This week the announcement of new albums from two of the world's premiere psych rock bands hit the streets, and it would be remiss of me not to shine considerable light on them both - especially as these bands have the tinge of the Apocalypse about them, with their search for the greater realms and all, and seeing as its getting all environmentally apocalyptic here in Brisbane, it is befitting to use these guys as the soundtrack to our demise...
Firstly, I have writ large on my love of Texans The Black Angels throughout these "illustrious" pages - the fact that their set at a hail-plagued and frankly underwhelming Harvest Festival this year was a clear highlight that their effect over me is far from diminished. The fact that their guitarist Christian Bland is responsible for one of the best curated festivals on the planet, the Austin Psych Fest, ups the ante. The fact that they accepted SM local faves Dreamtime to join the fray this year is cherry on top.
So the announcement of Indigo Meadow, The Black Angels' fourth longplayer, piqued my interest no end. The first taste comes in the form of 'Don't Play With Guns', which is not about the Aurora Colorado Dark Knight shootings, but could very well be.
“Our music has always tried to shed light on issues that may be hard to deal with or confront,” says singer/multi-instrumentalist Alex Maas. “If people think they can ignore the issues they are wrong. Don't play with guns, don't touch a hot stove, don't give your child a poisonous snake, don't turn the cheek when artists are willing to discuss these issues. In ‘Don't Play With Guns’ the antagonist is a female who has the power of persuasion over a man,” he continues. “Substitute the female antagonist with a Nation, substitute the manipulated man with yourself. Heed the warning: Don't Play With Guns.”
We mustn't get too carried away - this is a psych band that loooooove getting high - but their notions are spot on here, and the song is true BA black magic.
Trek to the West Coast though, and you find a band equally as adept at wielding the dark, chugging death rattle of psychedelic dirge. Los Angeles' Dead Meadow are resurfacing after a break in creative output (2010's The Three Kings was an exhaustive trip, albeit one bristling with darkly rich undercurrents), prepping a double LP to be titled Warble Womb (put out by Xemu Records). This is doubly exciting seeing as it marks the first album to feature returning original member and contributing songwriter Mark Laughlin (drums) since 2001’s Howls From The Hills. The reunited original trio of Laughlin, Jason Simon (guitar/vocals) and Steven Kille (bass) released the following statement on the new material. “The new material will strike many as a return to the heavier side of our first albums. However, it still retains a good deal of the psych-pop element that was more prominent on our Matador Records releases. The way Warble Womb came out, we are viewing it as almost a follow-up to Howls from the Hills.”
Hole. E. Shit. Colour me all kinds of LSD-induced excited. Now as long as I ride this wild weather out...
just a quickie here. As previously mentioned, Harvest (featuring Portishead, Flaming Lips, Mogwai, The National, Holy Fuck and a host of others) hists Brisbane's Botanical Gardens tomorrow, followed by the amazing iPhone replaying of the Flaming Lips' epic Zaireeka album as orchestrated by Wayne Coyne himself. Also on that night will be Melbourne's great exponents of post rock atmospherics Laura, playing at Woodland. But if you want to start your music overdose early, get to Woodland tonight, as the bands responsible for two of the most exciting albums of 2011 are converging for a night of drunken passion.
Royal Headache (self-titled) and Dick Diver (Now Start Again - listen to the whole thing here) are going to blow everyone away, and this is a promise. Very exciting! Supported by local act Loose Grip, and at just a tenner, this promises to be a stellar show.
(As a side note, my mate (and now brother-in-law) can't get into RH because the vocalist sounds too much like Ted Leo. As I haven't seen them live yet, I cant pass on the definitive verdict - but that summation is fucking funny.)
Here is an album that I didn't even know I was looking forward to!
Melbourne instrumental act Laura put out two great albums in the mid-2000s, Mapping Your Dreams and Radio Swan is Down, as well as live album (re)Capitulate. I came to the band from this last release and fell in love with these ambient rockers, quickly working backwards through these two albums. I then promptly went overseas and thought that was it - all was quiet on the Laura front. It appears that life got in the way - but Laura didn't disappear into the ether. Releasing EP Yes Maybe No in 2008 (obviously I missed that one), its taken over five years (or as band member Andrew puts it, it'll have been 191 million heartbeats) but a new longplayer is on its way - Twelve Hundred Times.
As complex and cinematic as ever, Laura are bringing forth their best album to date, and they are bringing it north to Brisbane, playing Woodland on Saturday November 19. Some of you may recognise the date - that is also when the massive Harvest festival touches down, featuring the likes of Flaming Lips, Mogwai and Portishead amongst its many amazing artists that will be on board. This really hurts for us Laura fans, but the band are intending to go on as late as possible in case you want to catch one more stellar performance that evening. There are efforts afoot to get em to play an early all ages instore on the Sunday - I will keep you posted on that venture. In the meantime, if you aren't going to Harvest, this is THE show to get to. Twelve Hundred Times is available now.
