Psychedelic Rock

Today’s Track: Sam Evian – ‘Never Know’

November 22, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Time To Melt’ (LP) (Released on October 29, 2021) (via Fat Possum Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and I hope to inject some energy into your Monday as we go for something that sounds a little retro, not forgetting that it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! A New York-based songwriter, producer and guitarist, Sam Evian is a Broolyn-born indie rock and psychedelic pop recorder whose music is pitched as a soft blend between 60’s Jangle Pop, Americana and 70’s tinged Psychedelic soft rock that nods towards Sly & The Family Stone and T-Rex, as well as each of the classic Soul legends who have inspired him. Having previously released his material on Saddle Creek Records, his third studio album – ‘Time To Melt’ – has shifted him over to Fat Possum Records, and it has received a positive reception from publications like The Quietus, Uncut, Mojo and Glide Magazine, with further support from BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Huw Stephens and MPR’s The Current, since it was released a handful of weeks ago. The follow-up to 2018’s ‘You, Forever’ – which Digital Trends have included in their rankings of their best albums of that year – ‘Time To Melt’ is a backward-looking collection of fun tracks where his studio does the talking. It was recorded at his own studio, Flying Cloud Recordings, located in a Catskills Town in Upstate New York with his frequent collaborator and real-life partner, Hannah Cohen, during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic last year. It also features remote production work from The War On Drugs’ producer Jon Natchez, as well as contributions from Chris Bear and Spencer Tweedy. Check out his final pre-release single off the LP, ‘Never Know’, below.

Sam Evian had this to say about ‘Never Know’ in his press release, “Never Know is kind of about escapism, dystopian realities and aliens. Sometimes it’s more fun to sit there and look out, you know?”, adding, “It’s a wild time to be alive, for better or worse. It used to be that we only had fiction and conspiracy to feed off our real-world fantasies. Now we have fighter pilots coming forward about strange, impossible experiences they’ve had in the sky”, to his notes. Exploring some distinctive subject matter on ‘Never Know’, Sam Evian seems to suggest that George Harrison was his favourite member of The Beatles with his slide guitar outro and his instrumentation which nods towards progressive Soul artists like Curtis Harding and Issac Hayes. Evian calls out to the skies for answers beyond our understanding with lyrics like “I look in the eyes of the one who loves me/Can we live in the afterglow?” and he touches on how he sees the world as a human with later lyrics like “Is there life in the great wide open?/I saw some in the sky today/But my eyes are always joking” above some twinkling keyboard riffs and slightly distorted bass riffs that echo the science vs. fiction themes of his songwriting. Therefore, he uses the idea of escaping our world to a path beyond our own by looking past the social constructs of our current reality and leaning into what could be as a hook being expressed through the swooning basslines that imply a sense of fantasy and reverie. Overall, Sam Evian manages to strike a good balance between serious and silly on his recent track, ‘Never Know’, as he combines honeyed vocals with nostalgic, 70’s-esque guitar riffs with some more ethereal elements of his Dream-Rock and Psychedelic-leaning sound. As a result, it never feels like too much of a bad pastiche or a caricature, but it takes solid influence from the vintage to fall on the softer side of pioneering 70’s Funk and Soul acts like Parliament.

  • Pictured: Sam Evian in promotional artwork for ‘Time To Melt’ (2021) (Photo Credit: Josh Goleman)

That’s all for now! Thank you for checking in with me on the blog today, and I’ll be back tomorrow for something that diverts our focus to the electronic and ambient realm of releases instead. The music comes from another artist who is based in New York. Formerly known as Ital, his brand new album has just been issued on Planet Mu.

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Today’s Track: Unknown Mortal Orchestra – “That Life”

October 23, 2021 — Leave a comment

  • Pictured: Ruban Nielson (Lead Vocals/Lead Guitar/Piano/Keyboard), Jacob Portrait (Vocals/Bass Guitar/Synths) and Kody Nielson (Drums) in a photoshoot for NPR’s ‘World Cafe’ series (2014) (via PR)

Good Morning to you! You’re tuned into One Track At A Time and this is the point where I – Jacob Braybrooke – get typing up for 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! ‘That Life’ comes to you from the fairly well-established Prog-Rock band Unknown Mortal Orchestra, who have been a hit with Psych Rock music fans throughout the 2010’s, originally gaining traction from Pitchfork critics for their uncredited debut single in 2010, before they took home the Taite Music Prize in 2012 for their self-titled debut LP that they released a year prior. The trio, who used to be a quintet, are from New Zealand and were formed in Auckland, and are currently based in Portland, Oregon where they continue to craft idiosyncratic rock music. The group have spent their time between the Fat Possum Records and Jagjaguwar labels, and they have embarked on mostly sold out tours across North America, Europe, The UK, Australia and New Zealand across their time. ‘That Life’ captured my attention due to the amusing music video – despite my relative unfamiliarity with the back catalog of the band – which features a very likeable dancing blue puppet that was created by puppeteer and fabricator Laura Manns, who is the creator of the puppets seen on ‘The Muppets’ and ‘Sesame Street’. Directed by Lydia Fine and Tony Blahd, their recent single follows the release of another single, ‘Weekend Run’, that was doing the rounds of the indie radio circuit across the summer. Ruban Nielson’s gang of non-conformists haven’t announced a follow-up album to 2018’s ‘IC-01 Hanoi’ – which received good reviews – just yet, however, logical time gaps and the steady release of some singles dictates that a new album is coming out. Put your feet up and enjoy ‘That Life’ below.

“I saw this painting by Hieronymus Bosch called The Garden Of Earthly Delights and in the painting there was a mixture of crazy stuff going on, representing heaven, earth and hell”, frontman Ruban Nielson explained in a press statement, adding, “When I was writing this song, That Life, I was imaging the same kind of ‘Where’s Waldo’ {Known as Where’s Wally? in most other countries} of contrasting scenes and multiple characters all engaged in that same perverse mixture of luxury, reverie, damnation, in the landscape of America. Somewhere on holiday under a vengeful sun”, and thus Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s latest official music video for ‘That Life’ was born. The sound itself isn’t too heavy or raw, and it feels quite warm and breezy instead, replicating more of a beach theme than a chaotic one. Key refrains like “All day swimming, Under the Palm trees, look how they gracefully sway” and “Some kinda gin drink/Some kinda jewelry/Some kind of fancy machine” are lyrics that muse over the small pleasures of life, the treats that people strive to achieve because they are perceived as wealthy and glamorous, and how expensive items represent grandeur that can be sometimes taken for granted by the upper class of society. The lovable, if greedy, puppet in the video proclaims that he’s always going to be about “That life” to a tuneful and radio-friendly chorus that feels cheerful and accessible. The fancy costumes also include multiple nods to outfits the band have worn on stage during certain points in their career too, and so there’s a decent amount of fan service hidden in the music video as well. The instrumentation goes for a pretty sentimental mix of 70’s Rock ‘N’ Roll that nods to bands like The Who gently, and some more contemporary Soul molded together by soulful hooks and funky guitar licks. Nielson’s vocals are also given some light distortion effects to evoke the classic rock vibe and make proceedings feel a tad psychedelic in tone too. There’s also a subtle nod to traditional Disco music in the steady groove too. Overall, I thought this was good. Probably not great, since I found the chords to sound a little dull and the lyrics rather predictable, but I like the idiosyncratic bridge and the visual inspirations behind the tune, so a lot of work clearly went into the graphical side of things. This is also one of the most memorable music videos that I have seen in quite some time too because it fits the overall vibe of the track very nicely while feeling a little nostalgic and quirky in mood. This is the type of music that I feel the likes of BBC Radio 2 should be playing regularly because it is quite universal to a wide audience without playing things too safely, but it’s easy to listen to. A decent commentary on life and perception of luxury.

  • Pictured: Unknown Mortal Orchestra in promotional art for ‘Multi-Love’ (2015) (Photo via DIYMag.com)

That’s it for today! Thank you a lot for your time, and I’ll be back tomorrow for ‘Scuzz Sundays’ with a post dedicated to one of the, very sadly, few female icons of the male-dominated 00’s Pop-Punk music scene that Scuzz TV, and Kerrang would have supported. The track comes from a cult favourite Gothic rock duo from Austin, Texas whose memorable frontwoman was featured in Guitar Player Magazine’s Top 20 Most Extraordinary Guitarists list – and whose music was used in MTV’s ‘Road Rules’ series.

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Today’s Track: Bardo Martinez – “Patterns Of Being”

October 5, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Everywhere Reminds Me Of Space’ (LP) (Released on July 23, 2021) (via Yemaya Sol Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and I’m reaching out to you on the day that ‘Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania’ gets released for yet another daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A week earlier to this day, we took an in-depth look at the new solo LP record – ‘South Sinner Street’ – from Marlowe’s Solemn Brigham, one half of one of my favourite Hip-Hop acts in recent times. This week, we are adapting that formula for Bardo Martinez, who is the frontman of the Latin American Prog-Rock outfit Chicano Batman, who have also garnered praise on the blog beforehand. The band have always drawn from a mix of genres including Psych-Soul, Neo-Rock, Funk and Indie music, which the 4-piece have taken to the stages of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and Ruido Fest over the course of the past few years. This July, Bardo quietly released ‘Everywhere Reminds Me Of Space’ on his own label Yemayá Sol Records – a self-produced little collection of 11 tracks that have allowed him to experiment more freely with some of the solo material which he has been compiling together for a few years on his own, with the global state of the Covid-19 lockdowns giving him ample time to explore his early Hip-Hop influences with a heavily beat-focused approach. One of the singles that Bardo finally had a decent amount of time to finally nurture was ‘Patterns Of Being’, the lead single from the album. Bardo began writing the lyrics and the chords for the track in 2015, before he recorded the music in 2019 and he got around to finishing it last year. Give the psychedelic trip a spin below.

Bardo aimed to dip into the same bold originality that makes Chicano Batman work so effectively for the vibrant, rhythmic-driven release, and he told GrimyGoods.com in an interview about the album, “With this record, I wanted to showcase the beats and spoken word cinematic vision quests along with some tunes I had stashed away in the vault”, adding up to his notes, “A little Casio keyboard, a Maestro Echoplex, and my monophonic Synths were tracked all over the record in order to keep it together. Many artists delve into the ether with existential quandaries about life, love and nature, I am no exception”, in his press statement. ‘Patterns Of Being’ wouldn’t have sounded out of place on 2020’s ‘Invisible People’ with his comrades from Chicano Batman, with Bardo reciting eccentric lyrics about self-gratitude and acceptance with a touch of gently philosophical musing. Catchy refrains like “Everybody’s everything and everything is everybody” and “We’re like lava pouring on the floor/Anything just comes out to its core” feel sharp and tease some conceptual thinking about humanity running parallel to geographical nature. The chorus focuses more squarely on the rhythmic delivery, as Bardo sings “Every time you’ve lost your mind/You’ve always managed to remember those/Patterns of being that makes you you” in a lush and free-form tone. The instrumentation feels deliberately playful too and even child-like at points. The Casio keys are joyous and tinny, while the Synth melodies feel harsh and wonky at times. This technique gives the track its sonic, psychedelic identity that isn’t a far cry from the engaging material that he produces with Chicano Batman. The wah-wah guitars and the extra electronic keys add some more upbeat beats and soft distortion which are influenced by his love of soul-oriented rap music. On the whole, ‘Patterns Of Being’ is dead good, and it reminds me of how leading musicians of wider bands sometimes flourish from having a solo platform to experiment more freely, with Box Car Racer and Iggy Pop standing out as key examples of this. It sounds like Chicano Batman in some aspects, but it has more of a DIY and an intimate feel to it subsequently. A dizzying array of sounds that seem out of this world, while grounded.

  • Pictured: Bardo with Carlos Arévalo, Eduardo Arenas & Gabriel Villa (2020) (Photo via ATO Records)
  • Pictured: Chicano Batman in a Tiny Desk Concert gig for NPR Music (2017) (Photo via YouTube.com)

That’s all that I’ve got for today – but we will be taking a break from the recent music recommendations for a new entry in our ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ library tomorrow. This week’s pick is a celebration of an iconic 1982 Hip-Hop track that became known as one of the genre’s first outings to be written about the poverty of inner city living, thus introducing the ideas of social commentary to conscious Hip-Hop music, written as a stark response to the 1980 New York City transit strike, as mentioned in the lyrics.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Babylon Zoo – “Spaceman”

September 8, 2021 — 2 Comments
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Spaceman’ (Single) (Released on January 15, 1996) (via Virgin/EMI Recordings)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and if you’ve just read the title of today’s post, yes, we are indeed going there, for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’, as we revisit an oddball novelty which somehow stayed at the top of the UK Singles Chart for five weeks, because it fits my target to write up about a different piece of music every day! It’s not something that we tend to think very much about these days, but in 1995, having your single being prominently featured in an ad for Levi’s Jeans was almost a guaranteed number one hit for your name. This stroke of luck came for the Jas Mann-led Wolverhampton-based Alternative Rock band Babylon Zoo in those times, who flew straight to the top of the UK charts with ‘Spaceman’ in 1996. It was a massive hit, registering first-week sales of 383,000, thus becoming the best-selling UK single since The Beatles ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ from 1964, and as of 2013, it still remains to be the 79th best-selling single in UK history. It was a rock solid debut by all accounts, but it gained controversial opinions following its release because the tune was, as they say, not “as seen on TV” – or heard in this case. That’s because all of the kids who rushed down to the shops in its opening weekend soon found that the Levi’s advert only used the beginning and the end of the single, and not the trawling Grunge section that largely makes up the track’s duration. Their debut album, ‘The Boy With The X-Ray Eyes’ performed reasonably well when bolstered up by the power of the enormously commercially successful single, but their later releases failed to leave much of a mark in Pop music culture and, these days, Jas Mann is looking unrecognizable as the co-founder of Virgin Produced India, a film production company. 25 years later, is ‘Spaceman’ a misunderstood masterpiece – or a victim of its own hype? Let’s find out.

Due to the disappointment that it gave a chunk of Babylon Zoo’s potential fans upon their arrival, it’s not too bizzare to consider that ‘Spaceman’ has seldom been played on the radio ever since, and it joins the ranks of Sam Sparro and The Ting Ting’s in being a one-hit wonder that you never seem to hear anymore. It has been fondly remembered by some, however, and a Channel 4 poll taken by viewers in 2006 actually ranked it as #31 in a list of the 50 best singles by one-hit wonders, and the contemporary critics of the time actually didn’t pan it as harshly as you might predict. As for its sound, the beginning is created by the iconic opening that matches a high-pitched vocal sample that squeals to the tune of a funky Trip-Hop rhythm and a rolling drum machine pattern. The Techno riffs take a turn towards the more serious, though, and Jas Mann flips the switch. It soon becomes a moody undercurrent of Gary Numan-influenced Art Rock and Icy synth melodies, with more futuristic imagery being created by the squelching vocal samples that hides in the fray after the first chorus. Lyrics like “There’s a fire between us, so where is your God?” and “Electronic information, tampers with your soul” create some more bizzare space-themed visuals, while the energetic and heavily synthesized opening is replaced by electric alternative guitars and heavily metallic, near robotic vocals from Jas Mann, before we get a lurching outro that calls back to the opening, as we heard at the end of the Levi Jeans advert. To be fair, the very unique intro is a melodic thing of beauty, and there’s a few punchy hooks in the middle section of the track. Otherwise, this mostly plays out like one of those guilty pleasure film franchises, like Resident Evil or Escape Room, where you know the films themselves are a bit on the rubbish side, but you like them anyways because they provide solid dumb fun. The lyrics are absolute nonsense, lets get that out of the way first, with Mann spitting buzzwords like “fascist folks” and “intergalactic Christ” with no particular flair or substance. The chorus, although catchy, also lacks any particularly tangible lines that truly stick out and make me want to remember the vocals for years to come. All of this said, however, I think there is something undeniably charming about the off-kilter mixture of Bowie mannerisms and echoes of Numan that, although fail to elevate the track past its novelty sell-by date, manage to keep proceedings going at a nice pace and provide some bright appeal. To be absolutely fair to Babylon Zoo, I never found myself to be especially bored by this, for what that’s worth. It feels futuristic, funny and even a bit seductive in the process, although the pacing is off-balance and the track barely holds itself together coherently with the vastly different elements in play. On the whole, it’s not a masterpiece, but I also felt that it wasn’t truly a colossal disappointment like the media might have you believe at the time. It’s an enjoyable, but middle ground, tune.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘The Boy With The X-Ray Eyes’ (LP) (Released in February 1996) (via Phonogram)

That brings us to the end of the page for another day! Thank you for joining me, and, this time, I’ve got a question for you: Did you buy Babylon Zoo’s ‘Spaceman’ in 1996 and where did you buy it? As for tomorrow, we’ll be taking a break away from the electronic-heavy music with something softer that comes from a Wigan-formed band who have earned national daytime airplay on Radio X in the UK. They are signed to Island Records, and they have been credited for helping to save Wigan’s football club.

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Today’s Track: Penelope Isles – “Iced Gems”

September 4, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Lily Wolter (Lead Vocals/Songwriter), Jack Wolter (Drums/Backing Vocals), Jack Sowton (Lead Guitar/Piano) & Becky Redford (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) (2020) (Photo via Bella Union Records)

Good Morning to you! You’re reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to bring just a small slab of spice to your Saturday with some fresh high-profile independent music, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Penelope Isles are a familiar face on the blog, who pulled in a few appearances on my humble site two years ago with a pair of singles from their promising debut album, ‘Until The Tide Creeps In’, which was released on Simon Raymonde’s Bella Union label in 2019. This project is centered around the two siblings of Lily and Jack Wolter, who are joined on tour by bassist Becky Redford and pianist/rhythm guitarist Jack Sowton. Together, the band are now based in Brighton, although the Wolter siblings grew up on the Isle Of Man. This band have garnered acclaim from Stereogum and Brooklyn Vegan, as well as supported groups like The Flaming Lips, The Magic Numbers and Wallows on live tours. If you are local to me, you can catch them playing live at The Portland Arms in Cambridge on November 25th for the generous ticket price of £9.90 per head. Two years have been removed since their first LP was issued, and the follow-up record, ‘Which Way To Happy’, will mark the end of the two-year turnaround period when it hits record store shelves on November 5th. The band have embarked on three US tours, and so it will be exciting to see how they expand on their success. Check out the new single ‘Iced Gems’ below.

Penelope Isles started working on their second album at a small cottage in Cornwall during lockdown in 2020, and the 4-piece eventually approached the frequent MGMT collaborator Dave Fridmann to bring his electronic experience to the party as their mixer. Lily Wolter says, on working with him, “He made everything so colourful. It’s an intense-sounding record – a hot record. It was so refreshing to have that blast of energy from Dave – it’s like he framed our pictures” in the LP’s announcement details for the press. ‘Iced Gems’ finds the band reflecting on some emotional realizations and very late evenings while brainstorming for the new record by the seaside, and it definitely brings a more sonic sound template to the typically relaxed sound of their previous record, but the instrumentation is still fairly stripped back and goes for a swooping, introspective tone. The music video finds the Wolter siblings travelling around in a camper van and really embracing the reclusive surroundings of a nature setting, and it feels like a suitable complement for the delicate synth pads and the fragile keyboard riffs that are heard in the main track. Lily sings about the seeking of purpose and the rush of companionship that she feels around her closest friends, and these sweet lyrics are delivered neatly above tight drum machine sequences that feel intricately textured and have a quietly sparkling undertone. The drum machine feels relatively forceful, and it nicely controls the tempo when the colourful sound effects add a rush of energy to the ending section of the single. Meanwhile, there’s also a neatly decorated Acoustic guitar instrumental and a tidily tinkling Bell riff that lurk in the background and ensure more detail for the mid-tempo soundscape. I also find the track title to be a fairly interesting one because ‘Iced Gems’ were a sickly tooth-rotting treat that British kids used to consume in the 00’s, and so this connotes a sense of holding onto nostalgia and contrasting the simpler times with more overbearing feelings as a young adult in the modern times. Overall, this is an excellent single that deserves the mainstream radio play that it sadly isn’t likely to get due to them simply not being a bigger name, because it feels easy to connect with, but there’s a lovely emphasis on the textured sounds and the blissful personality that Lily Wolter shows through her reserved vocals. There is a natural progression to their earlier sound in how the synth work brings a new element to the ‘Slacker’ style of their earlier record, and the different arrangements of the instruments are simply very pleasant to listen to. There’s a lot going on, but it maintains the peaceful vibe. I wholly recommend this.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Until The Tide Creeps In’ (LP) (Released on July 12th, 2019) (via Bella Union)

If you’re not familiar with Penelope Isles and you enjoyed the sound of this, you can start making your way through some of the band’s earlier discography with some of my older posts regarding them on the blog. Check out the fan-favourite ‘Leipzig’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/01/10/todays-track-penelope-isles-leipzig/ and the 7-minute epic ‘Gnarbone’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/01/10/todays-track-penelope-isles-gnarbone/

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Which Way To Happy?’ (LP) (Available from November 5, 2021) (via Bella Union)

That’s all for now and thank you, as always, for reaching the end of the page for me and continuing to support these types of music artists alongside me. I’ll be back again tomorrow for some fun with our ‘Scuzz Sundays’ feature, as we revisit a popular single from a mid-00’s Stillwater-based Pop-Punk band who have continued to tour in the present day after leaving a sizeable mark with Dreamworks Records with several successful albums in their heyday. They have sold over ten million records worldwide, and, in 2012, were ranked at #73 on Billboard’s list of the Hot 100 Artists Of The 2000’s.

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Today’s Track: The Lovely Eggs (feat. Iggy Pop) – “I, Moron”

July 24, 2021 — Leave a comment

Let’s spend Saturday with something on the certified side of Moronic. New post time!

  • Pictured: Holly Ross (Vocals/Guitar) & David Blackwell (Drums) (2018) (Photo by Alex West/URY Music)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, as always, and I’m coming at you with another daily track on the blog, because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every single day! Ever since I heard about the release of their new single ‘I, Moron’, I have been chomping at the bit for the chance to see The Lovely Eggs play live. If you haven’t heard of them before, The Lovely Eggs are a very popular two-piece lo-fi Psychedelic Punk act made up of husband-and-wife duo David Blackwell and Holly Ross, the latter of which used to be the lead vocalist and guitarist of all-female Indie act Angelica. Ever since they emerged on the UK DIY scene with 2009’s ‘If You Were Fruit’ debut, the two have garnered a dedicated cult following for their endearing, anarchic blend of unique political ideas, rough-edged electronic instrumentation and their distinctive sprinkle of humor. Sadly, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the band never got to play any of their tracks from last year’s critically-acclaimed album ‘I Am Moron’, but, rest assured, the arrival of the brand new single accompanies a set of rescheduled tour dates, with the two true Eggheads playing venues in locations such as Cambridge, Leeds, York, Stroud, Reading and Birmingham next Spring. ‘I, Moron’ features guest vocals from the godfather of British Post-Punk himself, Iggy Pop. This collaboration came about when Iggy Pop continually played new tracks from their latest album on his BBC Radio 6 Music programme, and the real cult favourites sent him a ‘Thank You’ note. Check out the moronic results of it below.

“Being in The Lovely Eggs we’re kind of used to surreal experiences, but collaborating with Iggy Pop really takes the biscuit” exclaims one half of the duo, Holly Ross, in the team’s press notes, adding, “It’s actually unbelievable. For him to just say nothing but “moron” over and over again fitted in with the sentiment of the song perfectly. He just GOT it. We are all morons. In a world of moronic things. In a world of moronic ideas. You are moron. I am Moron. We are Moron”, to her pick-me-up speech. It’s not something that I’d expect to hear in a dated Hollywood action flick, but it’s definitely something that I’d expect to hear from The Lovely Eggs because nobody does it better. ‘I, Moron’ picks up at the junction that we got off from last year’s ‘I Am Moron’ LP, with Ross and Blackwell guiding the rhythm with filtered vocal sequences, driving buzz-saw guitar riffs, expansive Synth melodies and layers of overlapping backing vocals. An old-school Punk attitude is created through the vague lyrics, which say very little, but go a fairly decent way in adding a substantial substance to the frenzied fusion of instruments. As for the featured spot from Iggy Pop, you could argue that he earns his paycheck pretty easily here, but his hilariously monotone repeat of the one word adds nicely to the Zany heart of the songwriting and the tone. Meanwhile, there are bubbling sequences of keyboard riffs, robotic Synth breaks akin to Air’s sound and explosively paced lead guitar hooks which keep the sonic palette varied enough. The music video is also a great companion piece to the Psych-Punk madness, with a quirky Clay Animation style that compliments both the home-crafted spirit of the music and the slightly deranged calibration of off-kilter humor and clear charisma that Ross and Blackwell have developed their key strengths from over the years. A charming blend of golden age Punk and electronic-infused Psychedelia, ‘I, Moron’ sees them slip between stripped-back Indie and playful electronica with a safe pair of hands on the wheel. For the lack of a less eye-rolling term, it’s an ‘Eggselent’ showing.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘I, Moron’ (Single) (Released on July 9th, 2021) (via Egg Records)

If you want more of this, why not see what I thought of ‘Long Stem Carnations’ here?: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/07/13/todays-track-the-lovely-eggs-long-stem-carnations/

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “I Am Moron” (Album/LP) (Released on July 10th, 2020) (via Egg Records)

That’s all I have to share with you today, but I hope that you are as ‘Eggsited’ as I am to see The Lovely Eggs playing in a town near you in 2022. Until then, I’ve got loads of new posts coming to your inbox, starting with another entry in the ‘Scuzz Sundays’ library tomorrow. It comes from a Welsh rock band formed in Newport during the 90’s who haven’t made an appearance on the site until now, and the band have won two Kerrang! Awards in 2001 and 2003. They were inducted to their ‘Hall Of Fame’ in 2019.

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New Album Release Friday: Darkside – “The Limit”

July 23, 2021 — Leave a comment

The experimental duo who don’t always look on the bright side of life. New post time!

  • Pictured: Vinyl Copy of “SPIRAL” (LP) (Released on July 23rd, 2021) (via Matador Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time to take a moment out with 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! Latitude Festival may be the biggest talking point of this mid-July weekend, but, for those of us who couldn’t get ourselves a ticket and need to rely on getting our music fix elsewhere, there is a handful of new records available to fresh ears. Anne-Marie, Joel Culpepper, The Jungle Giants, Emma Jean-Thackray, Leon Bridges and Mercury Prize winner Dave all have new full-length albums hitting store shelves today. My pick for this week has been eight years in the making. ‘Spiral’ arrives this morning through Matador Records from Darkside, the collaborative side-project of the insanely prolific Chilean-American composer Nicolás Jaar and the Brooklyn-based rock multi-instrumentalist Dave Harrington, a previous member of indie bands ARMS and Translations. The follow-up to 2013’s ‘Psychic’, the new record was written and recorded in 2018 and six of the tracks were largely made through an extended week-long session during that summer in New Jersey. It has a 79 on Metacritic to show solid reviews, with Charlotte Krol of NME calling it “A gorgeous, filmic record that rewards with each spin”. Check out promo single ‘The Limit’ below.

“From the beginning, Darkside has been our Jam band, something we did on days off”, Jaar spoke of Darkside’s return from hiatus, adding, “When we reconvened, it was because we really couldn’t wait to jam together again”, to the press release. Dave Harrington added, “It felt like it was time again. We do things in this band that we would never do on our own. Darkside is the third being in the room that just kind of occurs when we make music together”, to the press notes for the hype machine. Down to a tee, ‘The Limit’ is a psychedelic adventure through experimental corridors of patterns and exciting, wildly free-spirited tones that make the steadfast jolt feel like a diverse, atmospheric journey. Beginning with some intriguing Woodwinds-like sounds, Jaar laments a loss of grip on reality of life with contemplative vocals like “Don’t sow what you reap/Submit to the pace” and “The waters erase/Nothing left to see” as we build up to a lengthy instrumental that combines Folk-led guitar riffs with stiff Keyboard frames, with a driving Drum melody that adds a lot of heft to the strength. We reach a breaking point when Jaar refrains “Current with no direction”, as the steely frames take an intrusive turn to something that feels much more harsh and abrasive in setting, as the transcendant Funk beats grind to a squelching, grounded halt with grating guitar sections and propulsive Synth cuts. The finale is also dynamic enough to stay interesting on your repeated listens, as Harrington’s production cascades through jangled rhythms with an Acid rain-like quality, while Jaar’s vocals feel unphased throughout the obscure experiment of the five minutes. It’s a strange but controlled mixture of ambient tapestry overall, with an opening that reminds me of Django Django in it’s 00’s dance flair and Folk-inflicted guitars, but the following sequences of ethereal audio really keeps you on your toes and feels incomparable to much else in terms of it’s dissonant explorations of creaking acoustics. On the whole, it expertly walks the line of bizzare and frantic like a tightrope circus act, yet it never loses it’s footing to fall off the said tightrope in the analogy. It never feels like pure chaos, since the eclectic instrumentals have a coherent narrative of-sorts and the key changes never stray from the path of consistency too aggressively. It’s certainly not mainstream, but it’s good to remember that Darkside’s records are being aimed more towards an avid fanbase, as opposed to those who will just take whatever formulaic dance track the pop charts throw at them. The tune is a very cool record, with an ever-changing dymamic in sound that mixes Jaar’s virtuosic skill as an experienced classical composer with Harrington’s ear for psychedelic influences that he honed on the US DIY indie electronica scene. You can revel in it’s Jaaring nature. See what I did?

  • Pictured: Nicolas Jaar & Dave Harrington (2013) (Photo Credit: Jim Carroll/The Irish Times)

We’ve reached your destination – which is the end of the page for today! I’ll be back to do it all over again tomorrow, however, with an in-depth look into some brand new music from a popular cult UK lo-fi independent Prog-Rock duo – a married couple – who are making their second appearance on the blog with a new single that features the British godfather of Punk himself, Iggy Pop, to confirm their new set of tour dates.

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Today’s Track: Crumb – “Trophy”

July 22, 2021 — Leave a comment

I won’t be winning any trophies for the puns that I have for my slogan. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Ice Melt’ (LP) (Released on April 30th, 2021) (via Crumb Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and we’re picking up the pace with 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! Thursday’s tune comes to you from the Brooklyn-based musicians Crumb, a female-led indie Psych-Rock quartet led by Lila Ramani. The group have garnered huge support from critics since forming in 2016, with Paste Magazine describing their sound as a meld of “60s Psych, loose Jazz, and freeform Indie Rock into a soothing Pop amalgamation”. The 4-piece band met while studying at Tufts University on the Northern borders of Medford and Somerville in Massachusetts in the US, before they started to divide their time between Boston and New York, distributing their first two EP’s with limited vinyl runs and cassette stock released by DIY label Citrus City Records. The band have now gone fully independent, self-releasing their latest LP, ‘Ice Melt’, this past April via Crumb Records. The follow-up to 2019’s ‘Jinx’, their second full-length record was allegedly named after the blend of coarsely ground salts used to dissipate ice on your front steps, by absorbing water and giving off heat, that you can get in US hardware shops. Check out ‘Trophy’ below.

The mysterious Dark-Pop band have enlisted the help of Haoyan Of America to direct the music video for ‘Trophy’, a surrealist visual affair that seems to tap into something supernatural aesthetically for the surrealist quality of the music itself, as the skewed rock elements of the track are paired with opening visuals of an award ceremony, a jolt through a racers’ podium, and a monstrous bunch of animated, living trophies singing away. It’s a suitable accompaniment to the enigmatic sound of ‘Trophy’ itself, which reminds me of the 00’s ‘Chillout’ compilations of slowed down dance remixes and some reworked popular culture songs that my grandmother rarely used to buy. Ramani’s lead vocals have a slow, gliding effect where the use of echo and reverb tell a wistful tale about, as she sings, a “deadbeat tour loner”, in her own words. The soft Keyboard riffs, the electric Jazz/Rap-leaning instrumental bassline, and the persistent Cymbal melodies give the sound an uplifted, yet whimsical and slightly Dark element. Like the most strange dream that you could occasionally have, there is only a sort-of logical sense to things, with a slick 90’s Avant-Rock sound which combines relaxed electronics and deep guitars in a way that feels soothing on the surface, but begins to show a more haunting side as you settle deeper. The lyrics, with a cryptic series of quotes like “The test it came back said you’re prone to, Chew yourself right to the bone, I guess you don’t like to be alone” and “Take your time ’cause it’s all over/You’re a deadbeat doll loner” add an airy harmony to the gradually evolving field, but there’s also a gently irreverent sense of humor to them, as they pay homage to Math-Rock and Prog-Rock with their tongue set firmly in their cheek at brief times. Finally, the distorting vocals of the post-bridge go for a rougher and Grunge-influenced edge. On the whole, it’s an intriguing mix of 90’s Alt-Rock songwriting and a loosely springing effect of instrumentation that tickles the cells of your brain as the studio-tinkered chords craft up a dread-filled space around you, and it’s working very well, which is mostly down to Ramani’s reserved, nocturnal vocals and a decent sense of chemistry between the band in connecting their ideas. An auditory feast for your pillow at night.

  • Pictured: Lila Ramani (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Jesse Brotter (Bass Guitar/Unclean Vocals), Bri Aronow (Keyboard/Saxophone) and Jonathan Gilad (Drums/Percussion) (2019) (Photo by Shan Khan)

That’s it for another day! Just like always, it’s ‘New Album Release Fridays’ tomorrow, and so we will be tasting one of this weekend’s biggest new album releases, and so please get caught up with me on the site then for more recommended listening. Eight years in the making, this week’s top album pick marks another collaboration in the unlikely side project of the very prolific Chilean-American composer Nicolas Jaar and the Brooklyn-born multi-instrumentalist Dave Harrington from the Psych band ARMS.

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Today’s Track: Pizzagirl – “Car Freshener Aftershave”

July 19, 2021 — Leave a comment

Love a bit of 80’s soft-Rock or 00’s Psych-Pop? You’ll want a Pizza this! New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Softcore Mourn’ (LP) (Released on July 16th, 2021) (via Heist Or Hit Records)

A good afternoon to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for a brief respite away from the scorching heat for your daily track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Monday’s music comes from Liverpool’s Liam Brown, who has recorded his material under different names over the years, but his current and most notable solo project is Pizzagirl. He goes all-in on that theme as well, recording his brand of Indie Pop and R&B-infused Psych-Rock from his bedroom, which he calls his “Beatzzeria”. His influences include The Orielles, Grimes, David Byrne, Ariel Pink, and he loves a bit of Kelly Clarkson too. The follow-up to 2019’s ‘First Timer’, his second album ‘Softcore Mourn’ was released over the past weekend via Manchester’s Heist Or Hit independent label. It finds him venting out his own lovelorn frustrations of 21st century dating and pulling in some elements of Vaporwave. Check out the lead single, ‘Car Freshener Aftershave’, below.

After being away from Liverpool’s scene for a short break, Liam Brown had this to say about the new album: “Over the last year or so I’ve been screaming, sighing, crying and lying at my computer, which has manifested itself into my aptly titled second album Softcore Mourn”, adding, “The first single ‘Car Freshener Aftershave’ is a cold reminder to the internet that I still exist and I still haven’t figured that out yet. I’d say this is a break-up song” to his press release notes. Likened to LCD Soundsystem and The Postal Service by Gaby Mawson of Clunkmag.com, the new tune goes for a hint of nostalgia with 90’s dial-up tones and Prog-Synth sounds that appear directly lifted from the 80’s by complementing the retro, teen-hood aesthetic of the self-referential lyrics. The Chiptune-leaning vocals contort themselves around different layers of instrumentation that are continuously adjoined to the soundscape, as the percussive finger clicks and fizzy Lo-Fi synths emerge in the cutting edge of the fray at elusive key changes. Quirky lyrics, like “Where are the cameras? I must be punk’d” call back to outdated popular culture, and lines like “Well, if you’re gonna cry, then at least make it snappy/Cause once in a while, well, I kind of feel happy” add subtle sentimentality to the mix with a vocalist who feels socially pessimistic leading us on the charge. The chorus, led by “The California motel vomit/It’s like a Jackson Pollock” and “The California motel vomit/It wasn’t me, I promise”, emphasizes the quirky sense of his own self’s inertia. The ambient electronica bulk of the track feels like it’s been lifted from a falsely futuristic 80’s infomercial. Constructively, I think the production space gets a little too busy at some points, and I would have liked for his voice to come out more naturally at times. There’s more here to enjoy than not, though, with a fun edge of Prog-Synth and hyperactive visuals that make his breaking point seem believable, and there is clearly a welcome personality to this track. A stuffed, but delicious, Crust.

  • Pictured: Liam Brown (aka Pizzagirl) in a ‘Softcore Mourn’ PR shoot (2021) (Photo by HeistOrHit.com)

That’s all for today, but please feel free to join me again tomorrow for another slice of action. BBC Radio 6 Music are a huge fan of my next artist, who makes his debut appearance on the site tomorrow. The London-via-NYC songwriter and producer previously found his footing in the Future-Soul duo Voices Of Black, and he’s set to support Yard Act later this year ahead of the release of his new album – due in August.

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New Album Release Fridays: Drug Store Romeos – “Secret Plan”

July 9, 2021 — Leave a comment

If you weren’t a fan before, this may change your Frame Of Reference. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘The World Within Our Bedrooms’ (Released on July 9, 2021) (Fiction Records)

Good Morning to you – It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time for your daily track on the blog, as per usual, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Well, a short delay may have hindered it’s original release date due to vinyl production issues, but July 9th has arrived and ‘The World Within Our Bedrooms’, which is the debut full-length album from Hampshire’s Dream-Pop/Shoegaze/Indie Rock trio Drug Store Romeos has arrived. I also got the chance to interview them exclusively for the blog, and you can read all about that shortly. New releases for today also include efforts from Yorkshire’s Alt Hip-Hop Afro man Dylan Cartlidge, Toronto’s Charlotte Day Wilson, Dublin’s Inhaler (An indie rock band led by U2’s Bono’s son, Elijah) and the Kenny Beats-produced self-titled fourth studio album from the excellent Compton rapper Vince Staples. It sounds like there’s plenty for us to get excited about today, but I’ve been really looking forward to hearing the Drug Store Romeos record. ‘Secret Plan’ was their last single to be released from the 15-track project, which arrives on Fiction Records. If you enjoy this one as much as I do, the young creatives from the self-described ‘Sleeepy Town’ of Fleet will be supporting Black Country, New Road on tour in some locations this November, or you can catch them playing at the End Of The Road festival in Wiltshire this September if you’ve got tickets to see that. If not, start by conjuring your own ‘Secret Plan’ to find them below.

The visuals are just as important as the sound when it comes to Drug Store Romeos, and, the band explained about the Max Rollason directed music video for ‘Secret Plan’ above, “The World Within Our Bedrooms is centered around the visualisation that we’re playing these songs in a small, suburban room in Fleet, but as we now live in London, our second album won’t have this pull”, adding, “We thought it would be a nice final goodbye to actually shoot some of the footage in Fleet, and to immortalize the three of us in that space in some way”, to sum up their press release for the single’s release. The lyrics may be cryptic, but the purple-coloured haze and the schizophrenic environmental shots provide the perfect thematic context for the Casio-adjacent toy keyboard melodies and the hum of the bubbling bass guitars to jump off. Lyrics like “Don’t go too fast/Sequence light, Open air/Grass grows, skies change” don’t reveal too much, but we’re painted a lush, ethereal vision of drifting adolescent memories and secrets made between old friends as we reach the end of an era. The instrumentation is really unpredictable, too, with the beginning calling over to modern bedroom pop, before the chorus introduces a more kaleidoscopic rhythm to the mix. Sarah Downie’s vocals are solid, as always, as her gliding voice really controls the tempo and complements the changes in keys. She seems laid-back, as enchanting low-pitched crooning vocals give off a rather enigmatic vibe that really absorbs you into the various moods that the track’s atypical structure swings into. The chorus is also a neat stand-out, with surprisingly groovy lo-fi patterns and twinkling guitar chords that paint a vivid picture of concealed ambitions or dreams. The soundscapes keeps changing, but it never feels confusing. The dream-like vocals and the subdued bridge sections ensures a good flow between the moving parts, even as the chorus goes into a psychedelic, disco-flavored drawl of easy-listening Pop melodies and the nostalgic qualities, and it takes skill to pull off these inconsistencies with a decent flow. A master class in mood from one of the UK’s brightest new names.

  • Pictured: Sarah Downie (Lead Vocals/Keyboard/Synths), Charlie Henderson (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) & Jonny Gilbert (Drums/Percussion/Occasional Backing Vocals) (2020) (Photo via Twitter.com)

If you liked this, don’t miss out on ‘What’s On Your Mind’ from the new album too. Get the details here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/04/29/todays-track-drug-store-romeos-whats-on-your-mind/

  • Pictured: Drug Store Romeos promoting ‘Now You’re Moving’ (2020) (Photo via TheLineOfBestFit.com)

Don’t forget to check out my interview with Drug Store Romeos – which will be going up on the site right after this! To get your daily dose tomorow, check back with me on the site in roughly 24 hours time to discover a Scottish-Sudanese film composer based in the UK who will be releasing her debut album, ‘The Woman You Want’, next week via Rosemundy Records. To support that new record, she will be playing a live gig at The Portland Arms, Cambridge on November 10th.

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