Review: Submissions Round-Up Pt 16
I haven't done one of these for what seems like months (just checked...it has been months..oops!). So much good stuff has come in of late, too much for each to have a dedicated post so this gives me the opportunity to highlight some great music around at the mo.
Stereo No Aware - Stereo No Aware
It's an oddity this one, but a good oddity. Stereo No Aware are a band out of Portland, Oregon and they play a playful mix of psychedelic pop, dream pop, post punk and anything else that takes their fancy at the time. Their self-titled album, released back in March, is one of those rare beasts..it is an album that keeps a smile on the listener's face from first note to last. It has proved to be a difficult album to sum up...plenty of virtual pages ripped from an imaginary typewriter and thrown into a waste bin that isn't there. Suffice it to say that it offers so much and it is all played with a consummate ease and a good amount of nous. Standout tracks are 'Pagan Feelings' with it's cheesy Bontempi organ vibe that adds a kooky twist to a great little indie song, the atmospheric surf-noir of 'Normal One' and 'Oaks Park' which is reminiscent of one of those quirky songs that British psychedelia threw up in the late 60s/ early 70s. Overall it is a great listen...constantly shifting in tone and structure and remarkably well put together. If one were draw any comparisons then Olivia Tremor Control would be the obvious but that could be a bit misleading as these guys mix it up so much. These guys veer into Pavement, Daniel Johnston, Guided By Voices, Velvet Underground and even more left field stuff like Fantomas. The album is available via their Bandcamp page here and comes in vinyl and digital formats.
No Teeth - Wither
This is blindin' stuff! No Teeth hail from Newcastle, as most of the great noisy acts seem to these days, and this EP came as a real revelation to me...five tracks of heavy, invective fueled music that takes noise as its base but throws in some garage punk, doom, stoner and hardcore. 'Mother (Wither Version)' is a re-recording of their debut single and is spectacularly good...part Nick Cave, part Am Rep and part Tad, it is filled with vitriol and attitude and, somewhat ironically, makes one glad to be alive. 'Costume Party' is as heavy as fuck and packed with fuzz and bluster whereas 'Mother' takes its cue from garage punk and mutated surf and lyrically is just as twisted. 'She's a Lizard' is even more indebted to garage and is quite poppy but that, of course, is a relative term...but it is decidedly more jaunty with some great hooks. The EP is wrapped up with 'Serotonin' opens with waves of feedback and really heavy fuzz that underscores what the band call a 'noise ballad'...I love this track and it has had some heavy rotation in the car of late, much to the wife's consternation. 'Wither' is a majestic slice of noise that makes this old dude feel young again...cheers guys! It is available from the Imagination Engine's (label) Bandcamp page here and is in digital, cassette and CD format.
The Diaphanoids - Blessed Poisons
The Diaphanoids are two Italians by the name of Andrea Bellentani and Simon Maccari and 'Blessed Poisons' is their third outing following on from their debut ‘Astral Weekend’ and the sophomore ‘LSME’ (both of which are well worth checking out). This album is being released by the London based People In The Sky label. What these guys do is bring a refreshing twist to the whole 'psychedelic' thing - it mixes swirling guitars with punked-up kosmische synths and stoned vocals...it really is like nothing else around at the moment. Tracks like the title track 'Blessed Poisons' are all fractured guitars, disjointed beats and lush washes of kosmische synths while 'FYW' ('Fuck Your World') takes the sound that Spacemen 3 started and twist and mutate the dreamy vocals and melody into something genuinely 'out there'. All the tracks are pretty ace but, for me, the standouts are: 'Retoxed And Somehow Heavily Szymckzhycked' with its intense drones, cosmic guitars and foreboding vibes (one of the my favourite tracks from this year!); and 'Iconize Yourself' and its sublime psychedelic guitar work. It is a quite, quite brilliant album and I'm gonna have to get myself a copy. It can be ordered via the People In The Sky's page here...and is also available on itunes.
68creep - Goodnight, Sweet Betty
68creep are a New York band who are influenced by "PJ Harvey, Dead Weather, Beach House, The Misfits, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper and The Cramps"...OK, so this isn't gonna be a collection of songs about lazy summer days and unicorns. What it is, in fact, is an album of uber-noir songs that invoke the memories of every David Lynch film you've ever seen. The current single 'Black Cat' has that ringing, dark quality that makes one automatically think of dark alleys and smoky clubs and the voice of vocalist Kimberly Seewal has the same quality that makes Holly Golightly (sigh!) so special - the sweetness of the voice but with an undercurrent of darkness and regret. The band also treat us to a couple of interesting cover versions - an Alice Cooper/Dead Kennedys mash-up with 'Welcome to my Nightmare/Halloween' that actually works very well, the inherent darkness of 68creep lends itself very well to both these tracks (although I would not have recognised 'Halloween' if it were not for the track listing) and there is also a great cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins 'I Put A Spell On You'. For me though, the stand-out track is 'Birthday' it has that melancholic 50's rock'n'roll ballad quality that avoids being lacrimose while still heavy on the sorrowful atmosphere. 'Goodnight, Sweet Betty' is a great little album and if your bag is creepy, bluesy, garage inflected rock then you could do a lot, lot worse than checking this out. It will be available as a download via the band's Bandcamp page here.
Stereo No Aware - Stereo No Aware
It's an oddity this one, but a good oddity. Stereo No Aware are a band out of Portland, Oregon and they play a playful mix of psychedelic pop, dream pop, post punk and anything else that takes their fancy at the time. Their self-titled album, released back in March, is one of those rare beasts..it is an album that keeps a smile on the listener's face from first note to last. It has proved to be a difficult album to sum up...plenty of virtual pages ripped from an imaginary typewriter and thrown into a waste bin that isn't there. Suffice it to say that it offers so much and it is all played with a consummate ease and a good amount of nous. Standout tracks are 'Pagan Feelings' with it's cheesy Bontempi organ vibe that adds a kooky twist to a great little indie song, the atmospheric surf-noir of 'Normal One' and 'Oaks Park' which is reminiscent of one of those quirky songs that British psychedelia threw up in the late 60s/ early 70s. Overall it is a great listen...constantly shifting in tone and structure and remarkably well put together. If one were draw any comparisons then Olivia Tremor Control would be the obvious but that could be a bit misleading as these guys mix it up so much. These guys veer into Pavement, Daniel Johnston, Guided By Voices, Velvet Underground and even more left field stuff like Fantomas. The album is available via their Bandcamp page here and comes in vinyl and digital formats.
No Teeth - Wither
This is blindin' stuff! No Teeth hail from Newcastle, as most of the great noisy acts seem to these days, and this EP came as a real revelation to me...five tracks of heavy, invective fueled music that takes noise as its base but throws in some garage punk, doom, stoner and hardcore. 'Mother (Wither Version)' is a re-recording of their debut single and is spectacularly good...part Nick Cave, part Am Rep and part Tad, it is filled with vitriol and attitude and, somewhat ironically, makes one glad to be alive. 'Costume Party' is as heavy as fuck and packed with fuzz and bluster whereas 'Mother' takes its cue from garage punk and mutated surf and lyrically is just as twisted. 'She's a Lizard' is even more indebted to garage and is quite poppy but that, of course, is a relative term...but it is decidedly more jaunty with some great hooks. The EP is wrapped up with 'Serotonin' opens with waves of feedback and really heavy fuzz that underscores what the band call a 'noise ballad'...I love this track and it has had some heavy rotation in the car of late, much to the wife's consternation. 'Wither' is a majestic slice of noise that makes this old dude feel young again...cheers guys! It is available from the Imagination Engine's (label) Bandcamp page here and is in digital, cassette and CD format.
The Diaphanoids - Blessed Poisons
The Diaphanoids are two Italians by the name of Andrea Bellentani and Simon Maccari and 'Blessed Poisons' is their third outing following on from their debut ‘Astral Weekend’ and the sophomore ‘LSME’ (both of which are well worth checking out). This album is being released by the London based People In The Sky label. What these guys do is bring a refreshing twist to the whole 'psychedelic' thing - it mixes swirling guitars with punked-up kosmische synths and stoned vocals...it really is like nothing else around at the moment. Tracks like the title track 'Blessed Poisons' are all fractured guitars, disjointed beats and lush washes of kosmische synths while 'FYW' ('Fuck Your World') takes the sound that Spacemen 3 started and twist and mutate the dreamy vocals and melody into something genuinely 'out there'. All the tracks are pretty ace but, for me, the standouts are: 'Retoxed And Somehow Heavily Szymckzhycked' with its intense drones, cosmic guitars and foreboding vibes (one of the my favourite tracks from this year!); and 'Iconize Yourself' and its sublime psychedelic guitar work. It is a quite, quite brilliant album and I'm gonna have to get myself a copy. It can be ordered via the People In The Sky's page here...and is also available on itunes.
68creep - Goodnight, Sweet Betty
68creep are a New York band who are influenced by "PJ Harvey, Dead Weather, Beach House, The Misfits, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper and The Cramps"...OK, so this isn't gonna be a collection of songs about lazy summer days and unicorns. What it is, in fact, is an album of uber-noir songs that invoke the memories of every David Lynch film you've ever seen. The current single 'Black Cat' has that ringing, dark quality that makes one automatically think of dark alleys and smoky clubs and the voice of vocalist Kimberly Seewal has the same quality that makes Holly Golightly (sigh!) so special - the sweetness of the voice but with an undercurrent of darkness and regret. The band also treat us to a couple of interesting cover versions - an Alice Cooper/Dead Kennedys mash-up with 'Welcome to my Nightmare/Halloween' that actually works very well, the inherent darkness of 68creep lends itself very well to both these tracks (although I would not have recognised 'Halloween' if it were not for the track listing) and there is also a great cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins 'I Put A Spell On You'. For me though, the stand-out track is 'Birthday' it has that melancholic 50's rock'n'roll ballad quality that avoids being lacrimose while still heavy on the sorrowful atmosphere. 'Goodnight, Sweet Betty' is a great little album and if your bag is creepy, bluesy, garage inflected rock then you could do a lot, lot worse than checking this out. It will be available as a download via the band's Bandcamp page here.
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