Cassette Corner: Euphoria Again - "Bedroom Recordings Remastered"

 

Euphoria Again - Bedroom Recordings Remastered

(Z Tapes 2013)

Though they only have a couple cassettes (plus a digital compilation) to their name, Slovakian label Z Tapes has quickly become one of my favorite purveyors of fuzzy sad-pop. Late last year, the label caught my attention with the release of Jackie Trash's wow so sad, a jangly look at the lo-fi ethic of early Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. Last Saturday, I received the second addition to my Z Tapes collection, a collection of home demos recorded by Euphoria Again, the solo project of Salt Lake City's Johnny Forrest. Though not as fast-paced and poppy as Jackie Trash's offering, Euphoria Again more than makes up for its minimalist aesthetic with patient songwriting, impressive maturity and a ghostly aura that pairs well with its cover. Without resorting to gimmick or flashiness, Euphoria Again has received a permanent seat in my family's car's cupholder, which holds albums reserved for listening on the way to school.

At 17 tracks, Bedroom Recordings might seem like a daunting listen, but it really isn't so. Many of the tracks are rather rough sketches, usually containing just a single verse and a chorus, and the whole tape clocks in at a reasonable 40 minutes. I'll admit that a good majority of these whispery lo-fi acts have very beautiful, almost brittle sounds, but it's rare that one of them has had me humming their songs in the hallway at school, and so often. Tracks like "X Marks The Time", "Ol Rudy" and "Janis Klonopin" will stick with you even after the cassette is ejected and tucked into its case. They're just that forcefully catchy, creating powerfully memorable melodies from rudimentary materials.

If there's one band Euphoria Again reminds me of, it's Uncle Tupelo. The gritty sound quality and trudging chords landing on heavy bass note footfalls remind me very much of the slacker-folk duo's more melancholic cuts like "Fatal Wound". This is especially evident on "Uncle Sam's Adopted Sons", a sludgy track that rolls along on droning chords and a shimmering tambourine. If you must listen to one of these bedroom recordings, though, it has to be "X Marks the Time". It's intro features absolutely gorgeous vocals, wordless coos heavily affected by a tremolo pedal. The vocals have a sort of jump-rope rhyme repetition: "Black as my brain / cold as your heart / white as my skin / tough as your hands".

Cassette Corner: Jump The Blinds - "Kill Kill Bangkok"

Jump The Blinds - Kill Kill Bangkok

(2014 Self-Released)

As my last few posts have mentioned I enjoy a tape surrounded with a hint of mystique, and it's only natural that Jump The Blinds' new album Kill Kill Bangkok piqued my curiosity. It arrived in a normal looking letter-sized envelope, a lone purple tape absent from its box, wrapped in torn notebook paper. The album title was scrawled directly onto the cassette's face with a black sharpie, bordered by heavy, jagged marks that I might find myself absent-mindedly doodling in a notebook. Honestly, I didn't know all that much about the New York quartet before popping the tape into our van's deck, but the DIY feel of the tape had me excited to give it a listen.

I've listened to the eight song EP a few times now, and it's still extremely difficult for me to pin it down to a single subgenre. At times, it perfectly resembles the crusty, rhythm-driven skate punk sound of the early 80's. A dark, yet also undeniably catchy approach to hardcore is taken throughout the album, reminding one of the surprisingly tuneful aggression of the Misfits or Drunk Injuns. Other elements of Kill Kill Bangkok, however, point to the neo-garage rock recently popularized by Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees. It's especially evident in the sour, moaning guitaristry on "Dance" and the acid twang of the vocals. There are even a few moments showing some post-punk restraint. "Clockwise" opens with muted guitar and a heavy, galloping beat, possibly signifying a Fugazi influence. In fact, I'd imagine it could pass for an emo track in the right setting.

In the end, I can't help but love this tape, not only for it's unabashed DIY spirit in design and sound quality, (the songs were recorded in an old barn with vintage equipment), but also for its raw brand of punk, transcending any specific label. This can, at times, make for a few jarring shifts in mood or timbre, but overall, this variety keeps the listener more actively aware of what he's consuming, inviting comparisons to other punk acts.

Contact the band at whirpool138@gmail.com or at 2214 24th Street, Niagra Falls, New York 14305 if you're interested in getting your hands on a copy.

Interview: :3

Sounding a bit similar to the Slinkeys, (featured in yesterday's review), San Antonio's :3 create fuzzed-out bedroom pop that's simple and delicate, yet conceals a sinister aura, not unlike the photo the e-mailed me, shown above. Read on to find out why frontman Joshua Belmares chose the band's seemingly unpronounceable name, what food he enjoys, and when :3 might make their live debut.

1.) Why did you decide your name after an emoticon? How would one pronounce it in conversation?

I’ve been writing songs since I was thirteen but always knew they weren’t actually songs so much as weird song embryos that awkwardly exist in a sort of bardo state, between abstract noise and conventional sound. it wouldn’t necessarily even be right to call it music, noise or otherwise, and it’s certainly shouldn’t be thought of as avant-garde, but that still left the action of writing and recording, which I was doing, and some of the compositions I created could have sounded like songs to a deaf person. :3 is an attempt to sort of pretend my songs exist in the real world along songs by other people who also exist. we called it such because no other words really captured what we were trying to do, and it always reminds me of sending text messages in high school on cheap plastic phones, so there’s a nostalgic element to it. I’ve always pronounced it silly cat face, but :3 is pretty anti-language, so you should ask them instead.

2.) How did :3 originate? Who's in the band and what are they like?

:3 is me but a lot of other people also. we all have a lot of fear, anxieties and nervousness and that’s kind of what created :3 in the first place. it’s all teenaged satanic music and we all exist inside of it, so listening to the recordings should tell you exactly who and what we are. and if you want to meet us in person (whatever that means), we live in san antonio, in texas, in the united states. our address is 1110 vista valet, apartment #704. I think our zip code is 78216. we have two cats.

3.) Your latest release, "Mindless Eating", has a chaotic and extemporaneous atmosphere. How are the tracks recorded and written?

mindless eating was kind of strange for us. it was recorded after a lot of emotional turmoil the previous and summer and was sort of an attempt to come to terms with that stress - it’s very much a summer record. I wanted listening to the album to be kind of uncomfortable, like when you’re home fevered in bed on the hottest day of the year, sticky cough syrup dribbling out the corners of your mouth. we had sent a digital version of the adventures of me and my ghost twin to almost halloween time and they wrote back asking if we had any other songs they could listen to, so we kind of rushed through the recording process, but it worked out since this was our punk record and it was supposed to be a blurry memory of an angry season. we recorded everything between our car and our apartment (we have very thin walls), mostly at night, and our lyrics were written mostly in the middle of the day. I ended up failing the semester at school because the record took up most of my energy.

4.) What bands would you consider influences on your sound? I definitely hear at least a little Sentridoh in there.

any similarities with sentridoh aren’t necessarily deliberate, other than the home recording aesthetic that a lot of shrimper bands had out of necessity. I never really listened to any of lou barlow’s music until I was already out of high school. actually a much bigger influence would be daniel johnston, who collaborated with jad fair of half japanese on it’s spooky, an album I’ve always been mildly fascinated by. we got to see daniel when he performed at an art show during south by southwest last year, after all the people from california descended on austin like a swarm of angry bees. it’s a really horrible experience being in the city that week (imagine a stream of terrible automobiles flushing inside and out like a douche), but seeing him in a tiny gallery was a dream come true for us. spook houses are another one of the artists who we admire best - they create these amazing jangly dream punk compositions and make it seem effortless. every time we listen to one of their records it makes us want to go out and create our own. they’re a lot like wisdom tooth in that respect, whose beautiful pop record baby neptune we could listen to over and over again. it kind of sounds like watching cartoons stoned and then vomiting from eating too much cereal. two other bands who influenced us in a giant way are woods (especially woods family creeps) and the unicorns, who we’ve been listening to since middle school. they both planted these achingly psychedelic compositions in the recesses of our brains, so whenever we’re playing one of our tunes we’re playing one of their songs too.

5.) How did you get the chance to get a release on Almost Halloween Time? I love the artwork for that label.

we initially emailed our demo to labels, blogs and artists we like very much but didn’t really receive any kind of feedback except for some extremely polite and slightly ambiguous no’s. I think cassie ramone has a cd we burned and decorated with paint markers, and we’re sending a few unreleased songs and photographs to the experimental musician christina carter later this month through the postal service. the most positive reaction we got came from luigi falagario, who owns and operates almost halloween time by himself and hand paints each of those releases. I’m not sure any of them have sold yet but we’re really grateful he liked our sound enough to dub the cassettes, even though the people releasing the new recordings would be completely different than the ones behind the adventures of me and my ghost twin. mindless eating became much more of a traditional exorcism compared to me and my ghost twin’s high school record.

6.) Are any of you guys (or have you been) in any other bands?

some of us have performed with others in things which could have become non-fictional bands but didn’t, but we’re all still pretty wet behind the ears. one of us produces electronic music under the name franklin eighties. mostly it’s just :3 though.

7.) What's your favorite food to eat mindlessly?

I really love bread, candy, cakes, sweets, sugary things and anything that’s there and cheap and plentiful. that’s a really big issue with me, consuming out of boredom anything devoid of nutrition so that I kill my appetite for any kind of actual food. all of mindless eating is kind of about that, devoting your time to any repetitive action which doesn’t deserve it, whether it be masturbation or smoking or watching television. that’s why the thing on the cover has a screen for a head - he’s the personification of death from sterility, so it’s good that he’s vomiting. all of that fecal matter becomes ghosts inside your body unless you release it somehow. 

8.) 2nd favorite emoticon next to :3?

:(

9.) What's in store for the future of :3?

we’re going to play a show this year, probably around halloween-time. we’ve been practicing a lot. I’ve never performed in front of any kind of audience so it makes me kind of nervous. we have no idea what venue we might perform at in the city or who we might open for or play with or how long it should be or which songs should be played. right now I’m working on some outtakes from the mindless eating sessions and recycling some lyrics that were meant to be recorded already, and some covers of spooky songs we like very much. we still have a few mindless eating experiments to do before the next collection of songs, before the album can be buried; we should sell a few tapes too so someone will want to put out our next release

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Review: The Slinkeys - "Somebody"

The Slinkeys - Somebody

(2014 Self-Released)

Though many successful lo-fi bands like Beat Happening and Half Japanese have cited the innocence of pre-adolescence as an influence on their primal, amateurish sound, few have taken a look back at elementary school as closely as the anonymous artist behind The Slinkeys. "When I was 4-7, I pretended I was in hundreds of bands and I made a lot of CD booklets, and the main band was The Slinkeys," read the digital liner notes of the project's debut EP. "This project is me taking those old lyrics and putting them to music years later". It's a bold move, but one that pays off. The style of verse re-visited is beautifully simple and circuitous, reminding me of the fictional "video game strategy guides" I used to scribble in a Spongebob notebook back in the day. 

"Be not nobody, somebody, nobody," sings our mystery musician on the opening line of the Somebody EP's title track, a tune that might appear on an existential version of Sesame Street. A sputtering drum machine skips along like a stone across water, and an acoustic guitar fumbles along with it. "I would fly above you / She would clean the street / I am waiting for somebody to rest on me". At this point, what may seem to some like a child's nonsensical fantasy actually bears a resemblance to the feverish surrealism often penned by Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Magnum. The guitar and off-kilter rhythm of "Somebody", now that I think about it, would feel right at home on NMH's 1996 LP On Avery Island.

"Let Go" is the punkest track on the EP with its abrasive 8-bit synths and forceful rhythm. The lyrics here are a bit more absurd, but fit well with the dark assault unleashed by their backing track, which sounds like it could be the battle theme from a Pokemon game. "You'd say your name / I'd say my name / That's enough / 20 eggs laid". Lines like this are wonderfully innocent and clearly improvised. This is definitely the must-download track of the bunch. A fun experiment in nostalgia, the Somebody EP is an addictive effort that is surprisingly study-able.

Half-Gifts Issue 7

The thickest issue ever! 4 Pages of reviews, and interviews with Bad Waves Tapes, Athletic Tapes, Raymond Chalme and Feldi. Also a short piece about fast food packaging by myself and a great short story by my pal Damian Fisher. 

BUY IT HERE

Review: The Humors - "Bleeding Edge"

The Humors - Bleeding Edge

(Self-Released 2014)

Though nostalgia is the norm these days in the indie scene, there has been a surprising dearth of bands that emulate the sound of late 70's punk rock. It's strange that such a gap exists, as the eras surrounding the age of The Clash and The Ramones are major centers of attention and inspiration as of late. Burger Records and Gnar Tapes alone release hundreds of tapes reminiscent of 60's garage rock and fuzzy psychedelia per year, and both 80's hardcore and new-wave have experienced a recent revival as of late thanks to labels like Captured Tracks and Grave Mistake. Punk distilled into its purest form, however, is hard to come by. On their new EP, Bleeding Edge, Boston quartet The Humors set out to fill this void, providing three tracks that give a crunchier take on the shambolic sound of The Libertines, with punk/pop hooks on par with those of the Buzzcocks.

Bleeding Edge darts right out of the gates with its strongest track, "Million Things". Machine gun fire cymbals accompany a razor-sharp guitar riff, starting the listener out with a jolt of pure pop energy. The vocals scratch against the canvas of sound, adding to wonderful abrasiveness that pervades the song. At a minute and forty-five seconds, this track does not overstay its welcome. After two short verses and a chorus, "Million Things" does its job, (quite well, I might add), packs a few impressive flourishes into twenty seconds, and packs up its things. Songs that balance memorability and humility tend to be my favorites, ad this one is no exception.

"Bleeding Edge" is another great tune, this one the longest on the EP. It's carried by the buoyancy of its gurgling bass riff, allowing the vocals more space to work with. The guitar is not neglected on this cut, though, exploding into a brilliant shower of tinny, spiraling fuzz. Bleeding Edge may not be the most innovative rock release of the year, but it certainly may be one of the catchiest.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Humors/152307131548262

Review: Jackie Trash - "One Thousand Years in a Dreamscape"

Jackie Trash - One Thousand Years in a Dreamscape

(Self-Released 2014)

Shedding the meta-humor and lowercase sarcasm of its predecessor, One Thousand Years in a Dreamscape builds a new sound upon Jackie Trash's former "tumblr-era emo" attitude, a description I manufactured for my review of 2013's wow so sad. Embracing a more mature approach to songwriting, the Canadian lo-fi pop project maintains its addictive attention to melody and emotion, but is also more open to experimentation. The new LP explores longer track lengths, allowing for radical mid-song shifts in sound, and is also not afraid into venture into ambient territory. While Jackie Trash may hold on to the fuzzy sound quality popularized by Julia Brown and friends, the brains behind the band, Linus Taylor, carves out a niche all his own by borrowing ideas from earlier alternative epics like Ok Computer and Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness.

Not to say the album is devoid of pop gems. Far from it, in fact. "Worthless Skeleton" opens One Thousand Years after a noisy introductory track. The song is carried by a twangy guitar riff that matches Taylor's vocal melodies note for note, a tambourine shimmering alongside it, urging the song forward. Though memorable, the more upbeat cuts such as the one just mentioned are upstaged by the album's sadder moments. "Lying On The Floor" is easily the most beautiful tune offered here; a drum machine and keyboard throb while acoustic guitar samples played backward swirl throughout. I know I compared Jackie Trash to Smashing Pumpkins last time around, but it's once again worth noting that this track could easily pass for one of their demos.

While tracks marked with quotation marks on the album's bandcamp page like "Absence" and "In August" may come as a shock even to tenured Jackie Trash fans, they make a lot more sense considering Taylor's reverence for experimental singer-songwriter Dean Blunt, who frequently includes long instrumental sections and bizarre but fascinating samples between and during songs. "Absence" especially fits this bill, featuring the female equivalent of the computer from Radiohead's "Fitter Happier", new age-y keyboards and clunky guitar strums, all floating above the sound of a synthesized choir.

The two final tracks represent both the climax and conclusion of One Thousand Years in a Dreamscape, interesting due to the fact that they are also the most understated songs on display. "Swingset" is driven by sparse, twangy plucking and spans a whole 5 minutes. It seems to keep my interest, though, to the tension held throughout, as if it were from Slint's Spiderland. "Bones" concludes things, a keyboard-led farewell piece that matches the level of lo-fi fuzz on wow so sad. When glockenspiel joins Taylor as he sings the cut's sing-songy chorus, I can't help but be reminded of the Sesame Street theme song somehow. There are many beautiful neo-lo-fi albums out there, but few achieve the level of epicism acihieved on One Thousand Years.

Interview: The Great Mistakes

The Great Mistakes are a self-described "cat-punk" trio from Cincinnati, employing ukulele and cello in their instantly accessible folk pop sound. Their recently released debut single, "I Don't Blame You", shares many qualities with other similar acts that I enjoy, namely Jayber Crow and Mrs. Mole. 

Half-Gifts: How and when did The Great Mistakes form? Did all the members have a common interest in the same type of music?

Spencer Peppet: The Great Mistakes formed kind of by accident. My school does a coffeehouse-style performance called the Beat, and last year I decided that I was going to play some of my songs. I wanted a bigger sound than just me and my ukulele, so I asked Nathan and Grace to play. We ended up having a lot of fun and decided to continue as a band. We do have common music interests, though. They're prominent influences on our own music, especially The Velvet Underground, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Mountain Goats, Joanna Newsom, and Cat Power.

You played a show at Everybody's Records this week, how did that go? Have you performed anywhere else? 

Our Everybody's show is my favorite show we've played so far! We had a great turnout, and we were the youngest band to play over the series of live music Saturdays. It was a lot of fun, and I'm really happy we had the chance to play there. We've played shows at the Beat and at Music on the Green in Terrace Park, and we have more shows coming up!

Speaking of live music, what local bands have you seen play?

Local bands are really fun, especially when it's a high school band. My favorite non-high school local bands are Wussy and WHY?, they're both amazing. As for high school bands, Nathan is in another band called Sophie's Dream and they're great. We've seen The Wonderful Sadists, Olivia Frances, Banducci and the Wheels, Greek Myth, Jake Kolesar, Andrew Boylan, and the Social Rejects' Club.

Your Facebook and Bandcamp pages describe The Great Mistakes as a "cat punk" band. A genre tag search only brings up the song "Bounty Hunter" by Mardou. What is cat punk?

"Cat punk" started as kind of a joke, and it started with our first name. We were the Aristocats for a while, then changed to The Great Mistakes. We like to stay true to our feline roots, you know? We've continued using the tag because it still fits the music. It makes sense with the way the songs sound.

You have released two songs as a part of your digital single, "I Don't Blame You". Any plans to record any of your other songs?

We're currently recording our first full record! It's very exciting. We've been spending lots of time in Nathan's basement getting the sounds right. It's minimal, with the cello drone and big sweeping build-ups. The record is called "High School." 

What are your favorite non-musical things to do?

Well, we eat a lot of Indian food. Nathan enjoys quoting the Iliad at length, Grace likes cats, and I read a lot of books. Kundera, Salinger, Diaz, and a bunch of others, Nathan introduced me to all the best ones. Grace and I both do theatre as well, she covers all areas and directs along with acting. Most of our interests are literary or musical.

What are your goals for this year?

The main goal is to get the recording sounding as good as possible, and then to become the Velvet Underground.

Review: Linus Nordmark - "Songs"

Linus Nordmark - Songs

(Self-Released 2014)

Could Linus Nordmark's debut album signal a return to the former glory of Bandcamp's "dream pop" tag? Using only the most rudimentary pop components, the Swedish solo artist's material is a lovely look back at shoegaze circa 2011, the scene responsible for my love affair with reverb and fuzz. Liquescent droplets of clean guitar splash against a solid, glassy pane of throbbing keyboard drones. The drum machines are cold and mechanical, trimmed of any flourish or hint of improvisation. Existent only to propel warbling bass tremors forward, they are beautiful in a strictly utilitarian way. It's quite similar in texture to Craft Spells and The Wake. 

In a 16-song album that's shoegazey from start to finish, it's Nordmark's vocals that carry much of the weight of the music, ranging from a post-punk monotone to a dramatic new-wave howl. He chooses to open with one of his poppiest tunes, "The Fall", a bouncy song laced with interweaving guitar melodies and swelling keyboards. "Happy Place" is another pop gem, but is a slower track, void of any percussion. It's carried by plodding bass and spindly lead guitar, and could be mistaken for a demo track by The National. The greatest triumph on Songs, however, is "Isolate Me", featuring a towering chorus and blistering guitar riffs. Hopefully Nordmark releases more music soon, as I'm already a major fan of his after just downloading his album this morning.  

Live Review: Feldi/Forest Management @ Cincinnati Public Library

(photos by Steve Kemple)

Feldi and Forest Management

January 15 2014

Cincinnati Public Library

Wednesday marked my third visit to the Cincinnati Library for their monthly experimental music series. Each time I attend, the experience becomes increasingly surreal; the setting is just as, if not more important than the music for these shows. The performers set up on long white tables that one might associate with dented cash boxes and high school basketball ticket sales. Behind them is a glass window wall, providing the audience a view of the city and its inhabitants. I mentioned this in my last library review, but I think it's worth mentioning again that they, unknowingly, become performance artists. Like silent film stars, their gestures and expressions become comically exaggerated when detached from their words. The audience is lovably neurotic, and I feel like I fit in. Everyone is there simply because they love to consume art in all of its various forms.

I arrived midway into the soundcheck of the first act, Feldi (aka George Feldick), a self-proclaimed noise collagist from Norwood. To the untrained eye, he may have appeared to be setting up a yard sale. A toy guitar lay face-up next to a miniature blue accordion. A red shopping bag, which I later learned carried tapes, slumped over. A small television faced Feldick, broadcasting something I could not see. His music was created with a loop pedal, which was used to layer noises in the three collages he created over the course of his 15 minute set. He would first lay down a grimy foundation composed from a distorted cassette, and then proceed to cloak it in the hazy drone of his accordion, twangy guitar sound effects and a breathy whistle from a wooden recorder that he produced from his jacket pocket. It was gorgeously woozy. Behind him was a projection of a short film called Fake Fruit Factory, a pastel-toned close up look at manual labor, demonstrated through extreme close ups and the gossip between workers. The music and movie paired so well that I assumed that Feldick was sampling the audio from the clip in his set, but he assured me he wasn't. He mentioned it might have something to do with the sound intermingling with the light flowing between the projector and screen. I thought it may have also had something to do with the human brain's desperate need to make sense of foreign sensations, using any connections it can find in attempt to rationalize them.

Between sets, Ellen Atkinson gave a short presentation about a play written during the French Revolution called "The Meeting of August 10th", which she recently translated into English. The play gave insight into the propaganda and numerous festivals of the revolution, which were eerily reminiscent of those of ancient Rome. The dialogue was supposedly meant to be sung, and it was jokingly suggested that the crowd of EMATL regulars compose music for their own production of "August 10th". That doesn't sound like a bad idea. I actually think Robespierre would have appreciated such a performance! Only at the library will you catch an academic lecture between two bands, and it works surprisingly well.

The final act of the night was Forest Management, made up of one John Daniel, who traveled from Cleveland for the show. His setup was more sparse, but also a bit more organized than Feldi's. A laptop, a pedal and a portable tape deck made up his entire arsenal. His music was just as minimal as his table, but was also extremely beautiful. It reminded me of Pulse Emitter's ambient epic, "Forest Mountain Valley". Looping, textureless synths melted into each other while being dragged downward by heavy, growling bass tones. Nature sounds seeped from his tape deck, and he managed to create a wall of noise by fiddling with the cable between the deck and the speakers. In contrast to Feldi's chaotic and unpredictable performance, this one was composed with precision, and repetitive loops created a trance-inducing aura that was both sleepy and compelling. That's what made it so surprising when Daniel threw back a few orange Tic Tacs mid-set. He was so quiet and focused while performing, that it was striking to see him momentarily break his concentration just for a few pill-shaped candies. That instant was definitely the highlight of the show for me.

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.

Interview: Lion House

In what may be 2014's most inspirational interview, Aaron Hurtado and Damian Fisher of Lion House teach us how to give it 100%, provide details on their upcoming EP and inform us of the Year of Versace.

Lion House is one of the youngest bands in a growing Kansas City scene. What was it like starting to play shows and beginning to record together?

Aaron: Well we all grew up going to the same highschool, so we were already pretty close friends. I was in a band with Austin my freshman year and then a band called Summer Handjob my sophomore year of highschool with Damian. So when things with Lion House started coming together, it was a pretty smooth ride.

Damian: It was really cool getting to go from being someone that watched to being a part of it, and it really helped like the idea of DIY because it used to be just a big thing. You just gotta go out and give a hundred percent everyday ;*

Where's the coolest place you've played a show? What's it like for the touring DIY band?

Aaron: The Lemp Neighborhoods Art Center in St. Louis, MO is without a doubt my favorite venue that we have played. I think in 2013 we made the trip up there either on tour or just for a misc. show 4 times. We have made a lot of good friends and heard a lot of good music at that place. And the owner Mark Sarich knows how to hold together his community. He makes sure to feed every band, and provide a place for them to sleep, as well as giving them the money that is made at the door. Touring DIY is almost never financially easy.

Damian: The coolest place has to be The Lemp Neighborhood Art Center in St. Louis. You walk in and there are all these couches and there is this huge St. Louis flag just on the wall, and Mark, the man who runs Lemp, is so welcoming it's crazy. Touring as a DIY band kind of sucks when you're a tiny band that no one knows about because it's supposed to be "Do It Yourself" or "Do It Together", but when half the people in this scene don't respond to you trying to book a show or help you book shows it becomes a stressful burden booking a simple four day tour, but it's still a lot of fun getting to be with your close friends all day erryday for however long you're on tour. Just gotta go out there and give a hundred percent ;*
Your list of tags on bandcamp includes 'shoegaze' and 'midwestern emo'. How do you combine the two genres? What bands do you consider influences?

Aaron: We kind of have found a happy medium between ambient noises and minor scales. I mean all four of us have way different influences musically, I think we can agree on one or two, but if we got into a real deep discussion about it, I'm sure someone would get injured. We've come close to that before. As for my influences, The Smiths, Joy Division, Foxing, Bon Iver, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Elvis, Deafheaven, and Cloakroom have all provided little attributes musically that I have really taken and added to my own style.

Damian: I don't know how we combined them, but for me it's all about the "feeling" of the song when you're playing it, and I think the shoegaze/emo thing allows the song to feel intimate more so than it would if we were a poppy bubblegum emo band. Some influences for me are Joie De Vivre, Pianos Become The Teeth, Funeral Diner, Funeral Advantage, Bon Iver, Explosions in the Sky, I Hate Myself, Mineral, Sore Eyelids, Suis La Lune, and Two Bicycles.

You have a proper debut release in the works, how is that coming along? What's your recording process like?

Aaron: We are currently getting material together and it is a lot of fun. Today was -21 degrees outside and Damian was persistent to get us to practice at 9 am to work on the new song. As for recording, we have not gotten that far yet. A studio will probably be our best bet when it comes to getting a final product that we will be proud to present to people.

Damian: It's coming along, we have really been dragging our feet awhile, but we're getting back into the groove of practicing at least once a week. Recording so far in Lion House has been us using like one microphone placed in the room and all of us playing our parts and hoping it doesn't sound too bad, so for this release we've all decided to actually go somewhere and have it recorded for us.
Besides music, what do you enjoy doing?

Aaron: Shit. I like to read, and write. I really enjoy J.D. Salinger. I eat a lot and work a lot. Oh and I do hang out with my beautiful girlfriend. The life of Aaron Hurtado is pretty boring.

Damian: I really enjoy reading J.D. Salinger. As for me, I don't have time for a beautiful girlfriend man. I just smoke cigarettes like a grandpa, in hopes that one day I will just become a cigarette. Just hanging out with friends, and lastly; sleeping forever (5ever). You just gotta go out there and give a hundred percent when you're trying to sleep

You guys are both in another band called Sex Groove, right? What's the story behind that?

Aaron: So I have this really rad friend Seth. Him and I have a few Highschool classes together, so like we get to walk around school and act too cool. Well Seth has this incredible voice, and like we were talking about making some music. One night, a bunch of us were hanging at Seth's house and I picked up the guitar, and Damian picked up the guitar, Seth started singing, and our friend brad grabbed the back of a computer chair and started smacking the shit out of that. Thus, Sex Groove was born, and by the looks of it, we are taking this band pretty serious!

Damian: I mean what he said. Aaron and I  live together so it's really easy to just be in bands together because we cuddle at night for warmth, but no because we know how the other person writes, so it's a breeze

Any future plans for that project?

Aaron: Ya, Sex Groove is writing some songs, and then a split with some pretty cool bands. After that we will see where the wind blows us. I can see Sex Groove touring and dancing all summer

Damian: Yeah what he said. I'm just in it for the Versace shirts

Back to Lion House, which of the songs on your bandcamp are you most happy with? Will any of them be on the upcoming release?

Aaron: Culo Sweatshirt is my favorite that we have on the bandcamp site. Mostly because one of my bestfriends was our drummer at that time. He passed away this past August so that song holds a lot of weight. Agape will definitely be on the new EP. I am not sure about the other demo honestly.

Damian: I think our demos of Agape and DJ will be on the new EP, but for me I'm most proud of Agape because it broke a little rut that Lion House was in with writing, and it just has a lot of emotion for me. But you just gotta go out there and give a hundred percent. Leave it all on the field. Honestly, I think the songs we're writing now are better than ever before so if you like those demos just wait till you hear the new stuff. ;*
What was your favorite LP of 2013? Who do you predict will drop 2014's best album?

Aaron: I have like a little tie. MBV - My Bloody Valentine, The Albatross - Foxing, and Deafheaven - Sunbather. As for 2014, that new 17 years album Teased Hair coming out in like 2 days is going to be too good.

Damian: I think other than Deafheaven's Sunbather, this was a year of just really good songs, but not incredible albums. For me Foxing's The Medic and Bit By a Bee pt. 2 are the jams, and the last half of Caravels Lacuna. Then Capsule dropped [A] and that thing is a hot little release. The internet has been saying Pianos Become the Teeth are recording, so if they release something that is probably going to be the best thing, but Empire! Empire! (I was a lonely estate) is finally releasing a follow up to What It Takes To Move Forward, so hopefully that takes the cake.

Aaron: Jude is the coolest kid. He makes my heart melt with his cute smile. Thanks for giving support to the small bands, what you're doing is helping out more than you know.

Damian: Thank you for asking us to do this, and dealing with our goofy responses. I went out there and gave a hundred percent, but Jude out there giving a 1000 percent, and everyone needs to know this the year of Versace

Cassette Corner: Tucker Theodore - "To Make the Sun Hurt"

Tucker Theodore - To Make the Sun Hurt

(Antiquated Future 2013)

To listen to fuzz-folk like the kind created by mysterious solo artist Tucker Theodore is a study in musical paleontology. Crumbling remnants of drone folk lie fossilized beneath jagged chords and wet, unidentified sludge, all melding together to form an impenetrable wall of earth. The ten tracks that compose Theodore's new tape, To Make The Sun Hurt, are hewn from this rock and left untreated, making for an organic, gritty texture that, ironically, brings out a softness, a vulnerability in the music. It's more shoegaze, than folk, really, because noise and tape grime make up much of the murky wall of sound that oozes from the listener's speakers. Imagine Woody Guthrie going avant-garde.

The first strums on the opener, "Shifting Dunes", disintegrate at the touch of an eardrum, leaving swirling dust in its place. Theodore delivers his lyrics in the form of a rattling croak, as if the parched surface of the song has dried up his throat. It all sounds so beautifully lifeless; each note and word is forced out, and even the instruments seem to be moaning from some form of dehydration. "The Way Home" is the only track that provides a bit of relief from the thick dust storm, allowing for some rhythm to push through the tempest. A synth or sample of some sort adds foreign texture to the mix, and one can even pick out individual pluckings rather than hearing them all at once. To Make the Sun Hurt is definitely an acquired taste, but it will most likely appeal to those who value rawness in music. 

Review: Crying - "Get Olde"

Crying - Get Olde

(Double Double Whammy 2013)

There's a fine line between gimmick and genius, and honestly, most of the "chiptune" projects I've heard fall under the former category, sculpting bland electronica out of nostalgia-inducing Game Boy sound effects. Though New York trio Crying make use of Nanoloop, a music creation tool built for the original Game Boy, it's by no means a mask for their sound, but rather a complement to their already powerful songcraft. Their first release, Get Olde, clocks in at around fifteen minutes and delivers whimsical, breezy pop throughout. The instrumentation is overwhelmingly upbeat, bursting at the seams with vibrant 8-bit color. It's pop-punk with an emphasis on the punk, not unlike Olympia, Washington's Tiger Trap. It can only be categorized by its emotion, really, and that's charming placidity. "Bloom", for example, is tinted with slightly crunchy, pastel toned guitars, which are overtaken by chiming synths that gave me a major flashback to the embarrassingly long hours I spent hunched over Pokemon: Leafgreen in grade school. The lyrics may come as a bit of a surprise though; they're a bit self deprecatory, adding a human element to the artificial cheerfulness concocted by the Game Boy. "Bloom" meditates on the frustration of being unable to drive a car (and ride a bike) properly, and "ES" discusses missed expectation. "Rat Baby" even concludes with a rather grim look toward mortality. ("If this is the pace at which I'm going, what will be left of me when I'm fifty-one?")

The way Elaiza Santos delivers her lines further adds to that humanizing element. They seem to be spoken offhandedly and fill the space left between bleeping chiptune tones. Similarly, I really respect their decision to include live percussion rather than a drum machine. Returning to the lyrics, there is one song that has a more lighthearted subject matter: Bodega Run. It's simply a story about ditching a band's show to buy Doritos, but it's told beautifully. And the music surrounding the verses is some of the catchiest you'll ever hear. Fuzzy power chords and riffs propel the sparkling synths, which bob, swell and explode at will. It's the greatest triumph on an album full of hits. Don't let the chiptune exterior fool you; Crying's debut is beautiful and complex. 

Interview: Passion Pusher

Questions and answers with James Gage of Scottish fuzz-pop project Passion Pusher.

Many of my favorite Scottish bands like Cocteau Twins, Mogwai and even Belle and Sebastian (to some degree) are noted for having a reverb-washed and dreamy sound. Which bands have most influenced your musical style?

Probably more American bands if I'm honest; I've found a lot of great Scottish musicians now that I've started recording and gigging but before that it was mainly lo fi garage rock like White Fence and Ty Segall that opened me up to simply recording with whatever's at hand, so I think that heavily influenced my slop pop style.

I did used to listen to a hell of a lot of Iggy Pop and Joy Division around 12/13, so that may have creeped in on the style I play at the moment.

I've found that one of the most noticeable components of your music, and your biggest similarity with the bands you mentioned (especially with White Fence) is your rapid output of music in all sorts of different styles. Do you find that recording a lot of different tracks in a short amount of time is more satisfying than working on a small amount over a large amount of time

It seems to just be the way I work. I completely hate recording a small couple of songs over a long period of time.

I begin to hate my work very fast so I rush it until I think it's okay and then just throw it out there with whatever else i recorded at the time.

My approach to song writings very weird, I don't really have many full formed songs. I kinda just bash them out and try and learn them back from my recordings to play at gigs etc

But it's always been music over lyrics for me. I am a truly terrible lyricist and my voice sucks haha.

Has releasing your music on bandcamp led you to meet new people?  

Yeah it's introduced me to a lot of great musicians who get in contact for splits etc

I actually have a split EP coming out on cassette by the end of January with an American artist Dead Katz, and I have the collab album being planned between me and The Furnsss singer Brendan Dyer, Nadnerb

What are your favorite bands you've discovered through bandcamp?

Definitely at the moment The Yawns, an awesome band from Glasgow, Real Swell, Dead Katz, Brazilian Money, Franco years, Elvis Depressedly.

Though if i'm honest I do get nearly all my music through friends putting stuff on bandcamp or finding it on bandcamp.

Kinda my go to for new music

Which of your own EPs or albums are you most pleased with?

Probably My Least Favorite Book, Bury Me Next To My Father and The Devil and; Me

I think My Least Favorite Book is the one I listen to most. It's a bit more dream-pop oriented than the rest of the music you've posted 

Yeah I'm actually planning on grouping The Devil And Me and My Least Favorite Book into one release and putting that onto cassette myself.

Was thinking of doing a small limited run of my dream pop material.

What's a typical Passion Pusher gig like? Do you have a full backing band?

It's just me and a drummer.

They're usually pretty hectic and crazy.

Me and my drummer, the wonderful Matti Art, usually get super drunk before and during and just kinda have fun

What other bands have you gone to see this year?

I saw the Growlers with Tomorrows Tulips around October, i saw some pretty weird and crazy bands in Bosnia when i went there around and I think I saw Animal Collective at the beginning of the year or it might have been the end of last year.

To be honest I've spent most of this year in my room recording.

I saw Animal Collective last month actually. 

Do they still have the whole mouth stage set up?

It was amazing when I saw them.

It was a crazy light show.

Avey Tare and Deakin were wearing jump suits.

And Avery Tare had dyed his hair blue.

I was super bummed they never played Winters Love though.

Have you covered any of their songs?

haha I have actually they're pretty terrible covers.

I covered Winters Love and Banshee Beat when I was about 14/15 on my ex girlfriends apple mac.

That was when I was putting stuff out under the name Portasound.

So what do you think is in store next year for Passion Pusher?

My album/ep thing Bury Me Next To My Father is being released on cassette through the label Cath Records.

I have the split with Dead Katz being put out through Electropapknit, a Glasgow label.

Got a bunch of gigs booked

Hopefully things will start to take off and more people will start listening.

fingers crossed.