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Dick Dudley Comes to Terms With the Necessities of Normiedom and Punk Weirdo Existentialism on the Jittery “Dog Park”

Dick Dudley wastes no time on “Dog Park.” For a song that just a little over a minute long and is essentially having a moment of acute existential awareness at the reality of working a regular job and doing the thing one needs to do to do right by one’s animal companion and take one’s dog to the dog park it gets weird with the spiky, jittery guitar work and slinky bass line and mumbling, borderline nervous breakdown vocals. And within that micro universe of contemplation the song takes out a moment to indulge a guitar solo worthy of Minutemen before sputtering out and life going back to the usual rituals and acceptance of such in order for life to maintain a semblance of normalcy and stability. But for a moment the character of the song, perhaps a universal experience for the working bloke who sometimes plays in a weird punk band, we get a glimpse into the idle thoughts that seem so poignant and amusing because life is so often mundane and absurd when allowed under the microscope of self-examination and in taking that time to remind oneself of the proper place of these thoughts it is entirely possible to live with both being an art weirdo and a normie and not see either as mutually exclusive. Listen to “Dog Park” on Spotify and follow Dick Dudley on Instagram.

Kyoto Kyoto’s Art Prog Post-Punk Track “Trier” is Driven by an Orchestrated Nervous and Furious Energy

“Trier” by Kyoto Kyoto sounds like someone wound up one of those recent UK post-punk bands and sped up its trajectory with Wire-like nervy intensity. It seethes with energy and it sounds like it is going to come off the rails but the precision of the rhythm is hidden with bursts of noise and furious arpeggios that dissolve a third of the way through the song to give way to a rapid bass line that pulses in a repeated pattern joined by guitar and drums in a tight pattern while vocals seem to chant with an urgent message like it’s all riding headlong to a mysterious destination. At times it sounds like Hella and a hyperkinetic version of Yes newly inspired by the likes of black midi and drawing some inspiration by Carl Orff with an update on a bit of Carmina Burana. Orchestral math rock with the art punk sensibilities of a current post-punk band that didn’t get the memo that it needed to sound like something in any current trend in that style of music. Listen to “Trier” (as in Lars von Trier? Who can say?) on Spotify and connect with Kyoto Kyoto at the links provided.

Kyoto Kyoto on Facebook

Kyoto Kyoto on Twitter

Kyoto Kyoto on Bandcamp

Kyoto Kyoto on Instagram

Comiti’s Energetic Yet Brooding Synthwave Single “Luminous and Sparkling” Comments on Conventional Notions of Image and Substance

The rhythmic urgency and distorted synths of Comiti’s “Luminous and Sparkling” from the beginning is an interesting way to get into the more brooding darkwave aspect of the song when the ominous vocals begin. The music video looks like it borrowed a bit from a process video for creating mannequins and sculpting class and doll making footage. Is it commentary on the way people have often crafted how others want to see them and to make a more “perfect” image going back centuries well before the cheap, modern and thoroughly pervasive way of social media? In the video the artist hangs back in shadow while presenting the least glamorous image and though in a mediated format of a music video the most honest presentation of everything we see. The contrast of enigmatic moodiness and driving energy and the collage of imagery in the music video suggests and aesthetic that is more than a simple genre and though conceptual more accessible than a pure art project. As a complete package it challenges conventional notions of image and substance. Watch the video for “Luminous and Sparkling” on YouTube and follow Comiti at the links provided.

Donzii’s Video For “Grave” is Like a Synthpop Darkwave Disco Celebration of Underground Culture and Making One’s Own Fun

Miami-based post-punk dance band Donzii released its debut full-length album Fishbowl on December 1, 2022 and its lead single “Grave” is a solid dose of what you’re in store for in giving the record a full listen. The music video for the song shows the band performing in what looks like an abandoned warehouse space with dancers who look like they came out of a future society after the American version of Mad Max has risen from the ashes of the apocalypse accompanying the band in its choreographed movements set to the moody, R&B infused darkwave. The percussion sounds like something borrowed from 80s dance pop but paired with the brooding mood of the song that prescribes finding and making one’s own fun in a world where everything seems so precarious and menacing. At points the band strikes a tone reminiscent of what might have happened if Giorgio Moroder, New Order, Madonna and Nina Hagen had collaborated on a song created for performing in East Germany and having to keep a song about subversive, even revolutionary and forbidden simple hedonism a secret from officialdom. Its this eclectic but strong sound that Donzii has been crafting across a handful of previous releases that has set it apart from the post-punk and darkwave bands with which its often been associated that has found a peak moment on Fishbowl. Fans of Boy Harsher and Actors will find what Donzii’s been doing much to their liking. Watch the video for “Grave” on YouTube and follow Donzii at the links below.

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Holy Wire’s Instrumental Post-punk Song “Dream” is the Perfect Nostalgic Track to Soothe a Broken Heart

From jump Holy Wire’s “Dream” feels like a journey back to a time when one would hear C86 bands alongside the likes of New Order, Felt and The Smiths on college radio. And be struck by how that music could employ both intimate acoustic rhythm guitar with synth and spare electric guitar melodies to create an evocative backdrop to stories of heartbreak, crisis and times of existential introspection. But for this song Holy Wire doesn’t bother with the words, it lets the melancholic and nostalgic tenor of the song transport the listener to a time in life when horizons seemed in the distance and a broken heart could be soothed with the power of music seemingly written as the soundtrack to getting over a breakup. Listen to “Dream” on Spotify and connect with Holy Wire at the links below.

Holy Wire on TikTok

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Holy Wire on Bandcamp

“your eyes” is a Torch Song by partygirl That Burns With the Memory of Someone That Truly Sees You

“your eyes” sounds like partygirl spent some time immersed in old Joe Jackson records and those of Fiona Apple and absorbed a certain late night jazz lounge sensibility to inject into soulful pop songs. The piano work is wide ranging and simmers with an active intensity sweeping the song along as the vocals soar soulfully like the voice were hearing cut her teeth on playing endless open mics testing out R&B and jazz songs before establishing her own commanding style. If Grace Cummings had aimed more for a torch song style instead of searing blues rock her songs might sound like this as it has a similarly emotionally stirring power. It’s a song steeped in uncertainty and obsession, of being haunted by the memory of someone that gets you in all your flawed glory. Listen to “your eyes” on YouTube and follow partygirl at the links below.

Eosine’s Video for the Entrancingly Expansive Dream Pop Single “Ciarán” is a Glimpse Into the Mind on the Border of Waking

Eosine offer a gorgeous array of sounds and textures on its single “Ciarán.” From piano melody running through and complemented by guitar chords drawn out and then syncopated in perfect sync with vocals that are luminous and warm in the tonal breezes that guide the structure and arrangements of the song in spiraling waves. The video treatment by Simon Medard with footage also shot by Eosine lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Elena Lacoix is like a journey into a personal vision of the universe and the interconnecting streams of energy on both the macro and micro level. But then there are concrete images as though drawn from where the raw stuff of dreams coalesce into symbols and then explicable yet mysterious objects and structures like the eyes and face toward the end of the video as though at long last one emerges from the subconscious to venture into the waking world again but not before gaining the benefit of beautifully strange visions one often sees in the cinema of explorers of the subconscious like Ken Russel and Jodorowsky. Watch the video for “Ciarán” on YouTube and follow Eosine at the links below.

Eosine on Facebook

Eosine on Bandcamp

Eosine on Instagram

Human Interest Capture the Anticipation and Cathartic Release of Primal Urges on the Brooding and Fiery “Mixing Paint”

Human Interest, photo by Dougie Chalmers

Human Interest leads us down a path of minimalist mood in the beginning of “Mixing Paint” with just female vocals, some spare drums and bass. But it feels like something is brooding on the horizon. The lyrics create an image of desperate anticipating muted of necessity and given one possible slang meaning of “mixing paint” the imagery of checking one’s phone, being restless and having disturbed sleep maybe the first two thirds of the song are a buildup to consummating a relationship and sating that desire and the final minute of the song with its cutting loose into fiery distorted rock and roll is the indulging of the poetically described impulses in the first part. Overall the song is reminiscent of The Kills and its own fusion of blues rock and post-punk and a union of brooding atmospherics and scorching catharsis in rendering a primal urge into art. Listen to “Mixing Paint” on YouTube and follow Human Interest on Instagram.

Toebow’s “Kitchen” is a Brilliant, Eclectic Fusion of Styles Orchestrated to Express a Playful Amusement at Vainglorious Clout Chasing

The intricate arrangements of percussion, guitar and electronics in Toebow’s “Kitchen” conspire to create a unique mood and texture. When the vocals come in it helps to change the quality of the song like some bizarre and fascinating mix of folk rock, prog, R&B and psychedelia. In moments it sounds like the weirder end of an LCD Soundsystem song but if Adrian Belew was bringing some alien guitar sound and technical heft to the songwriting. The lyrics seem to be about clout chasing and wanting to win accolades and distinctions that don’t really add up to much. Casting these words into music that at times sounds like arty dream pop seems inspired and when the song waxes 1980s hard rock and Joe Satriani-esque jazz fusion the potential cheese factor transmogrifies into something that seems perfect in capturing the essence of pursuing vainglorious rewards. Listen to “Kitchen” on Spotify and follow Toebow (which includes former and perhaps current members of Zula, Peel Dream Magazine, Dirty Projectors and other noteworthy NYC ensembles) at the links below.

Toebow on Instagram

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Charm the Riot Envisions a Future Guided by Intelligence, Imagination and Sensitivity on “Out There”

Charm the Riot, photo courtesy the artist

Charm the Riot’s video for “Out There” is a perfect companion to a hip-hop song that has some old school craft in the beat making but sounding not just modern but like a welcome next step. There are plenty of bad and boring trap beats that lack creativity completely. Charm the Riot takes some of that method in making percussion and injected it with a different palette of sounds so that the texture of the song is immediately noticeable like he’s striking bottles or actual drums and making them hit with an programmed precision. And maybe part of his creation of the song involved that level of detail. The keyboard tones are soft but resonant like a string of lights coming on in a dream as you walk by to mark the paces. The artist raps about learning from his losses, embracing being an outsider, taking chances with his life and his art, staying true to his roots, dodging ignorance and foolishness and making all of it into the kind of music that makes you take notice in spite of having heard a ton of all kinds of hip-hop on the radio, on playlists, on the street in cars driving by, in public spaces, online, everywhere. Watch the video one gets a sense of not so much the bleak and troubled world we live in now but of a world in the aftermath of the current drama and one where building a creative and hopeful future will require not just bold action and imagination but the intelligence and sensitivity Charm the Riot displays all across the track. Watch the video for “Out There” on YouTube and follow Charm the Riot at the links below.