TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb premiered a new music video, which was produced by the group and Talk Design, earlier this week over at Philebrity. It was for their track, "Snakeskin," off the band’s latest EP KONG. They also shared that all five songs from the record will get their own music video and that the album will be re-issued on September 9 via local music collective American Diamond Recordings. You can catch TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb in the flesh this Sunday at 2nd St. Fest.
L.A.
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Video: Matt Kivel, “Insignificance”
Singer/songwriter Matt Kivel’s latest full-length release, Days Of Being Wild, carefully balances ruminative acoustic ballads with modestly strummed uptempo melodies. One of the songs off the record, "Insignificance", features a streamlined electric strum that’s just as tranquil, coupled with a tense, bare rhythm that fully embraces the bare essentials of nineties college rock. Kivel has just released a video for the track, which features him doing the kinds of things working musicians regularly do on a daily basis over what looks like VHS camcorder-quality footage. Days Of Being Wild is currently availale via Woodsist.
NYC
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Album review: Riot! Riot! Riot! – Dispenser (single)
Just as the sounds of popular music go through various phases and trends, so too do band names. One such example is the combination of repetitive words and exclamation points, a standard with many examples: the New Zealand noise-pop of Die! Die! Die! … the noisy Italian rawness of Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger! (a personal favorite of Chris Haghirian’s) … the California dance-punk of !!! … and many others. We now have a new entry into this field: Riot! Riot! Riot!, featuring members and ex-members of such noted KC soundcrafters as Dolls on Fire, The Hillary Watts Riot, and Drew Black and Dirty Electric. The band’s debut is a two-song effort that shares the same energy and aggression as its exclamation-pointed kin. The production is raw and DIY, which serves its three-chords-and-turn-it-up-loud mission statement perfectly.
“Dispenser” features Zach Hodson’s abrasive guitar and emotive vocals, supported by a thunderous drum-and-bass combo of Sergio Moreno and Mark Johnson, treading the line between hard rock and punk. “So Lost In Love, My Love” starts out as a jaunty little number (yes, a band with exclamation points in its name can do jaunty) that ultimately descends into muddy, grimy depths.
Will Riot! Riot! Riot! be worthy of all those exclamation points? I’d like to think so, but ultimately it’s a question Mark, Sergio, and Zach will have to answer. Period.
And you can “quote” me.
—Michael Byars
Michael is sparing with his usage of exclamation points, but when he does, he means it! OMGRLY!
Tonight, July 30, you can catch the Riot! Riot! Riot! boys at—where else?—The Riot Room. They’ll be playing with The Summit and Trapdoor Social (LA). Show starts at 9 p.m. Facebook event page.
NYC
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Album review: Mr. and the Mrs. – A Tale of Two Eyes (EP)
At times, I think rock is a beast destined for extinction, killed mercilessly by indie bands with strong ‘80s dance pop fetishes and singers with somewhat misguided longings for Adam Sandler character vocalizations. There are a few Kansas City/Lawrence area bands that are putting in their due diligence to bring rock back to the surface. To draw it away from the dark corners of the basement, free from the shackles that fickle fans have thrown upon them, to let it roam among the living, ready to regain its rightful place upon the throne. Black on Black, The Sluts, and All Blood are putting all of themselves into the fire, trying to resurrect rock and it seems, for the time being, to be working.
One of the most interesting bands in the mix is Mr. and the Mrs. Their latest release, A Tale of Two Eyes, shows a band fully capable of kicking down the garage door with the tried and true guitarist/drummer 1-2-combo knockout punch. They stand as a band truly giving no shits about what people think, making the racket they want to make and at a ridiculous volume.
There is no pretense with A Tale of Two Eyes. They clearly do not care to be the coolest band in the land, have no interest in recycling Misfits’ riffs or snagging all the groupies. Mr. and the Mrs. released a four-song EP, cut to a limited vinyl run of 20 discs on a 1940s record lathe, not because it’s cool but because that’s what they wanted to do. Period.
A popular local spectacle, Mr. and the Mrs. have successful reproduced their live sound on Eyes. Coming on with the sound quality of a live show recorded to an Emerson boom box at a punk club in 1980, the tunes on Eyessound like The Cramps, Nirvana, Minor Threat and a garbage disposal having sex; a wild and reckless noise that shouldn’t, in theory, sound so good but it does. “Pink Eye” has a vaguely Detroit Cobras ass shakin’ vibe while “Dead Eye” sounds like a totally stoned out Sid Vicious manhandling the mic while covering The Vaselines’ “Molly’s Lips.”
Mr. and the Mrs. have taken the minimalist approach (guitar and drums) and stripped punk/alternative music down to molecular level, in the process touching on something that most certainly isn’t for everyone. However, for those of us who “get it”, it will be the saving grace, a music free of the “cool,” free of self-consciousness and a need to be accepted, replacing it with power and sincerity.
—Danny R. Phillips
Danny has been reporting on music of all types and covering the St. Joseph music scene for well over a decade. He is a regular contributor to the nationally circulated BLURT Magazine and his work has appeared in The Pitch, The Omaha Reader, Missouri Life, The Regular Joe, Skyscraper Magazine, Popshifter, Hybrid Magazine, the websites Vocals on Top and Tuning Fork TV, Perfect Sound Forever, The Fader, and many others.
Mr. and the Mrs. will be playing tonight, July 30 at The Bottleneck, along with Ex-Bombers and Something & the Whatevers. Show starts at 9 p.m.
Nashville
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Hot Mess Loves You Now Stereosparks
After some soul-searching and recalibration (as every finely-tuned pop rock machine requires from time to time) Hot Mess Loves You is now operating under the moniker of Stereosparks. The Chico, CA natives decided on the name change after coming to the realization that their sound was moving in a direction that could no longer be contained beneath the Hot Mess Loves You umbrella. "Stereosparks" is also much easier to get tattooed across your knuckles. The trio is still going to be cranking out slick, pop-forward tunes and will not be dropping the lap steel anytime soon. They released a 3-track EP "Secret" on July 10th; "Secret (Say You’ll Stay) is the first video under the new title. Bounce over to stereosparks.com and update all of your HMLY feeds. -Terra James-Jura
San Francisco
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All Your Sisters Foli and Dub Thompson Play Bottom of the Hill TONIGHT
Tonight at Bottom of the Hill you have the opportunity to enjoy a hyper local show with a couple of the Bay Area underground’s coveted projects. All Your Sisters and Foli are really great bands who could probably stand to attract a little more appreciation than they do. They’re not flashy or trying to rush and play all around the city for attention (not that there’s anything wrong with playling shows all over the Bay Area). These bands simply sound great. We think both band’s music is totally sincere and worth listening to.
Dub Thompson is a bit mysterious about their current location, but they’re originally from Bloomington, Indiana. Their sound can be described as experimental dub music. It is intriguing, well produced and worth checking out as well. Bottom of the Hill has got a solid line up going on tonight. Support independent music.
San Francisco
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Ghost & the City and Gamera Open for Shabazz Palaces TONIGHT
San Francisco based soul electronica band, Ghost & the City will be performing at The New Parish in Oakland tonight! Along with local producer and DJ, Gamera, this sultry band will be opening for the legendary hip hop virtuoso duo and Sub Pop artists, Shabazz Palaces. There are so many reasons to attend this event it’s a bit overwhelming to articulate them all, but you’ll probably experience one of the most nostalgic nights of your life.
Shabazz Palances is premium hip hop in a time where the definition of hip hop has nothing to do with the music and Ghost & the City will open the show with a creamy soulful flow that will allow you to groove through a night of great music. Make sure you head out to this event. The Deli Magazine San Francisco will be there! –je
Philadelphia
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The Deli Philly’s Featured Artist(s) Poll Winner: Armani White
Born into a family of horn players, it wasn’t until discovering Eminem while driving with his mother (of all places) that local emcee Armani White began finding his musical voice and putting words together into rhymes. Having lived in Philly all his life, the young rapper and recent Deli Philly Featured Artist Poll Winner has plenty to say about his hometown – good and bad. You can learn about the up-and-coming artist, his music, his crew LegendBound, and much more in our interview HERE.
Philadelphia
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Free Download: “Falling” (Julee Cruise Cover) – Resistor
Are you a Twin Peaks fan? Well, Resistor certainly is, and to celebrate the David Lynch cult classic being released on blu-ray today, they recorded a cover of Julee Cruise’s "Falling," which can be streamed and downloaded below. You can also catch the group performing it live this evening at Silk City.
Philadelphia
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Spazz Presents Celebrates 5th Anniversary in Philly at PhilaMOCA July 29
Tonight, PhilaMOCA helps Spazz Presents celebrate the 5th anniversary of Jeff Blinder making his trek north from Greenville, North Carolina. This evening’s bill packages a quartet of singer-songwriters, including three Philly acts Eric Petersen of Mischief Brew, Fletcher VanVliet of On the Water, and Cricket Joe. Alongside a few of our local favorites, Duluth, Minnesota native (the hometown of the legendary Bob Dylan) David Dondero will also be making a special appearance. Come out, kick back, and listen to some excellent tunes while helping to cheers the last 5 years of Spazz booking rad shows in our local music community. PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th St., 8pm, $6, All Ages – Michael Colavita
Chicago
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BAATHHAUS
The electro-pop band BAATHHAUS has released cross=dressing high school prom themed video for their single "Ascension".
You can catch BAATHHAUS at Empty Bottle on August 6th.
Chicago
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Acteurs
Acteurs (Jeremy Lemos and Brian Case of DISAPPEARS) have released a new 12", I W I via the UK label Public Information. Together Lemos and Case create dark, minimal electronic near industrial music.
The 12" import is now available at Reckless Records or online here.