Tag: women who kick ass

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.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Nots Captures Our Current Dread and Unease

Cosmetic’s third and latest single “Inherently Low” is presciently and strangely fitting for our increasingly surreal times while continuing with the album’s overall theme. Sonically, the band pairs angular guitar and bass chords, propulsive drumming and shouted lyrics — and the end result is a song that evokes creeping dread and unease and while boldly and furiously calling out hypocritical bullshit. Simply put it’s a song with a narrator that simply has stopped giving a fuck.

The recently released video was created and edited by the band’s Natalie Hoffman and was influenced by the results of last week’s Presidential Election. And as Hoffman explains in press notes “the tension and fear that came with the results certainly played a part in the visual outcome of the video. America has elected someone who has openly campaigned to keep us low. To keep us completely divided. To keep us at war. I don’t think that I (or anyone) can fully process the weight of what is to come, but this video is an attempt to translate both what the song is about, and how I’ve felt since the election results – a new awareness, anger, and fear about being kept inherently low.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Sophie, Annabel, Cecil and Georgia, Body Type are a Sydney, Australia-based — by way of Perth, Australia and Kiama, Australia — indie quartet that formed a little over six months ago and began receiving attention for material that thematically focuses on navigating heartbreak to the banality of life in in a moldy Redfern terraced house — and for opening for the likes of Gabriella Cohen, Cate Le Bon and The Coathangers. Adding to a growing national profile, the Sydney-based quartet recently signed to Our Golden Friend Records, who will be releasing the “Ludlow”/”264” 7 inch single, featuring their debut single “Ludlow” and their latest single, the moody and slow-burning “264.” While sounding as though it were indebted to jangling guitar pop and Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound-era production, the song manages to feature lyrics that describe the day-to-day life of in and around a shitty little house with a novelist’s attention to detail, a soaring bridge and a sinuous bass line holding it all together. It’s a gently swooning and moody take on a familiar and beloved sound — and it reveals a young band playing and writing gorgeous material with a cool, self-assuredness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

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 recently released 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.

 

 

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

 

With the release “Help Yourself” and several other singles, Western Wales-born, London-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Sarah Howells’ solo recording project Bryde has received praise from Nylon, The Line of Best Fit and Earmilk and airplay from BBC Radio 6, BBC Radio Wales, Radio X and Huw Stephens’ BBC Radio 1 show for a sound that’s been compared to the likes of Jeff Buckley, Sharon Van Etten, Ben Howard and London Grammar, as her early work so far has thematically focused on complex and ambivalent relationships that can simultaneously entangle. Her latest single “Wouldn’t That Make You Feel Good” is a boozy and woozy dirge in which Howells’ aching vocals are paired with bluesy yet shoegazer rock-like guitar chords in a song that builds up to a cathartic and explosive bridge before gently fading out. Interestingly, Howells’ latest single sounds to me as though it could be indebted to the likes of PJ Harvey as it possesses a similar earnest yet stormy and dramatic quality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of her debut effort under the moniker of Amber Arcades, Dutch musician and singer/songwriter Annelotte de Graaf quickly rose to international attention as the blogosphere and several media outlets praised de Graaf for material that thematically focused on a number of things — including both time and the relativistic experience of it, continuity, magic, jet lag and how being led by her own dreams has inspired the Dutch singer/songwriter’s personal, professional and creative lives. In fact, as the story goes, de Graaf has worked as a legal aide on UN war crime tribunals and while currently working human rights law, assisting Syrian refuges, she spent her savings on a flight to NYC, specifically to record her debut effort with Ben Greenberg, who has worked with The Men, Beach Fossils and Destruction Unit, and a studio backing band that includes Quilt‘s Shane Butler (guitar) and Keven Lareau (bass) and Real Esate’s Jackson Pollis.

Earlier this year, I wrote about “Turning Light,” a single that thematically explores being the protagonist in your own life story while you’re simultaneously a supporting player in the lives of everyone around you — and how those very different roles and various lives intertwine in ways that can be confusing.  While sonically speaking,  de Graaf and her backing band paired rapid fire, four-on-the-floor drumming, swirling and shimmering strings, twinkling electronics, a driving bass line and de Graaf’s ethereal vocals singing lyrics that reflect the relativistic nature of time to craft a woozy single that draws equally from shoegaze and Brit pop.

Building upon the buzz of her debut album and her Fall Stateside tour with Nada Surf, de Graff and her backing band went into the studio during a brief break on tour to record her latest single, a shimmering dream pop/bubblegum pop version of Nick Drake’s “Which Will” that manages to add a rather ironic take to the song while retaining the song’s earnest yearning.