Over the past year or so, I’ve written about the Los Angeles, CA-based post-punk trio and JOVM mainstays Second Still, and as you may recall the trio, comprised of founding members Ryan Walker (guitar) and Alex Hartman (bass) along with Suki San (vocals) released their critically applauded 2017 self-titled, full-length debut, and from singles “Walls,” “Recover,” “You Two So Alike,” and “Strangers,” the album’s material thematically focused on decidedly post-modern subjects: depression, frustration, anxiety and alienation among a throbbing, seething mass of humanity, with a visceral and urgent emotionality, while sonically seeming to draw from Sixousie and the Banshees and the early catalog of renowned indie label 4AD Records.
Equals, the Los Angeles-based post punk trio’s much-anticipated follow-up EP finds the band expanding upon their sound and songwriting approach, pushing it towards new directions — but while retaining major elements of the sound that first caught the attention of the this site and the rest of the blogosphere. You’ll still hear the chorus and delay pedal effects-based guitar, bass driven grooves and explosive, industrial rock drum machine beats, paired with ethereal and aching vocals and razor sharp hooks; however, the members of the band have begun employing the use of a couple of analog synthesizers, which adds an atmospheric and moody element to the proceedings. Interestingly, as the band explains in press notes, half the EP’s material (the A side) reportedly finds the band leaning towards a decidedly pop-leaning direction and overall lighter sound, while the second half (the B-side) finds the band hewing towards their gloomy, goth-like roots. EP single “Opening” was a melancholy post-punk track that I think will further their growing reputation for crafting 80s-inspired post-punk with slick, contemporary production values; the EP’s second single “Automata” continued on a similar vein, bearing an uncanny resemblance Sixousie and the Banshees’ “Israel,” and “Happy House.”
“In Order,” Equals third and latest single, is centered around arpeggiated synths, a sinuous bass line, shimmering guitar work, San’s Siouxie Sioux-like vocals and their uncanny ability to write a slick and infectious hook; but interestingly enough, the signal finds the band expanding upon their sound, as it’s arguably one of the most propulsive, club ready songs they’ve ever released.
Over the past couple of months I’ve written quite a bit about the Chicago, IL-based post-punk act Ganser, and with the release of their debut EP, This Feels Like Living, the members of the Chicago-based act received attention locally for an art rock-leaning post-punk/noise rock sound influenced by Sonic Youth and Magazine. Now, as you may recall, the band’s full-length debut Odd Talk is slated for release later this month through No Trend Records, and the album’s material reportedly focuses on communication breakdowns, with the song’s narrators desperately seeking meaning in confusion and messiness, as though they were literally sorting through syllables and signals to find the right words to say what they wanted or needed to say.
“Satsuma,” Odd Talk‘s last official single will further cement their reputation for material that thematically can be grimly absurd yet comedic that points at the complexities and frustrations of human relationships paired with angular guitar chords and propulsive drumming that help evoke a sweaty, heart racing anxiety: the sort in which your thoughts are racing and pinballing within your head; but the difference here is that the song focuses on a weary reservation, on avoiding expectations and their inevitable heartache, of not showing your hand when things are uncertain.
The band will be embarking on a tour to support their full-length debut and it includes an album release show at Chicago’s Empty Bottle on April 16, 2018 and two NYC area dates — April 27, 2018 at Alphaville and May 1, 2018 at Saint Vitus.
Tour Dates
3/09 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall (w/ Ought, Snail Mail)
3/28 – Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen (w/ Shopping, Tyvek)
4/16 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle (Record Release Show)
Over the past year, I’ve written a bit about the Los Angeles, CA-based post-punk trio Second Still, and as you may recall the trio, comprised of founding members Ryan Walker (guitar) and Alex Hartman (bass) along with Suki San (vocals) can initially trace its origins to when its founding duo met in Los Angeles, back in 2007. By 2011 Walker and Hartman had relocated to New York, where they spent a great deal of time searching for a vocalist, who they felt could match their intensity and creative output, and as the story goes, when Walker and Hartman met Suki San, they felt an immediate connection and began working together.
Second Still’s first show was an infamous party at the now-condemned McKibbin Street Lofts that was shut down by the police during the band’s second song. Building upon the buzz of that incident, the band recorded their debut EP, Early Forms as a limited edition cassette, which quickly sold out. Making the most of their time, the members of the trio wrote and recorded the material that eventually comprised their 2017 self-titled, full-length debut — and from singles “Walls,” “Recover,” “You Two So Alike,” and “Strangers,” the album’s material thematically focused on decidedly post-modern subjects: depression, frustration, anxiety and alienation among a throbbing, seething mass of humanity, with a visceral and urgent emotionality, while sonically seeming to draw from Sixousie and the Banshees and the early catalog of renowned indie label 4AD Records.
Equals, the Los Angeles-based post punk trio’s much-anticipated follow-up EP finds the band expanding upon their sound, pushing it towards new directions — while retaining some of the early elements that first caught the attention of the blogosphere and elsewhere. You’ll see hear the chorus and delay pedal effected guitar, sinuous bass-driven grooves and industrial-like drum machine beats paired with ethereal vocals and infectious, razor sharp hooks; however, the members of the band have begun employing the use of a couple of analog synthesizers, which adds an atmospheric element to their sound. Additionally, roughly half of the EP’s material (the A side) reportedly finds he band exploring a decidedly pop-orientated, lighter sound while the other half (the B side) find site band hewing towards the melancholy and gloomy roots. The EP’s first single “Opening” was a decidedly melancholy post-punk track that to my ears will further their growing reputation for crafting a sound heavily indebted to early 80s post-punk with clean, modern production values, and unsurprisingly, the EP’s latest single “Automata” continues on a similar vein as its predecessor, bearing an uncanny resemblance to Sixousie and the Banshees’ “Israel,” and “Happy House” but with a subtle bit of moody atmospherics.
Over the past few years, I’ve written quite a bit about the Oakland, CA-based indie rock act Wax Idols, and as you may recall that after 2013’s critically applauded album Discipline + Desire, the band went on hiatus as the band’s founding member, primary songwriter and frontperson Hether Fortune joined the equally acclaimed punk rock band and JOVM mainstays White Lung. That was followed by a heartbreaking and life-altering divorce, which informed much of the material on the band’s critically applauded, third album, 2016’s American Tragic.
Informed by the one of the saddest and most difficult experiences of Fortune’s life, as Fortune explained that American Tragic wasn’t “. . .a sad album.The whole spectrum of grief is represented here — shock, pain, anger, loneliness, and then finding a way to work through all of that, and not only survive, and thrive. That’s what I was going through. I was kind of trying to save myself.”
Fortune wrote and recorded every note and every single chord on the album, and as a result, it gives the album a deeply personal vision and point of view in which the heartbreak and grief at the core of the album is visceral and haunting — especially if you’ve ever experienced the dissolution of a long-term romantic relationship, as it evokes the lingering ghosts and resentments, the push and pull of longing, confusion and hatred towards that person, who may well never be in your life again; but it’s all underpinned by the recognition that if you’ve known love, you may know it again and again and again, and that somehow you’ll pick up most of the pieces and move forward. And while thematically being among the most sober and thoughtful material Fortune has written, the material sonically is reminiscent of Too True-era Dum Dum Girls, Concrete Blonde, Siouxsie and the Banshees and others.
Slated for a May 16, 2018 release through Etruscan Gold Records, Wax Idols long-anticipated forth Monte Vallier-produced album Happy Ending finds the band charting new territory thematically with band exploring the abstraction and finality of death from philosophical, political and personal perspectives, in some way, continuing on the deeply personal tone and vibe American Tragic. Along with that, the album finds the band continuing onward after a series of lineup changes with Fortune being backed by Peter Lightning (guitar, bass, organ, piano), Rachel Travers (drums) and Marisa Prieto (bass, backing vocals) — although Greer McGettrick, best known for being in The Mallard as the band’s newest member, joining the band after the material was finished.
Despite the lineup changes, the Happy Ending’s first single “Scream” is an incredibly urgent track that will further the band’s reputation for crafting rousingly anthemic.
80s-inspired post-punk with a deeply personal, idiosyncratic vision, complete with some impressive guitar pyrotechnics that make the song seem as though the band were gently nodding at Boy and October-era U2. As Fortune told NPR, “Finding inspiration in one of my favorite poems, ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’ by Dylan Thomas, I used this song as a vehicle to meditate on the concept of free will & how one could choose to exercise it even at the brink of death.” She adds, “The protagonist is someone who is young, madly in love AND desperately wants to live — though they know that they will not. They have chosen to use their final seconds, the only breath in their lungs, to scream out the name of the one that they love.”
Despite the fact they had gone through a few lineup changes, the Chicago, IL-based post-punk act Disappears since their formation in 2008 received attention for crafting music that thematically explored how difficult it can be to relate to others, how we seek out meaning and attempt to make sense of our surroundings despite the fact that relationships fall part, how patterns grow into habits and how our world can shift so rapidly that it’s unsetting and completely unrecognizable. And as a result, their sound generally evoked and conveyed our contemporary condition — the creeping, anxious dread of a venal and vicious world that possesses its own lunatic logic.
Now, as you may recall I wrote about the band quite a bit back in 2013 as they released two similar and yet very different efforts — the atmospheric and tempestuous Kone EP and the tense, raging Era, an album that felt like the interior monologues of Underground Man in Notes from the Underground or of Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment as the album featured narrators, who rapidly vacillated between anxiousness, dangerously unhinged obsession, self-loathing, envy and undulated rage directed both at oneself and at everyone and everything, capturing the dark and frightening recesses of wounded psyche — and a furious roar into the indifferent void.
Early last year, Damon Carruesco (bass) left the band, and the remaining members of Disappears, founding member Brian Case (vocals, guitar) along with Noah Leger (drums) and Jonathan van Herirk (guitar) initially decided to put the project on hold; but ultimately, they decide to carry on, boldly pushing their sound and aesthetic towards new directions with their newest musical collaboration FACS. Musically, Case, Leger and van Herik head in a similar direction as their previous collaboration together but their approach towards the stark, downright menacing post-punk goes finds them taking up much more abstract, rhythms.
“Skylarking,” the first single off the new project’s forthcoming full-length debut Negative Houses features Leger’s tribal and motorik-like drumming at the forefront of the song, with van Herik alternating between slashing and dissonant ambience and forcefully percussive guitar. While Case retains vocal duties, he switches from guitar to playing bass, with an economical yet equally forceful throb — but the major difference between projects is that while retaining the tense and menacing vibes of their preceding project, FACS leans towards a minimalist and downright creepier take. Negative Houses’ second and latest single “Primary” continues on a similar creepy and minimalist vibe, as it brief yet explosive bursts of discordant guitar, an economic and throbbing bass line and a shit ton of cymbal-led percussion before ending in a wild burst of noisy feedback. In some way, both tracks will further the individual members reputations for crafting music that captures the anxious and creeping dread of a world gone absolutely mad — and for no apparent reason.
Produced by Alexander Stewart and Jordan Wong, the recently released hand drawn animated video for “Primary” features geometric figures in shades of black and gray flashing across the screen in a kaleidoscopic, almost trance-like fashion.
Comprised of Tom Novohradský, Michal Janík, Štěpán Pařízek and Jiří Habarta, the up-and-coming, Brno, Czech Republic-based post-punk/indie act Ghost of You quickly became one of their country’s hottest acts with the release of their critically acclaimed debut effort, Glacier & the City — and with a growing profile, the act played the European festival circuit, which included appearances at last year’s Eurosonic Noderslaag and Waves Vienna Festival, 2015’s Sziget Festival, as well as a 2016 tour stop in London.
Building upon a growing profile, the Czech post-punk quartet’s sophomore effort Black Yoga was released last week, and the album reportedly finds the band drawing from Royal Blood, Queens of the Stone Age, Alt-J and Cage the Elephant — although with the album’s latest single “The ark won’t come” to my ears reminds me quite a bit of early We Are Scientists and JOVM mainstays Fufanu; but more important, the swaggering and incredibly self-assured band reveals an ability craft a rousing and infectious hook centered around thumping drumming, layers of arpeggiated synths and angular guitar chords in what may be among the most dance floor friendly song they’ve released to date. Interestingly, the recently released video for “The ark won’t come” is a sweaty and hallucinatory fever dream that manages to emphasize the thumping nature of the song.
Comprised of founding members Ryan Walker (guitar) and Alex Hartman (bass) along with Suki San (vocals), the Los Angeles, CA-based post-punk trio Second Still initially formed when its founding duo met in 2007. Fast forward to 2011, and the duo relocated to New York — and at that point, they had written and recorded over 100 instrumental demos, which were inspired by French coldwave and No Wave. Walker and Hartman spent a great deal of time searching high and low for a vocalist that they felt could match their intensity and creative output. And as the story goes, when they met Suki San, the newly constituted trio felt an immediate connection.
Second Still’s first show was an infamous party at the now-condemned McKibbin Street Lofts that was shut down by the police during the band’s second song. Building upon the buzz of that incident, the band recorded their debut EP, Early Forms as a limited edition cassette, which quickly sold out. Making the most of their time, the members of the trio wrote and recorded the material that eventually comprised their 2017 self-titled, full-length debut — and from singles “Walls,” “Recover,” “You Two So Alike,” and “Strangers,” the album’s material thematically focused on decidedly post-modern subjects: depression, frustration, anxiety and alienation among a throbbing, seething mass of humanity, with a visceral emotionality while sonically drawing from Sixousie and the Banshees.
Equals, the Los Angeles-based post punk trio’s much-anticipated follow-up EP finds the band expanding upon their sound, pushing it towards new directions — while retaining some of the early elements that first caught the attention of the blogosphere and elsewhere. You’ll see hear the chorus and delay pedal effected guitar, sinuous bass-driven grooves and industrial-like drum machine beats paired with ethereal vocals and infectious, razor sharp hooks; however, the members of the band have begun employing the use of a couple of analog synthesizers, which adds an atmospheric element to their sound. Additionally, roughly half of the EP’s material (the A side) reportedly finds he band exploring a decidedly pop-orientated, lighter sound while the other half (the B side) find site band hewing towards the melancholy and gloomy roots. The EP’s latest single “Opening” is a decidedly melancholy, post-punk track that features the shimmering, chorus and delay pedal effected guitar lines, sinuous bass lines, industrial-like drum programming and ethereal vocals — and while further cementing their reputation for a sound heavily indebted to Siouxsie and the Banshees, with a gritty and visceral emotionality that belies its clean, modern production sheen.
Comprised of Sean Solomon, Pascal Stevenson and Andrew MacKelvie, the Los Angeles, CA-based indie rock trio Moaning have spent the past few years crafting a moody and angular sound that draws from shoegaze, slacker rock and post-punk, and over that same period of time, the Los Angeles-based trio have received attention nationally and internationally from the likes of The Fader, The Guardian, DIY Magazine,Stereogum, and others.
Building upon the growing buzz that’s surrounding them, the Los Angeles-based indie rock/post-punk trio’s highly-anticipated self-titled, full-length debut is slated for a March 2, 2018 release through Sub Pop Records, and as you may recall the Joy Division/Interpol/Preoccupations-like album single “Artificial” featured a rousingly anthemic hook while bristling with a tense, self-awareness of artifice, superficiality and ugliness. Their latest single “Tired” may arguably be their self-titled debut album’s moodiest and dreamiest song as it features shimmering synths and angular guitar chords paired with a soaring hook.
Directed by Ambar Navarro, who has worked with Stef Chura and Anna Burch, the recently released video splits between footage of the band performing the song and a surreal, dream-like (almost nightmarish) logic in which a miniature house suddenly burst into flame, a hamster takes a bath, goldfish indifferently swim in circles and other objects spontaneously combust. Along with the band, the video co-stars Casper the Hamster, Mr. Maggie the Cat and two goldfish.
Comprised of Jason Corbett (vocals, guitar), Shannon Hemmett (synth, vocals), Jahmell Russell (bass, vocals) and Adam Fink (drums), the Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based post punk act ACTORS have developed a reputation for a modern take on the familiar post-punk sound, in a way that some critics have compared to The Soft Moon, Cold Cave and others.
Building upon a growing amount of buzz surrounding the band, their forthcoming full-length debut It Will Come To You, which is slated for a March 9, 2018 release through Artoffact Records, the album reportedly finds the band crafting slickly produced, hook-driven material. In fact, album single “L’appel du Vide,” features angular and razor sharp guitar chords played through gentle amounts of reverb, a motorik groove, shimmering arpeggiated synths paired with propulsive drumming and a rousingly anthemic hook — and while drawing from 4AD Records-era post-punk and New Wave, the single will further cement their growing reputation for crafting urgent yet cinematic material. The album’s second single “Slaves,” features a propulsive bass line, slashing guitar chords, soaring synths and industrial clang and clatter, and while as urgent as its predecessor, it also manages to be the most direct and anthemic track of the two from the new album.
The Canadian post-punk act will be touring throughout their native Canada, the States and Europe throughout 2018. Check out tour dates below.
Feb 1 – Vancouver, BC @ Astoria
Mar 10 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw (It Will Come to You album release show)
Mar 22 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
Mar 23 – Boise, ID @ Vista Bar
Mar 28 – Sacramento, CA @ LowBrau
Mar 29 – Oakland, CA @ Golden Bull
Mar 30 – Los Angeles, CA @ La Cita (Part Time Punks)
Apr 2 – Eugene, OR @ Old Nicks
Apr 3 – Olympia, WA @ Crytatropa
Apr 4 – Everett, WA @ Obscurus
Apr 6 – Portland, OR @ Tonic Lounge (Out from the Shadows Festival)
Apr 12 – Vancouver, BC @ Astoria (Verboden Festival)
May 10 – Paris, FR @ Le Supersonic
May 11 – Lille, FR @ Le Bobble Cafe
May 17 – Stockholm, SE @ Debaser Strand
May 18 – Copenhagen, DK @ Stengade
May 19 – Hamburg, DE @ Gruner Jager
May 20 – Leipzig, DE @ Wave Gotik Treffen Festival
With the release of 2015’s debut effort, The Great Sun, the post-punk duo VOWWS, comprised of Sydney, Australia-born, Los Angeles-based duo of Rizz and Matt quickly received attention for a sound that drew upon a diverse array of influences including classic Western, electronica, surf rock, metal, film soundtracks, post-punk and industrial rock. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site, you may recall that earlier that the duo’s highly-anticipated sophomore effort, Under the World continues their ongoing collaboration with longtime friend, mentor and renowned Kevin S. McMahon, and finds the Australian-born, Los Angeles, CA-based duo reportedly eschewing much of the familiar post-punk and industrial tropes of their previously recorded material to focus on a razor sharp hooks, direct vocals and richer, more nuanced textures.
“Forget Your Finery” found the duo pairing angular guitar and bass chop Yrds played through layers of fuzz and other distortion pedals, thumping and propulsive drumming and while still sounding to me as though it were influenced by 80s New Wave, there’s a deliberate attention to melodicism and to infectious, arena rock friendly hooks. “ESSSEFF” their sophomore effort’s latest single sonically will remind some listeners of Depeche Mode‘s “Policy of Truth” and U2′s “Mysterious Ways” as it finds the duo pairing layers of buzzing industrial-like synths, stomping and propulsive drum machine, bluesy guitar chords — but just like it’s predecessor the duo continue with a deliberate attention to melodic, razor sharp and rousingly anthemic hooks.
VOWWS’ sophomore effort is slated for a March 2, 2018 release through the band’s own Anti-Language Records, and throughout the mid-March and early April, the Sydney, Australia-born, Los Angeles, CA-based duo will be embarking on a North American tour that will include a March 22, 2018 stop at Saint Vitus. Check out the tour dates below.
Tour Dates
3.19 – 529 – Atlanta, GA
3.20 – Strange Matter – Richmond, VA
3.22 – Saint Vitus – Brooklyn, NY
3.23 – Meatlocker – Montclair, NJ
3.24 – Geno’s – Portland, ME
3.25 – Kung Fu Necktie – Philadelphia, PA
3.26 – Cafe Nine – New Haven, CT
3.27 – O’Brien’s – Boston, MA
3.28 – Casa Del Popolo – Montreal
3.29 – Coalition – Toronto
3.30 – Now That’s Class – Cleveland, OH *
3.31 – Deluxx Fluxx – Detroit, MI *
4.1 – Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL *
4.3 – Reverb Lounge – Omaha, NE *
4.4 – Hi Dive – Denver, CO *
4.5 – Metro Music Hall – Salt Lake City, UT *
4.6 – Neurolux – Boise, ID *
4.7 – Barboza – Seattle, WA *
4.8 – Tonic Lounge – Portland, OR *
4.10 – Old Nick’s – Eugene, OR *
Comprised of Sean Solomon, Pascal Stevenson and Andrew MacKelvie, the Los Angeles, CA-based trio Moaning have spent the past few years crafting a moody and angular sound that draws from shoegaze, slacker rock and post-punk which has received attention both nationally and internationally from the likes of The Fader, The Guardian, DIY Magazine, Stereogum, and others.
Building upon the growing buzz that’s surrounding them, the Los Angeles-based indie rock/post-punk trio’s highly-anticipated self-titled, full-length debut is slated for a March 2, 2018 release through Sub Pop Records. The album’s fourth and latest single “Artificial” possesses a decidedly familiar post punk sound reminiscent of Joy Division, as well as contemporaries like Precocupations and others, complete with an anthemic and directly infectious hook; but just underneath the surface, the song bristles with a tense, self-awareness of artifice, superficiality and ugliness.
Directed by directorial team A Stranger, the recently released video for “Artificial” draws from early 80s MTV videos — and appropriately, it was shot on 35mm film, complete with tight zooms that follows the band, dressed completely in white as they play the song in a house covered in tin foil, filled with fake plants. At various points, the bandmembers faces are distorted and mirrored in ways that are trippy and somewhat disturbing. And in some way, the video continually points out artifice, insincerity and superficiality, while suggesting that there’s ugliness and uncertainty just beneath.
Initially formed under the highly controversial name, Viet Cong, the members of the band now known as Preoccupations — Matt Flegel (bass, vocals), Mike Wallace (drums), Scott Munro (guitar) and Daniel Christiansen (guitar) —unknowingly and unwittingly found themselves in the middle of furious and tumultuous debate around cultural association and the association with historical groups and actions that would immediately evoke the horrors of despotism, war and genocide. And as an understandable result of that controversy, the members of the Canadian post-punk act made the difficult decision to change their name before releasing their highly-anticipated sophomore album.
When the members of the band reconvened to write the material that would comprise their self-titled effort as Preoccupations, each individual member of the band was in a rather unsteady and uncertain position: the members of the band had all relocated to different cities across North America, which made their long-established creative process of writing material while on the road extremely difficult. Along with that, as it turned out several members of the band were dealing with the heartache of having long-term relationships end, just as they were set to write. Adding to a growing sense of uncertainty, their sophomore effort found the band going into the writing session without having a central idea or theme to consider or guide them, making the sessions a collective and blind, leap of faith.
The end result was an album that drew from very specific things — the anxiety, despair and regret that has most people up at night. In fact, album singles like “Anxiety,” focused on the natural and forced change placed upon the members of the band, and more generally on people while simultaneously capturing the confusing push and pull of human relationships, while “Degraded” one the album’s most straightforward and hook-laden songs was full of bilious accusation and recrimination. The album’s expansive, third single “Memory” as comprised of three distinct and very different movements held together by the song’s central narrative, which focused on the weight of one’s memory and the past has on every relationship and aspect of our lives.
Building upon a growing reputation for crafting dark and moody post punk, centered around themes of creation, destruction, futility, the Canadian post-punk band’s third, full-length album New Material is slated for March 23, 2018 release through Jagjaguwar Records, and the album, which finds the band recording the album themselves and enlisting the assistance of Justin Meldal-Johnson on mixing duties is as the band’s frontman Matt Flegel says in press notes, “an ode to depression. To depression and self-sabotage, and looking inward at yourself with extreme hatred.” Much like their previous album, the band went into the process without much written or demoed — and it was arguably the most collaborative writing sessions that they’ve ever had. While, writing New Material may have been extremely architectural with the band building ideas up, tearing others down to the support beams without quite knowing what exactly they were about, and as they were writing they had resolved for it all to show, not tell.
But reportedly, the writing and recording sessions led to a reckoning for Flegel. “Finishing ‘Espionage’ was when I realized. I looked at the rest of the lyrics and realized the magnitude of what was wrong,” says Flegel. To that end, it’s interesting that “Espionage,” the murky and angular Manchester/Joy Division-like single is the first single off New Material — and in some way, the song evokes a narrator, who has finally become aware of his disturbing penchant for self-sabotage in every aspect of his life but despite the dark theme of the song, it finds the members of the JOVM mainstays crafting some of the most infectious, danceable material they’ve written to date.
Preoccupations will be embarking on a lengthy tour to support the album that begins in Toronto and includes two NYC area dates — April 19, 2018 at Rough Trade with Freak Heat Waves as an opener and April 20, 2018 at Elsewhere’s Zone One with Odonis Odonis as an opener. Check out the rest of the tour dates below.
TOUR DATES
4/14/18 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
4/18/18 Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall *
4/19/18 Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade *
4/20/18 Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere (Zone One) ^
4/23/18 Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts *
4/24/18 Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel *
4/26/18 Columbus, OH @ The A&R Music Bar *
4/27/18 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle *
4/29/18 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *
5/1/18 Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid Cabaret *
5/3/18 Edmonton, AB @ Starlite *
5/4/18 Calgary, AB @ Palomino *
5/5/18 Calgary, AB @ Palomino
5/9/18 Vancouver, BC @ The Cobalt
5/11/18 Seattle, WA @ Barboza #
5/12/18 Portland, OR @ Star Theater #
5/14/18 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop #
5/18/18 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo #
5/19/18 Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar #
5/22/18 Austin, TX @ Barracuda
5/23/18 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
5/24/18 St. Louis, MO @ Firebird
6/5/18 London, UK @ London Underground
6/7 Berlin, D @ Musik & Frieden
6/10/18 Hilvarenbeek, NL @ Best Kept Secret Festival
With the release of 2015’s debut effort, The Great Sun, which was recorded with longtime friend, mentor and renowned engineer Kevin S. McMahon, the post-punk duo VOWWS, comprised of Sydney, Australia-born, Los Angeles-based duo of Rizz and Matt quickly received attention for a sound that drew upon a diverse array of influences including classic Western, electronica, surf rock, metal, film soundtracks, post-punk and industrial rock; however, the duo’s highly-anticipated sophomore effort, Under the World, which continues their ongoing collaboration with Kevin S. McMahon, finds the duo reportedly eschewing the familiar post-punk and industrial tropes to allow much more hook for razor sharp hooks, direct vocals and richer, nuanced textures.
And with Under the World’s latest single “Forget Your Finery,” the duo pair angular guitar and bass chords played through layers of fuzz and other distortion pedals with thumping and propulsive drumming — but throughout the song there’s a deliberate attention to melodicism and crafting an infectious, arena rock friendly hook in what may be one of the more anthemic songs I’ve come across so far this year.
Currently comprised of founding quartet Alex Kapranos (lead vocals, guitar), Nick McCarthy (rhythm guitar, keys and backing vocals), Bob Hardy (bass) and Paul Thomson (drums, percussion and backing vocals), along with newest Julian Corrie (keys, synths, guitar and backing band), who joined last year, replacing founding member Nick McCarthy, the Glasgow, Scotland, UK-based indie rock/post punk act Franz Ferdinand formed back in 2002. And with the release of their first two singles “Darts of Pleasure” and “Take Me Out” the members of the Scottish indie rock act quickly saw commercial and critical success — with “Take Me Out,” the band’s signature song peaking within the Top of the UK Singles Chart, and later earning a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal. Additionally, not only did their eponymous, 2004 full-length debut received a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Album and won the Mercury Prize, the band established themselves at the forefront of the post punk revival movement. Along with that, the band has won two Brit Awards — one for Best British Group, as well as one NME Award.
Their 2005 Rich Costey-produced sophomore effort, You Could Have It So Much Better was released to critical and commercial success with the album peaking within the Top Ten Charts in multiple countries, with the album receiving a nomination for Best Alternative Album and “Do You Want To” receiving a nomination for Best Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal. However, 2009’s Tonight: Franz Ferdinand found the band moving from the post-punk sound that first won them international attention to a much more dance friendly sound while continuing an impressive streak of commercial and critical success. They promptly followed that up with a remix album of Tonight, titled Blood, which was released that summer.
2013 saw the release of Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action and they followed that up with teaming up with Sparks to form a supergroup FFS, which released their self-tiltled album in 2015. The renowned Scottish band’s fifth full-length album Always Ascending is slated for a February 9, 2018 release and the album’s latest single “Feel The Love Go,” finds the band continuing with a dance floor friendly, disco-era inspired sound while retaining elements of the Gang of Four-like post punk that first won them international attention as they pair angular guitar chords, sinuous bass lines, four-on-the-floor drumming and thumping beats with arpeggiated synths, warm blasts of soulful, Hall and Oates-like saxophone and razor sharp hooks. And yet interestingly enough, the song also finds the band maintaining their unique ability to craft quirky, white boy funk.
Comprised of Stefano Bellerba (vocals, guitar), Leonardo Mori (synth), Matteo Luciani (bass), Saverio Paiella (guitar) and Daniele Cruccolini, the members of the Terni, Italy-based post-punk quintet Japan Suicide met and bonded over their mutual love of Joy Division, The Cure, Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode — but they also cite the likes of Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Japan, The Damned, Interpol, Suicide, CSI, CCCP and Massimo Volume as being major influences on their sound and songwriting approach. With the release of 2015’s We Die In Such a Place, 2016’s 1978 EP, and the appearance of “This Be The Verse” on Darkitalia’s Sparkles in the Dark, Vol. 4 compilation, the Italian post punk quintet have received both national and international attention as one of their homeland’s best, contemporary indie rock/post punk bands.
Building on their growing profile, Japan Suicide’s third full-length effort Santa Sangre is slated for a February 14, 2018 release through Unknown Pleasures Records, and while the album’s first single “Circle” will further cement the band’s reputation for crafting material heavily indebted to early 80s post punk, it reveals a band that has been gently expanding upon their sound with nods to shoegaze and industrial rock as the band pairs fuzzy and angular guitar chords, thundering drumming, merrily twinkling synths and a soaring hook to evoke a creeping yet uncertain dread.
