JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Perry Farrell’s 67th birthday.
Tag: Jane’s Addiction
New Video: Burning Pools Release an Explosive Feminist Anthem
Burning Pools is a new and emerging Los Angeles-based rock act that features three incredibly accomplished musicians: husband and wife team Kristopher Pooley (drums) and Ginger Pooley (bass, vocals) and Max Bernstein (guitar) have been session players and touring musicians with the likes of Smashing Pumpkins, Tom Morello, Siouxsie Sioux, Slash, Morrissey, Liz Phair, Scott Weiland, Tegan and Sara, Jane’s Addiction, Weezer, Gwen Stefani and Kesha. And while the band may be a relative newcomer on the scene, Burning Pools has been several years in the making; in between their various obligations The Pooleys had been demoing songs showcasing Ginger’s penchant for empowering, protest-fueled lyrics paired with pop hooks.
Kristopher Pooley had met Bernstein through their work together with Kesha, recruited him to add some sub-octave fuzz to some tracks. Recognizing that they found the missing piece to their sound, it was decided that Kristopher Pooley, who was a keyboardist by trade should dust off his drum kit and shelve the keyboards as they were determined to craft a massive guitar, drum and bass sound inspired by The Pooleys experience touring with Smashing Pumpkins.
Much like countless acts across the globe, the members of Burning Pools had their hopes of road-testing material dashed as a result of pandemic-related lockdowns and restrictions — but in the meantime, they’ll be releasing songs from their forthcoming EP, including the trio’s latest single “Woman.” Centered around an alternating quieter verses and explosive choruses, “Woman” features enormous fuzz and distortion pedaled power chords, thunderous drumming, arena rock friendly hooks paired with Pooley’s defiant vocals. And at its core, the song is a feminist anthem that celebrates the unique strength, resiliency and power that only a woman can possess.
Of course, it shouldn’t be surprising that the band’s latest single is fueled by Ginger Pooley’s own personal experiences. The song not only addresses the biases and challenges she — and of course, other women — would face in society and as a musician, but it gets more much personal, discussing how hours after she gave birth to her daughter, she was tasked with the responsibility of planning her own mother’s funeral, who died while Ginger was in labor. Unsurprisingly, the male members of her family weren’t up to the task. And while the experience of celebrating new life and mourning the passing of one within a week had been traumatizing, they were also profound on her, as it revealed to her a strength and resiliency that perhaps she may not have known she had until then.
The recently released video follows a young girl, who stands in as the a larger female archetype. She may be on an arduous and important mission but she’s brave, determined, strong, bold, fun — and sometimes lonely.
Live Footage: Los Angeles’ Lily Performs “Wash” on Vevo DSCVR
Vevo DSCVR is Vevo’s curated, emerging artist platform meant to promote the best up-and-coming artists that the video sharing site believes will have a significant impact on the future. Over the past few years, Vevo DSCVR has featured an eclectic array of chart-topping and critically applauded artists including Jack Garratt, James Bay, Years & Years, Wolf Alice, Sam Smith, Jorja Smith, Maggie Rogers, Alessia Cara, Ella Eyre, Billie Eilish, Bülow, Donna Missal, Charlotte Lawrence and JOVM mainstay Sam Fender among others.
For the sixth consecutive year, Vevo DSCVR has begun announcing their Artists to Watch — a list of 20 artists, who they believes will break through in the coming year with Vevo premiering two performances from each artist on the list per day between November 4,2019 and November 29, 2019. The latest act on Vevo DSCVR’s Artists to Watch list is the Los Angeles-based alt rock act Lily. Releasing their debut EP I Can Fool Anybody In This Town, the Southern California band — Dylan Nash (vocals), Sam De La Torre (guitar), Charlie Anastasis (bass) and Maxx Morando (drums) — quickly received attention locally for a jagged and angular sound that’s difficult to pin down, as it invokes Jane’s Addiction, Foals, Rage Against the Machine and power pop punk.
Centered by Morando’s breakneck four-on-the-floor drumming, “Wash,” which the band performed for Vevo DSCVR is a feral track featuring angular and noisy bursts of guitar, Nash’s neurotic and anxiously punchy delivery. Structurally and sonically, the mosh pit friendly anthem is seamless synthesis of noise rock, post-punk and hardcore punk that sounds both forcefully familiar and novel.
New Video: Toronto’s jackie Releases a Hilarious Send Up of Gangster and Action Movies for Anthemic “Lifetime in a Touch”
Currently comprised of Winnipeg-born founding members Jackie Mohr and Marc Girardin with Max Trefler, the Toronto-based electro pop/electro rock act jackie can trace their origins to the formation and breakup of Mohr’s and Girardin’s previous band — The Mohrs, an act that shared stages with the likes of Soundgarden, Jane’s Addiction and The Glorious Sons.
In 2012, Mohr and Girardin relocated to Toronto, where they met Trefler and released a rock-based effort through Light Organ Records before a radical change in sonic direction necessitated a rename. “We changed our sound on this new EP, replacing bass with analog synth, and went back to having just us three as the core of the project,” the band’s Jackie Mohr explains in an email. “After a few year hiatus we’ve come back as ‘jackie’. More aware of where we want to take our place in music.”
Interestingly, the band’s transformation was partially fueled by Mohr’s experiences as a woman in a male-dominated landscape. “I’ve never had a problem holding my own in this industry, or with men, but it really does make you question why there’s so little female presence,” Mohr points out.
“When I was promoting my first single, my radio team told my management it was going to be very difficult getting ‘a female on rock radio.’ I don’t think I’ve ever hated a comment more. I didn’t get it then and I don’t get it now,” Mohr continues. “I think it’s time for a new narrative. This is especially important in the LGBTQ community. Heteronormative relationships are only a small part of what’s out there, and how people love one another. Other communities need to be represented as well. I remember on my debut album I worried about saying ‘her’ or ‘she‘ as a lyric because people would class me as a ‘gay artist’. This sort of thing is important for sure, and I am a gay woman, but it’s not all I am, and I never wanted that to be the focal point of my/our music, or my musical career. The band, our music, and myself are much more than that. Music is for everyone.”
“We write songs for the everyday radio listener, and the guitar nerd,” Mohr, who owns a 1962 Silverstone 1423 nicknamed Monicka Del Toro adds. “Maybe writing good music will be more important than Instagram followers again someday.”
Interestingly, the Canadian trio’s latest single, the Hawksley Workman-produced “Lifetime in a Touch” finds the band crafting pop-leaning track that’s simultaneously a club banger and an arena rock anthem, complete with a driving groove, synth arpeggios reminiscent of Stevie Nicks‘ “Stand Back,” a scorching guitar solo and Mohr’s earnest, pop belter vocals. It’s the sort of rousingly anthemic song that you can envision sweaty young people shouting along to in a dark club — but the real reason it works is that it’s rooted in real, lived-in, deeply universal experiences. As the trio explain, the song is “essentially a song about heartbreak, but it’s told through a positive outlook The lyrics in the verses represent the past lover that engulfed and controlled you, while the chorus reminds you that there’s more to life than lovers.”
Directed by Dominika Monicka and Ryan Faist, the recently released video for “Lifetime in a Touch” is a hilarious send up of Office Space, gangster movies and action movies as it features the bandmebers in an abandoned shipyard. Throughout the bulk of the video, the band are in an old Honda four door spinning in infinite donuts. But we also see the band rocking out to the song, and eventually busting shit up — because why not? Perhaps in some way, the video reminds the viewer that love can be a wild and tumultuous ride.
Currently comprised of Winnipeg-born founding members Jackie Mohr and Marc Girardin with Max Trefler, the Toronto-based electro pop/electro rock act jackie can trace their origins to the formation and breakup of Mohr’s and Girardin’s previous band — The Mohrs, an act that shared stages with the likes of Soundgarden, Jane’s Addiction and The Glorious Sons.
In 2012, Mohr and Girardin relocated to Toronto, where they met Trefler and released a rock-based effort through Light Organ Records before a radical change in sonic direction necessitated a rename. “We changed our sound on this new EP, replacing bass with analog synth, and went back to having just us three as the core of the project,” the band’s Jackie Mohr explains in an email. “After a few year hiatus we’ve come back as ‘jackie’. More aware of where we want to take our place in music.”
Interestingly, the band’s transformation was partially fueled by Mohr’s experiences as a woman in a male-dominated landscape. “I’ve never had a problem holding my own in this industry, or with men, but it really does make you question why there’s so little female presence,” Mohr points out.
“When I was promoting my first single, my radio team told my management it was going to be very difficult getting ‘a female on rock radio.’ I don’t think I’ve ever hated a comment more. I didn’t get it then and I don’t get it now,” Mohr continues. “I think it’s time for a new narrative. This is especially important in the LGBTQ community. Heteronormative relationships are only a small part of what’s out there, and how people love one another. Other communities need to be represented as well. I remember on my debut album I worried about saying ‘her’ or ‘she‘ as a lyric because people would class me as a ‘gay artist’. This sort of thing is important for sure, and I am a gay woman, but it’s not all I am, and I never wanted that to be the focal point of my/our music, or my musical career. The band, our music, and myself are much more than that. Music is for everyone.”
“We write songs for the everyday radio listener, and the guitar nerd,” Mohr, who owns a 1962 Silverstone 1423 nicknamed Monicka Del Toro adds. “Maybe writing good music will be more important than Instagram followers again someday.”
Interestingly, the Canadian trio’s latest single, the Hawksley Workman-produced “Lifetime in a Touch” finds the band crafting pop-leaning track that’s simultaneously a club banger and an arena rock anthem, complete with a driving groove, synth arpeggios reminiscent of Stevie Nicks‘ “Stand Back,” a scorching guitar solo and Mohr’s earnest, pop belter vocals. It’s the sort of rousingly anthemic song that you can envision sweaty young people shouting along to in a dark club — but the real reason it works is that it’s rooted in real, lived-in, deeply universal experiences. As the trio explain, the song is “essentially a song about heartbreak, but it’s told through a positive outlook The lyrics in the verses represent the past lover that engulfed and controlled you, while the chorus reminds you that there’s more to life than lovers.”
New Video: Netherlands Releases a Stark Visual Full of Existential Dread
Formed by its creative mastermind, Timo Ellis, a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has collaborated with Yoko Ono, Cibo Matto, John Zorn, Melvins, Gibby Haynes, Ween, Joan As Police Woman, Spacehog, White Hills and others back in 2010, the New York-based act NETHERLANDS currently features Chealsea “Thee Chuq” Wierbonski, John Musto and Damien Moffitt. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past handful of years, you may recall that the New York-based band has developed a reputation for adhering to a sound and approach that actively rejects restraint for ambitious maximalism featuring pummeling drumming, dexterous guitar shredding, rapid fire tone, tempo and time signature changes — while being remarkably hook-driven in a way that sort of recalls Melvins, Torche, Mastodon and Jane’s Addiction.
Building upon a growing profile, the members of NETHERLANDS have played with a number of renowned and acclaimed acts across a diverse and eclectic array of genres and styles including Napalm Death, Melt Banana, Mutoid Man, Yob, Black Flag, EYEHATEGOD, Candiria, Valient Thorr, Child Abuse, Mutilation Rites, Primitive Weapons, Freshkills, Vaz, Naam, Martin Rev, The Giraffes, The Death Set, BANGLADEAFY! DN’T, Unstoppable Death Machines, Mouth of the Architect, White Hills, Gull, Godmaker, Spacehog, The Austerity Program, No Way, Moon Tooth and Radkey.
Recalling an industrial-leaning take on King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s Murder of the Universe, Netherlands’ latest single “Zombie Techno” retains the pummeling sound and sludgy power chords that has won them attention but while arguably being one of the most danceable — yes, really danceable — songs they’ve released to date. “The theme of his song, as well as our entire new wave of material, is a comment on the illusion of community and civic participation that’s become the currency of all the new media platforms,” the band’s Timo Ellis explains. “Virtually everyone is constantly feeding overlapping algorithms that are sustained by a near-constant supply of curated narcissism, which while outwardly appearing to be ‘issue driven,’ much more often than not, don’t actually reflect any kind of real world action or real coalition-building or organization, whatsoever.”
Directed and designed by Kenny Curwood, the recently released video for “Zombie Techno” is centered around incredibly stark New Yorker cartoon-like animation, which shows human history and the human condition but through the lens of psychedelic, existential dread. Ultimately, the visual features an indifferent universe that sarcastically smirks and mocks humanity’s attempt to make meaning of their lives, as well as putting existence to a danceable rhythm.
New Video: Brass Against the Machine Returns with a Funky Cover of RATM’s “Guerrilla Radio”
Earlier this year, I wrote about the New York-based collective Brass Against the Machine, and as you may recall, the act currently comprised of founding member Brad Hammonds (guitar, arrangement), Andrew Gutauskas (baritone sax, arrangement), Darius Christian (vocals, trombone), Sophia Urista (vocals), Mariel Bildsten (trombone), Wayne Tucker (trumpet), Oskar Stenmark (trumpet), Steven Duffy (sousaphone), the New York-based collective Brass Against the Machine specializes in covering protest music but with a unique sound and approach, as their sound meshes rock, alternative rock, hip-hop and New Orleans brass — and for repertoire that features covers of Rage Against the Machine, Living Colour, Gil Scott-Heron, Jane’s Addiction, A Tribe Called Quest, Led Zeppelin and a list of others.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0kJLW2EwMg&w=560&h=315%5DThe band is prepping for a series of live shows in the NYC area, which you can see below — and to build up buzz for those shows, the collective released an incredibly funky brass-backed interpretation of Rage’s “Guerrilla Radio” — and with vocalist Sophia Urista confidently taking filling the vocal role of Zack de la Rocha, there’s a decided and forceful reminder that women have long been the heart, soul and moral backbone of any resistance movement against corrupt and venal power — but also serves as a reminder, that music is a powerful weapon.
Live Footage: Check Out Brass Against the Machine’s Swaggering Cover of Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name Of”
Currently comprised of founding member Brad Hammonds (guitar, arrangement), Andrew Gutauskas (baritone sax, arrangement), Darius Christian (vocals, trombone), Sophia Urista (vocals), Mariel Bildsten (trombone), Wayne Tucker (trumpet), Oskar Stenmark (trumpet), Steven Duffy (sousaphone), the New York-based collective Brass Against the Machine specializes in covering protest music but with a unique sound and approach, as their sound meshes rock, alternative rock, hip-hop and New Orleans brass — and for repertoire that features covers of Rage Against the Machine, Living Colour, Gil Scott-Heron, Jane’s Addiction, A Tribe Called Quest, Led Zeppelin and a list of others; in fact, they recently released an attention grabbing mashup of Beyonce’s “Freedom” with Rage’s “Freedom,” which you can check out below.
However, what I wanted to call your attention is to Brass Against the Machine’s cover of one of my favorite Rage track’s “Killing in the Name Of,” which retains the original’s forceful and righteous fury while adding a swaggering and bombastic horn line; and interestingly enough, having a woman fill Zack de al Rocha role should remind the listener — or in turn, the viewer — that women always have long been the heart, soul and moral backbone of any resistance against power. And just as important, let this cover also serve as a reminder that music is arguably one of the most powerful weapons we have.
The band is current prepping for their live debut at Brooklyn Bowl on December 18.
http://cdn.topspin.net/widgets/email2/swf/TSEmailMediaWidget.swf?timestamp=1362214440 Sub Pop Records artist Rose Windows can trace their origins to Fall 2010 when lead singer Chris Cheveyo found himself tiring of the limited sonic palette of his prior band. Although he was interested […]
Moon King’s Daniel Benjami and Maddy White will be releasing the second EP in the Obsession series, Obsession II on April 20th, through Fucked Up’s Mike Haliechuk’s One Big Silence Records. Reportedly, the EP will […]
a Q&A with Irata
Back in 2010, the Greensboro, NC-based trio Irata released their impressive self-titled full-length debut, which landed on this site’s best of list that year. The band released the follow-up to the effort, Vultures, earlier this […]
Album Review: Irata’s Vultures
Irata Vultures Silber Records Release Date: November 1, 2012 Track Listing 1. Old Smoker 2. Keepers Maker 3. Deluge 4. Miser 5. Serpents Personnel Jason Ward – drums, synths and vocals Jon Case […]