Tag: post punk

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Influential Post Punk Act Returns with a Reworked and Remixed Version of a Live Favorite

Minimal Compact, comprised of Berry Sakharof (guitar, keys, vocals), Malka Spiegel (bass, keys, vocals), Samy Birnbach, a.k.a. DJ Morpheus (vocals), Rami Fortis (guitar, vocals) and Max Franken (drums), initially formed in Amsterdam back in 1980. The band were part of the original post-punk explosion — and interestingly enough, they have long been considered one of the genre’s most unique. The members of Minimal Compact developed a sound centered around propulsive rhythms, spacious bass lines, lush keys, mesmerizing guitar lines and vocal melodies with a Middle Eastern inflection through the release of a couple of ground-breaking and influential albums, including 1984’s Deadly Weapons, which featured the club hit “Next One Is Real” and their most commercially successful album, 1985’s Raging Souls. 

In their short time together, the members of Minimal Compact toured around the world, from Poland to Japan, gaining a reputation for energetic, unpredictable and intense live shows. However, their studio recordings seldom captured their live sound and energy. The band broke up in 1988 with each of its individual members continuing onwards with a variety of creative projects including releasing solo efforts, hosting radio shows, having  art exhibitions, collaborating with a number of artists, DJ’ing, running record labels, hosting TV shows and the like. But during the next 20 years, their influence began to grow exponentially. In fact, by the time the band reunited for a handful of shows in 2004, they had begun to be recognized as influential originators. Since 2004, the members of the band have reunited for live shows just a handful of times — but each and every time, the individual members of the band recognize an undeniable magical quality between them. 

Recently, the members of Minimal Compact reconvened and went into the studio with their longtime producer and collaborator Colin Newman to finally capture their live sound with several of their signature songs being re-recorded using a mix of live recordings and studio-tooled performances — with the end result being the band’s forthcoming album Creation is Perfect. 

Slated for an October 25, 2019 release through the band’s own Minimal Compact label, the album will reportedly be a timely reminder of how essential and forward-thinking the band has been — and still is. Interestingly, Creation is Perfect’s first single is a reworked version of a live favorite, “Statik Dancin,” that captures the feel of their live set while retains the original’s spastic and fidgeting energy, angular hooks and dance floor friendly groove. But the new version also features a slick, studio polish reminiscent of Gang of Four’s Return the Gift. 

“We still play “Statik Dancin’” like we always did: driving, minimal, a bit moronic but still catchy,” the band’s Malka Spiegel says in press notes. “This version has a combination of the energy of the live version plus a fresh sounding production”.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Currently featuring founding members Cynthia Sley (vocals), Pat Place (guitar) and Dee Pop (drums) along with newest recruit Val Opielski, the New York-based act Bush Tetras can trace their origins back to when Sley, Place, Pop and Laura Kennedy (bass) formed the band back in 1979.  Interestingly, their full-length debut Too Many Creeps was considered one of their scene’s defining moments as it accurately captured the vibe, feel and ethos of that scene’s particular moment.

Building upon a growing profile, the members of Bush Tetras were an opening act during The Clash’s legendary, spring 1981 17 show run at Bond International Casino. After the release of their Topper Headon-produced Rituals EP, which featured the chart-placing “Can’t Be Funky,” Laura Kennedy and Dee Pop left the band and were replaced by Bob Albertson (bass) and Don Christensen (drums); however, the band broke up.

For the better part of the next three decades, the members of the band were fairly elusive, although interestingly enough, the band’s original lineup reunited on a couple of occasions — in 1995, which resulted in 1997’s Beauty Lies and recording sessions the following year, which resulted in a Don Fleming-produced album that was shelved when Mercury Records was sold. That album was finally released in 2012.

In 2005, Julia Murphy replaced Kennedy and they resumed playing and touring across New York. The band toured across Europe the following year. Sadly, Laura Kennedy died in 2011 after a long battle with liver disease. In 2013, Cindy Rickmond, a former member of Cheap Perfume, Grayson Hugh, Church of Betty and Unknown Gender briefly replaced Murphy. And in 2016, Val Opielski, a former member of Krakatoa, Walking Hellos, PSXO and 1000 Yard Stare joined the band.

Last year saw the release of Take The Fall EP through Wharf Cat Records, the first batch of new music from the band in over 10 years. Over the winter, Third Man Records cleared their Cass Corridor showroom floor, invited the band down to Detroit — and enlisted the help of Third Man Mastering’s Bill Skibbe and Warren Defever to record their recently released “There is a Hum”/”Seven Years” 7 inch. A side single “There is a Hum” is a slashing bit of post punk, reminiscent of Entertainment-era Gang of Four and Sonic Youth — but seething with a neurotic anxiousness. B side single “Seven Years” manages to be a mischievously anachronistic track that sounds as though it could have been released at any point within the past 30 years. The glitchy and spastic track features some blistering and energetic guitar work centered around cowbell-led percussion and a sinuous bass line. Both tracks find the legendary post punk/No Wave act boldly reminding the listener that although it’s been a while, they play with a fury, passion and purpose that many younger acts lack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Ganser Return with a Surreal and Symbolic Visual for Their First Single of 2019

Formed back in 2014, the Chicago, IL-based post-punk act Ganser — comprised of founding members Alicia Gaines (bass, vocals) and Nadia Garofalo (keys, vocals) with Brian Cundiff (drums) and Charlie Landsman (guitar) — have received attention both locally and nationally for a sound that was largely influenced by the likes of Sonic Youth and Magazine paired with lyrics, which served as incisive critiques on larger social issues. And as you may recall, the act’s critically applauded full-length debut Odd Talk focused on communication breakdowns with the material featuring narrators desperately seeking meaning in hopeless confusion and messiness. At points, narrators seem to be literally sorting through layers of syllables and signals in an attempt to find the right words to say what they wanted — or needed to say. 

The members of Ganser have been in the studio recording new material over the past few months while working on their second album. Their first single of this year, “Bad Form” is a furious song that seethes with anxiety,  self-loathing and self-flagellation that further cements the tense, angular sound that first caught my attention. While the song is a cathartic reaction to a year-long writing period, it finds the band increasingly adapting to a collaborative writing process. “When you’re in the middle of writing and recording, it’s very easy to fall into extreme feelings of guilt over procrastination, when you’re already stretched thin,” the band’s Alicia Gaines explains in press notes. “It’s nice to operate as a team, and act as a unit that can take the burden of some really ugly inner talk.” 

Co-directed by Kirsten Miccoli and Ganser, the recently released video features blinding light that paralyzes the band’s members, rapid-fire cuts, surreal vignettes that communicate the wishful thinking (and desire) of being someone else, a disorientating array of dopplegangers and lookalikes. The video suggests that the creative process as being a frustrating and soul crushing series of doubt, anxiety, uncertainty and procrastination and ugly self-talk. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

I’ve written quite a bit about the Brooklyn-based JOVM mainstays Russian Baths over the past couple of years, and as you may recall the act — Luke Koz, Jess Ress, Evan Gill Smith and Jeff Widner — received attention both locally and elsewhere for a sound that has been described by the band and by some critics as nodding at Big Black, 70s space rock, Big Muff and British post punk. Although with the release of their debut EP Penance, an effort that featured singes like “What’s In Your Basement,” “Slenderman” and “Poolhouse,” the Brooklyn-based JOVM mainstays — to my ears, at least —  established a reputation for crafting a brooding 120 Minutes-era alt rock-like sound.

Slated for release later this year, Russian Baths’ forthcoming debut finds them pushing their sound — a sound centered around juxtapositions to its most extreme, as feedback and dissonance manage to swallow softly whispered harmonies; arpeggiated synths and booming 808s are paired with angular, shrieking guitars and propulsive drumming. Thematically the material touches upon personal regret, cultural guilt, reflections and observations on systems on the verge of collapse and a growing sense of unease and anxiety. The album’s first single “Parasite” was a decidedly muscular and grunge-like single that brought Nirvana, The Breeders and others to mind — but while evoking someone on the verge of destroying themselves.

“Tracks,” the forthcoming album’s latest single is an an aggressively abrasive song that’s one part shoegaze, one part post-punk, one part noise rock and one part grunge, as fuzzy and distorted power chords are paired with thunderous drumming and plaintive, falsetto vocals. And while being one of the most feral and mosh pit friendly songs they’ve released in their growing catalog, the song finds the band asking some important questions. “If a friend takes something very personal, very private from you, do you forgive them? If you see someone’s worst self, how do you react? Would you choose yourself to be yourself? Is self respect something you feel because you’re good or does self-respect make you good?” The band says in press notes. As a result, the song possesses the uneasy, claustrophobic air of paranoia and distrust.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Up-and-Coming British Post-Punk Act Squid Releases an Explosive and Expansive New Single

With the release of a series of critically applauded singles, an incendiary live show, and three packed Glastonbury Festival sets, the up-and-coming disco post-punk, disco funk act Squid — Ollie Judge (vocals, drums), Lous Borlase (guitar, vocals), Arthur Leadbetter (keys, strings), Laurie Nankivell (bass, drums) and Anton Pearson (guitar, vocals) — have quickly developed a growing national profile. 

Building upon that momentum, the act which splits its time between Brighton, where it initially formed and London will be releasing the Dan Carey-produced EP Town Centre through Carey’s Speedy Wunderground Records digitally on September 6, 2019 — with a physical release on November 15, 2019. Clocking in at seven and a half minutes, the EP’s  new single “The Cleaner” will likely remind listeners of Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo-era Devo, Talking Heads, Entertainment!-era Gang of Four and LCD Soundystem  as the track is centered around a slinky, disco funk bass line, explosive blasts of squiggly synths, cowbell led drumming, angular guitar lines, explosive feedback and shouted lyrics within an expansive song structure that’s one part post-punk, one part art punk, one part No Wave freak out. And as a result, the song manages to evoke the uncontrolled, neurotic frustration of someone who’s at the end of their rope. 

“‘The Cleaner’ is a lost acquaintance, one that we’ve spent the past year trying to get to know . . . tirelessly working and turning up whenever needed,” the band says about their latest single. “We work for the money to spend out time doing other things. ‘The Cleaner’ imagines the divided work and play structure and thinks about breaking from it.” 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Stockholm’s Birthday Girl Releases a Brooding Visual for “I Came to Eat”

Comprised of Merseyside, UK-born twin siblings Martin Baxter (drums) and Fran Baxter (vocals, guitar) along with Lincoln,UK-born James Corden (bass), the up-and-coming Stockholm, Sweden-based indie rock act Birthday Girl can trace its origins back to 2016 when its founding trio relocated to Stockholm. At the time the trio were living in a single room with one folding down bed and were DJ’ing for pocket change when they started the band. Swedish-born and-based Joakim Sandegård joined the band shortly after and the members of the newly constituted quartet began focusing on creating music that combined raw aggression and noise with gentle melodies and harmonies. 

The up-and-coming Stockholm-based band released their debut single “Welcome Home Frank Bastard” through British label Hide and Seek Records in 2017 — and the song, which is about a lonely man, who takes his frustrations out on his pet cat eventually caught the attention of Iggy Pop, who featured the song on his BBC6 Radio show. And as a result of the growing buzz surrounding the band, they started playing shows around the Stockholm area. 

After DJ’ing at a local bar, the members of the and found a lost credit card, which happened to belong to Glasvegas’ lead vocalist James Allan, and upon returning his credit card, they struck up a friendship, which lead to Allan inviting Birthday Girl to open for his band during their 2018 UK tour. Following their UK tour, the members of Birthday Girl opened for The Underground Youth during their Swedish tour before heading to the studio last winter to start working on their full-length debut. In the meantime, the up-and-coming Swedish band’s latest single “I Came Here to Eat” is a mid-tempo track centered around a chugging bass line, atmospheric, swirling blasts of feedback-driven guitar, Fran Baxter’s plaintive falsetto and a soaring hook. And while the song finds the band meshing 90s alt rock — thanks to an alternating quiet, loud, quiet song structure — and 80s post-punk, the track possesses a murky and menacing air. Interestingly, the band’s Francis Baxter wrote the song about the feeling of “wanting to completely devour someone to the point of cannibalism.” 

Directed by Sebastian Paez, the recently released video was filmed at Stockholm’s Scalateatern and while emphasizing shadow and dim lighting, the video focuses on the act of performance — both as something incredibly phony and artificial and as an interpretation of human behavior and character. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms
The Black Fever are an up-and-coming Toronto-based post-punk act, currently featuring Shoe (vocals, guitar), Pat Bramm (bass, back-up vocals), and Dan Purpura (drums), and the band will be releasing their latest full-length album Unarticulated Wants on June 14, 2019. Reportedly, the album’s material thematically reflects the current sociopolitical moment — political instability, growing economic disparity and the everyday dramas of love and life.
The album’s latest single is the mid-tempo hook-driven track “No Work.” Centered around shimmering guitar lines, a motor groove consisting of thumping drumming and a sinus bass line, a slick yet forceful hook paired with Shoe’s plaintive vocals, “No Work” manages to recall Turn On The Bright Lights-era Interpol; but as the band notes, the song possesses  an underlying anxiety that comes from the difficulty that many people — in particular, new, college graduates and young professionals — have finding and keeping a decent job in which they could survive.
Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Sego Releases a Decidedly Lo-Fi and Trippy Visual for “Give Me”

I’ve written quite a bit about the Los Angeles, CA-based JOVM mainstays Sego over a significant portion of the site’s almost nine-year history — and as you may call, the act which was founded by and initially comprised of Mapleton, UT-born founding duo Spencer Peterson and Thomas Carroll expanded to a quartet with the addition of Alyssa Davey (bass) and Brandon McBride (guitar, keys) last year.

Released last month, the newly-constituted quartet’s sophomore album Sego Sucks derives its name from a hashtag created by a disgruntled concertgoer — and while marking the first album as a quartet, the material was partially inspired by the band’s extensive touring across North America, Europe and the UK, as well as the addition of the band’s newest members. All of these events have led to a much more focused sound and approach — but with a raucous, rowdy, beer soaked spirit. Album single “Shame” was centered around a shout worthy series of hooks, buzzing and distorted guitars, thumping beats and pulsating electronics paired with ironically delivered lyrics — all while finding the band moving towards a pop-leaning take on post-punk. “Neon Me Out” sort of continues in a similar vein as it was centered round an anthemic, shout along worthy hook and a propulsive hook — and in some way, the track sounds like a seamless and mischievous synthesis of Odelay-era Beck and Gang of Four-like post punk.

Sego Sucks’ latest single “Give Me” continues a run of anthemic and pointedly ironic post-punk centered around slashing guitars and a propulsive and percussive rhythm section — but unlike its predecessors, “Give Me” the track touches upon self-loathing, good ol’ American empty phoniness and bullshit. Interestingly, the recently released video also continues a run of incredibly lo-fi videos: in this case, the video is centered around shitty, taped footage from a local public access TV station featuring old timers country line dancing in what appears to either be a VFW or Elks Hall, interspersed with VHS-taped footage of the band members while on tour, which creates a weird and frenzied feel.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Belgium’s Whispering Sons Release an Ominous and Creepy Video for “Hollow”

Initially formed in 2013, the Brussels, Belgium-based post punk act Whispering Sons, comprised of Fenne Kuppens (vocals), Kobe Linjen (guitar), Sander Hermans (synths), Tuur Vanderborne (bass) and Sander Pelsmaekers (drums) received attention nationally with the release of their debut EP, 2015’S Endless Party through Wool-E-Tapes with a vinyl reissue in March 2016 through Minimal Maximal. The following year, the band won one of their homeland’s most prestigious music competitions Humo’s Rock Rally, which they followed up with two 7 inches, 2016’s “Performance”/”Strange Identities” and  2017’s “White Noise.”

Building upon a growing profile across Belgium, the Brussels-based post-punk quintet released their full-length debut, the Micha Volders and Bert Vliegen-produced Image through Cleopatra Records here in the States and Smile Records throughout the rest of the world last year. Recorded over a ten day period at Waimes, Belgium’s GAM Studios, the album finds the band attempting to capture their live sound — and the sense of anxiety and alienation that each individual bandmember felt when they relocated to Brussels.  

Now, as you may recall album single “Alone” was centered around shimmering and angular guitar lines, a propulsive and sinuous bass line, thunderous and mathematically precise drumming, an area rock-friendly hook derived from a cryptic bit of dialog spoken during Twin Peaks’ first season and Kuppens’ Ian Curtis-like vocal delivery. Much like its predecessors, the album’s latest single “Hollow” further cements the Belgian band’s reputation for crafting an ominous post-punk sound reminiscent of  Joy Division, Actors, Deathlist, True Moon, and Second Still among others — but while evoking the overwhelming sense of dread, anxiousness, isolation and outrage of our current sociopolitical moment, in which we (as a collective whole) seem to be marching lockstep towards oblivion.

Directed by Pieter De Ridder, the incredibly cinematic and downright creepy visuals for “Hollow” further emphasize the end-of-days vibes of the song it accompanies. There’s no murderous cyborgs or aliens sent from the far reaches of space and time to exterminate humanity; there’s no Revelations-like four horsemen riding through towns with demonic glee; nor are there godly folk being immediate raptured to heaven; instead the doom the video focuses on, is as the old poem suggests — that the world will end not with a bang but with a whimper. In fact, the video follows a collection of young people, including the members of the band gathering at a proverbial “tree of life.” Every single person the band and the viewer encounters is looking up at the sky in a trancelike gaze. Whatever is coming from above, no one seems frightened or overly concerned; it’ll be as it’ll always be. It’ll leave a lingering chill down your spine.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays Plague Vendor Releases a Shimmering and Sci Fi Take on Post Punk

Over the past few years, I’ve written quite a bit about the Whittier, CA-based post-punk/ punk rock quartet Plague Vendor. And as you may recall, the act which is comprised of f Brandon Blaine (vocals), Luke Perine (drums), Michael Perez (bass) and Jay Rogers (guitar) formed back in 2009, quickly developing a reputation locally and regionally for frenetic and raucous live sets. Eventually, they began playing an increasing number of live shows across California with those shows leading to 2014’s full-length debut  Free to Eat, an album that some critics described as terse, dark and thrashing post-punk.

Bloodsweat, the JOVM mainstays’ 2016 Stuart Sikes-produced sophomore album landed at number 2 on that year’s Best of List, thanks in part to frenetic and anthemic album singles  “ISUA (I Stay Up Anyway)“, “Jezebel” and “No Bounty,” which were delivered with a blistering and forceful swagger. Two years passed before the band released two singles “I Only Speak in Fiction,” and “Locomotive,” which were recorded with Epitaph Records’ head and Bad Religion’s Brett Gurewitz and Morgan Stratton, which served to revitalize the band and restore their focus before joining  acclaimed producer John Congleton for the By Night sessions.

The band’s third full-length album, which is slated for a June 7, 2019 release through Epitaph Records finds the band stretching and warping their sound to evoke a merciless and unrelenting sense of tension and apprehension that should feel familiar in our current sociopolitical moment. “New Comedown,” the third album’s first single was an explosive roar, centered around a propulsive rhythm section, thunderous drumming, layers upon layers of power chords, a mosh pit friendly hook and Blaine’s howled vocals — and while bearing a resemblance to the singles recorded with Gurewitz and Stratton, the song reveals some of the most confident and self-assured songwriting and playing of their growing catalog.

Sonically, the album finds the band meshing the powerful but polished sound of contemporary rock with the countless reinterpretations of classic punk and post punk — while being encouraged by Congleton to push their sound and approach in new directions: in fact, the band employs the use of chorused band in endless waves, lighting strike flashes of synth, motor man-machine drums and even a string section.

Interestingly, By Night‘s second and latest single is a shimmering yet brooding and tense bit of post-punk centered around motorik-like drumming, buzzsaw-like guitars and a shout-along-worthy hook — and while bearing an uncanny resemblance of The Cars, the futuristic, sci-fi punk song captures a narrator, who has partied and fucked around to the point of losing what’s left of the sanity.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Cold Showers Release an Intimate Visual for “Faith”

Formed back in 2010, the Los Angeles-based post-punk act Cold Showers released a handful of singles through Mexican Summer Records and Art Fag Recordings that quickly established the band’s reputation for crafting a sound and aesthetic that would have fit in well among the classic Factory Records and Rough Trade catalogs.

In 2012, the Los Angeles-based quartet signed to Dais Records, who released their critically applauded full-length debut Love and Regret. Building upon a growing profile, the members of the band went on successful tours with The Soft Moon and Veronica Falls, which they promptly followed with decidedly pop-orientated material that was initially released as a handful of singles and live cassette releases. This new pop-leaning direction filtered through the writing and recording sessions for their sophomore album Matter of Choice, an effort that found the band crafting much more polished material while retaining the piston-precision rhythm section and post-punk-like hooks that won them acclaim. 

Slated for a May 24, 2019 release through their longtime label home, Dais Records, Cold Showers’ third album, the Tony Bevilacqua-co-written Motionless reportedly finds the band taking greater control of their creative process, with the band further refining their sound through the incorporation of ambient sounds, acoustic arrays and female vocals. The album’s lead single “Faith,” a dance floor friendly track centered around arpeggiated synths, thumping beats, a motorik groove, slashing bass lines, crooned vocals and layers of distortion pedal effects-led guitars, and a soaring hook. And while retaining the post punk meets shoegaze sound that has won them attention, the song focuses on the transitory nature of our reality and of shame with a swooning urgency.

Directed by Chris Slater, the recently released video for “Faith” is inspired by the intimacy and voyeurism of Warhol’s screen tests, capturing the awkwardness, the simmering hate and uncertainty, the pride and boundless joy of its subjects. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Moody Joy Division-like Synth Pop of Turkey’s Jakuzi

Istanbul, Turkey-based synth-wave duo Jakuzi, which is comprised of Kutay Soyocak and Taner Yücel can trace its origins to when Soyocak and Yücel started the act in 2015 as a way for them to move away from their previous punk rock-leaning projects. When they released their debut cassette in 2016 Fantezi Muzik  no one seriously expected it to leave their immediate circle of friends and associates; however, the tape caught the attention of City Slang Records, who re-released the debut with new tracks the following year — and the album began to receive praise from internationally recognized media outlets, including The Quietus and The Guardian, and the band played sold-out shows with their musical idol John Maus. 

Fantezi Muzik’s material found the band going against the grain of what’s  expected from a male-fronted Turkish act. While most male-fronted acts from the duo’s homeland aren’t typically known for being introspective, Soyocak and Yücel’s work, which has been centered by a gothic sensibility, addressed the personal and psychological issues they were facing. 

Ironically, despite achieving the sort of success that most indie bands would probably kill for, the duo found themselves dealing with a number of challenging issues. Being musicians in their homeland is extremely challenging economically and personally  — and because their songs are written and sung entirely in their native Turkish, the language that Soyocak feels he can best express himself, the opportunities are limited. Currently, there aren’t playlists for Turkish DYI dream pop/dark wave/synth wave acts, their songs aren’t played on traditional radio shows and there isn’t a mass market for attending punk rock shows.  And although they’ve been frustrated and even demoralized, they have refused to give in; in fact, their long-awaited and forthcoming sophomore album Hata Payi (which literally translates as “part of the mistake”) reportedly finds the band delving deeper and making further explorations into the feelings and thoughts they touched upon in their debut — namely, what it’s like to be a young adult in Istanbul, having success and then having to live up to expectations, being an artist in a country that doesn’t quite get or support your work, managing personal relationships as you get older and mental health; but with a refined, darker sound. “I think my melancholy comes partly from where I live,” the band’s Kutay Soyocak says in press notes. “This can be seen in the lyrics. I sometimes feel dark, lost and lonely as everyone. Here, the economy and politics make me feel hopeless sometimes. The future seems blurry but we try to keep our hopes high and continuing what we do. The audience is getting bigger every day and they support us and it is just pure love in our gigs.’’

Interestingly, “Toz,” the second and latest single off Hata Payi immediately brings Joy Division to mind, as the song is centered around shimmering and arpeggiated synths, stuttering beats, an angular and propulsive bass line, a big hook and Kutay Soyocak’s sonorous yet achingly sad baritone — and although the lyrics are completely in his native Turkish, the song evokes a loneliness that is deeply universal. 

Directed by Eli Kasavi, the recently released video for “Toz” stars a brooding and lonely Kutay Soyocak dancing alone in a room with flickering spotlight. As Kasavi explains in press notes. “It’s connected to the band’s previous video “Şüphe” where the main character watched a dancing couple with a feeling of doubt. That character has left that place now and is dancing by himself.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past month or so I’ve written a bit about the Detroit, MI-based trio Ritual Howls, and as you may recall with the release of three full-length albums and a number of EPs, the act which is comprised of Paul Bancell (vocals, guitar), Chris Samuels (synths, samples, drum machine) and Ben Saginaw (bass) have developed a reputation for crafting a cinematic twangy and dance floor friendly industrial post-punk — although last year’s The Body EP found the trio employing the use of more expansive arrangements paired with a sculpted sound and production.

Rendered Armor, the Detroit-based industrial, post-punk trio’s latest effort was released last week through felte records, and from the VOWWS-like “Alone Together” and the twangy Violator-era Depeche Mode-like “Thought Talk,” the album finds the band sonically continuing in a similar vein as The Body EP — but while balancing an uneasy intimacy with a wide screen, cinematic quality. “Devoured Decency,” the album’s latest single is a murky, mid-tempo, post apocalyptic song centered around thumping beats, arpeggiated synths, a throbbing bass line and a soaring hook. As the band’s Paul Bancell explains “This song started as a synth melody. I believe Ben’s bass accidentally ended up holding the song together, with his bass line working over multiple riffs. My wife Dana sings backing vocals on the song. It’s another post apocalyptic song – in some ways a call to stop being polite and decent when everything is going to shit around us.”

Ritual Howls will be touring with The Faint to support their forthcoming full-length album, and it includes two NYC area dates — July 29, 2019 and July 30, 2019 at Bowery Ballroom. Check out the rest of the tour dates below.

Tour Dates
04.13 Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex (Record Release)  
07.27 Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall *
07.29 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom *
07.30 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom *
08.02 Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts *
08.03 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *
08.04 Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall *
08.05 Pittsburgh, PA @ Get Hip Records
08.06 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop *
08.07 Detroit, MI @ El Club *
08.09  Chicago, IL @ House of Blues *
08.10 Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave II (Downstairs) *
08.12 Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe *
08.13 Kansas City, KS @ Madrid Theatre *
08.15 Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Live *
08.16 Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn *
10.04 Tampa Bay, FL @ Absolution Festival
 
* w/ The Faint, Closeness

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: BRUTUS’ Forceful and Anthemic “Django”

With the release of their full-length debut, 2017’s Burst, the Leuven, Belgium-based post-rock trio BRUTUS, comprised of Stefanie Mannaerts (drums, vocals), Stijn Vanhoegaerden (guitar) and Peter Mulders (bass) quickly received a national and international presence — and since their full-length debut’s release, they’ve toured with JOVM mainstay Chelsea Wolfe, Thrice, Russian Circles, and played the major heavy EU festivals. Adding to a growing profile, Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich has proudly championed the Belgian trio. And interestingly enough, they’ve achieved this with a sound that was initially shaped by necessity — with Mannaerts adopting vocal duties because no one else would. 

The Leuven-based post-rock trio’s highly anticipated Jesse Gander-produced sophomore album Nest is slated for release later this week through Sargent House Records and the album’s material finds Mannaerts fully embracing her dual roles as vocalist and drummer and while the album’s material reveals the full range of her talents, the band has made a concerted effort to write tight songs with an expanded sound. Thematically speaking, the material focuses on the path the trio have taken together to get to the euphoric highs of achieving a lifelong dream; but there’s underlying moments of deep, introspection, in which they all consider the individual choices they’ve made to get there — and the impact those choices had on their loved ones, and those who they’ve left behind.  And as a result, the material possesses a strangely uncomfortable yet necessary friction between wanting to continue their forward progression and a desire to maintain and cherish those connections to all that they love at home. But is that possible when you’ve taken such enormous risks to achieve something extraordinary. And when the things you’ve seen, done and experienced have become so different than those of your peers, can you keep that connection?

Earlier this year, I wrote about, the expansive “War,” a track that alternated between dreamy and ruminative showcase and aggressive and forceful thrash metal, with enormous, arena rock friendly hooks and even larger power chords. Possessing a painterly quality in which the song’s musical layers are much like brushstrokes adding detail and texture to the canvas, the song evokes the raw ache of isolation and the bleakness of taking stock of oneself — completely alone. “Cemetery,” Nest‘s second and single effortlessly bridged doom metal, thrash metal, shoegaze, hardcore punk and stoner rock with an arrangement featuring thunderous drumming, blistering and enormous power chords, and Mannaerts howled vocals. “Django,” Nest’s third and latest single will further cement the Belgian trio’s reputation for crafting a huge, arena rock-like sound, as the track is centered around Mannaerts thunderous drumming, Vanhoegaerden’s towing power chords and Mulder’s rumbling low end — but the song may arguably be the most concise and forceful song on the album.