For those who’ve followed the musical progress of New York shoegazers A Place To Bury Strangers since their early days, the band’s gradual, and very natural shift into more commercial sounds has likely formed a very interesting journey. For those who discovered the band a little later, these “commercial sounds” could still feel cold and confronting, but somewhere beneath their distortion and darkness, it should’ve become increasing clear that these Jesus & Mary Chain obsessives were capable of wielding a great tune.
Tag Archives: alternative
Watch: Fred Abong shares ‘Heaven’ ahead of new album
At the time of this single’s release, it really doesn’t feel that long since Fred Abong released his ‘Fear Pageant’ album. That makes sense, as it’s only been eight months since the world last heard new music from the former Throwing Muses and Belly man.
Ahead of a new album (‘Blindness’, scheduled for release on May 9th), Fred has shared a new track, ‘Heaven’, and the full video can be seen below.
IZZY AND THE BLACK TREES – Go On, Test The System EP
With amps fully cranked, the four songs that make up Izzy and The Black Trees’ ‘Go On, Test The System’ EP have a brilliant, live in the studio sound. The results mightn’t be as explosive as, say, the early works of A Place To Bury Strangers, but this Polish act have a similar love of distortion, and of reworking 90s influences to create an intensive experience. On this release, their no frills, full fuzz approach results in arrangements that explode with a really natural buzz; songs that owe a debt to Sonic Youth, The Jesus & Mary Chain, early PJ Harvey, and overlooked acts like Hammerbox and Yur Mum, yet still convey just enough of their own style to remain interesting.
THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #45
Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual mp3s that have landed in our inbox over the previous few weeks. This time out, we bring you a rather eclectic bunch of tunes, ranging from synthpop to light pop, from 90s inspired rock to post-goth. We’ve even managed to contrast a dance track and a soul pop based number with something very heavy, ensuring there’s something here for almost everyone. As always, we’ve had a truckload of submissions over the past seven days, so there’s more good stuff to come…
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VARIOUS ARTISTS – Moving Away From The Pulsebeat: Post Punk Britain 1977-1981
When punk shook Britain’s music scene in ‘76, it came as a revelation. The DIY spirit of the Buzzcocks’ ‘Spiral Scratch’ EP suggested that anyone could be in a band; you didn’t need to have to have years worth of musical training. Music could also be about capturing an energy and a spirit. Punk’s first wave was relatively short-lived. By 1978, guitar driven bands were mixing the less flashy elements of punk with bigger melodies, resulting in the mod influenced sounds of The Jam and the broader power pop of Elvis Costello & The Attractions. Some were even taking punk’s pure drive and creating what would now be considered goth, and bands like Ultravox! and Wire – arguably the greatest bands to be tagged with the term “post punk” – added strange and angular artiness, shaping the sounds of a generation.