The Drums ft. Rico Nasty - "Dying"

Surprisingly tender and delicate collaboration between The Drums and legendary Rico Nasty. It appears on The Drums' new record Jonny. 

 

The Drums - "I Want It All"

Super catchy pop track from The Drums' as-yet-to-be-named upcoming record.  

EKKSTACY ft. The Drums - "f*ck everything!"

Rising star EKKSTACY has teamed up with Johnny Pierce of The Drums for this spiky post-punk track with brittle guitars and swooning synths.

 

2017 Favorite Albums (Numbers 40-31)

Continuing my countdown of my 2017 Favorite Albums:

40.  Little Cub - Still Life

Meticulously produced, erudite art-pop in the vein of bands like Wild Beasts and Metronomy, with their own indelible stamp. Few albums sounded this good, and this intelligent.







39.  Zara Larssen - So Good

Zara Larssen can be added to the lengthy roster of phenomenal Swedish pop stars. Her album So Good blurs the lines between pop, R&B, and EDM, and she fits comfortably in all of them. And those pipes! An amazing voice that I look forward to hearing more from.







38.  Charli XCX - Number 1 Angel

On her mixtape Number 1 Angel, Charli XCX once again turns all the pop conventions on their heads and blazes forth on her own personal path of world domination.







37.  Baths - Romaplasm

Baths album Romaplasm was a year end treasure. Losing the bleak, dark textures of Obsidian, Will Wiesenfeld took a turn towards the light. There is joy in these whimsical synthpop creations, that are truly infectious.






36.  Hercules and Love Affair - Omnion

On this sparkling set of dance tracks, Andy Butler stops trying to be the great savior of house music and just has fun. He and his cohorts haven't been this relaxed in ages.







35.  Protomartyr - Relatives in Descent

Dense, complicated, intelligent, and most tellingly, compellingly listenable, Relatives in Descent is the post-punk epic that is needed in these dark times.







34.  The Drums - "Abysmal Thoughts"

Now solely the project of frontman and songwriter Jonny Pierce, The Drums keep plugging away with their take on 80s alternative rock. Unlike a lot of bands, The Drums avoid merely aping their influences and transcend them. "Abysmal Thoughts" is packed full of delicious hooks, and is so catchy you need a flu shot to listen to it.





33.  Mount Kimbie - Love What Survives

On their latest record Love What Survives, Mount Kimbie toss their post-dubstep past out the window, hit the pedal to the floor and never look back. A reinvention and rejuvenation, this record is a post-punk masterpiece of haunted soundscapes filled with angular guitars, ominous keyboards, and locomotive drums.






32.  Blue Hawaii - Tenderness

Less obtuse and experimental than their last record Untogether, Tenderness shows the brighter side Blue Hawaii's work. They gravitate more towards deep house, Balearic, and even disco on these tracks, and this more playful side suits them.







31.  Charlotte Gainsbourg - Rest

Beautifully melancholic, and decided French, Rest is a quirky set of electronic pop that gets inside your head and lingers long in the afterglow.

Jam of the Day: The Drums - "Shoot the Sun Down"

Gloriously quirky pop from The Drums. Their new record Abysmal Thoughts is a total charmer.

Videos of the Week

Happy Friday all! Here are some killer videos from this week:



Gorgeous song from The Drums gets a gorgeous video shot mostly in an aquarium.



Merchandise drop this clip featuring half performance and half theatrical performance based on John Byrne’s Slab Boys Trilogy, which tells the tale of three working-class Scots growing up.



Bizarre clip from Swedish psych-rocker's GOAT.



Ridiculously fun clip from power-pop group Ex Hex featuring them as space rockers visiting DC.



Post-metal band Tombs release this video for their cover of David Bowie's classic "Heroes," featuring the band walking around NYC at night.



Simple video focusing on singer Daniel Woolhouse, a.k.a. Deptford Goth, and some images of beaches and fields.



Atmospheric black and white clip for Adult Jazz' track "Am Gone," featuring a Christlike figure wandering through landscapes in gallows.

New: The Drums - "I Can't Pretend"

You can listen to the new, swooning and psychedelic track from The Drums' upcoming record Encyclopedia over at Dazed and Confused.

Album Review: Beach Fossils - Clash The Truth

Beach Fossils
Clash The Truth
Rating: Grrrr

Beach Fossils started out as the solo bedroom recording project for Dustin Payseur. 2010's self-titled album was a likable collection of lo-fi jangle pop which also had them corralled with other up and coming bands like The Drums, Surfer Blood, and Best Coast. For their second album Clash The Truth, the major changes are there is a full band now, and there was obviously a much larger production budget. Where the first album had a very ramshackle charm to it, there was definitely the need to punch things up a little bit. From the opening ringing guitar lines of the title track, there is a noticeable muscularity to the album that was not apparent on the debut, though in reality there is really not much that different between the records. It is still a bright collection of shimmering jangle pop but the new focus and clarity makes it sound light years ahead.

The majority of tracks are barn-burning guitar tracks with insistent rhythms, chugging basslines, and washes of crystalline guitar lines. From the restless "Generational Synthetic,"



to the dense squall of "Careless' which has a lovely Smithsian breakdown in the middle,



and through to closing track "Crashed Out" with its bright guitar through lines,



Clash The Truth is emboldened by a richness and attention to detail that makes you immediately want to listen to the record again. The album thankfully is not one note, and there are many tracks that slow things down and put more focus on texture and mood. "Sleep Apnea" has a lovely, shambling quality to it, adding keyboards for mood.



Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead adds her subtle coo to the track "In Vertigo" and it merges well with Payseur's mumble.



And there are even times for ambient interludes, like the gorgeous synth washes of "Brighter" and lovely shoegaze haze of "Ascension."



Clash The Truth is another one of those records that is not original or experimental in any way, but somehow still finds a way to speak to me. The melodies are so sparkling and bright, they find a way into your blood and won't release themselves. You just have to give up and give in to their charm.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Album Review: DIIV - Oshin

DIIV
Oshin
Rating: Grrrr

From humble beginnings as a bedroom pop project from Beach Fossil guitarist Zachary Cole Smith, DIIV (originally named Dive but changed because of a Belgian band with the same name) has since expanded to a full fledged band with 3 additional members. While there is similarity in sound with his full-time band (as well as peers Real Estate and The Drums), the nostalgia tinged quasi-surf rock they proffer is skewed more towards dream pop, emphasizing influences from acts like The Smiths, The Railway Children, Innocence Mission, and The Ocean Blue. There is a shimmering, light-on-water quality to the record which comports with Smith's quote that all the band members have water signs. The quartet's debut album Oshin is not going to win any awards for originality or for diversity, however, it transcends this limitation by being 13 tracks of pristine, dark-edged guitar pop, each song merging into the next to create one suite of tracks that sticks in the mind for a long time after the final track has faded.

For me, the album evokes warm days back in college in the late 80s, driving with friends along deserted back roads with the windows down, letting the pulse of those previously mentioned bands be our guide, never quite knowing where we would end up, or what we would do. When time seemed limitless and we all felt infallible. From the opening chords you are transported immediately into their self-contained world, with "(Druun)," acting as a roadmap and introduction to the record, the cavernous beats and shimmering waves of guitars folding in on you. Which leads right into the mesmerizing "Past Lives," which uses a melancholy palate of guitars over a driving beat, with Smith's forlorn vocals touching on themes of loss and regret: "I was your home and you locked yourself outside/And run with your ghosts/Back to a place you'd already known."



For the most part, throughout the record the emotions and themes are carried more by the meoldies and not the lyrics. When the songs have lyrics, the vocals are usually pushed back into the mix and become another musical element. Usually the lyrics are impressionistic snippets that blur in and out of focus, allowing you brief glimpses of meaning, which is always open to interpretation. There are frequent allusions to death, regret, and being haunted by or running from one's past. On "Sometime" the echoing guitars and crisp beats are underlined by Smith whispering lines like "Sometimes your birth is just a part of your death,"



while guitars wail and crash over the thundering "Oshin (Subsume)" with its half-chanted "oshin crash/salt makes blood/red with clay/black with mud,"



and a chugging bassline and beats propel the intensely paranoid and frantic "Doused,"
Smith's voice getting more and more agitated as he sings "you've gone too far/your urge to run away is back/and we all know."



While there is a tendency to feel like a lot of the songs bleed together, and frequently I will admit that I can't tell some of the tracks apart from each other, looking at the record as a whole it is not so much a weakness as it is just an overall aesthetic that colors the tracks. This is not to say that there are not some stylistic differences on the album. "Air Conditioning" trades the glossy shimmer for a more Krautrock inspired strut,



"How Long Have You Known," climbs into bed with a Spiritualized-esque drone,



as closing track "Home" is like a soft lullaby to sleep, the keyboards washing over quietly echoing guitars, Smith intoning "you'll never have a home until you go home," which sums up sort of the grand theme of the record that running away from the past and your problems just creates more issues.

Oshin is a gorgeously produced record whose tracks feel lived in, as if they have been part of your life forever. Once again, I was transported back to those free-flowing days when time seemed to slow, the open road was ahead, and you hadn't lived enough to have a past.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Videos of the Week

Another Friday upon us! Here are the latest videos that buttered my biscuit:



Hypnotically odd b/w clip for The Drums' single "Days."



Impressionistic clip of the new Porcelain Raft single, which sort of recalls Disintegration era Cure.



New clip for synthpop act Man Without Country.



Haunting minimalism from Au Palais.



Love how this track from Miracle Fortress builds and builds.



Elegant video from Jessie Ware. Love her look and voice.



Gorgeously shot video for the latest single from Korallreven.

qoWQOPA2hJI36GGbCssN84hqs0U

Videos of the Week

Looking forward to a fun weekend. Here are the latest videos that bitch slapped me this week:



My favorite song from Friendly Fires. I am thrilled to get to see them tonight at The Loft.



Really dramatic song from Zola Jesus gets a very gothy, dramatic video.



While I am not a huge fan of the new song from Florence + The Machine (way too similar to the first album), I do like the well-shot video.



Video for Junior Boys' single "Banana Ripple."



Not a video, but a track from the debut album from Joker. Very odd song, but I love it.



New video from The Drums. Low key song gets a low key video.

The Drums: Portamento

The Drums
Portamento
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

It has been barely over a year since the self-titled debut from Brooklyn band The Drums dropped on an unsuspecting public. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, The Drums stood out from a crowded pack of 80s referencing bands, mixing equal parts surf rock, Factory Records post-punk, and 50s harmonies. It was an exhilarating debut because you had no idea what the band were going to do next. As a whole, there were a lot of hits and misses on the record, but that fearlessness to do whatever they wanted was part of the record's charm. After touring relentlessly and testing new material on the road, The Drums now release their sophomore album Portamento, and the most noticeable difference between the two records is the very clean, measured production on the album. The dreaded word "mature" also pops up, as the songs seem to hold a lot more weight than the tracks on their debut. It is not a gloomy record, but there does appear to be a distinct air of sadness surrounding these songs. Even the perky first single "Money," while being one of the catchiest songs in recent memory, lyrically is seemingly about a slightly abusive romance.



The album flows into and out of this song, which appears to be the magnet at the center of this beautiful, yet flawed record. When listening to the record, I find myself waiting for this song to play, and after I find myself wanting to go back to it. It's frustrating, because this is not a bad record at all, it just doesn't sound like The Drums I fell in love with last year. Where I want the go for broke spontaneity of the debut, I get a very measured, thoughtful album that always seems on the edge of going where I want it, but doesn't head off anywhere unexpected. Aside from the highlight of "Money," there were several tracks that always grabbed my attention. The poppy and bouncy "I Need A Doctor" which sounds like a long-lost Haircut 100 outtake,

10-the drums-i need a doctor by PeaceBlind

"What You Were" which wraps saxophone around chiming guitars and washes of keyboards,

The drums - What You Were by Zombielazer

and the dark, brooding "If He Likes It Let Him Do It."

09-the drums-if he likes it let him do it by PeaceBlind

The album is rife with lovers leaving one another, striking or hitting on another, or generally in the throes of some relationship drama, which in the right circumstances can make for powerful music, but for some reason the seriousness of these topics just seems incongruous to The Drums' general aesthetic. Though I did enjoy the dreamy, haunting "In The Cold," with its spiky guitar and haunting drones,

11-the drums-in the cold by PeaceBlind

and the sharp, new wave inspired rush of "I Don't Know How To Love You."

The Drums - Portamento by PeaceBlind

But for long stretches of the album, many of the tracks blur into one another, keeping almost a monochromatic hue. The first three tracks especially leave almost no impression on me whatsoever, except for the interesting cut-up vocal effect on "Book of Revelations."

The Drums - Portamento by PeaceBlind

"Days" never really gets over its rather torpid beat and muted vocal take from Jonathan Pierce, and "What You Were" recalls the beats and mood of the debut but fails to add anything new to the mix. While "Searching For Heaven," which adds The Drums' take on Vangelis and Wendy Carlos' Moog synth excursions, is an interesting departure, however, the vocals are so distractingly atonal it detracts from what could have been a focal point of the record.

The Drums - Portamento by PeaceBlind

Portamento is the sound of a band caught in the middle between retaining their distinctive sound and wanting to stretch that sound and coming up with really neither of the two. The hesitancy over the course of 12 tracks gets wearying, as you just want something as raucous as "Let's Go Surfing," as driving as "Me And The Moon," or as experimentally referential as 'Down By The Water." Instead of finding those diamonds in the rough, you get an almost overly meticulous cycle of tracks that becomes not so much a step back for The Drums, but mainly a holding pattern. There are enough memorable songs on Portamento to make it worth recommending, however, those stellar tracks just serve to show what this record could have been.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Videos of the Week

Friday Friiiiiday Friiiiiiiiiiiiiiday!



I love this band and this song, but man is this one of the most boring videos ever?



Bjork + Gondry = Bliss



I'm digging this funky little track.

Holy Other - Know Where from @thestankonia on Vimeo.

This video from producer Holy Other fits the song like a glove.



Awesome shot for shot remake of the LCD Soundsystem video using Legos.



Ridiculously catchy song from The Drums.

Videos of the Week/Coachella Edition

As I was away on vacation and pretty much Coachella preoccupied, I didn't really post many videos this week. Here, in its place, are some Youtube clips of some performances from Coachella that I enjoyed.



Two Door Cinema Club was THE sleeper band of the festival. Watch this video and you will understand what an amazing experience it was seeing them live. The crowd was completely nuts for them.



!!! put on a phenomenal show; a nonstop groove made the entire audience dance their asses off.



Broken Social Scene got the pre-twilight set time on the main stage. I was able to grab a seat on the grass and relax and listen to their amazing set.



One of the best sets of the festival, HEALTH tore through their set like a bunch of kamikazes.



I was thrilled when Duran Duran played my favorite song of theirs, "The Chauffeur."



Fun set from Rye Rye.



A little too gothy to be playing a mid-day set, nevertheless, Cold Cave put on an amazing show.



By far one of my favorite sets, Foals locked into a tight groove early on and never let up. Here is one of my favorite songs from their last album.



Robyn never fails to give 100%. Her Coachella performance was stellar.



Interpol put on a rather lackluster set, however, their collaboration with David Lynch was a definite highlight of the festival.



Suede knocked it out of the park during their performance. Brett Anderson showed everyone what a real frontman is like.



YACHT was a big surprise at the festival. So much fun and the female singer was a brilliant frontwoman.



Wire performing their classic song "Kidney Bingos."



The Drums put on an excellent show even though the singer is a bit batshit crazy.



I was frustrated at the Cut Copy show due to the crowd of assholes that showed up for it. The band should have played a bigger stage. I left after a few songs because I couldn't see or hear anything. I did hear this awesome song before I left though.

Coachella 2011 Day One

Coachella 2011 is now over and the post-Coachella depression is now kicking in. This was my second year in a row going and the experience was, if not necessarily better, different than last year, with a lot of highs and just a few lows. The better things about the festival this year were the bigger tents and the wider lanes between venues. It didn't feel like a Tokyo subway when you had to move quickly between stages. Also, the layout of the festival was much more conducive to quick travel. The lows, which honestly were few, were the difficulty with getting in to the festival. The security checkpoints were confusing and the staff didn't really seem to know what they were doing. The merchandise tent, which was really well stocked last year but crowded, was moved to the front entrance in a round kiosk that in theory seemed to be the way to work it; however, the quantity and quality of shirts was pretty low, and many bands didn't have shirts at all. Also, the crowds for the most part were nicer and well-behaved, but still, the amount of rude people who barrel through the crowds in the tent to get up front is annoying. These people don't care about the bands and really make things bad for the rest of it.

My bf Kurt, Mikey and Don waiting at the first checkpoint. It was warm all weekend, but only really hot one day.

My favorite time of the festival; right when it opens and the fields are sparsely crowded.

First band of the festival was New Pants from Beijing, China. They had a fun Devo/Cars kind of vibe to them, and for the most part their set was good, but they debuted a new song called "I'm Not Gay," which I assume was meant to be ironic since the singer said "I love the men, but I am not gay." But the song just seemed weird, so we left.

One of the other disappointments of the festival was the Sahara Tent this year. In 2010, there always seemed to be an amazing DJ or electronic act playing, but this year seemed to be a dearth of talent. We did check out 12th Planet for his dubstep set. Kurt is way more the dance music aficionado than I am, so I usually go with what he says to see.

Finally, my first real show of the festival. !!! was playing at the Outdoor Stage during the hottest part of the afternoon, and they turned up the intensity. The singer is in constant motion, and has some of the silliest, gayest dance moves I have ever seen. The groove was tight and driving and got the crowd worked up into a frenzy. I wish I had my camera out when the singer jumped into the crowd and came out to a point very close to us and got on a guy's shoulders. It was a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, we had to skip out of !!! towards the end of their set to go catch Cold Cave at the Mojave Tent. We were able to get a nice spot right on the side rail. They put together a nice set of their cold, icy synth pop. Loved the synth player on the left. He was rocking some cool hair.

We were basically planted in the Mojave Tent for most of day one. Following Cold Cave was Brooklyn via Manchester, England 1982 band The Drums. I love their album a lot and was very excited to see them play. The band is really tight, but it took awhile to get used to the singer, who performs in a very mannered and effected way. Once I got over the fact he wasn't going to sing like he did on the album, I was able to enjoy the performance.

I wanted to race over and see part of Warpaint's set at the Outdoor Stage, but sometimes you just have to say no and stay put. It was hot, and there was a nice breeze in the Mojave, so I stuck with my friends for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. I loved their first album but was put off on the second by too much high polish production from Alan Moulder and Flood. Live, the songs seemed more organic and natural, and I must admit I enjoyed the set.

YACHT was a nice surprise of the festival. Coming off like Talking Heads circa Stop Making Sense, it was a quirky, high energy set that was exhilarating. The female singer was bonkers crazy and had the crowd in the palm of her hand.

The first minor disappointment of the festival was Interpol on the main stage. They were hyped beforehand regarding their collaboration with The Creator's Project, and it was supposed to be a "surveillance" theme, with individual cameras placed on the band and members of the audience. It was fairly lackluster. The only time the images became interesting was during the song "Lights" when a film made by David Lynch played. It was disturbing and Lynchian, so it was perfect to go with the song. The rest of the set was filled with the classics you would expect. But for some reason, as with most of the acts on such a huge stage, there was a disconnect between the performers and audience. It was a safe, good set, but nothing spectacular.

For me, the biggest disappointment of the festival was Cut Copy. Nothing to do with the band or performance, the tent was just overcrowded and full of pushy, rude douchetards, and I wasn't able to get close enough, so the sound was muddied and I couldn't see anything. They really have gotten big enough to where they should have been on the Outdoor or Main stage. I only lasted about 3 songs and had to get out of there before I ran amok. I was so mad, because they became my de facto must see band after Klaxons had to cancel.

Suffering the Cut Copy crowd no longer, I joined Kurt over in the Sahara Tent for Magnetic Man (Benga, Skream, and Artwork). I generally hate the crowd at Sahara. Usually a younger group of kids, all of whom are whacked out on some sort of illegal substance. I adore the Magnetic Man album though, and was willing to suffer the crackheads for some good music. Unfortunately, MM put on a fairly lackluster show. The visuals were really great and kept my attention, but the pacing of their set was schizophrenic and I never got a connection with them.

Final act of the night was Robyn. Again, the Mojave Tent was jam packed and we couldn't get a good spot to see her, as evidenced by the horrible pics I attempted to take. With Robyn, however, I would sit on hot coals to see her perform. She has boundless energy and would give the performance of her life even if there were only 10 people in the audience. And she did not disappoint. Running through her hits and deep tracks from her albums Robyn and Body Talk, she kept the pace up and the audience dancing and singing along. It was a brilliant way to close out my Friday.