Sacramento’s Desario has released their fourth album! This is a great surprise, because it’s their
first new material since 2016. When they
released two fantastic EPs that year, for some reason, I thought more new
material was right around the corner.
Instead, over a year later they compiled the two EPs to create their
third album, III. And now five years later, they are back with
more!
Since Desario’s first album back in
2009, they’ve been slowly evolving. The
four-piece create a smooth, but intricate post punk sound. The evolution has come with songwriting. They have become more direct over the years,
and a little edgier, without losing their hypnotic sound.
First of all, Signal and Noise, is immaculately recorded by guitarist/keyboardist,
Michael Yoas. The sound is tight and beautiful. There seems to be an added layer of
atmosphere from keyboards and a tightly wound buzz that moves through these
songs. I also noticed that even though
the songs in general have become more spacious, making room for John Conley’s vocals over the years, his
voice feels like it’s mixed a little lower here. Whatever, the case, the entirety of side one
is super catchy and a pleasure to hear, highlighted by the bass intro of “Throw
it Back.” This song displays the twin
guitar strengths of Conley and Yoas perfectly all in a haunting three-minute
pop song, as does the Holiday Flyer reminiscent
“Nevergreen.”
Side two opens with my favorite song
on the album, the mesmerizing “Things We Left Behind.” This song is so powerful in so many
ways. It reminds a bit of their ‘sister’
band Soft Science with its keyboard
background along with that grinding buzz.
It is truly a transporting song.
It manages the trick of being super dreamy and massive sounding. The final songs feature Mike Carr’s wonderful basslines (especially the closer, “Eraser”) within
wistful sounding nuggets.
These guys will likely never be a big
‘buzz’ band, but whenever and whatever they do, I am here for it!
When Wil and I started the This Wreckage ‘zine over 30 years ago
now, the idea is that we would have people submit material that we would throw
in each issue as is and put it out to the world.What we didn’t realize going in is that most
people do not want to actually share things like that.We struggled in finding material to achieve
our albeit ambitious goal of a monthly issue.
However, in a small way, I’d like to
float out a similar request we used to do every issue, but with more of a
singular focus.I am hoping that anyone
who reads this would be willing to send some kind of story of a certain song
that means something to them.This could
mean a short story, an essay, a drawing, a photograph, a poem, a few words, I
don’t know.One of my favorite things is
to tie music to pretty much every waking minute of my life.It’s a problem really.There are hundreds of songs that evoke a lot
of emotions for me for a variety of reasons based on their being nearby at the
time.I absolutely love hearing and
reading other people’s stories along these lines.I don’t care the genre or the artist, or my
personal history, if any, with the song, I find these stories endlessly
fascinating.
I’m hoping to encourage any and every one who might be
willing to send some of their stories to me via messenger, or via email: tangledrec@hotmail.com. I would like to
share them here, on this site, if given the permission.
Please ask any questions you may
have.
I'll start:
Not Too Soon
Sometime during the summer of 1992, I
found myself at an impromptu gathering during a sunny afternoon out in the
forests in the Otis / Rose Lodge west of my home town of Lincoln City. I don’t remember the circumstances
surrounding this, but a few of my childhood friends were there, along with a
few older people who knew through school growing up, as well as a few younger
ones. I vividly remember the
environment. It was incredibly relaxed
and comfortable. I remember The Cult’s third album Electric was playing quietly and it
sounded good to me, even though I remember hating the album when it was
new. I was never a Cult fan, but them
overtly trying to sound like AC/DC
bothered me. It was later that I truly
began to appreciate its singled-mindedness.
I remember hearing it at a music venue between an opening band and the
headliner one time and it sounded like the best album ever made!
That afternoon / early evening I had
fun being a stupid goofball with my old friends and getting to know some of the
others that I didn’t know very well previously.
Even though we were all young. It
felt very adult. We were all drinking
beer, but no one to excess, or making a show of it, the music was quiet, the
conversations were about life and felt non-judgmental, and all was calm. I remember thinking to myself that I liked
this. All of my anxiety floated away, I
felt accepted, the dark fog of the previous year had faded some, and I was
beginning to sense possibilities again.
At that time, I had confirmed that I was going to returning to college. It was a dawning of new beginnings and this
was what being an adult felt like.
Of course, school that fall didn’t
work out, my health went south again, I never saw many of those people again, all
kinds of weird drama wound through my head making me feel like I was constantly
on an emotional roller coaster, one tinged with a constant heartbreak and a strange desperation. Normal stuff.
Not very adult. I guess that just
comes with age, not a state of mind.
At any rate, that very adult and way
too brief gathering ended while the sun was still out. I will never forget climbing into my car, and
driving home toward the sunset. I had
the windows down and the stereo blasting Throwing
Muses’ “Not Too Soon.” The song was
so tight and sparkly and sounded so amazing at that moment. I remember feeling genuinely good!
Throwing Muses had always been hit
and miss with me, so I hadn’t purchased any of their music since their first
album. I had thrown “Not Too Soon” onto
a mixtape after I had found it on one of those Sire Records label samplers they released back in those days. Not only is the song super catchy and bright,
but I will always remember it for that pleasant moment in time. Even the music video harkens to that day, as
it was shot in a barn. It looks and
feels like the scene of that gathering. The
lyrics are a mystery to me. Seems to be
a kiss off to some older dude who plays with the hearts of young women, so no,
I do not identify with it on that level, but it may be the first time I truly
realized how much I love a good pop tune and this one is addictive. I never get tired of it and it always makes
me think of that long ago evening.
When Wil and I started the This Wreckage ‘zine over 30 years ago
now, the idea is that we would have people submit material that we would throw
in each issue as is and put it out to the world. What we didn’t realize going in is that most
people do not want to actually share things like that. We struggled in finding material to achieve
our albeit ambitious goal of a monthly issue.
However, in a small way, I’d like to
float out a similar request we used to do every issue, but with more of a
singular focus. I am hoping that anyone
who reads this would be willing to send some kind of story of a certain song
that means something to them. This could
mean a short story, an essay, a drawing, a photograph, a poem, a few words, I
don’t know. One of my favorite things is
to tie music to pretty much every waking minute of my life. It’s a problem really. There are hundreds of songs that evoke a lot
of emotions for me for a variety of reasons based on their being nearby at the
time. I absolutely love hearing and
reading other people’s stories along these lines. I don’t care the genre or the artist, or my
personal history, if any, with the song, I find these stories endlessly
fascinating.
I’m hoping any and everyone would be
willing to send some of their stories to me via messenger, or via email: tangledrec@hotmail.com or even via post: PO Box 9263, Portland, OR 97207. I would like to
share them here, on this site, if given the permission.
When I was buying records in the late
80s / early 90s, a lot of them were from US and UK indie labels like Creation, 4AD, Slumberland, SpinArt, and Pop
Narcotic, among many others. I didn’t
think that each LP, EP or 7” I purchased was part of a burgeoning “scene,”
which would be later coined “shoegaze.” I just
thought of each label putting out like minded releases because they were all
run by a couple of people at most, so their tastes coincided with where I was
at at the time. What I liked about so many
of these releases is that they checked a lot of different boxes for me. These bands were not afraid to play loud and
fast, they dabbled in experimentation with noise and heavy doses of feedback,
yet could also go so mellow that they were ambient, they weren’t afraid to
release records that had dance beats, or were straight up jangle pop. Sometimes, all of these elements were in one
song! Has anyone listened to the Boo Radleys “Lazarus” lately?
the Boo Radleys "Lazarus"
I was first introduced to Japanese
fourpiece COLLAPSE in the spring of
2018. It was the closer of their EP Delirium Poetry, “Tokyo,” and its
unbelievably melancholic atmosphere drew me in.
It is a heavy guitar song that has a hook that is so mournful and
languid that one cannot help but feel something reflective and emotional. I became an instant fan and have hungrily gobbled
up their few single releases over the past few years. Black
Sheep is Still Dreaming is their long-awaited debut LP!
Listening to this album is such a
joy! It is, for me, like listening to
those records, like I did some thirty years ago, unencumbered by genre. It would’ve fit right in. It is diverse, loud, very loud, dreamy,
catchy, fast, heavy, and light. They do
employ a lot of LOUD, quiet, LOUD in their songs, or at least song to song,
which is a very early 90s element, one which I never grew tired of. It was an element that appealed to me I
suppose in an orchestral way. It was
very dramatic.
Their single, “Drown,” from the spring
of 2020 is this collection’s melancholic heavy hitter, but I swear that it’s
slow beat and blasting guitars are that much more effective due to its
placement between the quiet street noise/piano instrumental “epilogue,” and the
shredding punk pop “Syrup.” “Syrup”
sounds like a Jawbreaker outtake circa
1992, with a female singing falsetto in place of Blake Schwarzenbach. The
other glorious pre-LP singles singles “Vertigo” and “Garden” are also
included. “Vertigo is an upbeat pop
number that isn’t afraid to be loud, while “Garden” is a breezy wonder a little
reminiscent of Chaperhouse’s
legendary “Pearl.”
I cannot tell you how much I love this
album! I find myself listening to it on
repeat often and tweaking the volume up incrementally until my ears buzz. Thankfully, I splurged for the CD, which comes
with two incredible exclusive bonus tracks!
Well worth the expense, if you ask me.
Their debut album may have been a long time coming, but I’m already
hankering for more. Please seek this
out.
It’s been eons since I’ve written one
of these album recommendation things, so please bear with me. I first came to learn about Just Mustard while reading an interview late last year with a former member of 90s Irish band Whipping
Boy (whose second album, Heartworm,
recently a received 25th anniversary repackage reissue and is one of
my favorite albums of all-time!). In the
interview, he was tasked with naming current Irish bands that he finds worth
noting. Just Mustard caught my eye as an
especially bad name, but it was the only name I remember him listing, so
mission accomplished. By the time I got
around to checking them out, they were releasing singles leading up to their
second LP, Heart Under, which came
out at the end of May, which I’ve been listening to relentlessly ever since!
I have not investigated their
earliest material yet, but plan to do so.
I am imagining that this is a musical departure and quite a sophisticated
one at that. The sound of Heart Under is
one that lives in the same atmospheric universe as Joy Division’s “I Remember Nothing” crossed with the cinematic
scope of Portishead. It’s very stark and spooky and harsh. The vocals of Katie Ball are a background haunt behind the very steady, up front beats of Shane Maguire, and the twin guitars of David Noonan and Mete Kalyon that stab and howl out strange rough metallic sounds – resembling
old long dormant machines beginning to grind and whir back into motion – and a
low end, provided by bassist Rob
Clarke that comes in like that same massive machine’s engine Earth shaking
the entire scene.
As I’ve grown older, my musical
journey has seen my tastes evolve and streamline. Though, as a young man discovering the
extremes in sound, I probably swore I’d never mellow out, I find that I have
always been most drawn to music that contains a catchy hook or a captivating melody. Much like my choosing Low’s HEY WHAT LP as my
favorite of 2021, Heart Under may be
a contender for 2022! I may not be done
with experimentalism after all! It’s
refreshing to hear bands stretching out and this is my small way of showing
appreciation.
Surprisingly, the most traditional
song structures are saved for the second half of the album. I suppose they wanted us to note right away
that this is going to be a focused statement and it is! The lyrics are very fitting for the
mood. They are pretty abstract for the
most part, but seem to dabble in dissatisfaction with one’s self. The repetitive plea from Katie Ball to “change
my head” is uncomfortable and identifiable, as is the wonderful “Mirrors,” my
favorite track, that covers that feeling many of us encounter as we age of not
recognizing what we see looking back at us.
It can also happen to those of us, who don’t particularly like who we
are.
Many smart people have told me that
Just Mustard’s sound reminds them of 90s UK band Cranes. I can hear it, I was often fascinated by
their music, but I never particularly liked Alison Shaw’s baby vocals – found them a distraction. Perhaps I’ve changed, though I can hear
similarities with Ball’s vocals, hers remind me more of The Sundays’ Harriet Wheeler. At any rate, I fear I may be giving off a
vibe that this is a difficult album, but it’s not! It does challenge the listener a bit, but if
you buy in, it is a fascinating and rewarding album that continues to please
over repeated listens.
What has it got me? I have CDs and records in boxes all over my
apartment that I have lugged around for several moves, stubbed my toes on
multiple times, and at one time, a serious credit card debt! I want to know what a healthy relationship to
music is! When I was a poor college
student living in downtown Seattle in 1992, I remember spending my last $10 on
a ticket to see Bob Mould’s band Sugar in place of saving it for the
groceries I needed for the next week or so.
Did the same thing a few weeks later when I spotted the unexpected UK CD
single for The Sundays’ “Goodbye” in a record shop window. I was so stoked that they had new music
coming out that I couldn’t stop
thinking about it until the shop opened the next day. Luckily, it hasn’t got me jail time, though
at the time, a smash and grab seemed a possibility.
I was probably born with some sort of
specific addictive thing. I find myself
being especially drawn into things through others’ enthusiasm. When I was a little kid, my friend Vinton, introduced me to comic
books. He had a serious love of these
things, and has continued on as an adult – getting into the industry through
his art! Once he hooked me, I found
myself going to the local bookstore (the Book
End) every week on comic book delivery day to get my favorite titles. It wasn’t until Marvel started doing crossover stories like Secret Wars, where one had to buy all the comics to get the full story, that I had to bow out
due to the limitations of my allowance and patience. However, I almost immediately filled the comic
collecting void with record collecting once I got my first paying job at 14.
Don’t get me wrong, my love
of/obsession for music has been a huge positive for my life. I have had amazing adventures going to see
live music that I likely wouldn’t have experienced otherwise, met lots of great
and interesting people, or, in other words, despite the isolating nature of
listening to music, my love and need for it has pulled me out of my shell. Heck, I even have a social media friend from
Australia (hi Alex!) who I met
through MySpace due to our shared
love of the Go-Betweens! There’s also Chris, a pen pal of 30 years who contacted me initially because she and her husband saw my collection in my old bedroom when they toured my childhood family home when it was
put up for sale. Music has educated me,
or led me to learn about things, given me incredible highs, and is tied with
almost any memory I can conjure. Still
there’s a part of me that wants to give it up.
If I hear a new song that I like, I kind of wish I could be content to
enjoy it when I might happen to encounter it again, or look it up on YouTube or Spotify and make a playlist.
I have been trying to ween myself of the need to be a completist. Just because I love a new song by so and so,
does not mean I have to own every
album or every single they ever released!
Perhaps it’s that I have a need/desire to not have stuff. I like having as few possessions as
possible. Things make me feel trapped,
and yet I have all of things heavy boxes of records everywhere! What the hell?! When I start feeling especially unhealthy, I
tend to start thinning things down as an end of life necessity, once I begin to
realize how meaningless my prized Independent
Project Records’ Archive Series limited
edition 10” records would be for whoever is lucky enough to clean up after me.
I guess it’s who I am. Just the other day, I was driving in to
downtown Portland listening to a random mixed CD made up of new songs that I’ve
procured from listening to several stellar shows on streaming station DKFM(decayfm.com) such as Krissy Vanderwoude’s
Drowned in a Sea of Sound, Paul Lopez’s The Shoegaze Collective, and especially Amber Crain’s When the Sun
Hits. My mind drifted through several
questions, one of which is why did I select these chosen few songs of the many amazing tracks they share? What is it that draws me
in? Songs take their time cramming their
way into my thick skull these days, plus I can honestly say that the vast
majority of what I hear is familiar – stuff that reminds me of music already in
my possession. So what is it? What is the appeal? I don’t know!
I just know that when I hear certain things, and those things evolve over
time, that I get so excited and inspired.
Depending on the mood of the song, my mind electrifies and wants to be
creative, wants to analyze, wants to experience genuine emotions. Perhaps that’s the key. Music wakes my mind up from the day to day
regression it seems to be going through with the daily grind. I remember a couple of years ago the time
Amber Crain played on her show Weathering’s
“Changing Colors.” Yes, I fed off of the
super power chords, but it was the vocals, the words, the phrasing and the
voice all combined to make me a bit overwhelmed with emotion. The song yanked out all kinds of stored up feelings
that have built up over time – the kind that are difficult to explain or even
understand. This happened again within
the last few week’s with the song “Ceiling Lines” by the Real Sea, when Krissy played it on her show. Yes, I love the music. The dissonant guitars of the intro lay down a
familiar and comfortable pathway for my ears, but Sharon Mok’s voice is all kinds of amazing! Just hearing that song puts a giant lump in
my throat. I suppose that’s it. New music makes me feel alive! I guess the need to search for it comes from
the need to feel. Seems like I’m stuck
with it. Now if only I can give up this
senseless need to ramble on endlessly about nothing.
