature spot. Utilizing a green screen effect to lightly comedic proportions, the clip’s galvanized by the commitment of Tipper Newton (the guitarist/vocalist and principal songwriter of Color TV) in an energized performance. The song itself is a sharp blast of powerpop, anchored by Newton’s convictions and scathing vocal delivery.

Both the clip (directed by Newton) and the song take a lot of inspiration from the alternative movements of the ’80s and ’90s and execute those cues with an exuberant glee. It’s an extremely charming clip that touches on relationship dynamics in unexpectedly amusing ways. Newton’s forthright with her message and the clip actually benefits from the directness, affording it some extra room for some pointed moments.

With just one screen and some light effects, Newton (and Color TV) have come charging in without warning. “Anybody’s Girl” is an exciting burst of powerpop, ushering in a promising new voice. In just two and a half minutes, Color TV create a winsome identity that’s as self-aware as it is hopeful. Perfect as a soundtrack for warm weather hangs or late night parties, it’s nothing short of a small triumph. The same can be said of the song’s colorful video, which underscores the band’s DIY ethos with a welcome dash of subtlety.

Color TV’s only made two of their songs public but they’ll be a name to watch and they’ll almost certainly be highlighted on this site again.

Watch “Anybody’s Girl” below and pick up the digital single from the band here.

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January 14, 2016

The Honorable Mentions of the 2015 Music Categories

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Before diving into the particulars of the forthcoming lists, it’s worth addressing the distinction made in the headline. Each of the categories that received a list in 2015 (music videos, songs, EP’s, albums, odds and ends) will be expanded upon in this post. However, there are still two forthcoming film lists but each of those will include the honorable mentions along with the featured rankings. An obscene amount of great material came out over the 12 months that comprised the past year so any attempts to cover everything would be futile. If anyone’s exhausted the below lists, a more comprehensive version can be found by exploring the following tags: stream, full stream, EP stream, and music video. Explore some of the top tier picks that didn’t make it onto the year-end lists via the tags below.

Music Videos

Screaming Females – Hopeless | Cayetana – Scott, Get the Van I’m Moving | Ephrata – Say A Prayer | ANAMIA – Lucia | Joanna Newsom – Sapokinakan | Battles – The Yabba | FIDLAR – 40 Oz. On Repeat | PINS – Young Girls | Doomtree – Final Boss | Hundred Waters – Innocent | Celestial Shore – Now I Know | Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment – Sunday Candy | Modest Mouse – Coyotes | Girlpool – Before The World Was Big | Laura Marling – Gurdijeff’s Daughter | Bay Uno – Wait For Your Love | The Staves – Black & White | Young Buffalo – No  Idea | Avid Dancer – All Your Words Are Gone | Avi Buffalo – Think It’s Gonna Happen Again | Adir L.C. – Buyer’s Instinct | Midnight Reruns – Canadian Summer | Daughter – Doing The Right Thing | John Grant – Disappointing | Waxahatchee – Under A Rock | Wimps – Dump | Potty Mouth – Cherry Picking | Froth – Nothing Baby | The Libertines – Heart of the Matter | Car Seat Headrest – Something Soon | Mike Krol – Neighborhood Watch | Savages – The Answer | Kurt Vile – Pretty Pimpin | Bully – Trying | Sheer – Uneasy  | Will Butler – Anna

EPs

Snail Mail – Sticki | Kindling – Galaxies | Eugene Quell – I Will Work The Land | Gumbus – Crimbus Rock | Rye Pines – Rye Pines | Feral Jenny – Greatest Hits | Slutever – Almost Famous | Gracie – Gracie | Nice Guys – Chips in the Moonlight | Anomie – Anomie | Kitner – Stay Sad | Animal Flag – EP 2 | Never Young – Never Young | Birches – Birches | Alimony Hustle – Gutter Gutter Strike Strike Gutter Gutter | The Lumes – Lust | Pretty Pretty – Talkin’ to the Walls | Vomitface – Another Bad Year | PALMAS – To the Valley | Greys – Repulsion | Wild Pink – Good Life | The Glow – Lose | Spirit of the Beehive – You Are Arrived (But You’ve Been Cheated) | Shady Hawkins – The Last Dance | Holy Esque – Submission | Ashland – Ashland | Isabel Rex – American Colliquialisms/Two Hexes | Pet Cemetery – Dietary Requirements | Milk Crimes – Milk Crimes | Rubber Band Gun – Making A Fool of Myself | Creative Adult – Ring Around the Room | Amber Edgar – Good Will Rise | La Casa al Mare – This Astro | Trophy Dad – Shirtless Algebra Fridays | Glueboy – Videorama | Birds in Row – Personal War | YVETTE – Time Management | Communions – Cobblestones | O-Face – Mint | Day Wave – Headcase | Granny – EGG | Van Dammes – Better Than Sex | Vallis Alps – Vallis Alps | Little Children – Traveling Through Darkness | Philadelphia Collins – Derp Swervin’ | The Tarantula Waltz – Lynx | Nicolas Jaar – Nymphs II | The Japanese House – Pools To Bathe In | Guerilla Toss – Flood Dosed | Los Planetas – Dobles Fatigas | See Through Dresses – End of Days | Earl Sweatshirt – Solace | Kississippi – We Have No Future, We’re All Doomed | Yumi Zouma – EP II | G.L.O.S.S. – Girls Living Outside of Society’s Shit | Fresh Snow – WON | Girl Band – The Early Years | XXIX – Wafia | together PANGEA – The Phage | Ty Segall – Mr. Face | Young Guv – Ripe 4 Luv

Songs

Yowler – The Offer | Meat Wave – Cosmic Zoo | Pleasure Leftists – Protection | Saintseneca – Sleeper Hold | Slight – Hate the Summer | Sports – The Washing Machine | Diet Cig – Sleep Talk | LVL UP – The Closing Door | Royal Headache – High | Tica Douglas – All Meanness Be Gone | Speedy Ortiz – Raising the Skate | Phooey! – Molly’s at the Laundromat | Adir L.C. – Buyer’s Instinct | Sweet John Bloom – Tell Me | Pile – Mr. Fish | Screaming Females – Hopeless | Ernie – Sweatpants | Bad Wig – Stargazer | Dusk – Too Sweet | Painted Zeros – Only You | Krill – Torturer | Young Jesus – Milo | Tenement – Ants + Flies | Midnight Reruns – Richie the Hammer | Melkbelly – Mt. Kool Kid | The Weasel, Marten Fisher – Empty Bucket List | Soul Low – Always Watchin’ Out | Eluvium – Neighboring In Telescopes | Algiers – Blood | Institute – Cheerlessness | Bruising – Think About Death | Vacation – Like Snow | Cende – Widow | Alex G – Brite Boy | Bully – Trying | Nicole Dollanganger – You’re So Cool | Sheer – Uneasy | Laura Stevenson – Claustrophobe | Kathryn Calder – New Millenium | The Foetals – Nothing | Lady Bones – Botch | Dogs On Acid – Let the Bombs Fall Off | Fraser A. Gorman – Shiny Gun | Bandit – The Drive Home | Mercury Girls – Golden | ThinLips – Nothing Weird | Wimps – Dump | S.M. Wolf – Help Me Out | Glueboy – Back to You | Mean Creek – Forgotten Streets | Ratboys – Tixis | PINS – Young Girls | Shilpa Ray – Johnny Thunders Fantasy Space Camp | White Reaper – Make Me Wanna Die | Lady Lamb – Spat Out Spit | Washer – Joe | Pupppy – Puking (Merry Christmas) | Midwives – Back in the Saddle Again | Torres – Strange Hellos | METZ – Spit You Out | Jeff Rosenstock – You In Weird Cities | Little Wings – Hollowed Log | Bent Denim – Good Night’s Sleep | Waxahatchee – Under A Rock

Albums

Girlpool – Before The World Was Big | Screaming Females – Rose Mountain | Yowler – The Offer | Saintseneca – Such Things | Bully – Feels Like | Tica Douglas – Joey | Evans the Death – Expect Delays | Torres – Sprinter | Waxahatchee – Ivy Tripp | Fred Thomas – All Are Saved | Krill – A Distant Fist Unclenching | Ratboys – AOID | Joanna Gruesome – Peanut Butter | METZ – II | Little Wings – Explains | Slanted – Forever | Bent Denim – Romances You | Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – The High Country | White Reaper – White Reaper Does It Again | The Armed – Untitled | Shilpa Ray – Last Year’s Savage | The Foetals – Meet the Foetals | Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Style | Wimps – Suitcase | Westkust – Last Forever | Girl Band – Holding Hands With Jamie | Cloakroom – Further Out | Stove – Is Stupider | Johanna Warren – numun | Speedy Ortiz – Foil Deer | Mikal Cronin – MCIII | Adir L.C. – Oceanside Cities | Negative Scanner – Negative Scanner | Pleasure Leftists – The Woods of Heaven | Haybaby – Sleepy Kids | Heather Woods Broderick – Glider | Lady Lamb – After | Pile – You’re Better Than This | Algiers – Algiers | Fraser A. Gorman – Slow Gum | POPE – Fiction | Petal Head – Raspberry Cough | Shannen Moser – You Shouldn’t Be Doing That

Odds and Ends

DBTS: BS2 | Spook the Herd – Freaks b/w Fermented | Kinjac – Possession b/w Possessed | Carbonleak – Waveland b/w Bearing | Vexx – Give and Take | Nervous Trend – Shattered | CCTV – 7″ | Puppy Problems – Practice Kissing | Flagland + Washer | MONO + The Ocean | Uh Huh + Jake McElvie & The Countertops | Alanna McArdle – Bedroom/Balloons | Chris Broom – Meade House Demos | Composite – Demos 2015 | The Library – 100% | Dark Thoughts – Two More Songs From… | Wendy Alembic – Collected Early Works | Toby Reif – 2015 Demos

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September 3, 2015

Melkbelly – Mnt. Kool Kid (Stream)

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Photograph by Taylor Schneider

At the midweek marker, remarkable releases have continued to be doled out at a breakneck pace. In some ways, that overwhelming magnitude contributes to a slew of smaller releases getting overlooked at their time of release. Today’s featured items was one of those- and it was strong enough to fight off this recent batch to secure the majority of the focus. That, by no means, should detract from the value of the field it’s included in, which continues to cement 2015’s status as one of the strongest years for new music in recent memory. Full streams had the quietest output for the day, yielding only La Misma’s great full-length Kanizadi. Music videos had a heavier crop, boasting strong new clips from Made Violent, Microwave, SadGirl, Little Wings, and Martin Courtney. As always, the individual streams seemed to make the most sizable dent with formidable entries from the likes of Grubs, Fern Mayo, Yung, Ex-Breathers, Midday Veil, Modern Baseball, Drug Church, Brian Carpenter & The Confessions, and Battles.

While everything in the linked above paragraph is worth a click, it’s when Melkbelly‘s latest wound up making its way here that the feature spot really clicked. The band’s not the most well-known act but has secured some high-profile support lately- most notably via this excellent Talkhouse piece from Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis. While the piece used the band’s recent outstanding Bathroom at the Beach 7″ as its focal point, they’ve managed to quietly unveil another new standalone track on their bandcamp (a place that’s composed entirely of standalone entries). “Mnt. Kool Kid” sacrifices some of the band’s immediate melodicism in favor of emphasizing their more aggressive noise tendencies. Over four minutes, the band rides the crest of a stark, menacing bass hum and uses it as a catapult for both a brief, outsider pop section and a towering main section that manages to come off as, almost paradoxically, a more expansive and contained version of Lightning Bolt at their best.

Bruising at every turn, “Mnt. Kool Kid” is a commanding show of force that highlights all of Melkbelly’s strongest looks and continues to see the quartet tightening their craft into something that feels genuinely powerful. Unflinching, unmoored, and unforgettable “Mnt. Kool Kid” is the sound of a band continuing to lock into a groove that should set them spinning to an explosive finish. For now, be content to sit back and watch the band burn everything they pass; sometimes the passages to the climactic moments wind up carrying even more meaning than the resolution. A song this good doesn’t deserve to succumb to a fate where it largely passes by unnoticed.

Listen to “Mnt. Kool Kid” below and get lost in an exhilarating course correction. Keep an eye on this site for further Melkbelly updates.

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July 17, 2015

Royal Headache – Another World (Stream)

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A few years ago, Royal Headache came barreling out of nowhere and struck with enough blunt momentum to create a crater that pulled a large handful of notable minds into their world. In the time that’s followed the release of their incredible self-titled record, they’ve managed to create a fascinating story by carving out their own epilogue and assemble what promises to be their finest release to date. Due out in August, High has already generated a significant amount of anticipation on the strength of its fiery title track (which is holding strong as one of 2015’s best songs). Those expectations get pushed even further up the spectrum with “Another World”.

In a week of some seriously extraordinary releases (see the list of links at the bottom for proof), Royal Headache once again managed to conjure up a true standout that sees them surging towards the barriers of their own perceived limitations and doing everything they can to dismantle them with sheer momentum. It’s their most tightly-crafted song to date, rife with memorable hooks and genuinely explosive moments. As a new song with an open future, it would have been exhilarating in its promise- as a part of the band’s extended death rattle (the band’s vocalist was allowed to depart under the conditions that he stay on to complete the record and the subsequent promotional tour), it’s unforgettable. Wild-eyed, manic, impassioned, and deeply felt, “Another World” is another peak for a band that will be leaving us far too soon- but doing so at the height of their powers, on their own terms, and at the absolute top of the mountain.

Listen to “Another World” below and pre-order High from What’s Your Rupture? here. Beneath the embed, explore a list of great songs to have surfaced throughout the week (if for some reason you’ve been doubting the overwhelming strength of this year’s release crop, remember that the below list is comprised of individual songs that all found release in the same week).

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SPORTS – Saturday
Mike Krol – This is the News
Dogs On Acid – The Prick
American Pinup – The Radio
Sean Henry – Sad ‘C’
The Good Life – Forever Coming Down
Lower – At The Endless Party
Promised Land Sound – She Takes Me There
Slow and Steady – Pendulum
Sally Crewe – Later Than You Think
Jackson Boone – Moonbeam
Born Ruffians – We Made It
Chris Staples – Cheap Shades
Barrence Whitfield & The Savages – The Claw
The Golden Eaves – No Other
elle le fantôme – Sore
Sweet Cobra – Complaints
Generifus – No Surprise
Zig Zags – Sunken City
Adult Mom – Laying On My Floor
VHS – Superhuman Happiness
Emilie & Ogden – Ten Thousand
Little Wings – Live To Tell
PINS – Live and Let Go
Marissa Nadler – Solitude
Wavves – Way Too Much

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May 24, 2015

Molly – People (Music Video)

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Going forward with last week’s coverage, there will be a trio of posts with a music video taking up residence in the headline accompanied by a few auxiliary items. Starting that run off is Molly’s incendiary basement pop number “People” and its montage-heavy video. Before diving further into that clip, though, the attention will be refocused on two great songs and one great record. For the songs, Sea Ghost unveiled the hazy indie pop of “BBQ” while Gnarwhal unleashed the intimidatingly feral “Anal Riffage“. For the full streams, there was Little Wings’ deeply felt and winningly shambolic outsider folk record Explains.

Molly get the featured spot thanks to the complementary rapid-fire pace of both “People” and their new clip for the song. Constructed to create what essentially amounts to an immersive people-watching experience may have been a bit on-the-nose if it wasn’t executed with such stunning panache. Mixing in some minimal artistic renderings to overlay what appears to be stock crowd footage, the Julian Nielsen-directed clip finds its rhythm (and it’s charm) on a commendable commitment to simplicity. As the track surges forward, growing more intense, the animations follow suit. By the time it winds down to a close, footage slowing in reverse, it’s left a considerable mark. With Peach Melba already streaming in its entirety, it’s safe to say that the band’s potential isn’t falsified by a pairing this strong. Molly are most definitely a band worth keeping both eyes on.

Watch “People” below and pre-order Peach Melba directly from the band here.

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April 25, 2015

Dogbreth – Hoarder House (Stream)

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Dogbreth’s been one of my favorite bands ever since I discovered their incredible 2013 full-length, Sentimental Health. New material since then has been scarce, with only one song from 2014 (the great “Close With You“) appearing in between that time and last month, which saw the release of “Hoarder House”. Somehow, in the frantic shuffling of catch-up material, that song got lost- a garish oversight that will be amended with this post. Before exploring that track further, just like the past handful of posts, we’ll take a look at 10 great songs to have earned releases in the past few weeks. Those songs included, but weren’t limited to, Temple’s teeth-gnashing “Like Nothing In This Life“, Sea Lion’s devastating “Room“, Total Babes’ basement pop gut-punch “Blurred Time“, Creepoid’s hypnotic slow-burner “Dried Out“, and Eternal Summers’ typically gorgeous “Gold and Stone“. Sweetening the deal were Little Wings’ compellingly rustic “Where“, Blis.’s impassioned “Floating Somewhere High and Above“, Mini Dresses’ lilting “Are You Real“, Liza Anne’s noir-leaning “Take It Back“, and Annabel’s soaring career highlight “Another Day, Another Vitamin“. All of those releases are worth adding to your collection but this post’s focal point belongs squarely to Dogbreth, who have yet to have any sort of coverage on this site.

It Came From Plan-It-X 2014 is the compilation that “Hoarder House” belongs to, a collection of 40 songs from as many artists who share a relation to the legendary DIY-friendly label. Dogbreth’s contribution provides the release one of its finest moments (site favorites Free Cake For Every Creature and Martha can also claim this distinction) while simultaneously proving that they’ve been refining their sound since their last major release. Echoing shades of the increasingly formidable Salinas roster (Radiator Hospital, in particular), “Hoarder House” is incendiary punk-tinged basement pop. Hooks pile on top of each other until the song threatens to topple itself over, cutting off at a precise moment that seems to be designed to even further its impact. Quick-witted lyrics collide with a surging musical landscape that never shies away from dynamic expansion. Economical and highly affecting, “Hoarder House” accomplishes in under two minutes what a lot of others can’t in three or more. There’s a real sense of place and genuine feeling behind “Hoarder House”, balancing out its accessibility with an impressive amount of verve, setting the anticipation levels for the band’s next release rocketing up to obscene heights. Until that day rolls around, whenever it is, the most anyone can do is just keep hitting repeat.

Listen to “Hoarder House” below and order It Came From Plan-It-X 2014 from Plan-It-X’s bandcamp page.

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