White Knuckle Mustache Rides

Randy Rogers Band: "Trouble Knows My Name"

2013-05-12T14:03:00.000-05:00

A couple years ago I was in Vegas, not specifically because the rodeo was in town but... the rodeo was in town. I ran into the fiddle player from the Randy Rogers Band in an Irish bar on Fremont St with his parents in tow. At one point the fiddle player's mom asked for a shot of Irish whisky. Impressed that she could toss it back with the aplomb of 25-year old man, the bartender comped the cost of the shot out of respect. Fast forward a half hour and the bartender asks me "did the group beside you leave already?" Turns out the fiddle player's partents settled their tab but (allegedly, always "allegedly") didn't leave the bartender a single cent for a tip, in spite of his buying the old lady a shot.

This being Mother's Day, seems the perfect time to post this new RRB tune featuring the incomparable Willie. Hopefully this album goes multi-platinum so their folks don't have to keep stiffing bartenders.

Butterclock: "Hologram"

2013-05-11T10:16:00.002-05:00

In contrast to the previous two posts this morning, this synthpop jam from Berlin upstarts Butterclock is sweet effervescence with no trace of cynicism or doom. The beat has a beat of that 80's freestyle (a.k.a Latin hip-hop) vibe, also reminiscent of cracker-rap classic "Genius of Love", which I guess had kind of a Krautrock engine driving it as well now that I think about it. Full circle, then, carry on...

Lemonade: "Perfect Blue"

2013-05-11T09:56:00.003-05:00

"Perfect Blue" is like vintage Erasure, putting full stock in a minimal synth line with only skeletal beats adorning the framework, with a lilting vocal line taking center stage. Lemonade also share that band's penchant for huge choruses to provide contrast to the more intimate verses. When done well there's always room for more of this.

Soft Metals: "Tell Me"

2013-05-11T09:51:00.000-05:00

Pretty snazzy Kraftwerk beat you're rocking there, Soft Metals. What epitomized 80's post-punk and synthpop so well was the combination of icy, detached riffs and potent, repressed vocals and "Tell Me" captures that effortlessly. It also frankly adds nothing new to the now 30-year old dynamic, but I'm not sure that we really exhausted the formula back in the day before neutering it with dreams of pop stardom, so a little vintage authenticity is always welcome.

Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO: "Space Speed Suicide"

2013-05-05T13:13:00.001-05:00

When you think of preternaturally prolific, acid-drenched bands from Japan one of two names is likely to come to mind: Boris, of course, and Acid Mothers Temple. The latter records so much, so often, that they've released material under at least eight different variations of the Acid Mother template, each slightly different band name meant to tip the listener off to the general contents... which could be anything from psychedelia to space rock to free jazz, so long as it's 70's-damaged.

Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO is the "Mother brand", so to speak, with the overall majority of the collective's recordings existing under that label. In Search of the Lost Divine Arc, their latest, is out May 28 on Important Records.

Hooded Fang: "Graves"

2013-05-05T12:56:00.003-05:00

Ty Segall would be proud to have written "Graves", a garage stomp by Toronto act Hooded Fang. The 60's production values are there, the distant refrain on the chorus... gold star on each band member's forehead.

The band's upcoming album, confusingly spelled Gravez, is out May 27 on Full Time Hobby.

Deafheaven: "Dream House"

2013-05-05T12:41:00.001-05:00

Roads to Judah came out almost exactly two years ago, helping to establish Deafheaven (I keep wanting to call them Deaf"haven"... sounds more metal) as preeminent blackened experimentalists. The oh-so-Mexican-Summerish cover of their upcoming sophomore album, Sunbather, might lead you to think they've gone full on shoegaze (chillwave, even) but nope... one listen to "Dream House" proves that their black metal affiliation is no mere historical marker but an active presence in their sound. Yeah, there's plenty of shoegaze affectation there, but isn't that the case with most experimental black metal these days? Then again if Liturgy is officially kicked out of the "kvlt" playhouse then Deafheaven don't stand a chance.

Twigs: "How's That"

2013-05-05T12:13:00.000-05:00

The music video really has reclaimed its perch as a premier format for experimental short films, this after a couple decades of purely functional eye candy being de rigueur for the form (note that there remains plenty of dull, obligatory visuals, particularly in the hip hop and indie rock categories). Twigs' "How's That" matches baby girl's haunting vocals with production by Arca and a clip by Jesse Kanda. How's that for matching talent with talent?

Astari Nite: "Pyramids"

2013-05-05T12:02:00.000-05:00

Astari Nite! Get it? Shit, that wore off fast, didn't it? "Pyramids" the single ought to have a much longer shelf life than that ill-fated pun of a moniker, Mychael Ghost's vocals a cool mix of Peter Murphy and vintage Bowie. This Miami band has been around since 2010 but is just now getting around to releasing their first full length album this Spring. Maybe it's not so much that the album format is "dead" as it is just transitioning back to the early purpose of the original albums, which were literally just a collection of 78 RPM singles packaged together in a binder.

(via Off the Radar)

Snowden: "So Red"

2013-04-24T16:47:00.000-05:00

I always feel a twinge of homer guilt when I post an Austin band, wondering to myself whether I'm holding them to the same standards that I would if the group weren't from my hometown. Then it occurs to me that writers in other thriving music scenes like Brooklyn and Chicago would be willfully ignoring a lot of great bands if they took a pass on their own locals, so with that I bring you Snowden.

No One In Control is out May 14 on Serpents & Snakes Records.

(via Off the Radar):

Vacation: "Pyro Hippies"

2013-04-24T16:38:00.001-05:00

I must have slept on this Cincinnati band's self-titled debut two years ago, but "Pyro Hippies" seems like a welcome enough introduction. With that energetic backbeat and noise-drenched post-punk guitar fills this is the right kind of sloppy.

Candy Waves is out June 18 on Don Giovanni Records.

Bass Drum of Death: "Shattered Me"

2013-04-24T16:32:00.001-05:00

A year to the month since we last talked about Bass Drum of Death, and even then it was just a split 7"; we've actually been waiting two years since GB City, their last full length, and it'll be a couple more months before Bass Drum of Death the album is out on Innovative Leisure. I ain't mad at 'em. In an era when you pump out half-realized songs every few weeks just to keep your name in the blogs it's nice to see a band put time in, really woodshed that material. "Shattered Me" may sound effortless, but it took a lot of work to get it that way.

Beaches: "Send Them Away"

2013-04-24T16:23:00.001-05:00

Australia's always been a great country for vintage rock & roll sounds, so no surprise that Melbourne's own Beaches take to the whole surfgaze thing like a duck to water. She Beats is out May 3 on Chapter Music and will include an appearance by Neu!'s Michael Rother on two songs (!).

Team Spirit: "Jesus, He's Alright"

2013-04-02T13:04:00.000-05:00

When the title of your new single sounds suspiciously like a Doobie Brothers cover it better fuggin' JAM, and that's just what Ayad Al Adhamy (ex-Passion Pit) does with his new band, Team Spirit. With all due respect to Passion Pit I can see why AAA just wasn't getting his garage bone scratched with his former band.

Team Spirit is out April 9 on VICE/Warner Bros.

Cindytalk: "My Drift Is a Ghost"

2013-04-02T12:53:00.004-05:00

"My Drift Is a Ghost" snarts in your general direction. Cindytalk (a.k.a. Gordon Sharp) has shockingly been around since 1982, but you can bet those post-Merzbow sheet metal noise washes are of a more recent vintage.

Sharp is probably best known for fronting The Freeze, a not-so-prolific new wave group that only released two 7" singles in their five year existence, but were much prized by the late John Peel (the two Peel Sessions that the band recorded actually sported more songs than both singles combined... that's a fucking mañana-based group if I ever saw one).

Para One (feat. Irfane, Teki Latex & Cam'ron): "Every Little Thing" [Girl Unit Remix]

2013-04-02T12:47:00.000-05:00

No idea how Cam'ron showed up on this thing. The best that can be said is that he doesn't really detract from the tune, but "Every Little Thing" isn't about the verses anyway. If this song were aimed at Top 40 radio it would ruin that stop-you-in-your-tracks chorus with a generic EDM backbeat. I'm really fucking bitter about pop.

GRMLN: "Teenage Rhythm"

2013-04-02T12:39:00.001-05:00

Am I the only one who thinks The New Batch was an amazing, anarchic sequel? I've also always wondered: if you can't wash a Mogwai after midnight how do you clean the little fuckers? Gizmo must smell like feet and balls right about now.

Anyway, GRMLN (the kosher, vowel-free kind) is one Yoodoo Park, a Japanese-American from southern California who has obviously picked up on the sunny, surf-influenced vibe of his chosen habitat. You'll have to wait exactly two months for his debut, Empire, to come out on Carpark Records, but hey... that's what Soundcloud is for.

Fryars: "On Your Own"

2013-04-02T12:30:00.000-05:00

Watch this become a hit single in like 18 months. If you're still listening to the radio you're living in the past. Or, rather, if you subscribe to WKMR you're living in the future... yep, that's the ticket.

Freedom Fry: "With the New Crowd"

2013-03-20T18:11:00.002-05:00

Half of Freedom Fry call Paris home, so the band name is clearly a tongue-in-cheek jab at a certain French response to the US invasion of Iraq (the most recent one; I should be specific). Friends and Enemies is apparently the third EP from this duo but the first I've heard this. "With the New Crowd" is a little early for the breezy summer beach crowd that it's airy, lightweight melody is shooting for, but with bands like Bleached and Best Coast in the mix I guess that's a year round phenomenon these days.

Paul White: "Street Lights" [feat. Danny Brown]

2013-03-20T18:06:00.001-05:00

Running out of hyperbole to spit re: Danny Brown so let's focus on Paul White, a UK producer that I'm hitherto unfamiliar with but who is supposed to be producing a good chunk of Brown's upcoming album. "Street Lights" the single is billed to Paul White, and probably represents a more accurate picture of what he intends for his own material as opposed to what he's bring to the table for the Danny Brown record, but I do like the way Danny sounds over such an obtuse beat. Stay tuned, should be a video for this shortly.

(via URB):

Shlohmo + Jeremih: "Bo Peep (Do U Right)"

2013-03-20T18:00:00.000-05:00

I have no idea what's going on with that artwork but this track right here is how shit is done. I'm not too big a fan of Jeremih on his own, and frankly it sounds like he's kinda trying to jump on the cloud R&B trend on "Bo Peep", but Shlohmo can do no wrong. I mean, he probably can but this isn't gonna be the song to end his streak.

Savages: "She Will"

2013-03-20T17:50:00.002-05:00

Straight up missed Savages during SXSW, but sleeping on more bands than you actually catch is just par for the course when there's something like 3,000 bands on the roster, and that's only counting the "official" lineup. This is mostly in the vein of early 80's post-punk, but the finale builds up to the kind of mantra-like refrain that was common in 90's riot grrl/grunge, so there's that. I doubt these ladies want to be compared to Elastica, let's just put it that way.

Silence Yourself is out May 6 on Matador.

The Men: "I Saw Her Face"

2013-03-20T17:45:00.000-05:00

That's that old Neil Young shit right there. Or new Neil Young shit, sounds like the guitar line could have been lifted straight off Shakey's last album. Funny thing is The Men don't typically trade in proto-grunge classic rock, but their album New Moon was released recently on Sacred Bones, and there's something about being on that label that brings out the fuzzy acid psych in everyone. Nonetheless, this song is a standout anomaly on an album that largely sounds nothing like this.

Dope Body: "Leather Head"

2013-03-20T17:35:00.001-05:00

Been kind of a strange trend recently of bands putting out videos (or just audio leaks) of b-sides to their singles rather than the usual a-side. I kind of don't give a shit when the results have this kind of oil tanker bass grooving beneath a minimalist, catchy rhythm. Ghost children of the almighty Jesus Lizard as far as I'm concerned.

Earl Sweatshirt: "Woah"

2013-03-20T17:27:00.000-05:00

I still have a hard time differentiating Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler, the Creator apart verbally - at least not without a bit of effort - but Sweatshirt seems less playful, more prone to lyrical badassery and unabashed shit talk. It's all in good fun though, as this Tyler-featuring video shows neither Odd Future member taking himself in the slightest bit seriously. Kind of weird that a guy like Frank Ocean came out of this clique but I guess when big titty geriatric ballerinas are on the table anything's possible.