The San Franciscan neo-post-punk outfit The Soft Moon is definitely high up on my list of spectacular contemporary bands. This Room 205 session lead by Louis Valquez, the principal songwriter of the group, is comprised of an inspirational set of dark, haunted and claustrophobic tracks. The music, as well as the avant-garde imagery by band member Ron Robinson, paints a fine image of techno-surrealistic dystopia. This is one hell of a great performance.
We've been really busy and have neglected this web space; however, updates are coming soon. The playlist links below should be up-to-date and functioning, though.
Our playlist links are currently inactive as our hosting site seems to have devoured the data. I'll be re-entering all of the info and the links should be working soon. Thanks for listening!
Dirty Beaches is the recording moniker of Taiwan-born international drifter and musician Alex Zhang Huntai. He returns after a string of singles with Badlands, a low-fidelity analog musical journey through the seedy side of the 1950s. This album hearkens back to the booming and naive age of the automobile, excess, waste, uniformity and kitsch, but safely avoids the deluded nostalgia that oftentimes accompanies a retro-fifties throwback. Badlands is not a record for people who swoon over cliche 50s-related garbage: 1957 Chevrolets with Mag wheels, poodle skirts, Barbie and Elvis Presley postage stamps. This record is grimy, opiate and speed addled, surf-tinged minimalistic sock hop noise pop. It is the music of Frank Booth and of Sailor Ripley and Lula Fortune.
During the first 16 minutes of Badlands, Huntai rattles, stammers and yelps through "Speedway King," "Horses," "Sweet 17" and "A Hundred Highways," all songs that could have come from a Suicide album that washed up on a toxic, oil-saturated beach. The slowed-down, pensive and crooning side of the albumbegins with "True Blue" and "Lord Knows Best," two stand out tracks that could be on a bootleg cassette of a strung out and lovelorn Roy Orbison recorded through the walls of a sleazy motel. The softer side of the record is well-suited for a twisted and surreal trip through the 1950s and would sound at home playing from the tinny speakers of a fallout covered analog tube radio. The final two tracks, "Black Nylon" and "Hotel" are instrumental numbers that drone and meander, bringing the album to a pleasant close.
Badlands is an enjoyable listen, though disappointingly short, with only eight songs that clock in at just under 27 minutes. This record culls elements from some of my favorite eras in the annals of music history: late 50s and early 60s Pop, Rockabilly and Surf and mid-to-late 70s Post-punk and No Wave. Alex Zhang Huntai may not be the most original artist on the scene, but he's definitely creating music that is refreshing to hear in 2011; this guy has potential. If Rockabilly was for rebels in the age of Populuxe, Badlands would have been for the truly disaffected.
Tonight's show is a mix of Psychobilly, Cow Punk, Roots Punk, Goth Rock, Surf, and more. The featured artist is Springville, Utah's redneck punkers, The Utah County Swillers, a band that recently played with the Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson, who is on tour in support of the Jack White produced album, The Party Ain't Over.
The Swillers are to bring their mix of irreverent, wry humor and booze-saturated, pill poppin' roots punk rock 'n' roll to Pocatello this Saturday night, April 2, at the First National Bar. There is no cover and the show starts at 9:30 PM. RIYL: The Dead Milkmen, Mojo Nixon, The Gun Club, The Waco Brothers, White Trash Watson, The Reverend Horton Heat, etc.
This show features several new releases from March 29. More information about the records is below.
*Update!* I think I mentioned in this show that All Eternals Deck was the Mountain Goats third LP, which is obviously incorrect (ouch, indie cred!). What I meant to and should have said was that this is the third LP with a more rock-oriented trio. Sorry, ya'll.
The Mountain Goats released All Eternals Deck, which takes its name from a fictional set of tarot cards. The album shows that John Darnielle's songwriting is still quite solid and the rhythm section gets a boost from Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster. Stream the album on NPR's website. Favorite tracks: Damn These Vampires, High Hawk Season, The Autopsy Garland, For Charles Bronson, Birth of Serpents.
Hosannas is a duo from Portlandia who create sweeping and beautiful experimental dream pop tinged with cosmic spaghetti western sounds and shoegazing tendencies. They are back with a FREE EP, Thug Life Nicole, that follows the release of their third album, Together late last year. Find out more about the band and download the EP from the link above.
From the Moon Duo website: "Moon Duo was formed by Ripley Johnson of Wooden Shjips and Sanae Yamada in San Francisco in 2009. Inspired initially by the legendary duo of John Coltrane and Rashied Ali, Moon Duo counts such variant groups as Silver Apples, Royal Trux, Moolah, Suicide, and Cluster as touchstones. Utilizing primarily guitar, keyboards, and vocals, the Duo plays space against form to create a primeval sound experience." This experimental psychedelic duo dropped Mazes this week on Sacred Bones Records.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are a shoegazing bliss/gliss rock quartet from Brooklyn, NY. They released their debut self-titled album a couple of years ago to much critical acclaim. That record was very much rooted in the 80s, with elements of post-punk, dream pop, twee, and the C86 sound. It was a very saccharine heart-on-the-sleeve album, but balanced those elements with some darker tones and distortion. The sophomore album, Belong out on Slumberland Records, builds on the first album's elements and takes them further with a BIG and slick wall of sound production style, courtesy of Flood and Alan Moulder (Smashing Pumpkins, My Bloody Valentine, Depeche Mode). The overall sound of this album is early 90s guitar pop-rock, though there are some synth-washed tracks that recall Modern English and The Cure. Belong is a big-sounding, shimmering and slick, heart-breakingly blissful record that glides along beautifully and is enjoyable, though cloying at times. Favorite tracks: Heart in Your Heartbreak, My Terrible Friend,Anne With an E, The Body.
We also played a new one from Swedish indie rockers Peter Bjorn and John's new album, Gimme Some and a couple from Dirty Beaches. We'll feature Dirty Beaches in another post.
Enjoy!
Bonus Video: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Young Adult Friction from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart out on Slumberland Records in 2009.
