Posted in Whathaveyou on April 15th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
With a quick round of lineup adds and the announcement of how the pre-show and three days of the festival-proper will play out, SonicBlast Fest 2024 continues to take shape, and golly it looks like fun. Germany’s Daily Thompson will make the trek westward to herald their new album, Chuparosa, and the everywhere-in-Europe-this-year-apparently duo Earth Tongue from New Zealand will appear in support of their upcoming sophomore LP, Great Haunting. Also new to the bill are Canadian psych-prog forebears Black Mountain and thrash outfit Fugitive, because sometimes you just need a punch in the face.
There are still some names to add, as you can see on the poster below. The day splits put Daily Thompson on the pre-show, and that will be a party. I’d expect at least one of the TBCs there, if not both, to be Iberian bands, as SonicBlast runs deep in support for its own regional underground, and given how packed the fest-Friday (Aug. 9) is, they could go just about anywhere in mixing it up, more thrash, hardcore, noise, psych, doom, stoner, whatever, and make it work. There’s a lot to like, even before you find yourself sitting on the beach in Âncora waiting for whoever to go on.
The below was culled from a couple different social posts, so if it reads weird, that’s why, but I expect you get the idea. Here you go:
Daily tickets are already on sale! Check the daily line-ups here 🔥 Looking forward for August!
*this is not in the order of performance
Psychedelic rockers @blackmountainarmy, thrashers supergroup @fugitive_tx (with members of Power Trip and Creeping Death), heavy psych rockers @earthtongue and sonic fuzzers @dailythompson_ will join us in this insane party, this August at Praia da Duna dos Caldeirões
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 27th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Fresh off supporting Queens of the Stone Age in their native New Zealand, stopping by SXSW on a string of US shows to play a few unofficial showcases after ditching their official one for the age-old reason — the malignant corporate influence of weapons manufacturers — and looking forward to a Spring that will see them in Europe to feature at Desertfest in Oslo, Berlin and London, Poland’s Red Smoke Festival and others following the summer run they did last year, Earth Tongue have announced their second full-length, Great Haunting, will be released on In the Red Records this June 14. Got all that? Sweet.
They have a video up now for “Bodies Dissolve Tonight!” that leans more heavy than psych but still has plenty of both to offer along with krautrock-informed pop and hard-landing riffery in its under-three-and-a-half-minute span, and if you’d like to get acquainted, it’s at the bottom of this post. It’s got a flying truck, if that helps you get on board.
And maybe it will, but it’s the song itself that’s going to make the difference. Find it and the album announcement below, courtesy of the PR wire:
Announcing second full-length from fuzz-soaked psychedelic rock duo EARTH TONGUE
Drawing inspiration from eerie depths of ’70s and ’80s horror cinema, delivering a sonic concoction of dark and primitive songs with thick layers of fuzz and punchy, compressed drums.
Share new single/video ‘Bodies Dissolve Tonight!’
Earth Tongue, the brainchild of guitarist Gussie Larkin and drummer Ezra Simons, present their second full-length album Great Haunting. The duo, known for their heavy flavor of fuzz-soaked psychedelic rock, are also pleased to unveil their signing to In The Red Records.
Earth Tongue’s partnership with In The Red stems from a run of shows supporting the legendary Ty Segall throughout New Zealand. Larkin explains: “Ty’s band Fuzz was a significant influence for our sound early on. Ezra and I saw them play live in London about nine years ago, long before Earth Tongue existed. We absorbed a lot of music at that time, and in fact many of the bands we saw released records via In The Red.”
Great Haunting sees the duo draw inspiration from the eerie depths of ’70s and ’80s horror cinema, delivering a sonic concoction of dark and primitive songs with thick layers of fuzz and punchy, compressed drums. The album was engineered by Jonathan Pearce from The Beths at his studio on Karangahape road in Auckland.
The ascent of Earth Tongue is testament to their dedication and hard work. They’ve toured relentlessly across Europe and scored support slots for acts like IDLES and Queens Of The Stone Age. They’re consistently selling out headline shows and have featured on festival lineups throughout Aotearoa and Australia. Having just spent last week shredding SXSW, they tour America and then, in May, hit Europe/UK, playing DESERT FEST in London on 18th May!! Amongst a huge EU tour.
EARTH TONGUE GREAT HAUNTING In The Red Records Release date: 14th June 2024
Tracklist: 1. Out Of This Hell 2. Bodies Dissolve Tonight! 3. Nightmare 4. The Mirror 5. Grave Pressure 6. Miraculous Death 7. Sit Next To Satan 8. Reaper Returns 9.The Reluctant Host
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 6th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Over the last several weeks, the inaugural Desertfest Oslo has piece-by-piece announced the remainder of the lineup for May 10 and 11, and the list is substantial. Wolves in the Throne Room, Weedpecker, Kadabra, Steak, Crippled Black Phoenix, Earth Tongue, Apostle of Solitude, Orsak:Oslo, Margarita Witch Cult, REZN, Bongzilla and Slomosa joined the bill one at a time, broadening the scope exponentially in terms of style from searing black metal thrust to sad post-goth to stoner rock of progressive and willfully unprogressive strains and outright ambience, older and newer bands, and geographical range. It’s kind of stunning how commonplace this standard has become for the Desertfest brand over the last decade-plus.
Tickets for each day are also on sale now — in case, what you want to see Acid King and not REZN? it’s okay, I’m not judging; I know people have lives and things to do — but it’s pretty clear looking at the full roster of who’ll play that Desertfest Oslo 2024 is all-in on the thing. And with Kadavar, Monolord, Crippled Black Phoenix and Eyehategod headlining, they’ll rely on a multifaceted draw from the top down through the entire lineup. This feels both like a festival brand reaching into new territory and new collaborations — which it is, absolutely — and a righteous start to what could become a staple of the Spring touring circuit. Do I really need to go on about Norway’s underground boom? Probably not when a hand-picked selection of those responsible are present below to remind you.
Bottom line here is I look forward to seeing how this unfolds even from a distance, but whatever Desertfest Oslo does in the longer term, this is a monster. Behold:
Finally the day splits are here!
As well as day splits we’ve also made single day tickets available from february 29th.
Friday: KADAVAR Monolord Wolves In The Throne Room Acid King Slomosa Weedpecker Håndgemeng Orsak:Oslo Kadabra Earth Tongue Bismarck Karavan Superlynx
Saturday: CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX Brant Bjork EYEHATEGOD REZN The Devil And The Almighty Blues Bongzilla Full Earth Margarita Witch Cult Steak Agabas Saint Karloff Apostle of Solitude Suncraft
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 19th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
When I started this post, Poland’s Red Smoke Festival had just unveiled the first names for its 2024 edition, set for this July 12-14. That was Domkraft, Coogans Bluff, Earth Tongue and Narbo Dacal. You know how it goes, you get caught up with stuff, a couple days go by, and now there’s four more adds in Acid Rooster, Kanaan, Perilymph and Tuskar, so it’s safe to say the event is taking shape at a fairly good clip. I don’t know the announcement schedule or anything like that, but if you’re in Poland or thinking of making the trip, I imagine you also don’t need me to suggest following their socials, etc. Even if you don’t, I believe you are capable.
So does the festival, which admirably dispenses with some of the social-media-era hoopla around these things by making a slogan out of ‘The Less You Know the Better.’ They might be right, or at least there’s a philosophical argument waiting to be made there. Either way, there were YouTube and Facebook links for the bands, but again, I believe in your power to dig and would encourage you to do so. I only took them out because it looked funny on the page and this site does weird things with YouTube hyperlinks. Certainly all parties involved have online presences and audio, which even 30 years later kind of makes the internet feel like a miracle. Not to mention it’s how I know this fest exists in the first place.
Even so, I don’t know much more than this, so I suppose I’m doing alright in that regard:
First announcements for RSF2024
COOGANS BLUFF – Horns Rock’n’Roll Dance From Germany
Domkraft – Riffs Riffs Riffs Repeat From Sweden With Love
Earth Tongue – Odd But Gold Heavy Psych Fuzz From New Zealand
Narbo Dacal – (Be)Witching Metal From Poland
Acid Rooster – Endless Trippy Kraut Experience from Germany
Kanaan – Blazing Freeform Psychedelic Rock From Norway
Perilymph – Beautiful Psychedelic Sounds From Germany
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 1st, 2024 by JJ Koczan
So I guess this is the last announcement for the lineup of Desertfest London 2024, and I’ll just say I kind of love the casual manner in which the festival set for May 17-19 tosses in another 30-plus names for the bill. Oh no big deal but here’s like two more fests we’re just gonna add while we give you the schedule. Badass. There’s a lot to dig here on all levels, from the headliners — that Friday at The Electric Ballroom, also Saturday and Sunday, looks pretty sweet — and while I’d set up camp at The Underworld on Saturday, no question I’d have to abscond from that home base to at least catch a bit of Saint Karloff, Acid King, and so on, and, well, on Sunday I’m actually kind of relieved I’m just pretending to have to pick one spot to be in, as each room has a distinctive pull. DVNE and Morag Tong or Borracho and Kadabra? Ufomammut and Monolord or Stinking Lizaveta, Darsombra and Orme? This shit is hard sometimes.
You could go on here in choose-your-adventure daydreaming, and frankly I’d encourage you to do just that. Worst that happens is you end up listening to good music. Or, you know, going to the fest, which would also be the best thing that could happen. Here’s why:
Desertfest London announces day splits and 32 additional artists
Friday 17th May – Sunday 19th May 2024 Weekend & Day Tickets now on sale
Desertfest London has revealed their day and stage splits for their 13th edition, taking place this May across multiple venues in Camden, London.
The festival proudly welcomes Masters of Reality as Friday’s Electric Ballrooms headliners, with Chris Goss at the helm providing a master-class in desert sounds. Plus, newly announced for this stage are Colour Haze and Frankie and The Witch Fingers who will join Brant Bjork Trio and Mondo Generator to kick off the weekend in true Desertfest style. Mantar and Raging Speedhorn will shake-up the Underworld, whilst Brume and Alber Jupiter psych-out at The Black Heart.
Saturday sees skate-punk legends Suicidal Tendencies back in London for the first time in seven years, as they decimate the equally legendary Roundhouse. Joined by Cancer Bats, Bongripper, Acid King and newest addition to the bill, Pest Control. Saturday’s Roundhouse stage is undeniably a melting pot of genres, but celebrating one common thread – insane live performances. Elsewhere, Maserati, Monkey3, Domkraft, Wet Cactus and many more will level Camden to the ground.
Back at the Ballroom on Sunday night, the festival enters its final day with a dose of experimental heaviness from Godflesh, Ozric Tentacles, Monolord, Ufomammut & Ashenspire. Additionally, Desertfest will be welcoming Bat Sabbath, the Black-Sabbath cover band formed by Cancer Bats to close out the entire weekend at our Underworld Stage after-party. Plus, DVNE, Nightstalker, Astroqueen, Stinking Lizaveta & The Grudge, with a hell of a lot more will be rounding off the weekend’s festivities.
Across the weekend, Desertfest has also newly announced the likes of Morag Tong, Borracho, Noisepicker, Gramma Vedetta, Lodestar, Kulk, Earth Tongue, Skypilot, Wolfshead, Weedsnake, Orsak:Oslo, WAXY, Horndal, Silverburn, Fires In The Distance, Sleemo, Midwich Cuckoos, Akersborg, Grand Atomic, Voidlurker, Under The Ashes and Fuz Caldrin.
Weekend & Day Tickets for the event are on sale now via www.desertfest.co.uk
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 3rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Behold as DesertfestBerlin launches its 2024 season with 15 bands like hey getting 15 bands in a place is no big deal. Of course, maybe it isn’t for the now-long-running German event with close ties to the Sound of Liberation booking concern, but for the rest of the planet. You’ll note Belgian post-metallers Amenra and always-hip weirdos Osees at the top of the thus-far bill followed immediately by Acid King and The Brant Bjork Trio, both of whom will also take part in Desertfest Oslo 2024 as announced yesterday. Norway’s Full Earth, an offshoot of Kanaan with a debut album coming next year on Stickman, will also be at both events, and they’re likely not the last.
So, context tells us to expect at least two weeks of touring in Europe from those three outfits. Monkey3 are on the road now, Siena Root, Dÿse and Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs — new live LP out — were recently confirmed for Bear Stone Festival 2024 in July, and it’s not unthinkable they’d be doing shows from one to the other. They’re confirmed here alongside Tuareg rockers Tamikrest, Earth Tongue from New Zealand, Thronehammer, Dirty Sound Magnet, Praise the Plague and Neànder. Sounds like a festival to me. I’m ashamed at this point to say I’ve never been.
Info came down the PR wire, courtesy of Sound of Liberation:
DESERTFEST BERLIN Announces First Bands For 2024! Tickets On Sale Now!
Desertfest Berlin friends (#129304#)
We’re delighted to finally share with you the first names of the bands that are going to play on our stage in 2024❤️(#128293#) AMENRA from Belgium are going to be one of our headliners along with the LA’s psych-punk warrior OSEES ⚡️ We’re happy to see again the great ACID KING and BRANT BJORK TRIO and welcome TAMIKREST for the first time with their mix of traditional African music and Western rock (#128165#) The Newcastle’s doom rockers PIGS x7 will play for us their new album ‘Land of Sleeper’ while MONKEY3 and SIENA ROOT will bring their instrumental psychedelic rock and bluesy hard rock to our stage. Get ready for the emotional as well as decal-laden music of DŸSE and the psychedelic rock by the trio Dirty Sound Magnet (#127786#)️ You’re going to experience the heavy psychedelic / fuzz music of EARTH TONGUE directly from New Zealand, and the epic doom of THRONEHAMMER (#128588#) The experimental Oslo based rock-quintet Full Earth will play along the black metallers PRAISE THE PLAGUE and NEÀNDER both from Berlin ⚡️
Get ready for more names very soon. We’re stoked!!
AMENRA | OSEES ACID KING | BRANT BJORK TRIO | TAMIKREST PIGSPIGSPIGSPIGSPIGSPIGSPIGS | MONKEY3 | SIENA ROOT DŸSE | DIRTY SOUND MAGNET | EARTH TONGUE | THRONEHAMMER FULL EARTH | PRAISE THE PLAGUE | NEÀNDER & MANY MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED
Desertfest Berlin May 24th – 26th 2024 Columbia Venues
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 16th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
The big name here is Sacri Monti, who move to the top billing of the poster for Esbjerg Fuzztival 2020 to rest alongside Vokonis. I don’t know if they’re headlining or what, but if they were, you’d have to believe it, as San Diego is a long plane ride from Denmark. I actually take this to mean the Cali heavy rockers will be back on tour in Europe in the Spring, which seems fair enough, so we’ll have to see where else their name pops up on festival bills and so on. Speaking of traveling significant distances, Slowjoint won’t, as they’re coming from the northern Danish peninsula Jutland, but Earth Tongue are coming all the way from New Zealand, which certainly qualifies, and the same applies to Dhidalah, from Japan.
Four bands, four different countries? Yeah, that kind of seems to be the story of Esbjerg Fuzztival 2020 through its first two lineup announcements. The first announcement had Hazemaze and Vokonis, who are both Swedish, but also Mexico’s Vinnum Sabbathi and Denmark’s own Vestjysk Ørken, who are also involved in organizing the fest, so it’s quite an international assemblage that’s coming together for the lineup. Especially for a festival that, while it’s two days, won’t be massive by the time it’s done if the one that took place earlier this year is anything to go by — that is, it’s not four days/three stages has some other events are, though I think there’s a pre-party, so that could technically be considered a third day if you wanted to push it — it shows an impressive commitment to geographic as well as sonic diversity. They make it easy to dig what they’re doing, and indeed I do.
Looking forward to seeing who else is involved once January comes around. That’s also when tickets go on sale, as they inform:
Second Band Announcement!
Thrilled to add SACRI MONTI from the US to the 2020 line-up as well as Dhidalah from Japan, Earth Tongue from New Zealand and SLOWJOINT fra Jylland! The most ambitious line-up at Fuzztival yet, showcasing the many nuances of the “stoner”-genre. We can’t wait!
Tickets go on sale in January, where we’ll also reveal the next bands!
Posted in Bootleg Theater on October 31st, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Recently enough back from a tour of Europe and already confirmed for a return to that continent in Spring 2020 for an appearance at Desertfest Berlin with presumably more dates to follow, the Wellington, New Zealand-based duo Earth Tongue released their debut album, Floating Being, this past summer through Stolen Body Records, and if their name is somewhat easy to overlook, their sound certainly isn’t. While rife with a heavy fuzz in the opening salvo of “Microscopic God” and “Probing the New Reality,” setting the tone both, well, tonally, and in terms of the album’s sci-fi we’re-all-robots-ish post-New Wave thematic that will soon come to further fruition, there are pop and electro showcases that take hold as the maddeningly catchy and surprisingly aggressive “Hidden Entrance” comes in to unveil a secret Nine Inch Nails influence — shh! don’t tell anybody! — before “Unseen Tormentor” finds a new echelon of vocal righteousness from the two-piece of Gussie Larkin and Ezra Simons, arranging in layers and setting up a duet dynamic that can be switched on and off that only adds character to the proceedings as the rest of the record plays out in chic and effective fashion.
Centerpiece “Astonishing Comet” builds on the sci-fi vibe while “The Well of Pristine Order” digs into deeper-mixed fuzz and melody while setting a forward push of snare for added proto-punk urgency. It’s got a hook, but the greater impression is the riff that resolves itself in the second half, and like much of the half-hour-long LP, it’s over quick and on to “Portable Shrine,” which takes a bit more of a patient roll, but still refuses to waste any of its time, underscoring the tightness of Earth Tongue‘s craft and the unflappable nature of their sound, that fuzz and an earliest-Kadavar-style compression in the drums providing an excellent backdrop for the voices of Simons and Larkin. Floating Being caps with its two longest tracks in “The Dome” (3:52) and “Sentient Sediment” (5:21), with a winding course in the former hitting into a wall of more swinging starts and stops marked by standout drums and even more standout harmonies en route to fuzzo-blivion. It’s awesome. And “Sentient Sediment” backs it up with an almost post-rocking drift initially before finding its core riff around midway through and even slowing down to more of a nod by the time its five-plus minutes are up — a surprising and broad finale for a record that’s spent so much effort on being so efficient, but damned if it doesn’t work for them.
Earth Tongue will tour Australia and New Zealand in November and December, and once again, they’ll be back in Europe come Spring at least for Desertfest and likely more, so keep an eye out. Somehow I doubt this is the last we’ll be hearing from them. In the meantime, the video for “Probing the New Reality” is rife with charm and premiering below. I advise you to do the right thing and dig in accordingly.
Have fun:
Earth Tongue, “Probing the New Reality” official video premiere
Take a trip into Earth Tongue’s astonishing universe in their new music video for ‘Probing the New Reality’. Delicately balancing all-out pop hooks with mind-frying riff action, the New Zealand two-piece take stoner-pop to a new level in this track. ‘Probing the New Reality’ is the third single off their debut album ‘Floating Being’, released in June this year via Bristol-based label Stolen Body.
While killing time in Berlin between tours, Earth Tongue conceptualised and self-directed the video, alongside Alan Waddingham whose work includes music videos for GUM, Princess Chelsea and LarzRanda. The footage, shot on 33mm film stock was brought to life by animator Neirin Best, who has created videos for names such as The Pixies and Jane Weaver. The music video release follows a successful European tour, where Earth Tongue appeared at festivals from the UK to Poland alongside bands such as Monolord and Radio Moscow.
Created by Earth Tongue and Alan Waddingham Director of Photography – Alan Waddingham Animation – Neirin Best Additional Animation – Ezra Simons Edit – Ezra Simons Assistance and BTS Photography – Joel Thomas
EARTH TONGUE AUSTRALIAN TOUR: Friday 29th November – Adelaide, Wundenberg’s Recording Studios Saturday 30th November – Melbourne, Sunburn Festival The Tote Sunday 1st December – Sydney, The Vanguard Supported by Numidia & HEV?
Earth Tongue New Zealand tour: 6/12 – Wellington, SAN FRAN 7/12 – Auckland, WHAMMY 13/12 – Christchurch, DARKROOM 14/12 – DUNEDIN, THE COOK
The band consists of two human beings – Gussie Larkin and Ezra Simons.
