Tag: women who kick ass

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Gorgeous and Brooding Visuals for BETS Shoegazer Rework of The Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun”

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the last two months or so, you’d recall that the Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter BETS came to attention last year with the release of her critical applauded debut, Days Hours Night. Building upon the buzz of her debut, the Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter and her producer were set to write and record new, original material when the duo discovered that they shared a mutual love of Violent Femmes 1983 self-titled breakout debut effort. Reportedly, within a few minutes, BETS and her producer decided to put the sophomore effort of original material on hold to work on a Violent Femmes cover album in which she reimagines the familiar and beloved material.

In fact, as you’ll hear on BETS’ slow-burning, shoegazer rework of “Blister in the Sun” guitars are fed through layers of distortion, fuzz and feedback paired with gentle drumming and BETS’ dreamily distracted vocals, while pulling apart the song’s melody and chorus to the point of it being dimly recognizable and giving her version an ethereal moodiness.

Directed by Valerie Sute, the recently released video for BETS’ gauzy and dreamy rendition of “Blister in the Sun” begins with some glorious footage of New York City before following a young woman wandering through the desert brush — both by car and by foot with a brooding moodiness.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of her 2016 debut, Fading Light, Dutch singer/songwriter and musician Annelotte de Graaf quickly received international attention for her solo recording project Amber Arcades, as thematically her material has largely drawn from both time and the relativistic experience of it, continuity, magic, jet lag and her own dreams; in fact, leading a life in which she’s followed her dreams, has informed much of the Dutch singer/songwriter and musician’s personal and creative life — because she had always dreamt of working for the UN, de Graaf eventually wound up working as a legal aide on UN war crime tribunals, and then followed it up by working in human rights law, assisting Syrian refugees. She also used her life savings for a flight to NYC and studio time to record Fading Lines with Ben Greenberg, who has worked with The Men, Beach Fossils and Destruction Unit, and a studio backing band that included Quilt‘s Shane Butler (guitar) and Keven Lareau (bass) and Real Esate‘s Jackson Pollis.

Building upon the buzz that she received for Fading Lines and a Fall tour with Nada Surf, de Graaf recently released her latest single “It Changes,” a propulsive single which interestingly enough reveals a decided change in sonic direction, as the song sounds as though it owes a debt to garage rock and post-punk, thanks in part to angular guitar chords played through effects pedals and an anthemic hook paired with de Graaf’s crooning. As de Graaf explains in press notes, the song is ultimately about life’s temporal nature. “Everything changes, all the time,” de Graaf says in press notes. “You think that when starting something new you can kinda tell which way it will go, but you never do. I always try to aim for constancy and stability but things always get messier than I foresaw. And hey, maybe that’s actually what makes it worthwhile.” As a result, while the song possesses a hopeful yet realistic take on life; suggesting that the recognition of messiness and uncertainty being a part of life and something you can learn from.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Moody Art Film Visuals for Gothic Tropic’s “How Life Goes”

Now, if you had been frequenting this site over the last few months of 2016, you’ve likely come across “Stronger,” the first single from Los Angeles, CA-based guitarist and vocalist Cecilia Della Peruti’s solo recording project, Gothic Tropic. Arguably best known as a touring and session guitarist for Charli XCX and BØRNS, Gothic Tropic possesses a decidedly New Wave/post-punk-leaning sound; in fact, the aforementioned “Stronger” sounded — to my ears, at least — as though it owed a debt to Go-Gos, The B52s and Too True-era Dum Dum Girls. However, “How Life Goes” Peruti’s second single is a much more atmospheric and lush track in which plaintive harmonies are paired with shimmering guitar chords played through reverb and delay pedal, a propulsive and driving rhythm section, gently buzzing synths, a bluesy guitar solo and an anthemic hook.

Lyrically, the song focuses on heartbreak — in this particular instance, the song’s narrator finds herself beginning for forgiveness, understanding and a second chance for a slight — whether real or not is another issue — that has added a bit of ambivalence into the relationship; the sort of ambivalence that can make a potentially good relationship turn especially bad.

The recently released video for the song possesses an art film vibe as it begins with a woman creating a time capsule for 1968 that the video’s present protagonist finds buried in the woods — and while being a bit revelatory, the package manages to also be a bit deceptive. Trippy, eh?

women who kick ass by kelliezhao

Live Concert Photography: Mitski at Villain 11/22/16

Live concert photography of Mitski performing at Market Hotel late last year.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Classic Country and Early Rock-Inspired Sound of Laura Jean Anderson

Laura Jean Anderson is an Olympia, WA-born, Los Angeles, CA-based singer/songwriter and guitarist who has started to receive attention for a sound and aesthetic that draws from classic country, 40s-50s blues and garage rock but with a subtly modern take, serving as a gentle reminder that earnest and personal songwriting may be more necessary than ever in the dark days that seem to be ahead of us. Anderson’s latest single “Won’t Give Up” features the Los Angeles, CA-based singer/songwriter’s gorgeous and expressive Patsy Cline/June Carter Cash-like vocals paired in a relatively simple arrangement of Anderson’s gently strummed electric guitar, and the addition of a gently propulsive rhythm section, which enters for the song’s anthemic and soaring hook. And although the song sounds as though it could have been released in 1956 or so, the Olympia, WA-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter explains in press notes, a “response to what’s going on in the political and social climate.” She goes on to say that she wanted to release the song “as fuel to the belief that you can’t give up on other people, just because they give up on you. It’s a deeply personal song, but I believe more than ever that the personal is political!”

Certainly, the song should remind the listener of the cliched adage that “no man is an island” and that most importantly, in these strange times, the universe can create some rather strange bedfellows. We’re going to have to rely on each other more than ever. So don’t give up; the fight is going to be long and tiring, but worthwhile in the end.

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Emily Robb (guitar, vocals), arguably best known for her stint in Lantern; Leslie Burnette (organ, vocals); Emily K. Eichelberger (bass, vocals); and Emily’s sister Jenna Robb (drums, vocals), the Philadelphia, PA-based quartet Louie Louie specializes in a sound that meshes 60s rock, 60s Motown-era soul, pop and R&B with post-punk — while clearly nodding at Phil Spector‘s Wall of Sound-like production. And while being a decided change in sonic departure from her work with Lantern, the project is also Emily Robb’s first in which she has full artistic and creative control.

At the end of last year, I wrote about “After Me,” a song that possessed a lovelorn vulnerability and ache while nodding heavily towards the sounds of The Ronnettes, Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline and others, complete with a swooning sincerity — but with a subtle modern touch. The Philadelphia-based quartet’s latest single “Do It (In Your Mind)” is a jangling guitar pop track that nods at surfer rock, psych rock and The B52s while possessing a subtle punk rock sensibility, thanks to punchily delivered lyrics paired with jangling guitar chords, ethereal organ chords, a propulsive backbeat and a bratty hook — and to my ears, the song reminds me a bit of Memphis‘ renowned punk act Nots but with a more playful, almost coquettish air.

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Gothenburg Sweden’s LaDIDa Returns with Their Scuzziest Yet Most Straightforward and Anthemic Single to Date

Now it’s been a while since we’ve heard from the Gothenburg-based quartet — and the band’s latest single “You Got It” is arguably the most straightforward yet scuzzy song they’ve released to date as the band’s sound and aesthetic manages to mesh garage rock blues-tinged rock and psych rock with a driving rhythm. Sonically speaking, the song seems as though it were drawing from The Kills, The Black Keys and others, thanks in part to power chords, played with layers of fuzz and abrasive distortion, propulsive drumming and Persson’s growled vocals paired with an arena rock-friendly hook.

The recently released music video features footage of the band rocking out in a junkyard with footage jumping from a cinematic black and white to brilliant color — and throughout the video it’s obvious that the band’s Persson is the superstar of the act, as you’ll spend more attention on her; in fact Persson seems absolutely possessed throughout the video.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Currently comprised of husband and wife and founding duo of Cristina Martinez (vocals) and Jon Spencer (guitar, vocals), equally known for his two other bands Pussy Galore and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion; along with Jens Jurgensen (bass), who had a stint in renowned punk/metal band The Giraffes; Hollis Queens (drums, vocals) and Mickey Finn (keys), Boss Hog formed back in 1989 as a sort of accidental side project, when the band’s founding duo of Spencer and Martinez were told of a last minute vacancy on the bill at CBGB’s. Spencer and Martinez reached out to friends and collaborators and quickly put together a band featuring members of The Honeymoon Killers and Unsane, along with Spencer’s Pussy Galore bandmate Kurt Wolf. That first gig together was reportedly an underground sensation — partially because Spencer played the entire set completely naked. And although the band has gone through a series of lineup changes, over their 28 year run, the band have developed a reputation for releasing disturbing and sexually incendiary material through some incredibly renowned record labels — including Amphetamine Reptile Records, In The Red Records, and DGC/Geffen.

BROOD X is Boss Hog’s first full-length album in almost 20 years, and from the album’s first single “17,” the material on the album is a wild and heady mix of dusty, shuffling, sleazy, whiskey-soaked blues, snarling punk rock attitude, noisy no-wave-inspired art rock, shoegazer rock and seductive baroque-inspired pop to create a sound that not just uncompromisingly defies genre conventions while expressing the bilious and strange mix of hopelessness, fear, uncertainty, fury, bitterness and the uneasy, desperate longing to make sense of an absurd, dangerous, new world run by an ignorant maniac. Part existential howl into an indifferent void and part a clattering yet sensual and subversive call to have art be your solace in desperate times, the song may arguably be a call to get out there and resist through one of the most human ways we can — through art.

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Hilarious Stop-Motion Video for Bloody Death Skull’s “Betsy’s Back”

Led by frontwoman Daiana Feuer and comprised of a constantly rotating cast of collaborators, musicians, and friends in a configuration that can vary between three and 12 different members, the Los Angeles, CA-based band Bloody Death Skull not only will likely win an award for best Halloween-themed band name in recent memory, the members of the band consider the band a wild fusion between performance art project and actual band. Sonically and aesthetically, the band has received attention for employing the chord progressions and song structures of early rock, R&B and soul, unusual instrumentation including ukulele, toys and other instrumentation, a punk rock sensibility and taboo-breaking lyrics focusing on love, daydreams, the cosmos, television, dead things, cute things (sometimes dead, cute things), existential crises and being a perpetual teenager forever.

Clocking in at 139 seconds, “Betsy’s Back” off the band’s The Haunting of Bloody Death Skull EP sounds as though it could have been released in 1962 as the single features hand clap-led percussion, jangling guitar chords, a propulsive and rollicking rhythm section, bratty yet incredibly infectious melodies, a blistering early rock, guitar solo with Feuer’s sultry and ominous vocals that give a mischievous song an underlying sense of swaggering menace as Betsy has come back to get bloody revenge on those who have wronged her.

Shot and edited by the band’s Daiana Feuer, the recently released music video for the song employs the use of dolls in stop-motion animation. As Feuer explains in press notes, “The dolls reunited in my video for “Girls Like You” are reunited in “Betsy’s Back,” along with some new friends. The tall girl is the video’s star. I found her at the Rose Bowl flea market. There she was, lying on a pile of partially dismembered vintage dolls. It was love at first sight. Her stare is so expressive, and even her toes wiggle. I shot the video in the mountains of Big Bear, standing in three feet of snow for the most part. It was definitely cold but I kept the dolls drunk on whiskey and they didn’t complain. That’s also probably why they had so much fun.” And as a result, the video is a gloriously weird and funny romp that manages to fit perfectly with the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Moody and Psychedelic-Leaning Visuals for Halycine’s “Elixir”

Arguably best known as a member of locally renowned indie rock act Blue and Gold, former co-frontperson Chloe Raynes started a her own band Halycine. which features her former bandmate GG Gonzalez (drums) and Derek Cabrera (bass) and released the project’s debut EP In The Salt earlier this year. The EP’s first single “Elixir” is shimmering and swooning 80s New Wave and post-punk-leaning guitar pop song set around an anthemic hook and Raynes’ superstar pop belter vocals earnest singing lyrics based on a devastating heartbreak. And like most breakup-related songs, “Elixir” focuses on the desperate longing for someone and something that can’t ever happen again; the gnawing sense that time is quickly passing and you’re getting older — and how everything seems increasingly messy and difficult; but there’s also a bittersweet recognition that as much as your heart may ache, life finds a way of pushing you forward, even when you don’t have a clue how.

Directed by the singer/songwriter herself, the recently released video features Raynes rocking out hard by herself in a rehearsal room or a studio with rapid fire cuts towards ocean waves hitting the beach, graffiti, a cloudy sky sequence, followed by rain hitting a puddle, footage of an elevated train or commuter line passing through a wooded area — and while mildly psychedelic, the video also possesses an intimacy which further cements the song’s earnestness.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Emily Robb (guitar, vocals), Leslie Burnette (organ, vocals), Emily K. Eichelberger (bass, vocals) and Jenna Robb (drums, vocals), the Philadelphia, PA-based quartet Louie Louie specializes in a sound that meshes 60s rock, 60s Motown-era soul, pop and R&B with post-punk — while clearly nodding at Phil Spector‘s Wall of Sound-like production. And much like the material and period that influences their sound, Louie Louie’s material possesses a lovelorn vulnerability and ache while revealing a maturity and self-assuredness beyond their years, as you’ll hear on their latest single “After Me” — but just under the surface is a swooning sincerity that sets the Philadelphia-based quartet apart from many of their contemporaries.

 

 

 

 

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Watch The Big Moon Drive Around and Kick Ass in a Van for Their Anthemic New Single

Comprised of Juliette Jackson (guitar, vocals), Soph Nathan (guitar, vocals), Celia Archer (bass, vocals) and Fern Ford (drums), the London-based indie rock quartet The Big Moon specialize in an urgently swooning and anthemic rock sound — although their latest single “Formidable” off the British quartet’s forthcoming debut effort, Love In The 4th Dimension nods at 90s alt rock, thanks in part to a lengthy and bluesy introduction, followed by an anthemic, power-chord filled hook paired with thundering drumming and Jackson’s forceful yet earnest vocals. But pay close attention because despite the sneering attitude, the song manages to an earnest plea of devotion to another in need, and of one’s resilience in the face of some of life’s toughest obstacles.

The recently released music video continues the band’s continuing collaboration with director Louis Bhose and was filmed in the British Peak District. The video employs a fairly simple concept — beginning with following the band’s Juliette Jackson as she drives around day and night in the band’s van before pulling over to the side the road, exiting the front of the van and joining the rest of the band to perform the anthemic and stomping hook of the song in the back of the van. As the band explained in an interview to the folks at NOISEY: “‘Formidable’ is a song that’s important to us all and it felt like for once, it wasn’t appropriate to make a mega fun, LOLZ video. That said, we didn’t want to make a super earnest band video either. We had a day off in between cities on our autumn tour so we drove to the beautiful Peak District and smashed out the song in the back of the van. It’s a van that we’ve spent more time in than our own beds over the last year.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past year, you may have come across a post or two featuring the Los Angeles-based indie rock trio Psychic Love. Fronted by multimedia artist and vocalist Laura Peters, along with Max Harrison (guitar) and Liam McCormick (bass), the trio have described their sound in press notes as “dream grunge” and “as if Nancy Sinatra had a love child with Frank Black.” Earlier this year, I wrote about “Ultralight,” the first single off the recently released full-length debut The Hive Mind, a propulsive and jangling guitar pop ballad that nodded at Phil Spector‘s Wall of Sound and  La Sera‘s Music For Listening To Music To — with an anthemic hook. The album’s latest single “Dye Pack” continues along a similar vein as  jangling guitar chords played through reverb and delay pedal and propulsive drumming are paired with Peters’ sultry vocals and an anthemic hook in a swaggering, mid-tempo song that is as Peters explains in press notes is about “how even the smallest relationships leave a mark on you, and how the bigger ones can be a huge, confusing, mess.”

As a result, the song’s narrator expresses the complex array of emotions that relationships can inspire in us:  frustration, dismay, confusion, desire, suspicion, the sensation that you’re being played but aren’t completely sure, and so on. And every relationship you ever have reverberates through every succeeding relationship — and frequently in often unforeseen and unpredictable ways.