Saturday, May 26, 2018

SATURDAY AFTERNOON BLISS-OUT




Another bold leap forward for Wooden Shjips. The lazy conventional wisdom has always shouted “60s psych-rock revivalists!!” when discussing this group, but I don’t see it. The Shjips, while definitely drawing some influence from 60s psychedelia, combine the best motorik drone of 70s Krautrock, the creepy keyboard menace of Suicide and the straight-up minimalist guitar & drum pummeling of Loop and Spacemen 3, and then they make something entirely new out of it. Depending on your point of view and points of reference, they’ll either sound vaguely retro or entirely modern.
Image result for WOODEN SHJIPS V.


On V., despite a hint of the old menace, they offer up their mellowest set yet. Stately beats, languorous rhythms, riffs and drones that shimmer like the sun through some mid-afternoon haze – this is truly beautiful music. Horns color opener “Eclipse”, and there seem to be touches of piano and acoustic guitar in other spots. The wheel hasn’t been reinvented, but one of the best bands of the 21st century has found some powerful new ways to keep its sound fresh.



IT ALWAYS FELT LIKE SUICIDE


Wednesday, May 16, 2018

SENSE OF UNEASE


how the world always ends




bones on a snow-covered roof and you
dream of reasons
but never the right ones

you wake up to

the screams of crows

stranger knows your name and

that your father is dead

a rumor of suicide

a child’s body
pulled from the river

january now for most of your life and
all you want is to apologize

turns out hatred was
always the most important thing

what matters most
about power is that
you will never have any

any vote you cast ends up being
a vote for war

there is never an end to the list of
people your government
tells you must die



Monday, May 14, 2018

KILLING CHRIST IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY


UNDERSTANDING THE GIFT OF VISION







New work at STRIDE MAGAZINE.


Link is here:





  

This is the poem:




trust


not magic, but something real

something pure,
and i have  been trying to thank you
                                                  for it
in these last dying days of October

i have been walking down dead-end streets,
past the ghosts of suicides,
pasts burned-out gas stations,
and i have spent enough of my life being blind
to finally understand the gift of
vision

i have tasted you in the grey light
of silent afternoons

have only wanted more




Sunday, May 13, 2018

LA LUZ WILL SAVE THE WORLD




Image result for la luz floating featuresThe 4th release by surf-noir mavens La Luz positions them as an unstoppable force.  Are they capable of writing a bad song?  Not so far.  The best part of FLOATING FEATURES, I gotta say, is the production.  It’s still very basic, but they keep moving further and further away from the lo-fi aesthetic of DAMP FACE, and that’s a good thing.  This is a band that needs the finer details to stand out for their music to be fully appreciated.  The heavily reverbed spooky surf guitar, the girl-group vocal harmonies (and Shana Cleveland’s slightly ethereal and disembodied lead vocals) , the garage-rock keyboards – everything that makes La Luz so unique and excellent is on FLOATING FEATURES, and in widescreen technicolor.