The Hardly Boys The Search for the Electric Void cover (cropped)
The whole aesthetic of The Hardly Boys and their new EP The Search for the Electric Void is like something informed by Church of the Subgenius and 1960s and 1970s science fiction and suspense TV. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, the project, particularly on its single “Moving Without Religion,” has leapfrogged past the obvious industrial, noise, post-punk and psychedelic rock touchstones into its own thing seemingly born out of not wanting to sound like everything around them or what they’ve heard ad infinitum out in the world today. Hovering, cycling, menacing tones drive the song as well as vocals that catalog a journey in search for meaning without reference to established, sometimes oppressive beliefs and subcultures. Which could be seen as emblematic of the band’s approach to songwriting as its tripped out tone bending and otherworldly sound wedded to an almost lo-fi production style sets it outside too many obvious influences. The band is based out of the city that produced D.O.A., Skinny Puppy, Japandroids, Modern Creatures and Mutators and it would have been easy to fall back on any of that but fortunately The Hardly Boys have chosen a different path while not discarding the fingerprints of its influences completely. Listen to The Search for the Electric Void on Spotify and follow The Hardly Boys on Instagram linked below.
Choosing to start off “i’ll choose u” in a lo-fi, AM radio production style with the track ever so slightly washed out until nearly a minute of the song makes neek’s choice to come in with the strong bass even more impactful. This is especially so since it it no way overpowers her creative vocal production both fairly natural and more processed. We’ve heard plenty of unimaginative vocal processing in modern pop music but neek gives us a treatment on her voice that blurs and pitches the shift in a way that enhances the gently romantic quality of the song. Even when she reluctantly admits her affection for the person to whom the song might be directed, because she’s had to be so guarded in life, it comes across as tender and sincere. The rhythm is like a hybrid of breakbeat and footwork and suits the overall flavor of the song. Listen to “i’ll choose u” on Soundcloud and follow neek there as well (linked below).
“Glow” by Bordeaux, France-based electronic music composer Ocoeur (Franck Zaragoza) evokes the sense of self-imposed isolation through technology that most people living in the modern world experience every day through increasingly using mobile devices channeled through platforms of interaction that run the gamut of human life from everyday communication with friends, relatives, one’s job to dating, ordering food, hailing transportation, watching entertainment, getting news and even remotely operating aspects of your house should you be connected that way. The irony of calling this state of things being “connected” is something that Ocoeur challenges on his new album Everything (out on Feb 28th on 180-gram ultra clear vinyl and digipak compact disc). “Glow” in particular has hazy synth sounds and sense of being shrouded in your own head and shielded from an outside world. It has a comfortably insular feel with soothing drones but underlying is a sense of darkness and unrest, of discomfort that is difficult to define but which creeps up on you while easing those sensations of dissatisfaction with a sort of soporific/hypnotic energy. Combining what seem like opposite purposes in crafting the track Ocoeur has manifested in sound the ambient mood, the background radiation if you will, of modern society and what we have come to accept because we feel it’s comfortable and we figure the benefits outweigh the costs even as it, in its current form, might be eroding us from the inside on an individual and collective level by catering to stasis rather than encouraging curiosity and growth beyond what you already know. Listen to “Glow” on Soundcloud and follow Ocoeur at the links provided.
BUHU’s single “Bend (Wisconsin)” is interesting in its unfolding of a song with a first and second act. Beginning like a a John Fahey-esque, tender acoustic guitar figure with processed vocals to draw out the tones ever so slightly like a wind through trees. At the one minute eleven seconds mark the song shifts into a different gear with the sound of an accelerating breeze before settling back down into a gentle saunter of uplifting melodies accented by electronic synth tones like ethereal bells. The guitar work less of a textured filigree and a more impressionistic strum to count out the time of the lines of lyrics. The falsetto vocals in the chorus join the song in harmonically blissful territory as the singer reminisces about the place he grew up with memories of what made it so significant to his life as a human and as an artist. Fans of The Verve and Grizzly Bear will appreciate the eclectic blend of sounds and rhythms BUHU employs to craft such an entrancing composition. Listen to “Bend (Wisconsin)” on Spotify and look for the Providence EP due out later in 2020.
Wettworker remixed the title track of Cubbiebear’s 2015 album Are You Okay? after asking the Baltimore-based MC 2015 for permission to do do so Joshua Bailey aka Cubbiebear sent Wettworker the vocal track and six months later the MC passed away from an aggressive form of brain cancer. In 2020 Wettworker released a dynamic lyric video for the remix that highlights Cubbiebear’s facility with poetic expression in the context of a song and his willingness to go beyond the tropes of the hip-hop genre and its prevailing trends of the moment to make the beat serve the emotional content of the lyrics. The use of pages with the bars of lyrics like a nod to Bob Dylan’s film for “Subterranean Homesick Blues” but with each page burning and re-manifesting with different words and repeating laying out choice cultural references to frame a fierce adherence to one’s vision, creative life, friendships and radical vulnerability as the guiding beacon of one’s life. Laying bare fears, insecurities, flaws and psychological scars while a borderline black metal guitar riff runs through over a techno synth line and spare drums, the song paired with the visual representation of the song is a powerful manifestation of the essence of Cubbiebear’s artistic legacy. Watch the video on YouTube and follow Wettworker at the links provided.
What:The Shivas w/The Savage Blush and Slynger When: Thursday, 2.27, 8 p.m. Where: Hi-Dive Why: The Shivas were pushing the modern garage psych aesthetic forward before it became a played out quantity in the 2010s. But because the band was always weirder and willing to explore the noisier, more extreme ends of the style its music has remained refreshingly different and genre bend-y up to and including its 2019 album Dark Thoughts.
What:Susto w/Whitacre and Molly Parden When: Friday, 2.28, 8 p.m. Where: Globe Hall Why: Susto’s 2019 album Ever Since I Lost My Mind finds the indie rock band branching into more urgent and gritty songwriting territory without losing the thoughtfulness. Maybe the tenor of the times has seeped into the drive behind the new material but the band’s gorgeously languid vibes seem ticked more than a bit toward a focused intentionality with the music. Not that it lacked intensity at moments before, it’s just palpable this time out. Also on the bill is Denver-based band Whitacre. Paul Whitacre has made a name for himself since moving to the Mile High City in 2016 for his introspective yet brightly upsweeping songs. The group’s new album Seasons, out on April 17, finds its songs, produced by Joe Richmond (who has worked with Tennis and Churchill), polished and shining with a warmth and sincere optimism.
What:Modern Leisure w/Ashley Koett and Big Dopes When: Friday, 2.28, 8 p.m. Where: Lost Lake Why: Modern Leisure’s Casey Banker’s keen ear for dynamic and entrancing pop melodies is matched only by his similar gift for sharply observed turns of phrase. Big Dopes’ 2019 album Crimes Against Gratitude is brimming with vivid portraits of life in a generation whose future has been compromised but trying to maintain a sense of hope for better times ahead without succumbing to nihilistic despair.
What:Chuck Prophet When: Friday, 2.28, 7 p.m. Where: Swallow Hill – Daniels Hall Why: Chuck Prophet was one of the pioneers of alt-country as a member of Green On Red from its genre-defining 1985 album Gas Food Lodging through the early 90s. During his career as a solo artist his knack for crafting poetic imagery and dusty power pop has seemed endless. His most recent record, 2017’s Bobby Fully Died for Your Sins is a meditation on the passing of musical giants and maintaining a vision for hope in dark times.
What:Howard Jones acoustic Trio performance w/Rachael Sage When: Friday, 2.28, 7 p.m. Where: Oriental Theater Why: Synth pop pioneer Howard Jones will perform as part of an acoustic trio for this show interpreting his iconic hits of the 80s in a format that will likely surprise. Anyone that has witnessed Jones in the more electronic incarnation of the music knows that his songwriting is at the heart of the appeal of his songs. Opening the show is Rachael Sage. The New York City-based artist has been releasing music on her own MPress Records for two decades including fourteen of her own albums distinguished by an eclectic range of sounds and styles that have informed her imaginative pop songs. He latest album Character, out March 6, came out of her time recovering from endometrial cancer throughout 2018. The record is informed by a sense of humility, realistic yet poetic assessments of life’s possibilities and horizons when facing your own mortality. Sage discards the bravado we hear too much in American music in the face of adversity, it acknowledges the frailty and fragility of the situations we may find ourselves when you can’t just magically snap back and be okay. It wisely takes a sensitive and deeply compassionate yet honest approach to every subject and reveals itself to be a deep record about life’s challenges in general whatever your situation.
SPELLS, photo by Tom Murphy
What:SPELLS (record release) w/Drakülas and People Corrupting People When: Saturday, 2.29, 8 p.m. Where: Streets Denver Why: Denver’s SPELLS is releasing its new record Stimulants & Sedatives on Chuck Coffey’s Snappy Little Numbers imprint. In the past one might have described SPELLS as essentially a pop punk band. But on this album there’s more dissonance and grit to the music to go along with the rambunctious tunefulness that has been the hallmark of the band’s sound from the beginning. The lyrics are a sharp mix of self-awareness and self-deprecation with stories of realistic expectations rather than bullish bravado, a very adult approach that contrasts well with the raw energy of the performances.
What:Ceschi and David Ramos w/Gregory Pepper, Midwife, Damn Selene and CFX Project When: Tuesday, 3.3, 7 p.m. Where: Seventh Circle Music Collective Why: Ceschi Ramos is the co-founder of Fake Four, a label putting out some of the most forward thinking hip-hop of the past decade and a half. The confessional intensity of his rapidfire vocal delivery wrapped in atmospheric beats is reminiscent of Sole, with whom he has worked, and his vivid, personal storytelling issues forth in almost pointillistic couplets like a mosaic establishing an informal, organic narrative. On the bill also is experimental hip-hop artist Damn Selene and ambient folk phenom Midwife who is set to tour the US in March and April as well an appearance at the Roadburn Festival in the Netherlands.
Wednesday | March 4
R A R E B Y R D $ performs at Mercury Café on March 23. Photo by Tom Murphy
What:Weird Wednesday: DA’AN, Corey Daggers and R A R E B Y R D $ When: Wednesday, 3.4, 9 p.m. Where: Bowman’s Vinyl and Lounge Why: This typically eclectic line-up for Weird Wednesday includes a mix of electronic dance music, punk Americana and soulful hip-hop. DA’ANS is a new project that brings together the luminous vocals of Glynnis Braan of Lady of Sorrows and the electronic production and beat-making genius of Lawrence Snell, drummer of Meet the Giant, with songs and a theatrical performance that is a true synthesis of rave and darkwave. Corey Daggers often performs by himself with a guitar and on occasion with a full band. But either incarnation is a vital flavor of what might be described as dark carnival emo Americana. R A R E B Y R D $ bring a swagger, sensuality and emotional warmth to ambient beats and lyrics that are at turns playful, earthy and deeply, transformatively vulnerable.
Inspired by the landscapes of Iceland, “Field of View” by Stephen Caulfield comes in with a spectral drone with slight distortions in the tone like sun winking off ice in the distance before the landmass looms into view. A copse of trees gives a hint that the promontory jutting out from the fog is not an iceberg but the sometimes otherworldly land of ice and fire that the Vikings colonized centuries ago. As an up close, rapid cycling, distorted stream of sound gives way to a more spacious and ambient softly drifting melodic noise it conjures visions of the low lying clouds and fog clearing to reveal the jagged inlets and high cliffs, the majestic and silent vistas of Iceland before you that must have captivated the first humans to set foot there as well as modern travelers to the island nation. Listen to “Field of View” on Spotify and follow Stephen Caulfield at the links provided.
Glassio “Are You Having Fun Without Me?” cover (cropped)
Glassio’s “Are You Having Fun Without Me?” was inspired by the dissolution of a long term relationship and the endless pondering to salve one’s heartbreak that goes on for longer than we imagine it can. The upbeat rhythm and melody contain a deep wistfulness that seems to come from a place of pain, vulnerability and confusion, almost as though in denial that things are over or at least hoping they aren’t. The chorus is “Are you having fun without me? Are you having fun without my love?” It is childlike in its conceptualization of how the adult relationships work but when you’ve invested so much of yourself and your life with someone for what you assume will be the long haul, when it ends it can leave you lost and not sure of your place in the world so you cling to what you knew and have a hard time coping with it being over, wondering what the other person is up to and if they’re feeling as desolate as you. Listen to “Are You Having Fun Without Me?” on Soundcloud where you can also find more of Glassio’s music (linked below).
Molina recently released the Vanilla Shell EP and the live version of the single “Venus” as captured in the video on YouTube showcases the band in a room draped in white, enshrouded in a light fog as Molina seems to move about this fantastical world in miniature down to the drummer set up in front of a clam shell backdrop as perhaps a nod to Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus.” The fabrics flowing in the wind fits a song in which all the elements seem to be operating to uplift the ethereal melody, Molina’s vocals reminiscent of a cross between Nico and Miki Berenyi of Lush. The guitar is as textural as it is tonal, serving as the connective tissue of the body of the song grounded in bass and percussion and the grand sweep of bright, hazy harmonics. Fans of Tamaryn and the aforementioned Lush or any of that entrancing 4AD dream pop will find a good deal to like with this presentation of the song and Molina’s output generally. Watch the video on YouTube below and follow Molina at the links provided.
“triangular warfare” by lynx 196.9 gets off the ground with a sample like the recording of one side of an emotionally fragile conversation, a confession, an apology for hurting someone. The beat is a downtempo dub mélange of meditative percussion, piano, keyboard samples and backing vocal samples in a jazz style like a lo-fi Blockhead. The vocals tell in short a sexually frank story of a love triangle that has progressed to the phase when people want more or want something different out of the relationship and communication has broken down and the conflict avoided earlier by balancing time and maybe being willing to set aside the usual demands and keeping ego in check. What makes the track surreal is how chill our narrator is throughout as though relating someone else’s story or a snippet of an experience from long ago and able to maintain a sense of distance. A lot to load into a song under two minutes that manages to establish an entrancing vibe immediately. Listen to “triangular warfare” on Spotify and follow lynx 196.9 at the links below.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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