Been enjoying this debut EP from The Minor Toughs, aka Ryan Ervin, for the past few days. If you’re a Carter Administration fan you’ll find his dulcet tones familiar and the pop-rock approach comforting. I’m quite partial to “Star Star” but they’ve all got that perfect sing-along anthemic chorus appeal.
Denney and the Jets – Bye Bye Queenie
Take some time to watch this excellent new video from Denney and the Jets for “Bye Bye Queenie” off of their full-length release, Mexican Coke. It features Makenzie from Birdcloud being as ridiculous as you’d expect – drinking, smoking, pissing in public, passing out in cars and riding a water buffalo (sorta). My favorite part is the various Nashville landmarks with some phenomenal paint jobs and typography but maybe that’s just me.
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
Tipper Whore – Just the Tip
If you couldn’t tell from the title, the work of Tipper Whore is meant to be a little ridiculous. It’s fast, loose, a bit crass and most definitely fun. The band is playing this Friday at The Stone Fox and I imagine the show will be all of the above.Â
The Hot Veins – The Hot Veins
Solid power-pop with a little dose of 70’s glam and classic rock tinge from Matt Bell’s newest undertaking. Get into it.
Pale Houses – “Wayward Sire”
The official video for Pale Houses song “Wayward Sire” is a rather phenomenal piece of work. The dramatic lighting and smoke machine usage would have been enough to catch my eye but the narrative throughline with the couple is extra compelling. Director Seth Graves has really come into his own. Love it.
Oh, and Ryan Rayborn is easily in my top 3 Most Entertaining Drummers To Watch.. so there’s that too.
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
The Lower Caves – Anytime
The first official music video from The Lower Caves. Lookin good guys!
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
El El – 40 Watt
Rising from the ashes of Heypenny comes the latest from El El. Just as energetic but less frantic and, for me, more digestable. Love the cover art and am now officially curious to hear more.
David Leone – Horn | Harpsichord | Vibraphone + Electronics
The biggest complaint about the Nashville music scene when viewed from the outside looking in is that there is a surprising amount of diversity of musical offerings. For those inside the “scene” that’s a huge No Duh statement. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t take a step back and recognize that sometimes there really are astounding creations being made in musical realms that you would never expect.
David Leone’s compositions are longform aural journeys combining different instruments and various manipulations. You could call it ambient. You could call it experimental nu-form classic. You could call it tinkering. But you wouldn’t knee jerk to call it Nashville. It’s a little something different and it’s worth sitting with.
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PUJOL -Â Kludge (AV Club Full Album Preview)
I do not know Daniel Pujol personally. However, from all the reviews and interviews I’ve read he’s always struck me as the intellectual type. A reader. A thinker. A rabbit owner. Not exactly personality traits that I associate with sometimes aggressive rock music. His first record, United States of Being, seemed at odds with these assumptions I’d made about his personality. Maybe that’s unfair because IÂ don’t know anything about him and, let’s be real, personality and musical expression are allowed to be at odds with each other.
Long story short, I went into listening to Kludge a little hesitant. Would it be another high energy rock attack, devoid of the thinking man’s insight that I wanted from it? Well, I can honestly say that it’s very high energy, very catchy and very inspiring to swell a crowd into a frenzy. Fortunately, it also shows, for lack of a better word, a gentler side.
“Manufactured Crisis Control” is as frantic as you could imagine but there’s something to the lyrics that underlie that energy. Self doubt and personal growth are not elements you might expect in this setting. “Spooky Scary” feels downright sweet and “Small World” seems like an anthem for figuring out your place in the world.
This is far more words than I typically pay any album but Pujol fascinates me in some weird way. Kludge is available May 20th and he plays the East Room this weekend – Saturday, May 17th to celebrate it.
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Wild Cub – “Thunder Clatter” Live on CONAN
Very happy to see the success Wild Cub has been having as of late but I’ll never get over this drumming + guitar technique.
Self – “Stranger Than Strange”
As a former employee of Spongebath Records and current person-in-charge of their official website, I should mention that Self has a new track, “Stranger Than Strange” available on this Autism Awareness compilation Songs for Blake. I don’t mention this out of obligation but, rather, out of fandom. The track sits alongside offerings from Ladyhawke, Digital Noise Academy and a long slew of others. It’s a solid track and hopefully a glimpse of more original songs coming from the Mahaffey compound.
Cumbres Carrascosa – Silenced No
I’m just stepping into it but this EP from Cumbres Carrascosa (potentially a transplant from the Canary Islands) but what I’m hearing so far is an oddly entrancing mixture of lo-fi, drum machine, drone and pop sensibilities. Certainly not a combination you encounter too often. And even rarer that it would work. Start with “Human Graves” and work your way out.