I have yet to see Flat Worms live. This seems like a crime to me. They’re a great power trio with darkly humorous lyrics and power you cannot deny. So, Live in Los Angeles (recorded in 2019) will have to do until I can catch them at a somewhat dingy venue that feels like a sweatbox and smells like beer mixed with incense.
“Pearl” starts off the raucous set with Will Ivy‘s guitars sounding like a sped-up hotel fire alarm and his vocals bringing angry post-punk lyrics about keeping up with the Joneses to the crowd. “Motorbike” roars like its namesake and Justin Sullivan‘s chops on the drums turn on a dime at any given moment. The live version of “Into the Iris” slows it down a bit but doesn’t lack in power. It’s almost a sludge rock tune in the first half and then kicks into near-punk fury for the second half. It’s songs like this in which Tim Hellman excels on bass. He can lock down any track at any speed and in seemingly any genre, and he plays like a time bomb is about to off on “Plaster Casts.”
“Condo Colony,” a great takedown of gated communities and HOA madness, absolutely slays on this. It’s impossible to choose which of the three is killing it more. The short-instrumental “Scattered Palms” explodes into the snarky “11816.” The album ends with “Red Hot Sand,” and yes, it’s blistering. Hellman’s bass is frantic, Ivy’s guitar is a race car tearing up a dirt track, and Sullivan’s drums threaten to crack the floor under you.
It’s a great capture of a trio clicking on all fronts and crushing everything around them. If you can’t see them live, this is a worthy alternative.
Steve Albini, who recently died of a heart attack at just 61 years of age, might have been the last producer who frequently and joyfully stuck his middle finger in the eye of the music industry. He enjoyed being outside the mainstream, even when working with well-known acts such as Nirvana.
Nirvana were rulers of the radio, college campuses, pop culture, and practically everything else after the success of Nevermind. The whole world wanted a new album, and they went to Albini to produce it. That album became In Utero, which was originally considered “unreleasable” by the band’s label – which Albini and the band found baffling and, looking back, humorous…especially since it’s sold millions of copies by now.
Albini, by the way, collected no royalties on In Utero, or any other album he produced. He only charged his production fee of less than eight hundred bucks a day, and he’d often let friends use his studio for free. He could’ve been a millionaire off royalties from In Utero alone, but he didn’t care about that. He cared about music first and foremost and helping bands catch something raw and pure (“If a record takes more than a week to make, somebody is fucking up.” – from a letter he wrote to Nirvana before the In Utero recordings began).
He was one of the last to not really give a crap about what labels, radio programming managers, and music festival promoters thought. He openly hated most music festivals (and, somewhat famously, Steely Dan), and only played PrimaveraSound in Barcelona with his band Shellac…who were due to release a new album, To All Trains, ten days after he died.
The list of Albini’s credits is insane. His most famous works are In Utero, Pixies‘ Surfer Rosa, The Jesus Lizard‘s Pure, and P.J. Harvey‘s Rid of Me. The following is a list of albums he produced that I personally own:
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – self-titled album (1992), Acme (1998), Xtra Acme USA (1999), and Plastic Fang (2002), Failure– Comfort (1992), Helmet – Meantime (1992), Nirvana – In Utero (1993),Pixies – Wave of Mutilation: Best of Pixies (2004), Living Things – Ahead of the Lions (2005), Screaming Females – Ugly (2012), Live at the Hideout(2014), and Rose Mountain(2015), Man or Astroman? – Defcon 5 4 3 2 1 (2013), Flat Worms – Antarctica (2019), Fuzz – III(2020).
Antarctica, by the way, was my top album of 2019.
Albini will be greatly missed, but he left a big legacy and massive shoes to fill. I hope someone picks up his band-loving torch and runs with it.
Here we are at the top of the music mountain. Again, putting this list together wasn’t easy. It went through at least four drafts before it felt “right.”
#5: BODEGA – Endless Scroll (2018)
This post-punk record by the Brooklyn band took a good chunk of the world by storm, receiving a lot of airplay in England and across U.S. alternative radio stations and being played at Paris fashion shows. It’s full of great hooks, scathing lyrics about hipsters, death, perceptions of masculinity, sex, and people willingly enslaving themselves to technology. BODEGA instantly became my favorite band of 2018 when I heard this.
#4: Flat Worms – Antarctica (2020)
This wild psych-punk (and I’m not sure that’s an accurate description) album unleashes raw power from the get-go and doesn’t let up for the entire run. It takes subjects like consumerism, rich elitism, racism, existential angst, and xenophobia head-on with hammering guitars and drums as heavy as a glacier. This album was locked into my #1 spot for Best Albums of 2020 after its release.
#3: The Well – Death and Consolation (2019)
This doom metal album from Austin, Texas’ The Well was my favorite album to send to fellow doom-lovers for Christmas in 2019. It hits hard in all the right ways – chugging bass and guitars, fierce yet in-the-pocket drumming, and lyrics about mortality, horrible things that lie beyond the veil, epic mystical battles, and overcoming fear of such things to transcend this illusionary existence. Heavy stuff? Yes, but The Well carry it with the ease of Hercules.
#2: Kelly Lee Owens – (self-titled) (2017)
This album made me want to create electronic music even more than I already did. I hadn’t touched my digital turntables in months, and then Kelly Lee Owens releases her self-titled debut of house, ambient, and synthwave music and slaps me awake with it. Seeing her live at the 2018 Pitchfork Music Festival only slapped me harder. The problem? She’s so good, and this album is such a strong debut, that it’s tempting to hear it and think, “Damn, why should I even bother?” I’ll be happy if I can create something a fifth as good as this.
#1: David Bowie – Blackstar (2016)
I mean, come on, was there any doubt? David Bowie’s final album is a masterpiece. I can’t say it any better than that. He faced his mortality with introspection, acceptance, and even humor. His backing jazz band is outstanding on this, and every song carries extra weight when viewed with the hindsight of knowing the Thin White Duke was getting ready to head back into the brilliant dimension that spawned him.
This album is “only” three tracks, but one of them is over twenty-three minutes long. The other two are over seven minutes each. Even more impressive? This entire psychedelic / prog-rock album was improvised. Yardsss came in without a game plan and created a monster of a record that you can’t believe was done on the fly.
#4: Caroline Rose – Superstar
This is Caroline Rose’s best album to date. She tackles subjects like fame, flying your freak flag, sex, love, lust, and finding the self with power pop riffs, playful, lovely vocals, and some of her wittiest songwriting to date.
#3: Windhand – Levitation Sessions
I watched several livestream concerts this year, and all were good. This one by doom metal giants Windhand, however, literally gave me chills. That moment came during “Forest Clouds” when I could feel something happening. The hairs on my arms stood up and I couldn’t stop grinning. It was a powerful moment that I needed to remind me that live music will return. Nothing can stop it (or Windhand, it seems), and this entire live album was like being handed a battle axe as a hobgoblin army advances on the city.
#2: Automatic – Signal
I knew right away upon hearing Signalthat (A) it was a post-punk gauntlet thrown down at other bands, (B) it was sexy as an underground 1960s dance club in Paris, and (C) it was going to be my favorite debut album of 2020. Everything on this album works at a high level. It makes you feel like a sexy bad ass, and all three ladies in Automatic are such. Tread lightly, however. They’re not screwing around and might whack you with a claw hammer if you cross the line.
#1: Flat Worms – Antarctica
This psych / garage / punk masterpiece by Flat Worms went into my #1 spot upon first hearing it in April 2020 and never moved. It is stunningly powerful and chock-full of killer lyrics about fighting against the rat race, internet addiction, the depersonalization of others, economic inequality, and toxic relationships. This is one of those albums that sounds new every time I hear it. It’s a shame they couldn’t tour to promote it, because this album could’ve and should’ve made them big-time draws.
I’m already hearing good stuff in 2021, so let’s stay healthy and get back to shows and festivals.
Yes, another song by Too Free. This thing is a sexy floor-filler EDM track that has an underlying hint of goth menace to it that immediately catches your ears.
#4: Jon Hopkins – “Singing Bowl (Ascension)”
If 2020 did anything right, it forced all of us to sit and be here. There was often nothing else to do. It was a year of zazen if you let it be so. Along comes Jon Hopkins with this lovely, stunning track suitable for meditation and making out – again two things that we were given a lot of time to do in 2020. Everyone needed to hear this last year, and any other year before or since.
#3: Matt Karmil – “PB”
I don’t know what “PB” means. Peanut butter? Pittsburgh? Pulsating beats? Yeah, that’s probably it, because this dance track is full of them.
#2: Kelly Lee Owens – “Melt!”
Yes, Ms. Owens has two tracks in my top 15 singles of 2020. I think she is the only person alive who can pull off an absolute club banger about global warming. She does nothing but amaze me and make me want to smash my digital turntables with a twelve-pound sledge hammer.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that my favorite single of 2020 comes from my favorite album of 2020. Everything about this song works on a high level – beat, riffs, lyrics, and vocals. It moves and slugs like a professional boxer as it throws out lyrics about getting off your ass and shaking illusions out of your head so you can embrace the present and reality.
Recorded in just six days, Flat Worms‘ fourth album, Antartica, is a loud, wild, angry, and yet hopeful record about where we’re going as a species. Are we heading for a barren wasteland of a future, a world of people who don’t want to come back out after COVID-19 is gone, or a world where people still have hope and work toward building a better tomorrow?
Those are the questions Flat Worms (Tim Hellman – bass, Will Ivy – guitar and vocals, and Justin Sullivan – drums) ask themselves and us, beginning with “The Aughts.” Remember them? The years 2000 – 2009 seem like more than a decade ago, don’t they? We’ve already forgotten the lessons learned during those years, which might explain why Ivy’s guitar sounds like its growling for the entire song and Sullivan sounds like he’s beating his snare drum to death at some points. “The aughts, the teens, the tens, only a means to an end,” Ivy sings.
Hellman’s bass is like facing a blitz of punches from a box on “Plaster Casts.” Up next is the dangerous “Market Forces,” which is currently my top single of 2020. It absolutely flattens anything that comes into contact with it. The lyrics skewer self-isolation via our phones and addicting entertainment long before a different kind of self-isolation became necessary. “I’m like a piece of the puzzle that’s lost in the living room. I’m looking for a catapult to escape the situation, but every time I thought I got out, I’m just stepping in quicksand again,” Ivy sings. Good grief, haven’t we all been there?
The title track starts with what almost sounds like hip hop beats from Sullivan, but then Hellman’s prowling panther bass enters the room and Ivy’s guitar flits around like a vampire bat. “Via” builds with a solid chug and then warps into post-punk madness. Ivy’s guitar on “The Mine” plunges into psychedelia while Hellman’s bass is the jagged rocks below and Sullivan’s drums move back and forth between garage rock and near-metal rolls.
“Ripper One” does indeed rip, reminding me of a high-powered engine that’s pushed to its limits. “There’s nothing to lose, nothing to offer,” they sing amid heavy cymbal crashes and power chords. A lot of us are stuck in that mode of being nowadays and we’re unsure of how to break the cycle. We know that moving into a “Condo Colony” (which sounds like early Public Image Ltd. cuts) won’t bring us much relief, if any. A gated community not only keeps people out, it tries to convince you that you shouldn’t leave. Ivy implores us with warnings like, “And as the towers grow, see the traffic swell. A phantom opera glove is behind the controls. It’s a condo colony! A condo colony! Step out.” and “If I could somehow escape outside of the wall, then I look over my shoulder and everywhere I go it just follows me.” Hot damn. He’s not playing.
“Signals” could refer back to those traffic jams controlled by unseen phantoms. It’s a short instrumental before “Wet Concrete,” which has bass that’s as thick as its namesake. The album ends with “Terms of Visitation,” which sounds like something you might run into on the Home Owners Association agreement you signed to moved into that condo colony. It’s a wild, chaotic tune about the delicate dances we do in romantic relationships. “These are the terms of visitation, fit for prisoners, fit for lovers just the same. It’s just the same.”
This is one of the best albums of 2020 so far. Flat Worms are bringing their A-game right now, and in this time of no professional sports we need serious players for serious times.
Flat Worms, the Los Angeles-based trio of Will Ivy (guitar), Tim Hellman (bass) and Justin Sullivan (drums), announce their new album, Antarctica, out April 10th on Drag City Imprint, GOD? Records, and share lead single, “Market Forces.” Antarctica is for people invested in the future, despite a world in flames, deserts in permafrost, and everyone in their own corners, looking down into their hands. It considers the chaotic, dysfunctional contemporary landscape and reflects a situation that’s dire, but not hopeless.
Since the release of their 2017 debut LP – even since last year’s “Into the Iris” mini-LP – Flat Worms’ sound has hardened, with the polarities of psych and post-punk smelted into a brutal cobalt alloy. No doubt they’re aided by the Steve Albini-engineered sound rendered at Electrical Audio, where the album was recorded and mixed (in collaboration with Albini and Ty Segall) in six days. The rest of the evolution is down to Flat Worms, whose world view and musical viewpoint pulse with a remorseless drive and a sense of collaborative unity. Ivy’s cortex-scorching guitar leads are in united space with the full-body rhythm of Hellman’s bass and Sullivan’s drums.
Flat Worms’ social comment, bleak, yet earnest, is leavened with bone dry humor (the title track’s isolation conundrums: “My dog is smiling as I drive her to the park / we sit together in the kitchen after dark / I ask her questions / She just barks”) and caustic pronouncements. Lead single “Market Forces” kicks the modern malaise of alienation from our over-commodified social media mirror image. As market forces drives feels to capitalize on later, Flat Worms ask: Are you really helpless in this dynamic?
Commitment. Intention. Collaboration. And a sense that we’re meant to enjoy what we’re doing. Even in the desert of Antarctica, Flat Worms are looking for the upside.
Flat Worms will play select shows throughout California and the UK this spring. All dates are listed below.
Antarctica Tracklist: 1. The Aughts 2. Plaster Casts 3. Market Forces 4. Antarctica 5. Via 6. The Mine 7. Ripper I 8. Condo Colony 9. Signals: 10. Wet Concrete 11. Terms of Visitation
Flat Worms Tour Dates: Thu. April 30 – Oakland, CA @ Crystal Cavern Fri. May 1 – Long Beach, CA @ Alex’s Bar Sun. May 3 – Tucson, AZ @ Hotel Congress Fri. May 8 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon Thu. June 4 – Manchester, UK @ Pink Room @ Yes Fri. June 5 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club Sat. June 6 – Newcastle, UK @ The Cluny Sun. June 7 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast Tue. June 9 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds Wed. June 10 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms Thu. June 11 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla Fri. June 12 – London, UK @ The Garage
“[‘Into The Iris’ EP is] equal parts protest, post-impressionist imagery, even reactionary as it responds to the world around it—it’s a culmination and a dismantling at once.” – LA Record
“Into the Iris is a Wire-like collision of angular chords and shards of noise that are occasionally topped with compelling shout-along choruses.” – LA Weekly
“With a wave of twitchy, heavily distorted guitars, lead vocalist Will Ivy exudes a stark, smirking calmness amongst the electrifying storm.” – Paste on “Shouting At The Wall”
Flat Worms – the Los Angeles-based trio of bassist/vocalist Tim Hellman (Thee Oh Sees), drummer Justin Sullivan (Night Shop), and guitarist/ vocalist Will Ivy (Dream Boys) – share a video for “Into The Iris,” the title track from their recently released EP, out now via Drag City imprint, GOD? Records. “Into The Iris” is a frenzied, high-energy track about channeling inspiration. The video was recorded at their record release show at Zebulon in Los Angeles, and presents the band’s frenetic live performance. Directed by Joshua Erkman, the video also features lighting tricks by Ty Segall.
The “Into The Iris” EP was recorded by Ty Segall in his home. The six tracks comprising the EP are a persistent, determined response to an apocalyptic era, one that sees deserted strip malls and surreal headlines. The EP follows their self-titled album, released via Castle Face in 2017.
Flat Worms will tour the west coast in support of the “Into The Iris” EP. They will play dates in Europe later this summer. All dates are below.
Watch “Into The Iris” Video – https://youtu.be/nHtDMkrH8OM
Listen to “Shouting At The Wall” – https://youtu.be/6dEDRwJwT7U
Purchase “Into the Iris” EP – http://www.dragcity.com/products/into-the-iris
Flat Worms Tour Dates: Tue. April 23 – Seattle, WA @ Screw Driver Wed. April 24 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios Fri. April 26 – Chicago, CA @ Valley Fever Festival Sat. April 27 – San Francisco, CA @ The Knockout Sun. April 28 – Ventura, CA @ The Tavern Mon. April 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Non Plus Ultra Sat. June 22 – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie Sun. June 23 – Brighton, UK @ TBD Mon. June 24 – Manchester, UK @ Yes (Pink Room) Thu. June 27 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast Fri. June 28 – Newcastle, UK @ The Cluny Sat. June 29 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club Sun. June 30 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms Mon. July 1 – Bristol, UK @ Fleece 2P Tue. July 2 – London, UK @ Dingwalls
Keep your mind open.
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Flat Worms will tour the west coast in support of the “Into The Iris” EP. They will play dates in Europe later this summer. All dates are below. Watch “Into The Iris” Video – https://youtu.be/nHtDMkrH8OM
Listen to “Shouting At The Wall” – https://youtu.be/6dEDRwJwT7U
Purchase “Into the Iris” EP – http://www.dragcity.com/products/into-the-iris
Flat Worms Tour Dates: Tue. April 23 – Seattle, WA @ Screw Driver Wed. April 24 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios Fri. April 26 – Chicago, CA @ Valley Fever Festival Sat. April 27 – San Francisco, CA @ The Knockout Sun. April 28 – Ventura, CA @ The Tavern Mon. April 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Non Plus Ultra Sat. June 22 – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie Sun. June 23 – Brighton, UK @ TBD Mon. June 24 – Manchester, UK @ Yes (Pink Room) Thu. June 27 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast Fri. June 28 – Newcastle, UK @ The Cluny Sat. June 29 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club Sun. June 30 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms Mon. July 1 – Bristol, UK @ Fleece 2P Tue. July 2 – London, UK @ Dingwalls
Keep your mind open.
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Recorded in Ty Segall‘s house, Into the Iris, the new EP by Flat Worms (Tim Hellman – bass and vocals, Will Ivy – guitar and vocals, Justin Sullivan – drums) is six tracks of fuzzy riffs that could jumpstart a car during the recent polar vortex.
“Surreal New Year” is an opening salvo of post-punk guitars mixed with drums that are more precise than you realize at first. I can’t help but wonder if the title track is a reference to Suspiria. The song is certainly chaotic enough in the last half to reflect a harrowing battle with an invisible witch. It’s all screaming, fuzzy guitars and breakneck beats.
Ivy’s opening guitars on “Plastic at Home” sound like a broken xylophone being thrown down a flight of stairs – and I mean that in the best possible way. It’s a song about how the glossy perfection of suburbia often disguises kinky vices and boiling resentment. Hellman and Sullivan are in especially fine sync throughout this whole track.
“Shouting at the Wall” was the first single. It opens with guitars that sound like alarms and then Sullivan goes wild to kick to the song into fifth gear. “Scattered Palms…” is post-punk psychedelia with Hellman’s bass doing a lot of the heavy lifting in the short instrumental. “At the Citadel” is like a lost Stooges track with its heavy bass, roaring drums, squeaking guitars, and snotty, bratty vocals.
Into the Iris packs more fuzz and power into six tracks than most full-length LPs will all year. Don’t miss it.
Keep your mind open.
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Los Angeles-based punk trio Flat Worms announce their third release, the Into the Iris EP, out on February 8th via Drag City imprint, GOD? Records.
Composed of bassist/vocalist Tim Hellman (Thee Oh Sees), drummer Justin Sullivan (Night Shop), and guitarist/ vocalist Will Ivy (Dream Boys), the band also shares lead single “Shouting At The Wall”, a tightly wound, buzzing hard hitter that “serves as a reminder to avoid temptations of self-indulgent anger and to stay focused.” The six-track EP, recorded by Ty Segall in his home, is a persistent, determined response to an apocalyptic era, one that sees deserted strip malls and surreal headlines. Into the Iris follows their self-titled album, released via Castle Face in 2017. Flat Worms play their record release show in Los Angeles on Fri. Feb. 8th at Zebulon.
Listen to “Shouting At The Wall” – https://youtu.be/6dEDRwJwT7U
Preorder Into the Iris – http://www.dragcity.com/products/into-the-iris
Into the Iris tracklist: 1. Surreal New year 2. Into The Iris 3. Plastic At Home 4. Shouting At The Wall 5. Scattered Palms 6. At The Citadel
Keep your mind open.
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