Queen City Sounds and Art

Live Show Review: Snail Mail at Ogden Theatre 4/17/22

Lindsey Jordan came out on stage looking like a rock/pop star from another era with what looked like a leather jacket and a lot of browns and rust colored pants. And for someone performing many songs from a fairly heavy record, Valentine, she seemed to be very upbeat and quick with the playful gestures on stage and with her band and lighthearted quips with the audience that really made the performance uplifting. There was a casual and free exchange with the audience who were attentive and supportive, a kind of rapport that set the tone for the show and somehow seemed to exist for the opening act as well.

Philadelphia-based indie rock band Joy Again opened the show and it seemed as though more than a few people in attendance were familiar with its music. Considering the group has been active since 2014 and roughly the same time frame as Snail Mail. Initially it hit like some sort of post-Mac Demarco, bedroom pop-esque band but then there was a keyboard player and a guy playing Moog and as the set went on the band’s ability to stretch out beyond initial impressions made its music more interesting and enveloping. Evidently Moog/keys player Zachary Tyndall evidently has a brother who lives in Denver and in attendance and after giving that shout out Tyndall took lead vocals for a spirited cover of “My Own Worst Enemy” by Lit.

Snail Mail’s set list drew liberally from both Lush and Valentine beginning with “Adore U.” Although there seemed to be a sense of camaraderie and good humor on stage, Jordan ably brought the intensity to her vocal performance when the moment called for expressing the strong feelings that undoubtedly inspired the song as if reliving the song but being able to let go of that moment. And the singer’s ability to convey a broad range of emotions was impressive. It was as though Jordan summoned these memories and living in them temporarily whether those feelings have a traditionally strong expression or as in “Ben Franklin” a melancholic acceptance. All executed with a fluid command of and confidence one might not expect from songs that articulate trauma and hurt so poignantly.

Between songs Jordan free formed the banter almost like a comedian interacting with people. Before playing “Light Blue” along with the band off stage Jordan reacted to the enthusiasm of the crowd saying, “Come on., don’t gas an old lady up. You’re gonna make an old lady cry. Just kidding. I don’t see myself as an old lady.” Later when Jordan asked what day it was, Sunday or Monday, someone said it was Easter and the singer joked, “Bad Catholic. I didn’t come here with an Easter agenda.” In general it was a lively and charming performance that kept your attention throughout including the encore that included “Mia” and ended with “Pristine.” Given the aesthetic of the band it felt like some kind of modern take on classic pop and rock except that Lindsey Jordan’s songs are so vulnerable, open and raw it felt like a collective purging of anxiety for an evening.

Queen City Sounds Podcast Ep. 23: Charming Disaster

Charming Disaster, photo by Adrian Buckmaster

Charming Disaster is a goth folk duo from NYC that has been weaving tales of human relationships with each other, with the world around them and with the mythologies and beliefs that inform our behaviors since 2012. Inspired in part by the work of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton, the project regularly employs unconventional instrumentation in composing poetic and thought-provoking songs in a classic pop vein with an Americana flavor. At times their songs are reminiscent of what the Cramps might have sounded like had they directed their songwriting for a softer dark cabaret vibe or Tav Falco dialing back the rockabilly and emphasizing the folkloric aspect of his work. Whatever the exact way one might use to describe the band’s beguiling body of work, Ella Bisker and Jeff Morris clearly spend some time considering the types of stories they want to convey and the sounds that might best suit it given tools on hand to make every release unique and imbued with its own identity. For the latest Charming Disaster record, 2022’s Our Lady of Radium, Bisker and Morris took inspiration from the life and scientific discoveries of Marie Curie and the era in which she lived including her involvement with séances, the folklore of the mountains from which radioactive ores were mined and the tragic lives of the “Radium Girls” who painted the dials of watches with radium-based paint and were subsequently poisoned by radiation for their efforts. The album was written and recorded during the peak period of pandemic isolation and the musicians made great use of instruments and objects on hand to give the nine songs an intimacy and poignancy that made its inspired and deep storytelling immediately accessible. The record as well as a companion lyric and art book were released on March 4, 2022 with the album available digitally, on CD and translucent green vinyl with black splatter through their Bandcamp page.

Listen to our interview with Bisker and Morris on Bandcamp and connect with Charming Disaster at the links below the interview link.

charmingdisaster.com

Charming Disaster on Facebook

Charming Disaster on Twitter

Charming Disaster on YouTube

Charming Disaster on Instagram

Lillian Blue Makin Kicks the Bad Habit of Cigarettes and the Linger Feelings for a Relationship Gone South on “Nicotine”

Lillian Blue Makin, photo courtesy the artist

Listening to Lillian Blue Makin’s song “Nicotine” and you can readily visualize the path she takes while smoking and trying to wean herself from a relationship that’s over even if the feelings aren’t there yet. And parallel to that the line about not smoking another cigarette when the pack is done brilliantly ties the experiences together in your mind and how quitting cigarettes or even giving them up for even awhile can be so challenging because it’s become a habit of life the way some relationships can be and you get to the point where you’re not sure why you’re holding on to either habit. The song is just over three minutes but it feels so short and says so much and when Makin sings how she hopes “this feeling goes away in time” it feels like that better instinct in your head coming forth to nudge you in a direction better for your physical and psychological health. The image of the lingering feelings burning out over time like a pack of cigarettes is also as fine a symbol as you’re likely to hear in a song any time soon. The textural guitar and spare percussion and keyboard accents with a subtle flourish of harmonica bring to the song a pastoral quality to the song especially in the end where it feels like things are going to resolve in a positive way even if the low key pain of missing someone you’re not getting back together with again still lingers. Listen to “Nicotine” on Spotify and follow Makin at the links below.

Lillian Blue Makin on TikTok

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Live Show Review: The Velveteers at Fox Theatre 4/15/22

The Velveteers at Fox Theatre 4/15/22, photo by Tom Murphy

The Velveteers have certainly reached an interesting crossroads in their career on the eve, as it were, of their national tour opening for Greta Van Fleet following the 2021 release of their debut full-length album Nightmare Daydream. The album and its thoughtful and incisive lyrics and imaginative sound palette much expanded from its early days perhaps helped to that level with the help of Dan Auerbach’s production of the album is a creative success even if it has yet to set its performance on streaming services on fire. But this show at The Fox Theatre felt like a way to acknowledge its roots as a band from Boulder with a hometown performance before setting sail to win over the audiences of a popular buzz band operating in a loosely similar realm of rock music drawing on older blues based rock. And for the occasion the trio brought on the bill some friends from the local scene who may have emerged around the same time as The Velveteers or shortly after.

Rose Variety at Fox Theatre 4/15/22, photo by Tom Murphy

Becc from Rose Variety seemed to indulge in a string of inside jokes and references throughout the band’s set including hinting that Rose Variety had broken up or went inactive during the early years of the pandemic but that Dry Ice had asked them to open for its own first show so this quintet got things back together for the occasion. Its music sounded like a blend of shoegaze pop and psychedelic indie rock of the sort that emerged in the 2010s. The fact that the performance felt a little rough around the edges but seemed musically coherent with a strong songwriting foundation made the threads of chaos that ran through the songs and Becc’s off-the-cuff persona just added an element of excitement to the show this early on.

Dry Ice at Fox Theatre 4/15/22, photo by Tom Murphy

Dry Ice had opened for The Velveteers in November 2021 for the album release show at the Gothic Theatre in Englewood, CO but if you didn’t get there early enough you missed them as I did. But listening to the band a bit online I did not expect to see a group whose music was very tight and expertly executed and was somehow both on the shoegaze spectrum with a touch of post-punk and more than a touch of riot grrrl edge and sensibilities including the final song “Don’t I Look Cute” which bassist Olivia Booth said was about killing frat boys and even brought someone on stage who claimed to be one and theatrically did so. But that aside there is something vital and visceral about the way in which Dry Ice delivers its politically/socially aware lyrics that strikes a broad emotional resonance like an amalgam of sounds and textures like there is some jazz background in the way they seem to invoke Deerhunter, Dum Dum Girls and The Slits all at once.

The Velveteers have their sound dialed into sharp focus at this point. And while the energy is very intentional and practiced even as they seem to cut loose in the performance it still feels spontaneous like they have built into their shows the ability to indulge going off the map for periods of time so that it doesn’t get stale for them even as they deliver a strong performance. Because it can get like that when you’re in a band. How long can you sustain the excitement for yourself when you’re playing the same songs for extended periods of time and a consistent quality of performance for the many, many people you’ll see on the road that haven’t seen you several times like many fans in your hometown may have? You build into the songwriting and in the set lists and in the songs places where you can exercise spontaneity without sacrificing cohesion. And this show was an exercise in that and rock theater generally. Sure, the group has had that as part of their shows from very early on but you can see the work put in to give people a show rather than just three musicians getting up and rocking out. Demi Demitro’s combination of vulnerability and commanding, passionate vocals and thoughtful and astutely observed lyrics really set the band apart from other groups that have a rooting in the classic rock revival of the 2010s. But with Baby Pottersmith and Jonny Fig pushing the momentum in polyrhythmic fashion and giving the music a strong dynamic foundation the music and the show seems to reach great emotional heights. And with any good fortune this will translate well to the bigger stages The Velveteers take on what will hopefully be a successful run as impetus for another creative leap forward with its next record.

Belgian Hip-Hop Duo blackwave. Encourages Us to Slow Our Roll To Sustain the Good Life on “good day”

Belgian hip-hop duo blackwave. gives us a downtempo map charting a path and a course toward self-care from being too heavily on one’s life’s grind with its song “good day.” The two vocals work so well in sync in the beat it keeps up momentum in a song about very serious personal issues and with the horns and percussion accenting the rhythm it comes off like an experimental hybrid of jazz and pop underneath the rapping. The song is about getting stuck and stagnating because you’ve spent so much time and energy hitting it hard for your job and maybe your creative projects or other personal goals you ignore that side of your emotional life that turns into melancholy then depression and anxiety when you don’t remember that you can’t sustain a headlong pace forever. The line “I’m just feeling like a bootleg version of myself” really speaks to that mode that’s easy to slip into when you think you’re doing what you want when you’re really doing what you feel you have to past a certain point because there’s only so much of you to give and that amount can change day to day and where ignoring those limitations can burn you out so that no you can’t keep on seeming like you’re living your best life. The song in the end is a reminder to honor your humanity and your limitations so that you can live in a way that not only doesn’t burn you out but those around you. Watch the video for “good day” on YouTube and connect with blackwave. at the links provided.

blackwave. on Facebook

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Child Seat Show That Even in the Retrofuturist Dystopia of the World We Know You Have to Take Some Time Out For Fun on “Fever Dream”

If the Tracey Ullman Show were rebooted in 2022 its intro music and video might sound and look a lot like what Child Seat has going with its single “Fever Dream.” The summery melody, uplifting vocals and expansive dynamics sound like a futuristic mutant form of 80s synth pop, one that came in the wake of MGMT and Matt & Kim. Madeleine Matthews and Josiah Mazzaschi in their reflective silver frocks that look like repurposed car windshield sun reflector pads performing in a windswept desert location at points, in others in shiny garb and in yet other scenes frolicking around a pool in an abandoned oasis give the impression of not just surviving but thriving in a time where civilization has collapsed and they’re having to make their own fun and send it out into the world as a signal that it’s not all dystopian hellscape. I mean who could think someone with a bad blonde wig and a blow up sax wailing on that solo isn’t a sign that maybe it’s okay to have some good times? Which is of course a humorous science fiction take on the world we’re living in now. Watch the video for “Fever Dream” on YouTube and follow Child Seat on Instagram.

Live Show Review: Jawbreaker with Samiam, Face to Face and Descendents at Fillmore Auditorium 4/8/22

Jawbreaker at Fillmore Auditorium 4/8/22, photo by Tom Murphy

When Blake Schwarzenbach of Jawbreaker said at some point during that band’s set said something about how this is probably the punk tour of the year it seemed obvious. Even if one were inclined to contrarian impulses the fact that it was Jawbox headlining a bill that included Samiam, Face to Face and Descendents makes that more challenging to refute.

Samiam at Fillmore Auditorium 4/8/22, photo by Tom Murphy

Samiam started very early in the evening around 6:30 p.m. and its melodic punk sound had some unexpected grit to it live. There was an underlying catharsis of personal pain and loss the seemed to inform the songs and upon closer listen songs like “Dull” and “Capsized” in the set list hit hard and heavy yet in doing so made the need to make music to uplift without trivializing those feelings so urgent in a way that translated directly to the live performance.

Face to Face at Fillmore Auditorium 4/8/22, photo by Tom Murphy

Face to Face’s own anthemic punk while not as gritty as that of Samiam before them sure delved into topics deeper than one might expect from a band that is so closely associated with pop punk. But its songs exploring personal integrity and the core meaningfulness of life informed by a self-effacing humor and poetic insight were undeniably effective. “Walk the Walk” and “It’s Not Over” really made that obvious and how Face To Face injects some inventive guitar work into a style of music that can be a bit predictable three decades in. Trever Keith also gets points for throwing some friendly shade in saying how he enjoyed his Dodgers handling “your Rockies.” Fortunately people laughed and didn’t take the comment too seriously.

Descendents at Fillmore Auditorium 4/8/22, photo by Tom Murphy

Descendents walked on stage and without a lot of preamble launched the set with “Everything Sux” like the legends of the whole pop punk world they are. Although there was a spirited joyfulness to the Descendents’ performance and they performed silly songs like “Wienerschnitzel” what became very apparent from the live show is how this music makes life’s everyday problems and struggles seem manageable by humanizing them, by pointing out the humor value and poignancy of it all even when it feels its most painful. Setting those moments of peak emotional turmoil to energetic and tuneful punk songs fortifies the mind. While it may not be saying it’s all going to be okay or something unrealistic like that it at least suggests these experiences don’t have to sink you and that has been an important thing to hear for years and even now which is part of why Descendents and the bands it influenced remain resonant and relevant. And it wasn’t all songs about being a young, angsty person, and material like “Global Probing,” “Clean Sheets” and “When I Get Old” transcend the adolescent mindset while staying rooted in a spirit of youthful exuberance and a willingness to feel all those feelings and not hide from them in the name of growing up. Like burying your emotions just because you reached a certain age or have a “real” job and a mortgage and marriage really worked for anyone anyway.

After Jawbreaker split in 1996 its cult following seemed to increasingly expand for over twenty years. Its anthemic pop punk songs infused with literary yet accessible lyrics found a wide audience among fans of pop punk but follow the creative threads even from its debut album Unfun and there’s more thoughtfulness, inventive guitar work and unconventional rhythms than one might expect given its general legacy as one of the star bands of 90s pop punk. And live the sharper edges of the music and its more experimental instincts were starkly obvious. The infectious melodies and emotionally vulnerable vocals that have made it a massive influence on emo were there to be sure. One was struck by how much The Clash probably influenced the songwriting not to mention an obvious inspiration like Descendents. But in its most stretching out past the boundaries of standard punk moments, when the band engaged in noisy soundscapes mid-song or near the end it felt like getting to see a Steve Albini band though more Shellac than Big Black. It had that combination of focused intensity and wildness that you don’t hear in much punk that got too popular. And that’s when Jawbreaker was at its most exciting from a musical standpoint.

For just three guys on stage Jawbreaker unleashed a lot of energy all while maintaining a stance of self-deprecating irreverence that you’d hope to hear. If you include the encore the set consisted of almost all of Dear You with some choice tracks from 24 Hour Revenge Therapy thrown in (“Boxcar,” “Condition Oakland” and “Jinx Removing”) and before performing “Basilica” to close out the show, Schwarzenbach told us something like how they would leave us with one last psychedelic mindfuck to take with us before retreating to the comfort of our everyday abodes. Given the extravagant sonic freakout that blazed out the show, at least the band delivered as it did the entire performance.

Ethan Woods Weaves the Tale of a Lamb Contemplating Life Beyond the Herd on “Chirin’s Bell”

The sound of contemplative reflection at twilight runs through Ethan Woods’ “Chirin’s Bell.” Tonally its reminiscent of Nick Drake and the impressionistic compositional quality of the music lends itself similarly well to establishing a mood and dreamlike imagery. Hushed drones, processed lap steel and simple acoustic guitar melody with spare percussion to give the track some texture help to make vivid what sounds like the story of a sheep taking stock of its life as a metaphor for the roles we internalize as a matter of life circumstances and the weight we put on ourselves borne out of how that living circumscribes our dreams and aspirations until we learn to dream differently. But also reconciling one’s upbringing and background with establishing your own identity and accepting where you come from rather than reject it outright. People that don’t go through this process often end up going back to their roots in a perhaps misguided attempt to rediscover what they feel they lost. But this song doesn’t seem to be coming from the perspective of life post-self-liberation, but of considering the essence of one’s life to which one was born but considering what else might be possible for yourself. Lines like “I itemize the time you take with your indecision,” “I wonder to myself did I fuck up with my big plan” and “beyond the wooden fence can remain good friends” point to those strains of thought that take you out of mundane existence for a moment. The dramatic arc of the song is subtle but reaches a peak with all the musical elements swelling with the rise in intensity of the vocals wondering again about fucking up but then outros to returning to reminiscing being a part of the herd while considering leaving it. Listen to “Chirin’s Bell” on YouTube, look for Ethan Woods’ second solo album Burnout due out April 29, 2022 through Whatever’s Clever and follow the artist at the links below.

Ethan Woods on Apple Music

Mercvrial Illuminates the Root of the Poisonous Seduction of Social Media Validation on “be that someone”

With a brisk pace and expansive, ethereal guitar melody over a steady urgent rhythm “be that someone” by Mexican post-punk band mercvrial is a surprisingly incisive commentary on the deleterious effect of social media. In the music video for the song we see people looking at their phones for the brief validation of likes on various social media platforms and how it syncs up so well and so insidiously with the work culture in late capitalism wherein people need to show they’re grinding for increasingly diminishing rewards and settling for truly ephemeral benefits. We see in the video the ways in which people advertise for themselves by posting a cultivated image of success and performative presentation of living their best lives all the time when anyone living in the real world knows can’t be true or certainly not sustainable. What makes this commentary accessible even as it shows how a system of technocratic rewards and punishments self-sustaining by our participation is eroding our collective psyche is how upbeat the song comes off and how the video shows the supposed good times posted to social media can convey a false picture of psychological health and vitality. At least until the end when a couple that seems to be getting along but there’s the dating app showing a match so on to the next exciting thing even if there’s no way of knowing it will be exciting. It’s easy to see people as interchangeable and as an option when the illusion of such is at your fingertips. The reality is probably more complicated than that but we’ve all seen that dynamic and perhaps even been or are a part of it to varying degrees. And yet we all know we can do better than this even if the instant dopamine shot from these micro brain stimulations of social media engagement give us is hard to let go. This song is about that and the lyric of “be that someone that everyone loves” sums up the root of the issue perfectly. Watch the video for “be that someone” and follow mercvrial at the links below.

mercvrial on Instagram

Battle Ave’s “I Saw The Egg” is a Gentle Coaxing to Wake Up to the Life You’re Living

The softness of “I Saw The Egg,” the title track from Battle Ave’s new album, hearkens back to turn of the century indiepop and the psychedelic alt-country of Sparklehorse. Spare percussion, likely electronic, accents the informal rhythm of the simple keyboard figures that intertwine and trace the outer edges of the song’s introspective daydreaminess. Guitar stretches to fit the flow and spike of mood in the last half of the song like Adrian Belew guesting on a particularly delicate Modest Mouse single. It fits in well with an album that sounds like it’s from another time that utilizes elements of musique concrète with traditional pop songcraft informed by a gentleness of spirit that makes the record easy to take on as a whole with songs about reorienting one’s life and priorities to make room for aspects of lived existence neglected while you’ve been putting all your energy and momentum into a professional pursuit or some other personal goal without as much attention paid to the things that make doing so sustainable. Balancing adult responsibilities with one’s creative life needn’t be diametrically opposed, after all, and requires a simple adjustment of one’s habits and cognitive orientation which this song alludes to with poetic imagery. Listen to “I Saw The Egg” on YouTube, check out the rest of the album on Bandcamp where you can also purchase the cassette and download and follow Battle Ave at the links below.