Never Grave In Negative Space

Berlin label Grave Imprint (putting out the awesome Pretty Hurts releases) have stepped out of Germany for their next release from Kent punks Negative Space. They have a Crisis/Institute sound (especially 'II'), but there are other touchstones too, from the light wiry buzz of Fugazi and the metallic bounce of Wire - but this is much dirtier, grimier, something I can see spewing out of the gutters of Australia's punk underground.  None of the tracks rise over two minutes, but all make an incendiary impact. These are just demos. Blistering set from an amazing new band.

AA Roman Typo

Another of the acts we have on Tuesday's Sonic Masala showcase, Roman Typo is a new London band that have me champing at the bit. It's clear the trio have that post-punk angularity etched into their DNA, but rather than the Joy Division route, or even the Wire route, we have a cross-Atlantic reference that we don't hear too much these days - that of seminal band Fugazi. Sure, the vocals share a tonal affinity with Mackaye and Picciotto, but there is a languid fluidity to the grooves that are laid down before things blast through the breakers. The inflections, the dragged notes, the melodies that feel ominous - it is all there, fermenting.

New Housewives Dance

A fortnight ago there was a noisy festival in Dalston called Wyrdout. I heard it was great. I only got to see two bands on the Friday. I finally saw Gnod (they were so loud they made me feel physically ill and I put toilet paper in my ears to stop from being put in an iron lung - so they were great) and local band Housewives. I had heard of them around the traps recently and thought they were the Sydney band of the same name. But these guys are an entirely different beast, as their EP out through Faux Discx last year and new 7" out on new local label Blank Editions attests. An NME review compared them to Pixies or Gang of Four. And while I might say there is a proclivity for Wire-esque militaristic precision, the four-piece are more in line with My Disco in their motorik rhythms and barked vocals, while embracing chaotic auxiliary percussion and atonal drones into what is already a blood-pulsing caterwaul.


'New Dance' represents the more cathartic mayhem the band can procure, while 'Time She Stopped' is a slowburn spiral into madness, starting in an ambient slipstream before tension breaks in a maniacal cataclysm of noise before breaking back into a no wave stutter...then silence. There is an album on the way - I hold high hopes for it. Expect to see Housewives on a Sonic Masala showcase before the year's out. Buy the 7" here, and listen to last year's EP below.

Michael's Gone Gold Class

Here is yet another "new" Australian band to take in and be excited about. I remember seeing the name Gold Class on a poster for a Sunday School show at the Public Bar in Melbourne, I think in April or May? But never really cottoned on to them - and it seems I've really been missing out. Listening to the Michael/Gone release, I have this weird conflicted notion that I've somehow wedged The Smiths' Meat Is Murder and Wire's 154 into the same piece of 7" wax. Adam Curley's baritone does hold some of that Morrissey moan, but the cutting guitar and insistent rhythms does recall his cohorts; whilst the tapered aggression that simmers under the surface evokes Colin Newman et al at the more measured. It is all decidedly dark hued and downer (Brit)pop, which alone lends it an unique place on the current Australian music milieu, but Gold Class exude a sense of literate sensibility that is also very exciting. I can't wait to hear more from the four-piece.



Gold Class release the 7" next month. You can catch them in Brisbane on Fri 24 October at The Bearded Lady (supported by Dag) and the following night at Trainspotters (with Multiple Man and Per Purpose serving props). These will be excellent shows - get along.

Spraying Paints Of Brutality

When Iceage's New Brigade hit in 2011, the face of post-punk was brutally gutter-stomped. For too long bands were labelling themselves post-punk due to the fact that they had sharp, angular guitar tones, regardless of whether they played disco synth or shiny happy themes, all the while glossing the fuck out of it all and force-feeding it to the masses. One of post-punk's most enduring factors is that it is more proficient musically, more complex, yet still upholding elements of the punk idiom. New Brigade was gritty, nihilistic, hungry, rabid, disaffected, infected - and whilst you wouldn't claim to have never heard this style of music played before, it was the confidence and arrogance that such noise was flung in the faces of all and sundry that made them an altogether exciting prospect.

Listening to Austin trio Spray Paint's eponymous LP (out through S-S Records), it's the first time I have felt that same rush outside of Copenhagen for quite some time (Holograms and Lower also kill). Two guitars and drums, noxious maelstrom. This is Wire and Gang of Four on nitrous oxide. This is Arab On Radar speeding through a night of rack and ruin. This is Saccharine Trust eating glass and laughing themselves to sleep. This is Rank/Xerox in the Twilight Zone. This is Spray Paint. And its goddamn killer.

You can and most definitely should get Spray Paint here.

Spray Paint - Jimi's Apartment
Spray Paint - Lap Swimming

Iceage Proves You Are Nothing

 

Young Danish punks Iceage took the world by storm with their nihilistic (I have been using that word a lot recently – I'm definitely in that mode right now) debut record New Brigade. Picked up by globetrotting tastemakers, the quartet found themselves spending much of 2012 playing the US and Europe, cracking out stifling, antagonistic 15 to 20 minute sets, looking bored of the types of crowd they were attracting, barely allowing an emotion to crest the surface over derision. If anything, this further amplified their relevance. I overheard a few people at Barden’s in Dalston in December talking about them, remarking that they had seen them twice and hadn’t lightened up. I almost spat out my beer (but didn’t – that would be a waste). Why like something if you want it to change? There are many arguments to be had over that question alone, but posit this – Iceage have hit a chord because of their disparity, their atonal apathy that dissolves into abject anarchy at the flick of a shorting switch. They are mirroring many of the abject horrors of the disenfranchised, which is what punk rock is supposed to embody anyway.

Then last year they signed up to Matador, and breaths were collectively held. Is this the “lightening up” that those “fans” so desperately wanted? Will this be a selling out? Or will this be an emancipation, a freeing moment for the band to truly expand on the feelings of isolation and simmering aggression that fuelled their creative wellspring?

The result is You’re Nothing – and it has somehow done it all. The selling out part is meant in the most literal sense – they have harnessed themselves to a label that has past and present experience in nurturing important and innovative punk and hardcore (Mission of Burma, Unsane, Fucked Up). Elias Bender Rønnenfelt’s still plays like a modern-day Ian Curtis embalmed in spit, venom and (W)ire, his jagged vocals at once fierce and droll, yet his presence is more forceful, more deliberate, and this fact alone tells us how focused and distilled the Iceage medium has become. Thus many of these tracks are still as breakneck, abrasive and unrelenting as is to be expected, yet there is a channelling of forces in tracks like the closing title track and ‘Burning Hand’ that puts you inside the songs, rather than just riding the wave of their aggression. The music is still hovering on a knife edge, threatening to implode under its own wanton destruction – yet unlike New Brigade, you never really believe it will. Iceage are still a bunch of boys headbutting the walls of their perceived oppressions, yet with You’re Nothing, they are more likely to come out on top. Not that they give a shit either way – and that’s what makes it all the more viscerally appealing.

 

You’re Nothing is out soon, pre-order it here.

Iceage – Coalition
Iceage - Ecstasy

Learn How To Always Love Mission Of Burma

 

I mentioned yesterday about the venue Birthdays in Dalston, London, the Vice-sponsored basement that is merely an alleyway that doesn’t promote good musical experiences but does promote bullshit hipsterisms. Word on the street is that Vice is about to pull the pin on their support of the place, and it couldn’t happen fast enough in my opinion. I went to the Mission of Burma show there in December, and whilst the performance was good, it was more memorable for all the wrong reasons – and great comedian Stewart Lee incessantly yelling out “Just play the hits!” (and he kinda had a point…) Of course the trio were promoting new record Unsound, which is fair – but Fire Records had the right idea, bringing together some of their “hits” in a two-disc compilation Learn How: The Essential Mission of Burma. And goddamn, if this isn’t one of the best comps I’ve heard in a while. A precursor to the band reissuing all of their output – ALL OF IT – it does everything a “Best Of” should do, and reminds you just how underappreciated these fuckers are. Their reformation in 2002 has lasted, brought about some incredible albums, and cemented their status as an incendiary punk rock band that should have been shoulder to shoulder with Wire in this lil dude’s opinion.

Anyway, the gig was still memorable – they played a few of my faves, I saw a sweaty Lee in the flesh, and caught up, drank and smoked too many cigarettes with some dear friends. And listening to Learn How, I mingle those memories with my childhood ones, and that’s all you can really wish for.

 

You can get Learn How here.

Mission of Burma – Dirt
Mission of Burma – That’s When I Reach For My Revolver
Mission of Burma – That’s How I Escaped My Certain Fate

Against The Bemsha Swing

 

Some more raucous post-punk noise from New Zealand comes in the circular form of Against Friends & Lovers, the debut LP by Auckland duo (and drum machine) The Bemsha Swing (the Thelonius Monk reference is...well, unexpected to say the least). These guys have been killing it of late, scoring white hot support slots of the likes of Wire and Holy Fuck, and one listen to the record it isn't hard to see why. Abrasive patterns and beats, frenetic guitar hooks, blood-curdling screams and howls - it's steel wool to the ears, cleansed with a bottle of cheap vodka and a William Faulkner tome. Like a more industrial Die!Die!Die!, Against Friends & Lovers takes no prisoners, and The Bemsha Swing should make waves come 2013.

 

Grab Against Friends & Lovers through Muzai Records here. It's good.

Tenzenmen Tsunami

Shaun Tenzenmen is awesome. I seriously love this guy. He has brought to my ears the amazing self-titled debut by Auckland noise rockers God Bows To Math, and the subsequent Sonic Masala-run show at The Waiting Room killed (plus they are super nice guys). He is also a very busy man, bringing us music from all over the world, all of it excellent. But he has been uber busy lately, releasing a whole bunch of seven-inches and albums, so I have some serious work to do to ensure the word is out! So, here are some of the Tenzenmen releases floating in the ether (and at your local record store - I picked up a couple 7"s at Rockinghorse last weekend...)


First up we have Yes I'm Leaving, a Sydney noise act that is far too underrated for any sane man to comprehend. This three piece are crafting some beautifully dissonant rock that does everything you want from the genre and more, and on new release Nothing they truly nail it.

Yes I'm Leaving - Untitled
Yes I'm Leaving - Nothing

Now, who's up for some Asian hardcore? Yeah, me too! Why not throw some Spanish screamos in the mix too! This split 7" features a few tracks from Malaysian brutalisers Inquiry Last Scenery, as well as the last recordings of Spain's abrasive brethren El Eje Del Mal (translates as Axis Of Evil). It's fast, furious and fun - pretty essential then. (Plus the crudely drawn Star Wars riffing cover is pretty ace!)

El Eje Del Mal - El VHS Contenta
Inquiry Last Scenery - I.L.S


Remember Bikini Eyebolt? Not really? Shame. They existed (if you could call it that) in Melbourne around 2007-2008, and featured DEAD's Jace on guitars and vocals. This release showcased what most of the world missed - a band willing to follow in the footsteps of the post-punk giants such as Gang Of Four and Wire, without succumbing to malaise, pretension or disco. This is authentic, serrated, and above all none of it is throwaway. It sure is a shame that these guys aren't still killing it - but then again, Dead might not exist as it does now, so swings and roundabouts I suppose...

Bikini Eyebolt - Rats Love Me
Bikini Eyebolt - Walking Asleep


Heading back to Asia - Shanghai in China, to be exact - we'll finish off with Duck Fight Goose, an experimental math rock hybrid who are causing ripples all over the world since forming back in 2009. History is a 7" preceding their upcoming 2nd LP Sports, and is a worth precursor. There are only 50 copies in Australia (well, 49, because I am now a proud owner!) in white vinyl, and is well worth the purchase.

Duck Fight Goose - History

There are more to come this week, so keep the goodness flowing! You can get these releases and shedloads more here

Lose Total Control On The Henge Beat

To complete today's triptych of incredible Aussie rock releases, we have Total Control with their Henge Beat. I mentioned seeing Dick Diver last week - well, seeing as Al is from Total Control, it's important for you to see on the strength of the Dick Diver album why Total Control is still his day job. The Henge Beat LP is dark, dank and oh so seductive, a driving synth-punk behemoth that wallows in the flooded basements of Berlin, hiding the remains of the Birthday Party, Ultravox and Wire. You can see a correlation with another white-hot album of this year, Iceage's New Brigade, yet this is a little less brutal. The musical nous of founding member Mikey Young (Eddy Current Suppression Ring, UV Race) may surprise some, but it is clear he not only understands what makes garage rock tick (rather than poseurs), he can also pat Ian Curtis on the nape of the neck before giving him a donkey punch. Henge Beat is rabid, a little perverted, but also another release that seems unaffected by affectedness. This is a sound that pervades the participating members because they believe in this. And that is what makes Total Control a dangerously beautiful (albeit combustible) commodity.

I implore you (like I have with Royal Headache and Witch Hats) - get this now!

Total Control - One More Tonight
Total Control - Carpet Rash

Interview - Toro Y Moi

Its the third month of 2011, and I thought it was about time we started reaching out and touching someone. That someone was Toro Y Moi AKA Chaz Bundick, and instead of throwing punches or making charges, he humoured us as we quizzed him about the oft-chagrined (at least here at Sonic Masala) chillwave movement, his new album Underneath The Pine, touring with a live band and possible future vocal collaborations. Oh, and the fact that we may repeat on him a bit...

SONIC MASALA - Im going to try and avoid as many obvious questions as possible, but I do have to start with this, sorry! Underneath The Pine is a markedly different beast than Causers Of This - was this a deliberate ploy to distance yourself from the chillwave movement that was attributed to you?

TORO Y MOI - In a way it was intentional. I didnt want to make the same album twice in a row so I already knew what I wasnt going to do. But when it came to making this album I just wanted to make an album that would show a logical transition–which led to me exploring cosmic jazz and funk, and soft rock.

SM - What are your thoughts then on the massive focus on this particular sound?

TYM - I was thinking about drum sounds and different synths mostly. And I focused on certain chord progressions. That's it!

SM - Underneath The Pine is unabashedly different from most of your other releases thus far – a much more funky, soulful edge, with the occasional 60s psych pop inflection (in my opinion!) - what were your musical foundations?

TYM - Pretty much all of those things you just listed (laughs). I was interested in the way music sounds from those time periods. Its not as compressed but I was still able to be powerful and lush.

SM - What about the songs themselves – do you delve into personal experiences for your influences, or is there another technique at play?

TYM - I felt like I became a better keyboard player since i started tour in the summer of 2009, so that helped me become more confident in writing new piano parts. I was really curious to find out more about key-changes and if I could make them work in my music.

SM - Your artwork for the new album has received some interesting responses over the past few weeks. What was the genesis behind it?

TYM - I felt it fit the sound of the new album because it was intimate and detailed, and the overall image isnt as dark as Causers (first album Causers Of This). The pomelo in my mouth is what is confusing most people. It was given to me on my birthday, I feel like some meaning could come out of that too, but Im not trying to dig too deep into it.

SM - Lets dig a bit deeper then! How does Underneath The Pine represent you, Chaz Bundick, at this point in your life, both musically and personally speaking?

TYM - Well, thinking about the pomelo being a birthday present, I could see how this album could represent the unveiling of another side of my songwriting...even though I've recorded live instruments before, I feel like this is an official presentation.

SM - Much has been made of the more traditional live instrumentation that these tracks deliver – how does the use of a live band enhance the Toro Y Moi sound?

TYM - It helps a lot. Im able to get my ideas across live better when I write songs that were meant to be played live. I think I found that out quickly when I had to play Causers live.

SM - How has the live experience changed over the time from being a one-man project to including a band of musicians into the fold? How does it flavour your older, more confessional tracks?

TYM - I think it's a lot better and more interesting to watch. I feel that most people are familiar with the recordings, so why would you pay or want to hear the same exact thing coming from a computer? Using instruments is what my background is and is what Im comfortable with.

SM - You are about to tie up your tour here in Australia – how do you feel it has gone down? Any particular highlights?

TYM - I think my favourite part was Sydney. We got to play two shows in the same venue, which makes things easier. Also it was great to know that all of the Australian shows were sold out - pretty amazing actually.

SM - What’s next in the world of Toro Y Moi? Any collaborations you would like to set up?

TYM - Just to make more music, whenever I can. Nothing in way of collaborations at the moment, maybe some MCs though in the near future...

SM - Finally – what is sonic masala?

TYM - A really stinky fart!



Not sure what to think about that - we do like it spicy though. Toro Y Moi is playing SXSW in a couple weeks' time before touring Stateside with Braids and Cloud Nothings. May will see TYM enter the UK to participate in the Stag & Dagger Festival (London, May 19) alongside Wire plus heaps more to be announced (lineup hasnt officially been announced yet - a bit of a coup for you!)

Toro Y Moi - New Beat
Toro Y Moi - Still Sound

Content To Be Discontented

I arrived in London back in August 2008 just in time for the sun, not knowing that the previous summer months had been somewhat shit. To add to what would be the genesis of my love for the place, within a week I saw some amazing bands at Offset Festival, none more exciting for me than to see Gang of Four playing the majority of one of the best albums of all time, Entertainment! Another funny fact - I met Paul at this festival too, almost eighteen months before the fated ATP that would spawn the blog you are reading right now.

Now Gang of Four are the godfathers of post punk, and you could cut down a whole forest of stationery in order to write the names of bands that are inevitably indebted to their presence. The band themselves have had a real insurgence, and their live shows are still something to behold. Nevertheless it was with much surprise that the Marxists roustabouts (as well as another behemoth of the genre, Wire, whose Red Barked Tree we will look at shortly and as an aside were playing at the same festival back in 08!) announced they were recording an album of new material. It must be mentioned that I held this news with much trepidation. Many great bands come back after many years with 'something to say', and the resultant mess does nothing other than sully the good work that had come before them (Weezer with just about anything they've done since Pinkerton is just one example).

So here it is - Content, 11 tracks of politico post punk. And...its not too shabby. Sure, the angular anger is somewhat tempered, which may or may not have something to do with the fact that their enduring influences means we hear watered down versions of their sound in every stadium and 'hip' television soundtrack nowadays. But there is still so much to recommend here that Content becomes a album of worth. Opener 'She Said 'You Made A Thing Of Me'' is a brooding propulsive number that holds vicariously onto the Go4 aesthetic of old, and 'Who Am I?' feels like we are back in the 70s, with just a touch of a nod to their myriad progeny (Franz Ferdinand, anyone?) The real surprise for me is 'It Was Never Going To Turn Out Too Good' - another track utilising vocoder this month to great effect. The Gothic menace that builds over the track's short playing time is impressive, and showcases an act willing to show innovation and add to their sound palette rather than rest on their sizable laurels.

Content therefore acquits itself, and even offers up some worthy listens. That said, it isnt the redefining album that contemporaries Mission of Burma proved to produce with their The Sound The Speed The Light back in 2009, but it does show a band that know who they are, that are still lean and hungry, and still have a lot to offer that the future generations could learn from, rather than ape.

Content is out January 24th on Gronland Records.

Gang Of Four - It Was Never Going To Turn Out Too Good

Gang Of Four - You Dont Have To Be Mad

Gig - The Ex/Nisennenmondai/Trash Kit/Nonhorse @ The Dome, 19/10/2010

Tufnell Park's The Dome holds a special place in my heart. It seems I only ever make the trek to this part of town for obscure or experimental acts that continually exceeds my expectations. Case in point - Lightning Bolt, December last year. Was much better than I even thought would be possible. Furthermore, The Dome has a penchant for gigs where the support slots are just as good as the headliners in their own right (from same December gig, Drum Eyes blew me away). And, of course, there are the cheap pints of Guinness. Where do you find a £3 pint of the black stuff? Nowhere, especially not at a gig venue. So the excitement is palpable (always heightened due to the fact that its an Upset The Rhythm show) as I venture up the stairs into the town hall-like arena to finally see stalwart (and still very much relevant) Dutch post punk pioneers The Ex.

First up though, the supports. Nonhorse hits out first, and is an intriguing mix of tape manipulation and noise extrapolation that deserves more than the meagre crowd that is on offer. Nevertheless, Mr G. Lucas Crane knows what he's doing, and the violence he wrangles out of his instruments is justification for further investigation...

Nonhorse - Noxon

Next up are London mainstays of 2010 and UTR 'veterans' Trash Kit - if you haven't seen them playing a London venue yet this year, you haven't been outside. Having forgone the kitschy makeup that was a trope of previous shows and emblematic of the band, the Dalston three piece nevertheless stay on the path they have carved relentlessly since making a name for themselves supporting the likes of Vivian Girls and Tune-Yards. Their jangly, discordant tropical punk pop is effervescent and addictive, with nary a toe being able to resist being tapped. However, as the confidence of the girls grows, so do the songs, so much so that there seems to be something dangerous lurking underneath the veneer of these quickly cut slices of rock. You feel that Trash Kit are gearing up to cross over into a Dark Side that will explode their, and ouw, minds. Once again, Dalston has been done proud.

Trash Kit - Sun Spots

Now, Nisennenmondai. Three girls from Tokyo - one a tall, lithe model-like beauty (bass), one a small, no nonsense type (guitar), and one the unassuming type at the back. I wasn't sure what to expect - 5678s? Shonen Knife? Fuck no. The next forty minutes was nothing short of mindblowing, visceral noise. There's motorik, there's Krautrock, there's no wave, there's disco - but above all, Yuri, Sayaka and Masako deal a neat line in psychotic noise. Highlight? The maelstrom that is Sayaka's monstrous drumming, all flailing limbs, seat jumping and gnashing teeth. Brilliant.

Nisennenmondai - Sonic Youth

I was unsure how The Ex could top such face melting competition, but the veterans of over 1400 live concerts came onto the stage without much ado and broke into their trademark post punk with gusto. So much gusto that (I feel ashamed to say) they made Gang Of Four look even more like poseurs than they already do, and whilst I love Wire, their relevance withers in contrast to what is on offer here. What the next hour showed was a band that is continually evolving and experimenting whilst still rising against the perceived political injustices of the world. Even with the altered band dynamic of the introduction of singer Arnold de Boer, the vitriol still exists - with the electric manic guitar interplay between Andy Moor and Terrie Hessels, with Katherina Bornefeld's insistent drumming propelling the group through a rollercoaster set. The set list may have focused heavily on latest LP Catch My Shoe (which, by the way, is a incredibly strong record, and seeing as it is their 25th long player release, this is a remarkable feat), to truly showcase the new band, but it also proved that the Ex, 30 years on, still not only have relevant things to rail against, but still remain ultimately relevant. By the end of this show I was knocked by how fresh the agitated post-punk all seemed. It was a frenetic show all round. The Ex will not lie down; the Ex will not go away; the Ex will never die. And for that we should all be eternally grateful.

The Ex - Cold Weather Is Back

Photos by Louise Reip

New Wire In The Blood

Despite what my sister may think, I think Wire are pretty awesome. Sara likes Wire on record, but her assessment of their Primavera performance was less than underwhelming. However, they were one of the first bands I saw when I arrived in the UK, headling the Saturday night of 2008's Offset Festival, and they were brilliant. So I still get excited about any and all news about them - past, present and/or future.

So two itty bitty news bites piqued my interest.

Firstly, they have made available a vast array of bootleg material legally accessible (through their Pinkflag label), as well as reissuing their 2002 comeback album Send, as Send:Ultimate, which features rare material like the 12 Times U vinyl-only collector's item tracks, the unreleased track "DJ Fuckoff," plus alternate and album tracks from the two out-of-print Read and Burn EPs that didn't make it onto the original Send.

Secondly, the rumours persist that Wire will put out new material very soon - if not by Christmas, then in the shadow of the New Year. So get amongst the amazing performances (that probably dont include the aforementioned Primavera experience), and reminisce.

Wire - Fragile
Wire - Champs
Wire - Heartbeat