Post punk is typically a fast and aggressive genre of music, but Porridge Radio change that on their latest single. "End of Last Year" is filled with synths and is a more gentle take on their style. It's a lovely song, even as the intensity gets ramped up. And this is a song that's intense, despite how laid back it starts out. Dana Margolin's vocals propel this song and completely drive the emotion, with backing vocals and instruments merely following Margolin's lead. This one reminds me of a current version of Yeah Yeah Yeah's now immortal "Maps." Plus, with a title like "End of Last Year," this is perfect to suggest to the graduating seniors in your life.
Dana Margolin says of the new song:
"'End Of Last Year' is a love song for my bandmates and for myself. It’s about not trusting my intuition, not trusting my body to heal itself, not trusting the people closest to me, but it is also an ode to all those people, and to difficult platonic love. It came out of a particularly painful period of communication breakdown and high pressure that hurt a lot, but ended in reconciliation and understanding."
You can watch the video for "End of Last Year" below. Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky is due out May 20 on Secretly Canadian, and can be pre-ordered here. For more on Porridge Radio, check out the band's Facebook and Twitter. Upcoming tour dates are below the video, and let's hope they squeeze in a Boston date between Chicago and New York.
Fri. May 20 - Manchester, UK @ Piccadilly Records Sat. May 21 - Edinburgh, UK @ The Great Eastern Sun. May 22 - Leeds, UK @ Crash Records Tue. May 24 - London, UK @ Rough Trade East Wed. May 25 - Brighton, UK @ Resident Music Thu. May 26 - Bristol, UK @ Rough Trade Records Thu. May 26 - Sun. May 29 - Walton-on-trent, UK @ Bearded Theory’s Spring Gathering Fri. May 27 - Totnes, UK @ Sea Change Festival Sat. Jun. 4 - Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound Weekend 1 Wed. Jun. 8 - London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton Sat. Jun. 11 - Hilvarenbeek, NE @ Best Kept Secret Festival Wed. Jun. 29 - Sat. Jul. 2 - Ydynia, PL @ Open’er Festival Fri. Jul. 8 - Soliera, IT @ Arti Vive Sat. Jul. 9 - Siena, IT @ LARS ROCK FEST Thu. Jul. 14 - Sat. Jul. 16 - Budapest, HU @ Reflektor Festival Fri. Jul. 15 - Stirling, UK @ Doune the Rabbit Hole Festival Fri. Jul. 22 - Southwold, UK @ Latitude Festival Sat. Jul. 23 - Macclesfield, UK @ Bluedot Festival Tue. Aug. 9 - Stockholm, SE @ Hus 7 Thu. Aug. 11 - Oslo, NO @ Øyaestivalen Sun. Aug. 14 - Kiewit-Hasselt, BE @ HEAR HEARI Mon. Aug. 15 - Wubterthur, CH @ 47. Winterthurer Musikfestwochen Tue. Aug. 16 - Sat. Aug. 20 - Paredes de Coura, PT @ Paredes de Coura Festival Thu. Sep. 1 - Sun. Sep. 4 - Sixpenny Handley, UK @ End of the Road Festival Tue. Sept. 6 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah Wed. Sept. 7 - Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room Fri. Sept. 9 - San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop Mon. Sept. 12 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Tue. Sept. 13 - Seattle, WA @ Barboza Thu. Sept. 15 - Boise, ID @ Neurolux Fri. Sept. 16 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court Sat. Sept. 17 - Denver, CO @ Lost Lake Mon. Sept. 19 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry Tue. Sept. 20 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle Fri. Sept. 23 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom Sat. Sept. 24 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s Sun. Sept. 25 - Washington, DC @ DC9 Tue. Sept. 27 - Atlanta, GA @ Earl Wed. Sept. 28 - Nashville, TN @ Basement East Fri. Sept. 30 - Dallas, TX @ Three Links Sat. Oct. 1 - Austin, TX @ Parish Sat. Oct. 15 - Digbeth, UK @ The Crossing Digbeth Thu. Oct. 20 - Sheffield, UK @ Southampton 1865 Sat. Oct. 22 - Exeter, UK @ Exeter Phoenix Arts Centre Mon. Oct. 24 - Nottingham, UK @ Metronome Tue. Oct. 25 - Bristol, UK @ Trinity Centre Wed. Oct. 26 - Cambridge, UK @ Cambridge Junction Fri. Oct. 28 - Glasgow, UK @ Saint Luke’s Sat. Oct. 29 - Manchester, UL @ Manchester Academy 2 Sun. Oct. 30 - Leeds, UK @ Leeds Irish Centre Tue. Nov. 1 - Hove, UK @ The Old Market Wed. Nov. 2 - Hove, UK @ The Old Market Thu. Nov. 3 - London, UL @ 02 Shepherds Bush Empire Fri. Nov. 11 - Amsterdam, NE @ Melkweg OZ Sat. Nov. 12 - Maastricht, NE @ Muziekgieterij Sun. Nov. 13 - Cologne, DE @ Club Volta Wed. Nov. 16 - Lyon, FR @ Le Sonic Thu. Nov. 17 - Milan, IT @ Biko Sat. Nov. 19 - Bologna, IT @ Covo Club Sun. Nov. 20 - Annecy, FR @ Le Brise Glace Tue. Nov. 22 - Barcelona, ES @ La 2 de Apolo Thu. Nov. 24 - Vigo, ES @ Radar Estudios Fri. Nov. 25 - Guimaraes, PT @ Centro Cultural Vila Flor (CCVF) Mon. Nov. 28 - Madrid, ES @ Independance Club Tue. Nov. 29 - San Sebastián, ES @ Dabadaba Thu. Dec. 1 - Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey Fri. Dec. 2 - La Rochelle, FR @ La Siréne Sun. Dec. 4 - Bruges, BE @ Cactus Club Mon. Dec. 5 - Luxembourg, LU @ Rotondes Wed. Dec. 7 - Zürich, CH @ Bogen F Thu. Dec. 8 - Munich, DE @ Kranhalle, Feierwerk Sat. Dec. 10 - Vienna, AT @ Flex Sun. Dec. 11 - Prague, CZ @ Café V Lese Mon. Dec. 12 - Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg Fri. Dec. 16 - Hamburg, DE @ Hafenklang Sat. Dec. 17 - Copenhagen, DK @ Lille Vega, VEGA
With this weekend's upcoming Newport Folk Festival, we thought we'd highlight some of this year's can't miss acts. We're focusing on the bands playing smaller stages and earlier in the day. I mean, you're obviously going to see Ryan Adams and Jack White. Instead, these are the acts worth getting there early for, and seeking out the smaller stages. Phox Friday, 1:50, Quad Stage Phox hails from Baraboo, WI, the winter home of the Ringling Brothers' Circus. I'm not sure if that is connected to their music or not, but Phox has an otherworldly charm and a magical feel. They come across as a more grounded St. Vincent or a less intense version of early Tori Amos. Their music is simply beautiful and uplifting. Reignwolf Friday, 2:55, Quad Stage Truly pushing the boundaries of what can be considered "folk" are Reignwolf. Reignwolf is Jordan Cook, who sounds like a mixture of The Black Keys and Queens of the Stone Age, mixed with just a lit...
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.
Photo by Rachel Cassels The Cairo Gang is mostly Emmett Kelly, who recorded most of their upcoming album, Goes Missing, on his own while travelling. "Be What You Are" is pure pop gold, reminiscent of British invasion bands like The Kinks and The Zombies. It features jangly guitars and some of the most infectious layered vocals you've heard in years. Luckily the beauty of this style of music is that it never quite sounds dated. It might sound like it's from a certain era that happened 50 years ago, but everything you've ever listened to since then borrows so heavily from it that it always sounds current. It's the kind of music you wish you hadn't missed, only now you haven't. Goes Missing is due out June 23rd on God? Records. You can pre-order the album now, and be sure to check out The Cairo Gang's Facebook . Listen to "Be What You Are" below, and below that are tour dates, many opening for Mikal Cronin. Sat. Sept. 5 - Portlan...
