New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Nan Turner is one of the newest and hottest drummers to hit the Kansas City music scene. She’s one half of Schwervon!, who recently relocated to KC from Brooklyn. Nan tells us a little about her approach to the skins and her transition from the Big Apple to the ‘burbs. Catch the beat right here!
On The Beat is a weekly interview brought to you by drummer Sergio Moreno (of Hillary Watts Riot and Alacartoona), and features some of the many talented drummers in the Kansas City area.
Vassals, a band that has studied at the altar of classic pop songwriting, is back with a new track (called ‘Informers’ – streaming below) that celebrates the possibilities of a warm guitar, a touching story, and what sounds like a drugged out zither.
The song shuffles its rhythms at a level on par with the most bouncy of Vampire Weekend’s tracks (but without even a touch of Cape Cod), while its story seems to take you in one direction only: awkward, adolescent love. The new song is the leading track from their upcoming record slated for later this year. I’m hoping this signals plenty of loud, raunchy guitar solos to come…
You’ll have many opportunities to see these guys live in August, since they are having a residency at Pianos on every Wednesday of the month starting from 08.08 – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)
Can’t get out to the water this weekend? Consider popping on Rebecca Brandt‘s immersive new single, ‘Staying Silent.’ Should be all you need to push yourself into the deep end.
Molded in the style of fellow femme composers like Juliana Barwick and Zola Jesus, Rebecca’s latest record ‘Numbers & Shapes’ is a colorful tapestry of sound collage every bit as epic as much of the film scores she’s composed over the past several years. Not for the faint of heart, tracks like the hard-hitting ‘Run’ and ‘The Clock Breaks at Three’ should give you an idea of what to expect from time spent with this runaway personality.
Sream the new record on her bandcamp and please leave her a message telling her she needs to play live soon! – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)
Photo Source: Grave Babies
Grave Babies are gracing The Funhouse stage this Friday for Day Two of the venue’s Pizzafest extravanganza. Other acts that night include The Biz, Golden Pelicans, The Yolks, and Shannon and the Clams.
The group put out the Gothdammit EP in April courtesy of Hardly Art; the five tracks combine bouyant waves of synth with crunchy drum beats, warm bass tones, and solemn vocals.
"Fuck Off" is the first song on the record, both searing and lovely in its use of distortion, melody, and noise. Underground tremors seem to swell from all around when listening to Grave Babies – the music is otherwordly and dark, yet pinned down and precise in its rhythmic effect. "Bloodstains" behavior is similar in its regard for laying the foundation with subterranean and industrial-like sounds.
They will be at Pizzafest 2012 this Friday, August 3rd. The show begins at 7:30pm – and for only $12 you can enjoy eight bands in all. Stream Grave Babies’ song "Bloodstains" below and then check out their soundcloud page for more. You can also pick up their new EP for $11 through Hardly Art’s website.
– Cameron LaFlam
Blonds – Deli NYC artist of the month a few weeks ago – are about to release their debut album "The Bad Ones," which Stereogum is streaming in its entirety. With its beautiful mellow female vocals, slowed down groovy loops, Morriconian references, and occasional sonic bursts, this is a record that will appeal to many and make its ways in many "active" bedrooms. Don’t miss the release party at THe Rock Shop on August 28. Check out the recent stunning single "Time" streaming below.
We highlighted Brooklyn girl quartet TEEN (good luck Googling it! Facebook profile is here) few times since its inception, and they are now getting a good amount of buzz thanks to new material and an upcoming album entitled "In Limbo" which is scheduled to be released in September. The band also just announced a tour with delicious indie pop fellow Brooklynites Hospitality in October, and released this video of the single "Electric." See them live at their release parties at Le Baron in Manhattan (08.29) and Glasslands in Brooklyn (09.05).
The Slowdown has released a streaming and download link to its second single, "To Wonder," off its upcoming debut full-length album A. The 6-piece Kansas City band includes former members of Elevator Division, and describes itself as a "riff-based, roots-inflected, electronic-infused, deftly experimental take on full-bodied rock that conjures a blend of Wilco, Flaming Lips, M83, early Aerosmith, Alice in Chains, and My Morning Jacket."
"To Wonder" is a bit more straightforward than the band’s previous single, "A Mirror, A Torch." The song is driven by Sam Hoskin’s whispy vocals, atmospheric backing vocals, and constantly moving backbeat, with a heavy alternative but bluesy Jerry Cantrell-style guitar solo to top things off.
Listen to "To Wonder" for yourself at The Slowdown’s Soundcloud page.
And if you missed our post on this when it debuted, here’s the video for "A Mirror, A Torch":
–Michelle Bacon
Dream-pop duo Savoir Adore announced that their sophomore album "Our Nature" will be released on October 16, and took the opportunity to promote two NYC shows this week, one one at Santos Party house on August 2 and the other one at the Ditmas Sanctuary Series (83 Marlborough Road Brooklyn) on August 5 with Lucius – the latter will be an acoustic performance.
On related but separate news, Savoir singer’s solo project debuted the new name "Deidre and The Dark" (it used to be just "Deidre" – check out a video here) at Glasslands on July 25 with Fast Years, with whom they share a light harted approach to pop, with doo-wop and bubble gum influences.
For Los Encantados’ 2nd EP this year, ‘Same Damned Soul: Chapter 2,’ they’ve extended their ambitions to include the summer anthem-in-waiting ‘St. Tropez.’ Competing as much with local bands like Beach Fossils, as much as with former occupants of this hallowed space like Len and Sublime before them, I recommend taking a listen as soon as you can to see if you think the band are the next bearers of the esteemed summer anthem crown.
The sun-worshippers then take you sailing on the rousing ‘OMDF’ and finally settle in for a romantic evening with closer ‘Pour Toi.’ Sung half in French, half in sunglass swagger English, the EP is a sign of how far this band has come, and where they might be headed to next. The new EP should well compliment whatever weekend road trip you were thinking of taking. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)
She’s A Keeper is one of Kansas City’s youngest and quickly growing bands in the scene. The five-piece group has found some far-reaching success, most recently opening up for Josh Ritter at Crossroads on July 19. Today, guitarist/vocalist Zac Jurden visits with us.
The Deli: Gun to your head: one sentence to describe your music. What is it?
ZJ: Favorite local musicians frequently shift with who we share bills with, but Making Movies has been high on our list lately. The Hearts of Darkness is also a static favorite. We were happy to see both of these bands, as well as our friends Quiet Corral, as nominations for the Pitch Music Awards this year.
ZJ: I’ll do my best to seem wise. If you’re reading this I’m sure you’re already on the right track. Sites like this that promote both local and national music are a fantastic place to find good music. Take some time to find local bands that you like and tell them that you like what they do, it really does make a difference on our end of it and it offers bands like us the motivation to keep going. On that note, if you’ve heard our music and like what you hear, come out and see us. I personally think that our live performance has a lot more to offer than our recordings and it would be a good way to determine for yourself what we are really about. Lastly, I’d like to show some love to everyone that has been so kind to us. We really appreciate the support and can’t wait to continue to make music, not only for our own satisfaction, but for your listening pleasure too.
Come see Zac and She’s A Keeper as they celebrate the release of their Live at Midwestern EP this Saturday, August 4 at Czar.
–-Zach Hodson
| Zach is a lifetime Kansas City resident who plays multiple instruments and sings in Dolls on Fire and Drew Black and Dirty Electric, as well as contributing to many other Kansas City music, art, and comedy projects. He is very fond of edamame, treats his cat Wiley better than he treats himself, and doesn’t want to see pictures of your newborn child (seriously, it looks like a potato). |
"People can care for each other, otherwise we’re just totally f*cked." I couldn’t have said it better had I tried, which I suppose is why I leave the gently rocking robot space jams to experts like L. W. Nathan.
In his latest project, Jerry Paper, using a combination of DX-7-style keys and canned calypso beats, the Brooklyn artist sounds something like what robots might listen to when doing their grocery shopping. Songs like ‘Forget It’ from his first full-length ‘Vol. 1’ project an icy coolness to the artist’s musings on humanity’s odd behaviors (like grocery shopping), while sometimes unexpectedly recalling McCartney’s solo adventures with bursts of harmonic energy. As strange as some of this record can sit, I find it oddly comforting, and I can only imagine how fun this all must be live. Which is why I’ll need to check him out as soon as he lands his spaceship back on Earth – i.e. on August 7th at Big Snow with Psychobuildings and Swanifant. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets) – This artist submitted music for review here.
We covered Brooklyn alt-folk duo XNY in print in our latest NYC issue and we just noticed they released this new simple but powerful video of the song "Ride On." You can see them live at Public Assembly on August 6.
