Category: Just The Bits

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Velah – Black Olympia (2012)


Velah
Black Olympia
2012

When I caught Velah at TT’s last month, I was impressed with how well-formed the young band’s sound was. I knew their lineage. I appreciate the work the band’s members did in Static Of The Gods and The Acre. I had high hopes. I also know a band’s early work can be a bit disjointed as they find their legs. Black Olympia flies that notion out the window on a breeze of shimmering guitars.

“Wanderlust” opens this EP with an elevated level of urgency. The immediacy of the song defies the shoegaze tag that is often placed on the band. We’re introduced to the vocal interplay, intertwining guitar parts and clockwork drumming that will define these recordings. Each song steps out from there. The chorus to “Calm Down” is pure pop. The EP’s title track is majestic. “Glass Heart” threatens to drown in its own delay-soaked layers before breaking the surface in a triumphant crescendo. It all works. Let’s see where Velah goes next.

Where to get it:

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Cask Mouse – Cambridge Sessions (2011)


Cask Mouse
Cambridge Sessions
2011

So no no don’t you worry
Someday I’ll settle down
But this fire in my belly
Is burning hot right now

Cask Mouse profess their wanderlust on “Astronaut,” the opening track of 2011’s Cambridge Sessions. It’s a feeling that will pop up again and again throughout the EP. This is a stomp-and-clap-along number filled with hope. It sucks me in. The drawl. The hook. The positivity. Cask Mouse are masters of emotional manipulation.

All of that optimism quickly turns into sentimentality. “Brick On Brick” is a slow, reflective number featuring some of the gorgeous vocal harmonies that have become one of Cask Mouse’s trademarks. Everyone in the band can sing with conviction. Bonnie Parks takes her turn on “Time To Breathe.” It’s a devastating number that revisits the theme of locational restlessness.

The places I’ll go
The things that I’ll see
Never really mattered that much to me
I’m leaving home
I won’t come back
I won’t come back
I won’t come back

That songs gets me every time. It’s brutal. I crash. “Smokin'” is the big hangover. This ode to hard living settles in with the slow burn of resignation before kicking up some dust. Cambridge Sessions closes with “Radio,” which pleads Cask Mouse’s case for displacement one last time.

Baby, turn off the radio
The sun is coming up
And I feel I have to go

Where to get it:

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Muy Cansado – “Predisposed” (2012)


Muy Cansado
“Predisposed”
2012

Muy Cansado are on a roll. Hot on the heels of the fantastic “Not For Nothing” single, the band recently debuted “Predisposed.” It’s another gem. This one opens with call-and-response vocals filling the gaps between sparse guitar chords. The tension builds into some tight harmonies before busting into a laid back indie-meets-disco groove. Muy Cansado have a knack for marrying disparate musical styles into unique, cohesive songs. “Predisposed” is no exception.

Where to get it:

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Parlour Bells – “Airwaves” (2012)


Parlour Bells
“Airwaves”
2012

There’s a big show at The Paradise on Saturday night. Some former WFNX DJs are putting together an event to celebrate the WFNX that was.* Parlour Bells are on the bill for good reason. They are a band that has always championed radio as being essential to the local music scene, even in a time of readily available digital downloads and internet streaming. They are tireless supporters of Boston Emissions, Boston Accents and any other radio program devoting time to playing Boston artists. They even performed on the resurrected WBCN rock bus. I believe Glenn DiBenedetto when he sings “now my radio dial is missing two front teeth.” He means it.

“Airwaves” is a sentimental reflection on the state of Boston radio in June of 2012. It strikes a chord by revealing the emotion of a specific time and place. “Airwaves” is a song about how fans of Boston radio feel right now. It’s immediate. You can’t listen to Nate Leavitt’s delay drenched guitars and not be reminded of the countless U2 radio anthems broadcast by both of our recently departed rock radio stations. It’s a consoling echo. I’d be lying if I said the song wasn’t playing in my head last night as I lay in bed. The sound of the Metropolitan Chorale** was ringing in my ears as prepared for a new day.

Where to get it:

You can also watch a mini-documentary on the making of “Airwaves” right here.

* See what I did with the link there? Garvy J And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance are part of the show, too.

** Kerri-Ann Richard, Richard Bouchard, Anngelle Wood, Michael Marotta, Chris Mulvey, Lisa Libera, Leesa Coyne, Adam Ritchie, Rishava Green, Matt King, Michael J. Epstein, Sophia Cacciola, Jessica Sun Lee, Adam Anderson, Michael Gonzales, Ken Marcou, Tom Roppelt, Joel Edinberg, Rachel Blumenthal, Sarah Rabdau, Peter Moore and Dan Nicklin all lend their voices to the song.

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Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance – “Celebrate” (2011)


Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance
“Celebrate”
2011

Garvy J And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance were one of the standout bands of the 2012 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble. This song was one of the big reasons why. “Celebrate” bristles with life both in a live setting and on this recording. It’s an upbeat Summerteeth-era Wilco tune with an adventurist twist. It’s a kinetic Flaming Lips track with a smooth vocal delivery. It’s vibrant. It’s vivid. It’s vital.

Where to get it:

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Streight Angular – “Muhsheenz Machines Meschynes (We Were Machines)” (2012)


Streight Angular
“Muhsheenz Machines Meschynes (We Were Machines)”
2012

Sometimes a band is so surprising that you forget to be surprised by their surprises. Then there are bands that are even more surprising than that, surprising you with their ability to surprise you even when you thought you found their surprises unsurprising. If I’ve followed myself correctly, Streight Angular falls into the latter category. After an EP of fuzz guitar freak-outs and a Beach Boys-inspired Christmas number, the band has released a synth-heavy new wave single. What? A Streight Angular tune without buzzing guitars? They’re still there, but they take a back seat to the sounds of the electronic gizmos. “Muhsheenz Machines Meschynes (We Were Machines)” does sport a pair of Streight Angular signatures: a snappy beat and a simple vocal hook that will have you singing along in no time. I guess the least surprising thing about this song is how much I love it.

Where to get it:

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The Daily Pravda – “Ziggy Stardust” (2012)


The Daily Pravda
“Ziggy Stardust”
2012

I’ve got to hand it to the guys in The Daily Pravda. They sure know how to do a Bowie cover. They treated us to their pass at “Moonage Daydream” back in January. Earlier this week, the band released a vibrant take on “Ziggy Stardust” to honor the 40th anniversary of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Do The Daily Pravda offer some new insight into this David Bowie classic? No. Do they offer up a version that is full of spirit? Do they give the source material the respect it deserves? Absolutely. These guys are obviously big fans and it shows in the best possible way.

Where to get it:

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Muy Cansado – “Not For Nothing” (2012)


Muy Cansado
“Not For Nothing”
2012

When I caught Muy Cansado at The Rosebud, I commented that their sound had “echoes of Boston bands gone by.” I stick by that assessment with their latest single,* “Not For Nothing”. Muy Cansado manages to evoke thoughts of The Pixies, Permafrost and Trona without ever sounding like any of those bands. The song’s signature is a danceable groove offsetting a cool, reverb-drenched guitar riff. Throw in some boy/girl harmonies and you’ve got the makings of a pretty great indie rock tune. If only it had a fantastic breakdown in the middle with cool backwards-masked sounds to put it over the top. Oh wait, it does…

Where to get it:

* They’ve got a video, too!

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Space Cranes – “Apricot One” (2011)


Space Cranes
“Apricot One”
2011

Synthy falsetto goodness! Space Cranes (aka Chis n Kate) have a single out called “Apricot One.” It sounds like The Bee Gees, Bananarama and Beck throwing a party in your basement.* This is the song that gets played a little later in the evening, when everybody’s head is spinning but no one is ready to call it a night. It’s a well crafted pop song with a mid-fi aesthetic.** The high-pitched vocals float along on top of a retro-syth drum beat and a slightly fuzzed out bass line. Throw in a distorto-freakout in the middle and a couple of heavily processed dialogue samples in the outro to put the whole thing over the top. I can’t wait to hear more.

Where to get it:

* Or maybe at Moe’s Lounge in Radio’s basement, where the duo can often be found holding court as part of the He Said She Said series.

** In that way it reminds me a bit of The Folk Implosion.

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The Dirty Truckers – Tiger Stripes (2012)


The Dirty Truckers
Tiger Stripes
2012

Has it really been four years since the last Dirty Truckers release? Dang. No matter. The important thing is that The Dirty Truckers are back with a new EP, Tiger Stripes.

The ‘Truckers manage to pack all of their trademarks into this 18 minute collection. Guitars run ragged, driving bass lines and lyrics that hit a little too close to home can all be found within these six songs. “Stranger In Disguise” kicks things off. It’s one of those barn-burners The Dirty Truckers do so well. “Human Contact,” “Feedback” and “Arms Length” trade a little bit of the opener’s rambunctiousness for bigger hooks, proving it’s not all about being rockingest bands in the land.* “Not That Into You” and “Just Run Away” mine the alt-country territory the band often flirts with. The former is nicely augmented by some well arranged backing vocals and a subtle organ part. The latter features a Vibra-Slap. You can’t go wrong with a Vibra-Slap.

Where to get it:

* Their recent show to celebrate the release of Tiger Stripes suggests their still in contention for that title.