Pet Sun | Heartbreaking Bravery

May 11, 2016

What A Difference A Month Makes (Music Videos)

In the past month, a lot’s happened on both sides of the coverage spectrum. A lot of sets were documented in that time and will be receiving some attention at some point down the line. A lot of full streams came out, even more songs were released, and quite a few music videos found their way out into the world as well. All three of those formats will have a list dedicated to them and then a slew of individual features will be posted celebrating a handful of exceptional titles. Below is a list of formidable music videos that made a powerful impression over the course of the last month. Take a breath, dive in, and go exploring.

Mo Troper, Lion’s Den, Tiny Deaths, Tim Heidecker, Weaves, Amber Arcades, Night Idea, Steve Gunn, Littler, Bambara, Braids, Prism Tats, No Parents, Those Pretty Wrongs, Stan Simon & The Hotel Bible, Neil Michael Hagerty & The Howling Hex, RJD2, Crosss, James Supercave, Eric Bachmann, Tacocat, Julianna Barwick, Acapulco Lips, Conrad Keely, Programm, Lontalius, Clique, Martha, Wilder Adkins, The Spook School, Rozwell Kid, The Loom, Oscar, Bishop Briggs, Angel Du$t, Patience, Band of Horses, The fin., The Raveonettes, Secret Space, Pure Bathing Culture, Howardian, and GOAT.

Modern Baseball, Holy Fuck, Sturgill Simpson, Butch Bastard, Minor Victories, The Slovaks, The Coathangers, OMNI, Stove, Sløtface, Franky Flowers, Slim Twig, Kino Kimino, D Generation, Pony Time (ft. Lisa Prank), Beverly, Living Hour, Former Belle, Tancred, Mutts, Pet Sun, Teen Suicide, Krano, Your Friend, Dear Boy, The Stargazer Lilies, The Kills, The Loom, Aesop Rock, Cellar Doors, Xiu Xiu, Globelamp, TV Sets, and Eleanor Friedberger, and a surprisingly outstanding fan-shot video for Mike Krol’s “Less Than Together” (one of this site’s picks for Best Songs of 2015) as well as the trailer for Casket Girls’ The Night Machines.

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December 23, 2015

Casket Girls – Deep Time (Stream)

stardeath

[EDITOR’S NOTE: With the site now entering emergency year-end catch-up mode thanks to the cruel, mocking nature of time, tonight’s trio of posts will simply be short reviews of the song(s) in the headline(s) and an accompanying list of tracks that deserve to be heard.]

Stardeath and White Dwarfs have gained a lot of notoriety thanks to both their association with The Flaming Lips and a strong discography of their own. Hopefully, some of that recognition ties over to another band they’ve paired up with: Casket Girls. The acts recently teamed up for a limited-run split that’s highlighted by Casket Girls’ arresting “Deep Time”, a haunting meditation on mortality and what makes us human. A swirling layer of feedback, organ, battered guitars, and drones drive the instrumental as a ghostly vocal figure delivering a series of probing questions provide the song’s emotional wallop with a considerable emphasis. Easy to digest and difficult to shake, “Deep Time” taps into something transcendental, providing Casket Girls with an unlikely new career best. Don’t allow this one to pass by unnoticed.

Listen to “Deep Time” below and pick up What Keeps You Up At Nght here. Underneath the embed, explore a list of great songs to have appeared over the course of the last several months.

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The Goon Sax – Boyfriend
Luke Rathborne – Losing It
Moss Lime – Comfy Cotton Shoes
Cold Sweats – Hater Failure
Emma Louise – Undeflow
Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s – Francine
Kiran Leonard – Pink Fruit
The Goldhearts – Here’s the Thing
WALL – Fit the Part
Rare Monk – California
The Brainstems – Simple Joys
Liskka – Keep Me Awake
The Cave Singers – Christmas Night
Pete Astor – My Right Hand
The Shivas – Gun In My Pocket (Revisited)
Prickle – Tell Me Why
Saintseneca – New Coats
Ed Tullett – Ply
Pet Sun – Dark Planet

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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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January 7, 2015

14 of ’14: The Best EP’s of 2014

Once again, at the top: “best” is year-end shorthand terminology for “most admired” and used to designate personal taste without attempting to be an objective statement. For the purpose of emphasizing subjectivity, I’ll also be abandoning this site’s normally held restrictions on the use of first person. Now, with that out of the way, on to what matters: 2014 was a monumental year for 7″ and EP releases. A few are certainly interchangeable but I did my best to spread them around as best as possible. Unsurprisingly, the EP list still wound up with a wealth of material that dwarfs the 7″ list in comparison. All 14 of these releases meant a great deal to me throughout 2014 and became parts of my life, collectively fighting their way into my memory and subconscious. As always, there was a murderer’s row of titles that couldn’t make such a small list so an extensive auxiliary list has been provided below the top selections. So, enough with the introductory nonsense, here are the best EP’s of 2014.

14. Attendant – Freaking Out

Jon Rybicki (bassist of Radiator Hospital) branched out to create his own project- Attendant- in 2014. Enlisting the help of his bandmates and friends, Rybicki created something unflaggingly powerful in Freaking Out, the project’s seven song debut EP. Rawer and more barbed than any of the associated counterparts, Freaking Out is an unexpected left hook to the jaw for anyone familiar with the pedigrees involved. It’s an extremely impressive solo outing for Rybicki and another strong reminder of the talents residing in Philadelphia.

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13. Silence Dogood – Master of Puppets, The Rest Is Silence, Sacred and Profane

Silence Dogood are a band I first became aware of after catching a live set that had me completely enthralled. Ever since then, they’re a band I’ve been keeping tabs on for a myriad of reasons. Blown-out lo-fi EP’s fly out of their camp at a startling pace, loaded with cynical poetry that comes across as deceptively apathetic. They’re prone to veering in unexpected directions and delivering sly turns of phrases at the exact right moment. In 2014 they released three masterfully executed EP’s highlighted by Master of Puppets‘ “Chairman of the Bored“. Don’t make the mistake of passing any of them up.

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12. Eugene Quell – A Great Uselessness, Eugene Otto Quell

A name that showed up a few times on this site over the course of 2014 was Eugene Quell, a London-based songwriter who unleashed two of the year’s hardest hitting EP’s. Both Eugene Otto Quell and A Great Uselessness mined an alternative 90’s influence and presented it through Quell’s distinctly unique lens. Neither skimp on fuzz or a well-informed pop sensibility and the cumulative result is stunning. Eight songs in total, each managed to pull me in while unloading an arsenal of blows, each one becoming more appealing than its direct precedent.

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11. Lost Boy ? – Wasted

Canned is a release that’s going to prove divisive for list-makers. Released on cassette by the increasingly great Double Double Whammy, it won’t see an official release in any other format until a little further into 2015. Less confusing is the fact that Wasted, the extraordinary EP that led into Canned‘s tape release, is eligible for this year’s lists (and has- rightfully- already made a few). Laced with bandleader Davey Jones’ biting humor and characteristically spiky songwriting, Wasted is another laudable entry in one of contemporary music’s finest catalogs.

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10. Green Dreams – Rich Man/Poor Man

Ever since my first listen of Rich Man/Poor Man, I’ve had it kicking around in some spot or another on this list (the year-end process is a continuously recurring project for me). Led by Jesse Amesmith’s willfully unrestrained vocal assault, the band dives into some incredibly vicious territory throughout the EP’s four song run. Best of all is the fact that the flipside of the 7″ copy manages to outstrip an absurdly strong A-side, with “Country Mouse” and “Eye Contact” dipping into a ferocious hybrid of hardcore and noise-punk. Easily one of 2014’s most overlooked releases, Rich Man/Poor Man deserved to be just about everywhere.

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9. Kal Marks – Just A Lonely Fart

Was there was a more bleakly arresting EP in 2014 than Kal Marks’ powerful Just A Lonely Fart? If there was, it’s not one I managed to hear. Tackling difficult (and strangely time-sensitive) topics with verve, Kal Marks conjured up a breathtaking career highlight with this release and extended Exploding in Sound’s absurdly continuous winning streak in the process. Every song on Just A Lonely Fart felt deeply personal and suggested that Kal Marks were expanding their identity into something even more raw than what they’d already cultivated with Life Is Murder. All three songs deserved to be considered for “Song of the Year” lists, ensuring Just A Lonely Fart a status as one of 2014’s most extraordinary efforts.

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8. Cyberbully Mom Club – Life Long Bad Mood, Hair Piles, Muck, Milo the Dog Sees Color, Amy Locust Whatever, Outdoor Activities

No one had a more staggering run of EP’s in 2014 than Shari Heck, whose Cyberbully Mom Club project managed to somehow release six equally strong collections. Between Life Long Bad Mood, Hair Piles, Muck, Milo the Dog Sees Color, Amy Locust Whatever, and Outdoor Activities, Heck solidified a position as one of 2014’s strongest emerging voices. Unflinchingly honest and unreasonably catchy, Cyberbully Mom Club’s brand of punk-influenced, folk-leaning songwriting makes a strong first impression and only manages to sink deeper with time. Sentimental and gripping, this is one act worth keeping both eyes on all throughout 2015.

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7. Priests – Bodies and Control and Money and Power

Brash, bold, and fiercely unapologetic, Priests’ Bodies and Control and Money and Power became one of the most celebrated punk releases of recent memory. Katie Alice Greer’s almost feral presence injects this Don Giovanni-stamped EP with enough adrenaline to revive the legally dead. Scrappy and determined, Priests crafted something that managed to bring some subtly bracing humor to some very serious subjects. Wild-eyed and well informed, Bodies and Control and Money and Power was one of 2014’s best statement releases, refusing to back down from any of its well-placed stances. Add a palpable sense of violence to the whole affair and this EP becomes an outright achievement that’s impossible to ignore.

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6. Roomrunner – Separate

One of Baltimore’s more traditionally aggressive bands, Roomrunner, decided to scale things back and introduce a newfound restraint for Separate. Instead of the transition coming off as forced or insincere, the band wound up with a career-best effort (and put another formidable notch in Accidental Guests‘ belt). Like Green Dreams’ Rich Man/Poor Man, Separate managed to find a unique way to burn the bridges between hardcore and noise-punk, throwing in a tantalizingly off-kilter curve that’s somewhat reminiscent of Two Inch Astronaut. Six songs total, Separate never loses sight of its pacing, constantly clawing its way through the minefields of its own design. Explosively memorable, it’s a warning shot from a great band determined to challenge themselves at every turn.

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5. Night School – Heart Beat

A supergroup of sorts, it probably shouldn’t be too surprising that Night School’s Heart Beat wound up being one of 2014’s most towering and immersive listening experiences. Taking the majority of its cues from classic shoegaze and the current post-rock landscape, Heart Beat feels massive in scope. Alternately delicate, haunting, and intimidating, Night School have latched onto something immensely appealing and perfected a peculiar dynamic right out of the gate. One of the year’s most pleasant surprises, it was mostly relegated to lingering in the shadows, providing it an oddly fitting home.

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4. It Must Be Love – It Must Be Love

One of 2014’s best-kept secrets was this unbelievably great self-titled EP from It Must Be Love, which came across as effortlessly powerful. Unpredictable, strangely graceful, unrelentingly intense, and undeniably gripping, It Must Be Love is the kind of EP most bands can only dream of making. Dynamic, challenging, and- most importantly- ridiculously fun, It Must Be Love have created something that rewards investment and inspires creativity. A complete anomaly among the other titles on this list thanks to its willingness to fearlessly embrace weird experimentalism, the band’s already begun carving out- and perfecting- its own niche. Pavement’s influence echoes throughout It Must Be Love (never more strongly than on the excellent “Mariana) but this territory is all It Must Be Love’s own. Join up or miss out on one hell of a party.

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3. Speedy Ortiz – Real Hair

Speedy Ortiz’s “Doomsday” was good enough to land them on the best songs and best splits lists but that wasn’t the only reason that 2014 practically belong to them; Real Hair, the band’s most recent EP, nodded towards a growing confidence that paid sizable dividends. Real Hair‘s also a big reason for why Speedy Ortiz appeared on this site so frequently throughout 2014, as it existed in a very exact space containing enormous coverage appeal. “American Horror”, “Oxygal”, “Everything Bigger”, and “Shine Theory” all would have ranked as individual highlights in respect to the band’s already impressive discography, cementing Real Hair as one of the year’s best releases- and as a bracing reminder that Speedy Ortiz are far from done.

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2. Girlpool – Girlpool

In 2014’s last quarter, Girlpool (a young duo made up of Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad) became an increasingly large part of my life and subsequently earned a lot of kind words on this site, cracking both the music videos and splits year-end lists in the past week. Originally self-released on their bandcamp in 2014’s first quarter, it was re-released by Wichita in November after Girlpool earned a staggering amount of support and recognition from their surrounding environment. It’s not difficult to understand why everyone rallied behind Girlpool as they’re perfect representatives for an innumerable amount of things that are important to support. Putting aside those politics, it’s still plainly evident that Girlpool is an outstanding release. All anyone needs to do for proof is look to the jaw-dropping 1-2 combination of the absurdly powerful “Plants and Worms” and the nearly antagonistic free association of “Jane”.

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1. Charly Bliss – Soft Serve

No EP became a more deeply ingrained part of my regular routine in 2014 than Charly Bliss’ absurdly strong Soft Serve. Editing sessions, menial tasks, and a seemingly never-ending assortment of functions were soundtracked by this trio of songs for months after I discovered the release (hell, they’re playing in the background now). Since I already covered the exhilaration of “Love Me” in yesterday’s best songs of 2014 post, I’ll be focusing on the ensuing tracks: “Urge to Purge” and “Strings”. “Urge to Purge” nearly dethroned “Love Me” for the position in yesterday’s list because it’s every bit as fiery, every bit as dynamic, and every bit as memorable as Soft Serve‘s incendiary opener. With another heart-stopping vocal turn from Eva Hendricks leading the band’s hyper-charged sugar rush, it’s provided a gripping counterbalance by a compellingly understated vocal turn from guitarist/vocalist Spencer Fox. “Strings” flips the script and allows Fox to showcase his casual charisma as a vocalist, joined by Hendricks’ equally impressive layered backing vocals before too long. It’s a song that proves its worth as it goes, settling in with an explosive back half that seems to suggest Charly Bliss have fireworks to spare. All three songs wield a subtle 50’s pop influence that’s brought into a modern- and borderline post-modern- setting. As a whole, Soft Serve is impossibly easy to love (even the album art’s easily among the year’s best) and demands to be heard. Give into its charms and walk away with an EP worth treasuring.

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December 7, 2014

Watch This: Best of 2014 (Video Mixtape)

Live music videos never seem to get the emphasis they deserve. It’s part of why Watch This was created; to celebrate stunning documents of equally stunning performances. A good band can make a great record but a truly great band usually excels in the live setting. With 2014 winding to a close (and with another 100 posts in the past), it seemed appropriate to start reflecting on some of the year’s best offerings. Lists of LP’s, EP’s, 7″ releases, and more will be forthcoming but today the focus will fall on live clips. And, yes, 2014’s not quite over yet and there will be a few weeks worth of live clips to consider (in addition to the past few weeks, which will be focused on in the posts immediately following this one) and “best” is still subjective- but the videos contained in this mix were simply too good to just feature once. If there’s enough material, an appendix will be added around the start of next year.

To be eligible for this video mixtape, the videos involved had to have been previously featured in Watch This and not contain an interview sequence. Full sets were ruled out as well (with a lone exception being made for one of 2014’s best videos in any capacity to provide a sense of closure to the proceedings). These videos were pulled in from as many places as possible with only Chart Attack, La Blogotheque, and Little Elephant making repeat entries (with two each). From the painfully gorgeous (Mutual Benefit, Angel Olsen) to sublime perfection (Radiator Hospital, Little Big League) to the absurdly impressive (Kishi Bashi) to the most electric late night performance of 2014 (Ty Segall), there’s a little something for everyone. 25 clips are included and listed below, with a hyperlink provided to their respective installments in Watch This‘ always expanding catalog. Since this brings the site to another 100 post mark, hyperlinks will be provided to posts 300-399 for anyone interested in checking out past material. With all of this exposition out of the way, there’s really only one thing left to do: sit back, focus up, and Watch This.

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1. Audacity – Counting the Days (Jam in the Van) — vol. 24
2. Greys – Guy Picciotto (Chart Attack) — vol. 24
3. Radiator Hospital – Fireworks (BNTYK) — vol. 51
4. Ovlov – Where’s My Dini? (Little Elephant) — vol. 23
5. Frankie Cosmos – Embody (Radio K) — vol. 55
6. Mean Creek – My Madeline (Wondering Sound) — vol. 19
7. Joanna Gruesome – Anti-Parent Cowboy Killers (BTR) — vol. 51
8. Sweet John Bloom – Aging In Place (Allston Pudding) — vol. 48
9. Emilyn Brodsky – Someone Belongs Here (TCGS) — vol. 28
10. Mitski – First Love // Late Spring (bandwidth) — vol. 43
11. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Jubilee Street (ACL) — vol. 54
12. Sharon Van Etten – Serpents (Pitchfork) — vol. 40
13. Mutual Benefit – C.L. Rosarian (Bruxelles Ma Belle) — vol. 19
14. Angel Olsen – Enemy (La Blogotheque) — Vol. 11
15. Kishi Bashi – Philosophize In It! Chemicalize In It! (WNYC) — vol. 29
16. Little Big League – Year of the Sunhouse (Little Elephant) — vol. 45
17. Screaming Females – It All Means Nothing (Audiotree) — vol. 27
18. Ty Segall – Feel (Conan) — vol. 40
19. Dilly Dally – Candy Mountain (Chart Attack) — vol. 51
20. Cloud Nothings – Now Hear In (Amoeba) — vol. 57
21. MOURN – Otits (Captured Tracks) — vol. 53
22. Courtney Barnett – History Eraser (KEXP) — vol. 34
23. Lee Fields – Don’t Leave Me This Way (La Blogotheque) — vol. 54
24. Jenny Lewis – Slippery Slopes (KCRW) — vol. 52
25. Saintseneca (NPR) — vol. 38

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October 11, 2014

Pet Sun – Gimme Your Soul (Music Video)

Pet Sun’s Feel Like I’m Going Away EP arrives on a wave of buzz that’s been accumulating around the band since earlier this year. All six songs indicate that the early praise for Pet Sun wasn’t a fluke; the band’s capitalizing on their promise with a swaggering confidence. Not a band to sit still, they’ve already released a second music video following the psychedelic collage that came out a few weeks back for the EP’s title track. While they haven’t abandoned the lo-fi aspect that their first video so readily embraced, they don’t really need to- it’s a perfect complement for their rough-hewn take on basement punk.

“Gimme Your Soul” isn’t made up of much- there’s paint splatter, home video clips, and a few stray animations. There’s an easygoing, naturalistic feel to clashing elements that can frequently feel like they’re at odds with each other. Somehow the superimposed imagery doesn’t undercut the value of the background clips, while the background clips don’t outweigh any of the effects. It’s a fairly impressive balancing act in a video that manages to retain a thrown-off vibe. It’s all over in less than 90 seconds but it’s a surprisingly entertaining trip while it lasts- and another good example of why this is band’s worth the attention they’ve been receiving.

Watch “Gimme Your Soul” below and order Feel Like I’m Going Away from Sleepless Records here.

October 2, 2014

Hurry – Oh Whitney (Stream)

Today was absolutely dominated by full streams. Between great upcoming records from Pet Sun, Tiger High, White Laces, and Boys Age there was a wealth of material that could have earned this feature spot. Dories’ “Drip“, Glish’s “Kvlt“, and Pity Sex’s Pixies cover rounded out a strong single song collection while a dark, entrancing Kid Moxie & The Gaslamp Killer music video held down the visual territory by virtue of being unforgettable. However, any time there’s a chance to feature an emerging band that’s still relatively hidden in the grand scheme of things, that opportunity will be taken- which is what led today’s feature falling to “Oh Whitney” by the Philadelphia-based trio Hurry.

Next week, Hurry will release Everything/Nothing which follows their promising self-titled debut. That promise has been capitalized on in full, something that Everything/Nothing makes abundantly clear. The production levels have rocketed up, every facet of the band’s songwriting has improved, and- importantly- they seem to have latched onto an identity that’ll serve them well (especially in Philadelphia’s already thriving DIY punk landscape). “Oh Whitney” may be the most perfect example of this, expertly balancing Cheap Girls‘ brand of 90’s revivalism with the more fuzzed-out tendencies of Swearin’. Pinpointing the sweet spot between basement punk and basement pop, Hurry fill “Oh Whitney” with an assortment of riches; feedback, crunch, ghostly backing vocals, and infectious melodies. Hurry also has the unique advantage of a rhythm section with familial ties, with Joe and Rob DeCarolis playing off of each other as expertly as possible while Matt Scottoline leads the charges throughout the record, infusing the songs with the kind of personality and charisma that’ll make Everything/Nothing a must-buy for anyone who connected to the slacker punk of the early-mid 90’s. “Oh Whitney” is just one piece of an incredibly complete picture and a rousing call for action in an effort to make sure Everything/Nothing winds up as more than just a hidden gem. Here’s to hoping this record gets the recognition it deserves.

Listen to “Oh Whitney” below and let the rest of Everything/Nothing play through, it’s worth the time. Pre-order it from Hot Green Records here.

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September 16, 2014

Mitski – Townie (Stream)

It’s been an absolutely monstrous week for great new music and we’re not even halfway through it. First and foremost, it should be noted that Stereogum is now streaming LVL UP’s Hoodwink’d in full (this site’s current front-runner for Album of the Year), along with great new records from Spray Paint, Lower Plenty, and S. NPR, as always, has a few gems available in their First Listen series, King Tuff’s Black Moon Spell and Perfume Genius’ Too Bright among them. Wander on over to the unending sprawl that is bandcamp and there are a few new things to unearth, like Cancers’ Fatten the Leeches and the unreasonably compelling split that comes courtesy of Follies and Wishbone. Similarly, Pitchfork Advance is offering up an early stream of upcoming stunners from Whirr and Foxes in Fiction, Stay and Ontario Gothic, respectively. On the single song side of things, there were outstanding new tunes that surfaced from site favorites Krill, a revitalized The Twilight Sad, a resurgent The Jazz June, and an intriguing new shoegaze project born out of the Deafheaven camp going by the name Creepers. As if all of that weren’t enough, there were also standout music videos emerging from a few intriguing corners of the musical spectrum that generally gets covered here, mostly from artists that exist on the fringes of their genre- Kevin Morby, Angel Olsen, Hiss Golden Messenger on the folksier side of things and the punk-leaning acts being well represented by Pet Sun and PS I Love You.

With all of that now existing in the world, anything getting the feature spot today had to be spectacular. Mitski (who recently made an introductory appearance on this site via Watch This) proved up to the challenge with the gnarled-but-beautiful basement pop rager “Townie”. Unsurprisingly, this song (and Bury Me At Makeout Creek, the upcoming record it’s attached to) comes via Double Double Whammy- who, between LVL UP, Follies and Wishbone, Krill, and this, had themselves one hell of a day- cementing that label’s reputation as one of the most exciting things in music. Pulling in an equal amount of influence from punk, post-punk, 90’s scuzz, powerpop, soul, and 50’s pop, “Townie” reveals itself to be something immediate and sublime before the gift of a chorus kicks in. Easily one of 2014’s best songs, it skyrockets the expectations for Bury Me At Makeout Creek and acts as an unforgettable introduction-at-large for Mitski. Everything here works on an extraordinary level, from the floating vocals to the tambourine attack to the feedback screeches to the fucking theremin section. “Townie” is as defiant as it is triumphant, adding an impressive amount of gravity with an unflinchingly honest lyric set. Package it all together and it becomes something completely irresistible that approaches levels of transcendence. Music doesn’t get much better than this.

Listen to “Townie” below and pre-order Bury Me At Makeout Creek from Double Double Whammy here.

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May 6, 2014

5 to See at NXNE 2014: Vol. 2

The 5 to See series continues from where it left off since Vol. 1. Now that the cases to see METZ, Swearin’, PS I Love You, Greys, and Perfect Pussy have been made, it’s time to lean in to Volume 2. A brief description of the featured band will be provided and accompanied by a video. All of this will lead up to the festival itself, which will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in style. Keep tabs on all of this and make the necessary adjustments when faced with schedule conflicts. Now that the exposition’s out of the way, let’s get to the bands.

1. Mac DeMarco

What to Know: Mac DeMarco’s Salad Days is his best work to date and his live shows continuing to earn raves. He’s a living archetype: the slacker sleazeball personified. It’s part of what makes him and his music so effortlessly endearing. Take the normal manic pace of a festival into account and DeMarco’s set may easily be the most enjoyable bit of escapism that NXNE has to offer.

What to Watch:

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2. Pet Sun

What to Know: At this point, there isn’t much to know about Pet Sun other than that the Hamilton-based band has released an incredibly promising demo and that decent live footage of the band is hard to come by. That said, as lo-fi as recent clips of the band have been, they’ve indicated that the band’s capitalizing on their early promise- possibly exceeding it- and that it’s pretty clear they put on one hell of a live show.

What to Watch:

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3. Speedy Ortiz

What to Know: Whether they liked it or not, the band was positioned at the forefront of a 90’s revival on the backs of 2013’s incredible Major Arcana. Since then, they’ve been anything but quiet, capitalizing on opportunities to create new music and demonstrate a knack for trustworthy politics. Oh, it also helps that somewhere along the way they became a tenacious live band. Expect their set to be as much of a force as they’ve proven themselves to be.

What to Watch:

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4. Beliefs

What to Know: Beliefs, like Vol. 1 features METZ, will have the advantage of playing to a hometown crowd. Coincidentally, the band also put out an incendiary split 7″ with Greys (another Vol. 1 feature). Their sound lands between the most industry-conscious no-wave of the 80’s and the most incandescent shoegaze of the 90’s. Put all of that together and it’s very clear things are going their way- which always makes for good sets. Don’t miss theirs.

What to Watch:

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5. Swans

What to Know: What hasn’t been said already? There’s a very real possibility that Swans are the darkest and most nightmarish band going right now. Micahel Gira & co. have been mining utterly intense levels of dread for so long that it’s difficult to imagine any one of their members exposed to sunlight. Their past two records, The Seer and To Be Kind, may just be their two finest. Nothing at NXNE will come to being even remotely close to this ominous (has anyone ever created music this terrifyingly apocalyptic before?)- and it’s very possible that nothing will come close to being this oddly beautiful as well. Swans’ music forces the listener into self-examinations, self-actualization, and total transcendence. Make sure to be wherever they are when they play. This is just about guaranteed to be the most bruising, massive set of the entire festival.

What to Watch:

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Tag: Pet Sun