Noise-Punk

Today’s Track: Ciel – ‘Fine Everything’

May 3, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Michelle Hindriks (Lead Vocals/Bass Guitar), Jorge Bella Jimenez (Lead Guitar/Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Tim Spencer (Drums/Percussion/Occasional Backing Vocals) (2022) (Photo Credit: ReadDork.com/PR)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for you to perk up your ears in preparation for 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! If I told you on the radio that I was going to play you a new track by an artist with a name (Ciel – Pronounced: Ceal) just like that, you’d be forgiven for expecting to hear some kind of 00’s-leaning Pop, R&B and Soul record. However, you’d be confusing them for Seal. On the other hand, Ciel are an emerging indie rock trio led by vocalist-guitarist Michelle Hindriks drawing from diverse influences such as Sheogaze, Dream-Pop, Prog-Rock, 90’s Grunge, Symphonic Rock and Psychedelic Rock. With members hailing from The Netherlands and Spain in addition to the UK, Ciel have recently captured my imagination when ‘Fine Everything’ gained positive reviews from the panel on last week’s episode of Steve Lamacq’s Roundtable on BBC Radio 6 Music. Ciel have also been praised by sites like KEXP, WFW, BBC Introducing, Amazing Radio, Clash Magazine, Earmilk and Under The Radar too. In recent times, Ciel have been preparing for their upcoming EP by working with Steven Ansell (of Blood Red Shoes fame) as their producer and mixer. The trio have also been supporting She Drew The Gun, Sasami and Penelope Isles across sold out live shows in London and Brighton (Where they are currently based) too. I also read that Ciel have been long-listed for this year’s Emerging Talent Competition at Glastonbury Festival as well, which should continue to shine a spotlight on the band as a valuable commodity within the music industry. On that note, let’s check out their fresh new single, ‘Fine Everything’, below.

Talking passionately about the melodic new offering of Shoegaze-inflicted Indie Rock, frontwoman Michelle Hindriks notes, “It’s about coming of age, and not really knowing how to navigate life. The doubts and difficulties that involve life-changing decisions, yet maybe not being ready growing up, when all your friends are. I was thinking of how so many people lost touch with their inner gut feeling and instincts, and how all the possibilities in life can feel so overwhelming sometimes. It’s almost kind of easier to stay oblivious to it instead of digging deep into your mind“, in her own words. The single oozes charisma with an insistent groove created by the fuzzy walls of anthemic guitar sound and driving drums from the get-go, while lyrics like “Ignorant to the shame, It evoked/Threatened by the drought, caught up in doubt” and “Don’t you know, I am longing for/To be told how to live my life” break down the decision making processes that we all face, punctuated by the Shoegaze guitars and the angsty, classic Punk attitude that gives the tempo a more brooding personality. They unleash a fun and chaotic guitar solo towards the end, while the chorus introduces a more accessible Pop sensibility into the mix due to its rhythmic pulse, while the verses feel more gritty and determined in texture. There’s some hook-filled melodies in here, but it retains a sharp Post-Punk feel overall because the Brighton-based band aren’t afraid to hit you with a distorted wall of sound, but they tie it in with a melodic style and some familiar Pop-driven songwriting. It doesn’t feel shrouded in borderline territory between Dream-Pop and Post-Rock, but it instead feels like it has a more direct punch to its sound that makes it feel memorable when it digs into your brain. It works nicely as a companion for the lyrics, which are all about tacking the uncertainty of thoughts that linger in your brain about your future as a young adult and how these unsettling noises in our minds invade our lifestyle, backed by an edgy Garage feel that resonates with the modern indie production clearly. While it is nothing too innovative and I’ve probably heard most of their ideas before, it is still a solid track that is very catchy and noisy, in the best way possible, that still leaves me thirsting for more content from Ciel soon. It is not re-inventing the wheel, but the wheel keeps spinning without fault.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Fine Everything’ (Single) (Released on March 24th, 2022) (via Self-Released)

That’s all for me today, but I hope that your day turns out to go just fine. I’ll be back for a new edition of ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ tomorrow where will be remembering the work of a Lancashire-born R&B and Pop singer who was a member of groups like Shotgun Express, The She Trinity, Sinbad and Gambler in the 1970’s, and she has been described as “undeservedly neglected” by Bruce Eder, a respected writer for AllMusic.

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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: Jordana – ‘Catch My Drift’

February 14, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Face The Wall’ (LP) (Available from May 5th, 2022) (via Grand Jury Music)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and I hope that your eardrums are ready for 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! A 20-year-old singer songwriter originally from Wichita, Kansas who I believe is based in Los Angeles, California – Jordana Nye is another in a long line of Bedroom Pop artists that has something unique to offer, and I gave her unanimous praise for her mid-pandemic singles ‘I Guess This Is Life’ and ‘Reason’ on the blog in 2020 when I discovered her. Her musical career began when her father, who was an organist at her local church, encouraged her to learn how to play instruments, and so she started on the Violin before picking up the Guitar, and she also went on to busk on the boardwalk of North Beach, Maryland when she was 13. Later, she released her debut album – ‘Classical Notions Of Self-Happiness’ – in 2019 that she entirely self-released and self-produced in her bedroom, and, in December 2020, she released a combination of two EP’s – ‘Something To Say To You’ – to essentially form up her second album. She has also collaborated with Magdalena Bay, TV Girl, Jordan Woods and producer MELVV and she will be supporting Wallows on tour in May 2020. Currently signed to Grand Jury Music, Jordana is back and she will release her next full-length LP, ‘Face The Wall’, on May 20th. She played every instrument on it by herself and it was co-produced by Cameron Hale (Claud, Khalid, Neon Trees). So far, her music has toed a line between a brevity of genres including Grunge, Lo-Fi Pop, Pop-Punk and Alternative Folk – but it has always been her notably playful personality and her gently philosophical style of songwriting that has stood out for me. On her Bandcamp page, her album’s listing has hinted at veganism, religion, upbringing and sexuality as themes to be explored on the record. “The album title has a few meanings to me”, Nye says in a press release, adding, “Mostly, it’s about not giving up. The wall can be anything in your way. The album is sort of a reminder to myself that I have to face those things, and I can’t take the easy route and turn around”. Check out the latest single – ‘Catch My Drift’ – below.

‘Face The Wall’ is Jordana’s first album to be recorded in a studio instead of her home, and she has solo headline shows planned to take place across the US in June 2022. Along with the music video for ‘Catch My Drift’, she says, “This song is about going back and forth with your feelings for someone when they make you question whether they are even reciprocated. The song is about realizing you shouldn’t be totally dependent on anybody, and that it’s a waste of energy”, in her press release. A natural choice for a single, ‘Catch My Drift’ is a catchy Pop-driven Punk number that, with its music video, transports you back to the mid-00’s where Pop-Punk reigned supreme with female artists like Avril Lavigne and Paramore’s Hayley Williams filling the air with care-free and commercial anthems about reasoned dismissals of ex-lovers, but Jordana doesn’t just pull the nostalgia card and she decorates the throwback with her personal commentary. I also love how she fills the video with a caricature of characters, like the bassist and the drummer, that are played by herself dressed in questionable outfits. It feels almost like Aphex Twin and the ‘Come To Daddy’ video by concept, and it definitely conveys her sense of humor in a fun way. It helps that the frenetic guitar riffs, with a water-tight bridge that reminds me of the 80’s and echoes the likes of Simple Minds or The Cure, are very catchy and fit the fairly light-hearted tone of the melodies. The Synths are fast and furious too, aiding the lyrics where Jordana croons hooks like “I hate to say I told you so/It’s no mistake to be alone” and “Do you catch my drift?/Are you picking up what I’m putting down” with the sense that she’s not holding her breath for wish fulfillment. There’s an excellent mixture of strength and vulnerability in her vocals and the propulsive bass and drums combo of the chorus wraps up her lovesick pain with a feeling of progression and moving forwards in personal matters. I certainly think that, if an act with a more known name or a higher profile released this exact same single tomorrow – like Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo – it would get played all over the likes of BBC Radio 1 or BBC Radio 2. Therefore, it is a pity that she’s not one of them and she doesn’t quite have the same following yet. However, this is still a punchy and effortlessly likeable preview of the upcoming album that we can take pride in keeping to ourselves a little bit, although I really want for people to hear Jordana’s music and get the experience of hearing her voice. Every one of her tracks have been an absolute joy for me to listen to so far and I can’t wait to see how the new album shakes up because I strongly feel that Jordana is a real talent. Retro, accessible and intimate – ‘Catch My Drift’ is incredibly irresistible.

Pictured: Jordana Nye in a photoshoot for the ‘Something To Say To You’ EP (2020) (Photo Credit: Jacob Clark)

If this post has inspired you to check out some of Jordana’s other great material, you can get started on her discography with my post about ‘I Guess This Is Life’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/11/10/todays-track-jordana-i-guess-this-is-life/. Alternatively, there’s another ‘Reason’ for you to check out her earlier work here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/12/07/todays-track-jordana-reason/.

Pictured: Jordana in an official photoshoot for ‘Something To Say To You’ EP (2020) (Photo by Grand Jury Music)

That brings us to the end of the page for another roughly 24-hour period, and I have little else to say than to thank you for taking some time out of your day to check out this music today. Feel welcome to come back tomorrow, where we will be listening to some fresh music from a South Carolina-born producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and graphic designer who is usually recognized as one of the pioneers of the Chillwave movement from the 2010’s. He collaborated with Flume during 2020.

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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: 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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Way Back Wednesdays: Stereolab – ‘French Disko’

November 10, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Tim Gane (Lead Guitar/Keyboard), Lætitia Sadier (Lead Vocals/Percussion), Andy Ramsay (Drums), Joseph Watson (Synths) and Xavier Muñoz Guimera (Bass) (2021) (Photo by David Cowlard)

Good Afternoon to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to take you back to a much simpler time for another weekly entry of ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A cult favourite and influential band who were one of the first bands to be dubbed as “Post-Rock” in the 1990’s, Stereolab have seen a few line-up modifications in their share of time since they formed between London and France, but they currently tour and record music together as a 5-piece. Known for combining some elements of Kraut-Rock, Lounge Jazz and Motorik music together, and realizing some philosophical and sociopolitical themes of Surrealist and Situationist themes within their lyrics, Stereolab were a key figure for renewing interest in older analogue equipment during the Synth-oriented times of the 90’s. Also drawing from Brazillian and Funk influences in their sound, Stereolab have been regarded as one of the world’s most important bands and have once managed their own record label, Duophonic. Despite achieving relatively little commercial impact in their 90’s heyday, the band have reunited as recently as 2019 and they have hopped between the likes of Warp Records and Elektra Records when releasing their material. 1993’s ‘French Disko’ is one of their most recognizable singles, and it had originally appeared on their EP, ‘Jenny Ondoline’, before finding a second life on their 1995 compilation, ‘Refried Ectoplasm (Switched On, Vol. 2’. As someone who’s been to a handful of gigs before as a young adult in Cambridge and Stoke-On-Trent, I can say that I often see a die-hard in the crowd with a Stereolab shirt. Give them a spin below.

‘French Disko’ has been covered by the likes of Editors, The Raveonettes and Cineplexx since Stereolab’s original release in 1993. Another very interesting fact about the track is that in the UK, due to ‘French Disko’ becoming a surprise commercial success due to unexpected commercial radio airplay, the ‘Jenny Ondioline’ EP had stickers that read “Includes French Disko” on the cover art, and so the EP was being sold on the strength of ‘French Disko’ as an unnofficial single at one point. Stereolab also gained attention with the live performance on TV above, which was broadcast on a programme called ‘The Word’ that was designed to replace ‘The Tube’ in Britain. The track itself, ‘French Disko’, isn’t really the soulful and funky disco tune that you may expect when reading the title, and it instead places an emphasis on driving 60’s Motorik beats and absurdist lyrics that act as a call to arms for action against a dominant socio-political force. Refrains like “Well, I say there are things worth fighting for”, often recited by Lætitia Sadier, feel conversational and catchy, bolstered by a wry delivery that plays on the absurdity of the overall themes of the songwriting. There’s some elements of the Grunge era led by Nirvana in the 90’s with the distorted bass guitar riffs, and there’s some slower sections of the recording that point towards a more Acid Rock-oriented sound. The vocals have an air of 70’s Jangle Rock about them, mainly in their upbeat and quick-witted delivery. Other lyrics, such as “Though this world’s essentially an absurd place to be living in/It doesn’t call for a total withdrawal” and “Acts of rebellious solidarity/Can bring sense in this world”, that play on how we believe the things that we read in the news as humans, and how the media is typically motivated by a secret agenda. Overall, the concise lyrics are touching upon personal freedom and how there’s a path to a better future if you’re going to spend time calling out what clearly isn’t working. These themes still feel relevant today, in a world where we’ve been following instructions on how to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic as a mass society. While Stereolab are dealing with a rich assortment of some complex themes here, the sound of the track itself felt contemporary for it’s time and the formula of Sadier intonely droning above the harsh Synth climax and the noisy, collage-like guitar and drums melodies creates enough of a late-80’s New Wave element to balance a retro and modern style for its time to a point where it feels original and not outdated. The hook of “La Resistance” is a powerful and ominous one, and the track has an overall playful style to it that weaves together the band’s different influences of Kraut-Rock, Prog-Rock, Drone, Noise-Pop and Synth-Rock in a way that feels accessible yet stacked. Therefore, it’s that reason why I would suggest ‘French Disko’ as a good entry point into the rest of Stereolab’s discography if you are not familiar with their music. In conclusion, ‘French Disko’ is a very punchy cocktail of academic influences that still sounds unique today.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Jenny Ondioline’ (EP) (Released in 1993) (via Duophonic/Elektra Records)

That’s all for now – and, as I mentioned yesterday, ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ will be going on a short break until Wednesday 5th January, 2021, because it’s time to begin our ‘Countdown To Christmas 2021’ feature that we’ll be spreading throughout the days of the coming weeks because Santa’s on his way – whether we like it or not. With the goal of adding some Alternative festive options to your playlists, we’ll be mixing some of the latest seasonal releases with older tunes from some of our favourite on-brand names on the blog. Tomorrow is ‘New Album Release Fridays’ and we will be shifting our focus to the new LP from multi-time ARIA award winner Courtney Barnett.

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New Album Release Fridays: Gustaf – “Best Behaviour”

October 1, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Lydia Gammill (Lead Vocals/Chief Songwriter), Vram Kherlopian (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Tine Hill (Bass Guitar), Tarra Thiessen (Percussion/Backing Vocals) and Melissa Lucciola (Drums) (2021) (Photo by Adam Lempel)

Good Morning to you! You’re reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke and the time has come for me to get typing up for yet another daily track on the blog, because, for the best part of two years, it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! We have reached the end of another exhausting week, and so there are a handful of fresh new releases to hanker down to in our beds tonight with our headphones switched on full blast. This week, new LP’s from the likes of fuzzy New York Psych-Rock guitarist JW Francis, quirky Nick Allbrook-led Prog-Rock group Pond, the Essex-based ‘Genre-Less’ multi-instrumentalist Tirzah and 80’s Synth-Rock icons Yes! all vying for your hearts. The most exciting new album release, however, arguably comes from the female-fronted Brooklyn-based Industrial Punk 5-piece band Gustaf. Formed in 2018 by frontwoman vocalist/guitarist Lydia Gammill, they have opened up the stage for 90’s icon Beck at one of his secret parties in Los Angeles, and the popular group have also performed as the warm-up act for the luminary No Wave pioneer James Chance. Bodega and Omni are two more of the names they have supported on tour and the band have racked up support from BBC Radio 6 Music’s daytime playlist, NPR’s Slingshot’s 100 Artists To Watch In 2021 and NME’s Essential Emerging Artists list for 2021. Garnering up a solid reputation for performing a large amount of live gigs on New York’s DIY scene, Gustaf have been hailed by Brooklyn Vegan as one of their city’s “hardest-working and most relaibly fun bands” to come from their circuit, as they continue to find success outside of their domestic market. Gustaf’s debut full-length album release, ‘Audio Drag For Ego Slobs’, has been released by Royal Mountain Records today, and it will be supported by a US tour this month and some UK shows next month. They will join IDLES, Pillow Queens and Osees on tour throughout the autumn. Taste their single, ‘Best Behaviour’, below.

‘Best Behaviour’ was one of the few songs that Gustaf crafted by jamming together in the studio instead of testing the audience’s response on the stage, and it finds the leading lady, Lydia Gammill, embodying a narrator as a character titled the ‘Ego Slob’ who is really at odds with themselves. Gustaf explains, “Our narrator, the ‘ego slob’, is bargaining with itself, scrounging for self compassion and self assurance despite a pile of hurt feelings in its wake”, explaining, “In demanding spoils despite having nothing done nothing to earn them, we see the initial cracks in a brutish facade – our anti-hero slowly realizing maybe the shell they built for themselves was not built for the world”, in their press statement. The story-driven lead single aims to twist Gustaf’s formula of danceable indie rock and 70’s Doo-Wop influences up a little, with a music video that acts as a visual companion to the single. Starting off with an angelic backing beat that subversively transforms into a distorted male vocal and a more melodic soundscape, Gammill assures us that “I’ve been good today” and hasn’t lied or betrayed their companions. In the second verse, she just argues that she hasn’t thought of anyone else today and “just you and your little face” to fabricate an idea of selflessness, but her tone implies something more psychotic happening in the true meaning. There’s a catchy chorus that Gammill leads us to, with her and the band chanting “I’m good, I’m very very good” in the more affirmative context of the lyrics. Fragile, small cracks of deceit and self-absorption lie in the fray, however, with the narrator giving into temptation when Gammill begs “Can I touch it?” before bouncing back to the more infectious guitar-oriented melodies. Overall, I had fun with this tune, and it is a complex exploration of how the psychological priority of treating ourselves warps around the brain. The sound is very reminiscent of Alt-Pop 70’s acts like Bush Tetras and The Ronettes, with a little bit of Blondie’s female perspectives placed in for more punch. The backbeat harkens less back to 70’s DIY Punk, and more towards a bizzaro Funk delivery that 70’s George Clinton or Gang Of Four could have diverted towards. This is a little rough around the edges with a slightly disjointed narrative, but I like how the instrumentation is kept groovy while also being a little too laidback to be a conventional Pop track but you’re still going to be inclined to move along to it.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Audio Drag For Ego Slobs’ (LP) (Released on October 1st, 2021) (via Royal Mountain Records)

That’s all for today! Thank you for coming back to the blog for another day, and I’ll be back tomorrow for an in-depth look at a recent collaboration between the frontman of the platinum-selling Washington-based Alternative Rock group Death Cab For Cutie and a San Francisco-based IDM producer also known as the graphical designer ISO50.

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Today’s Track: The Bug (feat. Flowdan) – “Pressure”

September 14, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Fire’ (Album/LP) (Released on August 27th, 2021) (via Ninja Tune)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke and it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day, so it’s time to put that into practice by publishing yet another daily track on the blog! Having been active in the UK’s underground Techno scene since the 1990’s, notably as one of Hyperdub’s most significant signings during the early 2000’s, Weymouth-based electronic music producer and journalist Kevin ‘The Bug’ Martin has dabbled in the genres of Dubstep, Post-Hardcore, Industrial Hip-Hop, Dancehall, Power Electronics and more in experimental ways throughout the course of the last two decades, fronting different music projects like ICE, Curse Of The Golden Vampire and Techno Animal. There was also the collaborative moniker of King Midas Sound, which he has fulfilled with graphic designer Kiki Hitomi and poet Roger Robinson. There’s an air of 80’s Avant-Punk on his recently released solo album, ‘Fire’, which quickly became one of the year’s most anticipated hardcore album releases when it was released in the same month that it was announced, arriving in late August on the excellent Ninja Tune label. The album features collaborations with several vocalists including Logan, Flowdan, Nazamba, Manga Saint Hilare and more. This is Martin’s first solo album release since 2014, and he’s pitched it as a spiritual sequel to 2008’s ‘London Zoo’ and 2014’s ‘Angels & Devils’. The record has a scorching hot tone and it explores a range of socio-economic tensions and climate issues. Give the single, ‘Pressure’, a listen below.

“I’m always asking – how can I ramp this up more? How can I get more people out of control? For me, a live show should be unforgettable, should alter your DNA, or scar your life in a good way – that’s always been my goal, to set up shows that are unforgettable”, Martin told us in a press release, adding, “I like friction, fanning the flames with sound, and this album is the most reflective of the live show in terms of intensity and sheer f**k-off attitude of those shows”, he explained. ‘Fire’ is certainly one of Martin’s heaviest releases for a few years, but, as per usual from Martin, this isn’t a record that simply feels like a turn up the dial and shout for the sake of noise, in a Scuzz Sundays guilty pleasure way, but it instead uses Drone sounds and Dark Ambient influences to comment on a diversity of issues that seem to plague the modern world that we’re all a part of today. Working with frequent partner Flowdan on ‘Pressure’, Martin kicks the intensity of the new release into full gear with some anthemic two-step Drum beats and some relentless attacks from a string of reverb-drenched rumblings of Bass. Flowdan’s Hip-Hop vocals show serious flair, with the London-based MC adding a heavy Grime element to the chaotic energy of the tune, spitting thought-provoking lyrics like “Babylon time dun/Yuh sing for the stretcher” and “Wait for the revolution, but the revolution can’t stand” at a breakneck pace, as he conjures up some striking imagery of fleeing refugees and recent events in Alfghanistan that hit at a great speed and with an understandingly strong impact. Martin’s electronic soundscape deserves plenty of credit for the well-developed and uneasy atmosphere too. He kicks off the tune in riotous fashion with a jagged blast of sirens and foghorns, before he complements Flowdan’s hard-hitting vocals that rails against poverty and inequality at the fault of the government with a genuinely post-apocalyptic variety of sounds that shows his considerable experience and doesn’t hide behind the vocals from Flowdan as a literary device. Instead, the two together decide to hit their problems at their core with a passionate energy. On the whole, this is certainly not a mainstream release by any stretch of the imagination, but Kevin Martin and Flowdan do an absolutely brilliant job of unleashing a barrage of pent-up rage with good intelligence and academic creativity. There’s a ton of atmosphere as a result here and it feels undeniably cool. A release which you certainly should not skip.

  • Pictured: Kevin ‘The Bug’ Martin in a studio PR shoot for ‘Fire’ (2021) (Photo via TheVinylFactory.com)

That brings us to the end of the page for another day, and thank you very much for your continued support with my daily project. I will be back tomorrow for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’, as we take a break from my recent recommendations to revisit one of the most influential sounds of the past for the present. This week’s pick comes from a female-led band who were one of the greatest Bristol-based pioneers of Trip-Hop in the mid-90’s, and they were named after a nearby town of the same name. The trio sometimes bought a fourth member, Dave McDonald, on board as their own engineer.

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Today’s Track: 파란노을 (Parannoul) – “아름다운 세상 (Beautiful World)”

August 12, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: VHS tape for ‘To See The Next Part Of The Dream’ (February 23, 2021) (via Bandcamp.com)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here – and the time has come for me to deliver 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! We’ve certainly been familiarizing ourselves, musically, with a good variety of different cultures this week, and my latest recommendation takes you to South Korea for cryptic Shoegaze sounds. ‘Beautiful World’ comes from Parannoul, a very enigmatic young adult musician who describes themselves as “just a student writing music in my bedroom” and, as of May 2021, the brains behind the operation remains anonymous. We do not know their name, age, their history, relationship status or whether their music is created with anyone else’s involvement. He has released another album, 2020’s ‘Let’s Walk On The Path Of A Blue Cat’, but 2021’s ‘To See The Next Part Of The Dream’ has been his true breakout. He previously gained a cult following on websites like Reddit and RateYourMusic, with his latest album earning positive reviews from publications like Pitchfork, Stereogum and Consequence Of Sound when it was self-released in February, before it later arrived on streaming services in April. Pitchfork.com’s Ian Cohen wrote, “The lo-fi Shoegaze project from the Seoul musician is a rare find. The ambitious and alluring music expertly captures the feeling of a sound so uncannily familiar that it truly feels like a dream” in his 8/10. In my own experience, the record has eventually grown to become one of my top favourite albums of the year so far. Telling the plot of a down-on-his-luck 21-year-old aspiring musician with the creative mind of a wide-eyed child, but no real ability to play instruments, the record is a homage to the push and pull of youth – the desire to become something greater than you are, but feeling like this success is perpetually out of your reach. Just go ahead – and give ‘Beautiful World’ a spin below.

The text accompanying Parannoul’s new release on Bandcamp finds them describing themselves as an “active loser”, “below average in height, appearance and everything else”, with “singing skills [that] are f***ing awful”, among other harsh self-judgments, and the artist is never afraid to pull from anime culture for the odd reference, like ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’, in his lyrics. Using heavy distortion to manufacture a fantasy world, ‘Beautiful World’ finds him struggling with self-doubt and, in a strangely implicated way, raising a toast to the character’s shortcomings to honor his misery. Lyrics roughly translate to lines like “I wish my young and stupid days to disappear forever/My precious relationships, now they’re just in my memories” that feel bleak and depressive on paper, but the melodicism is almost overwhelming when the frenetic guitars combat against the seemingly spellbinding pedal effects. There’s hints of Emo, Goth and K-Pop music in the Synths aplenty, with invigorating guitar riffs and obscured vocals which add emotional depth to the atmosphere through the manifested feelings of nostalgia and outgrowing your location. Lines like “I wish no one had seen my miserable self/I wish no one had seen my numerous failures” take jabs at self-worth and pressure from older adults to succeed in life, while other lyrics, like “I go to a sense of a sense/Let’s block two eyes and two ears again” take shots at embracing your individuality and seeking pleasure in how your unique mind may work very differently to your peers, harnessing these skills and talents for a larger purpose. This encapsulation of adolescent angst is complemented, perfectly, with the vicious Math-Rock drum patterns towards the end. These clashing, aggressive sounds build a sense of both melancholy and melodrama, feeling every bit as powerful or disorienting as they should, given the very specific subject matter of the vocals. The vocals also wisely take cues from Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine in the ways they feel tricky to decipher because it builds a higher sense of tension, while also reminding us that the mood is the crucial part of the track, and the words almost struggle to need relevancy to find importance above the tone. On the whole, it is a truly fantastic look at the hopelessness of the modern youth and the systematic obstacles faced by young adults in politics and employment, and this is all captured with spectacularly Shoegaze finesse. The ‘who’ and the ‘how’ simply aren’t necessary.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘To See The Next Part Of The Dream’ (Released on February 23, 2021) (via POCLANOS)

That brings us to the end of the page – and thank you for sticking your neck out with me for another day. Please feel free to reconvene with me again tomorrow, as we delve into one of the weekend’s biggest new album releases. This brings our globe-trotting trip full circle as we return to England for some Americana, Country and Folk-inflicted indie rock from Hexham, Northumberland. The artist is a familiar face on the blog, a 21-year-old singer-songwriter who went to the BRIT’s School in Croydon and won ‘International Breakthrough Artist’ at the AIM Independent Music Awards in 2019.

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