Tag: Danger Collective Records

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Spiral XP Shares “120 Minutes” MTV Alt Rock-like “Window Room”

Back in early 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic caused the world ground down to a halt, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Max Keyes abandoned a short-lived move to Philadelphia and returned home to Seattle. The false start helped to spark a sort of existential crisis, and he quickly moved back north to Bellingham, WA, where he’d grown up, hoping the sense of home might provide some much-needed grounding. Perhaps best known for drumming with the acclaimed noise rock outfit Versing, Keyes began hammering out his own songs during this quieter and slower time, approaching the guitar for the first time with serious intention. “It was good to have a couple of years just writing and becoming more confident,” he reflects.

Keyes’ latest project Spiral XP initially started out as a lo-fi solo project with his debut EP, 2021’s Drop Me. He followed that up with last year’s It’s Been A While and this year’s TVXP EP, a collaboration with Seattle-based band TV Star. After those EPs, Keyes recruited scene vets Lena Farr-Morrisey (bass, vocals), Jordan Mang (guitar), Kyle McCollum (guitar) and Daniel Byington (drums) to augment the material, which would become the now, full-fledged band’s, JooJoo Ashworth-produced full-length debut, I Wish I Was A Rat, as they saw fit. “They ended up taking on a life of their own,” he explains, “that’s a little scary but also thrilling to me.”

Recorded entirely in analog at The Unknown, the legendary Anacortes, WA-based studio Phil Elverum helped construct in an abandoned church, the 12-song I Wish I Was A Rat reportedly documents the band at their purest, embracing happy accidents and gritty recording artifacts. “It goes back to that search for authenticity,” says Keyes, “It has a lot of limitations and it makes recording harder, but those limitations make the process so much more meaningful and deep.” While the material shows a reverence for the likes of Yo La Tengo, the material is indebted to a number of influential Pacific Northwest bands like Broken Water, Unwound and Beat Happening. The album’s material sees the band crafting a singular distillation of grunge, indie and slacker rock. Thematically the material explores meaning, truth and value under capitalism while navigating late-twenties existential ennui.

I Wish I Was A Rat’s latest single “Window Room” is a 120 Minutes-era MTV-like anthem anchored around crunchy and fuzzy power chords, thunderous drumming paired with enormous hooks and choruses and soaring falsetto vocals. But at its core is a mix of boredom and longing that should feel familiar.

“I was inspired to write the lyrics while sitting in an enclosed porch one day and examining the window reflections,” the band’s Lena Farr-Morrissey says. “Making plans of nothing and carving out time that is intentionally left blank, I found myself wondering what can bloom from recycled thoughts and memories. On the inside looking out, ‘Window Room’ carries a longing for being at peace with the unknown.”

Directed by Lauren Rodriguez, the accompanying video for “Window Room” featured saturated Super 8 footage of a woman daydreaming at the shore and a ferry. Fittingly, the video manages to match the 120 Minutes MTV aesthetic of its accompanying song.

I Wish I Was A Rat is slated for an October 18, 2024 release through Danger Collective Records.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Surf Curse Releases a Brooding and Cinematic New Visual for “Hour of the Wolf”

Over the past couple of months, I’ve written a bit about the Los Angeles-based indie rock act Surf Curse, and as you may recall, the act, which is comprised of Reno, NV-born, Los Angeles-based duo Nick Rattigan (vocals, drums) and Jacob Rubeck (guitar) can trace their origins back to when they formed in 2013 back in Reno. And since relocated to Los Angeles, the band emerged from their adopted hometown’s local DIY, all-ages, punk scene, developing a reputation as one of the region’s best contemporary live acts, amassing a fervent, die-hard following — at first locally and now internationally.

Slated for a September 13, 2019 release through Danger Collective Records, the duo’s forthcoming Jarvis Tavaneire-produced third full-length album Heaven Surrounds You is reportedly a coming-of-age epic, inspired by the cult films the duo cherished growing up — and sonically, the album finds the band making a bold and decided step forward. Earlier this year, I wrote about two of Heaven Surrounds You’s singles — the swooning, The Smiths-like “Disco” and the shimmering, hook-driven “Midnight Cowboy.” Interestingly, the album’s latest single is the brooding and melancholy “Hour of the Wolf.” Centered around shimmering guitars and Rattigan’s plaintive vocals, the song evokes an aching longing that brings The Church’s “Under the Milky Way” to mind. The band offer a cryptic note behind the story of the song, saying in press notes, “Look close. There is filth. Rotten gold. What good is blood if not to be swallowed. Whole and clean.”

Shot in a gorgeously cinematic black and white, the recently released video for “Hour of the Wolf” is full of inconsolable loss, regret, loneliness and lots of gore, as it follows a Bryon-esque like protagonist, as he and the world surrounding him go completely mad. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Surf Curse Releases a Cinematic “Midnight Cowboy” Inspired Visual for Their Latest Single

Comprised of Reno, NV-born, Los Angeles-based duo Nick Rattigan (vocals, drums) and Jacob Rubeck (guitar) the Los Angeles-based indie rock act Surf Curse formed back in 2013 when its core duo started the band in Reno. Since relocating to Los Angeles the band emerged from their adopted hometown’s local DIY, all-ages, punk scene, developing a reputation as one of the region’s best contemporary live acts, amassing a fervent, die-hard following — at first locally and now internationally.

The duo’s forthcoming Jarvis Tavaneire-produced third full-length album Heaven Surrounds You is slated for a September 13, 2019 release through Danger Collective Records and the album is a coming of age epic, inspired by the cult films the duo cherished while growing up in Reno. Sonically, the album reportedly is a bold and decided step forward for the band.  Last month, I wrote about the album’s first single, the swooning and lush “Disco” — and while nodding at The Smiths and others, the song is an urgent love song, evoking the throes and passions of first love with an uncanny accuracy.  

The album’s latest single “Midnight Cowboy” continues on a similar vein as its predecessor: shimmering, hook-driven Smiths-like guitar pop, centered around the narrator’s unfulfilled longing for a different life than the one he currently has — a life of hustling and grifting out of desperate necessity. Written and directed by the band’s Jacob Rubeck, the recently released video for “Midnight Cowboy” was shot by the band’s Nick Rattigan, Julien Kelly and Melissa Ramirez and stars Rubeck and Jamie Simone. Influenced by the 1969 movie of the same name, Rubeck moves to the big city and becomes a prostitute. We follow Rubeck’s character as he meets his various johns — and rationalizes what he does; but we also see him full of regret and self-loathing throughout. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Surf Curse Releases a Mischievous and Glossy Video for “Disco”

Comprised of Reno, NV-born, Los Angeles-based duo Nick Rattigan (vocals, drums) and Jacob Rubeck (guitar) the Los Angeles-based indie rock act Surf Curse formed back in 2013 when its core duo started the band in Reno. Since relocating to Los Angeles the band emerged from their adopted hometown’s local DIY, all-ages, punk scene, developing a reputation as one of the region’s best contemporary live acts, amassing a fervent, die-hard following — at first locally and now internationally.

The duo’s forthcoming, Jarvis Tavaneire-produced third full-length album Heaven Surrounds You is slated for a September 13, 2019 release through Danger Collective Records and the album is a coming of age epic, inspired by the cult films the duo cherished while growing up in Reno. Sonically, the album reportedly is a bold and decided step forward for the band.  The album’s first single, the swooning and lush “Disco” is centered around jangling guitars, propulsive drumming, plaintive vocals and a rousingly anthemic hook — and while nodding at The Smiths and others, the song is an urgent love song, evoking the throes and passions of first love with an uncanny accuracy. 

Directed by the band’s Nick Rattigan and shot by Stumble on Tapes, the recently released video for “Disco” features a young couple, stumbling home from a night out. Speaking in what sounds like Danish or Icelandic, the young woman asks her boyfriend to play their favorite song again — Surf Curse’s “Disco”– on his iPhone. The boyfriend begins playfully performing for his lover, but suddenly, the couple begin dancing on their couch. But halfway into the video, it turns into a dream-like, Broadway-styled dance sequence. And while playful, the video manages to capture the glossy quality of its accompanying song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Just last week, I wrote about the New Jersey-based indie rock quartet MELT and “Out of Line” their 90s alt rock channeling, updated take on early aughts emo rock-based first single off the quartet’s soon-to-be released full-length debut Riffer slated for a  November 25, 2016 release through Danger Collective Records and Topshelf Records. The second and latest single “Rewind” off the quartet’s upcoming full-length debut will further cement a burgeoning reputation for crafting anthemic guitar rock — and while being decidedly mid tempo, the song finds the quartet pairing dense layers of power chords, and thundering drumming with a swooning, wistful and urgent Romanticism that’s reminiscent of Smashing Pumpkins and Silversun Pickups.