Posted in Whathaveyou on July 11th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Songcraft specialists Heavy Glow have called it quits. Actually, if you want to go by their minimal statement of same, they’re calling it a ‘day,’ but it works out to be the same anyhow. They’re not a band anymore. The announcement came through Thee Facebooks late last week and as you can see below, that’s basically all they had to say about it.
Well, fair enough, right? Cool band breaks up? We’ve all heard that story before and really, that bottom line is what it is. Fine. But I decided to get some more info on the subject — investigative reporting! — and so I emailed frontman Jared Mullins over the weekend and asked what happened and what he’d be up to next. You might recall the trio had new material in progress as a follow-up to 2014’s Pearls and Swine and Everything Fine (review here), which was also released last year by Kozmik Artifactz (info here).
Turns out that next album has been recorded and Mullins may still do something with it. He offered a frank update on the end of Heavy Glow and the plan going forward that you can find below in its entirety:
Heavy Glow – Breakup Announcement
We’ve decided to call it a “day.” Two more shows and then its on to better things. Thank you all.
Jared Mullins on what’s next:
We’re changing the band name. When I first started HG in 2008 I didn’t know any other bands that had “Heavy” in their name. I just thought it was a cool hippy thing kinda like Iron Butterfly where you put two extremes next to each other. I don’t think I was the first to use “Heavy” in a band name but I didn’t know anyone else that did at the time. It stood out to me. Now almost 10 years later, every city has at least one band with “heavy” in their names. For years we’ve fought off comments about Red Hot Chili Peppers, Heavy Flows, Heavy Blows, Heavy Snows etc. So we’ve got two more shows as Heavy Glow and then we’ll go silent and come back under a different band name.
The new name will I think do us better by not poisoning the first impression of music-listeners. I’ve never been a stoner rock listener. For years I’ve been told my inspiration for writing has been all these stoner rock bands I’ve never listened to. Honestly I had no idea what stoner rock was when I was started the band. Now the name is synonymous with a genre I’m not truly a part of, and as the only contributing member of Heavy Glow since the start I need to be apart of something I believe in. I mean what really does “Got My Eye On You” have in common with bands like Mothership? Apples and oranges. Plus I have the added advantage of not being all that successful with the band so I’m not reluctantly forced to keep going with it.
So we’ll go blank for a few months and come back in a few with a new band name, new band members, new website, new photos etc. We recorded an album of 50 minutes of music in Oxfordshire England with Ian Davenport (Radiohead, Band of Skulls) back in January. Hardly anyone has paid attention to that I guess (proof it’s time after almost 10 years of Heavy Glow to do something else.) The album is the best thing I’ve ever written and closer to what I’ve been wanting to do with Heavy Glow. You don’t get invited to record in England if the material is no-good. So that’s the plan.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 21st, 2016 by JJ Koczan
As noted earlier this year, Austin rockers Heavy Glow signed to respected German imprint Kozmik Artifactz for the release of their next album. I’m not sure on the status of that next outing, but before they get there, they’ve just reissued their 2014 sophomore outing, Pearls and Swine and Everything Fine (review here), with the label’s usual deluxe, limited edition vinyl treatment. It’s available now and comes either in black or black and orange marble with a matte gatefold cover. Pretty snazzy, and if you’ve heard the record before you already know it has hooks to match.
From the PR wire:
Heavy Glow’s 2nd Album Re-Released!
Heavy Glow’s “Pearls & Swine and Everything Fine” re-released through Kozmik Artifactz (Germany.)
A message from our label in Germany announcing the re-release of our 2014 album “Pearls & Swine and Everything Fine” on very special edition colored 180 gram vinyl, with new artwork, full lyrics, new photos, and gatefold packaging:
Heavy Glow from Austin, Texas are a classic rock trio and they deliver their rock with a fresh and modern vibe. Heavy Glow constructs “Pearls & Swine” on a foundation of fuzz-fueled hard rock, appointed with psychedelically-tinted blues and beautifully textured washes of Motown/Memphis soul. Simultaneously, a punkish verve cattle prods the retro rock vibe squarely into right now.
“Pearls & Swine and Everything Fine” features Joe’s exquisite bass runs while Jared plugs his guitar into rock’s heavy history with nods to Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, and Tony Iommi. At the same time, melodic pop subtlety underpins the album’s heaviest chord stomp moments; witness the swinging soul delicacy of “Fat Cat.”
It’s all welded together by Jared’s totally now perspective, his innate ability to focus his love of rock/soul/psychedelia through a contemporary lens to create Heavy Glow’s modern classicism. Heavy and melodic, raucous & guitar-driven: That’s Heavy Glow!
Vocals/Guitar – Jared Mullins Bass – Joe Brooks Drums – St. Judas
Available as CD & limited vinyl
VINYL FACTZ – 166x black marbled orange (exclusive mailorder edition, handnumbered) – 150x black – plated & pressed on high performance vinyl in Germany – matte laquered 300gsm gatefold cover – special vinyl mastering
TRACKS A1. 45 Shakedown A2. Look What You’re Doing To Me A3. Mine All Mine A4. Fat Cat A5. Love Ghost
B1. Domino (Black Flowers) B2. Hello September (Goodbye April) B3. Got My Eye On You B4. Nerve Endings B5. Headhunter
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 10th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Heavy fuzzing power trio Heavy Glow have signed a deal to release their latest album, 2014’s Pearls and Swine and Everything Fine (review here), on vinyl through Kozmik Artifactz. Seems like a good home for the three-piece, who’ve toured hard and will no doubt make European inroads working with the German imprint, their hook-based craftsmanship, energetic vibe and rich tonality having already found a solid following in the US (and apparently beyond). I wouldn’t be surprised if the band set to touring abroad before too long, particularly if, as the PR wire notes, they also have a new full-length in the works.
Info on all that follows here:
HEAVY GLOW (USA) sign to Kozmik Artifactz
New album soon, re-release of ‘Pearls & Swine and Everything Fine’ early summer 2016.
Some of rock’s greatest bands share an interesting quality: Soul. Cream, The Stooges, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Afghan Whigs and Vanilla Fudge all played glorious rock at concussive volumes but were also swinging to an unmistakable beat, filtering their thunderous bluster through a soul crooner’s sensibility. Heavy Glow qualifies for that exclusive roll call.
Pearls & Swine and Everything Fine is potent proof of Heavy Glow’s deep influences. Heavy Glow constructs Pearls & Swine on a foundation of fuzz-fueled hard rock, appointed with psychedelically-tinted blues and beautifully textured washes of Motown/Memphis soul. Simultaneously, a punkish verve cattle prods the retro rock vibe squarely into right now.
For this album Heavy Glow teamed with infinitely talented producers Michael Patterson (Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Beck, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, P. Diddy, Notorious B.I.G., Duran Duran) and Nic Jodoin (BRMC, The Morlocks, Nightmare Air). Patterson and Jodoin’s concentrated methodology resulted in an album that is black hole heavy and as cohesive as the ’89 Detroit Pistons.
Pearls & Swine and Everything Fine (with brilliant cover design by renowned artist Darren Grealish, whose work includes gig posters for Queens of the Stone Age and the Melvins and graces the walls of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) features Jared’s totally now perspective, his innate ability to focus his love of rock/soul/psychedelia through a contemporary lens to create Heavy Glow’s modern classicism, placing the band into the sonic realm shared by QOTSA and Foo Fighters.
HEAVY GLOW: Jared Mullins – vocals, guitars St. Judas – drums Joe Brooks – bass
Posted in Reviews on December 31st, 2014 by JJ Koczan
Yesterday was kind of crazy, but I don’t mind telling you I think today might be the most all-over-the-place of the week each of the five piles on my desk — now three, soon two — offers something different from the others, but it’s a wide spectrum being covered here, and there’s a couple abrupt turns from one to the next that I didn’t really do on purpose but I think will make for an interesting challenge anyway. In case you’ve been wondering, that’s what kind of nerd I am. Also the Star Trek kind.
I’m feeling really good about this series so far. Really good. I reserve the right to, by Friday, be so completely done with it that I never want to even think of the idea again, but I can only begin to tell you how satisfying it is to me to be able to write about some of these records after staring at them for so long sitting on my desk. Today’s batch is reviews 21-30 of the total 50, so we’ll pass the halfway point in this pile. If you’ve been keeping count since Monday or checking in, thanks, and if not, thanks anyway. Ha.
It’s about that time:
Brain Pyramid, Chasma Hideout
Although it was streamed here in full in September, the persistent stoner charm of French trio Brain Pyramid’s debut album, Chasma Hideout (released by Acid Cosmonaut Records), seemed to warrant further highlight. Whether it’s small touches like the organ underscoring centerpiece “Lucifer” or the wah-ready bass of Ronan Grall – joined in the band by guitarist/vocalist Gaston Lainé and drummer Baptiste Gautier-Lorenzo – or the memorable if genre-familiar turns of “Into the Lightspeed,” the band’s first LP impresses with unpretentious heavy rock front to back. It’s not perfect. Lainé’s vocals come across high in the mix on opener “Living in the Outer Space” and there are points where the “familiar” runs stronger than others, but especially as their initial full-length offering, Chasma Hideout is one that one seems to continue to grow on the listener as time goes on, and one hopes that the heavy psych chicanery from which they launch the 11-minute closing title-track becomes the foundation from which they build going forward. Potential worth reiterating.
With the backing of venerable Swedish imprint I Hate Records, Canadian two-piece Zaum release their first LP in the four-song Oracles, a 48-minute work taking its central musical and atmospheric themes from Middle Eastern cues. Melodically and atmospherically, it relies on chants, slow, deep low end and minor key riffs to convey a dense ambience, reminding some of Om’s Mideast fixation on “Peasant of Parthia” – third and shortest here at 8:13 – but otherwise on a much heavier, darker trip entirely. Opener “Zealot” (12:55) and closer “Omen” (14:08) both offer plodding pace and a methodology not unlike Nile played at quarter-speed, but it would be a mistake to call the hand with which Kyle Alexander McDonald (vocals, bass, synth, sitar) and Christopher Lewis (drums) approach their aesthetic anything but commanding, and when McDonald switches to a semi-blackened rasp in the second half of “Omen,” Zaum demonstrate a desire to push even further into extremity’s reaches. I can’t help but wonder how far they’ll go.
Some of the organ sounds on “Eye Opener,” the aptly-titled leadoff from Virginia four-piece Fire Faithful’s second LP, Organized Occult Love, remind of what Beelzefuzz conjured atmospherically, but an even more primary impression is the uptick in production value from Fire Faithful’s 2012 outing, Please Accept this Invocation (review here). Recorded by Windhand’s Garrett Morris, songs like “Last Fool on Earth” and “Organized Occult Love” brim with tonal resonance and a perfect balance the mix. Guitarist Shane Rippey handled the latter with Morris, and throughout, his tones and that of bassist Jon Bone shine, but whether it’s a more straightforward, Earthride-style groover like the title-track, or a more ranging doomer like “Combat,” vocalist Brandon Malone is well balanced to cut through the morass and drummer Joss Sallade’s crash resides comfortably behind the thick chugging. Melissa Malone and Gabrielle Bishop contribute backing vocals to “Last Fool on Earth” and only affirm how much Organized Occult Love brings Fire Faithful’s Southern doom to another level of presentation. An important forward step.
Five years after debuting with 2009’s Cantos a Ma Vida, Amsterdam-based Pendejo return on Chancho Records with Atacames, a 10-track/44-minute wallop of classic heavy rock riffing and Latin American influence via the Spanish lyrics of vocalist El Pastuso and his readily-wielded-but-not-overused trumpet, which makes a surprising complement to Jaap “Monchito” Melman’s fuzz-heavy guitar, Stef “El Rojo” Gubbels’ bass and Jos “Pepellín” Roosen’s drums, but in context works well to bring personality and an individualized sensibility to a sound otherwise heavily indebted to the likes of Kyuss and Fu Manchu. Quality songwriting and variety in songs like the slower “Amiyano” and the building “Hermelinda” ensures Atacames offers more than novelty to those who’d gape at its other-ness, and when that trumpet does hit, it never falls flat. Closing out with a pair of big-riffers in “El Jardinero” and “La Chica del Super No Se Puede Callar,” Pendejo’s sophomore effort produces results as substantial as they are fun, and serve to remind that’s why we’re here in the first place.
Cali trio Heavy Glow – guitarist/vocalist Jared Mullins, bassist Joe Brooks and drummer St. Judas – have spent a decent portion of the year on tour in support of their full-length, Pearls and Swine and Everything Fine. Understandable, and all the better to pick up your girlfriend in-person. Smooth, well-baked grooves permeate cuts like “Mine all Mine,” which also appeared on their prior 7” (review here), and the later “Nerve Endings,” a Queens of the Stone Age-style production giving about as much of a commercial vibe as a record can have and still be heavy rock, but the songwriting is paramount and definitely an element working in Heavy Glow’s favor, whether it’s the takeoff chorus of “Domino” or near-lounge vibe of “Fat Cat.” There’s an aspirational sensibility at the album’s core that’s going to make for an odd fit for some riff-heads who might be puzzled how something so nearly desert rock can still sound not at all like Brant Bjork, but hooks is hooks, and Heavy Glow use them well.
Bibilic Blood released three albums between 2009 and 2011, but the Eastlake, Ohio, duo haven’t been heard from since – their nightmarish, depraved psychedelic sludge vanishing in a smoky, somehow hateful wisp. Snakeweed marks their fourth album, and with it bassist/vocalist Suzy Psycho and drummer/guitarist Scott “Wizard” Stearns unfurl another demented collection of chaos snippets from an alternate, terrifying universe, the 11 songs totaling just 27 minutes with enough lumber and obscure freakout on two-minute mainliners like “Severed” and “Bloodnomicon” in the middle of the record to be a genre on itself — like a grainy horror flick made scarier by its rawness. Closer and longest cut at 4:10 “Bloody Rabbit” starts with Boris, Flood-style noodling from Stearns on guitar, but samples transition into Snakeweed’s most gruesome chapter, Suzy Psycho’s voice echoing, twisted, from out of an abyss that might as well be your own subconscious, referencing Jefferson Airplane along the way. Their particular brand of malevolence has been missed, and hopefully Snakeweed starts a new bout of activity.
Thera Roya & Hercyn, All this Suffering is Not Enough
Gloom prevails and takes multiple shapes on All this Suffering is Not Enough, the new jewel-case split between Brooklyn post-metallers Thera Roya and progressive New Jersey black metallers Hercyn. Each band includes one song, and for the trio Thera Roya, that’s “Gluttony,” which builds its churn from the ground up and intersperses spacious guitar and almost punkish clean singing en route to a wash of scream-topped distortion, trading off volume and ambience and ultimately delivering a lot of both in a densely-packed eight minutes. Hercyn, a four-piece, counter with the 14-minute “Dusk and Dawn,” which follows their also-longform Magda EP (review here) in grand and squibbly form, a gallop taking hold early topped with throaty screams and shifting between melodic and dissonant impulses, a midsection solo offering a standout moment before the bludgeoning resumes. Each act offers a quotient of noise not to be understated, and despite working in different styles, that’s enough to let them complement each other well on the searing 23-minute Ouro Preto Productions release.
Synapse, the third full-length from German trio The Spacelords, arrives like a gift from the bliss-jam gods. Four extended mostly-instrumental cuts arranged two per side on a Sulatron Records LP, crafting memorable impressions with washes of synth and guitar, intelligent jams that feel partially plotted and intelligent but still exploratory and natural in how they flesh out. Guitarist Matthias Wettstein is out front in the mix, but bassist Akee Kazmaier and drummer Marcus Schnitzler (also of Electric Moon) aren’t far behind, as much as a title like “Starguitar” might make you think otherwise. The chemistry between the three-piece remains tight across the album’s 41 minutes, and from the rich bass and chugging guitar of the opening title-track to the more laid-back groove of “No. 5” and voicebox strangeness of “Pyroclastic Master,” which has the record’s only vocals in robotically spoken lines, Synapse seems to make all of its connections along the way. Heavy psych heads previously unfamiliar will want to take note. The vinyl, of course, is limited.
A progressive heavy rock trio from the Netherlands, The Good Hand present Atman, their second album, on Minstrel Music, with an adventurous semi-desert sensibility given crisp production and a somewhat wistful feel in songs like “Greenwich Mean Time” and “Unity.” For a record that starts out with lead guitarist/vocalist Arjan Hoekstra (also tuba, trombone, bugle, keys, percussion) declaring “I am god,” Atman is surprisingly not-arrogant, owing probably as much to Radiohead as Kyuss and keeping an experimental feel to the stops and arrangement of “The Opposite,” bassist/vocalist Dennis Edelenbosch and drummer/vocalist Ingmar Regeling (both also Monotron) swinging out classic style but holding firm to a modern edge. Out of nowhere is the 19-minute closing title-track (nothing else hits six), on which The Good Hand unfold varied movements that push beyond the charm of “The Death of the Real”’s ‘60s affiliations and into spaces jazz-funky, or droning, or doomy, or all of them. No easy accomplishment, but The Good Hand manage to hold it all together fluidly.
Byzanthian Neckbeard, From the Clutches of Oblivion
Okay, seriously. What the hell do you think a band who live on an island in the English Channel and call themselves Byzanthian Neckbeard sound like? Burly as hell? Well you’re right. The Guernsey foursome of guitarist/vocalist Phil Skyrme, guitarist Jon Langlois, bassist Dano Robilliard and drummer Paul Etasse get down on some dudely, dudely grooves on their 2014 debut, From the Clutches of Oblivion. “Doppelganger” nestles somewhere between death rock, stoner and sludge, and there’s a heaping crash of doom on “Plant of Doom” (duh) and “To Seek the Cyberdwarf” to go with the more swaggering take of “Hive Mind Overlord” as well. But primarily, you don’t put the word “Neckbeard” in your band’s name unless you’re on a pretty masculine trip, and Byzanthian Neckbeard do not fuck around in that regard or in the aggro boogie of “The Ganch.” CD is limited to 200 copies in a four-panel digipak to house the growl-laden, riff-led plunder that ensues across its brief but bloody 32-minute span.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 20th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
San Diego three-piece Heavy Glow have been on tour for the better part of a week now, supporting their new album, Pearls and Swine and Everything Fine. That is, of course, unless you count their previous tour, which ended just three days before this one began. How that even splits up tours, I have no idea. Pretty much, when it’s all over, Heavy Glow will have been on the road for a stretch running from September into mid-November. The current run ends Nov. 14. I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point they announced a tour starting Nov. 17 and going into December.
Because touring!
Here are the remaining dates and some whathaveyou off the PR wire:
HEAVY GLOW Announces North American Headlining Tour
San Diego Rock Trio Heading Out to the Highway in Support of Celebrated New LP
Electric San Diego rock band HEAVY GLOW has announced a North American headlining tour in support of its new LP Pearls & Swine and Everything Fine. Set to kick off on September 18 in Fort Worth, Texas, the 18 city jaunt will showcase the trio’s unhinged explosiveness, which blends post-millennial blues-rock and haunting, Mowtown-esque hard soul, calling for comparison to The Dead Weather, The Black Keys, Afghan Whigs and Cream.
Led by guitarist / vocalist Jared Mullins, HEAVY GLOW has been called “a bluesy slice of Free-meets-Grand Funk” and “an impressive Hendrix / ZZ Top hybrid that pays homage to other blues masters (Clapton, Cray) and modern-day fuzz tone titans.” Recorded with producers Michael Patterson (Nine Inch Nails, Puscifer) and Nic Jodoin (Spindrift, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club), Pearls & Swine and Everything Fine has been hailed as “blistering” and has yielded the crunching cuts “Headhunter” and “Look What You’re Doing to Me”; the latter track’s music video starring actress Mayra Leal of the Robert Rodriguez film “Machete.”
HEAVY GLOW on tour: Oct. 20 Underbelly Jacksonville, FL Oct. 24 Pegasus Lounge Tampa FL Oct. 30 The Hi-Tone Memphis, TN Oct. 31 Daisy Duke’s Nashville, TN Nov. 1 Hangar Bar, Greenville, TX Nov. 6 Tiki Bar Shreveport, LA Nov. 7 Dan Electro’s Houston, TX Nov. 10 Plush, St. Louis, MO Nov. 13 Silver Dollar, Texarkana, AR Nov. 14 Vino’s Brewpub Little Rock, AR
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 5th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
I have no argument with Heavy Glow. Dudes clearly have their shit together, believe in what they’re doing and are working hard to get their music in as many ears as possible. Their 2014 album, Pearls and Swine and Everything Fine, is a more than solid slab of well crafted, straightforward songs. The production is a little smoothed out in the QOTSA tradition, but beyond that, there’s really nothing I can think of to ask that they don’t deliver either in terms of catchiness, melody or personality.
But, as any number of bands can tell you, sometimes these things take a while to catch on in a bigger way, so all the better Heavy Glow are getting out to hand-deliver their fuzz to those clued in enough to show up and receive it. They’ll head east and north from Texas starting on Sept. 18, and the PR wire checks in with dates and whathaveyou:
HEAVY GLOW Announces North American Headlining Tour
San Diego Rock Trio Heading Out to the Highway in Support of Celebrated New LP
Electric San Diego rock band HEAVY GLOW has announced a North American headlining tour in support of its new LP Pearls & Swine and Everything Fine. Set to kick off on September 18 in Fort Worth, Texas, the 18 city jaunt will showcase the trio’s unhinged explosiveness, which blends post-millennial blues-rock and haunting, Motown-esque hard soul, calling for comparison to The Dead Weather, The Black Keys, Afghan Whigs and Cream.
Led by guitarist / vocalist Jared Mullins, HEAVY GLOW has been called “a bluesy slice of Free-meets-Grand Funk” and “an impressive Hendrix / ZZ Top hybrid that pays homage to other blues masters (Clapton, Cray) and modern-day fuzz tone titans.” Recorded with producers Michael Patterson (Nine Inch Nails, Puscifer) and Nic Jodoin (Spindrift, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club), Pearls & Swine and Everything Fine has been hailed as “blistering” and has yielded the crunching cuts “Headhunter” and “Look What You’re Doing to Me”; the latter track’s music video starring actress Mayra Leal of the Robert Rodriguez film “Machete.”
HEAVY GLOW North American Tour Dates: September 18 Ft. Worth, TX Lola’s Saloon. September 19 Oklahoma City, OK The Blue Note September 20 Kansas City, MO Mike’s Tavern September 21 Lincoln, NE Duffy’s Tavern September 23 Iowa City, IA Gabe’s Iowa City September 25 Burlington, IA The Washington September 26 Grand Rapids, MI Billy’s Lounge September 27 Cleveland, OH 5 O’ Clock Lounge September 30 Buffalo, NY Mohawk Place October 1 Rochester, NY The Bug Jar October 2 Hamilton, ONT This Ain’t Hollywood October 3 Toronto, ONT The Cavern Bar October 4 Toronto, ONT Duffy’s Tavern October 5 Windsor, ONT The Phog Lounge October 8 Pittsburgh, PA Thunderbird Cafe October 9 Long Branch, NJ The Brighton Bar October 10 New York, NY Piano’s (as part of 2014 CBGB’s Festival) October 11 Philadelphia, PA North Star Bar October 12 Boston, MA The Spot Underground
Live and on stage is where HEAVY GLOW makes its heaviest impression and on the upcoming headlining tour, the group is set to show that its stellar reputation precedes it for a reason. Seeing is believing!
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 3rd, 2014 by JJ Koczan
Touring is imminent for Heavy Glow in support of their new album, Pearls and Swine and Everything Fine. And by “imminent,” I mean tomorrow. The Cleveland-born trio release their somewhat poppier and professionally constructed sophomore effort today and begin a run of shows tomorrow in San Diego that will take them through the Southwest and into the Midwest. They’ll head out with the CD and digital versions available, while the vinyl is still to come and expected early next month. Good food takes time.
The three-piece have made the entirety of Pearls and Swine and Everything Fineavailable for streaming in honor of the release. It’s down there under release announcement, so feel free to dig in:
NEW HEAVY GLOW ALBUM DROPS TODAY
‘Pearls & Swine and Everything Fine’ is out today!
Produced By Michael Patterson (Trent Reznor) And Nic Jodoin (BRMC) Available on iTunes and cd!
You can also pre-order vinyl on 180 gram (Available around July 7th**approximately)
Cleveland, OH, June 3, 2014 — The new Heavy Glow album titled, Pearls & Swine and Everything Fine, was recorded with producer team Michael Patterson and Nic Jodoin. The full album will stream on the band’s websitewww.heavyglowmusic.comall day today for fans.
Heavy Glow Tour Itinerary (all dates may be subject to change): Wednesday, June 4th at Soda Bar in San Diego, CA Thursday, June 5th at Rogue Bar in Scottsdale, AZ Friday, June 6th at Hotel Monte Vista in Flagstaff, AZ Saturday, June 7th at Leftwoods in Amarillo, TX Sunday, June 8th at The Boiler Room in Dallas, TX Monday, June 9th at Record Bar in Kansas City, MO Tuesday, June 10th at Firebird in St. Louis, MO // CANCELED! Wednesday, June 11th Washington in Burlington, IA Friday, June 13th at Wisco in Madison, WI Saturday, June 14th at Elbo Room in Chicago
As it’s written on the album cover, the title of the new Heavy Glow record is Pearls & Swine and Everything Fine. Phonetically, I have no issue. With lists, traditional grammar constructs would have you put a comma, so it’s “pearls, swine and everything…” (the Oxford comma is a matter of a whole different debate, I use it situationally), but it’s obvious the Cleveland heavy rocking trio are toying with long-standing aphorisms, and the double “and” is playful. What gets me about it is the ampersand.
Not that they use it. I tend not to except in headlines if I’m feeling particularly saucy — it’s embarrassing how true that is — but I’m cool with Heavy Glow using it in their title, especially on an album cover where space is limited. What makes the lid on my editor’s eye twitch is the use of the ampersand and then the use of “and.” Basically they’re saying “and” twice, but doing it once with an ampersand and once with the actual word. These guys are a good band going by everything I’ve heard from them, and I’m not sure I can explain why it bothers me in a way that doesn’t immediately lead to some kind of self-diagnosis, but to have the ampersand there and then “and” itself, well, it’s got my nerves in a bundle.
All the better, I suppose, that the latest track from what I’ve just decided I’m going to call Pearls and Swine and Everything Fineis “Nerve Endings,” and that its catchy, classic rocking stomp will soothe the aching brain. Heavy Glow‘s new album is out on June 3, but they’re taking preorders now on their Bandcamp, and “Nerve Endings” is just the most recent reveal in a series that can be tracked through their YouTube channel.
