Category: garage rock

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Currently comprised of founding members and childhood friends Jae Young (bass) and Kim Byungkyu (guitar) with Sumi Choi (vocals), Kim Changwon (drums), the Busan, South Korea-based indie rock quartet Say Sue Me can trace its origins to when its founding members Young and Byungkyu, who had played together in a number of bands together throughout high school were drinking tea and beer in a Nampo-dong tea shop when they met Choi. Young and Byungkyu liked Choi’s speaking voice and immediately offered her a spot as the vocalist in a band that would eventually become Say Sue Me. Interestingly enough, as it turned out, Choi turned out to be a natural songwriter. They then recruited Kang Semin on drums — and with him they recorded their full-length debut We’ve Sobered Up, which established the band’s reputation for crafting a sound that draws from 60s surf rock and early 90s indie rock, and 5 songs off their sophomore album Where We Were Together before Semin had a near fatal accident in which he was in a near comatose state.

Continuing onward while hoping for their dear friend’s recovery, the band recruited Changwon and they finished their sophomore album, which marked their first album recorded in a professional studio. And while the album’s material reflects both a studio polish,  and a young band growing more confident in their songwriting and playing, the album is tribute to their bandmate that focuses on the emotional fallout of the loss of a friend and bandmate.  As the band says in press notes, “We made 5 of the songs on Where We Were Together with Semin before his accident, and of the remaining songs on the album 4 of them (“Let It Begin,” “Funny and Cute,” “B Lover,” and “About The Courage To Become Someone’s Past”) are about Semin or made with him in mind.

Although we can’t be together right now, we decided to give the album this title because it reminded us of everything we’ve shared with Semin. And what’s more, sometimes we’ve thought if we make this album a wish to return to the place we were together, some powerful spell might rise up. Who knows if it’s even possible but sometimes we think maybe it could work.”

The South Korean indie rock quartet’s latest 7 inch single features “Just Joking Around,” a song that was cut from their latest album  but features a live from which the album’s title is derived — and the song begins as a slow-burning, shimmering and dreamy ballad with an explosive Ten and Vs-era Pearl Jam like guitar solo before ending with a jangling coda. “B Lover” is a brash and scuzzy power chord-based garage rock/punk rocker burner that the band explains was originally written for Semin’s other band Barbie Dolls, who play insanely fast garage rock/punk. The song’s lyrics were written as a tribute to their dear friend’s mischievous ways and desire to “just let go of worries about the future, buy as much good beer as we wanted.” They go on to say that Semin’s jokes and tastes were like those in a B movie with a Type-B personality, “so we stuck the name B Lover on the song.”  While both songs possess an understandably wistful air, the material is incredibly self-assured and is a unique take on a familiar and beloved sound.

 

 

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Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Garage Rock Sounds of Up-and-Coming Californian Act Clean Spill

Comprised of Pat Curren (vocals, guitar), Charlie Fawcett (drums), Cameron Crabtree (guitar) and Geoff Shea (bass), the Santa Monica, CA-based indie rock quintet Clean Spill can take their origins to when Curren met Fawcett when they were ten year olds participating in a local surfing competition. Curren met Crabree while in high school and Shea, was a local barber, who was into the same music as the rest of the band’s members. As Crabtree recalls, “I decided to get a haircut from him and talk to him over the haircut about [playing with us]. If he would have farmed the haircut, we wouldn’t have given him the position. But it was a great haircut, so it worked out.”

Back in 2014 Fawcett leveraged some connections at surf company Hurley to assist the members of the band with studio time to record an album worth of demos that they dubbed Dear, Anger — and interestingly enough, what was initially meant to be a jam session quickly became their first professionally engineered and mixed EP, 2015’s XO, an effort that found the band’s sound and aesthetic centered around surfing and boogie boarding culture; however, as they played more shows, including playing with Kitten and touring France with Betty the Shark, which featured Curren’s half sister, the up-and-coming band discovered themselves, while realizing a desire to push their sound and approach towards the garage rock-inspired sounds of early period The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys, as well as The Growlers and The Allah Las. Simultaneously, the band was picking up lessons and advice from their tour mates abut the gear they needed to make the sound they wanted, as well as the hustle they needed to make a name for themselves. “All these artists were so hard working, knew exactly what it took for sound,” Crabtree explains in press notes. “We didn’t really know much about music gear in general. We’ve played with such a wide variety of bands, we gained such a unique perspective on fans of music, too, in that it was very rewarding to see that people still liked rock music in general.”

After collaborating with a series of different producers, their manager hooked them up with producer Hanni El Khatib. And as the story goes, back in 2016, the members of the band entered Jonny Bell’s Jazzcats Studio with the intention of recording a new single, and were instantly taken by the amount and variety of vintage gear in the studio. Experimenting with gear they never dreamt of using, and guided by El Khatib and Bell. the band began refining and honing the sound that they felt they were mean tot have. “Hanni’s style has a lot of radical, outrageous noise,” Pat Curren says in press notes. “We went a little bit down that way.” Throughout the recording sessions, the band wanted their recorded sound to hew close to their live sound, so they recorded the material live to tape, which gives the material a “you-are-there-in-the-room” immediacy. The end result became their soon-to-be-released EP Nothing’s on My Mind, an effort that features “Rolling,” a song that Curren and Crabtree wrote several years before — with a slightly different, more upbeat arrangement centered around shimmering guitar chords and a propulsive backbeat; but ironically, the song’s emotional center is the heartbreak over the confusing and bitter ending of a romantic relationship. Sonically, the song manages to be anachronistic — it’s indebted to the 60s, the 00s and this decade simultaneously, and in a way that brings Raccoon Fighter and others to mind.

Once they finished the EP, the band began to tour to support it until Shea broke his arm, which slowed down the momentum they had built up and without a record and a tour, they were in a hiatus; however, they decided to take control of their own destiny and they will be self-releasing the EP two years after its completion. “I think this will actually be the start of us hustling,” Crabtree says, noting the band has written multiple albums worth of music in the downtime. “Because we went through all that, we learned so much. Once this comes out we’re going to be on fire. Recording, shows — everything.”

The recently released video follows a young, extremely Californian couple that features the band’s frontman in a series of flashbacks — first when they’re adorable and through a series of bitter fighting, with footage of the band performing the song in a prototypical Californian background split the band brooding and goofing off throughout, creating a fitting balance between the heartache and breezy vibes within the song. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Currently comprised of the band’s founding duo Julian Ducatenzeiler (vocals, guitar) and Tony Malacara (bass), along with newest members  Shane Stotsenberg (guitar), Cameron Gartung (drums) and Ignacio Gonzalez (organs), the Los Angeles-based garage rock/psych rock act Mystic Braves can trace their origins to when Ducantenzeiler and Malacara formed the band in San Diego in 2011. Since then the band has gone through a series of lineup changes but their current lineup was solidified in 2013 when Ducantenzeiler and Malacara relocated to Los Angeles, where they recruited Stotsenberg and Gartung. As a quartet featuring Ducatenzeiler, Malacara, Stotsenberg and Gartung, the band had begun writing material and touring while searching for a full-time organist  when they found Gonzalez.

Mystic Braves’ fourth album, The Great Unknown is slated for an August 17, 2018 release through Lolipop Records, and the soon-to-be released album found the band recruiting Kyle Mullarky, who has worked with The Growlers and The Allah-Las. The band spent a week at Mullarky’s Topanga Canyon, CA studio exploring new sounds and approaches and cutting demos, and as the band’s Julian Ducatenzelier says in press notes, “We just wanted to work with him to help shape the songs creatively, but he ended up being so great to work with that we just stuck with him.”

After recording somewhere between 30-40 demos at Mullarky’s studio, the band returned to their hometown, holing up in Lolipop Records‘ new office/studio/living quarters in the Boyle Heights section to record the final versions of the songs that would comprise The Great Escape. “We spent three days a week at Lolipop for about a month and a half, all living together, writing, recording, grilling, drinking too much tequila and coffee,” Ducatenzelier recalls. “We decided to get a little experimental—some of the songs came out sort of country and some were super funky, almost like James Brown.”

Sonically, the material channels The Seeds, The Zombies, The Kinks and others — but while earnestly maintaining a unique sense of individuality, which Ducatenzelier attributes to the album’s deeply personal nature. “A lot of this record comes from a breakup,” he explains. “It deals with the end of past relationships, with knowing that things should end, and figuring out how to cope with the loss.”

The album’s latest single “Under Control” is a shimmering bit of lysergic-tinged bubblegum pop centered around some timeless rock ‘n’ roll tropes: the inevitable end of a romantic relationship, the desperate attempt to move forward as time passes by, the acknowledgement that many things in life are unresolved and unfulfilled — and of life’s fleeting nature. Of course, the song naturally has the band balancing between a swaggering and hook-laden arrangement reminiscent of The Castaways “Liar Liar” with an earnest and familiar heartache.

The members of Mystic Braves are currently touring across Europe to support their new album, which they’ll follow up with al lengthy US tour throughout the fall that includes a September 15, 2018 stop at Rough Trade. Check out the tour dates below.

 

Tour Dates 
August 6 – Molotow – Hamburg, Germany
August 7 – Bestpol – Dresden, Germany
August 9 – Paradiso – Amsterdam, Netherlands
August 10 – Borderline – London, UK
August 11 – Bodega – Nottingham, UK
August 12 – Buddha Blood – Brighton, UK
August 17 – Teragram Ballroom – Los Angeles, CA
August 18 – Velvet Jones – Santa Barbara, CA
August 22 – Casbah – San Diego, CA
August 23 – Wayfarer – Costa Mesa, CA
August 25 – Pappy & Harriets – Pioneertown, CA
August 29 – Harlow’s – Sacramento, CA
August 31 – The Chapel – San Francisco, CA
September 1 – The Loving Cup – Reno, NV
September 7 – High Noon Saloon – Madison, WI
September 8 – The Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL
September 13 – BSP – Kingston, NY
September 15 – Rough Trade – Brooklyn, NY
September 17 – Cafe Nine – New Haven, CT
September 21 – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA
September 22 – DC9 – Washington D.C.
September 26 – White Oak Music Hall – Houston, TX
September 27 – Dada Dallas – Dallas, TX
September 28 – Mohawk – Austin, TX
September 29 – Paper Tiger – San Antonio, TX
September 30 – Ethos Live – Laredo, TX
October 3 – Lowbrow Palace – El Paso, TX
October 4 – Cans – Tucson, AZ
October 5 – Taos Mesa Brewing – Taos, NM
October 6 – Hi Dive – Denver, CO
October 7 – Surfside 7 – Fort Collins, CO
October 9 – Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT
October 10 – Neurolux – Boise, ID
October 12 – Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR
October 13 – Astoria – Vancouver, Canada
October 14 – Sunset Tavern – Seattle, WA
Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Ron Gallo Returns with an Ironic Yet Contented Philosophy on Life in New Single

Over the past couple of years, I’ve written a bit about Ron Gallo, a  Philadelphia-born, Nashville-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, whose musical career began in earnest with an eight year stint as the frontman of Philadelphia-based band  Toy Soldiers, an act that initially began as a guitar and drum duo that at one point featured 12 members, before ending as a quintet. Gallo’s 2016 full-length debut HEAVY META was largely inspired by the end of romantic relationship with a deeply troubled woman. Once that relationship ended, Gallo moved to Nashville, recorded an album’s worth of material during a period that he has since considered a deeply transformative period of his life. Interestingly, Gallo initially wrote and recorded the album’s material in small batches without the support of a label — and without the intention of even making an album; however, the material he wrote wound up touching upon a number of themes within his life, including his own personal ideology on abstaining from drugs and alcohol, self-empowerment, domestication, dead and unhappy love, not truly knowing yourself and the thing that could happen to you when you don’t, mental illness from the perspective of a sufferer and an observer, and a burning almost misanthropic frustration with humanity and civilization. And yet, there’s some level of optimism.  As Gallo said in press notes at the time, “this record comes from my frustration with humanity and myself, and from my wanting to shake us all. At my core, I’m compassionate for humanity and the sickness that we all live with, and from that comes something more constructive.”

HEAVY META’s follow-up Really Nice Guys EP was released earlier this year, and the EP was a concept EP largely inspired by the previous year in Gallo’s life in which he was busy touring and promoting his full-length debut with the material being a satirical commentary on the contemporary music industry; in fact, the EP featured songs about rough mixes, (broken into three parts — iPhone demo, live band demo and overproduced, autotuned to death studio recording), the weird inability for those within the music industry to honestly admit that someone is just awful at music, so everyone winds up saying, “well, they’re really nice guys . . .” and the number of friends asking to be put on the guestlist so that you can never really make money off a show.

Slated for an October 5, 2018 release, Gallo’s highly-anticipated sophomore album Stardust Birthday Party is largely inspired by a life-altering, seismic shift in Gallo’s life: as the story goes, the deeply troubled women he was with and left before writing his solo debut, had taken a trip to South America, found a healer and miraculously got herself and her life together in 2016. Understandably, such news had piqued Gallo’s interest and he began reading and searching for a more inward path for his own mental and spiritual development. Earlier this year, on a whim, he booked a trip to California for a silent meditation retreat. Despite his initial discomfort, Gallo reportedly experienced a profound experience that quickly became the answer for his existential searching — and the thematic core of the album: how inner transformation impacts both the outside world and your perception of it.

Or, as Ron Gallo says in a statement about the album:

“Stardust Birthday Party is about human evolution. Specifically, one humans evolution: mine, Ron Gallo.  That’s the name my parents gave me. Hi.
At one point, I was a very lost mid-twenties person living in Philadelphia, in a relationship with someone struggling with mental health issues and crippling heroin addiction. I was asleep. I didn’t know how to handle my life. I was also writing songs for HEAVY META – my “frustrated with humanity” album. I laugh about it all now, but at the time it all felt like an absolute nightmare. It was the perfect doorway to look inside the place I’d been avoiding forever: myself.
Stardust Birthday Party is about what is happening underneath all of this life stuff. My path inward. The details of my path are pointless because everyone’s path is different. It is about me sitting with myself for the first time and confronting the big question “WHAT AM I, REALLY?” It’s about the love and compassion for all things that enters when you find out you are nothing and everything. I think at one point I wanted to change the world, but now I know I can only change myself, or rather just strip away everything that is not me to reveal the only thing that’s ever been there. And that’s what this album is about, it’s me dancing while destroying the person I thought I was, and hopefully forever.
In the liner notes of John Coltrane’s album A Love Supreme (which we pay tribute to on this album) he wrote: ‘During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music.’
That’s it.  That is the pure essence of creativity. Someone embodying what they have realized about themselves and the world that surrounds them. That is why this album exists. ”

Stardust Birthday Party’s latest single “It’s All Gonna Be Okay,” is an angular ripper centered around two disparate things — a relishing of life’s ironies with a bemused yet accepting smile, as though saying “well, we’re all small, ridiculous and powerless to the larger forces in the universe that will kill us eventually and that’s okay.” But along with that the song points out a larger connection to everyone and everything, suggesting that the only way the world can even begin the change is if every individual seriously take a look at their own fucked up shit. Until then, well — more of the same, I guess?

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Novak (vocals, guitar) and John Henry (drums, vocals), the Sydney, Australia-based rock duo Polish Club can trace their origins to when the occasional drinking buddies decided to book a room and see if they could play together. The result is a bruising, bluesy garage rock with elements of classic, Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson and others and as the band’s drummer John Henry explains, their sound was “just about playing to the strength[s] of the people involved. We play hard and fast and loud with kinda simple guitar lines and Novak has a voice that manages to push a lot of air. We probably sound so big because his voice is actually physically very loud. Like, if he sings without a mic in a room, you can’t talk to the person next to you.”

Opening for the likes of Courtney Barnett and Gang of Youths in their native Australia, the duo quickly received a reputation for sweat-soaked and bloodied, barn-burner sets, and as a result they’ve managed to sell out headlining shows, and play their country’s festival circuit. Building upon a rapidly growing profile, the duo’s forthcoming full-length debut Alright Already is slated for an August 10, 2018 release through Universal Australia, and the album’s second official single “Come Party” is a swaggering, face-melting, power chord-based bruiser that sounds indebted to AC/DC, The Black Keys, Grand Funk Railroad, Thin Lizzy and 38 Special, complete with an enormous, arena rock friendly hooks. Unsurprisingly, the new single reveals a band that’s ready to kick ass, take names — and then take over the world while they’re at it.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Deap Vally’s Surf Rock Inspired New Single

With the release of their first two albums — 2013’s Sistrionix and 2016’s Nick Zinner co-produced FEMEJISM, the Los Angeles, CA-based indie rock duo Deap Vally, comprised of Julie Edwards Pirrone (drums, vocals) and Lindsey Troy (guitar, vocals) quickly developed a reputation for crafting blistering garage rock that had been described by some critics as Led Zeppelin meeting The White Stripes. However, their Chris Kaysch co-produced FEMEJISM (Unplugged) EP found the duo playing stripped down, acoustic interpretations of four songs from FEMEJISM, revealing a band that had begun to experiment with their sound and approach.

Despite the success and attention the duo have received, working together hasn’t always been easy; after all, trying to make it financially and spiritually as a musician in a hyper competitive industry — one that’s typically unfair for women, can cause fissures in even the most solid relationship. The duo went to couples therapy to help them — and the duo feel that it’s rejuvenated their creative process, with the duo exploring and expanding upon their sound and songwriting approaching, embracing freedom and looser sound structures; in fact, the duo’s latest single “Get Gone” finds the duo adopting a ramshackle surf rock sound reminiscent of JOVM mainstays High Waisted and others.

Directed by John Stavas, the recently released video further evokes the song’s throwback feel and vibe, as it uses footage of the band duo playing for the Volcom for Every Body, all -inclusive sizing denim campaign official video but played through distorted, multi-colored, kaleidoscopic filters. It’s trippy as hell while kicking ass.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Cinematic, B Movie Inspired Visuals for L.A. Witch’s “Drive Your Car”

Over the past couple of years, I’ve written a bit about the Los Angeles, CA-based indie rock/garage rock trio L.A. Witch, comprised of Sade Sanchez (lead vocals, guitar), Irita Pai (bass, backing vocals) and Ellie English (drums). And as you may recall, the trio have developed a reputation for crafting a grungy, garage rock sound that draws from late 50s-early 60s rock,  The Pleasure Seekers, The Sonics, The Black Angels, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and others — all while bearing a resemblance to JOVM mainstay artists The Coathangers, Sharkmuffin and Death Valley Girls.
The band’s self-titled, full-length debut was released last year through Suicide Squeeze Records, the label home of The Coathangers and others, and the album’s first single “Drive Your Car,” (which was also released as a 7 inch single back in 2016), is a grungy and gritty track featuring a propulsive rhythm section, chugging power chords fed through reverb and delay pedal paired with Sanchez’s sneering vocals — and while clearly resembling The Coathangers, the song manages to possess a malicious and murderous intent, along with some roaring hooks.

Directed and edited by Allie Lane, the incredibly cinematic video features a collection of badass ladies, including the members of L.A. Witch driving sweet cars through the desert, cut with footage of the band playing the song. Certainly, if you’re a photographer, you envy how rich the blues, browns and blacks came out under seemingly endless skies.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Founded in early 2015, the Austin, TX-based indie rock Dryspell, which is comprised of Hunter Thompson (vocals, guitar), a touring member of acclaimed Louisville, KY-based indie rock band White Reaper; Samuel Jacobsen (bass), a member of Austin-based act Hovvdy; Chad Doriocourt (guitar) and Hugh Vu (drums), the up-and-coming act can trace some of its origins to when each individual member was playing in different bands on the same cassette tape label. And although the members of the band have been extremely busy with their involvements in other bands, they’ve managed to found time to continue working and writing together, further refining their sound and songwriting approach; in fact, “Can’t Wait,” the latest single off the band’s forthcoming EP More finds the band pairing some classic, 70s AM radio vibes with alt-country and indie rock within a moody and somber track seemingly inspired by the musician’s life on the road (which can frequently be bittersweet and very strange, as you’re constantly leaving family and friends for the next “big” gig).

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Earlier this month, I wrote about the  Savannah, GA-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, David Brady Lynch. And as you may recall, Lynch began writing and recording his own original music at a very early age; however, over the past few years, Lynch has developed a number of musical projects that showcase a wide array of dynamic and forward-looking sounds, including including the groove-based, electro rock/electro pop act Sunglow, the grittier projects Cray Bags and Greta O. and the Toxic Shock, and the garage rock act The Lipschitz. And with each project Lynch explores different sounds and songwriting approaches while maintaining a thin thread throughout.

Interestingly, Lynch’s latest project found Lynch writing and recording in a spontaneous fashion and according to the Savannah, GA-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, moving quickly when he’s long been used to writing within the specific context of different projects with their own personas offered a fresh perspective — and perhaps a bit of a reprieve from strictly structured writing. Lynch’s Bummerville debut, Bottom Feeder is slated for release next week through Graveface Records, and the album’s first single “That Time It Takes” was a gritty, power chord-based rock single that was an amalgamation of 90s grunge and 70s power pop, complete with anthemic hooks. “C U Gone,” Bottom Feeder‘s latest single however, is a wild sonic left turn from its predecessor as it draws directly from scuzzy garage rock and bubblegum pop in a way that oddly enough reminds me of Odelay-era Beck — in particular, “Devil’s Haircut” while retaining a “first-thought-best-thought” improvised vibe.

Lynch will be embarking on a tour to support Bottom Feeder with a backing band featuring his brother Derek (bass), Joshua Sterno (rhythm guitar) and Jonathan Graham (drums) and the tour will feature a February 1, 2018 stop at Max Fish. Check out the tour dates below.
Tour Dates
Fri 1/19 – Chicago, IL @ Cole’s
Sat 1/20 – Indianapolis, IN @ TBA
Sun 1/21 – Lexington, KY @ Liberty House
Mon 1/22 – Nashville, TN @ Found Object
Tues 1/23 – Memphis, TN @ Lamplighter
Wed 1/24 – Birmingham, AL @ TBA
Thu 1/25 – Atlanta, GA @ 529
Fri 1/26 – Savannah, Ga @ The Jinx
Sat 1/27 – Orlando, FL @ Uncle Lou’s
Sun 1/28 – Charleston, SC @ Makeout Reef
Mon 1/29 – Chapel Hill, NC @ The Cave
Tues 1/30 – Charlottesville, VA @ Magnolia House
Wed 1/31 – Baltimore, MD @ True Vine
Thu 2/01 – NYC, NY @ Max Fish w/ Foster Care
Fri 2/02 – Syracuse, NY @ Spithaus
Sat 2/03 – Buffalo, NY @ Deep Space 8
Sun 2/04 – Columbus, OH @ Legion of Doom

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Ron Gallo Is A Really Nice Guy Performing Underwhelming Skateboard Tricks

Ron Gallo is a Nashville, TN-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, who is perhaps best known for an eight-year stint as the frontman of Philadelphia-based indie band Toy Soldiers, an act that initially began as a guitar and drum duo that at one point in its history evolved into a 12 member collective, before settling into a quintet when the band split up in 2014. Gallo’s solo debut, HEAVY META was released earlier this year, and as you may recall the album was initially written while Gallo was living in Philadelphia and was involved with a woman, who had a number of personal and emotional issues. And as the story goes, when that relationship ended, Gallo moved to Nashville and finished the album during a period in which he has considered one of the most transformative periods of his life, as he saw as a personal reawakening and a musical rebirth. 

At the time, Gallo wrote and recorded songs in small batches without the support of a label — and initially, without the intention of making a full-length album. However, the material he wrote wound up touching upon a number of themes, including Gallo’s personal ideology on abstaining from drugs and alcohol, self-empowerment, domestication, dead love, not knowing yourself and what can happen when you don’t, mental illness and more, complete with a frustration with humanity and civilization. But it’s balanced by a feeling of optimism.  As Gallo said in press notes at the time, “this record comes from my frustration with humanity and myself, and from my wanting to shake us all. At my core, I’m compassionate for humanity and the sickness that we all live with, and from that comes something more constructive.”

Building upon the growing buzz surrounding him, Gallo is set to release the follow up to HEAVY META, Really Nice Guys on January 19, 2018 through New West Records. Produced by Joe Bisirri and Gallo, the forthcoming release is a concept EP inspired by the past year that Gallo has spent touring and promoting HEAVY META with the material being a commentary on the contemporary music industry. The EP features songs about rough mixes (broken into three parts — iPhone demo, live band demo and overproduced, autotuned studio recording); the inability for those within the music industry to say that a band is bad, so that everyone winds up saying “well, they’re really nice guys;” all of your friends asking to be put on the guest list for your show, etc. Along with that, the EP features Gallo’s mother’s boyfriend Jerry’s real-time thoughts after hearing the material for the first time throughout the EP, captured by a hidden microphone.  

As Gallo says about the forthcoming EP in press notes “Write what you know, Ron Gallo! Being constantly on highways, in vans, on planes, on stages, in green rooms, on guest lists, turning a person into a brand, turning a real life human moment into a song, into content, into an asset to be monetized, talking to people about myself and stuff I wrote 3 years ago, watching it all unfold in the public eye from a phone in a van on a highway heading to a stage. It wasn’t what I thought it would be and it was beautiful and I am grateful, but mostly this whole world of pursuing music and the music business is hilarious. So how do you deal with that? Have fun by entertaining yourself with an EP of you laughing at yourself about all of it and call it Really Nice Guys, which is probably all I’ve been for most of this.” 

The EP’s first single, EP title track “Really Nice Guys,” will further cement Gallo’s growing reputation for jangling and urgent, garage rock, but unlike the material on HEAVY META, the song is full of a bristling and bemused irony; the sort that would come about as you’re placed in an utterly ridiculous situation in which you can’t quite tell that you’ve being complimented or insulted — and you don’t quite know what to do besides look a bit like a dimwit. 

The recently released video is based on an early 00s skateboarding video which features Gallo performing a series of incredibly underwhelming tricks. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Xanthous Papanikolaou (vocals, guitar), Bill Tzelepis (guitar), John Vulgaris (drums), Panos Papanikolaou (keys) and Aris Rammos (bass), the Athens, Greece-based garage rock/psych rock act Bazooka initially formed in Volos, Greece back in 2008. As the story goes, within their first year together, they relocated to Athens to pick up live gigs, and while the country and its capital city were in the midst of one of the most severe economic downturns in recent memory, the members of Bazooka, along with acts like Acid Baby Jesus, Gay Anniversary and A Victim of Society became pioneers of a burgeoning, attention grabbing DIY scene that played in squats across the city. But interestingly enough, Bazooka had set themselves apart for being one of the more primal and savage of the entire Athens scene.

Their 2013 full-length debut was released through Slovenly Records, and the Greek garage psych rockers followed that up with two 7 inch EPs — Shame my Brain and I Want To Fuck All The Girls In My School, and their 2016 sophomore, full-length effort Useless Generation. And adding to a growing international profile, the band has toured throughout the European Union and the US.

Their latest effort, the 12 inch EP Zougla (Jungle) was recently released through Inner Ear Records, and the effort finds the band expanding upon their sound while retaining the power and impetuosity of their sound — and emphasizing Greek verse. The EP’s first single and title track features blistering guitar, propulsive polyrhythm, complete with congas and cowbell, wild animal noises and howled vocals to create a primal and furious song that nods at Thee Oh Sees, Fela Kuti and Here Lies Man, complete with a driving and forceful groove; but they manage to pair that with a fuzzy, lysergic vibe that makes their sound and approach incredibly nuanced and wildly anachronistic as though it could have been released in 1963 or — well, last week.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Ron Gallo Looks Back on a Dysfunctional Romantic Relationship in New Visuals for Album Single “Put The Kids To Bed”

Ron Gallo is a Nashville, TN-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, who is perhaps best known for his eight-year stint as the frontman of Philadelphia-based indie band Toy Soldiers, an act that initially began as a guitar and drum duo that at one point evolved into a massive 12 member collective, before settling into a quintet when the band split up in 2014. Gallo’s full-length effort Heavy Meta was released earlier this, and the album was primarily written while Gallo was still in Philadelphia, and while he was involved in a lengthy romantic relationship with a woman, who had a number of personal and emotional issues. As the story goes, when that relationship end, Gallo relocated to Nashville and finished writing the album during a period in which may arguably have been among the most transformative periods of his life, a period that he had felt was a personal reawakening and a musical rebirth.

At the time Gallo wrote and recorded songs in small batches without the intention of making a full-length album and initially without the support of a label. As Gallo explained in press notes “Coming out on the other side, I now look at my past as a hazy dream where I did not know myself or the world at all. I still don’t know anything, but I’m closer than before. There is so much to learn outside of your comfort zone.” The album’s material reportedly touches upon several themes including Gallo’s personal ideology on abstaining from drugs and alcohol, self-empowerment, domestication, dead love, not knowing yourself, mental illness and more — and although Gallo expresses a frustration with humanity and civilization, the material is balanced with an underlying hopefulness. Says Gallo, “this record comes from my frustration with humanity and myself, and from my wanting to shake us all. At my core, I’m compassionate for humanity and the sickness that we all live with, and from that comes something more constructive.” He ends by saying “Party is over — this is the beginning of true personal responsibility for ourselves and our world and so we must LIVE truth, be freaks, be fearless, be light, love and be our best selves.”

Now, as you may recall, I wrote about album single “Please Yourself,” a fuzzy and aggressive garage punk rock song consisting of fuzzy and distorted power chords, a propulsive backbeat and Gallo’s howled vocals expressing a wild urgency and frustration, as though the song’s narrator wants to violently shake everyone around him while screaming at them “Pay attention, you goddamn idiots! Stop fucking around and do something to make it right!” The album’s latest single “Put The Kids To Bed” finds Gallo and his backing band meshing jangling garage rock and psych rock while detailing the push and pull of  a hopelessly dysfunctional romantic relationship — and while rooted in an unvarnished and unflinching honesty, the song will further cement Gallo’s growing reputation for crafting incredibly hook driven rock. 

The recently released video for “Put The Kids To Bed” continues Gallo’s ongoing collaboration with director Joshua Shoemaker, and the visuals follow a dream-like logic, following Gallo as he heads to bed. Eventually a woman joins him and they place paper bags over their heads, symbolically trying to make their best face, despite a simmering hate between them. Whoa.