Kane Strang are from Dunedin New Zealand and it's probably my favourite track this week. Dunedin has a long history with indie, jangly guitars and such, this strays the line towards alt and it's better for it.
Eerie Glue - Long Way Home
Eeric Glue are from Denmark, pretty good eh? I like cinnamon buns a lot. I think they are from Denmark too?
OLVIDO - Demo
I dunno. I really don't know much about OLVIDO apart from they are an all girl punk band from Mexico, fuck trump ya know. This whole demo is really great and kinda dancey too. They do a Julie Ruin cover right at the end too. Sweet <3
Jons - In The Yard
I Think Jons are from BC Canada, but I'm not sure. I like it though, you'll like it too maybe. FFO Hoops or something.
LEMONADE - Pink
I think this is my favourite punk release so far this year, bring tha noise.
Steve Lacy - Dark Red
Jeez, this demo is out today and it is so so so so damn good. Don't skip out. sucka.
It's been months and months since I wrote about the music I've been listening too. Between chained cigarettes, instant coffee and the better stuff. I've been soundtracking my time almost as much as I've been watching the clock. So what have I been listening too? Well a lot of the same stuff really... I haven't had the time, I used to spend hours listening to tapes and demos until I couldn't remember whether or not those bands were even active. So uh, let's start, with some bands that exist.
La Luz - It's Alive
Straight outta Seattle, a surf band with magnitude, from the state called Washington. Blah. Blah.
I love La Luz, I found their first EP Dampface on bandcamp a few years ago and since then they'd been getting better and bigger, touring both the U.S. and Europe over the past 12 months, releasing a few splits and I think a full length soon (maybe it's out already).
But if you like carefree surf that ain't the beach boys with there unrelenting 60s post war confidence happy happy vibes. But enjoy city girls, quieter and more reserved, slower jams but more intelligently careful of your own mood, then maybe you'll dig it. It's head phone music for sure. For those hours not trapped in bullshit conversations well you find yourself wondering around costal cities which feel as controlled by their environment as the people that inhabit them. Turn off the world, turn up. And be in tune with yourself.
Broken Water - Wrought
Hailing from Olympia WA, Broken Water have been active for a good few years now. Dream punks awaken in social chains and bite their way through.
"We will find ways to terminate unwanted pregnancies even if your laws try and stop us"
That's the words of Kanako Pooknyw mid way through the cut Choice, and it's a good starting point, for a band from such a counter culture punk scene as that as Olympia (Riot Grrrls, Nirvana, Bikini Kill and K records were all birthed there, as well as contemporaries VEXX, GAG, Milk Music etc).
I've always found them crossing genres from dreamy psychedelic to abstract cathartic noise punk, the switch between male and female vocals makes them an ideal candidate for a true alternative rock fan.
Highly involved in their politics, Broken Water continue to deconstruct social and gender barriers through, NOISE. Hey, this is a band that literally have a song that spells out Feminism (and they may well have had too).
The anti-materialism in opener High-lo is a high mark, well Kanako calmingly and in perfect tune with the lush melody sings "There's no significance that will keep you in this world, even if you horde your things" and ends with "no amount of riches will spare you from the soil".
It's punk poetry at its best. Topped over a sea of swirling guitars, so much so that it might just go over a casual listeners head.
But within that idea, that if you were to listen to music and not the politically charged lyrics? Well, what can Broken Water envoke in their audience on a sonic level? When I first listened to this record months ago, I think I feel asleep to it every night for a week, not out of boredom, just because it's one of those records that you can understand on a emotional level, it needs that time, when you're alone, in your room, with your mind.
It's clear that BK are aware of the power of their sound. So much so that each play over feels a little more heartbreaking and fragile each time.
"Space, I need my space. Can't face, face you - face to face"
