Honesty Clashes On The Beach

Just a quick post bout Clash The Truth, the new album from Dustin Payseur and his Beach Fossils. I remember when his self-titled record came on the scene at the beginnings of a time when lo-fi post-punk pop was king, especially from Brooklyn. Since then we have had Wild Nothing, Hanoi Janes, DIIV, Surfer Blood, Real Estate, Ducktails, Craft Spells - the list goes on and on. So at the beginnings of 2013 Beach Fossils return with their second LP (on Captured Tracks once more), Payseur now with a band in tow, and it would be easy to surmise that the lustre would have worn off, that the rich vein that has been mined so far over the past few years would have dried up. But for the most part, Clash The Truth is an incredibly strong, affecting, addictive listen. The immediacy of having a band frees Payseur to open up the shoulders and really throw himself into these tunes, so songs like the title track and 'Careless' are fast and furious, warm and urgent. There is Balearic fare too - the instrumental 'Modern Holiday', the forlorn 'Sleep Apnea'. At times it feels these track rollick along too fast, where there was still room to grow and breathe. But when a chiming cruiser like 'Shallow' flies in at you, you can't help but be swept away by the juxtaposition of Payseur's laconic vocals and the intense instrumentation. Clash The Truth is a great follow up album, and cements Beach Fossils as much more than a passing fad.

You can - and should - grab Clash The Truth here.

Beach Fossils - Clash The Truth
Beach Fossils - Shallow

Sssailing Away On Crystal Shipsss...

Jacob Faurholt is the man behind the warped lo-fi meanderings of Crystal Shipsss, and his first longplayer under the moniker Yay is one that buries under your skin effortlessly. With most tracks under two minutes, it would be fair to think that these songs are a little undercooked or throwaway - au contraire, it has me wondering why three minutes is the quintessential length for a successful pop song. The Danish producer is based in Berlin and has supported the likes of Efterklang, Grizzly Bear, and The Black Heart Procession in Europe, so his talent is recognised, yet on Yay I get a sense that Faurholt is taking things up a notch. There is something fragile and passionate in these songs - the haunting lilt of 'My Dark Slimy Soul', the misty-eyed nostalgia of 'Smile', the slowburning tension of 'Crystal Lipsss' - that makes them relatable, and inherently infectious. Faurholt states that his friends in Montreal were making music as their living, which changed his outlook on the medium, and in 2010 began writing these songs only when motivated and without over-thinking things - just letting it happen when the need arose. Such aspersions are eveident throughout and have helped to inform some beautiful compositions. Faurholt's high-pitched wavering vocals may take some people out of the frame at first, but persevere for there are some incredible tracks here. In the same vein of Beach Fossils and Hanoi Janes as far as lo-fi aspirations, albeit in a quirkier vein, Crystal Shipsss is a project that we all should keep an eye on.


Yay is out now (on sweet mint-green 10" vinyl too) through Raw Onion Records and Three Ring Records. Grab it here.

Crystal Shipsss - Uh Huh
Crystal Shipsss - Crystal Lipsss
Crystal Shipsss - Burning Kingdom

Spectral Pennies Aren't So Bad - More So-So

Spectrals (known as Louis Oliver Jones to his mum) has really tickled the fancy of the blogging world over the past couple years, and with good reason. His rise coincides with a plethora of bedroom dreamers (which number Wild Nothing, Beach Fossils, Cloud Nothings and Hanoi Janes in their midst) whose windswept, reverb-laden wistful pop reinvigorated the idea of what it takes to be a pop artist. The UK act has put out acclaimed releases on the likes of Moshi Moshi and Sex Is Disgusting, but we now have the LP Bad Penny (with Wichita Records fighting off Captured Tracks for the rights to put it out) to play with.

Now, before discussing the album, let me state my opinions here. Like most bedroom projects, the quality of output varies wildly, regardless of what the pop culture intelligentsia like to tell us. The above mentioned bands I enjoy (especially Cloud Nothings and Hanoi Janes), but as with most of the genre trends of the past few years, with the fires fanned by the "cool" generators (no names need to be mentioned), we get a glut of "next big things" that are either too green, unfairly pigeonholed or are just plain shit. It takes the gloss off the achievements of the people who are succeeding at their chosen craft (one case in point - Toro Y Moi and Washed Out's concerted efforts to step away from the tsunami of similar-sounding artists of a sound they invariably created). So, whilst I've liked some of Spectrals' retro 50s/60s pop meanderings, I approached his highly anticipated album with wariness.

Bad Penny is a great name for the album for two reasons. Firstly, it knowingly tips the hat at the style of music he utilises for inspiration - that which is almost half a century old, somewhat innocent and therefore almost rudimentary in its composition. The fact that Jones has that Yorkshire tint (his vocals are incredibly similar to Arctic monkey Alex Turner) also shadows the second reason Bad Penny fits - the idea of the contradiction. And there are many.

Firstly, like Turner, Spectrals specialises in creating addictive, upbeat music to background what are ultimately mawkish, sometimes bitter ruminations on young adulthood, love and life. But truth be told, whilst Spectrals as a live unit (and admittedly on most of the earlier releases) has been entrancing and personable, here the songs verge on the featherlight, almost begging to be liked and in the process becoming a wallflower in the genre as opposed to king of the prom. The English tones over the American sound notwithstanding, the juxtapositions are in the main disappointing. There are good tracks here - 'Big Baby' and 'Luck Is There To Be Pushed' in particular - but in the end Bad Penny, for me, was more of a misspent chance.

But hey, he's 21, and he already has some writing nous - he'll bounce back.

Bad Penny is out now - grab it here.

Spectrals - Baby Love

Album review - Hanoi Janes' Specks Ho!

Hanoi Jane. One of the many bands peddling the dreamy scuzzy garage sound that is indicative of today's hippest. And we all know that Sonic Masala (or at the very least yours truly) has a real love/hate relationship with the whole movement - AKA that most bands cant play and suck varying degrees of throbbing man gristle. Yet there are those who decide to use the form and conventions of the 'genre' to their own ends, and have had decidedly positive results. And with Specks On! (Captured Tracks), Hanoi Janes are getting perilously close to breaching the void and entering that exclusive echelon of bands that actually are a band unto themselves, not just a part of a passing phase in musical history. 'Young & Dumb' is the perfect way to kick things off, with bright jangly riffs with just the right amount of reverb, clarity, and nous to denote a stepping up of the proverbial game. Add to that some clattering drums, percussion and chanting vocals, and you have a real fun song on your hands. 'Back For The Summer' treads territory other bands have covered, but adeptly - like a geekier Harlem. A bit of incessant organ to go with the 60s pop twang helps to propel everything forward here. Hump song 'All The Time' continues on, and supersedes, the previous track, although the vocals aren't as endearing, which is strange as the chanted chorus is an immediate hit. Then 'I Dig You' hits - that twangin guitar is back, and how! To me this is the best track on the album, and perfectly encapsulates what Hanoi Janes are all about - FUN! I really do believe that you can only pull off dreamy pop if you are a great songwriter (a la Beach Fossils), and the other option is to NOT TAKE YOURSELF SERIOUSLY. How can you aspire to 60s beach/surf/wall of sound-isms if you dont have a smile etched on your dial and/or a tongue firmly entrentched in your cheek? And whilst 'Teresa' is a somewhat bland closer, Specks On! shows the German(s?) in fine, sunny form.

Pick up Specks Ho! here.

Hanoi Janes - All The Time
Hanoi Janes - I Dig You

Hanoi Janes - Summer of Panic

I know next to nothing about this guy (guys?/girl?/girls?), but I do like this song. Hanoi Jane was apparently a film starring Jane Fonda? Anyway, he/she/they (probably they - Hanoi Janes is plural after all...or is that too logical a premise? I dont know...) have DEFINITELY put out an album, Year of Panic, via Captured Tracks. And I DEFINITELY aim to find out more, so that I can purchase said album and tell you more about it! Until then, enjoy this piece of quirky sunny pop whatsit.

Hanoi Janes - Summer of Panic