Heartbreaking Bravery

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Tag: stream

Mannequin Pussy – Romantic (Stream)

mannequin-pussy

There were outstanding music videos from Potty Mouth (which very nearly claimed this post’s feature spot), Jeff Rosenstock, WL, Haley Bonar, No Nets, T-Rextasy, Public Access TV, Tom Brosseau, NOTHING, Cass McCombs, Candy, Sargent, Maxwell Drummey, This Is The Kit, and Jonny Fritz to emerge over the past 48 hours. Joining those clips were quality full streams that came courtesy of Hiding Place, Mozes and the Firstborn, Slow Mass, Dust From 1000 Yrs, Wovenhand, BLKKATHY, and Whiskey Myers. All of them deserve all of the attention that they’ll inevitably receive but today’s featured spot falls to an old site favorite: Mannequin Pussy.

Following some seriously impressive turns at the start of their career, Mannequin Pussy have hit an astonishing career high with “Romantic”. Opening with a surge of unexpected momentum amid a wall-of-sound shoegaze-friendly opening figure that seems intent on decimating in its path, the band suddenly veers back into a section that’s more delicate than anything in their discography (so far, at least). What follows is a back-and-forth battering ram of dynamic dichotomies in both the music and the narrative.

“I get along with everyone I meet, I’m so sweet” is the unassuming opening line of “Romantic”, which sets an uncertain tone that quickly fixates on much darker undertones. There’s a desperate, pleading moment before the chorus that brings the dramatic stakes of the narrative to light and once the intentions of the band’s statements become clear, the music gains a staggering amount of force. While the narrative hits upon some difficult subject matter, the emotive backdrop of the vocal delivery and instrumental figures never lose themselves to easy trappings. It’s a deeply impressive work from a young basement punk band that’s been finding exciting ways to surprise their audience. If “Romantic” is any indication, that audience should be getting a whole lot bigger in the very near future.

Listen to “Romantic” below and pre-order the record here.

Strange Ranger – Sunbeams Through Your Head (Stream)

strange ranger (2)

While the full streams and music videos to close out last week were accounted for in the preceding post, there were still streams from The Exquisites, Nots, Human People, Gurr, Sun Angle, Lubec, Hippocampus, Goes Cube, Klozapin, Toy Cars, Muuy Biien, Public Access TV, Yuppies Indeed, Lizzy Rose, KROY, Early Morning Rebel, Grapell, and Personal Space that deserved a whole lot of credit. While this post exists in part to amend that oversight, it has a dual purpose in putting the focus on Strange Ranger — who were formerly releasing music under the moniker Sioux Falls — and their extraordinary new track, “Sunbeams Through Your Head”.

Opening with a haunted segment driven by a glacial guitar figure and haunting falsetto, “Sunbeams Through Your Head” immediately stands out. There’s an intangible quality to the intro that’s progressively expanded on throughout the course of the song, which runs just under the two minute mark. While it boast a short run time, there’s nothing easy or simplistic about the song’s ensuing tapestries of ambient overlays and meticulous instrumentation (some of it being slightly reminiscent of Told Slant‘s recent masterwork, Going By).

Not a single moment of “Sunbeams Through Your Head” is anything less than gripping, allowing the listener to be slowly submerged into a serene parallel universe. Even as the song gains intensity in its latter moments, there’s a peaceful quality that manifests itself at every turn, creating an absorbing experience that borders the transcendent. Dynamic, gorgeous, and absolutely breathtaking, it’s difficult to imagine that there could be anything better than “Sunbeams Through Your Head” to serve as the start of the band’s newest chapter. If nothing else, it’s a potent reminder that theirs is a story that deserves to be followed.

Listen to “Sunbeams Through Your Head” below and pre-order the record here.

Sat. Nite Duets – Attached to the Lamp (Stream)

satniteduets

Yesterday saw the release of memorable music videos from Cherry Glazerr (who nearly nabbed this post’s featured spot), Diners, Diamond Hands, Molly Burch, Headwaves, and Jenny Hval. A trio of full streams from the camps of Radar Eyes, Chris Farren, and J&L Defer tied everything up in a neat bow, providing a dash of energy in the process. While all of those releases are worth exhaustively exploring, this post’s feature spot was claimed with brash confidence by Sat. Nite Duets‘ exhilarating career highlight, “Attached to the Lamp”.

Heartbreaking Bravery was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy of Air Guitar several months back and “Attached to the Lamp” has been in near-constant rotation since its initial play. From the song’s epic-ready intro onward, “Attached to the Lamp” cranks out an astonishing amount of genuinely great moments, never once slowing down or bothering to look back at the carnage left in its wake. The band’s lyrics have never been sharper and the guitar leads echo the most sweeping moments conjured up by the likes of Titus Andronicus and Diarrhea Planet at their very best, elevating them with the narrative’s ridiculously effective tongue-in-cheek humor.

“Attached to the Lamp” may come as a shock to the system for anyone who wrote the band off as a Pavement retread several years ago (an unfortunate tag that never really did what the band was doing any kind of justice) or anyone who was expecting something more along the lines of the excellent “TAFKA Salieri“. More than anything the band’s done in an already impressively storied career, “Attached to the Lamp” is a frantic, all-out blitz of a song that showcases a band with a serious amount of assurance in their identity.

Sat. Nite Duets are typically at their very best when they’re at their most unhinged and every second of “Attached to the Lamp” feels like a definitive example of that aspect of the band’s stylistic makeup. Tearing away at a breathless pace, the song winds up nearing the three minute mark but feels less than half as long (and more than twice as complete as most songs that run a similar length).

The band find an unteachable amount of joy in reveling in snark, expertly doling it out at a rapid pace in the song’s opening stanza:

I don’t wanna pick up the phone when it rings
‘Cause I know who it is they wanna talk about things
Oh yeah, I prefer the silence of nothing at all
Just the books on my shelf and the shit on my walls

The quips don’t let up from that point forward, including an absolutely perfect and absurdly clever stanza that retells the story of watching an opening act get picked up by his dad providing an unexpected twist with the repeated insistence that “it’s happening right now”, which paves the way for all kinds of painfully honest moments when the band takes this on tour. All of the sly lyrical moments ultimately culminate in an unforgettable final verse that abruptly switches gears from comedic distancing to open sincerity, providing “Attached to the Lamp” with one last grace note that ensures its status as one of 2016’s most outstanding moments.

Not a second of “Attached to the Lamp” is wasted and the band coaxes maximum effect out of every scintillating solo, turn of phrase, dynamic moment, and snare hit they can muster. Whether it’s the final bridge that finds the vocals dipping to match the sudden recession of intensity or the intuitive bends of the soaring main riff, Sat. Nite Duets seem hell-bent on making a mark that lasts. By the end of “Attached to the Lamp” one thing’s very clear: they have themselves one hell of a little motherfucking rock n’ roll band.

Listen to “Attached to the Lamp” below and pre-order Air Guitar from Father/Daughter here.

Terry Malts – Seen Everything (Stream)

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Nearly a dozen streams comprised Wednesday’s enviable run of new material, including new tracks from Hypoluxo, Slow Hollows, Fresh Snow, Totally Slow, Cloud Cover, Tomaga, Almanac Mountain, Lisa/Liza, HEALTH, Anchoress, and Alcest. Whether soft and ambient or punishingly heavy, all of those songs contained flashes of an intangible something that propelled them to breathtaking heights. All of them are worth several listens but tonight’s feature falls to an old favorite: Terry Malts.

Ever since hearing the pulverizing, punk-damaged basement pop  triumph “No Big Deal” several years back, Terry Malts has been a name that’s stuck. For more than six years, this project’s been evolving in surprising ways and the first track to be released  from their forthcoming Lost at the Party, “Seen Everything”,  continues to demonstrate their dogged pursuit of artistic growth.

While the elements that made the band a standout in their early goings are still extremely evident, the band’s polished their well-informed pop sensibilities into the focal point of their music- or, at the very least, the focal point of “Seen Everything”. After a string of releases that were fully committed to emphasizing the band’s tenacious aggression, “Seen Everything” finds them easing up a little and coming away with exhilarating  results; this is the downhill coast after the uphill battle.

As is usually the case, there’s an abundance of memorable hooks and the band still has a keen knack for how to implement lo-fi aesthetics. The narrative deals with the struggle of acceptance in surprisingly acute ways, offering up brief, rapid-fire vignettes that tie together into a devastatingly complete picture. From every angle, “Seen Everything” is an impressive work and seems to be a statement release for Terry Malts, who are more than ready to transition into a more recognizable name.

“Seen Everything” is a refreshing piece of work from a band that’s still finding compelling ways to flourish without losing any of their ferocious bite. Fascinating, galvanizing, and incredibly immediate, Terry Malts have produced one of the more startling tracks of 2016, setting a very high bar for Lost at the Party. If the rest of the record doesn’t wind up being diminished by this sharp run of near-perfection, it’ll be a permanent staple in a whole lot of collections. Looking at the run the band’s put together so far, it’d be a safe move to clear out a space now.

Listen to “Seen Everything” below and pre-order Lost at the Party from Slumberland here.

À La Mode – Total Doom (Stream)

a la mode

Tuesday saw the release of a slew of notable streams from Francie Moon, Cross Country, Left & Right, Kevin Devine, Curse of Lono, Sighs, Springtime Carnivore, Wovenhand, Avid Dancer, Communions, Peeling, Slow Mass, Bellows, Savoy Motel, and Dangers. In addition to that bounty, there were some strong music videos arriving from the likes of Adir L.C., Dust From 1000 Yrs, Bunny, Sam Evian, Joan Shelley, and Minden. A pair of excellent full streams in Sex Stains‘ self-titled and Skyjelly‘s package product were just the cherry on top.

While many of those acts have earned praise from this site in the past, today’s feature — once again — falls to a group of fresh faces. À La Mode only have one self-titled EP to their name but are prepared to change that in the very near future. Following their 2014 self-titled effort, the band’s made some enormous strides forward and arrive completely revitalized with the first single, “Total Doom”, from their forthcoming debut full-length, Perfection Salad.

Opening with an electronic, dance-ready beat turns out to be somewhat of a misdirect with the band throwing their weight into a more traditional setup after the introduction. At no point does the band lose the sense of fun it established at the top, though, and when the synth returns for the chorus it gives a remarkably bleak sentiment an abundance of life. Longing is a well-worn topic but what makes it a continuing source of fascination is that it can be tailored to match their author’s individuality. Here, chronic unrequited longing is given a bedfellow in all-consuming doom.

The dichotomy of vibrancy and gloom is crucial to the track’s success and helps “Total Doom” become an immediate standout. Exceptionally clever songwriting can go a long way in securing longevity and À La Mode offer it in excess for a little over two minutes. From those deceptive opening bars to the damaged, weirdly triumphant closing moments, “Total Doom” is nothing less than an exhilarating breath of fresh air.

Easily one of the most pleasant surprises of recent memory, À La Mode have set an extraordinarily high bar for their upcoming record. If that record comes anywhere close to achieving the peaks they do on “Total Doom”, they’ll have one of 2016’s most inspired records. In any respect, they’ll be a band to watch as the year goes forward. Until then, the best thing to do is to celebrate the overwhelming strength of “Total Doom” and give in to its considerable charm.

Listen to “Total Doom” below and keep an eye on this site for more updates on Perfection Salad.

Heavy Pockets – (Don’t Wanna Be) One of the Boys (Stream)

heavy pockets

This week got off to a strong start with impressive new tracks from Communist Daughter, Lost Boy ?, Emma Ruth Rundle, Boy Scouts, Goon, Lee Fields & the Expressions, The Royal They, Mono, Cyrus Gengras, and Itasca. On top of that haul, there were also memorable music videos from the likes of Furnsss (who nearly grabbed this post’s featured spot), Ultimate Painting, Berwanger, WL, No One Mind, Cold Cave, and Kissing Is A Crime. Full streams from Ceres and Chook Races as well as summer snacks, an incredible compilation from Deli Cat Records topped everything off with effortless panache.

Today’s feature falls to the emergent Heavy Pockets, who just provided a glimpse at their forthcoming Mopeless with the extraordinary “(Don’t Wanna Be) One of the Boys”. In less than twenty seconds, the band manages to assert a considerable amount of power and echo the very best of the enviable Salinas roster (Swearin’, Radiator Hospital, All Dogs, etc.) while establishing their own identity.

Immediate, accessible, and a perfect example of how basement pop and punk leanings can elevate each other, “(Don’t Wanna Be) One of the Boys” is a surging tide of adrenaline that’s hell-bent on washing over everything in its path. It’s dynamic and there’s a plethora of memorable hooks, which can typically be easy outs and lead to a lack of substance. That’s not the case here, as “(Don’t Wanna Be) One of the Boys” is anchored by an unflinchingly personal narrative that takes exception to infuriatingly pointless societal pressures.In just under three minutes, Heavy Pockets conjure up something that manages to be both outwardly aggressive and surprisingly intimate, making use of its cleverness in the process.

Leading the rollout campaign for the band’s forthcoming Mopeless, “(Don’t Wanna Be) One of the Boys” stands as an extremely promising look at the creative space Heavy Pockets are currently occupying. From start to finish, “(Don’t Wanna Be) One of the Boys” is a joy. Should the rest of Mopeless measure up to the track that’s leading the charge, Heavy Pockets may have a sleeper hit on their hands. All that’s left at this point is to hope that’s the case, wait patiently for the outcome, and keep hitting repeat on one of this summer’s loveliest offerings.

Listen to “(Don’t Wanna Be) One of the Boys” below and keep an eye on this site for more updates on Mopeless.

Green Dreams – Here At Castle Makeout (Album Review)

green dreams

At the end of last week, a solid haul of full streams emerged and included impressive new titles from Brat Kings, Tape Waves, Birdboy, Daisy Victoria, Cleo Tucker, Sharks’ Teeth, and Nathan Bowles. The record to grab this post’s featured spot came from site favorites Green Dreams, who are riding a creative rebirth and utilizing the impressive behind-the-boards talents of some of their friends from Perfect Pussy.

Following a steady build that was comprised of a demo, an EP, and a 7″ (all very strong), Green Dreams have finally settled into a lineup and sunk their teeth into a full-length, Here At Castle Makeout. Opening with “Be Here Now”, it’s clear from the outset, the band hasn’t lost a step. Shaun Sutkus, Ben Moley, and Meredith Graves all keyed into the band’s most ferocious qualities and amplify them in various production capacities, sculpting the sound quality into a near-feral, lo-fi attack that perfectly amplifies Green Dreams’ untethered aggression.

Of course, their combined efforts would only carry the music so far if the songs were limp and, unsurprisingly, Green Dreams seem continuously incapable of writing anything that’s less than potent. Half-efforts just simply aren’t in the trio’s constitution. After “Be Here Now” sets the tone for Here At Castle Makeout with a melodic strain of damaged noise-punk that closes out with a section of ambient noise that’s overlaid with Jane Fonda’s famous screed against prejudiced bigotry in Colin Higgins’ classic Nine to Five. It’s a moment that touches on the band’s well-placed sense of frustration and anger, providing the rest of the record with a tenacious sense of purpose in its earliest stages.

From that point forward, the record never ceases in delivering punishing blows that are teeming with feeling. “100 Days” stands out as an early highlight, perfectly balancing the band’s bruising wall-of-noise with guitarist/vocalist (and principle songwriter) Jesse Amesmith’s frantic vocals, which swing from tempered to unhinged on a dime. In a record full of exhilarating moments, “100 Days” may be the most definitive example of what the band can accomplish when they strip themselves of any reservations and go on the offensive.

Of course, “100 Days” isn’t the only immediately effective moment on Here At Castle Makeout and the record continues doling out moments of fury as it progresses, slowly transforming itself into not only a bone-rattling noise-punk record but a blistering political statement. “Body Magic”, another track that implements outside dialogue, not only contains a message of self-worth that touches on several key aspects in a short amount of time (among them: body-positivity, disallowing the tendency to be defined by others, and the callousness of sexual assault). There’s an abundance of feeling in these songs that’s impossible to ignore and makes several of the narratives that litter Here At Castle Makeout cut incredibly deep.

Several of those themes that “Body Magic” hits so succinctly are prevalent throughout Here At Castle Makeout, whether they’re refined into one specific topic or continue to combine them into pointed, wide-range commentary. All of them — and a few more related topics — are driven home in the record’s astonishing final quarter, which slows the tempo but ups the immediacy, creating a breathtaking run of songs that refuse to be ignored. By the time the woozy acoustic epilogue rolls in, it’s easy to taste the smoldering wreckage left in its wake.

Here At Castle Makeout is a furious record that knows it’s overwhelming amount of anger comes from the right place. It’s an unwieldy piece of noise-punk that’s informed by both pop and hardcore, which is elevated by the sheer strength of Green Dreams’ convictions. Easily their most impressive work to date, Here At Castle Makeout is the type of record that seems destined to gain strength as more people give in to its force. One of 2016’s finest — and timeliest — records, Here At Castle Makeout deserves every bit of praise that’ll undoubtedly come its way.

Listen to Here At Castle Makeout below and pick it up here.

Noun – Fame and Famine (Stream)

screamales

Over the past 24 hours, there have been quality streams from the likes of Real Numbers, LA Font, Wild Pink, Two Houses, Super Unison, Planes Mistaken for Stars, Dennis Callaci, Tokyo Tea Room, Balance and Composure, Raccoon Fighter, and Turnip King. On top of that, there were a string of music videos that emerged from the camps of Slow Down Molasses, Odonis Odonis, LUH, La Lenguas, Magik Magik, Yohuna, Moses Sumney, Brendan Canning, and Makeunder. Providing the day with a welcome dash of finality were full streams that were unveiled by Magic Trick, Ski Saigon, and The Hecks.

As always, all of those entries linked above are worth jumping over to and exploring with a certain level of intensity. However, they weren’t all that wound up being released Thursday. Screaming Females‘ Marissa Paternoster’s Noun project made an unexpected return with the jagged, lo-fi “Fame and Famine”. Quietly uploaded to Paternoster’s tumblr, “Fame and Famine” winds up benefiting from a pre-established tone of unpredictability.

While Paternoster may get the most recognition for Screaming Females, Noun has proven to be a project just as worthy. 2010’s Holy Hell, a consistently overlooked triumph, may even be Paternoster’s finest record to date (though the last few Screaming Females records have been hitting some exhilarating highs). Noun’s consistently allowed Paternoster a wider range of possibilities, making a new entry into the project’s discography a tantalizing prospect.

For “Fame and Famine”, Paternoster takes a direct, immediate route that fully commits to its lo-fi aesthetic and elevates itself via a comprehensive understanding of the format. There’s a surprising amount of nuance in the ambient beds that swirl beneath the insistent, repetitive main section that serves as the engine of “Fame and Famine”. Enhancing the aggressive disconnect that manifests in the narrative of “Fame and Famine” is the artwork the song’s projected over, one of Paternoster’s characteristically striking chalk-based originals.

Everything packaged together winds up being as disconcerting as it does galvanizing. There’s a nervous undercurrent of stress that imbues every second of “Fame and Famine”, lending it a feeling of completeness that can be rare in demos. It’s a fascinating glimpse towards one of today’s most fascinating, tireless artists and it’s another in a long line of formidable examples of Paternoster’s creativity and commitment. Tenacious, unnerving, and more than memorable, “Fame and Famine” is one of the best surprise standalone releases of recent memory.

Listen to “Fame and Famine” below and keep an eye on this site for more updates on the project.

Slanted – Fake Party (Stream)

slanted

Last Friday saw great new streams from Car Seat Headrest, Idiot Genes, Never Young, The Minders, Balto, and Middle Kids. Additionally, there were a string of impressive music videos Lydia Loveless, Liam Betson, Carl Broemel, Jail Weddings, and Retail Space. Full streams that came via AJJ, The Afterglows, YJY, Tanukichan, Whipworm, Bangladeafy, and See Gulls padded everything out with an extra dose of substance.

Casey Weissbuch‘s Slanted project also unveiled a surprise release that was headlined by the formidable “Fake Party”, one of Weissbuch’s finest songs to date. Following up last year’s extraordinary Desire For Lust, “Fake Party” once again demonstrates Weissbuch’s knack for composition. While the song’s lyric set is arguably the most polished Weissbuch has offered, it’s the song’s ability to breathe that makes it a genuine standout. Dynamic, open, and effortless is a surprisingly difficult combination to pull off but “Fake Party” excels by that very virtue, providing a level of life that’s absent from the majority of releases that make similar attempts.

Of course, the atmospheric tone of a song can only carry it so far on merit, the genuinely great songs are able to separate themselves by succeeding in other capacities. Make no mistake, “Fake Party” is a great song. From the light auto-tune running through the vocals to the breathtaking bridge and outro sections, not a moment of “Fake Party” is wasted. Everything’s designed for maximum effect, even though it always retains a spur-of-the-moment feel that’s essential to its success.

“Fake Party” also sets the tone for the remainder of the Party EP, which is comprised of two similarly excellent tracks (“Green Balloons//Walk of Life” and “Junk”). By establishing “Fake Party” as the introductory piece, the song’s risks are allowed to be elevated and to define the EP’s palette, which works to both the advantages of the EP and the song itself. The characteristic, Pavement-esque looseness is still there and Weissbuch even name-checks Guided By Voices (another evident influence) in the first verse, providing a revealing glimpse at how openly Weissbuch embraces Slanted’s influences.

Packaged together as a whole, “Fake Party” paints a portrait of an artist who thrives on sincerity, soaring melodies, and a sense of history. The song’s imbued with an easygoing confidence that plays perfectly into Slanted’s identity. Apart from being a legitimately great song, “Fake Party” is also a potent reminder that the DIY punk scene is currently an embarrassment of riches and exist in an environment that’s facilitating these types of releases. Sadly, that easy access is allowing too many people to regard these releases as disposable entries. As casual as they may seem at first blush, their existence remains deeply important. Songs — and artists — this good deserve to be celebrated.

Listen to “Fake Party” (and the rest of Party) below and pick the EP up here.

Eluvium – Rorschach Pavan (Stream)

eluvium

Over the course of the past few days, a host of impressive streams have surfaced from the likes of Death By Unga Bunga, Cory Hanson, Cheap Girls, Goon, Super Unison, Mannequin PussySofia Härdig, Totally Sl0w, Kiran Leonard, The Tallest Man On Earth, Two Houses, Suburban Living, Chasms, Racing Heart, Roses, Kadhja Bonet, Belle Mare, Diamond Hands, Astro Tan, and Kynnet. A bevvy of music videos emerged as well, including impressive new clips from Mozes and the Firstborn, Annabel Allum, Sam Evian, Marching Church, Billie Marten, Odonis Odonis, Eleanor Friedberger, Austin Lucas, The Body, Sunshine & the Blue Moon, Peter Bjorn and John, Cinemechanica, and The Pooches. Outstanding full streams from Band Aparte, Channeling, and Kaz Mirblouk rounded everything out in stylish fashion.

While all three dozen of those entries are worth a hefty amount of investment, it was Eluvium‘s characteristically breathtaking “Rorschach Pavan” to earn this post’s featured spot. Following on the heels of the spine-tingling “Regenerative Being“, Matthew Cooper once again demonstrates what’s made his discography one of the richest — and most celebrated — in ambient music.  “Rorschach Pavan” is one of Cooper’s finest offerings to date.

Once again, there’s an air of tranquility that permeates through “Rorschach Pavan” as well as a genuine sense of peace. Cooper’s stated that False Readings On is meant to be a meditation on cognitive dissonance and that thread reveals itself in patches throughout the course of this track but never overwhelms the proceedings, acting as a brief reprieve from the aggressive punctuation of “Regenerative Being”. Even with feedback and white noise swirling through its veins, “Rorschach Paven” registers as one of Cooper’s more calm, cerebral works.

The structure of the bulk of Eluvium’s music demands the songs to slowly unfurl, revealing themselves in layers while simultaneously adding new, overlapping themes, motifs, and instrumentation. Here, that approach hits an apex just after the 3:40 mark as a bass suddenly lifts the melody skyward in what’s one of the most beautiful sequences of music anyone’s likely to hear all year. That specific moment winds up being the definitive one for “Rorschach Pavan” as the gentle climax slowly cedes and the track begins to calmly disintegrate.

Otherworldly, intimate, and unfathomably gorgeous, “Rorschach Paven” is classic Eluvium, through and through. Beyond that, it’s one of the most awe-inspiring songs of recent memory. If the rest of False Readings On can live up to the standards set by its precedents, it’ll likely stand as one of the most beautiful records of 2016. Until then, “Rorschach Pavan” should be more than enough to tide anyone over. Fall under its spell and drift off on a sea of muted bliss.

Listen “Rorschach Pavan” below and pre-order False Readings On here.