Tag: vinylmag
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For Fans of Led Zeppelin? Check Out Greta Van Fleet
One of the biggest issues with good ‘ole, classic rock ‘n’ roll is just that… it’s old. Many bands, understandably, faded as new music graced us all. For the few that still push on, new music is seldom found and often represents various passion projects (see: The Rolling Stones: Blue & Lonesome—despite how amazing the release was, it still wasn’t an album of originals.)
Luckily, there are, in fact, a few up-and-comers that not only appreciate the musical greats of the 20th century, but are also clearly, actively, trying to continue the steps taken by those that came before.
Enter the “throwback” of today’s focus: the legendary Led Zeppelin.
From it’s start as a super group by The Yardbird’s own Jimmy Page in 1968, Led Zeppelin followed a storied path marked by enormous successes. The group’s enormous popularity—in the early-to-mid ’70s it was easily one of the largest live-draws around the world—came from its successful integration of blues, folk and middle eastern influences. However, this quick ascent was marred with scandal leading to an early disbandment in 1980. Following that, there has been little to no hope of new music for fans of this legendary group, despite the handful of reunion shows over the years.
So, you’re a fan of the ‘Zep? You should consider checking out Michigan rockers, Greta Van Fleet.
The foursome—three of which are brothers—seemed to be just out of high school when they came tearing out of Frankenmuth (a town that couldn’t be less rock ‘n’ roll if it tried, just give “Bronner’s” a quick google) in 2012, unleashing their almost nostalgic music mastery out into the world.
Honestly, the most shocking part of it all is the rate at which the group has risen. After just releasing it’s first double EP on November 10, following it’s very first studio release only a handful of months before, the group has already embarked on nationwide tours and garnered a cult following—and not just in the “CHRISTmas Wonderland” (literally how Bronner’s is advertised).
Even better than the group’s humble start and quick ascent is its clear ties back to Led Zeppelin. GVF basically feels like listening to the ‘Zep… if the latter were born in the late ’90s, grew up in a world where pop-music ruled our culture and began traveling the world while still in high school.
But don’t just take my word for it. Let’s take a look at the bands.
Upon first hearing a GVF track, say, “Highway Tune,” it takes literally 15 seconds to hear a wail so reminiscent of Robert Plant it’s equally frightening awesome. The group’s front man, Josh Kiszka, has mastered the almost alarm-like war cry previously found by Plant on tracks like Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.” But that’s not all. In continuing with “Highway Tune,” other similarities are easily traced, such as the dramatic waiver used by both frontmen and their often quick, almost flippant, delivery. Both vocalists are gritty, both have ridiculous ranges and both are beyond talented.
Continuing to lyricism, it’s easy to see GVF taking notes from the greats, stylistically at least, in the track “Safari Song.” Kiszka repeatedly questions, “Hey mama/ What you gonna do/ With all that love in/ Your heart?” and his vocabulary should sound quite familiar to any Zeppelin fan. See “Black Dog,” in which Plant rushes out: “Hey, hey mama said the way you move/ Gon’ make you sweat, gon’ make you groove.” The younger band’s lyrics are nostalgic, and truly feel like they were born of a wilder era.
Taking a turn to the instrumentation, both bands focus on highlighting talented lead guitars—Jimmy Page in the 70’s and Jake Kiszka now. Both bands leave plenty of space for the all-too-essential guitar solo, and both instrumentalists draw heavily on the blues. Neither guitarist feels rushed in execution, and Kiszka is clearly comfortable marinating in the drawn-out, funky delivery that is almost a defining characteristic of Page’s style.
Finally: a quick look at composition. For example, both bands have mastered the art of using backing vocals to create an almost haunting atmosphere for the lead to exist in. Further, both bands tend to keep listeners on their toes using a variety of techniques to do so from switching keys, hopping between acoustic and electric instrumentations and changing up the rhythm often. Even more than just using these techniques, both bands have been known to layer a couple of them to really prevent settling into a track too much.
So, to put it simply. For fans of Led Zeppelin, hungry for more? Look no further than Greta Van Fleet.
Lucy Dacus: ‘Historian’
After her 2016 debut, No Burden, Lucy Dacus was hailed as one of rock’s most promising new players. With her sophomore release, Historian on March 2, Dacus fulfills that promise—and then some.
Dacus’ delicate—but not in any way frail—vocals lead the way through the album, which almost feels like a rambling stroll through a narrative carefully sculpted with tattoo-worthy one-liners. The album screams maturity, carrying a sense of depth and knowledge that many decades-older veteran musicians at times struggle to grasp. In Historian, Dacus asks the big questions and allows herself vulnerable realizations while simultaneously staking her ground and declaring her space in rock music anyway.
The album opens with “Night Shift,” a track that’s equally heartbreaking and beautiful. Opening slowly, the track grows, seeming as if it’s never going to end but in a way that’s entirely positive. Though not one of the biggest stand-outs on the album, its a nice opener to the lineup.
The first real kicker in the album is the third track, “The Shell.” Upon opening, the song almost feels like being drunk at a party, a great party, but nevertheless still trapped in one’s own head. With lines like “I am busy doing nothing and you’re rudely interrupting/ It’s a myth but now I see it clearly / You don’t have to be sad to make something worth hearing,” the lines feel like a stream-of-consciousness, but somehow still entirely relatable.
The real shining moment of the track is towards its end—a trend that will come up again as the album progresses. The last third of the track almost evolves outside of this stream-of-consciousness to something wholly other, with the instrumental taking front in a way that builds similarly to that of great psychedelic ballads, entirely unexpected but definitely nice.
Next, to look at “Yours and Mine,” another standout in the lineup. She amps up the vocals on this track, bringing in some heavier, but still simple, harmonies to round out the lead—proving that Dacus doesn’t need to do crazy things with her vocals for her vocals to be crazy good. The best moment on this track, however, is the guitar solo rounding out the end. It’s fuzzy, it doesn’t feel overdone, and it seems to perfectly compliment the rest of the song in a nice juxtaposition.
“Body to Flame,” the sixth track, is practically cinematic in its greatness. It’s fairly calm, ambling, before Dacus belts, “Laughing aloud at the spinning stars” and the track explodes. It’s fuzzy, it’s a sensory-overload, it’s fazing in-and-out and it’s exactly what the album needs. With lines like “I see you holding your breath with your arms outstretched/ Waiting for someone to come rip open your chest,” the track almost feels like a Joan Didion essay, giving you all of the details you didn’t know you wanted—but somehow Dacus did.
Finally, the funkiest track on the album, “Timefighter.” This particular song feels self-assured, as if written by someone confident enough to walk away from a love and be able survive the fallout. It’s groovy and definitely a track you can lay back into and get comfortable with, just swaying to the beat as she spells out the story. This track, again, shines in guitar solos, but this time they’re particularly gritty, rough, and harsh on the edges. Further, the almost staccato stop-and-go towards the middle of the song shows her own self-restraint as an artist, her own maturity to know when to pull back. It fits, so well, in the overall narrative—proving her own badness in the best way possible.
On her sophomore album, Lucy Dacus confidently strode into the world of rock—showing that though it’s just her second album, she already has the chops to be a mainstay in the industry.
9/10
Review: Judah & the Lion: Going to Mars Tour
Tall Heights :
Colony House:
Judah:
The first of Judah & the Lion’s two-night sold-out stint at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA, started strong and ended with a bang. The “folk hop n’ roller’s” constructed a show as equally meaningful as it was exciting, and easily kept fans on their toes for the entirety of the night.
The show opened with Tall Heights, an electrofolk duo out of Boston, MA. At this point, the theatre was already quite full and the musicians played to that pressure well. While they crooned, they found incredibly interesting ways to engage the audience—at one point pulling off one of the coolest in-show magic tricks I’ve ever seen. The group asked the entire audience to pull out their various phones, to call another in the room, and then put the call on speaker. These calls echoed throughout the theatre and really brought the performance to another level.
Next up was Colony House, a group out of Nashville, TN. These modern-day Beach Boy rockers had a strong following in the audience and definitely played to that strength. The group was upbeat, incredibly high energy, and carried the confidence of experience. Though considerably louder (think: drums-shaking-ribcage-loud) the band managed to keep a clean sound to show off their technical prowess.
Both openers were met with really strong reactions from the crowd. Then there was Judah. The crowd erupted.
Understandably so, as the Nashville-based headliners opened the set with a dance-party rendition of “Booty Wurk (One Cheek At a Time).” The group held this vivacity through the entirety of the set, intertwining hip hop and folk seamlessly throughout.
The band played much of it’s Folk Hop N’ Roll album, out in 2017. However, the show was far from the average, sit-and-watch-for-two-hours, set. Just as the bands that preceded, Judah & the Lion kept the show interactive.
With moments like a dance-off during the song “Reputation,” a surprise cover of “Mr. Brightside” featuring all three bands, and the crowd singing competition during “Green Eyes”—which later determined which side of the stage members would dive off of—the band kept the show accessible and genuinely fun. Just a really good time. The crowd continuously had no clue what was coming next, but surely it was going to be great.
Through the fun, there was some sentimental, deeper-meaning to the show. Frontman Judah Akers told the story of the bands first show outside of Nashville, which happened to be at a smaller venue in the Athens area. The show seemed to carry a lot of meaning for the group, as Akers grew a bit emotional before launching into the inspirational “Going to Mars.”
The show “ended” with a two-minute dance party during one of the band’s biggest hits, “Take It All Back,” before an encore was demanded. Once again, they brought out the other two bands for an incredibly sweet, stripped down rendition of “Lean on Me,” before ending the set with “Water,” a track from the bands 2014 album Kids These Days. I’m fairly certain that the general sentiment of the crowd was of a “One more song!” mentality, but with a band like Judah & the Lion that certainly doesn’t come as a surprise.
10/10
Artist to Watch: Post Death Soundtrack
Founded in 2007, Post Death Soundtrack is a music collective based out of Toronto, Canada. The group consists of Kenneth Buck, Steve Moore and Jon Ireson, and cites influences ranging from Bowie to Skinny Puppy. After the release of its debut album, Music as Weaponry, Post Death Soundtrack went on a brief three-year hiatus in which the group redefined the intention of their music, and ended up with something really cool.
Sounding more like a heavy experimental band from the ‘90s than a modern-age collective, Post Death Soundtrack explores depth and a variety of synthetic textures in their sophomore release, The Unlearning Curve. With swooning choruses and thick electric guitars swirling into a mash of music, The Unlearning Curve introduces a psychedelic, industrial landscape.
The true gems of this release are “You Can’t Go Back” and “Beauty Eyes I Adore,” tracks two and four, respectively. Something about the chanting on “Beauty Eyes” reminds me of Beatles-esque harmonies, and the sudden devolution into arpeggios of electric sound is a clever, robust touch.
Overall, The Unlearning Curve bites, chews and spits out the listener with walls of thick, jagged noise. The lyrics go into ideas of redemption, introspection and self-discovery which pair nicely to the heavy atmosphere of the album itself. My only complaint is the slight repetitiveness of the album, especially with tracks that have two minutes (or more) of the same lyric. That aside, The Unlearning Curve establishes Post Death Soundtrack as a true artist to look out for.
Artist to Watch: Gideon King & City Blog
All about bringing together musicians that have a passion for jazz, Gideon King & City Blog is straight out of New York City with a modern twist on the classic jazz genre. With elements of jam bands and big band sound, Gideon King & City Blog released a full length album titled City Blog that is a sultry love letter to the city that never sleeps.
More interesting than the name of the band itself are its members. Boasting some of the most diverse talent available, Gideon King & City Blog managed to get together James Genus, the bassist from Daft Punk and the Saturday Night Live band, Carolyn Leonhart, a key member of Steely Dan’s vocal team, and many other notable musicians. With such a wide variety of members, the sound can only be described as a collective.
City Blog grabs you by the hand and drags you onto the dance floor with its creative and smooth style. City Blog is a rainy date night in Manhattan, where your date offers you their umbrella after a delicious meal at an upper scale restaurant. The album as a whole can only be described with scenarios, because it gives off more than just words. The feelings are present in every improvised piano part, while skillfully crafted with a surreal-sounding mash of backing instruments that all get their separate time to shine in solos.
The title track “City Blog” displays the album clearly and honestly: it’s cool to the touch and easy on the ears. The good thing about jam bands and their derivatives are that the music can never get repetitive as long as you have a decent pairing of vocals, which Gideon King & City Blog have excelled at.
“Friendship Cliche” takes on an alternative indie rock spin, if you consider having a horn section and wind instrument section as rock. All the combinations of instruments result in such a visceral experience that can only enhance surroundings. The only criticism on City Blog stems from the slowness of some of the tracks, particularly “What Say You” which drags on for the full four minutes.
Aside from a couple misses like that, the funk is alive and thriving in New York City among lots of different aliases, but Gideon King & City Blog is a name to remember.
Gideon King & City Blog can be found on its Facebook page, here.
Artist to Watch: Idiot Grins
Recent trends in music have revolved around synth pop and overproduced albums, so it is rare to find a big band sound in the mix. Idiot Grins, a five man soul rock band from Oakland, California, has managed the impossible. By getting musical help from Johnnie Bamont, the saxophone player from Huey Lewis and the News, and Mic Gillette, the trumpet player from Tower of Power, Idiot Grins lends a homage to the greats of years ago. Big Man transcends the line between old and new by making a soulful big band swing that sounds like it belongs in the ‘60s, but was made in 2015. The best part, it makes you want to sing along too.
The 11 track album hits all the right notes with each song being reminiscent of the last, without sounding exactly the same. “How To Get To (Baltimore)” is classic and upbeat, with a chorus that sounds almost exactly like the chorus from “Science Fiction Double Feature” in Rocky Horror Picture Show. That isn’t a bad thing, either. The call-and-response element of the music makes the listener want to croon along.
Another standout from the album is the second track “Poppy Piss”. A swing tune that is simple (Keep It Simple, Stupid) is a good indication for the style of Idiot Grins. The song is two and a half minutes of almost the same beat, which seems repetitive, until you get to the wild vocal ups and downs of lead singer John Hansen. The variation is necessary in a track of the same melody, but Idiot Grins has the whole change game under control.
A complaint would be that the majority of the album is ballad-style, with slower melodies dominating the flow and energy of the initial three tracks. That’s not to say that those songs aren’t good in their own right, seeing as “One Reason” and “Paso Robles” are excellent representations of versatile styles. “Paso Robles” utilizes a country croon while “One Reason” is the stereotypical “down-up” beat from the ‘60s with clean sounding horns that really make the track special. Instead of a slow-down near the end of the album (with an exception for the tangy “Ovaltang”), a much needed pick-me-up would have been a better way to seal the deal on Big Man.
Despite minor issue with maintaining a cohesive flow of energy and rest within the album, Idiot Grins puts a modern spin on classic instruments minus the grainy quality.
Big Man was released on April 6, 2015 and is available for purchase or download at the Idiot Grins website.
Basement: “Aquasun”
Basement, a five piece melodic hardcore band from Suffolk, England, is back with a new album. After releasing their first and second albums I Wish I Could Stay Here (2011) and Colourmeinkindness (2012), the band went on hiatus without any foreseeable reunion. Luckily for fans, the band released an EP titled Further Sky in 2014 along with a slew of tour dates, indicating a reunion for the band.
The reality is that Basement is back, with the highly anticipated album Promise Everything to be released through Run for Cover Records on January 29, 2016. To promote the album and create excitement for the new record, Basement has been slowly releasing singles from Promise Everything with tracks “Promise Everything” and “Oversized” already available for streaming and purchase.
Today, Basement released a music video for the single “Aquasun”, which is track four off of the new album. Check out the video here, and look out for Promise Everything coming out soon.
The track listing for the upcoming album is as follows:
1. Brother’s Keeper
2. Hanging Around
3. Lose Your Grip
4. Aquasun
5. Submission
6. Oversized
7. Blinded Bye
8. For You The Moon
9. Promise Everything
10. Halo
Artist to Watch: The Boy From The Crowd
From London, UK, The Boy From The Crowd is made up of Vinny Placa and Vegas Ivy. With Placa on vocals and guitar while Ivy manages drums and percussion, The Boy From The Crowd creates a blues-infused rock sound that walks the line between cult favorite and top 40s, resulting in songs that are eclectic but still make you bob your head to the beat. Their most recent release titled Where the Bees Come to Die introduces the band’s mechanical and lyrical skills, while also allowing room for improvement.
The first track, “Revelator”, showcases The Boy From The Crowd’s London rock flair with bluesy influence. The sound is catchy, upbeat and progressive throughout despite the repetitive lyrics, while the differences in the song are shown through the changing instruments and the evolving bass and guitar riffs. The use of backing vocals is spot on, especially with its use in the chorus as more of a shout and as a quieter, more intimate repetition for lyrics within the rest of the song.
“All I Need” shows a musical style similar to a combination of earlier Kings of Leon, the White Stripes and The Arctic Monkeys but with a scruffier lead singer (if that was even possible with Kings of Leon). Halfway through the song it cuts to silence with the lead singer still singing, allowing a really nice change of pace. Overall it flows very nicely, however for a five minute song some differences in instrumentation and vocals are necessary.
Different than the prior two tracks, “The Road” sounds more drowned out and surf rock-esque, giving much more of a pop sound. An interesting inclusion to the album, “The Road” really showcases the versatility of the band in terms of genre experimentation, but the guitar hero solo about halfway through the song indicates that some further tweaking is needed to perfect a cohesive sound for an album.
The final two tracks are “All I Need (Single Edit)” and “Where the Bees Come to Die”, both of which have issues. “All I Need” is on this album twice, and with only five songs total that is unnecessary repetition without much change between the two versions (although the second “All I Need” cuts out about a minute and a half of useless jamming). “Where the Bees Come to Die” has a bluesy steel guitar introduction that sounds too blues-influenced to be surf rock but still retains intrigue. The entire ending track is an instrumental, which is a strange choice considering there are only three true songs on the album.
Overall, The Boy From The Crowd has the chops to create something exciting and catchy, but falls short in delivery on Where the Bees Come to Die. The lack of cohesiveness on the album indicates some indecision in terms of the style of the band, which can either be a good thing or a bad thing for the future of the band. However, the interesting style of blues and rock is definitely something that holds promise.
The Boy From The Crowd released Where the Bees Come to Die on December 7, 2015 and is currently available for purchase on its Bandcamp, here or on The Boy From The Crowd website, here.
Artist to Watch: Bad Reed
With only one official musical release, Bad Reed is transcending genres. The four piece jack-of-all-trades band from Brantford, Ontario shows their versatile chops on the Bad Reed EP. Over the course of three songs, Bad Reed manages to capture elements of psychedelic funk metal, rhythmic southern blues and synth rock in a way that is reminiscent of the ‘90s.
“Punch It”, the first track off of the EP, introduces refreshingly clear vocals to the hash-mash of instruments going on in the background. The song builds up, gradually including more guitar parts and more synth patterns until the lead vocalist is slowly lost into the mix. Whether or not that effect was intentional is unclear, but if the purpose of the track is to have the listener melt into their surroundings, then it works very well.
A personal favorite, “Slackjaw Romance” creates the perfect balance of calm and cool. It sounds like something you’d hear in a jazz nightclub around 12 a.m., and commands the same attention from listeners (no matter where they are). The combination of dark lyrical content and swanky yet collected vocals results in a track that is both memorable and catchy.
The final track “Cassava” sounds like a lost Incubus track, allowing singer Sydney Sollazzo to showcase her range and smooth delivery. About halfway through the track is a mini acoustic session that is a confusing break from the previous progression, but segways nicely into the remaining two minutes. Using acoustic guitar parts and drowned out synth as a build up and the reintroduction of electric guitar and drums is made possible by the consistent nature of the straight-forward vocals, which tie the tracks together where they otherwise would have fallen apart.
Bad Reed released the Bad Reed EP on June 13, 2015 and is currently available for free download (or suggested donation) on its Bandcamp. More information about the band Bad Reed is available on their website, here.
Sorority Noise: “Tiny Rick (Let Me Out)”
All musicians love doing covers of other songs, but these guys have taken the cake. Sorority Noise, a four-piece emo band from Hartford, Connecticut, recently released a single on their Bandcamp website that is none other than “Tiny Rick (Let Me Out)”. For fans of the wildly popular television series Rick and Morty, this is a homage to the episode “Big Trouble In Little Sanchez” in season two where Rick transfers his consciousness into a younger-bodied version of himself. While at a party, the newly-dubbed Tiny Rick grabs a random acoustic guitar and breaks out into song about his body trying to control his switched consciousness. At least it wasn’t Wonderwall.
In a time where artists are pushed to be their most creative, who would have thought to make a post-rock version of a song featured in an Adult Swim show? Sorority Noise definitely deserves a high five and pat on the back for this one.
You can listen to the ridiculously awesome “Tiny Rick (Let Me Out)” and Sorority Noise’s most recent release Joy, Departed here: