Monday, June 13, 2016

Artist: Lady

Dark blue storm clouds can be stunning. But they're usually impressive, in part, because you see them in person, and rarely. They'd be far less appealing as photographs. (Imagine flipping through pictures of only slightly different clouds.)

It's just like shoegaze. I could sit there in front of speaker columns, mouth open, gobsmacked by the torrent waves of distortion that impart real physical force. Then again, I could have to review 20 shoegaze bands, and end up wanting to shoot myself in the face. Lady is the cumulonimbus, 10 miles high, right outside your door: https://ladytheband.bandcamp.com/. And here's my roundabout way of saying why.
Let's continue a bit with the storm cloud motif. Because reading about the hallmarks of shoegaze had me trying to nail down my first experience with the genre. And I think it was A Storm in Heaven, the Verve's debut. Even listening now, I hear the first distorted chord ring out, and can see the Disc Replay. I sense the impending guitar atmospherics, and smell the CD listening station.

But the lesson here is not that the Verve rules. In fact, I'd hesitate to name a winner between them and the Verve Pipe, until I had serious listens to both. Instead, the takeaway is that for a band with a shoegaze debut like the Verve, they had to add pop before listeners everywhere would deep-dive their back catalog (to stumble on their shoegaze roots). Actually, in the case of the Verve, they had to force Jagger & Richards against their will into the songwriting credits before anyone cared: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_Sweet_Symphony

The history of shoegaze is fairly short, and My Bloody Valentine figures prominently. But one wonders whether the scene would have amounted to much if MBV wasn't as dynamic as pop – the sonic signature of “Only Shallow” as singular as any pop hook. And it is here that we finally turn to Lady. Lady opens its debut EP, Washer, with tidal waves of chords that are sure to please legions of shoegaze faithful, before opening up with melodic guitar embellishment (at 4:41 of “Creatures of the Night”) that could convert a headphones-listener or two. And they sustain interest with flashes of darkness (at 2:29 of “Can't Stay”), which wouldn't sound out of place on Sonic Youth's “Death Valley '69” (Bad Moon Rising version).

But it all comes together on “Things Are Wrong,” which serves to remind that dynamism in shoegaze can add radio listeners while enthralling live audiences. The song is different from the start. Nary a chordal wave till 1:27. And the vocal similarities to Bradford Cox – heard on “On My Mind” at :41 – have me thinking... Lady is the thunder and lightening to the woozy haze that is Cox's Deerhunter/Atlas Sound. And that should please virtually everyone – whether under headphones or at stage's edge.

*** The author of this review, Russell Hughes, plays the mrdanga for the following band: http://youtu.be/tMS73-1kCr8

Artist: Little Prince

So I was enjoying the final track on my first listen of Little Prince's Demo (https://littleprincebk.bandcamp.com/album/demo), when I was struck by the narrator's obsession with a rebel girl that oddly manifested itself in wanting to try on her clothes. Then it hit me: this impulse was not new. I had heard it before. Only then did I check the track's info screen, which confirmed it was a cover (Bikini Kill). Perhaps I should have recognized it sooner; alas, I am a lowly general music reviewer, and not a punk specialist. In fact, my most recent Kathleen Hanna sighting was when The Punk Singer was streaming on Netflix, which I cut short with a Beastie Boy sojourn sparked by the documentary's Mr. Ad-Rock Hanna.
Given my rudimentary Bikini Kill education, Little Prince reminded me more of the recent punk super-group Childbirth. Instead of alluding to Chan Marshall, Little Prince's "Cat Power" is adorable adoration of an actual cat. Probably the same cat gracing Demo's album art in a tiara. (Wait a minute. Is the band Little Prince named after the cat Little Prince?) Childbirth is a fair comparison: singing about dogs, dogs being outside, dogs wanting to come in, asking others to let the dogs in. Little Prince sings about dudes (on "Fuck You"), while Childbirth sings about tech bros. And like Childbirth's "You're Not My Real Dad," Little Prince brings the funny on "Cat Power." And it begs the question: Do you really need to list teen soap opera 90210 as a guilty pleasure if it's the cat who's watching it? (I'm asking for a friend.)

But something about the prominent vocals, so stylish in delivery - the speedy phrasing of "Why" (e.g. :33) and "Fuck You" (:39) - that had me comparing them to personal favorites Girlpool. Little Prince could no doubt pull off a convincing "Blah Blah Blah" cover. However, since the EP is ostensibly a Demo, I'll have look forward to Little Prince's subsequent releases. Maybe the crushing of "Why" will mature into something truly stunning a la Girlpool's "Emily."

*** The author of this review, Danny West, plays the samphor for the following band: http://youtu.be/tMS73-1kCr8

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Nick B. Reviewed by Jessi Roti

Artist: Nick B.
Reviewed by Jessi Roti – @JessiTaylorRO 
Links: https://soundcloud.com/713nickb/tracks; http://nickb.bandcamp.com/album/unexpected-thoughts-welcome; http://www.713nickb.com/; https://www.facebook.com/713NickB/

Houston, Texas-based rapper Nick B. packs tough rhymes into short-and-sweet tracks that carry a heavy load. An assortment of tracks, spanning four years in his life as an MC, show not only growth in his sound, but a deeper perception of self from tracks like “Playing Games” to “Prepared.”

We get a glimpse into the world of Nick B., and it is obviously inspired by ‘90s hip-hop, balancing hard beats with more abstract electronica, including sounds from the nearly defunct video game arcade.  The smoke screen sounds permeating the records of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg find themselves being reworked here. “The Reasons” flows along a decidedly understated R&B melody, while “Contempt” holds itself up as a necessary replay. 
For me, Nick B.’s standout track is “Prepared.” Its insightful, “real-life” rhymes ride along a chilled-out beat similar to what Lupe Fiasco employed on Food & Liquor. Nick B. may be at his best when there’s no stuntin’ or frontin,’ as heard on tracks like “You Don’t Want It” or “Playing Games.” He’s hopeful, yet realistic. His truths hit home and ride along an undeniable groove.

Nick B.'s riotous “The Message” is among his most autobiographical to date, speaking honestly and emanating rawness without gloss.  From childhood to adulthood, we're hearing Nick B. and his experience. This is always more interesting than listening through a persona. 

Nick B. may not spit the fastest rhymes or be revolutionary with the slickest of beats, but he does know who he is. And that's a far stronger foundation than any production tricks could provide.