Katrin the Thrill reminds me of a young Patti Smith, she could be a drowning in melancholy PJ Harvey or a sober Courtney Love, possibly a less gloomy, but still dark enough Melissa Auf der Maur. Having some strong Post-Rock resonances, Katrin the Thrill exploring the path between building upon gentle acoustic layers and tearing the dreams apart by screaming guitars and pounding drums. A woman might seems sexy and fragile, but she is eventually even further dangerous and deadly when she strikes. “Evil Eye Charm” it’s like a walk through Wonderland: never really know what will jump off to you behind the next song. And this is definitively a positive tension which keeps your attention sharp throughout the album while every song has it’s own little Magic, it’s a painting with sounds from another universe.
One of my favorites is the closing “Warmer” because it’s not only warmer with some sparkling piano chords, but gave us the much anticipated release. But I love equally the whole journey from the pulsing start with “Losing” which kind of throw us into the eye of the rising hurricane, through the theatrical break-downs of “Under The Skylight” or the gentle chords of “Lyds”. Classic in the most possible positive sense, but out of the patterns, experimental, explorer, looking further, breathing and alive. Pretty charming journey actually, no fill-ups, no empty or useless spaces (moments), but struggling emotions throughout. Read more Katrin the Thrill – Evil Eye Charm (2012)
Life and Living
indie rock
Topsy The Great – STEFFALD (2012)
This is genuine, noisy, garage taste like, Avant-garde Rock band, somewhere between Big Black, Sonic Youth and H.P. Zinker. Topsy The Great’s debut album will be out on vinyl in September on fromSCRATCH Records. We’ve got 12 grinding, contorted, noisy Rock tracks, delivered by this Italian trio consist of guitarist Emanuele Ravalli, bass player Alessandro Gambassi and drummer Lorenzo “Bob” Coppini. They call their own style “Tesla-Core”, which is actually pretty clever and appropriate, while among their influences they name bands such as Black Sabbath, Black Flag, Big Black, Sonic Youth, Lightning Bolt, Fugazi, Oshinoko Bunker Orchestra and Melvins. This is a quite intense mixture of Punk rooted Garage Rock with Hardcore intensity and experimental/Avant-garde taste like (truly Progressive) Post-Rock. Got to listen this to feel it, understand it, but once you will got the taste of it, once when everything came through, you will love it and finally you will scream for more. Although, the recording is pretty raw sounding – bet it was recorded live -, the material is enjoyable and the trip is exhaustive, but worth every single minute of it. Read more Topsy The Great – STEFFALD (2012)
Jet Plane – All The Static Stars (2012)
“Disappearance At Sea” starting with the sound of breaking waves at the sea-side and the smoothly glowing instruments creates a mood which slowly suck you in, imprisoning you.
Max – guitar, Serge – guitar, Dima – drums, and Kostya -bass are from Bryansk, Russia and they formed Jet Plane back in 2009, while “All The Static Stars” it’s their third installment so far, selling on the sonar seas of bands such as Mogwai, Sigur Rós, Rain Tongue, dEUS, Sonic Youth, Malkovic, Jeniferever, Explosions In The Sky, etc. Minimalist, stripped-down to the bone sound, but filled with emotions instead of convenience, colored with soul-flare instead predictability and burning creativity instead fancy cliches, Jet Plane delivering quality (Post) Rock with gentle, but edge cutting experimental taste, focusing on expression of feelings and reveling of emotions by sound, rather then delivering 3 minute long Pop emptiness. Read more Jet Plane – All The Static Stars (2012)
Reserve de Marche – The Last Twenty Years (2012)
7 tracks – 50 minutes, the debut album by this three-piece instrumental rock band from Moscow, Russia, is an excellent and colorful mixture of (Rock) genres and styles from classic, Progressive Rock to Post-Rock, Match Rock, Sludge and Shoegaze. Atmospheric, dark passages and heavy riffs, intense moments are combined and the merge of the different elements make the… difference.
If you’re looking for a groovy, still emotional, dark, but contorted and sometimes intense and heavy, modern, instrumental Rock album, “The Last Twenty Years” worth your attention. “Name your price” means you can downloaded even for free, or you can order the CD from Mals Records. Read more Reserve de Marche – The Last Twenty Years (2012)
Future of the Left – The Plot Against Common Sense (2012)
I’m a Punk Rocker. Hell yeah! True, in my early forty’s, with considerably less hair and tooth then two decades ago, dragging with me several more or less chronic diseases, but still banging. Sometimes. On the other hand I had never believed in the values of the political left. Getting further, I do not believe there is any value in any political build-up and honestly, I do not trust anybody, sometimes not even my own bloody self.
I like Future of the Left and along with PiL, I think FotL is one of the very rare genuine (Post) Punk bands that managed to merge noisiness and aggressiveness with caustic content, intelligence and coherent message. I don’t think there’s anything left “politically correct” – like it ever was something -, but still, this is about music, and FotL still got both the magic and the bollocks to deliver some banging songs while the mainstream is drowning in its own emptiness. And you might be or not lefty, they have something to say while most of the singers only open their mouth to show their tooth. Definitively there is a plot against common sense while Diplo is considered “one of the most influential music taste-makers”…. 😆 😆 😆 Read more Future of the Left – The Plot Against Common Sense (2012)
Meredith – Debut, EP (2012) – free download!
Fred Lefranc – Guitar, Vocals and Ben Delacroix – Drums formed Meredith in Paris, France and this four track free release available through their Bandcamp page is an excellent mixture of raw (garage) Punk – in the vein of The Stooges – , dark, contorted post Rock with roots back to Joy Division, adding some heavy (Post) Hardcore energy and not at least their own originality with cutting edge experimental taste. As they describe themselves perfectly: “Meredith are the bastard child of a drunken encounter between Dave Grohl and Shannon Wright, the duo Meredith was born on a moonless night, in the back of a filthy cab. Bearing the gifts of raw, uncompromising ruthlessness, with some siblings in Barkmarket, Fugazi and Trail of dead, their lineage is extensive and impassioned.” Read more Meredith – Debut, EP (2012) – free download!
The Hunting Accident – Trees And Parks (2012)
“Every human being, even the youngest, is already old – that is, so close to death that he or she does not, in any case, have time to efface the accidental quality of the accidents of which his or her life is composed… We human beings are always more our accidents than our choice.” – Odo Marquard “In Defense Of The Accidental”
The Hunting Accident are a band from Los Angeles and their music is an excellent mixture of the 70’s pulsing heaviness with good sens of punk edginess and some tasty psychedelia and the tight and pounding modern sound and approach of the nowadays Indie and Post Rock. It’s almost like sending David Bowie to 2069. This music is ageless and without frontiers, they have both roots to American and Brit bands, in one moment you definitively will hear some The Beatles influences while in the very next moment there is something which reminds you The Stooges. And all these dualities I think are the strength of The Hunting Accident.
And more, they release comes for FREE, you can grab it, share it, listen to it and if you enjoy it, make a donation, they definitively deserve it! Read more The Hunting Accident – Trees And Parks (2012)
Grand Duchy – Let the People Speak (2012)
Cooking Vinyl, home of artist such as The Prodigy, The Cult, The Proclaimers, The Enemy, The Cranberries, Asian Dub Foundation, Art Brut, Pop Will Eat Itself, more recently Marilyn Manson – among many others – on April 9th, 2012 released the second album by Grand Duchy. The band was formed in 2008 by Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV aka Black Francis aka Frank Black famous for being the primary songwriter and singer of Pixies, and his wife Violet Clark. Their debut effort, “Petits Fours”, was released in February 2009, the duo now seems even more creative and “Let the People Speak” sounds twice as good as their previous album.
Although this is an experiment, a journey to quite different moods and vibes and without being tightly tied or related to any particular musical genre. Read more Grand Duchy – Let the People Speak (2012)
Slide On Venus – Topless (2012)
Blending genres and styles, Slide On Venus find their own. Alban De Luca – Guitar & Vocals, Victor Malé – Bass & Vocals, Thibault Malé – Guitar & Vocals and Mathias Perles – Drums & Vocals, find the perfect balance between a gentle part of melodic and catchy Pop and the energy of the Indie Rock spiced with a tasty part of Post-Grunge feeling. The opening title track of their debut album, “Topless” simply explode in your face.
The parallels with bands such as Biffy Clyro and Foo Fighters are obvious, but this French quartet from Besançon added their own approach to it and this debut album flow in the right groove from the very first beat till the… last drop. Read more Slide On Venus – Topless (2012)
The Mono Jacks – Woman video single and free download
The Mono Jacks is a four-piece hailing from Bucharest, Romania and delivering mainstream flavored indie rock.
Their debut album entitled “Now in Stereo” is available for download at their Bandcamp page for €5 EUR and it received several positive reviews. The band now is in a viral promotion assault introducing their upcoming second album and its leading single, “Woman” is available for free download at The Mono Jacks – Official Site.
Their catchy, radio-friendly, quite British taste-like post-rock/alternative pop music have the potential to topping the charts easily. In this actual promotional operation it might be a good idea to give also their debut album away on “name your price” basics, although €5 EUR is a correct price and you will receive also two bonus remixes by The Pixels and Alien Pimp. Read more The Mono Jacks – Woman video single and free download
