Mcclendon’s dusky, saturated synths on “Loving For A Season” and the relaxed pace of the song conveys a mood that captures a melancholic spirit born of an acceptance and yearning for meaningful connection. You hear a sense of loss and in its streaming atmospherics and in the lonely saxophone expressing the ache more fully than the vocals which carry the weight of what could have been. It sounds like a song set in a story of a tragic love that couldn’t last forever set in the backdrop of a time not so far from now when people are hiding from pollution reddened skies except for a rare simply hazy blue day now and then when a glimmer of hope for the future and unguarded personal connections seem more easy. One might describe it as apocalyptic synth pop but one more rooted in a realistic scenario of diminished possibilities rather than a perilously dramatic and sudden downfall and the romance of a climate like that hits more acutely. Listen to “Loving For A Season” on Spotify and follow Mcclendon at the links below.
Kyle Bates is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose work has most often been heard as his musical project Drowse. Founded in 2013 in Portland, Oregon, Drowse has released a few albums and numerous EPs and split releases. The music could be considered in part ambient, slowcore, shoegaze, drone, experimental folk and perhaps even transcendental black metal. But all categories aside, each Drowse recording is a journey into unique and nuanced emotional spaces exploring and living within a flow of emotions and thoughts that open the mind to new ideas and interpretations. And more so the moods, frequencies and textures on a Drowse recording, or really any of the releases in which Bates is involved, express a state of mind that one enters after having moved past a peak of anxiety or personal darkness and contain that tenderness and rawness one often needs to pull oneself out of a place of acute pain and psychological paralysis. The gentleness of the music is part of its power and appeal as Bates seems keenly aware of what it’s like to experience that period in life where you don’t feel like you can push or strive any further and you need an experience that is the opposite of that very modern and American internalized urge to keep at things to the extreme and prove yourself endlessly more and more. The core sound of Drowse is that of the musical equivalent of acceptance of one’s human limitations and of being open to what will nurture your well being and spark your imagination into nudging you toward fulfilling experiences.
Throughout his work as Drowse Bates has collaborated with Maya Stoner (Floating Room), Thom Wasluck (Planning for Burial), Madeline Johnston (Midwife), Taylor Malsey, Amulets, Daniel Schmidt and others. In 2023 Bates released an album as Kyle Bates and Lula Asplund called A Matinee that expands upon the format of his songwriting and production with two extended tracks that sound like an improv session one might have stumbled into in cutting room floor recordings of Alan Hankshaw and/or Brian Bennett had they been asked to provide music for a forgotten and mystical place. While it may sound like Bates’ work sets your mind into a different place than where it began upon listening to it, it does, but it is not escapist. Like the work of Grouper or Tim Hecker, Bates’ music has delicate immediacy that engages as it soothes and it stirs the emotions and the imagination.
Listen to our interview with Bates on Bandcamp and catch Drowse on tour now throughout the US and select dates in Europe through August including at the Hi-Dive in Denver on Monday, June 12, 2023 with Agriculture, Sprain and Palehorse/Palerider. For live dates and to hear A Matinee please visit the Drowse Bandcamp page linked below the interview and for more information on Bates’ projects and performances visit kylebates.net.
Antibroth is the kind of band that defies easy categorization even though its angular rhythms is in line with post-punk but its energy is more what you’d expect out of a hardcore band but the sonics are more experimental and the sense of humor more surreal than fits neatly into a genre. The trio formed when Jeremy Mock and Dan Switalski met in the music production program at Denver University where they also met original drummer Wesley Wolfe. But early in the band’s existence Wolfe moved on to other concerns and Hayden Bosch stepped into the role after Mock saw him play in his former emo band at a school event and was struck by Bosch’s hard hitting style. Antibroth formed with its current line up right before the 2020 pandemic but when shows started happening again in later 2021 the group was able to demonstrate how it had been able to develop and woodshed material and became a fixture in the Denver underground who as relative newcomers encountered all the odd situations new bands face in terms of shows and venues available to them but quickly encountered hardcore shows at Seventh Circle Music Collective, Mutiny Information Café and other venues where hardcore and increasingly other likeminded bands were performing. Anyone that got to see Antibroth got to see a group with a lot of energy that harnessed a math-rock-esque precision worthy of Hella and Don Caballero and channeled it into music that could sound sometimes thrillingly unhinged but always captivating for not sounding like much else you were likely to encounter in Denver music with strong hooks and memorable melodies. And now Antibroth is closing the chapter of its existence with a final EP Satan and the Dying Baby (out June 16, 2023) and a tour with Endless, Nameless from Denver out to the East Coast and back. The three members of the band are going their separate ways on good terms and in the history of music many of the best bands have two and a half albums and some singles and done. Antibroth has definitely left its mark on anyone fortunate enough to catch one of the band’s spirited shows.
Listen to our interview with Antibroth on Bandcamp and give a listen to Satan and the Dying Baby and its other releases at the link below. Also below is the tour route for Antibroth’s last hurrah of live performances.
Antibroth Spring/Summer 2023 Tour with Endless, Nameless June 9 – Denver, CO @d3artswestwood w/ @rosevariety @wrathofthelamb
June 11 – Lincoln, NE Rancho Rodeo w/ Säbo
6/12 – Ames, IA @theaholeames w/Moscow Puzzles and Perfect Strangers
6/13 Chicago, IL @subtchicago w/ @tenmonthsummerband
6/14 Dayton, OH @blindrageshop SUPPORT TBA
6/16 Queens, NY @barfreda801 w/ @fallofthealbatross @voicemail.bandcamp @_mineshaft
6/17 New Brunswick, NJ Mum’s House w/ @pyre_screamo @hysteria_the_band
6/18 Philadelphia, PA @breadboxphilly w/ @mtworry @queasy.does.it
6/19 Pittsburgh, PA @mr_roboto_project w/ @fficus_pgh
Ivan Julian is a guitarist, singer and songwriter who many may know as a founding member of Richard Hell and the Voidoids. He has also contributed to music by as well as performed with the likes of Isley Brothers, The Clash (for instance he played on “The Call Up” from 1980’s Sandinista!), Matthew Sweet (with whom he toured for a number of years in the 90s), The Bongos, Shriekback and others. The child of a Navy officer, Julian spent a great deal of time living in other parts of the world including Haiti and Cuba but ended up in Washington D.C. as happens with families who have jobs with the federal government. Julian began playing guitar in his early teen years and was a touring musician at age 17 as a member of The Foundations. In his 20s Julian was part of that influential CBGB’s scene and crossed paths with a broad swath of the punk world and No Wave scenes and formed a group called Lovelies in 1988 with his then life Cynthia Sley of Bush Tetras. In February 2023 Julian released his new album under his name called Swing Your Lanterns, an album about the nature of character in a time of troubles and how that overlaps with the human condition, it’s an album about timeless themes of love and loss, dreams and contemplating the deeper meaning of it all. Musically it brings together the sounds of Julian’s long career with elements of punk attitude, blues, R&B, pop and art rock. It finds Julian in an imaginative mode with poignant commentary on our current era.
Listen to our interview with Julian on Bandcamp and give a listen to Swing Your Lanterns on Bandcamp where you can also purchase the album on digital, CD and pre-order the limited edition 160 gram vinyl.
A Very Special Episode, photo courtesy the artists
“Strobes” finds A Very Special Episode pulsing with a driven energy and an aggressive and noisy sound that sounds like the band is trying to push everything into the red and holding on for dear life. It’s a song that has moments of disorienting echoes and scorching melodies and a sense that it could all combust at any moment and with the chorus of “Freak me out” it’s almost a challenge to see if one can have that kind of experience in a way that flirts with the dangerous but not necessarily the negatively destructive. It’s a fine line and the song with its washes of sonic fire and spirited vocals embodies a yearning to have an experience that blows open previously known boundaries and habits that have hemmed one in without knowing it. Watch the psychedelic video for “Strobes” (yes, there are strobes so those sensitive to that effect be advised) on YouTube and follow A Very Special Episode at the links below. Fans of A Place to Bury Strangers and Ganser will appreciate this band’s particular flavor of post-punk.
Laura Wolf’s “Calligraphy and Calculations” is a genre-bending song that fuses elements of chamber pop and sound design production. Wolf’s vocals are a melodic near whisper like she’s writing a letter or rehearsing a conversation with someone for whom she has an unrequited affection. Sounds and tones interweave and spin off in playful whorls and staccato echoes like the musical equivalent of stop motion animation treatment of a child’s storybook. But the subjects are adult and the compositions imbued with a depth and sophistication coupled with a whimsical aesthetic that fans of Tune-Yards and the more avant end of Emily Yacina will appreciate for its delicacy of spirit and creative emotional insight. Listen to “Calligraphy and Calculations” on YouTube and follow Laura Wolf at the links below. Her new album Shelf Life released on June 2, 2023 via Whatever’s Clever.
Alt-pop artist Julia Wolf dropped her debut full length album Good Thing We Stayed in January 2023 via BMG. Wolf grew up in the North Shore part of New Jersey as a shy and quiet young woman who was evidently observing the world around her with keen social and psychological insight because her body of work as a songwriter has a striking depth that brings to every song on at least the new album an unexpected resonance regardless of your background that invites repeated listens. Wolf headlined her own tour in the wake of the release of the album and is now supporting Quinn XCII on his national tour with a concert at Red Rocks on June 6, but with her own solo headlining show at Meow Wolf Convergence Station on June 5 with YaSi. We had a chance to ask Wolf some questions via email.
Tom Murphy: Good Thing We Stayed is your debut full length but it comes after some strong early releases including the Girls in Purgatory EP. Were there themes and subjects you felt more free to include in the songwriting for these new songs?
Julia Wolf: Yeah, I definitely felt more freedom to story tell the journey of where I started to where I am now through an entire album versus trying to squeeze it into a single here or there. It really runs through the highs and lows of working towards your dreams which is a way more discouraging road than people realize. This album highlights the good, the frustrating, the anxiety whilst all being written through the lense of someone on the shyer side.
TM: I read that horror films are a bit of an obsession of yours and might have been an influence (directly or indirectly) on the new album. How so? What is it about them that resonates with you creatively? What are some of your favorites older and newer?
JW: Since I was little I’ve always gravitated towards horror (we can thank my mama for that one)! And so it’s always been the genre to really capture my eye and allow for a full escape from reality verses a fiction or romance piece. Back in the day I was a real loner, didn’t have friends really, ate lunch alone that kind of thing. And horror was the only thing that helped distract me fully. When it comes to my visuals I do try and implement it as much as possible especially for songs like “Dracula” or “Hot Killer” where I bring references straight into the lyrics. Some of my favorites are Insidious, Skinamarink, The Rental, Barbarian, and of course any of the Scream movies (literally have a Ghostface tattoo)!!
TM: The album seems to follow something of a loose story arc. Was that something you planned or perhaps sequenced after writing the songs?
JW: I never went into the studio with the intention of creating an album. But after more and more sessions we would put certain songs to the side like “Rookie of the Year” that felt they were a part of a bigger story. Once I felt the story was complete the album was done!
TM: The lyrics on every song seem really open and vulnerable, sensitive, even in moments of expressing confidence. That seems to suit the often melancholic mood of the music. What about that way of writing do you think is compelling for you rather than the swagger of a lot of pop music?
JW: Thank you so much!! I guess I’ve come to understand many people write over music/beats that have already been made but I find it to be too restrictive. When there’s no music to go off of I have the freedom to write without structure or boundary and can also free form a melody that doesn’t have to fit what’s already been created ahead of time.
TM: One of the most striking things about your songs is how they’re so grounded in vivid experiences and personal and cultural references. Like the mentions of the North Shore and Blockbuster countdowns. But someone that makes an appearance here and there is your sister and it seems like she’s someone you look up to and don’t want to disappoint. Whether that’s a literal reference or not what makes her an important part of your songwriting?
JW: Cami has been my entire world since I was about 5 years old. We were always inseparable but it wasn’t until my older years even in high school when I was really struggling constantly alone at school, so uncomfortable in my own skin, that I would know without a shadow of a doubt, she could put a smile on my face everyday no matter what. She has helped me become the person I am today. I go to her for everything and vice versa. I love her and therefore she is in everything I do; I’m always thinking about her.
TM: The line in “Gothic Babe Tendencies” “I always choose the dark but what if I surrender to the sun?” is so poignant. What role do you feel like exploring ambivalence and mixed feelings plays in your music?
JW: It’s been a huge one because unfortunately most people are disappointing. I’ve had to realize time and time again that just because I would do something and put the extra effort in, doesn’t mean somebody else would. But through that I find myself learning to be independent, to not hold on when someone is showing true colors, and not fear being on my own. With that I can put it into the music and hope to show someone they don’t need to settle either.
TM: We’re in a precarious time politically and socially in the USA and really the world. Why did you think it was important to publicly associate yourself with an organization like WRRAP and its mission?
JW: Even though my platform is a tiny one, I think every voice, every comment, every share still counts and opens up someone’s eyes to what’s going on. I will always try to publicly associate myself with what I feel is right and fair and in turn make people understand where I stand and know that our community is a safe space for everyone.
TM: “Get Off My” truly transforms a specific and literal expression into the more accurate if metaphorical meaning with humor. Though there are heavy subjects and sad songs and heartbreaking moments on the album, what do you think humor helps to highlight or express more realistically in a song?
JM: I think it’s just instantly relatable. A phrase like that is one everybody says all the time as it applies to so many situations in one’s life. So when you hear it you don’t have to think twice to know that on some level here you can scream those lyrics out and feel a bit better about whatever’s bugging you!!
TM: All pop music is a stylistic hybrid these days and your songs have guitar, synth/keyboard and trap beats as well as maybe some more acoustic percussion here and there. Was that approach more a product of your bedroom production? What music helped you to realize you could do that on your own with confidence even as someone who grew up shy?
JW: I think my sound is a product of what influences me today and what I listened to growing up. When I was younger it was all the alternative bands or pop punk concerts you could imagine. It was emotional and made me feel tougher than I actually was, which is probably why I loved it as a shy person so much. As I got older I started really getting into rap and loving that genre sonically so much. So yes, those days in my bedroom were just me trying to bring those worlds together. But it wasn’t until I met my producer Jackson that it finally started coming to life. Now I find myself slowly drifting more and more back into that alternative world so I’m excited to share what’s coming up next!
Water From Your Eyes at Larimer Lounge, December 6, 2022, photo by Tom Murphy
As Water From Your Eyes, Nate Amos and Rachel Brown have made a career of using an eclectic and ever evolving palette of sounds to explore ideas and concepts through what could be considered dance pop. That is if your frame of reference might be the experimental electronic and punk out of New York and Los Angeles of the last fifteen years. Its 2020 album 33:44 is something you’d expect more out of a band on the Northern Spy label with its beautifully dire, ambient and modern classical soundscapes that are almost an homage to Penderecki’s “Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima” crossed with Howard Shore’s work for the films of David Cronenberg. But the duo’s most recent album Structure at times sounds like what might have happened if Aphex Twin in writing Selected Ambient Works Volume II had decided to turn those into pop songs. Except that Water From Your Eyes inserts enigmatic spoken word elements that serve as a a meta narrative that re-configures traditional album sequencing and gives the whole album a non-linear quality made cohesive by reimagining the nature of how creative work is structured. In these ways Water From Your Eyes fuses the avant-garde and pop songcraft into a highly accessible form that in the live setting creates an inviting mystique. The group signed to Matador Records in 2023 which released its new album Everyone’s Crushed on May 26 of that year.
Listen to our interview on Bandcamp with Amos and Brown conducted in the back area of Larimer Lounge prior to its show opening for Palm on December 6, 2022 and delve into the new album and the band’s back catalog at the link below. For more information on Water From Your Eyes please visit waterfromyoureyes.com.
“Train” is practically pointillist in the rapid fire execution of its rhythms. But in short order Dick Dudley’s song unfolds some in a paradoxically herky jerky, The Fall-esque giving the song an urgent mood. The vocals are delivered in what might be described as a desperate deadpan depicting the daily routine of a man who seems locked into a ritualistic daily routine but resisting inwardly with no direction “with his elbows up and his legs spread wide” in a gesture of confrontational repose even though “he’s just another passenger with no time for his kids and no kiss for his wife.” Sounds like the kind of person who knows this isn’t living but lacks the self-awareness to go for a life that would mean something or to adopt an attitude toward a job that is providing for him and his family that keeps the work and its stress on him in perspective and not treat it like it matters as his whole identity and maybe develop a personality that includes finding joy in his existence somewhere rather than be so buttoned up. Ultimately this jagged yet loose song is one of compassion for someone who doesn’t know how to break this cycle or lacks the will to recognized that the unclenched jaw is superior to self-reinforced diligence over nothing no matter what anyone suggests to you. Fans of Protomartyr and IDLES will find some strong resonances here. Listen to “Train” on Spotify and follow Dick Dudley on Instagram.
Malmö’s video treatment for “Brutalisme” juxtaposes the stark architecture suggested by the title of the song with mass human activity that has been an expression of a support for brutality or resistance to the same. In black and white the visuals trace the layers of drone and the shining tones that peek through the curtain of cycling sounds like the frequency of the inevitable rush of historical events and repeated human activity that in the moment can seem like the most important thing in your life when carried about in groups and mass movements. But when one can pull back with the perspective of history one can pick out the themes and triggers, the rise and fall of social organization and to marvel at both the resilience and fragility of societies and individuals that make them up. The tenor of the song is one of wonder and awe rather than menace or inevitability. It sounds forward looking rather than simply cyclical even as the entire track sounds like one great becoming. Watch the video for “Brutalisme” on YouTube and follow the French ambient artist at the links below. His EP from which this song is drawn Les Grands Ensembles EP released on February 17, 2023.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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