Mozes and the Firstborn quietly released one of the best debut records of last year on Burger as a cassette and few people noticed. Now, though, on the brink of releasing that same record in all major audio formats (and in the midst of a tour with together PANGEA), lots of people’s heads are turning. All it takes is one listen to just about any song off of Mozes and the Firstborn to know that this quartet of kids from the Netherlands has tapped into something special. Serious songwriting chops paired with enviable pop sensibilities and enough dirtied up grit to make any Ty Segall acolyte blush. All of this is why this site’s already spent a fair amount of words on the band. They’re a band worth celebrating and undoubtedly deserve the praise and affection that will be coming their way.
Today, the band outdid themselves. Already prone to sneaking in nods to film (their name is a reference to the animated religious film ThePrince of Egypt), they elevated their filmic tendencies by releasing a music video for “Bloodsucker” that’s a loving ode to The Big Shave, the 1967 short film that launched Martin Scorsese’s career. Only this time, instead of the principle subject shaving the bottom half of his face off, the band and director, Jeroen Dankers, give the stark story a blackly comic twist that prompts as much laughter as it does disgust. It’s an audacious move and may even become an iconic clip in certain circles. While the video’s dedication to a faithful aesthetic recreation of its source material is impressive, it’s the song that pushes this over the edge. “Bloodsucker” is the kind of vintage powerpop that’s incredibly difficult to get successful without sounding strained but is a style Mozes and the Firstborn manage to pull off effortlessly. With “Bloodsucker” backing the increasingly garish imagery that accompanies it, they create an incredibly memorable piece of art that deserves to be seen. Watch “Bloodsucker” below, pre-order Mozes and the Firstborn from Burger, and don’t take any brushes with fate for granted.
Again, sincerest apologies on the delay involving this 13th installment of Watch This. What would regularly run on Sunday was pushed back this week due to an obscene overabundance of material that needed some serious navigation. When the realization of the source of last week’s excess of material could be traced back to two events, things became a little more manageable. Now, at least for this week, there will be three standalone videos and the final two spots will be occupied by video playlists; one being the Marked Men weekend, the other being the Don Giovanni showcase. Brooklyn, you had a surreal wealth of incredible music this week, worthy of anyone’s envy. For all of those videos, as well as a few more, watch everything posted below.
1. Dog Day – Sandwich (exclaim!)
Kicking off the series this week is Dog Day, a quartet whose sound is steeped in shoegaze aesthetics without ever crossing the line into that genre. Instead, they offer up a very singular take on brooding post-punk that carries a lot of noise and no wave heft. As for the band’s performance, it’s detached to the point of being eerie, effectively elevating the sense of unease. A very strong, very curious, introduction to a band that has a decent shot of gaining a very faithful following.
–
2. Sandrider – Gorgon (KEXP)
HOLY FUCK.
–
3. Porches. ft. Frankie Cosmos – Fog Dog (Live at Woodbury)
Porches. continue to impress every time the project surfaces. This fan-shot performance clip of “Fog Dog” may actually be the most arresting material to come from Porches. to date. It helps that Frankie Cosmos vocals lend the whole thing an almost unbearable lightness. A genuinely gorgeous piece of entertainment- and the ending? One of the most endearing things to have shown up in any kind of film this year.
–
4. The Marked Men Weekend (Live at St. Vitus)
So, the other weekend an enormous wealth of material consumed Brooklyn and lit the NYC punk community on fire three times over. A large, large, part of this was the three sets that reclusive basement punk icons The Marked Men graced the city with, bringing along an assortment of their friends to share the moment. All three of The Marked Men’s sets were captured in full by the always-reliable unARTigNYC, who also filmed single clips of the support acts; Tenement, Radiator Hospital, Worriers, Kim Phuc, Iron Chic, Future Punx, and Shellshag. Those clips appear in that order and are all worth watching (especially Tenement, who will get an emphasis on here whenever there’s an appropriate excuse, and Radiator Hospital, whose Something Wild was one of 2013’s very best).
–
5. The Don Giovanni Showcase
While The Marked Men weekend was happening over at St. Vitus, the Don Giovanni showcase was going strong just a stones throw away. There were a few bands that made appearances at both (Tenement, Worriers, and Shellshag) and made sure the wealth was lovingly spread across the city. Now, Don Giovanni’s a record label that’s earned a lot of mentions here by virtue of their roster, one of the strongest in DIY music. While not being able to attend was painful, it’s easy to tell that it was an incredible time from the videos that were presented by Don Giovanni themselves. Curiously, sets/songs from the explosive combination of Screaming Females and Tenement were left out (though a performance of “Doom 84” in Cleveland has been tacked onto the playlist- along with the previously-mentioned Shellshag medley– because as long as this video playlist cheating is taking place, why not cheat a little more?) along with a few others but there’s still a lot to love here.
Contained in the playlist are the following: Nude Beach (who absolutely lit Quarters Rock N Roll Palace up in Milwaukee last July with Midnight Reruns and Tenement), Black Wine, Groucho Marxists, Priests (especially Priests, who, as one of the most original and exciting bands in music, are going to be given a lot more words here in the very near future), Vacation (a few members of which have found growing success in their other incredible band, Tweens), Worriers, Nuclear Santa Claust, California X, and, as mentioned, both Screaming Females and Shellshag. Watch it all below and buy a goddamn guitar already.
There are very few names that have been as instrumental to Heartbreaking Bravery’s (admittedly limited) early success and continuing expansion as Perfect Pussy‘s Meredith Graves. Endlessly supportive and impossibly kind, she’s lent an unwavering support that’s both humbling and welcome. For this reason and this reason alone, I’m going to abandon at least one rule of the hidden manifest I’ve held Heartbreaking Bravery to up until this 110th post; the use of a first-person narrative. I’m breaking this rule specifically for this post because these words will be about Perfect Pussy’s new music video as much as they’ll be about sincerity. Sincerity, compassion, and empathy were at the heart of our last discussion and were three of the things that attracted me to the band begin with. There’s an unflinching honesty that, as evidenced by the almost immediate backlash following their success, alienated about 1 person for every 10 that it’s inspired.
In terms of sentiment, the lyrical content on I have lost all desire for feeling elevates itself past the bleeding-heart realm into a full-on self-performed open heart surgery that cuts off halfway through, laying everything bare for onlookers. It’s not kitschy, it’s fucking brave. Detractors like to speculate that it’s all just an act, grossly unaware of how little of a veil there is that separates the band from its audience. There’s a heart on display that’s beating furiously and unapologetically, allowing anyone paying attention to interpret its motions as they will. Operating without a filter and embracing as much positive energy as humanly possible, the band’s already managed to establish a reputation for themselves on the strength of a four song demo and fierce touring.
All of those early trademarks- the empathy, compassion, sincerity, (positive) energy, fearlessness, and upfront honesty come together in Lukas Hodge’s clip for I have lost all desire for feeling‘s explosive opening track, “I”. Hodge opens the video with an endearing black-and-white shot of the band, all smiles, descending a staircase and led by an umbrella-toting Graves. Before the jump cut out of the stairwell hits an abbreviated quick cut sequence, Graves shoots the audience the kind of smile that seems to say “thank you” and “I love you” all at once, to anyone that cares. It’s a brief second that feels like it’s worth a lifetime, aptly illustrating a moment of something approaching self-actualization. It’s unlikely there will be anything as intimate captured this year.
Following the contained beauty of the band’s introduction, the video ably jumps between three scenarios; the live performance footage, the band shooting firecrackers off in a beautiful wide-open field, and walking around various city locations. All of “I” is lensed with a subtly soft, warm hue that maximizes the clip’s easy naturalistic feel. Though, there aren’t moments lacking in artistic merit in the face of that naturalism. While it’s difficult to tell whether or not it actually was raining, the band (and certainly the director) were likely aware of how significant something as simple as the umbrellas has been throughout musically-inclined film projects. From Mary Poppins to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg to, more recently, How I Met Your Mother, umbrellas have acted as beloved staples (and important plot devices) in culturally resonant art. While a two minute music video is obviously going to have to deal with some limitations, “I” already feels like one of the more definitive presentations of a very specific subculture within the confines of punk.
Before the video’s explosive confetti-strewn climax, Hodge manages to articulately convey the band’s frantic passion through exposition. By splicing together the outside footage with the performance, it’s easy to grasp the band’s personality which makes the final payoff that much more exhilarating. You want the people that greet you with a warm embrace to succeed, especially when their end goal doesn’t carry any inherently negative or mean-spirited consequence. That’s a space reserved for the kind of people who embrace the lighthearted fun that’s on display throughout “I”. By the time “I” hits its relentless stride and the band’s surrounded by friends, everyone under a shower of confetti and clothed in silly string, the moment feels deserved. Driving this point home, Hodge allows his camera to linger on a small group of hands that are raised up, as if in elated prayer, and a once small-but-significant moment acts as a stand-in for a much larger one; those few enlightened hands have now turned into thousands, each of which (mine included) more than happy to attempt to push the band to even greater successes and heights.
While Graves may still be on the operating table, picking herself apart and attempting to figure out how to live the most worthwhile life possible, there are people in her corner. There are people that know Perfect Pussy are a band that’s worth believing in, not just because they’re making great music but because they’re making sincere music, the kind that directly opposes the apathy that’s descended like a darkness and all but consumed the forefront of the DIY/basement punk scene. There’s an intrinsic value to Perfect Pussy’s commitment to honesty. At a time when things as basic as desire and enthusiasm are positioned as things that can damage credibility, I’ll be on the side of the band that comes into that fold and fucking destroys the misguided preconceptions about them. Perfect Pussy are a band that kids can look to and be assured that it’s okay to be excited about art and the importance of that should not be lost.
“I” will likely always be Perfect Pussy’s best calling card, distilling the band’s indomitable passion into a blistering 120 seconds (complete with an arresting mantra that perfectly captures the band’s paradoxical marriage of aspects gentle and forceful). Somewhere, in those two glorious minutes, an entire subculture’s esoteric pretense was stripped away. Somehow, Lukas Hodge managed to create a video that managed to push the band’s ideals further while presenting an accurate portrayal of their collective identity. Someday some fifteen year old kid is going to see that video and learn a myriad of things; that it’s okay to be who you are, that art/punk/noise/hardcore/whatever-the-fuck is one of the most gratifying experiences you can possibly have, that gender should never matter in music, that youth can be retained, and that sincerity is something that should never be overvalued.
Even if Graves & co. are pinching themselves now, in the midst of a rapid ascension to the kind of levels where all of their moves will be met with scrutiny, they’re not the sort to pay attention to any of the critical responses. That’s the final key to their success; by blocking out all of the outside opinion- apart from the reactions they get from shows, people buying merch through their bandcamp, or personal messages- they’re free to cater to the things they believe in. Luckily for us, those beliefs are worth celebrating. Nearly everything that I’ve written above (in addition to the twenty or so times I watched “I” today) has led me to a realization. Perfect Pussy have officially become a personal item for me. This isn’t a band I want to push- it’s one I need to. They’re doing important things, whether they know it or not, with a high enough profile that those things may have an actual impact and cause some positive reform in increasingly stale scenes. While Heartbreaking Bravery certainly won’t be the most visible source lending their aesthetics and creative decisions vocal support, it’s still worth discussing.
For a reminder of all of this, watch “I” below and pre-order a deluxe copy of Say Yes to Love over at Captured Tracks.
First off, sincerest apologies for the gap in content posting. Much of the delay is due to an issue that’s close to being resolved and will (finally) result in the posting of the 13th Watch This installment. Apologies aside, the lack of content means there were a few things that slipped through the radar and couldn’t be given a timely post. That’s where ragged Midwest punk-leaning powerpop staples Archie Powell & the Exports come in. “Everything’s Fucked” (an appropriate sentiment for the current delay situation) is the first track the band’s allowed the public of their upcoming Back in Black LP, a follow up to the extraordinary Great Ideas in Action.
If “Everything’s Fucked” is indicative of the rest of Back in Black then the band’s grown even more incendiary over the brief amount of time that’s lapsed. Everything that made their past work so worthwhile is retained in full but there’s a greater urgency in the band’s controlled chaos. From the distorted acoustic opening chords through to the explosive finale, that noticeably elevated urgency drives the song off the rails and charts its own damn course. Considering everyone sounds like they were lit on fire before someone hit record, the fact that the studio didn’t burn to the ground when this thing was tracked is kind of astonishing. There’s a reckless go-for-broke mentality that permeates “Everything’s Fucked” which makes it one of the most infectious things the band’s ever done. Frantic and catchy as hell, “Everything’s Fucked” just might be an apt example of the band’s manic determination. If that winds up as being even half as propulsive as “Everything’s Fucked”, they may just generate enough momentum to push them onto much bigger things. Keep both eyes out, lock up the children, and listen to “Everything’s Fucked” below.
After two days enduring a seeming avalanche of new content from nearly every corner of music, Thursday has gradually tapered off of that relentless pace. Still, there were rippers from Thee Oh Sees, Tweens, Palehounds, Broken Gold, and Donovan Wolfington (especially Donovan Wolfington). There was also a new video from post-hardcore titans La Dispute (the band responsible for “King Park“, one of the most stunning pieces of songwriting in the past few years) and a beautiful, humorous, genre-encapsulating medley video from Don Giovanni’s Shellshag. At the end of the day, though, the song that stood out strongest was “Wild Grass” from Chinese trio Carsick Cars’ upcoming 3.
Carsick Cars may not be a huge name stateside but the band’s reputation in their homeland is certainly well-established and somewhere over the past nine years they managed to catch the ears of Sonic Youth (and subsequently play shows with them before their split). While Sonic Youth is, sadly, no more (at least for now), it’s easy to see their influence on Carsick Cars. If someone claimed that Steve Shelley was the person behind the kit on “Wild Grass”, there’d be no reason not to believe them. Their clean guitar tones are reminiscent of Moore and Ronaldo’s in the band’s latter-era run (Rather Ripped, in particular) and their pop sensibilities are similar. In fact, while “Wild Grass” does come off as an extraordinary Rather Ripped outtake (albeit one that’s sung in Chinese), where the bands do differ is in how far they take that pop sensibility. Carsick Cars are a few notches less noise-prone than their predecessors but they compensate for it with an emphasis on melody. That effortless powerpop melodicism is what makes “Wild Grass” really stand out and bodes well for the rest of 3.
While “Wild Grass” is certainly promising, it’s always been impossible to pin Carsick Cars down from record to record. They’ll likely have a few surprises in store for 3, which will be released later this month. If the past is any indication, those surprises will be worth the wait. Hear “Wild Grass” below and hope that the rest of 3 winds up being as good or better.
Vaadat Charigim released one of 2013’s best tapes with The World Is Well Lost and since that Burger release, they’ve released stunning videos for “Odisea” and “Kezef Al Hamayim“. Just recently, the Tel Aviv band unveiled another video for The World Is Well Lost‘s sl0w-burning “Ein Nehama Ladoachim”, which may be their most singular visual piece to date. It’s a striking clip, to be sure, that features the band playing the song in an abandoned mall. There’s an emphasis on transcendent Kaminski-indebted cinematography, allowing an eerie tension to permeate the clip. That tension is elevated to another level when paired with the record’s commentary-heavy lyrics.
Many of the songs on The World Is Well Lost deal with wars both personal and political, in one way or another. With that knowledge, an abandoned building suddenly becomes a haunted shelter, a clip of a hovering plane becomes foreshadowing, Hello Kitty transforms from a beloved children’s icon into a cruel reminder, and the very act of music suddenly becomes a personal brand of activism. These elements are things that Vaadat Charigim not only understand but thrive on. It’s those same principles that make their music necessary listening and their videos necessary viewing. When art can function on multiple levels and stand for something as important as a call for peace, kindness, and personal independence- no matter how basic- it’s worth celebrating. Watch “Ein Nehama Ladoachim” below.
Between the streaming of Terrestrials the behemoth of a collaborative album between Sunn O))) and Ulver, the announcement of a Bad Banana reunion show, John Dwyer releasing his first material post-Oh Sees hiatus, Big Air publicly unveiling their excellent debut tape, Buds, Fear of Men releasing a very promising sneak peek of their upcoming debut full-length Loom, a surprisingly punchy new track entitled “Any Wonder” from Yellow Ostrich, Mary Timony’s newest project, Ex Hex, offering up a hard-charging sample of their upcoming Merge debut, the cleverly constructed first music video to come out of the pairing of Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws and Julianna Hatfield for their Minor Alps project, an NPR Tiny Desk Session from The Pixies, the energetic black-and-white music video premiere of The Orwells’ “The Righteous One“, a live performance video of an all-acoustic run through of upcoming Drive-By Truckers track “Made Up English Oceans“, and Angel Olsen‘s absolutely stunning smoky, seductively noir-ish music video for upcoming Burn Your Fire for No Witness track “Hi-Five“, it’s been one hell of a Monday. Then, to top it all off, there’s the video that managed to edge out all of this to become today’s focus piece; Saintseneca‘s extraordinary clip for upcoming Dark Arc track “Happy Alone”.
Dark Arc, at this point easily one of the year’s most anticipated albums, should officially herald the arrival of Saintseneca, a band that was previously best known for being a conglomeration of two excellent Ohio basement punk bands; All Dogs and The Sidekicks. They’ve been maintaining an entrancing (and incredibly effective) rollout campaign for Dark Arc, their Anti- records debut, and seem poised to continue rewarding the investment of anyone who’s paying attention. “Happy Alone” has officially elevated their art form even further. The Christopher Good clip is clearly indebted to a vast array of arthouse influences and features stunning handheld cinematography, a gorgeous (magic hour-infused) color palette, inspired editing, yet another great song from the band, and band member Zac Little’s head in a giant bubble as he makes his way through everyday tasks.
It’s borderline dadaism and dips in and out of some Warhol-level pop art as it goes along to the most weirdly entrancing effect. It works as a surface level piece and as a light commentary on the nature of loneliness. There’s really absolutely no reason for any of it to add up to the inexplicably powerful whole that it is but it manages to do that and a little more. On its own, “Happy Alone” is definitive enough to act as a perfect introductory piece to the uninitiated while being singular enough to plausibly rank as one of the bands most important moments in their continuing evolution during this much-deserved groundswell of success. Above all else, though, it’s just a beautiful piece of art. That’s something that will always be worth rewarding. Watch it below.
Adam Widener is most famous for once fronting the bands The Zygoteens and, more recently, Bare Wires. Both bands made a fairly big impression on their respective circuit, winning over a large following with relentless touring and consistently great discographies. Fortunately, Widener’s far from finished. A fact that’s proven on his most recent solo outing Vesuvio Nights. It’s a record full of basement punk gems that rival his best work during his time with both The Zygoteens and Bare Wires. One of the most impressive cuts from Vesuvio Nights was “Laughter on Your Heels I’ll Follow”, which has now been given a winsome visual-graphics-heavy music video. There’s a certain infectious joy to be found in both the song and its visual representation, with each presenting a relentless energy that’s impossible not to respond to. There are enough hooks (again, both musical and visual) to snag the interest of anyone that finds themselves in the vicinity of either the song or the music video and it all takes place in under two minutes. Watch “Laughter on Your Heels I’ll Follow” below and order Vesuvio Nights from Speakertree Records.
Apologies for the short post but there’s only so much that can be done in a day- especially when that day includes a four-hour drive to see Split Feet, Broken Prayer, and Perfect Pussy. That said, there’s a whole lot out there that deserves to be heard and over the past week, a few sites have unveiled some doozies. Expect all three of these bands or records to get extended coverage from this site in the near-future. Until then, it’s highly-encouraged listening material. First up, there’s the new Failures’ Union LP, Tethering, which is getting a joint-release courtesy of Sheets of Ten and Dead Broke Rekerds. Tethering is a necessary shake-up of the pop-punk genre that sounds similar to Cheap Girls re-appropriating early Weezer. It’s a vicious little piece of unbridled aggression and depth. It’s available for streaming via New Noise Magazine. There’s also the sugar-rush hardcore-leaning EP from Neighborhood Brats that recalls the Riot Grrl movement and the best of Midwest DIY all at once. It’s four tracks and an absolute joy. It’s called Total Dementia and can be streamed over at Punknews. Finally, there’s Corrections’ absolutely brilliant Year One which is available for streaming through Stereogum. Year One is a discography-so-far compilation thatplays like Under the Bushes, Under the Stars given a modern update. The Corrections compilation arrives ahead of the groups third LP, which is due out at some point in 2014. These 32 tracks should prove more than enough to tide anyone over. Well, that’s it for now. Get to listening.
While the last installment of On the Up covered Tenementat great length, it failed to go into a band that’s practically connected at the hip to that trio; Technicolor Teeth. Amos Pitsch, Tenement’s de facto bandleader, drums for it’s loud-as-fuck shoegaze counterpart (in addition to several other bands), which also happens to feature members that have played a fairly big role in Tenement’s already-impressive career. Bassist/vocalist Matt Stranger and guitarist Zacc Baehman (who’d previously played with Pitsch in the short-lived but dearly-missed Harlequin Kid).
Pitsch was a late addition to the band, though, as the drummer’s throne was originally filled by Colin Wilde (his is the face that graces the Teenage Pagans cover), who’s now pursuing music under his own terms under the moniker Black Thumb. It didn’t take long for anyone to realize the band’s potential, especially considering the strength of the first song they wrote together as a band was impressive enough to rank it as one of the best of the last few years.
That song, “Station Wagon”, wound up being one of the many highlights of their full-length debut, Teenage Pagans, which incited a small label war that saw that record being released on multiple formats in various years and labels after the band originally put it up (and had a label subsequently remove it following an official release) on their bandcamp. Since then, Teenage Pagans has found its way back to free streaming, the band’s toured as hard as possible (especially taking Tenement’s increasing popularity into account), they’ve released a reputation-boosting 7″ on Accidental Guest Recordings and contributed a song to that label’s wonderful Beyond Inversion compilation.
That much activity is causing a lot of people to take notice of this still-young band at an alarming rate. How this will end up playing foil to Tenement when one of them inevitably breaks through is anyone’s best guess. For now, it’s probably best to just enjoy the fact that both bands are cropping up on more than a few peoples radars. They’ve both got distinct sounds and are far more well-versed in their respective genres than most bands can claim to be. Technicolor Teeth more than deserves to be in the same conversation as its brethren and that should say more than enough.
Watch the band take a run through “Station Wagon” in an Appleton, WI basement at a semi-secret early show with Big Eyes (video courtesy of Heartbreaking Bravery) below.
Heartbreaking Bravery 