After
releasing an unusually dark, yet spectacular, album with 2012’s Renegade Parade (my #7 pick for best of
2012 – seehere), the Icicles return
with an EP that we were all hoping would be an LP. Luckily, the wait for new music from them was
worth it, as these new songs are all outstanding! They’ve managed to capture the more nuanced
and melancholy feel of Renegade, but
with more of their previous pop song appeal.
The opening
song, “Phrases,” has a guitar melody that sounds straight out of Will Sargeant’s cannon (Echo and the Bunnymen) best creations,
and then we are welcomed by band leader Gretchen
DeVault’s friendly voice and some fantastic backing vocal harmonies. Then we go right into this collection’s title
and highlight song, “Trees Touch Skies.”
I hate to pull out more comparisons, but this song sounds like a lost
single from the Pale Saints’ amazing In Ribbons album. Another brilliant
guitar lead from Rebecca Rodriguez,
and beautiful keyboard washes make this uplifting song so memorable and
stunning. “Think About” arrives with a
smooth shuffle beat, some creepy sounding keyboards and someone spurned and not
yet ready to let go of the anger – reminding of the underrated Heart Throbs, until the unexpected
trumpet solo near the song’s end. The EP
sort of concludes with the aggressive “Outside In,” which I would imagine could
be a great show stopper in a live setting.
There is an
additional demo included (“Steal the Covers”), as well as
a radio broadcast
with a brief band interview and the new songs played acoustically, which are
very nice, but it’s the core four songs that have my hopes up for more new
music on the horizon and forces me to recommend that you give this EP a listen.
From the
opening tape hiss, programmed drums, and deep throbbing bassline, this new Drakes Hotel album feels classic – like
a lost classic post-punk album from the likes of For Against or Comsat Angels,
but no, it’s pretty recent. The fifth
Drakes Hotel album was released in November of last year – two years after
their amazing Love’s Not Lazy EP –
but I am just getting around to writing about it now, because of losing three
months of music enjoyment due to health issues.
What a welcome collection of music this is top return to! This collection is tight, urgent and inspired
and their best work since 2007’s Tell Me
Everything.
Have you
ever left a concert – all energized and amped – to an unknown album being
played as exit music on the big speakers with too much bass and wondered to
yourself if it may be the best thing you’ve ever heard? This could be that album. The first four songs are sheer brilliance
lyrically and musically, but it’s not until the album’s middle point, where
things slow down a little and we are treated to “Scuffed Hips” and its chorus
beginning with a soaring “In that space between us” that the narcotic appeal
truly sinks its teeth. Amelia Drake’s spectacular and
otherworldly vocals are as haunting as the dark lyrics, while Chris Y’s guitars are as complex,
layered and strikingly catchy as ever.
This is a cohesive and timeless collection high-lighted by the Kitchens of Distinction reminiscent “Nothing
of Comfort,” which is utterly beautiful.
I am so
thankful that under heard artists such as this Midwestern couple continue to
make such inspiring and exciting music. Now
let’s reward them for their efforts with a much larger audience.
I never liked Halloween very much. As a kid, I was never interested in dressing
up in costumes and I remember feeling upset about the entire trick or treating
process. As an adult, I’ve been beaten
up by a gang of Russians on a Halloween.
I once learned that a girl I had a crush on was giving me so much
attention only because she liked a friend of mine on a Halloween. And now, this most recent Halloween, I had a
stroke.
This stroke, followed by a second one a week or so later,
all stemmed from the genetic disorder that I’ve grown up with (VHL).
Last January I learned that I had a new hemangioblastoma (cyst) growing
in my cerebellum. At the time, it was
decided that we would wait a year and check on it again. These cysts grow at a predictable rate. Unfortunately, this one decided to burst,
sending blood all over the inside of my brain.
I have spent the last three plus months trying to recover. There have been numerous stays in the
hospital and a two week stay at an inpatient rehab facility.
Normally, at the end of each year, like it or not, I share
my favorite music from that year. I
missed the opportunity this year, since I spent the New Year holiday in a
hospital bed. Plus I missed the last two
months of the year in music, so here is my tardy list from 2015’s first 10
months.
1.Pretty
Sad “Pretty Sad” EP (Shelflife)
Late in 2014, the amazing Shelflife Records released the debut digital only EP from this
unknown and mysterious collective. I
didn’t run across this until springtime last year, but am still listening to
these three brief songs over and over again.
The band seems to be no longer in existence, as there is no info
anywhere about them. They have tapped
into the seductive sounds of such early Shelflife luminaries as The Arrogants and Brittle Stars with swift sparkling guitar lines and dreamy washes
of keyboards all propelled by aggressive drums.
These songs are all aggressively depressing – filled with identifiable
self-doubt and dislike all tied in around heartbreak. Sad that this may be all that we ever hear
from this talented group.
(http://www.shelflife.com/catalogue/LIFE119.html)
2.Thrushes
“Exposing Seas” (New Granada)
The long-awaited third offering from Baltimore’s very own
Thrushes is finally here! It’s been over
five years since they’ve graced us with their beautiful noise. While the first two LPs are like warm
blankets of swirling feedback perfect to keep one warm on a cold rainy
afternoon, this new offering brings a fuller expanded sound. Anna
Conner’s longing voice and lyrics still bring a lump to my throat with
every listen, as on the reflective “Katydid” and the string adorned “Joan of
Arc.” Those are just the first two
songs! The remainder of the album
includes more highlights, such as the urgent “Night,” the Slowdive-esque “Snowblind,” and the closing epic “Slow Road.” This is a band that demands more recognition!
I absolutely adored the wild and tumultuous debut album
from UK band Evans the Death. This new
one took some time to warm up to. Gone
are the straight forward catchy tunes, however, over a handful of listens, the
album blossoms and we find a mature collection of songs that are definitely
memorable. The wild abandon is not gone
either, as each song bristles with intensity and subtle hooks inside. I have a feeling that this is the album I
will be listening to more often in the years to come.
4.Decoration
“Put Me Back on My Bike” (13 B Sides)
Full disclosure, a friend and I helped release a US version
of Decoration’s amazing debut album Don’t
Disappoint Me Now in 2008 (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/decoration). There’s a reason why we did this. It’s because this band is amazing and seems
to fly under the radar more than almost any band I’ve encountered – especially
one that was once championed by John
Peel and that draws big name producers (this time around David M. Allen who produced The Cure for years). At any
rate, I’m thankful they’ve stuck it out for album number four. Nothing has been lost, they still have the
same every day heartbreak songs crammed with addictive guitar hooks, fervent
urgency, and Stuart Murray’s emotive
vocals (which are unique in the same way that the Wedding Present’s David
Gedge’s are). Here though, they’ve
expanded their sound a bit, with more keyboards and a couple of epic numbers –
most notably the super identifiable (see crush reference above) “Paul is Dead
Nice,” where the girl chooses the wrong guy.
Please check out this criminally overlooked band. Keep it up guys!
I’m so thankful for this band. They are super prolific, but they fill so
many of my musical tastes. They can be a
punk rock band one song, a pop rock band the next, and yet they can stretch
things out and achieve psychedelic atmospheric bliss the next song. They remind me of the mid-80s college rock
scene when so many underground bands straddled so many of the rock genres that they were
just considered cool and their audience at shows would draw punks, new wavers, fried out hippies, nerds, scary mountain people, skaters, regular folks etc. all looking to bum clove cigarettes from the goths. They have released two full length albums and
nine EPs since 2012, and yet they still had the creativity and energy to write
and record the catchiest song of the year in “Penny Drops,” which has a guitar
chorus to die for. Try to keep up.
