by Meredith Schneider | Jan 17, 2018 | 5 to 7
**Originally published Oct 22, 2016. Reposted with permission from the author.
Yesterday, the Dean Ween Group unleashed their debut album under the direction of founding member and frontman Dean Ween (Mickey Melchiondo). Formerly of the notorious American alternative rock band Ween (begun in 1984) – and still pulling inspiration from past work – Dean Ween has brought a new flare and energy to his catalogue with this new work. A rotating cast of incredible musicians finds their home with the musical project, various talents displayed on the recordings that were created in the incredible new(er) space that Dean Ween built from the ground up.
Shortly before the release of The Deaner Album, we got to sit down and speak with Dean Ween himself. Here’s a little bit from one of the most influential alternative musicians of our time.
Tell me about the studio you’re working from today.
Sure. I’ve ran it – and no exaggeration – over 25 buildings since when we started. It’s very hard to find a place where sound is not an issue, you know, privacy, security, neighbors, all that. So finally after being at this for 32 years, my friend’s father owns 200 acres and offered to work with me on my own spot. He’s a younger father, like only in his 50s. I’m 46 as of today. Yesterday was my birthday actually.
Oh wow, happy birthday!
Thank you. So, he said if you build a nice place you can have it. So I did, and sunk about $150,000 into it. Borrowed and built this beautiful place that I call my forever studio. It’s in the woods, I’m here all day everyday and all night every night. Every instrument, cable, amplifier I’ve ever owned is all here, it’s all set up. It’s very hard to force a studio into a vintage house. You know, we’ve had to do that – use the living room as a recording room, control room. So, I have everything perfect. It’s a gigantic live room for a band to play in, everything is mic’d up. Then there’s a giant control room with monitors, talk back, kitchens and showers and bathrooms. Musicians can stay here. You could blow up a bomb in here and you wouldn’t hear it outside since its soundproof.
We built it with being a studio in mind. We made it totally perfect and right. It’s so relaxing when you come here. It’s like a second home. We’re so respectful of it. I do not- a lot of time over the years, studios were too close to the bar, and the place turned into a hang, after hours. So it was very important to me that never happen here. So the couple years I’ve been here I respect it, and we keep it very clean. It’s very relaxing when you walk in. It’s all esthetically fun to look at and play with. I tell people don’t bring your junk here. I’ll put it outside if you do. I don’t want your broken amps or guitars. No I don’t want that poster. Take it with you when you leave.
Every time we move out of a place we end up throwing out half the shit- it’s like stuff that doesn’t work or will never get used. Some junk someone left while crashing there.
Well it’s cool to have your own space and establish your own rules.
Yeah. It’s really gorgeous.
Before all this happened, Ween, The Dean Ween Group… what’s the first album or song you remember listening to, and who introduced it to you?
Wow. That’s going back too far- I can remember pivotal things. Radio was a huge thing for me. Just seeing that radio isn’t as important as it used to be. That’s where you went. Even MTV doesn’t show videos anymore – it’s like reality shows. The local station would play the top 5 at 5 every night. The 5 most requested songs. So the fans were actually choosing them. I remember buying the 45s and taped the songs at 5, and would use my tape decks to edit out the announcer talking. Which was really hard.
I remember watching Teen Tot with my babysitter on Saturday Night Live – Steve Martin doing it – and she worked at like Gimbles the old department store. She bought it for me and the next time she babysat me she brought it and I was so happy. I listened to them and I still have it actually.
Musically, my babysitter had a bad brother. He was a bad kid, same age, and had his older brother’s record collection and A-tracks. I remember going over there and hearing Sleeper and Ziggy Stardust. The first *record* record I got on my own that I really coveted and wore out was the Beatles Red Album 1962 – 1966. Then they put out The Blue Record, 1966 – 1970. They had the lyrics with them. That was the thing that changed it with me. Reading the lyrics you know, “Yellow Matter Custard”, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, all that. Just the visuals that went along with the lyrics are just so freaking great. I wore that record out until the needle went out the other side of the record.
Was that around the time that you decided you were going to pursue music?
I didn’t really know that until later. My father owned a car lot. There was a music store across the street. And I’ve learned this as a father, I don’t want to buy expensive stuff if I think it’s going to be a passing thing. And I want to be there to support him, but want him to appreciate it. So, my father bought me this guitar, it was probably unplayable. But I made it playable, made it look cool with stickers, painted it. Kinda sounded like a chord when you belted all six strings. I would play it with myself. Which meant I couldn’t play minor chords or you know, too much with it, but I was off to a start.
Then I really wanted a drum set after that. I had two cassette decks, so I would record the drums first, the foundation, I was like 11. And then I’d put the guitar on it. Of course I needed a bass but it was all cheap stuff. And then my father realized that I was really, really into this. And I started taking lessons, and at Christmas one year, I was like 13, he got me a real guitar, a Fender, and I started taking lessons, learning how to play without just that one chord. I was recording every day, starting to see concerts. I wanted to be that guy really badly. Not a singer, but a guitar player.
Yeah, my drumming was really good, still is. I played drums on the Ween records, people don’t realize that. You know I remember an interview once where Kurt Cobain said he wanted to be as big as Sonic Youth. That was his goal. And that really stuck with me. Because, it was the same thing with us, except, we wanted to be the Butthole Surfers. As big as the Butthole Surfers. I mean, that was my goal. I thought if we could get to that point, then we were really famous and really good.
I didn’t think about what I was going to do after high school. I wasn’t going to college, I knew Aaron wasn’t going to college, we figured we were just going to work. We wanted to get an apartment together, so we did the day we graduated high school. We made music there pretty much 24/7. We had been doing that in my parent’s bedroom for like 6 years already. So we had a lot of experience recording ourselves. We got a multi-track recorder, a 4 track, instead of just dubbing two tapes back and forth. I knew we weren’t going to go to college, I didn’t know where Ween was going to go, but as it turns out, we had put all our energy in the right places, and we got signed that summer.
So there was never really any guesswork to it. So that was in 1989, and our debut record came in 1990. It was a double record. It was almost to me like a greatest hit, of like 7 years of Ween. We had that much experience. So we got that one out of the way, the second and third ones were almost done already. The second one came out and we got signed. Then we were on Warner Brothers all of the sudden. So I never really had to think about it much. Like I said, we put our energy in the right places. We worked really, really, really hard on being good.
You know, it seems like a whirlwind thing, but it’s not. When Ween started out, it was very experimental and noisy. And it sounded like two twelve year olds, you know. But within a few years, we were happening. We were writing really clean songs. Choruses that you could remember, that were catchy, my parents were hearing it, they loved it. You know, I was still doing the same exact thing, it’s incredible. Really nothing has changed on the front end. I still work exactly the same way I did back then, you know, but with better music.
I heard there was about a year after Ween where you didn’t work with your guitar, really?
It was more like 6 or 7 months, I don’t really think that much about that. I’ve suffered from anxiety my entire life. Depression is something that was never in my vocabulary. I’ve never been depressed but when Ween split up, I lost everything. All I’d ever done was that. I mean, I’ve told you how long I’ve been at it, I just knew I couldn’t get out of bed, eat, shower, go out. The guitar was just another thing that got ignored during that 8 months. I didn’t mow the lawn either. I just didn’t do anything, just ran up debt. Only battle with depression I ever had. I was stuck. I really empathize with people who have it now.
If it weren’t for my friends, my friends saved my life, they were like, “You have to start playing again. You have to force yourself, even if you’re not into it. Go out. You don’t realize how much you miss it.” So I started and it didn’t feel right. But it took, and they were right. I got a band together, called it the Dean Ween Group, said “fuck it I’m still Dean Ween.” And when does Johnny Ramone cease to be Johnny Ramone? He dies, that’s the answer. Even when the Ramones broke up he was still Johnny Ramone. And with Ween being a duo and all that, I didn’t know who I was. Hard to explain, I lost my confidence, my career, my identity, sense of worth. Love. Hobby. Passion. I’ll never make that mistake again.
You’ve been working on The Deaner Album for a hot second. Any fun anecdotes from the recording process?
Yeah, it took a while to make, and then it happened like a tornado. When I got it going I really got it going. Up until that point, I had like two songs from like a year before and then it just like caught. I ended up replacing those songs with newer ones, when I was like totally back, when the group was happening and touring. People were commenting and fans wouldn’t go away, and good stuff like that. So the anecdotes have more to do with building the studio, and watching it go up, and really just visualizing it. Fantasizing about how long I was going to be in the studio. I swore I would come here every day, and do a song a day. All day, every day, all night. And I have for a couple years now. So I have this enormous catalog, just ready to go. The second Dean Ween record is done. It’s ready to go. It’s better than the first one, and I can’t wait to get it out there.
But for the touring, we’re playing everything. I don’t have to play Ween songs unless I feel like it. Which, I do, they’re mine too.
“Exercise Man” is pretty witty. What inspired that song?
I sang it to my son when he was like 2 or 3 in the car every time we saw some idiot jogging or riding his bike in the snow at 6 am. i would make up lyrics to songs and we’d sing them. Ironically enough I’ve recorded a few of them, he’s 15 now, they were just funny ideas. A lotta people say ween makes children’s music and I guess that’s partially true. evidenced by how many kid’s shows we’ve been involved in—especially spongebob.
Do you have a favorite song off of this album, by chance?
YES. “Bundle of Joy” is my hands down favorite. It was one of the last songs I wrote for the album too.
You have a pretty extensive tour coming up.
Yeah, that’s the first leg of it. We’re going to be out all of next year. We might even go overseas.
What are you most looking forward to about getting out on the road?
The food. I eat much better on the road because normal people need to eat a few times a day. The restaurants where I live totally suck. Honestly, the music and the camaraderie, read the lyrics to Willie Nelson’s “On the Road again”, Willie has a way of summing things up perfectly and that song is about touring. traveling will always represent the epitome of the American dream, especially for a young man. Getting to meet people and play music for them, the road is where u get all the love back from the people you’re hoping to reach with your music.
You have a fishing charter business? HOW do you find time to do all of these things?
I am very busy, just leave at that. even having a few spare hours feels like a victory. I took some time off to go fishing two nights ago and I enjoyed every second of it.
The Deaner Album is out now.
**Originally published Oct 22, 2016. Reposted with permission from the author.
by Meredith Schneider | Jan 10, 2018 | albums, wolf tracks
Recently, Lakeland, Florida alternative musician Luke Wilmoth released a four track EP that is absolutely blissful to listen to. First track “Slow Dance” makes us feel ready for late spring nights, early summer evenings with the light glow of the sun on our shoulders as we bathe ourselves in rose colored glasses. In fact, it’s that easy-going feeling of summertime outdoors in the heat that this EP evokes for us. Which, honestly, as misplaced as that may seem in the midst of the crazy weather we’ve been having, it actually provides a soundscape escape that really adds color to those gray, dreary days that have been flooding our collective existence lately.
“San Pellegrino” feels like turn of the century indie to us, the most positive sounds to a song that has many more layers than you could realize with just one listen. “I Took Your Picture Off the Wall” resembles that same time period, and that isn’t just because of the novel-like title of the track. Light as a feather rock really keeps our hips swaying, and once again we can’t do anything but imagine ourselves singing along to this at an outdoor venue with Wilmoth himself leading us on vocals. Fourth track “Pinwheel” rounds it all out very nicely, a slight amount of additional edge to it with deeper guitar riffs and harder hitting percussion. Don’t get us wrong, the song still belongs at the ending of your next blockbuster romantic comedy, but it’s beautiful and endearing in its sound, enough to make us look forward to celebrating life and love this year.
Keep Luke Wilmoth on your radar by following him here.
by Meredith Schneider | Dec 6, 2017 | wolf tracks
Alternative rock/pop punk collective Valencia isn’t the only musical project Shane Henderson is lending his talents to these days. (That’s right. For those of you residing under a rock, Valencia is BACK!) In fact, his solo alternative/acoustic project Promise of Redemption found its start back in 2004 and happens to have just followed up 2016’s “Where You Ought To Be” with a new EP titled Before & After. The 6 track collection takes you on a mellow, beautiful journey that actually began a decade ago, as the songs were all written during and immediately following When The Flowers Bloom… was released in 2007. Explains Henderson of Before & After:
‘Before and After (Demos and B-Sides)’ came together as a celebration of the 10 year anniversary of WTFB. We took some B-sides from ‘When The Flowers Bloom…’ as well as some newer reworked demos from over the years. The six songs on ‘Before and After’ are ones that I think any fan of the album WTFB will love and even fans who have never heard of POR will love. They are six songs that were songs written for a purpose just like the album we are celebrating. I am excited to share these songs with the world in celebration of an album that really let me explore my love of playing music and creativity.
We’re absolutely captivated from beginning to end, especially since we realize we’re basking in the glow of Henderson, who many of us grew up with in our music sphere. And we’re thrilled that he continues to make such heartbreaking and intense music, songs we can relate to as we travel along with him on his musical journey. This one, though? This release is for the books, as it holds both a piece of nostalgia as well as this excited feeling of newness to it all. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ambiance that will fall upon you while listening to Before & After.
Promise of Redemption will be playing two holiday shows, December 29th and 30th, in Philadelphia, PA in which they will play When The Flowers Bloom… in full to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the album. Upcoming shows and tickets are available here.
Before & After (Demos and B-Sides) is available via Know Hope Records.
by Meredith Schneider | Nov 28, 2017 | 5 to 7
Winston-Salem-bred indie rock/alternative collective Foxture – comprised of Marlon Blackmon (Piano/Keyboard, Vocals), Eddie J Reynolds (Guitar), Andrew Irving (Drums), and Ross Barnes (Bass) – is showing us some pretty incredible chops with the release of their E D E N EP, a sparkling, six track collection that seems to bounce right out of the speakers with its energy. From the very beginning, there is no other way to describe what E D E N does better than to call it “groove-inducing,” as your hips are immediately swaying from the time you push “play.” Smooth percussion blends perfectly with Marlon’s ethereal vocals, and you’re transported to another place entirely.
In honor of the release of E D E N, we got a few words with Marlon, and a couple with Eddie. Check it out below, and let us know what you think of the EP!
What is the first song or album you ever remember hearing, and who introduced it to you?
Marlon: The first album I remember hearing was a Greatest hits compilation by the Temptations. I was very very very young, but they were my dad’s favorite artists collectively. I have always lived at least 25 to 30 minutes away from.
I guess there wasn’t really a striking moment beyond the first impression but after listening to those songs over and over, I began to learn the lyrics and their song “My girl” was the first song I learned lyrics to. From that point on I realized that I liked music, and became curious of what else was out there.
Eddie: Outkast’s song “Roses” from their The Love Below album was the first song I remember hearing. I heard that piano drop and 3 stacks yell out “CAROLINE” , and it changed my view on music with how it’s made and how versatile and unique it can be. My brother actually introduced be to it when I was nothing but a few years old. He pulled out a book of CDs, his full collection and asked me to select one of them, and that album stuck out to me. The second I heard it, my eyes lit up.
What is the Foxture origin story like? Was it a meet-cute?
Marlon: Well, Ross (bass) Eddie (guitar) and Andrew (drums) had already known each other from being in a band called Oceans Apart. I (Marlon, vocals and keyboard/synth) had been posting songs that I had recorded in my bedroom on bandcamp and Soundcloud, and people started contacting me for shows. I was just not interested due to stage fright and more specifically, the fear of not being able to replicate the layering of various parts and sounds from the recordings to a live setting influenced my interest on playing shows. So a few days after I released a solo version of our song “Surrealism” a friend of mine, who had been keeping up with what I had been working on, asked if I would be interested in playing her benefit concert for Louder Than Words, which is a benefit to help kids follow their music related dreams no matter their financial status. I thought about it, said yes, and took to a Facebook group for musicians in the area, and made a post asking if anyone wanted to help me out with full versions of songs that I already have (about 4 or 5 songs at this point). Eddie immediately responded and said, “Yo I have a bassist and a drummer” and we met up for practice and have been a band ever since.
Fast forwarding through the month that we had to prepare and learn all 5 songs, the show itself was the most awkward I have ever felt LOL. It was in this gorgeous concert hall at UNCG, under bright, bright, bright fluorescent lights. This was my first ever show, so I was super awkward and uncomfortable and we messed up pretty bad. But I remember walking fast backstage after that performance, sitting on the floor, and saying, “We need to book more shows.” I refused to let THAT performance define us and wanted to overshadow it so badly.
Your EP Eden dropped recently. If this collection of songs were a Thanksgiving meal item – whether it be an app like fancy cheese, the stuffing or cranberry sauce or turkey, or dessert – what would it be and why?
Marlon: Hmmm, I would have to say, red velvet cake. The icing would be reminiscent to the effects that we put into the album, and when you cut into the, soft, fluffy textures that seemingly melt in your mouth, its very satisfying.
Eddie: Mac & Cheese. Get lost in the gooey and cheesy goodness.
The music you make has always had a lightweight feel to it, but Eden has this almost translucent, otherworldly feel to it. Was this a noticeable and purposeful step in your sound, or did it just kind of happen organically?
Marlon: So, this is the sound that we have been trying to hone in on from the beginning. Emotions and feeling can be very abstract things, therefore we want our music to be as dreamlike as possible. We want people to have no choice but to fall into a lucid, hypnotic sense of thinking, and experiencing our music in general.
Any fun anecdotes from the recording process?
Marlon: We often laugh at the fact that I wrote “Understanding pt. 2” before I met the guys, and way before I wrote “understanding pt. 1”. Before I decided to change the name to Foxture, I recorded solo projects under the name “Lock & Key” and after realizing that a million bands and artists had that same name, I wanted something that was my own, that didn’t exist anywhere else. I liked the way foxes carry themselves in the wilderness, so because “Fox posture” didn’t roll off the tongue how I wanted it to, I merged the 2 words into “Foxture”, and “understanding pt. 2” was the first thing that I posted under that name.
What are you most looking forward to about this release?
Marlon: I felt like whatever the understanding series was going to be, THAT would be the second part of it. There was also a creative challenge of looking back at previous instances that inspired “understanding pt. 2” and trying to connect them for my own development as a person. We tend to understand (HAH) things better in hindsight anyway and, at that time, I was experiencing some serious writer’s block and that was a perfect way to open up and articulate the series more accurately.
With this release, we are looking forward to being able to communicate our vision more effectively and accurately. We are more than happy with this record and we had a lot of fun making it as well. I would say this ep is a perfect setup for a full length album, which we are currently working on.
___
And we can’t wait to hear it! E D E N is available now. Keep up with Foxture here.
by Meredith Schneider | Nov 21, 2017 | wolf tracks
Earlier this month, Kentucky-based alternative/indie group Father Mountain – comprised of Travis Cox, Jesse French, Austin Hohiemer, and Zane Martin – released ten track full-length debut Apartment Living. With that title alone, I don’t know a single person who wouldn’t be intrigued to find out if there are shared experiences in the plane of living in actual apartments. Of course, we expected topics to bounce around a little more than that. What we didn’t expect was that the album would make us feel so good.
With vocals laced so thickly with sincerity, Father Mountain completely pulls you into the emotions of every song. “Grey” teaches us not to assume too much about the mood of the track based on its title, while “Sobriety” saunters along in a melancholic sound space. (Slightly as expected.) “Friends” picks up with more of an alt-pop vibe, something that distracts from the self-assessing narrative about the importance of timing and friendship – or otherwise – hitting you when you least expect it. “Grace” exists at just over one minute, discussing the struggle of decision making in relationships, and giving us a line with the word “grey” that feels much more melancholic than the first track. “Hallelujah” has a very distinct Death Cab For Cutie feel to it, winding a narrative about angels and the afterlife, really packing in the religious verbiage and allowing those who attended private school a bit of a leg up when deciphering it.
Keep up with Father Mountain here.
by Meredith Schneider | Nov 19, 2017 | wolf tracks
This weekend, Gainesville-based alternative rock/indie collective The Forum – comprised of Michael Higgins, Nick Wheeler, Jacob Farrell, and Alex Klausner – dropped a surprise 6 track EP into our laps, and we cannot tell you how thrilling it’s been to dig into it. Illuminate initiates its journey with the undeniably upbeat track “Father Hunger” – despite its quirky, almost existential, lyrics – that lures you charmingly right into mid-tempo track “My Chest Is Your Dance Floor”. The title itself is captivating, the song following the narrative of giving someone permission to, for lack of a better term, stomp all over you.
“Neurons” is led by an intricate and fun percussion section, the sound swirling into a relatively upbeat song with more of a veil over it, which can be found in the twinge of darkness in the vocals. By “Stop Singing”, we’re enveloped in bewitching guitar chords as a jazzy feel to the instrumentals appears and continues right into fifth track “Aftertaste”. In fact, there is something about the vocals that keep us playing this one on repeat, so it might take a minute for you guys to catch up as well, but last track “Blue Jay” is this intricately concocted layered track, beginning delicately and then tumbling into a cacophony of crashing symbols and passion. It’s presented as though the song begins as a timid, introvert of a specimen and slowly develops its ability to speak up and completely annihilate the environment around it.
In a good way. Trust us. (But listen to it too.)
Illuminate is out now. Keep up with The Forum here.
by Meredith Schneider | Nov 17, 2017 | wolf tracks
Though his musical prowess spans years of experience in the Los Angeles music scene, Spencer Robinson’s latest indie/alternative folk project – Spencer Robinson and The Wolf Spiders – focuses on a darker sound. And they’re preparing to release a new eight track album on November 24th, so we sat down to listen to it so you can get a feel for what’s to come.
It’s a lot of darkness, but a lot of fun.
Steady percussion begins first track “Drink Gasoline, Spit Fire”, splintering into a 70s rock feel. Once Spencer’s vocals hit, the tone of the song becomes more mysterious than before, as he sings with a jaded attitude – it is essentially a Sons of Anarchy drinking song – that would suggest a true old soul might live “beneath the surface.” While “Killer on The Farm Tonight” might have a title that seems a little off-kilter, it can be a very real fear for people who live in rural areas. (Especially after viewing particularly scary movies.) Still, the lyrics allow it to be a little bit more of a fun song. “Bleed Me” gets pretty vulnerable, as Spencer sings of pulling poison out of his body, a process that can get intimate. Really, if we’re looking for a widely translatable approach, he’s singing about ridding himself of demons and negativity of the past.
But don’t allow yourself to get enveloped by talks of blood, as you’ll soon have to come up for air just to “Enter the Void”. An introspective track, lines like “Are you lost inside your head?” and “What’s it all about?” allow you the distinct pleasure of pondering those thoughts as the song slowly meanders along. And though “September” is now long gone, we don’t have a substantial answer for Spencer’s question as to where it actually went. He goes on to sing about darkness – the coming of shorter days, it seems – and the loss of time, which he spins into having a lack of his own faculties before an abrupt end as he takes his “last breath.” And you won’t be finding any warm fuzzies in “Take Me To The Killing Floor”, but you will find yourself intrigued with the details as the track unfolds. Seventh track “10 Years of Fire” lightens the entire album up instrumentally, replete with chimes. He’s taken ten years of transgressions and thrown them on a contrasting backdrop, while simultaneously allowing even the most ethereal sounds to spin you wildly out of control. He rounds it all out with “Teenage Supernova”, a track that feels slower, like it retrieved more inspiration from California surf rock than a grunge or folk scene. The guitars match that feel, and almost gives off a positive – certainly less-than-jaded – feel of confidence.
If only we could all be Teenage Supernovas…
Beneath The Surface is out November 24th via Rusty Knuckles. Keep up with Spencer Robinson and The Wolf Spiders here.
by Meredith Schneider | Nov 16, 2017 | wolf tracks
Polish alternative band Trupa Trupa – comprised of Grzegorz Kwiatkowski, Tomek Pawluczuk, Wojtek Juchniewicz, and Rafał Wojczal – released an eleven track collection titled Jolly New Songs at the end of October. Packed with intense attitude and reverb for miles, the album’s sound will keep you captivated as it trudges through first track “Against Breaking Heart of a Breaking Heart Beauty” until the last fourth, when it enters into an even darker soundscape and really thrashes into “Coffin”, which enters into the light, indie pop realm with its sound. By the end of it, you spiral into a feeling of falling, which is perfect because the third track is a frantic attention-getter that swirls into a dreamlike state-inducing trance track titled “Falling”. And while “Mist” is darker, led by percussion, the title track keeps a pleasant sound to the vocals, as though it’s staying on the polite end of the soundscape almost because of its title. That’s all well and good, until the song takes on an almost Tim Burton flare and spirals into a heavy instrumental cacophony that feels dangerous and inviting.
“Leave It All” is as melancholic in sound as the title would suggest, though the song itself leans more toward an off-kilter lounge band sound, though the theatrical nature of “Love Supreme” draws us into a Wizard Of Oz-meets-death march realm where Tim Burton’s antics feel slight and far away. “Never Forget” pulls us out of the darkness and plunges us into a dark alleyway, where we’re almost marching forward, decked out in combat boots and a leather jacket. “None of Us” reminds us of a dark and murky lullaby – perhaps for Satan’s children more so than anyone else – with guitar riffs that could swallow your ears whole. The tumultuous instrumentals in “Only Good Weather” remind us of the so-called reliability of the National Weather Service (ha!), replete with waning guitars and a swirling, psych rock bed of sound. And – if you ask us – Trupa Trupa did us a service making the crashing sounds of “To Me” the last track, as it, too, splinters into an uproar of crashing cymbals and intense rock vibes before leveling out and inducing a feeling of calm with its listeners.
Every emotion is palpable with Jolly New Songs. You just have to let it envelope you.
Jolly New Songs is out now. Keep up with Trupa Trupa here.
by Meredith Schneider | Nov 10, 2017 | wolf tracks
Indie alternative pop collective Fond of Rudy recently released their latest single “To Be Mine”, a head-boppin’ pop love song that will get you feeling upbeat and positive in no time. With instrumentals that maintain their modern flare while nodding electronic influence to the 80s, the chorus has that sound that just makes you feel free. Almost as though the instrumentals are pounding out of your chest. And the sweet as sugar lyrics don’t hurt the effect, if we’re being completely honest.
Keep up with Fond Of Rudy here.
