Posted in Whathaveyou on November 29th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
What a joy this record is. Now based in Frederick, Maryland, and Upstate or Upstate-ish New York with a style no more easy to pin down, the post-hardcore-infused progressive heavy noise rock of Caustic Casanova has never come across in a recording so full and vibrant as it does on their 2022 album, Glass Enclosed Nerve Center (review here). It’s like they took the wretched weirdness of our times and set it all up on a series of spinning plates, and they spend the entire album running back and forth making sure none of the plates stop until finally, at the end, they take all the plates and smash them over your fucking head because what are you doing watching plates spin anyway? It’s a very special, very specific, very heavy kind of magic they capture.
If you haven’t heard that album yet — the release was early last month on Magnetic Eye, so you’re by no means late — the stream is of course at the bottom of this post. The four-piece (maybe traveling as a trio, I don’t know) toured to Monolith on the Mesa in New Mexico in Sept. and will head south from Maryland in December to continue to support it along the Southeastern Seaboard, hitting the Carolinas, Georgia and Kentucky on a six-shows-six-nights jaunt that wraps up their year nicely. Before they go, drummer/vocalist Stefanie Zaenker is filling in on drums for War on Women on a tour that starts tonight in Massachusetts — more info in this Facebook post — and runs until Dec. 7. I only expect more touring to take place in 2023, and I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t thinking of putting together a fest-ish lineup just to try to book them for it playing Glass Enclosed Nerve Center in its glorious entirety.
The band posted the dates on social media as follows:
Yo!
Hope our American fans enjoyed their Thanksgiving! Gobble Gobble!
Better late than never folks, we’re pleased to announce our “Glass Enclosed December to Remember Nerve Center Tour.”
The dates: 12/14 – Asheville, NC at The Odd 12/15 – Winston-Salem, NC at Monstercade 12/16 – Atlanta, GA at Sabbath Brewing 12/17 – North Charleston, SC at Tua Lingua 12/18 – Charlotte, NC at The Milestone 12/19 – Louisville, KY at Highlands Tap Room
Art by Jase Harper. Photo by Shane K. Gardner.
Caustic Casanova are: Francis Beringer – Bass/Vocals Stefanie Zaenker – Drums/Vocals Andrew Yonki – Guitar Jake Kimberley – Guitar
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 29th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
If you’ve got a couple minutes out of your busy day, Margarita Witch Cult I think might want to offer you as a sacrifice to… well, I’m not entirely sure. The devil? Maybe the riff itself, from the sound of their new single, aptly-titled “Sacrifice” after its shouted-from-beneath-that-massive-roll chorus. Whomever being chopped up is serving, the song is a harbinger of the Birmingham, UK, trio’s debut full-length, which will see release presumably sometime next year in answer to earlier-2022’s gleefully raw Witchfinder (review here) two-songer salvo.
The brightness of the guitar strum, set to a heavy backdrop of bass and drums, feels distinctive here, and it’s small wonder the band have been tapped for Desertfest London 2023 (info here) and have more in the works, as their sound feels schooled in post-Electric Wizard disaffected groove and Uncle Acidic garage doom without necessarily aping either band directly. Being crazy catchy doesn’t hurt either, but they don’t let go of the darker atmosphere even for the hook, which is harder to pull off than they make it sound.
Track is below (or will be by the time this is posted) and here’s the announcement of its arrival from the band:
Birmingham doom-rockers Margarita Witch Cult tease a taste of their debut LP via new single ‘Sacrifice’ [28.11.22]
The Birmingham-bred, heavy-rock power-trio step up the fidelity and turn up the intensity on this crushing taste from their forthcoming LP (FFO: Sleep, Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard).
Since self-releasing their lo-fi cassette single Witchfinder to international acclaim earlier this year, Margarita Witch Cult have been leaving audiences aghast in their wake- selling out headline shows in their native Home of Metal as well as having supported Acid Mothers Temple and Witch amongst others. Having been recently announced amongst the first wave of bands for Desertfest London 2023, the future burns blindingly bright for the band.
With their studio LP lying in wait, lead single ‘Sacrifice’ (released 28/11/22) will no doubt strike the fear of Beelzebub himself into any and all who dare give up their ears and souls to its irresistible doom-laden groove. Recorded live with local studio maestro Mark Gittins, and mastered by Scott Middleton (Cancer Bats), the group’s crushing intensity and demented precision is captured perfectly on ‘Sacrifice’ — a grandiose statement of intent that takes no prisoners.
The duality of the track makes for an experience that leaves our sweet listener reeling — the bludgeoning weight of the monstrous main riff giving way to razor-sharp verses and a tripped-out, mind-bending psych jam — only to come crashing back to crushing reality as it all leads to the final blow. With their debut album forthcoming, and more festival and tour dates lining up, it’s looking like 2023 will truly be the year of the Witch Cult.
The ritual has begun…
Margarita Witch Cult: Guitars & Vox – Screamin Scott Vincent Bass & Vox – Jim Thing Drums & Vox – George Casual
Posted in Features on November 28th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
My favorite post of the year, every year. It never fails that, now even a decade after starting to do these year-end polls, I always go back and can find something new. Or a band comes up and it turns out they’d been included in someone’s list all along. Or even just watching the votes come in throughout the month of December. This is raw fun, as far as I’m concerned. I hope for you too. What’s the point otherwise?
Take however many of your favorite releases of the year you want (up to 20, sorry; gotta draw the line somewhere) and list them below. Careful of spelling, etc. All results are tallied and will be posted on Jan. 2 with everyone’s list. It’s going to be a blast. This has been a great year for music in a wide variety of styles.
That said, whatever you want to include is welcome. Doesn’t have to be heavy, or rock, or whatever. It’s all welcome, and thank you. I can’t wait to see the results.
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Thanks for reading and taking part. Please share the link if you can.
Same rules as always: Anything from Jan. 2022 to whatever’s coming out between now and Dec. 31 is eligible. If something is out digitally now and physical later and you want to include it, do so. Two lists are tabulated; one of the raw votes, and one in which a 1-4 ranking is worth five points, 5-8 worth four, 9-12 worth three, 13-16 worth two and 17-20 worth one.
If you’re not sure what counts or what to include, please know that the intent here is to be as open as possible. In all things, when you can, err on the side of inclusion. If you’re the only person who votes for a thing, so much the better to turn other people onto it.
Persistent, deep gratitude to Slevin — as always — for his efforts setting this up every year. I don’t have a lot of friends. Dude is a treasure, a scholar, and someone I love dearly.
Poll runs until Dec. 31, 2022. Results go up Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, along with all the individual lists.
One could not accuse Temple Fang of not making the most of their 2022. In addition to following the late-2021 release of their debut album, Fang Temple (review here), with a vinyl issue through Electric Spark this past Spring, signing to Stickman Records to release the 2CD just last month, touring and making stops at the likes of Roadburn, Freak Valley (review here) and frickin’ Duna Jam, releasing 2020’s Live at Merleyn (review here) on tape and hosting their own inaugural Right on Mountain Festival in Nijmegen, the Amsterdam-based four-piece will wrap the year on Nov. 29 — tomorrow — by issuing Jerusalem/The Bridge, a 21-minute, two-song offering on Electric Spark and Right on Mountain that pushes their sound even further.
And in fascinating ways. They offer the narrative below, and the timing is a little opaque, but as the band — guitarist/vocalist Jevin de Groot, bassist/vocalist Dennis Duijnhouwer, guitarist/pianist Ivy van der Veer and drummer Egon Loosveldt — looked to integrate Loosveldt into the lineup, it seems they essentially did so by writing together. “Jerusalem” (10:04) and “The Bridge” (11:44) came about as a part of that. They had already moved forward from Fang Temple, the basic tracks for which were taken from live recordings, and though they were ostensibly touring to support that album, would head out with new songs in tow, and having seen them perform live this summer, I can tell you first hand that what they present on stage is a vision of cosmic psychedelia very much their own.
“Jerusalem” and “The Bridge” capture an emerging duality in progress, structurally and in terms of presentation. Duijnhouwer and de Groot switch out as lead vocalists between the two, and each has a strong persona coming through the material. For Duijnhouwer, he fronts the mellow-space-riffer “Jerusalem” very much in command of the proceedings, not a krautrock auteur — the band’s vibe is too collaborative for such things — but aware of the audience and mindful of the engagement of the listener. a A hairy roll of groove is duly underscored by righteous-punch bass, and a verse/chorus pattern unfolds, molten but catchy, across the song’s first half before a short break of guitar introduces the build on which they’re about to embark.
Enter van der Meer on piano — an element one does not expect (or hope, for that matter) Temple Fang are utilizing for the last time — as an essential part of the lush fluidity that ensues. In plotted but exploratory fashion — that is, they know where they’re going even if they’re willing to throw in a few turns en route — the band coalesce toward a mini-apex, a dropdown and rebuild, pushed into prog territory by Loosveldt‘s snare work alone, never mind the trades in guitar lines between de Groot and van der Meer or the winding conclusion that seems to end the song suddenly despite the distance traveled. “Jerusalem” is vibrant, a push in tempo and rhythm but not a shove, memorable in its early chorus, and it insists on nothing because it doesn’t need to. By the time they’re done with it, the case is well and gorgeously made.
“The Bridge” also has a build, but is less business-up-front-party-in-the-back (the mullet structure) in enacting it. There’s little hint early of the consuming wash of distortion to come, but a standalone guitar introduction clues the listener immediately to the shift toward outright exploration. There are verses, a chorus of sorts, but as de Groot takes over on vocals, with Duijnhouwer seeming to answer each measure of the initial echoing vocal lines on bass, the direction is handwriting-on-page lyrically and there’s a patience in how the track plays out that feels like a departure from “Jerusalem” even as the tonal richness of the guitar and bass is consistent. A second-ish verse is backed by headphone-ready, am-I-imagining-this whispers circa the five-minute mark as the volume continues to grow into the chorus, and it’s when the howl of lead guitar starts that the song reveals its full scope.
The great irony of “The Bridge” is that it never really lets go of its structure. But it sounds like it does. “Jerusalem,” on the other hand, drops the verse/chorus tradeoffs for an instrumental back end while coming across as more straightforward. This is Temple Fang. As “The Bridge” slow-careens through its somewhat understated payoff, it’s more about spiritual realization than pummeling volume, and the execution remains dynamic — which is to say, it’s not like they get to a riff, ride it out for four or eight lines and end the song; there’s more happening — and Loosveldt and Duijnhouwer hold the central progression together even as the guitars seem intent on pulling it apart at around eight minutes in. There’s a comedown, a quick resurgence, and over bass and sparse guitar, de Groot ends with cyclical recitations of the chorus lyric; the band letting go with gentleness that probably shouldn’t be as surprising as it is.
It is a tale of the going and the gone, and what does any of it mean? Well, we exist in an incomprehensible universe that’s either expanding around us at all times every single atom or perhaps already contracting in an unstoppable crush of everything and who the hell even knows. So what does anything mean? We live, maybe, and we die. Maybe there’s solace in that truth — it is a thing to know — but if you want to talk about rock and roll, it means that Temple Fang have left Fang Temple behind, and that their first album, glorious as it was, was not the sum total of what they have to offer by a longshot in sound or style. Not one for betting, but I’d wager Jerusalem/The Bridge isn’t either, and rather that the real heart of the band is in the process of manifestation, the sheer creativity itself. However they choose to interact with their audience, whatever route they take to entrancing the crowd before them, real or imagined, it is the journey that will define them and the journey that they’re for and with which they’re searching and communing.
Jerusalem/The Bridge is streaming in its entirety on the player below, and I feel fortunate to host it ahead of the release tomorrow. The prior-alluded background follows in blue, courtesy of the band.
Thanks and enjoy:
When we found our new drummer Egon Loosveldt in August of 2021 we had 5 weeks with him to prepare for the upcoming run of shows we had booked, the first ‘real’ shows after the pandemic.
Because our first ever jams with him were so inspired, instead of teaching him the old songs we decided we were gonna go off the deep end and write a totally new set of material, a bit of a risky move as we didn’t know how audiences were going to react to us playing all new stuff but a decision essential to us as a band and what we hold sacred, the music and the moment.
We also knew, as the official tour started in April 2022, we wanted to hit the road hard and therefore wouldn’t have time to do much recording. However, when we heard our beloved Galloway Studios in Nijmegen was to be demolished and build back up from scratch at a different location, we knew we wanted one last chance to record there. So in May 2022, after doing three shows in Switzerland and Austria, we drove 700+ miles from Graz to Nijmegen, set up our backline and recorded what was essentially our live set at the time while the building around us was being torn down, slowly covering everything in a layer of dust.
The two songs on this EP represent two different poles of Temple Fang. Sung by Dennis, Side A (“Jerusalem”) is a hard hitter, born from the original sessions with Egon and featuring a surprise turn on piano from Ivy. This take was done right after setting up our gear and checking sounds, the only one we ended up doing of this song.
Sung by Jevin, Side B (“The Bridge”) was a song we had been kicking around for a while, originally intended for “Fang Temple” but not fully realised until a few weeks before this tour. A slow-burner, harboring a lot of tension and not much release. Thanks for listening, XO DD/TF
Jerusalem/The Bridge is released in an edition of 500 on black vinyl, 300 through Electric Spark and 200 through Right on Mountain. Digital through Stickman.
Produced, engineered and mixed by Sebastiaan van Bijlevelt at Galloway Studio, Nijmegen Assistance by Niek Manders Mastered by Alex McCollaugh at True East Mastering, Nashville Art and Design by Right On Mountain Music by Temple Fang
Temple Fang is: Dennis Duijnhouwer: Vox, Bass Jevin de Groot: Vox, Guitar Ivy van der Veer: Guitar, Piano Egon Loosveldt: Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 28th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
It’s not a long reach to grasp the intended metaphor when it comes to Iron Rain, the impending debut album from Ukrainian heavy post-rock solo-project Super Pink Moon, helmed by Somali Yacht Club guitarist/vocalist Ihor Pryshliak in Lviv. Given the ongoing war between Russia and Pryshliak‘s home country — with my home country, the US, just living its absolute best-life proxy-war thanatos boner dream against an old Cold War foe, complete with all the reactionary propaganda — it seems pretty clear Iron Rain is talking about bombs. If it needs to be said, it is unfortunate that the circumstance exists in which to title an album thusly in the first place. War, like so many other enduring human innovations, is bullshit. If anyone had allowed women to learn to read before, like, 1980, I have no doubt many similar conflicts would have been avoided, but it is what it is. Sad and dragging on.
“Nothing is Real” is the second single to be posted from Iron Rain, which is out in Feb. 2023, and a suitably atmospheric follow-up to the prior-posted “Doomscrolling,” which you can also stream below and which resolves itself in a roller of a heavy riff that offers an alternate definition for the name Pryshliak has given it. Both songs are united in their exploratory feel.
The PR wire has the story to tell:
Somali Yacht Club frontman to release new solo album as SUPER PINK MOON in February 2023; stream dreamy new single “Nothing Is Real” now.
Lviv-based post-rock and shoegaze multi-instrumentalist Ihor Pryshliak aka SUPER PINK MOON announces the release of his new solo full-length “IRON RAIN” in February 2023, and premieres his new single “NOTHING IS REAL”!
Written amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this new offering from Ukrainian multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Ihor Pryshliak as Super Pink Moon is a sonic testimony that depicts the angst and emotional turmoil of making to make it through the day when surrounded by chaos. Gracefully interweaving post-rock, shoegaze and indie rock, “IRON RAIN” washes over the listener with ten dreamy spells filled with shape-shifting dynamics, heady riffs and delicate melancholic vocals from the beloved Somali Yacht Club frontman.
About the new album, Super Pink Moon comments: “Half of the album was recorded before the 24th of February (the day of Russian invasion) and the second half afterward. For Ukrainians, this date has left a deep wound that is still massively bleeding. To escape from reality, I had to switch my focus to something else, otherwise, I’d just go mad. Musically, my idea was to confuse listeners as much as possible. There are many hidden tricks. I tried to craft complex melodies and rhythms with multiple layers while keeping them as ‘listenable’ as possible. The LP is completely recorded at home.”
“All the lyrics are revolving around self-reflection on the war. It’s still hard to describe the weird mix of feelings. Sometimes you’re extremely proud and even happy, but usually, all you feel is sadness, pain, and despair. One might say, ‘dude, you’re living in the western part of Ukraine’, which is relatively a safe place. But the feeling of survival guilt is constantly hunting you and there’s no place to hide. Also, you can’t hide from the missiles, which is disturbing at least. So, I had to evolve. Now I’m feeling much better, and this record is a kind of snapshot of the ‘self-curing’ process. After our victory, I don’t think I’d ever listen to this record again, too many emotions.”
Super Pink Moon – New album “IRON RAIN” Out on February 16th, 2023 on all streaming platforms
TRACKLIST: 1. NOTHING IS REAL 2. EVERYTHING 3. DOOMSCROLLING 4. COLLISION 5. MIRAGE 6. FORWARDBREAKFORWARD 7. CALMNESS 8. PER ASPERA AD ASTRA 9. HOLLOWNESS 10. ウクライナにславаあれ
Super Pink Moon was created in 2019 as a side project of Somali Yacht Club guitarist and vocalist Ihor in Lviv, Ukraine. After a few months of home experiments, the “Nude” mini album was released in November 2020 under the moniker Slow Noise. Within the next few months, he worked on his debut album “SUPER LP”. All his music is recorded at his home studio, and mixed by Jaro Sound.
Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 28th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Oslo-based multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Pia Isaksen, also frontwoman for the melodic nodders Superlynx, released her debut solo album as Pia Isa, Distorted Chants (review here), in March 2022 through Argonauta Records. “Trauma,” with a video premiering below, is a fitting representation of it, for the weight of the chug in Isaksen‘s guitar and bass, the floating guest lead guitar of desert rock progenitor Gary Arce from Yawning Man, Yawning Sons, Big Scenic Nowhere, et al, the drums of Superlynx bandmate Ole Teigen, and the overarching focus on atmosphere. Too heavy to be post-rock, not quite doom, Distorted Chants found Isaksen able to find an expressive niche of her own, something apart from singer-songwriterism, but built on that foundation and fleshed out accordingly into a fuller sound.
I’ve started (mentally anyhow) putting together my year-end list of the best debut albums, and I assure you that Distorted Chants will be on it. Songs, performance, craft, it’s all locked in as Isaksen brings together pandemic-born material with a sensibility that avoids so many of the male-gaze-centered traps set for women artists in contemporary heavy music — it is not especially witchy despite its mindful ambience, in other words; the intent feels more ‘be itself’ than ‘play to style’ — and that is refreshing both in terms of sonic persona and the realization of the material itself. The sound and the album are hers — bolstered in this case by the almost-goth guitar work of Arce — and the abiding feel from the music is personal, emotional in voice and style of play, while carrying not insignificant tonal weight from the first lurching riff of “Trauma” onward through the somewhat-brief-seeming sub-four-minute run. You could easily say the same of the whole record.
What’s invariably a sign of our times, “trauma” itself has become something of a buzzword. The very notion of a person’s mental and physical self being altered by some event or infliction is the defining aspect of the 2020s thus far — remember that plague? as Isaksen puts it, “Like magma traveling underneath the skin,” before she reminds: “The body does not forget” — and Distorted Chants is of this moment. She is not by any means the only artist to explore outside the confines of a ‘main project’ in the post-pandemic era, but turmoil and, indeed, trauma, become fluid movement through heavy haze in her hands and the density in the sound of “Trauma” is as much welcoming as it is consuming. There’s some distance from the experience, necessary for any artist to frame anything as a creative work, but Isaksen effectively creates the space for the song’s ideas to flourish, and they do.
I didn’t expect Arce, who plays on three of the album’s tracks, to appear in the clip, but sure enough he’s in there with Isaksen and Teigen, so right on. The more the merrier. And for what my saying so is worth, if you don’t support free talk therapy for all who want it, fuck off. Whatever else trauma is, it’s real for a lot of people.
Enjoy the clip, followed by a quote from Isaksen and
Pia Isa, “Trauma (feat. Gary Arce)” video premiere
Pia Isa on “Trauma:
“I am thrilled to finally have the vinyl out and to celebrate it with the music video for the song Trauma. This is one of the most personal and heavy tracks on the album, graced with gorgeous guitar melodies by Gary Arce coming in over the massive riff guitars and Ole Teigen´s slow heavy drums. The song is dealing with difficult matter, where trauma is symbolised visually by smoke, lava and a volcanic outburst in the video. I tried to find a hopeful and empowering view on it and to me personally this is an example of how therapeutic music can really be and how it can transport you into a different mindset.”
Pia Isa is the solo project of bassist/vocalist Pia Isaksen from Norwegian heavy psych/doom band Superlynx. She is now gearing up for the release of her debut solo album “Distorted Chants”, which features Ole Teigen (Superlynx) on drums and a guest appearance by guitarist Gary Arce (Yawning Man, Big Scenic Nowhere) on three of the songs.
Having played and written music for most of her life a solo album has been brewing in Pia’s mind for a long time. Finally everything has aligned for her first one to materialize and “Distorted Chants” was the result of that. As much as she loves playing with Superlynx (formed 2013) and other people her ideas for this album seemed more right to work through on her own.
Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 25th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Fu Manchu are one of the greatest heavy rock bands of all time. Pick your era, doesn’t matter. They hold up against the nascent hard distorted blues of the ’70s, the post-grunge stonerism of the ’90s in which they came up in surf-happy San Clemente, California, and, well, they’ve had a hand in influencing all things riffy since, so yeah, that too. Their tenure as Fu Manchu marked its 30th anniversary in 2020 — timing is everything — and in addition to a return to touring post-covid, they’ve had two EPs out thus far to celebrate. So on top of their already established legacy in classics like 1996’s In Search Of…, 1997’s The Action is Go (discussed here) and 1999’s King of the Road (discussed here) — I’ll argue vehemently in favor of their first two records and their Century Media eras as well — they’re still adding to it. Their latest long-player was 2018’s Clone of the Universe (review here), which was both a burner that ticked all the boxes one would hope, and in what was surely a career highlight for the band, featured a guest appearance from Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson on the 18-minute finale “Il Mostro Atomico.”
At the time, three years between full-lengths was a pretty long time for Fu Manchu, but as they went from 2001’s California Crossing to 2004’s Start the Machine, they were in something of a transitional moment. That included parting ways with then-drummer Brant Bjork (Kyuss, now Stöner, etc.) and bringing in Scott Reeder (not to be confused with the bassist of the same name) to fill the role and signing with DRT Records after releasing the momentum-keeper Go for It… Live! through SPV in 2003. They’d worked with labels like Mammoth Records, Man’s Ruin and Bong Load for earlier albums, and as I recall DRT had some pretty decent distribution — Maryland’s Clutch were with them as well before a fallout, as well as several more commercial outfits — so it was something of an arrival for a band who, heading into their eighth album, were already veterans.
Start the Machine is about as clean and tight a Fu Manchu record as you’ll find. Not one of its 12 songs reaches the four minutes in length, and the 35-minute entirety is sharp in its execution and deceptively full in tone, the trademark fuzz of guitarists Scott Hill (also vocals) and Bob Balch and bassist/backing vocalist Brad Davis carried forth across material that could feel moderately paced but remained inherently loyal to Fu Manchu‘s punker roots while boasting maddeningly catchy hooks in songs like opener “Written in Stone,” “Hey,” “Make Them Believe,” “Today’s Too Soon,” “It’s All the Same,” and so on. As regards songwriting and the general efficiency of their work, Start the Machine wanted for nothing. Listening to it now, the band sound not only like they haven’t lost a step at all for the shift in lineup, but like they’re mature craftsmen of heavy rock and roll looking to expand their reach with a collection of killer songs. Kind of the ideal, right?
If you’re waiting for the ‘but,’ fair enough. Start the Machine is arguably the most maligned of Fu Manchu‘s records. And to put that to scale, I’ll say that anyFu Manchu album is better than, say, not a Fu Manchu album, but if you’re making a list in order of preference — a poll I’d love to conduct, just for the sheer nerdery of it — there’s little doubt Start the Machine would appear somewhere near the bottom. Part of that is an inevitable shift in trend and generational transition as some followers from the ’90s aged out and a new audience came up with a new expectation of what heavy rock was supposed to be — the times a-changing, and so forth — and part of it as well is probably down to the production of Brian Dobbs, who’d spent the better part of the decade prior working as an engineer with mega-producer Bob Rock on releases from the likes of Metallica, The Cult, AC/DC and Mötley Crüe, none of whom at that point were kicking out career highlights.
I refuse outright to ascribe motivations to either the band or the label involved — which is to say I won’t be calling Fu Manchu sellouts for working with a bigtime producer — and in the rager shove of “I Can’t Hear You,” the familiar start-stop declarations of “I’m Getting Away” and the twisting groove of the penultimate low-key melodic highlight “Tunnel Vision,” one can hear trademark elements of what has always made the band who they are, righteously reliable in songwriting and performance but able to break their own rules when they choose to do so. It’s spit-polished — and if you’re perhaps looking for some sense of the band’s feelings about it, one might put on the band’s 2007 outing, We Must Obey (discussed here), which is their biggest-sounding, maybe their hardest-hitting record as well — but there’s a lot, a lot, a lot to dig about Start the Machine, counter to its reputation.
So is this the part where I remind you that, hey, this record came out 18 years ago and maybe it’s worth checking in on again — perhaps digging into the band’s 2011 reissue with bonus demos, if you’re feeling saucy — to see how kind time has been to it? Hell yes it is. Because I’ll happily posit that time has been kind to Start the Machine, and while Fu Manchu‘s catalogue may have other, insurmountable landmarks — a few of them, and not all early in their career — this record deserves more love than it’s gotten in the past. California Crossing was a tough act to follow, but they did it in a way that now stands as a record unto itself in their discography and its songs have value even beyond their raw earwormness, prevalent though that is.
If nothing else. If you’ve read this and made it this far without clicking/pressing play above, take this as a sign that you should listen to some Fu Manchu today, and really, while you’re here, what’s the worst that can happen? “Written in Stone” gets stuck in your head? It’s been in mine for days now and you don’t hear me complaining.
As always, I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading.
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Well, I’m home. Have to wonder if, had I not put up a post saying I was traveling, anyone would’ve noticed. It was pretty light on posts this week, but with the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US anyway. We — The Patient Mrs., The Pecan and I — were in Sayulita, Mexico, for a couple days to celebrate the wedding of a couple with whom we’ve been friends for well over 15 years. Used to get drunk in their garage, now they’re small business owners and killing it at life generally. Trip was ups and downs as regards stress level, as anything involving a five year old will be, but lil dude took a surfing lesson AND sat on my lap while we drove a golf cart through the streets of town, The Patient Mrs. got to stock up on warmth as we head into winter (that’s how it works, right?) and I still had time to write and post, so everybody got what they needed from it. We even got ripped off by a cop on the side of the road after running a red light. $60 cash, paid in an alley so fewer people would see. A quintessential tourist experience, I’d say. He was like “we’ll go to the station where there are fewer people” and I was like, “no, if you’re going to rob me I’m not going anywhere with you.”
The wedding itself was interesting. First one I’ve been to in a while. It was gorgeous, on a mountaintop, and because of the ‘destination’ nature, there weren’t a ton of people there. I spent most of my time chasing around The Pecan, which suits me just fine. He needs to be occupied or it’s all over, and that usually means motion (or reading, which is nice, but we didn’t bring books and it barely occurred to me to use a digital reader). The Patient Mrs. did most of the social labor, which is basically how it goes. And that is deeply appreciated, even beyond her organization of the rest of the trip, our lodgings, and so forth.
I find that as time goes on I have less and less to say to people, even in an obviously friendly situation like that. It turns out that perhaps having spent the last 14 years wholly immersed in ONE THING in terms of life focus limits one’s ability to engage in other things. Who’d’ve thought, right? I know. And since there are maybe 30,000 humans worldwide max who are conversant in the ways of Heavy, that means that I’m just kind of out there feeling out of place most of the time. In the end, I was grateful to have the kid to keep focused on. Used to be I just got plastered in situations like that. I can’t honestly endorse one approach over the other. My knee mostly held up as well, so that was a relief.
But it was what it was, a gorgeous day in a gorgeous place, so let’s do the math and reason that my lack of fit in paradise is more about my inner ugliness than anything else related to the circumstance. It was an event filled with cool, nice, people. I just don’t seem to belong anywhere that isn’t this couch or standing in front of a stage being blasted with volume. Also bed.
We got home last night after midnight and I slept until about 6:45. The Pecan woke up shortly after seven (unheard of) and The Patient Mrs. emerged from the bedroom at 8AM sharp. Today is errands and chores, unpacking, laundry, etc., and grocery shopping for the Thanksgiving dinner we’re hosting for family tomorrow. That will be good. I’m glad to be able to do things like that.
If you celebrated Thanksgiving, I hope it was a good one. My travels this week underscored for me America’s ongoing colonialist history, white people being generally terrible, etc., but the actual celebrating of the holiday is among my preferred. A meal with people you love. Could be far worse, even if the narrative behind it — ‘first Thanksgiving’ and all that — is, in the parlance of our times, full on cringe.
Next week is what passes for normal around here, with more premieres slated and this and that. I could look at the notes and list it all if you want? I know Monday is a Pia Isa video premiere that was set up a while ago, and the rest of the week is likewise rad. On a day dedicated to celebrating base commerce, I feel less inclined to plug my own shit, even if it doesn’t involve money exchanging hands. Sometimes I feel like promotion cheapens us all.
On that happy note, here’s a reminder that Gimme Metal airs a new ‘The Obelisk Show’ today at 5PM Eastern. Free to stream on their app or site: http://gimmemetal.com.
Thanks if you check that out and thanks either way for reading. Have a great and safe weekend. Hydrate, watch your head, try to dig your situation if you can. Love if and when you can.
Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 25th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Not to take anything away from the odd bit of 18-minute jamming or languid bluesy psych me generally, but this one is an easy immediate favorite from All Them Witches‘ ongoing ‘Baker’s Dozen’ singles project that has found them posting a new track every last Friday of each month throughout 2022. The song reminds of the edge that was best about pre-nü metal ’90s rock radio — heavy alt vibes — and the title “Hush, I’m on TV” feels very much in line with the somewhat tongue-in-cheek view the Nashville-based once-again-four-piece have always seemed to have regarding their own success, up to and including a seemingly abiding skepticism of how that is defined.
Whatever they may think of the response they’ve garnered from a fanbase built up over the last decade-plus, All Them Witches continue to do that work and do it exceedingly well, distinguished among their generation and among the most reliable yet unpredictable active bands I can think of in the realm of heavy music, certainly of the last 15 years, if not longer. Their work is a thing to be appreciated, and their ability to be self-reflective without seeming indulgent or any more navel-gazing than their aural sarcasm wants to be is only pay off why.
Dig this one a lot. Dug the last one — the whole year’s worth are below — and will probably dig the next one. I think we get two more of these? Fair enough. Here’s number 11, Bettie Page and all.
All Them Witches is: Charles Michael Parks, Jr – bass, vocals, acoustic guitar Ben McLeod – guitar, vocals Robby Staebler – drums, vocals Allan Van Cleave – Rhodes piano, keys, violin
All Them Witches, “Holding Your Breath Across the River”
All Them Witches, “Tour Death Song”
All Them Witches, “Tiger’s Pit”
All Them Witches, “6969 WXL The Cage”
All Them Witches, “L’Hotel Serein” official video
All Them Witches, “Acid Face” official video
All Them Witches, “Blacksnake Blues”
All Them Witches, “Fall Into Place” official video
