Today’s Track: Yard Act – “Fixer Upper”

September 15, 2020 — Leave a comment

A new Yard Act with seemingly no need for any renovation. It’s time for your new post!

Pictured: James Smith (Lead Vocals), Ryan Needham (Bass Guitar), Sammy Robinson (Rhythm Guitar) and George Townend (Drums/Percussion) in a recent press image (2020) (Photo via James Brown)

Good Morning! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as per usual, I’m typing about your 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! Yard Act are very much… well… an emerging act, ironically enough. According to my online research, the 4-piece group have only managed to play at three live gigs together, due to the restrictions that were set forth by that pesky virus. The band still deserve some good attention and a little more exposure, however, and “Fixer Upper” is a testament of this. Not much else is known about them, and their Spotify bio simply reads as “Minimalist Rock from Leeds”. It is known, however, that Yard Act is a four-piece from Leeds made up of James Smith (Vocals), Ryan Needham (Bass), Sammy Robinson (Percussion) and George Townend (Drums). So far, they have only released two singles, “The Trapper’s Pelts” and “Fixer Upper”, which I’d highly recommend. Let’s have a listen to the latter new single below.

Yard Act’s vocalist James Smith explained to Clash Magazine: “Graeme was inspired by an amalgamation of people who lived on my street growing up. I think everyone knows a Graeme, maybe a neighbour or an uncle… sorry if he’s your dad. Not a bad man at heart, he just sincerely believes he’s from a country and generation that achieved the apex of everything so therefore can’t ever be wrong about anything.”, and I’ve got to be honest, when I first heard the track in the daytime on BBC Radio 6Music, I thought it was an old cult classic track from the late 70’s that I’d somehow never heard before. It’s got a very vintage, old-fashioned British hip-hop sound, with acerbic guitar hooks that evoke the “Bummed” era of Happy Mondays, and the razor-sharp lyricism makes me think of the silly little raps of which the Plunderbird boys used to do on Robot Wars back in the childhood days. The guitar riffs feel very angular, as Smith embodies the Graeme character in all of his glory to the sound of a killer No Wave backing track which evokes the likes of ESG and Liquid Liquid. There are quirky one-liners and tongue-in-cheek mocking of the upper-conservative class at each turn, with “I can’t believe I’m a two home-owner, finally…” and “We’re gonna put pound-shop terracotta’s everywhere” adding a very comedic undertone to the rambling, socially mobile aspirations of the Graeme character. “It’s a Fixer Upper” is an energetic hook that accompanies the crowded backing vocals very nicely and refrains like “And he had a PHD, did he? What in? Probably one of those pointless media degrees, not for me” add a rhythmic quirk to the wiry bass guitar riffs and the rickety, clattering drum patterns that roll along. It’s quite melodic, with a catchy lead guitar hook that tends to add context and tone to the narrative, rather than a particular beat to drive the rap forward. As Smith’s vocal boasts get more and more rapid, the arrangement begins to form a Post-Punk backing over time, while the narrative gets finished off with “I’m not from around here, but I am” to close the track on the note that Graeme has embraced a new cultural identity, in a very British sense. Overall, I think it’s as gold as Graeme’s rover – not like that big old thing over the road.

Pictured: Yard Act in a recent press image to promote “Fixer Upper” (2020) (Photo via James Brown)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! As per usual, I’ll be back for an in-depth look, tomorrow, at the new track from an old favourite of mine that I haven’t heard anything much from for quite a long while. This is an alternative rock musician from Halifax, Nova Scotia who released a rather Avalanches-esque album in 2012. He is, perhaps, best known for producing and writing as both a solo artist, and a frequent collaborator for Hylozoists, of which he’s the younger brother of Paul Aucoin, the founder of Hylozoists. 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: Billy No Mates – “Hippy Elite”

September 8, 2020 — Leave a comment

A little birdy once told me she’s close friends with Larry Loner. It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Billy Nomates” (Self-Titled LP) (Released on August 7th, 2020)(via Invada Records UK)

Good Morning! I am Jacob Braybrooke and, like always, I’m typing up about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my routinely day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! The amusingly named “Billy Nomates” is the alias of British singer-songwriter Tor Maries, who told The Guardian that she started playing in bands in her 20’s, which sadly never went anywhere, and it led to a period of depression. It was a live gig from Sleaford Mogs that rekindled her passion for writing music, and she set up shop with her laptop, and she began floating between Bristol and Bournemouth to write, produce and perform her own material again. She originally hails from the Melton Mowbray area of the rural North East county of Leicestershire. Her No Wave style straddles between the old-school punk of Nick Cave, the youthful energy of Sonic Youth, and the Jazz-fuelled Americana of Emmylou Harris. Maries’ debut album, a self-titled LP, was released on August 7th via Invada Records in the UK, and she mastered her new album with Portishead’s Geoff Barrow as her engineer. Describing her record, she told NME in a recent interview: “In a world of Yes Men, I’ll be a No Woman, thanks”. Let’s sign for the “Hippy Elite” below.

Giving her take on climate emergency and global environmental pollution, Maries’ instead subverts your pre-conceptions with “Well, I wanna save the Whales too, but it’s a f***ing Wednesday afternoon, so a Canvas Bag and a smile is the best I’ve got for you” with a razor-sharp sense of anecdotal wit, after declaring to herself as “It’s okay, I’m a terrible person” as a mid-tempo, gentle Drum Machine beat loops itself over the top of a bitter, repelling bass guitar riff. Some of these lyrics turn out to be the funniest I’ve heard during the year, with “Well, one time, I cycled all the way home/Because this planet is our only one/But nobody saw it, and I felt all the worse for it, and it wasn’t my bike” truly standing out as an honest highlight. Later on, “If I had all that money in my pocket, drank all that local beer and ride that ego rocket” pokes fun at the wealthy, higher conservative elitism. The chorus is an expansion of these ideas presented in the post-chorus bridge, as Maries’ spitefully recites: “All the things they do, I don’t disagree/Purgatory, for me” before she wonders: “If I could only quit my job, and join the Hippy Elite” as the electronic Synth beats start to take shape, and the electric guitar riffs continually keep up a mid-tempo pace and form a groove that sits along the consistent bass guitar melodies with relative ease. There isn’t really a whole lot going on here melodically, with the focus remaining mainly on Maries’ resentful vocals and the attitudinal, genuinely funny lyricism. However, she builds the track with solid use of electric lead guitar patterns and riff-driven bass chord production to carry her personality across, along with recurring, programmed Synth beats and subtle, yet polished, electronic Drum textures that keep the momentum from lowering too much, as if to keep meandering around, as the lyrics glide between one comical rhyme to another. It skews poetic, but there are also elements of Country and Desert-Rock creeping in. Overall, I find this to be thoroughly entertaining throughout and the humor successfully manages to keep itself afloat and never get uninteresting due to the 60’s and 70’s New-Wave Punk template of her musical formula. I think it takes a longer time to properly connect with than some of the other recent output that’s been featured on the blog as new releases lately, but it’s re-playable and mature, like a fine wine. The achievement is that it’s a real grower.

Pictured: Billy Nomates pictured in promo materials for the Farmfestival in Somerset (in 2020) (via PR/press shoot)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! As always, I’ll be back at it again tomorrow, with an in-depth look at the latest single from another new album that was, rather coincidentally, released on the exact same day as the debut Billy Nomates album. It marks the second joint-album collaboration between two incredibly talented, no-nonsense Black musicians, as producer L’Orange links up, again, with US rapper-lyricist Solemn Brigham, for a new sequel to their defining work for label Mello Music Group’s portfolio. 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: Sinead O’ Brien – “Strangers In Danger”

September 3, 2020 — 1 Comment

Are we witnessing a solid return, or heading into Stranger Danger? It’s new post time!

Pictured: Sinead O’Brien in a publicity shoot to promote a DIYMag.com feature (2020) (Photo Credit: Louise Mason)

Good Morning! I am Jacob Braybrooke and, as per usual, I’m typing up your daily post on the blog, since it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! I covered one of Sinead O’Brien’s singles a few months ago, and I remember it left myself impressed by it. So, after wondering what she’s been up to and Googling her name last week, I found this, “Strangers In Danger”, another new single release. An emerging poet and songwriter originally based in Limerick, Sinead O’Brien is a really unique talent who fuses Spoken Word poetry and Post-Punk synth beats in a way that seems very difficult to box into one specific musical genre. Signed up with Chess Club Records, Sinead O’Brien has been gaining exposure from KEXP, Stereogum and Paste in recent months, and she has previously performed with The Brian Jonestown Massacre at sold-out theater shows across the UK. Her production methods are most comparable to Kate Bush, and Nick Cave’s “Skeleton Tree” era of output. Her music influences include Mark E. Smith of The Fall, Patti Smith and The Slits, while her literate range of influences include Frank O’ Hara, Joan Didion and Albert Camus. Let’s have a listen to O’Brien’s latest track “Strangers In Danger” below.

With O’Brien’s debut EP release, “Drowning In Blessings”, set to come out on 16th September, I’m very much looking forward to hearing what the Irish artist has in store for us all. “Strangers In Danger” is lyrically based on an obscure epiphany that O’Brien experienced “Plastic flowers in bloom and the sound of soccer” during a live gig, while the finished track explores themes of two meanings behind the duality of a mirrored, conflicting meaning. “Back and forth, between loss and worth” rolls off her tongue as a shimmering guitar riff of a bubbling intensity, providing a warmth, kicks us off in the opening. The guitar instrumentation creates a consistent pace and a gentle structure that almost forms something of a melodic groove, although O’Brien’s vocals are delivered in a far more cerebral, low-pitched quality. “I thought I drew well until I drew you/I was better off then, than what I knew” signals a key change, and a teetering line of Drum rhythms which also increase the melodicism. The two sets interweave, to create a singular groove, that sets us back into a melodically-driven crescendo, as O’Brien lyrically vents “Strange things, are strangers/Other people’s people” and “Solitary revealing moves the meaning of the streets we live on/A strange range of normal to be” as the pulsating backdrop shifts the pacing and idiosyncratically tempers the course of the simmering track, based on her flow and merit. The arrangement is slowed at the end, as O’Brien concludes “What worth do you unearth with the way of your words?” above a vaguely Post-Punk/No-Wave composed section, and it pushes O’Brien’s vocal performance in some unexpected ways. While this may not be everyone’s cup of tea because this is simply not designed for the mainstream at all, I really like it. Her sound is very strange and distinctive, but I find that it fascinates rather than confuses because her vocal backdrop adds a cohesion and fidelity that makes the blend of No-Wave, Spoken Word and Post-Punk flow quite naturally. I think it’s down to the instrumentation that is rather melodic, and it provides a layered undertone that links up the dots together. The vocals convey a ghostly and cerebral presence, however, the Post-Punk and Avant-Garde elements of the instrumental backing track feel melodic enough, just ever so slightly danceable, to make it feel driven by beats, just barely enough, to succeed. There is something weirdly attractive about it too. I’ll be marking my calendar for release day.

Pictured: Sinead O’Brien in a press shoot to promote “A Thing You Call Joy” (in 2019) (Photo Credit: Zac Mahrouche)

As mentioned beforehand, I caught wind of Sinead O’ Brien on the blog just a few months ago. You can check out what I thought of “Taking On Time” here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/20/todays-track-sinead-o-brien-taking-on-time/

Sinead O’Brien: “I don’t think anyone should be afraid to use their words” (2019) (Photo Credit: Zac Mahrouche)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with an in-depth look at the most recent single from a US indie artist who described himself as “a bedroom recording artist who writes musical diaries about living with his best friend in New York City.”, with his new track getting daytime exposure from BBC Radio 6Music, KEXP and Dudlab. 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: Silverbacks – “Dunkirk”

August 22, 2020 — Leave a comment

An exciting new band who aim to exchange Gold for the price of silver! New post time!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Fad” (Album/LP) (Released on July 17th, 2020) (via Central Tones Ltd.)

Good Morning! I am Jacob Braybrooke and I am typing up about your daily track on the blog – as per usual – because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Not to be confused with a breed of Gorillas of the same name, Silverbacks are a new 5-piece indie rock band from Dublin, Ireland. The group have been making strong waves stateside and internationally, with their D.I.Y. rock sound that harkens back to the taut rhythm drive of late-70’s Indie Punk, while incorporating a NYC Synth-Punk style reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem, and paying tribute to the quintessential New York sound with a discordant element of No-Wave. They have been working with Girl Band bassist Daniel Fox, as a producer, on their debut album, “Fad”, which has garnered critical acclaim since it’s release in mid-July of this year, via Central Tones. Fun fact, the band were supposed to play a gig at my local venue of The Sugar Mill in Stoke-On-Trent back in May, and I was planning on going to check them out because I had heard of them before, but well… We all know how that turned out! Let’s just check them out now, instead – with “Dunkirk” – below.

Ireland has become somewhat of a signature area in the development of an emerging guitar sound, with the ascending popularity of aggressive Indie Punk outfits like Fontaines DC, The Murder Capital and Bambara, a market of which I get the sense that Silverbacks are tapping into with “Dunkirk”, but they stand up to these acts with their comparatively more melodic pull, as they are also trying to quietly sneak into the NYC No-Wave revival scene. The track, lyrically, is a dystopian re-imagining of the events of the Battle Of Dunkirk in 1940, with Daniel O’ Kelly using snarky hooks like: “A safety pin right through the ear/40 years of manhood” and “Swinging arms, Beating commuters on the tarmac beaches of Dunkirk” to rhythmically bring things up to date with the exploration of masculinity and domestic-ism as themes. An “every punk trick in the book” signals a knowing nod to a churning Bass guitar hook that takes the steady Lead guitar hook to a more fiery place and creates a rougher energy, to counteract the cleaner production style used in the verses. The chorus explores the idea of the Dunkirk beaches now being a holiday resort for the OAP crowd, with a sarcastic undertone of couples in failing marriages in similar vein to The Sex Pistols’ “Holiday In The Sun”, as his vocals grow in disorientation and precedes a high-pitched interlude. The delivery has a Drone quality to it, and the guitar riffs remain to be driven by intellect. The tension gets calmed down by an upbeat bass guitar riff that comes out of nowhere, forming up a Math-Rock inspired outro that suprised me as a listener, and deviates from the D.I.Y. punk style that it was building towards at a gradual place. Overall, the guitar work feels impressive and the sound pays off in challenging the conventions of a typical indie punk act. I probably wouldn’t choose to listen intently to it, as I’ve never been a part of the musical world it’s catering towards and it mainly washes over me quite a bit, which makes it quite difficult for me to feel that I can judge a record like this. For what it is worth, however, I think they’re a stronger part of the popular new Irish punk scene, but it is sadly not a sound that I’m really into – it’s just not “my thing”. But, I feel it is technically good, and worth a listen.

Pictured: Daniel O’ Kelly (Lead Vocals/Writer), Killian O’ Kelly (Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals/Producer), Peadar Kearney (Lead Guitar), Emma Hanlon (Bass Guitar) and Gary Wickham (Drums/Percussion) (in 2020) (via PR)

Thank you for reading today’s blog post! Tomorrow marks the signal for a new weekly edition of Scuzz Sundays, the time of the week where we take a look back at an Emo-Rock or a Pop-Punk relic from between the late-1990’s and the mid-2000’s. Shockingly, we’ll be celebrating the one-year anniversary of the feature with an in-depth look back at a terrible tune that was a predominant part of the Scuzz TV era… But most fans probably would not have it any other way! 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: Ghostpoet – “Concrete Pony”

July 20, 2020 — Leave a comment

Give up the Ghost – For this London rapper has a chilling presence! It’s new post time!

Pictured: Ghostpoet (a.k.a. Obaro Ejimiwe) at the NME Awards (2012) (Photo via The Independent/Getty Images)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your 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! “Concrete Pony” is a recent track that I sadly didn’t get around to covering on the blog nearer to when it was a brand new release. It comes from Ghostpoet, the alias for black South London-based rapper, songwriter and producer Obaro Ejimiwe. Ejimiwe burst onto the scene in 2011 with his debut album, “Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam”, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize that year. Ejimiwe also earned a second Mercury Prize nomination for his third LP record, “Shedding Skin”, which was released in 2015. His style is difficult to box into a specific genre, but it’s predominantly a mix of dark Folktronica and Alternative Hip-Hop, although Ejimiwe used the tagline “I am not Hip-Hop” to promote a live tour in 2018. His latest album, his fifth overall, was released on May 1st, under the title of “I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep”, by the PIAS Recordings indie label. It gained positive critical acclaim and it reached #8 on the UK Independent Albums chart. Let’s have a listen to the album’s lead single, “Concrete Pony”, below.

Ejimiwe explained, via a press statement, that “Concrete Pony” is a reflective piece which deals with how, as a society, “We seem to have everything and nothing at all. Infinite possibilities and choices galore, but we seem set in stone”, finishing: “Oblivious to the storm clouds in the distance”, conveying an observational style to the lyrics, and allowing potential for a diverse pattern of music influences. Ejimiwe uses a repeating “Ohh, yeah” refrain to build a somewhat melodic structure around the brooding, cold core sound. A shifting, distorted synth intro leads into cerebral keyboard melodies, and he croons: “Thoughts on a cigarette pack, oh yeah, oh yeah” and “Don’t text me nothing I’m gone, oh yeah, oh yeah” over a sublime piano section, with keys that twinkle and sparkle, contrasting the cerebral and bleak lyricism. There is a slight raise of tempo in the chorus, where Ejimiwe recites: “Fade to black and credits roll, Find the financers” and “Whispers on Twitter feed, no lie, no die”, before a “There Is Nothing” refrain which runs through each line of the chorus. These vocal sections are delivered other the top of whistling Harmonica arrangements, fluttering string sections and dark synth work. A cowbell comes into play in the Post-Bridge, adding a light sense of wit and irony because it sounds more upbeat and driven by melody. “Concrete Pony” isn’t likely to get mainstream attention, but it was doing the rounds on BBC Radio 6Music a little bit earlier in the year, however. The sound is challenging, but intellectually stimulating. There is an overarching Spoken Word format that interests me, with the very slight hip-hop beats in tow. The lyrics are poetic, and the themes are complex, yet relevant. All in all, I think it’s more suited to cosy winter listening rather than a summer release. However, it’s excellent. Deep and ironic, but it feels percussive enough to hook casual listeners in. This is a piece of art. If nothing else, the name alone warrants some good exposure – That’s Concrete Pony!

Pictured: Cover Art for “I Grow Tired, But Dare Not Fall Asleep” (Released on 1st May, 2020) (via PIAS Recordings)

Thank you very much for reading this post! As usual, I’ll be back tomorrow, with an in-depth look at the latest single from a recent signing to the Bella Union record label. It comes from a female rock songwriter and musician, also from London, who is also the lead vocalist of the British indie band The Duke Spirit! 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: The Radio Dept. – “Could You Be The One?”

July 16, 2020 — Leave a comment

The latest in the sparsely transmitted frequencies of Lund’s Finest! It’s new post time!

Johan Duncanson (Lead Vocals, Producer) and Martin Larsson (Keyboard/Synths) (2020) (via Brooklyn Vegan)

Here we go again! Good Morning, I am Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing up about your daily track on the blog, because, as per usual, it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every single day! I started off a two-part series yesterday, starting with the new single “You’re Lookin’ At My Guy” from The Radio Dept, a cult Dream-Pop/Shoegaze group from Lund, a small city in Sweden. The personal favourites released a new Double Single over the last weekend, and we are listening to “Could You Be The One?”, the B-side of the release, today. The band have decided that, instead of writing and producing a new full-length record, they will be scattering a range of sporadically released singles throughout the course of the year, with the intention to compile the singles onto an album-length compilation later in the year. If you’ve only jumped into the blog today, The Radio Dept. are the Swedish duo of Johan Duncanson and Martin Larrson (along with touring member Daniel Tjader), who got the name from a local gas-station-turned-radio-station-turned-repair-shop called “Radioavdelningen”, which translates to “The Radio Department”. The Dept. have never been a fixture in mainstream culture, but 2006’s “Pet Grief” and 2010’s “Clinging To A Scheme” were relative cult classics within the internet music community. I have a joke with my friend Harrison, where we call them “Lund’s Finest”. I’m certainly not sure what the competition surrounding that award is, but they’re massively underrated, and they added weight to the claim with “You’re Lookin’ At My Guy”, on yesterday’s post. Get ready for part two with “Could You Be The One?” below.

It was well-documented, on the blog yesterday, that the A-Side of the release “You’re Lookin’ At My Guy” was a changed-up cover of the Tri-Lites, a 1960’s girl vocal group’s original version, switching up the Jazzy doo-wops for hazy acoustic melodies, mixed up with a little synth distortion. The B-side “Could You Be The One”, however, is an original. Duncanson leads the track with a call-and-response lyric delivery, as he sings over the top of a radiant synth line and a glistening, breezy acoustic guitar riff: “You’ve been wishing away, Aching to be led astray, Anything to be the one who got away”, before a soft chorus incorporates a short and lush Horn section into the instrumentation of the ongoing, guitar-laden hooks. The lyrics are contemplative, but there is a sweet and progressive warmth that downplays the melancholy with a balance of joy and triumph. Duncanson adds “Could you be the one?/Could this be the day” to the vague and minimalist chorus, while the finale feels a touch more sad, but polished, as Duncanson builds up to a sweet, artistic outro of light acoustic guitar licks and subtle keyboard riffs with: “Could you be the one?, The one that gets to say, I took the chance, and got away”, using self-reflective and elegant themes of lust and unrequited romance. The “Turn To Camera One” refrain is intriguing, and it may connote a story of a film director trying to start a relationship with an actress or a producer on set, but that’s just my interpretation. Again, like with yesterday, it’s very subtle and it paints a pretty minimalist picture, but it feels more driven by character and narrative than “You’re Lookin’ At My Guy”. Another solid outing by ‘Lund’s Finest’!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “You’re Looking At My Guy” (Double Single) (Released on July 10th, 2020) (via Just So! Records)

Don’t forget to check out Part one of my two-day spread, with my review for “You’re Lookin’ At My Guy”, in case that you missed it, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/07/15/todays-track-the-radio-dept-youre-looking-at-my-guy/. I’ve also covered a few other tracks previously, you can check out my review for the recent single “The Absence Of Birds” here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/03/06/todays-track-the-radio-dept-the-absence-of-birds/, and you can peruse my review for their sleeper gem “Memory Loss”, which I can’t believe was released exactly a decade ago, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/11/21/todays-track-the-radio-dept-memory-loss/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “The Absence Of Birds” (Released in 2020) (via Just So! Records)

Thank you very much for reading this post! A new weekend means another batch of new album releases, so I’m going to be choosing a single from a brand new album to cover tomorrow’s blog post. It’ll be from the new project of an English musician and songwriter who was the frontman of 90’s group Pulp, and he famously jumped on-stage during Michael Jackson’s performance of “Earth Song” at the BRIT Awards in 1996! 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

Scuzz Sundays: The Distillers – “City Of Angels”

July 12, 2020 — Leave a comment

Is this still a raucous rock banger, or has it been distilled to squash? It’s Scuzz Sunday!

Pictured: Cover Art for “Sing Sing Death House” (Released on January 25th, 2002) (via Hellcat Records)

Well… It looks like we’ve quickly reached another Scuzz Sunday! It’s the time of the week where take a stroll down the memory lane of the emo-rock and pop-punk releases from the late-1990’s through to the mid-2000’s, to see if it can live up to modern quality! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! The Distillers – an American rock band from Los Angeles, California – have been a reliable force in the street punk world for the better part of two decades now, despite a lengthy hiatus that ran between 2006-2018. The 4-piece are led by female Vocalist and Rhythm Guitarist Brody Dalle, who has co-wrote and played vocals/guitar for nearly every track on The Distillers three albums. It goes without saying that Dalle’s continued to find moderate solo success, after spinning-off with lead guitarist Tony Bevilacqua for their side-project band, “Spinnerette”, in 2006. “City Of Angels”, which has nothing to do with a 1996 chick-flick Romance-Drama film starring Nicholas Cage and Meg Ryan of the same name, was a popular single from The Distillers’ second LP, “Sing Sing Death House”, released in 2002. It wasn’t a massive hit, only reaching #104 on the UK Singles Chart, but it gained popularity after being featured in the mid-2000’s video games “True Crime: Streets Of LA” and “Crash N’ Burn”. Let’s have a listen to “City Of Angels” below.

Andrew Bregman of AllMusic deduces the album, “Sing Sing Death House”, is “a story with an uncharacteristic ending that punks born of squalor can rise up and create music as impassioned and relatively positive as this”, and he’s got a point. Dalle used to co-write tracks about Urban Dystopia, School Shootings and her flawed upbringing at the time, and despite “City Of Angels” being a slightly more commercially-driven affair than some of the band’s other efforts, it still comes together as a deep and hard-hitting listening experience. Dalle opens: “It’s going down tonight in this town” and “I take a scar every time I cry”, after a double snare-flam intro, led over the top by a raspy double bass kick. The rest of the track feels a lot more guitar-driven, and it takes influence from Courtney Love’s “Hole” in it’s regressed power-pop direction. In the first bridge, Dalle sings: “Take this life and end this struggle/Los Angeles, come scam me, please” and “Stripped of the right to be a human in control” and begins the crowd-warming, chant-led chorus: “It’s warmer in hell, so down we go”, before the rest of the band joins her in backing vocals for the chorus, as Dalle wails: “They say, this is the city, The city of Angels, All I see is dead wings” over a tight line of wounded-up guitar melodies, and a frenetically kicked drum beat. Dalle goes for her knack for melody with the post-bridge refrain, crooning: “There’s a black moon tonight, Shining down on the western neon” over a toned-down moment of gentle drum beats and slow guitar chords, before the repeat of the line goes back to it’s fast-paced, pop-punk nature as the rhythm guitar kicks it back up a notch. Does it hold up?.. Well, it’s very much a product of it’s time. But, I feel it’s a fairly decent example of one. The writing makes the track sound catchy and melodic, and the chorus is a pure pop-moment. The guitar work is competent, but it sounds exactly like you would imagine. Dalle’s lead vocals don’t amount to much intrigue, but they’re serviceable and they suit the purpose of the emo, pop-punk sound nicely. To conclude, we’re left with a track that’s completely solid, but it’s nothing special. Dalle has a nice ear for pop, I’ll give her that.

Pictured: Brody Dalle (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Writer/Producer), Tony “Bradley” Bevilacqua (Lead Guitar), Ryan Sinn (Bass Guitar) and Andy Granelli (Drums) at Reading & Leeds Festival (2019) (Photo Credit: Jenn Five/NME)

Thank you very much for reading this post! I’ll be back to business as usual tomorrow as we kick off a new weeks-round worth of daily music blog posts. Since we’re in the mood for a bit of interesting post-punk, I’m going to be writing about a brand new single from an emerging indie post-punk duo from Lancaster, England who dabble in Lo-Fi, Dark-Psychedelia elements. The two-piece’s band line-up features the former lead singer and vocalist from the popular all-female band, Angelica. 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: Nadine Shah – “Kitchen Sink”

June 29, 2020 — 1 Comment

Does it belong away from the kitchen or on the cutting room floor? It’s new post time!

Pictured: Nadine Shah in a photoshoot to promote “Ladies For Babies (Goats For Love)” (2020) (Photo by Fraser Taylor)

Good Morning, Afternoon, Evening – or Whenever you are reading this! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! A British Muslim of Norwegian-Pakistani descent, Nadine Shah is an English songwriter, musician and producer – born in Whitburn, South Tyne and Wear – with a lot of interesting thoughts to get off her chest using the power of music as expression. This has led to her becoming a very critically acclaimed figure who regularly pops up on the British indie music circuit. She’s got four full-length albums to her belt, with her third LP effort “Holiday Destination”, released in 2017, bagging her the “Independent Album Of The Year Award” at the AIM Awards in 2018. It’s been a big week for new releases, and her follow-up to her AIM award-winning LP record came out on Friday. Titled “Kitchen Sink”, the album tackles the role of women in their 30’s in the sense of domestic gender politics, with the album’s tracks chronicling multiple anthology tales of women with the desire to end up anywhere but the kitchen sink. Let’s see her perform “Kitchen Sink” at the Moth Club in Hackney, in front of no live crowd, below.

On the titular track, “Kitchen Sink”, Shah uses a very serious vocal delivery and a haunting post-punk backing track to discuss the expectations that she feels burdened with, referencing her multicultural ethnic background as a literal device to evoke pressure given by her neighbors and onlookers. Shah sings: “Don’t you worry about what the neighbors think/They’re characters from kitchen sink” and “All they see is just a strange face/Whose heritage they cannot trace”, referring to the adversaries as ‘Curtain Twitchers’ during an early verse, over a minimalist bass guitar loop that commands her presence with it’s quiet effect. Shah uses a single line for a chorus: “And, I just let them pass me by”, with the guitar riff increasingly becoming more bitter and aggressive as the track progresses. A stuttering lead guitar solo slowly begins to implode, and a range of distortion effects and mild synth lines end up creating an irregular pattern which implodes at the later points in the track. The vocals are deliberately low-pitched and evoke a very bleak emotion, with a harsh throbbing bass sound meshing with the vocals to craft a Shakespearean style, playing off her snarky remarks. The concept of the album sounds a bit dull and typical of our modern time on paper, but it’s more fun than it sounds. She invokes humor with a bizzare tale of a farmer husband dismissing his wife for his farm on “Ladies For Babies (Goats For Love)” and evokes elements of Samba on the opener “Club Cougar”, about a riotius “Cougar” who dates a much younger man. This adds some accessibility, although she takes herself more seriously on the title track, with low and moody guitar lines conveying a melancholic emotional state. Shah gets lauded by critics, but she doesn’t seem to be that popular in the general public eye. That has the chance to change with “Kitchen Sink” and I hope that it does. It sounds thought-provoking and original, whilst harkening back to the Murder Ballads that Nick Cave bought in the 1990’s as inspiration for her narrated storytelling. Anyone can get something out of it.

Pictured: Front Cover Artwork for “Kitchen Sink” (Released on June 26th, 2020) (via Infectious Music)

Back in February, I also covered the lead single “Ladies For Babies (Goats For Love)” from the new album “Kitchen Sink” on the blog. Why not have a read of it here?: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/02/27/todays-track-nadine-shah-ladies-for-babies-goats-for-love/

Pictured: Nadine Shah wins “Independent Album Of The Year” the AIM Awards (2018) (Photo Credit: Callum Baker)

Thank you for reading this post! In regards to #BlackLivesMatter, we endorse the peaceful protests on One Track At A Time. Please go and check your local area for good charity causes that help those directly affected by racism and injustice. As I mentioned, it’s been a big weekend for new album releases and so tomorrow, I’m going to be taking a look at another track from “Kick I”, the new album to be released by Venezuelan euro-pop upstart Arca! 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: Kirsty MacColl – “There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis”

June 12, 2020 — Leave a comment

Did you know that Elvis is not dead? I heard him on the radio! It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Kirsty MacColl in a photoshoot to promote “Desperate Character” (1981) (Photo Credit: Smooth Radio/Getty)

That guy better get spiking his hair and get a-rocking-and-a-rolling then! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day, even on my Dad’s birthday! You would probably know Kirsty MacColl best from her collaboration with The Pogues on the 1987 Christmas hit “Fairytale Of New York”, but she also struck out on her own as a successful solo artist. MacColl was born on October 10th, 1959 and she grew up with her mother and brother Hamish in Croydon. Unfortunately, her life was cut short by a tragic accident while on holiday in 2000, where she was deep sea diving with her sons in the Chankanaab reef and a powerboat was speeding towards them. MacColl saw it coming, but the boat ran over her after she moved her 15-year-old son out of its way. MacColl was originally signed by Stiff Records, and she had a few hits in the 1980’s and 1990’s. This includes “They Don’t Know”, which was famously covered by Tracy Chapman in 1983. “There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis” was released back in 1981. It was one of her highest-charting singles, and it reached #14 in the UK Singles Chart, where it stayed for nine weeks. It reached #9 in the Irish Singles Charts. An interesting fact about the track is that, in the promotional version for the US, the very British “Chip Shop” line is replaced by “Truck Stop”, but this was only handed out to the Radio DJ’s version and it wasn’t given a full CD release. Take a listen back to the track with a title far too long to write again below.

MacColl deserves a few bonus points, just for that title. “There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis” sees her gallop confidently through Western, Country and Blues sensibilities, but it largely comes across as just a Novelty effort and not a lot more. MacColl croons about resisting flirty talk from a guy, who, as you’d guess, works down the chip shop and swears he’s Elvis, adding: “Just like you swore to me that you’d be true” and “But he’s a liar, and I’m not sure about you” to add a poetic effect to the chorus’ refrain. She also shows a pessimism and sarcastic tone in the guy’s teases, singing in the second verse: “News is you changed your pickup for a Seville” and “Cos’ you’re out there on the phone to some star in New York” before showing her attitude: “I can hear you laughing now/And I can’t help feeling that somehow/You don’t mean anything you say at all” before a guitar solo and a longer version of the chorus ends it. The acoustic instrumentation is simple throughout, with a three-note guitar groove in the verses, and an added line of piano notes in the chorus, with an upbeat lead guitar solo near the end. It sounds energetic enough to get a crowd jiggling around for a bit, but it rolls along for three minutes without doing anything very interesting, and it doesn’t innovate or experiment in any real ways. The novelty factor would provide a small burst of fun and the title is a great one for a Zoom quiz, but the music itself leaves room to be desired, and it seems forgettable overall. But, just who is the guy who works down the chip shop, if he’s not really Elvis?

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Desperate Character” (Original Album Release in July 1981) (via Polydor Records)

Thank you for reading this post! As a reminder, at One Track At A Time, we endorse the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Please go and check your local area for good charity causes that help those directly affected by racism and injustice. I’ll be back tomorrow with an in-depth look at a recent single from a female solo artist, who is the lead vocalist of the popular French-English indie punk band Savages, to mark the release of her new album! 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: Orlando Weeks – “Safe In Sound”

May 18, 2020 — Leave a comment

It may not be safe outside, but we’ll always be Safe In Sound! It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “A Quickening” (Available to buy from June 12th, 2020) (via PIAS Recordings)

Good evening, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and you’re reading your daily track on the blog because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Orlando Weeks’ “Safe In Sound” is another one of these tracks which I haven’t quite got around to writing up about before, despite it being a few months old. However, late certainly doesn’t mean least in this case – although you could say that I’ve been waiting to type about this one for “Weeks” – Pun intended! Orlando Weeks is the leading man of the fairly well-known English alternative rock band The Maccabees, who have had a share of minor UK hits, such as “Pelican” and “Toothpaste Kisses”. Since the band parted their seperate ways in 2016, Orlando Weeks has begun to work on launching his solo career. His solo debut album “A Quickening” is set for release on 12th June via the PIAS Recordings indie label. I don’t want to give much away, so let’s just have a listen to the single “Safe In Sound” below.

“Safe In Sound” serves up as a Pristine and Smooth-Jazz like introduction to his cuts on the new album which document the birth of Weeks’ first son. It’s a fresh-sounding and naturally sonic track that re-introduces us to Weeks’ mellow vocal delivery, but a re-positioning of his guitar work. Weeks sings: “I would wait forever to hear the sound that you’ll make” over the top of constructed brass sounds and sparse, Brian Eno-like synth loops. The beats are infused with slight Jazz sensibilities and ethereal qualities that capture the essence of anticipation within his feelings of anxiety and excitement during the monumental, albeit scary, life moment. Weeks also sings: “Cut to pieces/Torn to ribbons/Caustic in your critics” , a closing lyrical hook which enhances the warm and nervous emotions of the layered piano arrangement, topped off by kaleidoscopic sampling effects that blends with the jittery horn sections, the Blues-ish guitar elements and Weeks’ laidback vocals to create an art-style collage of Shoegaze-esque rhythmns that, for a lack of a better word, constantly fidget and itch to the restrained vocals. It’s admittedly similar to The Maccabees’ in it’s opening and it sounds quite a lot like Bombay Bicycle Club, but it feels very inspired and it captures the emotions of it’s subject matter very fluently. It sounds like an instant influence point for other bands to follow, potentially in bigger releases, which is a very good thing in the case of establishing Weeks in his beginning solo career – Bravo!

Pictured: Orlando Weeks in a photoshoot for an interview with DIY Mag (2018) (Photo Credit: Emma Swann)

Thank you very much for reading this post! Please stay safe (In Sound), don’t do anything silly and keep on washing those hands! As always, I’ll be back tomorrow, with an in-depth review of a newer single from a Northern Irish electronic duo, signed to the Ninja Tune label, who used to run a blog called “Feel My Bicep” that specialized in posting lost and forgotten edits of Chicago House, Detroit Techno and Latino Disco mixes. 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