NYC

Giraffes? Giraffes! talk about pedals on Delicious Audio

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Western MA-based GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES!  is one of those bands crafting deliciously head-spinning math-rock licks so labyrinthine, that you’d imagine it’d be tough for even a full four or five piece band to execute. So, when you hear that their music is the work of solely Joseph Andreoli (guitar) and Kenneth Topham (drums), it’s more than a little dizzying to think about how the duo manages to pull it off. Luckily for us, Joesph was kind enough to give our sister blog Delicious Audio a behind-the-scenes look at the pedals he uses to create GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES! expansive sound. You can find the interview at the link below. – Olivia Sisinni

Giraffes? Giraffes! Q&A about pedals on Delicious Audio.

Philadelphia

New Track: “You Got It (Or You Don’t)” – Ecstatic Vision

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Ecstatic Vision demonstrated that they are one of the heaviest pysch/krautrock acts coming out of Philly with their debut album Sonic Praise, The Deli Philly’s July 2015 Record of the Month. And it doesn’t sound like they are letting up anytime soon with the band’s new single, "You Got It (Or You Don’t)". Doug Sabolik’s unrelenting guitar shreds and bellowing howls are what rock ‘n’ roll dreams/nightmares are made of. You’ll be able to find Ecstatic Vision’s latest on their forthcoming LP Raw Rock Fury, which is set to come out on April 7 via Relapse Records. They’ll also be hitting the road in March with Philly pals Creepoid.

Philadelphia

New Two Piece Fest Compilation Available for Streaming

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Twenty-two pairings will perform at the 10th annual Two Piece Fest, being held on Saturday, February 25 at First Unitarian Church. That’s quite an extensive billing, so one might not be familiar with all these duos. However, the good folks of the fest have created a compilation, providing a sampling of each band involved, which you can stream below. Explore the artists one might not be familier with while simultaneously listening to an organized but varied playlist. Give it a spin to get geared up for Two Piece Fest X!

Philadelphia

New Track: “Grad School” (alt. version) – Joy Riding

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In continuing support for the ACLU, Joy Riding released an alternate version to "Grad School," a song which will be featured on their forthcoming full-length album, due out this spring. Coupling opposing lyrical ideals versus realities, the track tackles the obstacles of adulthood. Steadied by the pop and bump of rhythm and the subtle electric charge of guitar, the words echo, bouncing off the inner mind while the daily page turns. It’s an isolating recollection of where one is – relative to their dreams.

NYC

Queue playing Velvet Lounge this Friday, February 10th

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Ethereal indie pop group Queue will take the stage at U Street’s Velvet Lounge this Friday in what promises to be a night of dreamy, soul soothing music. Coming off of the success of their EP release last year, the DC/Philly group continue to build their fan base with their combination of mellow instrumental sounds and soulful, earthy vocals.

Catch Queue this Friday night at Velvet Lounge, with William Forest and Domino.

-Written by Michael Dranove

Portland

Portland’s Best in Garage/Punk for 2017: Mr. Wrong, On drugs, Wave Action and G*U*N

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One of our largest polls yet has set so many great bands (and many of them, friends with one another) against each other in a fun battle to figure out the best in punk and garage for the 2017 year. After tallying up the votes, we’ve got your top two picks from the readers’ poll and the overall (jurors’ and readers’) poll, so let’s say a big congrats to:

Mr. Wrong

At barely a year or so old, the fierce power that comes from Mr. Wrong is undeniable. They scored the highest in our anonymous juror poll and if you’ve ever heard or seen them dish out their riot grrrl redux flavor then it all makes total sense. So far, we’ve only got their Distraction demo to enjoy along with their live sets, but hopefully we’ll be seeing more from this collection of lovelies soon.

Wave Action

Second in line for our jurors’ picks is Wave Action, whose relentless devotion to taking the stage has quickly garnered them much attention. If anything, they could go down in Portland’s 2016 yearbook as "Band that Played the Most Shows," but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, since they’ve got their hazy surf down pat. 

On drugs

With probably one of the best, straight to the point band names in town currently, On drugs embody what just about all of us Portlanders are all about – chillin’ out, partaking in a substance or two, and listening to good music. They’re gearing up to release their debut full length and from what we and the rest of you have seen of them, it’s no wonder their weed rock was the top choice amongst our readers.

G*U*N

Everything about G*U*N, from their wild stage presence to their unapologetic in your face-ness, make them the perfect poster children for the modern hardcore punk movement. It might be hard to make out exactly what is conveyed through their savage screams, but what is known is how good their approach to the genre is.

Those these four took over our charts, much acknowledgement needs to be given to all of our participants!

 Dim Wit
  7%   82 votes
 Macho Boys 
  6%   69 votes
 G*U*N
  19%   208 votes
 EBT BBQ
  5%   53 votes
 Kulululu
  10%   109 votes
 Mr. Wrong
  3%   36 votes
 Melt
  3%   36 votes
 San Lorenzo
  0%   6 votes
 Rambush
  8%   94 votes
 On drugs
  27%   288 votes
 The Goobs 
  4%   42 votes
 Wave Action
  2%   26 votes
 
Chicago

Belleisle

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Belleisle is releasing their debut EP Across The Open Field on March 4th. The group, lead by the deep vocals of Brett Bakshis, perform somber, orchestral tunes that somewhat reminiscent of The National.

You can help Belleisle celebrate the EP release on March 4th at Hungry Brain with Carbon By Carbon.

L.A.

Orchin look within on murky new single “Ego Deathbed”

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Orchin is the noise/dream pop project of Jeremy McLennan, a multi-instrumentalist raised both in Australia and Los Angeles who combines murky, reverbed guitars with the more overcast dreamscapes of 4AD. McLennan’s darker pop confections come into full force on his new single "Ego Deathbed", where we’re introduced to his lamenting sigh before he lets out an uncompromising assault of cavernous distortion. It’s a potent, if sightly isolated, track that gives us some insight into McLennan’s psychological relief.

"Ego Deathbed" is the first single from their debut self-titled EP, to be released on March 17. – Juan Rodríguez

 

NYC

Schizo-prog metalheads, Fall of the Albatross, to play Fat Baby 2/23

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Let me start out this way: Fall of the Albatross is definitely not for the faint of heart. The Queens-based band deals in full-fledged, prog-metal freakouts, with a dash of finger-snapping jazz melodies thrown in. If that’s not enough to pique your interest, check out their latest album, Enormous Cloud. It’s an exercise in controlled chaos as the band growls, screeches, and swings through winding–and sometimes jarring–transitions. "Like A Good Tornado," the band’s stand-out track, is just that–a whirlwind of sound complete with roaring guitar licks, time-signature play, and the band’s characteristic style jumps. The record is 11 tracks of spastic, dense, instrumental goodness, that may bewilder first-time listeners, however, the auditory payouts are great and well worth the ride. Catch them at Fat Baby 2/23 alongside Professor Caffeine & the Insecurities, Juan Bond, and Deeply Woven, and go ahead and hit that play button to stream them below.-Olivia Sisinni 

San Francisco

Blank Square Release Single, Charmer Gears Up for New Album – Animal I

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The San Francisco based punk/no wave band, Blank Square has released a new single, Charmer in anticipation for their upcoming album, Animal I. Their new album will be released on February 24th. Take a listen to Charmer and make sure you pick up a copy of Animal I.

Animal I. Leaning towards the weirder end of Flesheaters but with a sterility that can only be contemporarily compared to Total Control’s Aussie hardcore quarantine no wave and then a pinch of what made DNA and Mars amazing.

 It’s captured with plenty of concrete and sheet metal kept in the mix and a highlight towards dissonant syncopations. Recorded in what my minds eye makes into a empty room minus one chair and definitely down a flight of wet, cement stairs. Saxophone with a mild but nauseating-at-times rippling slap delay, cruising on a rhythm section that sounds like they’ve got another house show to play tonight after this one. Rectangular in all the right places, uncomfortable like sleeping in a car (but hey, you do what you have to do). If you love art in your sax punk, then you will what’s going on in the Bay like we do, but this reaches waaaay back into California’s punk history (SST would’ve undoubtedly dug this).