Category: dream pop

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of founding members Andy Peña (vocals) and Devin Garcia (bass), along with David Ramirez (keys) and Adrian Loera (drums), the McAllen, TX-based dream pop act Quiet Kids can trace their origins to the breakup of Peña’s and Garcia’s previous band Dignan. Once the dust settled, Peña and Garcia began writing new material together, before recruiting Ramirez and Loera to flesh out the band’s sound and to complete its lineup. Eventually, the band earned attention-grabbing opening slots for the likes of Angel Olsen, Mitski and Miniature Tigers.

Slated for a March 29, 2019 release through Good Eye Records, the McAllen-based dream pop act’s self-titled debut EP finds the band’s sound centered around dreamy synths, sinuous bass lines and tight drumming while the material’s lyrically touch upon everyday themes — in particular, the EP’s material focuses on the places and relationships of one’s life. As the band’s Andy Peña explains in press notes, “People, places and things pull you in every direction, and it’s easy to please any and everyone.  If we all just said what was on our minds we’d have much more of an understanding of who we are, and what we’re looking for… It’s only in the stability of my relationships that I realized I can write about whatever I feel. My art is me, and my family, and friends.”

Interestingly, the EP’s latest single is the slow-burning, Quiet Storm meets Caveman-like “My Moon,” a track built upon shimmering and arpeggiated synths, a sinuous bass line and a soaring hook paired with Peña’s achingly plaintive vocals, expressing gratitude with a sort of thoughtful, contemplative sigh — and while sounding indebted to classic 80s pop, the song as Peña explains “is a love song to my wife. No matter what our lives through at us, she’s always there, like the moon, leading me in a calm way. I started writing that song when we were in between homes, trying to figure out where we wanted to settle. I realized we were each other’s home, and we didn’t really have to worry about finding a place for ourselves.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of singles like “Fourteen,” “Melodrama,” and “Dreamless” the Gothenburg, Sweden-based indie rock quartet Beverly Kills quickly received attention across the blogosphere last year for a shimmering, 4AD Records era take on dream pop, complete with rousing and enormous hooks. Adding to a big year for the Gothenburg-based quartet was named one of the “Best Swedish Indie Debuts of 2018” by HYMN, received a Gaffa Awards nomination for Breakthrough of the Year, and played a Viva Sounds Festival showcase in their hometown. Later this month, the band will play several by:Larm Festival sets for Agent bla, Moaning and Vasterbron.

Building upon a rapidly growing, buzz-worthy profile, the band recently signed to Australian indie label Hell Beach and Swedish label Welfare Sounds, both of whom have released the band’s latest single “Revellers” will further cement the band’s reputation for crafting 4AD Records-inspired guitar pop with enormous hooks — but the song arguably features one of the tightest rhythm section playing I’ve heard from the band yet.

Hell Beach and Walfare Sounds will be releasing a limited edition double single vinyl record “In This Dim Light”/”Melodrama” in late April.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Hush Pup Returns with Ethereal Visuals for Shimmering EP Single “Oasis”

Earlier this year, I wrote about Hush Pup, an experimental pop/synth pop act, which splits their time between Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Featuring core duo Ida Maidstone (vocals, Yamaha synths, Casio synths, Beat Finder) and Fizzy (bass, EFX, Beat Finder II) with contributions from Torrie Seager (guitar), the Canadian act describes their music as sounding “a lot like driving at night through the board game Candyland — soft cotton candy trees brush up against windows of your glass car, as you ride towards a friend’s cabin nearby the molasses swamp.”

The band’s latest efforts the Flower Power EP and Panacea, a romantic film-inspired album will be released next week through Lone Hand Records, and as you may recall the Beach House, Anemone and 4AD Records-like “The Hours” was centered around a shimmering and looping guitar line, propulsive beats, Maidstone’s ethereal vocals, a soaring hook and equally ethereal synths. Continuing in a similar, ethereal vein, the act’s latest single “Oasis” is centered around shimmering and undulating synths, propulsive beats, a looping and shimmering guitar line paired with Maidstone’s vocals ethereally floating over a fever dream-like soundscape. 

Filmed, edited, and conceptualized by Mike Perreira, the recently released video for “Oasis” features some experimental footage of water and other particles overlaid with old footage of the band from a music video that never came to fruition. The editing was kept fairly loose in order to let the natural light and movement come together organically, so that the video resembled a dream, further emphasizing the ethereal nature of the song. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Up-and-Coming Taiwanese Dream Pop Act, The Fur

With the release of their full-length debut Town last September, the Kaohsiung, Taiwan-based dream pop act quartet The Fur exploded into the international indie scene, with some media outlets have compared their sound to the likes of Wild Nothing and Hatchie. Adding to a growing profile, the Taiwanese dream pop act toured across the UK and the European Union with a stop at last year’s Primavera Sound Festival. 

Building upon a growing profile, The Fur will be making their Stateside debut with sets at this year’s SXSW. In the meantime, the breezy album single  “Short Stay” is centered around an arrangement of shimmering guitar chords, atmospheric synths, a motorik-like groove, plaintive yet ethereal vocals and a soaring hook. Interestingly, the song finds the band balancing wide-eyed and mischievous levity with a wistful, melancholy-fueled nostalgia. The song and its narrator seem to suggest that we should have as much fun as we can, because things get complicated and pretty fucking messy. 

The recently released video emphasizes the song’s careful balance of mischief and melancholy, as it features the members of the band looking for their lost monster (perhaps from their childhood) on Happy Monster Day. The band finds their monster friend drunkenly passed out, and they take it home to nurse it back to health — by playing music, dancing and recalling fun times with their friend. It’s a fittingly goofy and sweet treatment. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past few years, I’ve written a lot about JOVM Mainstay David Alexander, an internationally renowned Malmo, Sweden-born singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, electronic producer and electronic music artist, best known for his solo electro pop/dream pop recording project Summer Heart. Now, as you may recall, the Swedish-born singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, electronic producer and electronic music artist has released a batch of singles in a single-of-the-month series that he has dubbed 12 Songs of Summer. According to Alexander, the series allows him to “show people what I am currently working on instead of what I was doing two years ago, which can be the case if you release an album. It’s definitely a way of challenging myself, thinking less and having more fun creating music!”

Just as Alexander is about to embark on a 16 date East Coast tour with New York-based electronic music artist and producer Brothertiger, the acclaimed Swedish artist released the last track of the series, the woozy and percussive “Buckle Up.” Centered around an ethereal melody, thumping beats, lush vocal harmonies and a sinuous groove, the track evokes swooning and youthful and somewhat uncertain love.

I was working with my friend Chris in his bedroom in Greenpoint, Brooklyn at that point. We had bought smoothies from Brooklyn Standard and were just fooling around” Alexander says of the song’s creation. “I’m normally a Logic Pro guy, but we started this new track in Ableton Live and called it ‘Groovie,’ wanting to make it exactly what the name suggests. I just couldn’t make it happen in Ableton but we wrote the track and bounced a rough demo of it anyway. I had it on repeat in my headphones for quite a while before I knew where I wanted to take it. I put all the stems we had recorded into Logic and started messing around with them. The track changed quite drastically and became a bit more up-tempo. The lyrics are about falling in love with someone that doesn’t fit your criteria – someone you didn’t expect to fall in love with.”

As for the tour, it begins tomorrow night at The Knitting Factory. For the rest of the dates, check them out below.

 

L I V E

(East Coast of America with Brothertiger)

 

Feb 21 Brooklyn, NY – Knitting Factory

Feb 22 Washington DC – Songbyrd Vinyl Lounge

Feb 23 Norfolk, VA – Charlie’s American Café

Feb 24 Greenville, SC – Radio Room

Feb 26 Atlanta, GA – 529 bar

Feb 27 New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa

Feb 28 Houston, TX – Continental Club

March 1 Austin, TX – Barracuda

March 2 Dallas, TX – RBC

March 3 Tulsa, OK – Chimera Lounge

March 5 Kansas City, MO – Riot Room

March 6 Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen

March 7 Bloomington, IN – The Bishop

March 8 Columbus, OH – Spacebar

March 9 Pittsburgh, PA – Cattivo

March 10 Philadelphia, PA – PhilaMOCA

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Piroshka Releases Politically Charged Visuals for “What’s Next”

Over the past few months, I’ve written quite a bit about the indie rock All-Star act Piroshka. Deriving their name from the Hungarian version of Little Red Riding Hood, the band is comprised of Lush’s Miki Berenyi (vocals, guitar) and Moose’s KJ “Moose” McKillop (guitar), who are married, along with Modern English’s Mick Conroy (bass) and Elastica’s Justin Welch (drums) — and while each member may be known for their highly acclaimed projects, they’ve been long connected within a complex and knotted web: Berenyi and McKillop are considered shoegaze pioneers with a number of applauded and beloved releases before getting married and starting a family; with the release of their breakthrough, full-length debut, 1995’s self-titled debut, Elastica were rising Brit pop stars, and as  result, Berenyi and McKillop were familiar with Welch and his work; Conroy, was a member of Modern English and after that band broke up for a second time, he joined McKillop’s band Moose. Welch joined the reunited Lush in 2015 — and when they needed a bassist for what turned out to be their final show in Manchester, Conroy filled in. 

The Manchester show rehearsals are what laid the foundations for Piroshka — but I need to backtrack a bit: After Chris Acland’s suicide in 1997, his devastated and grieving Lush bandmates felt it was impossible to continue with the band, and the band broke up as a result. Berenyi was so devastated by Acland’s death that she quit music, spending the next 20 years as a working mother. Because of her personal and personal obligations, Berenyi didn’t agree to reunite Lush and tour again until 2015. I should add that Welch was a close friend of Acland’s, making him a logical choice to lovingly fill in.  Interestingly, as the story goes, Welch asked Berenyi if she’d up to doing something new after the final Manchester show. As Berenyi recalled in press notes, up until then she hadn’t made music outside of Lush and solo work never appealed to her. “I need someone else to motivate me, and in this case it was Justin. He sent drum tracks with guitar parts and odd words, so I wrote some vocals and lyrics, which became ‘This Must Be Bedlam’ and ‘Never Enough.’ When Mick added bass, it sounded great. When Moose added guitar and keyboards — I’d never written like that before, it was such good fun.”

“We sounded great!” Welch added in press notes. “Like a proper punk band. Mick brings a huge amount of enthusiasm and livens up the room, and I thought this is the kind of band I want to be in again.” Conroy agreed, adding “I’d seen Lush so many times, it was like playing with old friends. Miki agreed and it was good fun, too. And with Moose available, we thought, ‘let’s all have a bash, see what happens.’”

There are serial more layers to the entangled web of personal, professional and creative connections, Bella Union’s label head Simon Raymonde was among the first people to hear the band’s Brickbat demos and he quickly signed the band to the label. Raymonde’s former Cocteau Twins bandmate Robin Guthrie produced Lush’s debut album. Additionally, Raymonde’s current Lost Horizons bandmate Richie Thomas was a former member of Moose. In any case, Raymonde introduced Piroshka to Lanterns on the Lake‘s Paul Gregory, who mixed all but one track on the album — “What’s Next,” which was mixed by Alan Moulder. Lastly,  Fiona Brice, who was once a Bella Union recording artist, wrote string arrangements while The Higsons and Blockhead‘s Terry Edwards, who played on Lush’s final album played brass.

Now, as you may recall, Brickbat was released earlier this month, and while the album’s title is derived for a slang term for missile, it also manages to symbolically hit upon the fact that the material is a marked departure from each individual bandmembers’ known work — with the focus being on blue, forceful lyrics that tap into the fear, loathing, envy, spite and strife at the heart of our ongoing sociopolitical climate. Unsurprisingly, with some of the band’s members being parents, much of the material was written through the anxious prism of parenthood in a world gone completely mad. Brickbat’s first single “Everlastingly Yours” was centered by a devastating and profound fear — that you can’t possibly predict the evolving dangers of our world, and that you can’t completely protect your loved ones from them either. While built upon a shimmering and anthemic shoegazer-like arrangement featuring soaring synths, a propulsive, angular bass line, four-on-the-floor-like drumming and Berenyi’s aching and ethereal vocals, the song thematically as McKillop explains is “about school shootings and our reaction to almost being almost unable to take our eyes off twenty-four hour news and internet feeds.” As a result, the song taps into deeper sense of powerlessness and helplessness. 

Brickbat’s latest single “What’s Next” continues in its predecessor’s footsteps as it’s centered around the urgency of our sociopolitical moment — with the song’s narrator essentially saying “Wait, hold up. What the fuck, man? Shouldn’t we want better?” And throughout there are references to people hitting the streets to protest, out of fear, concern and outrage.  “‘What’s Next’ started life as a guitar-and-drums demo from Justin that he’d called ‘Protest’ – the drums being inspired by the idea of a protest march. It’s one of the very first songs Piroshka worked on together,” Berenyi explains in press notes. “The lyrics are inspired by the shock and fallout regarding current political upheavals – how this finger-pointing and rage and blame are so damaging, how we need to get back some kind of solidarity if we possibly can because the divisions between us are playing into certain people’s hands. Funnily enough, the song was called Time’s Up when it was first recorded, but that title then got taken so we thought we’d better change it!”

Designed and directed by Bunny Schendler, edited by Jonathan Hodgson and featuring animation by Bunny Schendler, Sofa Umarik and Jonathan Hodgson, the video captures the anxiousness and righteous outrage of our political climate as its centered around political demonstrations, protests and skirmishes in the streets — while stressing that in the Internet age, it’s easy to stir up hatred, infighting and finger pointing. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Off and on over the past handful of years, I’ve written a bit about the Austin, TX-based dream pop act and JOVM mainstays  Moving Panoramas.  The act is led by its incredibly accomplished founding member and creative mastermind Leslie Sisson (vocals, guitar), who has had stints in The Wooden Birds, Matt Pond PA, Western Keys, Black Lipstick, Black Forest Fire, Tanworth-in-Arden, and Aero Wave, has collaborated with The American Analog Set, Windsor for the Derby, Rhythm of Black Lines, RIDE’s Mark Gardener, Dan Mangan, John Wesley Coleman, Snowden, and Broken Social Scene, and has developed a reputation as a solo artist in her own right.

Now, as you may recall Moving Panoramas can trace their origins back to when  the then-Brooklyn-based Sisson returned home to Texas to be closer to the members of her previous band The Wooden Birds and to her family. She took a job teaching at School of Rock where she met Rozie Castoe (bass), who was in an 80s-themed show that Sisson directed. Interestingly, at the same time, Sisson took up a gig subbing in Black Forest Fire with Karen Skloss (drums), who was a long-time friend. When each of their various creative projects broke up, the trio started Moving Panoramas, rooted in their mutual love of shoegaze and released their full-length debut One. However, since then the band has gone through a series of lineup changes that has resulted in Sisson collaborating with a rotating cast of previous bandmates and current bandmates Cara Tillman, Jordan Rivell, Jody Suarez and Phil McJunkins.

Slated for release next Friday through Modern Outsider Records, Moving Panoramas’ sophomore album In Two was recorded with engineer Louie Lino at Resonate Studio in Austin and the album reportedly finds the band expanding upon their sound and songwriting approach. Throughout the writing and recording process, there was a concerted effort to consider diversity in rhythm, volume and instrumentation; in fact, some of the album’s material incorporates pedal steel, a first for the band. Additionally, the album will feature guest spots from Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws, A Giant Dog’s and Sweet Spirit’s Sabrina Ellis and former bandmates Karen Skloss, Jolie Flink and Laura Colwell.

Last year, I wrote album single “Baby Blues,” a decidedly anthemic track centered around shimmering power chords, a propulsive rhythm section, ethereal vocals and a soaring hook. And while bringing to mind tracks off Sunflower Bean’s Twentytwo in Blue, the track possesses elements of psych rock, shoegaze and 70s arena rock, performed with the easygoing self-assuredness of old pros. Earlier this year, I wrote about album single,  “ADD Heart” and much like its predecessor, it was an infectious and anthemic track centered around jangling guitars, Sisson’s ethereal vocals, a soaring hook and steel pedal guitar, which added an alt-country vibe to the proceedings. In Two’s latest single is the shimmering and moody “In Tune,” which features Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws — and while sonically bearing a resemblance to Dum Dum Girls, the hook driven song is centered by deeply introspective, narrative lyrics that focuses on self-doubt, uncertainty and confusion in a relationship that feels a bit off to both people involved.

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Creepily Cinematic Visuals for Holy Golden’s “Seven of Diamonds”

Comprised of Leslie Schott and Andrew Valenti, the acclaimed indie duo Holy Golden can trace their origins to a serendipitous meeting on Martha’s Vineyard — during a lunar eclipse. As the story goes, Schott decided to take a ferry to the island and happened upon the record store where Valenti was working at the time. After chatting a bit, Valenti wrote down his band’s email address on a business card, gave it to Schott, suggesting that she should come to a show that night. Schott purchased a few CDs and left, assuming that she’d probably never see Valenti again, but as the ferry back to the mainland was about to depart, she ran off the boat and found the show. Since then, Schott and Valenti have traveled back and forth between Martha’s Vineyard and Los Angeles, where they’re currently based, creating mythological, multi-media based mini-worlds through music, music videos, short films and photography. Sonically speaking, the duo have developed a reputation for a sound that blends dream pop and 90s alt rock — while being inspired by their deepest sorrows and brightest fantasies, Maya Deren, David Lynch, Edward Gorey, and the lonely terrain of gilded Americana.

Wallflower Records’ founder Corey Savage signed the duo after catching them play in Houston during their first tour, and the label released their critically applauded full-length debut Wax Castle, an album that was written and recorded in various locations across the country. Building upon a growing profile, The Licking River EP was recorded, produced and mixed at Providence, RI-based Machines With Magnets Studio, and the EP was named by a number of blogs across the blogosphere as one of the top indie EPs of 2017. The duo’s sophomore album, the Steve Rizzo-produced Otherworld was a concept album inspired by a recurring childhood daydream of Schott’s — and it was recorded in a historic ballroom in Newport, RI. Interestingly, the duo frequently record while traveling and as a result, their work is affected by the rapidly changing landscapes, as well as the changing external and internal environment; in fact, they’ve had stints in Los Angeles, Detroit, Rhode Island and Cape Cod. 

Released earlier this year, the duo’s Sleepwalkers in the Milky Way EP will further cement their growing reputation for crafting atmospheric and cinematic dream pop — and while the band’s sound has been described as if Dolly Parton were backed by The xx, their latest single “Seven of Diamonds” to my ears, sounds as though it were influenced by the now-defunct Denver-based act Ending People and the classic 4AD Records heyday roster. In other words you’ll hear an arrangement of shimmering and angular guitar chords, dramatic drumming, a sinuous bass line and a soaring hook paired with Schott’s ethereal and plaintive vocals. 

Directed by Beatrice Pegard, the recently released video for “Seven of Diamonds” is a fever dream that seems influenced by Roger Corman’s Edgar Allen Poe films and the work Dario Argento among others — and as result, it has a palpably tense and uneasy creepiness. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Featuring core duo Ida Maidstone (vocals, Yamaha synths, Casio synths, Beat Finder) and Fizzy (bass, EFX, Beat Finder II) with contributions from Torrie Seager (guitar), the Canadian act Hush Pup, which splits their time between Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada is an experimental pop act that describes their music as sounding “a lot like driving at night through the board game Candyland — soft cotton candy trees brush up against the windows of your glass car as you ride towards a friend’s cabin nearby the molasses swamp.”

The band will be releasing the Flower Power EP and Panacea, a romantic film-inspired album on a double cassette through Lone Hand Records in March — and the band’s latest single from that effort is the shimmering and atmospheric “The Hours.” Centered around a shimmering and looping guitar line, propulsive beats, Maidstone’s ethereal vocals, a soaring hook and equally ethereal synths, the track to my ears reminds me quite a bit of JOVM mainstays Beach House and Anemone, as well as the sound of much of the roster of 4AD Records heyday. But as the band explained to me in email “‘The Hours’ is a song about kindness. It’s about being sweet and slow as a practice. It’s inspired by a scene from an Allen Ginsberg documentary, where he conducts a workshop that integrates spirituality into artistic practice.

“Watching this, I felt as if he had created a kindness crew. ‘The Hours’ is written from the perspective of this crew. They’re taking time to gentle and they’re high on that concept.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Photo Ops is the folk-tinged, dream pop recording project of Los Angeles, CA-based singer/songwriter Terry Price. Price began Photo Ops as a way to find meaning within an onslaught of traumatic and life altering events — a sudden and series medical condition, the death of his father and the breakup of his longtime band Oblio. Naturally, all of those things wound up inspiring his Photo Ops debut, 2013’s How to Say Goodbye. 2016’s Patrick Damphier-produced Vacation was released to critical praise. Several songs off the album were licensed for film and TV, including the trailer for the motion picture People, Places, Things, several episodes of ABC’s Blood & Oil and CW’s Valor — and as a result, the album and its songs amassed several million streams on Spotify. He eventually signed a publishing deal with Secretly Canadian.

Like countless people, Price was shaken and dazed by the 2016 election. He stopped touring for his sophomore effort, went dark on social media and left Nashville, where he lived for 15 years and relocated to Los Angeles. I needed to shed my skin,” Price says in press notes. In fact, the change of scenery became a sudden need both creatively and spiritually for the acclaimed singer/songwriter. “I needed to look outside myself for inspiration,” Price explains. “It’s a matter of survival to know that there is beauty in the world. So that’s my mission now: to show that there still is beauty in the world. I honestly don’t know how else to write right now.”

Slated for release later this year, Price’s third Photo Ops effort, Pure at Heart was partially inspired by Price’s time listening and studying Bob Dylan‘s Sirius XM show, Bob Dylans’s Theme Time Radio Hour while driving through the Southwest. “They were mostly old songs. What struck me was the spirit that was behind them. They’re just people in a room with a microphone, so they would have to self-correct and really conjure a spirit in the moment. Something about that felt so vital to me. It sounds like a time and place,” Price says. And as a result, the forthcoming album, which continues Price’s ongoing collaboration with Patrick Damphier is based around a production that emphasizes a sense of immediacy that’s a sort of Jack Kerouac-like first thought, best thought fashion. Along with that, the arrangements throughout the album’s material are also based around that same sense of arrangement with Price using an intentionally limited set of instruments: one acoustic guitar, one electric guitar, a vintage, 60s Ludwig drum kit, a stand-up piano, a Hofner bass and a small Casiotone keyboard. And although for this album Price is working remotely with the Nashville-based Damphier, the album’s songs were recorded as soon as they were written.

Reportedly one of the biggest and perhaps most noticeable changes throughout the album’s material is in Price’s voice with the Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter at points throughout the album singing in a relaxed, easy-going upper register. “It’s partly an accident of location,” Price explains. “In Nashville, I had a garage. I could go out and make as much noice as I wanted. In L.A., you have to be more thoughtful about your neighbors.” Unsurprisingly, the need to sing quietly opened up the opportunity to experiment with space and restraint. But let’s move on a bit, eh?

Pure at Heart’s latest single is the buoyant “July.” Nodding a bit at Full Moon Fever-era Tom Petty and 70s AM rock, the song is centered around an arrangement of bouncing and propulsive bass, shimmering guitar, a breezy and infectious hook and Price’s plaintive and ethereal vocals. Throughout the song, its narrator sighs with a mix of clinical and ironic detachment and compassion over the end of a relationship. But interestingly enough, the song’s viewpoint doesn’t come from moving on and forward with someone else; it’s actually from the astute recognition that all things end at some point or another, no matter what you do.

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Blushing Return with Wistful and Hazy Visuals for “The Truth”

Over the past couple of years, I’ve written a bit about the Austin, TX-based dream pop/shoegaze quartet Blushing. And as you may recall, the act, which is comprised of two married couples — Christina Carmona (vocals, bass) and Noe Carmona (guitar, keys) and Michelle Soto (guitar, vocals) and Jake Soto (drums) can trace its origins back to 2015. As the story goes, after spending several years writing material on guitar, Michelle Soto recruited her classically trained friend Christina Carmona to join her new project, and shortly after, Soto and Carmona recruited their spouses to complete the band’s lineup. The quartet spent about a year or so writing and revising material before heading to Bad Wolf Recordings to record their debut EP Tether, which was released to positive reviews across the blogosphere, including this site. 

Building upon a growing profile, the Austin-based shoegazers returned to the studio to record their sophomore EP Weak, which was released through Austin Town Hall Records last year. And from EP title track “Weak,” the band further cemented their reputation for crafting material that sonically was indebted to the likes of Lush, Cocteau Twins and The Sundays while being a gentle refinement of the sound and aesthetic that first caught the attention of this site and the rest of the blogosphere. The members of Blushing ending last year with the release of the Elliot Frazier-produced and mixed “The Truth”/”Sunshine” 7 inch, which was released both digitally and on colored vinyl through The Nothing Song Records. Interestingly, the 7 inch found Blushing expanding upon their sound with “The Truth” arguably being one of the most muscular songs in their growing catalog while retaining the haziness that have drawn the attention of fans and critics. Centered around layers of shimmering  guitar lines, thundering drumming, Michelle Soto’s and Christina Carmona’s gorgeously ethereal vocals and a soaring hook within an expansive song structure. Sonically the song’s haziness is paired with hazy lyrics that seem to depict a growing love affair between two equally insecure and neurotic people, who can’t seem to get out of their own way — and are afraid of getting hurt. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is to be in — and in turn, feel — the present moment; it’s all we got. 

Produced and directed by Kendall Chapman, the recently released video for “The Truth” finds Michelle Soto and Christina Carmona alternating between brooding and goofing off in a local arcade, where they win enough tickets for silly string, some glow in the dark plastic swords, bubbles and goof off with their spouses; but throughout there’s a wistful feel to the proceedings, as though there’s the recognition that all things must end. 

2019 looks to be a huge year for the Austin-based shoegazers: they’ll be making their second official SXSW showcase appearance, which they’ll follow up with their first West Coast tour  — and their highly-anticipated full-length debut is slated for release in March. Hopefully, they’ll be making a New York City area stop at some point! 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Two From Acclaimed Swedish Indie Act Makthaverskan

Comprised of Maja Milner (vocals), Hugo Randulv (bass, guitar), Irma Pussila Krook (bass, guitar), Gusta Data Andersson (guitar) and Andreas Palle Wettmark (drums), the Gothenburg, Sweden-based indie rock quintet Makthaverskan according to the band’s Maja Milner has no real meaning — although the band name came from one of Hugo Randulv’s friends, who made it up. “The meaning is really hard to describe in English, but it’s the female form of someone with a lot of power. ‘Makthavare’ is the male version of ‘makthaverskan’ is the female version,” Milner explained. “We didn’t have any background thoughts about meaning but I think it describes Irma and me pretty well, since we both take charge and are powerful.” 

Interestingly, the acclaimed Swedish indie rock act can trace their origins back to 2008 when they released a mini CD with a collection of demos and their self-titled full-length debut through Luxury Records. Building upon a growing profile, they released “Antabus” in 2011. Since then the band has released the “Something More” 7 inch and their sophomore full-length album Makthaverskan II in 2013 and the “Witness” 7 inch in 2015. After several years away, the acclaimed band returned with the “Demands”/”Onkel” single, which was recently released through Run For Cover Records across North America. The A-side “Demands” features layers of jangling guitars, propulsive drumming and a soaring, rousingly anthemic hook — and while sonically nodding at The Smiths, the song reveals their most focused and ambitious writing in their growing catalog, underpinned by an earnestness of both feeling and purpose. “Onkel,” the faster paced B-single is centered by jangling guitars, a propulsive rhythm section and another soaring and rousing hook and manages to sound as though it were released during 4AD Records heyday. Both tracks lyrically are kind of bleak yet paired with ironically energetic and intense music that broods but also reveals a bit of hope, suggesting that things can and do get better — or at the very least, that you gain a bit of wisdom from the darker days. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of 2016’s full-length debut Get Home Safe, the Brooklyn-based indie rock act Teen Body, comprised of Shannon Lee (guitar, vocals), Xela French (bass, vocals), Alex Bush (guitar) and Marcus McDonald (drums) quickly developed a reputation for a sound that brought the likes of Yo La Tengo, Slowdive, Galaxie 500 and others to mind.

Slated for an April 12, 2019 release through Broken Circles Records, the Brooklyn-based quartet’s long-awaited sophomore album Dreamo derives its name from a term coined by the band’s close friend Casey Halter, who after a show, wryly said to the band “Your music is like dream pop and emo . . . dreamo music.” Interestingly, the album which was written and recorded in Brooklyn reportedly features some of the most vulnerable, sentimental sincere and hopeful music of their growing catalog. And while the album’s latest single “Validation” manages to retain the gorgeous, shimmering 4AD Records and classic shoegaze inspired sound that first won them attention, the single is both wistful yet comforting, seemingly evoking a lover gently squeezing your hand when you’re at your most desperate and uncertain.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Anemone Releases Breezily Bittersweet Album Single “Memory Lane”

Throughout the course of last year, I wrote quite a bit about the Montreal-indie pop/dream pop act Anemone, and as you may recall, the act which is led by Chloe Soldevila (keys, vocals) and featuring Miles Dupire-Gagnon (drums), Gabriel Lambert (guitar), Samuel Gemme (bass) and Zachary Irving (guitar) specializes in a breezy and nostalgic take on dream pop.

Early last year, the Canadian dream pop quartet released their attention-grabbing debut EP, which they supported with a series of critically applauded SXSW shows, and some relentless touring across North America; in fact, I was first introduced to Anemone when they opened for HAERTS at Baby’s All Right.. Building upon a growing profile, the members of Anemone will be releasing their highly-anticipated full-length debut Beat My Distance on February 15, 2019 through Luminelle Records. I’ve written about two album singles so far — the breezy and sunny “Sunshine (Back To The Start)” which was built around jangling and chiming guitar lines, a propulsive, disco-influenced bass line, a steady backbeat and Soldevilla’s plaintive, ethereal vocals. But ironically, the song is centered around the hope of a brighter day after experiencing painful heartache. “She’s The One” continued in a similar vein, as it was a shimmering and ethereal track that possessed a subtly bittersweet undertone. That shouldn’t be surprising as the song focuses on two paradoxical tendencies/patterns in relationships and how they frequently work against each other: the infatuation and idealization of someone, thinking they must be “the one” until you really get to know them — and the tendency to protect yourself and stay independent, at almost all costs with the result of closing yourself off from having a profound connection with another. 

“Memory Lane,” Beat My Distance’s latest single finds the Canadian dream pop act effortlessly meshing psych pop with 70s AM rock, complete with twinkling keys, a propulsive bass line, twangy guitar and trippy layers of percussion — over which Soldevilla’s ethereal vocals sing ruminative vocals. As Anemone’s Soldevilla says in press notes, “‘Memory Lane’ is reminiscent of one’s unrepairable distance from another – the other not giving enough care to a mutual romance in an opportune time, causing both people to move on in separate directions. The outro of the song acts as a lullaby; a soothing, melodic repetition that breaths a fantasy of slowly building the inner-strength to accept that those memories can no longer be the future. Passionate events that once seemed stronger than anything slowly fade away as your inner strength grows ~ it is a powerful feeling.”

Directed by Laura-Lynn Petrick, the recently released video for “Memory Lane” was shot with grainy Super 8 Film and features the members of Anemone goofing off and enjoying a summer day at the lake and at a local farm. Some of the footage is shot with a prism just over the lens, which creates a trippy kaleidoscopic effect to the proceedings — and unsurprisingly, it looks like early promotional music videos from the late 60s and early 70s.