I’d say this is Mikal Cronin at his poppiest and that feels a little funny given how catchy his debut album was. But yeah, this is almost a King of the Beach style tune – cleaner and heavier than a lot of Mikal’s category.
So check it out!
Will be on MCII (May 7, Merge Records)
The Old Haunts from Olympia had some nice releases in their day – sounding at the best of times like their contemporary (and similar artist if you’ve been hitting up Pandora) Jay Reatard. Very straight-forward and hooky all throughout. Take a listen, if you haven’t heard this tune.
Nice! Hunters opening. And they are playing loads of other places
New album Ride Your Heart coming out April 2 (as you can see from the vid above)!!
This is from For The Love of the Game (Burger Records) !
See you at ORCA!
Directed by Corey Clark. This one is sure to get your heart racing!
April 16 on Dwyer’s Castleface!!!
1. I Come From the Mountain
2. Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster
3. Floating Coffin
4. No Spell
5. Strawberries 1 + 2
6. Maze Fancier
7. Night Crawler
8. Sweet Helicopter
9. Tunnel Time
10. Minotaur
Bands: Ravi Shavi, Atlantic Thrills, The Rice Cakes, Napoleon
Date: Saturday January 26, 2013
Venue: Firehouse 13 [Providence, RI]
Act I – Napoleon – Things get started right with Napoleon from Brooklyn. This four piece played a dark and danceable set that included some memorable tracks from their latest record, Success. They had their act together, showing some nice moves that ought to be appreciated by more than New York basement attendees. The songs themselves are very New York, which is sort of a weird thing to say, but if you are familiar with dudes like mid 2000s Walkmen, Interpol, and their oversea counterparts, Editors, you might get what I mean. There also was some upbeat jangle in there – so I’m not talking a totally dark experience; I enjoyed these clingers a bit more than the rest. And the hi-hats were nice, as testified by an enthusiastic man who related his feelings to the drummer after the set. I used to be way more into this style of rock and roll, but I found myself really appreciating this young group and the way that they played since it is not really what I hear often at shows I usually attend.
Act II – Atlantic Thrills – The Thrills, I will state off the bat, are the kind of band that makes me always want to drive down to Providence. Providence/Boston, not too far apart, but only for truly special bands do we like to go out of our way. The Thrills are special – I mean they are not musically unique by most measures, but they’ve held the torch of messy, fuzzy, fuckitall r n r pretty high since it was handed to them by wild teens from Peru. Seeing them on the stage tonight brings to mind some great show moments, a handful now involving these guys. I’m going nuts the whole time and hey, fellow KLYAMer Chris seems to be enjoying himself a good deal as well. The increasingly packed crowd gets more and more into Atlantic Thrills as the set progresses. The Thrills’ set nowadays is as impressive as ever – there are the perennial classics, “Acid Rain” and “On My Mind,” a re-energized “Ain’t Enough,” and a handful of newer songs that I am sure will find their way on the Thrills upcoming LP. The energy of these guys is outstanding, climbing on amps, spewing mouthfuls of Jim Beam on the crowd, spilling more than half of that bottle of Beam on the ground. Not caring. If you live remotely close or far from Providence – it is well worth a journey to see the Thrills. Do it!
Set-List
Ain’t Enough
Holy Mountain
Booze
Beach
On My Mind
Try & Try
Blindfold
Lies
Light Shines
Drugs
Shotgun
Acid Rain
Hold Your Tongue
Act III – The Rice Cakes – I didn’t know what to expect from The Rice Cakes, but certainly they made good with their output! Their tunes tended to be lengthy and melodious. A more folky take on rock and roll. A cover of Pixies “Gigantic” surprised me as they certainly put their own three-piecy sspin on it. Another tune that particularly remains with me is “Magma”. It drew a more than pleasant response from the crowd and like I said – it’s memorable!
Act IV – Ravi Shavi – At last, we see the arrival of Rafay Rashid and his three band-mates onto the stage. This ain’t no ordinary show for Ravi Shavi – it’s their record release show. A big deal for a band that’s certainly been making a name for themselves for some time now. They have a very strong following of devoted fans, at least from what I’ve witnessed each time I have seen them. And the reason is clearer than ever this evening. They play pop rock that is loose and messy. While their references might be more along the cleaner side of power pop and garage rock, Ravi Shavi created a raucous and positioned themselves far from safety. I wasn’t really expecting a mosh pit of any kind, but it happened and it was awesome. Everyone reacted to Ravi in some way… how could one not? I can’t really pick any one highlight, it was just one of those situations where I felt extremely satisfied throughout. Everyone can agree.
Band: SKIMASK
Release: December 21, 2012
Labels: Infinity Cat Recordings/Sophomore Lounge/100% Breakfast
Side A
1. “Slap Me Silly”
2. “Creature Double Feature”
3. “Igloo”
4. “4EVA LTD”
5. “Candy Cane”
6. “Every Week Iz Shark Week”
Side Z
1. “Tempurpedic Mattress”
2. “Blow Up: Bubblegum”
3. “If Foolish Men”
4. “Problemhouse”
5. “10 Speed”
6. “Favorite Flavor”
Comments: SKIMASK have been frightening ordinary people for years, but now is the time we finally get to hear a nice to see/feel/hear LP from the Boston trio. With capital and distribution provided by three reputable labels, this record will serve as a crucial source of discovery for many – both in the Boston area (where the band is a live staple) and outside (where the band has toured in venues both small and others significantly larger).
The best descriptions of the band that I’ve come across involve the words assault and primal. And, of course, no better place for that than three feet away from a pacing Profit Mohammad. But you get the gist of the insanity that is SKIMASK from the speakers in your home. Often times I do not know what Profit is saying, but his vocals are incredibly memorable, especially when he’s shouting things like”CREACHA, DAUBLE FEECHA!” and “IS IT VANILLA OR IS IT CHOCOLATE?????????” The critical base co-existing with our friend on vocals is a triple vocal mega-effects man and an unapologetic drummer, pounding away, astonishingly to the workings of that mega-effects man. Of course, I take it that you know SKIMASK visually, but in case you don’t, you might have already conjured up a stringed instrument or some guy on the ground pushing pedals. Or not. They aren’t your typical band and these aren’t your typical songs.
And that’s a great thing. I’m challenged listening to SKIMASK; I do not know many records that are this in your face. The presentation brings both the unexpected (“Tempurpedic Mattress) and the innately hooky (“Creature Double Feature,” “Candy Cane”). I’m swept away by such immediacy and it’s addicting “Blow Up: Bubblegum” is begging to be chewed all day. Never once in my listening to Cute Mutant do I ever want to step away for a moment. The Profit would get angry.
I’ve been delighted by a decent array of noise in my day, but I’m not sure if I have heard an album that tops Cute Mutant in its ability to be so fun and so very different. I very much appreciate and admire this band as a force of rock ‘n roll. So yeah, while I in complete honestly will not be able to immediately recall or recite a handful of these tracks, it is probably because they damaged my brain! In a good way!!!!!!!!!!!!
Woah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brought to you by the masterminds we call FREAK FLAG. [FB EVENT PAGE]
Killer stomp from ya dudes Keven and Lukas
