I think it’s a given that if you find an Electric Wizard album for five bucks, you put down five bucks. That’s what I did when I found their classic third album, Dopethrone, in a Columbus, Ohio record store a couple weeks ago.
The album’s back story is full of drugs, booze, H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard stories, and arguments over which direction the band would take on their newest record. Believe it or not, there were discussions among some band members about trying to sound more like Nirvana or Linkin Park (complete with record scratching – How much drugs were they doing?).
Thankfully, their stuck to their doom roots and created what is now considered a doom / stoner metal classic. The album opens with a sample of someone talking about being able to escape satanic cults only by death or residency in a mental institution before they unload “Vinum Sabbathi” – a sludgy song about drug addiction (“Now I’m a slave to the black drug, forced to serve this black god.”) that almost defies description. Tim Baghsaw‘s bass on it is so heavy it almost crushes you.
The switch to “Funeralopolis” makes you think they’re going to mellow out for a little while, but that thought is short-lived. Jus Oborn‘s guitars on it sound like a hundred buzz saws being operated by drunken orcs while he sings cheerful lyrics like “Millions are screaming, the dead are still living. This earth has died yet no one has seen.” and “Nuclear warheads ready to strike. This world is so fucked let’s end it tonight.” It’s not date night music…unless you’re dating an incubus or succubus, then by all means blast it.
“Weird Tales” is a three-part tale of creepy things and a tribute to Lovecraft and even Weird Tales magazine. Part one is “Electric Frost,” which name checks Yuggoth and Kadath from Lovecraft stories and pays tribute to them through powerful riffs that come at you like a tidal wave. Drummer Mark Greening has said in the past that he always felt the drums on Dopethrone and other Electric Wizard albums could’ve been bigger. That’s difficult to imagine, because his drums almost bludgeon you unconscious over the entire record. “Electric Frost” is a great example. The next two parts, “Golgotha” and “Altar of Melektaus,” are trippy instrumentals with smoky synths that slither like tentacles from shadowy places.
“Barbarian” is, appropriately, a song about Conan and pays great homage to him and his creator (Robert E. Howard) with its battle axe riffs and skull-smashing drums. “I, the Witchfinder” is as gritty and gruesome as its namesake, who delights in torturing maidens suspects of witchcraft. “We Hate You” is a tongue-in-cheek parody of Black Sabbath songs about loving one’s fellow man. The title track is a growling, snarling, savage thing all about…you guessed it, a throne made of weed upon which sit “three wizards crowned with weed.”
This album is about as heavy as a war hammer forged from lead. It’s a wild ride, at times spooky and other times groovy, but always, always heavy.
I discovered Pelada when they were a last-minute addition to the 2022 Levitation France music festival. They closed one of the stages with a powerful performance of dance-punk ragers that had everyone jumping. I didn’t know anything else about them at the time, so I started looking.
Fast forward a couple years later, and here I am finally getting around to reviewing their excellent 2019 album Movimiento Para Cambio (Movement for Change). The album’s title is pretty much the band’s mission statement – making people get off their asses to demand change in the world and make needed changes in ourselves.
“A Mí Me Juzgan Por Ser Mujer” (“I Am Judged Because I’m a Woman”) blends Tobias Rochman‘s house beats with Chris Vargas‘ lyrical kick in the crotch to “bro culture,” toxic masculinity, and the maddening expectations put on women across the world. “Ajetreo” (“Hustle”) will have you doing just that on the dance floor, as it sounds like Rochman and Vargas plucked it from a Barcelona rave club in 1993.
“Habla Tu Verdad” (“Speak Your Truth”) has Vargas encouraging victims of sexual harassment to tell their stories and push back against such treatment. Rochman’s house beats and synths on it are a great contrast to Vargas’ snarling rage. The beats turn into slightly industrial bloops, bleeps, and buzzes – mixed with killer synth-bass – on “Asegura” (“Secure”), which tackles the pervading menace of technology and surveillance.
It can’t be a coincidence that “Granadilla” (“Passion Fruit”) is the sexiest song on the album. The beats are made for making out, and Vargas’ voice curls like honey being poured into hot tea. “Caderona” (“Big Hips”) adds some slight robot-like distortion to some of Vargas’ vocals in a song about staring right back at the male gaze as the dude gets more and more uncomfortable. “Desatado” (“Untied”) will make you race to the dance floor, free of attachments, expectations, and limitations – which is the point Pelada has been making for the entire album. Rochman’s synths on ‘”Perra” (“Bitch”) become sharp and jagged while Vargas’ vocals soften in presentation, but not in fury. A message in the liner notes of the album is “Open your eyes. The beast feeds on exploitation.” This is especially noted on “Aquí,” which is about the rising power of global corporations.
Pelada’s name translates as “Peeling” – another call to strip away labels, expectations, and hindrances put upon us. This whole album does that and makes you dance at the same time. Dance-punk isn’t easy to make, and many times it comes off as either trite or trying too hard to make a point. Movimiento Para Cambio hits the sweet spot on every track.
Located at 5405 North Clark Street in Chicago, Illinois, Rattleback Records is a fun store in a hip neighborhood. The place is full of interesting stuff, outsider art, cheap CDs, and more. Walk in and look to the right, and you’ll see this…
Classic country, plenty of David Bowie vinyl reissues, framed posters, and more. Look to the left when you walk in and you’re greeted by all of this…
CDs, cassettes, and plenty more speciality vinyl is all available here. They also have some fun quirky stuff like this…
They also sell some cool audio gear there, in case you need something to play all the stuff you’re going to buy from them.
There’s all kinds of quirky stuff here, and plenty for collectors. Case in point…
Or how about…
In case you’re wondering what I bought while I was there, I found a couple killer bargains in their used CD bins.
$2.99 for that Fluke compilation album is a steal, and 25% off a Lightnin’ Hopkins album I hadn’t heard in its entirety (just a few cuts from it on various compilations)? Sold!
Be sure to stop by there if you’re in the area. It’s a fun place.
The beloved Woodsist Festival returns to Arrowood Farms in Accord, New York, on September 21-22, 2024. Performers this year include headliners Yo La Tengo, Real Estate, and Jessica Pratt, along with Woods, Hailu Mergia, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Jeff Parker, Etran de L’Aïr, The Messthetics, 75 Dollar Bill Big Band, Rosali, Mystic 100s, Florry, and Sylvie. Arrowood Farms, a sustainably-minded farm, brewery and distillery located in New York’s scenic Hudson Valley, will host the performers on two alternating stages throughout the weekend and feature food from local Hudson Valley-based vendors and craft beer brewed directly on site. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 26th at 10:00AM ET and are available via www.woodsistfestival.com.
As in previous years, Jeremy Earl of Woods has curated the festival’s lineup. Formed in 2004, Woods have matured into a true independent institution, above and below the root, reliably emerging every few years with new music that grows towards the latest sky. On top of a new EP release, the band has embarked on a full year of touring, including shows with Waxahatchee, Avey Tare, and Natural Information Society.
The inaugural Woodsist Festival took place in Brooklyn in 2009 with Thee Oh Sees headlining alongside a number of acts including Beach Fossils, Real Estate, and Kurt Vile. Since then, the festival has been presented in various locations including Big Sur, Point Reyes National Seashore, and Pioneertown, CA. The festival found its home at Arrowood Farms in 2019, presented in partnership with Ground Control Touring and premiere Hudson Valley concert promoters Impact Concerts, and has returned annually since 2021.
We hope to see you on the farm, With Light and With Love.
he Hope Conspiracy will release their long-awaited new full-length album, Tools of Oppression / Rule by Deception on May 31st. Today, the group has shared the record’s dystopian, hook-laden second single, “The West Is Dead.” Vocalist Kevin Baker states, “Politicians in the west, whether they are on the left or right, all eat from the same pig trough. Corporations own every single one of them. The working people were sold down the river decades ago. The professional liars are not concerned with fair wages, human rights, affordable healthcare or the poison in our air, water and food. Both sides play on everyone’s sensitivities to keep us hating one another while they take lucrative donations and marching orders from rent seeking billionaires. The tent cities and rampant homelessness would go away tomorrow if they really wanted it to be so. The system is designed to crush the common people. If you don’t feel it now you will. If you don’t see it now you will. It’s the approaching storm on the horizon and there is no escaping it. The west is dead and our end is near.”
True sonic violence aimed at political division, economic manipulation, war profiteering, media propaganda and other vile forms of global oppression, Tools of Oppression / Rule by Deception is an ominous soundtrack to the steady decline of our modern age. There is no question, The Hope Conspiracy is back to make a cold hard statement about existence in the end times.
Tools of Oppression / Rule by Deception was engineered by Kurt Ballou and Zach Weeks at God City Studios, and artwork for the release was created by acclaimed artist Alexander Heir (Death/Traitors). The album is available for pre-order here and The Hope Conspiracy will be playing select shows this summer and fall.
The Hope Conspiracy, on tour: June 7 Cambridge, MA @ Sonia June 8 Brooklyn, NY @ The Meadows June 9 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church July 20 Chicago, IL @ Cobra Lounge – The Rumble September 6 Los Angeles, CA @ 1720 September 7 Berkeley, CA @ 924 Gilman September 8 Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction September 9 Giant Rock, CA @ Ask A Punk September 12 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar September 13 Seattle, WA @ The Vera Project September 14 Portland, OR @ Dante’s September 15 Tacoma, WA @ Real Art
Praise be to the Reverberation Appreciation Society for releasing this early live gem from Australian psych-rock giants King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Live at Levitation ’14is, I think, a recording of their first live performance in the United States. It was at that year’s Austin Psych Fest in Austin, Texas…and my late wife and I were there.
We didn’t know much about KGATLW then. Heck, no one in the U.S. did. They played an afternoon slot on the main stage, and there were maybe 125 people there for the set. I’d only heard a couple tracks that I’d found on obscure YouTube channels. Those tracks were intriguing enough for me to add them to my wish list of bands to see that year. I thought it would be an interesting set at least.
It certainly was. My thought about halfway through the set was, “Wow…These guys came to play.” Starting with “I’m in Your Mind,” the band launches off the stage right away with fun energy that would come to define their sets. They flow right into, of course, “I’m Not in Your Mind,” showing early signs of the linked “Gizzverse” stuff that would span across multiple albums.
They’re going nuts by the time they get to “Cellophane,” and stunning the crowd by this point. They then loop back to “I’m in Your Mind Fuzz,” and had attracted the other half of their set’s crowd by now because the amount of sound and energy they were putting out was immense. They didn’t stop for a breath until this track ends. “The Wholly Ghost” has a fun metal stomp to it and threatens to fry your brain altogether.
“We’re going to Dallas tomorrow. What’s that like?” Stu Mackenzie asks before the lovely, trippy “Sleepwalker.” “Bloody hot,” someone replies. The whole set is as hot as Texas heat. “Am I in Heaven” has the band starting mellow and then kicking in doors and knocking down tables on a stage in a western town. Call the festival attendees, there were madmen around that afternoon – judging from the chaotic energy KGATLW were broadcasting.
“We’re gonna play one more,” Mackenzie says. That one is the epic “Head On / Pill,” which is over sixteen minutes of psychedelia that will make your mind feel like the album’s cover image. It was a stunning end to a stunning set that left people elated and dumbfounded. They weren’t sure what they’d just seen and heard, but knew they’d been part of something special.
It was a great set, and still sounds great ten years later. It’s essential if you’re a King Gizz fan.
Keep your mind open.
[Levitate over to the subscription box while you’re here.]
Today, Chanel Beads — the project of New York-based musician Shane Lavers — unveils the new single / video “Unifying Thought” from his anticipated debut album, Your Day Will Come, out today via Jagjaguwar.
Your Day Will Come marks Lavers’ arrival as a new force in experimental music. Throughout the album, Lavers captures the many contradictions of modern existence and the strange infiniteness of the digital world. Though he incorporates the scrappy sonics of post-punk, the gripping sentimentality of pop tunes, and the spectral artifice of electronic music, he blurs lines through unconventional song structures that build into transcendental climaxes. Throughout, Lavers weaves in contributions from singer-songwriter Maya McGrory and multi-instrumentalist Zachary Paul, who offer their own layers of feeling that add to the huge emotionality of the album.
Today’s single, “Unifying Thought,” showcases Chanel Beads singular use of clunky acoustic guitar, cinematic strings, and vocal harmonies as Laver sings “Focus on the love in your heart / I had a unifying thought / But I missed / Like the seasons that we lost.” The accompanying video, directed by Harleigh Shaw, showcases a day in the life of a young boy as he bikes his way through New York City.
Following their sold out record release show in New York City, Chanel Beads will open for Mount Kimbie on their May North American tour. Named one ofRolling Stone’s Best of SXSW, Chanel Beads’ live show is not to be missed — a full list of dates is below and tickets are on sale now.
Blushing — the Austin, TX-based band consisting of the double husband and wife pairs of Christina and Noe Carmona and Michelle and Jacob Soto — present a new single/video, “Slyce,” from their forthcoming album, Sugarcoat, out May 3rd via Kanine. Following singles “Tamagotchi” and “Seafoam,” “Slyce” shows Blushing at their most sonically experimental. The verses splash around elements of psych and shoegaze that rise towards an anthemic chorus. Lyrically, the song uses imagery of cuts and breaks to convey the damage that can be caused by engaging in toxic relationships, even when you just can’t help yourself.
The last song to be recorded during the Sugarcoat sessions, the band’s only option for recording was to utilize the Austin Community College recording studio where their producer and engineer Elliott Frazier happened to be a teacher. The recording sessions would occur during Frazier’s classroom time, so that meant the band performed and recorded in front of a classroom of kids and adults, all while Frazier explained to the class what he was doing at the console, incorporating it into his lessons. The track also features Christina’s dad Carlos Fernandez, a classical pianist who lends his piano playing talents over the song’s bridge.
Sugarcoat is the follow-up to two EPs, 2017’s Tether and 2018’s Weak, their self-titled debut, and 2022’s Possessions. They didn’t want to create an album where each song was made to fit into the same mold. Instead, they decided to run with each idea no matter which direction it was facing, resulting in an album that is somewhat of a sampler of the group’s collective influences. While there are certainly tracks immediately recognizable as “Blushing” songs, this album is where the band get to explore their love for expanding genres, from post-punk, psych-gaze, grunge-pop, indie-pop, slowcore, and beyond. Lyrically the album asks many questions, reaching out for someone to provide answers or for the answers to come from within. There is a lot of uncertainty in the world as well as personally. Getting older, questioning past decisions, and the constant unknown of the future.
On Sugarcoat, Blushing’s dynamism is on full display, flitting effortlessly from spacey psychedelia to twee pop jangle with finesse and panache. Having enlisted Elliot Frazier (Ringo Deathstarr) and Mark Gardener (Ride) for engineering, mixing, and mastering duties, Sugarcoat is a dense, reverb-laden exploration of alt-rock’s 40 year history that conjures up concord from chaos.
This summer, they’ll support Slater and Airiel across North America, along with headline dates in Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and more. Tickets are on sale now and a full list can be found below.
Blushing Tour Dates Thu. May 2 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas (album release show) Wed. May 15 – San Antonio, TX @ Vibes Underground * Thu. May 16 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada * Sat. May 18 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall * Sun. May 19 – McAllen, TX @ The Gremlin * Fri. June 14 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Resonant Head Sat. June 15 – Fayetteville, AR @ George’s Majestic Lounge Sun. June 16 – Nashville, TN @ 5 spot Tue. June 18 – Washington, DC @ Pie Shop % Wed. June 19 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s % Thu. June 20 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right % Fri. June 21 – Boston, MA @ Deep Cuts % Sat. June 22 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground % Sun. June 23 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz % Mon. June 24 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison % Wed. June 26 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr Smalls Funhouse % Thu. June 27 – Detroit, MI @ Small’s % Fri. June 28 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Sat. June 29 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas Mon. July 1 – Denver, CO @ Skylark Lounge Wed. July 3 – Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey Thu. July 4 – Portland, OR @ The Six Fri. July 5 – San Francisco, CA @ Kilowatt Sat. July 6 – Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge Sun. July 7 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge Mon. July 8 – El Paso, TX @ Rosewood Sun. Sept. 1 – Cambridge, UK @ Portland Arms ^ Mon. Sept. 2 – Leeds, UK @ Old Woollen ^ Tue. Sept. 3 – Glasgow, UK @ Room 2 ^ Wed. Sept. 4 – Stockton-on-Trees, UK @ Georgian Theatre ^ Thu. Sept. 5 – Manchester, UK @ The Deaf Institute ^ Fri. Sept. 6 – London, UK @ O2 Academy Islington ^ Sat. Sept. 7 – Brighton, UK @ Dust ^
I’m pretty sure “Dumb Waiters” (from their second excellent album Talk Talk Talk) was the first song I heard by The Psychedelic Furs. I remember seeing the video on MTV back in the early 1980s and my friend, Brian, and I laughing because we’d never heard of (to our small-town Midwestern ears) such an odd name for a band and such a strange sound. We also had no idea it wasn’t even their first single or album.
To baffle me more, I later learned that their 1980 self-titled debut album had two different versions – one released in the U.S. and the other in the band’s home U.K. Both albums included songs not on the other version, and both had a different order of tracks. Both are sharp post-punk records and worth finding in any version.
The one pictured above is the U.S. version, which opens with “India” – a whopper of a track that clocks in over six minutes, building on John Ashton‘s shoegaze guitar strumming and then bursting forth with Tim Butler‘s heavy bass hooks and Roger Morris‘ guitar. Richard Butler‘s vocals always have a sarcastic edge, but never so much that you don’t feel like you couldn’t have a pint with him at the pub. He uses similar themes across the album, such as stupidity, feeling useless, and dancing to escape all of it.
“Sister Europe” is a gorgeous track bordering on goth territory, but Duncan Kilburn‘s saxophone keeps it from becoming too morose – even though it’s a song about Richard Butler’s girlfriend leaving him to move to Italy. “Susan’s Strange” is one of the tracks not available on the original UK version of the album. It sounds a bit like the band stood behind drummer Vince Ely when they recorded it, as everything but the drums seems to be in another room while Ely is almost playing lead. It’s a neat effect.
“Fall” is a funky jam as Richard Butler sings about the banality of married life (“Marry me and be my wife. You can have me all your life. Parties for our stupid friends. Are the children really home?”). “We Love You” is an early slap at people with “Live Laugh Love” posters in their house, as Richard Butler calls out people who throw around the word “love” without giving it much thought. The whole track is a bright, fun jam that’s become a fan-favorite and a salute to the band’s fans.
“Soap Commercial” (which is the other track not available on the UK version…and is probably a post-punk band’s name by now) is about having products stuffed down our throats day and night by television…and they wrote it over forty years ago. Kilburn’s saxophone riffs on “Imitation of Christ” are great touches and always in the right amount, while Richard Butler takes down people using religion to justify foolishness.
“Pulse” is a great track with Tim Butler’s bass taking the lead and the whole band charging through it as Tim’s brother again takes on religious hypocrites. Ely’s beats on “Wedding Song” are so damn good that they’re almost distracting. You could drop them into a house music set without effort. Richard Butler almost raps on the track at one point. The closing track, “Flowers,” is a wild one about, I think, death and not mourning too much over those who didn’t bring much light to the world.
It’s a great debut, and many great singles would follow for the Furs on subsequent albums. Before they became known for “Pretty in Pink,” they were Angry in the Dark. They’ve lost none of their sharp wit either, and are still making good music today.
REZN – the Chicago-based band of Rob McWilliams (vocals, guitar), Phil Cangelosi (bass), Patrick Dunn (drums), and Spencer Ouellette (synth/saxophone) – announce their new album, Burden, out June 14thvia their new label Sargent House. In conjunction, they present its massive lead single/video, “Chasm.” Since their inception, REZN have mined the stark monochromatic depths of underground metal and fused them with the kaleidoscopic delights of psychedelia, prog rock, and shoegaze. With their latest album Burden, they plumb the deepest, bleakest trenches of their sound while retaining a lifeline into the cosmos. Staking a claim at the crossroads of the hazy dimensions of modern psych acts like Black Angels, the cavernous gloom and reverb-drenched guitar of bands like Spectral Voice, and the lurching low-end meditations of artists like OM, REZN have created Burden—an album of immense amp-worshipping weight and intoxicating instrumentation.
Burden was recorded simultaneously with their previous album Solace back in July 2021 at Earth Analog Studios in Tolono, IL by Matt Russell. Rather than release a double album, REZN divided the material into two separate records, each with its own distinct emotional timbre. Whereas Solace was meant to uplift and create a sense of narcotic dreaminess, Burden skews towards the themes of delirium, claustrophobia, and misery. Musically, Burden favors riffs over atmosphere, percussion over ether, dissonance over beauty, but there is still an undeniable cohesion between it and its predecessor. The marriage of brute force and sublime textures has always been a key tactic in REZN’s approach—a duality that may explain their touring history with fellow synesthesia-inducing metallurgists Elder and Russian Circles—but the spectrum of the band’s mercurial temperaments has never felt as clearly defined and fully explored as it does on Burden.
Burden’s artwork is a literal continuation of Solace’s landscape painting, showing the fiery depths at the foot of the mountain range. Even Burden’s most reserved moments feel like the calm before the storm, a gathering of momentum before the punishing closer and lead single “Chasm,” a megalithic weedian crusher further bolstered by a scorching guitar solo courtesy of Russian Circle’s Mike Sullivan. “We wrote ‘Chasm’ to depict the final phase of an existential descent, when you’re on the last few steps of the spiral staircase and realize there’s no going back,” says Rob McWilliams. “We wanted it to sound like walls closing in on all sides and you’re looking at the exit getting further and further away. Mike’s melodic finger-tapping style blurs the section into a kind of dizzying, infernal panic attack. In the final moment of the song you’re faced with the repetitive churning of a molten, fuzzed-out wall of sound that builds until the audio itself starts to singe and catch fire, then abruptly self destructs.”
As knowledgeable gear heads, experienced sound engineers, and seasoned DIY veterans, REZN were able to create an early body of work devoid of any sonic compromises in their speaker-rattling dirges and heady lysergic forays. Their four self-released albums—Let It Burn (2017), Calm Black Water (2018), Chaotic Divine (2020), and Solace (2023)—have all gone through multiple vinyl pressings without any distribution or retail presence, and the international underground heavy psych world has routinely selected the band for distinguished festival slots across North America and Europe. From their inception, REZN have been a fiercely independent band with a fully realized aesthetic and a fervent cult following. Now ready to take things even further, REZN have teamed up with Sargent House to release Burden unto the world.
This summer, REZN will tour across North America with Pallbearer. Following, they’ll tour in Europe with new label mates Russian Circles as well as performing at multiple festivals. A full list of dates can be found below and tickets are on sale now.
