Comprised of Austin,TX-born, Seattle WA-based Maria-Elena Juarez (vocals, bass), Seattle, WA-born and based Christopher Garland (guitar) and Grenoble, France-born, Seattle, WA-based Davy Berruyer (drums), Seattle, WA-based surf rock/indie rock trio Acapulco Lips specialize in a […]
Tag: Raccoon Fighter
Comprised of Diego Garcia (vocals, guitar), Alejandro de Lucas (bass) and Daniel “Larry” Balboa (drums), Madrid, Spain-based trio The Parrots quickly became an DIY underground sensation with the release of a demo, which was released without much promotion and little fanfare; in fact, the video for “I Did Something Wrong” off their Aden Arabie EP initially received over 15,000 YouTube hits — and caught the attention of music bloggers across Europe and the rest of the world for a sound that drew from old school, garage rock and psych rock but with a loose, boozy feel. And unsurprisingly, the band’s sound compares favorably to the likes of Thee Oh Sees, Black Lips, Raccoon Fighter, High Waisted, White Mystery and others.
Last year, NME named the Spanish trio as one of SXSW‘s “buzziest bands” and since then the members of The Parrots have been incredibly busy — they’ve released a critically applauded EP Weed for The Parrots, have toured relentlessly and played an incredible 14 shows at this year’s SXSW (in which they were later signed by renowned indie label Heavenly Recordings). Building on the growing buzz, the trio will be releasing their latest single “Let’s Do It Again.”
Recorded at Paco Loco Studios in El Puerto de Santa Maria in Cadiz, Southern Spain, The Parrots’ latest single is reportedly inspired by the members of the band drinking beers and Horchata, eating Moroccan delicacies and feelings of deep friendship and loyalty and as a result the song possesses a shuffling, intoxicated feel of elation and adventure — the sort that would come about when you’ve drunkenly stumbled along a new best friend. Sonically, the song will further cement the Spanish trio’s growing reputation for raw and shaggy garage rock as Garcia’s passionate howls are paired with a shuffling and jangling garage rock chords, propulsive drumming and a throbbing bass line, and in some way the song sounds as though it could have easily been released in 1962 or so.
New Audio: Check Out A Digital 45 from Daptone Records’ First Old School/Lo-Fi Rock-Leaning Signing
Comprised of Mike Brandon (guitar and vocals), L.A. Solano (guitar), Alex Q. Amini (bass) and Kevin Harris (organ), New York-based quartet The Mystery Lights specialize in old timey garage rock and psych rock sound that’s […]
Comprised of siblings Kyle Davis (drums) and Tyler Davis (guitar, vocals), who were actually share the same birthday, two years apart, along with Jota Ese (bass) and Ric Alessio (organ and vocals), Nashville, TN-based quartet Chrome Pony have developed a growing profile for a fuzzy and heavily indebted 60s psych and garage rock sound. And with the release of Illegal Smiles, You Are the Pisces, Lazy Bones and their latest effort Past Lives, the Nashville-based quartet have added themselves to a growing list of artists that includes contemporary artists like Cool Ghouls, Raccoon Fighter, The Black Angels, Elephant Stone, Sleepy Sun and others.
Past Lives’ latest single “Ragged Child” has the quartet pairing twisting and tumbling organ chords, a rolling bass line and shimmering and chiming guitar chords with propulsive drumming, a trippy guitar solo and anthemic hooks, and the result is a shuffling and shambling, seemingly jam-based song that subtly meshes elements of grunge rock with 60s psych rock.
Chrome Pony is currently on tour with Cage the Elephant across both the European Union and the UK, and when the quartet returns to the States in March, they’ll be playing a series of US dates including stops at Savannah Stopover Festival and the Sweetwater 420 Festival. Check out tour dates here: http://www.bandsintown.com/ChromePony?came_from=198&mc_cid=528c75bfcc&mc_eid=c74f701724
Perhaps best known for this time spent in New England-based psych rock band MMOSS, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Doug Tuttle had developed a reputation as a artist of his own right with the release of his solo debut, an effort that had been praised for possessing a jittery, love-lorn anxiety paired with Tuttle’s dexterous guitar work and his carefully crafted psychedelic-tinged pop. Tuttle’s forthcoming sophomore effort, It Calls On Me, slated for a February 26 release through renowned indie label Trouble In Mind Records will further cement the New Hampshire-born singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s reputation for crafted psych pop while revealing a subtle yet marked change in sonic direction as the material is dreamier and more ethereal, as you’ll hear on the album’s latest single and album title track “It Calls On Me.” Thanks to some impressive guitar licks played through a variety of effects pedals, paired with cymbal-led propulsive percussion, an equally propulsive bass line, Tuttle’s lilting and cooed vocals, the song sounds as though it could have been released sometime between 1963-1969 as the guitar solo reminds me quite a bit of Robby Kreiger’s expressive and expansive solo in The Doors‘ “Light My Fire,” while the song manages to be subtly modern as it channels contemporary acts such as Raccoon Fighter.
Tuttle and his touring band will play a number of dates throughout February and March to support the new album and it includes a stop in Brooklyn. Check out tour dates below.
Tour Dates
2/17: Detroit, MI – Marble Bar
2/18: Chicago, IL – The Owl #
2/19: Cleveland, OH – Happy Dog #
2/20: Cincinnati, OH – The Comet #
2/21: Nashville, TN- East Room #
2/22: Atlanta, GA- 529 #
2/23: Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506
2/24: Richmond, VA – TBA
2/25: Brooklyn, NY – Rough Trade
2/26: Providence, RI – AS220 ^
2/27: Boston, MA – Lillypad ^
2/28: Portsmouth, NH – 3S Artspace ^
# – w/ Paperhead
^ – w/ Herbcraft
Comprised of Matt Miller (guitar, lead vocals), Sean Glassman (guitar, vocals and keys), Brian d’Alessandro (drums, vocals and keys) and Paolo Codega (bass, vocals), the Brooklyn-based indie rock quartet Coastgaard can trace their origins to when the band’s founding members d’Alessandro and Miller first began playing together in Sons of Huns back in 2009. Sons of Huns eventually split up but d’Alessandro and Miller continued playing with other. d’Alessandro and Miller recruited Glassman and Codega to flesh out the band’s sound.
Over the past couple of years, the Brooklyn-based quartet has seen increasing attention across the blogosphere and on this site for a jangling, guitar pop sound that draws heavily from 60s surfer rock and 90s alt rock — and in a way that’s reminiscent of Raccoon Fighter and Vampire Weekend, The Smiths and others.
“A Well Adjusted Man,” the first single off Coastgaard’s forthcoming sophomore full-length Devil on the Balcony pairs upbeat jangling guitar pop with lyrics that follow the inner monologue of a man who vacillates between brooding self-reflection and self-assured potency which gives the song a subtle noir-ish feel. Interestingly enough, the song is arguably the most cinematic song the band has released to date; in fact, I can envision the song as part of the soundtrack of an art film that focuses on alienation and the difficulty of connecting with another.
Originating as the solo recording project of David Miller, the Chicago, IL-based lo-fi/punk/psych rock quartet Strange Faces expanded to a quartet when Miller recruited Taylor Walters (guitar), Philip Valdez (bass) and Ben Leach (drums) to flesh out and complete the project’s sound. “Brand New Way,” off the quartet’s soon-to-be released debut effort Stonerism is a swaggering, scuzzy bit of psychedelic lo-fi reminiscent of Crocodiles and Raccoon Fighter as the album’s first single pairs buzzing guitar chords, a tight and propulsive rhythm section, big hooks and vocals fed through layers of distortion. And despite it’s swaggering nature, at its core is a bruised and aching heart as the song’s narrator talks about moving on from crushing loneliness while capturing the youthful restlessness and rebellion that’s always been the rock ‘n’ roll spirit.
Although the Providence, RI-based trio Atlantic Thrills were officially formed in 2009, the origins of the band comprised of Eric Aguilar (vocals, bass), Daniel Tanner (vocals, guitar), and Josh Towers (drums) can be traced back even earlier — to the early 00’s when the band’s founding members Aguilar and Tanner met at a loft party. At the time, Aguilar was an emcee and producer studying at the Rhode Island School of Design and Tanner was a DJ. Along with another emcee, the duo of Tanner and Aguilar formed a hip-hop act Exile and Lokey and released an album; unfortunately, something felt off and the project disbanded.
While Aguilar and Tanner were crate digging and pouring over Nuggets Vol 1. and Pebbles Vol 1., freakbeat and fuzz compilations for new sounds and unused breaks, they realized that they needed to make the music they wanted to hear — scuzzy, garage-based psych rock. Towers was then recruited to flesh out the band’s sound on drums, and the newly formed trio recorded a debut effort, which puts them on a growing list of acts that have specialized in an old-school garage psych sound including Raccoon Fighter, who I’ve written about on JOVM in the past.
“Vices” the first single and album title track off the band’s forthcoming sophomore effort, Vices slated for a December 4 release through Almost Ready Records consists of chiming guitars played through copious layers of reverb, propulsive drumming and ethereal harmonies to craft a sound that’s lo-fi scuzzy and trippy — and in many ways the overall sound channels the psych rock sounds of the early 60s.
Live Concert Photography: Vivid Dreams at Rockwood Music Hall 5/17/15
Live Concert Photography: Vivid Dreams at Rockwood Music Hall May 17, 2015 As you can imagine, since starting JOVM five years ago, I receive an overwhelming number of invites to shows in the NYC area […]
Indie psych rock act, Ancient River is the brainchild of the Gainesville, FL-based singer/songwriter and guitarist James Barreto. The band can trace its origins to 200 when Barreto was a member of the DIY and […]
Comprised of Bonnie Bloomgarden (lead vocals), Rocky (bass), Laura Kelsey (drums) and Larry Schemel (guitar), the Los Angeles, CA-based quartet of Death Valley Girls have deliberately shrouded themselves in mystery; in fact, what little that is […]
The Grand Rapids, MI-based trio of HEATERS can trace their origins to when high school friends Andrew Tamlyn and Nolan Krebs relocated to Grand Rapids to start working on a music project together. And in […]
If you’ve been following JOVM for the past few months, you might remember coming across a post or two on the Allentown, PA-based quartet, The Yetis. Formed by a childhood friends, the band’s early days […]
A Q&A with Prettiest Eyes
Comprised of Pachy (drums and vocals), Marco (bass) and Paco (keyboards), the members of the Los Angeles-based trio Prettiest Eyes had all been vital parts of San Juan, Puerto Rico’s music scene for years, playing […]
If you’ve been frequently JOVM for some time, you know that I’ve frequently mentioned that I receive quite a bit of email from record labels, publicity firms and artists from all over the world, and […]