I took a friend to see three crazy bands in Indianapolis not long ago. Those bands were new wave / no wave punk rockers Playboy Manbaby, Transformer rockers The Cybertronic Spree, and “drive-thru metal” giants Mac Sabbath. He had no idea what to expect, and is pretty much a 1980s metal guy. He’d heard from another friend that Mac Sabbath were some sort of killer clown band, but that’s about it.
I hadn’t heard Playboy Manbaby either until this evening, and they were great. They came out looking like average dudes and then tore up the stage with a wild punk set and even held a mini-election in the crowd decided by a game of rock-paper-scissors.
“Oh wow…” was all my friend could say when The Cybertronic Spree came onstage in their Transformer outfits. He was even more stunned when they shredded for their entire set, playing originals from their new album, Ravage, and covers of fun tunes like AC/DC‘s “Thunderstruck” and Weird Al‘s “Dare to Be Stupid.” You have to be able to play well if you’re going to have a gimmick like this, and The Cybertronic Spree play very well. At one point, co-lead singer Arcee was hitting such high notes that my friend said he thought his eardrums were going to rupture.
“We’re the toy in your happy meal!” – Hot Rod on bass (3rd from left)
The “main course” was Mac Sabbath’s weird and wild rock / comedy show, full of heavy Black Sabbath parodies like “Sweet Beef” and “Frying Pan,” bad fast food-rock band puns (“Dokken Donuts,” “Dairy Queensryche,” “International Bauhaus of Pancakes,” etc.), water sprayed on the crowd, bizarre characters, and even a tribute to David Lynch‘s Blue Velvet and Roy Orbison.
Again, you have to be able to play well to do stuff like this, and Mac Sabbath have no problems doing so. Slayer McCheese can change riffs on a dime, The Catburglar is a sharp drummer and comedian, Ronny Osbourne never stops moving, singing, or joking when he’s onstage, and I don’t know how Grimalice plays bass in that outfit.
My friend was happy and dumbfounded by the end of the show. “I’ve never seen anything like that before,” he said. I hadn’t either, and I loved it. This was the last show of the first leg of their “More Than Meats the Eye” tour with the other bands, so don’t miss your chance to catch the second half.
Keep your mind open.
[Thanks to Annie at Adrenaline PR for the press passes!]
This was my fourth time seeing some iteration of Goblin, the third time I’d seen a version including founding member Claudio Simonetti, and the first time I’d seen the film Demons (properly known as Demoni in Italy, where it was made). Simonetti and his crew were performing a new prog-rock version of the film’s score to a live screening of the film – the first time they’d done this in the United States.
It was a fun show right out of the gate, with good sound quality the whole time. Simonetti announced that the original score was synth-based, but hoped we’d all enjoy this new take on it by him and his band.
In case you haven’t seen it, Demons, is flat-out nuts and is about a bunch of people trapped in a movie theatre while most of the patrons turn into blood-thirsty monsters. I can’t tell you more than that, not because I’d spoil it, but because there isn’t more than that. Simonetti said he loves the film, stating, “I think it’s very funny.” It is, actually. It’s a wild ride, and so was their new score.
After that came a brief intermission and then they returned for another full set of Goblin classics and even some rarities – including the theme to Ruggero Deodato‘s crazy action / horror film Cut and Run.
And, of course, there was plenty of music from Dario Argento‘s films, including the themes to Opera, Tenebrae, Deep Red, and Suspiria.
Simonetti’s current band includes Daniele Amador on guitar (who played a great solo during the Opera theme), Federico Maragoni on drums (who delivered double-kick drum beats so fast that I thought they were programmed tracks), and Cecilia Nappo again on bass.
It was a fun night all-around, and a fun way to kick off the Halloween season. The crowd was made up of prog-rock fans, horror fans, and movie buffs. It felt like a bunch of friends (including the band) just hanging out to watch movies and listen to good music.
Apparently there was a bit of a ruckus when Motörhead released their Another Perfect Day album forty years ago. The band had a new lineup, as guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke had been replaced by Brian Robertson, and this caused some rumblings among the band’s fans. Robertson was no slouch, however. He formerly played for Thin Lizzy. The rest of the ruckus came from Lemmy Kilmister‘s new “musical” approach to recording and deciding to add more hooks and guitar effects on the record instead of hammering everyone with raw power all the time (which they were still doing in live performances, mind you).
What’s interesting about Another Perfect Day is that despite it being a “divisive” album among the fans, a lot of tracks from it became staples of their live shows and fan favorites. “Back at the Funny Farm” doesn’t scrimp on any of Kilmister’s fuzz-heavy bass or Phil Taylor‘s wicked double-kick drum madness. “Shine” became a hit for them, and why shouldn’t Motörhead have made radio friendly singles if they wanted?
Robertson’s solo blazes like a lit trail of gasoline on “Dancing on Your Grave.” On “Rock It,” they do exactly that for four straight minutes without taking a breath. The title track has a long solo from Robertson that borders on psychedelic rock. “Marching Off to War” covers one of Kilmister’s favorite subjects – the effects of war on those who fight it. A couple tracks later, “Tales of Glory” has Kilmister snarling at those who brag about their war experiences that were nothing like those who were on the front lines. “I Got Mine” is another track off this “controversial” album that is now considered a Motörhead classic. The closing track has one of the best titles of any Motörhead song, “Die You Bastard.”
The bonus tracks on the CD and digital download versions include live versions of “Hoochie Coochie Man” and “(Don’t Need No) Religion” and demo versions of “Shine” (one an instrumental), “Die You Bastard,” and “One Track Mind.”
If you can score the vinyl version, you’ll also get a full, previously unreleased recording of a concert at Hull City Hall in Hull, England recorded June 22, 1983. You can’t miss.
Another Perfect Day has reached a new group of fans, and (rightfully so) the ruffled fan feathers have smoothed over the course of four decades. The album deserves to be revisited and heard, and this new version is a great way to do it.
In a little over two weeks Drop Nineteens will release their first LP in 3 decades. Entitled Hard Light(out November 3rd on Wharf Cat Records), the album has been billed as a spiritual successor to the band’s watershed 1992 LP Delaware, and album that is considered one of the most influential shoegaze records ever released. It was announced with a single called “Scapa Flow” which Stereogum called “magnificent,” and appeared on Pitchfork’s “Most Anticipated Albums of The Fall” list, where they said that the band “have picked up right where they left off all those years ago” alongside further praise from outlets like FADER, Consequence, and BrooklynVegan.
Today, the band are sharing a final preview of the LP, a track called “The Price Was High.”
When Drop Nineteens disbanded in the mid 90s, Greg Ackell decided he would never make music again. He wouldn’t noodle around on a guitar in the basement. He wouldn’t get a group of friends together just to jam. He was done with music entirely. Following the release of the shoegaze masterpiece Delaware in 1992, and the intricate experimentations on National Coma in 1993, the group disbanded. They had a great run. They shared stages with Radiohead, Hole, Blur, PJ Harvey and Smashing Pumpkins. They went from being teenaged kids in Boston to mid-twenty-somethings with videos on MTV, sessions on the BBC, world tours and numerous festivals under their belt. So when Drop Nineteens ceased to be, Ackell felt content. He had the rest of his life in front of him to figure out what he wanted to do. Music was a closed chapter.
That was until 2021, when a friend from the band’s early days got Greg on the phone to suggest making some music together, just to see how it felt. Instead of shutting it down like he had been doing over the years, he decided to entertain the prospect. For the first time in nearly 30 years, he picked up a guitar with intent. He immediately called up Steve Zimmeran, the band’s bassist and fellow guitarist, and the two got writing. It felt effortless for Ackell, like he never stopped writing music. “We were off to the races,” he says, “But also the question came up: What does a modern Drop Nineteens song sound like?” Enter Hard Light, the band’s stunning third record. To quote Ackell, it’s the band’s proverbial follow up to Delaware, a modern Drop Nineteens record that is completely singular in its sound and vision. The first task in making Hard Light, was of course, getting the rest of the band back together. Drop Nineteens is an inherently collaborative project. Ackell writes the lyrics, and he works with band members Zimmerman, Paula Kelley, Motohiro Yasue, and Peter Koeplin to create the sonic world. The record came together over the course of a year, recording at a patchwork of studios all around the country: Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. When Kelley and Ackell first heard their vocals recorded together on the opus album closer “T”, the chemistry was undeniable. Making music together felt natural, fluid, exciting.
Hard Light is a romantic record in the literary sense. Beauty from longing; longing from beauty. You put the album on and want to be clad in a velvet dress sprawled across a fainting couch. You want to be holding someone’s hand while you sit back in the tall grass. The guitars are expansive and expressive as ever. Ackell and Kelley’s vocals are cool, crystalline, and luminous. “Gal” comes on like a dream. The vocals pour in when you least expect them, once in the middle, where Ackell delivers one of the strangest (and best) lyrics on the record, “And there were snakes/with cats at the wheel.” Hard Light’s first single, “Scapa Flow” is triumphant and an excellent example of what a modern day Drop Nineteens song sounds like. The guitars glide cloud-like, floor toms shuffle and rumble in the background, searching. Ackell and Kelley’s vocals are as toned as they are bound. Hard Light is every bit the ride that Delaware was, diverse in its sounds, with surprises at every turn. Drop Nineteens have brought clarity and cool in 2023 to the genre they helped create. A portrait of a band 30 years later, as talented and dedicated to their craft as ever. To put it more bluntly, they’re at the top of their game.
Drop Nineteens Hard Light is available for preorder HERE
Keep your mind open.
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Leeds quartet Yard Act announce their new album, Where’s My Utopia?, out March 1st on Republic Records, and present its lead single/video, “Dream Job.” Co-produced by Yard Act and Gorillaz member Remi Kabaka Jr., Where’s My Utopia? follows the band’s debut, 2022’s The Overload, and this year’s much-lauded single “The Trench Coat Museum.” Additionally, Yard Act unveil a 2024 tour of North America, Europe and the UK (including a hometown headline show at the 5,750 capacity Millennium Square Leeds). A full list of tour dates is below, including the November US run just around the corner. West Coast Summer 2024 dates go on sale Oct. 27th at 10am local time and all other shows are on sale now.
Since the release of The Overload, “a debut album bursting with character” (Uncut), Yard Act – frontman and vocalist James Smith, bassist Ryan Needham, guitarist Sam Shjipstone, and drummer Jay Russell — have become one of the most exciting indie success stories of this decade. They’ve ticked off previously unimaginable milestones ranging from landing at Number Two on the UK charts, UK (Later … with Jools Holland) and US (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon) television debuts, being shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, and a co-sign from Elton John who joined the band to guest on a reworking of The Overload album closer, “100% Endurance.” They’ve spent the past two years traversing the globe, playing festivals from Tokyo to Texas, and selling out tour after tour along the way.
While the band’s trajectory continued to shoot upwards, and the brotherly bond between the four band members strengthened, Smith and his wife welcomed their first child. This dueling sense of responsibility and ambition, guilt, love, drive and everything in between forms the narrative backbone of Yard Act’s brilliantly exploratory second album, Where’s My Utopia?
Lead single, “Dream Job,” “feels like an apt introduction to the themes explored on Where’s My Utopia? — though not all encompassing,” comments Smith. “In part, I was scrutinizing and mocking myself for being a moaning ungrateful little brat, whilst also trying to address how the music industry is this rather uncontrollable beast that hurtles forward unthinkingly and every single person involved in it plays their part. Myself included, obviously. As with pretty much everything else going through my head last year, trying to find the right time to articulate the complexity of emotions I was feeling and the severity to which I was feeling them couldn’t be found – or accommodated, so instead I tried to capture it in a pop song that lasts less than three minutes once the fog had cleared a bit. It’s good and bad. I’m still glad that everything that happened to me happened.”
The song is wryly upbeat, and lands like The Blockheads doing “Club Tropicana” — a not entirely believable thumbs up from the trenches. The “Dream Job” video was directed by James Slater, marking the band and director’s 7th collaboration (“with many more to come”).
Written in snapshots of time in the midst of touring, Where’s My Utopia? is a giant leap forward into broad and playful new sonic waters, sprinkled with strings, choirs, and voice-acting clips courtesy of comedian pals Nish Kumar, Rose Matafeo, and more. It was a communal four-way effort built on chemistry, familiarity and the trust to challenge and push each other creatively. “The main reason that ‘post-punk’ was the vehicle for Album One was because it was really affordable to do, but we always liked so much other music and this time we’ve had the confidence to embrace it,” James explains. Across the record, influences range from Fela Kuti to Ennio Moricone via Spiller’s ‘00s pop smash “Groovejet.”
It’s a celebratory palette upon which Smith allowed himself to reach lyrically deeper into himself than ever. Gone, largely, are the outward-facing character studies of yore, replaced with a set of songs that stare fully into the headlights of life, wrangling with the frontman’s own fears and foibles to create a sort of Promethean narrative – but with jokes. “You can commit to the idea that we’re just animals who eat and fuck and then we die, and that’s fine,” he suggests. “But for me, creativity always seems to be the best way of articulating the absolute minefield of what human existence is.”
Yard Act Tour Dates Thu. Nov. 2 – Reykjavik, IS @ Iceland Airwaves Sat. Nov. 4 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw Sun. Nov. 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts Mon. Nov. 6 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar Tue. Nov. 7 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall Thu. Nov. 9 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement East Fri. Nov. 10 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl Sat. Nov. 11 – New Orleans, LA @ Toulouse Theatre Tue. Nov. 14 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk Wed. Nov. 15 – Dallas, TX @ Deep Ellum Art Company Fri. Nov. 17 – Mexico City, MX @ Corona Capital Festival Sat. Dec. 2 – Bangkok, TH @ Maho Rasop Festival Sun. Dec. 3 – Hong Kong, HK @ Clockenflap Festival Tue. Dec. 5 – Osaka, JP @ Shangri-la Thu. Dec. 7 – Tokyo, JP @ Club Quattro Wed. Mar. 13 – Norwich, UK @ The Nick Rayns LCR (UEA) Thu. Mar. 14 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City Fri. Mar. 15 – Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy Sat. Mar. 16 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo Sun. Mar. 17 – Newcastle, UK @ Northumbria University Tue. Mar. 19 – Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall Wed. Mar. 20 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street Fri. Mar. 22 – Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory Sat. Mar. 23 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy Mon. Mar. 25 – Brighton, UK @ The Dome Wed. Mar. 27 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo Thu. Apr. 4 – Nantes, FR @ Stereolux Fri. Apr. 5 – Paris, FR @ Cabaret Sauvage Sat. Apr. 6 – Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey Mon. Apr. 8 – Lisbon, PT @ LAV Tue. Apr. 9 – Madrid, ES @ Mon Thu. Apr. 11 – Barcelona, ES @ La 2 Fri. Apr. 12 – Lyon, FR @ Le Transbordeur Sat. Apr. 13 – Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv Club Sun. Apr. 14 – Milan, IT @ Santeria Toscana 31 Tue. Apr. 16 – Zurich, CH @ Mascotte Wed. Apr. 17 – Munich, DE @ Muffathalle Thu. Apr. 18 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg Sat. Apr. 20 – Stockholm, SE @ Slaktkyrkan Wed. Apr. 24 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich Thu. Apr. 25 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Main Hall Fri. Apr. 26 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje Sat. Apr. 27 – Cologne, DE @ Kantine Sun. Apr. 28 – Brussels, BE @ Les Nuits Botanique Thu. May 30 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern Fri. May 31 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater Sat. Jun. 1 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harriet’s Mon. Jun. 3 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst Atrium Tue. Jun. 4 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent Thu. Jun. 6 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios Fri. Jun. 7 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre Sat. Jun. 8 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile Sat. Aug. 3 – Leeds, UK @ Millenium Square
Chaos master Dion Lunadon has announced his newest solo album, Systems Edge, due out November 14, 2023. To whet your appetite for it, he’s already released the first single, “I Walk Away.”
On top of that, the album is already available for pre-order on vinyl and “shockwave” vinyland he’s already announced a tour across Europe in the next two months.
Can’t make any of these gigs? Why not go see him in New York for the album’s release party, then?
I don’t know what’s in the water in Sweden nowadays, but it might be bringing people’s minds to higher states of consciousness and thus causing many of them to form cool bands – like Gothenburg’s psychedelic rockers Melody Fields and their new album 1901.
The album is full of stunning touches and haunting moments – not spooky, creepy haunting moments, mind you. The moments are almost like having groovy ghosts of a deceased psych-band who crashed their van on their European tour in 1969 and now hitch rides with travelers and get them into weird adventures. “Going Back” throws you back into the psychedelic era right away, making you wonder if Melody Fields has someone dropped you through a time portal.
“Jesus” is described by the band as “a profound experience that delves into the complexities of spirituality and personal connections, leaving an indelible mark on the listener’s consciousness. “Jesus” is not just a song; it’s a musical experience that transcends boundaries…” I can’t describe it better than that. The only thing I can add is that it reveals the band’s love of shoegaze and shows how that genre and psych-rock are pretty much brothers from another mother / sisters from another mister.
“It’s the end, and soon you will die,” they sing on “Rave On,” in which they join most of their fellow psych-rockers by melting your brain while performing a song about the inevitability of death…so why worry about it? Keep raving, dancing, and exploring.
In case you were wondering, why yes, Melody Fields likes synthwave as well, as evidenced on the instrumental “Mellanväsen” (“Middle Vase”). They take those synths and then pair them up with guitars that buzz like some kind of giant robotic hornet on the mostly instrumental “Transatlantic.” You probably could hear the guitars across the Atlantic if you cranked your speaker volume to the max. The band worked with Swedish psych-voodoo giants GOATon parts of the album (and Austin, Texas’ psych-groovers Holy Wave), and GOAT’s touches are immediately apparent on “Home at Last” – which hits you with all kinds of wild world sounds.
The heavy bass on “Indian MC” mixes well with the sitar-like guitar (or is that an actual sitar? It’s played so well that you can’t tell either way.) chords to evoke riding across Europe with a lover and no particular agenda apart from escaping workplace drudgery. “It takes two, and I want you. Now it’s time for you to choose,” they sing on “In Love” – which rocks hard and will probably make Black Rebel Motorcycle Club a bit envious when they hear it. It’s the kind of track that would make a good show opener because it’s an instant rocker that gets your attention and shakes the walls. The closing track, “Mayday,” sends the album out on a floating note with soft percussion and music box-like guitars (even if one of the music boxes is winding down and perhaps cursed).
1901 is one of the best psych-rock records I’ve heard so far this year, and Melody Fields is already planning to release another one, 1991, on November 10, 2023. Don’t miss either of them.
After a decade-long hiatus, Bristol-based shoegaze ensemble, The Fauns, have reemerged from their secret bunker with their first new music in ten years with new single “How Lost”, which is out now via Invada. The band have also announced their first live show since 2015 with a date at The Cavendish Arms in December.
The Fauns’ journey began in 2007, self-releasing their eponymous debut album in 2009, followed by the 2013 release of “Lights.” These two works garnered warm acclaim from both critics a fervent shoegaze-loving fanbase alike – rekindled by the return of My Bloody Valentine.
Reflecting on their earlier work, Michael Savage shares: “Listening back, the first album serves as a diary chronicling our evolution from utter novices in the recording process to becoming proficient. The second album signified a solidification of The Fauns sound. I try my best to remain partially idiotic about recording. The idiosyncrasy is part of our sound; we’re not aiming for excessive polish.”
Throughout the 2010s, the band toured relentlessly across Europe, sharing the stage with Creation label act The Telescopes for a number of shows. A European support tour with French doomgazers Alcest broadened The Fauns’ reach, and during this period they recorded sessions for Radio 6 and Xfm, even winning Steve Lamacq’s coveted Rebel Playlist accolade.
“How Lost” sees the band return led by three original members:Michael Savage, Alison Garner, and Guy Rhys Davies. In 2019, accomplished soundtrack composer Will Slater joined the band, catalyzing an intensified period of songwriting. The push and pull between Savage and Slater’s recording styles producing interesting and unique results. “How Lost” is taken from the band’s upcoming album, to be announced soon.
See The Fauns live: 7th December – The Cavendish Arms, London
Shoegaze legends Slowdive decided they wanted to scale back the electronics and push more of the reverb-heavy guitars on their newest album, everything is alive. It’s a powerful decision, one made as two members of the band were grieving the loss of a parent in 2020 and trying to make sense of a world that pretty much went crazy for about two years. The album’s cover, depicting a shrouded woman in the middle of a labyrinth, captures everyone’s feelings during those years – but it also shows a way out of the maze. There was hope back then and even now.
The album starts, oddly enough, with some of the electronic beats that singer and guitarist Neil Halstead originally wanted to scale back on “shanty,” and you’re thinking, “Wait, is this going to be an electro record?” Then, the crunchy, roaring guitars step into the room and take over the whole space. “prayer remembered” is the kind of beautiful, floating track that Slowdive pull off seemingly without effort. It’s perfect for lonely drives, morning walks, lonely moments in your living room, still silences in the kitchen when you feel a ghost behind you…
Rachel Goswell‘s vocal sounds start “alife” with spooky atmospherics and then become bright and lovely during the chorus (as do the guitars from her and Halstead). “andalusia plays” ups the acoustic guitar and lets Nick Chaplin‘s bass simmer under Halstead’s vocals and lyrics about a memorable winter night. “kisses” blends shoegaze with synthwave to create a radio-friendly future hit.
“skin in the game” ups the vocal echo effects and the guitar reverb, resulting in an ethereal track that will make you drift out of your skin and up to the ceiling. “chained to a cloud” is aptly named, as the mostly instrumental track makes you feel like you’re drifting across the sky and seeing the landscape below you change as the world revolves and the sun cuts through the cloud to which you’re attached. Closing with the uplifting track entitled “the slab,” Slowdive take a phrase / object often associated with death (i.e., a body on a slab in a morgue) and make it something from which we can all rise – the slab of a bed tangled in sheets from unrestful sleep, the slab of a work desk, the slab of gray pavement during our work commute – we can rise from them and above them and remember that everything is alive. We are alive. We are part of everything, and that life, the life of the universe, really, is not only in us, but is created by us.
Thanks, Slowdive, for reminding us of this.
Keep your mind open.
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As they approach the release of their ‘Illuminated 1989’ album, the original 1989 full-length record produced by Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie, trailblazing soul-influenced shoegazers The Veldtannounce North American tour dates and alsopresent the single ‘Aurora Borealis’ with Elizabeth Fraser making a cameo appearance on backing vocals towards the end. Complementing this is theB-side remix, created by The Veldt around the turn of the century.
This is the second single from the album, which Guthrie produced in autumn 1989 and has now remastered for vinyl. While intended to be the band’s first album, their label Capitol Records shelved the recording and sent them back into the studio with producer Lincoln Fong (Moose), resulting in their first album released with the title ‘Marigolds’.
Earlier, the band released the lead track‘The Everlasting Gobstopper’ digitally (with a video produced by Jammi Yorkand the late Yuko Sueta) and on vinyl, involving a B-side previously unreleased vinyl exclusive ‘Joshuu Lullaby’, also recently produced by Guthrie.
One of the most notable first-wave shoegaze bands, formed in North Carolina in the 1980s, The Veldt surrounds identical twins Daniel Chavis (vocals, guitar) and Danny Chavis (guitar). Their unique sound was influenced by Cocteau Twins as readily as Marvin Gaye and free-jazz warriors Sun Ra and Pharaoh Sanders. Referencing European post-punk while embracing modern hip-hop, these trailblazers work with transient dreamscapes as fluidly as solid song structures.
Pitchfork included The Veldt’s album‘Afrodisiac’, produced by the legendary Ray Shulman (The Sundays, Bjork, The Sugarcubes) and released via Mercury Records, in the top 50 shoegaze albums ever released, while Stereogum included ‘Until You’re Forever’ in the top 31 shoegaze tracks. Their sound also inspired future generations of alternative artists, including TV On the Radio.
Daniel Chavis on their inspiration for ‘Aurora Borealis’: “This song is about my brother’s love for his newborn daughter. Written out of high school and dug out around the time the band had started to get noticed. We had written so many, but it was one of the newest pieces that we had begun experimenting. This would signal our departure from being a band that made people dance to a band that made people confused. ‘The Everlasting Gobstopper’ came shortly thereafter and was being finished.”
Danny Chavis adds, “This song was written in 1986 and was included in the first batch of songs we demoed under the name VELDT. Having heard ‘Treasure’ by Cocteau Twins, this song was inspired by that very album and RUN DMC’s ‘Sucker MC’s’ around the same time that year.”
The Veldt’s journey is fascinating. Performing since they were children, the Chavis brothers’ musical roots lead back to the church and southern juke-joints, and listening to music that included gospel, Motown and Pink Floyd. The Veldt formed in the late 80’s in Raleigh amongst the legendary North Carolina music scene of the time, initially signing with Mammoth Records – leading to a chain of major-label relationships that took the group across Europe and the U.S. playing shows with the likes of Throwing Muses, Pixies, Cocteau Twins and Jesus & Mary Chain.
After moving from Raleigh to New York, they briefly performed as Apollo Heights before returning to their original name The Veldt. Joined by Japanese bassist-programmer Hayato Nakao, they together forging music that is a heady and sensual blend of shoegaze and progressive soul, dreamy soundscapes and infectious grooves. Some of the band’s recent notable releases include‘The Shocking Fuzz Of Your Electric Fur’ EP(2017) and the album ‘Entropy is the Mainline to God’ (2022).
Over the years, The Veldt has collaborated with TV On The Radio, Mos Def, Lady Miss Kier (Deee-Lite), A.R.Kane and toured or played with Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Pixies, Throwing Muses, Echo & The Bunnymen, Cocteau Twins, Manic Street Preachers, Phantogram, Modern English, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Oasis, Chuck D, Living Colour and Schooly D.
‘Aurora Borealis’ is now available everywhere, including Apple Music, SpotifyandBandcamp. On November 24, the ‘Illuminated 1989’ album will be released on vinyl, CD, cassette and digitally via Portland-based Little Cloud Recordsand 5BC Records. From October through December, The Veldt will be touring many cities and will be performing at Levitation Festival in Austinand Seattle’s KEXP, as well as playing several exclusive dates supporting Violent Femmes.
TOUR DATES SAT 10/21 = Norfolk, VA @ the NorVa w/ Violent Femmes SUN 10/22 = Richmond, VA @ the National w/ Violent Femmes MON 10/23 = Asheville, NC @ TBA TUE 10/24 = Nashville, TN @ the Underdog WED 10/25 = Memphis, TN @ Growlers THU 10/26 = Little Rock, AR @ EJ’s Drinks and Eats FRI 10/27 = Dallas, TX @ TBA SAT 10/28 = Austin, TX @ the Far Out Lounge (LEVITATION Festival) MON 11/27 = Atlanta, GA @ 529 TUE 11/28 = Birmingham, AL @ TBA WED 11/29 = New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa THU 11/30 = Houston, TX @ 1810 Ojeman FRI 12/1 = Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas SAT 12/2 = Silver City, NM @ Whiskey Creek Zocalo w/ Tremours SUN 12/3 = Phoenix, AZ @ Linger Longer Lounge w/ Tremours MON 12/4 = San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar w/ Tremours TUE 12/5 = Los Angeles, CA @ Gold Diggers w/ Tremours WED 12/6 = San Francisco, CA @ Kilowatt w/ Tremours THU 12/7 = Portland, OR @ Show Bar w/ Tremours FRI 12/8 = Seattle, WA @ the Central Saloon (TremoloFest) w/ Tremours SAT 12/9 = Vancouver, BC @ TBA SUN 12/10 = Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown w/ Tremours) MON 12/11 = Eugene, OR @ Old Nick’s w/ Tremours TUE 12/12 = Olympia, WA @ Le Voyeur w/ Tremours WED 12/13 = Tacoma, WA @ TBA THU 12/14 = Seattle, WA @ KEXP
