Chicago's Dehd are absolute masters of that newfangled punk that is infused with a ton of pop hooks without being even remotely pop punk. Their latest single, "Window," is this song that slowly builds into an absolute epic. It starts off slow and just builds and builds with all the power of a band like Pulp or U2, but a lower scale punk pop version. It's as catchy as possible without being too saccharine, and even had more than just a hint of an edge. And it does all this while remaining mostly a ballad. Dehd are the kind of band that are going to be huge by this time next year.
Emily Kempf says the new song is about "... “being obsessed with true love and the construct of ‘the one.’ I wrote it to address my addition to the terrible and wonderful pursuit of perfect love.”
You can watch the NSFW-ish video for "Window" below. Blue Skies is due out May 27 on Fat Possum. You can pre-save/pre-order the album here. For more on Dehd, check out the artist's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the video.
Wed. May 25 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom ! - SOLD OUT Thu. May 26 - Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall ! Fri. May 27 - Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount Sat. May 28 - Toronto, ON @ Lee’sPalace Sat. Jun. 4 - Chicago, IL @ Metro * - SOLD OUT Sat. Jun. 11 - New York, NY @ Governor's Ball Music Festival Sat. Jul. 9 - Chicago, IL @ Square Roots Festival Sun. Aug. 21 - Hasselt, BE @ Pukkelpop Mon. Aug. 22 - Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown Wed. Aug. 24 - Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli De Helling Fri. Aug. 26 - London, UK @ All Points East Sun. Aug. 28 - Edinburgh, UK @ Connect Festival Sat. Aug. 30 - Birmingham, UK @ The Castle & Falcon Sun. Aug. 31 - Cambridge, UK @ Junction 2 Fri. Sep. 2 - Wiltshire, UK @ End of the Road Festival Thu. Sep. 4 - Maastricht, NL @ Bruis Festival Wed. Sep. 21 - Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre Thu. Sep. 22 - Omaha, NE @ Slowdown Fri. Sep. 23 - Denver, CO @ The Summit Sat. Sep. 24 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot Tue. Sep. 27 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom Wed. Sep. 28 - Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre Fri. Sep. 30 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market Sat. Oct. 2 - San Francisco, CA @ August Hall Wed. Oct. 5 - Los Angeles, CA @ Belasco Theater Thu. Oct. 6 - San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park Fri. Oct. 7 - Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater Sat. Oct. 9 - Austin, TX @ ACL Fest Wed. Oct. 12 - Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater Thu. Oct. 13 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren Sun. Oct. 16 - Austin, TX @ ACL Fest Fri. Oct. 21 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel Sat. Oct. 22 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Sun. Oct. 23 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat Tue. Oct. 25 - Boston, MA @ Royale Wed. Oct. 26 - Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre Thu. Oct. 27 - Toronto, ON @ Opera House Wed. Nov. 2 - Milan, IT @ Magnolia Thu. Nov. 3 - Aaru, CH @ Kiff Mon. Nov. 7 - Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen Tue. Nov. 8 - Stockholm, SE @ Kristallen Wed. Nov. 9 - Oslo, NE @ John Dee Fri. Nov. 11 - Hamburg, DE @ Molotow Sat. Nov. 12 - Brussels, BE @ Grand Salon Wed. Nov. 16 - Bristol, UK @ The Lanes Thu. Nov. 17 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club Fri. Nov. 18 - Sunderland, UK @ Pop Recs Sat. Nov. 19 - Glasgow, UK @ Oran Mor Sun. Nov. 20 - Dublin, IE @ Button Factory * w/ Pixel Grip ! w/ 81355
Somehow Peter Prescott of Mission of Burma and Volcano Suns has another band that I never knew about. Minibeast already released an album that I completely missed back in 2012, and they are currently at work on the follow up, Free Will. Based on a track from the upcoming album, "High Sea," Minibeast shares some common sonic ground with Mission of Burma, but with an added emphasis on the groovy side of things. It's basically the noise and dissonance of Burma but heard through a 60s surf groove, as if Frankie and Annette were punks. You can listen to "High Sea" below. Minibeast currently have a Kickstarter to help fund the final production of Free Will. You can get more information on that here . It should be out sometime in June.
Earlier this week I was expressing sympathy for Limp Bizkit. Limp Bizkit just don't seem to be riding that surge of 90s nostalgia that all sorts of other terrible bands from that era are. Sure, they're terrible. But are they really that much worse than Filter, Alien Ant Farm, and other bands on those 90s nostalgia packages. And then this video is released. The first lyrics to the song are literally "Go fuck yourself." It then features Fred Durst sitting on a toilet, bikini clad chicks pretending to fellate garden hoses and leaf blowers, and Fred Durst talking about fucking bitches, all while wearing a hoodie and a backwards red baseball hat. Then Lil Wayne comes out. Please keep in mind Fred Durst is a 42 year old man.
Photo by Annabel Kean For their latest single, New Zealand's The Beths have released "Mother, Pray for Me." This is a heartbreaking ballad consisting of Elizabeth Stokes' vocals and guitar with just the slightest hint of organ. It's a deeply personal song for Stokes, made obvious with how intimately the song comes across. It truly feels almost confessional, and it's quite simply beautiful. The Beths are most known for huge little indie rock gems perfect for bopping along to, but "Mother, Pray for Me" is quite the opposite. Stokes' vocals and lyrics are right up front on this one, and I can't imagine it any other way. Elizabeth Stokes says of her latest single: “I cried the whole time writing it. It's not really about my mother, it's about me — what I hope our relationship is, what I think it is, what it maybe actually is, and what I can or can't expect out of it. “My mother is a first gen Indonesian immigrant, and very Catholic....
