K Records – Queen City Sounds and Art

Razor Braids’ “She” is a Delicate Anthem to Staying Present When Meeting Someone Special

Razor Braids, photo by Justin Bruschardt

Brooklyn’s Razor Braids wrote a tender anthem to remember to be in the moment in situations in which your energy might be derailed by thoughts about your past and overthinking the future. In particular when you meet someone special who takes you by surprise with their attention and interest. There is an awareness in the lyrics of the tendency of many people to throw a wrench into something that could be good by succumbing to anxiety over not wanting to mess up an important connection with thoughts of assuming you’re going to make the same old mistakes or that you’re limited by them all the time or new types of errors and offenses one might commit. But really if you can stay in the moment it’ll be okay. The music is loosely in the realm of indie rock or punk the way say bands on the Kill Rock Stars or K Records labels might be in the 90s with punk spirit and ethos but an embrace of vulnerability and gentleness of spirit as a virtue and an aspect of being a complete person. The music video, directed by Razor Braids bassist and vocalist Hollye Bynum, shows a party in which women are mingling and having a good time and not stressing what someone might think is wrong with them, rather, being in the moment as suggested by the song and enjoying genuine connection with one another. The song was apparently written as a queer anthem given the lyrics and the presentation of the song but really anyone that claims they’ve never felt a twinge or much more than a twinge of anxiety in social situations especially in meeting someone special is probably not being completely honest. The immediacy of this Razor Braids song and its inviting spirit makes it accessible for anyone. Watch the video for “She” on YouTube and follow Razor Braids at the links provided.

razorbraids.com

Razor Braids on Facebook

Razor Braids 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

Queen City Sounds Episode 2: Uncertainty and Urgency with The Shivas on Feels So Good // Feels So Bad

The Shivas at The Gothic Theatre, June 2013

Since forming in 2006, Portland, Oregon’s The Shivas has developed a sound that incorporates elements of 60s psychedelic garage rock and pop but out of step with obvious trends. Its idiosyncratic songwriting style has always seemed to have more in common with the 90s indie pop and its emphasis on raw expressiveness and tapping into classic sounds and aesthetics as a vehicle for expressing timeless themes and universal human emotions with an intensity and artistry that feels vital and of the moment and not trying to recreate a previous era of music and culture. The band started making a name for itself in the American underground in the late 2000s but its breakthrough to a wider audience might be traced in the wake of the release of its 2013 album Whiteout! On the respected and influential label K Records. Heavy touring every year and a string of solid albums garnered the band a bit of a cult following when, in 2020, The Shivas, like many touring entities, had to effectively stop operations. The foursome had already written its next album and had to put plans on hold for any kind of release until the following year. During the first part of the pandemic and a de facto blackout of live shows happening, three fourths of the band worked with the unhouse population of Portland through a non-profit and took time to rethink and rework how the band would operate going into the future. In early 2021 the group released its latest album Feels So Good // Feels So Bad through Tender Loving Empire, a record that evokes the sense of urgency and uncertainty that all of us felt during the bleakest times of the 2020-2021 pandemic but which many of us poignantly felt prior to that global, and ongoing, health crisis. It is both a cathartic and comforting listen. Now the group is in the beginning part of its first tour since the winter of 2019-2020 and you can catch them at Treefort Music Fest this weekend (Friday, 9/24 at The Hideout at 4 p.m. and Saturday 9/25 (really 9/26 but who’s counting) at the Olympic at 12:40 a.m.) and in Denver at the Hi-Dive on Monday, 10/4 with as yet announced dates between and following the Denver date. Visit theshivas.org for more information and other dates for the tour. We recently got to speak with guitarist and vocalist Jared Molyneux about the new record its origins and the impact of not being able to tour for a year and a half on the band and its priorities for the future. Below is the link to Queen City Sounds Podcast episode including that conversation as well as the fetching video for “Feels So Bad.”