SOUNDTRACK: GIRL BAND-Live at Kex Hostel in Reykjavik (November 8, 2014)
This brief concert finally allows us to see just how Girl Band make their unholy noise. And yes, it is just four guys–guitar (and a whole lot of pedals) bass drums and a vocalist.
“Sexy Wife” has staccato guitars until the real noise kicks in for the chorus (oh, so that’s how he does it). It’s also fun watching the bassist remain largely calm while still playing some unsuaul high notes on his instrument. The drummer doesn’t have any fancy gizmos, but he keeps a steady loud beat. And I love that the singer is quite a pretty fellow in his Oxford shirt and parted hair (but he can scream like the best of them).
“De Bom Bom (their newest single) is just full of noise and more noise (how can you have chords if it’s just staicky noise?) as the bass rumbles along. This song is intense.
“Heckle The Frames” is a noisy chaotic pile of hardcore (and is about 90 seconds long). It’s followed by “I Love You” a cover of the Beat Happening song. For this one, it’s pretty much all bass and drums while the guitarist fiddles with his pedals making a larger wall of noise until he begins playing a ringing open note. I don’t know the original, but I imagine it’s nothing like this.
“Lawman” shows off just how noisy the bassist can be in the opening moments. And his riff, coupled with the noisy riff of the guitar, make for such an enjoyable combination. I love how the song which you assume is over–at about the length of their other songs–suddenly turns into something else altogether–a sort of guitar solo, if you will.
The final song is “The Cha Cha Cha” which is all of 25 seconds. It’s a pretty great set if you like your music noisy.
[READ: March 19, 2015] Blacksad
This book collects the first three Blacksad volumes: Somewhere within the Shadows (2000), Arctic Nation (2002) and Red Soul (2005). I’m only bummed that it took me so long between books to read them. They were translated by Anthya Flores and Patricia Rivera
It’s amazing to see that it takes two or three years between books, but when you look at the visuals, it is completely understandable. The drawings/paintings in these volumes are simply incredibly. They are incredibly realistic with exquisite attention paid to detail. The fact that he can make people with animal heads seem sexy is really a testament to his drawing skills.
Okay so Blacksad is a noirish detective series with a slight twist. John Blacksad is a cat. Well, he is a human shaped person with a cat head. But otherwise he is very much a detective–he is hunky, has smoldering eyes and is a really hard dude. And that first story opens with his former lover dead in her bead. She is so pretty (and colored in pale fleshtones), that one might be hard pressed to see her as a car (except for the ears).
This mystery is personal and John sets out to find out who wanted his former lover dead. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: THERAPY?: Music Through a Cheap Transistor: The BBC Sessions (2007).
SOUNDTRACK: BBC Sessions (various).
Many many bands that I like have recorded tracks for the BBC. And after several sessions, they tend to get released as BBC Live or BBC Sessions discs. In the last few years, I’ve gotten discs from the Cocteau Twins, Tindersticks, The Beautiful South, Belle and Sebastian and Therapy? One of the first ones I’d every gotten was The Smiths’ Hatful of Hollow. 
SOUNDTRACK: THERAPY?-Lonely, Cryin’ Only [single] (1998).
I have a few Therapy? singles, but I wanted to mention this one specifically because it has two “new” recordings on it. The first is of “Diane” the Hüsker Dü song that they first recorded on Infernal Love. The second is of “Teethgrinder” their first “hit” off of Nurse.
SOUNDTRACK: THERAPY?-High Anxiety (2003).
I hadn’t listened to this disc in a long time, and I was delighted by how much I remembered (and liked) it. This was the last Therapy? album that received a release in the U.S. And it is a solid collection of heavy alternative metal with some seriously catchy bits thrown in for good measure.
SOUNDTRACK: THERAPY?-Never Apologise Never Explain (2004).
This album is the prior release to One Cure Fits All. It’s not true that Therapy? works on a harsh release/melodic release kind of schedule, although judging by these two discs it sure seems that way. Never Apologise begins with a blistering, noisy “Rise Up.” The really notable difference with this disc and other Therapy? releases is the amount of noise in the track. One of Therapy?’s most notable sounds has been a guitar that is so clean it sounds almost unreal.
SOUNDTRACK: THERAPY?–One Cure Fits All (2006).
I’ve always liked Therapy?’s brand of aggro-alt metal/whatever you call it. Their earlier stuff was harsh and dark. During their middle years they grew surprisingly commercial (although they’ve always had a bit of a commercial side to them, even at their harshest).