Gem Club‘s bio begins with a simple, two-sentence statement: “There are times when beauty and sadness are inextricably linked. Massachusetts-based Gem Club understands this fragile symmetry.” The sheer essence of the band is captured here, in this brief moment.
“I’m a Ghost”, the opening for the new 12 track Adios I’m a Ghost album from The Moondoggies, begins with 23 seconds of thick vocal harmony that is true to folk with its soothing and laid back nature. However, this is merely a false sense of security. With crashing drums from Carl Dahlen, and lively guitar…
I must admit, I was quite sad to hear that What The Heck Fest, an über indie music festival in Anacortes, WA, was coming to an end after ten years. While I had only attended a few, I caught a many great acts at the event, including The Hive Dwellers and Stephen Steinbrink. Good news:…
Australia’s Lost Animal is a conundrum. It’s a conundrum because I find it very difficult to describe. Preface: I’ve been enjoying the sounds of Ex Tropical since November. Far enough back that I attempted to put the album on my Top 50 LPs of 2012 list, despite noting its release date in my coverage of…
There have been a lot of videos about death and murder this year. In “A Dark God Heart” by Sleep Party People, a little girl finds a body beneath the water in a bathtub. “A Game” by Ski Lodge has an American Psycho edge to it. A serial killer takes out Liars in “No. 1…
There’s fuel here, power and angst. Unnatural Helpers is back with a new track called “Hate Your Teachers” and they have given high schoolers the perfect summer anthem. School’s out, no worries, f*** the world. Seriously. “Hate Your Teachers” is among Unnatural Helpers louder tunes, and that’s a feat given the inherent nature of the…
“Fuck Off” is a somewhat departure from “Nightmare”, the first publicly available track off Grave Babies‘ debut Hardly Art EP, Gothdammit. Amidst a softly pleasant backdrop are slightly creepy, pseudo-surreal gothic images put forth by director Jordan Utley. The opening notes of the song are initially reminiscent of Bunkbed’s cover of Xiu Xiu’s “Fallen Angel…
Somewhere under a mountain of music, somewhere behind boxes of stuff from the living room, tucked away on my CD shelf in the back corner of my music room — my personal “man cave” — is a TacocaT album. It’s been a while since I listened to it. So I have no basis of comparison…
“Nightmare” mixes post-punk and fuzz for a highly infectious coldwave sound. It’s a bit odd, coming from Seattle. The fuzz seeps into everything, the harmony vocals, the percussion, all stemming from the guitar. Grave Babies maintain the nonchalant-ness of their chosen genre, yet there’s something oddly upbeat and positive about “Nightmare”.
Black Marble is Ty Kube and Chris Stewart, who produce somewhat minimalist synth music. With a synth drum beat, a synth melody, and deep, dark vocals, “Pretender” is a song that is one part Joy Division, one part Craft Spells, and one part its own thing. The song can be found on the band’s new…
