Have you had enough alien penis in your life today? My guess is no. (And if your answer is yes — what exactly are you doing in your spare time?) Team Spirit is here to supply those “goods,” with their video for “Teenage Love,” which is the second in a three part series of videos for their self-titled debut EP. Also have you had lunch yet? I’m getting hun… wait they do what in the video? Oh. Nevermind then. Continue reading
Do you see that extra “u” in the name of today’s band? That means some English-speaking non-American impressed me. In this case, it’s Coloured Clocks, the project of Australian James Wallace, who makes music with a sound that can only be described in the extremely long and elaborate epithets that I’m prone to using. Wallace’s practice is technically bedroom pop — meaning the recordings have the intimate simplicity of being recorded at home, in a room, alone — but that would be the case only if his bedroom was actually an opium den, in the 80s, in space. Continue reading
I’ll admit that for a long time I thought of Russia as a land of trashy electronica and keytar solos. Today I am enlightened by Motorama, whose name sounds like a group that might have a history of trashy electronica and keytar solos, but have thankfully gone in more of a dreamy, post-punky direction. Continue reading
There are a lot of kids out there trying to bring back the magic of the 60s and 70s, and most of them just don’t capture the sound right — that perfect storm of songwriting, production and drugs. I choose to believe that too many think it’s just about the drugs. Damn kids. Continue reading
There’s no catharsis quite like industrial catharsis. Listening to the early Wax Trax records, it’s like reliving the anger and energy of youth again through saw-edged electronics and pitch-bent screams. Youth Code has a grasp on this kind of brutality, putting together raw, all-hardware beats and harnessing a sound that’s incessantly vicious and violent. Continue reading
The whole lomography thing is starting to get old. The photos look beautiful and all, but I think the flood of sub-amateur photographers trying too hard to get lens flares kind of ruined it. That, and the Instagram stuff. I mean, a photo of your dinner — first of all, why am I looking at a photo of your dinner? Second, it doesn’t need a filter. Period.
But New York’s Yellowbirds are on to something with their latest video for “Mean Maybe,” off The Vanished Frontier. The song itself is a bittersweet, rambling break-up tune, they shot the video on a hand-cranked 35mm camera, and most importantly, the story of the video takes place in 1982 Hong Kong. That’s what I want to experience when I look at old footage on shitty film: historical accuracy. Continue reading
This will probably be the most French thing I’ve ever put up here. Pendentif, a five-piece from Bordeaux, just premiered their video for “Embrasse Moi,” a semi-francophonic disco jam, and it features sultry French lyrics, sultry English lyrics, and a girl in an oversized sweater singing to the camera… sultrily.
I’ve posted before about Sacred Bones and the desert — well, here you go, more material that link the two in that inextricably perfect way. Destruction Unit, a five-piece out of Arizona, are set to blaze on the scene with Deep Trip, a full-length LP out August 20 on Sacred Bones. In advance of that, they’ve also got a two-song EP titled Two Strong Hits set for release on July 16 with Suicide Squeeze, and the “Sonic Pearl” is one half of that EP. Continue reading
“Reaction II” is the name of Blue Hawaii‘s latest single from their sophomore album Untogether, out now on Arbutus, and the theme in general is VHS dream world. To be honest, the idea of a “waking dream,” as romantic and as it seems, is kind of terrifying. Think about the random jump cuts, the naked auditorium speeches, the sudden inability to run or jump or speak. It would be like living in a David Lynch movie, which probably wouldn’t help anyone with any anxiety issues. Continue reading
Don Giovanni; 2013
Vacation is one of those bands that I’d heard good things about in the past but never got around to listening to them. Well, it turns out I’ve been missing out if their other material is anything like Candy Waves, their upcoming newest LP which officially drops June 18 on Don Giovanni. Continue reading
Black Porridge 