Cranes – Queen City Sounds and Art

Whipper Snipper’s Dark Dream Pop Single “I Fell” is a Brooding and Ethereal Journey Through Loss and Acceptance

“I Fell” by Whipper Snipper has a darkly wandering structure made up of seemingly interconnected circles of melody and rhythm. The music video depicts in black, white and grey tones a landscape of what look like legos of a person navigating a fantastical landscape dodging being caught up in the grips of gigantic arachnids. The moody bass line that introduces the song is a near constant presence that feels reassuring like a lifeline to reality from a realm of dreams and enchantment as seems depicted in the lyrics. The imagery of falling for someone and becoming lost and unmoored. When the percussion and bass drop out at around the 1:50 mark for haunting, teeming synth melody and a melancholic electronic piano figure filling that void it feels like emotional free fall. But all elements come together in the end and disappearing a little at a time before the final line of the song where the vocals sit all but alone and the vocalist sings, “Unchained, untroubled, unhinged.” And that captures the unsettling aspect of the song even though its atmospheres are beautiful and mysterious but at its heart it expresses that sense one can get when you think you got what you wanted in life in a relationship only to find out despite once feeling a deep sense of connection, attraction and affection all of those can dissolve for reasons you may never fully understand yet even in that liminal moment a sense of freedom, relief and acceptance can mix in with a sense of loss. Fans of Cranes and Just Mustard may appreciate the entrancing yet understated brooding quality of this song. Watch the video for “I Fell” on YouTube and follow Whipper Snipper at the links below.

Unverkalt Conjures a Haunted Sense of Menace on the Gritty and Darkly Atmospheric “Mr. Monster”

In the writing of its new album A Lump of Death: A Chaos of Dead Lovers, Greek experimental metal band Unverkalt took its cues from events of the 1970s involving cults, criminal acts and serial killers that seemed to be in the news on the regular in that decade. The songs have a darkly haunted quality and its atmospheric parts have a distorted and gritty quality that lends a menacing air of the macabre to every track with vocals that are part epic and melodic and at times reminiscent of Cranes. It’s truly a different kind of record in the world of heavy music and doesn’t fit in the usual subgenres. The single “Mr. Monster” begins with a buzzing, hovering sound that might be a synth or a looped guitar part. But then hanging guitar chords come in with softly pounding drums and vocals delivering a story that seems to be that of a person who feels conflicted and yet eerily accepting of someone who commits unspeakable acts against others and feels compelled against their will to engage in lethal behavior. The pulsing synth sound in the song hits like a flickering light in a dark room illuminating the activities with the starkness of a strobe imposing a visual sense of slow motion. And the song does sit suspended like that for moments before it floods with all the guitars, vocals, drums and electronic sounds in a dramatic denouement. Fans of SubRosa/The Keening/The Otolith, Faetooth and Windhand will greatly appreciate Unverkalt’s unorthodox and creative approach to crafting evocative heavy music. Listen to “Mr. Monster” on Spotify and follow Unverkalt at the links below. A Lump of Death: A Chaos of Dead Lovers was released on October 20, 2023 via Argonautica Records on digtal download, streaming, vinyl and CD.

Unverkalt on Facebook

Unverkalt on Twitter

Unverkalt on YouTube

Unverkalt on Instagram

Get Lost in the Intimate and Mysterious Sounds of JoobieSaez’s Collage Psych on “Cramps”

JoobieSeaz apparently recorded the guitars for “Cramps” on “amateur” equipment a couple of winters ago and couldn’t replicate the sound on more professional gear. And there’s something to be said for laying down a mood with a unique texture and sonic quality. The completed song as it is doesn’t sound like it’s coming from any conventional realm of rock even given its psych aesthetic. Like the band took the aforementioned guitar work that sounds like Cranes and Bardo Pond had an acoustic jam session and sketched out some delicate passages that couldn’t help but be unusual and mysterious and built the rest of the song around it with a framework of a loping, descending bass line, soft percussion and vocals that whisper with an intimate, diarist quality that both ponder and seem to beckon. Really JoobieSeaz’s song doesn’t sound like much else except it has a feel like something that could have come out on a 1990s American underground label that was home to unique and some would say eccentric artists like a K Records, Kill Rock Stars or early Matador. Listen to “Cramps” on YouTube and follow the German band JoobieSaez at the links below.

JoobieSaez on Instagram

Stargirl’s “ゆりかごのうた”(“Gentle Lullaby”) is the Musical Manifestation of a Benevolent Spirit

Japanese experimental pop band Stargirl contributed it song “ゆりかごのうた”(“Yurikago No Uta” or “Gentle Lullaby” in English) to the Bughead Records compilation For Ukraine with the proceeds obviously going to support the people of that now war torn country. The gentle plucked guitar, the sound of flowing water perhaps created electronically or through processed guitar or actually a treated sample, accents of ethereal drone and female vocals singing as though contemplating what it would take for the world to reach a place of peace and tranquility. A piano figure enters into the mix toward the last part of the middle of the song giving it winsome quality that further establishes the premise of the song suggested by the title. Musically it’s reminiscent of the more fairy tale/otherworldly/intimate music of Cranes with its blend of the almost tactile and analog with the more dreamlike and transcendent. Whatever inspirations for the music or for contributing the song to the compilation the song is the sound of sensitive benevolence given voice. Listen to “Gentle Lullaby” on Bandcamp where you can purchase the track and contribute to the cause and follow Stargirl at the links below.

Stargirl on Twitter

Stargirl on Instagram