Review: Barlow/Naked Ant - Split

Barlow + Naked Ant

(2015 Self-Released)

As close to a physical manifestation of the DIY Ethos as I've ever come across, this cassette collaboration between two of my favorite garage rock outfits is a match made in post-internet heaven. Back in late 2014, Ethan Oliva - frontman of veteran shoegaze trio Barlow - dropped the titles of a few of his own songs into the Bandcamp search bar to check up on their streaming stats. Among the results lurked an impassioned cover of Barlow's "In The Air" recorded by New Jerseyan high-schooler Ben Spizuco. Though faithful to the tune from which it sprang forth, Spizuco's rendition of "In The Air" retains the signature charm that accents the entirety of his own discography - it's as raw as rock gets, unapologetically leaving splatters of sonorous mic feedback audible among a tight weave of trebly chords and a few (sometimes clumsy) lead guitar riffs. It was a perfectly punk tune made up of imperfect takes, the product of a single musician whose efforts could stand up proudly next to his those of his influencers. Impressed by the cover and flattered to witness the influence of his music firsthand, Oliva gave Spizuco a shout-out on the Barlow Facebook page.

Flash forward to November 2015: Spizuco has formed a fuzz-pop trio of his own, Naked Ant, and has joined forces with his heroes on a self-titled split tape. On the A-side of the magnetic rectangle, Barlow invites listeners to help clear out their attic, dusting off old unfinished demos. Vocals are added to instrumentals like the Hüsker Dü-esque "Ride" and "I'll See You", a brief power-pop ditty carried by hyper-melodic lead guitar that would make J Mascis proud. Alongside a handful of brand new recordings that resemble Isn't Anything-era MBV, there are a smattering of skeletal song-sketches that comprise my favorite section of Barlow's end of the split. "Down There" bobs buoyantly on the crest of a tinny guitar loop while "For All Time" coats arpeggios with warm layers of ambience that resemble the cry of a Kricketune. 

Naked Ant's side of the tape is chock-full of experimentation and infused with the fun of jamming in the garage with one's friends. "School of Thought Graduate" makes use of mistakes in mixing and mastering to maximize shifts in dynamics and texture, making for a tune that ferries listeners down into the murky depths of an ocean of reverb only to send them rocketing toward the surface on the strength of powerful cymbal crashes and muscly chords. The band ventures into a combination of blues and 70s soft rock on "Sailing On The Delaware" and even delves into some slinky free improvisation on closing cut "Lisa". My favorite Naked Ant cut from the tape, though, is perhaps its most unassuming, coyly concealing the alien timbres hidden beneath its surface. "The Wait For September" starts out as a traditional acoustic strummer that hearkens back to the early efforts of Sentridoh, but slowly morphs into a haunting piece of avant-garde wizardry: distant growls of feedback pass through the mix like transient phantoms. Beautifully spooky.

Check out Barlow's side of the tape here and Naked Ant's side here 

Review: Swords/Drahla - "Split"

Swords/Drahla - Split

(2015 Self-Released)

My most memorable Bandcamp finds tend to be those free of the cult of indie-rock personality, quietly lurking in the depths of the "bedroom pop" and "shoegaze" tags. I've always enjoyed that the internet has given artists the ability to don goofy and surreal new identities, and sometimes I feel that the the most powerful persona to project is the complete lack of one. When band photos, interviews and twitter accounts are often a click away, to be faced with nothing stops me in my tracks. Even after piecing together the few scattered scraps of digital documentation I could uncover surrounding this gritty morsel of lo-fi pop, the only sort of background I can give you on this split cassingle is that it was recorded somewhere in the United Kingdom, divided between two mysterious projects that appear to consist of the same members. I don't know their names, and I'm completely OK with that. Their music speaks for itself in strange and beautiful dialects. 

Swords' side of the tape pairs an odd coupling of funky rhythms (tinny drum machine and bouncy bass) with nebulous pulses of brass-like keyboard. In a way, it reminds me of a more eerie version of Wild Nothing's newer material - at times it even gives off some strong Ariel Pink vibes. Billy Corgan-esque vocals definitely have me leaning towards the Wild Nothing side though. Though Swords' offerings are catchier, Drahla's are a bit more captivating and creepy. "Stereo Maze" plods along on a dissonant guitar riff and a spooky synth melody that resembles a goofy sound effect that might appear in an early 00's PC game for kids. "Ethernet" is a surprisingly delicate tune, forming a dreamy soundscape from crunchy drum hits and fuzzed-out keys.

Split Review: Flowers Taped To Pens/Bread Club/Beds/Skull Kid

FTTP/Bread Club/Beds/Skull Kid - Split

(2015 Driftwood)

This split single is perhaps the defining release in the Driftwood Records discography: it's intimate, glazed with a crunchy coat of tape hiss and jam-packed with twinkly post-rock riffage. Oh, and most importantly, it's loaded with the moody, skramz-y vibes that the label's cult following craves. The first band to enter the ring in this fatal four-way is my personal favorite Driftwood act, Flowers Taped To Pens, a trio from San Diego. Their offering to the split release, "I Suppose It's Just Our Nature" is perhaps their best yet, pitting the signature shrieks of Connor and Ethan Sgarbossa against soaring, intricate guitaristry, culminating in a majestic crescendo of screamed vocals and tremolo picking. Following FTTP is a much more subdued, yet no less satisfying Bread Club cut. Atop instrumentation that vaguely resembles that of mid-career Dinosaur Jr is a lovably twee vocal delivery, another odd musical pairing on the split that works surprisingly well. It's the record's most accessible cut that builds up to a lovely three-part vocal harmony.

Leading off the B-Side of the record is Beds' appropriately-titled "Sweet Dreams", a somber tune carried on the strength of an impressively expressive dual guitar attack. It's the airiest and most calming of the four songs, wrapping the listener in a veil of spacey atmospherics. Pittsburgh's Skull Kid round out the split with distorted lead guitar, aggressive percussion, and powerful harmonies. If you've yet to cop any Driftwood Records releases, this 4-way split is a great place to start.

Review: Flowers Taped To Pens/Nevasca/American Memories/DayCare

Flowers Taped To Pens/Nevasca/American Memories/DayCare Split

(Ozona Records 2013)

Finding a sufficient balance between beauty and violence can be a difficult task, but can make the difference between a song that's perfectly striking and one that's overly saturated with one particular feeling. Each of the four bands on this split tape display mastery of achieving this sonic equilibrium, lobbing lightweight, crystalline guitaristry to be belted out of the park by abrasive crescendos. It's fascinating to have four takes on the rising DIY screamo/twinkly scene all on one release, and even more so considering that there is still a great diversity of sounds contained within the confines of the genre. 

The first of these bands to appear on the album is San Diego's Flowers Taped To Pens, offering up two tracks. "Ghosts in My Bed" opens with a pleasant degree of creaminess, as clean guitar pluckings wallow in a warm trumpet drone. Shortly after it starts, this melody eerily ceases, interrupted by a yelp. The full extent of  the band's angst-driven energy rains down from above, a warbly and surprisingly dreamy brand of hardcore supplemented by screamed vocals. Their second song, "That Same Street", is less fast-paced but is perhaps more intense. The guitars turn shaky loops in the air, wobbling and improvising their way through a spacious rhythm provided by distant percussion. The tension this instability creates threatens to snap at any moment, yet somehow manages to hold itself together for four full minutes.

Following Flowers Taped To Pens is Russian quartet Nevasca. Their sound is poppier and a little more accessible than the rest of the bands featured on this release, weaving complex, shimmering guitar melodies together over anthemic exuberance on standout cut "Leaving This Northern Town". The interplay between the male and female vocalists is stunning, and adds even more layers to a song that is already quite textured. "Memory Fails Me" is the mini-epic around which this split revolves, clocking in at nearly 7 minutes. It nearly tresspasses into post-rock territory; it's minimal, and instrumentally charged, resembling an emo Sigur Ros.

American Memories step up to the plate next, a lo-fi and rather streamlined skramz track. The vocals are in the spotlight on "Grave", crashing into the fuzzy walls of guitar and pounding drums. California's DayCare make their debut as the final band to appear on the split, providing the lone tune "I Don't Wanna Come Home". It's the most polished sounding of the bands here, emphasizing the raw screams over chiming guitar chords. There really isn't a weak spot on this whole tape, and a full listen is worth your while.

Cassette Corner: Stars Are Insane/Monogamy Split

Stars Are Insane/Monogamy - Split Cassette

(Rok Lok Records 2013)

A noisy split tape that's full of surprises; marks a turning point in the Stars are Insane Discography.

It’s kind of odd that Long Island resident Mike Andriani, who releases bedroom-recorded noise rock under the name Stars are Insane, would choose to put out two split EPs in the span of a month, but after scrutiny of each of them, it seems apparent that this was a very logical move. His last output, the December installment of Rok Lok Records’ 2012 cassingle club, was a major outlier compared to the rest of his discography. Most noticeably, it was comprised entirely of ambient instrumentals, but more importantly, it marked a major sonic change in Andriani’s instrumentation. Though there are lyric-less tracks on just about every Stars are Insane release, these felt more like stand-alone songs rather than outtakes and experiments. The fuzziness of his guitar tone evoked the faint grittiness and bright shimmer of the ocean rather than the sludge and scattered pollution one might find sitting at the bottom of a lake.

His two late-2013 EPs separate that recently adopted style from his older, and arguably more accessible alt-folk material. His cassette split with Monogamy, which I’ll be dissecting tonight, focuses more on the former, while his lathe-cut record release with Morgue Toad prominently features his more traditional-sounding material. His first track to appear on the Monogamy split is “When We Saw Mountains”. It opens with a majestic, new age-y keyboard loop that’s quite worthy of the track title. Short lashes of crunchy electric guitar act like timpani drumrolls would in a symphony. The keyboard takes a backseat in the following track, “Cars Pass Me By”. Once again, the track is adept at illustrating its title. A subtle drone in the background creates a grim darkness that set the mood of a lonely, late night drive. The track actually makes me feel more like I’m in the backseat, because its repetition promotes passive listening. I lie back on the chilly headrest and watch as the cars (represented by delayed guitar notes) woosh by, blurred through the rain-soaked back window.

In stark contrast to the A-side, the opening track of Monogamy’s half of the split is fueled by industrial aggression; its drums are booming and metallic and screeching mechanical sounds skitter high above. Though it’s tough to dig through the song’s steely surface, when you do you’ll find that there’s a hidden shoegaze gem buried below the noise. Its melody is simple but effective, and is very much in tune with Shivering Window’s less-is-more mentality. “Remain Lingering” hits the listener with another surprise, opening with pleasant solo piano that leads into velvety saxophone. Paired with D Alfred Lyons’ odd vocal delivery, it sounds a lot like Modest Mouse’s “Think Long”. As a final testament to Monogamy’s unpredictability, a short hardcore/powerviolence cut concludes his side of the split.

Review: "The Telephone Projects Makes Love With Bear Creek"

The Telephone Projects/Bear Creek - Split

(2013 Self-Released)

"Booming, vacuum-like drones weigh on the listener with the pull of the abyss"

In my opinion, there's nothing that can quite match the curious combination of Casiotone keyboard, fuzzy tape deck hiss and buckets of reverb. While harnessing the energy of these classic elements of bedroom pop, The Telephone Projects and Bear Creek manage to bypass a few of the tired tropes of the lo-fi keyboard genre, forming a collaborative effort that's unnerving and beautifully cavernous. Rarely does such an enormous sound come from such minimal instrumentation.

On your first listen, you'll probably most enjoy The Telephone Projects' half of this split release. Bringing his gravelly voice and a deep, elegiac ambience to the table, Brennon Manning's funereal pop delivery acts as a dark counterbalance to the glut of pleasant sounding, yet sterile keyboard projects that have appeared in the past couple years, like that of Hearts Bonfire and Secrets. Booming, vacuum-like drones seem to weigh on the listener with the pull of the abyss, giving one the dizzy feeling you get when looking over the side of a cliff. It's so inviting to gaze into the keyboard abyss on the album's highlight, "Luigi's Haunted Mansion" that you might miss out on the way the upbeat rhythm of the track is tamed by brooding lyrics and dark, low-fidelity distortion.

The Telephone Projects' side of the split transitions seamlessly into Bear Creek's, each hissing with the same amount of background grime. Musically, though, each band offers a completely different brand of songcraft. Bear Creek's sound is sporadic, and mostly instrumental, weaving spooky ambient jams on his piano and acoustic guitar. The two shoegaziest selections to be found here, "Freeway Fears" and "This Is How I Feel Sometimes" borrow a spaced-out, underwater tone from Sigur Ros; buoyant chords are complimented by weighty plunk of piano keys and the after-buzz of guitar strings. This album's surreal vibe makes for good Halloween listening material. You might want to consider playing it while passing out candy tomorrow.

Review: Kevin Greenspon/Former Selves - "Betrayed by the Angels/Apropos of Golden Dreams"

Kevin Greenspon/Former Selves - Betrayed by the Angels/Apropos of Golden Dreams 

(Bridgetown Records 2013)

"Captures the spirit of orchestral Gothic acts of the Reagan era"

Review: Roy Orbitron/Huge Pupils Split

Roy Orbitron/Huge Pupils - Split LP

(2013 Self-Released)

"A broad range of music housed in 12 inches of black plastic."