by Meredith Schneider | Oct 17, 2017 | wolf tracks
New York’s collective The Howlin’ Souls – comprised of Pete Smith, Scott Sepe, Robbie Sokolowsky, and Nate Lang – may find their inspiration in the likes of blues greats and legends like Petty and Dylan, but their sound is truly their own when you boil it all down. In their latest track “Viva La Revolucion (again)”, the hard hitting drums and sharp, whirring electric guitar serve as evidence of this, as Smith’s vocals almost strain to be heard over the blaring instrumentals. While they call for a revolution politically and socially – as a large majority of us are at this point – The Howlin’ Souls simultaneously beg for your energy, without ever having to beg at all.
Go forth, and spread the revolution.
“Viva La Revolucion (again)” is available now. Keep up with The Howlin’ Souls here.
by Meredith Schneider | Oct 16, 2017 | wolf tracks
Electronic musician Devereaux (W. Heyward Sims) has been busy in 2017, releasing his first new music since 2014’s Pineapple Flex LP to critical acclaim. Earlier this year, he released his most recent single “Kapowski”, and now it has an accompanying music video animated by Brian Caiazza, packed with visuals that will keep your mind adjusting to its explosions of brilliance for the duration of the track. “Kapowski” is a clear party track, something to jam to when in an energetic mood or – alternatively – an altered state. Pops of color and the usage of multitudes of instruments and different delectable looking fruit visuals makes the video one tasty treat, as though it simultaneously gives us cravings and satisfies them.
Keep up with Devereaux here.
by Meredith Schneider | Oct 16, 2017 | wolf tracks
While you were running around like a chicken with your head cut off this summer, rock collective The Hails – comprised of Andrew Escobar, Robbie Kindsley, Zach Levy, Dylan McCue, and Franco Solari – were busy releasing an impressive five track EP titled Impel. But it’s the single “Parking Lot” that hooked us, with its slightly bluesy feel and smooth, focused vocals. Set at a leisurely tempo, the song is about a romantic encounter in a parking lot, a time of endless possibilities in love. But sometimes chance encounters are just that, and love isn’t a factor.
So which would this song be about? Find out for yourselves, and check out the next track on your autumn playlist, just below!
Impel is available now. Keep up with The Hails here.
by Meredith Schneider | Oct 13, 2017 | wolf tracks
Today, Cleveland-based punk artist
OBNOX‘s (Lamont “Bim” Thomas) second full length LP of the year – quickly following
Niggative Approach –
Murder Radio drops via Ever/Never Records. It isn’t the first time he’s released multiple LPs in one year, as he cranked out two in just seven months back in 2015. In fact, he’s released an impressive seven LPs and nine EPs in the last six years alone, which just might make him the hardest working – or at least most productive – guy in the business.
Joined this time around by Steve Mehlman on drums and Chuck Cieslik on guitar, Murder Radio takes a dive into justice, politics, and darkness in OBNOX’s quintessential noisy, rough around the edges way. From first heavy-hitting track “Movimiento”, through no holds barred honest track “I Hate Everything”, all the way to final track “Cheers”, you might feel like your speakers will crash around you in a cacophony of sound, simultaneously allowing you a sense of freedom that only OBNOX’s music can.
So what are you waiting for? We’ve got it streaming right here!
Obnox – Murder Radio
1. Movimiento
2. Woe Is Me
2. I Hate Everything
4. The Movement
5. Enter The Hater
6. Bangar
7. Sun Doobie
8. Deep
9. Mogul Chokehold
10. Cheers
Murder Radio is available
now. Keep up with OBNOX
here.
by Meredith Schneider | Oct 13, 2017 | wolf tracks
Brooklyn-based indie americana musician Caleb Clardy dropped his new album today, a twelve track collection that holds an introspective coming of age narrative at its core. Having co-written and collaborated with many musicians in Brooklyn over the years, Caleb is no stranger to what works. This fact is evident in his work, and in our awe at his first full-length, titled Invincible Things.
From first track and previously released single “True Original”, which establishes a “stand up for who you are” ideology with words like “if love don’t work, maybe cynicism can” that make our ears perk up. “Keep Up” expands on that idea, almost giving permission for those who exist at a higher frequency – people who are always told to “slow down” – to keep on keepin’ on at their own pace. It also serves as a reminder that everyone goes at their own pace, and it’s important to accept and embrace them as they are.
And that’s just the first two tracks. The title track slows everything down to an almost country ballad feel, while fourth song “Stoic World” dances along a melancholic tightrope, the perfect audio representation of its title. “Found Us A Home” is a detailed account of living a blue collar life chasing your dreams, perhaps the modern genre-hopping equivalent of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car”. And while “Watch Out World” returns all of its energy into quick paced boot-scootin’, “Magic” slows the album to a glacial pace, where Clardy gets to play with beauty in dissonance.
The song we were initially most curious about would have to be “Queen Of The World”, a sweet, delicate love letter to an obvious love interest. It’s as though the composition of the instrumentals was simplified, lightened, so that the emphasis would rest solely in the complimentary and beautiful words. “Made Up Lives” saunters into the sound space, asserting that “love is a blessing and a curse” while “Sara C” feels more punk in both tempo and vocals than its predecessors. “Flags” is, perhaps, the most gloomy track in this collection, addressing the brokenness of society, of how life can be a “long road if you’re feeling alone.” Though most of the song serves as a question for disheartened humans, there is a reminder for a light at the end of it all to keep your chin up.
“Right and Wrong” was the best choice to end Invincible Things on the right note. Once again playing – this time moreso – with dissonance and open-ended questions, this track mellows out the entire piece into a sound space to ask the hard-hitting, existential questions that Clardy has been detailing throughout. One thing is for sure, this man is not about shying away from important topics, and certainly has no aversion to beautiful composition.
Invincible Things is out today. Keep up with Caleb Clardy here.
by Meredith Schneider | Oct 12, 2017 | wolf tracks
Goth pop musician So Below has been fascinating us for over a year now, with the way her audio art and subsequent visual art never fail to impress. Directed by Sam Kristofski, her new music video for dance track “Ruin” is an absolute stunner. Focusing on minimal jewel tones in each frame, there’s a sullen feel to the buildup of the track. As it picks up, frames layer over each other quickly, swapping between three major shots to piece the story together. But, to be fair, there was a necessity to present the video in pieces, as there is a broken feeling to the song that is now echoed in its visual presence. After all, the title is “Ruin”, so you start to feel it before you even press “play”.
We must admit, Maddie (So Below) is capable of one of the most simultaneously threatening and alluring facial expressions we have seen thus far. (See: Staring at the camera in the pool.)
Keep up with So Below here.
by Meredith Schneider | Oct 11, 2017 | wolf tracks
On Friday, October 13th, Columbus-based rock and roll musician Lydia Loveless will be releasing her new album Boy Crazy and Single(s) alongside her band members Todd May, Benjamin Lamb, Jay Gasper, and George Hondroulis. As with her 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2016 releases, Lydia captivates her audience and takes them on a journey with her writing, something that isn’t always a feasible task. Boy Crazy and Single(s) is mostly one-track in its subject matter, and it also exhibits a more folk-influenced facet to Lydia’s writing that we haven’t necessarily seen – or at least noticed – before.
Rough guitar, a solid drum beat, and we’re off. Lydia’s nabbed a country feel for her first track “All I Know”, beginning in a place where she questions how she got to this place in her life, and then leading us through a narrative where she admits she might not know what could happen, but she is very aware that she will see this person – this significant lover or love interest – again. Her intuition leads her right through the first track into “All The Time”, which picks up the pace slightly but has more of a melancholic feel to the lyrics, a more bluesy feel to the song overall. Third track “Lover’s Spat” has a 90’s alternative feel to the instrumentals, carrying at a quick clip that directly contrasts with its follow up, an all-too-relatable track called “Boy Crazy” that builds from a darker place with the instrumentals into one of the more dance-worthy tracks from this release.
“The Water” feels like pure country from the very beginning, waning guitar and soulful vocals dipping you into a suffocating world where you’re being ripped from your significant other repeatedly. “Mile High” brings the pace back up, allowing Loveless to talk/sing the majority of the lyrics in a cheeky way. “Blind” is another heart-wrenching track, Loveless singing to a past lover about letting go and allowing them to wallow in regret. With lyrics like “I’m sick and tired of the mess you made” and “you’ll miss me til the day you die,” “Blind” is the ultimate “fuck you” to the person who didn’t handle your love with the care and appreciation it deserved.
In pretty direct opposition to its predecessor, “Come Over” is a track about the push and pull you feel in the wake of a relationship, when part of you wants to work things out. “Falling Out Of Love”, however, isn’t tip-toeing around the feeling of loss in the relationship. Almost as though she wants to show every facet of heartbreak, Loveless has taken the perspective of being torn up about the relationship, not struggling for one moment with how she feels like she had in “Come Over”. “I Would Die 4 U” further proves the theory that she might want to cover all her bases, because breakups aren’t as clean as many musicians would have you believe. While Joe Blow is over here writing 12 concise tracks about being better alone and Tawny Gift is over here playing the victim, Loveless’ work goes through all of the major emotions and thought patterns that a person can truly go through in this situation, making it exponentially more relatable. Loveless rounds the work out with a beautiful, steady love ballad, more stripped down than the rest of the work.
Luckily, the speed with which music can be produced these days allows many bands and musical acts to blend genres seamlessly. Even so, it’s difficult for a known act to swap to a whole different genre in the midst of their career, and is still looked at as an adrenaline-inducing, often not ideal, move. The fact that Loveless can do something like this on her fifth full-length release – and do so successfully – shows that she isn’t afraid of anything in her art. After all, you never know who will blow you out of “The Water”.
Boy Crazy and Single(s) is out October 13th. Keep up with Lydia Loveless here.
by Meredith Schneider | Oct 11, 2017 | wolf tracks
While you were all over there waiting for new music, everyone’s favorite alternative group The Naked and Famous has been re-recording stripped down versions of some of their favorite gems. Having already released the stripped version of “Higher”, their latest single is a simplified acoustic medley of tracks “A Stillness” and “Hearts Like Ours”. Continuing to engage lead vocalist Alisa Xayalith’s gorgeous voice in soft echoes, the song envelopes you in a tranquil, light blanket of fresh thought.
The Naked and Famous does a phenomenal job of playing with dissonance in their sound, even moreso in this reworked track. If you’re looking to relax, this is your new jam.
“A Still Heart” is available now, as is the latest album Simple Forms. Keep up with The Naked and Famous here.
by Meredith Schneider | Oct 11, 2017 | wolf tracks
Today, Ashland, Oregon based indie collective Slow Corpse – comprised of Mitchell Winters (vocals, guitar), Brenton Clarke (guitar), Cole Zollinger (bass), Sean Siders (drums), and Dash Curtis (keys) – is bringing a tasty treat to your eyes, just in time for Halloween. Their crawling, darker recut of Kendrick Lamar’s intense “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” has its own music video, and we’ve got your first look.
Filmed and edited by Jordan Kourupes at with Novum Visuals, the video for “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” was written and directed by Slow Corpse’s own Brenton Clarke. Bathed in cool jewel tones, the video is the modern version of every turn of the century rapper music video, but created for hipsters. Slow motion dancing, covered in smoke, no personal space, people wearing all types of clothing and participating in cultish activities.
You know, that.
Check out the mesmerizing, smooth version of “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” and don’t let anyone kill your vibe, no matter what you’re into.
Keep up with Slow Corpse here.
