This is my love letter to all the queer musicians out there, making art and kicking ass. If there's an artist you think I should know about, please let me know, I love new music! (I also reblog/post on general queer and trans stuff, radical news, and instances when the world is fucked, and when it isn't!)
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
So, last week, I posted a link to an Indie GoGo set up by Sourpatch to get a new van for touring, that’s still going on, and if you have the means to contribute, it would definitely be a good holiday present for an awesome band that you should totally love.
Sourpatch is a four-piece indie-rock/pop-punk band hailing from San Jose, California, and they love the 90s. Like, love the 90s. Aside from blatantly saying it in the bio on their website, their music sounds like it time traveled to 2011 from 1994. They dig heavily on the whole mid-90s Northwest sound, which is equal parts punk energy, indie guitar twang, and twee pop sensibilities, especially in terms of lyrics.
For those unfamiliar with 90s Pac Northwest indie-rock, imagine the dreamy, reverb soaked vocals of The Cranberries, mixed with the fast paced, noodly, lightly distorted guitar of a lot of Screaming Females material. The bass is bouncy with a lot of treble; in fact, the whole sound is very treble driven and the instruments are a little on the harsh side, but that helps cut the reverb of the vocals and the overwhelming sugary feeling they give you. This is fun, upbeat music that makes you want to dance with your friends while staring longingly across the room at your crush.
Their new album, Stagger and Fade, is set to be released early next year, and three preview tracks are currently available on their bandcamp, along with their first album, Crushin’ and their 2010 EP, Mira Mija.
Check ‘em out:
http://sourpatchpop.com
http://sourpatch.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/Sourpatchpop
Okay, yeah, I’ve kind of been cheating the past few weeks, what with the minimal posts and relative big name artist profiles. But you can’t deny Le Tigre is important, especially in terms of being a major influence for many newer queer pop and synth based bands.
Le Tigre was founded in 1998 and originally featured Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman, and Sadie Benning. Later their roadie and lighting designer/projectionist, JD Samson, joined the band after Benning’s departure. Since their formation, they have been pushing the riot grrrl musical movement forward, creating a new take on a the genre that Hanna helped start. Where Bikini Kill was influenced by punk and grunge, all fuzzy guitars and shouted vocals, Le Tigre is synth and sample based, with guitars layered over top, grounding the sound in the earlier riot grrrl sound. It’s a much poppier sound, taking more influence from 60’s pop and electro music of the 80s and 90s.
Their first album, Le Tigre, is an insanely danceable record, with such seminal tracks as “Deceptacon” and “Hot Topic.” The latter in particular takes particular influence from mainstream 60s pop and girls groups, but turns the genre on its head with Hanna and the group singing about radical women and female (and male, in the case of Billy Tipton) musicians, it acting as a musical love letter to these people. “My My Metrocard” features a late 60s organ sound and tambourine, sounding equal parts Mamas and the Papas and The Go Team. Their two later albums were much more modern in their pop sensibilities, the soft gang vocals and call/response replaced by more of Hanna on her lonesome. JD Samson’s particular influence (if her later work in MEN is anything to go by) is definitely felt. The beats are more interesting, and the synth sounds are at times unexpected. They feel unfamiliar and the tracks keep you on your toes much more than on Le Tigre.
Regardless of how you feel about Hanna, Samson, or Fateman on their own, or their politics, there’s probably at least one Le Tigre song you like. What’s your favorite? (Mine’s “What’s Yr Take On Cassavetes?” followed very closely by “Deceptacon”).
I did not know it was possible for me to love The Shondes any more. Apparently, I was wrong.
First official video from The Shondes latest album, Searchlights, for the song “Are You Ready>”
MEN covering Bikini Kill’s “Double Dare Ya”
This is too good. This is too sexy. Quit bogarting all the good and JD, leave some sexy for the rest of us!
(Source: weirdbitterdays)
FY!QM reviews: The Shondes’ Searchlights
When I first listened to “Close The Door,” the first track off of The Shondes’ latest album, Searchlights, my immediate thought was “Drums! There are drums! And I can hear them!” It is no secret that I absolutely adore The Shondes; they put on a phenomenal live show and are some of the most awesome, social justice minded individuals I have ever had the pleasure to meet. Unfortunately, their previous albums have always left me a bit disappointed, not because the songs weren’t good, they were. A lot of them were great, and they had so much energy and fire when performed live, but that never translated to the studio recordings. The songs would drag, the dynamics were missing, and the drums were so flat and pushed so far down in the mix that it actually became distracting to listen to without seriously messing around with the EQ. But that has finally come to an end. Searchlights is not only is their strongest collection of songs to date, it is a recording befitting their immense talent and passion.
This album sees The Shondes leaning more towards the indie-tinged rock sound pioneered by Husker Du and currently championed by bands like Lemuria. It’s fast paced and the drums (again, which are so refreshingly present) lead a steady charge forward. The rest of the sound is filled out by chunky guitar chords and a treble-y bass tone. “Are You Ready” is a great example. It starts sparse, drums, bass and vocals, and the verses feature short licks that lead into two rhythm parts with the same chords, but in different patterns, filling things out in an unexpected way. My favorite track, “Give Me What You Got,” sounds like it could be a Lemuria song. The bass bounces along in the verses, and the guitar is just jangly enough to harken back to the heyday of riot grrrl. Plus it features a lyric about being seen as a Gargamel. How many bands do you know that can pull a Smurfs reference and not have it be completely ridiculously cheesy and awful? I can’t think of any.
What really sets The Shondes apart from their peers however, is violinist Elijah Oberman. His parts lend an olde world feel to very modern, punk-influenced music. They call to mind folk tunes, regardless of whether or not his lines were influenced by them. He’s never at the forefront, and I think that really helps add depth to their sound. It’s not a gimmick, and the violin is a truly integral part of the band’s dynamic, haunting in the background of many of their songs, giving them a lingering sadness.
Lead vocalist Louisa Solomon is, as always, amazing. She has an incredibly distinctive, and emotive, voice. It’s longing and desperate in many places, and it commands your attention. The title track might be the best demonstration of her ability. She goes from an almost pleading tone, to a yelp in the final chorus, ending in a soft mournful sound. That, combined with the amount of reverb placed on her voice, really adds a huge emotional gut punch to the lyrics. Oberman provides great harmonies on most of the songs, and takes the lead on “All This Weight.” While technically he is not as strong as Solomon, he too has a very recognizable voice that really lends itself to emotion, a natural sadness that really fits in with The Shondes’ sound.
Searchlights, much like its predecessor My Dear One, is a more personal than political album. These are songs about people and relationships, although this is much less angry than My Dear One, which in many ways was the band’s break-up album. Searchlights, however, is more hopeful. There is still pain and sadness here, quite a bit, but you can also see the band building themselves back up again.
Searchlights is available now in a bunch of places, both digitally and in various physical formats. They are also currently on a nationwide tour, so go check them out if they make a stop in your town!
You can get Searchlights here:
http://theshondes.spinshop.com/
Amazon- http://amzn.to/qQRoX9
iTunes
