Tag: Sonic Youth

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Jersey City, NJ-based shoegaze trio Overlake officially formed in 2012 and can trace its origins to when its founding duo, Thomas Bareett (vocals, guitar) and Lysa Opfer (vocals, bass) were bandmates in another, local hard rock band. Offer and Barrett began to bond over their mutual love of shoegaze and 80s-90s alt rock. After practices and rehearsals, the duo would spend time jamming together, and after about a year of jamming and songwriting, the duo recruited Nick D’Amore (drums) and recorded their 2014 full-length debut Sighs, which was praised for a sound that drew from My Bloody Valentine, Pavement and Sonic Youth among others.

Up until recently, it had been some time since I had written about the trio, but as it turns out the Jersey City-based shoegazers have been extremely busy as they’ve spent the past couple of years extensively touring across the US to support Sighs and the “Travelogue”/”Winter is Why” 7 inch and writing and recording their sophomore Fall, which is slated for a May 12, 2017 release through Bar/None Records. Reportedly, the material on the new album builds upon the massive and enveloping sound of their debut — while adding subtle yet gorgeous flourishes, including contributions from Claudia Chopek, who has worked with Norah Jones, TV on the Radio, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger and others, contributing piano and violin on a couple of songs. From the album’s first single “Winter Is Why,” the band has managed to subtly expand upon their sound — and while retaining the dreamy, enveloping quality that first caught attention, the song possesses a rousing, arena rock friendly, anthemic hook paired with Opfer and Barrett’s harmonies and some gorgeous guitar work that reminded me of A Northern Soul and Urban Hymns-era The Verve.

Fall‘s second and latest single “Gardener’s Bell” will further cement the band’s reputation for crafting dreamy bit of shoegaze featuring Opfer and Barrett’s ethereal and swooning harmonies, paired with shimmering and swirling guitar work, propulsive drumming and a rousingly anthemic hook. And while continuing to be warmly, enveloping the song manages to be most 120 Minutes-era alt rock sounding song they’ve released in some time.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of its founding duo Thomas Barrett (vocals, guitar) and Lysa Opfer (vocals bass) along with Nick D’Amore (drums), who joined the band in 2015,  the Jersey City, NJ-based shoegazer trio Overlake officially formed in 2012 and can trace its origins to when its founding duo were bandmates in a local hard rock band.  Opfer and Barrett began to bond over their mutual love of shoegaze and 80s and 90s alt rock and after practices and rehearsals, the duo would spend time jamming together — and after about a year of jamming and songwriting, the duo recorded their 2014 full-length debut Sighs, which was praised for a sound that drew from My Bloody Valentine, Pavement and Sonic Youth among others.

Now, in terms of the JOVM universe, it’s been some time since I’ve written about the trio but as it turns out the New Jersey-based shoegazers have been pretty busy as they’ve spent the past couple of years extensively touring the US in support of Sighs and the “Travelogue”/”Winter is Why” 7 inch and writing and recording their sophomore Fall, which is slated for a May 12, 2017 release through Bar/None Records. Reportedly, the new album will build upon the massive and enveloping sound of their debut while adding some subtle flourishes as Claudia Chopek, who has worked with Norah Jones, TV on the Radio, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger and others, contributes piano and violin on a couple of songs. And from the album’s first single “Winter Is Why”  the band has continued to subtly expand upon their sound — while retaining a dreamy and enveloping quality to the moody proceedings, the song posses a m  a rousing, arena rock-friendly, anthemic hook and Opfer and Barrett harmonized choruses paired with some gorgeous guitar work that conveys a muscular and forceful insistence that reminds me a bit of A Northern Soul and Urban Hymns-era The Verve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The 120 Minutes-Era, Alt Rock Sounds and Visuals of Aarhus, Denmark’s Shocking White

Currently comprised of founding member Jan Petersen (guitars, vocals), along with Rune Randlev (bass) and Marco Bøgehøj (drums), the Aarhus, Denmark-based trio Shocking White have released three studio albums in which they’ve experimented with energetic post-punk, nihilistic No Wave and furious garage rock while the material’s backbone had always been decidedly noise rock. And although the act can trace its origins back to when Petersen founded the band in 2009, the band has started to receive attention across their native Denmark, the rest of Scandinavia and elsewhere over the past couple of years as the trio have played at Recession Festival, Pop Revo, Mejlgade for Mangfoldighed and Spot Festival. Adding to a growing profile, the band has toured across their native Denmark with Norwegian space rock act Kal-El and Canadian avant-garde punk act Alpha Strategy — and their “Tweet Scientists” 7 inch, which was released last may through Copenhagen-based label Tigermilk Records has received airplay on French and Canadian radio, and will be included on a compilation featuring internationally-based alternative rock/indie rock bands.

March 24, 2017 will mark the release of the band’s fourth studio album, Ghosting, an album that continues the band’s continuing collaboration with producer Rasmus Bredvig, who along with the members of the band, recorded the album in a frenzied 3 days at Arhus’ Tapetown Studio. And from Ghosting’s first single and album opening single “Into The Sun,” the band’s sound seems to draw from 90s grunge rock — i.e., Pixies, Sonic Youth and Nirvana — as the Danish trio pairs power chords played through reverb and distortion pedals with a rousingly anthemic hook, a propulsive and chugging rhythm section and a playfully pop-leaning sense of melody while thematically focusing on a profound and palpable fear of death that gives the song an underlying sense of menace and unease.

The recently released video for the song features footage shot in color-treated film negatives which create an otherworldly, psychedelic feel to the proceedings while being reminiscent of the thousands of videos I’ve watched during 120 Minutes-era MTV.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Moody and Doom-Laden Sounds and Visuals of GHXST’s “Waiting for the Night”

Featuring co-founders and primary songwriters Shelley X and Chris Wild, GHXST is a New York-based noise rock/grunge rock/doom metal trio whose has publicly cited The Jesus and Mary Chain, White Zombie and Sonic Youth as their influences. And with their latest EP, Perish, the New York-based noise rock trio will further cement their reputation for crafting a noisy, shoegazer-like sound full of enormous power chords fed through layers upon layers of distortion and effects pedals, Shelley X’s bluesy croon — while being a subtle change in sound as the act employs the use of both obscured and distorted drum machine and some effects pedals on Shelley X’s vocals, as you’ll hear on the EP’s latest power chord, feedback laden, doom-filled dirge “Waiting for the Night.”

Directed by the members of the band, the video follows its primary duo wandering down a train line to a desolate, sleazy and decidedly American small town-based motel, where they broodingly sit around bored, waiting for something and nothing in their hotel room and in front of a projection screen featuring dusty, old images of the American West, before concluding with the duo driving along dirt-filled blacktop as the sun sets. And within both the song and its accompanying video, there’s a sense of restless energy and insomnia-filled, endless nights in seedy, fucked up and lonesome places.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Stark and Beautiful Post-Apocalyptic Visuals for Magnetic Ghost’s “Landfill”

Earlier this year, I wrote about Minneapolis, MN-based multi-instrumetnlist and vocalist Andy Larson and his solo recording project Magnetic Ghost — and interestingly enough because the Magnetic Ghost project’s sound possesses elements of shoegaze, drone, krautrock, freak folk and post-punk, Larson’s work has been compared favorably Low, Sonic Youth, Popul Vuh, Talk Talk, Women, Flying Saucer Attack, and others, and as a result, Larson has opened for a diverse array of artists including Low’s Alan Sparhawk, Will Oldham, Bitchin Bajas, The Telescopes, Flavor Crystals and others. Further cementing a growing regional and national profile, Larson released his latest Magnetic Ghost album Loss Molecules last month, an effort that was recorded with renowned indie rock producer Neil Weir at Blue Bell Knoll and by Larson at Magnetic Manson.

The album’s first single “Vanish/Vanishing” featured Larson’s plaintive and ethereal vocals paired with layers of droning and shimmering guitars, a propulsive bass line and stuttering drumming in a moody bit of shoegaze that sounded as though it could have been released by Silber Records. Loss Molecules’ latest single “Landfill” manages to evoke a malevolent storm of privation, desperation, brutality and the end of things we were all familiar with and loved are on the horizon. And that shouldn’t be surprising as Larson explained to me via email, “Landfill” is “”a song truly about the lead up to this particular point in American politics we find ourselves in — the horrible mash up of celeb culture, consumerism, and politics amidst decay.”

Produced by Chase Butler, the recently released music video for “Landfill” captures both greed and decay with a stark and haunting beauty that suggests that the end result of our ambitions, of our constantly exploited and desperate need for stuff and of our dreams is decay.

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Gorgeously Cinematic Yet Eerie Visuals for Pamela Hute’s “Banshees”

Last month, I wrote about Pamela Hute, a Paris-based singer/songwriter, who began her music career in earnest at a very young age. As a teen she formed The Mashed Potatoes before going solo in 2006 — and as a solo artist, she’s released two albums, 2010’s Tales From Overseas and 2013’s Bandit, with Bandit being mixed by John Agnello, who has worked with the likes of The Kills, Sonic Youth and Cyndi Lauper. Both of those albums revealed that Hute specializes in jangling guitar pop with rousingly anthemic hooks paired with earnest lyrics as you’ll hear on The Breeders and 90s alt rock channeling “Banshees,” the second and latest single off her self-produced effort Today. But at its core, Today manages to reveal what may arguably be Hute’s most personal songwriting, influenced by a trip she took to California.

Now, as you may recall I wrote about the live video, which featured Hute and her backing band performing “Banshees” at La Fourmi in Limoges, France. The recently released official video, which Hute made with her cousins and nephews this past summer is shot in a gorgeous and cinematic black and white and it features three characters dressed as crows participating in a weird, almost pagan-like ritual in the woods, before following the trio as they walk about the countryside. It’s arguably some of the most artful and yet eerie imagery I’ve seen in some time.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Perhaps more popularly known as a co-founder of renowned indie electro pop act M83, Nicholas Fromageau, who left the project after the release of the act’s seminal album Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts, Fromageau (vocals, guitar) founded his own project, Team Ghost recruited fellow French musicians Christophe Guérin (vocals, guitar),  Benoit de Villeneuve (vocals, guitar, keys), Félix Delacroix (drums), and Pierre Blanc (bass) to flesh out the project’s overall sound. Following the release of several EPs, 2013’s full-length debut Rituals, tours with Crystal Castles and a set the inaugural Pitchfork Paris Festival, the members of the band found themselves in a bit of a creative rut before they ultimately found inspiration in an old analog synthesizer, along with the Blade Runner soundtrack and Kanye West‘s Yeezy among other things while blending it a bit with elements of feedback-filled guitar chords played through effects pedals, inspired by Sonic Youth and Slowdive. And the end result is the retro-futuristic and cinematic “The Riser,” the first single off the band’s forthcoming self-titled sophomore effort, slated for a December 2, 2016.

While possessing an icy and abrasive feel, and vocals fed through layers of vocoder, the song not not manages to be larger-than-life and anthemic, it simultaneously manages to nod at Chateau Marmont, Milemarker, Kraftwerk, and John Carpenter soundtracks while evoking an Orwellian, post-apocalyptic world of cyborgs, clones, nuclear waste, pollution, deprivation and unending strife. However, just underneath the icy and uneasy surface, there’s an aching and human yearning for much more — for another world in which the song’s narrator could truly be free.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Jangling and Anthemic Guitar Rock of French Singer/Songwriter Pamela Hute

Pamela Hute is a Paris-based singer/songwriter, who began her music career in earnest at a very young age — as a teen she formed The Mashed Potatoes before going solo in 2006. And as a solo artist, she’s released two albums, 2010’s Tales From Overseas and 2013’s Bandit, with Bandit being mixed by John Agnello, who has worked with the likes of The Kills, Sonic Youth and Cyndi Lauper. Interestingly both albums revealed that Hute specialized in jangling guitar pop and synth pop with rousingly anthemic hooks paired earnest lyrics as you’ll hear on The Breeders and 90s alt rock channeling “Banshees,” the second and latest single off her self-produced effort Today. But at its core, Today manages to reveal what may arguably be Hute’s most personal songwriting, influenced by a trip she took to California.

The recently released music video is shot in a gorgeous and cinematic black and white, and captures Hute with her backing band performing “Banshees” live at La Fourmi in Limoges, France.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Dreamy and Hypnotic Sounds and Visuals of Magnetic Ghost’s “Vanish/Vanishing”

Larson’s forthcoming Magnetic Ghost album, Loss Molecules was recorded with renowned indie rock producer Neil Weir at Blue Bell Knoll and by Larson at Magnetic Manson and the effort is slated for a November 18, 2016 release. “Vanish/Vanishing,” Loss Molecules’ latest single has Larson pairing layers of plaintive and ethereal vocals with moody and hypnotic instrumentation consisting of layers of droning and shimmering guitars, a propulsive bass line and stuttering drumming. Sonically speaking, the song reminds me quite a bit of the Silber Records roster.

The recently released video for the song features cinematic and widescreen shot footage of natural phenomenon — i.e., the sun rising in the horizon from the distance, as cars whir past, wind blowing through fields of grain, ice floes in the Arctic, smoke billowing from smokestacks, and so on. It looks like the sort of footage you’d stumble across while watching National Geographic specials — and as a result, it emphasizes the slow-burning, dreamy feel of the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Surreal, Dream-like Visuals for Sofia Härdig’s “Streets”

Interestingly, the EP’s first single “Streets” possesses an urgent and raw grittiness as slashing guitar chords, squalls of feedback, a throbbing bass line and propulsive drumming are paired with anthemic hooks and Härdig’s sultry vocals to craft a song that sounds as thought it draws from Sonic Youth and Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea-era PJ Harvey — in particular, the song reminds me of a grittier, swaggering version of “Good Fortune.”

The recently released music video for “Streets” follows Härdig as she wanders through a garden, plans a route with an old map and wanders through the streets of Swedish city; but the video manages to possess a surreal, dream-like logic, thanks to the usage of frenetic cuts and lighting.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Surreal and Ironic Visuals for Courtney Barnett’s Equally Ironic “Elevator Operator”

With the release of her first two critically applauded EPs I’ve Got a Friend Called Emily Farris and How to Carve a Carrot Into a Rose, Melbourne, Australia-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Courtney Barnett quickly received attention from the North American, British […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised Anna Haara Kristoferson (vocals, melodica), Joanna Curwood (guitar, vocals), Moa Papillon (guitar, vocals), Raissa Pardini (bass, vocals) and Ruth Nitkiewicz (drums), London, UK-based indie rock quintet Yassassin can trace their origins to the members of the band spent time in The History of Apple Pie and LUST, and with their first single “Social Politics,” the London-based quintet specialize in 90s alt rock inspired indie rock that sounds as though it draws from Sonic Youth, The Breeders and others as shimmering guitar chords are paired with a propulsive groove and shouted lyrics — but with a subtly political bent. As the the band notes within press notes that the song “ is about standing up to the bullies, both in personal life and in today’s society. It’s about not always fitting the norm but daring to go your own way. It’s about rebelling against the ‘zombie scene,’ which could be either a social clique where only certain people are accepted, or a society where racism is becoming more glaringly visible.” Based on how things are going, we need more songs and art that encourage people to be individuals and to go their own away.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Kino Kimino and Son of Stan Team Up for a 80s Synth Pop-leaning Cover of Sophie B. Hawkins’ 90s Mega-Hit, “Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover”

Comprised of Kim Talon, who’s perhaps best known for playing with Deerhoof, Jawbreaker’s Blake Schwarzenbach and Sia, and Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley, post-punk/indie rock trio Kino Kimino recently released their full-length debut album Bait Is For Sissies to critical praise from the likes of Pitchfork and FADER. Continuing on the buzz the trio have received off their full-length debut, they recently collaborated with former Ben Harper’s Relentless7 member Jordan Richardson, a.k.a. Son of Stan to cover Sophie B. Hawkins “Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover,”a song that was a major hit back in 1992 — and if you were alive and coherent back then, you’d probably remember that Z100 used to play the song at least 3 times an hour. Anyway, the key take away here is that the song is incredibly sexy and the Kino Kimino and Son of Stan cover manages to retain some of that sexiness while turning the song into a subtly propulsive synth pop song and in some strange way, it strikes as what the song would sound if Tears for Fears had covered it.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

With the release of their debut effort Dreaming, the Brooklyn-based trio Graveyard Lovers — comprised of Zach Reynolds (vocals, guitar), Tricia Purvis (drums) and Joel Reynolds (bass, guitar) — quickly received national attention for a sound that was compared favorably to the likes of Pixies, Sonic Youth and others. Building upon the buzz of their debut, the band’s music has been heard in a variety of movies and TV series including Showtime’s Shameless — and they’ll be releasing their album Past The Forest Of The Fruitless Thoughts in two parts, with part one in June and part two slated for release later this year. Part one’s first single “Told A Lie” will further cement the Brooklyn trio’s growing reputation for crafting 90s alt rock-inspired indie rock as the band pairs layers of jangling and buzzing guitars, throbbing bass lines and plaintive vocals with incredibly anthemic hooks — but with some electronics towards the bridge to add a subtly modern touch to a familiar and winning formula.

The band will be playing a Thursday night residency at Piano’s in the Lower East Side with one of the shows celebrating the release of “Told A Lie.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sofia Härdig is part of a growing list of Swedish artists, who have received both regional and international attention; in fact, in her native Sweden, Härdig is considered “the rocktronica queen of experimental music.” And as a result, Härdig has collaborated with the likes of Grammy Award-winning acts The Hellacopters and Bob Hund, Boredoms and Free Kitten‘s Yoshimi P-We — and she has shared stages with Lydia Lunch and Belle and Sebastian‘s Stevie Jackson.

Härdig’s forthcoming two-part EP The Street Light Leads to the Sea was recorded in three days with handpicked musicians, specifically known for their improvisational skills and although the musicians had a rough sketch of songs, each musician was encouraged to improvise as they felt fit. As the Swedish singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist explains in press notes “I find beauty in flaws and that which is not perfect is what excites me, I love the unusual, the unexpected, untrained and unplanned . . . ” Interestingly, the EP’s first single “Streets” possesses an urgent and raw grittiness as slashing guitar chords, squalls of feedback, a throbbing bass line and propulsive drumming are paired with anthemic hooks and Härdig’s sultry vocals to craft a song that sounds as thought it draws from Sonic Youth and Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea-era PJ Harvey — in particular, the song reminds me of a grittier, swaggering version of “Good Fortune.”