It’s been a while since last we heard from Los Angeles outfit Moab, and one can only wish the news was better. Toward the end of last year, the trio marked the passing of drummer Erik Herzog, and they now celebrate his life with a lyric video for the track “Nothing Escapes.” The song comes from Moab‘s second release, Billow (review here), which was released in 2014 via the now-defunct Scion A/V as a free download but is still available on CD and LP directly from the band. In addition to being tragic in its moment of arrival, the video is a reminder of the nuance that album proffered in following up 2011’s Kemado Records debut, Ab Ovo (discussed here), the sweetness of its melody and underlying Beatlesian pop bounce emblematic of the progressive bent emerging in their style at the time.
Naturally, Herzog played a major role in making that possible, so whether or not guitarist/vocalist Andrew Giacumakis and bassist Joe Fuentes will keep Moab going, I don’t know and don’t particularly want to speculate. For now, the lyrics to “Nothing Escapes” make a poignant tribute, and if in fact this does mark the end of the band, they will have offered listeners two rich outings that showed them as unafraid to look outside genre lines for inspiration as they pursued a path of individualized growth. Some groups never get that far, and while one could easily argue for Moab sounding like they still had more to say coming off of Billow — I would have, if we were debating the topic — the band’s work and that of Herzog as a part of the three-piece are able to stand on their own achievements as well and should continue to be enjoyed for years to come.
Condolences to Giacumakis, Fuentes and all who knew Herzog, friends and family and fans.
Please enjoy “Nothing Escapes” below:
Moab, “Nothing Escapes” lyric video
This video is our “shrine” to Erik. The song was especially significant to him as the lyrics were based on years of conversations with him about his struggles with depression. While that remained a struggle for him, he was especially proud of this song and the truth it contained. The drumming is some of his best work and the music is something we are all very proud of.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 13th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
There’s like this little switch in my brain that goes off when new Earthless comes around. It’s like the okay-stop-what-you’re-doing-because-there’s-more-important-shit-happening-right-now-and-it’s-new-Earthless switch. Full groove immersion is warranted. Headphones, the whole bit. The San Diego power trio go straightforward boogie rock on “End to End,” chopping down their usual mega-instrumental modus to a crisp verse/chorus righteousness to take part in the Scion AV various artists release, The Baker Skateboards EP, which will be out at the end of this month as a free download with probably six or seven show-only vinyls pressed.
Look. It’s an event anytime Isaiah Mitchell, Mario Rubalcaba and Mike Eginton do anything. These dudes get together for a quiet lunch? It’s an event. A new song up for a free download that has Mitchell (also of Golden Void) singing on it? That definitely qualifies.
Info and audio below. You know the drill:
SCION PARTNERS WITH BAKER SKATEBOARDS FOR TEAM CURATED SCION AV PRESENTS THE BAKER SKATEBOARDS EP FEATURING NEW MUSIC FROM EARTHLESS, PELL, ZIG ZAGS, DENMARK VESSEY AND THE GOAT AND THE OCCASIONAL OTHERS
FULL EP AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD ON JAN. 26; NEW EARTHLESS TRACK, “END TO END,” AVAILABLE NOW
Scion has partnered with Baker Skateboards for the Scion AV Presents The Baker Skateboard EP, a free five-song release curated by the skateboarding team featuring new music from Earthless, Pell, Zig Zags, Denmark Vessey and The Goat and The Occasional Others. The EP will be available as a free download on Jan. 26.
The collection is a varied mix, featuring not only the new Earthless track (the San Diego outfit’s first new music since 2013), but New Orleans rapper Pell, Los Angeles’ Zig Zags, Detroit’s rising hip hop star Denmark Vessey, and The Goat and The Occasional Others, which includes Baker Skateboards’ founder Andrew Reynolds and veteran skateboarders Shane Heyl, Kevin Long, Beagle One-ism as well as skateboard photographer Atiba Jefferson.
The Baker skate team recently took a road trip with a Scion iA and a Scion iM as part of the Scion x Baker Skateboards project (https://youtu.be/2SvRmIlsRdI). The journey started off at the Buttonwillow Raceway in Buttonwillow, California, where they met up with professional race car driver Ken Gushi. The crew showed what type of speed they could get on the vast expanses of asphalt, with or without an engine. Then they brought out the ramp so Baker boss Reynolds could go big over the bright yellow Scion TRD FR-S Project Car. Next they headed to San Francisco for a huge demo at the SoMa West Skate Park.
Scion AV Presents The Baker Skateboards EP track list:
1. Earthless “End To End” 2. Pell “Friday” 3. Zig Zags “Giving Up The Ghost” 4. Denmark Vessey “Wave Function” 5. The Goat and The Occasional Others “Goatshow”
Posted in audiObelisk on March 24th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
If living the dream makes you want to scream, San Francisco four-piece Hot Lunch invite you to “live the nightmare” in one of the several infectious hooks on their new Scion A/V EP, Slappy Sunday. Out next week, March 31, the five-song release follows Hot Lunch‘s appearance on the Riley Hawk-curated (also for Scion) Northwest Blow Out compilation alongside Kadavar, The Black Angels and Loom, as well as their Who Can You Trust? Records self-titled debut, released in 2013, an EP for Heavy Psych Sounds and other sundry appearances on splits the last couple years to go along with slots at Scion Rock Fest and the venerable daydream Duna Jam in Sardinia. If it seems like a lot of people are ready to get behind the band, they are, and it won’t take long into the Slappy Sunday EP before you figure out why.
Hot Lunch tap into a blend of proto-heavy rock and punk that’s so seamless it practically rewrites history. Slappy Sunday has five tracks — “Slappy Sunday,” “Expectations,” “China Banks,” “Pot of Gold” and the prior-alluded “Living the Nightmare” — and by the time its 17 minutes are through, the band has offered classic two-guitar soloing Thin Lizzy-style (as on “Pot of Gold”), introduced the Ramones to Jimi Hendrix (with “Expectations”), conjured simple, raw brashness (on the title-track) and even found room for some acoustic work (on “Living the Nightmare”). With “China Banks” as its centerpiece, Slappy Sunday shows off an impressive range, but even more, there’s little to no hiccup in terms of how the songs relate to each other. Classically styled and analog-sounding, Hot Lunch make difficult stylistic turns sound easy; a molten aesthetic that shifts according to the whims of deceptively complex songwriting.
Today I have the pleasure of hosting “China Banks” for stream and download ahead of the Slappy Sunday release next week. The last of an initial three songs all under three minutes before the final two cuts reach past the four-minute mark, it’s a bombastic hook that melds shuffle and thrust smoothly as it works its way to a quick, somewhat understated conclusion. Hot Lunch — the lineup of Eric Shea, Aaron Nudelman, Rob Alper and Charlie Karr — have places to be, and even in the longer tracks, they don’t linger, but “China Banks” should still provide a solid look at what’s on offer with their new Scion EP, and one doubts it will be the last we’ll hear from them this year.
Please enjoy “China Banks” on the player below, followed by the link to the EP at Scion A/V and some comment from the band, courtesy of the PR wire:
Hot Lunch, the San Francisco-based band, releases the Slappy Sunday EP on March 31 via Scion Audio Visual.
“We’re beyond stoked about this latest batch of tunes,” said Hot Lunch drummer Rob Alper. “Both structurally and sonically they’re true to Hot Lunch form, but we can’t help feel that this five-headed beast is of a new breed. Born of an all night rock ‘n’ roll house party? Or following a ferocious Sunday curb-skating session? We know not from whence it came. We’re honored to continue working with Scion A/V to bring high-energy punk ‘n’ roll music to the people! The Slappy Sunday EP is up-to-the-very-minute Hot Lunch in all its fuzzy, monstrous glory!”
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 17th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
The forthcoming Slappy Sunday EP will be the third collaboration between San Francisco outfit Hot Lunch and Scion Audio Visual, after participating in the Riley Hawk-curated Northwest Blow Out and previously issuing a limited 7″. They seem to be shooting for “house band,” which is probably a pretty good gig to get. “Slappy Sunday,” the boogie-ready title-track from the aforementioned new EP, has been made available as a free download ahead of the full release on March 31.
An invitation to dig comes via the PR wire:
HOT LUNCH RELEASE SLAPPY SUNDAY EP VIA SCION AUDIO VISUAL
TITLE TRACK AVAILABLE NOW FOR FREE DOWNLOAD; FULL EP AVAILABLE MARCH 31
Hot Lunch, the San Francisco-based band, releases the Slappy Sunday EP on March 31 via Scion Audio Visual.
“We always welcome the opportunity to work with bands early in their careers,” explained Jeri Yoshizu, manager of sales promotions at Scion. “Hot Lunch is exactly the type of artist we like to align ourselves with: smart, talented and hard working.”
Hot Lunch’s history with Scion Audio Visual extends back to the band’s origins with the quartet having played Scion Rock Fest 2013, Scion Rock Show in Los Angeles and Scion Rock Fest 2014. The Bay Area band was also part of the recent Riley Hawk curated Northwest Blow Out EP, with the song “Uprooted” and previously offered up the song “There’s Nothing Like Revenge for Getting Back at People” via a limited edition 7-inch single.
“We’re beyond stoked about this latest batch of tunes,” said Hot Lunch drummer Rob Alper. “Both structurally and sonically they’re true to Hot Lunch form, but we can’t help feel that this five-headed beast is of a new breed. Born of an all night rock ‘n’ roll house party? Or following a ferocious Sunday curb-skating session? We know not from whence it came. We’re honored to continue working with Scion A/V to bring high-energy punk ‘n’ roll music to the people! The Slappy Sunday EP is up-to-the-very-minute Hot Lunch in all its fuzzy, monstrous glory!”
Hot Lunch’s Slappy Sunday EP track listing:
Slappy Sunday Expectations China Banks Pot of Gold Living the Nightmare
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 8th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Who’s gonna argue with new Kadavar? Not me. The German heavy ’70s rock forerunners feature the new song “Into the Night” on the Scion A/V-sponsored Northwest Blow Out EP, curated by pro-skater Riley Hawk (also the son of Tony Hawk) and also boasting inclusions from The Black Angels, Hot Lunch and Loom. The track is fascinating both for its barnburner pace and how the trio, whose two albums to-date have already spread an influence throughout the Euro and American undergrounds, take a more modernized production approach. Very few in the retro style have managed to make a transition to a more updated aesthetic — I’d argue Witchcraft‘s Legend was a complete overhaul, rather than simple production shift — but if “Into the Night” is a glimpse at things to come from Kadavar, they might just be able to pull it off.
Mind you, I’ve zero confirmation that it is or isn’t a sign of things to come, but it’s interesting to speculate. Scion has made “Into the Night” available to stream and download for free, and I’m sure the other songs on the Riley Hawk: Northwest Blow Out EP will follow soon. For now, we turn to the PR wire:
SCION AUDIO VISUAL PRESENTS RILEY HAWK: NORTHWEST BLOW OUT EP
FOUR-SONG COLLECTION HANDPICKED BY HAWK FEATURES NEW MUSIC FROM THE BLACK ANGELS, KADAVAR, LOOM AND HOT LUNCH
Scion Audio Visual presents Riley Hawk: Northwest Blow Out EP, a four-song collection of new music from the skateboarder’s favorite bands: Kadavar, Loom, The Black Angels and Hot Lunch.
The collection, curated by Riley, will be released as free downloads courtesy of Scion Audio Visual with Kadavar’s “Into The Night,” available today: (https://soundcloud.com/scionav/kadavar-into-the-night). The full collection will be available on Jan. 20, and will double as the soundtrack to Scion x Riley Hawk Driven, a four-part video series featuring Riley and the Shep Dawgs skating their favorite parks in the Northwest.
“Music is an important part of skateboarding, I think the two worlds have often been tied to each other,” explained Riley. “So, when Scion came to me with an opportunity to create a collection of music from my favorite bands, I jumped at the chance to get involved.”
Scion’s involvement with Riley was recently highlighted as the company created a custom, project car dubbed the “Scion x Riley Hawk Skate Tour xB”, which premiered at SEMA. The car was inspired by Riley’s interests and features wood-grain décor, a mini fridge, shag carpet, an 8-track player, a custom Pioneer Sound System and the ability to play a guitar through the audio system using an iPad mini as a mixer. The xB also features a 1970s style custom paint pattern with a “fish bowl” side window and captain-style chairs in front and back.
Lots to get to on this holiday week, but I didn’t want to let the Radio Adds slide any longer than I already have. As ever, there’s a lot of good stuff joining the ranks, and hopefully if you listen, you find something you dig. That’s what it’s all about. Also about giving me a never-ending playlist to listen to while I vacuum, apparently. But still, definitely both.
You’ll note six adds instead of five this time around. Every now and then there’s just too much going on to play by your own limits.
The Obelisk Radio Adds for July 3, 2014:
Blues Pills, Blues Pills
The awaited self-titled debut from Blues Pills arrives via Nuclear Blast in August and finds the four-piece with the blazing rhythm section of bassist Zack Anderson and drummer Cory Berry culled from the former ranks of Radio Moscow, French guitarist Dorian Sorriaux and Swedish frontwoman Elin Larsson almost frighteningly cohesive and cognizant of their blues rock lineage. Larsson does a solid Tina Turner on opener “High Class Woman” — as much as anybody can — and Sorriaux quickly proves himself a wunderkind in classic shuffle. Blues Pills offer all the heavy ’70s influence one could ask with less of the retro aesthetic, giving their first record a refreshing charge, though closer “Little Sun” has plenty of Graveyard-style melancholy for those looking to hear it. A relatively subdued midsection in “Black Smoke,” “River” and “No Hope Left for Me” adds emotional depth, but when Blues Pills decide to tear it up, as on “Devil Man,” they’re more than able to do so. A dynamic first full-length from an obviously powerful four-piece. On Thee Facebooks, Nuclear Blast.
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Major Kong, Doom for the Black Sun
A two-years-later limited vinyl issue of Polish instrumental stoner doomers Major Kong‘s Doom for the Black Sun debut long-player courtesy of Transubstans Records should be a welcome advent for those who worship riffs, as the trio clearly do. The tracklist is shifted some from the original release and the artwork has changed, but Major Kong are true to the Kyuss reference of their album’s title in their commitment to heavy nod ‘n’ roll. Fuzz abounds and the grooves are smooth as “Witches on My Land” opens up into “The Swamp Altar,” each song getting progressively longer until bassist Domel, guitarist Misiek and drummer Bolek arrive at the 11-minute finale of “Primordial Gas Clouds,” a huge jam peppered by airy psychedelic soloing that doesn’t so much build to a grand finish as it does melt the album down into a molten stew of reverb and fermented buzz. Major Kong released a subsequent single, “Sequoia” early in 2013 and a follow-up full-length in Jan. 2014’s Doom Machine, so there’s plenty of ground to cover for further investigation. On Bandcamp, on Thee Facebooks, Transubstans Records.
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Moab, Scion A/V Presents Billow
There are a lot of bands who balance riffs and melody, but few sound as natural or as fluid as Moab in doing so. The L.A.-based three-piece follow their 2011 Kemado Records debut, Ab Ovo (discussed here) with Billow, a self-produced nine-track collection presented by Scion A/V that furthers the noise-rock crunch of their guitars while also branching into languid heavy psychedelic washes (“Said it Would”), tribal-style percussive insistence (“I Concede”) and generally bigger, wider-sounding sonic spaces. Guitarist/vocalist Andrew Giacumakis holds mostly to a subdued delivery no matter the madness unfolding behind him — witness the stomp with bassist Joe Fuentes and drummer Erik Herzog on “No Soul” — and in addition to proffering some infectious hooks along the way, the approach also gives Billowa sense of purpose beyond heaviness for its own sake, Moab‘s element of restraint putting their material in league with Radiohead as much as the Melvins, while offering something that should appeal to fans of either, both or neither. Here even more than on the first record, they’ve crafted their own sound, and they’re giving it away for free. On Thee Facebooks, download Billow.
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Monobrow, Big Sky, Black Horse
Big Sky, Black Horse is the third self-released vinyl from large-riffing Ottowa trio Monobrow following 2012’s Bennington Triangle Blues and their 2010 self-titled debut (review here), and immediately the instrumentalists set about knowing their business when it comes to putting the riffs front and center and backing up with strong, forward-pushing rhythmic drive. Parts of Big Sky, Black Horsefeel derived from Karma to Burn‘s all-straightforward-all-the-time mentality, but by and large, Monobrow have a more upbeat approach, and even on a mid-paced groove like “These Mountains Don’t Want us Here,” the 8:27 second track of the total eight, they use their longer runtimes to showcase fluidity in pacing and genre-minded stylistic depth. It’s an easy record to dig, and I dig it, whether it’s the bass-led thud of “Old Man Mouthbreather” or the go-anywhere 11-minute apex the album receives in its title-track, which starts big, ends big and is big in the middle. Beware the quiet parts in that song and a cut like “Ancient Arctic Wanderer,” as stretches of silence only seem to presage the next round of riffy pummeling. Monobrow seem comfortable working in either modus, and their third offering is a primo boon to fellow riff-heads. On Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp.
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Mope, Mope
Put into the right hands and through the right effects pedals, a saxophone can be a formidable tool in the psychedelic woodshed. Slow-rolling Italian foursome Mope clearly realize this on their three-track self-titled full-length debut CD, which comes in a digipak with gorgeous Snailking-esque black and white art from guitarist Jessica Rassi. They’re not long into opener “Old Grey Street” (7:32) before Sara Twinn distinguishes herself in adding a smoky melody atop the doomly vibes unfolding from Rassi, bassist Stefano Parodi and drummer Fabio Cuomo, and the dreamy-but-still-very-very-heavy mood Mope establish in the first track holds firm on the subsequent “Doomed to Feed the Ground” (12:58) and “La Caduta” (9:58) as well, the instrumental band sticking to a balance between psychedelic and stoner-doom impulses. Hypnosis ensues. The centerpiece is perhaps the most immersive of the three inclusions on the Taxi Driver Records outing, with its surprise piano at the beginning and sparse, minimalist ending, but across the board, Mope hone an engaging depth of presentation by which it’s a pleasure to be subsumed. Ending slow and jazzy on “La Caduta,” Mope‘s Mopeis one to close your eyes and just go with. On Thee Facebooks, at Taxi Driver’s Bandcamp.
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Prisma Circus, Reminiscences
I don’t know how many times I’ve said it over the years, but, oh, what a difference a great drummer can make. Spanish classic heavy rock power trio Prisma Circus separate themselves on their World in Sound debut full-length, Reminiscences, from the scores of post-Graveyard retro worshipers thanks in no small part to the unmitigated swing in drummer Alex Carmona Blanco‘s playing. Couple that with the fiery leads of guitarist Oscar Garcia Albizu and warm, steady fills and bluesy exultations of bassist Joaquín Escudero Arce and Prisma Circus bang out thick-cut chops on their eight-track outing, starting with longest cut “The Mirror” (immediate points) and tapping into some Radio Moscow-style psych-blues volatility along the way. “Born in a Red House” slows the proceedings some, but Blanco kicks out a drum solo on the subsequent “Napalm” that lives up to the title, and the lighter back-half acoustics of “Cain” and the power trio thrust of “Onyx Star” ensure that Reminiscences stays satisfying to the bitter end, capping off with the smooth roll-out of “Joseph Merrick (The Elephant Man),” which turns tempos fast enough to require multiple listens just to keep up. They may not be innovating the style at this point, but Prisma Circus are tight enough to stand out anyway. On Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp, World in Sound.
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Righteous though these grooves are, this is less than half of everything that joined The Obelisk Radio playlist this week. See the updates page for the complete list.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 17th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
To the best of my knowledge, Moab‘s sophomore outing, Billow, marks the first time that Scion A/V has sponsored a full-length album. They’ve done plenty of singles and shorter releases — EPs and splits, etc. — over the last couple years, and of course tours and the Scion Rock Fest, which Moab also played this year, but I’m pretty sure Billowis the first long-player to bear their logo. The album has been made available as of today as a free download.
It’s a ripper, with the melodic and pummeling “I Concede,” the Dozer-style airiness in “Burn Maria” and oddball progressive build of closer “The Softest Bait.” As with their 2011 debut, Ab Ovo, the L.A.-based three-piece self-recorded, with guitarist/vocalist Andrew Giacumakis (interview here) — who also helmed the new Fu Manchu; the two bands also formerly partnered on a Scion-sponsored split single — handling the production, and the sound is accordingly huge, a natural feel no less maintained in wide-open drums and spacious guitars anchored by dense low end.
The link to get your download comes courtesy of the PR wire:
MOAB’S SOPHOMORE ALBUM, SCION AV PRESENTS BILLOW, AVAILABLE TODAY FOR FREE DOWNLOAD VIA SOUNDCLOUD
Scion AV Presents Billow track listing 1. Said It Would 2. I Concede 3. Whittled Away 4. No Soul 5. Burn Maria 6. Nothing Escapes 7. Made To Wait 8. Under All 9. The Softest Bait
Moab recently played Scion Audio Visual’s Rock Fest. In an interview with the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Giacumakis discussed the band’s relationship with Scion AV: “I think they’re ultra important to metal in this community. Scion is keeping the faith for sure by promoting these bands that mainstream media won’t pay attention to.”
Posted in audiObelisk on March 18th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
Once, a very, very long time ago — okay, it was last December — thoroughly-synthed doom rockers From Beyond traveled from their native Houston to a much different land, Los Angeles. There, they met head to head in riffy combat with North Carolina’s ASG. Alright, so maybe it was less “riffy combat” and more of a Scion Rock Show, but either way, it happened. The date was Dec. 4, the show was free with an RSVP, and to continue their Rock Show series of releases that’s already resulted in the pairings of Fu Manchu/Moab and The Dirty Streets/Indian Handcrafts, Scion A/V is set to issue a split between ASG and FromBeyond, and I’m happy to be able to present the latter’s “The Fall to Earth” as a streaming debut to mark the occasion.
That gig, held at the Satellite, was From Beyond‘s first in L.A. and their first as a four-piece. When they put out their 2012 The Color out of Space EP (track stream here), they were a trio, but it was the lineup of Robert McCarthy (guitar/vocals/synth), David Grooman (guitar), Dick Beeman (drums/vocals) and Stephen Finley (bass, Moog Taurus) that landed in Silver Lake, and their Moogery and theatrical atmospherics obviously made an impression. “The Fall to Earth” makes the most of both of these, but that doesn’t take away from the crunching largesse of the rolling riff itself once it gets going. Shades of Electric Wizard give way to spaced-out vocal harmonies, creating a strong hook and a rare balance of emotional resonance, lyrical narrative and doomly engagement.
Structurally, “The Fall to Earth” is pretty simple, setting an ambient bed with its intro before launching into verse/chorus tradeoffs and finally marching out on its fuzzy central figure, but From Beyond remain cohesive in the atmosphere and make the track more than just a meandering freakout while also keeping a decidedly open feel. The Color out of Spacewas an impressive release from a band who knew where they wanted to be in terms of aesthetic, but we may have only seen the beginnings of From Beyond.
Please find “The Fall to Earth” on the player below, courtesy of Scion A/V, and please enjoy:
The ASG track is set to release March 25. Scion A/V announced yesterday that this year’s Scion Rock Fest will take place in Pomona, CA, on May 17. More info at the links.
