L.A.

Artist to Watch: Western Lows

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The enigmatic drift of Western Lows stifles as much as it soothes, placing an emphasis on its whooshing atmospheric soundscapes with a distancing mood. The frame in which the trio works may be wide in scope, but instead of wandering in nebulous distortion, their arrangements have a more direct melodic approach. The songs they’ve unveiled off their upcoming release "Glacier" are finely calibrated with slick shoegazing guitar work, yet the driving rhythm section is the backbone of the band, constantly veering in subtle textures while never dismissing the central beat of the song. The coy shiver of singer Jack Burnside brings on a pleasant lull that is just right to the band’s controlled bliss, capturing an expansive panorama that is glazed with a melancholic tinge. Produced by Andy LeMaster of Now It’s Overhead fame (Azure Ray, Bright Eyes), "Glacier" will be released on July 9th via Jaxart Records. It’s sure to temper the upcoming summer heat.

NYC

Album review: Slum Party – Flood

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(Photo by Chad Codgill)

Flood is Slum Party’s second LP released in six month’s time. Whenever a band puts out music at that clip, you have to wonder if you have an outfit content with putting out just about anything they’ve got lying around or if they really are on a streak of vast creativity. Fortunately, Flood is a case of the latter. Slum Party has tightened and evolved their groovy, dream pop sound to new heights on this eight-song LP.

 
The album is deliciously lo-fi, creaking and cracking in just the right ways like an old Tascam four-track in the hands of someone not afraid of the red light. The arrangements are lush and well-sculpted. It is nice to hear the care that went into the peripherals of production and mixing, while at the same time somehow still maintaining a gorgeous and honest lo-fi glaze.
 
The guitar work and vocals are handled by the duo of Riley Kurtenbach and Scott Chaffin (here’s our Artist on Trial with Chaffin). Together they spin a web of distortion and reverb that hectically caroms from side to side above the often overpowered drums and bass of Jen Chaffin and Brittney Smith. Having listened to Chaffin’s work for over a decade, this is definitely the best usage of his falsetto vocal stylings I have heard. They are paired with great effectiveness with Kurtenbach’s clean voice, almost at times difficult to discern who’s singing what. It is truly an impactful dynamic trick that serves as a strong point all throughout the record.
 
The album opens with a somewhat confused personality in “Like It.” Kurtenbach and Chaffin establish a soothing back and forth over the resonant jam beneath, the distorted bass and chill drums slowly rocking the cradle side to side, only to completely break down and reform with a vastly different and more aggressive closing strain.
 
“Surprise” is a standout track for me, driven by a Gnarls Barkley-esque groove, Chaffin’s trademark trash pop guitar work, and Kurtenbach’s tight self-harmonization on the chorus.
 
“Tracks” is a tidy stripped down glass of lemonade in the middle of the sweltering behemoths surrounding it, the familiar fuzzy riffs replaced by a delicately strummed ukulele.
 
“Batwing Beauty (Surprise Reprise)” takes a stroll more on the psychedelic or jam band side streets. I’m not sure which of the guitar players is featured here, but he or she manages to bring at least a sliver of a welcomed focal point over the looped madness beneath.
 
The album’s closer “There’s Something Wrong w/Everyone” is like intoxicated math rock, a time signature that stayed on the Ferris wheel for one too many rides and is offering back up the corndog and cotton candy.
 
Slum Party has shown a consistent and dynamic evolution of their sound with this record. Sure, it’s loose at times and overall heavily medicated, but it is done with purpose and care. Flood is an exercise in sonic exploration above and beyond all past crutches. Bring on Slum Party #3.
 
Slum Party’s next appearance will be at Club 906 in Liberty on Saturday, June 15. Go check them out and pick up Flood.
 
 
–Zach Hodson
 

Zach Hodson is a monster. He once stole a grilled cheese sandwich from a 4-year-old girl at her birthday party. He will only juggle if you pay him. I hear he punched Slimer right in his fat, green face. He knows the secrets to free energy, but refuses to release them until "Saved by the Bell: Fortysomethings" begins production.

He is also in Dolls on Fire and Drew Black & Dirty Electric, as well as contributing to various other Kansas City-based music, comedy, and art projects.
 
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Philadelphia

Weekend Warrior, May 24 – 27

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Arrah and the Ferns’ live performance has really come into its own in the last year or two. That is why I was greatly sadden to hear that tonight’s album release show at PhilaMOCA will be their last show together for a very long while. Like many bands that I’ve come to know and love over the years, there comes a point in time when growing pains set in and personal lives takeover. Daniel Ryan Belski will be leaving Philly to study in Montana for his master’s degree in music. Arrah Fisher will be taking off on a lengthy journey to see the world in August. And drummer Mike Harkness has joined The Extraordinaires, replacing Smoker. To quote The Rolling Stone: “This could be the last time/maybe the last time/I don’t know!” Whatever it is. Let’s send these wonderful, talented people off with a bang! (Also they’ll be joined this evening by Pretty & Nice, Andrew Cedermark and Jackie Paper, and all attendees will get a free download card for Arrah and the Ferns’ beautiful new record Make Your Mind, which you can listen to below.) PhilaMOCA, 531 12th St., 8pm, $7 – $10 Donation, All Ages – Q.D. Tran

 
Other things going on this Memorial Day weekend…
 
Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) SAT Watery Love, Perfume River
 
Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI (Downstairs) Residuels, The Tough Shits, (Upstairs) Avery Rosewater, The Interest Group, SAT Blayer Pointdujour and The Rockers Galore, SUN (Downstairs) Hound, Static Mountain, (Upstairs) House of Fire
 
Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) FRI North Philly Funk Band, Jeff Thomas’ All-Volunteer Army, Dave Quicks Quartet
 
Union Transfer (1026 Spring Garden St.) SAT Hop Along, Cayetana
 
Bamboo Bar (927 Delaware Ave.) SUN Making Time Rad-B-Q
 
North Star Bar (2639 Poplar St.) FRI Big Terrible, Ali Wadsworth, Satellite Hearts, SAT The Retinas, The Chelsea Kills
 
The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Sundrop Festival w/Modern Colour, The Terribles, SAT Sundrop Festival w/Juston Stens & The Get Real Gang, Anjuli Josephine, Chalk & The Beige America, Wallace Brothers Band, Satellite Hearts, TheMuffinManIsABand, Sweetbriar Rose, Adam & Dave’s Bloodline, Former Belle, Mike Bell & The Movies, Jerimiah Tall, CaveWomen, SUN Sundrop Festival w/Andrew Lipke, Slowey & The Boats, August John Lutz II, Up The Chain, Kevin Killen, A Fistful of Sugar, Brad Hinton, Bob Dylan Tribute Night w/Foxhound, The Spinning Leaves, Swedeland, Reverend TJ McGlinchey, Andrew Lipke, Brad Hinton, Kevin Killen, Mat Burke, The Matt Helm Scream, Levee Drivers, Showey & The Boats
 
MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI Philadelphia Music Co-Op Presents: Folk Fest Showcase, SAT Glim Dropper
 
Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3rd St.) SUN Maiden Creek Lodge
 
Tin Angel (20 S. 2nd St.) FRI Daniel Collins, Daniel Scholl, James Hearne
 
TLA (334 South St.) FRI The High Five, SAT Peedi Crakk, Black Deniro, Chase Allen, MZ Lynx, Teff
 
The Trocadero (1003 Arch St.) FRI Sparklefight, Mad World Order, Bong Hits For Jesus
 
The Blockley (3801 Chestnut St.) FRI Bernie Worrell Orchestra, Boris Garcia, Fisher, SAT Splintered Sunlight, Montoj, House Jawn, SUN Let’s Dance (Deathwaltz & Blockley Tribute to David Bowie) w/Nicos Gun, Tom McKee’s Spiders From Mars
 
World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) SAT The Hype’s Show Me Your Soul Festival, SUN Gorilla Music Presents: Philadelphia Battle of The Bands Finals
 
The Legendary Dobbs (304 South St.) FRI Pravda, The Revere, The Naked Suns, SAT The DeFused, Sunshine Superman, Kenny Raye, Fantastic Planet, SUN Judah Priest
 
First Unitarian Church (2125 Chestnut St.) FRI The Menzingers, Restorations
 
Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St.) FRI Vitamin Cheese, Emmett Drueding, Community Service
 
The Barbary (951 N. Frankford St.) SUN Ma Jolie, Omar
 
The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI The Great Endangered, SAT Stealing Fame, Above Conneticut, Palaceburn, Mike Nappi
 
Mt. Thrashmore (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Rock Bottom, Benchpress
 
Golden Tea House (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Hoax, Muscle Revolution, SAT Greek Favourites, Address
 
Safety Meeting (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Post Sun Times, Castellan, Hugface
 
Moishe House (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Blown Away, Sasha Aleiner
 
The Old Folks Home (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Rasputin’s Secret Police, Cousin Brian, The Snails
 
Don’t Tread on Me House (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Thief, Steal Me A Peach, Christopher Walking, Airman Trout, Lucy Spacehead, Leaky Soups, Twin Pines, Tiger Lily, The House Cat
 
Rooftop Studios (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI The Bedouins, Cornelius The Third, No Excuse For A Cheap Suit
 
The Hovel (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT The Bedouins, Cornelius The Third, No Excuse For A Cheap Suit
 
L.A.

Video: Seven Saturdays “One in 3”

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Songwriter/composer Jonathan Haskell, known as Seven Saturdays, has just unveiled a video for the song "One in 3", which is part of his upcoming self-titled release, out on May 28th. There’s an aura of mystery surrounding the video, which depicts a portrait of self-discovery for a man and a woman as their ties of brotherly affection are strenghtened in the process. Or at least that’s what lead me to believe. Regardless, the stark, commanding images fit the song’s ambient synth segues and nippy guitar passages.

San Francisco

Fox and Woman Celebrate Their Album Release w/ Debbie Neigher and DOE EYE at Bottom of the Hill – 5/31

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SF based indie rock band, Fox and Woman will be performing live in celebration of the release of their anticipated full length album on May 31st. The show will take place at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. Local artists, Debbie Neigher and DOE EYE will be rounding out the bill for this auspisicious music event. Get ready for a night of dreamy, electro acoustic indie rock! Congratulations to Fox and Woman on the release of their new album. You can attain the new record at ther website, http://www.foxandwomanmusic.com/.

NYC

Dear Georgiana releases debut + plays Rockwood on 06.02

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A southern belle has brought her charming voice and not so southern sounding tunes up north. Named after a town in her home state of Alabama, Dear Georgiana is Lauren Balthrop, former member of the retro rootsy-pop trio The Bandana Splits. She has recently released her debut self titled album, which features her signature soprano and open melodies that harken back to 1950’s pop.  Preview single "Wanna Be In Love" (streaming below) bears an intriguing mix of influences, from rockabilly to what we call "avant-indie." See Dear Georgiana live at Rockwood Music Hall’s Stage 2 on June 02. – PJT

Philadelphia

Baroness Return Home at Union Transfer May 24

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Local area metal outfit Baroness put out a much-lauded full-length album, Yellow & Green, last year. Unfortunately, while on tour this past summer in England, the group got into a horrific accident, dropping thirty feet from a viaduct near Bath. Luckily, their fall was cushioned by trees, but the members didn’t all walk away completely unscathed. Both bassist Matt Maggioni and drummer Allen Bickle broke vertebrae, and have since left the band being replaced on this most recent U.S. Tour by new members Nick Jost and Sebastian Thomson. Singer-guitarist John Baizley broke his left leg and arm, which was shattered into about a dozen pieces. Though there were talks about amputation, Baizley has recovered with nearly full mobility. Tonight, Baroness will make a triumphant return home at Union Transfer. I am sure that there will be plenty under the roof of the former Spaghetti Warehouse fully appreciative that this show is taking place, and ready to rock. I know that I will be. Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., $17.50 – $20, All Ages – Alexis V.

Philadelphia

Residuels in Their Element at KFN May 24

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Creepoid and Moon Women are beloved local bands that haven’t been playing out as much as we’d like. Luckily, the combination of Creepoid drummer Pat Troxell and Moon Women frontman Justin Pittney have been helping to fill the void with their impressive collaborative effort Residuels. In just a short amount of time, they have released an addictive fuzz-garage rock EP, played with the likes of …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, and even went on tour making it down to SXSW, a rite of passage for most new bands these days. While Residuels have a big show coming up opening for The Stranglers on June 5 at Union Tranfer, I know that the band and their fans will be more at home in their element tonight at Kung Fu Necktie alongside Natural Child Family Band and Eat Skull. And they’ll be joined by debaucherous garage vets The Tough Shits. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St, 8pm, $10, 21+ – Bill McThrill 

NYC

NYC bands on the rise: Gold Lake, plays Glasslands on 06.03

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Sometimes you have to go through a lot of changes before bringing it all together. For the soaring pop of Glod Lake, the band’s history has brought the duo through several bands (‘We are Balboa’), countries (Madrid) and hairstyles (I’m just assuming here, based on their stylish locks) before finally landing them at new single ‘We Already Exist.’ An anthemic journey showcasing singer Lua Rios’s insanely huge range, the new track nicely takes the group from rock’s roots to a kaleidoscopic maze of melodic movement. All that… and they’ve got a new remix by Helio Sequence to really get things started.

Stay tuned for their debut ‘Years’ dropping later this year, and see the group when they play at Glasslands on June 3rd with Little Children. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best mellow songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

NYC

KAYO DOT release teaser trailer for upcoming double-album HUBARDO

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The eccentric Toby Driver-led KAYO DOT brings hardcore avant-metal to the big apple in a way that you don’t see too often. With mellow instrumental turns, melodic vocals, and screams that aren’t too in-your-face, their music is a progressive fusion that soothes yet energizes. The band is set to drop a new double-album titled ‘HUBARDO’ this fall, just in time to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the release of their debut album, ‘Choirs of The Eye.’   KD has released a 13-minute audio teaser trailer for the new album via SoundCloud. They’re currently taking pre-orders for the album here to help make it all happen. – Michael Haskoor (@Tweetskoor)

Austin

Ricky Stein, New video ‘Shreveport Blues’ released 5/8, Show TONIGHT 5/24/13 @ Gypsy Lounge w/ The Warm Guns & The Scarlet Effect

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Ricky Stein and his handsome voice are hard to resist. He has the swag of a young Elvis, the pained lyrics of an old Johnny Cash and a strong voice like Doug Sahm. Having a voice that carries him through genres with such an expansive range and raspy sex appeal, it’s like a man in a fine suit with a five o’clock shadow.

"Oh" and "In the Red", two of his older songs, hold a softer indie feel both vocally and instrumentally. In his newest song, "Shreveport Blues", Ricky really breaks into a new realm as he belts out lyrics about drug induced homesickness like a classic blues singer. With such variance in his music already, I can’t wait to see how much further his songs will evolve in the years to come. You can watch the video here or check him out for yourself tonight at the Gypsy Lounge! — Written by Katy Glass

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