Why Would You Be A Blood Sister, Man?

The Ganglians/Night Manager (RIP *sigh*) conglomeration Blood Sister has brought forth a lovely lil 7” through Unpiano Books (in only their second vinyl release) which is a pretty exciting listen. The giddy cantankerousness of the guitars buzzing through ‘Why Would You’ is offset by a sugar-rush of synthesised fallacy that is then pulverised by the omnipresent bassline. All is deep fried in a fuzz-laden crunch, with the gnarled vocal barbs sprayed over the top like Srirachi sauce (which I am fully addicted to incidentally – I go through a bottle a month. ANYway…) Then there is ‘Bart Simpson’ which comes with the same energetic propulsion underscored with a darker angular bent. Vocals are more soothing here, like putting clove oil on an angry tooth nerve ending, but like troopers the smile stays intact, if a little skewed. Get it here.

Third Crack At The Skull

Portland's Eat Skull exist in a netherworld of churning hydraulics and gurning hysterics, a puerile, deadbeat bunch that revel in a no-fi miasma of noise and inertia. This would put them on the second tier, neither here nor there, a band that rarely left their nihilistic domain, were shite on record but incendiary live (if you were lucky enough to find them in a dilapidated art gallery or underneath a bridge) - if it weren't for the fact that the four-piece hide well-written pop compositions underneath the clatter and debris. Siltbreeze may have latched onto the nascent nihilism of their sound on debut record Sick & Tired - an album that should be good, if not for all the aural sandpaper scouring away your eardrums -  but others saw the melodicism beneath. I had the luxury of seeing them support Ganglians around Xmas 2010 at XOYO in London, and they wiped the floor with those hippies - then bizarrely made it over to Australia for another spate of fun-filled shows. Nevertheless it felt like the potential had not been maxed out - not by a long shot. The boys became more open with their songwriting on Wild and Inside, and have perfected their move out under the waterfall of static and abrasion with III, startling in its fidelity, whilst also vindicating the beliefs of many that Eat Skull were...you know...actually good.

That's not to say that their third LP is straightforward,  accessible fare - not by a long shot (e.g. 'How Do I Know When To Say Goodnight' is some synth freakout that will infuriate and energise in equal measure; 'Twin Sikk Moons' offers the noise, without the tinnitus) - but its leaps and bounds the best thing they have produced sonically. I still long for tracks like 'Stick To The Formula' or 'New Confinement' to receive such luminous treatment in the studio, and maybe the next album will push Eat Skull into that upper echelon. But until then, III is incredible in parts, with a few tracks destined to signify what it actually means to be Eat Skull, without the shitgaze.

III is out through Woodsist - you can grab it here.

Eat Skull - Space Academy
Eat Skull - Dead Horses 
Eat Skull - Catch Em Before They Vanish

Three Ominous Beaches

 

Its been a very hot summer. Best time to be in a country that loves its pools - and even better, that has incredible beaches. It hasn't been the best for me though - in the UK for most of it, then in hospital, then banned from water like a Mogwai. Sigh. The beach holds so many great memories. Here are three beaches though that you should be wary of though - don't go burying your stash in the sand or off into the dunes with a handsome stranger here. Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water etc etc.

  

This first Beach band (and the impetus for this post) had a release out in the dying light of last year, Pacific. Canberra's Danger Beach is the solo project of Lachlan Thomas (formerly of sadly now defunct Assassins 88). His debut record Milky Way was somewhat a hit out there in the global internet ether, whilst the video for the track 'Apache' was nominated as a finalist for the 2012 Vimeo Music Video Awards. Those lo-fi meanderings aren't entirely gone, yet there is a slicker, darker perspective to these tunes that, if the glossy cover art is anything to go by, lurks in that in-between state between dark and light in the city - where the darkness never truly invades, but never truly leaves either. Think of Michael Mann's Collateral. There are sunny moments like 'Bee' or great track 'Idle Hands', but above all the devil is in the twilit details - especially the sirens that light up the stone-cold classic that is the closer 'Dark Blue' - fucking rad. A great album from a great up and coming band, you can get Pacific through Dream Damage here.

 

Whilst Canberra isn't that far from the golden sands of a quintessential beach, there aren't places much further from such a destination as Scandinavia. Yet this is where we find Cannon Beach, and befittingly the Danish/Norwegian duo aren't likely to break out the Shangri-La leads anytime soon. Having met in the countryside of Denmark, the tracks on Concrete, People And Things stem from approaching music from different perspectives (from folk-oriented Americana to ambient compositions and tape manipulations, with a common neutral ground in shoegaze noise). The result is sparse, eclectic, but oft-times electric. Example in point is ‘Sacred Harp’, an instrumental made up essentially of an autoharp connected to a Leslie amplifier, one guitar-amplifier and one bass-amplifer, a drone experiment that bleeds into the moody atmospherics of 'Loki'. Out through Ikenai! Records, you can grab Concrete, People And Things here.

 

Out of these three beaches, Menace Beach probably has the most recognition, at least potentially. A Leeds-based quasi-"supergroup" featuring members of Pulled Apart By Horses, Sky Larkin and Hookworms, I was immediately enamoured by their scuzzy nature, although they are also the closest to beach guitar pop of the three - their PR even pushes references of Wavves and Ganglians onto us. They are not bereft of ideas though, already rolling out a couple of tracks for Too Pure Records' Singles Club to back up their self-titled debut EP. 'Dropouts' sounds as much Breeders territory as anything else, or mid 90s Britpop that flirted with noisier, more whacked-out guitar settings, whilst 'Tastes Like Medicine' comes from the Williams/Cosentino school of shimmering lightweights that still somehow manage to remain fun and relevant. Pre-order this sucker here.
 

VIDEO VACUUM - Ben Salter, Ganglians, Wooden Shjips, TV On The Radio

Only a couple days now until the inaugural Sonic Masala Presents... launch, and you can see how excited we are here on the ranch - that's a real life photo of me above... But we aren't dropping the ball, no siree! It still gets us to the grind, so here are four vids that should grease up those wheels - with music attached, of course...

Ben Salter is a Brisbane musical mainstay, his stints with the likes of Giants Of Science, The Gin Club and the Young Liberals speaking for themselves (is that even a grammatically correct sentence? Salts, can you help me out on that one?) Anyway, he brought out his long-awaited debut solo rekkid, The Cat, earlier this year (produced by none other than Gareth Liddiard of The Drones, no less), and it's a real doozy. Here is the video for leading single off it, 'The Coward' (which is so old it used to be called 'Yellow', but when Coldplay brought a certain song with the same name he deemed it necessary to change it. Wow...) I love it because it's on the Brisbane trains. And Salter looks like many of the crazies you encounter on the train to Ipswich at any given hour...



Wooden Shjips' latest effort West is pretty killer. Just to show HOW killer, the San Franciscan psych dwellers have gotten together a video for spiky number 'Lazy Bones' - directed by none other than Black Dice! You can't get more excellently referential than that. We saw Ripley Johnson in his other form as Moon Duo last weekend - excellente! - and we get to see Black Dice touch down in a couple months. Still waiting on an actual Wooden Shjips tour though...

Wooden Shjips - Lazy Bones from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

Im kinda hot and cold when it comes to Ganglians. They are one of those acts that tend to drag me in with their recordings, then disappoint when it comes to the live arena. This is a pretty unusual dilemma, but it occasionally happens (Real Estate have also led me down this path...) Anyway, John Hinckley's video for Ganglians' latest single 'Bradley' is pretty ace. Ill probably keep giving these hipster hippies the benefit of the doubt til the day they die...

Ganglians - "Bradley" from John Hinckley on Vimeo.

TV On The Radio have had a tumultuous year to say the least, but they continue to roll on, and that adds more stars on their lapels as far as Im concerned. Their fourth album Nine Types Of Light may have perplexed some, but I liked it more than their last album. Go figure. They are playing in Australia next month, so here is a track to get us all lathered up for it...



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Gig - Ganglians/Eat Skull/Graffiti Island @ XOYO, 08.11.10

Tonight is yet ANOTHER Upset The Rhythm show - this time its Ganglians being supported by Eat Skull and Graffiti Island.

I make it down to XOYO - second time in a week! - in time to catch opening act Graffiti Island. They perform a lackadaisical set, mainly set by the frontman's over nonchalant approach to being out front, with weird mumbled interludes and such. And whilst the band's brand of tropical lo fi punk is a little samey, there are slices of radness throughout, evoking Buddy Holly via the Wipers, mainly driven by the bassist's businessmanlike approach to each song, which juxtaposes his tie dye shirt, tattoo sleeves andf Urge Overkill haircut. Ill be keeping an eye on these guys in the future months.

Next up - Eat Skull, the band Im really here to see, and they dont disappoint. In their 40 minute set, they display the shambolic nature of their sound, their songs, and their interplay - and it always works. They are Americana stripped of earnestness; they are doo wop stripped of innocence; they are college rock stripped of cardigans (and prone to beating the fuck out of Rivers Cuomo). Live the fuzz that permeates their fizzing releases is mostly eradicated, and the songs rise to the occasion, as does lead Rob Enbom, whose voice alters to fit the mood of the songs, whether it be the slimier early insane ones, or the later, more melody-laden spike bombs. All in all, a great if too short set - and to think they are struggling for shows over here!

Finally its Ganglians turn. I havent been the biggest fans of Ganglians, but the first half of their set seems about to change my mind. More intricate and daring than their normal trop punk shtick, this is highlighted by their 'new' track, a more meandering psych affair that shows a possible new dawn for the band. The second half though goes back into their normal oeuvre, and is all the more unconvincing for it. Dont get me wrong - they are a relatively in tune band, with some interesting things to show us - but with the vocals under constant reverb as always, the indie pop dreams that infuse this fuzzy mess just comes across as uninspiring. Second time Ive seen Ganglians - second time Ive left feeling like Ive been duped. Ah well - at least the supports were able to prop up the show, and as always, UtR give a polished show. Time for another beer.

Ganglians Eating Skulls At XOYO Tonight

Another week, another rad Upset The Rhythm show to get along to. Tonight sees Sacramento jangly upstarts Ganglians take centre stage at XOYO, supported by scuzzbuckets Eat Skull and minimalist garage punks Graffiti Island. Im mega pumped for this - Eat Skull's LPs out through Siltbreeze and their latest Woodsist Jerusalem Mall 7" have been dirty slices of enjoyment, whilst Graffiti Island have garnered some intriguing word of mouth thumbs ups (if thats possible?). Enjoy - we certainly will!

Ganglians - Voodoo

Eat Skull - Dont Leave Me On The Speaker

Graffiti Island - Head Hunters