False-Heads “Wear and Tear EP”
False-Heads are a new band whose star is definitely in the ascendant. With a sound much in thrall to the grunge rock of the 90s (‘Twentysomething’ from this EP is the kind of song you wish had been on the post-reformation album from Pixies) but which leaves plenty of room for the psych guitars of Luke Griffifths to come to the fore, it’s no surprise that Q Magazine and NME have already been taking notice. ‘Wrap Up’ is the lead single and opening track of the EP. Without further ado, check out the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k82CwUmC-Wg
As you will have no doubt by now seen, the song is built on a muscular riff, and features a chorus hook that shouldn’t work but somehow does. It’s a promising start. From there we get the aforementioned ‘Twentysomething’ which is, if anything, a much more arresting prospect. It screams of a band with depth and potential. ‘Snatch’ keeps the pace up, with a verse which reminds me hugely of the Australian band Emperors (this is a good thing). Closer ‘Nothing In There’ begins by taking the intensity down a notch. A moody song, its cacophonous crescendo is somewhat predictable but still exceedingly satisfying.
This is a really solid EP. I am looking forward to seeing what False-Heads come up with next.
Fever Dream – Moyamoya (Released April 27th)
Released on the ever-reliable Club AC30 (seriously, do they ever put out anything any less than wonderful?) “Moyamoya” is the debut full length album from live mainstays Fever Dream. A lot has been written about how it sounds a little bit like My Bloody Valentine. More has been said about how it sounds like the kind of “indie” that was popular around 20 years ago. To lampoon Fever Dream with the implied snooty criticism of these associations is to do them a great disservice, however. “Moyamoya” is a fine album. It’s unrelentingly loud, swathes of guitar squall from Adey Flint dominate throughout. Sarah Lippett’s bass is never anything less than strident, and as for the whirlwind that the drums of Cat Loye envelop the listener in, well you’ll just have to listen to find out. This is intense stuff. I’ve already said that Fever Dream are live mainstays and it shows. Right from the word go, as ‘Watch You Sleep’s’ uncompromising opening gives way to the duo of singles ‘Serotonin Hit’ and ‘Nightcrawling’, there is a confidence, an assuredness which belies the fact that this is a debut album. These sound like songs which have been loved, coerced and cherished in to existence. Fever Dream sound like a band who know each other inside out, know each other’s strengths and weaknesses musically. There is a fantastic natural rhythmic pocket found throughout by Lippett and Loye which can only be built through years of hard gigging.
And it never really lets up. Song after song hits you between the eyes, but with so much melodic intentionality that you never lose sight of the song within the sound. This is no small feat. Often, it seems, the choice is between intensity for the sake of intensity, or melody at intensity’s expense. Fever Dream have the balance just right. There’s plenty here to satisfy the hardest-hearted of rock fans, be they of an MBV persuasion or not. A particular favourite of mine is ‘Dance Forever’, which has the temerity to bounce, yes bounce along in the lead up to the chorus, before the playful nature of the song is overtaken by a glorious wall of feedback.
Most satisfyingly of all, the passion never lets up. Closing pair ‘Flux’, with its busy, changeable, yet hypnotic rhythmic pattens and the smack between the eyes that is ‘Vapour”s anthemic chorus carry as much of a punch as anything in the first forays of ‘Moyamoya’. This is a consistent piece of art. My only regret is that I was ignorant of them till now. Now to find a live show….
Timeshares – Already Dead
Pre-order the album here (out April 28th)
Timeshares are a New York punk band. “Already Dead” is their second album, but their first for Side One Dummy, a label whose seal of approval is a sure sign of quality. At times (see ‘The Bad Part’, for example) Timeshares come off as a band paying homage to the punk of the 80s, circa The Replacements, as well as a good part of the modern punk revival (I know, I know, punk never died). That is only the half of what makes this an exciting proposition though. For every gritty vocal from Jon Hernandez which places the band firmly within the punk fraternity, there is a guitar tone which twangs just enough, and I mean just enough, to hint at the influence of country. Country-tinged punk might sound like a terrible idea to you, but trust me, the energy on ‘Same Day, Different Week’ and ‘Heavy Hang’ will make a believer out of the most cynical hack. Sure, there’s plenty of straight up rock to be found here. ‘Heavy Hang’ is followed by the decidedly straight-ahead ‘Spend the Night’.
There are some clever musical moments too. ‘(Corner of) Park and Park’ features a repeating and beautifully delivered bar of 5/4 (I think) which really grabs the attention and also has an elastic song structure which firmly moves Timeshares away from any accusation of being a standard four-chord punk band. They seem able to turn their hand in several directions, even at times, such as on ‘The New Incisions’ giving rise to comparisons with the phenomenally successful The Hold Steady (not sure if they’ll love that, but there we go). “Already Dead” is the sound of a growing band straining at the bounds of potential and possibility. The world could well be their oyster.
San Fermin – Jackrabbit
Pre-order the album here (You really, really should, it’s out on April 27th)
Ellis Ludwig-Leone seems like quite a dude. He’s been an assistant composer to Nico Muhly (who worked on strings for Sigur Ros along with a heap of other things). He’s worked on arrangements for Sufjan Stevens and Passion Pit. This year he is set to score a ballet in the upcoming New York City Ballet season. In short he is prodigiously talented. Projects birthed in the minds of musicians such as this can go one of two ways: either they can drown under the weight of unrealised delusions of grandeur, or they can soar to unimagined heights of beauty, panache and musicality. Fortunately “Jackrabbit” sits squarely and thoroughly in the latter camp. It is, to put it bluntly, an astonishingly good album.
Brought in to enigmatic life by an eight-piece band – Ellis aided by John Brandon (trumpet), Stephen Chen (saxophone), Rebekah Durham (violin/vocals), Michael Hanf (drums), Charlene Kaye (lead vocals), Tyler McDiarmid (guitar), and Allen Tate (lead vocals), these are great songs. With Tate and Kaye swapping lead vocal duties, there are moments where each of the band are given a chance to shine. Whether it’s the understated and unsettling drama of ‘The Woods’, the kind of song Thom Yorke is regularly deified for, which part way through briefly explodes into a St Vincent-esque kitchen sink jam, the groove of ‘Emily’, which somehow sounds just like Interpol, without prominently featuring guitars in any sense, instead saving its best moments for the trumpet of John Brandon, or the joyful pop of the title track, by the end of the fourth track, if you’re not sold then I will eat my hat. That’s not the half of it though. It’s only just a quarter. “Jackrabbit” showcases more ingenuity, imagination and fully-realised ambition over its fifteen (FIFTEEN) tracks than most artists manage to showcase in an entire career. ‘Parasites’ is one track which shows just how far the compositional mind of Ellis Ludwig-Leone can take him. Tones and instrument families compete. Tempos shift. Kaye and Tate swap vocals, with Tate almost, but not quite, falling over the edge of singing in a different key, brass and strings float in and out, there is a choral interlude or two, and that’s only in the first half. Before the songs’ end it builds to the kind of conclusion that you often hope a song will build to but it barely ever does.
I could write similarly hyperbolic descriptions of almost every song here, but I expect you get the point by now. It’s probably time I brought this thing in to land.
So, here’s the deal. Ellis Ludwig-Leone is a compositional genius. He has brought his vision to full and vibrant life with the help of some creative players. This is a brilliant album which transcends genre classification. It would be a travesty if, as a result, it failed to find a home in your heart. Don’t let that happen.