If you’ve been looking for an aesthetic that is vibrant, intricate, and akin to some of the video games you’ve been besting your PR at all pandemic long, then the EELS’ latest video for “The Magic” might just be your cup of tea. While we’re particularly fond of the music itself – with its mass, danceable appeal, and borderline-eery instrumentals – the adventurous layer that the music video adds to the concept is really quite intriguing.
While we’re quite aware that the magic we’re experiencing is CGI-based, it’s interesting to see how much detail went into the 3 minutes and 19 seconds of visual beauty that is presented.
If this is any indication, the EELS have something quite enigmatic up their sleeves for the new year. And I’ll ride that submarine anytime.
Comprised of vocalist/guitarist Matt Connelly and bassist Will O Connor, Wilmah aims to make listeners think while simultaneously creating grooves to make them move. Blending blunt introspection in their approach to songwriting with some humor and multi-genre fusion, the band’s alt-pop sound attempts to make sense of life’s intricacies while retaining some uplifting vibes. Using the opportunity from the pandemic in creating new music, Wilmah returns with a growth in their sound that fully represents themselves as individuals. In succession to the romance and nostalgia based “Television ” and politically charged “Welcome to America”, their new single “Wait Until Tomorrow” aims to reach the psyche and spirits of their audience.
The track immediately hits with a burst of upbeat mix of acoustic and electric guitar licks with the rhythmic punch of 80s new wave-esque drums. The production of this song can automatically get one to think it is a breezy feel-good anthem, while the lyrics seem to tell a different story. As heard in the passionate hook “If you’re gonna break my heart, can it just wait until tomorrow”, Wilmah makes a plea to push off negativity for the time being to revel in temporary happiness. The juxtaposition of the single’s sonic bubbliness with its therapeutic subject matter makes for an interesting anthem that can comfort listeners while not sugarcoating their true feelings.
“Wait Until Tomorrow” drops on November 19th and check out Wilmah’s preceding singles.
Under the moniker Tummyache, producer/artist Soren Bryce blends the spirit of 1980s indie rock with 1990s alternative to forge a DIY rock sound. Fresh off a relocation from the USA to London, Bryce follows up a series of indie projects with her upcoming album Soak. In succession to the project’s first single “D.I.Y”, she dropped the video for the album’s self-titled track on October 22nd.
As a companion to the track’s turbulent nature with its juxtaposition between drowsy vocals and adrenaline-fueled guitars, the music video shows a sense of the artist’s aimlessness morphing into restlessness. The visuals of Bryce wandering against the backdrop of a dreary neighborhood alternates with frantic dancing and strobe lights within the confines of her home, which would reflect the disruption of moving to a new place during the uncertainty of the pandemic. Bryce explains:
“Soak was inspired by newfound neurotic and tedious habits that formed during the isolation of the pandemic, while adjusting to being in a new country. A new kind of forced domesticity caused me to avoid reality and I wasn’t able to fall back on my usual escapism methods. I learned a lot about myself”.
“Soak” is out now on all platforms and check out the music video below! Be on the lookout for Bryce’s eponymous album as Tummyache, releasing imminently.
Local Kansas City punk rockers You Monster You are celebrating Halloween early with the visuals for their new single “Downtown,” the latest from the band’s upcoming album Not Dead Yet, due sometime next year. The release is the third of twelve self-produced tracks they plan on releasing bi-monthly throughout 2021 and 2022.
They declared the song as a love letter to their past when they filled concert halls and bars with their sweeping, breakneck energy and a rallying cry to the future when everyone can reclaim these safe spaces from the pandemic. It’s a stark departure from their last two singles, “Iron” and “Grip,” both of which portray the hardships of enduring the lockdown period for the past year, as it’s instead what the quartet looks forward to and perhaps previously took for granted.
The video perfectly encapsulates the meaning behind its source material, presenting frontman Trent Munsinger as a vampire scouring an assortment of dark corridors for his prey inside of a unique and relatively unknown location in the heart of Kansas City.
Union Station has a third floor that wraps around the building and was used to house soldiers in times of war as well as sporting several bullet holes from the 1950 Kansas City Massacre. Today this historic space is one of the nation’s largest graffiti galleries! The walls and long halls are covered with ever-changing artwork from local KC street artists; giving them a safe place to practice their craft while the rest of the time, it is rented out for thrilling laser tag parties under the name ‘Survive KC.’ It blows our mind that this place is hiding right above us in Union Station, so we saw it as an opportunity to make a charming and campy tale of revenge in a spooky corner of Kansas City that many are completely unaware of.
“Downtown” is available to stream on your favorite platforms today.
Harborcoat’s newest LP, “Joy Is Elusive”, debuts on October 1. The sextet, based in Lansing, Michigan, has created a set of songs that are lyrically thoughtful and musically varied. The band’s influences include R.E.M. (the name Harborcoat is from an R.E.M. song), The Smiths, and Billy Bragg and you can hear the impact of those artists on “Joy Is Elusive”.
Band founder and primary songwriter Matthew Carlson explains:
A record titled ‘Joy Is Elusive’ is almost certainly going to be about depression, anxiety and a lifelong struggle with mental illness. That much is true, but there’s more. I think for so many of us, we deny ourselves true joy, or are too afraid to go out and find it. I know that is certainly true in my own experience. The people and the stories in this record are living lives of survival, not a full life. They’re eking out these threadbare existences of shabby surroundings, little hope and the occasional diversion from their struggles. Those diversions most often come by way of self medication or desperate choices with dire consequences. The lyrical content of the album is buoyed by joyous and dense musical foundations. These songs embrace the ethos of what Tom Waits once called, “Beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.” These songs are like short stories with chords. The band name is pulled from an early R.E.M. gem, and the music brims with nods to our heroes. The songs recall the crunchy power pop and harmonies of Teenage Fanclub; the introspection and melodic storytelling of Billy Bragg; and sprinkled in are moments of 80’s esque Brit-Pop or working-class anthems. These influences, however, do not define the record, but they are merely a strand of DNA in Harborcoat’s collective musical helix.
Just before we began recording the record, my Dad died very suddenly. It seemed very likely, I was not going to be in a spot logistically or emotionally to go through with the sessions. My family, and friends all stepped up and convinced me what a tremendous relief it might be to spend a week recording with friends at the family cabin. It was the best possible diversion. I maintain that you can hear our collective grief between the notes of the record, but maybe I just can’t remove myself from it. The loss of my Dad, the uncertainty of the pandemic and the collective anxieties that come will all of that certainly informed the process and the finished product. It feels now like a tribute to ho him that we were able to create something beautiful from all of that darkness.
Two particular track favorites of mine are ‘Help Me Out Somehow’ and ‘Hear Me, I’m Courageous’. Both have spirited, Indie rock melodies with poignant lyrics. Following the release of “Joy Is Elusive”, Harborcoat heads out on an eight city tour to finish up 2021.
Broken Stars is the latest EP from Jake Benjamin. With Broken Stars, he has created a set of five songs that move effortlessly from one to the next. Benjamin very intentionally has taken us on a journey through not only his mind, but the mind of Vincent Van Gogh. The project “…was inspired by reading the Letters of Vincent van Gogh, a collection of correspondences from Van Gogh to his brother, Theo.”
The first single off the EP is “Hemingway” and it sets the table for all that follows. Benjamin has utilized jazz influences in each song, some more heavily than others – “Hemingway” is one of those. It also has some lyrics that really spoke to me: “You should enjoy, what you don’t understand/I have lost all sense of control/I am on the surface of a life I’ve never known.”
My personal favorite of the five songs is “Heartfelt”. Musically, there are nods to Steely Dan in the arrangements – lush and full of horns. Jake Benjamin’s voice is a perfect accompaniment to his music.
Broken Stars is part of a larger project that is in the pipeline – an LP of the same name. After the release of this EP, we are very excited to see what will be on the LP of Broken Stars. Expands Benjamin:
This EP is a small serving of what the LP version of Broken Stars will be in March 2022. These songs were definitely the earlier writings on the record, they were the gateway into me finding the overall theme of mentality and space. They venture through different atmospheres of mind, artists, and cities. I really consider this collection to be a step further out of my comfort zone lyrically and harmonically.
The recording process of creating these tracks was probably the most ambiguous one I could ever have imagined. I recruited many musicians of many different instruments to play; I got to work with a string quartet, a horn trio, and include artists who brought beauty to these songs. Some of the arranging developed at the studio before Pascal would hit record while other arrangements I had fleshed weeks before the sessions took place. The pandemic really made this into a collecting pieces of the tracks over the course of a year.
Broken Stars is the latest EP from Jake Benjamin. With Broken Stars, he has created a set of five songs that move effortlessly from one to the next. Benjamin very intentionally has taken us on a journey through not only his mind but the mind of Vincent Van Gogh. The project “…was inspired by reading the Letters of Vincent van Gogh, a collection of correspondences from Van Gogh to his brother, Theo.”
The first single off the EP is “Hemingway” and it sets the table for all that follows. Benjamin has utilized jazz influences in each song, some more heavily than others – “Hemingway” is one of those. It also has some lyrics that really spoke to me: “You should enjoy, what you don’t understand/I have lost all sense of control/I am on the surface of a life I’ve never known.”
My personal favorite of the five songs is “Heartfelt”. Musically, there are nods to Steely Dan in the arrangements – lush and full of horns. Jake Benjamin’s voice is a perfect accompaniment to his music.
Broken Stars is part of a larger project that is in the pipeline – an LP of the same name. After the release of this EP, we are very excited to see what will be on the LP of Broken Stars. Benjamin expands:
This EP is a small serving of what the LP version of Broken Stars will be in March 2022. These songs were definitely the earlier writings on the record, they were the gateway into me finding the overall theme of mentality and space. They venture through different atmospheres of mind, artists, and cities. I really consider this collection to be a step further out of my comfort zone lyrically and harmonically.
The recording process of creating these tracks was probably the most ambiguous one I could ever have imagined. I recruited many musicians of many different instruments to play; I got to work with a string quartet, a horn trio, and include artists who brought beauty to these songs. Some of the arranging developed at the studio before Pascal would hit record while other arrangements I had fleshed weeks before the sessions took place. The pandemic really made this into a collecting pieces of the tracks over the course of a year.
Lowertown, the duo comprised of Olivia Osby and Avsha Weinberg, are excited to release their new single “Seaface”. This is the first song from their upcoming EP The Gaping Mouth. Osby and Weinberg spent time in London recording the EP “that they call their most honest, interesting, and mature work to date”. “Seaface” is a tune that combines dreamy lyrics with music that builds from a single guitar to a full mix.
Pick what you want to be, It can be anything. If you close your eyes, It’s fun to imagine Another body, another life.
Despite the constraints of the pandemic, 2020 proved to be a productive time for the pair of 19-year-olds – they graduated high school (where they met in math class), signed to label Dirty Hit and released their EP Honeycomb, Bedbug. 2021 looks like it could be as big a year for Lowertown.
August 7, 2021 was my first show back. Back, from where? Who even knows? While the pandemic rages on, I wonder, more often than not, if leaving my house is even worth it. But I’ve been enjoying – and producing – livestreams and digital concert experiences since COVID-19 took SXSW 2020 from us all, and I knew the joy that came from that massively sustained me over the last 17 months.
The first time I saw Dermot Kennedy was in a church off 6th Street in Austin, Texas during SXSW 2018. I chose to spend the evening with a handful of friends from my hometown, wandering into shows and experiencing new acts to write about and photograph for the (still new) site. But something about Kennedy’s vocal delivery – the vulnerability and intensity with which he delivered some of the most emotionally charged lyrics I’d ever heard – made me forget I was trying to compile content for the site at all. A handful of distanced, “between tall guys’ bobbing heads” photos happened, but the music was so compelling that I spent an embarrassing amount of the set with my eyes closed, or staring up at the vaulted ceilings, marveling at the magic that music creates, and the magic from which it is derived.
When SXSW 2020 was canceled, I decided to make the quick, 4-hour jaunt to St. Louis to see Kennedy. Within a couple of days, the tour was indefinitely postponed. COVID-19 set in, and March saw stages around the world shutter. Deafening silence. And while artists tried to keep the spark alive with their multi-dimensional at-home creations, new directions, and interactive experiences, there was just something missing. That spark that live music incites, the way it can make an entire room feel like it’s on fire, hearts dancing in unison. As someone who once took for granted a 2-5 concert per week schedule, I began to feel lost in a sea of digital analysis and curation. I am humbled by the art that has come from our time locked away, but it never had the energy of a live show.
By the time I realized live music was coming back, Kennedy had sold out his St. Louis reschedule. And his Red Rocks performance. I spoke with a friend who was going to work with me on getting tickets in Wisconsin, which would be my saving grace for his tour since Kennedy was no longer appearing on the postponed Bonnaroo lineup (because of touring conflicts). But my sister happening upon a radio tour announcement a couple of weeks before her big move to Los Angeles and a random discussion that occurred a half-hour before tickets went on sale for the Kansas City stop made it all possible. Me – the woman who often feels jaded by the industry, especially for how little people truly rallied for the arts through this dark time -, I allowed myself to finally get excited about an event. I had something to look forward to that I knew could help me heal.
And still, I wondered, could I possibly stand in a crowded venue again? Could I find joy in the music – the one thing that makes me feel like I have my head screwed on straight on a daily basis – amidst a crowd of maybe-vaxxers from the midwest? (That wild, wild midwest that we have come to know as a largely “denying science” crowd.) I spent days before this show panicking about everything. Would there be space to spread out? The show wasn’t entirely sold out, the venue was more intimate, it couldn’t be too insane. Right? Would I melt in my mask? Would my friends be comfortable?
I almost had no words to explain how it all felt. Sure, I annoyed my +1 (Hi, mom!) and a couple of friends (I see you Anjelica and Kevin!) with some fears about everything. But, I was mostly entirely back in my element. As an observer, an enjoyer. I ensured we got pretty good spots to watch the show, over by the rail on the right side next to the stage. Dermot Kennedy’s Kansas City (Missouri) leg of his Better Days tour was officially sold out at the Uptown Theater, however, there was substantial space on the sides of the stage to ensure that we felt comfortable. I did some people watching like I used to. (I’d like to think that people couldn’t handle their liquor because they hadn’t imbibed at that level in a while, but who knows?) And, truly, I spent the majority of the evening belting out lyrics behind my mask, staring up at the shadows dancing on the ceiling, really indulging in the collective atmosphere of it all.
Set List: Lost Power Over Me All My Friends An Evening I Will Not Forget Outgrown The Corner Rome For Island Fires and Family Outnumbered Better Days Moments Passed Glory Giants Encore: After Rain Without Fear
Thank you to Anna Hamilton, Bishop Briggs, and Dermot Kennedy for “an evening I will not forget.” (I know I’m the first one to use that reference, of course.) I can only say that it helped to inflate my sad, darkened, emo heart. So perhaps I’ll Grinch less for a while. 😉
Anna Hamilton and Bishop Briggs thoughts + photos to come.
