Over the past few months, the Los Angeles-based quintet Lady Low have become something of a JOVM mainstay, as I’ve written about the band a handful of times over the past few months. Of course, […]
Category: indie rock
Comprised of Vincent Davies (vocals, guitar and bass), Ranald MacDonald (vocals, keys, guitar and bass), Josh Lewis (guitar and bass) and Oscar Robertson (drums), the London-based quartet Hidden Charms formed last year and with the release of their double A single “Dreaming Of Another Girl”/”Long Way Down,” the London-based quartet quickly received attention nationally as the the single received extensive airplay from the likes of radio personalities Zane Lowe of Beats 1, Annie Mac and Huw Stephens of BBC Radio 1 and John Kennedy of XFM (aka Radio X). And of course, as a result of their growing national profile, the band has opened for Benjamin Booker, Hanni El Khatib and X Ambassadors and had a four-week Club NME Koko residency.
Building on their rapidly growing the British quartet’s latest single “Love You ‘Cause You’re There” consists of buzzing and bluesy guitar chords, propulsive drumming, anthemic hooks and howled vocals in a song that sounds as though it were directly influenced by The Black Keys and 60s mod rock (think of early The Who, The Kinks and The Animals) — and possesses a similar self-assuredness that belies their youth. Of course, at its core is an aching longing — the sort of longing that comes up from lonely nights drinking in shitty dive bars, reminiscing over someone who may not be right for you and yet you need.
If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past few months, you may recall that I wrote about the British and Brazilian industrial rock band Plastique. Comprised of vocalist Anelise Kunz, multi-instrumentalist Fabio Couto and producer Gabriel Ralis, formed back in 2010 and with the release of their self-titled debut and their sophomore effort, #SocialScar, the trio received both national and international attention for a sound that’s inspired by Nine Inch Nails. Garbage, PJ Harvey, Goldfrapp, Brody Dalle, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Prodigy and The Beastie Boys. Adding to a growing national and international profile, the band was named one of the Top 5 in Marshall’s Ultimate Band Contest in 2013.
Naturally, wanting to build upon the steadily growing buzz around the band, the members of the trio initially went into the studio with the intention of expanding upon the sound that had won them attention. But once they started writing material they realized that they all feeling an inordinate amount of pressure to come up with something new, and as the story goes they went on a hiatus with the hopes that some time off would help. As the band’s Anelise Kunz mentioned in press notes their first single in some time “Quake,” “came out as a sign of hope . . . there was no pressure, the vocal jam just happened, and soon we were all involved in getting this one ready to go!”
“Lips,” Plastique’s latest single is informed by a series of demos the band had recorded while working on their previous single “Quake,” and in many ways that spirit of experimentation informed the track. Sonically, the song pairs layers of scuzzy, heavy metal-like guitars, industrial clang and clatter, propulsive drum programming and anthemic hooks that you can imagine a crowded club of enthusiastic fans shouting along to paired with Kunz’s sneering, growling punk-leaning vocals. In some way, the song (to my ears, at least) reminds me of the punishing forcefulness of Ministry (in particular, “What About Us?” one of my favorite Ministry songs) with the attitude of Garbage (in particular, “Supervixen“). Throughout the song you can tell that the band does not fuck around; they’re going to take names and kick ass — but with an irresistible sultriness.
New Video: The Sultry, Seductive Video for The Secret Storm’s “The Dragon”
Throughout her nearly two decade music career, singer/songwriter Lauren Hoffman has a long-held reputation for uncompromisingly refusing to be pigeonholed, as she’s released four full-length albums of artsy and knotty pop. Hoffman’s latest project, The […]
New Video: Follow A Partying Death on His Day Off in White Reaper’s New Video for “Make Me Wanna Die”
Comprised of Tony Esposito (vocals, guitar), Ryan Hater (keyboards), Sam Wilkerson (bass) and Nick Wilkerson (drums), Louisville, KY-based quartet White Reaper have become yet another mainstay act on the site. After the release of a blistering and urgent […]
New Video: The Gorgeous and Surreal, New Video for Yukon Blonde’s “I Wanna Be Your Man”
Over the past year, Yukon Blonde and their frontman Jeffrey Innes’ side project, High Ends have added their name to a lengthy list of mainstays on this site. Interestingly, High Ends was at the time, a major sonic and […]
Live Footage: The Charlatans on The Late Late Show with James Corden
Although they’ve gone through a number of lineup changes since their initial formation in 1989, The Charlatans (known Stateside as The Charlatans UK) currently comprised of Tim Burgess (vocals), Mark Collins (guitar), Martin Blunt (bass), and […]
Comprised of John Gill (vocals, bass, guitar and synth), Greg Tebbano (lead guitar, lead synth and backing vocals), David Octal (bass), and Ben Patten (drums), the Saratoga Springs, NY-based post punk quartet The Black Ships derive their name from the Western vessels that sailed to Japan during the 16th to 19th centuries. And with the forthcoming release of their latest effort, Dead Empires, slated for a December 4 release, the Upstate New York-based quartet hope to prove that Saratoga Springs is the home of a burgeoning wave music scene — in particular, a burgeoning shoegaze/dark wave/chill wave scene — as the town is best known as the home of blogosphere darlings Phantogram.
Dead Empires‘ latest single album title track “Dead Empires” sounds as though it owes a major sonic debt to Joy Division, The Cure and 4AD Records — while also channeling contemporaries like The Harrow, Dead Leaf Echo and others, as the song is comprised of atmospheric synths, slashing, angular bass and shimmering guitar chords and four-on-the-floor drumming paired ethereal vocals. If you’re a child of the 80s as I am, the Saratoga Springs-based quartet’s sound will be familiar — it’s a darkly seductive and danceable sound. But interestingly enough, what will set the band apart from their contemporaries is the fact that the band’s frontman John Gill is a self-proclaimed avid history buff, and Dead Empires lyrics concern themselves with how history’s course and flow affects and influences everything. And as Gill explains in press notes “Looking back on historical events of the past adds a romantic tinge to things and a certain yearning for past times and traditions.” In some way, it gives the material a swooning Romanticism that belies its brooding nature.
New Video: Check Out the Dark, Murky Sounds and Visuals of Stockholm’s Dolores Haze
Dolores Haze is a Stockholm, Sweden-based lo-fi, punk quartet that has received quite a bit of attention across their native Sweden and internationally for a sound that Stereogum, The Line of Best Fit, Noisey and […]
Comprised of Karen O. (vocals), Nick Zimmer (guitar) and Brian Chase (drums), the New York-based trio Yeah Yeah Yeahs have been a critically and commercially successful act with the release of their four full-length efforts, Fever to Tell (2003), Show Your Bones (2006), It’s Blitz! (2009), and Mosquito (2014). Interestingly, out of all of their efforts, it’s the trio’s third full-length effort, It’s Blitz! that manages to be a major change in sonic direction for the band as the material primarily employs atmospheric electronics, layers of buzzing and undulating synths. And although the album’s first three or four songs are arguably the most dance-floor ready the trio have ever released, the album’s remaining songs manage to be moodily atmospheric. Interestingly, the entire album is an exercise in restraint as Zimmer’s guitar playing and Karen O’s vocals are carefully reined in.
Album single “Skeletons” is a spectral and atmospheric song that pairs gently undulating synths, gentle yet dramatic drumming and Karen O’s ethereal vocals in a song that gently builds up tension until the song’s quiet conclusion. The song evokes wisps of smoke curling upward and dissipating into the ether . . .
Comprised of three long-time friends, Liz Drummond, Hannah Field, and Annie Hamilton, the Australian-based trio Little May have quickly become one of their homeland’s most buzzed about bands with the release of their debut effort For The Company, which was released last month to critical praise from the likes of WNYC, Stereogum, Noisey, Billboard and others. And over the past month or so, the Australian trio had been on a lengthy North American tour, which ended last night; but before their tour ended, the Drummond, Field and Hamilton released a cover of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Skeletons” that features a gorgeous three part harmonies paired with guitar chords played through reverb, atmospheric electronics and military-styled drumming, which naturally changes the song’s arrangement. It’s a fairly straightforward cover — but it manages to be equally spectral and gorgeous cover nonetheless.
New Video: The Spectral and Eerie, New Video for Nadia Kazmi’s “Haunting”
Calgary, AB-born and Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Nadia Kazmi has received national attention in her native Canada and across the US as she’s had several songs appear on nationally syndicated TV programs and her album Strange Song, […]
Comprised of Jamie Cogar (guitar, drums and vocals) and Andrew Trouwborst (guitar and vocals), the Brooklyn-based duo No Kill specialize in what they describe on their Facebook Fan Page as reverb soaked noise pop. And the duo’s latest single “Better” is a slow-burning and moody and swooning ballad that would likely make Hope Sandoval and Phil Spector proud — although decidedly lo-fi, the song captures the feelings and thoughts of someone, who recognizes that their romantic relationship may be on the ropes, and they’re uncertain of not just what to do, but if there’s a way to make it better. If you’ve been in that situation the song will be achingly familiar.
Comprised of Bobby Moynahan (vocals), Esli Sugich (bass), and Scott Eton (keyboards and guitar), the trio of Ballerina Black, have received praise across the blogosphere for a sound that my colleagues have described as “a collage of mope rock and grave wave;” in fact, their sound on their earliest releases reminded me quite a bit of Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails and 4AD Records as it struck me as being a slickly produced, anxious goth-based electro rock.
Adding to a growing national profile, the band has opened for the likes of Interpol and Silversun Pickups, have seen some of their singles receive airplay on radio stations across the globe and have played a number of sold out shows in their hometown of Los Angeles. And to continue the growing buzz around the band, they’re planning to embark on a tour to close out 2015; however, in the meantime, the band has released their latest single “Chiffon,” which is a decided change in sonic direction as it’s arguably one of the sunniest and breeziest songs they’ve released to date. Not only is the song much more upbeat with much of the gloom and doom being lifted from the proceedings, the song sounds as though it subtly leans towards shoegaze as the song consists of lush, shimmering guitar chords, propulsive drumming and Moynahan’s plaintive and ethereal vocals. And although swooning and seemingly channelling 120 Minutes-era alternative rock, there’s something under the surface that’s tense and menacing.
Fronted by primary songwriter David Childs, the Philadelphia, PA-based rock band Manwomanchild can trace their origins to when the band originally formed in Rhode Island, back in 2008. With a lineup comprised of David Child (vocals, guitar and synths), Mason Neely (drums) and Craig Gifford (bass), the trio recorded their self-titled debut EP in February 2010, and they received international attention after the release of “Chile, La Roja,”a song specifically written to show support for Chile’s Men’s National Soccer team during the 2010 World Cup; in fact, the song was featured in 4 national newspapers and 2 national TV stations across Chile.
A couple of years after the release of their self-titled full-length debut at the end of 2010, the band relocated to Philadelphia, and since their relocation the band wrote and recorded the soundtrack for Decidedly’s mobile game, Floyd’s Worthwhile Endeavor — and the band’s last single “The Difficult Years” was released to praise from the music blog Surviving the Golden Age.
The band’s latest single “Return to Ithaca” sounds as though it were inspired by early 60s mod-era British rock — in particular, think of The Kinks — as the song pairs a pretty and hummable little melody with a bubblegum pop-leaning wistful hook reminiscent of “Video Killed the Radio Star” and The Kinks’ “I Go To Sleep” but somehow a little bit breezier. At the song’s core is the sort of wistful nostalgia that should be familiar to most of us — a familiar and beloved part of our lives and pasts getting torn down in the face of relentless progress. But the song also suggests that all things must pass and that life does as it always does — push you forward.
More important, “Return to Ithaca” is an time-specific example of finely crafted pop, complete with vivid novelistic imagery — you can practically picture yourself walking along the Charles River in Cambridge, MA with the same observations and thoughts of the song’s wistful narrator.