Rich tells you what he likes listening to.

[Rich]

So as a way of me relaxing I have decided to start reviewing and sharing music, obviously the first few posts will be of stuff I love and think everyone should listen to, but if anyone thinks there are bands/artists out there I should be listening to please let me know and I will lend you my thoughts after lending my ears.

 

So without further adieu, here is my first crack at this:

 

 

 

Cayetana - Nervous Like Me.

Background
An all girl three piece hailing from Philadelphia, PA, Cayetana, play honest and touching garage style punk with a pop edge, they released their début LP Nervous Like Me on Tiny Engines in September 2014. 

Why you should listen to this:
So, full disclosure as to why I love this band and this record...

I first heard this band, not on record, but live at The Fest 13 in Ganesville, FL, over Halloween weekend 2014. I was in a bar, having just watched one of my favourite bands play a Weezer cover set, and happened to bump in to a guy from Philadelphia that I had watched Lemuria with the previous evening. Remembering that I owed him a beer I asked bought him and me a PBR and asked who he was waiting to see, he told me I had to stay and see the next band as they were from his hometown and described to me, in true Fest go-er fashion,that they are "sick".  So being the English gent I was, having bought him a beer and having no where else to be at that moment I stuck around with my new friend (who's name I can not remember for the life of me) and I was thrilled that I did, this is how I first heard Cayetana.

Instantly I was taken by the vocals of the lead singer, and how she sounds like her voice is on the edge of cracking with emotion at all times, and how the songs seemed so earnest, but weren't just soft, but also on the verge of being punk with driving bass line and drummer Kelly Olsen urgent and tight musicianship showing me that this band were not just a one trick pony. I thoroughly enjoyed their set and it was one of the highlights of one of the best weekends of my life.

Fast forwarding a few days, when I get home from the States, I instantly searched out the band's music and find their new (at the time) release, and to my delight it really captures the live sound, it;s honest, its earnest, it's touching, its personal and most of all it's a beautiful piece of work.

From the opening track Serious things are stupid I am taken in by lead singer Augusta Koch's hope in the apparent disappointment in life. Soft moments like this appear throughout the album, sometimes in songs which are not played softly, but this is not just an album about these moments. The ladies really craft an album with a pacing and guile which goes beyond that of their (own admitted) inexperience and is much more than about being "grrls". At times it's soft and vulnerable, at others it's fiercely strong and independent, no more so than during Madame B which, even now, listening to it months later gives me goosebumps. There are more funky and dancey numbers where bassist Allegra Anka's talent really shines, this eventually leads to what I feel is the album stand out, Scott get the van. I'm moving which again benefits from a driving bass line but is made by the cracking frustration of the vocals, I can feel every note sang in my gut, it really is something special.

To summarise, you should listen to this because these girls have written a great album, which for me is greater than the sum of its parts. I do not mean this to belittle any individual song, all of them are great by themselves, but this record finds me smiling more and more broadly as the album builds to its final track and finds me almost immediately pressing play again.

 

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cayetanaphilly
Tumblr http://cayetanaphilly.tumblr.com/
Bandcamp https://cayetana.bandcamp.com/

 

[Rich]

So this didn't turn out like I hoped.... but let's keep this going a little

Next up...

Foxing - The Dealer

Background

Hailing from St Louis, Missouri, USA, Foxing are a band who play slow, melodic, sweet and powerful music.  They first came to my attention with their début record Albatross (released in 2013) in 2014.  Their style certainly has roots in Post-Rock, but they also do try and experiment with their sound and the instruments used, they tend to go for the build up a song, or a series of songs to the "wall of sound" approach, so if that is your thing, read on!

The Dealer

The Dealer is Foxing's second album, released in November 2015 on triple crown records, it is a heart wrenching and honest release from the opening song to the last.  It is obviously both a labour of love and a record made with pain.  If you listen to Albatross you will hear songs which are not just earnest, but honestly does open up all of lead vocalist Conor Murphy's personal life to the scrutiny of the listener and The Dealer does just the same thing, it even laments that Conor and the band have to trot out this openness and play it in front of the bands fans on a nightly basis though The Dealer will no doubt to this happening over and over again in a continuous cycle.

Overall the album is full of heavy walls of sound and then sparsely filed landscapes of sound, where the gaps in the music, the notes not played, which say more than the notes played.  Not every song on the album is a stand alone, amazing track, but it feels complete when all pieces are put together, below I link some of my favourite tracks on the album, but you should definitely check out the video for Night Channels It clocks in at close to 10 minutes, though the song is only about 4 minutes long, but it is obviously a labour of love, a video which was edited in the back of tour buses and vans, but really rewards the viewers and listeners.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoxingTheBand/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/foxing
Bandcamp: https://foxingtheband.bandcamp.com/

 

 

 

 

[Rich]

Holy Ghost by Modern Baseball

This is maybe, probably, actually my album of the year in a year where a lot of my favourite bands are releasing records and we haven't even hit mid-year yet.

Modern Baseball are a 4 piece band from Philadelphia, Pa. They are all in the early to mid 20's and the co-lead song writers and guitarist-vocalist Jake Ewald and Brendan Lukens, two childhood friends from Maryland write songs which aren't trying to be pseudo-intellectual, they are just open and honest and touching.

MoBo (trust me, that's the short hand) have released their third record Holy Ghost to a lot of critical acclaim, it is a 30 minute journal of what the band has been through since the band released their sophmore effort You're Gonna Miss It All.  While it is obviously a MoBo record to the fans of that record and their debut effort Sports it is also drastically different, the first two records are basically Ewald and Lukens singing about girls, girls and girls.  This record touches on more than just girls (though girls are still in there).  Holy Ghost is split in to two halves, the A side is written and sang by Ewald and tackles the death of his grandfather and the start of a new relationship which obviously excites him, but also touches on how the two are linked.  The gorgeous track "Mass" is basically a love song to his new squeeze and his half ends with MoBo's most complex, layered track to date in "Hiding" which is a lovely song which draws all of his themes to a warm close.  

Lukens' half is altogether more straightforward musically, but lyrically and thematically much more complex.  Following the band as I do and following on from the wonderful short documentary on the band "Tripping in the Dark", which I have linked below, details Lukens' challenges with his mental health, his addictions, his almost suicide (he was on the roof of his house about to jump when a coincidental text received from Ewald stopped him and literally brought him back down to earth) and his redemption.  It's at times guttural and painful like in "Breathing in Stereo" but it ends with the beautiful "Just Another Face", a song which is partially written from the perspective of his family about Lukens himself, ending with the beautiful line "Even if you can't see it now, we're proud of what's to come, and you" 

This band have been a favourite of mine the past year or so, but if this is what they are capable everyone the band touches can be proud of what's to come, and them.

https://twitter.com/ModernBaseball

http://www.modernbaseballpa.com/

https://modernbaseballpa.bandcamp.com/

Lead single:

 

A song by Lukens:

 

Documentary on the band and the making of Holy Ghost

 

 

[Xand]

Gave that Cayetana album a listen to this morning - I like it. I can confirm it's good music to listen to whilst ironing.

Reminds me a little of Hop Along. 

 

Edited May 22, 2016 by Xand

[Rich]

Not gonna post an individual review, but everyone should listen to this goddamn Sincere Engineer record Rhombithian:

https://sincereengineer.bandcamp.com/

It is beautiful and amazing and will make your heart swoon.

[Rich]

If people like Bad Cop/Bad Cop, they should listen to Not on Tour:

 

 

If people have not listened to Bad Cop/Bad Cop, you should:

 

 

[9 to 5]

I prefer Cro Cop's work.

[Rich]

5 minutes ago, 9 to 5 said:

I prefer Cro Cop's work.

Right Leg Hospital, Left Leg Cemetery 

[Gazz]

6 hours ago, Rich said:

Right Leg Hospital, Left Leg Cemetery 

I have that on vinyl.

[Rich]

3 minutes ago, Gazz said:

I have that on vinyl.

You'll be laid out on the vinyl

[MDK]

 

[Rich]

On 15/03/2019 at 22:01, MDK said:

 

I am off to festival where these guys are playing in the near future 

[Malenko]

They're great live. Have fun.