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For someone managing to have distinctive vocals reminiscent of a throaty Housemartins-era Paul Heaton, along with a soupçon of a smooth-sounding Ritchie Valens; Spectrals main-man Louis Jones keeps it casual and real on his Slumberland/Wichita debut, "Bad Penny". Jones' particular recording style (via producer Richard Formby) and the layered harmonies that are let loose through the shiny-jangle of his guitar playing, bring a genuine warmth and sweetness to the album, lending a unique depth to all of the songs here. There is not one that delves too far into the dark-side of pop. Even the slower lounge of "You Don't Have to Tell Me" and "Many Happy Returns" and the melancholia of tracks like "Lockjaw", and "Luck Is There to Be Pushed" make this album more dreamy than dreary (although with the former two; patience in deference to Jones' particular tuning may be a necessity upon first listen--these were 'growers' for us). Opening track, "Get A Grip" and punchier pop numbers like "Big Baby" with its singable lyrics (we love them);
"You crashed into me / When I was seventeen Nobody told me / That girls were so mean,"
these songs become the definitive stars in the full lineup showcasing Louis' more near-perfect songwriting sensibilities. After Jones' recording of the songs for Bad Penny in early 2011 (with only his brother Will Jones to accompany him on drums), we're looking forward to a live representation of these songs and others when Spectrals tour the US this Spring (March through April).
Track Listing:
01 Get A Grip 02 Lockjaw 03 You Don't Have To Tell Me 04 Big Baby 05 Many Happy Returns 06 You Can't Live On Alone 07 Doing Time 08 Confetti 09 Luck Is There To Be Pushed 10 Brain Freeze 11 If I Think About The Magic Will It Go Away?
For London UK's Still Corners, there has been a steady progression over the past four years or so. From their first self-released EP "Remember Pepper?", to a tidy few 7" records and single releases, a compilation track for Fierce Panda, and the band's mainstay for single releases via The Great Pop Supplement: this group's combination of film and daring psychedelic sentimentality must have grasped the ears of the taste-makers at Seattle's Sub Pop and given them a tug. The label soon released a single for the band's track, "Cuckoo", from their forthcoming debut LP (which will also be released on the label). The upcoming album; Creatures of an Hour, is the grand realisation of primary songwriter and keyboardist Greg Hughes--but Hughes, who prefers to stick to the background, would prefer if the focus were on each song's lovelorn story as well as his dream-scape and vision-filled collaboration with band members Leon Dufficy, Luke Jarvis, Paul Mayhew, and of course; lead-vocalist Tessa Murray, for her lovely whispered, and definitely celluloid-approved, delivery.
As part of our interview, Hughes expressed that he would love to eventually work with well-known producer David Fridmann (Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lips, Wintersleep, Neon Indian, etc.) but for the group's debut all of the songs have definitely received very personal attention at his own hands--Hughes recorded, and mixed, everything himself at his studio in Greenwich, in the South of London.
Still Corners upcoming US dates include their arrival in Atlanta, GA and then on to NC, DC, and the group has a few feature showcases at Public Assembly in NYC as well as the sold out Mercury Lounge CMJ showcase with The Dum Dum Girls, J. Mascis and others. Also included is a very exciting Philadelphia date with The Rapture and Metronomy on October 21st, at Voyeur (for Making Time) and then Great Scott near Boston before heading on to Canada, and then back through to Chicago and Minneapolis before finally departing for home.
Girl About Town: As well as the dream, and film-like quality of the sound Still Corners are known for--there is also an underlying dark sensuality/current to a lot of the songs that you produce. What is your ideal environment for song creation: and what type(s) of inspiration would you wish for people to take away from the songs that you create?
Greg Hughes: I'd like to think that when people listen they are transported to some where else and they are moved by the music, that they feel something. I don't really think much past that. I think this collection of songs is darker because they were written during a dark time in my life after a break up.
You've been releasing songs as Still Corners for around five years now; was there ever a turning point where you thought: "This is it. This is the one." the song or sound that would take you to where you needed to go (in a specific direction, or mindset) to fully realize your sound? Or are you still evolving?
Definitely still evolving. I think with every song I just let it come out and try to get out of the way of it and wait to see if it clicks. I wait for that click and if it doesn't happen then the song usually sits there collecting dust.
Your first full-length album, Creatures Of An Hour (Sub Pop) is due out this month. Do you find that there is a fine line when it comes to what you would like to stand out and what actually does when it comes to the final mixing/mastering process?
I think because there's no clock it allows the freedom to relax and experiment more, see what works and what doesn't. You can potter around, dive into older songs, try out new parts, etc. When something starts to sound good I just try to bring it to life life in the mix. I'm not a great engineer or anything, no training, I just use my ears and go with what feels right.
Being based out of London--do you have a favorite part of the local scene that is happening in the UK that you would like more people to know about? Is there someone or something in the local scene that helped to foster your own group while you were forming your initial sound?
London is really big city so I've found that unlike smaller cities it seems more difficult to cultivate a proper scene. Everyone is so spread out. The closest thing to a scene I've found is in Stoke Newington where the guys in the band live. Tessa and I live in Greenwich but whenever we go up there, there's a good vibe. Promoters like Lee Gordon who runs the Folke Newington night and has just opened up a bar has put on a lot of great shows with like-minded musicians and friendly people. It's nice to go up there and have that sense of community. All it takes is a few people and some great bands.
What types of instruments do you each play: the organ on Endless Summer in particular seems to stand out. Your music sounds very layered as well: what other types of instrumentation or effects do you hope to use in future compositions that you haven't been able to experiment with yet?
For Creatures of an Hour I used a lot of the Vox Continental organ sound and for the guitar I played everything through a pedal called a LovetoneCheese Source. These were handmade in England by Dan Coggins but are no longer available. Everything went through an API Lunchbox with an API 512, 527, 550a and these modules have a wonderful warm sound. Tessa sang through a combination of a Mojave MA200, Shure SM58, and Neumann KMS105. Future stuff should have a more analogue synth stuff.
How did you all meet and form the band?
I met Leon a few years ago at a Hawaiian party, we talked about film soundtracks and horror movies. When I released Remember Pepper? I thought it would be a good time to start a band and play those songs live. I asked Leon and he came aboard and turned Luke on to it for bass. I was looking for a singer for a long time. One cold January night I was taking a train to London Bridge but for some reason the train passed my stop and took me another 20 minutes down the line to Kidbrook. I got off and another person got off and came up to me and asked if I had boarded the wrong train too. It was Tessa. We started chatting about all sorts while we waited for the next train to pick us up. She told me she was missing choir because of it and I thought "hmmm this is good!". We exchanged numbers and started working on demos together...a full year later we started releasing full songs. The rest is rock n roll!
If you could imagine a movie being made featuring yourselves or your music: would it be more of a fashion film that featured your backing soundtrack and figures moving throughout a silent storyline, or would it be something more akin to the movie Blow-Up where the audience would be solving a mystery of some sort and your band would play during a climactic scene?
Blow Up all the way. Great film. I imagine a David Lynch meets Hitchcock for an eerie suspenseful type of thing.
My favorite song from your singles is the B-side Wish; "just one wish, can't resist", is there a lyric that stands out when Tessa sings it in particular for the band that turns a song into something unexpected? Or a song that you can't get out of your mind after you play it?
Thank you. I like the lyric, "Turned around the corner and saw your face, every time I look something breaks..." It's been in my head for a while. Tessa sings it beautifully.
In conjunction with the release of East Hundred's brand new EP The Spells, which the group itself describes (and very touchingly, we might add) as having "a mercurial heart....kindled by Philadelphia; our relationship with the people around us, our community, the city itself." the band also releases a brand new video for their track "This Year" which was made with footage captured by our friend and local videographer and photographer, Justin Clowes. Over the years, Justin has amassed footage of several local groups, and very recently we have also seen him successfully partner in work with mixed-media artist and musician Joe Castro to collaborate with Wilmington DE's The Sky Drops among others.
As a friend and fan of East Hundred, we have personally witnessed Justin say more kind and good words than we can count about one of his favorite local groups, and so we thought it would be a tribute to his great work with them to tell us about the video that he made for and with East Hundred in his own words. We hope that you enjoy it, we know that we did--and to Justin and East Hundred, we say "Congratulations!".
Girl About Town: Why do you consider East Hundred one of your favorite groups right now: what sets them apart for you?
JC: I think it all comes down to the songs... They absorb a lot of influences from bands that are around today but they purposefully don't sound like any of them. Their songs are very accessible and there's an emphasis on texture and melody that I love. I've always been interested in bands with a girl on vocals and when a friend told me about them many years ago, I liked what I heard. It's been fun and interesting to see them evolve over time and go from being less of a studio band and more of a live band. They're good people too, so getting to know them and working with them over the years has been fun.
How did you set about making this video--did the band ask you, or was it your idea?
JC: Probably a bit of both... I had put a video together for a cover they did of Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You" with different odds and ends of footage. They seemed to like the way it came out and we were talking about the vibe of the video and how it was pretty low key. I had more film sitting in the fridge at home that I was wondering what to do with, so I mentioned the option of making another Super 8 video. That got things rolling...
Why does this [filming with the use of Super 8] medium stand out for you; and how long did it take for you to pull all of the footage together?
JC: I was always interested in video: but sitting on a shelf, in my bedroom, was my parents' old Super 8 camera. Once in a while I'd research getting Super 8 film but couldn't find any in the Philly area. Probably about 8 years ago, I pulled the camera back out and started doing some research on the web and found some Super 8 film for sale. I filmed a couple of rolls and over time, mostly through trial and error, I started to learn the characteristics of different film stocks and what worked well and what didn't. It felt good to do something that stood out from all the camcorder stuff and the aesthetic of Super 8 just goes really well with certain bands. Film always offers an element of unpredictability but with a bit of luck and some know-how, Super 8 can give you incredible color saturation and an almost other-worldly feel.
For this video, i decided it would be cool to have the band do some of the filming as well and make the cameras themselves part of the video so I loaded up several cameras and encouraged the band members to do some shooting. I thought it would add a different perspective to the video and give them an element of control. They all seemed to like doing some of the shooting themselves... We filmed most of the footage over a hot summer weekend in July and then I shot a few rolls of their 2nd Street Festival appearance the following weekend. Their set time was later than we originally thought though, and I was concerned that we wouldn't have enough light: but the footage came out OK.
You have also worked with Wilmington DE's The Sky Drops: what other groups would be on your wish list to do something like this for?
JC: There's a ton of bands I'd like to work with. I just picked up the Washed Out album and as soon as I played it for the first time, I started imagining different visuals to accompany the music. On the local level, a lot of the bands I love are no longer around. Kurt Vile would be cool, especially a song from his latest album. I've been wanting to do something with big open spaces, lots of sky and scenery and the like, but nothing that fits the bill has come along. I'd do another Sky Drops video...for sure.
East Hundred photos by J. Clowes.
Do you have plans to work on any future videos? What would you do differently, if at all?
JC: I just finished up a hip-hop video, co-directed with my friend Joe Castro, filmed in Asbury Park so that should be coming out in the next few weeks. Every time you do a video you learn a little something but what was true for one video doesn't necessarily carry over to the next. Weather and lighting are huge factors in videos, especially when you're working with film. At the end of the day though, it all comes down to the song and what's in front of the lens.
You can find more of Justin Clowe's photography work online via his Flickr gallery here; and we're guessing that he is referring to locals 5 O'Clock Shadowboxers (the video that is still in production), which we're hoping for a sneak peak of soon!
If you haven’t had a chance to catch a show at World Cafe Live at the Queen since its opening last spring, make it happen. This is a new venue with excellent acoustics, friendly staff, and enough positive energy to give Wilmington, DE a much-needed push towards revitalization. I visited the smaller upstairs stage several weeks ago for the My Friends/Atlas album release show, and was also impressed by the larger downstairs stage Thursday night. With accoutrements of the old theatre (including a balcony) still intact, the space has a great historical-mixed-with-contemporary decor. It also has a fairly vegetarian/vegan friendly menu and two full bars.
Louisville-originated openers the Phantom Family Halo were clearly a talented and experienced band, but seemed to struggle with connecting to the crowd. The set picked up when Will Oldham (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy) came on stage to assist on some songs. Oldham (also a Louisville native) and the Phantom Family Halo recently put out a collaborative EP titled Mindeater (Knitting Factory). Tracks from that EP seemed to liven up the set and engage the audience. When I spoke to a member of the Phantom Family Halo after the show, he mentioned that the band was still figuring out how to best arrange their sets on tour. Let’s hope they do.
And then there’s Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. Between at least five different stage names (Palace, Palace Songs, Palace Brothers, Will Oldham, and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy) Will Oldham has built an intimidating musical catalog. He has also developed a film career, starring in everything from TV movies (Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure) to the critically acclaimed film, Old Joy. Oldham’s magnetic stage presence is clearly a result of his musical talent and love of dramatic performance diverging.
Listening to most of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s discography, one might expect a straightforward singer-songwriter experience in a live setting. However, Oldham, aged 41, appeared on stage with bright cerulean fingernails and some pretty serious eyeliner on his lower lids. While singing, Oldham often gestured dramatically with his arms and occasionally stomped his legs as though he was cast in O Brother, Where Art Thou. It sounds ridiculous, but like any great performer, his confidence was actually captivating and strangely moving. Oldham was backed by the Cairo Gang (a group of musicians that includes ultra-talented folk singer Angel Olsen). Oldham and Olsen cultivated a 1950’s Johnny Cash and June Carter country sound that was further amplified by the use of a Rhodes piano and an upright base. My favorite aspect of the show was that while I was not familiar with the vast majority of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s discography, I still felt captivated by the performance. I’d recommend catching this eccentric, talented performer next time he is in the Philly or Wilmington area.
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s newest release, Wolfroy Goes to Town will be released on Drag City records October 4th.
The War on Drugs - "Baby Missiles" (Official Video)
The War on Drugs are one of those Philly bands who are just everywhere. I have personally been to so many shows where they have been the openers that recently, I had begun to see them as a band that it was permissible to skip. The War on Drug’s most recent release has caused me to repent that attitude.
Slave Ambient (Secretly Canadian)was released August 15, but it’s an album that transitions well into fall weather. Compared to Wagonwheel Blues (War on Drugs previous full length) Slave Ambient is decidedly more layered, giving the band a sound even more like My Bloody Valentineand Sonic Youth. However, Slave Ambient is more than just a copycat in that it takes elements from 90’s shoegaze, sprinklings of synth, a Dylan/Petty influence, and integrates them with front-man Adam Granduciel’s wailing vocals in a refreshing, innovative way.
It seems impossible to talk about the War on Drugs without mentioning former guitarist Kurt Vile, who has made a name for himself with a successful solo career since leaving the band. The similarities between Vile’s recently released Smoke Ring for My Halo (Matador) and the War on Drug’s new album are many. Both Smoke Ring and Slave Ambient share a textured, psychedelic production style and wistful pop lyrics about leaving it all behind. Yet, despite the overlap, I would argue that these similarities are strengths for both Vile and the War on Drugs. Vile and Granduciel, long time friends, have clearly developed together as artists. But as Slave Ambient proves; Granduceil and bandmates are obviously capable of creating a unique album without Vile. Slave Ambient contains a juxtapositon of layered tracks like “It’s Your Destiny” and more straightforward tracks like “Blackwater”, while still maintaining a strong sense of cohesion that sticks with the listener in a way that Vile’s Smoke Ring does not.
It’s exciting to see what the War on Drugs will do next, and everyone is hoping they avoid leaping into the lo-fi oblivion that Slave Ambient dabbles in just enough for comfort. Either way, this is still one of the best albums released so far this year.
