Industrial Punk

New Album Release Fridays: Bloc Party – ‘If We Get Caught’

April 29, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Alpha Games’ (LP) (Available from April 29th, 2022) (via BMG/Infectious Records)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and its time for me to get writing up for yet another 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! With new albums by Royksopp, Toro Y Moi, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Kelly Lee Owens, Honeyglaze, Dana Gavanski and more all arriving today, you really can take your pick for ‘Album Of The Week’ because there seems to be something for everybody among the release slate today. I have been coloured intrigued by Bloc Party, therefore, as the established PLUG Award-winning and 30 million album-selling London rock band are entering a crucial new chapter of their careers with ‘Alpha Games’ – their sixth studio album – which is out now, as of today, via BMG/Infectious Records. The main draw for the record is how it is their first to feature their new line-up, as Gordon Moakes and Matt Tong have been replaced by Louise Bartle and Justin Harris. The urban rock band have been actively promoting the record as a twist on the band’s old dynamic, giving the sense they are steering away from their tried-and-tested formula in favour of something new, as Kele Okereke said “We’re not the same band now. The chemistry is different” and “We have a history and a legacy, but I’m more excited about the energy we have right now“, in a recent interview with NME’s Mark Beaumont. It also brings producers like Dan Carey, of Speedy Wunderground fame, on board as well. It has been backed by interesting singles like ‘Traps’ and ‘The Girls Are Fighting’, which have sounded edgy in new ways despite feeling like Bloc Party. Check out the latest single – ‘If We Get Caught’ – below.

“There are only two songs that I feel like have any tenderness on the record, and ‘If We Get Caught’ is one of them“, Kele Okereke says about the LP’s penultimate track in a press release, adding, “It’s really about recognizing that the game is coming to an end and about trying to steal a moment of tenderness with your partner before the curtain comes crashing down. I think it’s about trying to find moments where you can really connect with someone amid all of the chaos that’s going on in the world“, in his evaluation. While the other singles have boasted a sharper set of fangs, being defined by their sleazy punk theatrics and their intense guitar riffs, ‘If We Get Caught’ feels more like an indie anthem by-the-numbers with a decidedly more downbeat, yet still melodic, pace. A subtle, vintage Art-Rock touch and the staccato vocals of the chorus, where the acidic and playful vibes of singles like ‘Traps’ and ‘Sex Magic’ are replaced by a sound that seems more emotionally driven. Okereke chimes in with lyrics like “Where you go/I will go” and “Stick to the story, better with an alibi/Create diversion, take control with sleight of hand” that, while retaining a relatively straightforward Dance-Rock feel, are supported neatly by a slight rap delivery that Okereke uses in the verses, before he is supported by some cooing backing vocals by Bartle and airy bass guitar riffs in the chorus. Lyrics like “If we get caught/I want you to know/I will always, ride for you” capture the quality of trying to eek out a final moment of intimacy before an inevitable final goodbye, wringing out the joy of a doomed relationship, nicely in the chorus. A light channeling of the indie rock ghosts of the 80’s and 90’s mostly characterizes the visuals and emotions here, with Okereke and the rest of the band creating a sense of unity and strength by giving the impression that there is little sense of anger whatsoever. I feel that Okereke has created a fresh outlet for himself in his solo material, with side project releases like ‘2042’ feeling more fascinating and inspired than some of his main Bloc Party music in some cases, and I can see some of that influence spreading out into new avenues here. While ultimately not quite as interesting or experimental, it feels different to the music that I’ve heard by Bloc Party or may expect to hear from them because it feels more intimate, and so I feel like the goal of mixing up their recycled tropes has been achieved here, even if the sound is a little more generic in some ways. An enjoyable single that would sound great on the UK’s mainstream radio, ‘If We Get Caught’ makes it clear that Bloc Party are not attempting to emulate their past efforts too slavishly, as this one strikes a more full-tilted and introspective chord with me – and this is an effective way to play the game.

Pictured: Kele Okereke (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Electric Piano/Samples/Synths), Russell Lisack (Lead Guitar/Samples/Programming), Gordon Moakes (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals/Keyboard/Synths/Glockenspiel) and Matt Tong (Drums/Percussion/Occasional Backing Vocals) (2014) (Image via whenthegramarphonerings.com)

If you’re already a fan of this NME Album Of The Year-winning band, the party doesn’t need to end here as you can check out each of my other Bloc Party-related posts here:

‘Traps’ (2022) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2022/01/08/todays-track-bloc-party-traps/

‘Helicopter’ (2021) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/11/07/scuzz-sundays-bloc-party-helicopter/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Silent Alarm’ (LP/Album) (Released on February 2, 2005) (via Wichita Recordings)

That’s all for now! Thank you for checking out my latest post on the blog, and we will be looking ahead to the new month tomorrow with my review for a recent single by an established Australian indie rock band who will be releasing a new album within May. Formed in Melbourne in 2013 by three vocalists-guitarists, they have gained attention by the AIR Awards, Australian Music Prize, Music Victoria Awards and others.

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Today’s Track: Dama Scout – ‘Emails From Suzanne’

April 26, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Eva Liu (Vocals/Lead Guitar), Scot Lucci (Bass Guitar) and Daniel Grant (Drums) (2022) (Photo via PR)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has almost come for you to delete all of the junk mail in your inbox folder after you’ve finished reading yet another 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! An Indie Punk trio comprised of vocalist/guitarist Eva Liu, bassist Scot Lucci and drummer Daniel Grant, Dama Scout were formed in 2016 and they subsequently spent years self-producing nightmarish soundscapes traversing through Noise-Pop and Industrial Rock in the studio, dividing their time between Glasgow and London. The band’s name derives from a line said by the protagonist of Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ to whom Liu has long related, as ‘Dama’ means woman or deer. You can find support for the trio on sources like The Line Of Best Fit, BBC Introducing, NTS Radio, Amazing Radio and DIY. Their debut LP – ‘Gen Wo Lai (Come With Me)’ – was released on April 22nd via Hand In Hive, and it draws from East Asian Pop and Rock influences. An LP project that was assembled internally – with all of the material getting written, recorded, mixed and produced by Dama Scout themselves – and it explores the ethnicity of Eva Liu, who was born in Northern Ireland by two parents from Hong Kong, thus becoming an object of school playground curiosity. Their bold full-length outing is a soundtrack for her journey of attracting unwanted attention in her adolescence to becoming comfortable with her identity as a young adult, told in the form of harsh Dream-Pop backdrops and various genre fluid explorations. Check your crowded inbox for ‘Emails From Suzanne’ below.

Dama Scout says the promotional single pays homage to “the world’s finest vessel of passive aggression, wrought with the sincerest best wishes, high in frequency, low in fidelity – the email” and it is enriched vividly by the visual work of the accompanying music video, which the band pitch as “a short documentary exploring the death of the office, the nature of emerging flexible work environments and the relationship between labor and the millennial condition of perpetual adolescence“, in a press statement. On that note, a disturbing slice of visual imagery is a suitable companion to the thick walls of distortion and push-and-pull pacing on ‘Emails From Suzanne’ as a sharp, piercing ode to the passive aggression of workplace communication through online messaging. The lyrics are decidedly fragmented, with sequences like “How could/I have done it/All before” and “What is her name?, I ask/Is she wanted?, Any background information?” being repeated throughout the track with a collage-style, loose structure. They are evoked by a sense of Liu muttering under her breath, getting light frustrations and underlying anger across as the emerging feel of catharsis slowly makes its way to the forefront of the loud, quirky tune by the time that it reaches the end. The track twists through the grit of 90’s Riot Grrrl in the breathy bite of the vocals and the aggressive character of the backing band’s sections, while turning through more modern explorations of Shoegaze and Hyper Pop in the ear-catching viscerality of the full-blast guitar rhythms and the rather whimsical finale punctuated by the heightened instrumentals which evoke a nightmarish, anxiety-inducing tone. Rather than having a twisted sweetness to it that brings in some unsettling elements, ‘Emails From Suzanne’ is a little more intent on delivering some high-octane Dream Rock and brooding melodies to give the feeling that something is lurking in the dark corners of the underworld. It is not for everybody due to how outright angry that it sounds, but that’s no discredit to the risks that Dama Scout are taking and how they structure their recorded material with their slow builds that replicate the feeling of a live performance. It does not feel massively improvised, but it bears a decent amount of depth to it and there are flashes of a fresh band who are daring to be different even if the thick walls of distortion feel a little bit played out in their genre, a trope they aren’t necessarily subverting. Although the band have a limited discography, cuts like ‘Emails From Suzanne’ are promising in showcasing an emerging act who have the spirit to forge their own roads in a market that is not currently experiencing a dearth of new talent. A welcome invitation to the, sometimes frightening yet often Utopian, world of a 3-piece who are in control of their career’s direction and musical trajectory.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Gen Wo Lai (Come With Me)’ (LP) (Released on April 22nd, 2022) (via Hand In Hive)

Thank you for checking out my latest post on the blog, and I will be back tomorrow as we go retro for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ with a revisit of a 90’s Hip-Hop classic that any fans of ‘Watch Dogs 2’ are going to love. Praised bu NPR and AllMusic, this duo from Long Island, New York were ranked as #5 on Rolling Stone’s list of ‘The 20 Greatest Duo’s Of All Time’ in 2015 and, unfortunately, their lost material was a victim of the Universal fire which affected hundreds of artists, whose tapes were destroyed in 2008.

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Today’s Track: Obongjayar – ‘Message In A Hammer’

February 17, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Some Nights I Dream Of Doors’ (LP) (Available from May 13th, 2022) (via September Recordings)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time to hear a defiant word of resistance from today’s important new voice in music with yet another daily track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Long-time readers may remember how Obongjayar reached the last spot of my ‘Top 5 Best EP’s Of 2020’ list with ‘Which Way Is Forward?’ eons ago, and that’s because this artist is doing a lot of very creative things within the Afrobeat genre by blending elements of Electronic, Spoken Word, Psych-Pop and Post-Rock music together to create frightening and visceral soundscapes that lyrically explore non religion-specific spiritual overtones about searching for your soul. Obongjayar is the release moniker of London-based Afrobeat artist Steven Umoh, who was born in Calabar, Nigeria and he moved over to the UK with his mother to escape their abusive relationship with his father. He is influenced by the US Hip-Hop artists of the 2000’s who he spent his childhood listening to including Eminem, Ciara, Usher, Nelly and Snoop Dogg. His work has gained praise from Pitchfork, The Guardian, New Wave Magazine and Deep Cuts – and he has recently collaborated with Pa Salieu and Little Simz. He also contributed to the ‘Everything Is Recorded’ project that was started by Richard Russell, who is the executive of XL Recordings. Umoh will be releasing his debut studio album – ‘Some Nights I Dream Of Doors’ – via September Recordings on May 13th. In an attached press release, Umoh says, “This album dives into the idea of opportunity and tries to explore what that means, what lies beyond those doors, and asks if we’re ready for it”. Check out his haunting single ‘Message In A Hammer’ below.

The new album features 12 tracks including the other pre-release single – ‘Try’ – and a new collaboration with the Mercury Prize-nominated Prog-Jazz musician Nubya Garcia. ‘Message In A Hammer’ is built on a pummeling beat that Umoh devised with co-producer Barney Lister, and Umoh makes his stern warning sound clear, saying, “Message In A Hammer is about fight, and fighting against the powers that take and steal and rob from us, and calling them by their name – thieves and murderers”, in a press release. The ‘hammer’ in the track’s title is not metaphorical in the video, and he matches this striking imagery with a piece of music that finds him chanting methodically with his vocals that sound very determined and brutal with honesty. Refusing to be placed into a box, he protests against colonialism and state corruption with unbridled lyrics like “Born in trouble water/Every stroke is war” and “They drowned the ones before us/But we’ll make it to shore” that hint towards the actions bought about by SARS, a Nigerian authority who has come under scrutiny for the violence that it has inflicted on young Nigerians with its special police force. Synths hover and waver in the backbeat, while the drums thump along at a relentless pace and sell the disdain that Umoh has instinctively felt about the history that he refuses not to get overburdened by, and he instead turns the tide – in both a literal and a lyrical sense – with the leading hook of “You can beat me, shoot me, kill me, throw me in jail/You can strip me, use me, abuse me” that makes his very commanding presence felt and leads his unsullied chorus. His tone is furious and hellbent, but his vocals come across as passionate instead of preachy, for the most part. I think what really works about Obongjayar’s music is how his voice stretches through a plethora of political and intimate themes, while set against a range of different influences and subsequent backdrops, without coming across as too self-righteous and it feels harsh, but well-balanced, instead. This is another solid example that he displays on ‘Message In A Hammer’, a message against the dispatch of systematic oppression that acknowledges the past while conveying a forward-thinking ethos and delivery. The naval percussion, the sinister Synths and the brisk pace tie a neat ribbon around it all.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Which Way Is Forward?’ (EP) (Released on February 7, 2020) (via September Recordings)

That’s all for now! Thank you for checking out some different music with me today, and thank you for lending a pair of eyes to my site for just a few minutes today. I’m visiting my sister in Kent tomorrow – so you can rest assured that I’ve gotten ahead of my game and written all about tomorrow’s pick for ‘New Album Release Fridays’ in advance. We’re discussing the ambitious double album project from a Chamber Pop duo from Baltimore, Maryland who have been nominated for a Swedish GAFFA award.

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New Album Release Fridays: Trentemøller – ‘All Too Soon’

February 11, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Memoria’ (LP) (Released on February 11th, 2022) (via In My Room Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time to get through the last few hours of your tiresome working week with the aid of yet another daily track of the blog of the ‘New Album Release Fridays’ variety, given how it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of new music every day! One of today’s most eventful album releases comes from Trentemoller, a Danish film score creator, producer and multi-instrumentalist from Copenhagen, Denmark who has released lush compositions of a cinematic style for over 20 years now by drawing on elements such as Minimalism, Glitch, Dark Wave, Downtempo, Instrumental Hip-Hop, Synthwave, Post-Rock and more with productions that feel eerie and progressive for his grounded discography. Trentemoller started making music in the 90’s as a part of different Indie Rock projects and he has since founded his own label – In My Room Records. He also headlined the Orange Stage at Roskilde Festival in 2009 with a set designed by his close friend and touring drummer Henrik Vibskov, a night that saw him playing in front of 60,000 people with innovative visuals to captivate them. Today, he is releasing his sixth full-length studio album – ‘Memoria’ – via his own label. This is the follow-up LP to 2019’s ‘Obverse’, a record that was nominated for IMPALA’s European Independent Album Of The Year award of that same year and it also saw him collaborate with Warpaint’s Jenny Lee Linberg and Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell. For one of his latest singles – ‘All Too Soon’ – he has reached out to his own girlfriend Lisbet Fritze for a glistening series of radiant backing vocals. Let’s give it a spin below.

Taking us through the narrative behind ‘All Too Soon’ on his own Bandcamp page, Trentemoller says, “All Too Soon examines ostensibly diametric relationships of light and dark, life and death, day and night, love and hate, while actually presenting them as dualistic, and symbiotic, influencing each other as they interrelate. What might appear to be a dispiriting take on our mortality could just as easily be interpreted as its acceptance being liberating”, in his own description. Beginning with a light acoustic guitar strum that becomes more intense and darkens the atmosphere before Fritze’s mysterious vocals kick in, who croons pained lyrics like “Have you ever fallen in/Into an inner void?” and “Do you feel like I do? Abandoned from it all” with an enigmatic presence, with a Trip Hop-influenced soundscape that morphs into a more glitched and distorted picture frame of a piece as the four minute duration of the track takes its time. Trentemoller complements the scattering Shoegaze opus of the chorus – with regretful lyrics like “We can’t live forever/If we could, we would” being sprawled all below percussive feedback stabs by Fritze – with sumptuous melodies of melancholic Drums and antagonized trails of reverb. Together, it makes up for an ethereal combination of psychedelic Dream Rock and textured Progressive Pop with a few vague lyrics like “Is a growing darkness/All you see?” creating a platform of intrigue. Through the means of collaborating with his girlfriend, Trentemoller toys with the idea of connections, with lyrics like “Is it day or night/Is it love or hate/Is it anything between?” that contrast each other and his instrumental work employs some warm percussion that counteracts the more cold, dry tones of the guitar and drums. Overall, ‘All Too Soon’ is a detailed and well-informed exploration of items that are bound together, yet they are opposite and he soundtracks these relations with his pivoting instrumentation and his emotive yet guarded lyricism that doesn’t reveal much in terms of laying out a direct meaning, with an underlayer of Pop that ensures that light is appropriately clashing with darkness throughout his soundscape.

Pictured: Anders Trentemøller in an official photoshoot for ‘Obverse’ (2019) (Photo by David Ampong/Waves.com)

That leaves me with nothing left to say other than to thank you for time and wish you well on your way to the weekend. ‘Scuzz Sundays’ will return in two days time for the usual throwback to the ‘trashy teen’ era of our lives, but I’ve also got some new music to share with you tomorrow that comes from an Indie Rock duo from the Isle Of Wight who have been all played over BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6 Music since their debut single – ‘Chaise Lounge’ – went viral last year. They are shortlisted for BBC’s ‘Sound Of 2022’ poll and they began touring in the US in December as they keep finding success.

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Today’s Track: HighSchool – ‘Frosting’

February 3, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Forever At Last’ (Released on November 1st, 2021) (via Dalliance Recordings)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, of course, and it is time for me to get typing up for yet another quick daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A trio who spent a long period of over 200 days in lockdown together in their native hometown in the suburbs of Brunswick, Australia – HighSchool are a new Melbourne Post-Punk trio who were formed during 2020 and they have resurfaced after a year of writing and recording an extensive body of work to decent acclaim, with recent singles like ‘Jerry’ and ‘New York, Paris and London’ gaining airplay on BBC Radio 6 Music courtesy of Steve Lamacq’s ‘The New Music Fix’ programming during the early hours of Friday morning each week. Comprised of Lilli Trobbiani, Rory Trobbiani and Luke Scott, the band produces reverb-drenched rock that encompasses between genres like Noise-Punk, Industrial Rock and 00’s Post-Punk Revival in their atmospherically gloomy, but also slightly wistful and textured sounds. Known for their subversive Goth imagery, HighSchool have been finding popularity on Bandcamp recently with the release of their debut EP – ‘Forever At Last’ – which was released on November 1, 2021 via the British-based record label Dalliance Recordings. Check out the single ‘Frosting’ below.

HighSchool recorded their six-track EP project with Archie Shannon from Floodlights behind the decks and it compiles each of their singles to date including ‘De Facto’ and ‘Sirens’, plus the title track and three more, some of which songs have demo versions that date back to late 2020 in terms of their development stages. Opening the short-form release is ‘Frosting’, a Shoegaze-influenced jam that I have been playing on repeat personally, as it reminds me of The Smiths in quite a huge way due to the bittersweet qualities of the emotions and the melancholic sound of the simple guitar strumming that is accompanied by some edgy Goth-rock imagery during the official music video, while it also feels more Lo-Fi than your average Post-Punk act, with some fuzzy guitar riffs that remind me of the DIY Pop music that’s been coming out of the New York psych scene courtesy of artists like JW Francis, combining the moody aesthetics with a softer side that allows the radiant Soft-Rock to lay some emotional groundwork for the swooning lyrics and the sense of longing that is created by Rory Trobbiani’s lead vocals in the delivery. Lyrics like “The second I saw you dance/I was waiting on a love I never knew” and “You can’t win the war if you don’t know who the enemy is” feel contemplative and recall the angst-ridden undercurrent of bands like The Fall in the mid-1980’s, and they’re backed up by a soundscape of textbook Post-Punk where the drowsing guitar effects and the nostalgic Synth riffs, along with a briefly fluttering String sample section, provide an emotive backdrop to support the industrial Bass rhythms that are looped underneath. It feels polished and tidy, but the lead vocals are delightfully slathered in Jangle-Rock guitars that distort the clarity of the nuanced lyrics. Such lyrics recall particularly intimate seconds of time from the past, such as “Can’t say I don’t miss holding hands/And chasing afternoons”, that create more substance for the emotive qualities, as opposed to replicating some of their contemporaries that have been etched into the ‘Indie Landfill’ classification that becomes difficult to break away from. While the music is most reminiscent of modern Pop-Punk and wry Industrial Rock, it almost continues the tradition of bands like Slowdive and DIIV by the creation of the melancholic soundscapes that contain pretensions of stylisation and visual art, but it is more warmly delivered and it aims to uplift Rory Trobbiani’s vocals from a mood of longing to a more nostalgic one. They already sound like a more experienced act than they probably are, and that sounds really great as their music mostly leans on the gloomy side without simply pointing at trademarks of the key influences. Fantastic instrumentally and beautifully performed.

Pictured: HighSchool (aka Lilli Trobbiani, Rory Tribbiani and Rory Tribbiani) (2021) (Photo Credit: Hector Clark)

That’s all for now! Thank you for checking out my latest post, and, for the first time of the year, we seem to have a truly stacked line-up of new albums vying for your attention from tomorrow onwards, and we’ll be selecting one of them as a neat sampler for our ‘New Album Release Fridays’ post tomorrow. We’ll be previewing the newest album from a Missouri-formed indie rock band whose heavy music has been featured in advertisements for Apple, NFL and Bose. They have supported acts like Phoenix, Vance Joy, Joywave, and Cold War Kids on tour since autumn 2018 onwards.

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Today’s Track: Placebo – ‘Surrounded By Spies’

January 22, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Never Let Me Go’ (LP) (Available from March 25th, 2022) (via Rise Records/Elevator Lady)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for me to bring you some company for this barren January wasteland with yet another daily track on the blog, given that it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A high-profile act formed in 90’s London who became widely praised for their androgynous appearances in their music and the media with lyrics that openly discussed taboo topics of the time like drug abuse, mental health and sexuality, it feels fitting that there is once again a gap in the market for Placebo, a London-based alternative rock/grunge band who have sold over 11 million records worldwide, to shed their skin. In their earlier years, Placebo collaborated with prolific names like David Bowie and Michael Stipe and, to date, each of the seven studio albums they have released have all reached the Top 20 of the UK Album Charts. Anybody who grew up in the late-90’s may recall the divisive single ‘Nancy Boy’ that was famous for it’s genre-blurring content. It has been 9 years since 2013’s ‘Loud Like Love’ was released, but the now-duo of vocalist-guitarist Brian Molko and bassist-guitarist Stefan Olsdal are about to follow that LP up with another – ‘Never Let Me Go’ – which arrives on March 25th via Rise Records and Elevator Lady. Following the first comeback single – ‘Beautiful James’ – the more recent track of ‘Surrounded By Spies’ was created using William S. Burroughs’ cut-up technique. Molko says that he used shredded pieces of written words to rearrange into a new text to piece together the track that lyrically envisions a society where every camera is fixated on the fictional narrator, forming a wise commentary on CCTV surveillance. Let’s give it a spin below.

“I began writing the lyrics when I discovered my neighbours were spying on me on behalf of parties with a nefarious agenda”, Molko explains about the source of the inspiration for his production techniques and the music video in a press release, later writing, “It’s a true story told through a lens of paranoia, complete disgust for modern society’s values and the deification of surveillance capitalism. The narrator is at the end of their tether, hopeless and afraid, completely at odds with our newfound progress and the god of money”, to his text description. The most die-hard of Placebo’s fans have noted how the music video has a few similarities with that of 2013’s ‘The Bitter End’, and the audio experience of ‘Surrounded By Spies’ similarly does not pull any punches as Molko charismatically repeats hooks like “The search for meaning is killing me” and “Dead fly on the national anthem” with a dark-natured heart over the top of some harsh instrumentation. While ‘Beautiful James’ – the preceding single – buzzed with some light-hearted Synths, ‘Surrounded By Spies’ feels starker and more brutal in contrast. The building guitar riffs are a subtle slow-burn, as Molko buckles under the weight of a lack of public privacy with blunt lyrics like “I saw you jump from a burning building” and “I’ve seen you move like Elvis set on fire” that conjure up some gothic rock-based imagery. The vocal delivery has a gentle air of Spoken word about it, as Molko recites a collage of dark-pop lyrics that touch upon paranoia and consent as key themes, with the half-way refrain of “I gave my heart, now I want it back” forming a key moment of soul for the song. It starts off with a backdrop of ethereal Organ chimes aided by fragmented percussion as the tension builds within the soundscape and the titular hook of “I am surrounded by spies” grows the intensity of the sound before an eventual payoff. The deft lyrical delivery portrays a claustrophobic mood in effective ways where the quiet-and-loud pace of the fluctuating sounds connects with the wry refrains throughout the track as the walls fittingly close in on the central character. It doesn’t really fit the feel-good direction of most late-90’s Pop Punk acts and so it subverts my expectations in a moving way, and the darkened Synth riffs relate to the sharp qualities of the songwriting nicely. All-around, it is a neat and cohesive package that continues to make Placebo feel like a band with a definite edgy sensibility to them. The vocals sound a little disorienting in the mix, but to be honest, I enjoyed how ‘Surrounded By Spies’ feels candid and casual instead of over-produced in any way. A poetic piece that feels dark while moving towards realism, this is a still strong offering by Placebo.

Pictured: Brian Molko (Lead Vocals/Lead Guitar/Keyboard/Percussion), Stefan Olsdal (Bass Guitar/Piano/Backing Vocals) and Steve Forrest (Drums/Percussion/Backing Vocals) (2003) (Photo Credit: Jamie Crossnan/NME.com)

As Placebo were a fairly prominent part of the 00’s Pop-Punk scene, they have also been subjected to my distinctive feature of ‘Scuzz Sundays’ before. You can revisit the sound of ‘Pure Morning’ from 1998 here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/03/15/scuzz-sundays-placebo-pure-morning/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ (LP) (Released on 12th October, 1998) (via The Hut/Virgin)

That’s enough privacy invasion for one morning! Thank you for joining me today, and I’ll be back tomorrow for another weekly installment of ‘Scuzz Sundays’ which, this week, features a unique Pop-Punk cover of Nena’s German 90’s hit ’99 Red Balloons’ by a California-based ska punk band who got their own version used in pop culture media productions like ‘Not Another Teen Movie’, ‘Our Lips Are Sealed’ and ‘Eurotrip’.

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Today’s Track: Mandy, Indiana – ‘Bottle Episode’

January 4, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Valentine Caulfield (Lead Vocals/Chief Songwriter), Scott Fair (Rhythm Guitar/Producer) and Liam Stewart (Drums/Percussion) (2020)(Photo by Will Shields)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and I’m thrilled that you’re getting invested in yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Formerly known as ‘Gary, Indiana’ – which is a true story according to Pitch Perfect PR – a bizzare twist of events saw this Manchester-based Alternative Punk project settle on Mandy, Indiana as their current name. Originally a duo comprised up of Valentine Caulfield (Vocals, Lyrics), Scott Fair (Guitar/Producer) and Liam Stewart (Drums/Percussion), the band mesh Noise-Punk with experimental recording methods that have found SFX of cluttering footsteps and muffled piano appearing on their debut EP release – ‘…’ – which was released digitally on November 19th, 2021 and later physically issued on December 10th, 2021 via Fire Talk Records. Their tracks for the EP were recorded in a variety of different places, from the band’s rehearsal spaces and traditional studio set-up to outside locations like a cavernous industrial mill. The band are also known for directing their own music videos that combine found footage clips with a style of macabre film-making craft which the batch of musicians state were influenced by film directors like Leos Carax and Gasper Coe in style and structure. ‘Bottle, Episode’ was recently featured on KEXP’s ‘Song Of The Day’ podcast, and you could also know Stewart from commonly touring with Lonelady. Let’s check out the new single below.

Seeking to capture a tale of conflict between armed forces for ‘Bottle, Episode’ – Caulfield says, “I wanted to build up on the military style of the track, but in a very slow crescendo, and not in a very obvious way”, as she explained in a press statement. Fair added, “The inspiration for the guitar line was based upon a recording of a flood siren in Todmorden. I was going to use the recording as a sample but then I decided to try and recreate it with the guitar”, to the conversation. Seeking to capture a somber and hawkish tone with their intriguing single, the band get off to a riotous start with a ramshackle drum beat that patters along to a brisk pace as Caulfield delivers some foerign language vocals, before a taut guitar melody is introduced to the fray in mimicry of a siren, as Caulfield snaps with her vocal pitch as the sinister pulse of the single violently screeches along with its layered soundscape of carefully programmed snare beats and destructive guitar riffs that, ironically, feels very combative in nature. Lyrically, war is never explicitly being mentioned, but there are clearly bleak themes afloot as Caulfiend’s growling vocals imply that men are all waiting for a massacre of-sorts. Instrumentally, however, it relies a little on a Club-oriented sound as the melodicism rises gradually as to introduce the new elements of the track in coherent ways and the battle between harsh abrasian and lyrical edge owes some debt to the No Wave music of decades past. While not for the faint-hearted, ‘Bottle Episode’ conjures up some disturbing imagery of bullets tearing apart the lives of soldiers in effective ways as it feels similar to a dance-oriented track in it’s layering, but they’ve made sure the chords are dark and dissonant enough and the arrangements are brutal enough to convey the very dark textures of the lyrics to strong effect. Overall, a strangely fun but all the more sinister recording that certainly includes some fascinating production tactics that has a unique selling point for the band and a stark visual reminder of the brutality of military conflict that earns notice.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘…’ (EP) (Released on December 10th, 2021) (via Fire Records)

That’s all for now! After an understandably bleak note on the site today, we’ll be turning up the good times tomorrow as ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ makes its return to the blog as a weekly fixture. We’ll be remembering the third and final single to be taken off a UK top five album from the original Trip-Hop act of 90’s Bristol. The band won a BRIT Award for Best British Dance Act and have sold over 13 million copies worldwide. The trio have won two Q Awards and a pair of MTV Europe Music Awards.

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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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Countdown To Christmas 2021: Billy No Mates – ‘Christmas Is For Lovers, Ghosts & Children’

December 21, 2021 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Billy Nomates in a PR shot for her live set at the Farmfestival in Somerset (2020) (via PR/press shoot)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for us to pause for reflection over how others handle financial or familial stress over the festive season with yet another entry of our ‘Countdown To Christmas’ series of daily posts, since it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Every year, there’s always a few Christmas songs that have been released for charity that remind us to take care of others during the holiday season, often with a heartfelt message or some novelty value to increase its appeal to casual audiences in the mainstream. One of this year’s suspects turns out to be an Alternative Post-Punk artist who I’m already fond of, which is the New Wave-inspired music of Leicestershire-born singer-songwriter Tor Maries, who releases her indie rock music under the aptly titled project of Billy Nomates. I really enjoy the visceral attitude and the fiery, retro personality of her lyrics that set her apart in a somewhat saturated market, and given her experience of being a part of several side projects in the past and striking out as a solo artist with a no-nonsense spirit, could well become more of an icon for her genre in the next ten of fifteen years. If you’re a fan of Sleaford Mods, you would also know Maries from touring with them and collaborating on their track ‘Mork ‘N’ Mindy’ from their latest album ‘Spare Ribs’ released last January, and she performed it with them on national TV during ‘Later… With Jools Holland’ for BBC Two. Currently based in Bristol and now signed to Invada Records, Maries is also known for her self-titled debut album – which BBC Radio 6 Music presenter Amy Lamé chose as her favourite album of 2020 – as well as the follow-up EP of ‘Emergency Telephone’ that took things to a more 80’s-leaning and characteristically aggressive creative direction in March. Her latest single, ‘Christmas Is For Lovers, Ghosts & Children’, has been released to Bandcamp on a pay-what-you-can basis with the sales going directly to Feed The Homeless Bristol. Let’s check it out.

Launched in 2016, Feed The Homeless has been providing extra care and help for people in Bristol who have needed to eat the most for the past five years by supporting them with nutritious meals distributed through their vans to people who are sleeping rough and are less fortunate than ourselves, and this year, they’re hoping to make Christmas more pleasant for those who can’t afford the essentials, yet alone the luxurious food that luckier people will be tucking into this year and the charity are raising money to keep the organisation’s van of ‘Trevor’ on the road to achieve the mission during the cold winter months that are very difficult for people. For Maries, ‘Christmas Is For Lovers, Ghosts and Children’ is another excellent single that is well meaning and socially significant. Despite the rather agonizing title, this is not an Anti-Christmas single and it doesn’t seek to demonize Christmas in any way. Instead, she is simply encouraging you to spare a thought and give a helping hand to people who really suffer during this exuberant time of the year. With hard-hitting lyrics like “What I’m seeing, what I’m hearing/Doesn’t add up to the season, that I’m feeling”, she highlights a disconnect between the extravagant meals and media representation of the Christmas season that advertisements draw us into and the more isolated reality that most experience at the time of yuletide. Moreover, the chorus of “When the people that you love/Go slowly disappearing/and when you gave your heart, yeah they give it back” encourages a simple recognition that Christmas doesn’t feel the same or mean the same to everyone in our modern society. She still presents Christmas as an enjoyable time, but one that also provokes thoughts and reminds us of the invisibility cloak behind the commercialism. All the hallmarks of a decent Billy Nomates track are here, with gently psychedelic Synth riffs and a danceable Drum Machine riff that bounces along the Euphoric bassline. This also feels suitable for the season, however, with some percussive Jingle Bells and soulful handclaps which complement the overarching request of supporting less fortunate souls during the season nicely, while her vocals are more sentimental, although I wouldn’t say totally vulnerable, than the typical Tor Maries track that you may find on one of her albums or EP’s regularly, but they are still tough and firmly rooted in the old-school Punk philosophy of her production. Overall, the customarily direct lyricism and the starkly honest style of the track make it a stand-out of this year’s Holiday-themed releases. I also like that it’s a charity single with some credibility and quality to it, as opposed to the likes of LadBaby whose novelty Sausage Rolls-themed offerings are waring thin on me, as it was only really funny the first time and not the fourth. A kind-hearted and well-produced charity single which is certainly worth a little change from your pocket.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Emergency Telephone’ (EP) (Released on March 5th, 2021) (via Invada Records UK)

If you’ve just been converted into the Billy Nomates fan club, why not also join the ‘Hippy Elite’ here?: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/09/08/todays-track-billy-no-mates-hippy-elite/

Pictured: Billy No Mates pictured on the cover art for her self-titled debut album (2020) (via Invada Records UK)

That’s all for now! Don’t forget to spare a thought for those who need it this Christmas, and I’ll be back tomorrow to pitch a dance track as an addition to your disco playlist at your office Christmas party on Friday night before we go all in on the cheese for Christmas with something jazzy on Thursday the 23rd. It comes your way from an Australian Electronic Dance music duo who have just released their first album in seven years on Future Classic and it has reached #6 in the Australian Albums Chart. They have worked with none other than Kylie Minogue – as well as including vocalists like Channel Tres, Bishop Nehru, Owl Eyes and Reggie Watts on their music.

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Scuzz Sundays: Hoobastank – ‘Out Of Control’

November 14, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Doug Robb (Lead Vocals), Dan Estrin (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Jesse Charland (Keyboard/Bass Guitar) and Chris Hesse (Drums) (2013) (Photo by http://www.hiddenjams.com/)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to delve back into 90’s-00’s Pop-Punk territory for yet another edition of ‘Scuzz Sundays’ on One Track At A Time, the music blog where it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! If you were to name a list of acts with wacky or purely silly names, the likes of Chicano Batman and Bowling For Soup would probably ring the most bells. Somewhere near to the top of the list with them, however, would have to be the Agura Falls native Rock band who are still known as Hoobastank. The band did pretty well for themselves, meanwhile, by scoring a wide range of sync deals in popular culture and selling their way to over ten million units worldwide with crossover chart hits like ‘The Reason’, which we previously covered in the blog upon the dreadful Covid-damaged season of last March, to a pretty negative reception from myself, to be honest. It has been over a year since that time, however, so it’s time to see if we get more positive results this time around. An understandable pick to do so would be ‘Out Of Control’, the lead single from the band’s most well-known album, ‘The Reason’, which was their third full-length studio album release in 2004. It charted at #16 in the US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart and at #9 on the US Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. The single also features backing vocals by Ian Watkins and Jamie Oliver, two prior members of the controversial Welsh alternative rock band Lostprophets. It was also featured in the soundtrack for a few video games, including ‘Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes The Neighbourhood’ as well. Let’s remember the Nathan Cox-directed music video below.

Now a multi-platinum selling group with three Grammy Award nominations under their belt, Hoobastank decided to give ‘The Reason’ a 15th anniversary re-release to celebrate their success in 2019, which was printed on both standard black and limited edition white Vinyl, and it featured four previously unavailable bonus tracks as well as an exclusive acoustic version of the album’s title track. ‘Out Of Control’ was included on the record, and the lyrics follow the narrative of a person who has gone out of control in a downward spiral after blindly following the orders of someone else. Sequences like “Try to focus but everything’s twisted” and “All alone I thought you would be there” are very straight to the point and explicit in their meaning, with lead vocalist Doug Robb musing on distrust and confusion, while lyrics like “Where should I go? What should I do?/I don’t understand what you want from me” are more focused on seeking of purpose and looking for answers to alleviate your pain and suffering. He reminds me of Faith No More’s Mike Patton in terms of his screeching delivery when he breaks down the title of the track in the chorus. Musically, the instrumentation blends a decent variety of heavy styles because the verses are a little familiar to Nu-Metal fans, the chorus goes for more of a rousing pure Pop style, and the bridges touch upon some Post-Grunge effects leading to a pre-chorus which screams Foo Fighters to my ears. Backing harmonies pop up from time to time, and the backbeat feels grittier in mood than the more Rap-Rock delivery of the post-chorus. In terms of my opinion of the track itself, I found the chorus to be relatively catchy and the instrumentation to seem perfectly fine, with a decent lead guitar performance from Dan Estrin elevating the aggressive, strong vocals from Robb to a more memorable degree. The problem, however, is that everything feels pretty in-your-face and there’s no subtlety to make the songwriting feel a little more profound. This is certainly not designed to be high art, but the lyrics feel so direct to the point where there’s nothing vaguely interesting to take away from them at all. That said, the drum beats feel very brash and the Power-Pop chorus are complementing the overall style in a way that feels solid, and so the track holds together reasonably well despite some flaws that I have with the songwriting. Overall, I much preferred ‘Out Of Control’ to ‘The Reason’, which I covered on the blog last year, as it was a fun track to listen to that, despite feeling very of-its-time, has some decent performances from the band members who all play their instruments to the Grunge-inspired formula of the track pretty nicely. I just wish the lyrics weren’t so plain and bland, as it could have been better in that regard, but it is still a fair improvement. We were just about over half of the way there.

  • Pictured: Hoobastank playing at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London (2019) (Photo by Connie Taylor)

If you need an excuse to check out some of Hoobastank’s music, you have ‘The Reason’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/03/22/scuzz-sundays-hoobastank-the-reason/

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘The Reason’ (LP) (Released on April 26th, 2004) (via Island Records)

Thank you for reading my latest blog post and thank you for your continued support by reading the site each day or discovering the blog for the first time today. I’ll be back tomorrow with music from a Los Angeles-based artist who is releasing her debut LP in February. She has currently signed to 100% Electronica – George Clanton’s label.

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