Tag Archives: USA

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Children Of Nova

I’ll be honest, my astrophysics aren’t very far advanced so when it comes to knowing what a nova is, I had no real clue despite having an overall fondness for the word for years but yet having some idea what a supernova is… I’ve never dropped it into everyday conversation and I haven’t needed to. A nova anyway is the thermonuclear detonation of the surface of a white dwarf which causes a brightening of the star as a whole. In simplistic terms, a huge expulsion of energy from a star makes it brighter at night. So if children can be birthed from this astrological phenomena, and they are capable of playing tremendous progressive rock that resonates with such wonderful radiance and burning passion, then why haven’t more come to this planet? In any case, Children Of Nova are settled in the domain that Coheed And Cambria reign over, but in a more contemplative light that their slower-burning songwriting is far more suited to. It retains the same magnitude of soaring guitar work, just with a more impressive vocal dexterity and a tone that strays just south of intense to stay relaxing. Harmonics can drift into sombre stretches and the throttle can be thumped however over the course of 2012’s Impossible Landscape, the ride remains a mostly gentle series of peaks that can be jagged on the way down. Kaleido, the second track in, certainly starts calmly before skyrocketing into some cosmos-reaching guitar playing, whether in perfect harmonic unison or as light and heavy compatriots. It also serves as the real introduction to the astounding vocal range of singer Teo Lopez, whose performance on this album propels the already astonishing musicianship to such magnificent heights. To stumble across a band that drives home such enchanting, heartfelt progressive rock is a true rarity and yet it is the bands like Children of Nova that could sit for months, years or even decades before their star bursts into light for the world to see. Nonetheless, the discovery alone is fantastical.

The band are currently on an indefinite hiatus unfortunately, so it’s unknown whether they’ll make a return, but at least both albums Impossible Landscape and 2009’s The Complexity Of Light can still be bought from their Bandcamp page, their webstore and at most respectable music retailers.

https://www.facebook.com/childrenofnova?fref=ts

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Netherlands

This band gave me an idea recently, although that could potentially go the wrong way depending on political correctness. A game you could play is, given a country, you have to establish what music that country would sound like. Some are easy, Brazil, India and Mexico for instance have sounds they live and breath because they are originators of that style. Some countries, perhaps not quite on the map you would struggle with. San Marino may just be the sound of shrugging shoulders or clapping politely. A country very much established however that could be perceived as difficult to identify could be the Netherlands, but thankfully Timo Ellis and his two partners in crime hailing from New York City may put that debate to an end. Dragging around a longsword sharpened by staggering amounts of fuzz, moods are constantly intense, much like a serial killer in the dark of night, either on the prowl or attacking depending on the pace. Whilst you can assume there is a unchanging danger in their music, how exactly to describe it is somewhat misleading. They are pseudo-sludge in guitar tone that sometimes reaches noise rock levels of distortion, but sing with a classical rock band showmanship, with pacing that can reach punk speeds. Tabitha from 2013’s Silicon Vapor being an example of those speeds, comparable to weaponised destruction derby and you’re behind the wheel, whilst what could be deciphered as free-form poetry or phrases pulled from a hat are yelled from atop a mountain. The thing that strikes me about vocalist Timo Ellis is how soulful his delivery can be at times, which edges them out against so many other heavy pretenders. So, that debate hasn’t actually been resolved as Netherlands are every much a square peg in a round hole, which just about fits if you jam it hard enough. Or maybe that is the point. Brimming with styles and sensibilities that keep them a very much original experience, Netherlands are an odd breed to classify, but they produce a sound that is equal parts threatening as it is to endearing and exciting. In the context of the musical country game, that answer is good enough for me.

Silicon Vapor and 2012’s Fantasmatic can be purchased from their Bandcamp page for a small fee. or from Netherlands’ website in CD, vinyl or digital format, along with several t-shirts and the such too.

https://www.facebook.com/netherlandsband?fref=ts

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Gaytheist

I mentioned a little while back that hardcore tends to be a very serious business, and a band’s prowess tends to be measured against the instigation of violence and how savagely you can play your instrument. All that raw, frenetic carnage is highly enjoyable at the best of times, but every now and again, the overbearing lust for bloodshed becomes too much. There’s very little laughter in between the roundhouse kicks and flailing fists. So I’ll reiterate again that when bands that tick most of the boxes for hardcore principles, but keep their tongues firmly in cheek, it makes the genre a little less like the display of machismo it’s pretty much portrayed as. After all, if you’re from Portland, Oregon and you name your band Gaytheist, you can’t expect to not raise eyebrows. Although they don’t so much as keep tongue in cheek, as swallow it trying. Let’s be honest here, when you pen rip-roaring stompers with such memorable titles like Elderly Assassin, I’m Procrastinate And I Vote and Poocano, it’s hard not to assume what you’re getting yourself in for. But what exactly are you getting yourself in for? A fiery punk buzzsaw built for speed, parts venomous, parts deranged, but everything defiant in the face of decency. Hold Me… But Not So Tight, their long player from 2013, speaks volumes for this sentiment, having an image of a pair of embracing lizards and one is suggestively licking the other. Anyway, to Manhattan, opening with a grinding bassline, that lurks underneath the build-up of pounding drums at pace, blazing guitar bathed in distortion and a mildly humorous yet mildly concerning social commentary on New York’s most densely populated district. Although, blink and you’ll miss it. You may argue that it just gets going, but they pack quality into those two minutes, that several visitations are required to soak in thoroughly. See, laughter is one of the keys to life, and if Gaytheist aren’t entertaining, then they are at least giving the stone-faced hardcore genre a permanent marker moustache whilst it’s unconscious.

Hold Me…, 2012 album Stealth Beats, a live album and some singles can be purchased from their Bandcamp page, from very reasonable prices. They also have some split EPs with a few other bands that are worth checking out, and I believe are somewhere in Bandcamp too.

https://www.facebook.com/GaytheistPDX

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Since By Man

Music is one of the greatest forms of escapism, and often we experience that escapism in many different ways. Some as losing yourself in an otherworldly soundscape, some as forming an emotional connection with music and/or lyrics and some as motivation towards a goal or dream. If I was a betting man, I’d say the music of Since By Man more than likely falls into the latter category. That goal being the systematic destruction of your surroundings and anyone around you. This is not music for the nervous or for the faint of heart.  This is pure catharsis. Since By Man take their inspiration from the melodic post-hardcore antics of Glassjaw and At The Drive-In, known for their endless energy, intensely passionate performances and near-faultless musicianship, and run their own frenzied madness out from their footsteps. All through Since By Man’s life cycle, especially evident in their choice of band name (from the 46th movement of Handel’s Messiah: Since By Man Came Death) there seems to be a complete disregard for human life that erupts from the beginning of 2002’s We Sing The Body Electric to their timely demise in 2008. No other statement makes that clearer than Push The Panic, the first song of We Sing The Body Electric. From the very beginning, the weak are weeded out by a tirade of vitriolic screaming, acerbic guitar work designed to eviscerate and a technical but extreme drum mauling. If you survive that, you are treated to some lavish melodies still in the punk vein, but don’t have to fear for your life for a brief moment. But nothing, absolutely nothing hits harder than the scathing sociopathic statement at the song’s climax. There are songwriters at Since By Man’s core, honest, but they chose to invoke their escapism through enchanting melodies, sandwiched between nihilistic bombshells of hardcore.

We Sing The Body Electric, 2004’s A Love Hate Relationship EP and 2005’s Pictures From The Hotel Apocalypse can all be purchased at most respectable music retailers, at an affordable price.

https://www.facebook.com/sincebyman?fref=ts

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The Deaf

There’s very much a sense of irony if you include the word ‘deaf’ in your band name. However, two of history’s most successful rock bands spawned from laughing at that irony, namely being Def Leppard, and Deftones, who are most certainly not deaf, judging by millions of record sales across the world. There are a couple of other bands who have a measurable amount of success from featuring the word ‘deaf’ too such as Deaf Havana and Deafheaven, but having not been in the game for as long as the other two yet, critical acclaim will have to do the talking for now. It then seems fitting for a band that have seemingly disbanded to be called The Deaf, on a play on words term, and as a focal point for how loud their music can get. This Minneapolis trio play a scuzzy, lo-fi noise rock landslide, loud enough to be thunder but relaxing enough to feel the sea at your feet. Across the 14 songs that This Bunny Bites bestows, it’s rapid-fire, it’s jammed to bursting with riffs and booming grooves and charged with enough energy to take out power grids. Album highlight Beatdown does exactly what it says on the tin; a two-minute incantation to incite an all-out slug-fest wrapped into a scorching hot guitar performance and drums battered to an inch of their lives, that can still space a listener out in absolute bliss. That to me is rare, that a band can roughhouse and relax in equal stead, with such little effort. Hopefully this band aren’t done, because there is a gift here that needs to be uncovered and shared with the wider world.

The Deaf’s 2007 album This Bunny Bites can be found on Learning Curve Record’s Bandcamp page for a small fee, or at most respectable music retailers too.

https://myspace.com/thedeaf

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Continues

Coupling seems to be very much the main life objective, the desire to find company so you don’t spend your years on this planet alone. For some people that means friendship, or a relationship, sometimes both. In the case of Los Angeles electro punk legends Babyland, the precursor to Continues’ one man tour de force, they shared a long lasting friendship and a business relationship that lasted over a 20 year career. Daniel Gatto, the voice of Babyland, since 2009 went in a different direction, and toned down the jittery synth strokes, industrial strength percussion and throat-run-raw shouting, into a smoother, refined synth pop operation. The same impassioned delivery is there, verging on almost desperation at times, and the same production values remain, sticking heavily with an array of modular synths and drum machines, but the formula has been distilled into far more digestible nuggets of electronica gold. Love On The Run, by far my favourite song of this week, is an exceptional seance of Bronski Beat’s Smalltown Boy, bar extra eerie, chilling synth lines and Jimmy Somerville’s falsetto range swapped for the spirit of punk in a spoken poetry rehearsal. But there’s a groove that the coincidental inspiration lacks that Continues makes up for in the precision engineered synths and drum pattern working in unison that edges it out very slightly. VERY, very slightly. At times, the 2012 self-titled debut recalls The Cure, but if Robert Smith abandoned the gloom of goth to make perfect electronica an elder crowd swore they remembered, and that is a compliment of the highest order. For a one man show, Continues is utterly fantastic, pure and simple.

The 2012 debut can be found on Mattress Records’ Bandcamp and at most respectable music retailers, for a reasonable sum. Also, for your own amusement, Love On The Run was edited into a loop of Noel Fielding dancing in The Mighty Boosh, if that seems like something you might be entertained by. Go YouTube it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Continues/140361789324344?fref=ts

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3TEETH

I have a theory as to how this band got its name. Imagine three of industrial’s biggest names, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry and KMFDM getting into a physical altercation in a bar. In the ensuing brawl, Trent Reznor, Al Jourgensen and Sascha Konietzko all lose a tooth and the sheer brainpower and psychic energy between the teeth, births this Los Angleles four piece. Perhaps far too sci-fi or comic book plot a reason, but I’d pay to see that adapted. Joking aside, there’s very little to laugh about 3TEETH. This is dark, dark music, with elements of all three of those bands, manifesting itself into a soundtrack for the sinister of psyche. Cold, mechanical and splattered in grey, 3TEETH’s debut album represents somewhat of a restore factory settings reset to industrial’s origins and principles and for a band only two years of age, their vision of an electronic oblivion is all the more staggering. Unveiled, a lighter shade of oblivion, combines haunting modular synths, a metallic and electronic percussion arrangement and a monotone snarl inside of a glitchy, malfunctioning server room, echoing to high heaven. The 80’s meets the 90’s, and the track is a gloomy but glorious work of art. 3TEETH present to you a show reel of urban decay and social deconstruction so well produced and so well composed, very few words can truly do it justice.

3TEETH’s debut album, and an album of remixes from high profile industrial names can be purchased on their Bandcamp page, or at all respectable music retailers, in physical or digital format.

https://www.facebook.com/3Teeth?fref=ts

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Tilts

In my personal opinion, music started to get rather interesting when it entered the 70’s. Especially if you were playing under the banner of rock ‘n’ roll, which underwent such a transformation and much selective breeding in this time period, the offspring started to become indistinguishable from its ancestors. Many artists and bands from the ages have carved their faces into the course of history, some arguably more noticeable than others. Fast forward to present day, when St. Louis supergroup Tilts manufacture a good time rock ‘n’ roll crash course, borrowing (and not mention poking fun at some of their song titles) from some of the greatest to play the game. ZZ Top, Van Halen, Kiss. Only but to name a few. But somewhere along the line, this group got sidetracked in California and had a party with the stoner rock crew of Palm Desert. The end result is a tremendously fun, extraordinarily well-realised straight up rock album. Give Me All Of Your Loving (a rib on ZZ Top) is a riff-fuelled, groove-piloted vehicle travelling at speed with ass-kicking guitar heroism and enough swagger to make any man butt heads with the devil himself. Any person with an appreciation of rock ‘n’ roll or guitar music will find so much to enjoy from this talented bunch, and their 2012 self-titled debut is one of the most thrilling and complete albums you’ll likely hear for a good while.

Tilts’ debut and last year’s Cuatro Hombres can either be purchased in a digital format or as very limited edition vinyl, with stock levels running low, on their Bandcamp page for a fair asking price.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tilts/146879238659124?fref=ts

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Flesh Field

Crossover at times seems to be somewhat of a dirty word, only because bands can often transcend genres so much, that there simply isn’t a label or category to pigeonhole them into. No actual scientific research has gone into this, but it roughly gathers pace, and quietens down again shortly afterwards around the start of every decade. Not to say that some others don’t brew under the surface in between, but they seem rather few and far between. In the eyes of Colombus, Ohio’s Flesh Field however, their magnum opus came at the time Celldweller announced himself to the world and many an impressionable teenager with an internet connection (not to discredit his influence whatsoever, I am a big fan of his work for definite). Whereas Klayton can mask incredibly infectious pop songs in an electro-industrial facade, Flesh Field made a harsher, harder-edged discography for the darker side of the dancefloor. Smashing together an industrial attitude and a gothic aesthetic, with dark electro, sharpened metal guitar and pounding EBM, 2004’s Strain is a sprawling underground epic that sinks its talons deep and smothers listeners with a sinister embrace. The Collapse is excellence in its execution, the siren’s call elevating this stomper far beyond the realm of any shadow-shrouded industrial before it.

2004’s Strain is the only album available for purchase albeit rarely physically, but readily digitally. For any other of Flesh Field’s older material, you may need to do a little digging, but it exists out there.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Flesh-Field/1412567635664994?fref=ts

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Bourgeoisie

An old saying goes that you never really know how much you miss something until it’s gone. That seems to be the curious case of the retrowave explosion, a movement of electronica producers embracing the warm synth driven beats and hooks of the 1980’s. Oft caught somewhere between a night’s drive mixtape and the score to Tron, the meeting of old school production values and modern age music distribution has truly helped this scene to thrive and flourish. And it shows no signs of slowing, garnering more mainstream attention year on year.  Onto Florida residents Bourgeoisie, two brothers near the frontline of the movement. Neon Black, perhaps one of their most well known efforts from their self-titled debut of 2012, is everything you could ever ask for in a faithful reconstruction of the 80’s sound. Though more cinematic in its scope, the classic Moog modular synthesizer sound is present, more refined a la digital technology but as powerful as it ever sounded. The three minutes you spend are woven lovingly with layers upon layers of glowing analogue, ranging from the bright, complicated hook to striking detuned pads to add authenticity to the visage made here. Bourgeoisie are just two of the hundreds of producers now out there, but they are among the apex of the scene’s brightest and best.

Their self-titled debut and 2013’s album Space Tapes And Vice, as well as a few odd singles, can purchased for a reasonable sum on the brothers’ Bandcamp page.

https://www.facebook.com/bourgeoisiemusic?fref=ts