Watch the new music video for “Sanity” by Juan Wauters (of The Beets). It pretty much captures a regular Tuesday in my life.
Song of the Day: Jeffrey Novak – “Home Sweet Home” (2009)
Today we have a little song called “Home Sweet Home” from Mr. Jeffrey Novak. Jeff is the dude in Cheap Time, y’all know. A Tennessee man that’s been compared to another Tennessee man, Jay Reatard. Speaking of Jay, Jay’s Shattered Records released “Home Sweet Home” as a 7″ in 2009. I’m just getting my feet wet in Jeffrey Novak’s music, but I’m really digging it, so I thought I’d share it with anyone that cares to hear quality music and I know you do. Enjoy!
Review: Ravi Shavi – “Ravi Shavi”
Band: Ravi Shavi
Release: 2013
1. Indecisions
2. Bloody Opus
3. Hobbies
4. Accidental
5. Local News
6. Amphetamine
7. Old Man
8. Problems
9. Critters
10. Vacation Holiday
Comments: The first time I saw Ravi Shavi (Firehouse 13, November 10, 2012) , I was blown away by the Providence band’s energy and pop sensibility. It wasn’t really ‘garage,’ not quite ‘punk’ or traditional ‘power-pop’; just poppy rock ‘n roll. Well after seeing them a couple of times more, I was thoroughly convinced of their talent. Rafay Rashid, the group’s main vocalist and guitarist, is like a King Khan kind of figure, very infectious and engaging. His vocal assault varies as much as Ravi Shavi’s rock ‘n roll stylings. Some times like on “Bloody Opus” and “Hobbies,” there is some Brit in him…at least it seems. “Hobbies” particularly shimmers with some oldies charm until transitioning into an unexpected Lovely Feathers sorta charge. That’s one of my favorite specific moments of the album definitely, but there’s that kind of fun running all throughout. When there’s the familiar repetition of verses and choruses as on “Accidental,” the listen never ends up tiring or monotonous even as there are more sticky transitions and repetitions. Getting back to vocals again – “Local News” is a tidy example of a long list of dynamics. After the what you’d expect from a song called AMPHETAMINE, the crash sets in and no no I don’t mean a bad crash or anything. Just a slower, Hamilton Leithauser just stole your mic and Matt Barrick conveniently got behind the kit, deal. That sorta early ’00s NYC reverby guitars and (all time period) hollering continues on through “Problems,” and “Critters” has some instrumentation/technique not previously as apparent…until now. Closing tune “Vacation Holiday” is pure pop dynamite. This one takes its time and sends me off reminiscing of everything Ravi Shavi did right in the making of this record. Good work.
Song of the Day: The Spaceshits – “Everytime We Get Married” (1998)
I feel like we haven’t done a Song of the Day in ages, so why not bring it back? I just heard this Spacehsits song for the first time, I can’t believe it. It’s a great song and a lot slower and softer than the speedy, sweaty, balls out approach typically associated with the Spaceshits’ music. Anyway, check it out, it’s a doozy from a legendary band.
NEW HUNX AND HIS PUNX LP – “STREET PUNK” (7/23)/ SHOW @ BRIGHTON MUSIC HALL (8/23)!
We were excited to inform you yesterday that one of our Honorary KLYAMERS (King Khan & The Shrines) is coming to town in October, but today is even better because Honorary KLYAMERS Hunx and His Punx are releasing a brand new LP Street Punk (July 23 on Hardly Art) and touring in support of it, hitting up Boston’s Brighton Music Hall on Friday, August 23! Here are the rest of the tour dates:
08.08.13 – Brooklyn, NY – 285 Kent %
08.09.13 – Philadelphia, PA – PhilaMoca % #
08.10.13 – Washington, DC – Comet Ping Pong % #
08.11.13 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar % #
08.12.13 – Belmont, NC – Haunted Mill + Mini Golf %
08.13.13 – Jacksonville, FL – Jack Rabbits #
08.14.13 – Orlando, FL – The Social #
08.15.13 – Birmingham, AL – The Bottletree #
08.16.13 – Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn #
08.17.13 – Nashville, TN – Exit/In # ^
08.19.13 – Milwaukee, WI – Cactus Club #
08.20.13 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean #
08.21.12 – Detroit, MI – Magic Stick Lounge #
08.22.13 – Toronto, ON – Hard Luck Bar #
08.23.13 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall #
% – w/ Chain & The Gang
# – w/ Hunters
^ – w/ Diarrhea Planet and The So So Glos
You can get a brief taste of the new album by listening to “Bad Skin,” a notable, quasi hardcore/GG Allin esque departure from the group’s familiar, girl group, garage pop style. I’m intrigued to say the least.
Mini Documentary on Shannon and the Clams
Watch this excellent documentary on Shannon and the Clams from Out Of Focus TV.
Shannon and the Clams have recently released a new album titled Dreams in the Rat House (Hardly Art) and they are currently on tour right now with Mikal Cronin, hitting up Allston’s Great Scott a week from today. FYI: The Migs and Roomrunner are opening. I’ve anticipated seeing Shannon and the Clams for over two years now, so I’m pumped!
King Khan & The Shrines – “Born to Die”/ Tour Dates/Boston – 10/29!
Damn, it seems like every day we’re discovering something new about our honorary KLYAMER King Khan and his Sensational Shrines. Well, today the gospel is this: “Born to Die” is here for your listening pleasure and it is the opening track off of King Khan & The Shrines’ forthcoming album Idle No More (out 9/3 on Merge).
Hearing the scandalous, sweaty, but infinitely wise words of the Shrines is not enough. Oh no, you must witness the supreme genius in the flesh…
King Khan & The Shrines Tour Dates:
Europe:
08/28 – Luxembourg @ Exit07
08/29 – NL Haarlem Dutch Garage Rock Explosion @ Patronaat
08/30 – UK Salisbury @ End Of The Road Festival
09/01 – UK London @ XOYO
09/04 – FR Paris @ Trabendo
09/05 – BLG Brussels @ Magasin 4
09/06 – NL Vlieland @ Great Wide Open Festival
US:
10/11 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
10/13 – San Francisco, CA @ Slims
10/14 – Portland, OR @ Dantes
10/15 – Vancouver, BC @ The Rickshaw Theatre
10/16 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos
10/17 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux
10/18 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
10/19 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
10/20 – Kansas City, KS @ The Record Bar
10/21 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
10/22 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
10/23 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
10/24 – Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop
10/25 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
10/26 – Toronto, ON @ Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
10/27 – Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe
10/29 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
10/30 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
10/31 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
11/01 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
11/02 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
11/04 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
11/05 – Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree
11/06 – New Orleans, LA @ Siberia
11/09 – Puerto Rico @ Hacienda Siesta Alegre
11/12 – El Paso, TX @ Tricky Falls
New-ish Songs You Oughta Check Out
Future Days – “Mild Mannered Wuss”
Future Days (formerly Space Bums) are from around here – Boston – and they’ve just made public some songs that will be on a future release. The one that stands out the most to my taste buds is “Mild Mannered Wuss,” which sounds way more exciting than the dude in question. It’s very Velvets sounding/Reed homaging [not a word] with some choice background vocal flourishes.
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The Fabulous St. Knicholas Cage – “Not In My Mind”
Tulsa, Oklahoma’s tinny surf exhibitionists TFSKC have a brand new old release – The Sexy Yearzzzz. “Not In My Mind” is like a high speed boat chase, except you are forced to flee on boogeyboard. Get you some Jon Dwyer on vocals with The Ventures on guitar and hey, here you go. Rockabilly, shit-surfabilly, catch it if you can.
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Zip-Tie Handcuffs – “Lifeboat”
This track is from the Boston band’s 2012 release In The Sky. It’s a stand-out and I’m posting it now because it reminds me of three years ago, when I first heard Wavves King of the Beach. This one is forceful like some of that LP’s sludgier tunes, but in its own world of intensity. I appreciate “Lifeboat” more and more each time I listen to it and its sonic cleanliness surprisingly works in its favor.
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Vundabar – “Hives”
Two piece yee-haws also from this neck of the Emerald Necklace. Anyway, this is song #8 on their Antics LP. The dudes start off with the chorus, a brilliant tactic when a tune rock ‘n rolls like this. It pounds heavy and flirts with the kind of garage/country sloppiness of my favorites, like Carbonas if they had more vocal ability and were played on Breakfast of Champions instead of Late Risers Club. Maybe not the best comparison; this is pop music.
No Age Announce New Album “An Object”
Photo from Pitchfork
KLYAM beloved duo No Age has recently announced the release of a new album entitled An Object. We were/are huge fans of the band’s first three albums, so this is exciting news!
For more info, read here: http://pitchfork.com/news/50960-no-age-announce-new-album-an-object/
Photo from Pitchfork
An Object Track List:
1) No Ground
2) I won’t Be Your Generator
3) C’mon Stimmung
4) Defector/ed
5) An Impression
6) Lock Box
7) Running From A-Go-Go
8) Hands, Birch and Steel
9) Circling With Dizzy
10) A Ceiling Dreams of a Floor
11) Commerce, Comment, Commence
King Khan & The Shrines – “Idle No More” Out 9/3/13
King Khan & The Shrines, the holiest of holies, is releasing a new album on their recently signed Merge Records, entitled Idle No More and it’s coming out on September 3!
“King Khan offered this statement on the release:
It has been a lengthy hiatus, but we have finally finished our latest ‘masterpiece’ and named it after an incredible indigenous-rights movement that is happening right now called Idle No More.
I was born and raised in Montreal and spent a lot of time on the Kahnawake Mohawk Indian reservation. Much of my juvenile delinquent training came from years of tripping out there with my best friends. I began the Shrines in 1999 with the blessings from my brothers in The Spaceshits, right after we disbanded. The dream was to make something reminiscent of Sun Ra, James Brown, and Otis Redding with a hint of The Velvet Underground, Love, The Monks and about a million other influences that riddled my LSD-soaked brain at the tender age of 22.
The Shrines was my pirate ship and we sailed many a turbulent sea, spreading our music ‘like peanut butter’ all over the world. We celebrated our cult ‘underground’ status and became the kings we are through word of mouth and by making an ‘aural eyegasm’ that has often been called the ‘wildest show on earth.’
Idle No More is probably the most refined piece of music we have made to date. The songs are about the state of the world we live in today. It took a long time to make, but we are very proud and pleased to bring you this album. I hope that the future will brighten up every time it is played. Ultimately, John and Yoko were absolutely right: LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED!
Peace and Love,
King-Bama Lama Khan
Emperor of RnB” – Merge Records http://www.mergerecords.com/blog/2013/05/king-khan-the-shrines-announce-idle-no-more-for-september-release/
Idle No More track list:
1. Born to Die
2. Bite My Tongue
3. Thorn in Her Pride
4. Luckiest Man
5. Better Luck Next Time
6. Darkness
7. Pray for Lil
8. Bad Boy
9. So Wild
10. Yes I Can’t
11. I Got Made
12. Of Madness I Dream
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 