Brooklyn’s Dive are probably gonna be a band you and I will be talking a lot more about pretty soon. It was all of 15 seconds into hearing ‘How Long Have You Known?’ for the first time that it became clear these guys are speaking my language. And yes while the vocals are delivered in English, the language to which I refer is that chiming guitar driven indie that echoes towards your eardrums like it’s emerging from the depths of cave. The man at the centre of the sound is Zachary Cole Smith who has toured as a guitarist with Beach Fossils and judging by the clip below has spent some time with Napoleon Dynamite at the Rex Kwon Do school of patriotic fashion.
The countdown to Purity Ring’s debut full length release has begun with the news that Shrines is finally set for unveiling on July 24th. It says a lot about the duo that despite having only having dropped a few tracks on us it is one of the most anticipated releases of the year. The latest album cut – ‘Odebear’ – has made it’s way onto the net and continues the flawless track record already forged through ‘Ungirthed’ ‘Belispeak’ and ‘Lofticries’.
The Walkmen are a one of those acts that pop up every couple of years and remind you they’re still one of your favourite bands. In fact in keeping up their biennial LP tradition this June they’ll be delivering LP number 6 titled Heaven. The lead single of same name which has recently hit the web is an uptempo ‘Angela Surf City’ type affair albeit minus the intensity, the thrashing kinks ironed flat to provide a smoothly run race between drum and guitars. It’s nothing short of the uber quality we’ve come to expect from these guys.
Trevor Powers is the kind of name that probably brings to mind someone involved in an exotic vocation like porn-star or suave international spy not 22 year old student residing in Boise, (pronounced boy-see) Idaho. If however, for said student, writing and performing reverb drenched bedroom pop is your not-so-secret talent then the guise Youth Lagoon sounds pretty much perfect.
Having casually meandered into indie consciousness midway through 2011 with debut The Year of Hibernation, Trevor Powers A.K.A. Youth Lagoon very quickly charmed his way into many a music lover’s year end best-of lists with a collection of deep-seated confessions served as pop songs. The signature slow build and release of these songs draws parallel’s to the therapy Powers had been undertaking for some self-confessed issues with anxiety. That was until he decided writing the Year of Hibernation would be a more affordable alternative to professional help. Having been down that path the carry over effect could be seen as each track playing out like it’s own session on the couch, beginning warily and a little unsure of itself but gradually growing in confidence, sonic layers being added like incremental steps toward emotional vulnerability. The result is songs like ‘July’ and ‘Montana’ which steadily grow in conviction like a snowball gaining speed and size down a mountain. The eventual avalanche of a crescendo thunders through the speakers like a joyous exorcism of inner demons.
Youth Lagoon represents, at least on this initial outing, a vehicle for dealing with personal turmoil which gives this material a heart-breaking sincerety. Coming from someone not far beyond the legal drinking age in his home nation there’s no escaping the youthful filter on the lense of these songs, it’s part of the appeal, but at the same time there’s a maturity in the way these memories are being re-interpreted as a young adult. We’re being transported inside the mind of someone still in the stages of mapping out their own identity, searching for clues among childhood experiences. These lyrics aren’t coming from someone basking in the glow of the good old days, more like someone looking back over their shoulder for final reassurances as they make off down the road ahead.
While the weighty subject matter may sound like heavy going on paper the knack for melody on display here makes it anything but. These are gorgeously affecting pop songs delivered by keyboards, electronic drum claps and guitar riffs with hooks so appetisingly baited they could reel in a Great White. The outro guitar line on ‘Cannons’ will in some way exit your body like an electric charge the only question being whether it be via foot waggle or finger tap.
In February of this year Youth Lagoon made a flying visit to our shores for a couple of well received shows in Sydney and Melbourne, the latter of which I was fortunate enough to witness personally. The intimacy of the live performance was heightened by Powers on keyboard and his close friend Logan Hyde on guitar as the lone participants. On record Powers voice for the most part takes a back seat, often muffled or drowned in echo that makes it sound as if it’s coming from another room but on stage it boldly and deservedly sits front and centre, pulled from his sleeve like a sneaky ace. No longer hiding, it completely encompasses the venue space and every little strained imperfection serves to remind you of the endearingly honest place it’s coming from.
It’s a sign of the times that the musings of a soft-spoken young guy in Idaho can reach the indie masses so easily but it’s the fact they resonate so deeply with us that speaks volumes for the talent behind Youth Lagoon.
In a time when the volume of music a mere click or two away from our eardrums has reached somewhat overwhelming proportions along comes Kill For Love to give us the perfect excuse to step away from Rdio for a stretch and let a single band take charge. Clocking in at a whopping 90 minutes, this is an ocean of music that’s best experienced if you simply lay back and let the tide take you wherever your dream-induced state imagines. It’s an album in the truest sense of the concept; a collection of songs that were made to be heard as part of a larger organism. Sure there are tunes here like the synth-gasmic title track that could stand alone and command your attention but their true beauty is only revealed when heard in the substantial context delivered here.
Hailing from the newly crowned hipster capital of the world – Portland(ia) CHROMATICS have been kicking around since the early 2000’s but since successfully overhauling their sound with 2007’s Night Drive it has been a while between drinks. Director Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling were such fans of that previous outing that it prompted them to approach CHROMATICS mastermind Johnny Jewel to score their (so so cool) 2011 film Drive. Ultimately a more experienced composer was handed the reigns but the films striking aesthetic owes a lot to Night Drive and those familiar with the soundtrack know CHROMATICS track ‘Tick Of The Clock’ still managed to make the final cut.
ANY CHARACTER HERE
As a band with a penchant for covers (they’ve previously done Springsteen and Kate Bush), CHROMATICS kick off proceedings with ‘Into The Black’ a re-make of Neil Young’s ‘Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)’. This slow-burning opening sets the tone for the sprawling journey ahead with the closing electro bleeps ushering in to ‘Kill For Love’ like a countdown clock. ‘Kill For Love’ immediately changes the mood with a synth burst that lights up the room. It’s gorgeous chorus has one of those heart-melting chord changes that threatens your ability to keep emotions in check, urging you to succumb to it’s beauty. ‘Back From the Grave’ follows this up with something that sounds like Fleetwood Mac gone new wave, frontwoman Ruth Radelet’s innocent sing-song voice coming off pure as fresh snow.
Singling out highlights from the album is fairly straight forward but shouldn’t be seen as degradation of the supporting cast of tracks which all expertly play their part in spit-shining it’s stars. My personal pinnacle though is ‘These Streets Will Never Look The Same’. An intense guitar line that very much recalls Stevie Nicks’ ‘Edge Of Seventeen’ sets it off before an elegant piano and broken vocal emerge to ease the forboding. As it meanders, like a late night taxi ride home through neon-lit city streets various elements come and go, a turbo boost of a beat, Studio 54 vintage effects, morse coded computer chirps. It’s the shortest eight and a half minutes you’ll spend this year.
The further Kill For Love progresses the more abstract the songs become – instrumental track ‘There’s A Light Out On The Horizon’ incorporates a mobile phone voice message – yet there is always a sprinkling of stardust present to keep you utterly entranced. This album sends me back to those times as a kid when after buying a CD and coming home, I’d go straight to my bedroom, press play and lay back to do nothing but immerse myself in every detail of what I was hearing. Listening to music was “doing something”. It wasn’t background sound as I finished my homework, or played Mario Kart or read a book. My sole focus was on the music, trying to wring out every last drop of blood, sweat and tears that had gone into creating it. Kill For Love earns the right to be heard like this, so drop everything and spend some quality time with it.
01. INTO THE BLACK (5.23)
02. KILL FOR LOVE (3.58)
03. BACK FROM THE GRAVE (3.43)
04. THE PAGE (3.36)
05. LADY (5.08)
06. THESE STREETS WILL NEVER LOOK THE SAME (8.37)
07. BROKEN MIRRORS (7.03)
08. CANDY (2.30)
09. THE ELEVENTH HOUR (3.28)
10. RUNNING FROM THE SUN (7.07)
11. DUST TO DUST (2.41)
12. BIRDS OF PARADISE (4.26)
13. A MATTER OF TIME (5.06)
14. AT YOUR DOOR (3.53)
15. THERE’S A LIGHT OUT ON THE HORIZON (4.44)
16. THE RIVER (6.10)
17. NO ESCAPE (14.01)
jimmyfandangle 