Permit is a Bloomington, IN-based indie rock/punk rock duo and with the release of their debut 7 inch, the duo’s sound was indebted to power pop, classic rock and early punk; however, with the release of their debut EP Vol. 1 the duo’s sound has increasingly taken on a frenetic post-punk vibe that makes their material sound as though it were indebted to Pink Flag-era Wire but as though it were a 33 rpm album played 45 rpm speed, as you’ll hear on Vol. 1’s latest single “Track #6.”
Tag: post punk
Although they officially formed in 2014 when their previous bands and creative projects ended, NGHTCRWRLS, comprised of Frank DeFranco (guitar, vocals), Brian Goglia (bass, vocals), Eric Goldberg (guitar, vocals) and Max Rauch (drums and vocals), the members of the band have known each other for years as each member of the band has spent time playing in a number of bands across the tri-state area. And as the story goes, once their various creative outlets ended, the quartet managed to serendipitously began collaborating through a series of jam sessions that resulted in their debut effort, which was recorded by Rauch in the band’s practice space and engineered and mastered by the band’s dear friend Jeremy Cimino . After a series of short tours to support their debut, the members of the band went back to their practice space to record the material, which comprised their soon-to-be released sophomore effort Raging Hot, which they had written while touring.
Raging Hot‘s latest single, the appropriately titled “Fear and Greed” is a funky, post-punk and 80s New Wave-leaning single, which finds the band pairing shimmering and angular guitar chords played through gentle amounts of reverb, a rolling and sinuous bass line, and propulsive drumming with DeFranco’s crooning falsetto. And while sonically being reminiscent of Wire and The Fixx, the song manages to possess a creeping sense of dread and uncertainty — the same sort of dread and uncertainty that countless people have started to feel about their prospects.
Admittedly, after the election results last night, it’s been difficult to concentrate — but as I mentioned to a Twitter follower, who felt profoundly discouraged, artists of all sorts are now desperately needed more than ever to lead the charge against an evil unlike anything anyone has seen in this country. And I hope that artists of all stripes are moved to create with a furious passion, and to create art that challenges the status quo, that inspires and emboldens people to fight — and to fight for the defenseless.
In the meantime, there’s work to do. Comprised of Susil Sharma (vocals, guitar and synths) Matthew Fiorentino (guitar, synth), and Raphael Bussières (bass), the Montreal, QC-based indie rock/post-punk trio Heat have received praise from Brooklyn Vegan and NME for a swaggering and moody song that’s “equal parts hooks, melody and attitude.” The band’s latest single “Lush” off their new album, Overnight is moody and seductive track in which the band pairs shimmering synths, angular guitar chords played though reverb, thumping, four-on-the-floor drumming, and a sinuous bass line with a razor sharp hook, in a song that sounds as though it draws from The Psychedelic Furs –but with a slick, modern, dance-floor friendly feel.
New Video: The Psychedelic Yet Nostalgic Visuals for Indie Rock Act Pamphleteers’ “Shivering”
“Shivering,” is the first single off the band’s recently released full-length debut Ghost That Follows, and the single consists of shimmering and angular guitar chords paired with propulsive drumming, tumbling bass line, Crawford’s plaintive and urgent vocals and an anthemic hook in a song that sounds as though it were inspired by 80s post-punk — but at its core the song feels simultaneously joyous over small pleasures and haunted by the ghosts of their friends and loved ones and the recognition that some losses linger forever.
The recently released video for the single fittingly uses a ton of nostalgic imagery — including a cassette tape being run through an off-brand Walkman that appears as though it were recorded onto an old VHS or Betamax tape, psychedelic imagery of people skateboarding in the California sun and amusement parks shot on Super 8 film but treated through a kaleidoscopic filters and the like.
New Video: Introducing the Post Rock/Post Punk Sounds of San Francisco’s The Soonest
Led by San Francisco, CA-based singer/songwriter Young Lee and featuring a rotating cast of collaborators including members of indie rock bands such as WATERS, Hazel English’s backing band, Doe Eye, There’s Talk, and Elsa y Elmar, The Soonest have released a handful of EPs at traditional recording studios that have won attention both locally and regionally for a layered and moody, 80s post-punk/post-rock leaning sound; in fact, Lee was asked to write the score to the documentary Weaving Shibusa.
Mixed by Greg Francis and mastered by TW Walsh, the project’s recently released full-length debut effort, Doors to the City was recorded in an empty Bay Area church, and the high wooden ceilings helped create the enormous, wall of sound like sound that you’ll hear on Doors to the City’s first single “Start a War,” a single that pairs Lee’s lilting and dramatic vocals with layers upon layers of angular guitar chords, a forceful, motorik-like groove consisting of a sinuous bass line and propulsive drumming, and an anthemic hook. Sonically, the song manages to channel Crocodiles and Heaven Up Here-era Echo and the Bunnymen — including deeply urgent and visual lyrics that describe an uneasy and fraught relationship.
Comprised of founding members Kristian Bell (vocals) and Gianni Honey (drums) and featuring Daniel Rumsey (bass), along with newest member Mark Breed (keyboards, guitar), the now Brighton, UK-based quartet The Wytches can actually trace its origins to Bell’s and Honey’s previous band together, The Crooked Canes, a Peterborough, UK-based band that the duo have publicly dismissed as being “really adolescent and embarrassing.” After the founding duo played n a few other locally based bands, they moved to Brighton for school and posted an ad for a bassist. Daniel Rumsey, a Dorsey, UK-born singer/songwriter and frontman of Dan Rumsey and The Bitter End, Fall Victim and The Voyage Andromeda was the only person to respond to the ad.
Initially formed as The Witches, the trio changed their name to The Wytches to make the band more searchable on Google. The then trio’s 2014 debut effort Annabel Dream Record was release to critical praise across the blogosphere, and as a result the then trio embarked on a wild, whirlwind period of national and international touring, which helped influenced the newly constituted quartet’s highly-anticipated and recently released follow up, All Your Happy Life.
Reportedly, All Your Happy Life draws from the experiences the band had while touring — including reading a ton of Tolstoy on the tour bus, listening to Elliott Smith, tons of live, underground metal sets and observation small-town English life with completely new eyes. And as you’ll hear on the album’s second and latest single “Crest of Death,” is a furious, bilious and scathing track that’s split into two distinct parts — a screamo/hardcore intro in which Bell’s vocal are paired with dirge-like guitar chords and the song’s anthemic, shout to the rafters chorus and a down-tempo, fucked psychedelia. While evoking a desperate howl into an cold, indifferent void, the song manages to express a bored, nihilistic shrug.
Comprised of Mino Peric, Tierney Miekus, Siahn Davis and Murray Coggan, the Melbourne, Australia-based no-wave/post-punk quartet No Sister have started to receive a bit of international attention for a tense, abrasive and frenetic sound as you’ll hear on “Overpass,” a single consisting of angular, clashing and jangling layers of guitars, an undulating and forceful bass line, stuttering four-on-the-floor-like drumming, shouted, non-sequitur-based lyrics that capture the frantic, disconnected and vacillating thoughts of the anxiously neurotic. Sonically, the Australian quartet aim to put the listener on edge, to evoke a growing and enveloping sense of dread and uncertainty of our current age — all while nodding at the righteous fury of early Gang of Four.
Live Concert Photography: The Shondes with Slingshot Dakota and Permanent Wave at Shea Stadium 9/17/16
Featuring former members of The Dials, Telenovela and The Returnables, Chicago, IL-based indie rock trio The Pamphleteers, comprised of Rebecca Crawford (bass, vocals), Geoff Atkinson (drums) and Jonathan Ben-Isvy (guitar) can trace their origins to playing together in a series of bands for the better part of a decade, to friendships that go back further than that — and to a tragic event that ultimately ended their primary projects and had them reeling: back in 2005, an suicide attempt/international car crash took the lives of three Chicago musicians, Crawford’s husband John Glick, who was also Ben-Isvy’s bandmate in The Returnables, Crawford’s bandmate in The Dials, Doug Meis and Michael Dahlquist of Silkworm, who was a mutual friend of every member of both bands.
Although reeling from such profound loss, the surviving members of all of those bands, decided that to best pay respect to their dead friends was to continue forward with music; and in fact, it’s been an opportunity for Crawford and Ben-Isvy to find joy and move forward as best as they could. “Shivering,” is the first single off the band’s soon-to-be released full-length debut Ghost That Follows, which is slated for a September 23, 2016 release, and the single consists of shimmering and angular guitar chords paired with propulsive drumming, tumbling bass line, Crawford’s plaintive and urgent vocals and an anthemic hook in a song that sounds as though it were inspired by 80s post-punk — but at its core the song feels simultaneously joyous over small pleasures and haunted by the ghosts of their friends and loved ones and the recognition that some losses linger forever.
New Video: The 80s New Wave Channeling Sounds and Visuals of Public Access TV’s “End of an Era”
The quartet’s highly-anticipated full-length debut Never Enough is slated for a September 30, 2016 through Cinematic Records and the album’s latest single “End of an Era” sounds as though it draws from radio-friendly, 80s New Wave — in particular, think of The Fixx’s “Saved by Zero,” “One Thing Leads to Another,” “Red Skies,” and “The Sign of Fire,” The Knack’s “My Sharona,” Huey Lewis and The News’ “The Heart of Rock ‘N’ Roll,” and others as the band pairs angular guitar chords, a driving bass line, four-on-on-the-floor-like drumming, atmospheric synths, punchily delivered lyrics and an anthemic hook. As the band’s John Eartherly mentions in press notes “We’ve been told that playing a rock ‘n’ roll band in 2016 is a ridiculous thing. For all of us though, it isn’t a question of wanting to do it or not. We have to do it. I left home and quit school at 16 to play music. Music is all we know and love, and this son his an ode to us following that path.”
As for the recently released video, the band’s John Eatherly mentions in press notes that “the label wanted David LaChappelle to do this one, especially ’cause it’s the pop sugar injection song, and they hope, a little pot of radio-friendly unit-shifting gold. But we said ‘nah, give us your money and we’ll do it it ourselves.’ So we took their money and bought a 1986 Dodge 600 and a mini DV Cam and did what we normally do — but for your voyeuristic pleasure.” While visually nodding at the sort of visuals Crocodiles would do, the video does capture some of the spirit and feel of videos released in the 80s.
New Video: The Creepy Film Noir Visuals and Tense, Uneasy Sounds of No One Mind
As you’ll hear on “Tiger” No One Mind’s latest single, layers of angular, buzzing guitars, a propulsive, throbbing bass line and rapid-fire drumming is paired with venomous lyrics full of recrimination, bitter accusations and spite and it comes from a deeply personal and fucked up place that should be familiar to anyone who has felt as though their heart was stomped on by someone close to them — including the miscommunication and misunderstanding, pettiness and deceit that adds a razor sharp edge to the feeling of deceit and loathing at the core of the song while pairing it with a song structure that feels dimly familiar yet alien.
Directed by Zoe Dehmer, the recently released video for “Tiger” is an film noir-like video that follows a pair of two young girls — presumably sisters — who appear as though they’re under the influence of hallucinogens as they wander around a suburban town, explore each other and mess with each other, while hinting at something deeply menacing and cruel just under the surface.
Led by its founding member and creative mastermind David Eugene Edwards, Wovenhand much like Edwards’ previous projects have a long-held reputation for intense and anthemic music that showcases Edwards’ Romantic and incredibly dramatic crooning — and for a relentless experimentation and reinvention. His previous project 16 Horsepower was well-received for a sound based around antique Americana while Wovenhand’s earliest incarnations specialized in hushed ballads; however, with the newest and most current lineup, featuring Planes Mistaken For Stars‘ Chuck French (guitar) and Neil Keener (bass), Ordy Garrison (drums) and Crime and The City Solution‘s Matthew Smith (piano, synth) the band has written and recorded some of the heaviest and most forceful material to date on their latest effort Star Treatment slated for release on September 9, 2016 through Sargent House Records globally — with the exception of Europe.
As Edwards explains, the soon-to-be released album’s title isn’t a reference to our contemporary obsession with celebrity; rather it’s a reference to the concept of astrolatry — or humanity’s enduring interest in the stars of the night sky. “It’s ethereal in its concept,” Edwards says. “There are many layers, as always. I’ve been paying attention to the stars in the sky and in literature, and it’s a theme throughout the album.” He adds, “There’s more love song style on this in general, which is nice. The idea of what love is and how it’s expressed and all these different atmospheres.” Star Treatment‘s first single and opening track “Come Brave” finds the band pairing a propulsive, rumbling and rolling drum beat, enormous power chords, Edwards crooning vocals, a swooning and urgent Romanticism and rousing, arena rock friendly-like hooks with celestial hooks in a song that sounds as though it drew from Crocodiles and Heaven Up Here-era Echo and the Bunnymen, complete with a dark and mysterious fury.
The band will be embarking on a world tour to support the album. Check out tour dates below.
Tour Dates:
08/26 LAS VEGAS, NV @ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Psycho Las Vegas
09/12 COLOGNE, DE @ Gebäude 9 *
09/13 FRANKFURT, DE @ Zoom *
09/15 BERN, CH @ ISC *
09/16 ZURICH, CH @ Bogen F *
09/17 VIENNA, AT @ Flex *
09/18 BUDAPEST, HU @ A38 *
09/20 SALZBURG, AT @ Rockhouse *
09/21 MUNICH, DE @ Ampere *
09/22 LEIPZIG, DE @ UT Connewitz *
09/23 BERLIN, DE @ Heimathafen *
09/24 HAMBURG, DE – Reeperbahn Festival
09/26 ARHUS, DK @ Train *
09/27 OSLO, NO @ John Dee *
09/29 HELSINKI, FI @ Tavastia
09/30 STOCKHOLM, SE @ Nalen *
10/01 LUND, SE @ Mejeriet *
10/02 COPENHAGEN, DK @ Vega Jr. *
10/04 EINDHOVEN, NL @ Effenaar *
10/05 AMSTERDAM, NL @ Melkweg *
10/06 LEUVEN, BE @ Het Depot *
10/07 GENT, BE @ Handelsbeurs *
10/08 CHARLEROI, BE @ L’Eden *
10/10 LILLE, FR @ L’Aéronef *
10/11 PARIS, FR @ La Maroquinerie *
10/13 ORLEANS, FR @ L’Astrolabe *
10/14 GRENOBLE, FR @ La Belle Electrique *
10/15 FEYZIN, FR @ L’Epicerie Moderne *
10/16 TOULOUSE, FR @ La Rex *
10/18 LONDON, UK @ The Dome *
09/12 COLOGNE, DE @ Gebäude 9 *
09/13 FRANKFURT, DE @ Zoom *
09/15 BERN, CH @ ISC *
09/16 ZURICH, CH @ Bogen F *
09/17 VIENNA, AT @ Flex *
09/18 BUDAPEST, HU @ A38 *
09/20 SALZBURG, AT @ Rockhouse *
09/21 MUNICH, DE @ Ampere *
09/22 LEIPZIG, DE @ UT Connewitz *
09/23 BERLIN, DE @ Heimathafen *
09/24 HAMBURG, DE – Reeperbahn Festival
09/26 ARHUS, DK @ Train *
09/27 OSLO, NO @ John Dee *
09/29 HELSINKI, FI @ Tavastia
09/30 STOCKHOLM, SE @ Nalen *
10/01 LUND, SE @ Mejeriet *
10/02 COPENHAGEN, DK @ Vega Jr. *
10/04 EINDHOVEN, NL @ Effenaar *
10/05 AMSTERDAM, NL @ Melkweg *
10/06 LEUVEN, BE @ Het Depot *
10/07 GENT, BE @ Handelsbeurs *
10/08 CHARLEROI, BE @ L’Eden *
10/10 LILLE, FR @ L’Aéronef *
10/11 PARIS, FR @ La Maroquinerie *
10/13 ORLEANS, FR @ L’Astrolabe *
10/14 GRENOBLE, FR @ La Belle Electrique *
10/15 FEYZIN, FR @ L’Epicerie Moderne *
10/16 TOULOUSE, FR @ La Rex *
10/18 LONDON, UK @ The Dome *
* w/ Emma Ruth Rundle
New Video: The Post-Modern Art-Inspired Visuals for Preoccupations “Degraded”
The self-titled album’s second single “Degraded” pairs their tense and angular song with what may arguably be the possess the most straightforward and hook-friendly song structure they’ve written to date; however, the song lyrically reveals itself to be full of bilious accusation and recrimination, ill-feeling and seems to evoke a relationship slowly splintering at its core, complete with the realization that as a result the relationship will be irrevocably altered; but simultaneously being a plaintive and urgent plea for understanding, for forgiveness, for the dysfunctional train ride to just stop. Sonically, the band employs synths to give their already tense material a subtle atmospheric feel much like “Anxiety;” however, the album’s latest single pushes that feeling of anxiety outward so that it becomes an enveloping fog.
Although the recently video manages to evoke a post modern painting with colors and shapes appearing as though reduced to abstraction, as the video’s director Valentina Tapia explains “The video offers an encounter with the primordial ruins of a post-human landscape, where sentient sculptural artifacts attempt to reassemble themselves piece by piece.” And while being surreal, the video manages to evoke a world splintering apart into something both unrecognizable and recognizable if you were to pay close attention, accurately capturing the tense and anxious sensibility within the song.
At the end of last month, I wrote about the Leeds, UK-based indie rock/post-punk trio Cowtown. Comprised of David Michale Shields (drums), Hilary Knott (bass, keys and vocals) and Johnathan Nash (guitar,vocals), the British trio have over the course of three full-length albums have developed a reputation for angular, super caffeinated post-punk that draws from Gang of Four, DEVO, Talking Heads, much like “Motivational Speaker,” the first single off the band’s forthcoming album Paranormal Romance slated for an August 19, 2016 release through Athens, GA-based HHBTM Records in the US and Sheffield, UK-based label Audacious Art Experiment.
Clocking in at 92 seconds, Paranormal Romance‘s second and latest single “Tweak” sounds as though it were indebted to the Ramones and 90s alt rock, as the the trio pairs propulsive and thundering drumming with blistering power chords and an anthemic and infectious “oh oh oh” at the hook that you can imagine a crowded and sweaty bunch of kids yelling lustily while moshing — and with a youthful abandon.
Formed by its founding and primary member Christopher Crisi, the Lawrence, KS-based indie rock act The Appleseed Cast has over the course of 20 years and 7 full-length efforts developed a reputation for constantly changing lineups — while subtly refining and honing the sound that won the band major acclaim in the early 2000s and onward; in fact, the band’s seminal work Low Level Owl, Vol I and Vol II received a 9.0 from Pitchfork and it was followed by the critically applauded release of Two Conversations, Peregrine, Illumination Ritual and several others for a sound that at one point or another had been compared to the likes of Sunny Day Real Estate, Mineral and others as their material has meshed post-punk, emo rock, punk rock, shoegaze with anthemic hooks, as the band’s current lineup featuring touring musicians Ben Kimball, Nick Fredrickson and several others.
Throughout October and November, the members of The Appleseed Cast will be on tour with the Beverly, MA-based sextet Caspian, who to only are making their last tour stops to support their 2015 release Dust and Disquiet; but the Beverly, MA-based band has also publicly cited Crisi and The Appleseed Cast as a major influence on their sound. And with the announcement of the tour, the Lawrence, KS-based project released their latest single “Great Lake Derelict,” a propulsive track that pairs shimmering guitar chords, played through gentle amounts of reverb, soaring synths, plaintive vocals and arena rock friendly anthemic hooks in a song that manages to possess intimate and earnest emotion while being cinematic.
As for the tour, check out the tour dates below. You’ll see that it’ll include a mid-November stop at Music Hall of Williamsburg.
Caspian + The Appleseed Cast 2016 tour dates
10.22 · Washington, DC – Rock and Roll Hotel (tickets)
10.23 · Raleigh, NC – Kings (tickets)
10.24 · Atlanta, GA – Masquerade (tickets)
10.25 · Nashville, TN – Exit/In (tickets)
10.27 · Houston, TX – Studio @ Warehouse Live (tickets)
10.28 · Austin, TX – Sidewinder (tickets)
10.30 · Phoenix, AZ – The Rebel Lounge (tickets)
11.01 · Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom (tickets)
11.02 · San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall (tickets)
11.04 · Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios (tickets)
11.05 · Seattle, WA – Neumo’s (tickets)
11.08 · Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge (tickets)
11.09 · Denver, CO – Marquis Theater (tickets)
11.11 · Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room (tickets)
11.12 · St. Louis, MO – Firebird (tickets)
11.13 · Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall (tickets)
11.14 · Grand Rapids, MI – Pyramid Scheme (tickets)
11.15 · Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace (tickets)
11.16 · Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer (tickets)
11.17 · Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg (tickets)
11.18 · Boston, MA – Royale (tickets)
11.19 · Montreal, QC – Le Ritz (tickets)