Wolf Eyes never do what you expect them to. Even their nihilistic noise isn't something you can take for granted. Look at their latest record, I Am A Problem: Mind In Pieces. Firstly it's been put out through Jack White's Third Man Records, in what seems like an incongruous partnership. Secondly, the woozy narcogenic 'Catching The Rich Train' with its mournful sax drone and Nate Young's discombobulated vocals shows the industrial grind and white-noise blitzkrieg of the past has bled out into other realms, with the singular shift being an adherence to tone and melody. The outcome is still visceral, but in a more lurking, deceptively subliminal way - a grinding Giallo, a narcissistic horror symphony of sneers and syphilitic dreams. I know that bands like Liars have taken techno touchstones and pushed them to unnerving corners, but I Am A Problem is truly insidious. Although not unheard of - the trio's solo guises (especially Young's Regression work) all have infiltrated the Wolf Eyes aesthetic. There are moments where the atonal squall comes close to the surface, like 'Enemy Ladder', but in the main I Am A Problem is noxious brilliance. Grab it here.
Wow, what is going on with this week? It just seems to be...dragging...on...so...loooooooooooonga! I've called one colleague a dick (as in "Come on, you aren't a dick, are you?" when replying to what turned out to be an earnest plea for assistance) and accidentally given a 14 year old a bleeding lip (seriously, if you are going to ask me to play basketball, expect to be playing with the big boys...) At least I have the second Sonic Masala solo show on tomorrow to look forward to. That, and this bunch of inbox hits. Still, some booze might help speed things up - or wash things away - either would be nice...
I received Swim, the 7" EP by Minneapolis' Diver Dress a month ago, yet have been majorly slack about throwing it on. My mistake, for the five tracks here are capsules of garage cyanide, angular anarchy, popsicle pop and sand in between the toes of the Flying Nuns. Special merit goes to the steely foundations at the core of 'Untitled 1', breaking into a blues-doom disintegration by song's end. The four-piece have already graced stages alongside The Intelligence and K-Holes - expect these rock contusions to grow and fester.
Over to Canada, Toronto to be accurate, to be beguiled by Petra Glynt. This avant-garde popstress has something pretty special going on here. Her EP is equal parts hammering, beguiling and frustrating, with Glynt frequently hiding her clearly strong vocals underneath distorted tribal manipulations, unforgiving clatter and noise. Its the kind of basement DIY electronic strangeness that we see spring up out of the dirt in many vibrant scenes around the world (we've mentioned Healing Power Records and Weird Canada on Sonic Masala in the past, and Australia has New Weird Australia whilst Brisbane has its fair share of unheralded gems in this realm), and Petra Glynt could be on the verge of breaking through to actual recognition beyond the pale of her hometown comparisons into a wider feeding pool. I hope she eats them all alive. You can get her Of This Land EP here.
Crypts are an art rock aberration out of Shoreditch in London. They are a rambling, synapse-frying free-for-all that take on the lysergic, hallucinogenic, carcinogenic shoes that Liars slip on when they feel like getting down, dirty and decidedly weird. The track 'I Fell To Nothing At All' is emblematic of the band's MO, hence its elongated time and aimless yet apocryphal approach - an extended play in one take, highlighting what to expect when the band release their debut release proper later in the month. I'm still a little confused as to what these guys are about, but I for one will take the journey to find out.
I tend to be a big fan of most bands that come out of Louisville, Kentucky - and White Reaper hasn't proven this theory wrong. Their White Aura album is pretty great (well, I liked it the one time I listened to it yesterday) and their latest release is even more arresting. Their Conspirator/The Cut 7" is one of slightly nihilistic, yet mainly flippant, rampant garage punk rock. It's the kind of thing I love, and I'm not alone, as they find themselves on the Cropped Out bill for this year (others visiting this year's festival - Endless Boogie and Wolf Eyes. Fuuuuuuuuuuuck). It isn't anything you haven't heard, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't kill. You can buy the 7" through Earthbound Records here.
LA project Artifacts is a one-man deal, started off the cuff after partaking in the blog-world and realising that there is so much good music out there - why not do your bit? The first taste of this currently stay-at-home act is 'Heal Me', which has a decidedly laidback 90s take on the dream pop mold (think Galaxie 500 as done by a close to comatose Nathan Williams). I really like this first stab; let's hope we hear more Artifacts soon.
And we're back in Minneapolis for some computer-age soul-training with Food Pyramid. The groove is in the machine, my friends. The band's new album is Ecstasy & Refreshment (out on Intercoastal Records), and it plays like Can in a time capsule of the future, the earth's axis in reverse, with the future the past and the past yet to occur. It's weirdly accessible even when fronting as impenetrable - whilst we aren't on new terrain (Trans Am in the literal sense, motorik post-punk in the DNA), Food Pyramid are giving us tasty morsels we can feast on over and again. The best cut is the first one (as is the way with culinary delights), 'Dexedream', inducing saliva and arousal in aural form. Adding to this delicacy is the presence of Jana Hunter of Lower Dens nestling her vocals amongst the lushness.You want to be at the top of this chain. Food Pyramid - Dexedream Food Pyramid - Maya Control
Just a quick post about Leap of Fangorn, the new release from Melbourne experimental shoegaze sludge dwellers Daggers Mid Flight. It's an interesting cocktail that leaves one hell of a dank, trippy aftertaste - a heavy mess of percussion, bass and guitar drudgery that links arms with Wolf Eyes and Grey Daturas, brothers in dirge. Similar in spirit with Brisbane's Die On Planes (although a little more 'experimental' in some of the structures), Daggers Mid Flight occupy the silence as much as they do the noise, happy to hunker down and let the music coalesce into a dirty, brain-frying mess before it all melts away into nothingness. An album of brutal sonic exploration, it will hurt your head, but you have to be cruel to be kind - well worth the effort.
Yep, you heard right, the Detroit garage punk toerags flying the Siltbreeze flag, Tyvek, will be touring our fine land come February 2011. How does Sonic Masala know this? Well, pretty much from the horse's mouth. One of the members of Tyvek is in the touring band of Demons, Wolf Eyes' Nate Young's visual arts mindfuck menagerie, who are currently playing Supersonic in Birmingham. One of my friends got talking to him based on the coincidence of wearing a Tyvek shirt that he himself had made, and he then dropped the bomb. He also gave my friend a Tyvek demo cassette - a brilliant run-in if Ive ever heard one! (AND our first exclusive...)
And why are they touring? Well, just in time to promote their new LP of course! Nothing Fits, out on In The Red, comes out in November 9, promising to be as breakneck, messy, and addictive as their self titled effort of last year. Here's a new taster of what to expect...
We here at Sonic Masala love love love Upset the Rhythm. 2010 has already been a massive year for the promoters/record labellists, what with releases from Cold Pumas and Trash Kit, plus amazing live shows from TuNe-YaRdS, Trash Kit, Male Bonding, Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls, Xiu Xiu, U.S. Girls (UtR love their Girls...), Times New Viking, Crystal Antlers, Best Coast, Real Estate, Ganglians, Double Dagger... And I have glossed over a lot!
Well, the love is set to continue, with some amazing gigs lined up just around the corner. We here at SM endeavour to be at as many of these as is humanly possible - we implore you to do so as well! So whilst you plan your Bank holiday, why not plan your musical calendar too? And make sure to thank us when your mind is sufficiently blown away... And the ones in orange I'm already signed up for! So...what are you waiting for???
NEOHTRIX POINT NEVER
GOODIEPAL
GAOUDJIPARL
with possible special guest Amy Howden-Chapman
TOMUTONTTU
Monday 31 May Cargo, 83 Rivington Street,
Shoreditch, EC2A 3AY 7.30pm £9.00
WASHED OUT
SMALL BLACK
Tuesday 1 June Cargo, 83 Rivington Street,
Shoreditch, EC2A 3AY 8pm £8.00
WOLF EYES
BIRDS OF DELAY
SPOILS & RELICS
Wednesday 2 June Plan B, 418 Brixton Rd, SW9 7AY
(2 mins walk from Brixton tube) 8pm £10.00
MI AMI (ex-Black Eyes)
ISLET 20 JAZZ
FUNK GREATS DJs
Thursday 3 June Barden's Boudoir, 38-44 Stoke Newington Road,
Dalston, N16 7XJ 8pm 7.00
THEE OH SEES
BRILLIANT COLORS
PLEASE
Saturday 5 June The Luminaire, 311 Kilburn High Road,
Kilburn, NW6 7JR 8pm £8.50
SIC ALPS
DUCKTAILS
ARCH M
Tuesday 8 June Barden's Boudoir, 38-44 Stoke Newington Road,
Dalston, N16 7XJ 8pm £7.00
THE SMITH WESTERNS
SPIN SPIN THE DOGS
SEX BEET
Monday 14 June Camp Basement, 70-74 City Road,
Old Street, EC1Y 2BJ 8pm £6.00
