The band members are highly proficient at all their instruments, they play together with a well-practiced ease. It’s clear they enjoy performing together and enjoy each other’s company. The three of them were even seen cuddling in a group hug during the end of Bunnies’ set. They really do like each other. During our interview, there was lots of laughter between the three of them. This camaraderie shines through in their music making their set sound tight and well-oiled.

Sapling has great catchy song lyrics with songs like A Fox Upon the Tomb which has the lyrics “I have an IUD and a gun. Okay, okay, I don’t have a gun. But what if I did? What have I done? Wouldn’t it be fun?” at the beginning and the end of the song is a refrain that sounds like an unhinged flight announcement “anxiety is a personal failure, please continue to follow all norms.” Their song lyrics are cutting-edge clever with lines such as “If a tree falls in the woods and David Foster Wallace isn’t around to consider it, is it unethical to eat it.” Or “Don’t call me a Socialist, I’m an undercover archaeologist.”

The band has great dada banter and riffs off crowd participation, feeding of the audience’s energy. Early in the show they made announcements “If you can’t get past the gender binary, pull your head out of your ass” and “if you are transphobic, lose my business card!” For a while, Rainy bantered in Spanish speculating with an audience member about the difference between a Choco Taco and tacos de leche. Later in the show, that audience member proclaimed, “I’ve never heard it this loud before—it’s loco!” There was also some banter about being tall enough to play basketball and an entire bit about anxiety.

During the final song of the show, each of the band members got up from their instrument and switched it for another—an impressive bit of showmanship. Amber went from playing the theremin to a side wall with drop cloths where she was absolutely doused in paint and glitter by audience members, then she returned to the theremin where they finished up the set with some wild noise. It was an awesome ending to a great show. Sapling’s next show is September 17th at Electric Haze in Worcester with Tysk Tysk Task and Crow Follow. Everyone should see Sapling live at least once!

The post Show Review // Sapling at Starlite Gallery appeared first on I Heart Noise.

Review by Adam Horswill / @vogonlaundromat

Hoggs Bison are up first and I’m really pleased to get a full set with them after only managing to catch the last 5 minutes of them at the Trumans Water gig late last year. They are firmly rooted in the early 90’s school of understated Post Rock instrumentals and that to me is no bad thing as they are good at it too, very good actually. If you are a fan of Slint, Tortoise and early Mogwai et al I’d say you should try and see Hoggs Bison live. Definite thumbs up here.

Repo-Man are without reservation fucking ace. They have been going since 2011 and with three albums already in the bag I have to admit I’ve only recently discovered them. They are all charged and abrasive guitars, skittering drums, urgent yet tuneful bass and all topped off by the considered and brilliantly delivered invective of front man Bojak. Think Long Fin Killie via Blurt, The Fall and mid-eighties Sonic Youth and you won’t be far off. Watching them is a complete joy and I can’t think of any other bands I’ve heard recently that are working this area of noisy songsmithery so well. In a world where chancers like Black Midi are so lauded it’s criminal that bands such as Repo-Man are left on the side-lines and left off national airplay, come on DJ’s please sort your apathetic attitude to quality rock bands out there is a huge demand out here for it.

Michael are like a gang of good-natured hooligans on a mission to ensure everyone  gets off on the tomfoolery they bring along. Bands as a rule don’t normally limber up on stage, here the bass player does a few leg stretches while one of the guitarists strips down to boxers before putting on his ‘guitaring apparel’, tucking his replacement leggings into socks all the way up to knees like faux plus fours. It’s not a great look and he knows it.

They open up with a rollicking Leaf Blower Tragedy and pretty much work though the entirety of the new album in random order from there. Some of the numbers are reworked and it’s clear that despite the continual antics they are capable of improvising at will, at the top of their game and completely on it. The audience having kept a respectful distance from the low stage are encouraged forward and various band members leave the stage to carry on playing from amongst the crowd throughout the set.

There are some hilarious moments tonight, ridiculous backing vocals that I’m sure no other band would either consider attempting or being capable of pulling off, guitarists playing each other’s instruments without actually bothering to swap them first, a couple of team huddles while songs carry on and some solo’s while doing a dying fly impression. Tonight is a complete high-energy hard rock ride. It’s completely unpretentious, a lot of bands could learn how to have and how to create a good time from these boys. It’s over too soon of course, but what can you do? It’s only possible to keep this pace up for a limited time without having a heart attack. Here less is definitely more.

The post Show Review: Michael, Repo-Man and Hoggs Bison – Live at Crofters Rights Bristol appeared first on I Heart Noise.

Billy Bragg, the fearless folk singer, author, and activist, came to Cambridge the weekend of October 3rd – October 5th to play a three night residency at The Sinclair in Harvard Square. Each night he performed a different focal point of his career from a mélange of career spanning favorites on Thursday, his first three albums on Friday, and a retrospective of his saddest songs on Saturday. Bragg’s career spanning 35 years has been a triumph of the human condition and a testament to the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

Each of the three nights reached a sold out capacity almost immediately when the tickets became available. Even those who had a change of plans and were looking to unload their tickets were only looking for the face value from when they were purchased. This speaks a lot to Billy Bragg’s message of fairness, equality, and how that translates to his fans; no vultures, no gougers, and certainly no scabs need apply. I was fortunate enough to have tickets for the Friday show and it did not disappoint. I was doubly fortunate as I had been marching on a picket line earlier that day.

https://twitter.com/NickyPanic/status/1180255485892673539

I joined the few hundred people that had gathered to support the striking workers at the Battery Wharf hotel on the edge of the North End in Boston. The contract had been up for renegotiation in the early months of 2017 and the company had refused to budge at the negotiating table with Unite Here! local 26. Unite Here! is an international union in the US and Canada which represents roughly 250,000 workers. Local 26 are the union representatives for hotel and hospitality workers in Boston and Rhode Island and they represent over 10,000 employees. After the final attempts for negotiations were at an impasse between the company and the union, the employees voted a majority and agreed to a strike. That was over a month ago now, and the momentum is building for the workers of the Battery Wharf hotel.

There is still a long fight ahead, but the energy at the rally was very high. With people from across the city, some being union members, some unaffiliated, all marching, chanting, holding signs and dancing with each other, there was not a sad face in the crowd. There were plenty of angry faces, but it was not from a place of fear. When a company claims to look out for your best interest, claims that you should work together as a family, and then refuses you the right to basic healthcare and a living wage, yeah, I’d be pissed, too. This is only a brief glimpse into the reality that is being spread through the guise of hospitality. Without union representation it is all too easy for a company to instate whatever rules they want. This often comes with a complete disregard to an employee’s safety, dignity, health, and income. The money goes up the ladder and the shit falls down. Smiling for the sake of tears.

As I’m walking the picket line, sign in hand and shouting to capacity, a friend of mine points to a fella on the edge of the line. He’s talking to workers and asks genuine questions, administering hugs, handshakes, and words of encouragement. It’s Billy Bragg. My instinct is to book it over from where I am, but discipline takes control and I keep my place in line. I’ll catch him on the next loop. Coming around again my friend and I stop to chat with Billy Bragg and thank him for coming to the picket line. He smiled ear to ear and says something along the lines of wouldn’t miss it. We talked for a bit about capitalist, the fight of the working class, and the inherent corporate greed that plagues America. He’s inherently optimistic, though. With high hopes for the future and the newest generation to come, he had a look on his face that translated to, “Just you wait and see”.

The picket line turned into a march where we all took to Hanover Street and blocked traffic as we made our way to that little Paul Revere Park. There was a small stage set up where Union representatives, city politicians, and workers all talked about their love and support for the workers on strike. There were heartbreaking stories of abuse and disrespect, a few jokes at the company’s expense, and loud cheers as Billy Bragg took to the stage. He sang Which Side Are You On, There Is Power in a Union, and other traditional labor favorites. It was a brief set because he still had to sound check at The Sinclair and it was getting to be that time.

That night at the show I saw a lot people from the picket line. It felt like we were all in on something that should not be a secret. Billy took care of that, though. He was brilliantly blasting through songs from his first three albums. Life’s a Riot with Spy vs Spy, Brewing up with Billy Bragg, and Talking to the Taxman about Poetry. He talked about the strike extensively throughout his set. This was met with cheers of support from the audience and lead to further explanations of his latest takes on politics, sociology, and the importance for kindness. These are expanded upon in his newest book, The Three Dimensions of Freedom. I haven’t had the chance to read it yet, but it’s coming in the mail. I have a feeling that it will not disappoint.

The show was an inspiration for what people can be capable of with a little courage and truth. Filled with stories of his first interactions with Jon Peele, his first American tours, and his initial distrust of New York City, the whole evening became increasingly personal as it wore on. This was all without pretense. “I’m not a musician. I’m a guitar player. Musicians play the piano.” he quipped from the stage to laughter and a showing that he speaks to his own truth. He’s one of the few performers who can sell out three nights in a row and remain modest. He was confident, sure, but it was a barroom kind of confidence. He could have just finished his shift on the dockyard loading shipments to go overseas and we wouldn’t know the difference.

I talked to him again briefly after the show and he was wearing a Local 26 shirt while he met with fans. After walking a good length of time on a picket line and playing over 2 hours of music, yeah, he looked a bit tired. This did not stop him from talking to every single person that lingered after the show. And he had to do it all again the next day. Why? Because this is who he is. He is the poet. The dreamer. The activist. The guitar player. The listener. The Writer. The Fighter.

If you already know Billy Bragg, then you know what I mean. If you don’t know Billy Bragg, then I would suggest starting with Talking to the Taxman about Poetry. It’s my personal favorite and Levi Stubbs Tears is a jammer. Incidentally, the strike is still on at the Battery Wharf hotel every day from 7am-7pm. They’ll be on strike until they win. Why not come down and raise a fuss? They’d love to see you.
One day longer, one day stronger.

The post Milkman of Human Kindness: Billy Bragg at the Sinclair appeared first on I Heart Noise.

I’ve waited 18 months or so to see Lower Slaughter, much longer for Henry Blacker. Neither band play live that often so coming tonight is a must. The Old England in Bristol that hosts regular gigs of this sort, it’s small, literally a back-street joint so there will only be about 50 or 60 people here. Everyone’s very mellow and approachable, even I manage to get chatting with a complete stranger about music for about half an hour or so over a pint.

If ever there were a good example of why people should make the effort and see support bands Pohl are it. They are a two-piece Bristol band and make a beautifully painful progressive metal racket, it has a hint of the Ruins about it but much harder (a much more forceful delivery that their tracks on Bandcamp too). They start pretty tentatively but this is followed by so much animation during the second track that the guitarists glasses fly off and end up by the toilet door. By the third number they seem completely locked together. The guitar playing is all wonderfully technical riffs while the drumming is super fluid throughout the set which ends all too soon. I’ll be seeing these guys again.

Somerset’s Henry Blacker do not fuck about. Considering they’ve been putting the hard yards in playing live and recording for years you wouldn’t be able to pick them out in a police line-up; they are so unassuming and unpretentious for a rock band. There is close up of Joe on the cover of his new book though so he won’t be able to hide for much longer.

As you would expect the set is packed with huge sludgy stoner riffs that pile upon you with an awesome weight. I’d not really expected the sheer attack of them live though it’s just relentless, seeing them is definitely an event. Tim’s vocals are delivered with a snarl or in the case of ‘Shit magus’ withering distain… If you are going to employ a magus of such staggering ineptitude as the one in this song what is there left to do other than shake your head and say ‘Fuck sake’. They follow up with Cag Mag, it’s unfortunate the song title always reminds me of someone I once met who had a vigorous cagoule fetish. As with most of their songs though the subject matter is far more sinister than a man’s over developed affection for nylon waterproofs, ‘It’ll turn you inside out, coming off the flesh, an uninvited guest’ you get the gist.

Lower Slaughter open with the first three tracks from their new album, ‘Gas’ in particular is a psychological killer as a beginning. Doom guitar and vocal despair on the intro breaks into an insistent challenge and fuck you to the oppressor, I don’t think they were expecting it. For all the introspection and fierceness that Sinead brings to the delivery there is no getting pass what an uplifting experience it is to watch them live. Yeah it takes strength to pick apart life’s shit but look what happens when you come out the other side. Sinead makes an appeal during the set for everyone to look after their mental health; do therapy, be mindful, take meds if you need to. Wise words.

It’s difficult to comprehend that all four of them are together so seldom they move forward as one at all times. Trying to pin down the direct influences on the sound of the band is an exercise in futility. Punk attitude, noise, classic 70’s cheesy guitar, some nicely detuned guitars plus lots and lots of heavy riffs, so much is brought it it’s best to just soak it up rather than pick it apart.

They finish with Caliban And The Witch / Tied Down from the first album both of which are delivered at full intensity and 1000 miles per hour before curfew. I thank Sinead afterwards and she says she’s just glad if a few people like, I tell her everyone fucking loved it.

https://pohl.bandcamp.com/album/pohl-ii

https://riotseasonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-making-of-junior-bonner

Joe Thompson’s Book ‘Sleevenotes’:

http://www.pomonauk.com/books/sleevenotes/joethompson/index.php

https://lowerslaughter.bandcamp.com/

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My friends & I have been trying to see DAUGHTERS since at least 2003, especially after that new album fried all our brains properly last year, so we bought tickets for this show as soon as the date was announced back in November. It was a nice bonus when both WOLF EYES and HIDE were added to the bill a couple months later. 

Those Wolf boyz are some of my favorite dudes & based on HIDE’s recorded material, i knew they’d be a formidable live act.  I wasn’t wrong, HIDE came out of the gate swinging with a pulsating set of minimal, yet emotional electro-industrial bangers from start to finish.

The room was packed to the brim for this sold out show & even though this was the act most of the audience were likely unfamiliar with, they definitely made an impact. Heather writhed around on stage like a woman possessed, delivering bursts of tortured shrieks between pillows of icy vocals, all backed by the throb of ear rattling electronics that were as dancefloor friendly as they were abrasive. 

Next up was the mighty WOLF EYES, i’ll admit right out front that i’m a fanboy for these guys in any incarnation, but seeing them as the duo of Nate & John again was a real treat. 

I saw them last year at this very same venue, and while that performance was also excellent & just the two of them, it was quite a bit more restrained in comparison to the set they delivered here.

Tonight they were absolutely on fire, Nate dropping glitchy thuds as John cycled through a variety of inzane horns & homemade gear from an open road case, like artists picking the colors for their canvas as they paint their masterpiece.  Only in this case that masterpiece was an ever fluctuating soundscape of nightmarish proportions, from hints of free jazz to tinges of mutated world music and everything in between, there’s a reason these lunatics are probably the best known American noise act, they always deliver the goods.

Then there was DAUGHTERS…

These folks are the very definition of “cult” act & an anomaly in any genre. 

Starting out nearly two decades ago as a grindcore-ish band, they quickly evolved into an absolutely undefinable beast that blurs the lines between noise rock, no wave, hardcore & something much, much weirder over the course of their four albums.  Last year’s big comeback album “You Won’t Get What You Want” alone was a mindfucker of epic proportions & my favorite release of the year.  

I think like a lot of folks, i expected them to mainly play stuff off this record, but i’m so glad i was wrong about that. 

Over the course of a very chaotic hour, they played damn near everything one could hope to hear from their catalog at this point, albeit some of them very different from their recorded versions, but impressive nonetheless. As they took the stage, most of the band looked unassuming enough, dressed in button up shirts with sharp hair cuts that hid their true intentions, you could almost mistake these lads & lady to be some sort of praise & worship church band gone horribly wrong, and honestly, that wouldn’t be far off from the overall experience. 

If this is a cult, then I guess their singer, Alexis, is the de facto “leader” & he lived up to every expectation that comes with that rank. His performance alone was like a cross between a sideshow barker & a deranged doomsday preacher, delivering his message with the venom of a young Nick Cave, all while rocking an almost completely shaved head, save for a thick mullety patch in the very back. 

(I heard comparisons about the haircut that ranged from a Hare Krishna look to a strung out Maynard, but in my mind it was closer to Gummo chic than anything else) 

They ripped hard from the get go & never let up, cycling through new songs & old, all through the filter of their scummy yet unmistakable sound. 

While they never reverted to full on grind/mathcore, the songs from that early era used those sounds as more of ingredients in the mix than for blunt force trauma. 

(Think “Disco Volante” era Mr. Bungle as a point of reference for how they use abrasive sounds in this kind of diverse mix.)

The live addition of Lisa on keyboards/electronics/backing vocals is a real nice touch & only elevates some of these tracks to new levels. 

The sole female musician in a band called DAUGHTERS, she too was dressed in her best funeral attire & pounded on her gear while waving her hands in the air like an organ player at church feeling the holy spirit move through her. The interplay of vocals between her & Alexis on a few songs were some of the highlights of this show for me.

Honestly, I really never expected I would get to see this band live at all, so to see them on a stacked package like this, on tour for their best album so far & at absolute peak performance level all around, it was a damn good Tuesday night. 

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The Veldt

The major labels were always trying to get us to change our sound, our look or both, but, we had no interest in being the next Lenny Kravitz or Tony! Toni! Toné! Unfortunately, not everyone shared our vision. We weren’t trying to be rock stars, we just want to play our music and pay our rent.

Having reunited few years ago, the band since put out a brand new EP and if their set at Paradise is any indication, things should be very different this time around. The band delivered short but impressive set centered around soulful vocals of Chavis and peppered with references to the likes U2 and Hendrix.By turns spacey, colorful and spiritually uplifting, their songs should be a treat to anyone with even a passing interest in shoegaze genre.
BJM, the headliners of the evening, fared much better but also have an equally long and troubled history as documented in 2004 “Dig!” (that documentary also captured the bands rivalry with fellow psychedelic travelers Dandy Warhols).
None of the trouble was evident on stage, however, as the band tore through a set filled with endless nods to the classic rock of the 60s/70s, the multi-part harmonies and the rollicking guitar riffs. Along the way, the band members poked fun at anything from guitars that tend to go out of tune to farcical North Carolina bathroom laws.
The evening proved to be one of the rare events where the openers were on par with the headliners this evening – nearly 30 years in the making, The Veldt seem to be ready to shed their outsider status and be celebrated for their work. Even if their music won’t end up taking over the world this time, it will surely have far more impact than it did during the band’s original 90s run.

The post Show Review – The Veldt + Brian Jonestown Massacre (Paradise Rock Club, 5/7/15) appeared first on I Heart Noise.

Seeing the band playing for the 3rd time shouldn’t be full of surprises, but this case was different – for one the invitation seemingly came out of the blue (credit goes to Matt Icklan, Melvinhead extraordinaire) and was delivered via Facebook.
Surprise #2 came in the form of a bearded bass player – he surely didn’t look like ex-Karp Jared. First thought that crossed my mind was that Jared was kicked out of the band and replaced with Kirk from Crowbar. Further investigation revealed that the owner of the beard in question was Jeff Pinkus, a former Butthole Surfer! (hope that my ignorance can be forgiven since all bearded folks look more than a bit alike and there are few photos of Mr. Pinkus lying around).
Anyhoo…revving up the night was a Mexican trio called Le Butcherettes of whom I know laughably little (other than the country of origin and the fact that more recently they and Melvins shared a split on AmRep). Their sound could be loosely described as garage rock/punk and isn’t terribly original by any means, but is alright if you’re into that kind of thing.
Their main attraction of the trio is a frontwoman by the name of Teri Gender-Bender. She struts across the stage, she extract squiggly noises out of her keyboard and at times she looks like she’s plugged into the amp along with the guitar. I believe that she would’ve made an excellent one-person art performance piece – there’s no need for music even (not that its bad or embarrassing, but its got that “been there, done that” kind of feel to it).
Back to Melvins….
As stated above, Ex-Karp Jarred Warren wasn’t present on stage that night (paternity leave) but the trio of Buzz, Dale and Jeff still did an amazing job (not that I expected anything else out of them). Its not every day that you see a bunch of 50-somethings playing with an abandon reserved for people half their age, but that certainly can be said about Melvins.
Loud and raucous and weird and noisy – they always seem to deliver on all those fronts, both on record and live (even with an occasional misstep here and there). I pity the day when Melvins will retire and hang up their microphones for good, but hopefully that day won’t happen in the foreseeable future.

Further reading:
The Melvins / Le Butcherettes Part 1: Buzz Osbourne on Le Butcherettes (Glide Magazine)
The Melvins / Le Butcherettes Part 2: Teri Gender Bender Loves the Melvins (Glide Magazine)

The post Show Review – Melvins / Le Butcherettes at The Paradise (06.27.15) appeared first on I Heart Noise.

In a world full of uninspiring band names,  New Yorkers Call of the Wild should at the very least get an award for picking a name that is both original and fits band’s music and image to a t.
For one, there’s a hilarious Spinal Tap-esque band image – incredibly long hair, moustaches and a girl drummer who can easily be mistaken for a boy.
Musically, however, they mean business – elsewhere the band’s genre was described as both “pop-punk” and “garage rock”, but I myself would’ve referred to it as primal/neanderthal rock.
Equal parts Aerosmith, Melvins and Motorhead, their music takes no hostages and leaves hardly any room for ballads or slower material – exactly what I would expect from an opener for Dinosaur Jr.
 
Speaking of latter…
My introduction to Dino Jr. came via MTV and a video for “Feel the Pain” (which, if memory serves me right, didn’t feature members of the band itself).
An expanded version of the said introduction came via Michael Azerrad’s indie rock bible Our Band Could Be Your Life and that’s how I also discovered Deep Wound – hardcore predecessor of the band.
The show (one of two nights that the band played at the Sinclair) featured best of both worlds – old tunes/hits/crowd favorites (Feel the Pain, In a Jar, Just Like Heaven), assorted new songs and even one number by Deep Wound (Trading Ground)!
The amount of Sonic Youth-ish sounding songs in the setlist was astounding, but given that both bands were one-time labelmates it shouldn’t be a big surprise – its hard to tell who exactly ripped off who. That little quibble aside, the band was in a top notch form last night and deserve much respect for sticking to their guns and staying together after years of fighting one other.
 

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