In efforts to step out of his father’s shadows, Tom Hanks’ son, Chet Hanx, formerly known as Chet Haze, has begun to forge a career with club music in mind.
Hanx released a video for his single “The Thirst,” just in case you didn’t pick up on his uber-whiteness from the track alone.
The video, filmed by Armen, encompasses a day in the life of this super hip street thug, which obviously entails – what else? – hooking up with prostitutes. He sings about how his woman comes after each call, accompanied by various shots driving in his car calling on women and then ending up with them in a hotel room.
The best part is the over-dramatized shots of water splats as a male voice whispers through your speakers the word “splash” (you can’t make this up) and the awkward white-boy dancing that starts at the two minute thirty second line. It’s actually painful to watch.
Luckily, after a few goes, the video does create some ironic hilarity and even may be worthy of a hardy drinking game to those who dare.
I think it’s safe to say that Colin is the Hanks’ best shot at a legacy.
Nearly half a year has passed since of Montreal published a brief Facebook post announcing its 13th studio album Aureate Gloom (streaming now on NPR), and now the time has come for it to be released. Accompanying the release on March 3 is an unrelenting tour schedule that even the most seasoned bands would be fearful of tackling.
This same determination is what inspired Aureate Gloom and has driven the band’s sonic developments with each release. A need for change followed front man Kevin Barnes’ late 2013 divorce which resulted in a creative explosion that led to the completion of the record in less than a month.
The sonically chaotic album succeeds in constructing a dense lyrical narrative around a noticeably more uptempo instrumental track. In “Aluminum Crown,” Barnes sings “You can’t let them hear what you’re thinking / or they will throw you back in jail” amidst jangling guitars until the track completely deconstructs itself in the bridge into a gauzy dreamlike trance.
“Virgilian Lots” is an emotionally heavy track that catches Barnes reminiscing about his failed marriage, comparing it to the twin volcanoes of Cuauhnahuac and the destruction of a village. The optimistic tone in Barnes’ voice totally contradicts the subject matter, but the instrumental segues between the verses are complexly dissonant to reflect his confusion.
The album’s opener “Bassam Sabry” is the least personal track on the album, but the mostly likely to be heard on the airwaves of the remaining alternative rock radio stations. In fact, it contains the perfect amount of Talking Heads-esque funk and Led Zeppelin lyrical anarchy tied together loosely by the sound of violins.
A single guitar strum leads into the deep-cut “Estocadas” and is the closest the band gets to recreating the psychedelic sounds of its previous albums. There’s a dizzying keyboard arrangement that’s later accompanied by a sweeping orchestral section before everything drops out in an over-minute-long somber outro. The track honestly doesn’t work too well with the flow of the album – the lyrics suggest bitterness (“Such a stupid offering / what’s it meant to symbolize? / Hostile immobility / is it something to prize?”) while it sounds boringly downtrodden and plaintive.
Not every track on the album is memorable, but there are certainly enough memorable tracks on the album to make it safe to claim that Aureate Gloom is quite possibly the best – and most personal – the forward thinking of Montreal has sounded since the release of Skeletal Lamping back in 2008.
4/5
Tour Dates
1/13/15 Tallahassee, FL – The Moon ^
1/14/15 Pensacola, FL – Vinyl Music Hall ^
1/15/15 Gainesville, FL – High Dive ^
1/16/15 Orlando, FL – The Social ^
1/17/15 Tampa, FL – Crowbar ^
1/18/15 Miami, FL – Grand Central ^
1/19/15 Jacksonville, FL – Freebird Live ^
1/20/15 Macon, GA – Cox Capitol Theatre ^
1/21/15 Charleston, SC – The Pour House ^
1/22/15 Greensboro, NC – The Blind Tiger ^
1/23/15 Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge ^
1/24/15 Chattanooga, TN – Rhythm and Brews ^
3/5/15 Athens, GA – 40 Watt #
3/6/15 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle #
3/7/15 Washington, DC – 930 Club #
3/8/15 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer #
3/9/15 New Haven, CT – Toad’s #
3/10/15 Boston, MA – Paradise #
3/11/15 New York, NY – Webster Hall #
3/12/15 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom *
3/13/15 Chicago, IL – The Metro *
3/14/15 Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall *
3/15/15 Minneapolis, MN – First Ave *
3/16/15 Omaha, NE – Waiting Room *
3/17/15 Oklahoma City, OK – ACM @ UCO Performance Lab *
3/18/15 Houston, TX – Walter’s Downtown *
3/19/15 Austin, TX – SXSW
3/20/15 El Paso, TX – Tricky Falls !
3/21/15 Tucson, AZ – The Rialto !
3/22/15 Los Angeles, CA – The Regent !
3/23/15 Los Angeles, CA – Largo at the Coronet
3/24/15 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall !
In recent months, the landscape of mainstream music has begun shifting towards a more organic sound that trades acoustic guitars and rougher vocals for synths and vocals that have been compressed to hell.
Although The Tallest Man On Earth, real name Kristian Matsson, is neither mainstream nor pop, this Swedish artist has been releasing consistently good folk records for nearly 10 years.
Today, his fourth LP Dark Bird is Home – out May 12 via Dead Oceans — was formally announced and accompanied by a new single “Sagres.” The album was written on his travels around the world to promote 2012’s There’s No Leaving Now and the influence touring has had on his music is undeniable.
Named after the seaside village in Portugal, “Sagres” is quite possibly the most positive Matsson has sounded. He’s nixed the totally acoustic styling of his previous material in favor of a lusher band sound that incorporates percussion and more orchestral elements to create a more visceral environment for the listener.
There is a duality, however, as his older material focused heavily on his vocals and lyricism and this first preview of new material shifts the focus to new instrumentation perhaps too much. His golden vocals are overtaken and often drowned out throughout the song to a point where the lyrics are indeterminable for half the song.
The inability to fully hear his voice and usually powerful lyrics to accompany it is what demotes a potentially fantastic track to a dull unmemorable one that will likely be playing in a hotel elevator or coffee shop.
2/5
Tracklist
Friend of Our Home
Darkness of the Dream
Singers
Slow Dance
Little Nowhere Towns
Sagres
Timothy
Beginners
Seventeen
Dark Bird Is Home
The Tallest Man On Earth Tour Dates:
Wed. May 13 – Northampton, MA @ Calvin Theatre
Thu. May 14 – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre
Sat. May 16 – Upper Darby, PA @ Tower Theatre
Mon. May 18 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
Thu. May 21 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
Tue. May 26 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre
Wed. May 27 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
Thu. May 28 – Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
Fri. May 29 – Durham, NC @ Durham Performing Arts Center
Sun. May 31 – Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theatre
Wed. June 3 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
Fri. June 19-Sun. June 21 – Hilvarenbeek, NL @ Best Kept Secret Festival
Fri. June 19-Sun. June 21 – Scheessel, De @ Hurricane Festival
Fri. June 19-Sun. June 21 — Munich, DE @ Southside Festival
Tue. June 23 – London, UK @ Koko – SOLD OUT
Wed. June 24 – Antwerp, BE @ Openlucht Theater
Thu. June 25 – Paris, FR @ Divan Du Monde
Sun. June 28 – Stockholm, SE @ Göta Lejon
Mon. June 29 – Stockholm, SE @ Göta Lejon
Tue. June 30 – Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller
Thu. July 2 – Goteborg, SE @ Pustervik
Wed. July 1-Sat. July 4 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
Fri. July 17-Sun. July 19 – Louisville, KY @ Forecastle
Fri. July 17-Sun. July 19 – Eaux Claire, WI @ Eaux Claires Festival
Mon. Oct. 12 – Cologne, DE @ E-Werk
Tue. Oct. 13 – Berlin, DE @ Huxley’s
Wed. Oct. 14 – Vienna, AU @ Arena
Thu. Oct. 15 – Milan, IT @ Alcatraz
Mon. Oct. 19 – London, UK @ Roundhouse
Tue. Oct. 20 – Glasgow, UK @ O2 ABC
Wed. Oct. 21 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street
Fri. Oct. 23 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
Sat. Oct. 24 – Bexhill, UK @ De La Warr
In Thing, Chicago’s Valaska have molded a set of warm, friendly songs to keep the harsh winter at bay. Careful consideration has been placed in each lush, melodic track.
But don’t confuse their acoustic preferences as a sign of simplicity. As with, say, the average Antlers record, no arrangement is overloaded, and there’s plenty of room to breathe. Props to each band member for leaning back when needed, because for these songs, focus on ensemble is key.
Drowsy as the feel may be, there are a lot of cool ideas to be found throughout its nine tracks. Opener “Espejismo” (Spanish for “mirage”) has the same vaguely mystical vibe of Midlake at the height of their minor key-mellotron use, whereas “Re-Animator” is a plinking, meandering War On Drugs song set to the wrong RPM.
The sonic space is no mistake – front to back, this is an album about mid-20s existential blues, one that requires plenty of reflection and pensiveness. On songs like “Fair To Say” and “Wabasha”, there is a quiet determination in needing to strike out somewhere new, a feeling most can relate to. “Ain’t it a shame tryin’ to live the American dream / And you wake up displeased with who you turned out to be?” muses singer Dave Valdez on the bubbly waltz “Epoch”. This record’s themes align neatly to any given Girls episode – Valdez may not be “at peace with 24”, but in the grand scheme of things, that’s still awfully young to feel like all is lost. These are songs that speak to the dissonance between being ready to be the responsible, emotionally sound grown-up you aspire to, and actually arriving at that accomplishment.
Valaska’s lyrics are perfectly fitting puzzle pieces with pop sensibilities, and even when they’re vague or metaphoric, they don’t feel like they’re trying too hard. This is a group of natural writers who feel perfectly comfortable within each verse and chorus. Though his voice isn’t anything special, Valdez knows how to use it: “Somewhere New” is a Dana Swimmer-esque slow burner about the very personal feeling of rejection meant to be impersonal, and the height of Valdez’ emotive howling will stick with you. Each song flows cohesively into the next, and the record never quite gets a chance to rub the sleep out of its eyes. Though not exactly unfamiliar territory for the average indie fan, Thing makes a darn good companion for contemplative Sunday strolls through rainy forests. Grab yourself a listen to the album, out today.
3/5
Check out our exclusive Thing track-by-track breakdown from Valaska vocalist Dave Valdez below:
1. “Espejismo” – This song is about separating reality from illusion. Everyone has an idea as to what they want their future to be but it’s always blurry in the distance.
2. “Fair to Say” – This song spawned from a conversation with Erik, the guitarist of Author. We were sitting in an empty bar talking about where our lives were headed and the uncertainty of our future. Erik stated “This is the oldest I’ve ever been” and the first lyric of the song was there.
3. “Epoch” – I was going to scrap this song until I showed it to Matt Holmes who insisted on piecing together all the body parts and bringing it to life. The song turned out to be one of our most energetic songs on and off the record.
4. “Common Sense” – I wrote this song while we were on tour supporting Natural Habitat, I had just finished reading The Alchemist which deals heavily with life and finding meaning.
5. “Re-Animator” – Zach Porlier and I recorded everything totally live for this song, afterwards, Matt went in and added all the bells and whistles.
6. “Wabasha” – This song is based off the concept of creative differences.
7. “Somewhere New” – It’s a song about the inevitable. Relationships end and we move on, but there is always surprise in learning this.
8. “Collecting Rocks” – It was the first song written for Thing, not even a month after I had finished tracking Natural Habitat.
9. “Ink” – This was first brought on by reading a Charles Bukowski poem. It’s about the difficulties in turning away, the difficulties in forgetting.
Megafauna describe themselves as 90s post-rock, and the new video for “This Town” proves this comparison to be more than appropriate. The aggro Pixies-on-speed track makes good use of guitar shredding and a jarring 6/8 time signature to get the job done, and the distinct old time-alt feel pairs real well with the surreal imagery used.
Though obviously shot in much higher def than was available twenty years ago, the video borrows plenty of visual tricks from everyone’s favorite decade. The whole affair is very dream-like – sequence after sequence of stream-of-consciousness images appear, lacking context but still somehow making a grain of sense. The video’s heroine, played by lead singer Dani Neff, trips her way through seemingly unrelated memories – visiting the fair as a child, getting felt up by a dude at a bar, and journaling in her bedroom. Each memory leaves a literal imprint in the form of neon paint. Her suburban hood is subtly presented as stifling and duplicitous, a barrier overcome when Dani musses her white dress with enough paint to cover up the traces others have left on her. As a bonus, eagle-eyed viewers may notice the wink to Siamese Dream in the girl who stands in for Dani’s id.
This past Thursday night at the 40 Watt saw a packed, diverse evening of what rock has been up to in the past three decades. It was also the debut event for local startup Aria Promotions, and they did a damn good job – the show was almost sold out.
Opener Juna delivered sludgy, math-intwined boomers. Between the Prozac haze guitar chords, quirky time signatures, and buffet table drumming, they definitely qualify as new members of the emo revival. A few of their meandering guitar noodles seemed ripped straight from a Sunny Day Real Estate record. Despite technical issues at the beginning of the set, they were still able to churn out winding high-passion sonic explorations. Lead singer Hunter Whitehead is probably the most impassioned bassist the Classic City has ever seen, and I was halfway convinced drummer Sasha Schilbrack-Cole was gonna permanently maim his kit. They were also really, really loud – once again, thank the heavens for We’re hEAR For You.
Waitress was up next, and at this point it seemed that the night existed on an exponential \m/(>.<)\m/ graph. They sounded like a Black Flag-Descendents intermediary, and even on their slower, more intricate songs, they still sounded like a metal Dismemberment Plan. Lead Brian McGhee was beyond delightful, basically standing in as a stand up between their ultra-tight songs. He waxed poetic about everything from Clickhole to Cliff Bars, and was charitable enough to tell each of his bandmates just how hot they are. In terms of straight technicality, the night went to drummer Ryan Houchens, who gave me Whiplash if you know what I mean.
But then Monsoon took the stage, and holy SHIT. For just three Athens kids, they made a whole lot of really great noise. Singer and guitarist Sienna was a natural showwoman, prowling and climbing the stage like a feral bilingual lunatic. Their pseudo-Americanized J punk / coked up Beach Boys vibe is something I’ve been searching for my whole life and didn’t even know it. If Clocked were a band, it would be Monsoon. There’s nothing more enjoyable than watching three obvious best friends absolutely weird-out and wreck a set of songs that don’t quite sound like anyone else. I feel like an idiot for not having seen them before, and would now like to publicly swear my undying allegiance to this band.
Then Atlanta’s The Howling Tongues came on amidst smoke machines and a light show that would make Kanye West say, “Dudes, you’re doing a lot.” While a great technical band – they had clearly practiced their set and song changes ad infinitum – they were playing a bluesy brand of rock and roll that’s really not supposed to sound this rehearsed. They were pleasant enough, and on the surface they were great; but they felt an odd choice as city-slicker closers juxtaposed to the earnest, scrappy punk of the Athens bands that opened for them. Some garage rock bands who deal in Rolling Stones riffage fall victim to the uncanny valley of soul vs. precision, and it looks like the Howling Tongues are one such band. Their whole schtick felt too familiar – making a big show of chugging Jack Daniels; songs involving “I’ll give it to you” double entendres; women smoking cigarettes in red dresses. Every “Whassup Athens?!” and “How y’all doin’ tonight?!” platitude felt empty and forced. It didn’t help that lead singer Taylor Harlow asked permission to “play some rock and rooollll” from the audience between every.single.song, and his playful joshing of the crowd’s lack of energy became uncomfortable berating by night’s end. And I wasn’t the only one who noted the irony of the Tongues’ “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” cover. Basically, this is a group who’s proper to their own detriment, and doesn’t appear comfortable in their own skin. Loosening up would do ’em a lot of good.
Stepping off the big screen and into your speakers, Scarlet Johansson teams up with Holly Miranda, Kendra Morris, Julie Haitigan, and well beloved Este Haim to form the new pop super girl group The Singles. Today, these lovely ladies released their new electric pop song “Candy.”
With their Madonna-esque vibes, The Singles bring the bounce back into pop with their indie, almost MGMT-goes-girl sounding effects. The recipe was simple. Add movie star, great musicians, and TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek to form one sweet song for your hearing pleasure. Scarlett told Rolling Stones earlier:
“I would say it’s super-pop… the idea was to write super-pop dance music written and performed by girls… I love Grimes. And I love Bangles. And I love the Go-Go’s. I wanted it to be like those bands. Ultra pop but also a little ironic, a little in on the joke.”
The joke, I am assuming, is the song itself. Although this was a gallant try, ScarJo should maybe stick to movies. As their first song, this was nothing truly original, and the vocals were slightly off – sorry, Scarlett. The music did have a catchy tempo accompanied by catchy lyrics.
Overall, however, the competition could eat this for breakfast.
Twin Limb sets the bar high with their new single, “Long Shadow.” The primarily female group consists of Lacy Guthrie, Maryliz Bender, Kevin Ratterman, and Sara Pitt hailing from Louisville, KY (according to their Facebook page).
Opening with a simple drumbeat and an accordion, we know instantly that Twin Limb has their own sound, which they appropriately describe as “dream pop.” The airy vocals and echo effects create layers to combine ominous melodies and ethereal energy. Similarly, the video shows the group swaying and singing in a haze of warm hues with overlapping frames to create a sleepy, nostalgic mood. Although the track is slow and relaxed, there’s a part of it that reminds me of a late summer afternoon…or maybe this cold weather is wearing on me. The subtle synth sound brings a flame of optimism to balance the dark melody. Finally, repetitive lyrics make it an uplifting piece. Guthrie and Bender meld vocals to sing, “This too shall pass over you” in repeat making the piece beautiful and flowing.
“Long Shadow” starts what Vinyl Mag hopes will be a new full length album in the near future. We’ll settle for the live version too, though. Check out Twin Limb’s tour dates here.
CHVRCHES’ 2013 debut The Bones of What You Believe was jam-packed with pop hooks, so it was only a matter of time until they covered a JT song. While the original is a groovy R&B number that foreshadowed Timberlake’s later back-to-basics work like The 20/20 Experience, it still had one leg in the sampled production of the 90s. CHVRCHES took the next logical step by infusing some slinky, space-y synths.
The result is a highly danceable piece of electropop that could easily be featured in Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century. Even if the melody is a little more robotic, singer Lauren Mayberry uses her plaintive high end to keep the vibe perfectly human. Yet the sparse arrangement is significantly more hair-raising, and makes CHVRCHES sound a bit more thirsty for revenge. Given that Timberlake first wrote “Cry Me A River” as a diss track to former flame Britney Spears — and we all saw how her life turned out — potential CHVRCHES belles and beaus should watch their backs.
With help from creator/cartoonist James Bagden, Jack White opens up his world to the popular dimension of music video animation in his new video for “Black Bat Licorice.”
At first listen, the song sounds almost reggae. However, this illusion clears as images of an Egyptian goddess and bats fly across the screen. The video encompasses poor Jack lying in his bed dreaming of the love that the goddess Horace could provide him, constantly yearning for her companionship as he is oh-so-alone.
Another element is the song’s literal translation in the video. A precise picture accompanies every lyric on your screen, including when Jack sings about cutting off his tongue…gross.
Luckily, there is some humor attached, as men dressed in George Washington masks head bang along with you as you watch.
One critique I do have is that, although this “lyric video” style is classic, I’m getting a little bit of a been-there-done-that feeling. The masses were consumed with Girl Talk and A$AP Ferg’s rendition of a very similar style video for their song “Suicide.” This video seems like the Rock knock off. Regardless, “Black Bat Licorice” definitely adds some pizazz and will leave Jack White fans saying, “What guac?”
