Tag: Grand Rapids MI

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Deserta Shares Slow-Burning and Woozy “Where Did You Go?”

Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Doty has had a lengthy 20+ year career as a musician: He co-founded Philadelphia-based post-rock outfit Saxon Shore with Father John Misty’s Josh Tillman, and the act went out to release four full-length albums — 2002’s Be a Bright Blue, 2003’s Four Months of Darkness, 2005’s The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore and 2009’s It Doesn’t Matter — before splitting up.

Doty went on to form the Los Angeles-based (via Grand Rapids, MI) synth-pop outfit Midnight Faces with Philip Stancil. During their run, Midnight Faces released three albums –2013’s Fornication, 2014’s The Fire Is Gone and 2016’s Heavenly Bodies — to critical acclaim from the likes of Spin Magazine, The AV Club, Consequence, Vice and a lengthy list of others.

Doty stepped out into the limelight as a solo artist with his solo recording project Deserta back in 2020. Doty’s sophomore Deserta album, Every Moment, Everything You Need is slated for a February 25, 2022 digital and CD release and a June 10, 2022 vinyl release through Felte Records. Mixed by David Fridmann and engineered by Chris Coady, Every Moment, Everything You Need features guest spots by James McAliser, who has worked with Taylor Swift, Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, The National, Big Red Machine and a list of others and vocals from Mice Parade‘s Caroline Lufkin on a track.

Every Moment, Everything You Need‘s latest single “Where Did You Go” is slow-burning and woozy bit of shoegaze with A Storm in Heaven-like textures: swirling reverb and feedback-drenched layers of guitar, glistening synths, forceful boom bap with ethereally cooed vocals buried deep into the mix, but aching to burst free from their confinement. And at its core, the song seems to evoke a yearning for someone and a moment that just can’t possibly happen again.

“‘Where Did You Go’ marks the third time Caroline [Lufkin] and I have worked together,” Deserta’s Matthew Doty says in press notes. ‘Going back to 2008, Oliver Chapoy (who, also appears on the new Deserta album) and I contributed a remix for her album, Murmurs. The following year, Caroline sang on Saxon Shore’s “This Place” (also produced/mixed by Dave Fridmann). We kept in touch over the years, always trying to connect on something new, but life happens and timing is often hard to get right. With the unpredictability of the last year, I think it was comforting to finally reconnect with some of my favorite collaborators, even from a distance.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Kansas City’s Shiner Releases a Trippy Visual for Grunge Rock-like “In The End”

Kansas City, MO-based post hardcore act Shiner — currently Jason Gerkin (drums), Paul Malinowski (bass) Allen Epley (guitar) and Josh Newton (guitar) — originally formed back in 1992. Shortly after their formation, the band signed to DeSoto Records, owned by Jawbox’s Kim Coletta and Bill Barbot, and had a prolific six year run that included handful of critically applauded albums of hook-driven, power chord heavy material, which ended with 2001’s The Egg.

The band broke up in 2002. But there was a vinyl re-release of The Egg to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its initial release — and the band reunited to play a short tun of shows to support it, which included stops in Los Angeles, Kansas City and Chicago. Interestingly enough, some of these shows were among the biggest shows of their careers.

In 2018, Shiner’s current lineup decided that the band wasn’t finished yet — and that they should continue the band’s story. After a handful of recording session over the subsequent 18 months at Paul Malinowski’s Shawnee, KS-based Massive Sound Studios, the band had completed their self-produced album Schadenfreude, which was released last May, “We’ve always been extremely hands-on, even when working with someone else technically ‘producing,’” the band’s Josh Newton said in press notes. “With The Egg we ended up remixing and adding things to almost half the record on our own. At this stage in our existence, we know what we should sound like.”

Schadenfreude found the band picking up where they left off, despite the lengthy hiatus — but while also standing on its own. “A lot of themes on the album are pretty dark but always with a silver lining around the edges,” the band’s Allen Epley says in press notes. “The title itself is a commentary on the most common human trait of enjoying your rivals’ demise. Or your apparent enemies.”

In the lead-up to the album’s release, I wrote about two of the album’s singles:

The enormous, Songs for the Deaf-era Queens of the Stone Age and One by One-era Foo Fighters-like dirge “Life As A Mannequin.”  “The song came together very quickly; we had the arrangement laid out literally the second time through the tune,” the band recalled. “The simple kind of Willy Wonka vocal melody on the verse belies the heaviness of the lyrics and the urge of pure elation of giving into your worst tendencies, like scratching under a cast you know you really shouldn’t but it feels so good. Or the recovering alcoholic having a hard day and just deciding to really turn on and say ‘fuck it, i’m getting drunk tonight.”

The Superunknown-era Soundgarden and Thrice-like “Paul P. Pogh,” an explosive track featuring enormous power chords, thunderous drumming, arena rock friendly hooks paired with plaintive vocals. But underneath the self-assured performances and studio polish is something far darker. “The name Paul P Pogh was a name I chose for my fake ID when I was in high school for buying beers at liquor stores in Louisville, which surprisingly worked,” the band’s Allen Epply explained in press notes. “It seemed appropriate for this song about ‘acting nets out to the liquor signs’ and a life spent chasing addiction.”

The Kansas City-based act announced a US tour, which will kick off in Grand Rapids, MI on December 7, 2021 and continues into 2022 with a stop at Elsewhere on March 3, 2022. As always, tour dates are below. Along with that they shared a video for the album’s 90s grunge-like anthem “In The End,” which is centered around an alternating quiet and explosively loud sections and an enormous, arena rock friendly sound.

Directed by Matt Dunehoo, the recently released video for “In The End,” follows the band’s Paul Malinowski as he goes with his conscience to help an unseen space traveler. The viewer follows Malinowski as he gets into his car, drives around a suburban development to find the traveler and help it return to the stars.

“Shiner, like every other band in the entire effing world, was beyond devastated when we couldn’t support our first record in 20 years, Schadenfreude last May,” Shiner’s Paul Epply says. “We barely even got it made and all of a sudden, whammy. That’s what makes these shows so much more special for us is the ability to play this record live for our fans.   When video director Matt Dunehoo described his vision of the video for ‘In The End,’ we were a little skeptical but the final product is delightful. We love that our bassist Paul Malinowski is the ‘actor’ following his conscience to save an unknown entity and return it to the stars! It’s a little bit of a whimsical fantasy that makes us all warm and fuzzy on the inside.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Initially begun as the solo recording of the Michigan-born, Los Angeles, CA-based singer/songwriter and multimedia artist Ben Schneider, Lord Huron expanded into a full-fledged band with the addition of Mark Barry (percussion), Miguel Briseño (bass) and Tom Renaud (guitar) — and with the appearance of “The Night We Met“off  2015’s Strange Trails EP on the hit Netflix show, 13 Reasons Why, Schneider and company quickly saw a growing profile that included a period of extensive touring, with appearances at some of the biggest national and internationally renowned festivals. Adding to a growing profile, “The Night We Met” was recently certified platinum earlier this month.

The Los Angeles, CA-based indie rock band’s third full-length album Vide Noir is slated fro an April 20, 2018 release through Whispering Pines/Republic Records, and the album is the anticipated follow-up to their critically applauded and commercially successful Strange Trails EP.  Written and recorded over a two year period at the band’s Los Angeles-based studio and clubhouse Whispering Pines, the album’s material is largely inspired by Scheider’s restless nighttime wandering across LA. “My nighttime drives ranged all over the city—across the twinkling grid of the valley, into the creeping shadows of the foothills, through downtown’s neon canyons and way out to the darksome ocean. I started imagining Vide Noir as an epic odyssey through the city, across dimensions, and out into the cosmos. A journey along the spectrum of human experience. A search for meaning amidst the cold indifference of The Universe,” Schneider explains in press notes. Building upon Schneider’s work as a multimedia artist, the album will be accompanied by imagery, videos and immersive experiences crafted to expand upon the album’s narratives and themes as a way of deepening and enriching the listening experience.
The band has released two singles, “Ancient Names (Part 1)” and “Ancient Names (Part 2)” as a preview of what listeners, fans and critics should expect from the album. The expansive and mind-bending “Ancient Names (Part 1)” finds the band drawing from retro-futuristic psych pop, jangling and anthemic indie rock and atmospheric, synth-based dream pop while the song details the narrator’s story of coming across a fortune teller, who tells him how certain aspects of his life are predetermined; that destiny can’t be avoided. But instead of succumbing with a sense of defeat, the narrator feels a desperate urge to question what he’s heard and then to flee, even if he doesn’t know where or how. “Ancient Names (Part 2)” continues its immediate predecessor’s theme but possesses a frenetic, almost anxious vibe as it draws from New Wave, post-punk and even bhangra to close out the song. And of course, while revealing a band that can draw from incredibly diverse array of influences, often simultaneously, the album’s first two singles also finds the band asking the “big questions” but in accessible and rousingly populist fashion.

 

The members of Lord Huron will be embarking on a US headlining tour that begins on April 20, 2018 in Grand Rapids, MI and will have the band playing at some of the largest venues they’ve played to date including a hometown set at the Greek Theatre and a May 3, 2018 at the Beacon Theatre. Check out the tour dates below.

 

TOUR DATES
March 24—Tempe, AZ—Innings Festival
April 20— Grand Rapids, MI—20 Monroe Live
April 21—Chicago, IL— Riviera Theatre
April 22—St. Paul, MN—The Palace Theatre
April 23— Milwaukee, WI—Riverside Theatre
April 25—Kansas City, MO—The Truman
April 26—Indianapolis, IN—The Vogue
April 27— Royal Oak, MI—Royal Oak Music Theater
April 28-29—Cincinnati, OH—Homecoming Festival
April 30—Boston, MA— House of Blues
May 1—Philadelphia, PA—Electric Factory
May 3—New York, NY—Beacon Theatre
May 4—Washington, DC—The Anthem
May 4-6—Atlanta, GA—Shaky Knees Festival
June 1—San Diego, CA—House of Blues
June 2—Los Angeles, CA—Greek Theatre
June 3—Oakland, CA—Fox Theater
June 5—Portland, OR—Crystal Ballroom
June 7—Seattle, WA—Moore Theatre
June 15-June 17—Dover, DE—Firefly Festival

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays HEATERS Return with Cinematic Visuals for Their Most Textured and Nuanced Songs to Date

Over the bulk of this site’s almost eight year history — yes, eight! — I’ve personally written quite a bit about the Grand Rapids, MI-based psych rock quartet and JOVM mainstays HEATERS. And as you may recall, the band, which formed back in 2014 quickly received a growing national and international profile with their attention grabbing appearance on Stolen Body‘s Vegetarian Meat psych rock compilation. The Grand Rapids, MI-based quartet quickly followed up with the Solstice EP, released through Dizzybird Records and the  “Mean Green” 7 inch.  Renowned, Brooklyn-based indie label Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records released their full-length debut Holy Water Pool to critical applause throughout the blogosphere back in 2015. And with each successive recorded effort, the band began to firmly cement a reputation for crafting a spacey, motorik-like take on West Coast, 60s psych rock and garage rock.

After the release of their critically applauded sophomore effort Baptistina the band went through a massive lineup change in which the band’s founding members Nolan Krebs and Joshua Korf are currently paired with newest members Ryan Hagan and Ben Taber, who joined the band to write and record the band’s third, full-length effort, Matterhorn, which was released earlier this year.  And with the release of album singles “Seance,” “Thanksgiving II” and “Kingsday,” the band managed to retain the gorgeously shimmering guitar lines, propulsive motorik grooves and enveloping sound that first caught the attention of this site and the rest of the blogosphere — but there’s a noticeably different energy to the proceedings, with the band crafting some of the most ambitious and expansive songwriting to date. Unsurprisingly, the album’s fourth and latest single “Black Bolt” continues in a similar vein as its predecessor, as the song possesses a swaggering, self-assuredness but it may also have some of the most textured and nuanced guitar work of its predecessor. 

Shot in an enviably lush and cinematic black and white, the recently released video by Josh Skinner, Jaimie Skriba and Heaters features a mischievously French New Wave-inspired concept in which the members of the band play in a dance studio while dancers do 60s styled dance moves, footage of people riding bikes down suburban streets and so on — but with a wide screen and continuous pan and a shit ton of subtle split screens and the like to create a trippy vibe. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site throughout its seven-year history, you’d know that I’ve written quite a bit about the Grand Rapids, MI-based psych rock quartet and JOVM mainstays HEATERS. And as you may recall, the band, which formed back in 2014 quickly received a growing national and international profile with their attention grabbing appearance on Stolen Body‘s Vegetarian Meat psych rock compilation. The Grand Rapids, MI-based quartet quickly followed up with the Solstice EP, released through Dizzybird Records and the  “Mean Green” 7 inch.  Renowned, Brooklyn-based indie label Beyond Is Beyond Records released their full-length debut Holy Water Pool to critical applause throughout the blogosphere back in 2015. And with each successive recorded effort, the band began to firmly cement a reputation for crafting a spacey, motorik-like take on West Coast, 60s psych rock and garage rock.

As you may recall, after the release of their sophomore effort Baptistina the band went through a massive lineup change in which the band’s founding members Nolan Krebs and Joshua Korf are currently paired with newest recruits Ryan Hagan and Ben Taber. And interestingly enough “Seance,” the first single off the band’s forthcoming third album Matterhorn retains the gorgeously shimmering guitar lines, propulsive, motorik-like groove and enveloping sound that first caught the attention of this site and the e rest of the blogosphere; however, there’s a noticeably different energy and vibe to the proceedings — simply put, “Seance” reveals a band with a swaggering self-assuredness within what arguably may be their most expansive and ambitious songwriting. Matterhorn‘s second single “Thanksgiving II” continued along a similar vein as its predecessor, as it prominently featured the band’s propensity for crafting tight, motorik grooves paired with shimmering guitar lines and ethereal vocals. But while the song may be among the most trance-inducing they’ve released, it’s also one of the more arena friendly songs they’ve written and released to date, with the song slowly unfurling to reveal its creators’ ambitious and expansive songwriting.

“Kingsday,” Matterhorn‘s third and latest single while possessing the stalwart elements of their sound — towering and shimmering layers of guitar chords and ethereal vocals and a trance-inducing, lysergic vibe, but within its four minute run time, the song reveals an expansive song structure consisting of four subtle yet discernible movements connected by a chugging motorik groove — and interestingly enough, the song may arguably be one of the most decidedly 60s influenced songs they’ve released in quite some time.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past few years, I’ve written quite a bit about the Grand Rapids, MI-based psych rock quartet HEATERS. Formed back in 2014, the Grand Rapids-based quartet began to make a name for themselves with the release of a handful of homemade EPs, a couple of split records and an attention grabbing appearance on Stolen Body‘s Vegetarian Meat psych rock compilation. Building upon a growing profile, the band’s Solstice EP was released through Dizzybird Records and they quickly followed that up within the following year with the “Mean Green” 7 inch and their full-length debut Holy Water Pool both of which were released through renowned, Brooklyn-based indie label Beyond Is Beyond Records.  And with each of those efforts, the band receive greater and greater acclaim — as well as a growing international profile — for a spacey, motorik-like take on West Coast, 60s psych rock and garage rock.

Now, as you may recall, after the release of their sophomore effort Baptistina the band went through a massive lineup change in which the band’s founding members Nolan Krebs and Joshua Korf are currently paired with newest recruits Ryan Hagan and Ben Taber. And interestingly enough “Seance,” the first single off the band’s forthcoming third album Matterhorn retains the gorgeously shimmering guitar lines, propulsive, motorik-like groove and enveloping sound that first caught the attention of this site and the rest of the blogosphere; however, there’s a noticeably different energy and vibe to the proceedings — simply put, “Seance” reveals a band with a swaggering self-assuredness within what arguably may be their most expansive and ambitious songwriting.

Matterhorn‘s second and latest single “Thanksgiving II” continues in a similar vein as its predecessor as it features the band’s propensity for crafting tight, motork grooves paired with shimmering guitar lines and ethereal vocals and while the song may arguably be the most trance-inducing and the largest, most arena rock friendly song they’ve written and released to date, the song slowly unfurls to reveal its creators’ ambitious and expansive songwriting, complete with a lysergic, power chord-based coda.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: In The Valley Below Releases the Surreal Yet Symbolic Visuals for Rousingly Anthemic, New Single “Bloodhands (Oh My Fever)”

With the release of their full-length debut The Belt, which spawned the viral hit single “Peaches,” In The Valley Below,  the husband and wife duo Angela Gail and Jeffrey Jacob first received international attention — including “Peaches” debut on BBC Radio 1, as well as commercial success in Germany and France, with the song topping the French Alternative Charts. A year or so after the release of The Belt, Gail and Jacob received national attention with “Peaches” becoming a staple of American alternative radio, which lead to appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman and Conan. Adding to a growing profile, the duo went on a relentless touring schedule across both the European Union and the US that included sets at Reading Festival, Leeds Festival, Austin City Limits, Rock En Seine and others, which has resulted in a growing international fan base that has been clamoring for new material from the duo. Considering that the duo effortlessly meshes elements of art rock, synth pop, the blues, arena rock and more in a way that’s reminiscent of JOVM mainstays Smoke Season, it shouldn’t be surprising that Gail and Jacob have seen such rapid critical and commercial success.

The husband and wife duo’s latest EP, Elephant was released last month, and the effort was recorded in the basement studio of the 93-year old home the couple purchased upon relocating from Los Angeles to Grand Rapids, MI. Interestingly enough, the EP reportedly consists of some of the duo’s most personal, ambitious and politically-charged material they’ve written do date; in fact, Elephant’s first single “Bloodhands (Oh My Fever)” was inspired by the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, MO and its immediate aftermath. “All the uprising happening in Ferguson was powerful,” the duo explain. “Sad, angry and feeling helpless, we sang about it. It’s our way of keeping the issue alive. Racism is real, we don’t know how to stop it, but we can make people think about it.” And while being a rousingly, anthemic and ambitious song — a song that feels and sounds both arena rock and radio friendly — its an earnest plea to the listener that there’s much work to be done to make our a world a fairer place, where all lives, whether Black, Asian, Latino, First Nation, Trans, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Gender Nonconforming, etc. will actually matter. The song’s coda, which features a local gospel choir led by Debra L. Perry, adds to the song’s enormous sound, while adding a deeper emotional wallop to the proceedings. 

Directed by the band’s Angela Gail and Chris Johnson, the recently released visuals for “Bloodhands (Oh My Fever)” possess a nightmarish, fever dream-like quality that symbolically touches upon race, sexuality, religion while reminding the viewer that ultimately our fates and the fate of the world as we know it will lie solely in the hands of our children. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past two years or so of its seven year history, you’ve likely come across a handful of posts on the Grand Rapids, MI-based psych rock quartet HEATERS. Formed back in 2014, the Grand Rapids-based quartet began to make a name for themselves with the release of a handful of homemade EPs, a couple of split records and an attention grabbing appearance on Stolen Body‘s Vegetarian Meat psych rock compilation. Building upon a growing profile, the band’s Solstice EP was released through Dizzybird Records and they quickly followed that up within the following year with the “Mean Green” 7 inch and their full-length debut Holy Water Pool both of which were released through renowned, Brooklyn-based indie label Beyond Is Beyond Records.  And with each of those efforts, the band receive greater and greater acclaim — as well as a growing international profile — for a spacey, motorik-like take on West Coast, 60s psych rock and garage rock.

After the release of their sophomore full-length release Baptistina the band went through a massive lineup change in which the band’s founding members Nolan Krebs and Joshua Korf are paired with newest recruits Ryan Hagan and Ben Taber. And you’ll hear on “Seance,” the first single off the band’s forthcoming, third full-length Matterhorn, the band retains the gorgeous and shimmering guitar lines and propulsive, motorik-like groove and enveloping sound that first caught the attention of the this site and the rest of the blogosphere; however, there’s a noticeably different energy and vibe to the material: a swaggering self-assuredness rooted behind an even larger, oceanic-like sound within expansive and ambitious songwriting.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Over the past year or so,  Grand Rapids, MI-based psych rock trio HEATERS, comprised of Andrew Tamlyn, Nolan Krebs and Joshua Korf have become a JOVM mainstay act. And with the release of  the “Mean Green”/”Levitate Thigh” 7 inch, their full-length debut Holy Water Pool last year, along with a series of singles, the Grand Rapids-based trio also received a growing national profile for a 60s inspired psych rock sound.

Earlier this month I wrote about “Centennial,” the first single from the Grand Rapids, MI-based trio’s highly-anticipated sophomore effort, Baptistina. Interestingly, “Centennial” continues in a similar vein as the material on Holy Water Pool as the band paired dense layers of shimmering guitar chords played through tons of reverb and effects pedal, ethereal vocals, propulsive drumming and a throbbing bass line in a towering and anthemic psych rock song that feels as though it may descend into cacophonous chaos — but with a towering swagger that gives the song an effortless, larger-than-life feel. The album’s second and latest single “Garden Eater” is an epic and sprawling song that has a lengthy introductory section featuring dense layers of shimmering guitar chords and propulsive drumming that slowly fades into a dreamy and contemplative fade out, which allows for the slow build up of  an atmospheric section consisting of subtly droning guitar chords and vocals — an interestingly enough this section sounds as though it were indebted to Directions to See a Ghost-era The Black Angels before fading out with tons of reverb. Structurally the song may arguably be the most expansive song the trio have committed to wax

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Hallucinogenic Video for Heaters’ New Single “Kamikaze”

Certainly, if you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the better part of this past year, you may have come across a post or two on the Grand Rapids, MI-based psych rock trio HEATERS. Comprised of Andrew Tamlyn, Nolan Krebs and Joshua Korf, […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: HEATERS’ Immersive and Reverb-Heavy, New Single “Gum Drop”

If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the better part of this year, you may have come across a post or two on the Grand Rapids, MI-based psych rock trio HEATERS. Comprised of Andrew Tamlyn, Nolan Krebs and Joshua […]

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Cincinnati’s Electric Citizen Channels 70s Heavy Metal on “Light Years Beyond”

Comprised of Ross Dolan (guitar), Laura Dolan (vocals), Nick Vogelpohl (bass) and Nate Wagner (drums), the Cincinnati, OH-based quartet Electric Citizen have received attention for a sound that channels Led Zeppelin, Rush, early Deep Purple, […]