Category: New Single

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Trewin Howard (vocals, synths, production), who has synaesthesia, a condition in which the sufferer experiences two different senses simultaneously and an a still undiagnosed illness that has left his senses frayed and mind on edge; along with Howard’s two childhood friends Jeb Hardwick (guitar) and Ed Sanderson (piano/synths), the Brighton, UK-based founding trio behind Phoria recruited Tim Douglas (bass, synth) and Seryn Burden (drums) to flesh out the band’s sound. Over the past couple of years, the Brighton-based quintet have a growing national and international profile for crafting spectral and evocative soundscapes — 2014’s Display EP landed at #5 on Hype Machine’s charts, received airplay on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6 and several million Spotify streams. They also have a burgeoning reputation for their live set which pairs Hardwick’s visual installations and projections with their live sound. And in fact, you may have remember coming across a post about the British quintet; however, it’s been a while since we’ve heard about them but the they will be releasing their highly-anticipated full-length debut Volition through X Novo Records on June 3, 2016.

Interestingly, the band’s primary songwriter Trewin Howard has explained that he never wanted to be a storyteller, as he ascribes to the concept of saying very little to say a lot, and as a result the quintet’s material generally focuses on a special mood while simultaneously focusing on a number of themes. Howard mentions that the material on Volition thematically touches upon love, sex, mortality, pain, joy, the way people interact, change and move each other and several other things. Volition‘s first single “Everything Beta” will further cement the British quintet’s reputation for crafting moodily spectral songs that sound indebted to Amnesiac and King of Limbs-era Radiohead, as Howard’s ethereal and plaintive vocals are paired with clicking and clacking percussion, twinkling piano chords, buzzing synths and a subtly anthemic hook in a song that slowly builds up an unresolved tension before quickly fading out. And while ethereal, the song manages to evoke a desperately aching yearning at its core.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of months, you may recall coming across a post on Austin, TX-based shoegaze act Bloody Knives. Initially comprised of Preston Maddox (bass, vocals, keyboards, samples and programming) Jake McCown (drums, noise, programming) — and now feating the featuring the contributions of recent recruits Jack O’Hara Harris (guitar), Richard Napierkowski (synth) and Martin McCreadie (synth) as touring members of the band, the Austin-based act have developed a profile both locally and regionally for a sound that meshes elements of punk, industrial electronica and ambient electronica with 8 bit glitches, bloops and bleeps — and much like My Bloody Valentine, A Place to Bury Strangers, The Jesus and Mary Chain their sound and aesthetic frequently possesses a sublime and dreamy beauty underneath a bleak, punishing forcefulness.

I Will Cut Your Heart Out For This, Bloody Knives’ latest effort was released last week through renowned shoegaze label Saint Marie Records, and the album was reportedly inspired by the “forgotten places, the dark corners of empty cities, decaying buildings filled with vacant people” — the world of the lost and broken.” And although the album’s second and latest single “Static” beings with soaring synths and buzzing electronics, much like previous single “Poison Halo,” the latest single pairs scorching guitar chords played with towering layers of feedback, a throbbing bass line and thundering drumming. While both the album’s first two singles insistently push the boundaries of contemporary shoegaze towards darker and much more forceful territory, their overall sound reminds me a bit of My Vitriol as the material possesses an anthemic quality that belies its swooning and urgent nature.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their 2012 release How’s That Sound?, Windsor, ON-based rock/blues duo The Blues Stones — comprised of Tafik Jafar (vocals and guitar) and Justin Tessier (drums) —  quickly found themselves with a growing national and Stateside profile as several singles appeared on  Parks & Recreation, Suits, Monday Night Football, Battle Creek and others, and as a result How’s That Sound? landed on Bandcamp’s bestseller list that year. Additionally, the duo have a burgeoning reputation across both their native Canada and Detroit for an energetic and passionate live show.    

With the recent release of the band’s sophomore effort Black Holes, the members of the Canadian rock duo hope to expand their profile even further, and with the arena rock-friendly album single “Black Holes (Solid Ground),” the duo pairs power chords, thundering drumming and anthemic hooks to craft a song that sounds indebted to classic Delta blues, The Black Keys, The White Stripes and early Black Sabbath — but with a subtly psychedelic leaning that reveals a twist on a familiar and winning formula.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

With the release of ” Big Girls,” “Appetite,” “Creme De La Creme,”the Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Sophie Stern and her (mostly) solo recording project Sophie and the Bom Boms has quickly become one of my favorite new artists and a JOVM mainstay artist for infectiously catchy hook-laden pop that sounds indebted to the likes of Gwen Stefani, TLC, Phia and others as Stern’s first two singles of late 2015 and early 2016 possess a similar “you can do it girl/girl, that zero and get you a hero/girl, this is a fuckboy free zone/girl, drop that deadbeat friend — or lover” tone and air, paired with incredibly slick and contemporary production techniques.

“Where Do We Go,” Stern’s latest single is a bit of an aesthetic and structural departure from the first two singles that caught the attention of not this site but several across the blogosphere.  Whereas the aforementioned “Big Girls” “Appetite” and “Creme De La Creme” were based on infectious and catchy pop hooks, “Where Do We Go” eschews familiar pop songwriting structures. Although there’s a recognizable hook the song focus on establishing a particular mood and tone while also being arguably one of the more introspective songs Stern has released to date; in fact, the song focuses on a relationship that’s a bit conflicting. While being fairly fulfilling, the song’s narrator recognizes that there has been a transition within the relationship that has created some uncertainty within the relationship that has her wondering what will happen to her relationship — and in turn, the rest of her life. As a result, the song and Stern’s vocals convey an equally complex and conflicting array of emotions — namely excitement, worry, confusion, fear and anxiousness — all within a turn of a phrase.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past couple of months, I’ve written quite a bit about New Orleans-based funk and brass septet Cha Wa. Led by its founding members and bandleaders, vocalist/percussionist Irving “Honey” Banister, Big Chief of the Creole Wild West Tribe and drummer Joe Gelini, who have both involved with New Orleans’ Mardi Gras Indian scene for years, the members of the septet have developed a reputation for a sound and aesthetic that combines the Mardi Gras Indian tradition, and the area’s long-held reputation for rhythm and blues and funk. After playing countless shows in their hometown, the septet’s long-awaited debut album Funk ‘n’ Feathers was released earlier this month, and the album reportedly draws from the seminal Mardi Gras Indian-inspired work of the 1970s — Wild Magnolias (backed by The Meters), The Neville Brothers and Dr. John‘s Nite Tripper albums; however, the material also was produced by Galactic’s Ben Ellman, who has also worked with Trombone Shorty, and mixed by San Francisco, CA‘s go-to engineer Count, who has worked with DJ Shadow, Radiohead, Lyrics Born and others.

Released just in time for Mardi Gras, the album’s first single was a loose, stomping and swinging cover of Dr. John’s “All On A Mardi Gras Day” that feels as though you’re following a hot and jamming band with the marching Indians in their costumes marching down the streets of Uptown New Orleans — but with a slick, studio polish that doesn’t scrub away the inherently gritty, street-level funk and the ebullient, let the good time roll-feel within the song.  The album’s second was a raucous, percussive, stomping and absolutely swinging rendition of a Mardi Gras and New Orleans standard “Jock-A-Mo (Iko Iko)” that feels like a non-stop party full of hooting and hollering, and hot keyboard and guitar solos; however, where their rendition of “All On A Mardi Gras” felt as though you were following along in a second line, their rendition of “Jock-A-Mo (Iko Iko)” feels as though it were recorded in a tiny, sweaty and packed club — in some way, you can almost feel the floor shaking from feet stomping in time to the rhythm.

Funk ‘N’ Feathers‘ latest single “UPT” is a written for and dedicated to Uptown New Orleans and much like the album’s previous singles, it’s a raucously ebullient the band creates a funky groove with stomping, tribal percussion, twisting, turning and soaring organ chords, an explosive horn section, a blistering guitar solo and chanted call and response vocals. It’s New Orleans-based funk at its finest, done with an enormous, megawatt smile — and if it doesn’t make you get off your ass and dance and shout, you must have a cold, cold heart.

The band has a number of live dates coming up throughout the next few months. Check out tour dates below.

UPCOMING SHOWS:
04/21- Ogden Museum of Southern Art – New Orleans, LA
04/23- New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – New Orleans, LA
04/30- French Broad River Festival – Asheville, NC
06/04- Michael Arnone’s Crawfish Festival – Augusta, NJ

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

As the story goes, back in 2000 Ice-T, Pimp Rex, Kool Keith, Marc Live and Black Silver teamed up for a project that they dubbed Analog Brothers, and they recorded an extremely rare album together Pimp to Eat; in fact, the album is so rare to me at least, that I didn’t know it existed — and I bet that you didn’t know it did either. According to Ice-T, the original masters of Pimp To Eat were delayed when Kool Keith’s vocals were stolen during the melee that followed the Indiana Pacers vs. Los Angeles Lakers NBA Finals game on June 19, 2000. Of course, no one actually knows if that’s some insanely true and legendary story or if it’s something someone just made up.

In any case, Mello Music Group will be re-releasing Pimp to Eat on June 10, and the re-release’s first single “We Sleep Days” feat. Jacky Jasper possesses a acid-tinged and futuristic production that paris shimmering and oscillating synths and stuttering boom-bap beats with some of the most talented emcees out there trading fiery bars about pimping, hustling and drug dealing. Sonically, the song sounds as though it evokes a hip-hop alternate universe in which Outkast and Too Short managed to collaborate together.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

With the 2014 release of their self-titled debut and the 2015 release of their sophomore effort II, Toronto, ON-based trio Metz have received attention across Canada, the States and elsewhere for sludgy, face-melting power chord-based sound reminiscent of Bleach and In Utereo-era Nirvana, A Place to Bury Strangers, Japandroids and others. While the Canadian trio was on tour in San Diego last August, they had a few hours and caught up with Swami John Reis, best known for his work with Drive Like Jehu, Rocket From the Crypt, Night Marchers and Hot Snakes and went into the studio to collaborate on a special Record Store Day 7 inch “Let It Rust”/”Caught Up” which will be released through John Reis’ Swami Records on black with gold swirl vinyl. Simply put, the song is a noisy and explosive burst of power chords and thundering drumming that will melt your fucking face off and have you begging for more.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Earlier this year, I wrote about Orlando, FL-based trio Kinder Than Wolves and their wistful and moody shoegazer rock single “Hazel Days,” a single that sounded as though it could have been released back in 1983 — with the exception of a subtly modern studio sheen. That should be unsurprising as the trio, comprised of Paige Coley (vocals, guitar), Ryan Snow (guitar), and Grant Freeman (drums) are all audio engineers, who made the process of writing and recording their debut EP Mean Something an entirely DIY and collaborative effort, as the EP was produced, engineered and mixed by Coley in the band’s home studio. “Hover,” Mean Something‘s latest single will further cement the trio’s growing reputation for crafting a sound that’s indebted to 120 Minutes-era alternative rock and indie rock as shimmering guitar chords played through gentle amounts of reverb, thundering and propulsive drumming are paired with Coley’s ethereal cooing seemingly floating over the instrumentation — while lyrically, the song is arguably one of the more introspective songs the trio have released to date as the song focuses on the innermost thoughts of a narrator reflecting on an ambivalent and confusing relationship.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Nimal Agalwatte, Chrissy Hurn, and Brandon Munroe, Hamilton, Ontario-based indie rock trio Basement Revolver can trace its origins to when childhood friends Agwalwatte and Hurn were eight  or so — and as Hurn admitted to me via email we “even dated for a brief two months in High School.” Agalwatte and Munroe met while studying music in college, and the recently formed trio quickly started writing songs and working on a debut EP, which is currently slated for a July release. “Johnny,” the trio’s debut single is a shimmering and introspective bit of shoegaze with swirling  guitar chords and dramatic drumming that Hurn describes as ” . . my attempt to rationalize difficulties with my past partner and all the heartache and angst that comes from having a really bad time.” And as a result, the song possesses a plaintive ache and lingering ambivalence towards both the relationship and the person that should feel familiar to anyone who’s suffered through a difficult breakup.

Sonically speaking, the song is reminiscent of 120 Minutes MTV-era alternative rock — in particular, I’m reminded of The Cranberries‘ “Linger,” Mazzy Star and others as it possesses a similar wistfulness and heartache.

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Earlier in the year, I wrote about Ursa Major, an up-and-coming 19 year-old Toronto, ON-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, who describes his work and sound as Psychedelic R&B and claims that his work manages to fit comfortably between classic/old-school R&B and contemporary electronic production — although the Canadian producer’s debut single “Dusk” bore an uncanny resemblance to JOVM mainstay act, Gosh Pith as rumbling and wobbling low end, skittering drum programming are paired soulful vocals in a song that focuses on lust, loneliness and desperate longing. Interestingly, in press notes, the Canadian producer has noted that his earliest work focuses on his personal experiences including his past loves, a fear and inability to move forward and the complicated, heartbreaking and yet strangely reaffirming processes of falling in and out of love repeatedly.

The young Canadian producer, multi-intrusmentalist and singer/songwriter’s latest single “5am/Intro” will further cement Ursa Major’s reputation for slick and swaggering contemporary production consisting  — in this case consisting of shimmering synths, glitchy drum programming and boom bap beats in a song that’s about that shuffling fucked up drunk and high return from the club or the bar, and giving zero fucks about it.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Over the past few months, Jack Berry, a Reno, NV-born and Nashville, TN-based singer/songwriter and rock/blues artist has quickly become one of my favorite artists of 2016 as I’ve previously written about two singles off Berry’s forthcoming full-length Mean Machine  The Bull,” a sultry and bluesy single with an anthemic hook that sounded as though it were Superunknown-era Soundgarden — in particular “Mailman” “Spoonman,”and “Fell on Black Days,” as well as “Bad Dog,” a swaggering, cocksure song that continued in the arena rock-friendly vein of “The Bull” but bluesier, as though Berr were attempting to channel Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker.
Mean Machine’s latest single “Coal” will further cement Berry’s growing reputation for bluesy and anthemic power chord-based rock that manages to possess a moody, sensual and contemporary take on hard rock and the blues,  complete with his signature cocksure swagger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Comprised of Chuck Cleaver (vocals, guitar), Lisa Walker (vocals, guitar), Mark Messerly (bass, keys), John Erhardt (pedal steel, guitar), and Joe Klug (drums), Cincinnati, OH-based shoegaze quintet Wussy can trace their origins to when the band’s founding members and primary songwriters Chuck Cleaver, formerly of Ass Ponys and Lisa Walker began to perform together on what was supposed to be a brief run of solo shows for Cleaver back in 2001. The first show Cleaver and Walker played together was largely unplanned and went without incident, so they agreed to continue and expand the band. The band’s first drummer Dawn Burman and Meserly were recruited and joined the band in 2002 and the quartet released three full-length efforts and an EP that received praise from a number of media outlets including Rolling Stone, SPIN, Village Voice, NPR, The Washington Post, Uncut and the legendary Robert Christgau, who placed the Cincinnati quintet’s first two efforts Funeral Dress and Left for Dead on his best of the decade list and their third, self-titled release on his best of 2009 list.

After quickly achieving critical success, the band went through a lineup change as Burman left and was replaced with Cincinnati music scene vet, Joe Klug with whom the recorded Attica! and their sixth and most recent effort, Forever Sounds, which was released last month through Shake It/Damnably Records. The quintet recently released subtly shoegazey cover of Joy Division/New Order‘s “Ceremony” which retains the spirit of the original while adding layers upon layers of reverb drenched guitars with the boy/girl harmonies of Cleaver and Walker throughout. Interestingly, Cleaver and Walker’s harmonies bring the swooning Romantic urgency of the song out into the forefront. But perhaps more important, it’s a reminder of how a timeless song can reverberate a generation or two after its initial release.

Check out how the Wussy cover compares to the Joy Division original below.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Comprised of Josef Kašpar and Joe Craven, Body Clocks are an up-and-coming Bristol-UK-based duo, who specialize in a electro pop sound reminiscent of Bonobo and others — and as you’ll hear on their new single “Still Life,” the duo pairs a lush yet ambient production of shimmering and undulating synths, a brief string arrangement, swirling electronics, a sinuous bass line,  brief bursts of angular guitar chords and live percussion to create a trippy and expansively cinematic composition.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past few months, starting around the end of last year, you may recall coming across a couple of posts about Liverpool-based shoegaze quintet The Vryll Society. Comprised of Michael Ellis, Ryan Ellis, Lewis McGuinness, Lloyd Shearer, and Benjamin Robinson, the band was discovered by Alan Willis, the late founder of Deltasonic Records, who noticed potential in the band and guided the quintet through their development as a band and as songwriters. Over the course of the following year, the British shoegaze quintet locked themselves away in their rehearsal space, where they jammed and began writing material that was inspired by Funkadelic, Aphrodite’s Child, krautrock and classic shoegaze.

“Coshh,” the second single off the band’s debut EP Pangea had the Liverpool-based quintet pairing a tight, motorik groove consisting of a wobbling bass line and propulsive four-on-the-floor-like drumming, shimmering guitar chords played through layers of reverb and effects pedals, atmospheric electronics, falsetto vocals, anthemic hooks and a cosmic sheen. “Self-Realization,” Pangea‘s third single further cemented the quintet’s growing reputation for shimmering and anthemic shoegaze in an expansive and sprawling song that nodded at  The Verve, as the song structurally twisted, turned and bent at weird and unpredictable angles — with guitar work that also subtly nodded at Nick McCabe’s expansive and expressive sound.

Interestingly, “La Jette,” The Vryll Society’s latest single is a dreamier and ethereal single that hints at the contemporary obsession with the sound of 60s psych rock that sounds as though it draws from the likes of Elephant Stone, Sleepy Sun and others; in other words, shimmering and jangling guitar chords, ethereal vocals and a strutting bass line are paired together in the Liverpool-based quintet’s trippiest, most subdued  and most introspective song to date.