Today’s Track: Calva Louise – ‘Euphoric’

December 28, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘EUPHORIC’ (LP) (Released on August 20, 2021) (via FRKST Records/300 Entertainment)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, of course, and thanks for joining me today as we fill up the awkward post-Christmas and pre New Year’s slot with some music that got a little underrated during 2021 with yet another daily track on the blog, since it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Formed in 2016, Calva Louise are a Manchester-based indie punk and post-grunge band who take their influence from many variations of Noise-Rock and Synth-Punk between both UK and US outfits, while also getting in touch with their Latin Rock heritage throughout the two albums to their name so far. Fronted by the bold creative vision of vocalist/guitarist Jess Allanic – the trio have supported the likes of Razorlight, Highly Suspect and Albert Hammond Jr in their time together. Earlier in the year, they released the ambitious multi-media project of ‘EUPHORIC’, which was fronted by a concept album about the duality of being human and the different perceptions of reality. The band have stated that the lyrics detail episodes of the dreamer’s experiences in the form of an inner conversation with his other self – the counterpart of the human being – that seeks to experience freedom and have an encounter with the unknown. The sophomore album was produced and mixed by Bobby Bentham of Strange Bones fame. Moreover, the album was accompanied by a 45-minute Animation short film that was entirely created by Jess Allanic, who used software like After Effects and Blender to bring the Graphic Novel-inspired visuals of her band’s creative record to life. For now, let’s have a sample of the title track below.

Released digitally in late August and finally manufactured on physical vinyl copies in December by Blood Records, Calva Louise collectively say, “Our passion for audiovisual production is constantly intertwined with the concept of the album and that is why each new step to take becomes a new challenge, it is as if each completed experience gradually reveals the signs that guide us on our way”, noting, “The perception we have of this adventure shows us horizons that seem to be beyond our rational understanding as artists, and in order to see clearly we try to express these experiences through visual effects, as a complement to the music and the lyrics of the songs”, to their LP’s product description. ‘EUPHORIC’ feels like an expository title for the project, bolstered by a title track that is filled with meaty hooks and soaring melodies that hints about how you may feel after completely listening to the album in a single bingeable session. With eruptive drumming and partially processed vocal peaks, lyrics like “I wait in line, Your head is on fire, Ahead we cry in a simple way” and “When you and me are nothing, Only one of us will be euphoric” that set a fiery temper for the underground feel of the track, Allanic powerfully backs her vocals to some thrashing electronic melodies – including some gradually bubbling Synth riffs in the opening that become more acidic throughout the first verse – and some old-school Punk personality that complements the moody tone of the lyrics. The vocals are partially screamed at different intersections, but the pacing is fairly even, as Allanic uses some slower guitar notes towards the end to give the vocals just a little space to breathe. Meanwhile, the electronic production of the single goes heavy and hard by trading some twinkling keyboard riffs for a hefty amount of grit instead, with plenty of glitchy bass riffs that sweep in for a futuristic tone and Allanic concentrates hard on making her ferocious vocals feel as knife-edge as she can, and she even recites some non-English language lyrics towards the latter half to remind us of her Venezuelan upbringing, and the heavy dancehall influence of this particular touch reminds me of Arca in a few ways, especially with the audio-visual medium of the project hanging in the balance. Overall, while the more Noise-Rock based riffs get a little repetitive at times there is no doubt that Calva Louise explore decent ideas on this project altogether. It is very interesting to see the band expressing their ideas with intriguing ways by leaning into the sci-fi themes that audio-visual side projects can enhance for them. As well as giving them a unique selling point, it gives them more space to create their art, and I certainly like how there is more than just music to this. The sound, meanwhile, is an energetic one that becomes very unrelenting and combines qualities from Nu Metal and Prog Rock with dramatic results. Overall, this is an exciting band and a fresh project that, while not perfect, are certainly worth a look.

Pictured: Jess Eastwood (Vocals/Guitar), Alizon Taho (Bass Guitar) and Ben Parker (Drums) (2021) (Photo via PR)

That’s all for now – and thank you for reading about the euphoric melodies highlighted in today’s post. I’ll be back tomorrow with more content that concerns an operatic Conneticut-based indie rock band with one of the longest names in the business. Their discography includes a key collaboration with the Spoken Word artist Christopher Zizzamia – and their influences include Battles and Explosions In The Sky.

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New Album Release Friday: Squid – “Paddling”

May 7, 2021 — Leave a comment

The latest to have Inked a deal with Britain’s most experimental label. New post time!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Bright Green Field” (LP) (Released on May 7th, 2021) (via Warp Records)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for you to read your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! The never-ending cycle of ‘New Release Friday’ has arrived once again, with this week’s calendar being filled with the first posthumous release from the late MF Doom, who has collaborated with Czarface once more before his tragic passing early in the year. Student Radio indie darling Alfie Templeman and YouTuber Dodie also vie for attention, along with Copenhagen Punk progressors Iceage, and a new 1980’s Hard Rock-inspired fifteenth go-around from the notably inconsistent Weezer also hitting store shelves. Squid marks the first entry of the new summer Blockbuster season, however, a Brighton-bred Prog-Rock band with more undefinable genre qualities than you can shake a Vinyl at. Since releasing their debut EP on Dan Carey’s Speedy Wunderground and later signing to Warp Records, the home of groundbreaking UK experimenters like Aphex Twin and Boards Of Canada of top-tier status, Squid have generated a ton of buzz on the internet and with the music press. I personally haven’t been on that particular bandwagon because I often find it harder to connect with artists who have generated this level of acclaim, but I’ve heard the odd single here and there to decent impressions. I saw them in ‘On The Road’, a 2020 documentary about Independent Venue Week, where the lads proudly talked about beating a dustbin lid with an Asparagus. Their debut full-length album, ‘Bright Green Field’ arrives today, and it sees the band turn to Dan Carey for production work once again. Let’s watch them perform their latest sampler, ‘Paddling’, at SXSW below.

Producer Dan Carey has helped affiliated acts like Black Country New Road, Fontaines DC and Sinead O’Brien to succeed in recent times, and Squid’s ringleader, Ollie Judge, told Exclaim! in an interview that Bright Green Field’s tracks “Illustrate the places, events and architecture that exist within the album”. While earlier singles were quirky and driven by characters, tracks like ‘Paddling’ aim for a darker variation of moods, deepening the emotional depth of Squid’s pre-established sound. ‘Paddling’ is more concerned about the theme of Place, with the lyrics being about the reactions of feeling thrust into the adult world, as adolescent friends suddenly turn their focus to employability. A low-key opening gradually builds to a more instructive mood, as Judge recites lines like “Patient and in control/Dig holes like a mole” and “There are people inside, And they’re changing in shape and size” as he laments his companions never wanting to ‘just have fun’ anymore, built on a drum machine instrumental and accompanied by the call-and-response vocals and the well-executed key changes. Propulsive bass guitar beats and evolving bitterness in the vocals add new layers to the gradually evolving soundscape of confused moods. A suitable helping of “Don’t push me in” unfolds a less playful and more settled 00’s Post-Punk or Indie Guitar band sound, but the song’s structure remains wildly unconventional, as a 6-minute duration of building instrumentals and abstract tempo increases adds a more melodic thrust to the finale. It certainly isn’t a project with commercial accessibility near the top of the listed priorities, and the new album is said to have featured very experimental recording techniques like using a swinging microphone in a room of guitar amps. This all contributes well to the underlying mood of confusion, where it clearly feels like a ‘Lost Boy’ is behind the steering wheel. It refrains from feeling self-indulgent or too exhausting though, because the production clearly calls back to DIY roots in it’s very inception instead of seeming pretentious, and so Warp Records is a great fit for them because of it’s creative freedom and well-regarded academic status. Overall, releases like ‘Paddling’ are re-inforcing Squid as a memorable and distinctive act to follow. A breed of invention that can be rare to come across in this day and age.

Pictured: Ollie Judge (Lead Vocals/Drums), Louis Borlase (Lead Guitar/Bass Guitar), Arthur Leadbetter (Keyboard), Laurie Nankviel (Brass) & Anton Pearson (Backing Vocals) (2020) (Photo by Xenia Owens)

That’s all for now – Thank you for reading and reaching the end of my daily rambles. I’ve already got plans for tomorrow, as we take an in-depth look at the return of one of my low-key favourite young artists, who previously made the best single I’ve ever heard that is primarily about wearing wigs. This French-born Belgian-Carribean musician has toured with Neneh Cherry, and contributed vocals to the soundtrack of the 2016 film ‘Belgica’ that was scored by her close friend, Soulwax. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Yukon Blonde – “You Were Mine”

September 17, 2020 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Jeff Innes (Lead Vocals/Writer), Brandon Scott (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), James Younger (Bass Guitar), Rebecca Gray (Keyboard/Synths) & Graham Jones (Drums) (2020) (Photo via Dine Alone)

Good Morning! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, just like always, I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A Canadian 5-piece Indie Rock group from Kelowna, British Columbia who are now based in Vancouver, Yukon Blonde have been touring the globe for almost 15 years, and have played numerous live sets at highly established music festivals such as South by Southwest, along with breaking out from winning the Juno Award for Breakthrough Group Of The Year in 2013. “You Were Mine” is the latest single taken off their upcoming fifth studio album, “Vindicator”. which is the first album to be written, produced and recorded entirely by the band in their own studio. You can buy their new album from 13th November, via Dine Alone Records. It comes highly anticipated, and it’s title is a nod to how the band felt upon it’s post-production completion. On “You Were Mine”, the group’s front-man, Jeff Innes, told Kill Beat Music in a press statement: “James brought the initial idea to the table, and after several hours of jamming, eating Scooby-snacks and drinking Churchill martinis, it started to fall apart in the most perfect way imaginable,” he stated. “I feel like this song somehow epitomizes the spirit of a successful collaboration in our band. Words like ‘compromise’ had no place in that session; everyone sings leads at some point, everyone plays everything. It’s certainly among our favourites from the record.” Let’s see how it all came together on the single below.

A Synth-Punk band known for previously embracing more minimalist and keyboard-oriented rock groove music, “You Were Mine” also marks a stark departure in sound to the NYC-Punk sound of their previous album and that comes along with their new single also being the first entirely self-produced single to come from the Innes’ home studio… and kitchen. “You Were Mine” has a fairly minimalist opening, as Innes contemplates: “I keep pretending that you were mine, When I’m all alone” over the top of a moderate piano riff and a light, Synth-driven R&B hook. The second verse’s repeat of “I keep pretending that…” causes the danceable elements to shift dramatically to a more neo-psychedelic, Acid-Pop altered state. Innes’ spins a mellow Spoken Word rap, reciting: “Summer came in the blink of an eye/Nothing remains, but the sheltering sky/Cast under cancer” over a slowed, more Dream-Pop geared soundscape that keeps the R&B-inflictions audible, but the stuttering Drums provide more of a morphing ambience than before. A calm interlude persists at a breezy, if jaunty, fashion. Shortly after this, Innes’ drowns his vocals in a heavy Auto-Tune effect to halve the tempo, and bring the sense of wonky production to the forefront a little more aggressively than before, with a quickly revolving Piano section and a tonally fluctuating Groove line bring the track to a danceable and hopeful, although not necessarily fast-paced, close. It’s quite hard for me to figure out if I really like the new track or not, and that’s just because it feels very different to the style of output that Yukon Blonde have delivered in the past. That’s a very good thing, as it means we’re not getting a retread of what’s come before again. However, on the negative end, I’m not sure if it really does enough to stand out from the likes of (You saw it coming…) Tame Impala and MGMT. The atmosphere is very reminiscent of Tame Impala’s “Let It Happen”, and the pop-friendly hooks also highly remind me of Foster The People, a band who I often find to be overlooked. The concern is that, here at least, it feels a little bit un-even and it doesn’t quite mish-mash R&B and more LCD Soundsystem-influenced NYC-Punk fully cohesively, with a middle section that drags a little and the self-reflective lyricism not quite managing to touch me where it hurts. On the other hand, I am looking forward to seeing what the band do with their new direction and the creative freedom of the individual production methods. I have a feeling this track will probably grow on me over time. But, as for now, I’m sadly left a bit apprehensive.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Vindicator” (Available from November 13th, 2020) (via Dine Alone Records)

Thank you for reading this post! Tomorrow, I’m making the long travel back to my university in Staffordshire to restart actually having a life again, so the daily post will have to be pre-written in advance! We’re going to take an in-depth look at an easy classic from 1998 with a band name that reflects the opposite of what the quality of their music has proven to live up to be! The band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1993 and – unusually – they have managed to keep their original band line-up intact over the decades since. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Crack Cloud – “Ouster Stew”

July 29, 2020 — Leave a comment

How many people does it take to make just one song, eh? It’s time for your daily post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Pain Olympics” (Released on July 17th, 2020) (via Meat Machine Records)

A winter comfort! Good Morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing up your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! The last few weekends haven’t really seen a lot of high-profile releases, likely due to the ongoing complications related to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, there certainly hasn’t been an entirely barren, record-shaped hole of exciting new music, because it has allowed for a lot of young and emerging artists to capture my interest with their fresh and developing sounds. One notable conformist to this rule are Crack Cloud, with their second album “Pain Olympics”, which they self-released on July 17th, in association with Meat Machine. Crack Cloud is not a “band” in the traditional sense, but it’s a very large collective of different musicians, film directors, street artists, fashion designers, and several others, all of which are based in Vancouver, Canada. This creates an interesting exploration of the relationship between film and music, bordering stylistically on the lines between Art-Rock and Post-Punk. The leading single from their new album is “Ouster Stew”, a track that’s been getting heavy airplay on BBC Radio 6Music. Let’s have a listen below.

I think it’s safe to say that on “Ouster Stew”, Crack Cloud reaffirms that, it’s a project dedicated to subverting your expectations at each corner of it’s turn. Whether they mean to or not, the cryptic collective evoke 1980’s New-Wave and 1990’s Synth-Funk on the fragmented guitar lines and the wonky synth lines that are also embellished with elegant piano sections on the repeated grooves. Zach Choy, the vocalist, spins nonsensical spoken-word verses like: “Excommunicated, we are free/What will we do? What can they say for us to agree” and “We’re writing from the start, so we gonna burn a few/Sizing up that Ostrich for our dear communal stew”, with a chanting chorus, while the playful keyboard melodies and the 80’s-driven synths elicit Prefab Sprout and Deacon Blue, while the tightly-wound drum section flies off the steering wheel for the next half of the track. An illogically powerful drum solo builds to a Jazz-inflicted Saxophone solo, with the brass section leading to a bleak synthesizer outro. Lyrically, the style is very animated and brash. The vague ideas of tribal settlement add a brief, thin context to the ensuing chaos. The direction is anarchic, with some small-sized chanting and quirky keyboard riffs thrown in for good measure. There’s no doubt that it’s daft and silly, but it feels retro and comedic. There’s an old-school evocation of 80’s New-Wave that takes center stage in the sonic aspects. Although it feels like the obvious single, it’s lively and eclectic. I like how it also feeds the interests of contibutors who are interested in different aspects of creative media, as opposed to just music as a necessary viewpoint. They’re clearly having good fun. A thumbs-up.

Pictured: Crack Cloud standing outside of the BBC Radio 6Music studios with Marc Riley (in 2018) (via BBC Music)

Thank you for reading this post! Please make sure that you check out the blog tomorrow, where we will be going back to the Black Funk world of the 1970’s for an in-depth revision of a sensational track that was the B-side of one of the world’s most famous all-time Funk singles, produced by a music collective who were fronted by the icon George Clinton, who also led their sister band, Parliament. A very legendary man, indeed! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today’s Track: AK/DK – “Shared Particles”

July 6, 2020 — Leave a comment

The hottest double act since Sam & Mark hit the C.B.B.-Scene! It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Ed (Drums/Synths) and G (Drums/Synths) performing at an undisclosed gig (2019) (via Bandcamp)

Let’s kick off the next week with a big bang! Good Morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! I first caught wind of “Shared Particles” by listening to X-Posure, the weekend late-night show on Radio X, presented by John Kennedy, last week. AK/DK are, perhaps, sadly not very well-established at the time of writing, but this is an act who are all the better for that lack of commercial restriction, in my opinion. The duo of AK/DK is made up of Ed and Gee, who both play the drums and synths parts on their tracks, along with the help of some tidy, cut-up samples. The duo come from Brighton, here in the UK, and you can catch them playing live at the Islington Assembly Hall in London on the rescheduled date of November 11th, later this year. Ed and Gee are set to take their Kraftwerk-influenced sound of unique electronic splicing – mixed in with organic keys playing along to the percussive drums – to new heights later in the Summer, with the release of their third album “Shared Particles” on August 28th via Little Miss Echo Recordings. They’ve dropped its titlular track as a taster. Have a listen to “Shared Particles” below.

Noting that the songwriting and editing of the third LP were inspired by the habits of how the internet can be weaponized by humanity and how social media users can use their thoughts to easily manipulate or politically divide society, AK/DK look to carve out a niche for themselves on “Shared Particles” by creating an eclectic, electronically-driven sound that can appeal to the rave scene as much as the Brit-Punk community. The track starts off with a fairly distorted synth beat, before the tempo gets raised up a gear by an African backing chant, and some propulsive dream beats interweave with a stream of upbeat, filtrating strobe synths. The space-themed lyrics play at unity and ideas of coming together for a common purpose, starting off with hooks that paint the picture: “Space dust, deep inside our bones/Saturn’s rings inside your noise” and foretell a story of a party on a rocket ship in space: “Ever expanding into the unknown/Infinite space, but we are not alone”, before a neat refrain when the duo raise their delivery of intrinsic synths, mixed in with squelching feedback noises and percussive electronic drum melodies, down for a moment to make a toast, layering: “Cross time and space to get to you/Your heart is Iron, we are you” on top of a glowing, more pop-positioned keyboard interlude, and repeating the opening hook over the lowered pace. Conclusively, the band don’t hold back on the grand finale, mixing in their frenetic drum-oriented fluidity with buzzing synths and siren effects that fizzle in the mid-centre. It’s all been laid out quite impressively, and the underlying Dance-based flair harkens back to the “Big Beat” club culture of the 90’s, with influences from The Chemical Brothers and Propellerheads, but there is a further Punk-pleasing, Indie Rock sound embellished in the high-energy dance beats to update the style with a new coat of paint. The vocals are a bit daft, but they create an extra touch of humor that feels welcome, if a bit lacking in memorability. It’s a big thumbs up for me overall and the lyrics suit more than just a fun night out in the club.

Pictured: Cover Art for “Shared Particles” (Available to buy from August 28th, 2020) (via Little Miss Echo Recordings)

Thank you for reading this post! As usual, I’ll be back tomorrow with an in-depth listen to the new track from another emerging independent band. This time, it’s a female punk 3-piece based in London who don’t take themselves very seriously – who have performed at Lollapalooza Festival in 2018 and they were called “inarguably one of the most exhilerating live rock bands to emerge within the last few years” by Joe Lynch of Billboard, in 2018. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime