Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the edge of a breakthrough. I spend a lot of column inches on bands and musicians from the UK but not nearly enough on artists from one of its former colonies.
Rat vs Possum is all about conflicting forces, from their name on down. The Australian act’s debut, Daughter of Sunshine, finds beauty in the chaos of juxtaposition. The seven songs are full of both hypnotic psychedelia and catchy pop. They click with electronic loops, but bounce along with acoustic melodies and vocal harmonies. And for all their complex layering, the lyrics are breathtakingly simple.
The album launches with a song that is prototypical of the entire effort. On “War,” a glitchy drum loop, simple chord progression, and dueling vocals bob and weave into a pastoral hymn: “I’ve been waiting for you to come home for so long / I’ve been waiting for you to come back, back from the war.” After meditating on the man-made, the band mixes the sounds of the jungle on an instrumental jam named just that.
As can be expected from an psych-art-pop collective, drugs just may be involved. “Pills” revolves around a sing-along of “I think I love you / but it just might be the pills.” Horns and keys sparkle during the breakdown, before things get confusing and the vocals start to collide like bad acid.
Rat vs Possum shows have involved copious amounts of glitter and bubble wrap. Hopefully they bring some of their art school magic stateside.
Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the edge of a breakthrough. This (day late) post proves I’m not just stealing from the BBC. So there.
Down in Texas, Houston is a three hour drive from Austin. So while H-town is known for chopped and screwed hip-hop, it can’t help but be influenced by the city responsible for SXSW and Austin City Limits. That’s evident in the music of newcomers Young Mammals, a four-piece band whose debut album Carrots drops on Tuesday.
Carrots is full of atmospheric indie rock, in the vein of Broken Social Scene and the Flaming Lips. Pop melodies swirl with lush, reverb-heavy guitars. It’s noisy but not abrasive; a garage band melting in the summer heat. The music is frenetic and fun, just like their low-budget zombies-versus-band video for “Wires and Buttons.”
Many indie rock bands that oscillate between pop and noise reach too often for the latter. For the most part, Young Mammals strike a fair balance here. The songs average about three minutes long and don’t wear out their welcome; there’s enough drone to hook – but not drown – the listener. And except for the experimental “untitled” that closes the album, there is something for fans of straight-forward indie rock to latch onto during every song.
Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the edge of a breakthrough. For the record, I swear I’m not just copying this stuff from the BBC Sound of polls.
I really don’t want to the like the Drums. The last decade’s most regrettable alliteration is “Brooklyn blog buzz band.” Since the Strokes burst onto the scene, everyone has been on the lookout for four or five hipsters playing throwback tunes with a blasé attitude. When a new one arrives from that ever trendy borough, everyone is enthralled for the requisite 15 minutes, before discarding the band and moving onto the next one.
Are the Drums any different? On first glance, maybe not. They crib from the same post-punk and new wave standards as countless other Pitchfork-approved bands. Their videos even reach for the affected quirkiness of those of OK Go. So why bother?
Throughout their self-tited debut (released Tuesday), the Drums knock out relentlessly catchy, memorable songs, separating themselves from their peers. Jonathan Pierce’s vocals and lyrics are darkly romantic, owing much to Morrissey and the Smiths, especially on a crooner like “I Need Fun in My Life.” The album even kicks off with a Moz-like refrain: “You were my best friend / and then you died.”
Reverb-heavy guitars and bouncing bass lines are met with beats right out of the Joy Division playbook (except for those on “Me and the moon,” which I’m sure is an A-ha sample). Their influences are worn so firmly on their sleeves that I can’t imagine the band takes themselves too seriously. They aren’t Vampire Weekend, pretending they invented their style, but they aren’t She Wants Revenge either, ripping off 80s sounds in tongue-in-cheek fashion. Instead, the Drums present a pastiche that combines some of the best elements of familiar genres, without pretension.
And it’s fun summer music. I can see crowds bouncing and swaying along to these songs at outdoor concerts. Even a down-tempo ballad like “Down by the water” fills an essential role, providing the album’s lighters-in-the-air moment. But make no mistake, these songs are deceptively well-written, even if all they ask of the listener is to join them for a dip in familiar seas.
The biggest question surrounding How to Destroy Angels is how the new project from Trent Reznor would differ from Nine Inch Nails. Even with former West Indian Girl frontwoman (and Reznor’s wife) Mariqueen Maandig on vocals, how far would the project veer from the sound, aesthetic, and attitude of the groundbreaking rock mainstay?
The band didn’t take long to start answering questions. After slowly dripping out teaser clips just over a month ago, the band has released it’s debut self-titled EP. How to Destroy Angels follows Reznor’s music-label-free distribution model: embrace the fact that music is essentially free, give the album away, and sell exclusive versions and premium material. However, it also follows Reznor’s recent musical endeavours.
Putting Nine Inch Nails on the backburner after nearly 20 years was supposed to give Reznor a chance to experiment with music that would not fit under the NIN banner. HTDA flows logically from Year Zero and The Slip, but it doesn’t break new sonic ground.
As a diehard fan of Nine Inch Nails, I will happily and eagerly devour new material from Reznor. Still, I can’t help feeling that this is a missed opportunity, especially with so many exciting trends in electronic music. Reznor owes much of his success to drawing on underground influences and giving them a mainstream shine (Skinny Puppy’s “Dig It” became “Down In It,” for example). I can just imagine the results if Reznor decided to make some Burial-style dubstep or Salem-ish drag music. Unfortunately, nothing on the EP would feel out of place in the recent Nine Inch Nails discography.
On its own merits, HTDA is worth the download (and not just because it’s free). The somber atmospherics of a song like “A Drowning” reveal more layers on each listen, and the four-on-floor attack of “Fur Lined” is as aggressive and sexy as ever. “The Space in Between” is accompanied by a grim video that finds Reznor continuing to push the envelope. So even if the answer is the easy one, we’re lucky that Trent is still answering questions.
Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the edge of a breakthrough. Enjoy past Verge features like the Dum Dum Girls and Screaming Females? Then check out Warpaint.
I discovered LA’s Warpaint in a roundabout way: getting caught in the IMDb/Wikipedia feedback loop, looking for more information about The Rules of Attraction. The cast of the 2002 film included both a former and current member of the band: the female lead (Shannyn Sossamon) and a pivotal minor character (Theresa Wayman), respectively. While Sossamon left to focus on acting, Wayman continues to contribute vocals and guitars to the experimental rock act. Coincidentally, the band’s music echoes the themes of the film (and those of Bret Easton Ellis’s brilliant novel): hopelessness, melancholy, and tragic romance.
Warpaint fill their debut Exquisite Corpse EP with atmospheric art rock. Minor-key guitar melodies collide with swirling keys and start-stop rhythms. The vocal harmonies between the band (all four women in the band sing on the EP) add another layer to compositions. Exquisite Corpse was mixed by former Chili Pepper John Frusciante, and the veteran’s steady hand on the boards certainly helps keep the sound cohesive, even as it drifts leftward.
“Elephants” builds on a simple opening riff, piling on a hypnotic bassline and processed-vocals (reminiscent of Bjork, at points), building to a half-time jam that ends the song. The song’s accompanying video perfectly captures its essence.
“Billie Holiday” would fit perfectly on a Saddle Creek release, with it’s singer-songwriter acoustics and vocal counter-point. The song pays tribute to female singers past, with a chorus that alternates between spelling out the titular name and the iconic lyrics from Mary Wells’ Motown classic “My Guy.”
Exquisite Corpse is a captivating debut from yet another female-fronted band on the verge of a breakthrough. Warpaint is working on a follow-up LP, but you can catch the band at DC9 on June 13th with Mini Mansions.
Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the edge of a breakthrough. After profiling an artist determined to show her ass, TGRI’s Audio Anglophile goes back across the pond for some dance punk.
Santigold’s eponymous debut was the sound of 2008, a way forward for Afro-punk artists and a heavily remixed palette for underground DJs. But nearly halfway through 2010, we’re without even hints at a follow-up. Who will pick up the torch and run with it?
My money is on Ebony Bones, a twentysomething British singer-songwriter who released Bone of My Bones on UK label Sunday Best last year (Ms. Bones has yet to sign with a US distributor).
Ebony Bones takes the pop-focused songcraft of Santigold and mixes in dance punk melodies with rhythms that range from dubstep to tribal. The result is a contagious, energetic sound that is dark and mysterious.
Songs like “W.A.R.R.I.O.R.” and “We Know All About U” clap and stomp along, all the while adding layers of synth stabs and booming percussion. The same can be said of “Don’t Fart on My Heart,” a rumbling song whose tone is juxtaposed against its flippant chorus and title.
Lead single “The Muzik” is a a Rapture-esque romp that finds Ms. Bones belting out “all we have is each other / and the muzik / to keep us warm” over a disco beat. The way she spits out “why don’t you take off your socks when you give it to me?” is a snarling ode to the B-52s, and the video is a very-Millenial collaborative effort with her worldwide fan base.
Her contemporary influences are evident, but the record feels more organic than a straight-pastiche of Santigold, M.I.A., and Karen O. A notable exception is “Guess We’ll Always Have NY,” a mid-tempo ballad that cribs the drums and feel of the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Gold Lion.”
While she has yet to breakthrough stateside, her Gaga-friendly, performance art stylings will no doubt set her apart from a slew of peers. Her style is all neon dance party, and she should fit right in when she performs at DC9’s popular Liberation Dance Party on June 4th. That’s right – you’ll be able to catch two Verge artists in just over a week.
Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the edge of a breakthrough. Lookbook isn’t the only pop duo on the verge. Here’s an upcoming band proselytizing music fans everywhere with the power of noise.
A teenybopper popstar and a screamo guitarist walk into a bar… Haven’t heard that one? It’s not a joke – it’s the impetus of the noise pop duo Sleigh Bells. Released yesterday, their debut album Treats is one of the most promising indie rock debuts since the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Fever to Tell. Since bursting onto the scene at CMJ 2009, Sleigh Bells has continued to ride a wave of hype, from SXSW to a spot opening for Major Lazer and Rusko.
Sleigh Bells is loud, pushing drums, guitars, and synthesizers way past the point of decency into deep red territory. Unlike the Loudness Wars, where mastering engineers simply amped up levels in an endless pissing contest, Sleigh Bells play at 11 for effect. The clipping and distortion on the record juxtaposes with the clean vocal melodies of Alexis Krauss. For the most part, the drums are simple boom bap rhythms, so the extra flavor and color of nice warm distortion is a feature, not a bug.
Derek Miller, the man behind the music, understands noise – he once was the guitarist for seminal post-hardcore band Poison the Well. Sonically abrasive music is his forte. Still, there are pop songs buried inside the aggressive audio assault. The brutal, industrial drums of album opener “Tell ‘Em” may obscure the arena-sized riff or saccharine vocals, but the hooks eventually prevail.
Krauss’ vocals occasionally resemble those of label boss M.I.A; Treats is being released in a partnership between Maya’s N.E.E.T Recordings and Mom & Pop Records. The rhythmic chanting of “Kids” and “A/B Machines” are right off “Bingo” and “XR2,” respectively. Her vocals are even sampled on “Rachel,” Krauss’ breathy gasps adding another layer to the percussion. Still, it’s a long way from – and an improvement over – the pop stylings of Krauss’ early 2000s girl group RubyBlue.
A song that diverges from the cacophony is the Funkadelic-sampling “Rill Rill,” which relies on the classic riff from Maggot Brain‘s “Can You Get to That.” The song works as a summery respite from the first fifteen minutes of the record, which reflects the album’s brevity. The 11 songs total just over a half hour, which is about as long as you should subject your cillia without risking (even further) tinnitus. And if you catch Sleigh Bells live, I’d suggest ear plugs. No joke.
Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the edge of a breakthrough. After profiling synth-pop outfit Lookbook, it’s time to highlight a new project from an artist who has been a force in electronic rock for over twenty years.
Last year, Trent Reznor pulled the plug on Nine Inch Nails as a touring band. While he left the door open to future NIN releases, he expressed a desire for something more than the relentless, exhausting touring that the band had come to represent. He married Mariqueen Maandig, the former lead singer for psychedelic pop band West Indian Girl, and sounded excited about other projects and opportunities.
A few weeks ago, his first non-NIN project, How to Destroy Angels, appeared on the web and across social networks. Offering just a few tantalizing video clips, not much was known about the band, other than it joins Reznor with Maandig and frequent collaborate Atticus Ross. As the band’s promo photos show, Reznor is in the background and behind the scenes, finally free from the burden of a 20-year old inscription in the Pretty Hate Machine liner notes: “Nine Inch Nails is Trent Reznor.”
Still, Reznor’s invisible hand continues to pull the strings. How to Destroy Angels’ first song, “A Drowning,” would fit perfectly in the Nine Inch Nails discography if not for Maandig’s breathy, sensual vocals. The song sounds like something off The Fragile or Ghosts, with the same brooding feel of B-side “And all that could have been.” “A Drowning” pulses and builds over seven minutes, with sorrowful keys and dissonant electronic elements. Taking their name from a record by Coil, How to Destroy Angels opt for an ambient sound that owes much to the industrial innovators.
A six song EP is set to follow “A Drowning” this summer. Will it still bear the trademarks of Reznor’s earlier works, or will he take this opportunity to create music that would not have fit the Nine Inch Nails rubric? Only time will tell, but for an artist who has never shied away from controversy or innovation, I’m betting on the latter.
Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the edge of a breakthrough. After a look at the beginnings of another British Invasion, it’s time to return stateside for some female-fronted indie rock.
Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, the Dum Dum Girls signed to indie stalwart Sub Pop last year on the strength of a couple lo-fi EPs and literally one live performance. What started as a solo project by Kristin Gundred (aka Dee Dee) grew into an all-girl rock band that harks back to 60s girl groups, both in sound and style. Gundred had previously found success as a singer/drummer with garage rockers Grand Ole Party.
The Dum Dum Girls play jangly, fuzzed-out indie pop that makes audiences want to do The Monkey and The Swim. Their wall-of-sound is as much Phil Spector as it is Black Tambourine, the short-lived yet influential DC band that played in similar sonic territory in the early 90s. The lead single off of their debut LP I Will Be, “Jail La La,” is a sing-a-long headbopper which tells the grim tale of waking up in the county jail.
Visually, the band is all-black and throwback, swaying like dashboard hula dancers. The retro feel is completed with Danelectro and Rickenbacker gear that firmly plants the Dum Dum Girls in a distant time and place. It is a bit gimmicky, but it flows naturally from their name and completes the live experience, as it did at a recent DC9 gig, opening for Male Bonding.
Screaming Females may share a nominal theme with the Dum Dum Girls, but that’s where the similarities end. The Screaming Females play pure rock: aggressive, guitar-driven, ear-bleeding rock music. Here, the screaming female is actually singular: Marissa Paternoster, on lead vocals and guitars, screeches and shreds with reckless abandon. The band muscles their way through hard rock history, from the Sabbath-inspired sludge of “Skull” to the proto-punk of “I Believe in Evil.” “Buried in the Nude” gives you a taste of the cacophonous attack that the Females unleash, along with the band’s psychedelic sensibility.
Coming out of the New Brunswick, New Jersey basement scene, the band is a DIY tribute to rock bands past. With a full, heavy sound that overwhelmed the 9:30 Club when opening for Ted Leo last week, I can only imagine the damage the band did to young punks and metalheads in basements across the Garden State.
Next time the Dum Dum Girls and the Screaming Females come to town, they’ll be headlining. It may not be a movement a la riot grrrl, but the music they make certainly rocks. And once you get past gender issues and expectations, isn’t that what really matters?
Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the edge of a breakthrough. Last week’s column profiled a few forward-thinking, left-field beat makers, but now it’s time for a quick look across the pond.
Are we in the midst of another British invasion? If musical trends are cyclical, then we’re due for the onslaught of UK acts that descends on our shores every twenty years or so. Last year, Little Boots and La Roux lit up dance floors and the bloghaus (if not sales charts). Last night’s Florence and the Machine show sold-out the 9:30 Club, and acts like the XX, Marina and the Diamonds, and VV Brown continued to build buzz at SXSW.
Here at TGRI, we’ve been championing these acts for a while now. So what’s next?
Ellie Goulding, the BBC Sound of 2010 winner, is at the top of the list. The 23-year old singer-songwriter released her album Lights on March 1st, and debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart. No word on a US release yet, but she continues to amass critical kudos while touring the crap out of Europe.
She’s also shaping up to be the next La Roux. While her poppy brand of electronic-tinged folk is strong on its own, remixes by other artists elevate the songs to the next level. London DJs Jakwob and Russ Chimes have put Goulding’s lilting vocals and melancholic melodies over beats that take the songs from the coffeehouse to the dancefloor. Jakwob reaches for the love-step wobble, while Russ Chimes brings in the backbeat/piano loop to craft a real house banger.
Everything Everything is an indie band from Manchester that also appeared on the BBC Sound of 2010 poll. Do they have what it takes to shake up a stagnant indie rock scene, and join Vampire Weekend, Passion Pit, and Phoenix as legitimate cross-over acts? Only time will tell, but on the strength of six songs, they were signed to Geffen in advance of a full length due some time this year. While indie-dance-synth-pop is not novel territory, Everything Everything does it with a dedication to robust riffs and distinct vocal harmonies. Frontman Jonathan Everything (the entire band does the Ramones thing) utilizes a few different styles, from a syncopated sing-speak to an impressive falsetto, that is stronger and less piercing than that of Passion Pit’s Michael Angelakos.
The band’s breakout single, “MY KZ UR BF” (or “My Keys, Your Boyfriend”) has the potential to be the next “Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance.” With a sing-along chorus and a new wave-meets-math rock construction, the song is catchy and danceable enough to get beyond its too-cute-by-half abbreviated name. The band’s creative videos show a sense of humor lacking from some of their peers, and will only help them breakthrough, especially when a middling band like OK Go has turned the viral video into an art form.
These are just two of the sounds coming out of the UK. If you don’t want to be an Anglophile like me, just keep an eye on The Verge – I have a feeling we’re only at the beginning of this invasion.
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