Currently on a run of August tour dates, many of which are with Deerhoof, Philly’s Blank Spell has released a set of songs that will appear on their upcoming LP. The tracks exhibit frantic fits of heavy. The pummeling charge of percussion and push of bass provide direction to the cuts of guitar as the vocals react to the sinister marriage of instrumentation. It’s adrenaline-fueled fire with creepy undercurrents.
NYC
Posted on:
Lady James Monroe brings psych-lounge-soul to Pianos on 08.18
Those who like to listen to music for "mind-traveling" purposes (a lot cheaper than real vacations!) should check out this new mysterious psychedelic NYC band called Lady James Monroe – they’ll be playing their third show ever at Pianos on August 18th. The band is the project of a dude called Doug Moss, but none of the images on their online profiles feature band members. Their music (although a little shy in the production department) sounds intriguing indeed: vintage sounding lounge-soul floating in a psych-pop sea, with vocals full of character – can’t go wrong with that! Give this song below, entitled ‘Body Control,’ a few minutes, it gets better and better…
NYC
Posted on:
NYC dream-wavers Prom release debut LP at Baby’s All Right on 08.23
Comprised of Ella Zoller, Gabriel Stanley and producer Champagne Dave, Prom is a Brooklyn based band that’s been active since 2012 and call their music "Dreamwave" – just like the famous massage chair! Admittedly, the trio is not entirely foreign to that concept, since it can be said that their slow, uber-melodic male-female vocal lines feel like a massage for the soul – and considering their number of plays, it seems to rub many people… the right way! The band released a debut EP about one year ago entitled ‘Keeping Company,’ featuring their popular single ‘Flickers.’ Since then the’ve been focusing on recording new material and playing live. After a very busy July, when they opened for for High Waisted and Carah Faye (of Shiny Toy Guns), they will be celebrating the release of their debut album with a live show at at Baby’s All Right on August 23rd. Check out their brand new single ‘Let it Out,’ streaming below.
San Francisco
Posted on:
Scott Hirsch Celebrates Record Release Show – 8/5
After many years spent as a steadfast and inventive collaborator—not only playing bass and producing four albums with Hiss Golden Messenger, but in large part forging that band’s sonic signature—multiinstrumentalist, recordist, and audio engineer Scott Hirsch has finally made a solo album, and it’s called Blue Rider Songs.
To describe Blue Rider Songs as cinematic is almost too easy, considering Hirsch’s acclaimed work as a film sound designer, but there are moments here (like “Raga of the Sea”) that remind me of what Ry Cooder’s Paris, Texas soundtrack might have sounded like if it was recorded in 2016; there is a similar sense of Western scale and desert longing. But what is most interesting about the album is not any one setting or voice, but rather the illimitable, inbetween spaces it traverses, the blue highways it rides between various traditions and tangents of North American vernacular music and the various nodes of Hirsch’s long and accomplished musical practice.
Scott is playing his record release show at The Lost Church in San Francisco on August 5th.
Philadelphia
Posted on:
The Deli Philly’s August Record of the Month: chaba – The Retinas
Post-garage rockers The Retinas‘ new EP chaba is an unexpected essential for surviving the dog days of summer. Chock-full of lo-fi backbeats and skull-buzzing riffs, the five track stunner transforms the grit and grime of urban summers, late nights, and complicated feelings into memorably evocative songs worth dancing to alone or with friends.
Opening with the trippy hiss of “Accident,” chaba’s first track is seeped in xanax-coated romance and the sort of self-awareness that made great’s like Daniel Johnston iconic. The song’s lyricism hums with recognizable disenchantment that is bound to resonate at an instant with listeners. Tom Mchugh’s diction brings to mind the cinematic apprehension of Andrew Bujalski’s mumblecore masterpiece Mutual Appreciation meshed with the emotional imprint of “Tame the Sun” by Male Bonding. “Accident,” much like it’s namesake, ends abruptly without warning, leaving its listener to cope with its passing before “Aries” begins.
chaba’s second anthem paints a familiar portrait of the post-adolescent malaise of cynical dreamers with earnest hearts. Lo-fi in all the right ways, “Aries,” like a mirror, reflects reality without pretense. Like the less anxious version of Happy Birthday’s “2 Shy,” the charm of “Aries” is undeniably sincere. The oscillating intro of “Cheesepuffs” quickly evolves into a surf-pop banger – reminiscent of The Jacuzzi Boys; the track’s fervent riffs and fuzzed-out screams serve as the perfect preface to the notably catchy “Beat It Out”. The energy of the song doesn’t falter, keeping the momentum of chaba as cymbals crash and Mchugh croons – “Cause you chew my bones, acid soul/I’ve been off time with myself, I don’t mind” – a sentiment that is echoed in the EP’s final track “Hey Julia.”
After listening to The Retinas’ latest record, you will find yourself hungry for more. – Dianca London