Shoegaze – Page 24 – 7th Level Music

Rewind Review: A Place to Bury Strangers – Exploding Head (2009)

I’ve been meaning to pick up A Place to Bury Strangers’ 2009 album, Exploding Head, for years. I have no excuse other than it was never for sale on CD whenever I’d see them live. I love the band, so shame on me for taking seven years to pick up this fine record.

The opener, “It Is Nothing,” displays Oliver Ackermann’s (vocals and guitar) love of My Bloody Valentine. His guitar sounds like he’s playing it upside-down and backwards while his vocals seem to be coming from the bottom of an empty pool. “In Your Heart” is one of my favorite APTBS tracks. It has the stabbing guitar chords, chugging synth beats, lyrics about screwed-up relationships (“Don’t say you’ll be with me again. There’s nothing there, it’s dead.”), and David J-like bass I love from their songs, and it slays live.

Tribal drumming grounds “Lost Feeling” as Ackermann pleads with his girl to come back to him, but he knows he’s not even on her radar. It’s like a great lost Bauhaus track with even more blaring guitars. “Deadbeat” is nothing but, as it has some of the hardest, slickest beats and bass on the record. It’s an instant mosh pit creator, so be careful where you play it.

“Keep Slipping Away” is like early Cure but with more reverb, heavier amps, and not as much moping. “Ego Death” is heavy goth rock with a chorus that might knock you out of your boots. “Smile When You Smile” is equally heavy and a bit creepier. “Everything Always Goes Wrong” could be the theme for every Three’s Company episode by the title, but the sound of it is better for a modern Euro-horror film.

You’d think the title track would be loud enough to make your head explode, but APTBS wisely flips it around to make it a catchy industrial track with almost a dance club bass line and vocals free of reverb. The closer is one of their hardest and loudest live tracks – “I Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart.” As fast as it is on the record, it’s twice the speed live.

Don’t be like me and wait seven years to add this to your collection. It’s essential noise-psych.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Austin artist spotlight: Drinking Flowers

Los Angeles post-punk band Drinking Flowers will bring their cool drone / psychedelic sound to Levitation Austin on May 1st, playing the Levitation Tent that day. This is another band I hadn’t heard of before they were booked for the festival. I love discovering new, good bands, and they sound like another one I’ll be obsessed with by the time their set is finished.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Austin artist spotlight: Slowdive

England’s Slowdive are shoegaze legends who should’ve been bigger over here in the U.S. than they were in their early 1990’s heyday. They’ve been reunited and touring for a couple years now, which is good news for all of us. I missed them at Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival a couple years ago, but I’m happy to see them at Levitation Austin when they close out the main stage on April 29th.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: The Duke Spirit – Neptune (2008)

I first heard The Duke Spirit (Liela Moss – vocals, keys, percussion, Toby Butler – bass, Luke Ford – guitars, Daniel Higgins – guitars, organ, Olly Betts – drums) on BBC 6 Music (the greatest radio station in the world) somewhere around 2010 when they played the title track from the Duke Spirit’s 2005 debut album Cuts Across the Land. I nearly wept and thought, “Where has this band been my whole life?”

I found their 2008 release, Neptune, in a bargain CD bin at a Bloomington, Indiana wrecka stow. It opens with a brief hymn that repeats the lines “I do believe in something you know.” You can take that a couple different ways: Either Moss is telling us she has faith in something we know as truth; or she’s defiantly telling someone, perhaps us, that she has faith despite what we might believe.

The first full track, “Send a Little Love Token,” sums up everything I love about the band: Powerful vocals that evoke Patti Smith, hammering piano, big drums, and shoegaze guitar. “The Step and the Whale” is about Moss realizing too late that she’s sabotaged a relationship. It’s a sharp song for her voice, Butler’s bass sounds like something from an old Cure record, and the rest of the band puts down stuff the Jesus and Mary Chain would envy.

“Dog Roses” might be Moss remembering why she sabotaged the relationship and remembering that it was a good idea after all: “I hope you stay in charge of your mouth…When nothing’s fluid you drink yourself through it. Outside you chalk-draw yourself.” “Into the Fold,” a good rocker, is about rebuilding a relationship (“This heart could heal, if you had courage just to say what you feel.”).

“This Ship Was Built to Last” is a combination sea shanty and shoegaze track. Trust me, it works. The combination of the distorted, echoing guitar (especially after the epic bridge), Moss’ chanting vocals, and coxswain drumming is excellent.

Someone must’ve pissed off Moss when she wrote “Wooden Heart,” because it’s a searing diatribe against a former lover, but delivered with a torch song blues feel. “I would understand your heart if I could feel it,” she sings as guitars reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine riffs snake around her.

She’s not angry in “You Really Wake Up the Love in Me.” Quite the opposite, actually. “You taste so good today you’d get love from anyone,” she sings as Betts puts down some of his best licks on the record and the guitars go into full psychedelic madness by the end. “My Sunken Treasure” is borderline power pop. “Lassoo,” with its nice horn section, is the excellent power rock the Duke Spirit does so well, combining fierce vocals with raw rock instrumentation. It continues with “Neptune’s Call,” in which Moss is feeling frisky again (“I tasted the salt on you. Now I have a tongue tattoo.”). The closer, “Sovereign,” is almost a lullaby.

The Duke Spirit have a new album, Kin, due out later this year. I look forward to it. The first three released tracks are a nice blend of their styles: shoegaze, soul, rock. Neptune picks up where Cuts Across the Land left off, and the band is still moving forward.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Chicago artist spotlight: Nite Fields

Nite Fields are an Australian four-piece who make hypnotic shoe gaze psychedelia with guitars that sound like they were recorded in a box canyon and vocals that sound like old Love and Rockets or Jesus and Mary Chain records.

Their newest album, Depersonalisation, is full of dreamy stuff that I’m sure will be good live and put the audience into a trance. They are opening Levitation Chicago on March 11th.

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Levitation Chicago artist spotlight: Vadaat Charigim

This Israeli shoegaze trio hails from Tel Aviv and only sings in Hebrew. Don’t understand Hebrew? Neither do I, but like me you won’t care because good music is good in any language. Vadaat Charigim (“Exceptions Committee” – Yuval Haring – guitar and vocals, Yuval Guttman – drums, Dan Fabian Bloch – bass) play finely crafted shoegaze that borders on dream-rock. Their stuff reminds me of early albums from A Flock of Seagulls – lots of reverb on the vocals, spacey guitar, trippy synths, and drums that sometimes hit heavy and sometimes almost seem to disappear.

I missed them at Levitation Austin last year, but they’re playing Thursday March 10th at Levitation Chicago. I look forward to the set.

Keep your mind open.

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The Raveonettes now have a PledgeMusic campaign for their “anti-album.”

As I reported on February 20th, the Raveonettes are creating a new “anti-album” in which they’re releasing a new track every month this year. They’ve been asked if an album of the tracks will be released and they’ve announced a new PledgeMusic campaign to help fund a CD and vinyl cut of the as yet unnamed album.

The album will be $15 on CD through the campaign, but a singed copy of the CD is available for only ten dollars more. Only 300 of those are being made available and 75 of them are already claimed at press time. Get them while they’re hot.

In the meantime, enjoy the official lyric video for the newest track – “Run Mascara Run.”

Keep your mind open.

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Tamaryn – Cranekiss

Tamaryn Brown (hereafter known as Tamaryn) Tweeted last year that she felt 2015 had been her least sexiest year ever. I beg to differ because she gave us a lush, sexy, and excellent make-out record in 2015 – Cranekiss.

The title track opener sounds at first like a 45rpm record being played at 33 1/3rpm. The synths appear to be have been recorded at the bottom of a lake and Tamaryn’s lovely vocals appear to have been recorded in an empty YMCA pool. The Cure-like bass make the track something that should be on every “Summer 2015” mix tape.

“Hands All Over Me” immediately counters Ms. Brown’s “non-sexy 2015” Tweet, because I’m sure it’s gotten hundreds of people laid since its release. It’s full of gorgeous keyboards, lyrics about kinks and going for a couple rounds, and a near-industrial feel (especially the ending). It’s one of my favorite singles of 2015.

“Last” is a song by that one early 1980’s New Wave band that has haunted you since you heard it once on a college rock station as you were traveling to your aunt’s house for Christmas. Here it is, full of thick bass, strong synths, powerful and ethereal vocals, and that certain attitude that made you remember it for years. It’s a song about waiting for a lover, so it’s only natural you’ve been waiting to hear this.

“Collection” is bouncy and full of more great synths while “Keep Calling” slows things down and curls around you like incense smoke. It reminds me of early Love & Rockets records. “Softcore” is a genre of adult films, so I again am not buying Tamaryn’s claim of an unsexy 2015, especially when her torch singer voice rubs against you like a purring cat before the track turns into something you might hear in a dark and, ahem, exclusive club.

I think “Fade Away Slow” was recorded in the Black Lodge because it seems to come from another world where time moves slower. The guitar work on it is almost drone metal, but it’s sprinkled with crisp tones that would make Sergio Leone smile. The bass is menacing, the drums simple and effective, and Tamaryn’s vocals rise up around you…or perhaps you sink into them.

I love the guitar work on “I Won’t Be Found.” It has that excellent reverb / shoegaze effect that calms down everything around you, and the pace of the track only helps. This is, again, prime make-out music. Don’t blame Tamaryn if you aren’t getting some by this point on the album, because she’s made it especially easy for you with this track. I mean, for heaven’s sake, the next super-lush track is called “Sugarfix.” How much more help do you need?

Cranekiss ends with “Intruder (Waking You Up).” I can’t help but wonder if it’s about a one-night stand ending in a quick smooch and a thank you for a fun time and the coffee. The fuzzy and echoing guitar increases the “Wow…that was a crazy night.” mood and Tamaryn’s vocals seem to indicate she’s considering not leaving after all.

I know I don’t want to leave this record. It’s like a blissful weekend of good food and drink, late night cocktail lounges, and a lot of sex. If Tamaryn thinks she wasn’t sexy in 2015, then a record of her feeling frisky would probably melt my stereo.

Keep your mind open.

Levitation Chicago 2016 line-up announced.

The fine folks at the Levitation Music Festival have released their show schedule (as in who is playing which dates, set times will come later) and full line-up for their Chicago festival March 10-12 at Thalia Hall. Tickets are only $95.00 (plus tax) for this three-night festival, and that’s a steal when you check out who’s playing there.

I’ll highlight the bands I’m most interested in seeing as the festival gets closer, but my must-see list is as follows:

Thursday: Vadaat Charigim, Gary Wilson, Health, Oneohtrix Point Never.

I missed Vadaat Charigim (an Israeli psychedelic band) at Levitation Austin last year, so I don’t want to miss them again. Gary Wilson is a legendary recluse and experimental music creator who is one of Beck’s biggest influences. Health create crazy electro that borders on noise rock. Oneohtrix Point Never is considered to be an ultra-hipster darling by many, but his new album is supposed to be mostly dark electro. He’s also performing at Levitation Austin in April (which I’ll also be attending), so I won’t have to check out his set there if I don’t like his set in Chicago.

Friday: Nite Fields, Blanck Mass, Ryley Walker, Lightning Bolt.

Nite Fields make fine dreamy shoe gaze that sounds like it’s from the late 1980’s. Blanck Mass is another act I missed in Austin last year and a great electro performer. Ryley Walker is an excellent guitar player, and Lightning Bolt make some of the craziest noise rock on the planet.

Saturday: Natural Information Society & Bitchin’ Bajas, Night Beats, Earthless, Chelsea Wolfe, Faust.

A great night right there. Natural Information Society & Bitchin’ Bajas team up to make cool world music-influenced psychedelia. Night Beats are one of my favorite bands, and they make great blues-dipped psych rock. I’ve seen them twice at Levitation Austin and will see them at any opportunity. Earthless blew my mind with their cosmic stoner rock in Austin two years ago, so I’m sure another set from them will be just as good. Chelsea Wolfe is a new act to me, but she makes fine dark wave music. Faust is a legendary krautrock band who has inspired many.

See you there?

Keep your mind open.