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Spotlight: Nation of Language

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Photos by Ryan Layne, see more here.


The enigmatic Brooklyn trio Nation of Language is the sound of something more. Bringing a real sense of wonder to the stage, each show is electric, full of energy and poise. Sonically synth-driven, their music takes elements of krautrock, new wave and post-punk and mixes it with a heavy dose of modern nostalgia. Their latest single, “Reality”, was released in May and is one of their most intriguing tracks to date. It’s a minimalist, throbbing-synthesizer led track about escaping the depleting repetition of everyday life.

When talking with them about “Reality,” frontman Ian Devaney said “It’s sort of about someone who in their work life and home life is so mundane that they basically just kind of shut off from the real world. Whether it’s in their head or on the internet they have this totally different experience than they’re living.”

Apart from “Reality,” “I’ve Thought About Chicago” may be the best place to start when listening to Nation of Language. It’s currently their most played track on Spotify—not because it outshines the rest of their work but I think more so because it’s one of those songs you don’t have to be in a certain mood to listen to. You can just pop it on and let the head-bobbing commence. “What Does the Normal Man Feel?”, on the other hand, is what brought their music to another level. In it there’s deep, colorful lyricism that ponders a detachment from the normalcy of everyday life, one hell of a synth bass beat and a slew of intoxicating synth lines.

Nation of Language is led by the now husband and wife duo of singer Ian Devaney and self-proclaimed synth princess Aidan Noelle, alongside Michael Sue-Poi, who was at one point their drummer and has now stepped into the role of bass player. Devaney though is the main creative force behind Nation of Language. “Particularly it’s just building some kind of beat or arpeggio or something and just looping that endlessly, trying different things over it. … I have very limited skills on guitar, basically I can’t play guitar. So anytime I would pick it up I was basically doing the same thing every time I was trying to write. Whereas I sort of can play piano, and so I just switched over to synthesizer to keep things lively. … I said to someone once that I feel like after I heard the song “All My Friends” by LCD Soundsystem that I basically just tried to rewrite that song a million times. It’s just so sad to me, it’s about good times, but it’s sad. Something about that hits me a certain way” Devaney told me about his writing process.

Their most recent show was a headlining set at Alphaville alongside Wooter and The Knees (Fun fact: one of The Knees can actually be found in the video for “I’ve Thought About Chicago”). NoL’s live set is a contrast between Ian’s passionate entrancing dancing while Aidan tranquilly tweaks the multitude of synthesizers that surround her. This was their first show at Alphaville and it was rather cathartic as Aidan put it. It was their first show since returning from a week-long June tour of Italy and upon arrival learning of the passing of a friend, Russell Efros, who’s band Plain Dog was originally set to perform alongside them at Alphaville. Nation of Language dedicated the final song of their set, “What Does the Normal Man Feel?” to Efros.

Nation of Language has yet to announce any future releases, but one can speculate that much more is on the way. This is a band you should not pass up the opportunity to see or listen to in these early stages. I can tell you this won’t be the last time you hear about them.

Nation of Language’s next shows is August 15th at Elsewhere.


Photo diary: Tall Juan @ Our Wicked Lady

All the Kids Are Playing Drum Machines: CHBP 2018

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Photos by Lauren Khalfayan, find more of her work here


The year is 2018 and grunge in Seattle is dead. In it’s place is an EDM/electric regime. The kids have traded in their flannels and guitars for computers and drum machines and I’m trying not to feel personally victimized. Growing up in Seattle, I was heavily influenced by all things Sub Pop and Nirvana and was hoping to return to those roots this year at Capitol Hill Block Party – a three day music festival in what is the most Portlandia-esque part of the city. The last time I went to the festival was in 2010. The lineup that year included MGMT, !!!, The Dead Weather, Fruit Bats, and Beach Fossils, as well as a strong contingent of local acts ranging from hip-hop and rap (a pre-Thrift Shop Macklemore made a bottom bill appearance) to folk and garage rock. A lot has changed in 8 years time. The lineup remains eclectic and incredibly diverse (almost confusingly so), the local acts continue to shine, but now there are people pressing buttons on a laptop in the headlining slots.

Busty and The Bass

Vox Mod

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Capitol Hill Block Party is definitely a smaller scale festival compared to Seattle staples Bumbershoot and Sasquatch (RIP). It exists within 6 blocks in the Capitol Hill neighborhood giving the residents who fall within the grounds free balcony seats to the Mainstage shows (whether they want them or not). This seems to be pretty prized real estate, though, as people were hanging out the windows at all times and throwing otter pops to the groundlings below. Spanning three days and five stages, both indoor and out, it hosts acts that have just started getting local radio airplay to top 40 pop princesses like Betty Who.

Spirit Award

Unfortunately, I missed the first day of block party which included local standouts Dude York and MONSTERWATCH, as well as Flasher, who will be on tour with Shame this fall, and Alvvays. Personally, I am much more into that kind of lineup and would have preferred that theme to carry through more strongly on days 2 and 3, but it is reassuring to see that different shades of guitar rock and indie pop are still being represented in some capacity. Day 2 started off strong, though, with local indie rockers, Spirit Award, on the mainstage. They have an expansive quality to their sound – rolling, dippy, trippy, with some psych moments, but it’s punctuated with strong percussion to break through the haze. I will hand it to block party, though, while I wasn’t always into the style of music being featured, the lineup did encourage me to scope out genres I wouldn’t necessarily seek out otherwise. There were some great R&B/soul bands like Busty and the Bass and The Dip, as well as soul pop princess, Gavin Turek (who I want to be when I grow up if we’re being completely honest). Block Party also does a great job at showcasing the best of the Pacific Northwest. I was constantly impressed by the local acts like Hibou, Sundries, and Great Grandpa. Pitted against the same time slot as America’s new favorite boy band, Brockhampton, Great Grandpa still managed to pack the Vera Stage audience for their closing set on Saturday night. Grunge pop at it’s finest, Great Grandpa is the Seattle band we all want and need. Anthemic crowd favorites “Teen Challenge” and “Favorite Show” balance cathartic release and catchy hooks with such skill that I’d be surprised if they don’t become the new classics.

Great Grandpa

Great Grandpa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gavin Turek

Hibou

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sundries

Sunday was not as fun-filled as the day before. It started off strong with Bully on the mainstage, but petered off pretty quickly after that. There was a confusing Tennessee takeover in Neumos, one of the indoor venues, that was sponsored by Jameson Whiskey. With country music festival, Watershed, right around the corner and a Seattle staple for frat boys and aspiring Bachelor contestants alike, it seemed an odd choice to feature the genre so strongly when it’s target demo was probably not in attendance. It did provide solace to some of the 30-something block party attendees, though, who didn’t want to sweat it out by the mainstage dancing with the teenagers as Cashmere Cat pressed buttons and head-bobbed to a track featuring the not present Ariana Grande. I caught La Fonda at the Barboza stage, down the stairs from Nuemos, and got my indie pop fix. Another Seattle band, they skew more surfy and dreamy and could easily slip into an Urban Outfitters playlist rotation. The night closed out with Two Feet on the Vera Stage and Father John Misty taking it home on the mainstage. Fitting that Two Feet closed out the festival’s smaller stage as his sound was representative of a merger between things old and new – guitar fronted soul-infused indie “rock” backed by electronic beats. And last, but not least, Father John Misty closed things out once and for all. Everyone was smoking weed. Everyone was in love. It was a pretty perfect way to wrap things up.

Bully

Bully

Father John Misty

The festival was not what I expected in ways both good and bad. I’m eternally grateful for the platform the festival gives to some really fucking good local bands and how they champion for their success. There seems to be a very strong and impassioned community supporting Seattle music and I couldn’t be happier about that. While I wish there were changes in what genres and artists were highlighted in the festival, unfortunately it does come down to what draws a crowd and sells tickets. Sadly, that’s not always guitar rock n’ roll. The diversity of genres was great, but for my taste, I hope they return closer back to their indie roots.

Yaasss, The Muckers and Rose Cologne @ Baby’s All Right

Billie Eilish Releases Live Video for Vevo Lift

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Trying to keep up with 16-year-old Billie Eilish is an impossible and surprisingly exhausting task. Surprising because the majority of musical talent follows a relatively consistent pattern – even when a musician attempts a new sound, it usually feels like an organic change.

Billie Eilish doesn’t care about organic change, though. And that’s fine because like King Midas before her, every sound, aesthetic, and new idea that she touches turns to gold. Or perhaps in this case, platinum would be more appropriate.

The soulful crooner behind the hit track “Ocean Eyes” is back with an exclusive live video performance of her avant-garde, hip-hop tinged “You Should See Me in a Crown”. This hyperactive, naturalistic video is created in honor of the Vevo Lift initiative, which serves to connect today’s rising stars with original creative content.

Eilish was also featured as one of Vevo’s Artists to Watch back in 2017 and as dizzying as she may be, Billie Eilish is certainly worth watching.

You can keep up with Billie Eilish on Twitter and Instagram

 

Lauren Ruth Ward @ Elsewhere Space

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The death of real, head bobbing, ear-splitting, balls to the walls rock music has been talked about ad nauseam over the past 20 years or so, but it’s the death of the female rock musician that I see as the larger tragedy. If rock and roll finds its base in rebellion, female lead rock and roll grows from the soils of 1970’s and 80’s feminism. All big hair and screaming lyrics that seems to laugh in the face of the notion that a woman should be seen and not heard.

Lauren Ruth Ward is the revolutionary resurrection of that musical era. In fact, with the release of her debut album Well, Hell, Lauren is experiencing her own type of resurrection. Lauren calls this album, “A second chance at having a career doing what [she] loves most”.

Despite the name of the album, each track, which she played live this past weekend at Elsewhere Space, evokes either Hell or Heaven. Though, even the “heavenly” tracks are fueled by the angst and rapidly spat lyrics which appear to be a Lauren Ruth Ward signature.

The track “Blue Collar Sex Kitten” for instance, is a “Hell” track, especially with its crashing cymbals and the near-blasphemous religious themes that thread through her openly sexual and irreverently confident lyrics.

Lauren previously worked as a hairdresser in Baltimore. In the 1970’s and 80’s, the question was whether a woman could even have a career. Having created two and proving herself talented at both, the answer seems to be that a woman can have anything if she wants it bad enough.

 

Find more of Lauren Ruth Ward on Instagram and Twitter

Aug 2: Animal Show, Max Pain & The Groovies, Menjuje, Julep @ Secret Project Robot ($10)

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Poster by Nazar Khamis

If you wanna see a killer line up of NYC bands (& one band from Boston: Julep) that play from the heart and hit you in the face with tunes that scream, “music is my shit and fuck you if you don’t like that,” then you have to go to this show. We’ve got Animal Show bringing the grungy ’70s NYC punk-inspired thrashers. Max Pain & The Groovies showing you that rock ‘n’ roll can be trippier than your craziest dreams and/or nightmares. Menjuje bringing out the darkside in everyone with their heavy metal. And Julep creating a haze of stoner punk to get the whole place high. If this sounds like your shit come to Secret Project Robot  this Thursday, August 2nd at 8pm!

Tix & info here.

Dances premiere “Washed Up on the Shore” from new record

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Dances is back with their sophomore album Venus Figurine, out October 12, as well as a music video for the lead single “Washed Up On The Shore.”

It’s hard to make failure refreshing, but in their new music video the trio proves you don’t have to be cool to be cool. Instead of being in a packed crowd at a show, you’re just singing for friends who are half listening, missing shots in basketball, and blowing your nose in between video takes. It’s a dry humored video that really rips away the idea of molding yourself into the big ego rock star brand and shows just normal dudes doing what they can.

The song in contrast is in no way holding back. The most “Dance”able (sorry) track they have to date, and most produced. After the falling out of their previous label, frontman Trevor Vaz quite successfully rebuilt Dances from scratch and came out with something new and worth the wait. You can hear the same elements that filled their debut album Keep Talking from the distorted bass, heavy and precise drumming, and electric guitars. But on “Washed Up On The Shore” those same elements are presented in a much more focused and polished package. This is a new Dances, and in a very good way.

The new album Venus Figurine is out via Vaz’s own label Jubilee Gang on October 12th.


Letter from the editor: Some shit I’m into right now

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Photo by Tamim Alnuweiri.


Being involved in the music and culture “scene” (I know, sorry) in New York is one of those situations where you become so consumed by the minutia of your and every other asses existence that you forget not everyone has completely given up an assembly of normal life to pursue, participate, and applaud half baked ideas of artistic ambition.

This is a public service to everyone yes, but also a way for me to feel like all of this shit isn’t just a complete waste of mental space. So! Here’s some shit I’m into or paying attention to right now.

Gnarcissists


The pivotal moment in my life when I decided that nothing made me as happy or interested me as much as music was when I came across Richard Hell & The Voidoids debut album. The almost stupid simplicity of the lyrics, the songwriting and the general arrangement left me feeling elated (something I’ve only felt with music a few other times like with The Strokes “Sometimes”). ANYWAYS the point is that is also what makes Gnarcissists and interesting and intriguing band.

Sometimes I see like five shows a week and if I can see a band that can get into my head and put a smile on my face—well, it really just doesn’t happen that often. Anyways they have some shit in the works that is really fucking fun and skull crushingly catchy.

More on Gnarcissists on their Facebook, Instagram, and Bandcamp.

Priests Bodies and Control and Money and Power

This 12″ release is sooo fucking good because it predicted the hell we’re in before we were even in it. It’s easy now to be like “okay life is shit and this country is horrible and becoming a more horrifying dystopia with every passing day” but during the Obama administration this was a little veiled under the optimism of having elected (twice) our first black president. “And Breeding” is the best track on the record and one of my favorite songs in existence.

Seinfeld “The Bubble Boy”

The reason Seinfeld still mainly works in 2018 is that it pretty closely reflects the absolute minutia of everyday existence. Occasionally the show takes a slight detour from the Monk’s coffee shop shit talking and “The Bubble Boy” is like the best part of this. Hearing George explain to the bubble boy that the Moops (and not the Moors) were the ones to invade Spain is something I think about every night before I go to sleep.

Sometimes Publishing

When we put out the last issue of the zine I had to get intimately acquainted with the printing process which is truly wild. It also forced me to forever after pay attention to aspects of design, printing, and publishing that I’d never had to consider. Sometimes creates insanely beautiful print issues but the content is also great.

GRLwood

I deal with an inordinate amount of PR emails and I’ve tried like fifty different ways of making sure I see the good shit but it’s not always possible. Luckily we premiered GRLwood’s new record which is honestly soooo good, so clever, and so funny. They’ll be playing a bunch of shows in New York in late August and you should really try to make all of them.

More from GRLwood on Facebook and Bandcamp.

Deli Girls

There are essentially two types of punk—the easy to swallow type (The Ramones) and the type that makes people espouse about the end of morality and common decency. There is a ton of the easy shit always but finding the stuff that scares you—that makes you nervous to be in the crowd but also energized and ready to mosh—is not that commonplace. That’s what Deli Girls are though—they are the cyber punk overlords of the underground. Their records are good but if you live in New York just see them live it’s more than worth the cover charge.

More on Deli Girls on Facebook.

Song premiere: The Big Wheel “Foolish”

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As Leeds-based trio The Big Wheel gear up to release their self-produced debut EP1, we’re premiering the first single, “Foolish.” The band consists of Ollie Deans, Joe Collinson, Tom Orrell, and together they create energetic indie rock with a slight twang and surprising twists. “Foolish” not only offers catchy melodies, but a relatable story, “I’ve been foolish for the best part of my life / candle’s not burning too bright,” the frontman sings. For a song about internal conflict and insecurity though, its roaring guitar riffs and clashing drums seem to tell a slightly different story.

The band has already supported the likes of Flyte, Katie Von Schleicher, and more, and additionally have made an appearance at this year’s Live At Leeds and recorded a live session for BBC Introducing West Yorkshire. EP1 is set to arrive this Friday, August 3rd, but you can listen to the new single right here.

Find The Big Wheel on FacebookInstagram and Twitter

Album Review: The Growlers ‘Casual Acquaintances’

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The Growlers’ show off their unveiled soul on their first full-length release since the lo-fi synth reinvention of 2016’s City Club. This time relying on only themselves they self-produced and released the 10-track album full of demos and unfinished tracks from the City Club sessions. At first I’ll admit I was a bit uncertain of where this might go. After loving the changes that came on both Chinese Fountain and City Club I really didn’t want to see a lackluster release of unfinished ideas (looking at you Beach House B-Sides and Rarities) and tracks that for good reason didn’t make it on to City Club. But I was pleasantly surprised with Casual Acquaintances. It wedges itself right between the vibe of their live set and City Club. And just in time for their day-long Beach Goth festival in L.A. alongside The Voidz, The Drums and La Luz among many others (send me there please Tamim).

“I think that I’m trying to be positive” perfectly describes the tone of Acquaintances. And yeah, I’m sure Julian Casablancas had a bit to do with the mindset behind a line like “The scene has no soul” but I think throughout the album, especially on tracks like “Drop Your Phone in the Sink” and “Heaven In Hell”, Nielsen lyrically manages to find a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. From a sonic perspective the album appropriately feels at times like City Club demo tracks (“Problems III,” “Orgasm of Death,” “Last Cabaret”) and at times like the desert-dwelling group we came to love from the Hung At Heart days (“Casual Acquaintances,” “Heaven In Hell”).

The only criticism I have is the fact that has the feel of a demos album. This is a great selection of songs and I find it a mild injustice to not flesh them out the way they could. Though had they done so it’s very likely we’d have another City Club. I wouldn’t complain. But I’ll admit shaking off the leftovers of City Club and putting out the first release on their new label is likely the best way forward for The Growlers.

Aug 18: Gnarcissists, Chorizo, Glove, Sixteen Jackies @ El Cortez ($10)

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Welcome to the second installment of 3rd Party—the newest monthly show featuring Brooklyn’s psychs, punks, grungers, hazers, and dazers. This time around they’ve gathered a line-up that’ll keep you satisfied for weeks. Featuring the grittiest of NYC punks Gnarcissists, Spanish romance rockers Chorizo, Florida’s Glove, and filthy Philly’s most glamours freaks Sixteen Jackies. Come through, trip out, and get ready to be sweaty—August 18th at 7pm!

Tix & info here.

Drunk on nostalgia with Snuff Redux

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Photos and feature by Lauren Khalfayan, find more of her work here


Snuff Redux exists in a permanent haze of youth and nostalgia. I first saw the four-piece from Seattle at a house show in Bushwick that felt less like a underground secret and more like a dorm party gone rouge while the RA’s were away. As housemates and friends climbed on the fridge for optimal viewing, Snuff Redux erupted into a set that immediately transported me back to my days of missing curfew, speeding tickets, and falling in love far too fast. Somehow they manage to feel incredibly familiar and brand new all at the same time. A hybrid of Connor Oberst and White Reaper’s Tony Esposito, singer Skyler Ford’s lyrics and vocals are fraught with both reckless abandon and vulnerability. The instrumentation bounces between clean and spacious and furiously fuzzy as they bend in and out of genres. Every element appears to be rooted in a desperate passion to get this all consuming feeling out of their bodies and into the room they’re sharing with us all for the night. Despite their van breaking down that day, they managed to make it back to Pacific Northwest in one piece and with only one police encounter. I got together with the group on a recent trip out west to reminisce on the golden days of our youth, discuss the impact of the Amazon tech bro on Seattle, and hash out what it means to be American in 2018.

We’ve talked a little bit about the DIY scene in Seattle. How involved can you guys be in that now? Is there much of a DIY scene to be a part of?

Skyler Ford: Definitely. Daniel and I live together in Fremont and we’ve been busy all getting back to our jobs and whatever, but I feel pretty invigorated about where we stand as a band—where these ideas will go. As far as DIY is concerned I think collaboration is a big part of it to keep the city afloat culturally and artistically. Daniel and I have just been making a lot of art and been meeting with friends to try and just like explore, I don’t know, new things. Just trying new things with other people is like our DIY stuff. We have a studio in our basement so we’re trying to record our friends who’ve maybe never recorded before. I want to start a video podcast and interview local artists that I admire and kind of put a focus on people that, whether they get attention or not, you know I want to ask more questions and be more involved with how people’s art is being cultivated. I feel like a lot of people feel the same about the DIY situation in Seattle. Like some of us saw it back in the day and realized that it’s not the same at all and we gotta move on from that and it’s hard to like learn the Showbox, not DIY but, your favorite venues are going to be demolished, it’s just the never-ending story of our time. But you know, working on it.

Daniel Chesney: When we were in Missoula, somebody who put on the show asked us if we knew the band we were playing with cause they were also from Seattle and we didn’t even know of each other’s existence. I think we’d both be considered “DIY,” but we don’t even know each other. There’s this interesting thing about Seattle where there’s more musicians than you can count, but they don’t necessarily even know one another. There’s this DIY community, but there isn’t really a professional musician community.

Dylan Arlick: I think I disagree with you. My experience with it, and I imagine there’s different circles of it and that’s how I feel about the Mondegreens and us not really knowing them—but like for example, multiple musicians from different bands have gone through your [Daniel and Skyler’s] houses in the past. I live with a member of Salt Lick and Versing and like, there’s quite a big circle of people that are involved in the “scene” through music or other means. I’m seeing all these people like, “Oh they’re cool, oh they’re in a band, oh I really like their band, oh I want to play with their band,” I feel like that’s kinda how we even put together our lineups in the city.

Ziggy Comer: That’s how you joined the band, that’s how you met people. And it’s worth noting that Dylan moved here after our high school days and stuff like that. He moved from Battleground, Washington and it is a different view on kind of the same landscape, you know?

Dylan: But I think there are like so many bands that at a certain point maybe your roster gets full, you’re like, “Okay, I know enough people in bands,” or something.

Daniel: It seems to me the DIY scene in Seattle is the only scene in Seattle. There isn’t a professional scene. There’s the big venues and like three or four DIY venues and the rest is houses that crop up and fall down faster than you can keep track of a lot of the time.

Ziggy: A lot of venues, since I was younger at least, have gone away and the landscape has changed and really what bands have in common is the venue, they don’t, everyone’s alone in their practice spaces making their music, we come together to make the music for people and the fact that Healthy Times Fun Club, The Josephine, places like that have closed down have made it so there’s less of a communal thing. There’s a scene amongst bars for sure, there’s a lot of bands that play those places together frequently, but playing at a bar isn’t the same as playing at cool DIY clubhouse, you know, in Ballard, or something like that. There’s not as much of a glue between what’s going on. But I think the venue is what holds the scene together and I think the landscape has changed financially for a lot of venues and therefore for a lot of bands.

Do you think that that change has anything to do with like—I know that even in the past couple years something crazy like housing prices have increased by 29% and there’s an influx of tech bros from Amazon and Microsoft. 

Ziggy: Oh definitely. You shut down old mom n’ pop shops and open new glitzy fucking things that have nothing to do with the people that originally lived there and that’s what’s happening.

Daniel: I think the process of gentrification is under investigated by people who are railing against it. Because the process seems pretty cut and dry to me. Communities originally start as whoever lived there for a long time and that community’s been made up of those people for a long time. And then as the industries around them change, people move in and whatever, but the original process of gentrification usually starts with artists. Artists move into cheap areas of the city, they make cool things, they start their practices and when a neighborhood becomes interesting and useful, industries take it over. They buy it out. The entire thing gets sold and the process starts anew. And Seattle’s not alone in it’s process with gentrification. It’s not really much different. Even though the Amazon, Microsoft, Google tech phenomenon is fairly new, it still has a lot to do with where’s the cheap housing? Where have people already started to move in? Because, you know, the tech people don’t go for the cheap neighborhoods that are far out of town, they go for the next least expensive. So whatever is like right on the border of being the next spot. 

Ziggy: And the people who live there have changed at that point. It’s weird just to see a completely different demographic walking the same streets that were just a series of gay night clubs and shit like that and they’re still there, but—

Dylan: Saturday night’s aren’t the same

Daniel: It’s incredibly uncomfortable to walk around Capitol Hill on a Friday or Saturday night

Ziggy: I get gay bashed—I’m not even gay—on Capitol Hill all the time just walking around at 2 AM. Fucking terrible

Daniel: The “tech bros” as a phenomenon are you know so great a number that they clog everything.

Ziggy: It’s sucks that like “tech bros” is synonymous with our wealth, too, and I hate it. Like rich and arro- you know, I don’t need to get into it. I’m just gonna get carried away.

Skyler: Seattle talks about this a lot.

All that stuff being said, at least when I think about Seattle there’s an aspect of romanticism that comes along with being a musician in Seattle. Has the idea of being a musician in Seattle been a contributing factor to you guys doing what you’re doing now?

Skyler: I feel just lucky. I don’t know. I remember like third or fourth grade trying to understand what Nirvana was or something. I remember like Eddie Vedder’s voice and being like “Dad, what? What’s going on with this?” But like that is from Seattle. Jimmie Hendrix, Nirvana – 

Ziggy: Pioneer Square in terms of jazz music

Skyler: Yeah, my dad would take me there like every weekend and you just grow into your own mythology. I don’t know. Seattle still is a mystical place regardless of construction, like, if you want it to be there. Daniel and I were talking about this earlier. Some of our peers – like I lived in LA last year and our peer Whitney Ballen lived in LA, but her work is so specific to the Pacific Northwest and I feel the same way. There’s a reason we haven’t left yet, we need this place just as – I don’t know, it’s a duty. I wouldn’t say spiritually for more than myself, but it’s just like, after touring the country twice I can’t really imagine myself living somewhere else. 

I watched the feature you guys had on Band in Seattle and listened to the story you talked about of how you were just in nature and then you were looking at the sky and were like we should make a band. It was all very organic and in the moment. Is your creative process more effected by what is around you or more isolated like “I’m going to create now in this realm or void”?

Skyler: We’ve been trying to get this record out for a long time and with that Ziggy’s joined the band and it redefined where we are as people and as artists—it was a rebirth. It wasn’t like starting over, but it was like getting to know each other again as people. Ziggy and I met each other at those STRFKR shows at the Vera Project]back in the day and I hit him up and it’s worked out really well. With that we’ve made new songs, we’ve put out half a new album worth of new songs, and I think that this project, it’s careful. We are searching for new ways to make music faster, but when we get together, when it meshes it meshes, but we know where we’re going, I guess. 

Dylan: Coming off of tour we were playing every night, but weren’t able to really play and jam and be creative, but the first couple practices back I feel like we wrote two or three songs in like an hour. And they’re not finished, but it’s like okay everyone looks around and it’s like we all know where that one should go.

Ok so I’m going to quote you guys back to you cause I was looking on your website

Dylan: It’s all lies

Word for word, “Snuff Redux still stands after all this time as a modern rock and roll band because they believe a new Golden Era can exist alongside age old heroes of the past. While many bands live in the shadow of giants, Snuff Redux has stepped forward to offer something in comparison.” I guess my questions regarding that, what makes you optimistic about this “golden era” and how do you avoid the trap of being a poorly veiled imitation of all these other bands that have come before you as many young artists fall victim to?

Daniel: I mean I’d ask you first do you think of us as some imitation of any band that you can think of? Even poorly veiled?

I don’t!

Daniel: I think we could think of a number of bands, a number of references for everything we’ve made but that nobody else would be able to pin down and I think that’s an important part of our identity. We’re stealing just as much of the old material as anyone else is, but we’re really trying to make it our own and make those references invisible to anybody but ourselves. As far as moving forward and trying to contribute to a new golden age, it takes believing that you’re not just stealing and I think a lot of people are content to be just more thieves. I mean there are lots of bands that I can think of and will not name that are doing really well in Seattle right now and aren’t doing anything original. Nothing. And you listen to them and you’re like they’re another high energy awesome rock n’ roll band and nobody’s saying what new cool things are they doing. Nobody. But they’re another cool, new band. They’re not going to go into the history books as someone who changed something. There are bands in Seattle that I think are changing things, are making waves as far as taking their references and pushing them into the future. I think Great Grandpa is one of them for example. They do not sound like they are ripping anybody off and anybody who thinks that. It’s easy to pigeonhole yourself as an artist. It’s easy to decide that you’re making this or that, that you’re this type of artist—that you’re a punk or a blues artist. It’s really hard to decide you’re not going to do those things. And I think that we couldn’t tell you where we fit into everything, but I think we can say that we don’t fit into a lot of those categories.

Dylan: I think a lot of that might come more organically too from the fact that we listen to a lot of different things and a lot of those aren’t rock, but that’s where like – either that’s the medium that we’re working in but is maybe not what’s inspiring it some of the time. And so that’s an interesting twist I think. And also the fact that I’m not interested in making the same thing twice – ever. So if I play something and I’m like, “I’ve done that before,” I’m going to switch up what I’m doing.

Skyler: We made an album—

You did make an album. I was going to ask about the title—I found it interesting being from where you guys are from and being the time that it is to call something Denim American. Do you get a lot of questions about that and what do you guys feel is America and to be American in 2018?

Skyler: Well this is the first time the questions been asked. The idea and the title came a long time ago and I stuck with it. I don’t know. It’s not cool to be—it’s not the best time to be American

What was your initial attraction to that title being representative of the body of work you guys were creating?

Dylan: I think it has a lot to do with initially, even that last question, about the fact that rock and roll and denim go together like punk and leather. And like you know, those terms together have a lot of imagery. When you read it, there’s sort of a whole visual component that you start thinking of immediately. I don’t ever feel like I ever want to explain things like, “That’s the concrete meaning of it,” or whatever but also with the American part of it, I don’t believe in letting people co-opt that. There’s a ton of really good Americans you know and there’s some bad shit going on and there always has been, but I think that you can’t give that away and be like, “That is America.”

Daniel: I think Denim American—just the words are a statement refusing the idea of what it is to be American, it recalls a very specific breed of person.

The album to me feels very nostalgic. A lot of the songs are phrased in talking about the past and you include specific places. Is this a very autobiographical pursuit?

Ziggy: Ask Skyler. Skyler is all about the lyrics. He wrote all of them.

Skyler: I wanted to tell a story and paint a picture of a version of youth that existed in myself and the people that were around me. It’s like this summer feels different than however many summers ago, but that’s what I’m talking about. That summertime when the world wasn’t going to end or the night wasn’t going to end. I was also inspired by movies that take place over the course of one night, like Dazed and Confused. We’re out of school or the world is ours and being young and in the city. And also, that’s what I was going to say before I trailed off – that I’ve been writing these songs for a minute to tell this story and it’s like as time went by the second half of this album is kind of reflective of like the growth in the songs I guess. I didn’t feel like the same person when we dropped the record as when I wrote the first songs then when I recorded it—I’m not even the same person I was when I recorded it. And the world isn’t in the same place. It wasn’t easy to be like we’re dropping this record called Denim America in the fucking Trump times because it’s not the best feeling. It had to come out when it did, you know because it was already—it feels emotionally far away from me in some respects. 

Do you guys have any really memorable gigs where it’s like, “Ok there was time that existed before this and time that existed after this and this was the inciting moment?”

Dylan: I feel like a potential, one of those sort of breakthrough big shows is actually just about to happen. Next Friday we’re playing KEXP in studio and later that day we’re playing outside under the Space Needle with Tacocat and The Coathangers and I’m anticipating feeling really great after that. It’s the day after my birthday and it’s like those are two huge things. There’s like a lot of shows that feel landmark—the first time we play any venue really and you know going on tour – making it happen for the first time, making it happen for the second time, making it happen with way more showers on the third time. Coming back from this tour it was like I feel like that was professional. Like I feel like that wasn’t just you know we’re trying to figure it out, like we know what we’re doing. We had some problems on the way, we overcame every one, we made fans, you know.

Daniel: I always wanted to be in a band. And the second show we ever played was in a basement with the bands So Pitted and Dude York and after that show Peter, the singer of Dude York came up to me and he told me, “We’re going to be opening for you soon,” and it was like sort of after that when I was like okay. I mean I didn’t really know anything at that point but like, “This is going to keep going. We’re going to be doing this for a while.” His statement has not come to pass yet, but who knows, maybe one day.

Snuff Redux’s debut album Denim American is out now. You can find them on Spotify, Bandcamp, Facebook, and Instagram

Watch: Arthur Moon’s queer pop video for “Wait A Minute”

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Our generation is going through the most public sexual revolution since the 60’s and 70’s free love movement. It’s not just the push toward greater sexual exploration, but the general questioning and open mindedness of gender, and multi-generational conversation around feminism that promises a safer and hopefully (eventually) more accepting society.

Music and sexuality have always been intertwined, so it’s no surprise that with the new sexual revolution, comes a new group of progressive singers and songwriters to provide the soundtrack for the movement.

One of these musicians is Arthur Moon, AKA Lora-Faye Ashuvud, whose latest video “Wait A Minute” sets her trippy, mournful melodies to a backdrop of Old Dyke and Women’s Marches that is equal parts celebration of the queer resistance as well a challenging question of the movement’s positioning in the consumerist spectacle.

NEW SINGLE “WAIT A MINUTE” OUT NOW.
Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Bandcamp 

Mini Mansions @ Mercury Lounge


Album Premiere: SIGNAL Self-Titled

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Photo by Leia Jospe.

This band needs to be ticketed for disturbing the peace. SIGNAL is a NYC-based group that’s going back to the basics of hardcore and reuniting all punk rockers. Their debut self-titled EP, exclusively premiering below, is thrashing with short and snappy drums that bang along to the bubbles popping from your boiling blood, and vocals that scratch and call your bullshit out. The intro track “Rat Pink Eye” starts out like a disturbing children’s story—a Jack & Jill kind of story with blood and fear set to distorted guitars and screaming, It’s epic. The rest of the album is sure to kick your ass.

Listen below to the EP before it’s official release on August 10th (pre-order here!) and prepare yourself for the grit. Plus, keep up with SIGNAL via bandcamp here!

Death Heaven with Deafheaven, Drab Majesty and Uniform @ Brooklyn Steel

Listen: Lunacre “Love Being Lost”

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Lunacre’s blissfully numb new single “Love Being Lost” is here to ease the feeling of summer coming to a close. The London four-piece’s first single from their upcoming EP Pearl Tabloid effortlessly takes you through a ethereal mix of self-reflection, nostalgia and contentment with life’s insignificant moments. Lunacre added that “Love Being Lost” is centered around the sense of being suspended and comfortable in routine, while having an empty longing feeling inside. A more down to Earth description—the first time I listened to it was on a uncomfortably crowded bus without air-conditioning in 90° weather (32°C for you Londoners) and it helped me dislike that experience less.

“Love Being Lost” is definitely a step towards a more natural and open sound when compared to their previous EP Schtum. A change that can be attributed to the band recording the song during a transitional period in their lineup. That being said, the new track still carries their synthesizer heavy, acoustic guitar and effected drum kit sound of earlier tunes, but also a new life that definitely makes their new EP something to look forward to.


Mixtape: Leo season

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Dear Leo, as a solar and fire sign you are a passionate and extroverted being. You’re also theatrical, creative and very hospitable. If you’re not subject to patronization and condescension, people just sing your praises.

The Lion also has superior inner strength and can get through any obstacles in their way. And like Coco Chanel who was a Leo you have a high level of elegance and class.

But pride is your Achilles heel and when you feel disrespected you react swiftly and harshly. Romantic relationships can be a challenge for you but who gives a shit since you’re a very good friend always ready to have fun!

Gold and yellow are your color and a homage to your grace and flamboyance. In honor of all of this and of your special month, here’s a disco and new wave mixtape to shine all night long!

Bass Drum of Death @ Baby’s All Right

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