JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Liz Phair’s 57th birthday.
Category: grunge
Austin-based trio Boss Battle specialize in a sludgy and dirty alt rock/grunge-meets pop sound anchored around precise beats, stomach-dropping synth bass lines, walls of analog synth, scorching guitar and dual male/female vocals. While being heavy enough to thrash along with, the Austin-based outfit’s work has always been catchy and melodic enough to sing along to — presumably with a beer raised in the air.
So far, through the release of a handful of singles and EPs, Boss Battle has been compared to The Jesus Lizard, Pixies, The Dead Weather, Deftones and Failure among a list of others. Building upon a growing profile locally and elsewhere, the band will be releasing a handful of singles over the course of the next year.
The band’s latest single “Burned Alive” is a sludgy and soulful dirge, anchored around scorching riffs, whirring electronics, thunderous drumming and enormous, sing-along worthy hook and choruses within an expansive yet grunge-inspired song structure. The song’s arrangement serves as lush yet anthemic bed for remarkably melodic, powerhouse vocals.
“‘Burned Alive’ might be the simplest yet most melodic song we’ve written,” the band’s Chico Jones says. “All the parts landed quickly. The arrangement was straight forward. I remember Ben suggesting that we kill any intro and start cold with the lyrics and music. Bang! you’re in the middle of it! I also remember recording the vocal lines into my phone almost immediately after we wrote the guitar and drums. I am proud of the melodies. Definite singalong feels.”
“The lyrics took a while though—and several rewrites as well,” Jones continues. “But I like where we landed with the words … The vibe is sort of this Flowers for Algernon perspective but only the worst parts. Abandon all hope… And Erin really nails that emotion at the end— so good. I also can tell that the band geek in me is giving a shoutout to influences that use a lot of space in their riffs . It’s as if the beginning is just an excuse for that drop at the end— but in reality you have to hammer everyone for a bit before you take them for a slow ride.Oh yeah I’m also not really playing chords — why are there so many strings on this thing?”
Throwback: Happy 57th Birthday, Kurt Cobain!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 57th anniversary of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain’s birth.
Seattle-based grunge legends Pearl Jam — Eddie Vedder (vocals), Jeff Ament (bass), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar) and Matt Cameron drums) — will be releasing their twelfth studio album, the Andrew Watt-produced Dark Matter through Monkeywrench Records/Republic Records on April 19, 2024. Dark Matter is the band’s first batch of material since 2020’s critically acclaimed Gigaton.
Last year, the grunge legends retreated to Malibu‘s Shangri-La Studios, where they simply plugged their instruments in and played with producer Andrew Watt at the helm. Writing and recording in a frenzied and passionate burst of inspiration, with the musicians facing one another in the same space, communicating sonically and musically at the highest level, with the album being completed in three weeks.
The album channels the shared spirit of a group of lifelong collaborators and creative brothers in one room, playing as if their lives depended on it. For the band, all of the blood, sweet, tears and energy of a storied and legendary career felt renewed and poured into the album’s material.
“I’m getting chills, because I have good memories. We’re still looking for ways to communicate,” Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder says. “We’re at this time in our lives when you could do it or you could not do it, but we still care about putting something out there that is meaningful and we hopefully think is our best work. No hyperbole, I think this is our best work.”
“What Ed said about getting us in a room at this point, we felt like we were about to make a really important record. A lot of that had to do with the atmosphere Andrew set up,” the band’s Jeff Ament says. “He has encyclopedic knowledge of our history, not only as a band and how we wrote songs, but as players. He could pinpoint things we did on old songs to the point where I was like, ‘What the fuck is he talking about?’ His excitement was contagious. He’s a force. I just want to say thanks for keeping us on track. I couldn’t be prouder of us as a band. I feel so grateful for the fans, but mostly for my brothers and these people I’ve made music with.”
Dark Matter‘s first single, the swaggering album title track “Dark Matter” is built around a bombastic and forceful power chord riff, thunderous boom bap-inspired drumming, enormous arena rock friendly hooks and choruses paired with Vedder’s imitable, impassioned delivery. “Dark Matter” seems to pay tribute to the band’s legacy with the song at points bringing back memories of their legendary first three albums — 1991’s Ten, 1993’s Vs. and 1994’s Vitalogy — but with a modern take that reveals a band constantly and willing to push their sound in bold new directions while continuing to be impassioned and unflaggingly earnest in everything they do. Simply put, they may be older — hell all of us are getting older — but this song rips as much as their beloved, classic period.
Dark Matter features cover art by light painting artist Alexandr Gnezdilov. Light painting is an artistic form of photography, where images are created by adjusting a camera’s exposure for an extended period and using a light source, such as a flashlight to “paint” in the dark. The album cover art was crafted using a large, self-made kaleidoscope. Each letter visible on the cover was individually captured and handwritten midair with a specially designed flashlight to create the pearlescent effect.
The band will celebrate indie record stores with the release of a special edition of Dark Matter on Record Store Day, April 20, 2024. You can find that special edition only at participating stores. To get more information and find participating store, check out Record Store Day’s website: https://www.recordstoreday.com.
Last but definitely not least, Pearl Jam will be supporting Dark Matter with an extensive world tour — the first time, the band has announced a new album and tour, with full tour dates simultaneously.
The world tour will see the band playing 25 cities in nine countries and will see them playing much of North America, including a two night run at Madison Square Garden, September 3, 2024 and September 4, 2024, as well as stops at Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and their first hometown shows in six years at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena. The North American tour will feature support from Deep Sea Diver (leg 1) and Glen Hansard (leg 2).
The UK and European run includes their first show at London‘s brand new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. For that run of the tour, The Murder Capital will be support for much of the UK and EU dates; however, the great Richard Ashcroft will be support for Dublin and London.
The tour also sees the band’s first New Zealand and Australian dates in over a decade. Pixies will serve as support for those dates.
Tickets will be available two ways:
1. A Ten Club members-only presale will be held through Ticketmaster Request for eligible members. Only paid Ten Club members active as of Monday, February 12 are eligible to participate in this presale. More info at pearljam.com
2. Fans can register for a chance to participate in the Dark Matter World Tour 2024 registration sale at shops.ticketmasterpartners.com/pearl-jam by Sunday, February 18 at 11:59 PM local time for Europe, UK, Australia and New Zealand shows and by Sunday, February 18 at 11:59 pm PT for North America shows. This will be the only way for fans to participate in the onsale. Registration does not guarantee access to the sale.
The tour will use all-in pricing across all North America, Europe and UK shows to ensure the ticket price listed is the full out-of-pocket price inclusive of fees.
For fans in North America who can’t use their tickets, Pearl Jam and Ticketmaster will offer a Fan-to-Fan Face Value Ticket Exchange beginning at a later date to give fans the best chance to buy tickets at face value. To help protect the Exchange, Pearl Jam has also chosen to make tickets for this tour mobile only and restricted from transfer. This applies to all shows except those in Illinois and New York where non-transferability is prohibited by law. You must have a valid bank account or debit card within the country of the event(s) in order to sell through the Fan-to-Fan Face Value Ticket Exchange.
All tour dates are below.
Dark Matter World Tour Dates:
Date City Venue
May 04 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
May 06 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
May 10 Portland, OR Moda Center
May 13 Sacramento, CA Golden 1 Center
May 16 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
May 18 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
May 21 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum
May 22 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum
May 25** Napa Valley, CA BottleRock Festival
May 28 Seattle, WA Climate Pledge Arena
May 30 Seattle, WA Climate Pledge Arena
Jun 22 Dublin, IE Marlay Park
Jun 25 Manchester, UK Manchester Co-Op Live
Jun 29 London, UK Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Jul 02 Berlin, DE Waldbühne
Jul 03 Berlin, DE Waldbühne
Jul 06 Barcelona, ES Palau Sant Jordi
Jul 08 Barcelona, ES Palau Sant Jordi
Jul 11** Madrid, SE Mad Cool Festival
Jul 13** Lisbon, PT NOS Alive Festival
Aug 22 Missoula, MT Washington-Grizzly Stadium
Aug 26* Indianapolis, IN Ruoff Music Center
Aug 29 Chicago, IL Wrigley Field
Aug 31 Chicago, IL Wrigley Field
Sep 03 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Sep 04 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Sep 07 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
Sep 09 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
Sep 12 Baltimore, MD CFG Bank Arena
Sep 15 Boston, MA Fenway Park
Sep 17 Boston, MA Fenway Park
Nov 08 Auckland, NZ Go Media Stadium Mt Smart
Nov 13 Gold Coast, AU Heritage Bank Stadium
Nov 16 Melbourne, AU Marvel Stadium
Nov 21 Sydney, AU Giants Stadium
* Rescheduled date from 2022
** Festival dates are already on sale
New Video: Ginger AF Share Furious Protest Anthem “Femininity”
Formed back in 2018, Florida-based duo Ginger AF — multi-instrumentalist Kristen Cannell and Jerry Black — specialize in guitar-driven indie rock paired with an undercurrent of dystopian and existential themes, seemingly inspired by the dystopian hellscape we’re currently living in.
Their latest single “Femininity” is a hook-driven, mosh pit friendly ripper that sonically — to my ears, at least — seems to be indebted to 90s grunge and the Riot Grrl movement and rooted in righteous, feminist protest against a shitty and exploitive system and society. With “Femininity,” Cannell and Black have written a protest anthem against the growing way of draconian reproductive bills and laws across the country that make it impossible for medical providers to provide the healthcare that woman need — and endanger women in critical need.
Across significant portions of the country, there have been at least 64,000 rape-related pregnancies with no legal access to healthcare. That number is outrageous and absurd. And as result, the Florida duo’s single has a palpable and forceful urgency. It’s also a reminder that as voters, we must not lose sight of the fact that the world is complicated, and we’re going to have to make difficult and unsettling compromises for our loved ones’ well-being and safety.
The accompanying video begins with a newspaper featuring a headlines that read “Roe v. Wade Is Overturned,” “Overturning Roe Is An Insult to Women” and “Abortion Bans Will Result in More Women Dying” with the duo performing where the photos would normally be. The newspapers fade to the background — but important headlines pop up right behind the duo as they perform the song in a varying settings.
Throwback: Happy 55th Birthday, Dave Grohl!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Dave Grohl’s 55th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 59th Birthday, Eddie Vedder!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder’s 59th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 59th Birthday, Mark Lanegan!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 59th anniversary of Mark Lanegan’s birth.
New Audio: Dallas’ Static Ivory Shares Bruising “Open-eyed”
Static Ivory is an emerging and somewhat mysterious Dallas-based grunge/shoegaze duo, who released their debut single “Comedown” earlier this year. Clocking in at a little over two minutes, their sophomore single “Open-eyed” is an explosive and punishing, Nothing-like take on shoegaze featuring a glitchy introduction, thunderous drumming, fuzzy and distorted power chords, and a dreamy painterly bridge paired with mosh pit friendly hooks. Play loud, trip out and open up that fucking pit, y’all!
Throwback: Happy 78th Birthday, Neil Young!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Neil Young’s 78th birthday
