Posts Tagged ‘Fort Lean’

Friday, May 25th, 2012

Choose To Play

Redd Kross have the Blues

Photo By Jon KropJon KropI don’t think anyone necessarily expected anything more from Redd Kross than what they’d been offering since reconvening after a decade apart in 2006. Which is to say sporadic live shows – mainly at festivals like NXNE 2008 – where they made their fanbase feel like they were teenagers again by way of their prototypical Californian bubblegum power-pop, as captured on classics of the genre like Phaseshifter and Neurotica. Nothing wrong with that, not at all.

But there’s also nothing wrong with taking a time-tested formula and whipping up another batch of what works so come August 7, Merge Records – who are taking their role as home for wayward ’90s rock acts seriously – will release Researching The Blues, the band’s seventh album and first since 1997’s Show World. It features the Neurotica-era lineup of Jeff McDonald, Steven McDonald, Robert Hecker and Roy McDonald and using the just-released title track MP3 as a reference, it’s pretty evident that the band are capable of sounding as snotty, riffy and hooky in their 40s as they did in their teens. Which is great.

The Los Angeles Times talks to Steven McDonald about taking the reunion from the stage into the studio.

MP3: Redd Kross – “Researching The Blues”

Their names may sound like they’re taken from a guidebook on how to name your band in a quintessentially nonsensical ’00s manner, but both of New York’s Bear Hands and Fort Lean come with a legitimate amount of buzz – so it could be worth heading to The Drake on July 25 to see them.

MP3: Bear Hands – “What A Drag”
MP3: Fort Lean – “Sunsick”

Speaking of veterans of the ’90s college rock scene – we were, try to keep up – Sebadoh is back in action, with plans to release a new EP this Summer, follow that with a North American tour that stops at The Horseshoe on August 20 and then release their first new full-length since 1999’s The Sebadoh early next year.

MP3: Sebadoh – “Skull”

Interview and Elle talk to Exitmusic, in town at Wrongbar on June 16 for NXNE. They’ve put out a video from their just-released debut Passage.

Video: Exitmusic – “The Night”

Also at NXNE and with a new video are A Place To Bury Strangers; here’s an interview with the band at NXNE, they’re at The El Mocambo on June 14, and their new record Worship is out June 26.

Video: A Place To Bury Strangers – “You Are One”

Daytrotter has a session with Father John Misty, back in town at The Opera House on July 12 opening for Youth Lagoon. There’s also features at The Dallas Observer and Creative Loafing.

The Stool Pigeon talks to Bethany Cosentino and The Aspen Times to Bobb Bruno, both of Best Coast. They’re at The Phoenix on July 21.

Bob Mould tells The Quietus why the Sugar reissues – their three albums are being re-released in expanded and remastered form come July 24 – is being accompanied by a new incarnation of the Bob Mould band rather than a proper Sugar reunion, and it’s not because he, David Barbe and Malcolm Travis don’t get along.

Jim James talks to Rolling Stone about his plans for the next Yim Yames solo record. He will be with My Morning Jacket at Echo Beach on August 15.

Pitchfork talks to Mark Kozelek about the new Sun Kil Moon record Among The Leaves, out Tuesday. Kozelek still hasn’t canceled his October 3 date at The Great Hall.

Room 205 has posted the first installment of a video session with Blouse.

CNN interviews Derek Miller of Sleigh Bells, who have a new video from Reign Of Terror.

Video: Sleigh Bells – “Demons”

Retribution Gospel Choir have also got a new video, this one taken from their Revolution EP.

Video: Retribution Gospel Choir – “Maharisha”

NPR has begun checking in with Neko Case as she gets to work on her first new album since 2009’s Middle Cyclone.

Pitchfork has a stream of a new song from The National, taken from the Game Of Thrones soundtrack. Not sure how I feel about them taking up the banner for House Lannister.

Stream: The National – “The Rains Of Castomere”

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

SXSW 2012 Night Three A/V

Photo By Frank YangFrank YangWe’re almost done, I swear. The writeup for the Friday night of SXSW 2012 is over here.

Tashaki Miyaki
– Mysterious Los Angeles duo who perform as a trio and prefer nothing to be known about them besides that they dig The Velvet Underground, Everly Brothers and Jesus & Mary Chain who’ve just released the equally mysteriously-titled EP.

Photos: Tashaki Miyaki @ Latitude 30 – March 16, 2012
MP3: Tashaki Miyaki – “Somethin’ Is Better Than Nothin'”
Video: Tashaki Miyaki – “Best Friend”
Video: Tashaki Miyaki – “Somethin’ Is Better Than Nothin'”
Video: Tashaki Miyaki – “Get It Right”
Stream: Tashaki Miyaki / EP

Fort Lean
– Brooklyn-based five-piece that sounds like what you’d expect a Brooklyn-based five-piece in 2012 to sound like; all dreamy guitars and complex rhythms. They’re in town at Lee’s Palace on April 14 opening for We Were Promised Jetpacks. The Vinyl District and EastScene have features on the band.

Photos: Fort Lean @ Karma Lounge – March 16, 2012
MP3: Fort Lean – “Sunsick”
Video: Fort Lean – “Beach Holiday”
Video: Fort Lean – “High Definition”
Video: Fort Lean – “Perfect”
Stream: Fort Lean / Fort Lean

Razika
– Just another Norwegian all-girl ska-pop band; a dime a dozen. Just kidding about that latter part – a bit understated but fun times.

Photos: Razika @ The Iron Bear – March 16, 2012
MP3: Razika – “Eg Vetsje”
MP3: Razika – “Nytt pa Nytt”
Video: Razika – “Vondt i hjertet”

Team Me
– Exuberant gang of Norwegian youths with a penchant for acting out (in a good way). Their debut To The Treetops came out earlier this month.

Photos: Team Me @ The Loft – March 16, 2012
MP3: Team Me – “With My Hands Covering Both of My Eyes I Am Too Scared To Have a Look At You Now”
Video: Team Me – “Dear Sister”
Video: Team Me – “Show Me”

Howler
– Youthful Minneapolis outfit who’ve been tagged as the next saviours of garage rock. Whether it’s actually true or just hyperbole, their debut America Give Up is pretty good and their live show is better; see for yourself at The Drake Underground on April 5. The Vancouver Sun, Georgia Straight, and San Francisco Examiner have feature pieces on the band.

Photos: Howler @ Latitude 30 – March 16, 2012
MP3: Howler – “Back Of Your Neck”
Video: Howler – “Back Of Your Neck”
Video: Howler – “Told You Once”

2:54
– London-based Thurlow sisters who recall the goth- and dream-pop acts of the ’80s with an added dose of sultriness. Their self-titled debut is due on May 28; look for them in Toronto for NXNE – June 15 at Lee’s Palace, to be precise – as part of a North American tour. The Fly has an interview with the pair.

Photos: 2:54 @ Latitude 30 – March 16, 2012
Stream: 2:54 – “You’re Early”
Video: 2:54 – “You’re Early”
Video: 2:54 – “Scarlet”

Friday, March 23rd, 2012

SXSW 2012 Night Three

Howler, Team Me, Tashaki Miyaki and more at SXSW

Photo By Frank YangFrank YangOstensibly, SXSW is a festival meant to expose new music to the world and vice versa, so the fact that I’d spent the past evening and afternoon seeing established artists – I think Springsteen counts as established – rather than seeking out something new wasn’t lost on me. So the festival’s Friday night was devoted wholly to discovery. Onwards!

Los Angeles’ Tashaki Miyaki are working the “mysterious” angle, declining to offer information about their identities – she sings and drums and goes by Lucy, he plays guitar and is called Rocky and at Latitude 30 they were joined by an unnamed bassist/vocalist – and letting the music speak for them. I’d briefed myself with their debut EP on the way down to Austin and was led to expect some lo-fi, fuzzy garage pop but live, they were much cleaner and more precise with the vocals more up front, the harmonies intricate and the guitars reminiscent of Neil Young at his Crazy Horsiest. Their debts to The Velvet Underground are obvious – “If Not For You” is basically “Sweet Jane” – but they spend it in a boutique dealing in ’90s shoegaze. Despite looking, um, great, they weren’t the most charismatic outfit and are operate in a pretty clearly defined niche – it just happens to be my niche.

The longer you go to SXSW, the more venues show up on your no-go list; some rooms are just terrible for seeing a show. Of course, that the rooms seem to change names every year or so makes it difficult to maintain said list – it has happened that I’ve gone to what I thought was a new room and discovered it was an old hated room, Vice/Exodus I’m looking in your direction – but rarer is finding the same name in a different location. So it was that I gave Karma Lounge another shot, seeing as how it was no longer a gross upper level on 8th St but a new (?) street-level bar on 5th. So of course when I got there, everyone was dancing to Ginuwine. Maybe ironically. I don’t know. The point of this story is also unclear to me. But I was there, I was a bit confused and I was waiting for New York’s Fort Lean, whom I’d not heard but had heard good things about. And once they got underway, they were fine but not especially inspiring. The musicianship was impressive and there was clearly lots of ideas and creativity at work, with a base of old school rock’n’roll and jazzy/r&b flourishes to the vocals, but the songs seemed to lack passion. It’s not something that I’d say was specific to Fort Lean but is rather endemic in American indie rock nowadays. Wonder what things are like in, oh, Norway?

Well if Razika, playing the Iron Bear not far from where the original Karma Lounge was, were any indication, ska-pop is much more in vogue in Bergen – at least amongst the early-20’s girl-band set. Okay, probably not a good sample group but still a fun time. They were playing their seventh and final show in three days and despite being justifiably and visibly tired, they mustered up the energy for a strong finish. They played simple, bouncy pop tunes – clean and strummy without a distortion pedal in sight – and though the Norwegian half of their bilingual set was incomprehensible to me, the singalong qualities were pretty clear – you don’t need Google Translate for “whoa whoa whoa”. Basic but plenty likeable, even beyond the foreign novelty factor.

Here’s a thing about SXSW – where else can you see two young Norwegian bands, back to back, in different venues? Besides in Norway, that is. Post-Razika, I hoofed it back to the chaos of 6th St to see Oslo’s Team Me, whose debut To The Treetops! had gotten a worldwide release at the end of February. The musical gang of exuberant youths angle isn’t any new thing – every country seems to have at least a few – but if you were to put Team Me into a Hunger Games/Battle Royale scenario against, say, Los Campesinos!, I would give the edge to the Norwegians and not just because they come from Viking stock. Like their peers, they specialized in amped up twee-pop that made it feel like a drag to be old, but they managed to keep things on the right side of the enthusiastic/annoying line throughout the course of their set. I’d only heard their EP before arriving in Austin so I was pleased to hear by way of the unfamiliar material that they’d already matured in the songwriting department from those tunes. It’s to their credit that the irresistible fun of their performance was able to get me to shelve my, “I’ve seen/heard this before” reservations and just enjoy it.

Minnesota’s Howler came into the festival with a pretty good head of hype behind them – mostly thanks to the enthusiasm of the UK music press – and were perhaps even ready for the backlash stage of the media cycle; I get the sense that some would have been perfectly happy for them to fall flat during SXSW so they could play the “overrated” card. That backlash may yet happen, but it wouldn’t be because of their official showcase back at Latitude 30. They looked a combination of stylishly tousled and lazily disheveled but didn’t come with any sort of pretense – the Strokes comparisons they’re frequently saddled with certainly didn’t extend that far. Instead, they were exactly what they purported to be – five young men with a sharp if occasionally sophomoric sense of humour and a propensity for writing and playing good rock music and having a blast doing it. They blew through their 30-minute set with gusto and no small amount of anarchy – more than you might expect from their debut America Give Up and largely thanks to the axe flailing – meant in the best way – of lead guitarist Ian Nygaard. Despite liking the record, I counted myself somewhat skeptical heading into the show – consider me convinced. Howler play The Drake Underground on April 5.

The venue went from Brit-beloved to Brit-bred for the final act of the night, 2:54. Led by a pair of sisters, the four-piece has been framed as a dreampop/shoegazey kind of band but really, they’re more aggressively seductive than dreamy, with dark, goth-y tones. Lead guitarist Hannah Thurlow might prefer to examine her shoes than put on a show, but guitarist-vocalist Colette Thurlow has no problem making eye contact and holding it, all with a bit of a snarl; certainly more Siouxsie than Slowdive. I could do with a little more melody and less moodiness in their sound, but with the band having just signed with Fat Possum for the North American release of their self-titled debut on May 28, I’ll probably be hearing more of them either way.

See? All new bands on Friday night. Get off my case.

Elsewhere: Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard have reconvened as Dead Can Dance and are targeting a Summer release for a new record. So confident are they that this will be the case, that they’ve booked a North American tour – their first in some seven years – for late Summer that includes an August 23 date at the Sony Centre in Toronto, with tickets at the $49.50, $67.50, and $99.50 price points.

Video: Dead Can Dance – “The Carnival Is Over”

Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine tells NME that there may some sort of collaboration with Dev Hynes of Blood Orange in the works. Blood Orange is opening up some of her dates this Summer, though not August 2 at The Molson Amphitheatre.

eMusic and The AV Club chat with David Gedge of The Wedding Present. They’re at The Horseshoe on Sunday night, March 25.

So those My Bloody Valentine remasters/reissues that have been promised since the band reunited four years ago but have been constantly pushed back? Well DIY reports that they’re finally really truly going to come out on May 7, and in addition to the double-disc sets of Loveless and Isn’t Anything, there’ll be a third release entitled EP’s 1988-1991 which, as the name cryptically implies, collects the EPs and singles of the era as well as some unreleased material. I guess we may as well believe it will happen because it doesn’t really make a difference if we don’t.

Video: My Bloody Valentine – “Soon”

Whilst we’re back in the UK of the ’90s, let’s meet up with PopMatters who’ve a piece on the greatness of Swervedriver and another one that celebrates the 20th anniversaries this month of The Charlatans’ Between 10th and 11th and Ride’s Going Blank Again. Twenty. Yes. Old. You. Me. All.

Taking the noise-pop and eading back to Norway, Drowned In Sound talks to The Megaphonic Thrift, who’ve just released their second self-titled album last week.

Stream: The Megaphonic Thrift – “Raising Flags”
Video: The Megaphonic Thrift – “Moonstruck”

The Village Voice and The New York Daily News profile First Aid Kit, in town at The Great Hall on April 4.

eMusic talks to the founders of the great Swedish label Labrador. Who’d have guessed that a desire to not sign Stars would lead to their “Swedes only!” roster policy!