Fuzzystar - "Superhero"

We've been fans of Edinburgh based Fuzzystar's debut album, Telegraphing, released just six months ago. Somehow we already have new music from Fuzzystar. "Superhero" keeps their sound of pure 90's indie rock joy going. It starts off in the shoegaze and dream pop realms, with lilting guitars swirling around monotone slacker vocals. (If you're old enough, you know that to us that is the highest of compliments.) The song doesn't really build, but at some point there is a transition to a sound reminiscent of earlier, more upbeat and poppy Built to Spill. 

You can listen to "Superhero" below. The song will be available as a single on December 1 via Satellite Sounds. For more on Fuzzystar, check out their/his website.

Live Shows: Letters to Cleo & Blake Babies, Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA 11/16/17

In what now appears to be a November tradition, Letters to Cleo came back to their hometown of Boston for a three night stand last week. This year's trio of shows was soaked in nostalgia (the Paradise was playing a pretty generic 90's alt-rock playlist with everything from Pixies to The New Radicals represented) with the band playing one of their albums in its entirety each night. This particular night was 1993's Aurora Gory Alice. 

Blake Babies opened up the evening (and all three nights) with a rare performance. The trio of Juliana Hatfield, John Strohm, and Freda Love-Smith are a much beloved Boston institution and could have easily played their own trio of shows. Since the three are now spread out over Cambridge, Chicago, and Nashville, seeing them reform is far too rare of a treat for fans. The band played at their charmingly sloppy best, including their cover of Mission of Burma's "From Here to Burma" and a heartbreakingly glorious version of "Rain." Strohm joked that the song was their new video on MTV, hearkening back to the days when that was actually a thing. [Side note: After their set, the couple next to me declared that the singer of Blake Babies had a "Juliana Hatfield vibe," and then Googled the band, only to discover that the singer was actually Juliana Hatfield.]

Letters to Cleo started off the show with Aurora Gory Alice's first song, "Big Star." They proceeded to go with that album from start to finish, playing "Rim Shak," their loudest song by far and traditionally a set closer, third. Obviously there were no surprises in the first half of the set, but complete treats for fans with live versions of the rarely (if ever!) seen songs "From Under the Dust" and "Step Back." The band took a short break and then came back for an encore (?) of what were referred to as fan favorites. What's odd is that if you had told me that they were going to play more songs from Go! than they would from Wholesale Meats and Fish, I would have been disappointed. But during the show nostalgia took over and I didn't even notice with such classics from Go! like "Spaklegirl" and "Veda Very Shining." They did play two songs off last year's Back to Nebraska EP and, of course, their cover of Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me."

For a band that has only played a handful of shows since reuniting last year, Letters to Cleo are an incredibly tight band, and even more polished than they were at their peak twenty or so years ago. It might be that just about all members are now session and touring musicians or producers these days. Plus, the only non-original member from their heyday is bassist Joe Klompus (Jack Drag, Orangutang) replacing Scott Riebling. Kay Hanley even got a bit nostalgic, realizing that Aurora Gory Alice was twenty four years old and that many members of the crowd had been coming to their shows since they were teenagers. Looking around the audience, so many faces looked familiar, even if you couldn't place them. It makes me wonder how many of the people I chatted with between bands at Lupo's, Salem State, TT the Bear's, Pearl Street, and more were still coming to see them two decades later. Like I said, it was a nostalgic night.

Shame - "One Rizla"

Post punk is typically the artsier, less aggressive form of punk. Nobody told Shame that. Their new song, "One Rizla," is a pretty chilled out post punk songs, with the ambient feel of dream pop and the fuzzed out bliss of shoegaze. But while that may sound like the song could drift into twee territory, it's far too snotty too be considered twee by any measure. In fact, the song builds so slowly in both speed and aggression that you won't be able to even notice it until the near scream filled ending. It's not an explosive ending, but more of a just barely controlled seething rage leaking out just enough. This song is enough to put their upcoming album into all of our Most Anticipated of 2018 lists.

You can watch the video for "One Rizla" below. Shame's debut album, Songs of Praise, will be out January 12 on Dead Oceans. You can pre-order the album here. For more on Shame, be sure to check out their website.

The Eskies - "All Good Men"

Dublin's The Eskies are coming back with their second album next month, and are previewing the first single from it, "All Good Men." According to their press release, they're described as folk/rock/Yiddish/Blues, and all of that is completely true. But "All Good Men" seems to be even more than that. It has a bit of a punk attitude, and any time a band is from Dublin and combines folk and punk, they're going to get compared to The Pogues. Plus, they have an folk rock anthem quality, so there's some Frank Turner in there. All of this is wrapped up in some old swing, which reminds me of Squirrel Nut Zippers. All of these elements also come together to have just a bit of a Gogol Bordello sound. "All Good Men" takes a bunch of elements that are already a bunch of elements and combines them all into a song that somehow blends together just about perfectly.

You can watch the video for "All Good Men" below. The Eskies' second album, And Don't Spare the Horses, will be out on December 1st. For more on The Eskies, check out their website.

J Eastman and The Drunk Uncles - "On Your Dime"

It's rare that a band's name completely matches their sound. J Eastman and The Drunk Uncles sound exactly what you'd expect them to sound like. Their latest single, "On Your Dime," is a blast of loud power pop that leans very heavily on the rock side of the genre. You can just feel the haze of booze that thickens the type of venue these guys play, and the crowds they're sure to attract. For added points, they inject just the slightest country twang to the song giving it an Uncle Tupelo feel. It all feels decidedly Minnesota (where the band is from). Granted, there's not a regional "sound" to Minnesota, but there's almost a regional "feel" to the state.

You can listen to "On Your Dime" below. It will be included on their upcoming album. To be sure to stay updated on the album, check them out on Facebook and Bandcamp.

QWAM - "Doggy Door"

Photo by Karen Sophia Colon

Brooklyn's QWAM is set to release their debut EP in January, but right now we can listen to the first single, "Doggy Door." From the frantic opening of drum stick rattling, "Doggy Door" is an energetic thrash of a song. It's definitely punk while being on the slightly more mainstream side of the genre, but without being "pop punk" in the slightest. The mainstream description might be attributed to the Pennywise style "Whoah-oh-oh" chant along chorus, even though the whole song feels more like The Gits than 90's Warped Tour style punk. Plus, they throw in a disjointed guitar solo at the end that is discordantly beautiful.

You can listen to "Doggy Door" below. QWAM's debut EP, Feed Me, will be out sometime in January. You can pre-order the EP now through Bandcamp. For more on QWAM, check them out on Facebook.

First Listen: New Releases for November 10

A slow-ish week. I'll be covering the new TayTay when it finally hits streaming services, but until then...

Co-Albums of the Week:

Artist: Kindling
Album: Hush
Quick Description: Local shoegazey goodness.
Why You Should Listen: You're looking to harken back to a different time, but not the trendy stuff that's hitting today.
Overall Thoughts: Holy crap this is absolutely wonderful , droney, almost shoegazey music. A band from Easthampton, I figured I’d like them when Spotify listed Infinity Girl as a comp, but this is so much better than that. Maybe my favorite of the week at this point, the vocals are gorgeous and drenched in reverb, they’re not afraid to get aggressive, and this is a rare act that sounds like something you’ve heard before even though you know it’s fully unique.
Recommendation: Do not miss out on this at all, it’s a brilliant listen.

Artist: Fever High
Album: FHNY
Quick Description: 1980s throwbacks, but more like a time machine than an homage.
Why You Should Listen: Your leg warmers aren't the least bit dusty and worn.
Overall Thoughts: Fever High is not only channeling the 1980s on this record, but they’re outright hopping in a time machine and outright stealing from the era, and it’s amazing. I think the second or third song is outright using the Soft Cell boops, and there’s one song that is one step away from being a Bananarama cover. It’s blatant musical appropriation and I honestly loved every moment of it. It’s close to my favorite album of the week on a whole, it’s just waaaay to much fun.
Recommendation: Too good for words.

Artist: Radnor & Lee
Album: Radnor & Lee
Quick Description: Weirdest collaboration in a while.
Why You Should Listen: You're a fan of either of these guys.
Overall Thoughts: Ben Lee is a name you probably know thanks to his folk rock work over the last decade. Josh Radnor is best known as Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother, and he’s set himself up as a sort of artist’s Zach Braff since then, with some indie film and stage work. So it’s not completely weird that a stage guy is doing an indie record with a bit of theatrical flair to it. His voice isn’t especially strong, but I might just be hearing him as his TV character more than him doing whatever this is. Still, coming in with low-ish expectations, this far, far surpassed them.
Recommendation: Better than you'd expect.

Artist: Quicksand
Album: Interiors
Quick Description: Comeback album from an early 1990s act.
Why You Should Listen: You haven't had your emo fill in a while.
Overall Thoughts: The latest in a line of post-rock/emo acts coming back around, Quicksand provides a record that sounds like it’s straight from the early 1990s scene. The nostalgia and the authenticity is there, but as someone who has traditionally been hot and cold on the entire thing, this one failed to really grab me much at all. This is not an indication that someone with a real love for this era wouldn’t find a lot to enjoy here, but just that this ultimately was not for me.
Recommendation: Give it a shot, but be wary.

Artist: Brother Roy
Album: Last Man Standing
Quick Description: Classic country rock stuff.
Why You Should Listen: This is the retro release for the week in this area.
Overall Thoughts: Brother Roy is pushing for a really interesting sort of classic aesthetic, and it mostly works. He’s got a pretty nondescript voice, allowing the tones and musicality to ultimately drive the experience on this. The songs are good, and there’s really nothing negative to say about this except that it doesn’t have anything that really gives it that great leap forward one might expect. It’s absolutely worth a listen, and if you’re into this sort of thing you might find something in it that I didn’t.
Recommendation: A good listen for a shortish week.

Artist: Plastic Flowers
Album: Absent Forever
Quick Description: Latest from the indie rock act.
Why You Should Listen: You enjoyed their last album.
Overall Thoughts: I don’t know what my expectation was here, especially since I know I heard this band in the past and the sound here surprised me. This is solid, albeit unexciting, indie rock in a good form, and that’s all well and good but doesn’t do a lot to set itself apart. This might be your cup of tea, but there are better albums to listen to first.
Recommendation: Not crucial.

Artist: Langhorne Slim
Album: Lost at Last Vol. 1
Quick Description: Latest from the acclaimed folkie.
Why You Should Listen: Langhorne Slim has built up more than enough good will.
Overall Thoughts: I still remember when I first saw Langhorne Slim however long ago, probably opening for Clem Snide. He was a whirlwind even then, and I’ve happily kept up with his work since then. This latest album is not a step back, but it is a step in what feels like a calmer direction on a whole. Back to his roots a bit, as it were. This is not going to be your favorite Langhorne Slim record, but it’s going to be something you’ll still enjoy. Just differently than how you’ve liked his other stuff.
Recommendation: A solid listen.

Artist: Yeah But No
Album: Yeah But No
Quick Description: Standard indie rock.
Why You Should Listen: A solid if unspectacular listen.
Overall Thoughts: Another indie rock act this week, I also liked this one (and arguably more than Plastic Flowers), but it suffers from a very similar situation to Plastic Flowers in that it doesn’t do a ton to set itself apart. I liked this one a little more, but it’s still not something that I would reach for first this week.
Recommendation: Maybe if you need something more.

EPs of note:

* Adia Victoria - Baby Blues
* Ingrid Michaelson - Snowfall
* Slothrust - Show Me How You Want It To Be (great covers EP!)
* Empire of the Sun - On Our Own Way
* Tennis - We Can Die Happy
* Sleigh Bells - Kid Kruschev

Also out:

* Angel Olsen - Phases (weird rarities collection)
* Dillon - Kind
* Tim Heidecker - Too Dumb for Suicide (Trump protest songs. It ain't good...)
* Shooter Jennings - Live at Billy Bob's Texas
* Husker Du - Savage Young Du
* R.E.M. - Automatic for the People (25th Anniversary Edition)

Live Shows: The Deslondes & Twain, Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, MA 11/12/17

There are a few factors that can lead to a disastrous live performance. A fully seated venue, tables and waitresses taking orders, an early start time, and technical issues can make any band give a bad show. On Sunday night at the Iron Horse Music Hall The Deslondes faced all of these and shone through.

A seated venue might be a perfect place for The Deslondes to perform. Even their most up tempo songs still come across as laid back. It was still a bit tough, since they did remark that they do usually ask the crowd to stand up and dance at one point, and with all the tables, there just wasn’t enough room. A few couples did wander way in the back near the back bar to find some room to dance, but the majority seemed to be fine with just watching the show. Somehow the appreciative crowd was able to keep up enough energy despite the tables and chairs to keep the show staying lively.

What might work out in The Deslondes’ favor the most is their complete Southern charm. How many bands have you ever seen dedicate a song to the kitchen staff for providing them with dinner? Four out of the five members of the band shared vocals duties throughout the entire show. That could cause even the greatest performers to come across as disjointed, but with The Deslondes it just adds to their talent. Their sound remained seemless throughout their entire set. The laid back songs like “Muddy Waters” fit right in with the much faster “Hurricane Shakedown” no matter who was singing or wrote it. Another part of the charm is their complete lack of pretense. A lot of other Americana/country artists that specialize in post-WWII throwback music can seem kind of kitschy in their presentation and performance. With the entire band lacking any hats except for the baseball variety, three out of five members not having any facial hair, not even the slightest sense of irony, it adds the feel of just being five guys who love a style of music and performing it.

I also want to apologize for missing Twain. Despite loving his recently released album, Rare Feeling, I missed his entire set. My previous experiences at the Iron Horse Music Hall have shown me that a start time of 7:00 means doors at 8:00, so I arrived at 7:40 and missed him entirely. He came back to perform with The Deslondes for the encore, but that was hardly enough time to truly experience a talented musician. On the plus side, I got to truly know my age since hearing laid back country on a Sunday evening and getting out for 9:00 pm (when most shows are just starting or doors are usually opening) is now a perfect night for me.

Live Shows: Lee Ranaldo, ONCE Ballroom, Somerville, MA 11/8/17

Photo by Ken Sears

For someone as obsessed with Sonic Youth as myself, I was uncharacteristically hesitant about going to his show at ONCE in Somerville last week. His latest album, Electric Trim, just hasn't been working for me. It's being billed as his Beatles influenced album, and while I hear that influence, I'm also hearing far too much jam band in it for my taste. Plus, members of Sonic Youth typically focus on their newer work than their older work, so there was little chance of him busting out any of my favorites from the Sonic Youth days.

There might not have been a performance of "Cinderella's Big Score" that night, but the songs from Electric Trim worked much better in a live setting than on the album. Ranaldo was armed exclusively with acoustic guitars, and had a bare bones line up of a drummer and a keyboard/electric guitar player. The most interesting part of the evening is that the typical noisy guitar solos were played by Raul Fernandez and not Ranaldo. It's not the type of thing I expected with a Lee Ranaldo solo show, but it, like most of the night, somehow worked.

Luckily, Ranaldo is still far from the acoustic singer/songwriter, and while he was playing

Photo by Ken Sears

acoustically, he was still playing it like Lee Ranaldo. Instead of just strumming and singing, he played his guitar with a bow, bells, by knocking on the wood, and just like a member of Sonic Youth playing acoustically. Virtually the entire set came from Electric Trim, with highlights being "Moroccan Mountains" and "Uncle Skeleton." In fact, the only song I don't believe was on Electric Trim was a cover of The Velvet Underground's "Ocean." Plus, to answer an audience member's question (it was a lightly enough attended show to make interacting with Lee feel comfortable, but those of us who were there were more than appreciative), he told a story of Sonic Youth's only acoustic set at Neil Young's Bridge School benefit concert in 1991.

The evening might not be exactly what you expect from a former member of Sonic Youth, but it's always refreshing to hear an artist change things up a bit. Plus, it was a great enough experience to make me want to revisit an album I had already written off as not for me. That's a rare, and special, thing.

Drive-By Truckers - "The Perilous Night"

Photo by Danny Clinch

Remember when we all thought American Band was as political and as political as Drive-By Truckers would get? Well, here's a new single, "The Perilous Night." With this song, Patterson Hood gets specific, mentioning Putin and Charlottesville explicitly, and with an accompanying lyric video showing anti-Trump imagery and videos of Russia. Apparently American Band was a warm up.

What's even more interesting is the actual song itself. Drive-By Truckers have always been Americana with punk tuned guitars, and that sound is almost completely absent. "The Perilous Night" sounds a lot more like the pop side of mid-90's alternative (think Gin Blossoms and Fountains of Wayne) mixed with soul, complete with an R&B chorus. It's an interesting choice to make their most commercially sounding single for their most abrasive and divisive topic. I can't imagine it wasn't done on purpose.

You can watch the lyric video for "The Perilous Night" below. It will be released on December 15 on a 7" along with an absolutely amazing version of "What It Means" that was recorded at the 2017 Newport Folk Festival. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Drive-By Truckers, check out their website.