A) I almost never (maybe once?) have decided to expend the effort to actually post something purely negative on Stereogum, because, why?
B) I have no idea why, but the name of this project will dissuade me from ever listening to it. It doesn't even matter, but I just hate it, and I know it's all in my own head, but, man, I hate the name.
C) One time I was at the food court at a lame mall in southern Illinois and I got into a discussion with my friends about whether we could all still enjoy Metallica if, instead of Metallica, they were called "Ass Contenderz." This would've been in like 1999 or 2000. Our agreement at the time was that, no, we could not still enjoy the band.
D) Soccer Mommy is worse than Ass Contenderz to my 35 year old brain, and I still don't know why. I actually listened to the song above, and it was pretty good. But not good enough for me to get over my irrational dislike of the band name. Totally my fault. It's not you, it's me.
So, the allusions to Siamese Dream are especially encouraging. If you go to that Insta post with the ice cream truck, you'll see "Cool As Ice Cream" painted on the back door, which is a lyric from the *Pisces Iscariot* song "La Dolly Vita." And the adoption of the old SP-heart logo, too. I think we're going to get *at the very least* the crew's best attempt to pay homage to their early 90s classic sound. Color me MASSIVELY excited about that, as they were basically the only band I cared about for about five year's straight in middle/high school.
Said it was gonna have a heavy Prince influence, has always featured guitars, came from a ripping Kiwi band (The Mint Chicks), and people are surprised/complaining that it “shreds.” A) Prince could do whatever was well beyond shredding, and did, regularly; B) Listen to earlier UMO; C) If this is “shredding,” you all need to expose yourselves to more guitar-centric music.
This track slays and I’m amped to see them here in Denver!
Holy schnikes. I think the boys have taken the lessons they've learned about hooks from their thrash bands and are deploying them to catch MUCH heavier fish with this one. I'm already accrediting next year's bench press PR to this album.
I came to know him through his Bob Pollard-side-project Keene Brothers, which is a phenomenal set of power pop gems, but came to appreciate his depth and versatility while venturing into his solo work. What a player. Revered by all the musicians fortunate enough to collaborate with him. Chris Slusarenko (Eyelids, Boston Spaceships) penned an incredible memorial today. Sad stuff. A hearty thank you to his family for sharing him with all of us, and my best as you remember him in the days to come.
Lydia Loveless is trv-er than you. Saw her with a full band earlier this year (March?) in Denver and she was enchanting and incendiary at the same time. Best chanteuse going. Her voice is only matched by her songwriting and lyrics. So, everything. Also, Ohio. It's like she was created in a lab.
Sure, we all love Ought, and the song was very exciting. But that video! That was strangely entertaining. Great austere visuals to go with the post-punk vibes, but with a not-so-subtle sense of humor. Loved it.
Honestly, this seems incredibly reckless. There will be idiots who purchase this thinking it is a fully functional bulletproof vest (it says "BULLETPROOF" in size 1000 font right on the front, for Pete's sake) and do some garbage video where they shoot themselves. And die. It just seems foolish to sell what is ostensibly life saving gear that is not actually lifesaving. Whatever happened to like turntable slip mats and whatnot? When merch is turning into military gear, we need to rethink the game.
That's about as close to capturing the spirit of vintage NIN as I've heard. This is a wonderful thing. I don't even think TR himself could pull this off at this stage in his career.
How dare you denigrate Built to Spill like that? And also Spoon. Modest Mouse fell the furthest, but I feel like Built to Spill is more of a Dinosaur Jr. survivor story of continued excellence.
This really seems to find a highly inhabitable middle-ground between classic Quicksand and post-Quicksand Schreifels, namely, Rival Schools. Super amped for this, and also must mention that they've made impeccable aesthetic decisions on this album and the surrounding merch/art/graphic design. I wanted to buy every shirt, every "art post-card" or whatever... it was all really tasteful and beautiful. Clearly a lot of thought went into all of it.
I feel like Handsome Furs is perpetually slept on as one of the better indie rock bands of the last decade or so. Their three core albums are all, song-after-song, amazing. Thought Operators was merely okay. Divine Fits: Masterful. But Handsome Furs (OMG "Radio Kaliningrad")... on par with the best of Wolf Parade, IMO. And more consistent.
I normally abide by the Bambi rule that we had in our house growing up: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." But this in no way, shape, or form does any justice whatsoever to *Everybody Works* which I found incredibly well-produced; top 10-15 material for the year. I can't tell if what we're seeing here is a product of a really sloppy live act (because they're new to her material, or, um, maybe not great players, or whatever), if the sound/mic'ing/set-up totally sucked, or if it was just a bad day. But yeah. This was rough.
Only two of those words describe Manson, so I know you're lying to me. // "Sweet old thing." "Only two of those words describe Mom, so I know you're lying to me." "Old thing gave it to me."
This is an appropriate response by Spotify. Questions will abound when considering bands like Inquisition, and even any project involving Phil Anselmo. Arghoslent's removal was natural and obvious (but the effing riffsssss...). There are many gray areas in the realm of metal, as "hate" is a cornerstone philosophical tenant of the lyrical content.
Honest question: Would Spotify remove a song espousing racist views from perspectives outside of white supremacy? How about grotesquely misogynistic music? I can't help but feel that this could end up being a slippery slope. Whether or not they're free to censor music because they're a private company has little to do with whether they *should* censor the music.
Mike Tyson once had a TV interview where he was cursing up a storm and generally being vintage Mike Tyson, and the interviewer asked something to the effect of, "Hey, Mike, we're on TV, why do you have to talk like that?" to which Iron Mike replied, "If you don't like it, change your station." Don't we all have a choice as to on we hit play? If you don't like it... change your station.
Thanks, SM, for reaching back out. I, too, agree with everything you wrote here, but would expect that they'd hit more of the "Pumpkins Cognoscenti" deep cuts and true fan favorites as opposed to the "singles." That would mean "Hummer" and "Mayonaise" instead of "Today" and "Disarm" for example. Etc, etc. This was a long road to realize that you and I agree with almost everything related to the Pumpkins and would probably be friends should we meet in real life. [Hits play on "Frail & Bedazzled"]
Do you write elsewhere on the internet? I read your comment (which is not nearly the right word) about your ICP incident in the Netherlands and it was incredible, as was the above. The actual events weren't so incredible as was your style of recounting them. I think your style is pretty recognizable after only a few hundred words. I'd read more if more was available. Nicely done. [Please accept this as RL;DR: Right length, did read]
I'll play: For cadence and intensity: Proscriptor McGovern; For precociousness: Pelle Åhman (he was 17 on In Solitude's debut; listen and be amazed!); For cave man-level lunacy: John Tardy; For singing while yelling: John Baizley; For utter unmistakable uniqueness: Dagon; For God's Sake: Dani Filth
Special shout out to Leila Abdul-Rauf and Daniel Butler from Vastum who sing my favorite duets.
I was just looking through my post and wondered where I wrote that they'd play a tour filled with, quote-unquote "all [my] favorites!" I celebrate their entire catalogue (almost), but prefer everything up-and-through MC&tIS. Even with 2-3 songs off of G, SD, PI, and MC, they'd have a pretty lengthy set list, "focused" on their earlier material. Which would make sense given the personnel.
This would be incredible. D'arcy is the tastemaker in the band, Jimmy is a world class skins man, and James balances out Billy's delusions of grandeur. The last major trip this rumor had through the mill, Billy mentioned a stockpile of *Gish* and *Siamese Dream*-esque riffs, and that a reunion would be the perfect place to deploy them. Yes, and YES. If the only thing we got out of this was a tour with a early-90s setlist focus, it would be a win, but the prospect of another "Starla," however remote, has me palpitating. Early Pumpkins are easily my #1 collection of songs and sonics, any genre, any era. Lemme have it.
Have always enjoyed this band's approach and sonics, but was never grabbed by their songs. The melodies in the above-shared slab, however, signal that they might've put it all together on this outing. Pre-ordering with optimism! [Also, if you're reading, Cloakroom, what are you using to drive your distortion? Pedal investment time...]
Biggest omissions: Power Trip, Thunder Dreamer, The Courtneys, Necrot (drops this Friday, destroys everything), Extremity, Caddywhompus, and one to look out for in the 2nd half that will almost certainly be slept upon: KANE STRANG
Phenomenal opportunity for those less guitoriented among the SG commentariat to see what can be done with six strings in today's day and age. Both *Lore* and *Reflections...* are masterclasses in performance and composition with an axe, and rarely will eleven-minute songs sound more compact and coherent without flagging or lagging. Elder are the absolute real deal and I'm thrilled to see them spotlighted with an AotW. \m/
I literally said, out loud, in my office, FUCK YES, when I saw new Elder was premiering. *Lore* is probably my favorite album of any genre in the last few years. My expectations are insanely high, and I have no doubt they'll be pulverized by this new one after listening to the new track. I own a few guitars and a banjo, and I want to set them all on fire listening after listening to Elder. This is mastery of form.
Definitely near the top of the heap of mid-90s indie rock indebted bands. There's an authenticity to their sound that other similar bands seem to lack. If you told me this was recorded in 1996, I'd merely wonder how I missed it the first time around. *Personal Life* was great... this sounds better.
I read the entire intro, then scrolled down to see where what I believe to be a high-water mark, *The Air Force*, slotted, and was GOBSMACKED to see it outside of the top 10, let alone top 3. Totally absurd. The 2000s run from TAF through DG,IHM was totally sublime. I think *Forget* is a true return to form (*Always* isn't bad), but... wow. I don't usually take to the comments to voice outright dissent, but there is no world where XX's cover album of *Twin Peaks* slots above *TAF*. Senselessly provocative, and beyond the realm of subjectivity, IMO. Which is a silly thing to say about any music journalism/critique, but... nope. TAF'ers unite!
Without putting words into her mouth, and imagining Melina would probably want just the opposite, I can't help but feel this album will be devastating to other artists who are about to put some music out into the world. I mean... IT'S SOOO GOOD. How can your little jingles stack up? THEY CAN'T. Why try? DON'T. Everyone else, stop recording, sell your guitars, and get a normal haircut. The insurance industry awaits. With me.
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