Reservations | Heartbreaking Bravery

July 28, 2015

SPORTS – The Washing Machine (Stream)

As the week picks up, so too does the new release schedule. Great new songs saw first light today, featuring material from the following artists: OBN III’s, Minden, Grass House, Wolf Prize, OBNOX, and Places To Hide. Music videos fared just as well with some tantalizing clips that included Fake Palms’ oneiric “Sparkles“, BEAK >’s arresting “The Broken Window“, Flesh World’s tranced-out “Just To Tear Me Down“, Rocky Votolato’s deeply impressive “Hospital Handshakes“, and Communions’ striking “Forget It’s A Dream“. Rounding things out were the full streams, which featured fantastic entries from The Glow (a band led by LVL UP‘s Michael Caridi), Sloth, Adult Mom, Reservations, and Soviet X-Ray Record Club. Even in that slew of genuinely outstanding material, today’s featured item- SPORTS’ “The Washing Machine”- managed to stand out.

For a few years now, SPORTS have been kicking out the kind of scrappy punk-infused basement pop that dominates Salinas’ impressive roster (Swearin’, Radiator Hospital, All Dogs, Purple 7, etc.). The band recently signed with Father/Daughter Records (who have earned themselves a wealth of love from this site) for the release of their forthcoming full-length, the genuinely outstanding All of Something (which was, incidentally, engineered by none other than Kyle Gilbride of Swearin’). The band’s already teased the record with the energetic “Saturday” and offered another look earlier today with the release of “The Washing Machine”.

A touch more grounded than “Saturday”, the band’s latest is a show of both maturation and force, emphasizing a subtle southern sensibility (in a manner not too dissimilar from Hop Along) to produce one of their best songs to date. Like a (thankfully) increasing number of bands in the DIY fold, the band gets a lot of mileage from fixating on elements that constitute life’s minutiae rather than opting to retread the same tired territory. While the overarching narrative still hinges on a relationship, it’s the way the relationship is colored that sets the song apart from a lot of the band’s contemporaries. Balanced, nuanced, and unerringly heartfelt, SPORTS pack enough punch, grit, and scuzz into this 3 minutes and change number to run away with today’s featured spot.

Listen to “The Washing Machine” below and pre-order All of Something from Father/Daughter ahead of its October 30 release date here.

2 Comments

July 21, 2015

Radioactivity – Intro/Battered/Slipped Away (Music Video)

The past handful of days have been keeping 2015’s embarrassment of riches trend alive via outstanding releases in all of this site’s regularly covered categories: single streams, full streams, and music videos. For the sake of brevity, these streams (and the following items) will be listed solely by the artists involved- though all of these links are well worth clicking and reflect strongly on the state of contemporary music.

In the full songs department we received great new items from a handful of artists that included: Reservations, Monogold, Total Makeover, Foals, Hinds, Cowtown, Lithuania, Drinks, Pearl Charles, Connor La Mue, and Museum Mouth. Full stream found strong representation through upcoming releases from Philadelphia Collins, Vundabar, Rat Boy, Ducktails, Feeling Feelings, and Dark Thoughts. Music videos, much like the preceding two categories, had an excessively strong haul with outstanding new clips from Screaming Females, Krill, S, Findlay Brown, Laura Marling, Aaron Taos, Dum Dum Girls, and Kurt Vile. The same feat holds true for today’s featured piece; Radioactivity’s minimal three-track music video that unifies Silent Kill tracks “Intro”, “Battered”, and “Slipped Away” as one visual presentation.

The entire affair, as noted above, is extremely minimal and the premise is incredibly simplistic: Radioactivity plays three songs in a garage warehouse. How its executed is what gives this clip its life; each song brings the cameras progressively closer to the band as they perform before finally drawing in so close that the frame starts incorporating the technicolor exterior tubes to divide the shot in a barebones special effect trick that provides a surprising amount of visual punch. Of course, this being Radioactivity, the songs don’t need a lot of visual finesse to carry through or offer some sort of elevation; they’re already just about perfect. A compact blast teeming with the band’s characteristically snarling energy, this is a video that embraces their no-frills attitude and emphasizes what makes the band truly great.

Watch “Intro/Battered/Slipped Away” below and order the band’s excellent Silent Kill from Dirtnap here. For those of you in the Brooklyn area, you can catch the band at Baby’s All Right on July 30. Tickets for the show can be ordered here.

1 Comment

July 7, 2015

Meat Wave – Delusion Moon (Stream)

Few bands have meant more to this site and its early development than Meat Wave. They’ve been granted one of the only On the Up feature spots, they’ve offered premieres, and they played the first (and, so far, only) Heartbreaking Bravery showcase. The band’s earned quite a bit of coverage over here and today’s news ensures that’s a continuing development.

Before delving into their new song, though, I’d like to take a minute to congratulate them on signing to SideOneDummy, a highly revered- and influential- punk label. The trio’s new home looks like a promising one and will undoubtedly push their name recognition to (deservedly) greater heights. Meat Wave weren’t the only band with a noteworthy release today, so a few more bands will be highlighted before circling back to the main attraction.

Cosmicide released a deeply cinematic clip for “A New Disaster” and four artists teased two splits (Jeff the Brotherhood and Colleen Green and Audacity and together PANGEA, respectively). Cassels revealed their bruising Hating Is Easy EP while both Little My and Derider pulled back the curtains on their forthcoming albums. Once again, single streams made up the bulk of the day’s items and included a few genuine stunners.

Ought’s sprawling “Beautiful Blue Sky” nearly wound up with today’s feature, while it fended off strong competition from the likes of Sharkmufffin’s fiery “Mondays“, Reservations’ noir-tinted “Planet“, NE-HI’s punchy “Drag“, Girls Names’ compellingly bleak “A Hunger Artist“, and Helen’s surprisingly massive “Motorcycle“. Comfy’s sunny basement pop tune “Neck Hz“, GospelbeacH’s breezy backwoods number “Sunshine Skyway“, and Elway’s revitalized “Albuquerque Low” all added up to the format’s considerable tally.

Then, of course, there was “Delusion Moon”. Anyone who heard what Meat Wave accomplished with their self-titled (to date, the only tape I’ve worn thin) or their EP from earlier this year, Brother, knows just how much weight this band throws into its punches. “Delusion Moon” is the title track from the band’s forthcoming record and follows “Erased” in its rollout campaign.

While details on the record were scarce when the latter was introduced, a few things have been clarified for this round. Delusion Moon‘s intended to run as a whole (something that’s hinted at by the ending/starting(?) notes of “Delusion Moon”) and is a quasi-conceptual record that was written during a strange period of guitarist/vocalist Chris Sutter’s life. There’s a palpable sense of brooding on “Delusion Moon” that seems like it may turn out be one of the record’s more defining characteristics.

The rhythm section of bassist Joe Gac and drummer Ryan Wizniak continues to be one of the more formidable forces playing shows today. A quantifiable powerhouse, the duo lends Sutter’s playing an additional element of urgency, capitalizing on its inherent immediacy with brute strength. All of this is evidenced in the astonishing “Delusion Moon” and will likely culminate in the band reaching the levels of success they’ve deserved since the very beginning. More and more, Meat Wave are starting to look like the future of basement punk. If that’s the case, we’re all in very good hands.

Listen to “Delusion Moon” and keep both eyes on this site for any upcoming announcements regarding the forthcoming record, which is due out on September 18.

3 Comments

October 4, 2014

Mitski – iPhone Voice Memo 10/4/14 (Stream)

Today was a day that seemed to be defined by a quiet nature, something that was born out of the still fall weather and a severe lack of noteworthy releases (especially considering the steady overabundance of material throughout the past two weeks). Sure, there were premieres of things like Dirt Dress’ “Revelations“, Low Culture’s “Reservations“, and Young Mammals’ Alto Seco that were egregiously overlooked over the course of the past few days that could have easily earned a feature spot today- but nothing felt as appropriate as Mitski‘s demo.

Quietly released on tumblr (and currently without an official title), the song’s an embodiment of the DIY aesthetic that Heartbreaking Bravery was designed to showcase. Self-recorded onto an iPhone as a voice memo, it strips Mitski’s music- something that’s becoming increasingly production-friendly- back to barebones, completely opening up a brave vulnerability that brings the act of listening to the song uncomfortably close to voyeurism. Unsurprisingly, the song itself is absolutely stunning and continues to add new depths to Mitski’s undeniable talent. Haunting, compelling, and melancholic in equal measure, the song’s a window into the songwriting process of one of today’s most fascinating emerging artists and pushes the anticipation for the upcoming Bury Me At Makeout Creek to absurd heights (despite the fact it won’t be included on the record). Most importantly, it’s a stunning song that deserves the attention of as many listeners as possible.

Listen to the song below and pre-order Bury Me At Makeout Creek from Double Double Whammy here. For those interested in hearing more of Mitski in solo acoustic mode, watch the video below the embed of a recent solo set at Dong Island (courtesy of Dong Island).

–

1 Comment

Tag: Reservations