Tag: Radioactivity

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Follow Bad Sports’ Orville Neely on a Drunken and Lonely Spree in Video for “Don’t Deserve Love”

The Denton, TX/Austin, TX-based trio Bad Sports, comprised of Orville Neely III (guitar, vocals),  Aniel Fried (drums) and Gregory Rutherford (bass) featured some of their home state’s most accomplished musicians — Neely is the frontman of the acclaimed OBN IIIs, while Fried and Rutherford have played together in Video and Radioactivity. Now, as you may recall, the band released their fourth album Constant Stimulation through their longtime label home Dirtnap Records last October, and the album which marks the band’s tenth anniversary, also found the band pushing their sound and songwriting in a new, more mature direction. centered by a leaner, tense production meant to evoke a decided sense of frustration, tension, and world-weariness.

Constant Stimulation‘s first single “Don’t Deserve Love” further cements the trio’s reputation for crafting power chord-based punk but there’s a decided power pop bent, as the song reveals a deliberate and thoughtful attention to rousingly anthemic hooks and earnest emotion. Sonically, the song manages a contemporary take on a familiar sound without being soulless mimicry. But interestingly enough, the song may arguably be the most personal song they’ve written and released as it’s fueled the crippling self-doubt and insecurity of a vulnerable adult, who has openly and freely admitted that while life has made them a survivor, they’re lonely, desperate, broken, fucked up, confused, and afraid — of connecting with others and getting heartbroken and having to start again; of being a failure and a fraud; of a world that’s going up in flames and not caring or not knowing what to do. 

Directed by Z.W.Sprague and written by Orville Neely, the recently released video for “Don’t Deserve Love” stars Neely as a self-conscious, lonely, and somewhat awkward man, who acts in an out of control fashion — drinking way too much, doing way too much coke, smoking too many cigarettes and takes jokes way too far. And as a result, the video’s protagonist winds up frustrating and annoying everyone around him. After being discovered vomiting in a bar bathroom, Neely gets tossed out of the bar, stumbles off to a convenience store for more booze, vomits once again and ends the night drunkenly passed out, disappointed and alone. While being profoundly sad, the video illustrates a much bigger point — that for many of us, we’ve been that lonely, drunken slob, lost in their sadness, self-flagellation and inability to do anything about it. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Orville Neely III (guitar, vocals),  Aniel Fried (drums) and Gregory Rutherford (bass), the Denton, TX/Austin, TX-based trio Bad Sports features some of their home state’s most accomplished musicians — Neely is the frontman of OBN IIIs, while Fried and Rutherford have played together in Video and Radioactivity. Interestingly, the trio’s fourth full-length album Constant Stimulation is slated for an October 29, 2018 release through their longtime label home Dirtnap Records, and the album, which finds the trio celebrating their tenth anniversary together, also reportedly finds the band pushing their sound and songwriting in a new, more mature direction, centered by a leaner, tense production meant to evoke a decided sense of frustration and world-weariness.

Constant Stimulation‘s first single “Don’t Deserve Love” continues in the power chord-based punk vein that won the trio attention across the blogosphere but there’s a decided power pop leaning with their deliberate and thoughtful attention to crafting crowd pleasing hooks — but where their previously released material was the sort of stuff you’d shotgun beers to in your favorite dive bar, there’s a subtle acknowledgement of the fact that a world and civilization inching towards its annihilation will force you to put down the childish concerns of one’s youth and grow up a bit, all while still knocking you on your ass. Interestingly, the track may be the most personal one they’ve written in quite some time, as its fueled by a crippling self-doubt and insecurity that hide an adult vulnerability; the sort of vulnerability in which you’d freely admit that life can make you a broken and fucked up person — but a survivor all the time.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Mark Ryan, a member of bands like The Marked Men, High Tension Wires and Radioactivity, along with Baptist Generals‘ Peter Salisbury (synths) and The Marked Men’s Mike Throneberry (drums), the Fort Worth, TX-based synth punk act Mind Spiders is a decided sonic left turn from each of the individual members’ various projects  — with their forthcoming album Furies, reportedly being the project’s most electronic leaning album to date. And as you’ll hear from the album’s first single, album title track “Furies” is an urgent, post apocalyptic industrial rock track, complete with layers of buzzing synths, propulsive drum programming, howled vocals and a mosh pit worthy hook reminiscent of Ministry and Nine Inch Nails; but underneath the urgency of the song is a healthy sense of panic and dread — the sort of panic and dread of our impending doom, as a cabal of dangerous and greedy idiots fuck up everything we’ve ever loved or valued.

Look for the album on January 26, 2018 through Dirtnap Records.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Hard rocking Denton, TX/Austin, TX-based trio Bad Sports first caught the attention of the blogosphere upon their formation back in 2007; however, it’s been some time since they’ve released any new material as each of their members have been busy with other successful projects — Orville Neely III (guitar and vocals) is also known as the frontman of renowned rock act OBN IIIs, an act that’s been pretty busy over the past two years, as they’ve released two albums over the past two years, while the rhythm section comprised of aniel Fried (drums) and Gregory Rutherford (bass) have been members of Video, an act that has not only recently received attention across the blogosphere, they signed with Jack White‘s Third Man Records, who released Video’s debut effort. Additionally, the duo of Fried and Rutherford are also half of Radioactivity, an act that released Silent Kill through Dirtnap Records last year.

The trio of Neely, Fried and Rutherford had recently reconvened to record a quick series of three songs; however, after the band had written and recorded 7 songs, the folks at Dirtnap Records and the members of the band realized that the songs fit so well together, that they should be released together — but on a 12 inch EP that the band titled Living With Secrets. Interestingly, the material on the Living With Secrets EP  finds the band at yet another change of sonic direction; whereas 2011’s Kings Of The Weekend consisted of punk and power pop-leaning material and and 2014’s Bras consisted of grimy punk, the material on on Living With Secrets will reportedly take on a much darker, bleaker and desperate tone and yet some of their catchiest material they’ve recorded yet.

Living With Secrets‘ first single “Done to Death” still manages to be full of the power chords and propulsive rhythm section that has won each member of Bad Sports attention both within Bad Sports and their individual projects; however, the song manages to have one of most infectious and anthemic hooks they’ve written and recorded while sonically the material sounds as though it owes a debt to the Ramones and to Cheap Trick but focusing on the absolutely hopeless and bleakest shit possible with a subtly weary air. And yet, it’s still a song you can listen to with your friends, raise a beer up to the sky un-ironically and rock the fuck out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Now, if you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past 6-8 weeks, you may have come across a post or two about the Austin, TX-based quartet VIDEO. The band which features members Bad Sports, Wiccans, Radioactivity and The Wax Museums have developed a local and national reputation for being pioneers of a genre that they’ve dubbed “Hate Wave,” which possesses elements of punk rock, hard rock and melodic dissonance. In other words, their sound is loud and absolutely furious.

The band’s latest full-length effort, The Entertainers is slated for an October 30 release through Jack White‘s Third Man Records, and the album’s first single “New Immortals,” was a scorching thrash punk song with a sneering, in-your-face because we don’t give a fuck about anything vibe. The album’s latest single “Shackles” sounds as though its drawing from The Sex Pistols “Pretty Vacant” and Public Image, Ltd. as the song consist of slashing, angular guitar chords, propulsive drumming and shouted call and response vocals paired with the same we don’t give a fuck about anything vibe of the album’s first single, complete with a bitter, snarling irony. And if it doesn’t inspire a sweaty mosh pit in a dark club, there’s something deeply wrong with the world we live in.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Featuring members of Bad Sports, Wiccans, Radioactivity and The Wax Museums among others, the Austin, TX-based quartet VIDEO have quickly developed a reputation for a sound that posses elements of punk rock, hard rock and melodic dissonance; in fact, if you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past few months, VIDEO may be familiar, as the members of the band consider themselves the pioneers of a new subgenre, which they’ve dubbed “Hate Wave.”

The band’s latest full-length effort, The Entertainers is slated for an October 30 release through Jack White‘s Third Man Records and as I’ve mentioned you might remember that I’ve written about the album’s first single “New Immortals,” a scorching, trash punk song with a sneering, in-your-face because we don’t give a fuck about anything vibe. The band initially released “New Immortals” as a 7 inch with the latest single, a live recording of “Nothing Lasts Forever.” Clocking in at a little under 90 seconds, the song is a furious, nasty and noisy bit of trash punk that kicks ass, takes names and sounds a though it would incite a furious mosh pit — or a riot.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Sweaty, Angry Punk Sound of Austin, TX’s VIDEO

Featuring members of Bad Sports, Wiccans, Radioactivity and The Wax Museums among others, the Austin, TX-based quartet VIDEO has developed a reputation for a visceral and powerful sound that possesses elements of punk rock, hard […]