Tag: Dream Wife

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Two from Grunge Legends L7

Currently comprised of founding members Donita Sparks (vocals, guitar) and Suzi Gardner (guitar, vocals) along with Jennifer Finch (bass) and Demetra Plakas (drums), the acclaimed and pioneering, Los Angeles-based grunge act L7 can trace their origins back to 1985, a full year after Gardner had contributed backing vocals to Black Flag’s “Slip It In.”

Once Sparks and Gardner formed the band, they were added by Finch and Roy Koutsky (drums). Koutsky left shortly after and was briefly replaced by Anne Anderson (drums) in 1988. After Anderson left the band, Plakas became the band’s permanent drummer. Although they formed Rock for Choice, a pro-choice women’s rights group that was supported by the likes of Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, and Rage Against the Machine, they’re best known for their third album, 1992’s Butch Vig-produced Bricks Are Heavy, which featured their seminal track (and smash hit) “Pretend We’re Dead.” “Pretend We’re Dead” spent 13 weeks on the US Alternative Charts, peaking at #8 and reached #21 on the UK Singles Chart.

After the release of 1994’s Hungry for Stink, which was supported by that year’s Lollapalooza tour with Smashing Pumpkins and The Breeders, the band went through a number of lineup changes: Finch left the band during the recording of 1997’s The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum, an album that featured bass playing by Sparks and Greta Brinkman; however, Belly’s Gail Greenwood joined the band.

1999’s Slap-Happy didn’t chart on either side of the Atlantic, and sometime after the release of that album, the Los Angeles-based grunge band went through yet another lineup changes with Greenwood leaving the band to be replaced by Stone Fox’s Janis Tanaka, who later played bass in Pink’s and Bif Naked’s backing bands.

By 2001, the members of L7 weren’t touring and were on an indefinite hiatus. During that time Sparks formed a new band, Donita Sparks and The Stellar Moments while Finch was a member of punk rock act The Shocker. Simultaneously during that period, Sparks was working on a documentary on the band, which was rumored to have a 2014 release date. And interestingly enough, by the end of 2014 the band announced that they would reuniting featuring the lineup with which they achieved their biggest success — Sparks, Gardner, Finch and Plakas.

The reunited L7 toured Europe and North America with a number of stops across the international circuit in 2015 including Germany’s Rock am Ring, Riot Fest stops in Denver and Chicago, and Austin’s Fun Fun Fun Festival.  The Sarah Price-directed L7 documentary, L7: Pretend We’re Dead was released in 2016 while the band was on a busy tour schedule throughout both 2016 and 2017.

Building upon the growing buzz surrounding the reunited band, the members of the Los Angeles-based grunge outfit released “Dispatch from Mar-a-Lago,” their first new song in almost 18 years in September 2017. They followed that up with “I Came Back to Bitch,” which was released in February 2018. The band’s recently released seventh album Scatter the Rats is the first album from the Los Angeles-based grunge outfit in 20 years and from album singles “Burn Baby” and “Stadium West,” the new album is sort of a return to form: scuzzy and distorted power chords, thunderous drumming, snarled lyrics and rousingly anthemic hooks. And interestingly enough, both singles reveal that the members of L7 have had a massive influence on contemporary indie rock — you can hear L7’s influence in the work of JOVM mainstays The Coathangers, Sharkmuffin, Dream Wife and others. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Lucy Jowett (vocals), Joe Clarke (guitar) and Jacob Marston (drums), the up-and-coming Leeds, UK-based art punk trio Dead Naked Hippies formed back in 2016 and since their formation they’ve received praise from BBC Introducing, KCRW, DIY, Clash, DORK Magazine, Metro and PRS Magazine for a face melting take on art rock and art punk centered. Adding to a growing profile, the Leeds-based trio have shared stages with Dream Wife, IDLES, Queen Zee and DZ Deathrays, and have played at Live at Leeds and last year’s Leeds Festival.

The trio’s latest single “Rare” will further cement their growing reputation for crafting blistering and furious punk rock centered around a pummeling and angular guitar line, thumping and forceful four-on-the-floor drumming, and a shout along in a sweaty mosh pit worthy hook; but at the core of the song is a rebellious and cathartic rallying yell. As the band’s Jowett explains in press notes, “It is a song about self love. I think we’re quick to judge the term & deem it laughable or irrelevant in fear of being arrogant, or weird. But if you take a hard look at the society we live in, it’s clear to see why so many people struggle to feel content in their own minds and their own bodies. I’ve always struggled with myself and it sickens me to think that so many other people feel the same. It needs to change.

“We’re used by advertising companies, so they can make money out of our discontentment. Bombarded with images of fake realities, only to make us feel like ours isn’t enough. We’re made to feel like our creativity and passion will never be as important as serving a functional purpose in society. It’s dull, boring and I’m fucking mad about it. Most importantly, I want people to know that they’re not alone.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Last year, I had written a bit about the Brighton, UK-based indie rock band, Thyla, and as you may recall the band can trace its origins to when its founding trio of Millie Duthie, Danny Southwell and Dan Hole met back in 2015 while attending college. Quickly bonding over shared musical interests, Duthie, Southwell and Hole formed the band — but with the addition of the band’s newest member, Mitch Dutch, the band began to reimagine their sound and aesthetic, before writing and recording  some new, attention grabbing material, centered around a distaste of what they felt is the stale and boring state of the British recording industry.

Not only have they furthered Brighton’s growing reputation across the UK for producing some of England’s best and hottest, up-and-coming bands, they’ve played with the likes of Dream Wife, Luxury Death, Matt Maltese, Yonaka, Husky Loops and Lazy Day.  Adding to a growing profile, the members of Thyla have been spotlighted alongside Pale Waves, Nilüfer Yanya, and Sorry in NME‘s 100 Essential Acts for 2018, and this year, they’ve shared bills with Sunflower Bean, INHEAVEN and Fickle Friends. Additionally, BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens named the band one of his Alternative Tips for 2018 — and that interestingly enough coincides with a headlining spot at BBC’S Biggest Weekend Fringe and a set at The Great Escape Festival.

Produced by Macks Faulkron and mixed by Alex Newport, Thyla’s latest single “Blame” may arguably be one of the more arena rock/festival circuit rock friendly singles they’ve released to date, as the song is centered around angular guitar and bass chords played through a generous amount of reverb, thundering and propulsive drumming and a rousing, anthemic hook meant to evoke the anxious frenzy of neurosis and crippling self-consciousness. As the band explains “‘Blame’ is a about the uncharacteristic choices people make when they’re trying to be like someone else, for the sake of someone else, at a cost to themselves. It’s a neurotic frenzy of guitars with self conscious lyrics about the state of paralysis jealously puts you in; blind anger with no real solution.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Dream Wife’s Dystopian Anime-Influenced Visuals for Anthemic New Single “Hey! Heartbreaker”

Deriving their name as a commentary on society’s objectification of women, the London-based punk rock trio Dream Wife, comprised of Icelandic-born, London-based Rakel Mjöll (vocals), Alice Go (guitar, vocals) and Bella Podapec (bass, vocals) met while the trio were attending art school in Brighton, UK — with Mjöll, Go and Podapec forming the band in 2015 as part of an art project conceptualized around the  idea of a band born out of one girl’s memories of growing up in Canada during the 1990s.  And since their formation, the trio quickly developed a national profile, as they’ve received critical praise for their earliest releases and their live shows from the likes of NPR, DIY, Stereogum, Nylon, Entertainment Weekly and others. Adding to a growing profile, the trio have toured across the European Union, opened for Sleigh Bells and The Kills during their respective US tours, and have played a number of the world’s biggest festivals, including SXSW.

Dream Wife’s highly anticipated self-titled debut is slated for a January 26, 2018 release through Lucky Number Music and from the album’s latest single “Hey! Heartbreaker,” the British based punk trio’s sound features stomp and shout in the mosh pit worthy hooks, fuzzy and angular guitar chords and a steady backbeat in a fashion that’s reminiscent of Is Is and Fever to Tell-era Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Elastica, complete with a brassy, kick ass and take names self-assuredness and bratty mischievousness at its core. 

Animated by Joe Prytherch, a former art director of Boiler Room, best known as Mason London, the recently released video envisions a dystopian yet familiar future inspired by anime, Akira, Josie and the Pussycats and Jem, in which the members of the band are depicted as robot performers held in a sleazy bar against their will, where they perform in front of bored customers. But when we catch them in the world of the video, the trio violently escape and lead the police through a breakneck escape from the city. 

As the members of the band said in press notes about the video and its concept, “We were super excited to work with Mason London to bring the world of ‘Hey! Heartbreaker’ to life. Collaboration is integral in our approach to Dream Wife, and we encourage different creative ideas and paths to mix with our own vision.

“It’s uncanny to watch these mechanical, parallel versions of ourselves rock out and then break out. We like to think that in another reality our robot versions are continuing their adventures; perhaps in the forest, perhaps plotting for a robot revolution, perhaps playing wild, secret rock shows to other robos.”

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of founding trio Millie Duthie, Danny Southwell, Dan Hole who all met in 2015 while attending college. Quickly bonding over music, the trio formed the Brighton, UK-based band, Thyla. But with the addition of the band’s newest member, Mitch Duce, the newly constituted quartet found their sound. The quarter spent the better part of 2016 reimagining their sound and aesthetic, and then writing and recording new material, rooted around a distaste of the stale state of the British music industry — all while furthering Brighton’s growing reputation for producing some of England’s hottest, up-and-coming bands, including some you’ve likely come across on this site. Adding to a growing profile, the members of Thyla have played with the likes of Dream Wife, Luxury Death, Matt Maltese and Yonaka, and over the next few months, they will be opening for Husky Loops and Lazy Day.

“Pristine Dream,” the Brighton-based quartet’s latest single is a rousing and towering track that draws equally from early 90s Brit Pop, shoegaze and early 80s New Wave as the band pairs layers upon layers of shimmering, pedal effected guitars, thundering drumming and anthemic and arena rock-friendly hooks with Duthie’s ethereal and beguiling vocals; but while drawing from familiar and beloved sources, the up-and-coming quartet is an inspired, contemporary take on it.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Millie Duthie (vocals, guitar), Mitch Duce (guitar), Dan Hole (bass, vocals) and Danny Southwell, the Brighton, UK-based indie rock quartet Thyla had a big year last year, as they received quite a bit of praise from British tastemakers and opened for the Dream Wife and Luxury Death before spending the last few months of the year revising their sound and songwriting approach before writing new material, which included their first single of this year, “Ferris Wheel.” While thematically focusing on the fear of not being good enough in the eyes of those most important and those close to you, the band’s sound manages to nod at 80s post-punk acts like The Smiths and Sioxsie and the Banshees, thanks to shimmering guitar chords paired through distortion and reverb pedals, a driving rhythm, a rousingly anthemic hook, the song possesses the earnestness of (presumably) being inspired by a personal experience that’s fairly universal.