As well as being a mainstay of Psych-Noise stalwarts Comets On Fire, and frequent collaborator with such Experimental artists as Current 93, Ben Chasny is frighteningly prolific in the guise of his solo Folk / Americana project Six Organs of Admittance. Latest album Companion Rises (Drag City) is a shimmering trip through the stars which enriches the soul.Continue reading
I am from the big, big city (New York) and have never really been a small town type of guy. Sure, I lived in a podunk in New Hampshire for a year which was pretty isolated and anxiety-inducing in its own way. That being said I have no earthly idea what a Turkey Vulture is. Maybe it’s like the psychotic and scary Fisher Cat I heard so much about and never saw up North. Well I looked it up, they kind of look like the Skeksis from The Dark Crystal, is protected by federal law, (thanks Wikipedia) and found out it is a very real, mean ass bird, that is a scavenger (not a shock), but also feeds on the dead. So we are talking one serious bird. Turkey Vulture the band, is also very serious.Continue reading
Connecticut’s dynamic duo, Turkey Vulture, a side-project of the excellent Owl Maker band. Continuing the winged avian theme, Turkey Vulture is a politically-charged amalgam of Punk, Metal, Alternative, and Americana in a big ole badass musical stew. The centerpiece of the single is the title track ‘Boxer’, but you will stay for the amazing Dolly Parton meets punk rock cover of ‘Jolene’. The single is out tomorrow and those that purchase on Bandcamp will get the hilarious bonus track, ‘Bee Avenger’! Stream it now!Continue reading
The latest in the long line of Alternative Rockers are Mantra, a British trio who formed three years ago. This year sees the release of their debut album Dreamland (Dine Alone Records), produced by Tom Dalgety whose body of work ranges from Ghost and Opeth to The Pixies and Royal Blood – with the latter two providing the inspiration here.Continue reading
After their split and fallout, following a near-constant touring and release schedule for years, I did not expect to be covering another Blood Red Shoes album, especially since Laura-Mary Carter truly walked away, across to the USA. I first found them a number of years ago, before rediscovering my liking for their music following their set at Leeds/Reading in 2016, so to find a new release being offered was a welcome surprise. In an age where duos are becoming more and more fashionable, it’s a strong return from an act that has worked exceptionally hard for over a decade. Continue reading
Those of us who developed a fondness for sludgey goodness back in the days of its infancy will have a soft spot for Welsh sluggers Acrimony, who blazed (!) an early trail for the sub-genre in the UK. While most of that band went on to found the Stoner grooves of Sigiriya, Lee ‘Roy’ Davies has drifted through guises until settling in the present day, and Woven Man: an outfit tipping its cap to The Wicker Man and aspects of his former band, which shine throughout debut album Revelry (In Our Arms) (Undergroove).Continue reading
All Get Out has been around for some time now; their 2011 release The Season (Favorite Gentlemen) put them on the map. They are a duo from South Carolina that has really showcased their musicianship with their third release No Bouquet (Rude Records/Easy Vision) where they have created an infectious album that thrives on the dynamic of keeping things simple, creating their own Indie Alternative sound full of soul.Continue reading
And so concludes a very interesting approach to releasing an album, one that, I believe has serious merit to it. Released in four instalments throughout the year as a quadrilogy of EP’s In The Future Your Body Will Be The Furthest Thing From Your Mind (Failure Music/Pledge), Californian alternative rockers Failure has come up with a way to appeal to the immediacy of today’s playlist culture while also getting material to their fans as soon as it is ready, with no long lead-ins, no convoluted or extended marketing campaigns, just “here’s some new material” at regular intervals throughout the year.Continue reading
“Learn to trust yourself, no one else matters”: the opening statement to Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers first album is stark and powerful. Delivered in a snarled spoken word so as to puncture the eardrum as the first thing you hear to launch an album Grace apparently feared would never be if she didn’t make it this year, it’s a strong portent of things to come, that Bought To Rot (Bloodshot) is as much a lyrical album as anything else.Continue reading
Of all the bands that came to prominence in the 1990s, not many were as cantankerous or wilfully stubborn as Northern Ireland three-piece Therapy? Their extant determination and refusal to bend to the various vagaries and winds of fashion was part of the reason why fans took them to their hearts so passionately and may also explain why, nearly three decades later, they have endured.Continue reading