Parting Thunder On The Air Waves

As you may well know, I am a massive Lower Dens fan. Just about anything that Jana Hunter puts her name too, I'm there. So of course I jumped all over Parting Glances, the new album from New York's Air Waves AKA Nicole Schneit. The album is Schneit, her band and a bunch of friends, including members of Hospitality, Crystal Stilts, Woods and more - but it was Hunter's collaborations that were the drawcard for me. 'Thunder' in particular is a real killer - Hunter's burbling metronomic guitar lines evoking the best of Lower Dens' insidious psych meanderings, while Schneit croons about about the danger of addictive personalities (I think?) - it's the darkest song on the album, and for me by far the best. 'Horse Race' is more upbeat, albeit by a smudge, what with the piano and the warm hum as the hunt for a man in a fast Cadillac rolls on. But listen to Parting Glances and these additional musicians become less and less noticeable, blending effortlessly into Schneit's dusky guitar pop world. That long-car, fleeting-light mentality that permeates 'Horse Race' is held aloft throughout - I felt like I was listening to Heart or The Cars in a 21st century self-aware bathysphere, taking on lyricism and melody that is both rustic and heartfelt, gleefully sonorous and yet filled with chagrin. Other favourites include the wistful 'Fantasy', the slow burn 'Milky Way' and the charged, countrified squall of 'Sweet Talk'. Above all, Parting Glances is a great record. Grab it here.

Video Vacuum - Crystal Stilts, Orlando Furious, Invisible Threads, Naked Bodies

Here is an old(ish) Video Vacuum that I've been meaning to post for about a month and forgot about, slipped through the cracks of time etc etc. Sorry about the delay. But now revel in some A/V madness...

One of the first interviews I ever did was with New York's psychers Crystal Stilts early in 2011. I was recording from home, had just bought a dictaphone (that I still use) and was interviewing singer Brad Hargett as the band tripped from Austin to New Orleans. It was a disaster - the mobile phone played havoc with the frequencies of the dictaphone so I had to try and shorthand on a small scrap of paper as Hargett spoke. People who know me can attest that my writing is pretty abysmal at the best of times, so it took a hell of a lot of deciphering and second-guessing to get the article to come to light. It's actually a pretty good end product. Mainly because i loved the band so much, and the experience, so it all stuck with me. If I had to interview some pop punk band again and that shit went down, I'd probably think "Fuck it" and walk out of the room. ANYway, we now come to their video for the excellent, EXCELLENT song 'Star Crawl' from last year's Nature Noir LP. Vistas in washed out colours, inverted colours, UV raided rays. It fits the wasted malaise of this "ballad" perfectly. As an added bonus, here is a more punked-up track, in line with where they are headed next...

And now for something completely different...

Melbourne's Orlando Furious recorded this back in June. It's on his fresh EP (watch this space regarding that...). Ben is a performance artist, there is no doubting that - but not only is the film clip suitably weird and crazy, but the track 'Fresh' is emblematic of the kind of lo-fi electronic nonsense that ...So We Drowned era Liars revelled and excelled in. It's an amazing song, and proves that Orlando Furious could very well be a fucking genius.

Here is a duo from Auckland playing a warped drone pop a la Wooden Shjips being bled out into the veins of Japandroids (yes I'm into my band comparisons today - sue me). Its standard band-playing-in-a-room fare, with footage projected over them, weird unrelated footage woven together, some slightly Satanic imagery subliminally jumping forth. Above all its a loud as all get out song that really promises a lot. The scrawling squall at the last ten seconds that shows the underbelly of Invisible Threads as masked madmen is a nice touch also.

And let's finish with another guitar feedback heavy song, this one in the stretched out cosmic psych variety, from another Melbourne outfit, Naked Bodies. Another clip relying on incredible editing of bizarre archival footage. And again, when done right like it is here, it is some of the most evocative, alluring, hallucinogenic imagery that you can imagine, and infinitely heightens the appeal of 'Ride On'. In fact the clip is so good it actually supersedes the song. Not a bad thing - it means I have heard 'Ride On' twice as much (if not more) than I would have had the footage not been there. 

NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Sacred Crystal Opens This Radiant Door

Sacred Bones has been crazy prolific with its releases this year, averaging two a month. Their 22nd and final release for 2011 is a special one (aren't they all though?). New York dark light trippers Crystal Stilts only released their eggsellent In Love With Oblivion LP earlier this year, but Radiant Door, rather than a collection of offal off-cuts, is a great EP that further broadens this band's aspirations. And is kinda fitting, as the band's drummer is Keegan Cooke, the dude who has screen printed all the label's records since their inception - this guy doesn't know how to quit!


The EP has five new tracks on it, all of which are teetering perilously over the bottomless well of pop perfection. It shows another, light shade of the band's aesthetic, and with each strip of dirty laundry they tear away another persona comes to light. Its a fascinating listen from a fascinating band that often gets swallowed up by the many retro-fitted scuzz garage dwellers of the modern age. Help make amends - elevate Crystal Stilts by grabbing Radiant Door here.

Crystal Stilts - Dark Eyes by sacredbones

Those Girls' Names Are Not Yet Dead To Me

How time flies. Belfast band Girls Names booked their first name before they'd even played together back in January 2009. Yet here we are, almost 2 and a half years since that infamous date, and the trio have released their debut LP Dead To Me on Slumberland Records. They have definitely been busy before now, with many releases in different sizes and formats, and I have to say I was excited when I finally got my hands on this one.

And trepidatious.

Because as much as I like them, they have always threatened to err on the side of imitation. Supporting the likes of Dum Dum Girls hasn't helped rectify that sense of unease. And its true - Dead To Me does continue to mine the mixture of 60s shimmering beach/surf pop that so many others are wont to do in this day and age, and is most prevalent on tracks such as 'Nothing More To Say' - and somewhat heartfelt, endearing lyrics courteous of singer Neil Brogan, singing down the reverb path with his best Ian Curtis patios in check. And its very good - so likable, musically vibrant, rocks out whilst staying relatively upbeat. Yet its the old adage of "if it aint broke, dont fix it often" enough. The music has been done before in the past, and in the revivalist present, and done well. Dead To Me rivals all of that back catalogue, and surfs the crest of their contemporaries - but there is such a thing as saturation. Unfortunately Im just about at that point. As Ive said, this is still a good album, and Id still love to see them live. Its just gonna have to sit on the backburner for a while, and wait to see if it has the longevity that many of its influences have had. Except for closer 'Seance On A Wet Afternoon' - offering more of the darker trance vibe of Crystal Stilts, if the band had incorporated more of this inflection to give another side of their capabilities we might have had an immediate spinner.

Still as stated, it aint half bad, and with time comes inflection - we might see the palette expanded next time around.


Girls Names - Lawrence
Girls Names - Seance On A Wet Afternoon

Crystal Stilts Are In Love With Oblivion

A quick one here on the new Crystal Stilts album. I might be one of the few people that didn't love Alight Of Night - I liked it, sure, but I couldnt understand the avid devotion. But I have to say that after a few listens In Love With Oblivion resonates. I feel that it's on tracks such as 'Through The Floor', 'Sycamore Trees' and 'Alien Rivers' that the dark strung out nature of the band's musical MO rises above, melding with Brad Hargett's monotone vocals to create a set of songs that embrace the dirtier side of pop. Admittedly the production values have been brushed up a bit, and there are other aberrations from the CS norm, especially in the sprawling psych tinged jam that is 'Alien Rivers'. But overall this menage-a-trois of swampy dirge, hipsterfied disdain and adherence to pop aesthetics really works.

You can by the album through Slumberland Records here.

Crystal Stilts - Through The Floor
Crystal Stilts - Shake The Shackles

The Beets Are Dead...

I love The Beets. Remember how I didnt, but now I do? Yeah, it happens. I could always swing back - who knows right? But for now they kill. Their second LP Stay Home (on Captured Tracks) is as awesome as you'd expect, and 'Dead' just confirms it. This is my fave lo-fi garage album of the year thus far, and as you well know there have been many! The best thing about Stay Home too is that they have cleaned up the sound but kept it decidedly lo-fi, which is the best way to have it! This is how The Beets were designed to sound - unless that is you get to see them live, and if you are in the US over the next three months there's a good chance you'll get that opportunity! They are on a national tour with the also brilliant Eternal Summers, and will be joined occasionally by other rad acts such as X-Ray Eyeballs, Brilliant Colors and Crystal Stilts. So, listen to the album, but dont heed The Beets' advice - get out of bed, out of the house, into the garage, and rock!

The Beets - Dead

Bringing Back The Love

Wowee Zowee peeps! Sorry about the downlay in musical mayhem here at Planet Masala - its been quiet here due to the ridiculousness in the "real world" (AKA I accidentally maxed out the home Internet fund - sorry Luke and Sal...) Plus searching for work, getting work, getting more work, getting heaps of work, and uni has meant that I was on the cusp of believing I had too many fingers in too many pies. But if there's anything that those cinematic genuises behind American Pie taught me anything - and they taught me a LOT - its that you can NEVER have too many fingers into too many pies - you just combine it all in an orgiastic piefest (I think - maybe if I had caught the fourth and fifth sequels Id understand more...)

SO I am rorting the university by using their sizable Internet access to keep the SM dream alive. And as this has been some time in coming, here are a few tracks for you to sink your teeth into.

First up there is The Raveonettes, whose Sharin Foo is still hands down the hottest woman in rock. It helps that their first EP Whip It On is one of my all time favourite releases EVER. Really. Anyway, their fifth album Raven In The Grave comes out next month on Vice, and if this is anything to go by its going to be another hit, especially after hearing what other member of the due Sune Rose Wagner thought of its genesis:

"I think we have finally hit on something quite important and different for this album. This is the first Raveonettes album we've done which doesn't feature the signature Raveonettes surf drumbeat. None of the tunes have any real sunshine to them. It's all very un-Rave. It has a mood of ethereal defiance. It's dark but not bleak, like the single minded determination caused by crisis that is not quite hope but just as powerful. It's the perfect winter soundtrack just in time for spring."

The Raveonettes - Forget That You're Young

White Denim are another band with a hotly anticipated album in the wings. Gorilla Vs Bear have named them the best band at SXSW for the fourth consecutive year - a bit of love there mayhaps??? We've already sampled 'Drug' from D here - now try "Anvil Everything"!

White Denim - Anvil Everything

One of my favourite finds of last year was Tampa nutjobs Merchandise, whose dark distorted pop has entranced me for some time (check out my thoughts on last year's (Strange Songs) In The Dark LP here). They have just released a 7" on Katorga Records, Schoolyard b/w Graveyard, showcasing an amazing remix of the A-Side which has me even more sweat-lathered. These guys know how to weave a warped rhythm, and with the beats interlaid here they have a bona fide club hit - from the guys responsible for Cult Ritual? Anything's possible...

Merchandise - Schoolyard (Club Mix)

A band doing amazing things this side of the Equator is The Middle East. The Townsville, Queensland quintet have a cultivated, lush ambient folk sound with the slightest tinge of darkness, and its been going down a treat globally. They are releasing I Want That You Are Always Happy on Spunk Records April 8th, and "Black Death 1349" is off it. (Can you tell this was recorded at Midlake's Denton, Texas studios? Nah, me neither...)

The Middle East - Black Death 1349

Darlings are a NYC garage pop band whose song "Spit It Out" off EP Warma (out now on Famous Class Records) has been on incessant replay since the SM downtime, so was pretty much a sure thing to be on this lil playlist. Its decidedly heads in the cloud whimsy crossed with Pixies nerd punk, which has helped get me across the line on a few days this past fortnight.

Darlings - Spit It Out

"Zeppole Ben" is off Hello, Nice Evening. We Are The Everymen, an EP by The Everymen (weirdly enough). Its two and a bit minutes that reminded me of why Rocket From The Crypt were great. The rest of the 7" is radness - lots of different genres (with help from Kurt Vile no less!) all infused with cigarettes, sweat and more than a few regrets, readily forgotten...but I like it most when Sarin McHugh is shredding his vocals to next to nothing Buy it here.

The Everymen - Zeppole Ben

Last on the comeback playlist is a band that many have been biting their nails to the quick in anticipation for, Crystal Stilts. Their Alight Of Night was at the very crest of the lo-fi, scuzzy as fuck euphoria of DIY noise pop shenanigans. Now we get to see if the lightning can strike twice, as In Love With Oblivion comes down out of the sky April 12th. Its a Slumberland release, so that will tell you a lot with what to expect... Also, here is the admittedly perfunctory video to accompany the song "Through The Floor"... (Also the Brooklyn band are playing Cargo in London March 30th - although it appears to be sold out!)

Crystal Stilts - Through The Floor

Crystal Stilts "Through The Floor" from Slumberland Records on Vimeo

Welcome back...welcome back, welcome back, welcome back...

Frankie Attempts To Rise Above...With A Lil Help From Her Outed Friends

I started writing a series of posts a few weeks back that were somewhat tarred with the angry rant brush. I felt I hadn't gone on a decent rant for some time, and my sniper sights were far-reaching. Paul managed to pull my head in, and whilst my temper still bubbles, I have put my energies elsewhere - like making curries. (I made a great jalfrezi from scratch, plus a yellow Thai curry which is making me salivate just thinking of it. A rant is good for the soul though, and one will be forthcoming in due course).

The first post 'that never was' was related to my pet peeve of the past year - well, one of, I have loads - which is the glut of girl or girl-fronted bands. Without sounding casually sexist, I feel that all of these acts reaching deep down to realise their inner MOR Shangri-La/Joan Jett amidst their tatted torsos and icy faux-disinterested stances but are strangling each other, and have been doing so ever since the Vivian Girls made their (admittedly good) take at it on their self-titled debut back in 2008. And whilst I feel that other suddenly 'in' genres of sound have suffered a similar overcrowding a la the parks on a sunny day in October, its the girls that have taken the biggest 'meh' pill. The Girls At Dawn, Dum Dum Girls, All Saints Day, Procedure Club, The Babies - I could go on - all have at least one or two great songs in them, but the overall package comes more like when you buy an expensive gift for a child and they only play with the box. It just comes away all superfluous, hollow, and lazy.

But there is always a silver lining. Paul has championed Grass Widow in the past, and soon we will witness them live to see if they live up to their LP Past Time's promise - but we also have Frankie Rose. Frankie Rose and the Outs, to be fully honest. Now Frankie Rose is not exempt from the tarred brush of her own genre either, being as she is the past skinsmith of bands such as Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts and Dum Dum Girls. However it appears that she may have learnt from her past digressions (and once again Im looking at you, Dum Dum Girls...) Whilst the distinctive attractive indie looks are very much in evidence, Frankie and her Outs dont rest on their fashion sense and record collection, instead infusing a good sense of humour and humility into tracks such as the pop gem 'Candy' and the darker buzz of 'Little Brown Haired Girls'.

The debut self-titled LP is out through Slumberland Records, and it will be interesting to see if the rest of the album lives up to the samples we have gotten so far. And whilst I must admit that much of this sound is at the least passable on record - Dum Dum Girls' I Will Be denotes a level of cool attitude that doesnt translate in the live arena - Im holding high hopes for Frankie Rose, that she may prove to be a shining light to her sisters-in-arms. After all, if Best Coast can sugarcoat the garage pop to an inch of its life then sprinkle it with shavings of marijuana, and the Raveonettes can swing like a pendulum from dark noir pop to sunny Pretty-In-Pink soda pop with cool abandon, why cant this genre find more women able to get out of their hipster hovels and brand their own individuality on their musical tropes?

Frankie Rose and the Outs - Little Brown Haired Girls

Frankie Rose and the Outs - Candy

Frankie Rose and the Outs - Girlfriend Island

New Crystal Stilts Shakes the Shackles and Plugs It Up

I wouldnt have posted about this - many others have already - but its prevalent to a previous post, and its awesome to boot, so...deal with it.

Another conversation I had on the weekend at the glorious balcony BBQ we had (see Dungen's post for enlightenment), was on the current trend of bands to play that fuzzy, scuzzy dreamy summer pop thing. My opinion was that the bands to encapsulate that sound first may have ignited the craze, but as months have gone by other bands have come out that either diminish the sound (and to be honest, I think that includes most of the genre) or usurped them in their competency. I threw out the two Crystals - Antlers and Stilts. However I was shouted down about Crystal Stilts, that their sound was still distinctively loud and dirty, and that I should give them another chance (there was no such outcry for the Antlers though - sorry...)

And would you know it, but then Crystal Stilts bring out some new tunes, like Carrie's hand pushing through the freshly turned earth of her grave (that I had admittedly dug that night) and grabbing my ankle, reminding me that they will never go away... 'Shake The Shackles' will be available through Slumberland Records in October, so you still have a month to have the hard copy. Nevertheless, here it is, and I am eating humble pie. It is true swampy drone rock, and has me salivating at the thought of a follow up to the stellar Alight of Night, (and proving that they aren't missing Frankie Rose...but thats another story...).

Yep, Im sucking it up, big time.

Shake the Shackles by Crystal Stilts

Magnetic Moon by Crystal Stilts

Album review - Dum Dum Girls' I Will Be

Its amazing to see the tidal surge of lo-fi acts getting major cred in the music industry in the past year. Industry buzz, combined with the ever expanding reach and power of the internet as a means of promoting music, has allowed many a bedroom swamp dweller to four track their way to semi-acknowledgement. A quick look at the bands swinging by Austin, Texas this month for the South By Southwest Festival is testament to the fact that scuzzy garage guitars, surf rock tendencies and 60s chamber pop sensibilities are, like, so ‘in’. And whilst I may say all of this slightly tongue in cheek, I am happy for this occurrence to be taking place, as there is a high percentage of good acts being discovered just through their mere association with the bandwagon juggernaut.

One band that seems to be riding the very crest of this tidal surge is the Dum Dum Girls. Growing from the solo thrashings of singer/guitarist/ Dee Dee, the past year has shown a meteoric rise for the now four piece group, as members from Vivian Girls and Crystal Stilts (two bands firmly entrenched in this world) have helped Dum Dum Girls crawl from the sea, develop limbs and opposable thumbs, and consequently attempt to take over the world, a lo-fi Godzilla.

At least, this is what much of the media hype surrounding them would have you believe.

In actual fact, Dum Dum Girls is still a band in its infancy, and its an enjoyable childhood to adolescence to adulthood experience to watch. Having released a series of singles and mixtapes for the likes of Captured Tracks and Zoo Music, Dee Dee has gradually expanded on her pop-punk romanticisms to include more bombast, more grrl riot, and a lot more melody.

Which brings us to I Will Be, the official debut album by the Girls out on Subpop Records. It is the first recording where Dee Dee has put music to tape with her bandmates in mind, and it shows. Aided by friends in high places (Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs lends a hand on the album; Crocodiles’ Brandon Welchez turns up for a duet), a masterstroke of a producer (pensmith of My Boyfriend’s Back and purveyor of gems from Blondie, The Voivoids and The Raveonettes, Richard Gottehrer) and a strong label showing full unabashed support (Subpop being the seminal logo it is, its nigh on impossible to get better publicity), this is a diamond in the (surprisingly not so) rough.

Opening track “It Only Takes One Night” is a clear indicator of things to come. It is vintage Dum Dums, and vintage Gottehrer – gone is more of that fuzzy hazy sound that is synonymous with compatriots Vivian Girls, and in comes a sound more in line with the 60s girl rock groups and early punk rockers that the band clearly emulates. The reverb, cool but tough vocals, insistent rhythm section – it is the Raveonettes’ seminal Whip It On era noir pop, a decade on. Other songs, such as “Bhang Bhang, Im A Burnout” and “Oh Mein Me” show the sunny Shangri-Las influence in heavy repose. Dee Dee doesn’t change anything she has done in the past, with each song sticking to its purpose, eleven songs in total, only two breaking the three minute barrier. It is also great to hear a clearer version of two earlier Dum Dums tracks, “Jail La La” and the aforementioned Dee Dee/Welchez duet “Blank Girl”.

And it is this that makes the difference, and indeed makes this album more than just a sum of its parts. Gottehrer’s involvement is a masterstroke, providing the materials and know-how necessary to bring Dee Dee’s vocals to the forefront, distinguishing each instrument, and effectively bringing the Girls out of the garage and into the spotlight. I Will Be is what many others in this newly minted throwback genre have aspired to create – a true representation of ‘that 60s sound’, an honest homage, and a refreshing reinterpretation. These girls ain’t so dum(b) after all.