Silent Pictures | Heartbreaking Bravery

August 17, 2016

Miya Folick – Pet Body (Music Video)

miya folick

Animal Lover, OMNI, September Girls, Lion’s Den, Silent Pictures, and WL all released startlingly great music videos over the past 24 hours. As good as all of those were (and they were quite good), the one that charged the hardest came courtesy of Miya Folick. After releasing one of the last year’s strongest EP’s in Strange Darling, Folick has wasted no time in releasing a follow-up effort. “Pet Body”, a standalone single, ranks among the songwriter’s fiercest moments and has a suitably aggressive video to match.

“Pet Body” eschews the tantalizingly subdued tendencies of Strange Darling in favor of a much rawer approach, flashing its fangs and sinking them in deep. A hyper-charged sugar-rush of spiky basement pop, “Pet Body” manages to be both accessible and substantial, cementing Folick’s reputation as a songwriter to watch. The music video that Folick’s released alongside the song is a joyous collage of animated imagery that complements the overwhelming immediacy of “Pet Body” with panache. Packaged all together, “Pet Body” is winsome, exhilarating, and an unexpected anthem for summer’s remainder. Greet it with a warm embrace and hold on for the ride.

Watch “Pet Body” below and download the song here.

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August 10, 2016

Ghost Gum – More (Stream)

ghost gum

Occasionally, there are days that underwhelm in terms of new releases. Then there are days like today, which churn out more than a dozen legitimate contenders for the headline slot and serve as reminders that we’re currently living in the best (and most accessible) time for new releases. There were incredible songs from Jack (who came a hair’s breadth away from getting a standalone post), Eric Slick, Lost Boy ?, Eyes of Love, Johanna Warren, Soft Candy, No One Mind, Peaer, Diners, Chris Farren, M. Lockwood Porter, Seeing Hands, Nots, Oldermost, Sex Stains, SubRosa, Lambchop, The Minders, Elijah Ford, Sports, and an outstanding one-off cover from site favorite Mo Troper.

Several music videos made an impressive impression as well, including new entries from the camps of Sunflower Bean, Dust From 1000 Yrs, Death Valley Girls, Uni Ika Ai, Silent Pictures, Le Boom, EL VY, Watsky, Amber Arcades, and Chris Staples. Tying everything together were the full streams that were unveiled by Pleistocene, Earth Girls, Kindling, Katie Dey, Ant’lrd, and Lié. In terms of quality, it matched an above-average week’s worth of material. Topping it all off is “More”, a near-perfect new track from Ghost Gum.

After turning some heads last year with “Again“, their contribution to a loaded 4-way split (Loose Tooth, Clique, and Mumblr rounded out the release), the quartet’s returned with a vengeance. “More” comes loaded with hooks, exhilarating moments, and genuine feeling. At every turn, the song provides something fascinating, from the tremolo picking that sets the tone of “More” to the rapid-fire hi-hat pattern to the earworm-ready bass line and guitar riff that kick the track into the fifth gear.

In less than three minutes, Ghost Gum offer a masterclass in dynamic structure, getting the most mileage possible out of a soaring chorus, a searing solo, and a compellingly muted verse that keeps everything grounded and breathes in some fractured humanity. Some aching backing vocals enhance the song’s half-haunted atmosphere to great effect and everything clicks in ways that both satisfy and induce genuine excitement.

When everything’s through, “More” stands as a song that not only lives up to the promise of its title but redefines that very same title as a winking understanding of how listeners should be feeling upon hearing the song’s final notes. Explosive without being bombastic and contemplative without dipping into tedium, “More” is a sharply crafted piece of work from a band that’s been continuously bettering themselves with each successive release. If the rest of their forthcoming release, The Past, The Future, Dwelling There Like Space, is anywhere near this good, it’ll be among the strongest releases of the year.

Listen to “More” below and download it here.

July 13, 2016

Miss June / Astro Children (Split 7″ Review)

Tying together the final loose ends of the exceptional material that surfaced over this site’s recent mini-hiatus are full streams from the following: Silent Pictures, Puddle Splasher, Beef Jerk, Nona, The By Gods, and Lord Bendtner. As always, each of those titles are deserving of as many — and likely more — listens that they’ll inevitably receive but today’s feature spot falls to one of the year’s most ferocious split 7″ releases.

Each band provides one song to the split and each band makes that song count. Miss June (pictured above) kicks things off with an explosive burst of noise entitled “Anxiety on Repeat” that quickly falls into a back-and-forth pattern of frantic verses and monstrous sections of noise/punk that suggests some unholy union between Sonic Youth and Le Tigre. In under two minutes and thirty seconds, the band provides a whirlwind of pure exhilaration and unbridled emotion that dissects, embraces, and curses anxious impulses all at once. Abrasive, startling, and brilliant, it would have made the 7″ worth the purchase on its own.

Of course, Astro Children step up to the plate for the flip-side, grit the teeth and connect with all of their collective might. Their song, “When You Lose”, takes on a more sinister, insidious approach that slowly draws the listener in with a tantalizing sense of creeping darkness. Subtle, eerie, and altogether haunting, “When You Lose” shows the band operating at a level that many seasoned bands could never hope to match. It’s a beautiful complement to the meteoric force of “Anxiety On Repeat” and ultimately secure the split a spot as one of this year’s finest releases.

Listen to the split below and pick it up here.

July 1, 2016

Pope – Feels Like Home! (Stream)

POPE

A lot of excellent tracks have surfaced over the past 12 days. Foozle, Touché Amoré, The Regrettes, Conveyor, Public Access TV, Soul Low, Garden Gate, Silent Pictures, Bill Eberle, and Hoops can all lay claim to contributing to the mix. While most of those tracks were attached to forthcoming releases, Pope went a different route and gave a one-off track entitled “Feels Like Home!” a surprise release.

Riding the wave of artistic success that was Fiction, the band’s most recent record, Pope escalate their ferocity and continue excelling at crafting high-impact songs that don’t cross the 100-second threshold. The band’s a possessed animal in the live setting and “Feels Like Home!” marks the closest they’ve ever come to capturing that scintillating determination. By continuing to play to their heaviest post-punk, basement pop, and shoegaze sensibilities with equal measure, the trio’s racking up an enviable discography.

In under 90 seconds, the band reasserts their dominance in breathtaking fashion and turns in one of their best songs to date. Fiery, propulsive, and absolutely enormous, “Feels Like Home!” is another exhilarating peak from a band that’s accustomed to breathtaking heights. With each successive release, Pope is inching ever closer to a surreal perfection within a very niche intersection of sub-genres, effortlessly carving out a position that will earn them praise, respect, and admiration. “Feels Like Home!” shows that the band might just be there already.

Listen to “Feels Like Home” below and pick the song up here.

May 28, 2016

Naked Hour – Always On the Weekend (Stream)

Naked Hour

The past few days saw a small handful of great songs find release from the likes of Night School, Yung, Gothic Tropic, Walter Schriefels, and Silent Pictures. Naked Hour confidently added themselves to those ranks with the dynamic “Always on the Weekend”, from their forthcoming record of the same name. Always on the Weekend is Good Cheer’s first release following Mo Troper’s astonishing Beloved and the label’s set to continue their winning streak.

“Always on the Weekend” starts off at a gentle clip, nearly resembling a lullaby at several points through its first 40 seconds. Just as it seems “Always on the Weekend” will maintain the serene nature of its introduction the song veers left into a sharp explosion of noisy, subversive pop-punk. For just under a minute Naked Hour thrives off the explosive energy of the main section of “Always on the Weekend” before quietly settling back into the subdued cadences of the intro section. It’s an effectively haunting whisper that elevates “Always on the Weekend” from a good song to a great one. Don’t let it go unheard.

Listen to “Always on the Weekend” below and pre-order the upcoming tape here.

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