by Meredith Schneider | Aug 1, 2018 | singles, wolf tracks
On Friday, Richmond, VA-based indie pop/rock collective Spooky Cool – comprised of Zac Hryciak, Paula Lavalle, Lee Spratley, Sean Williams, and Zavi Harman – is set to release their debut EP Every Thing Ever. But right now, we have a taste of what’s to come in their single “Black Wine”. Hard hitting from the beginning, the mellifluous vocals don’t hit until about the 57 second mark, evening out the rough, electric feel from the beginning. The singer’s vocal range is enticing in its far-reaching capabilities, making us swoon with each new line of lyrics. The instrumental breakdowns are perfect for jam band fans and mellow listeners alike, and we’re inundated with the good feels. (Despite perhaps, at times, the lyrical content itself.)
Keep up with Spooky Cool here.
by Meredith Schneider | Aug 1, 2018 | premieres, singles, wolf tracks
Today not only marks our success in cresting that mid-week hump (We see you, hump day!), but it also marks the release of Nashville-based singer/songwriter Kate Kelly‘s new track “Honey” and we’ve got the exclusive premiere. From her delicate yet sultry vocals – which are smoother than the song’s namesake, in our opinion – to the jazzy instrumentals, this song is a “sweet like candy” soundscape perfect for the (impending) cooling weather. And if you listen to the lyrics, there’s another layer to it all that most will find intriguing and relatable.
Says Kate of the track:
Writing “Honey” was so much more than writing a new song— it was writing a new feeling into my life experience. When “Honey” appeared within me, I found a version of myself I didn’t know existed. The song brought with it a new-found sense of self that was sassy, independent, and empowered in her truth. I still use “Honey” to remind myself to embrace my authenticity and independence, which is my biggest hope for listeners as well.
Keep up with Kate Kelly here.
by Meredith Schneider | Jul 31, 2018 | singles, wolf tracks
New York-based indie pop songstress Julietta is letting it all go with new track “Smooth Sailing”. The whistling certainly brings on the laid back vibes from the onset, though the hard-hitting bass is something of note from the very beginning. The way the instrumentals swell bring the song into a more freeing and interesting soundscape, and Julietta’s light as a feather vocals are expertly layered into the entire thing. It’s an impressive track, with easily relatable lyrics. As Julietta sings about “finding my way,” we just want to sing this track from the top of our lungs in a convertible as we drive down the highway.
After you check the track, you’ll concur. We guarantee it. So allow yourself to expand with a little “Smooth Sailing”.
Keep up with Julietta here.
by Meredith Schneider | Jul 31, 2018 | soundtrack, videos
Well, we’re over the hump of mid-year now, and most of us are probably sweating up a storm in our respective cities and homes. But we’ve been absolutely enamored by an outpouring of new music video material from some really incredible artists over the past month, so we thought we’d share some of our favorites. There’s really no reason or rhyme to it all. Some of these videos even make us yearn for colder weather and ice capped mountains. (But who are we to get ahead of ourselves here on this sweltering day?) So sit back, find a little something to try out, and enjoy!
Eric Hutchinson, “Hands”
Silent Revival, “Just One Voice”
King Princess, “Holy”
Jessie Reyez, “Apple Juice”
The Little Miss, “American Dream”
alt-j, “in cold blood” (ft. pusha t) by twin shadow
Bourgeois Mystics, “Jaan Pehechan Ho”
Dan Koshute, “All the Way Always”
Farao, “Lula Loves You”
Blood Orange, “Charcoal Baby”
Chantitown, “Mother of Sun”
Doe, “Heated”
Louis Cole, “Things”
Object as Subject, “Removal”
Tiny Eyes, “Just Saying”
Seasaw, “Big Dogs”
The Living End, “Don’t Lose It”
Miles Kane, “Cry On My Guitar”
Sofia Reyes, “1, 2, 3 (Official Solo Acoustic)”
Hannah Grace, “Oh River”
Kelsy Karter, “Sad Sad Summer”
Wild Rivers, “I Won’t Be Back”
Erik Deutsch, “Falling Flowers”
Billie Eilish, “You Should See Me in a Crown”
Ace of Wands, “10,000 Feet”
Whyte Horses, “Never Took the Time”
by Karina Marquez | Jul 30, 2018 | videos, wolf tracks
In his latest music video, Brooklyn-based artist Yoke Lore sings in the midst of the rise and fall of an LGBTQ+ love story. But before that, the video shows how the romance blossomed, with beautiful shots of cuddles, kisses, and lunch dates. Everything seems perfect for them, until it isn’t. Flash forward to the fighting and silent treatments as we watch everything go down in flames. Literally.
At the end of the video, we see them place pieces of their relationship into a box before setting it all on fire. Director Noah Galvin (Yoke Lore’s brother and an LGBTQ+ actor) explains the meaning behind that intense ending:
Too often at the end of a relationship, be it romantic or otherwise, there is no real moment of farewell. Perhaps this is due to fear. I’d like to think goodbyes would be less scary if we ritualized them in some way. “Ride” is about giving a relationship a proper burial… punctuating an ending that often goes unpunctuated.
The video shows the importance of closure in order to move on from a relationship, or to move on from anything. The It’s heartbreaking, but it’s real. Yoke Lore says it best, delving deep into the intended message behind his song and its visuals:
Our fire is this fire. It is a fire to make something new where something had grown old. It’s a controlled burn of a portion of each self. You don’t want to scorch the earth, but dead things feed the future.
Listen to Yoke Lore’s EP, and be sure to catch him on his upcoming tour.
by Ashleigh Lee | Jul 30, 2018 | snapshot, visual
On Friday, July 27, the indie rock scene descended on Providence Medical Center Amphitheater in Bonner Springs, KS yet again to celebrate 96.5 The Buzz’s annual Beach Ball. Photographer Ashleigh Lee was on site, and she nabbed some incredible photos of AWOLNATION, Portugal. The Man, lovelytheband, and Joywave for us!
by ImperfectFifth | Jul 27, 2018 | perspective
It starts with a simple song and summertime in Michigan. The Apple TV is a brand new invention, and Dad is experimenting with playing music through his newest gadget from Best Buy. After several minutes of futzing, the silhouette of a giant mango tree against a backdrop of mustard yellow appears on the screen. The descending bass line of “Better Together” invites me to take a deep breath. I do. I sink deeper into the cushions of the living room couch and unwind for the first time Jack Johnson serves me a little slice of life. I stole the entirety of In Between Dreams from my dad’s computer. This was pre- streaming. Buying entire albums used up Grandma’s gift cards pretty quickly, so you learned how to be handy with other peoples libraries and the “Burn to CD” function in iTunes. Soon after I downloaded the album, it became the soundtrack of my life. Even when I wasn’t really listening, I’d just have it playing somewhere in the background. I’d find new music and start listening to some other stuff, but eventually find myself putting it on again and again. Every few months or so I’d claim a new favorite song, discovering something I hadn’t noticed before.
Jack Johnson was one of the first songwriters I heard that tackled abstract concepts in a way that really resonated with me. The songs everyone knows him by – “Better Together” and “Banana Pancakes” – were definitely the gateway drugs. But as I listened more, things started to change. Songs like “Never Know,” “Breakdown,” or “If I Could” introduced some really rich lyrical content and difficult life questions that I’d yet to be exposed to. For example, “If I Could” starts with the verse, “A brand new baby was born yesterday just in time / Papa cried, baby cried, said ‘Your tears are like mine’ / I heard some words from a friend on the phone that didn’t sound so good / The doctor gave him two weeks to live / I’d give him more if I could”. He unpacks messy aspects of life like death, love or even mundanity with such gentleness and keen observation – it really sets the stage for listeners to empathize, which I love. Beyond that, the succinct storytelling in songs like “Do You Remember” or “Constellations” inspired me to capture that same kind specificity of imagery in my own writing.
I must’ve been around fourteen when I’d listened to the record for the first time. I grew up listening to mainstream pop, The Beatles, and a whole lotta country radio, mostly because it was easy access. In Between Dreams was the first record I digested as a whole. The first record I felt I could claim as my own. It became part of my identity, in a way. Whenever I come back to his music, it brings back all these different versions of myself – almost like a musical reminder of who I am and where I came from.
I grew up in a small town surrounded by a lot of green open space. Living in LA – getting used to a desert climate and the over-development of land – has been a somewhat difficult adjustment for me. Jack Johnson’s music and especially In Between Dreams utilize a lot
of nature imagery and metaphor in the lyric. I listen to his songs, and I feel the way being in nature makes me feel – centered and more myself. I can always count on a little Jack Johnson to bring me back to Earth, both literally and figuratively. It’s my own little musical state park, so to speak – no matter where I am.
I’ve heard a lot of people refer to Jack Johnson as being “easy listening,” usually with a certain amount of disdain in their voices. Honestly, I get it. For the average touch-and-go listener, he’s this soft-spoken, happy-go-lucky dude from Hawaii who plays acoustic guitar and sings about banana pancakes. But for me, he’s a modest voice, pioneer of asking difficult questions, and vigilant observer of the most important simple things. Like Papa’s translations of the stories across the sky. Or sepia-tone lovin. Or resolve is just a concept that’s as dead as the leaves. I could go on for days. He’s the most underrated lyricist of our time (in my own very humble opinion, of course). And that’s my first record story.
Keep up with Loren Cole here.
by Christie McMenamin | Jul 27, 2018 | show review, snapshot, visual
On July 11th, TOMI rocked The Mercury Lounge.
Filing in through the front door, the immediate rush of air conditioning was a relief on such a muggy summer evening. Fans made their way first to the bar, then into the stage area, filling the room. As TOMI walked through the crowd, cheers rippled through the audience, making their way from back to front. A magnetic performer, TOMI took possession of the room from the very first note, packing an almost unprecedented power into her wide-ranging vocals. Her music provides the perfect combination of rock and pop: some songs led the audience to dance, others to head-banging. The joy and abandon in the air was just as palpable as the outside heat, and radiated off the talkative TOMI, who spent time in-between songs sharing the stories behind them. Some of these were heartbreaking; she spoke of crying in a locker room at a yoga studio after a breakup, and a former friend suffering from addiction (she doesn’t think he ever heard the song she wrote about him, but she hopes he does at some point and recognizes it). Then, of course, there were some funnier ones, such as working a day job as a secretary in which she had to smile all the time. For her very last song, she delighted the crowd by debuting a new, sparkly guitar named Pam.
It’s clear that for TOMI, the Mercury Lounge and her latest EP, What Kind of Love, is only the beginning.
by Aubrey Hanson | Jul 27, 2018 | albums, review
Chicago-based Lo-fi rock trio Clearance – a talented band with ample amount of music experience – released their highly anticipated new album At Your Leisure on cassette, vinyl, and digital music streaming platforms everywhere today. The incredible musicianship of Mike Bellis, Kevin Fairbairn, and Arthur Velez is on full display over the duration of the eleven tracks, with melodies that feel genuine mixed in with toe-tapping beats. Not only does this album exceed all of your expectations, but it also takes you back to the 60’s and 70’s with the band’s unique style of music with a classic rock twist.
“Rumored Sequel” and “Another Arrow” are the perfect songs to listen to in order to get you exhilarated and pumped up with the exciting upbeat tempo and great vocals. In many of the album’s songs, you can sense the band’s influence with folk-styled, traditional vocals. Clearance has the perfect style of music that sounds good not only on radio, but also sounds amazing on vinyl due to the beautiful instrumental sound and notable lyrics.
TRACKLIST:
Chances Are
Destination Wedding
Frozen Orange / No Wonder
Had A Fantastic
Rumored Sequel
Haven’t You Got the Time?
Another Arrow
Days Underwater
Gallery Glare
On the Doorstep
Bird’s-Eye View (Of the Back of the Room)
Recorded by: Dave Vettraino
Mastered by: Mikey Young (Total Control, etc.)
Album art and layout: Mike Bellis
Songs written by: Mike Bellis
Video by Alexa Viscius
At Your Leisure is available now. Keep up with the band here.
