How do you follow up a masterpiece?
It’s a question that every artist asks after releasing a perfect work. Some try the same formula again, hoping lighting will strike the same place twice. Others decide to take a major left turn (see: Radiohead). Some have even gone mad under the pressure.
After the impeccable Rumours, the songwriters behind Fleetwood Mac chose option D: all of the above.
With all of the punk and hardcore kids starting shoegaze bands these days (see: Nothing, Turnover, Pity Sex) and bands implementing more of that lush instrumentalism into their sound (see: Touche Amore, Title Fight), it was only a matter of time until a hardcore band became a full-fledged shoegaze band.
It might seem like a massive jump for a hardcore band to shift to the gauzy, dreamy lushness of shoegaze, but Hundredth does it in a way that still captures their punk fury. Continue reading
A lot of people talk about My Bloody Valentine as if they emerged from the ether in 1991 with the masterpiece Loveless.
Not only is that a drastic oversimplification, but it also ignores Isn’t Anything, which is a wonderful record in its own right.
It’s no secret that I have a very, very weak spot in my heart for music that blends metal’s punishing heaviness with unabashed prettiness. And the last few years (more specifically, ever since Sunbather brought further attention to the type of gorgeous metal that Alcest pioneered) scores of metal bands have been pushing into the dreamy lushness of shoegaze and post rock—and vice versa.
But few bands do it with the sort of shameless simplicity of Holy Fawn. And thus, few bands do it with as much success.
Iggy Pop once called Iceage “the only dangerous-sounding punk band in the world.” After listening to their sophomore record You’re Nothing, I completely agree with the Lewd One.
Their newest record finds them gunning to reclaim that title after a brief detour, and it does not disappoint. Continue reading
The early 80s were famous for great post-punk lead singer/guitarist duos. Bono & The Edge, Morissey & Johnny Marr, Ian McColluch & Will Sargeant…wait, what do you mean you’ve never heard of Ian & Will?
That, my friend, is a tragedy, and I’m sorry that society has largely ignored Echo & The Bunnymen, who remain one of the most under-heard bands of all time.
I hadn’t heard Milwaukee’s art punk acolytes Body Futures until last night when my band played with them and were blown away. Taking the best lessons punk and new wave can teach them, they create a fusion of the two that is bursting with power and fury. Their live show was a whirlwind of guitars and autoharp and “HEY” bgvs, and the record is just as good. See you around, Body Futures.
In Stockholm, there is a record store called Pet Sounds which is listed on numerous “best record shops in the world” lists. It was at this shop that I asked the man working there for something distinctly Swedish. He told me of a Stockholm based punk band called Ebba Grön who broke up and became a post punk band called Imperiet, and suggested this record, translated as Blue Heaven Blues. I took him at his word, and did not return void. Were their lyrics in English, it’s doubtless that Imperiet would have been canonized among New Order, Psychedelic Furs, Duran Duran, and other post punk/new wave patron saints.
You could pretty much guess what this album would sound like from the narrative of its making of: an Arcade Fire album produced by James Murphy with a lead single that David Bowie threatened to steal if they didn’t release it in a timely manner.