Post-punk – Radio Free Lightning Bug

Pack of Three: The High Loves, The Room in the Wood, Moist

Posted on December 12, 2018November 22, 2018 by Rob Jones

The holiday season is nearly upon us, RFLB fans! You know, I have to come up with a better name for all of you. “Buggers” probably won’t do.

Anyway!

As a holiday gift all wrapped up in a metaphorical bow until we reconvene in the new year, here’s a selection of three sumptuous tunes to which you can rock out while you get the rest of your shopping done.

Open your minds and ears.

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“You Already Knew That” by The High Loves

Name: The High Loves

From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Sound: Beatles-esque melodic guitar pop with distinct Strokes sensibilities.

Story: This song is a kind of break-up tune, penned by High Loves songwriter Noah Monckton about leaving a beloved someone behind to make space for self-expression and personal fulfillment in making music. You’d be right in thinking that this is autobiographical. The song is a single off of the band’s new EP, Seratonin. It’s out right now.

Link: Stream the EP here

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“Mars” by The Room in the Wood

Name: The Room in the Wood

From: Liverpool, UK

Sound: The spirit of Jim Morrison inhabits the bodies of two Liverpudlians to make a 2018-relevant political statement about the future of humanity.

Story: Stalwart Liverpool scenesters and former members of post-punk purveyors The Room, Dave Jackson and Paul Cavanagh have come together as The Room in the Wood to bring you this comment on our fascination with sexy technology that ultimately solves the wrong problems. This cut is taken from their newest release The Mars EP, out now.

Link: Listen to Mars EP here.

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“Traces” by Moist

Name: Moist

From: Söderhamn, Sweden

Sound: Icy, wintry electronica that is the sonic equivalent of watching intricate, beautiful frost patterns form on the inside of a window as the snow falls gently outside.

Story: Moist (not to be confused with the Canadian band of the same name) is the creative vehicle for electronica musician and producer David Elfström Lilja. This cut is taken from his newest LP, Lavine, featuring the voice of singer Maria Marcus.

Link: Get the new record and learn more at moist.se.

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Merry Holidays, you buggers!

(see – needs work …)

Until the New Year, then!

Happy Listening!

Klammer Play “Spiral Girl”

Posted on July 16, 2018July 13, 2018 by Rob Jones

Klammer are a four-piece band from Leeds, UK putting out music that is unabashedly tied to the golden age of post-punk and in the traditions of Gang of Four, Wire, Echo & The Bunnymen, and Killing Joke.

Here’s their latest single, “Spiral Girl”, the second from their third and latest record You Have Been Processed due out on vinyl and CD on August 10, 2018.

Listen and watch.

With such a sonic affiliation for 1979 as evidenced here, maybe it’s surprising to learn that the band formed in 2014, comprised of Paul “Poss” Strickland (voice, guitar), Steve Whitfield (guitar, producer), Bruno Almeida (drums), and Mike Addy (bass). Whitfield’s background as sound engineer, particularly in his work with The Cure and The Mission, coupled with the other members’ interest in the stark and subterranean post-punk sound helped to provide a template for the band.

Putting out records like this in the 2010s when musical eras are pretty fluid thanks to the unprecedented access that streaming services present to music fans only helps to strengthen their cause. These days, 1979 isn’t a year or era so much as it’s a musical approach, when sounds can be sourced from any point on the pop music spectrum. What the band is doing registers with modern fans, championed by Steve Lamacq on BBC6 radio among others. That’s led to appearances on the same stages as The Skids, The Undertones, Rocket From the Tombs, and The Membranes, proving that what Klammer are doing resonates with original fans of the post-punk era, too.

“Spiral Girl” is a prime example of how well that sound translates into a modern era, featuring echoey guitar and reverb-soaked production with a hint of the Middle-East in the melody lines. This compositional approach is not unlike those in the Bunnymen’s “The Cutter”, but with a distinct appeal of its own; angular and with a sense of disquiet meandering in and out of an otherwise accessible pop structure. All in all, this is the appeal of post-punk in general, mixing guitars-bass-drums with elements that bypass the blues and include ingredients listeners don’t always expect instead.

Klammer prove that the tradition is alive and well, escaping the bonds of history and finding a place in the present to excite audiences native to all eras.

The “Spiral Girl” single was released on July 13 on vinyl and download. Buy it on iTunes, Bandcamp and stream it on Spotify.

Expect the new album, You Have Been Processed, on August 10, 2018.

Happy Listening!

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Links:

Pack of Three: Miss Eaves, Ume, Painted on Silent Blue

Posted on July 11, 2018July 9, 2018 by Rob Jones

A feminist anthem that doesn’t beat around the bush (or does it?). A love song about the equally creative and destructive nature of love and the spirit of youthful abandon. And a song about what it’s like to be front and centre while wishing for solace.

That’s what’s up for your listening pleasure in this week’s Pack of Three, friends.

So, do not hesitate! Open yer earholes!

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“Bush for the Push” by Miss Eaves

Name: Miss Eaves

From: Brooklyn, New York City, NY, USA

Sound: Electroclash and hip-hop with a head full of feminist vigour and an ass meant for shakin’.

Story: Miss Eaves (aka multimedia artist Shanthony Exum) delivers this political celebration of what’s down below, and gets a little hairy while doing so. Full of hip hop dexterity and bounce matched with blippy, dreamy electronics, Miss Eaves sings an ode to that which grows wild on the mons pubis. Narrow-mindedness and even scorn around the subject of hair particularly as it relates to sexuality has always been a burden placed on women. But this song reminds us that the hair down there can be about freedom, too. This track is taken from her ME AF EP coming out August 3, 2018. Miss Eaves kicks off a DIY summer tour beginning on July 21 in the UK and including some dates in continental Europe into August.

Links:

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“Crushed” by Ume

Name: Ume

From: Austin, TX, USA

Sound: Ethereal, anthemic, and edgy post-punk that fans of Metric should really hear.

Story: “Crushed” is the second single from this band’s newest and upcoming record Other Nature (July 20, 2018), a tune that was written in dedication to lead vocalist Lauren Larson’s daughter. It touches on the transformative nature of love, with destruction and re-creation characterizing the whole. That spark of youthful vitality is also a touchpoint here, with Larson’s memories of front row Fugazi concerts as a guide to its creation, an event inspiring her to make music of her own. Working with producer Stuart Sikes (Cat Power, Loretta Lynn, Modest Mouse), that’s what she’s done with her bandmates with the new record, their follow up to 2014’s Monuments. Catch them on tour starting on July 13.

Links:

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“Niemandsland” by Painted on Silent Blue

Name: Painted on Silent Blue

From: Vienna, Austria

Sound: Gentle, lilting, light-as-air dream pop – in German!

Story: This song, translated “No Man’s Land”, is an introvert’s anthem as penned by an actual introvert; frontwoman Katrin Kisza. This cut is for anyone who’s ever resented the ringing of a phone while in the middle of a personal reverie, but also for herself using that same impulse to wish the world away that inspired many a session at the piano to write. The song is the second single taken from the band’s newest record, Heaven Is, their third.

Links:

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So there it is, friends. What are your thoughts on these musical treasures? Do tell! Otherwise,

Happy Listening!

Pack of Three: Not Of, The Soft Underground, Welles

Posted on June 27, 2018June 29, 2018 by Rob Jones

Sometimes, as Twisted Sister once said, you wanna rock.

That’s what we have for you all today, friends. In this edition of Pack of Three, our weekly (or close to it!) series that puts the spotlight on three stand-out acts presenting new music for the masses, we focus on the RAWK side of the musical spectrum.

Who have we got to listen to, stomp to, smash up the seats to, today?

Find out below.

Indulge yourself! Plug in!

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“Astoria Jack” by Not Of

Name: Not Of

From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Sound: Post-punk inspired and riff-centric noise-rock that goes off in unexpected directions.

Story: Featuring on their upcoming record Hypocratic Oath (released on July 20, 2018), this Toronto duo recently spent an unexpected length of time in the studio as a songwriting frenzy took hold of them. This song, “Astoria Jack” was one of the products of that series of sessions, a tune that runs like a monstrous syncopated engine and, frankly, makes you want to break things. In good way.

Links:

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“Rachel” by The Soft Underground

Name: The Soft Underground

From: New York City, NY, USA

Sound: Nineties grunge meets seventies stoner rock with a generous dollop of sixties heavy psych.

Story: New York’s The Soft Underground channel classic Temple of the Dog/Stone Temple Pilots vibes on this cut, a harbinger for the band’s newest release Morning World (dropping July 27, 2018). This is a fuzzed out assault that includes a face-melting guitar solo about halfway through. You know how hard it is to write up a band after they’ve melted your face? Well, I do!

Links:

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“Hold Me Like I’m Leaving” by Welles

Name: Welles

From: Ozark, AR (now based in Nashville, TN, USA)

Sound: Cobainesque delivery meets a decidedly southern-fried rock tendency, complete with a cheeky Beatles reference.

Story: Certainly allied with a new classic rock movement (if that’s a thing!) as typified by Greta Van Fleet and The Sheepdogs, and bringing some southern swagger along with it, Welles (aka Jeh Sea Wells) lives and breathes rock music rooted in its sixties and seventies FM radio traditions. This cut quotes The Beatles’ “Can you take me back” outro on “Cry Baby Cry” from The White Album and builds a solid sonic fortress from those sturdy melodic foundations. Welles’ newest record, Red Trees and White Trashes is out right now.

Links:

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Now that the room you’ve listened to these tracks in is completely trashed and on fire (not your fault, it was the tunes!), give me your impressions, friends!

Happy listening!

Pack of Three: Laura Carbone, Erin Pallnat, Cold Fronts

Posted on June 20, 2018June 18, 2018 by Rob Jones

We’re leaping right into summer this week, everyone. Around here, things are heating up in more ways than one. But let’s focus on the music, shall we?

These three cuts will help to keep things cool.

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“Tangerine Tree” by Laura Carbone

Name: Laura Carbone

From: Manheim, Germany

Sound: Ethereal and moody post-punk influenced indie rock ala Beach House and Mazzy Star.

Story: Spending time in LA to write, and taking memories of industrial German landscapes with her, this song evokes the sunshine of one with the somewhat overcast bittersweetness of the other. The song is taken from her new record Empty Sea.

Links:

Website
Instagram
FaceBook
YouTube
Twitter

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“Pennies” by Erin Pellnat

Name: Erin Pellnat

From: Brooklyn, NY, USA

Sound: Relaxed and socially-conscious folk pop with a sixties pop feel and in the spirit of Belle & Sebastian. Also: accordion!

Story: Sometimes in our darkest hours when the world around us has gone completely insane, the small joys in our lives become the most important. That’s the grain of truth to be found in this song from Erin Pellnat, a solo artist and also a member of rock band Caertaker, too.

Links:

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“Fantasy Du Jour” by Cold Fronts

Name: Cold Fronts

From: Philadelphia, PA, USA

Sound: Self-proclaimed surf rock, with a languid and hazy guitar-jangle crafting wistful chord progressions (my favourite!)

Story: This is a classic tale of love never realized, a tradition that’s grand in pop music history, of course! The reason for the video for this song according to lead vocalist Craig Almquist? To secure the band’s position as a boy band. Well, listeners; you be the judge! The song is the title track from their newest record out right now.

Links:

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What say you, dear readers? Give me your impressions, and tell me what new stuff you’re hearing as we sail into summer.

Happy listening!