Carmanah – “Best Interests”

inbox

FROM THE INBOX:

We’ve gotten in touch to share our new single, “Best Interests,” with you.

It describes people living in a state of nature deprivation, one person pulling the other out of the city and running with them to the coastline.

This song questions overconsumption, with its lust for capitalist greed and concrete.

What started out as a lonely guitar riff led to the whole band jamming on it, creating a fun and spontaneous experience that our producers Gus van Go and Werner F. rolled with.

Right now we are all being encouraged to consider the health of us as a community. Now is the time to be caring for each other and to learn from this experience so we can move forward with our collective planet’s best interests in mind.

There isn’t a lot to say on this one. I love the vocals, the music, and the overall vibe. This song is as close to a total package as anything will be for me. I like to type little blurbs about stuff I share in this feature. I don’t know. This is one I just like. It’s just a solid as fuck indie/pop type song. Maybe I should editorialize more, but ehhh.

From The Inbox (10/20/19) // Basement Revolver – “Have I Been Deceived”

inbox

FROM THE INBOX:

Looking back at the religious upbringing that guitarist/vocalist Chrisy Hurn has – for the most part – since left behind, and gazing ahead at the person she hopes to become, “Have I Been Deceived” finds her further questioning “the shit I’ve held on to” in a dreamy country-rock sway.

Speaking on the new track, Hurn says:
“Think about “Have I Been Deceived” as an open letter to God. This past year, I have been feeling like I was brainwashed. I was taught to think in a particular manner, taught to love in a specific way, taught to think about my body and sexuality in a specific (ahem oppressive) way, and quite honestly at the time, I ate that shit up. I was the girl in highschool trying to convert all my friends, telling everyone to stay abstinent, listening to every Christian band that sounded almost as good as the real thing. That was my entire identity. Throughout my twenties, this identity fell apart.

I’ve become increasingly uncomfortable with who I was, so much that being around any type of Christian culture, makes me feel nauseous, or worse.

I want to let that go, I want to think clearly about faith, but I am afraid that I am not able to. I am afraid that I was gaslighted into loving something that is wrong or an ugly version of something that could be good. I don’t know who I am without my past. I don’t know who I am moving forward. I wish I had a more clear answer but I don’t; I am just here.”

Basement Revolver is a band who has been kicking around for a minute now. I posted one of their songs back in 2017. I always wanted to give them a proper write up, but I never did. I love fuzzy sounding indie rock, and their new single delivers that. It also adds a little country twang to the sound too. This particular song has a definite Cranberries vibe to it.

Lyrically, the song is also great. People who grow up in religious environments can really only go one or two ways. They continue with it, or they question and defy it. It’s a personal story that is always compelling to hear. Even in subtle ways.

Finally, the video is great. Stop motion is always a thing I’ll love.

Wax And Digital is out now.

Basement Revolver
Sonic Unyon

From The Inbox (08/19/19) // A. Billi Free – “Flourish”

inbox

FROM THE INBOX:

In theme and style, A. Billi Free effortlessly slides between the present and the future and between earth and space on her debut album I Luma dropping August 12th on Tokyo Dawn Records. Meaning “in front” in the Samoan language, I Luma centers A. Billi Free’s sincere musings on discovery and adventure in her universe over soulful, uplifting, dance-ready jams.

I Luma is backed by an electronic/pop/alternative R&B sensibility entirely composed and produced by Chicago production duo and Tokyo Dawn artists, Tensei. Interstellar jazz multi-instrumentalist Angel Bat Dawid on clarinet sets the tone for this enchanted musical journey on the track “Flourish”.

Recorded in New Mexico, Illinois, and Massachusetts, the resulting magic outweighs the challenges of this type of creation as the album’s sonics are strong and richly layered, providing a solid foundation for A. Billi Free’s smooth tone and earnest message to transmit through the cosmos. Rooted in an eclectic blend of hip hop, soul and electronica, she has spent the last decade in the deserts of southern New Mexico and west Texas fusing elements of both the city and the border into her sound.

Video by Scott Iulianelli, Analog Prints.

A. Billi Free is exactly the kind of surprises I like getting in my email. Her new record is absolutely fantastic. I can’t recommend it enough. It’s just a great mix of pop, hip-hop, R&B, and soul.

A. Billi Free
Tokyo Dawn Records

From The Inbox (08/12/19) // J.R. – “PAL”

inbox

FROM THE INBOX:

This song was inspired by the feeling of youth and naive invincibility.
The emotions experienced when you are young and feeling misunderstood.
Stagnant and searching for a reason to keep feeling like the past wont catch up to you.

“PAL” is a rollercoaster of thoughts, trying to make sense of multiple personalities and your own insanity. This song always brings me back to multiple places and experiences throughout my youth/young adulthood. Falling in and out of love. The transition of realizing my parents are flawed people just like you. Driving down a beautiful tree-lined road with my friends, looking for something fun to do and searching for a way to sustain that feeling of invincibility.

Dan Edmonds produced “PAL” at Fort Rose Studio in Hamilton.

Ross Miller (The Dirty Nil) really helped produce and shape the song with me in a way that captures the essence of it to a perfect T – just an added bonus of having grown up together and experiencing the same time-killing nights out. With Jason Bhattacharya on the kit, we all had so much fun adding something special to each session that made our hearts flutter.

Hope you enjoy listening to “PAL” as much as I did making it!

J.R.
~ Julianna Riolino ~

I absolutely love this kind of stuff. I guess you could call this indie rock with a slight folk influence? Either way, it’s 100% my jam. This is the second single J.R. has released this year. The previous single, “BE MY MAN” fucking goes. Make sure to check that one out too. I’m really looking forward hearing more. Hopefully these two singles mean an EP or full length is coming soon. A real press person would probably look into that.

J.R.

Song Of The Week (07/26/19) // Lilith – “Vacation”

Lilith – “Vacation”

Usually I post these with some press blurb from an email or something. I was not sent any press release for this particular one. Safer Off is a record I’ve been looking forward to, and I just really like this band. I’ll always love some good pop rock.

Lilith
Disposable America
Take This To Heart Records

Song Of The Week (7/1/19) // Black Adidas – “Be Cool”

Black Adidas – “Be Cool”

I have to be honest, I’ve been sitting on this song since fucking January. I am incredibly bad at running a music website. It was “officially” released a week and a half ago, so maybe I’m not the worst. Anyway.

“Be Cool” is the new song from Black Adidas. The song feels like a fitting sequel to “Old Fashioned Rock N Roll” from last year’s self titled LP. Both revel in paying respect to the genre. But, if “Old Fashioned Rock N Roll” was a tribute to sound, “Be Cool” is a mission statement. It’s a song about going to a show, seeing a band, and just fucking going off. It’s a song about not worrying about anything, and just enjoying music you love. Sometimes that’s really what you need.

I don’t like doing RIYL type things, but there is a definite Social Distortion vibe running through this track. It’s got a classic punk sound, a great chant along chorus, and a killer synth line. I don’t know what else you could want.

Also, hell, let’s promo here. Black Adidas is running a sale on their Bandcamp this week (I actually have no idea for how long). Use the code “merica” for 30% their shit. Am I a shill if I do it for free?

Edit: Sale is done.

Black Adidas
Bandcamp

Song Of The Week (03/29/19)

Lou’ana – “Eye To Eye”

From the inbox:

Having carved a place for herself within Auckland’s vibrant music community over the past 6 years as a proud, second generation Samoan New Zealander, Lou’ana’s voice carries the stature of an old soul; a cosmic cocktail of sweet and soulful, with an added gritty, blues edge that references the golden age of Etta James, Emmylou Harris to the rawness of Stevie Nicks and Amy Winehouse. Her heart and soul translates through sound, in that unexplainable alchemy that happens when music meets word.

Lou’ana has performed all around New Zealand as part of the inimitable funk troup Hipstamatics, playing a multitude of festivals across the country including some of their favourite haunts such as Hipstamatics’ “birth place”, Grand Central in Ponsonby. The spell-binding artist also performs as part of Two Many Chiefs, and has supported a number of New Zealand jazz acts including Andrew Faleatua at Samoana Jazz Festival and the 2015 Pacific Music Awards, as well as providing live vocals for kiwi electronic outfit Sola Rosa.

Lou’ana kicks off 2019 with multiple New Zealand tour dates, and headlines the Waiheke Jazz Festival through April 19-22.

I’m primarily a blog that covers punk and punk related stuff. I occasionally like to use these “song of the week” posts to cover stuff I like that doesn’t really fit in that space. This is 100% one of those times. This Lou’ana song is just great.

Not sure how an old punk from Illinois ended up on a New Zealand press list, but here we are.

Lou’ana

Song Of The Week (01/25/19)

Porteau – “River Song”

From the inbox:

At the time, the lyrics were simply poetry I wrote in a journal during summer evenings spent in a remote Alaskan village. We were independently writing ideas/songs that neither of us necessarily intended to combine together; we weren’t trying to write a record. This poetry was a catalyst, and “River Song” as a whole naturally revealed itself.

I found myself inspired to write “River Song” while watching salmon swim in the streams. Their journey back to spawn is magnificent – one that brings life, but ultimately ends in death. Using the earth’s magnetic field, like a compass, the salmon return to their final resting place.

I was struggling to wrap my head around accepting the natural cycle of life. Seeing the salmon’s instinctual guidance drawing them back to their place of birth helped me discover where I needed to be.

“River Song” is not a story with a concrete ending. Ask yourself – do we really have a choice? Does instinct guide us home?

Sometimes you just want to listen to a pretty sounding song. Y’know?

Porteau

Song Of The Week (01/19/19)

Gadget and the Cloud – “Too Soon To Say”

I’ve talked about Gadget and the Cloud a few times before. I’m continually impressed with how Kelly Doherty progresses as an artist. I really liked her first release, October 31st. Her 2018 full length, Songs For Sad People To Dance To, was one of my favorite records from last year.

If I’m being honest, I don’t know a goddamn thing about this kind of music. Like, is this downtempo? Is it lofi? Can we safely call it ambient? No fucking idea. I know that I like it though. Moody synths and a great vibe. “Too Soon To Say” has me looking forward to whatever she does next.

Gadget and the Cloud

Song Of The Week (8/11/17) // See Through Dresses – “Lucy’s Arm”

See Through Dresses – “Lucy’s Arm”

From Tiny Engines:

See Through Dresses released its Tiny Engines debut End of Days in the Fall of 2015, introducing a wider audience to a sound both intrinsic and environmental, with stark contrasts between its principal songwriters’ devastatingly riff-heavy jams and endearingly honest confessionals. It showcased what the band can do in spaces where guitars and rhythms rule the roost.

If End of Days is its rock record, Horse of the Other World, out June 14th, is See Through Dresses’ dreamy opus. Recorded in 2016 in two locations — ARC Studios with Ben Brodin (Pile, First Aid Kit, The Good Life) and at the band’s home studio, Little Machine, by Mathew Carroll — it signals a sonic leap into a more ethereal, soundscape-driven aesthetic.

Reverb-drenched and synth-laden, Horse of the Other World blends Carroll and Bertuldo’s masterful mood creation and technical prowess while further exploring the depths of the band’s dynamics. “Pretty Police” mixes sparkle and bounce with brood, while “Violet” cuts sharply via crystalline keys and arpeggiated chords. Bassist Alex Kirts pumps the album’s bleeding heart and drummer Nate Van Fleet is tactical and creative. Their playing shines as the foundation of songs like “Lucy’s Arm” and “Herbivore,” whose climaxes are textbook See Through Dresses.

See Through Dresses are one of the best examples of modern post-punk. They mix classic shoegaze and dream pop elements with driving punk rock. They make art without getting pretentious.

Horse of the Other World is an A+ record from front to back. “Lucy’s Arm” is a hell of a single. Those shared vocals on the verses are fantastic.

See Through Dresses
Tiny Engines