Tag: Alex Cameron

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Lola Kirke Releases a Gorgeous Acoustic Version of “Monster”

Over the past year, I’ve written a bit about the British-born, New York-based singer/songwriter, musician and actress Lola Kirke. And as you may recall, while she may be best known for starring roles in Noah Bambauch’s Mistress America and the Amazon series Mozart in the Jungle, and a supporting role in David Fincher’s Gone Girl, the British-born, New York-based singer/songwriter and actress is the daughter of drummer of drummer Simon Kirke, who was a member of the 70s hit-making rock bands Bad Company and Free and Lorraine Kirke, the owner of Geminola, a New York0-based vintage boutique known for supplying outfits for Sex and the City.

Downtown Records released Kirke’s Wyndham Garnett-produced full-length debut Heart Head West earlier this year. The album which was tracked live to tape is a deeply personal effort that she says was “about basically everything I thought about in 2017 — time, loss, social injustice, sex, drinking, longing — essentially everything I’d talk about with a close friend for 40 minutes.”  “Sexy Song,” which I wrote about earlier this year was a slow-burning and meditative honky tonk country song that subtly recalled Chris Issak and Roy Orbison with a feminine and self-assured sultriness. “Supposed To” was a rollicking country stomper, that recalled Sun Records country and early rock — in particular Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, and Patsy Cline but centered around the social pressure that her — and in turn, countless other women — experience and feel in daily life, to be and do things that they don’t want to ever do. 

Heart Head West’s first single “Monster” was a meditative, honky tonk ballad featuring an arrangement of reverb-drenched twangy guitars, a soaring hook that’s centered around a yearning desire to belong, to fit in somewhere in the world, when you’re truly a stranger. After a successful UK tour that saw her playing in front of sold out shows, Kirke announced three holiday season shows in California — and that she’ll be opening for Australian singer/songwriter Alex Cameron’s North American tour. The tour will include a March 1, 2019 stop at The Bell House. You can check out the rest of the tour dates below. But in the meantime, Kirke released an acoustic version of “Monster,” which features a gorgeous string arrangement that turns the song into an old-timey ballad, while retaining the song’s aching yearning to fit in somewhere. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting site over the past few years, you’ve likely been made intimately familiar with JOVM mainstay act  Thee Oh Sees. Led by  Castle Face Records co-founder John Dwyer and featuring a rotating cast of collaborators and friends, the band has long-held reputation for being both incredibly prolific and for a relentless touring schedule. And this year, further cemented that established reputation as the band released two albums — a live album with DVD footage, aptly titled Live in San Francisco, which was recorded over three nights of shows The Chapel and featured live versions of material off the band’s also recently released full-length Weird Exit, the first entry of a planned series of albums.

Earlier this year, I wrote about “Plastic Plant,” the first single off Weird Exit, a single that continues the band’s renowned guitar pyrotechnics but filtered through dreamy psych rock, gritty garage rock, prog rock with tons of effects pedals paired with propulsive and forceful drumming and Dwyer’s falsetto. And of course, in typical Thee Oh Sees fashion it’s a thrashing, ass-kicking, sweaty mosh pit worthy song with an atypical, almost jam-like song structure. “Dead Man’s Gun,” Weird Exit’s second single seamlessly meshed garage rock, psych rock, surfer rock and punk as Dwyer’s falsetto and howls are paired with alternating sections of scorching power chords, shimmering reverb and delay pedaled surfer rock and psych rock chords in the song’s quieter sections — with the whole thing being held together by a propulsive rhythm section featuring a throbbing and insistent bass line and a rolling drum pattern.  Interestingly, Weird Exit‘s third and latest single “You Will Find It Here” may arguably be one of the more contemplative and dreamier singles that the band has released to date, as the song begins with a trippy introduction full of shimmering feedback before turning into a slow-burning dirge of sorts in which layers of buzzing and angular guitar chords, twisting and turning organ chords, propulsive cymbal-led drumming and a driving bass line are paired with Dwyer’s equally dreaming falsetto floating over the instrumentation before gently fading out. And in some way, the song evokes a pleasant reverie in which the song’s narrator has spent contemplating their inner self and their place in the universe. Yes, it’s that trippy.

Dwyer and company are finishing a rather lengthy world tour with a full slate of Fall/Winter Stateside shows with Amplified Heat, Straight Arrows, Alex Cameron, Magnetix and my personal favorites The Blind Shake opening for Dwyer and company during various dates — and it includes three NYC area dates: 11/11/16 and 11/12/16 at the Bowery Ballroom and 11/13/16 at Warsaw. Check out tour dates below.

Fall/Winter Tour Dates.

11-01 Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre
11-02 El Paso, TX – Lowbrow Palace
11-04 McDade/Austin TX – Sherwood Forest Faire @ Sound on Sound F
11-05 New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jack’s #
11-06 Memphis, TN – The Hi Tone Cafe #
11-07 Nashville, TN – Mercury Lounge #
11-09 Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall #
11-10 Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts ^
11-11 New York, Ny – Bowery Ballroom
11-12 New York Ny @ Bowery Ballroom w/ Straight Arrows
11-13 Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw ^
11-15 Providence, RI – Aurora ^
11-16 Montreal, Quebec – La Tulipe
11-17 Toronto, Ontario – Danforth Theater
11-18 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
11-19 Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
11-20 2016 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle w/ The Blind Shake, Torture Love
11-23 Missoula, MT – Stage 112
11-25 Seattle, WA – Neumos %
11-27 Portland OR @ Aladdin Theater %
11-26 Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre %
11-29 San Francisco, CA – The Chapel %
11-30 San Francisco, CA – The Chapel %

# Amplified Heat
^ Straight Arrows
% Alex Cameron
* Magnetix
! Blind Shake

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Thee Oh Sees Pair Strange, Disturbing Visuals with Their Blistering, Forceful Sound

Earlier this year, I wrote about “Plastic Plant,” the first single off Weird Exit, a single that continues the band’s renowned guitar pyrotechnics but filtered through dreamy psych rock, gritty garage rock, prog rock with tons of effects pedals paired with propulsive and forceful drumming and Dwyer’s falsetto. And of course, in typical Thee Oh Sees fashion it’s a thrashing, ass-kicking, sweaty mosh pit worthy song with an atypical, almost jam-like song structure. “Dead Man’s Gun,” Weird Exit’s second and latest single seamlessly meshes garage rock, psych rock, surfer rock and punk as Dwyer’s falsetto and howls are paired with alternating sections of scorching power chords, shimmering reverb and delay pedaled surfer rock and psych rock chords in the song’s quieter sections, and the whole thing is held together by a propulsive rhythm section featuring a throbbing and insistent bass line and a rolling drum pattern. Every time I hear the Bay Area-based band’s material I’m reminded of how much of a sonic debt they owe to the 60s — but with an underlying sense of menace.

The recently video follows a series of people, who clearly appear to be tweaking on crystal meth and freaking out/rocking out in almost exact rhythm to the song and it’s spliced with sequences of someone making the shit in their basement. In some way, the video evokes the perverse human tendency to be unable to stop looking at something particular gruesome — although we’ll almost always regret it later.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Led by Castle Face Records co-founder John Dwyer, Thee Oh Sees have a long-held reputation for being insanely prolific and 2016 is no different as the band will have released two new albums by the end of August — one being a live album, aptly titled Live in San Francisco recorded over three nights at The Chapel; and the second album being the first entry in a planned series. Live in San Francisco is DVD/album that will give fans a real taste of their renowned thrashing and sweaty live shows and while slated for a July 1, 2016 release, it also manages to be a teaser as it features live versions of material, which will appear on their forthcoming full-length Weird Exit. Oh, and along with that the band will be on an incredibly lengthy tour with Amplified Heat, Straight Arrows, Alex Cameron, Magnetix and my personal favorites The Blind Shake opening for Dwyer and company during various dates — and it includes two NYC area dates: 11/11/16 at the Bowery Ballroom and 11/12/16 at Warsaw.

In the meantime the first single off Live in San Francisco is a live version of a song, which will appear on the band’s forthcoming Weird Exit, “Gelatinous Cube.” And in almost prototypical Thee Oh Sees fashion the song is a towering barnburner of a song — layers of scorching and scuzzy guitar pyrotechnics paired with a throbbing and propulsive rhythm section and Dwyer’s falsetto; in other words, the song possess a primal, guttural fury that quickly fades out from sheer exhaustion. “Plastic Plant,” the first single off Weird Exit continues the guitar pyrotechnics but filters them through dreamy psych rock, gritty garage rock, prog rock and tons of effects pedals and pairs them with propulsive drumming and Dwyer’s falsetto. Of course, both singles will further cement Dwyer and company’s additionally long-held reputation for thrashing and kicking ass in songs with extremely atypical song structures.

Tour Dates:
06-18 Vancouver, British Columbia – Levitation Vancouver
06-25 Oakland, CA – Burger Boogaloo
07-01-03 Keflavík, Iceland – ATP Festival, Ásbrú
07-30 Denver, CO – Underground Music Showcase
08-05 Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon Festival
08-06 Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon Festival
08-07 Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon Festival
08-14 Helsinki, Finland – Flow Festival
08-16 Stockholm, Sweden – Debaser
08-18 Paredes, Portugal – Paredes de Coura Festival
08-19 Hasselt, Belgium – Pukkelpop
08-20 Berlin, Germany – Columbia Theatre
08-21 Biddinghuizen, Netherlands – Low Land Festival
08-23 Praha, Czech Republic – Futurum Music Bar
08-24 Zurich, Switzerland- Mascotte*
08-25 Geneva, Switzerland – Palp Festival *
08-26 Asolo, Italy – Amo Festival
08-27 Ravenna, Italy – Hana-Bi
08-31 Tel Aviv, Israel – Arena
09-02 London, United Kingdom – Coronet !*
09-3 Leeds, United Kingdom – University Stylus !*
09-04 Dorset, United Kingdom – End of the Road Festival
09-06 Biarritz, France – Atabal *
09-08 Valada, Portugal – Reverence Festival
09-09 Granada, Spain – Planta Benja
09-10 Benidorm, Spain – Fuzzville
09-12 Barcelona, Spain – Apolo *
09-13 Toulouse, France – Bikini *
09-14 Paris, France – La Cigale *
09-15 Lille, France – Aeronef *
10-08 Miami, FL – III Points Festival
10-14 Joshua Tree, CA – Desert Daze 2016
10-15 Joshua Tree, CA – Desert Daze 2016
10-16 Joshua Tree, CA – Desert Daze 2016
11-01 Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre
11-02 El Paso, TX – Lowbrow Palace
11-05 New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jack’s #
11-06 Memphis, TN – The Hi Tone Cafe #
11-07 Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge #
11-09 Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall #
11-10 Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts ^
11-11 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
11-13 Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw ^
11-15 Providence, RI – Aurora ^
11-16 Montreal, Quebec – La Tulipe
11-17 Toronto, Ontario – Danforth Theater
11-18 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
11-19 Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
11-23 Missoula, MT – Stage 112
11-25 Seattle, WA – Neumos %

# Amplified Heat
^ Straight Arrows
% Alex Cameron
* Magnetix
! Blind Shake