Tag: album preview

PLAYING DETROIT: Gosh Pith “True Blue”

13880387_1174161629320827_7293129269397932473_nIt’s been a while since we’ve checked in with our favorite cosmic trip-hop duo Gosh Pith, who have spent the past few months touring sporadically while teasing tracks from their forthcoming record. Most recently, Josh Freed and Josh Smith dropped “True Blue,” a love song at its core inspired by getting pulled over by a state trooper after a gig. What Gosh Pith is getting a stronger grip on these days is the power of duality. Clashing bass serves as both an opportunity for an impassioned bump and grind and also viscerally alludes to wavesrelentlessly beating the shoreline. The lyrics are relatable in their indecisiveness; running to and from, pulling away and in. Relating the fear of the law with romantic entanglements, it’s easy to picture yourself escaping the swirl of red and blue lights on foot, dipping through highway brush and hopping fence lines with the same endangered fire you might escape to/from the arms of the one who’s got you feeling all types of crazy.

The lyrics are relatable in their indecisiveness; running to and from, pulling away and in. Relating the fear of the law with romantic entanglements, it’s easy to picture yourself escaping the swirl of red and blue lights on foot, dipping through highway brush and hopping fence lines with the same endangered fire you might escape to/from the arms of the one who’s got you feeling all types of crazy. There is a, dare I say, Bieber-esque moment with the harmony surrounding the chorus that is pleasantly poppy and roots the track to the duo’s hidden, soft-spoken accessibility. If “True Blue” is any indication of what we can expect from their next album, it’s apparent that Gosh Pith is still pulling us into their beautiful world where the waters run deep and being trapped means another chance to break free.

Pull over and turn up with “True Blue” below:

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/283969358″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

PLAYING DETROIT: Moonwalks “Steam Train”

moonwalks

No, you’re not crazy. It was just a few short months ago that I was praising Lunar Phases, the debut LP from the  space-psych rock four piece Moonwalks. Where Lunar Phases left off, their latest track “Steam Train” picks up with a feverish sense of self, pushing further into cosmic cohesion that feels both seasoned and sensational. After headlining the Hamtramck Music Festival this past weekend (hailed Detroit’s best music mashup year after year) and an upcoming gig this month supporting Diane Coffee (members of Foxygen) the band celebrates their two year “band-iversary” by announcing yet another LP on the way, In Light (The Scales In The Frame). 

“Steam Train” taps into the very things I love about Moonwalk’s reinterpretation of 60’s sedated rock, entangled with early Black Rebel Motorcycle club meets a zombie-fied The Dream Syndicate vibes. Even in its untamed composition, the lyrics compliment and combat with aching purification. The track opens with a slow build to the lyrics: “Mind is a window/mind is a window/mind is a window/every night” as the symbol crashing, bass pulse breaks through that very window. Although lyrically minimal and sonically repetitive, Moonwalks finds a sweet spot in the arrangement that is dark, subversive, and feels like fun you shouldn’t be having. It isn’t that “Steam Train” responds with a maturity that Lunar Phases lacked, rather that they root deeper into their next generation.

Catch Moonwalks playing w/Diane Coffee March 26th at Marble Bar in Detroit.

Check out “Steam Train” below:

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][bandcamp width=350 height=470 album=1930471791 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false]

 

 

 [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

PLAYING DETROIT: Moonwalks “Lunar Phases”

10991243_1050904778258644_4600866750694751618_n

Few bands are as aptly named as psychedelic Detroit four piece, Moonwalks, whose upcoming release Lunar Phases could act as a wild, yet tailored, road map to uninhabited galaxies and black holes, alike. The band’s first LP, scheduled to release via cassette tape and digital download later this month (MANIMAL Vinyl) is as warm as it is cooly intergalactic and is as 1960’s retro as it is refreshingly modern. Collectively, Jake Dean (guitars/vocals) Kate Gutwald (bass), Kerrigan Pearce (drums) and Tyler Grates (guitar) admit to being moved by the production of old Lee Hazlewood records, which makes sense, considering Lunar Phases has an undeniably sultry, Western-shootout vibe. (If the shootout was between aliens and cowboys, directed by a 90’s Tarantino respectfully.) “We’re becoming more collaborative as a four piece,” says Grates. “When making music, it’s important for me not to consider any influences I have at the time. Anything can sound like everything. However, it’s a little different in the recording process. We all have similar taste but different ideas, so we’re constantly coming up with different landscapes of sound.” More than Brian Jonestown Massacre-esque jam rock moments or sedated Jeffry Lee Pierce vocals, Moonwalks’ sound is the figurative dusting off of something once lost. Like water on Mars, Lunar Phases taps into what you thought you knew, but with an exploratory freshness best suited for lovers of reverb, distortion, and unexpectedly emotive cosmic collisions of past and present.

What is most surprising of their debut LP is the seamless cohesion not only between tracks, but in Moonwalks’ shared cadence, notably in their confidence in letting each instrument/effect have space to swell, breathe, and explode. This is glaringly apparent on vocal-less track “Cream Cheese Ashtray,” a demanding instrumental that gives the aural illusion of bending time; warped but never “off,” askew but never elementary nor hesitant. Delay heavy track, “Painted Lady” (one of two songs named after beloved Detroit bar/venues) is reminiscent of early Black Rebel Motorcycle Club minus the cliche hook/verse progression, artfully distorting your notion of what comes next; another example of Moonwalks’ ability to give new life to the already familiar.

Lunar Phases is, for the lack of a better word, mature. The album, a richly dynamic and attentive mosaic just under thirty minutes long, manages to achieve the robust fluidity that most bands don’t find until their second or third release (if at all). With extensive touring planned for the coming year and by the sounds of it, more studio time, too, Moonwalks exudes a completeness but with ample room to morph, grow, and reimagine. “I think were becoming tighter as a band,” Grates explains. “We’re getting more comfortable with playing shows and touring around the country. I think if the four of us weren’t in a band together, we’d still be hanging out all the time.”

While we await the release of Lunar Phases, satisfy your hunger by checking out Moonwalks’ 2014 EP:

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][bandcamp width=350 height=470 album=186477325 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

PLAYING DETROIT: Flint Eastwood’s “Find What You’re Looking For”

Playing Detroit

Even without knowing the emotionally turbulent backstory behind Flint Eastwood’s latest EP Small Victories, the first single “Find What You’re Looking For” paints a cathartic landscape that evokes the sensation of conserving breath and energy before climbing a mountain. The song resonates as whispered, yet resilient, triumph. Jax Anderson is no stranger to small victories, nor large ones, respectively. A statement released with the single informs that the song is an interpretation of the last words spoken to Anderson by her mother before she passed: “Don’t let this break you.” As the listener or compassionate voyeur we may not know what the “this” is and we may not know what we’re looking for, but it is with this haunting ambiguity that makes the track accessible and effective in its ability to sound both confident and cautious. In the wake of such loss, Anderson sounds as if she’s begging the sky, crooning, “I don’t want to lose you/this moment next to you/you tell me what to do.” What is most strangely refreshing about “Find What You’re Looking For” is that it shines as a great contrast to the gritty, danceable electro-indie-rock vibe of Eastwood’s 2013 release, Late Nights in Bolo Ties. If this track is any indication to the journey ahead both for Anderson and the audience, Small Victories (to release on October 9th, 2015) will likely encourage the defiant act of letting the light into the dark places.

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]https://soundcloud.com/flinteastwoodmusic/find-what-youre-looking-for[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]