Posted in Whathaveyou on September 19th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
I guess a luxury that Alain Johannes has to deal with at this point is that anywhere he goes, he’s going to be able to find someone who wants to play. It was only last weekend that Johannes — known for his work in a litany of outfits, among them Queens of the Stone Age, Eleven, Them Crooked Vultures, and even if he’d never done anything else he’d still be a legend in my mind for his production and contributions on the most recent All Souls album — teamed up in the Netherlands with Iron Jinn, and now it’s announced that he’ll partner with Edinburgh’s Earl of Hell for five shows in the UK next Spring.
So is this actually universally applicable? If he went to Australia, South America, Africa, Europe (again), North America, I have to think there would be musicians ready to team up. Penguins in Antarctica would be on board. And like Iron Jinn before them, Earl of Hell will pull double-duty as opening act and backing band. Good gig. You’re only going to learn pretty much every time Johannes opens his mouth.
You can see the ‘2 Meter Sessions’ filmed with Iron Jinn on Dutch soil. No word on if something similar is planned with Earl of Hell, but they’ll do the Red Crust Festival together — a massive three-dayer happening across four venues with Saor confirmed as the first headliner — so I’m sure someone will get a clip either way.
A sampling of Johannes‘ CV can be found with the dates below, courtesy of Electric Worm Booking, which put the stint together:
ALAIN JOHANNES – Spring 2024 UK Tour w/ Earl of Hell
Chilean born songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Alain Johannes embarks on a 5 date UK tour in the Spring of 2024.
The list of musicians that Alain Johannes has worked with reads like an encyclopedia of California rock history. In high school he was in bands with Flea, Hillel Slovak, Jack Irons and Anthony Kiedis, all of whom would form the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Later Alain formed Eleven with Natasha Shneider and Jack Irons. They toured with Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, and for several years recorded and toured with Queens of the Stone Age.
As a writer, touring musician, producer and engineer, Alain has worked with Chris Cornell, Them Crooked Vultures, PJ Harvey, Sound City Players, No Doubt, Mark Lanegan, Jimmy Eat World, Queens of the Stone Age, Brody Dalle and Arctic Monkeys.
In 2020 Alain Johannes released his third studio record “Hum” on Ipecac Records, receiving critical acclaim.
Now ready to embrace UK shores with his rich and varied back catalogue, Alain will be joined by Edinburgh based fuzz rockers Earl Of Hell as not only tour support, but also joining Alain on stage as his touring band.
Catch Alain and Earl Of Hell at one of the following dates
30th March – Factory 251, Manchester 31st March – Red Crust Festival, Edinburgh 4th April – Trillians, Newcastle 5th April – The Exchange, Bristol 6th April – The Underworld, London
Today is the last Quarterly Review day until July. I don’t know yet what shape that QR will take, whether 50 records, 100 records, 700 records or somewhere between. Depends on how the ongoing deluge of releases ebbs and flows as we head into summer. But if you count this and the other part of this Spring’s Quarterly Review, you get a total as of today of 120 releases covered, and considering the prior QR was just in January, and that one was another 100 records that’s a pretty insane amount of stuff for it being May 12.
And that’s basically the moral of the story, again. It’s a ton of stuff to encounter, hear, maybe live with if you’re lucky. I won’t make it a grand thing (I still have too much writing to do), but I hope you’ve found something cool in all this, and if not yet among the 210 albums thus far QR’ed in 2023, then maybe today’s your day as we hit the end of this round.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
Spotlights, Alchemy for the Dead
There are not many boxes that Spotlights‘ fourth album and third for Ipecac, Alchemy for the Dead, leaves unticked. Thematic, musically expansive, finely crafted in its melody and with particular attention to mood as when the bassline joins then leaves behind the acoustic guitar as a preface to the big finish in the closing title-track, it is a consuming, ultra-modern take on heavy rock from the trio of bassist/guitarist/vocalist Sarah Quintero, guitarist/synthesist/vocalist Mario Quintero and drummer Chris Enriquez, substantial even before you get to the fact that its 47 minutes push LP format limits, it speaks emotionally in rhythm as much as the thoughtful vocal interplay on “Sunset Burial,” growing intense around a central chug of guitar for one of the album’s more brazenly metal stretches. Elsewhere, standout moments abound, whether it’s the channel-panned snare buried in the second verse of “Algorithmic,” the proggy moodshifting in “Repeat the Silence,” Spotlights becoming what Deftones wanted to be in the heavygaze of “The Alchemist,” drift meeting head-on crash in “Ballad in the Mirror,” which also rolls out a fuzz-tone riff of statistically significant proportion then finds room for a swell of airy guitar before dissipating into the next mellow verse circa 2:30, more crashes to come. With the synth/sax/big-riff-and-shout interplay at the center in “False Gods,” Alchemy for the Dead would seem to mark the arrival at where Spotlights have been heading all along: their own version of a heavy of everything.
The mellotron in the title-track, surrounded by dense bass, fleet runs of scorch-prone guitar and resoundingly jazzy drumming, emphasizes the point: Kanaan are a band elevating heavy rock to their level. The Norwegian trio aren’t shy when it comes to riffing out, as they demonstrate in the Hedwig Mollestad collaboration on “Amazon” and intermittently throughout Downpour‘s closing pair of “Solaris Pt. 1” and “Solaris Pt. 2,” each topping seven minutes. But neither are they limited to a singular nodding expression. While still sounding young and energetic in a way that just can’t be imitated, Downpour boogies almost immediately on opener “Black Time Fuzz,” and is often heavy and grooving like a straightforward heavy rock record, but as that tambourine in “Orbit” shows, Kanaan are ready at a moment’s notice with a flourish of guitar, some key or synth element, or something else to distinguish their pieces and in the soundscaping of “Psunspot” (sic) and the scope they claim throughout side B, they remain one of Europe’s brightest hopes for a future in progressive heavy, sounding freer in their atmospheres and in the build of “Solaris Pt. 1” than they did even on 2021’s Earthbound (review here). There’s a reason just about every festival in Europe wants them to play. The proverbial band-on-fire.
Zen and the Art of Tone, perhaps unsurprisingly, sets itself to the task in its title as Anchorage, Alaska-based Doom Lab mastermind Leo Scheben guides the listener through mostly short-ish instrumental pieces based around guitar, sometimes ultra-fuzzed with a programmed beat behind as on “Whole-Tones on Tail” or the extra-raw 1:24 of “Motörvamp” or the subsequent “Sabotaging the Sabocracy,” a bit clearer at the outset with “X’d Out,” but the drive toward meditation is clear and allows for both the slower, more doomed reaches of closer “Traveling Through the Cosmos at Beyond the Speed of Light” and the playful elder-funk of “The Plot-Twist” or the bounce of “Lydia Ann.” All told, the 12 songs and 36 minutes of experimentation on offer will resonate with some more than others, but Scheben sounds like he’s starting a conversation here with “Mondays Suck it Big-Time” and “Psychic Vampires” and the real question is whether anyone will answer. Sometimes a project comes along that’s just on its own wavelength, finding its own place in the pastiche, and that’s where Doom Lab have been at since the outset, prolific as well as dedicated to exploration. I don’t know toward what it’s all leading, but not knowing is part of enjoying hearing it, and maybe that’s the zen of the whole thing to start with.
Barely a year after making their full-length debut on Apollon with Beyond the Strange Horizon (review here), Bergen, Norway, traditionalists dig deeper into the proto-style roots of doom on their four-song second LP, Skur 14. Named after a rehearsal space complex (presumably where they rehearse) in their hometown, the album runs shortest-to-longest in bringing together Scandi-folk-rooted classic prog and heavy styles, but by the time they get to “Tusser Og Troll,” the 14:47 finale, one is less thinking about the past than the future in terms of sound. Acoustic guitar begins “The Road” ahead of the straight-ahead riff and post-punk vocals, while “Cursed and Cast Out” is both speedier in the verse and more open in the hook before shifting into rolls on the snare and more theatrical shove that, much to the band’s credit, they handle fluidly without sounding either ironically over the top or like goobers in any way other than how they want. With the seven-minute “Candles,” the procession is slower and more vintage in form, reminding a bit of Demon Head but following its own anthemic chorus into an extended solo section before side B is dedicated solely to the spread of “Tusser Og Troll,” which ends with an organic-feeling jam laced with effects. A strong second outing on a quick turnaround that shows clear progression — there’s nothing more to be asked of Skur 14.
Sure, the third album from Stuttgart drone-psych-jammers Shem — titled III, lest there be any doubt — starts off with its 16-minute opener/longest track (immediate points) “Paragate,” but given the context, it’s the second cut on side A, “Lamentum” (2:50), that most piqued my interest. It’s a fading in snippet of a progression, the drums steady, volume swells behind a strumming guitar, some vocal chanting as it moves through. Given the entrancing spaciousness of “Restlicht” (7:34) and “Refugium (Beyond the Gravitational Field of Time and Space)” (11:55), I didn’t expect much more than an interlude, and maybe it’s not intended to be, but that shorter piece does a lot in separating the long cut on III‘s first half from the two on the second, so serves a vital purpose. And in that, it represents III well, since even in “Restlicht,” there seems to be a plan unfolding, even if improvisation is a part of that. Bookending, “Paragate” is mellow when it isn’t congealing nebular gasses to make new stars, and “Refugium (Beyond the Gravitational Field of Time and Space)” finds itself in a wormhole wash of guitar while the ride cymbal tries to hold structural integrity together, the whole engine ending up kissing itself goodbye as it shifts from this dimension to one that, let’s be honest, is probably more exciting.
You ever hear a band’s album and think maybe it worked out better than the band thought it would when they started making it? Like maybe they surprised even themselves? That was Melt Motif‘s 2022 debut, A White Horse Will Take You Home (review here). The heavy industrial outfit founded by Kenneth Rasmus Greve and legit-doesn’t-need-a-last-name vocalist Rakel are joined by Brazilian producer Joe Irente for the curiously punctuated 10-track follow-up, Particles. Death Objective, and though they don’t have the element of surprise on their side this time out (for themselves or listeners), Melt Motif as a trio do expand on what the first album accomplished, bringing ideas from electronic dance music, sultry post-rock and hard-landing beats — plus some particularly striking moments of weighted guitar — to bear such that “Warrior” and “I’m Gone” are assured in not needing to explode with aggression and even with all its ticks and pops, the penultimate “Abyss” is more about atmosphere than impact. “Fever” creates a wash and lurches slow and heavy following on from “Broken Floor” at the beginning, but in “Full Moon” it’s a techno party and “Never_Again” feels like experimentalist hip-hop, so if you thought the book was closed aesthetically on the project, the sophomore outing assures it very much is not. So much the better.
As it begins with the telltale strut and maddening catchiness of “Diabolical Influence,” one might be tempted to think Birmingham’s Margarita Witch Cult are playing in Uncle Acid‘s sinister sandbox, but the two-minute fuzz-chug-punker burst of “Death Lurks at Every Turn” corrects this notion, and the rest of the UK trio’s nine-song/31-minute self-titled Heavy Psych Sounds affirms there’s more going on. “The Witchfinder Comes” is a classic Sabbath-worship roller with multi-tracked vocals — guitarist Scott Vincent is the only one listed on vocals, so might just be layering; Jim Thing is on bass and George Casual on drums — and “Be My Witch” is a lesson in how to make thickened fuzz move, but it’s the pointedly Motörheaded “Annihilation” (1:42) that most stands out, even with the likewise speedy shuffle of “Theme From Cyclops” (1:34) right behind it, the faster takeoff welcome to offset the midtempo home-base of the trio’s grooves. As to that, “Lord of the Flies” nestles itself into a comfortable tempo and resolves in a nod that it seems to have spent much of its five minutes building toward, a last run through the main riff more celebration than repetition ahead of the instrumental “Aradia,” which like “The Witchfinder Comes” featured on the band’s 2022 Witchfinder EP (review here), and the previously-issued single “Sacrifice,” which closes. Bottom line is they’ve got a righteous sound and their first album shows they know how to wield it. The smoke-filled sky is the limit from here. Hail next-gen stoner rock.
Trading between charred rasps and cleaner declarative singing, Indianapolis-based multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Chris Latta (The Skyspeakers, Lavaborne, ex-Spirit Division) guides the mostly-solo-project — Tucker Thomasson drums and plays lead guitar; not minimizing anyone’s contributions — Cloud of Souls through a tumultuous journey along the line between ancient-of-days doom and black metal, strident at times like Bathory, sometimes all-out ripping as on the earlier-Enslaved-style “Hiding from Human Eyes,” and growing deathlier on “Where Failure Dies” ahead of the closing title-track, which threatens to break out the razors at any moment but stays civilized in its doomly roll for the duration. Whatever else Latta accomplishes in this or any of his other outfits from here on out, he’ll always be able to say he put out a record with a centerpiece called “Time for Slaughter,” which isn’t nothing as regards artist achievements — the song taps pre-NWOBHM doom until it turns infernal in the middle — and while there’s clearly an aspect of self-awareness in what he’s doing, the exploration and the songwriting are put first such that A Fate Decided resounds with a love for the metal that birthed it while finding its own path to hopefully keep walking across future releases.
When I tell you Hibernaut has three former members of Salt Lake City psych-blues rockers Dwellers in the lineup, just go ahead and put that expectation to the side for a minute. With guitarist Dave Jones stepping to the front as vocalist, Joey Toscano (also ex-Iota) moving from guitar/vocals to lead guitar, Zach Hatsis (also ex-SubRosa) on drums and Josh Dupree on bass, their full-length debut/first release of any sort, Ingress — recorded of course by Andy Patterson — has more in common with High on Fire and dirt-coated raw thrash than anything so lush, and at 11 songs and 74 minutes long, that will toward the unrestrained is multifaceted as well. There’s rock swagger to be had in “Magog” or the spinning riff of “Summoner,” but “Mines” has more Celtic Frost than Kyuss to it, and that isn’t a complaint. The material varies — at over an hour long, it fucking better — but whether it’s the double-kick rampage of “Kaleidoscope” or the furious takedown of “Lantern Eyed,” Hibernaut revel in an overarching nastiness of riff such that you might just end up scrunching your face without thinking about it. There’s room for a couple nods, in “Projection,” or “Aeons Entombed,” but the prevailing impression is meaner while remaining atmospheric. I like that I have no guess what they’ll do after this. I don’t like having to check autocorrect every time it replaces their name with ‘Hibernate.’ If only I had some gnasher heavy metal to help me vent that frustration. Oh wait.
For their Black Nothingness EP, Berlin-based DIY aficionados Grin — bassist Sabine Oberg and drummer/vocalist Jan Oberg — stripped their sound back to its most essential parts. Unlike 2022’s Phantom Knocks (review here) long-player, there’s no soundscaping, no guitar, no Hammond. There is low end. There are drums. There are growls and shouts and there are six tracks and none of them reaches three minutes in length. This ferocious display of efficiency counterintuitively underscores the breadth of Grin‘s approach, since as one band they feel unrestricted in terms of arrangements, and Black Nothingness — on their own The Lasting Dose Records imprint and recorded by Jan — benefits from the barebones construction in terms of sheer impact as heard on the rolling “Gatekeeper” before each ending measure of “Midnight Blue Sorrow” seems to leave a bruise, or even the opening semi-title-track “Nothingness” staking a claim on hardcore gangshout backing vocals for use pretty much anytime. “Talons” is less in-your-face with its violence, but the threat remains fervent and subsequent closer “Deathbringer” perfectly conveys that sense of exhaustion you have from when you’ve been so angry for so long that actually you’re just kind of sad about it. All this and more in about 12 minutes out of your busy and intensely frustrating life makes Black Nothingness one of 2023’s best short releases. Now rage, damnit.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 21st, 2022 by JJ Koczan
It doesn’t seem to me that Human Impact, despite having a couple releases under their collective belt at this point, have gotten the chance to be the band they were meant to be as yet. By which I mean they haven’t really been able to tour and not look back or get into an album-cycle-ish groove in terms of patterning out recordings and shows across however long and on whatever scale they’re looking for. Their first European tour is significant as befits veterans of acts like Swans, Unsane and Cop Shoot Cop, [EDIT Feb. 21: Apparently Phil Puleo and Chris Pravdica are out of the band and have been replaced by current members of Unsane.] and they’ve just added new dates to the stint, which I’m pretty sure was supposed to happen either early last year or late the year before who the hell can even remember and what does it matter by now anyway.
Point is, as these guys head abroad, it feels somewhat overdue. They’ve done more than one show now, true, but it’ll always be a bit of trivia that the first Human Impact show supporting their self-titled debut (review here) was in March 2020 right before the lockdown hit. And they only got to do the one. Timing is everything, folks. Stop me if you’ve heard that one before. You have.
From the PR wire:
HUMAN IMPACT, THE NEW YORK BAND FEATURING MEMBERS OF COP SHOOT COP, UNSANE AND SWANS, ANNOUNCE FURTHER DATES TO THEIR FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR
TICKETS ON SALE: https://www.ipecac.com/tours/
Human Impact, the New York-based band featuring Jim Coleman (Cop Shoot Cop), Chris Spencer (Unsane), Chris Pravdica (Swans) and Phil Puleo (Cop Shoot Cops/Swans), have announced further shows to their first European tour – check out full listings below, including recently announced shows at Hellfest and two dates with Jawbox.
About the tour the band comments, “We are really excited to bring the live Human Impact experience to Europe and the UK as the world hopefully staggers towards a new endemic normalcy. Though we’ve been continuing to record over the past two years, the live shows have been a long time in the making. We look forward to playing for you all live and in person!”
Their self-titled debut album arrived on the eve of the pandemic back in March 2020, which received much critical acclaim and landed them the front cover of New Noise Magazine France. Human Impact followed up with an eight-song EP, dubbed EP01 a year later in March 2021 which featured a mix of singles and unreleased B-sides that were recorded simultaneously to the debut album.
2022 TOUR DATES 31/05/22 : Sonic Morgue @ Kuppelhalle/Silent Green – Berlin (DE) ** 01/06/22 : Meetfactory – Prague (CZ) ** 02/06/22 : Fluc – Vienna (AT) ** 04/06/22 : Sunset Bar – Martigny (CH) ** 05/06/22 : Gebäude 9 – Köln (DE) ** 06/06/22 : Db’s – Utrecht (NL) ** 07/06/22 : Petit Bain – Paris (FR) 08/06/22 : Green Door Store – Brighton (UK) 09/06/22 : 100 Club – London (UK) 10/06/22 : Deaf Institute – Manchester (UK) 11/06/22 : The Brudenell Social Club – Leeds (UK) 12/06/22 : Garage (Attic) – Glasgow (UK) 13/06/22 : Whelans – Dublin (IE) 15/06/22 : Exchange – Bristol (UK) 17/06/22 : Trix – Antwerpen (BE) (+ Jawbox) 18/06/22 : Paradiso – Amsterdam (NL) (+ Jawbox) 19/06/22 : Mezz – Breda (NL) 20/06/22 : Botanique – Brussels (BE) 21/06/22 : Paard – Den Haag (NL) ** 22/06/22 : Grand Mix – Tourcoing (FR) 24/06/22 : Hellfest – Clisson (FR) 25/06/22 : Nadir – Bourges (FR) 26/06/22 : La Ferronerie – Pau (FR) 27/06/22 : Sye electric – Gigors et Lozeron (FR) ** 28/06/22 : Tannerie – Bourg en Bresse (FR) 29/06/22 : Sedel – Lucerne (CH) ** 30/06/22 : SoloMacello @ Bloom – Mezzago (IT) ** 01/07/22 : RCCB – Rome (IT) ** 02/07/22 : Freakout – Bologna (IT) ** **New additions
HUMAN IMPACT is Chris Spencer (Unsane, UXO): Vocals/Guitar Jim Coleman (Cop Shoot Cop): Electonics Chris Pravdica (Swans, Xiu Xiu): Bass Phil Puleo (Cop Shoot Cop, Swans): Drums
As summer soundtracks go, Alain Johannes‘ 2020 album, Hum (review here), makes for pretty melancholy fare, but the truth is that it’s become one of those records I fall back on regardless of season. Amid a regular flux of things in and out, it hasn’t left my phone and I often find myself putting it on in the car in those moments where it’s what-do-I-listen-to-can’t-think-too-hard-in-a-hurry-well-okay-it’s-Hum-again-because-that’s-awesome. It is a reliable listening experience for me. I’m not going to put it on and at any point regret it.
The album came out last July on Ipecac, and I’m sad to say I still don’t have the CD. On my last trips to Vintage Vinyl here in New Jersey before it closed, that’s what I went to find, and no dice. I looked at my other local shop as well, and nuh-uh. True, I could order from Amazon, but you know, support your stores and all that. It’s not even in Johannes‘ own webstore, where the preceding 2014 outing, Fragments and Wholes, Vol. 1, is also sold out on the old-style compact disc, though available on vinyl, along with Hum and his 2010’s solo debut, Spark (discussed here), LP sold out, CD available with an autograph, which is nice. I’m just shopping, don’t mind me.
But if one might be tempted to go down a virtual retail rabbit hole through Johannes‘ merch, let that stand as a testament to the quality of his work. “Here in the Silence,” with a new, animated video below, is a gorgeous song that comes from a beautiful record. If you don’t get snagged by it, I’m not sure what to tell you. It’s the frickin’ fifth video they’ve put out from the album — a regular media blitz — and that’s in addition to streaming the entire record on Bandcamp (aha! found my CD!), so it’s not like ample opportunity to dip toe isn’t being provided even for those who won’t dive headfirst. If I haven’t made it clear by this time, I support that headfirst dive. There are five videos and an album stream with this post that I hope demonstrate that.
Alain Johannes has a show in Los Angeles coming up Sept. 11 at Highland Park Bowl with Big Pig (feat. Dino Von Lalli from Fatso Jetson) and All Souls, who also recently announced they’d be working with him as producer for their next album, citing of course Johannes‘ litany of credits including Chris Cornell‘s Euphoria Mourning solo LP. Being a nerd for All Souls, I look forward to what that collaboration will do for their sound. Info on the show is here if you happen to be in L.A.: https://www.facebook.com/events/361081742034953/
Enjoy. All of it:
Alain Johannes, “Here in the Silence” official video
Celebrating the one year anniversary of Alain Johannes’ album, Hum, with a beautiful new video for the song “Here In The Silence”. Pick up a copy of the album at: https://lnkfi.re/AJHum
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 19th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
First, blah blah, it’s nice to see a list of tour dates. Specifically, it’s nice to see Human Impact, who released their self-titled debut (review here) in March 2020 and did one gig before the shutdown, get out and about. Third, it’s nice to see venues like Metro Gallery, Kung Fu Necktie, The Pyramid Scheme and so on resurface having in one way or the other weathered the hard times that were and may yet be again, depending on variants, vaccinations, politics, whatever else. Thinking about that last part I guess isn’t so nice.
But hey, the bulk of the news here is good. Given just how ‘New York’ Human Impact are, speaking aesthetically as well as in geography, I’m curious to know how they play to other regions, but certainly their pedigree precedes them, blah blah Unsane, Cop Shoot Cop, Swans, blah blah. You don’t need me to tell you about it, I’m sure.
The PR wire has dates and at the bottom you’ll find the stream of EP01, a compilation Human Impact released in March of this year, as well as their video for “Recognition” from it.
Here you go:
HUMAN IMPACT ANNOUNCE DEBUT U.S. TOUR
SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM FROM MEMBERS OF UNSANE, COP SHOOT COP & SWANS ARRIVED IN MARCH 2020
Human Impact, the noise rock MVPs featuring Jim Coleman (Cop Shoot Cop), Chris Spencer (Unsane), Chris Pravdica (Swans, Xiu Xiu) and Phil Puleo (Cop Shoot Cop, Swans), have announced a U.S. tour kicking off on Nov. 26 at Brooklyn’s Market Hotel.
“After our debut album being released on the eve of pandemic lockdown, we are extremely happy to finally get out and start doing some live shows,” says Coleman of the band’s debut U.S. trek. “We love our recorded material, but Human Impact is meant to be experienced live and in person. This fall US tour will kick off an ongoing effort to tour through the US and Europe through 2021 and 2022.”
Human Impact issued their self-titled debut album via Ipecac Recordings in March of 2020. A tour was due to follow a week later. The foursome eked out one live performance before the international lockdowns began: March 14 at Brooklyn’s Saint Vitus, in what would be the venerable venue’s final pre-COVID performance as well.
In March of this year, Human Impact released the eight-song EP01. The EP features a mix of singles and unreleased B-sides that were recorded simultaneously to the debut album. A video for the track “Recognition” (https://youtu.be/lwYh9W1RYxA) arrived simultaneously. The vinyl version of EP01 arrives on Aug. 13.
Human Impact tour dates: November 26 Brooklyn, NY Market Hotel November 27 Baltimore, MD Metro Gallery November 28 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Necktie November 30 Pittsburgh, PA Club Café December 1 Indianapolis, IN HiFi December 2 Detroit, MI PJ’s Lager House December 3 Grand Rapids, MI The Pyramid Scheme December 4 St. Louis, MO Off Broadway Night Club December 5 Kansas City, MO Record Bar December 6 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry December 8 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle December 9 Louisville, KY Headliner’s Music Hall December 10 Newport, KY Southgate House Revival Room December 11 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
Child Bite open on the Dec. 1 to 11 dates.
HUMAN IMPACT is Chris Spencer (Unsane, UXO): Vocals/Guitar Jim Coleman (Cop Shoot Cop): Electonics Chris Pravdica (Swans, Xiu Xiu): Bass Phil Puleo (Cop Shoot Cop, Swans): Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 16th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
If you’re looking for ways to mark the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 shutdowns in America — and if you are… okay… — the release of Human Impact‘s 2020 self-titled debut (review here) seems as fitting as any I might offer. The band’s trenchant noise execution and severity were born of a range of other subjects but were nonetheless suited to the ferocious anxiety of that moment when everyone save for undervalued essential workers and complete assholes headed for quarantine. Over the course of 2020, Human Impact trickled out a few more singles, and those have now been assembled as EP01 with vinyl impending through Ipecac, who also released the album. Aug. 13 is the due date.
They call it an EP. Okay. It’s eight songs and somewhere around 40 minutes long, so take that as you will. “Contact,” “Genetic,” “10 Days” and “Subversion” were previously issued through Bandcamp, where now the entirety of EP01 can be streamed. Considering all this stuff was recorded at the same time as the debut, that was one hell of a session. Plenty of anthropocene downfall to document, I suppose. They’ll have no shortage of inspiration for their sophomore outing either.
From the PR wire:
HUMAN IMPACT RELEASE EP01 VIA IPECAC RECORDINGS
WATCH THE “RECOGNITION” VIDEO
Human Impact, the New York-based band featuring Jim Coleman (Cop Shoot Cop), Chris Spencer (Unsane), Chris Pravdica (Swans) and Phil Puleo (Cop Shoot Cops/Swan), have released an eight-song EP, dubbed EP01, via Ipecac Recordings.
A video for “Recognition” debuted this morning, with singer/guitar player Chris Spencer sharing the experience that sparked the song: “Do you ever feel like you’re being watched? The inspiration for ‘Recognition’ came from a time when I was at the Hong Kong International Airport. The track focuses on the advent of global surveillance and loss of personal privacy via facial recognition programs and data tracking. As our world becomes more connected we’re forfeiting our right to a private existence.”
The EP’s release arrives precisely one year after the band unveiled their self-titled debut, Human Impact. The new EP features a mix of singles and unreleased B-sides that were recorded simultaneously to the debut album. The foursome eked out one live performance before the international lockdowns began: March 14th at Brooklyn’s Saint Vitus, in what would be the venerable venue’s final pre-COVID performance as well.
Available now on all dsps (http://lnk.to/HumanEP01), EP01 is also available as a limited-edition clear vinyl pre-order via Ipecac’s webstore and Bandcamp. 1000 copies will be available worldwide with an August 13th release date.
EP01 track list: Recognition Genetic Sparrow Less Than Transist Contact 10 Days Subversion
HUMAN IMPACT is Chris Spencer (Unsane, UXO): Vocals/Guitar Jim Coleman (Cop Shoot Cop): Electonics Chris Pravdica (Swans, Xiu Xiu): Bass Phil Puleo (Cop Shoot Cop, Swans): Drums
Alain Johannes — known as a solo artist as well as for his work alongside Chris Cornell, Queens of the Stone Age, and on and on and on — released his new album, Hum (review here), on July 31 through Ipecac. To be perfectly honest, I don’t have much to add to that review when it comes to talking about the record; bottom line is it’s quite good and I think you’d do well to give it some time out of your busy day. “If Morning Comes” is the fourth video from Hum to surface (the others are all below), and it arrives with the noteworthy direction of Liam Lynch — Tenacious D, Queens of the Stone Age, Sifl & Olly etc. — who basically takes Johannes‘ head and sends it on a Zardozian journey for the duration of the track. In a word, enjoyable.
If you haven’t yet taken the time to dive into Hum, I’m not gonna argue with you. Dude doesn’t need my advocacy and the song and the video do a better job than I could hope to anyhow. Melody. Atmosphere. Floating head. Alright, I’ll stop.
Please enjoy:
Alain Johannes, “If Morning Comes” official video
Alain Johannes, who released his third solo album, Hum, on Friday via Ipecac Recordings (https://lnkfi.re/AJHum), has shared a video for the song “If Morning Comes.”
“’If Morning Comes’ was one of the most cathartic for me during the making of Hum. Many difficult nights while I was ill those words were like my mantra,” explains Johannes of the song which encapsulates the personal nature of the 10-song album, a release written during a period of illness and mourning that found Johannes taking stock of his existence, and his future. The psychedelic video, which echoes the meditative quality of the song was directed by Liam Lynch. Johannes says of the clip: “My dear friend Liam Lynch created this intense world so visually stunning and resonant with the song. He’s the man!”
A series of eye-catching videos have been released in the lead-up to Hum’s arrival: “Hallowed Bones”, “Free” and the title track, “Hum”. The clips have celebrated the beauty of life and the world we inhabit.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 29th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Terminology hasn’t really caught up yet with modern the two-song release. The tradition, obviously, comes from a single’s A and B sides, and very often, that tradition is upheld, and a band releases a single as a 7″. As both songs on Human Impact‘s new foray, Transist / Subversion, run near/at six and a half minutes, they’re a little long to fit on a 7″, and unless they’re feeling cheeky and want to do an 8″ — they wouldn’t be first — and if they’re just leaving it digital, it is what it is. When it comes to this kind of thing, I like “two-songer.” Says what it is, gives the B-side a bit of validity, and lets the audience know they’re getting more than just a “single.” If you have to specify, you might as well be specific.
So hey, Human Impact have a new two-songer. It’s not an EP. It’s not just a single — the second track, “Subversion” is a noise wash but lacks nothing for substance in that — but for those who dug the band’s 2020 self-titled debut (review here), it’s an appreciated check-in from the corporeal-chaos noisemakers.
It’s pick-your-apocalypse these days, so we might as well take joy as it comes, huh? Here you go:
HUMAN IMPACT SHARE TWO STANDALONE SINGLES; “TRANSIST” AND “SUBVERSION”
Following the release of their debut self-titled album, Human Impact have been releasing brand new material, including the recent single, “Contact” which was written and recorded shortly before the outbreak of Covid-19. The band share two further standalone singles “Transist” and “Subversion.”
About these latest singles the band remark, “Transist” was from a group of songs that we recorded and mixed just prior to the current pandemic. The song is a reflection on what the world looks like as things fall apart. Our broken ideals, the unstable foundations of our civilization, our trusting dependence on technology and our subservience to the ruling governments/corporations. The shining object held up by society that will never be realized. All creating a pressing need for change.”
They continue, ““Subversion” emerged from a 30 minute intro from our last live show (on March 14). We started that show with a 30 minute improv noise/ambient set. All members of the band have varied histories in soundtrack work and scoring music to picture. We look forward to getting back to live shows and expanding on this more.”
HUMAN IMPACT is Chris Spencer (Unsane, UXO): Vocals/Guitar Jim Coleman (Cop Shoot Cop): Electonics Chris Pravdica (Swans, Xiu Xiu): Bass Phil Puleo (Cop Shoot Cop, Swans): Drums
