Midnight Peg are an Edmonton, AB based band that are referred to as "madhouse punk." Their latest single, "Thirstland," is a just barely under control two minute burst of punk. You have guitar riffs that will make you think of At the Drive In, and somewhat spoken and yelled vocals which create a feeling of chaos throughout. This is a loud and angry track that is completely in your face. But, unlike most tracks this loud and punk based, "Thirstland" still keeps a sense of art in their music. Midnight Peg feel like a higher class of loud, angry punk rock. This one is great, with just enough of an emo undercurrent to make the song kind of melodic and almost palatable to a mainstream audience.
You can listen to "Thirstland" below. Skinning is due out in October on Thousand Island Records. For more on Midnight Peg, check out the artist's website.
Soft Skies Inc, the current musical project of Philadelphia's Ryan and Martin Rex (ex-Lockgroove), has released a new single that's a dream come true. "Sin Some / Lose Some" is going to hit a musical sweet spot for anyone who loves mid-90's power pop. It's a stunning example of power pop meets jangle pop, with fantastic harmonies mixing with jangly and fuzzy guitars. This one sounds like a favorite forgotten song you would have discovered on a sampler CD you picked up from a record store counter in 1996. It's a hazy song that sucks you in as soon as the first guitar notes hit, and pulls you in even deeper once the vocals start. This one is reminding me a lot of artists like Matthew Sweet and The Lemonheads.
Ryan Rex says of his band's latest single:
“More than anything, I want people to find their own meaning in the song. But for me, it’s about the chaos of living a life that’s been off the rails for too long – trying to wrestle control over things that were never really in your hands to begin with. There’s a kind of madness in that.”
You can listen to "Sin Some / Lose Some" below. For more on Soft Skies Inc, check out the artist on Instagram and Facebook.
It's been roughly three years since we last heard from Marissa Nadler. Just last week I was telling a friend that I was most familiar with Stephen Brodsky through his collaborations with Nadler, and today she has announced an upcoming album and released a new single! "New Radiations" is everything we love about Nadler's music. The adjective "ethereal" gets tossed out a lot by music writers, but the term was basically invented to describe Nadler's music. "New Radiations" showcases her fingerpicking guitar playing and her otherworldly vocals. Even an acoustic based song like this one has a layer of haze coating it, and the entire song feels like that bizarre period of sleep when you're just drifting off into a dream but still somewhat awake. "New Radiations" is a raw and intimate work of art that is gorgeous in its own way.
Marissa Nadler says of her latest single:
“Psychic vibrations and new radiations have taken their toll on me,” a sentiment as timely as it is haunting, as she tries to “break the glass, tie up the ending of the scene. My narrator (whether these are first person songs or not really depends on how you want to listen to them) is feeling stuck, depressed, and frozen in a world after a tough few years for the world. Regardless, the ‘psychic vibrations and new radiations’ take their toll. The cosmic darkness we live in creeps into the psyche—but the character reaches clarity. As the song unfolds, the screen shatters, the ice breaks, and a new world begins."
You can watch the video for "New Radiations" below. The album New Radiations is due out August 15 on Sacred Bones and Bella Union, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Marissa Nadler, check out the artist's website.
This week looks like it's going to finally looking like summer in the Boston area, so we're a little more inclined to enjoy a fun pop song than we normally would. According to the press release for Kendra Morris' latest single, "If I Called You" is "A true unapologetic pop song." That's certainly true, but the song still keeps everything we've loved about Morris' more soul based singles. Of course, those singles weren't exactly pure soul either, but "If I Called You" is much more upbeat and pop focused than the previous singles of hers that we've covered. This is a fun song that even the crustiest rock purists are going to be unable to resist.
Kendra Morris says of her latest single:
"I am the ultimate daydreamer. Whenever I’ve had a crush on someone, I welcomed the emotions that go with it. To create a world in my head of all the possibilities with a person that doesn’t even know who I am...it can be the most fun." The whole song, sonically and lyrically, boils down to that one repeating line: "Would you be mine if I called you all the time?"
You can watch the video for "If I Called You" below. The single is out now on Colemine Records/Karma Chief Records. For more on Kendra Morris, check out the artist's website.
I'm the kind of person that will take any excuse to go visit Salem, MA. I love everything about the city, from the history to the kitsch factor to the macabre tourism aspect. Luckily, Witch City has been growing its live music scene, so Saturday night I had a perfect excuse to head in to see Gossip Collar and Ex-Hyena at Koto, and got to discover Identical Palms.
Ex-Hyena opened the show with their darkwave style. Seeing electronic music live isn't always my favorite since so much of it can be pre-programmed, but Ex-Hyena always put on a great show since it's actually done live. They were also the most mellow of the three artists performing, so it helped ease the crowd from finishing up their crab rangoons to watching live music, and Koto slowly filled up during their set. Their new single "Vanishing Edge" was a highlight of their set and helped get the crowd more into dancing at a show mode. Plus, seeing darkwave in Salem just feels right.
I was unfamiliar with Identical Palms before Saturday night, but they quickly won me over. Another killer band from Lowell, they played a set of dark post-punk with an oddly mainstream feel. They kind of sounded like a more modern and rock based version of Echo & The Bunnymen, and continued the dark vibe of the night. The singer (whose name I can't seem to find) is one of the most captivating frontpeople I've seen in such a small venue in a long time. It helped the band exude a natural charisma that sucked in the entire crowd, many of which seemed to have made the trip primarily to see them. If you love dark and somewhat laid back goth tinged post-punk, check out their new-ish album Beyond the Dark.
I first discovered Gossip Collar opening for the Davila 666, Las Nubes, and Ladrones show last fall, and I became a fan of theirs in the first ten seconds of their set. This was my first time seeing them since October, and they did not disappoint. They play a version of post-punk heavy on the punk side. Their live show is intense with the entire band seeming like the songs are about to break free and they're fighting to keep everything under control. It's such a high energy set while still keeping the dark vibe of the night going, and even the most puritanical audience members finally had to break out at least some dance moves. Live Gossip Collar is kind of like if Joy Division and The B-52's decided to jam together, so we're obviously going to be fans.
Indie rock legends Superchunk are back with new music, their first since touring drummer Laura King became an official member. "Is it Making You Feel Something" is exactly what we want from (and love about) Superchunk. It's an upbeat and bouncy indie rock song that shows why they've been considered one of the original emo bands. This song is undeniably catchy and is the style of power pop many of us fell in love with in the 90's, through an indie rock lens. If you already love Superchunk like so many of us do, "Is it Making You Feel Something" might already be your song of the summer.
Singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan says of the band's new single:
“This song is about not second-guessing yourself in the very second-guessable process of writing words and music. It’s about the legitimate question of ‘who needs this and what is it good for?’ but also about not setting such a high bar for making art that you never get started. ‘Is it making you feel something?’ Ok, that’s a place to start.”
You can listen to "Is it Making You Feel Something" below. Songs in the Key of Yikes is due out August 22 on Merge Records, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Superchunk, check out the band's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the song and include a September 13 show at Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theater and 3S Artspace in Portsmouth, NH.
Sep 05 Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall
Sep 09 Washington, DC – Black Cat *
Sep 10 Philadelphia, PA – Ardmore Music Hall *
Sep 11 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom *
Sep 12 Boston, MA – The Crystal Ballroom *
Sep 13 Portsmouth, NH – 3S Artspace *
Sep 14 Woodstock, NY – Bearsville Theater *
Sep 16 Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird Cafe & Music Hall *
Sep 17 Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop *
Sep 18 Kalamazoo, MI – Bell’s Eccentric Cafe *
Sept 19 Sawyer, MI - Out There (Special Acoustic Show)
Hot on the heels of the punk rock tinged "It's Undeniable" comes a completely different new single from Hallelujah the Hills. "Animals in Love" (which represents the four of hearts in the upcoming DECK project) features a guest appearance from singer-songwriter and producer John Vanderslice and is more of a ballad than the previous single. At some points the song seems like it's going to follow a fairly standard singer-songwriter path, but it slowly veers off into its own direction, as most Hallelujah the Hills songs tend to. "Animals in Love" ends up being an oddly experimental, fairly noisy song in the style that only Hallelujah the Hills could pull off, especially while keeping a lot of the beauty of the song intact.
You can listen to "Animals in Love" below. DECK is due out June 13 and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp. For more on Hallelujah the Hills, check out the band's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the song.
