Video Vacuum - Fraudband , Juan Wauters, Brief Candles, Weird Womb

It's hump day, let's loosen up a bit and watch some vids, yeah?

'(I've Got An) Eastern Block' by Fraudband from Kasumuen Records on Vimeo.

Fraudband come from the Neumusak realm in Melbourne (Faspeedelay being another acolyte). Their improv breakdown EP was pretty great. Here is a clip that is all about letting loose and freaking out. It's funny, weird, freaky, goofy, and a loose jam turned into flesh. Try these moves out at work - go on, I dare you...

Juan Wauters. Any more necessary? OK how about a weird and funny VHS film clip based on a show that I'm assuming shows film clips then people ring in and vote on whether to - yep - make or break it. In all honesty, Wauters would fit right in here in Australia. Goofy film clip, plaintive songs, silly sense of humour...and Coolio?

Brief Candles are a band I mentioned in 2011 that were taking the shoegaze fanaticism and running it through the sharpest filters, showing a leaner, meaner approach with the right degree of sugar and light and were all the better for it. Their new song 'Terry Nation' is significantly darker than much that was on their great Fractured Days album - it has some krautrock leanings, some rusted freakouts, and a killer filmclip pastiching 60s/70s television into an amazingly intricate and bewitching watch - especially around the 4 minute mark when the band break into a feedback wielding meltdown. And there are Daleks - a childhood nightmare/favourite. These Milwaukee kids have got it going on.

Saving the most NSFW video for last, here is Tuscan, Arizona's Weird Womb and the visceral and hilarious film clip for their newie 'Tanned Tits'. What is a grotty and offputting sex scene becomes a "when violated women fuck back" as the girl puts the headphones and starts to show this sweaty demon what it means to get down and dirty. This is a V/H/S clip without the horror. Weird Womb are a pretty incredible band, and to finish off here is their previous track 'Pale Piss' - yep, they are that kind of band...

NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

The Briefest Candles Burn Brightest

Another little known band, another great release! This time Im talking about Milwaukee band Brief Candles, whose Fractured Days LP (out on Guilt Ridden Pop) is nothing short of spectacular. Marrying the shoegaze sonics of My Bloody Valentine with the finesse and whimsy of the Swirlies with some sort of Superchunk sugar rush in there too? At first description many of you will think "So Fucking What? Every band and his two-legged companion is doing that!" Well, that isnt that true, but when done well you nod and applaud. When done really well, like what is on offer on Fractured Days, then the lathered sweat is warranted.


Its so loud and guitar driven, yet the vocals and lyrics are incredibly affecting - look no further than the brilliant tete a tete on single 'Small Streets' ("In 1983, when we first heard ‘Come On Eileen,’ / I knew that you could see and you could understand. / We knew the same small streets, the same small towns, the same small creeps, / and we knew that we would leave or die by our own hands.") Those words are closer to my teenagehood than Id like to admit.

Which is interesting, as Fractured Days is so 90s indie that it has me tearing up at how affected it all was, and how much posing goes on today. When I look at a lot of the utter pandering "look at me! Ill pretend to be disdainful but really relish any attention, positive or otherwise!" bullshit bands that get lauded over, it makes me physically ill. So thank you Brief Candles, for reminding me that whilst guys like you are still around, everything just might turn out OK...

Brief Candles - 10 Weeks
Brief Candles - Small Streets