Search Results for: secret club

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Venice, Italy’s New Candys Release a Dark and Brooding Single

Formed back in 2008, the Venice-based post punk/shoegazer act New Candys — currently Fernando Nuti (vocals, guitar), Andrea Volpato (guitar, vocals), Alessandro Boschiero (bass) and Dario Lucchesi (drums, sample) — developed a sound that they’ve dubbed dark, modern rock ‘n’ roll as it combines noisy, brooding sounds with distinct melodies. Additionally, they’ve managed to display a dynamic and symbiotic connection between their music and their visual aesthetic.

2012 saw the release of the Italian post punk/shoegazer outfit’s full-length debut, Stars Reach The Abyss, which they supported with a tour of the UK and Italy. Adding to a rapidly growing international profile, album single “Meltdown Corp.” was included on that year’s The Reverb Conspiracy compilation released by Fuzz Club and The Reverberation Appreciation Society. Their sophomore album 2015’s As Medicine was released through Picture In My Ear and Fuzz Club — and distributed by The Committee To Keep Music Evil. Over the next two years, the members of New Candys toured across Europe three times, playing at Secret Garden Party and Liverpool Psych Fest.

Their third album, 2017’s Bleeding Magenta was released by Fuzz Club and re-pressed in the US by Little Cloud Records. The Italian act supported the album with a European tour and a stop at SpaceFest in Gdańsk, Poland. 2018 began an extremely busy period for the band: they toured Australia, headlining Sydney Psych Fest, now and Melbourne Psych Fest now known as Bad Vibrations, as well as a set at Adelaide Fringe Festival. Then they went on a US-Mexico tour, which included a stop at Seattle’s KEXP for a live session. In 2018 they went on and completed a back-to-back tour of 50 shows across Europe, the US and Canada with stops at Desert Stars Festival, Milwaukee Psych Fest, Los Angeles’ The Echo, Austin, TX’s Hotel Vegas and The Mercury Lounge. And they ended the year with a full European tour with The Warlocks and The Dandy Warhols that also included a stop at Levitation France. And just before the pandemic wrecked havoc across the world, New Candys went on their first tour of the Balkans.Adding to a growing international profile, New Candys have had songs appear on several episodes of Showtime’s Shameless.

The band’s fourth and latest album Vyvyd officially dropped today through Little Cloud Records and Dischi Sotterranei with a exclusive vinyl edition through Fuzz Club — and the album, which was recorded at Venice’s Fox Studio by the band’s Andrea Volpato is the first recorded output with their current lineup. Thematically, the album finds the band exploring and toying with the idea of duality throughout its ten songs. And to celebrate the release of the album, the and released two singles, including “Factice.” Centered around a densely layered and sculpted soundscape featuring thunderous drumming, shimmering guitars, crunchy bass lines within an expansive song structure, the song sonically bears a resemblance to My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins and the like, while detailing its narrator’s desperate attempts to escape a slow-burning descent into madness.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Last year, I wrote quite a bit about the Asheville, NC-based goth/post-punk act Secret Shame over the past year. The act, which is currently comprised of Lena (vocals), Nathan (drums), Matthew (bass) and Billie (guitar), formed in 2016, and can trace its origins to the desperate need that its members felt to create. “If I couldn’t sing or play music, I would tear my skin off.” the band’s front person Lena explains in press notes. Shortly after their formation, the band released their self-titled debut EP, which quickly established the band’s dark and atmospheric sound paired with lyrics that thematically touch upon issues of domestic abuse, mental health, political and social dissatisfaction and frustration. 

The band’s full-length debut Dark Synthetics was released last year to critical acclaim, while further establishing their sound an enormous, reverb heavy sound seemingly influenced by Siouxsie and the Banshees and 4AD Records. Building upon the growing momentum the band has received since the release of their full-length debut, the members of the band went on a short tour to support the album, which included an apt Friday the 13th stop at The Broadway and a Halloween set that featured Joy Division covers. Along with that, the rapidly rising post punk act recently announced a series of remixes of Dark Synthetics material they’ll be releasing while they return to the studio to record new music slated for release later this year.

Now, as you may recall I wrote about two of the singles in the growing remix series: XOR‘s icy, industrial take on the guitar-led “Calm,” which retained the song’s intensity, vulnerability and ache, along with Lena’s powerhouse vocals — and Skinquarter‘s early Depeche Mode-like remix of the Siouxsie and the Banshees-like “Haunter.”   The latest remix of the series finds None of Your Concern turning the aforementioned “Haunter” into a propulsive club-banger centered around layers of arpeggiated synths, tweeter and woofer rocking beats while retaining Lena’s vocals. Sonically, the remix — to my ears at least — reminds me a of a slickly produced synthesis of Kraftwerk, From Here to Eternity and From Here to Eternity . . . And Back-era Giorgio Moroder and of course, the aforementioned Siouxsie and the Banshees.

The members of Secret Shame will be hitting the road to support the vinyl release of Dark Synthetics. After a handful of North Carolina dates in February, Secret Shame will embark on an East Coast and Midwest run throughout March and April that will include an April 2, 2020 stop at Saint Vitus Bar. Check out the tour dates below.

 

Tour Dates
1/26 – Asheville, NC – The Lazy Diamond
2/07 – Winston-Salem, NC – Monstercade
2/08 – Chapel Hill, NC – Nightlight
2/09 – Wilmington, NC – Reggies
2/12 – Asheville, NC – Static Age
3/28 – Charlotte, NC – TBD
3/29 – Raleigh, NC – Slims
3/30 – Richmond, VA – TBD
4/01 – Philadelphia, PA – TBD
4/02 – Brooklyn, NY – St. Vitus %
4/03 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Skidmore College
4/04 – Boston, MA – Dark Spring Boston
4/06 – Pittsburgh, PA – TBD %
4/07 – Columbus, OH – TBD %
4/08 – Louisville, KY – TBD %

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Lady Camden Shares a Slick and Sultry Club Anthem

Best known for being the runner-up on the 14th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the Camden, UK-born, California-based Lady Camden describes themselves as “American’s very own Spice Girl,” a “British ballerina meets 90s pop princess.”

Stepping back into the spotlight as a pop artist, describes her work as “British grit, American charm, shitloads of talent . . .” served up to you like a motherfucking lady.”

Lady Camden’s latest single “Dirtiest Secrets” is a slickly produced, sultry underground club anthem featuring dark angular house music textures for the song’s verses and euphoric, shout-along-worthy bubble gum pop choruses delivered with a world conquering swagger. The song’s structure is meant to take the listener through feminine and masculine behaviors and energies while inviting you to give in to your deepest and wildest temptations.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Ghostly Kisses Share Spectral “On & Off”

Québec City-based indie pop outfit Ghostly Kisses — singer/songwriter Margaux Sauvé and Louis-Étienne — derives its name from William Faulkner’s “Une ballade des dames perdues,” which seemed to Sauvé like the perfect reflection of her ethereal voice.

With the release of their acclaimed full-length debut, Heaven, Wait, the French Canadian pop outfit received attention both nationally and internationally for crafting hauntingly gorgeous and spectral electro pop that pairs her ethereal delivery with moody productions featuring swirling and ambient electronics, twinkling keys and propulsive drumming.

After touring with Ry X, Men I Trust, Lord Huron, and Pomme, the Québec City-based outfit launched their “Box of Secrets” initiative, which gave their fans an anonymous place to share their most deeply personal thoughts. What the duo quickly discovered a global, post-pandemic, postmodern era of pain — an intense and strange loneliness felt around the world. The duo synthesized those missives into their highly-anticipated sophomore album Darkroom.

Slated for a May 17, 2024 release through Akira Records, Darkroom sees the acclaimed Canadian duo willing those inner monologues they received into view, tears falling on the dance floor, but to find mystic connection in the darkest, electronic corners. The duo’s writing style reflects their ability to bridge the gap between people, who may feel far away. Typically, Sauvé and Santais would each set up in a different room, sharing snippets via email and only meeting up to finalize ideas. “Writing separately ensures we’re not influenced by anything else, and we can bring more depth to our process,” Sauvé explains.

For Darkroom, the Box of Secrets project provided an unusual baseline for the material’s influence, rather than just their own individual experiences. After compiling demos, the duo brought in new collaborators to further bolster their new electronic palette: co-producers George FitzGerald and Oli Bayston. Longtime engineer and Santais’ cousin Alex Ouzlileau further shaped the album in the studio and Gabriel Desjardins’ string arrangements also help to add depth and drama to the overall proceedings.

Unlike their previously released material, the duo tested the material while touring, a new step in their creative process that also served as portal into connecting more with their music and their fans.

Darkroom‘s lead single “On & Off” is a looping and hook-driven, spectral pop song built around Sauvé’s ethereal yet expressive delivery, glistening synths and squiggling bursts of funk guitar that evokes the tumult of an inconsistent, confusing and complex love. The track “depicts a complex and tumultuous cyclical relationship where two people constantly break off and get back together,” Ghostly Kissses’ Margaux Sauvé explains. “The lyrics draw inspiration from a revelation in the ‘Box of Secrets,” which was the conceptual inspiration behind our new album.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Québec’s Ghostly Kisses Shares Uneasy and Brooding “Keep It Real”

With the release of their acclaimed full-length debut, Heaven, Wait, Québec City-based indie pop outfit Ghostly Kisses — singer/songwriter Margaux Sauvé and Louis-Étienne — received attention both nationally and internationally for crafting hauntingly gorgeous and spectral electro pop that pairs Suavé’s ethereal delivery with moody productions featuring swirling and ambient electronics, twinkling keys, propulsive drumming and so on.

After touring with Ry X, Men I Trust, Lord Huron, and Pomme, the Québec City-based outfit launched their “Box of Secrets” initiative, which gave their fans an anonymous place to share their most deeply personal thoughts. What the duo quickly discovered a global, post-pandemic, postmodern era of pain — an intense and strange loneliness felt around the world. “We heard from a lot of fans from countries where they couldn’t openly love the person they were in love with for political or social reasons,” Sauvé says. “I felt that pain, identified with it in my own way, and knew many others would too.” The duo would up synthesizing the missives they received into their highly-anticipated sophomore album Darkroom. 

Slated for a May 17, 2024 release through Akira Records, Darkroom sees the acclaimed Canadian duo willing those inner monologues they received into view, finding mystic connection in the darkest, electronic corners — with tears falling on the dance floor. The duo’s long-held writing style reflects their ability to bridge the gap between people, who may feel far away. In fact, the duo would each set up in a different room, sharing snippers via email and only meeting up to finalize ideas. “Writing separately ensures we’re not influenced by anything else, and we can bring more depth to our process,” Sauvé explains. 

For Darkroom, the Box of Secrets project provided an unusual baseline for the material’s influence, rather than just their own individual experiences. After compiling demos, the duo brought in new collaborators to further bolster their new electronic palette: co-producers George FitzGerald and Oli Bayston. Longtime engineer and Santais’ cousin Alex Ouzlileau further shaped the album in the studio and Gabriel Desjardins’ string arrangements also help to add depth and drama to the overall proceedings. 

Unlike their previously released material, the duo tested the material while touring, a new step in their creative process that also served as portal into connecting more with their music and their fans. 

Last month, I wrote about Darkroom‘s lead single “On & Off,” a looping, hook-driven bit of spectral pop built around Sauvé’s ethereal yet expressive delivery, glistening synths and squiggling bursts of funk guitar that evokes the tumult of an inconsistent, confusing and complex love. The track “depicts a complex and tumultuous cyclical relationship where two people constantly break off and get back together,” Ghostly Kissses’ Margaux Sauvé explains. “The lyrics draw inspiration from a revelation in the ‘Box of Secrets,” which was the conceptual inspiration behind our new album.” 

“Keep It Real” may arguably be one of Darkroom‘s most brooding and uneasy tracks built around glistening and buzzing synths, skittering beats paired with the duo’s uncanny knack for remarkably catchy, dance floor friendly hooks and Sauvé’s achingly plaintive delivery. At its core, is the doubt and longing of a narrator, who’s desperately trying to decipher the thoughts of others — particularly dear ones — to help shed light on a complicated, uneasy situation that is rooted in an almost novelistic attention to psychological detail.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Montréal’s Population II Shares Mind-Bending New Single

Montréal-based psych rock trio Population II — Pierre-Luc Gratton (vocals, drums), Tristan Lacombe (guitar, keys) and Sébastien Provençal (bass) — can trace their origin back a long way and are inextricably linked to their teenage memories. After years of jamming to the point of developing a unique sense of telepathy, the trio began recording independently released material that caught the attention of Castle Face Records head and The Oh Sees‘ frontman John Dwyer, who released the band’s full-length debut, 2020’s À la Ô Terre, an album that saw the band displaying their mastery of improvised madness and sophisticated composition. Their heavy take on psych rock is rooted in their restless and relentless work on refining their imposing and unpretentious and sound and approach which frequently infuses feverish funk rhythms, jazz philosophy, punk rock energy and a love of minor scales that recalls the roots of heavy metal.

The Montréal-based psych outfit then spent the better pat of the next two years touring to support their full-length debut, which included stops at SXSW, Pop Montréal, Toronto, NYC, and Quebec City.

This past winter, Population II signed with Bonsound‘s label, booking and publishing arms. The tastemaking Montréal-based label recently released “Beau baptême,” the first bit of new material from the rising French Canadian outfit since 2020’s  À la Ô Terre. Built around a fairly traditional song structure — verse, chorus, verse, bridge — “Beau baptême” is roomy enough for buzzing power chord-driven riffs, mind-melting grooves paired with Gratton’s ethereal crooning. The end result is a song that sees the trio deftly balancing a jazz-like improvisational like sensibility with the tight restraint of a deliberately crafted composition.

“Beau baptême” explores the psychological journey around inspiration and focuses on the very genesis of ideas — namely how ideas are actually born and the opinions they generate. Throughout the song, the band’s Pierre-Luc Gratton sings about how writing can sometimes happen with ease and spontaneity and sometimes requires deep, long reflection. Fittingly, the song is rooted in a lived-in specificity.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Frankie and the Witch Fingers Share a Furious Ripper

Since initially forming in Bloomington, IN over a decade ago, Los Angeles-based psych rock outfit Frankie and the Witch Fingers — featuring core trio Dylan Sizemore (vocals, guitar), multi-instrumentalist Josh Menashe and Shaughnessy Starr (drums) — have long been known for restless experimentation rooted in multiple permutations of their lineup, and for a high-powered, scuzzy, garage punk meets thrash punk take on psych rock centered around absurdist lyrics, often fueled by dreams, hallucinations, paranoia and lust. The end result is material that manages to be simultaneously mischievous and menacing.

When Starr joined the band, the band went through one of their many sonic permutations, which led to a lysergic and claustrophobic sound rooted in heavy, Black Sabbath-like riffage.

2020’s Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters . . .was released through Greenway Records and Levitation Festival‘s label The Reverberation Appreciation Society. Recorded in a breakneck five-day recording session, the album features much more insidiously evil and ambitious material while capturing the band in the middle of massive personnel changes: Longtime bassist Alex Bulli left the band and as a result, Josh Menashe wound up writing and playing most of the albums bass parts with occasional contributions from Dylan Sizemore.

Interestingly, much like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard‘s 2019 effort Infest the Rats Nest, Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters . . . saw the band crafting expansive, maximalist material with fewer moving parts.

Since the release of Monsters, the members of Frankie and The Witch Fingers have been busy: They’ve written and recorded new material, which included last year’s “Cookin'” seven inch. “Cookin’” further cements the Los Angeles-based psych rockers’ long-held reputation for scorching rifffage paired with a punchy baseline and a rousingly anthemic, sing-along chorus. While superficially, a rollocking party starter, the song is rooted in incisive social commentary commentary with the song calling out humanity’s obliviousness, greed and wastefulness with a righteous fury.

Just as they about to embark on a series of Stateside shows before heading to Australia, Frankie and The Witch Fingers share their newest single “Electricide,” the A-side of a double single that sees the Los Angeles-based psych rockers crafting a breakneck, mosh pit ripper centered around scorching, eardrum shattering riffage paired with Sizemore’s howls and shouts. Interestingly, “Electricide” sees the band capturing the heaviness and power of their explosive, sweaty live show.

Directed by Bez Martinez, the accompanying video for “Electricide,” is set at a photo shoot for a a new, titular, Gatorade-like drink that turns very strange: The shoot’s model, Natty Jackson, winds up passing out and being taken to a weird and dark plane of the universe, where nanobots plot to take over our plane.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Dream Wife Share Urgent and Incisive “Who Do You Wanna Be?”

London-based punk outfit and JOVM mainstays Dream Wife — Rakel Mjöll (vocals) (she/her), Alice Go (guitar, vocals) (she/her) and Bella Podapec (bass, vocals) (they/them) — will be releasing their highly anticipated and long-awaited third album Social Lubrication through Lucky Number on June 9, 2023.

Throughout their career, the trio has been remarkably adept at merging the political and the playful, and Social Lubrication further cements that reputation. Forceful, vital statements are hidden within hot and heavy dance floor friendly anthems about making out, having fun and staying curious. In the JOVM mainstay act’s words, the album is: “Hyper lusty rock and roll with a political punch, exploring the alchemy of attraction, the lust for life, embracing community and calling out the patriarchy. With a healthy dose of playfulness and fun thrown in.”

There is a sense of fun and openness that is central to Social Lubrication, as well. “There’s a lot of lust in this album and taking the piss out of yourself and everyone you know,” Rakel Mjöll says. “It’s almost quite juvenile in that way.”

“The album is speaking to systemic problems that cannot be glossed over by lube,” Dream Wife’s Bella Podpadec says. “The things named in the songs are symptoms of f-ed up structures. And you can’t fix that. You need to pull it apart.”

Perhaps more than ever, the live show is at the core of the album and its material. “The live show is the truth of the band,” Alice Go says. “That’s at the heart of what we do and of the statements we’re making.” For the members of Dream Wife — and of any band, really — the live show is where the band and fans can come together in a shared moment of community. And to that end, the album is a celebration of community and a big ol’ middle finger to the social barriers that are enforced to sever connection, playfulness, curiosity and sexual empowerment. “Music is one of the only forms of people experiencing an emotion together in a visceral, physical, real way,” says Go. “It’s cathartic to the systemic issues that are being called out across the board in the record. Music isn’t the cure, but it’s the remedy. That’s what Social Lubrication is: the positive glue that can create solidarity and community.” 

An energetic, pedal-to-the-metal sound explodes through the album’s material. And you can hear it the loud, dirty riffs and shout-along worthy choruses specifically crafted for shaking asses, bouncing around and yelling joyously in shared spaces with friends and strangers. For the band’s Go, who produced the album, it was important to capture and bottle that joyful, frenetic feeling the band’s members all felt. “We wanted to get that rawness and energy across in a way that hadn’t been done before,” she says. 

 In the lead-up to Social Lubrication‘s release next month, I’ve written about three of the album’s released singles to date:

“Leech,” an urgent, post-punk inspired ripper that saw the band’s Mjöll alternating between spoken-word-like delivery for the song’s verses and feral shouting for the song’s choruses. Mjöll’s vocal delivery is paired with an alternating song structure that features looping and wiry guitar bursts for the song’s verses and explosive, power chord-driven riffage for the song’s choruses. The song is a tense, uneasy and forceful, mosh pit friendly anthem for our uncertain, fucked up time, that addresses the inherent double standards of power — while urgently calling for more empathy.” 

“It’s an anthem for empathy. For solidarity,” the JOVM mainstays explain. “Musically tense and withheld, erupting to angry cathartic crescendos. The push and pull of the song lyrically and musically expands and contracts, stating and calling out the double standards of power. Nobody really wins in a patriarchal society. We all lose. We could all use more empathy. As our first song to be released in a while, we wanted to write something that feels like letting an animal out of a cage. It’s out. And it’s out for blood…”

“Hot (Don’t Date A Musician),” a Gang of Four-like, tongue-in-cheek ripper inspired by Mjöll’s grandmother’s sage advice — despite the fact that she herself, dated many musicians in her day — while wryly poking fun at musicians and the music adjacent, the band included. “Dating musicians is a nightmare,” Mjöll explains. “Evoking imagery of late night make-outs with fuckboy/girl/ambiguously-gendered musicians on their mattress after being seduced by song-writing chat. The roles being equally reversed. Having a laugh together and being able to poke fun at ourselves is very much at the heart of this band. This song encapsulates our shared sense of humour. Sonically it is the lovechild of CSS and Motorhead. It has our hard, live, rock edge combined with cheeky and playful vocals.”

“Orbit,” a dance punk ripper. built around a a propulsive disco-inspired post punk rhythm, bursts of wiry guitars paired with enormous hooks and Mjöll’s sultry rock goddess-like delivery that recalls Fever to Tell-era Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Echoes-era The Rapture and LCD Soundsystem among others. Much like its predecessor, the song is fun and rooted in a sense of youthful adventure and possibility. 

“Written through the joy of jamming together and locking into the groove like a multi limbed space age organism, ‘Orbit’ has a dance rock edge from the early noughties of bands like New Young Pony Club and Yeah Yeah Yeahs,” the band explains. “Lyrically, it was inspired by post-lockdown London coming back to life and sharing a space through friendship and community. And how each day you never know what’s in store for you or how a stranger can become someone close to you – for a day, a heartbeat, a phase, or a lifetime.” 

The album’s fourth and latest single “Who Do You Wanna Be” continues a remarkable run of scuzzy post punk rippers built around slashing power chords, relentless four-on-the-floor and rousingly anthemic, shout-along worthy choruses paired with Mjöll’s delivery, which sees her alternating between flirty and bitterly sarcastic within a turn of a phrase. The song sees the band taking on capitalism and faux-activism — with a lived-in annoyance and bemusement. As they explain, the song is “about running on the capitalist treadmill and falling face first on the pavement. Hollow slogans, social media activism without action, leftist infighting, monetising feminism, ‘girl boss,’ all soul crushing nonsense. Capitalism consumes everything. We should tear down the unreachable, anxiety filled idea of perfectionism, and move from hyper individualised narrative to collective action to create hopeful, rebellious, collective, systems of care. This is a call to arms for change.

The accompanying stylishly shot video features the band performing the song in an abandoned leisure center pool in East London, and captures the frenetic energy of their live show.