NEW MUSIC FRIDAY with TBONES and the new music you MUST hear.
MUST is in capitals, because well..you'll see..and read..and hear. Lead on, MacDuff.
AZYMUTH - Demos 1973-1975 [LP/CD](Far Out UK)
There is something so raw and intriguing about the early demo work of a band. In a small studio, a band that is combining so many sounds and ideas is forced to work with limitations. In addition, the band is exploring music at their own pace - so fresh ideas are ready to tape no matter how nascent and jammy they might be. In the wave of MPB, Brazilian group Azymuth found a way to combine Jazz, Rock, and those searing Latin polyrhythms. In their small home studio over two years, you can hear them find their space and literally grow their sound from what could be a Meters-like Funk ("Castelo (Version 1)") to accomplished chord changes on their ballads ("Unknown Song For Mario Telles") being used in later compositions ("Manha.") "Demos 1973-1975" is Azymuth tightening up and refining their songs before their fantastic 1975 self-titled debut and 1977 classic "Aguia Nao Come Mosca."
POPULATION II [LP/CD](Castleface/The Orchard)
Taking their name from ex-Blue Cheer member Randy Holden's solo opus is a giant step. Still Montreal's power trio Population II quickly find their natural affinity for juxtaposing giant riffage with quiet dreamy passages for whispery vocals. Occasionally, they even switch them up (the lengthy but neatly warped guitar solo section on "Attraction.") This is Hard Psych Rock which has been absent from the world for a while. Their Amon Duul II-meets-Bardo Pond grind is intoxicating. When you listen to standout cuts like the brain-melting opener ("Introspection/Ce N'est Reve") or the galloping midpoint of "La Danse," you just know when they master their changes and transitions (especially in volume,) - Population II will be among the Hardest of current Rock.
BIKE THIEFS - Leaking [LP/CD](Stomp CAN)
Canadians are always great at smart/smartass writing. Given their natural lean toward Parquet Courts (they are even mentioned in their bio,) instead, think about how well they fit into the LOUD/soft/LOUD Nineties bands that turned up on Matador or even Touch & Go. Bassist Kris Pandierada and drummer Andrew Fasken tend to rope in/unleash the power on every song. That frees up vocalist/guitarist Marko Woloshyn to create some abstract Indie Rock a la Rodeo Boy, Girls Against Boys, or even Modest Mouse. It is hard to be clever in the age of ..whatever, but Woloshyn hits some true lyrical peaks here including:
"I want to shower you in streams of revenue" - "Limbo in The Kitchen"
"Leave your screens, your football teams/Your framed education" - "Financial Cancer."
"I think they shared a cab/I think they'll share regrets." - "Ideas Guy"
No track meets the height and shows their potential better than the brilliant "Flyover State." Its mixture of poignancy and pugilism is a knockout. Even though Woloshyn barely ekes out three notes with his voice, the constancy reflects the drone of middle-class life. Then, when he registers lyrical blow after blow:
"My Dad's a workhorse
Red-blooded Rust Belt cavalry
Blowing on the embers
of a shaky marriage for 12 years."
The effect is mesmerizing. As a whole, "Leaking" shows Bike Thiefs have a world of potential in their thrashing threesome. A whole lot more potential than just another band trying to put out witty repartee.
USAISAMONSTER - Amikwag [LP/CD](Yeggs/Redeye)
In the nexus between good time Hippie harmonies and thunderous proto-Metallic - nay Prog Rock cascading riffs, USAISAMONSTER resides. "Amikwag" draws you in with its sung/spoken lyrics and bashing riffs. "8 Years Old" puts a childlike spin on the Psychedelic experience speeding up and slowing down like a self-powered playground Merry-Go-Round. "Nothing Is Everything" builds slowly and magnificently from its lumbering steps like a baby being spoonfed their most Frankenstein-ian minimal riff creation. "We Are Not Alone" continues the lysergic lunacy of pitch-shifting voices and leaves you unable to stop this album until it ceases on its own volition.
TIÑA - Positive Mental Health Music [LP/CD](Speedy Wunderground/PIAS)
While this band sounds peculiar in theory, Tina is that modern Psychedelic band that slips their gurgling organ, bright yet bent guitar sounds and a mix of long, languid low vocals with a charming falsetto thrown in as well (“Rooster” whose changes could almost make it a Prog/Pop song.) “Positive Mental Health Music” carries itself like a Brian Jonestown Massacre album as played by Beulah. While you work through singer Joshua Loftin’s nervous breakdown, he turns into a Kinks-y series of songs (think of the more vaudevillian yet sinister moments like “Alcohol.”) “With “Growing In Age” as their opus, “Positive Mental Health Music” gets as unsettling as Fat White Family but not as hair-raising as Girl Band. Utterly fantastic, multi-faceted debut that leaves you ready to explore it further.
THE FALL - Imperial Wax Solvent DLX [LP/CD](Cherry Red UK)
It is time to talk briefly about late-period Fall, a portion of their library not routinely explored. The reasons while numerous (namely the classic Eighties run that will be with you for LIFE once you start this habit) are a largely a question of control. Case in point, this overlooked album from the glorious musical year of 2008.
The Fall as a band was always in a state of flux. It seemed as if Mark E.Smith knew the best players (he hated “musicians” or “musos” outright) are those that are a little tense and apprehensive. Oh sure, his new wife Eleni Poulos gets her own vocal spot on the terse “I’ve Been Duped” but it explodes into a football chant with everyone singing mercilessly.
MES having learned how to harness that anger lets “Imperial Wax Solvent” become his “Angry Old Man” record. His tongue is barbed. His words either slurred in defiance of being heard or spat out like venom from some creature. The album’s centerpiece is “50 Year Old Man,” a song whose name screams modus operandi to manic critical types like me. Within the 12 minutes, MES remains vigilant and restless leaving your then dream of future Fall albums secure.
The overall tone of “Wax” is haunting. Its opener “Alton Towers” slithers in with a rubbery bassline over his musings on nature. After lulling you into a fugue state, MES strikes hard with the slashing “Wolf Kidult Man” and never lets up. “Strangetown” borrows oscillations (both synth and radio) from early Hawkwind to offset its borrowed Groundhogs licks (“Garden” the opening cut from the essential “Thank Christ For The Bomb.”) Poulou whips up a Motorik frenzy on “Taurig” before the near Disco pulse of “Can Can Summer” and the dark alley rumble of “Tommy Shooter” with its taunting talk of “chickens” reduces “your knees to noodles.” Later MES talks over himself on the “This Nation’s Saving Grace” vibe of “Latch Key Kid,” chews the scenery on the Zappa-esque “Is This New” (where the band stops so he can deliver the pugilistic line “I was provoked” like a witness on the stand in court.)
In fact, the later tracks reflect more musical collaboration among the band and thus explain how they became the longest incarnation of the Fall minus Poulou leaving in 2017. (The remainderers of Greenway, Spurr, and Meillng even honor their time in the ranks today by naming their band Imperial Wax.)
As for the plethora of bonus material, the Brittania Row recordings are tough and clear (“Ponto” is a standout that would have been a fantastic fit post-“Tommy Shooter” while “Taurig” features MES proselytizing through ghostly effects.) The live cuts better reflect the chaos of being in the band as MES shouts above the din like a modernized live album a la “A Part of America Therein, 1981” (whose “Cash & Carry” a/k/a “C n’ C ’s Mithering” should not be missed.)
“Imperial Wax Solvent” is that essential late period Fall album that showcases the band growing tight enough to keep MES as the ringmaster of the circus. Whether live or in the studio, it is the changes in songs that make you return to The Fall again and again. Fortunately, you get to hear a born-again band born-yet-again in the flames of fury and bathed in the light of whatever truth MES felt compelled to expel that day.