Oscar | Heartbreaking Bravery

October 4, 2015

Dusk – (Do The) Bored Recluse (Stream)

Chances are, if you’ve read this site on even a casual basis, you’ve read a handful of words about the importance of Tenement. It’s possible anyone digging deeper has caught a few mentions of bands like Technicolor Teeth, Black Thumb, or darn it., in addition to the more detailed tracking of Amos Pitsch‘s main vehicle. Now, the prolific multi-instrumentalist is back with a new outfit, made up of people involved with the previously mentioned bands (as well as Holy Sheboygan!). As has been the case with all of Pitsch’s projects, it’s taken an astonishingly short amount of time for Dusk to register as noteworthy.

Even separating the collective pedigrees of its ragtag members from the project, the music they’re making feels vital. “(Do The) Bored Recluse” is a perfect jumping off point for the band and they couldn’t have timed its release more perfectly. Dominated by warm analog tones and a punk-tinged country feel, the song’s a perfect soundtrack for the part of the world that’s transitioning from summer to fall, evoking images of leaf-strewn roads and unkempt patios. In managing to come off as both incredibly driven and surprisingly easygoing, “(Do The) Bored Recluse” strikes another delicate balance and expertly coasts to its conclusion.

A perfect piece of punchy Americana, “(Do The) Bored Recluse” isn’t just a great song; it’s one of the year’s most effective warning shots and a tantalizing signal of some extraordinary things to come. Keep both eyes peeled on this project, you won’t be disappointed.

Listen to “(Do The) Bored Recluse” below and pre-order the 7″ from Forward! Records here. Underneath the embed, explored a handful of other great songs to find release over the past three weeks.

–

Pom Poms – Betty
Beach Baby – Limousine
Radiator Hospital – Will You Find Me
Sea Ghost – Cowboy Hat
Beach Slang – Anything, Anything (Dramarama)
Saintseneca – Bad Ideas
Oscar – Breaking My Phone
Protomartyr – I Forgive You
Technicolor Teeth – Dying Leaves (Demo)
Wildhoney – Thin Air
Tobias Reif – Demo
DMAs – Lay Down
Lags – War Was Over
Girls Names – I Was You
Paul Bergmann – You May Never Know
Aneurysm – Veronica
Julien Baker – Brittle Boned
Rare Monk – Warning Pulse
Breakfast Muff – I Want To Want To
Big Eater – Lazy Days
Dan Friel – Rattler
Indiago – Been So Long
Gláss – Glass(-accent)
Gun Outfit – Dream All Over
Kirk Knight (ft. Noname Gypsy & Thundercat) – Dead Friends

5 Comments

July 26, 2015

Watch This: Vol. 87

Every Sunday, Watch This runs on this site to celebrate some of the finest performance captures to have surfaced over the past seven days. Here and there, exceptions are made to facilitate some genuinely great performances (this is one of those weeks) but the central focus remains the same: the celebration of a confusingly under-discussed presentation format that allows great filmmaking to intersect with great performances. As has been the case over recent weeks, a lot of clips didn’t wind up in the featured five slot (including some performances from artists who did make it into those positions), which is telling of the quality of those clips that are discussed in greater extent. Those artists include: Jack and Eliza, Nic Hessler, Happyness, Titus Andronicus (x2), SOAK, Oscar, The Sun Parade (x2), On and On, The Wilderness (x2), Restorations, Drenge (x2), Mommy Long Legs, and site favorites Tenement. All of those are worth the clicks but today’s all about the five clips below the introductory paragraph. So, as always, sit back, adjust the volume, clear your mind of clutter, focus up, and Watch This.

1. Happyness – It’s On You (WFUV)

Happyness have earned their fair share of love on this site and they continue to impress here, in a spirited rendition of “It’s On You”, for Watch This staple WFUV. One of the reasons WFUV keeps showing up in these lists is the way they present the performances; a black backdrop means no visual distractions. It’s a tactic that’s proven troublesome for some bands but Happyness have always been capable of spinning minimalist tendencies into gold and this performance is one of those times.

–

2. Eskimeaux – Sleeppy Bear (Portals)

On very rare occasions, the format of Watch This will ever-so-slightly deviate from its traditional setup to accommodate an item that was lost in the preceding weeks’ shuffle. Despite Eskimeaux making an increasing number of appearances on the site as of late, the stunning performance clip Portals produced of “Sleepy Bear” somehow became one of those items. Far too lovely to let fall to the wayside, “Sleepy Bear” places all of its emphasis on Gabrielle Smith- the driving creative force behind Eskimeaux- and the results are spellbinding.

–

3. Diet Cig (BreakThruRadio)

This isn’t the first time Diet Cig have shown up and raised hell on Watch This and it’s seriously unlikely that it’ll be the last. A duo of firecrackers, the band’s entertainment value seems to continuously escalate as the velocity of their headfirst dive into embracing a gleeful insanity increases. As always, their performances here come off like an unexpectedly forceful gut-punch followed by a mischievous, half-apologetic smile.

–

4. Titus Andronicus – Fatal Flaw (WNYC)

At present, Titus Andronicus have two out-and-out masterpieces under their belt. The Most Lamentable Tragedy, the band’s just-released double album, is the first time they’ve matched the heights of The Monitor and part of that is thanks to a similarly sprawling ambition that’s equaled by the frighteningly honest conviction of bandleader Patrick Stickles. Of course, it wouldn’t have landed in that position without genuinely great songs in its bold narrative arc. The band recently stopped by WNYC’s studios to deliver a performance of a few of those songs, delivering the strongest performance in this particularly raucous take on single “Fatal Flaw”.

–

5. SOAK – Wait (WFUV)

When SOAK last appeared on Watch This, the young songwriter was centered in a clip that will undoubtedly be featured again as part of this site’s annual year-end roundup celebrating the best of the series. Here, in a breathtaking performance for WFUV, the same grace, devastation, and haunted frailty that made SOAK’s first Watch This entrance so compelling is brought to the fore with a similar effortlessness. It’s absolutely mesmerizing.

1 Comment

June 29, 2015

Sweet John Bloom – Weird Prayer (Album Review, Stream)

sjb

As has been mentioned multiple times over, this site saw a recent shift from standard coverage to specialty coverage thanks to a move. In the few weeks that have passed in that time, a slew of exciting new releases made their way out into the world. One of the finest- and, frankly, most overlooked- was Sweet John Bloom’s fiery Weird Prayer. That record will be the focus of this piece, while a list of 50 excellent full streams to have recently appeared will be included beneath the embedded bandcamp player. Before immediately going there, though, let’s focus on the matter at hand: Sweet John Bloom’s full-length debut.

Formed out of the ashes of several other bands (including Four Eyes, who released one of the best 7″ records in recent memory with Towards the End of Cosmic Loneliness), Sweet John Bloom already had a fairly impressive pedigree out of the gate. It’s not surprising that the band managed to click as tightly as they have, especially considering their respective former bands had all established a familiarity by virtue of shared spaces (bills, scenes, etc.). Even with all of that taken into account, Weird Prayer‘s pure strength still manages to surpass expectations.

A collection of 15 dirtied up, punk-leaning basement pop songs, the record not only succeeds in effortlessly conveying the band’s identity but in coming off as a genuine record; something that’s meant to be heard in full. Naturally sequenced and expertly paced, it’s a considerable achievement for a first at-bat operating with this medium as a collective unit. Each section of Weird Prayer comes off as considered as it does impassioned, rendering the whole thing an invigorating shot of adrenaline. Vocal leads are traded with ease, there’s a killer melody buried in just about every passage, and the flawless production makes sure to include enough bursts of weirdness- like the absolutely stunning outro to “Night Thing”- to keep the whole thing zipping along at a startling clip.

For as willfully rough as Weird Prayer sounds, it’s also a record that’s partially defined by finesse. Deceptively elegant guitar figures play with the limits of restraint even as they’re pushed to the red. The rhythm section work always serves a purpose beyond just simply being a base and the lyricism, while occasionally buried with the vocals in the mix, is frequently poignant. Sweet John Bloom also manage to find as much success experimenting with their more gentle sensibilities as they do when they give in to their desire to be abrasive.

“Blood Moon” sees the band finding the perfect balance between the gentle/abrasive dichotomy and, in the context of the record, the song feels even livelier and massive than it did as a standalone single. It’s one of several songs on the record that go beyond anthemic to the realms of catharsis without ever succumbing to over-simplification. It’s part of why the record never loses an unfailing sense of urgency that goes well beyond most of the songs’ inherent immediacy, which sets up a tall order for Weird Prayer‘s final stretch.

In most cases where an album’s almost exclusively built on raucous barn-burners, the weight eventually builds and the load becomes unsustainable; there’s a reason why rollercoasters don’t extend for hours and why successful action films need exposition. Weird Prayer deals nicely with this by offering a gradual come-down by easing off the gas pedal and utilizing a tempo that creeps in a little under the established average for most of its closing numbers. Even then, Sweet John Bloom don’t cede their penchant for a confrontational aesthetic; the 1-2 punch of “Death; and Everything’s Paid For” and “Trust Me” feels particularly vital and bristles with a world-conquering energy. Fittingly, “Aging In Place”- the first song to be shared from Weird Prayer– brings everything home in a finale that’s both familiar and intensely rousing; an exhilarating end-cap to one of the year’s finest records.

Pick up Weird Prayer from Tiny Engines here and listen to it by clicking play below. Underneath the bandcamp player, browse 50 other great recent full streams.

–

Radioactivity – Silent Kill
J Fernandez – Many Levels of Laughter
Fight Amp – Constantly Off
Yukon Blonde – On Blonde
Sissy – Gave Birth To A Mum
Expert Alterations – Expert Alterations
Spray Paint – Punters On A Barge
Ballroom – Ballroom
Bad Boys – Demo
Year of Glad – Year of Glad
Little Children – Travelling Through Darkness
The Fur Coats – Short-Brain
Magic Potion – Melt
Oscar – Beautiful Words
Sea Cycles – Ground & Air
Prinzhorn Dance School – Home Economics
Senpai – Hell In My Head b/w Mind Honey
Arm Candy – Arm Candy
Institue – Catharsis
Chris Weisman – Chaos Isn’t Single
Max Gowan – Big People
Falling Stacks – No Wives
Hints – No Regrets In Old English
No Joy – More Faithful
Pleistocene – Space Trap
Long Neck – Heights
No Friends – I’m Not Real
Marvelous Mark – Bite Me
HDSPNS – HDSPNS
KEN Mode – Success
Walleater – I/II
Sweatshop Boys – Always Polite, Never Happy
Wavves x Cloud Nothings – Wavves x Cloud Nothings
Tough Age – I Get The Feeling Central
Sea of Bees – Build A Boat To The Sun
C H R I S T – T O W E R
Alden Penner – Canada In Space
Teen Daze – Morning World
Fell To Low – Low In The Dust
Palm – Ostrich Vacation
Bully – Feels Like
Bruise – demos.
The Armed – Untitled
Cold Cave – Full Cold Moon
Self Defense Family – Heaven Is Earth
Wild Pink – Good Life
Nicolas Jaar – Nymphs III
Creepoid – Cemetery Highrise Slum
Gnarwhal – Shinerboy
Lady Bones – Dying

2 Comments

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.

–

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

2 Comments

May 12, 2015

Young Jesus – Milo (Stream)

If it wasn’t fairly clear that Grow/Decompose was one of this site’s favorite records of 2015, allow me to clarify: Grow/Decompose easily ranks among the best things I’ve heard over the past two years and this post won’t be the last time it sees coverage here. Premiering the record’s teaser trailer was an honor and the trailer itself was a great indication of the band’s growing ambition. Hellhole Supermarker will be releasing the record on May 13 but “Milo” definitely warrants a closer look before the rest of the songs are revealed. Before exploring that song, though, there are several other brilliant tracks from this past week that deserve to be heard. Those songs? Whitewash’s “Member“, Seacycles’ “Commando“, Pale Honey’s “Lonesome“, Everything Everything’s “Regret“, Communions’ “Summer Oath“, Daughn Gibson’s “It Was Everything“, Sea of Bees’ “Dad“, Prurient’s “Frozen Niagra Falls (Portion One)“, and Oscar’s “Beautiful Words“. All of them are linked for a reason; they’re compelling pieces of art that deserve to be celebrated as much as possible. Another one of those pieces, of course, is Young Jesus’ “Milo”.

As Grow/Decompose‘s penultimate track, “Milo” already occupied traditionally fertile ground for emotive slow-burners- especially ones that reach breathtakingly climactic moments. As signal-bearers go, that’s a strange mark but “Milo” comfortably occupies a space with the most exemplary tracks to fall into that niche category. Grow/Decompose, much like Home– the band’s previous masterpiece, is a record that makes no qualms about being emotionally-driven. While Home certainly felt personal, “Milo” takes that sense of voyeurism to new heights in the quiet, arresting opening. “He sees your daughter in a sundress/eating oranges alone. He feels the love of a father/a love his brother ignored. But he is fumbling with a bottle/because it makes sense just to hold. But don’t you worry while he’s using/it just makes everything slow.” is about as devastating as introductory scene-setters can possibly manage to be. John Rossiter, the band’s guitarist/vocalist, delivers those opening lines in a broken, vulnerable tone that makes them feel uncomfortably realistic, haunted, and lived-in. The instrumental break that follows feels near-euphoric but is tethered to a sense of weariness that prevents it from feeling too celebratory. It’s an extraordinary track that acts as Grow/Decompose‘s narrative endpoint before “Dirt“, the record’s sprawling epilogue, closes things out. Even though “Dirt” is strong enough in its own right, it allows space for “Milo” to resonate and for the listener to recollect themselves after the severe gut-punch of “Milo”, one of the band’s best tracks in an already astounding catalog of stunners.

Listen to “Milo” below and pre-order Grow/Decompose ahead of its release from Hellhole Supermarket here.

1 Comment

April 6, 2015

Meat Wave – Sham King (Music Video)

Now that the site’s all caught up on songs, it only seemed natural to overhaul the music videos as well. Here, the formatting will be slightly different than it has in the past for this format, with 35 excellent clips being linked beneath the main feature, Meat Wave’s slasher-indebted short that accompanies the bruising “Sham King” off their tremendous EP from this year, Brother. Before going any further, it’s worth noting that Meat Wave is one of the few bands that will always have a special place carved out in reference to this site, having played the first-ever Heartbreaking Bravery Presents to help this place celebrate its first anniversary (several months after they were featured as part of the site’s On the Up series). Their self-titled record is still one of the best things to have come out of this decade, so any time the band does anything of note, it’s probably a safe bet it’ll secure a feature spot here. Which leads us back to the focus of this piece: “Sham King”.

In the Andrew Robert Morrison-directed clip for “Sham King”, a lot of things are at stake. Most notably, the bands lives. A grim reaper figure, complete with a scythe atop a bicycle, mercilessly stalks the power trio through dead, snow-capped streets. During the opening chase, Morrison (who also edited the video) injects the clip with a serious sense of dissonance with furiously paced loop-back smash cuts, lending the affair an added sense of disquiet. Before long, death zeroes in on guitarist/vocalist Chris Sutter, who leads the masked figure on a chase through an abandoned warehouse. Vantage points switch and become a narrative function as the viewer’s occasionally allowed to take on the first-person viewpoint from behind the killer’s mask, effectively rocketing up the video’s sense of tension. When one side emerges victorious, a solo is mimed in front of a towering wall of various amps before giving way to the video’s final shot- which ranks among one of my favorite images from the year.

Watch the madness of “Sham King” unfold below and pick up the Brother EP here. Beneath the clip, watch 35 other great videos from the past few weeks. Expect regular coverage to resume throughout this new week and going into the future.

–

Day Creeper – Luxury Condominium
Ryan O’Reilly – Northern Lights
Little Death Machine – Pale
Hallelujah the Hills – Destroy This Poem
Algiers – Irony. Utility. Pretext
Dan Deacon – When I Was Done Dying
The Go! Team – What D’you Say?
King Tuff – Madness
Modest Mouse – Lampshades of Fire
Chastity Belt – Cool Slut
The Bandicoots – Mind Your Manors
Stella – Last Minute Boy
Hey Elbow – Ruth
Coliseum – Sunlight In A Snowstorm
Ceremony – The Separation + The Understanding
Built to Spill – Living Zoo
Pile – Rock And Roll Forever With The Customer In Mind
Albert DeMuth – Finally Found A Job
Gymshorts – Hey Parents
Oscar – Daffodil Days
Modern Vices – Smoke Rings
The Great Albatross – Righteous Man
Turnover – New Scream
Oh Land – Half Here (Live One Take)
KEN Mode – Blessed
A Place To Bury Strangers – What We Don’t See
The Smashing Pumpkins – Drum + Fife
Pinact – Anxiety
Laura Marling – Gurdjieff’s Daughter
Inheaven – Regeneration
Hot Chip – Need You Now
Great Cynics – Lost In You
Le Volume Courbe (ft. Kevin Shields) – The House
Algiers – Blood
Courtney Barnett – Depreston

3 Comments

April 4, 2015

Sheer Mag – Button Up (Stream)

Continuing on in the quest to get the site caught up on all the things that caught my attention in 2015 affords some unique opportunities. One of them is the chance to celebrate a few of the truly great items that surfaced over the course of this year’s first three months. By the end of tonight, all of those will be featured in some form- be it a list inclusion, a mix, or some words. In this post, there won’t be a lot of material from the past two weeks (with the notable exception of a jaunty tune from The Splits and an absolute stunner of a track from one-time site contributor Johanna Warren) but it should still serve as a healthy reminder of 2015’s formidable early strengths. One of those songs, Sheer Mag’s “Button Up” will be receiving the greatest amount of focus. Below that, as has been custom, are 75 outstanding songs from this year’s first quarter. Now, back to this post’s main draw.

Sheer Mag have been picking up a great amount of notoriety in important circles since the release of their 7″ from last year, which was strong enough to land on the site’s Best 7″ Records of 2014 list. “Button Up”, the band’s first new material since that EP, is a refinement of everything that’s made Sheer Mag so exciting from the beginning. “Button Up” retains the band’s appealing lo-fi punch but their pop sensibilities are sharper than ever, rendering “Button Up” an unlikely heavyweight. Impossibly crunchy guitars, powerful vocals, and a sense of joy permeate throughout this track and provide Sheer Mag with a valid claim as one of the most exciting upcoming bands on the market. If the rest of their upcoming 7″ can hit similar peaks, it’s not unlikely that they’ll be appearing on quite a few December lists (ours included).

Listen to “Button Up” below and keep an eye on this site for more coverage surrounding the band’s upcoming release. Beneath the embed are 75 outstanding songs from 2015’s opening stretch.

–

The Cribs – I See Your Pictures Every Day
Football, etc. – Open
Princess – Black Window
Novella – Land Gone
Eric Chenaux – Skullsplitter
Pinkshinyultrablast – Land’s End
Vagaband – Gabrielle
HOLY – Demon’s Hand
Tall Tales and the Silver Lining – This Time Around
Divers – Breathless
Michael Stec – Party Dress
The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Philadelphia Story
Cyberbully Mom Club – Anabelle (Love Soft)
Passenger Peru – Break My Neck
The Splits – I Know
Alice – Nightmare
Lightning Bolt – The Metal East
Guantanamo Baywatch – Too Late
Maribou State – Rituals
Dastardly – The Hollow
Aero Flynn – Twist
The Minus 5 – The History You Hate
Braids – Miniskirt
Faith Healer – Universe
Karen Meat & the Computer – If I Were Yours
Chris Weisman – Backpack People
Jeff Rosenstock – You, In Weird Cities
The Dodos – Retriever
Busses – Wizard of the Eye
Obnox – Cynthia Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Twerps – I Don’t Mind
Sonny & the Sunsets – Happy Carrot Health Food Store
The Muscadettes – Pearl and Oyster
Waxahatchee – Air
Matthew E. White – Rock N’ Roll Is Cold
Nic Hessler – Hearts, Repeating
Grooms – Comb The Feelings Through Your Hair
Pops Staples – Somebody Was Watching
Moon King – Roswell
Caught On Tape – Full Bleed
Oscar – Daffodil Days
EULA – Noose
Inventions – Springworlds
Dirty Dishes – Guilty
Johanna Warren – True Colors
Happyness – Don’t Know Why (Norah Jones)
JEFF The Brotherhood – Coat Check Girl
Johnny Marr – Struck
Leapling – N.E.R.V.E.
The Juliana Hatfield Three – Ordinary Guy
Tyler Ditter – Echo Off the World
Fruit Bomb – Normcore Girlfriend
Dorthia Cottrell – Kneeler
In Tall Buildings – Unmistakable
Kind of Like Spitting – Stress Cadet
Fort Lean – I Don’t Mind
Native Lights – Black Wall Street
Wire – Joust & Jostle
Marika Hackman – Monday Afternoon
Football, etc. – Sunday
Sammy Kay – Highs and Lows
Wolf Solent – Hold On
Solvey – Solvey
All Boy/All Girl – Glitters
Threading – Ember
Lucern Raze – Someone Like You
Pelican Movement – Light Like Before
Carmen Villain – Quietly
Ghastly Menace – Real Life
Irontom – In the Day and the Dark
Sun Hotel – After Peggy Tells Her Parents They Never Had Any Trouble In Their Relationship
Wand – Self Hypnosis in 3 Days
Quarterbacks – Night Changes (One Direction cover)
Lost Boy ? – Love You Only
Broken Water – High-Lo

3 Comments

Tag: Oscar