Posted in Whathaveyou on April 11th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Pleased as punch to say I’ve heard some (though not all) of these tunes that will feature on Stinking Lizaveta‘s first record in six years, Anthems and Phantoms, and the case with the Philadelphia instrumentalists remains much the same: if you know, you know. One way or another for most of the last 30 years, the band have operated on their own wavelength in bringing together heavy classic rock, jazz and pure metal shred, and while it’s been since 2017’s Journey to the Underworld (review here), the new one finds them having lost none of their edge. Preorders are up, the links are below from the PR wire, and that’s about all you really need.
If you’ve caught Stinking Lizaveta live at any point since shows started happening again, you’ve probably seen some of this material — at least “Electric Future” and “Daily Madness” and “Nomen est Omen,” etc. — on the stage, and if the resonant joy with which the band delivers their goods didn’t grab you, then perhaps the ability to sit and fully take stock of what they’re actually playing on the songs will. To that end there’s no audio from the record posted as yet, but I’ve got my hopes up that there will be soon, and as a fan of the band, I look forward to hearing the finished album as well when the time comes. Also hopefully soon. Anthems and Phantoms releases June 23 on SRA Records.
Note they’re blurbed by other artists. Very much that kind of band:
Instrumental doom jazz innovators Stinking Lizaveta announce ANTHEMS AND PHANTOMS, out 6-23-23 on SRA Records
Formats include digital, CD, vinyl LP and are available for pre-sale:
Instrumental doom jazz innovators, Stinking Lizaveta, drop their first studio album since 2017 on Friday, June 23, 2023 via SRA Records. “With no shortage of wild rippers, electrifying melodies and pure heavy metal spirit,” says Gina Gleason Baroness guitarist , “Anthems And Phantoms is a rock guitar triumph!” Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton describes the new album with reverence: “Heavy, hypnotic grooves. Soaring lead guitar. Swaggering riffs that peel away into lurching, angular blasts. Driving flows that feel balanced and cohesive.”
Stinking Lizaveta has spent nearly three decades building an unparalleled catalog of instrumental rock. Brothers Yanni Papadopoulos (guitar) and Alexi Papadopoulos (upright electric bass) were heavily influenced by the sounds and values of their early years in the D.C. area. Drummer Cheshire Agusta hails from West Virginia and started on piano. Regarding her sound she says: “I let other people describe my music. I play it.”
Anthems and Phantoms, is an otherworldly sonic experience. The nine tracks on the album command attention with their fierce guitar tones, rich bass sounds, and robust drumming. When asked about the inspiration behind the record, Yanni Papadopoulos explains, “The title came to me as I was thinking about how to best describe our music. Some of the songs sound like national anthems from imaginary countries. Or perhaps they could describe a certain person, landscape, or terrain. All the tunes are slightly haunted by unexplained spirits.” The band is looking forward to performing their new material on tour. Cheshire Agusta says, “Stinking Lizaveta is saying exactly what I want to say to the world. I know I’m speaking clearly because I love the people who come to see us.”
The band have cut their teeth in the live music arena in America and Europe performing with bands such as Clutch, Mastodon, the Sword, Torche, Weedeater, Fugazi, Dÿse, Rollins Band, Lamb of God, Orange Goblin, Zeni Geva, Hidden Hand, Corrosion of Conformity, and Today’s the Day. Festivals they’ve played in the U.S. and abroad include Desertfests in London, New York and Berlin; Emissions From The Monolith in Ohio; SXSW in Austin; England’s All Tomorrow’s Parties; and Psycho Las Vegas.
The band released their self-titled 1994 EP on Joe Lally’s (The Messthetics, Fugazi) Tolotta Records. Lally describes Stinking Lizaveta as “…Always putting everything they have into their performance. I’ve never seen them just coasting along. It’s downhill at full speed until they’re spent.” Stinking Lizaveta solidified their place in the stoner rock and doom metal scenes with their album Hopelessness and Shame which was recorded by Steve Albini in 1996. Stinking Lizaveta has also been recorded by acclaimed producers Sanford Parker (EyeHateGod, Yob, Pelican, Yakuza) and Steve Berrigan (Down, EyeHateGod, Superjoint).
Anthems and Phantoms features Yanni Papadopoulos on guitar, Alexi Papadopoulos on upright electric bass, and Cheshire Agusta on drums. The album was recorded at Permanent Hearing Damage in South Philadelphia in October of 2020, and produced by Steve Roche (Mischief Brew/Erik Petersen, Witching, Saetia, RAMBO).
Anthems and Phantoms track listing: -Side A- Electric Future Let Live Shock Nomen est Omen Daily Madness -Side B- Serpent Underfoot Blue Skunk The Heart Light of Love, Darkness of Doubt
Posted in Reviews on April 11th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
If you missed yesterday, be advised, it’s not too late. If you miss today, be advised as well that tomorrow’s not too late. One of the things I enjoy most about the Quarterly Review is that it puts the lie to the idea that everything on the internet has to be so fucking immediate. Like if you didn’t hear some release two days before it actually came out, somehow a week, a month, a year later, you’ve irreparably missed it.
That isn’t true in the slightest, and if you want proof, I’m behind on shit ALL. THE. TIME. and nine times out of 10, it just doesn’t matter. I’ll grant that plenty of music is urgent and being in that moment when something really cool is released can be super-exciting — not taking away from that — but hell’s bells, you can sit for the rest of your life and still find cool shit you’ve never heard that was released half a century ago, let alone in January. My advice is calm down and enjoy the tunes; and yes, I’m absolutely speaking to myself as much as to you.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
Siena Root, Revelation
What might be their eighth LP, depending on what counts as what, Revelation is the second from Siena Root to feature vocalist/organist Zubaida Solid up front alongside seemingly-now-lone guitarist Johan Borgström (also vocals) and the consistent foundation provided by the rhythm section of bassist Sam Riffer (also some vocals) and drummer Love “Billy” Forsberg. Speaking a bit to their own history, the long-running Swedish classic heavy rockers inject a bit of sitar (by Stian Grimstad) and hand-percussion into “Leaving the City,” but the 11-song/46-minute offering is defined in no small part by a bluesy feel, and Solid‘s vocal performance brings that aspect to “Leaving the City” as well, even if the sonic focus for Siena Root is more about classic prog and blues rock of hooky inclusions like the organ-and-guitar grooving opener “Coincidence and Fate” and the gently funky “Fighting Gravity,” or even the touch of folkish jazz in “Winter Solstice,” though the sitar does return on side B’s “Madukhauns” ahead of the organ/vocal showcase closer “Keeper of the Flame,” which calls back to the earlier “Dalecarlia Stroll” with a melancholy Deep Purple could never quite master and a swinging payoff that serves as just one final way in which Siena Root once more demonstrate they are pure class in terms of execution.
The latest and (again) maybe-eighth full-length to arrive within the last 10 years from Monterrey, Mexico’s Los Mundos, Eco del Universo is an immersive dreamboat of mellow psychedelia, with just enough rock to not be pure drift on a song like “Hanna,” but still an element of shoegaze to bring the cool kids on board. Effects gracefully channel-swap alongside languid vocals (in Spanish, duh) with a melodicism that feels casual but is not unconsidered either in that song or the later “Rocas,” which meets Western-tinged fuzz with a combination of voices from bassist/keyboardist Luis Ángel Martínez, guitarist/synthesist/sitarist Alejandro Elizondo and/or drummer Ricardo Antúnez as the band is completed by guitarist/keyboardist/sitarist Raúl González. Yes, they have two sitarists; they need both, as well as all the keyboards, and the modular synth, and the rest of it. All of it. Because no matter what arrangement elements are put to use in the material, the songs on Eco del Universo just seem to absorb it all into one fluid approach, and if by the time the hum-drone and maybe-gong in the first minute of opener “Las Venas del Cielo” unfolds into the gently moody and gorgeous ’60s-psych pop that follows you don’t agree, go back and try again. Space temples, music engines in the quirky pop bounce of “Gente del Espacio,” the shape of air defined amid semi-krautrock experimentalism in “La Forma del Aire”; esta es la música para los lugares más allá. Vamos todos.
Well, you see, sometimes there’s a global pandemic and even the most thoroughly-banded of artists starts thinking about a solo record. Not to make light of either the plague or the decision or the result experience from “Minnesota” Pete Campbell (drummer of Pentagram, Place of Skulls, In~Graved, Vulgarri, Gygax, Sixty Watt Shaman for a hot minute, guitarist of The Mighty Nimbus, etc.), but he kind of left himself open to it with putting “Lockdown Blues” and the generally personal nature of the songs on, Me, Myself and I, his first solo album in a career of more than two decades. The nine-song/46-minute riffy splurge is filled with love songs seemingly directed at family in pieces like “Lightbringer,” “You’re My Angel,” the eight-minute “Swimming in Layla’s Hair,” the two-minute “Uryah vs. Elmo,” so humanity and humility are part of the general vibe along with the semi-Southern grooves, easy-rolling heavy blues swing, acoustic/electric blend in the four-minute purposeful sans-singing meander of “Midnight Dreamin’,” and so on. Five of the nine inclusions feature Campbell on vocals, and are mixed for atmosphere in such a way as to make me believe he doesn’t think much of himself as a singer — there’s some yarl, but he’s better than he gives himself credit for on both the more uptempo and brash “Starlight” and the mellow-Dimebag-style “Whispers of Autumn,” which closes — but there’s a feeling-it-out sensibility to the tracks that only makes the gratitude being expressed (either lyrically or not) come through as more sincere. Heck man, do another.
Based in the Netherlands, North Sea Noise Collective — sometimes also written as Northsea Noise Collective — includes vocals for the first time amid the experimental ambient drones of the four pieces on the self-released Roudons, which are reinterpretations of Frisian rockers Reboelje, weirdo-everythingist Arnold de Boer and doom legends Saint Vitus. The latter, a take on the signature piece “Born Too Late” re-titled “Dit Doarp” (‘this village’ in English), is loosely recognizable in its progression, but North Sea Noise Collective deep-dives into the elasticity of music, stretching limits of where a song begins and ends conceptually. Modular synth hums, ebbs and flows throughout “Wat moatte wy dwaan as wy gjin jild hawwe,” which follows opener “Skepper fan de skepper” and immerses further in open spaces crafted through minimalist sonic architecture, the vocals chanting like paeans to the songs themselves. It should probably go without saying that Roudons isn’t going to resonate with all listeners in the same way, but universal accessibility is pretty clearly low on the album’s priority list, and for as dug-in as Roudons is, that’s right where it should be.
Philly merchants Sins of Magnus offer their fourth album in the 12 songs/48 minutes of Secrets of the Cosmos, and while said secrets may or may not actually be included in the record’s not-insignificant span, I’ll say that I’ve yet to find the level of volume that’s too loud for the record to take. And maybe that’s the big secret after all. In any case, the three-piece of bassist/vocalist Eric Early, guitarist/vocalist Rich Sutcliffe and drummer Sean Young tap classic heavy rock vibes and aim them on a straight-line road to riffy push. There’s room for some atmosphere and guest vocal spots on the punkier closing pair “Mother Knows Best” and “Is Anybody There?” but the grooves up front are more laid back and chunkier-style, where “Not as Advertised,” “Workhorse,” “Let’s Play a Game” and “No Sanctuary” likewise get punkier, contrasting that metal stretch in “Stoking the Flames” earlier on In any case, they’re more unpretentious than they are anything else, and that suits just fine since there’s more than enough ‘changing it up’ happening around the core heavy riffs and mean-muggin’ vibes. It’s not the most elaborate production ever put to tape, but the punker back half of the record is more effective for that, and they get their point across anyhow.
Steeped in the arcane traditions of classic doom metal, Nine Altars emerge from the UK with their three-song/33-minute debut full-length, The Eternal Penance, leading with the title-track’s 13-minute metal-of-eld rollout as drummer/vocalist Kat Gillham (also Thronehammer, Lucifer’s Chalice, Enshroudment, etc.), guitarists Charlie Wesley (also also Enshroudment, Lucifer’s Chalice) and Nicolete Burbach and bassist Jamie Thomas roll with distinction into “The Fragility of Existence” (11:58), which starts reasonably slow and then makes that seem fast by comparison before picking up the pace again in the final third ahead of the more trad-NWOBHM idolatry of “Salvation Lost” (8:27). Any way they go, they’re speaking to metal born no later than 1984, and somehow for a band on their first record with two songs north of 11 minutes, they don’t come across as overly indulgent, instead borrowing what elements they want from what came before them and applying them to their longform works with fluidity of purpose and confident melodicism, Gillham‘s vocal command vital to the execution despite largely following the guitar, which of course is also straight out of the classic metal playbook. Horns, fists, whatever. Raise ’em high in the name of howling all-doom.
Fuzzblasting their way out of Salem, Massachusetts, with an initial public offering of six cuts that one might legitimately call “high octane” and not feel like a complete tool, The Freqs are a relatively new presence in the Boston/adjacent heavy underground, but they keep kicking ass like this and someone’s gonna notice. Hell, I’m sure someone has. They’re in and out in 27 minutes, so Poachers is an EP, but if it was a debut album, it’d be one of the best I’ve heard in this busy first half of 2023. Fine. So it goes on a different list. The get-off-your-ass-and-move effect of “Powetrippin'” remains the same, and even in the quiet outset of the subsequent “Asphalt Rivers,” it’s plain the breakout is coming, which, satisfyingly, it does. “Sludge Rats” decelerates some, certainly compared to opener “Poacher Gets the Tusk,” but is proportionately huge-sounding in making that tradeoff, especially near the end, and “Chase Fire, Caught Smoke” rips itself open ahead of the more aggressive punches thrown in the finale “Witch,” all swagger and impact and frenetic energy as it is. Fucking a. They end noisy and crowd-chanting, leaving one wanting both a first-LP and to see this band live, which as far as debut EPs go is most likely mission accomplished. It’s a burner. Don’t skip out on it because they didn’t name the band something more generic-stoner.
Doomer nod, proto-metallic duggery and post-NWOBHM flourish come together with heavy rock tonality and groove throughout Lord Mountain‘s bullshit-free recorded-in-2020/2021 debut album, issued through King Volume as the follow-up to a likewise-righteous-but-there-was-less-of-it 2016 self-titled EP (review here) and other odds and ends. Like a West Coast Magic Circle, they’ve got their pagan altars built and their generals out witchfinding, but the production is bright in Pat Moore‘s snare cutting through the guitars of Jesse Swanson (also vocals and primary songwriting) and Sean Serrano, and Andy Chism‘s bass, working against trad-metal cliché, is very much in the mix figuratively, literally, and thankfully. The chugs and winding of “The Last Crossing” flow smoothly into the mourning solo in the song’s second half, and the doom they proffer in “Serpent Temple” and the ultra-Dio Sabbath concluding title-track just might make you a believer if you weren’t one. It’s a record you probably didn’t know you were waiting for, and all the more so when you realize “The Oath” is “Four Horsemen”/”Mechanix” played slower. Awesome.
Opener “The Air at Night Smells Different” digs into HEX-era Earth‘s melancholic Americana instrumentalism and threat-underscored grayscale, but “Fog Works,” which follows, turns that around as guitarist Florian Karg moves to keys and dares to add both progressivism and melody to coincide with that existential downtrodding. Fellow guitarist Philipp Seiler, standup-bassist Stephan Leeb and drummer Marian Waibl complete the four-piece, and Impending Bloom is their first long-player as Black Air. They ultimately keep that post-Earth spirit in the seven-minute title-track, but sneak in a more active stretch after four minutes in, not so much paying off a build — that’s still to come in “A New-Found Calm” — = as reminding there’s life in the wide spaces being conjured. The penultimate “The Language of Rocks and Roots” emphasizes soul in the guitar’s swelling and receding volume, while closer “Array of Lights,” even in its heaviest part, seems to rest more comfortably on its bassline. In establishing a style, the Vienna-based outfit come through as familiar at least on a superficial listen, but there’s budding individuality in these songs, and so their debut might just be a herald of blossoming to come.
Oh yeah, you over it? You tired of the bongslaught of six or seven dozen megasludge bands out there with ‘bong’ in their name trying to outdo each other in cannabinoid content on Bandcamp every week? Fine. I don’t care. You go be too cool. I’ll pop on “Ganjalf” and follow the smoke to oh wait what was I saying again? Fuck it. With some Dune worked in for good measure, Adelaide, Australia’s Bong Coffin build a sludge for the blacklands on “Worthy of Mordor” and shy away not a bit from the more caustic end their genre to slash through their largesse of riff like the raw blade of an uruk-hai shredding some unsuspecting villager who doesn’t even realize the evil overtaking the land. They move a bit on “Messiah” and “Shaitan” and threaten a similar shove in “Nightmare,” but it’s the gonna-read-Lovecraft-when-done-with-Tolkien screams and crow-call rasp of “Träskkungen” that gets the prize on Bong Coffin‘s debut for me, so radly wretched and sunless as it is. Extreme stoner? Caustic sludge? The doom of mellows harshed? You call it whatever fucking genre you want — or better, don’t, with your too-cool ass — and I’ll march to the obsidian temple (that riff is about my pace these days) to break my skull open and bleed out the remnants of my brain on that ancient stone.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 4th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The video below for the track ‘Green Rider,’ which opens the forthcoming Vision Quest full-length debut from Philadelphia’s High Leaf — also stylized all-caps: HIGH LEAF — is the first studio recording the band have made public. For any act, let alone one who’ve put in the effort of social media push that High Leaf have, spreading the word even before there was much word to spread, that’s a huge moment in the existence of a project.
And as an initial single, “Green Rider” represents Vision Quest well, its unabashed stoner rock ideology tempered with a bit of sludgy edge and a new-school weedianism based around classic, steady-rolling riffery. You would not accuse it of trying to break down genre barriers so much as to find a place within them to dwell and evolve, which for a self-releasing band starting out — even if it’s not the first outfit for one or any of the players involved — is an encouraging beginning point. One of the aspects that’s been most impressive about High Leaf embarking on this release is how enthusiastically they’ve been in diving into the heavy rock underground, and frankly, it’s nice to (finally) have a song to demonstrate what they’re bringing to it.
Live dates (previously posted but still relevant) are included below, along with various links to the single and their announcement of the clip, which melds together psych visuals with public domain-style clips. Pretty sure I saw some of Reefer Madness in there, which is a fit.
Have at it:
HIGH LEAF – Green Rider
No more teasing! It’s here! We proudly present our first single “Green Rider” off our debut album “Vision Quest”!
Vision Quest will be available on all digital platforms and Bandcamp May 5th!
HIGH LEAF live: 04/21/2023 @ The Depot- Baltimore with Indus Valley Kings 04/29/2023 @ The Long Island Sludge, Doom and Metal Fest 04/30/2023 @ The Union Firehouse- Mt. Holly, NJ with Sleep Signals, Silvertung, Sick Century 05/05/2023 @ The Gem- Spring City, PA 06/03/2023 @ Silk City, Philadelphia, PA. (ALBUM RELEASE SHOW) w/ Ritual Earth & Thunderbird Divine 06/22/2023 @ The Maryland Doom Fest- Fredrick, Maryland
HIGH LEAF on ‘Vision Quest’: Patrick Fiore – Lead Guitar Corey Presner – Vocals/Guitar Marc Lampasona – Drums Matt Rib – Bass
HIGH LEAF is: Patrick Fiore- Lead Guitar Corey Presner- Vocals/Guitar Brian Schmidt- Bass Dean Welsh- Drums
Philadelphia’s Laurel Canyon make their self-titled full-length debut on March 31 through Agitated Records. The narrative is murky — which fits, aesthetically, even though the band isn’t — but the 10-song/37-minute offering fuzz-buzzes with immediate swagger on well-placed opening cut “Drop Out,” tapping indie chic screwall with garage rock swing and heavy grunge impulse and a point of view in the vocals and wah-overload of guitarist/bassist Nick Gillespie and guitarist/vocalist Serg Cereja of persistently lacking the fucks that might otherwise be given.
It’s a hard line to walk, let alone have drummer Dylan DePice bash away under the throaty moans of “Madame Hit the Wire” — which may or may not be about prostitution; haven’t seen a lyric sheet, and whoever between Cereja and Gillespie is singing lead, there’s a heroic dose of drawl in the delivery; again, fitting — but Laurel Canyon, though they take their name from the Los Angeles epicenter of 1960s folk-rock/prog exploration, are way more Seattle circa 1989, and on “Drop Out” and side B’s two-minute in-room “Tangiers,” they’ve got the Steve Albini production to prove it, lest we forget dude tracked In Utero, while other songs were helmed by Bryce Goggin, whose massive discography includes work with The Lemonheads, Pavement, earlier and later Swans, among scores of others.
There’s a fair amount happening at any given time, but the will toward rawness is palpable. Don’t take that as indication that the arrangements are unconsidered, as throughout the record Laurel Canyon again and again dare to underscore that kind of fall-asleep-standing-up-or-am-I-nodding-out attitude with solidified (sub) pop structure and accessibility. Not an easy balance to strike, and the fact that “Eczema” brazenly taps “Come as You Are” creeper-verse vibes before its chorus explodes with more of a ’70s Detroit burst and “Tangiers” seems to translate the bassline of “Lithium” to guitar assures that the message gets through.
In 2021, the band issued two startup digital singles, “Two Times Emptiness” and “Enemy Lines,” both of which featured a style more born out of post-punk, but kick enough dirt on it and the shift between those songs and “Daddy’s Honey” — which was the lead track on early-2022’s Victim EP that featured Dylan Loccarini on bass and also featured “Eczema,” “Shove,” “Victim” and “Sade,” all included here, the latter closing — makes a kind of sense in the timeline. If they’re shy about anything, it’s the conscious choice that was inevitably behind the shift in approach, but the sort of full-volume post-Reagan hopelessness in the penultimate “Take Your Cut,” the jangle of guitar there when the distortion isn’t in its more consuming fullness, is the best argument in favor of itself, the trio coming across genuine in having arrived at grunge the way grunge arrived in the first place: punks too lazy or stoned to fit themselves in that genre’s rigid definition reveling in grit and the looking-around-for-the-first-time cynicism of a generation coming of age in an increasingly awful, dying world.
Does it matter that they were maybe-born when Kurt Cobain roamed the earth? Only if you’re an asshole. Relative youth — that is, pre-30 — is an asset across Laurel Canyon, freeing the band to speak to these influences while filling in the inevitable gaps with their own stylistic character, which, thankfully, they do, in the blowout jam of “Victim” and elsewhere. Of the 10 inclusions, “Madame Hit the Wire” and the probably-not-coincidentally-preceding “A Man About Town” and “Take Your Cut” seem to be the only ones not previously released, but the value of having it all in one place isn’t to be understated, even as the march through “Daddy’s Honey,” “Tangiers,” “Shove” and “Take Your Cut” feels all-in on loose-wrist three-chord strum, variously interpreted as it may be with “Shove” letting in a bit more sunlight while “Tangiers” comes through demo-tape barebones and “Take Your Cut” meets wobbly wah with stage-born reverb and feedback, its intensity showing itself in the fact that they’re in and out in under three minutes as much as in the tube-blowing scorch of the finish.
Side A’s primo hooks in “Drop Out,” “A Man About Town,” “Madame Hit the Wire” (also the longest song at 5:33, with due strut), “Eczema” and “Victim” manifest character as well as style, burgeoning individualism of craft alongside deceptively clear, resonant artistic purpose. A reboot disdainful of reboot culture, in some ways at least, the album lends fresh perspective to what was while casually dropping encouraging clues as to what might or could be. The kids — swallowed whole by rampant corporate greed amid mass shootings so normalized they barely register anymore and in a decade still very much with the shadow of plague cast over it — may or may not be alright, but they can write a tune, and they’re only correct to be pissed off, burnt out, and as disillusioned as they seemingly are.
So yeah, punk rock, and likely to be embraced more by arthouse than warehouse for its disposition, but that’s hardly their fault. It’s not a perfect release and if it was it would be wrong, but listening to the shine on that initial guitar of “Drop Out” and the understated tumult that ensues, Laurel Canyon leave little question that they are what they need to be in terms of time, place and attack, playing softer-landing verses and no-kicks-slam-dancing choruses off each other like it’s Reading Festival in 1992, except it’s not that thing and fuck your Gen-X nostalgia anyway. Ultimately, Laurel Canyon has more to say about the future than the past, especially about the band itself, who even as they round out with “Sade” still sound like they’re about to come flying apart. Where does this go 10 years from now, one wonders, since that’s the part of the story that’s never been told before.
And who the hell knows if it’ll be told this time either; universe of infinite possibility and all that. Laurel Canyon can call it quits tomorrow and be done before their first album is even released, but the point here goes beyond their potential or the revivalist aspects of this work. It’s the sense of exploration in the material that makes it exciting, the feeling that the songs — despite being a couple years old — are new to the band as well as to the listener, and with the added intrigue of how they got to where they are sound-wise, the abiding impression is that there’s further they can push it and themselves as they move forward. Here’s hoping.
Laurel Canyon‘s Laurel Canyon is streaming in full below, followed by more info from the PR wire.
Please enjoy:
Strap yourself in people, we have here the debut full length from Philly’s Laurel Canyon; after some online EP releases, and a (now) sold out 7″ with Savage Pencil, Agitated Records is excited to announce the release of their self-titled album! Guitars are drenched in an Asheton worshipping haze and pummel, melded alongside a Velvets chug and mid-to-late 80s Pacific Northwest guttural / primal howl… this is American primitive music at its most powerful. Pigeonholers beware, this album takes its cues from all the most potent places… Funhouse, Loaded, Green River, early Sub Pop, all providing valid reference points.
In amongst this over-amped harmonious murk are 10 visceral and catchy pop songs practically screaming for attention, the core members of Serg, Nick, and Dylan have created a beast of a record.
Some tracks were recorded with Steve Albini, some with Bryce Goggin and all were mastered by Howie Weinberg.
The band played 40 chaotic shows in 2022 alone from New York City to Los Angeles, where they opened for Agent Orange and Strawberry Alarm Clock on two separate occasions at the Whisky a Go Go.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 13th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Philadelphia’s Lotus Thrones, who now have a full live lineup behind founding auteur Heath Rave (above), will release their second full-length, The Heretic Souvenir, on April 7 through Seeing Red Records. “Roses” is the third single from the record, which follows a series of seasonally themed EPs, some by-the-by covers and the 2021 debut, Lovers in Wartime, and in listening to the album for the first time yesterday, I was pretty blown away start to finish. Rave puts bands and entire styles through an individualized filter and comes out with something likewise fresh and familiar, and gothic metal and rock is a big part of it — lots of Sisters of Mercy vibes at the foundation — but not necessarily all that’s happening at any given moment.
“Roses” is a rocker, and more so than some of the other inclusions surrounding — you can also see clips below for opener “Gore Orphanage” and the abidingly cynical “B0T0XDR0NE$,” which follows directly on The Heretic Souvenir — but keep an ear out for when the organ slides in alongside the guitar and the track goes full-on Type O Negative for its second half. As someone who’s missed Lotus Thrones‘ work to this point, that was a delightful blindside, and one of many placed throughout a record that genuinely comes across as more focused on its own expression than stylistic confirmity.
Not gonna be an album for everyone, but there will be plenty who worship at its feet. I need to listen a few more times to be sure, I might be one among the converted.
With less than a month to go until the release of the project’s highly anticipated second album, riff-laden industrial, post-punk outfit LOTUS THRONES has released a goth rocking new single titled “Roses.” Watch the accompanying music video here.
“‘Roses’ is inspired by my love for my daughter and the journey we’ve been and since she came into the world. While many roads have changed and the map is more complex, the most important thing in my day to day life is her and she made me want to write a big goddamn rock song.” – Heath Rave
Helmed by multi-instrumentalist Heath Rave (ex-WOLVHAMMER, ex-ACROSS TUNDRAS), LOTUS THRONES will release it’s sophomore record, “The Heretic Souvenir,” on April 7th, 2023 via Disorder Recordings (CD/Digital) and Seeing Red Records (Vinyl).
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 7th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
It was only like a week and a half ago that Philadelphia heavy rockers HIGH LEAF announced their new lineup, but they warned then that word of their debut album was impending, and here we are. The record in question is called Vision Quest, and, well, I hope it’s good because at this point I’ve posted about the band three times with nothing more to go on as regards their sound than the video you can see below at the bottom of this post (as well as the other two). I haven’t heard any of it yet, and have basically been going based on that clip and the clear professionalism with which they present themselves, at least as far the genre goes.
That is to say, they’re not wearing suits and talking about the quarter’s profits, but for a band following where the riffs go, their beginning hasn’t been subject to the same stumbling sensibilities of so many others getting their collective shit together. To wit, three press releases and no audio yet. I hear tell that’s about to change, at least as they start sending out review downloads of the album, once again called Vision Quest.
Fair enough. I guess if I hear it and it’s terrible or not a fit at all or whatever, you’ll know because I won’t post about them again, but I’ve got a decent feeling going into it and my hopes are up, come what may. May 5, to be precise.
Pop goes the PR wire:
HIGH LEAF Announces debut Album “Vision Quest”, Release is set for May 5th, 2023!
The wait is FINALLY over! HIGH LEAF (ALL CAPS) will be self-releasing their debut album “Vision Quest” on Riffslayer Records Friday, May 5th. It will be available on all digital platforms, and also on CD. You can pre save the album on Spotify here:https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/highleaf/vision-quest
Recorded last September (with their original lineup) at Retro City Studios in Philadelphia with Joe Boldizar (Ruby the Hatchet, Age Of Truth, Ecstatic Vision) over 5 days, the band worked tirelessly to capture the unique essence of each song.
The Mixes were engineered by Patrick Fiore (HIGH LEAF) and Joe Boldizar at Retro City Studios over the course of a month. The album was mastered by 4x Grammy Award Winner Will Borza (Deftones, 30 Seconds to Mars, ZZ Top) at Borza Mastering in California.
The band will also be having an Album Release show on June 3rd at Silk City in Philadelphia, PA. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/4521556/high-leaf-philadelphia-silk-city in advance for $12.
Vision Quest Track List: 1. Green Rider 2. Vision Quest 3. Subversive 4. Dead Eye 5. Hard to Find 6. Painted Desert 7. March to The Grave 8. The Rot
You can catch the band live at: 04/21/2023 @ The Depot- Baltimore with Indus Valley Kings 04/29/2023 @ The Long Island Sludge, Doom and Metal Fest 04/30/2023 @ The Union Firehouse- Mt. Holly, NJ with Sleep Signals, Silvertung, Sick Century 05/05/2023 @ The Gem- Spring City, PA 06/03/2023 @ Silk City, Philadelphia, PA. (ALBUM RELEASE SHOW) w/ Ritual Earth & Thunderbird Divine 06/22/2023 @ The Maryland Doom Fest- Fredrick, Maryland
HIGH LEAF on this recording: Patrick Fiore – Lead Guitar Corey Presner – Vocals/Guitar Marc Lampasona – Drums Matt Rib – Bass
HIGH LEAF is: Patrick Fiore- Lead Guitar Corey Presner- Vocals/Guitar Brian Schmidt- Bass Dean Welsh- Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 27th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Among the crucial bits of information here as regards nascent Philadelphia heavy rockers HIGH LEAF is that they prefer their moniker written in all-caps. Also that they have a new rhythm section, having brought in Brian Schmidt and Dean Welsh on bass and drums, respectively, at some recent temporal juncture. You might recall in Sept. 2022 they entered Retro City Studios in to record their debut offering with producer Joe Boldizar — whose Philly cred wants for nothing with the likes of The Age of Truth, Ruby the Hatchet and Ecstatic Vision on the CV, among others — and given the hint below toward an actual release for said full-length, I’m assuming it’s done. Introducing the lineup, I guess they kind of had to say something about it, if only to avoid the first and most obvious question they’d otherwise be asked. By me if no one else.
After reading the initial announcement guitarist Patrick Fiore sent over, I was curious to see if Schmidt and Welsh actually feature on the recording, or what the timing was on their arrival in the group, which wasn’t originally mentioned. I hit up Fiore and asked about putting the band together again. Turns out it’s the older lineup on the record, as the change didn’t happen until December. Fair enough. Seems like it was pretty smooth, as far as reformations go.
I didn’t ask, but I wonder too if there’s a label behind it as yet, or if one will be. HIGH LEAF have put a lot into a professional presentation for a band just getting started — even the shirts they sell on Bandcamp are full-color screens — and the feeling I get is they’re looking to catch as many ears and eyes as they can, make an impact. I’ve got my hopes up at this point that the music stands up to that when it arrives.
They’ll be at Maryland Doom Fest in June, which frankly would be enough for me to want to write about them even without any of the other stuff they have going on. JB doesn’t book BS.
Here’s their update:
Philadelphia Stoner Rock Band HIGH LEAF announce 2023 Lineup
After a short winter hibernation, Philadelphia Stoner Rock quartet HIGH LEAF (All Caps) has shaken off the frost to announce their NEW 2023 lineup and first shows of the year. You can also be on the lookout for information regarding the band’s debut album and single coming in the next few weeks!
Patrick Fiore on reforming the band/new members: “Losing half the band in December was kinda a shock to us. We weren’t really anticipating having to replace half of a band. We had just finished recording our debut album, and were in the process of shopping the record and getting positive responses back. Unfortunately, their departure kinda slowed everything down due to the uncertainty around the band. We were lucky that our long time friend Brian Schdmit’s (who we have known for about 10 years) band was breaking up so we asked him to join on bass. Brian then suggested his friend Dean Welsh to try out on drums for us, and Dean was an amazing fit. It really didn’t take long for us to gel. We even played a show with only four weeks of practice! We are really excited to have these guys on board and look forward to the music we will create together.”
As for the debut Album: ” Last September we recorded our debut album at Retro City Studios (Ruby the Hatchet, Age of Truth, Ecstatic Vision) with Joe Boldizar in Philadelphia, PA. We are really proud of the way the album came out, and look forward to sharing it with the world. We are planning a late spring/early summer release for the album, with a detailed announcement coming within the next two weeks.”
You can catch the band live at: 4/30/2023 @ The Union Firehouse- Mt. Holly, NJ with Sleep Signals, Silvertung, Sick Century 06/22/2023 @ The Maryland Doom Fest- Fredrick, Maryland
HIGH LEAF is Patrick Fiore- Lead Guitar Corey Presner- Vocals/Guitar Brian Schmidt- Bass Dean Welsh- Drums
Posted in audiObelisk on February 14th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Yes, Valentine’s Day is commercial schlock that’s taken the pagan love of screwing and the already co-opted Catholic hackery subsequent to it and adding capitalist greed for a final punch of awfulness to create a day that not only isn’t about love so much as making one feel inadequate, lonely and obligated to spend money. As holidays go, it’s pretty high on the bullshit scale. From the price of roses to the gendered performance of obligation, I have a hard time imagining a worse incarnation of a holiday that’s supposed to be about love or one that’s easier to hate in itself. And I lead a life that’s full of love. Every day. So no, I’m not just lonely.
Enter Thunderbird Divine, who stand in persistent and ready contrast to that-which-is-generally-terrible. The Philadelphia heavy psych rockers started off 2023 by unveiling the surprise cover of The Osmonds‘ “Crazy Horses” (premiered here), and in a similarly playful spirit, they offer the below take on Barry White‘s “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Babe” as a Valentine’s special. The track first appeared on the soul legend’s 1973 debut album, I’ve Got So Much to Give — the cover art above is a port from the album’s less walrusized original — and across its six-plus minutes as interpreted by Thunderbird Divine, the hook and characteristically sultry vibes become fodder for weirdo psych duggery, drifting guitar over a solid underlying rhythm, spoken word obscured by effects, and so on. Thunderbird Divine‘s cover is actually shorter than the original at 6:40, but it is still plenty of time for it to put you in the mood, either for love or maybe a snack, depending on your disposition.
It’s not Thunderbird Divine‘s first engagement either with the ’70s or with a particularly funky psychedelia — if only there was a handy portmanteau for that — but it’s good fun, and anything that injects actual enjoyment into Valentine’s Day is more than welcome as far as I’m concerned. You’ll hear White sampled, and other oddball additions to the foundation of the track, and sure enough, it flows with easy swagger. You’ll recall Thunderbird Divine‘s last studio release — before “Crazy Horses” — was 2020’s The Hand of Man EP (review here). They had been working on new originals as of 2020, but if they’ve shifted their attention toward building a backlog of cover tunes, well, I’m not hearing anything thus far in these two — or their prior jab at The Yardbirds, for that matter — to make me want to argue.
Send it to someone you love. If the response is positive, you know it’s meant to be. However it works out, I wish you more actual love and fewer manufactured celebrations.
Enjoy:
Thunderbird Divine, “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Babe” (Barry White cover) track premiere
Philly’s Psych Rock Collective, Thunderbird Divine, Releases Barry White Cover for Valentine’s Day
Thunderbird Divine serenades you for Valentine’s Day with a fresh recording of Barry White’s first classic solo tune, “I’m Gonna Love You a Little More, Babe.” The six-plus-minute psych-funk cover might seem an odd choice for any rock band other than Thunderbird Divine.
“Honestly, we all just dig the song,” says Erik Caplan, the band’s vocalist/guitarist/player-player-of-odd instruments. “(Drummer) Mike Stuart fell in love with that funked-up groove, and that opening riff is just too much fun to play.”
Naturally, the biggest challenge in tackling an R&B opus of this stature was the vocal line, which originally featured White’s signature baritone, not to mention his famous narration.
“Not gonna lie, that frankly scared me,” Caplan explains. “I’m not The Love Walrus, and, really, nobody is. Barry White had this ability to deliver a song with sincerity and frank smoothness. Not everyone can do that. My bandmates were encouraging, (Keys player) Jack Falkenbach told me ‘Don’t worry about doing it like Barry. Do it like you.’ And of course he was right. Jack usually is.”
As for the meat of the song itself, there are some notable deviations from the original to match Thunderbird Divine’s sonic sensibilities.
“We had to do our own thing with it,” says Caplan. “That certainly meant honoring the original, but it had to have our stamp on it. So we added some drones, mellotron, electric sitar, backwards stuff, Barry himself, ranting about cutting a spot for Paul Quinn college, a bass VI solo… but the root of the song is anchored by (bassist) Josh Solomon and Mike. Once we had that foundation, we were free to explore and build.”
The tune is available at the price of “Pay what you want” at Thunderbird Divine’s bandcamp page.
Thunderbird Divine is: Erik Caplan – guitar/lead vocals/theremin/etc. Jack Falkenback – keyboard/vocals Josh Solomon – bass/vocals Mike Stuart – drums/vocals
