Permit is a Bloomington, IN-based indie rock/punk rock duo and with the release of their debut 7 inch, the duo’s sound was indebted to power pop, classic rock and early punk; however, with the release of their debut EP Vol. 1 the duo’s sound has increasingly taken on a frenetic post-punk vibe that makes their material sound as though it were indebted to Pink Flag-era Wire but as though it were a 33 rpm album played 45 rpm speed, as you’ll hear on Vol. 1’s latest single “Track #6.”
Category: post-punk
Although they officially formed in 2014 when their previous bands and creative projects ended, NGHTCRWRLS, comprised of Frank DeFranco (guitar, vocals), Brian Goglia (bass, vocals), Eric Goldberg (guitar, vocals) and Max Rauch (drums and vocals), the members of the band have known each other for years as each member of the band has spent time playing in a number of bands across the tri-state area. And as the story goes, once their various creative outlets ended, the quartet managed to serendipitously began collaborating through a series of jam sessions that resulted in their debut effort, which was recorded by Rauch in the band’s practice space and engineered and mastered by the band’s dear friend Jeremy Cimino . After a series of short tours to support their debut, the members of the band went back to their practice space to record the material, which comprised their soon-to-be released sophomore effort Raging Hot, which they had written while touring.
Raging Hot‘s latest single, the appropriately titled “Fear and Greed” is a funky, post-punk and 80s New Wave-leaning single, which finds the band pairing shimmering and angular guitar chords played through gentle amounts of reverb, a rolling and sinuous bass line, and propulsive drumming with DeFranco’s crooning falsetto. And while sonically being reminiscent of Wire and The Fixx, the song manages to possess a creeping sense of dread and uncertainty — the same sort of dread and uncertainty that countless people have started to feel about their prospects.
New Video: Introducing the Noisy, Alt-Rock-Inspired Sounds of Amsterdam’s Canshaker Pi
With the release of the “Shaniqua” and “Looking For Love On Ibiza” 7 inch single and their Boomslang and For Ed EPs, the Amsterdam-based indie rock quartet Canshaker Pi — comprised of Willem Smit (vocals, guitar), Boris de Klerk (vocals, guitars), Ruben van Weegberg (bass) and Nick Bolland (drums) — have received a reputation across the Netherlands and elsewhere fro a frenzied live show consisting of swaggering and noisy rock that mischievously draws from a variety of sources. Their For Ed EP is a tongue in cheek references to survival-expert Ed Stafford, while “Shaniqua” references a line in Outkast’s smash-hit single “Hey Ya!” — and as a result of their rapidly growing profile, the Dutch quartet caught the attention of Pavement’s and Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks’ Steven Malkmus, who co-produced the Dutch’s quartet soon-to-be-releaed full-length debut Naked Flowers.
Naked Flowers’ latest single “Bonox” finds the band pairing anthemic hooks with shimmering yet tense and angular guitar chords, four-on-the-floor-like drumming, a propulsive bass line and Smit’s ironically detached vocals to craft a song that manages to sound as though it were indebted to 90s alt rock, post-punk and Brit Pop simultaneously — but with a mischievousness at its core.
The recently released music video features time-lapse footage of a painter creating a painting to the song — including brief moments to smoke cigarettes and daydream, a lot of precise mixing of pigments and actual painting and making sure that every little detail was precise to how he had initially envisioned and what he envisioned what it was supposed to be.
Admittedly, after the election results last night, it’s been difficult to concentrate — but as I mentioned to a Twitter follower, who felt profoundly discouraged, artists of all sorts are now desperately needed more than ever to lead the charge against an evil unlike anything anyone has seen in this country. And I hope that artists of all stripes are moved to create with a furious passion, and to create art that challenges the status quo, that inspires and emboldens people to fight — and to fight for the defenseless.
In the meantime, there’s work to do. Comprised of Susil Sharma (vocals, guitar and synths) Matthew Fiorentino (guitar, synth), and Raphael Bussières (bass), the Montreal, QC-based indie rock/post-punk trio Heat have received praise from Brooklyn Vegan and NME for a swaggering and moody song that’s “equal parts hooks, melody and attitude.” The band’s latest single “Lush” off their new album, Overnight is moody and seductive track in which the band pairs shimmering synths, angular guitar chords played though reverb, thumping, four-on-the-floor drumming, and a sinuous bass line with a razor sharp hook, in a song that sounds as though it draws from The Psychedelic Furs –but with a slick, modern, dance-floor friendly feel.
Featuring The Eccentronic Research Council‘s Adrian Flanagan and Dean Honer and Fat White Family‘s Lias Saoudi and Saul Adamczweski, The Moonlandingz are both a side project and a semi-fictional guitar pop act, whose latest single “Black Hanz,” is as the band refers to in press notes “a song for our times, born out of abuse; abuse in the workplace, abuse in the street, abuse by the sniveling toe rags we call a government, abuse for daring to dream and to be different,” and “a celebration of the Outsider, the socially inept . . ” Sonically speaking their sound manages to mesh a facsimile of the Manchester sound — twinkling synths, guitars fed through delay and effects pedals and a driving motorik groove — paired with a sneering and ironic punk sentiment, and a mischievous and menacing spoken word section towards the song’s bridge.
The project’s full-length debut effort was co-produced by Sean Lennon and the band and was mixed by Dave Fridmann, best known for his work producing Flaming Lips and Tame Impala, and is slated for a 2017 release through Chimera Music across North America and Transgressive Records in the UK and elsewhere.
New Video: The Psychedelic Yet Nostalgic Visuals for Indie Rock Act Pamphleteers’ “Shivering”
“Shivering,” is the first single off the band’s recently released full-length debut Ghost That Follows, and the single consists of shimmering and angular guitar chords paired with propulsive drumming, tumbling bass line, Crawford’s plaintive and urgent vocals and an anthemic hook in a song that sounds as though it were inspired by 80s post-punk — but at its core the song feels simultaneously joyous over small pleasures and haunted by the ghosts of their friends and loved ones and the recognition that some losses linger forever.
The recently released video for the single fittingly uses a ton of nostalgic imagery — including a cassette tape being run through an off-brand Walkman that appears as though it were recorded onto an old VHS or Betamax tape, psychedelic imagery of people skateboarding in the California sun and amusement parks shot on Super 8 film but treated through a kaleidoscopic filters and the like.
New Video: Introducing the Post Rock/Post Punk Sounds of San Francisco’s The Soonest
Led by San Francisco, CA-based singer/songwriter Young Lee and featuring a rotating cast of collaborators including members of indie rock bands such as WATERS, Hazel English’s backing band, Doe Eye, There’s Talk, and Elsa y Elmar, The Soonest have released a handful of EPs at traditional recording studios that have won attention both locally and regionally for a layered and moody, 80s post-punk/post-rock leaning sound; in fact, Lee was asked to write the score to the documentary Weaving Shibusa.
Mixed by Greg Francis and mastered by TW Walsh, the project’s recently released full-length debut effort, Doors to the City was recorded in an empty Bay Area church, and the high wooden ceilings helped create the enormous, wall of sound like sound that you’ll hear on Doors to the City’s first single “Start a War,” a single that pairs Lee’s lilting and dramatic vocals with layers upon layers of angular guitar chords, a forceful, motorik-like groove consisting of a sinuous bass line and propulsive drumming, and an anthemic hook. Sonically, the song manages to channel Crocodiles and Heaven Up Here-era Echo and the Bunnymen — including deeply urgent and visual lyrics that describe an uneasy and fraught relationship.
Live Concert Photography: The Shondes with Slingshot Dakota and Permanent Wave at Shea Stadium 9/17/16
Featuring former members of The Dials, Telenovela and The Returnables, Chicago, IL-based indie rock trio The Pamphleteers, comprised of Rebecca Crawford (bass, vocals), Geoff Atkinson (drums) and Jonathan Ben-Isvy (guitar) can trace their origins to playing together in a series of bands for the better part of a decade, to friendships that go back further than that — and to a tragic event that ultimately ended their primary projects and had them reeling: back in 2005, an suicide attempt/international car crash took the lives of three Chicago musicians, Crawford’s husband John Glick, who was also Ben-Isvy’s bandmate in The Returnables, Crawford’s bandmate in The Dials, Doug Meis and Michael Dahlquist of Silkworm, who was a mutual friend of every member of both bands.
Although reeling from such profound loss, the surviving members of all of those bands, decided that to best pay respect to their dead friends was to continue forward with music; and in fact, it’s been an opportunity for Crawford and Ben-Isvy to find joy and move forward as best as they could. “Shivering,” is the first single off the band’s soon-to-be released full-length debut Ghost That Follows, which is slated for a September 23, 2016 release, and the single consists of shimmering and angular guitar chords paired with propulsive drumming, tumbling bass line, Crawford’s plaintive and urgent vocals and an anthemic hook in a song that sounds as though it were inspired by 80s post-punk — but at its core the song feels simultaneously joyous over small pleasures and haunted by the ghosts of their friends and loved ones and the recognition that some losses linger forever.
New Video: The Creepy Film Noir Visuals and Tense, Uneasy Sounds of No One Mind
As you’ll hear on “Tiger” No One Mind’s latest single, layers of angular, buzzing guitars, a propulsive, throbbing bass line and rapid-fire drumming is paired with venomous lyrics full of recrimination, bitter accusations and spite and it comes from a deeply personal and fucked up place that should be familiar to anyone who has felt as though their heart was stomped on by someone close to them — including the miscommunication and misunderstanding, pettiness and deceit that adds a razor sharp edge to the feeling of deceit and loathing at the core of the song while pairing it with a song structure that feels dimly familiar yet alien.
Directed by Zoe Dehmer, the recently released video for “Tiger” is an film noir-like video that follows a pair of two young girls — presumably sisters — who appear as though they’re under the influence of hallucinogens as they wander around a suburban town, explore each other and mess with each other, while hinting at something deeply menacing and cruel just under the surface.
Earlier this week, I wrote about Chicago, IL-based quartet Radar Eyes and their 80s post-punk inspired single “Community” off their forthcoming effort Radiant Remains, an effort that sees the band moving from the fuzzy, garage rock that first caught attention towards an anthemic and moody 80s post-punk sound — and an effort meant to be a swan song for the band, in the aftermath of Anthony Cozzi’s (vocals, guitar) relocation to Los Angeles. Radiant Remains’ second and latest single “Midnight Drive” is a jangling and anthemic song consisting of a propulsive drumming and shimmering guitars and a earnest and rousingly anthemic hook that sounds as though it draws from the likes of The Alarm, U2, Crocodiles, Heaven Up Here and Ocean Rain-era Echo and the Bunnymen, and Starfish-era The Church as the song swoons and swaggers with a desperate urgency.
Featuring Anthony Cozzi (vocals, guitar), Russell Calderwood (guitar), Nithin Kalvakota (drums) and Lucas Sikorski (bass), Chicago, IL-based quartet Radar Eyes initially received attention for a fuzzy, garage rock sound, and with Cozzi’s relocation to Los Angeles, the quartet’s forthcoming effort Radiant Remains was in some way meant to be a swan song for the band — while being a sonic change in direction as the band’s material took on a decidedly 80s post-punk rock sound that channeled the likes of Crocodiles, Heaven Up Here and Ocean Rain-era Echo and the Bunnymen, Starfish-era The Church and others as you’ll hear on the album’s moody and shimmering first single “Community.” And much like the material that influenced it, “Community” reveals that the band has the ability to write material that possess an incredibly anthemic and rousing hook.
At the end of last month, I wrote about the Leeds, UK-based indie rock/post-punk trio Cowtown. Comprised of David Michale Shields (drums), Hilary Knott (bass, keys and vocals) and Johnathan Nash (guitar,vocals), the British trio have over the course of three full-length albums have developed a reputation for angular, super caffeinated post-punk that draws from Gang of Four, DEVO, Talking Heads, much like “Motivational Speaker,” the first single off the band’s forthcoming album Paranormal Romance slated for an August 19, 2016 release through Athens, GA-based HHBTM Records in the US and Sheffield, UK-based label Audacious Art Experiment.
Clocking in at 92 seconds, Paranormal Romance‘s second and latest single “Tweak” sounds as though it were indebted to the Ramones and 90s alt rock, as the the trio pairs propulsive and thundering drumming with blistering power chords and an anthemic and infectious “oh oh oh” at the hook that you can imagine a crowded and sweaty bunch of kids yelling lustily while moshing — and with a youthful abandon.
Initially began under the name Viet Cong, the Calgary, Alberta-based quartet Preoccupations can trace their origins to an extremely complicated six degrees of musical and personal separation as the band is comprised of two childhood friends, Matt Flegel (bass, vocals) and Mike Wallace (bass), who also were once members of Women; Scott Munro (guitar) and Flegel were once members of Chad VanGaalen’s backing band — and while on tour with VanGaalen they had frequently discussed collaborating on a project together; and lastly, Daniel Christiansen (guitar) had once played in a Black Sabbath cover band with Siegel, Wallace, and other members of Women.
Throughout 2015, as the band was still named Viet Cong, the members of the band unwittingly found themselves in the midst of an ongoing conversation about cultural appropriate and questions about associating oneself with names that evoke the horrors of fascism, terrorism, brutality, war, etc. And naturally, as a result of the surrounding controversy, the members of the band decided that a name change was absolutely necessary and after some reflection and consideration, they announced that they would now be known as Preoccupations. Interestingly, as the band mentioned in press notes, when they reconvened to write the material that would eventually comprise their self-titled effort as Preoccupations, they had found themselves in a rather unsteady and uncertain state. Years-long relationships had ended and the members of the band all relocated to different cities, which made their long-held creative process of using the experiences of the road to inspire their writing extremely difficult. And when the band entered the studio without a having a central idea to consider or to guide their writing process, each member of the Calgary-based quartet recognized that for this effort, they were all about to take a collective leap of faith in which they at least had each other — and in many ways the material on the album captures the band in profound transition and feeling their way out of it as best as they could.
Interestingly, as the band’s frontman Matt Flegel explained in press notes, the album’s material draws from very specific things — the sort of things that has most people up all night, fraught with anxiety and despair. The album’s first single “Anxiety,” is as Flegel explained about the the process of natural and forced change upon the band, while on another level, the song captures the uncertain and uneasy push and pull of human relationships, including the bitterness, regret, ambivalence, frustration and self-doubt they engender. Sonically, the song possesses a subtly atmospheric sheen while further cementing their reputation for crafting tense and angular post punk that draws from Joy Division and others.
The self-titled album’s second single “Degraded” pairs their tense and angular song with what may arguably be the possess the most straightforward and hook-friendly song structure they’ve written to date; however, the song lyrically reveals itself to be full of bilious accusation and recrimination, ill-feeling and seems to evoke a relationship slowly splintering at its core, complete with the realization that as a result the relationship will be irrevocably altered; but simultaneously being a plaintive and urgent plea for understanding, for forgiveness, for the dysfunctional train ride to just stop. Sonically, the band employs synths to give their already tense material a subtle atmospheric feel much like “Anxiety;” however, the album’s latest single pushes that feeling of anxiety outward so that it becomes an enveloping fog.
The band is in the middle of a lengthy world tour, which includes a second New York area stop at Warsaw in October. Check out the tour dates below.
World Tour Dates
08.21.16 – White Oak Music Hall – Houston, TX *
08.22.16 – Bomb Factory – Dallas, TX *
08.24.16 – Tricky Falls – El Paso, TX *
08.28.16 – FYF Fest – Los Angeles, CA
08.29.16 – Mountain Winery – Saratoga, CA *
08.30.16 – Ace of Spades – Sacramento, CA *
09.01.16 – Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR *
09.02.16 – Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR *
09.28.16 – The Rickshaw Theater – Vancouver, BC
10.01.16 – Mac Hall Ballroom – Calgary, AB ^
10.03.16 – WECC – Winnipeg, MB ^
10.04.16 – Fine Line Music Cafe – Minneapolis, Mn ^
10.05.16 – Thalia Hall – Chicago, Il ^
10.07.16 – Crofoot Ballroom – Pontiac, Mi ^
10.08.16 – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON ^
10.11.16 Virgin Mobile Corona Theater Montreal, QC ^
10.12.16 – The Sinclair – Cambridge, Ma ^
10.14.16 – Warsaw – Brooklyn NY ^
10.15.16 – First Unitarian Church – Philadelphia, Pa ^
10.16.16 – Rock & Roll Hotel – Washington DC ^
10.18.16 – Masquerade – Atlanta, Ga ^
10.19.16 – Gasa Gasa – New Orleans, La ^
10.21.16 – The Mohawk – Austin, Tx ^
10.25.16 – Valley Bar – Phoenix, Az ^
10.26.16 – The Irenic – San Diego, Ca ^
10.28.16 – The Roxy – Los Angeles, Ca ^
10.29.16 – The Independent – San Francisco, Ca
11.02.16 – Neumos – Seattle, Wa ^
11.05.15 – Brudenell Social Club – Leeds, UK
11.06.16 – Gorilla – Manchester, UK
11.07.16 – Oval Space – London, UK
11.08.16 – Exchange – Bristol, UK
11.09.16 – The Haunt – Brighton, UK
11.10.16 – Le Guess Who Festival – Utrecht, NL
11.12.16 – Botanique – Brussels, BE
11.14.16 – Pumpehuset – Copenhagen, DK
11.15.16 – Molotow – Hamburg, DE
11.18.16 – Musiques Volantes Festival – Metz, FR
11.21.16 – La Laiterie – Strasbourg, FR
11.22.16 – Klaus – Zurich, CH
11.23.16 – Magnolia – Milan, IT
11.24.16 – Quirinetta – Rome, IT
11.25.16 – Locomotiv – Bologna, IT
11.26.16 – Suprette Festival – Neuchatel, CH
11.28.16 – Luxor – Cologne, DE
^ w/ Methyl Ethel
* w/ Explosions In The Sky
With the release of two EPs and their full-length debut Consent released last year, the Vancouver, BC-baesd post-punk trio Lié, comprised of Brittany West, Ashlee Luk and Kati J, have developed reputation for a sound that draws from both early post-punk and noise bands, their hometown as well as each individual member’s own creative side efforts — West’s darkwave project Koban, Kati J’s trash punk band SBDC and Luk’s electronic project Minimal Violence; but perhaps much more important, they also developed a reputation for politically charged material — last year’s Consent was a barbed commentary on rape culture. However, the Canadian trio’s follow-up Truth or Consequences reportedly turns inward to the deeply personal, focusing on the dichotomy between the destructive and fragile elements of the ego. And as a result, the album’s first single “Failed Visions” is a tense, maniacally anxious song that evokes the fucked up inner dialogue we maintain within our heads — the sort in which you may vacillate from cocksure confidence to self loathing. Sonically and structurally, the band pairs slashing, angular guitar chords, a propulsive rhythm section and rapid fire tempo changes and in some way it makes the song sound as though it draws from L7 and Bikini Kill — or in other words it’s abrasive and furiously cathartic.