With the Olympics hype unable to steal the spotlight away from the entire world's continued states of unrest, Impose's Week in Pop presents our own cadre of iconoclasts with first looks at recent necessary diversions. News surrounding an alleged Lana Del Rey and Dan Auerbach collaboration is buzzing, and there's also a Mac Demarco and Tyler the Creator collab in the works, a Cossack militia attacked Pussy Riot members Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina just after they were recently detained near the Sochi Olympics site, The Exploited's frontman Wattie Buchan had an onstage heart attack, and Billy Corgan is set to perform an eight to nine hour ambient interpretation of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha at his Madame ZuZu's Teahouse in Chicago on February 28. So buckle up your seat belts, as we bring you the week's rising stars with exclusives from Creepoid, Baby Baby, Charlie Greene, Baby Blue, Shocking Pinks, Frame, and more — in no particular order.
Philadelphia has been blowing our minds and ear drums lately, and to keep this tradition going we welcome Creepoid's Anna & Patrick Troxell, Sean Miller, and Pete Urban IV, as they take us for a dip into the holy waters on the premiere of “Baptism” from their upcoming self-titled full-length. The sound and mood that this Philly four has to offer is heavier than even the most saturated and soaked, heaviest denim jacket around.
“Baptism” follows up the single “Sunday” with a whole other set of snarling attitudes. Where “Sunday” provided a hop-along helping of country steeped twang; “Baptism” is the sound of a personal and spiritual rebirth by a trial of a refiner's fire. Sean, Pete and Anna drag every chord and slug-chugging deep into the quicksand pool, as Patrick's percussion keeps the life line connected. The slow burn and melting disintegration of the production points toward Sean's muffled howl and hum, where occasional lyrics surface about “dying to be saved,” and a path to redemption paved with the same sinking cobblestones of perdition. While Kyle “Slick” Johnson assists Creepoid with the production, there is nothing 'slick' or glossy about this baptismal. All the instruments and amplifiers fall further into the dissolving earth, as the quartet muddies up everything from vocals to a performance that anoints themselves as saints that seek the expanding sinkhole that will lead them safely and soundly to the center of middle earth. The humdrum of winter cabin fever is traded for the murk, and mercurial mayhem of sanctification that lies deep beneath the earth's crust, and leads into the strange places of parts unknown.
Creepoid's Sean Miller joins us to talk baptismals, the best and worst of Philly, strange rituals involving watching the movie Beethoven, and more that you just got to read in order to understand.
I enjoy the band's balance of melodic dissonance and appropriately applied distortion. What are some of the key tenets of constructing a Creepoid song?
We try to stay away from anything too restrictive. We prefer to let the songs just happen, without imposing any hard rules. Sometimes one of us will approach the rest of the band with something that's nearly complete, and other times we'll have this little snippet that we all sort of throw around for months and months before taking it to the next level as an actual song. We've all known each other for years so we don't really have to analyze or plan anything too much, or over think things.
What's the story behind the rowdy squall of guitars that make up the redemption song of, “Baptism”?
Funny enough, the guitar parts for this track were actually written on acoustic guitar. Pete and I were working on some things while I was stuck in the house with a broken heel, just messing around, and eventually we started playing what would become the foundation for the track. It was one of the first things we experimented with as a full band once I was back on my feet, and I guess something about finally being able to stand up, move around, and get back to it led to the overall intensity of the track.
Does Creepoid employ any “Baptism” rituals as rites of band passage, like Marilyn Manson used to have with Dungeons & Dragons games as group entry rites?
We do have one ritual: we make sure we always have the movie Beethoven playing in the background when listening back to a new recording. When the film opens a St. Bernard puppy and a large group of other puppies are stolen from a pet store by two thieves, Harvey (Oliver Platt) and Vernon (Stanley Tucci). After meeting a dog, during his escape from the thieves, the St. Bernard sneaks into the home of the Newton family. He climbs up a little girl's bed and begins licking her face, making her wake up. She is surprised to see the puppy and even says it was a dream come true. The father, George Newton (Charles Grodin), doesn't want the responsibility of owning a dog, but his wife, Alice (Bonnie Hunt), and their children convince him otherwise. While trying to name their new-found dog, the youngest daughter, Emily (Sarah Rose Karr), plays a portion of Ludwig van Beethoven's “Fifth Symphony” and the puppy barks along; the family thus names him “Beethoven.” Somehow, it always 'makes sense.'
Creepiest things about Philly?
The creepiest things about Philly are, unfortunately, not unique to this city. There is a massive closed circuit surveillance system/fusion center draining resources from run down communities and shut down schools, a new drone-war command center in the suburbs, and for-profit prisons popping up all over the area. And of course, you've got all the assholes that sneer at you contemptuously for forcing them to actually think about any of these things.
Some of the coolest things about Philly? You all have so many great bands, and so many little scenes.
That's definitely a bright spot here. There's a great stable of bands, and we all sort of cross over into each other's sounds, so it's not as segmented or cliquey as some other places. There's this “Philly” thing that ties everything together. Other than that, the best part is definitely all the great small treasures, great food, great record stores, and great people are nestled away in every neighborhood. Three of us share a house in West Philly and it's great, because there are so many community-centric things out here.
Insight into the painstaking process of recording your upcoming self-titled for No Idea?
This time around, we took the opposite approach of our first LP. On the Horse Heaven album, we did the drums ourselves and then went in to work with Kyle “Slick” Johnson on everything else. This time around we started with Kyle, tracking all the drums, and then recorded the instruments at a house in Port Richmond with Jeff White (who also plays some lap steel and keys on the album). Once that was taken care of, we went back to Kyle with the music and finished the vocals. Pete had been living in San Antonio and was making periodic trips back, so the process ending up taking more time than most of us initially expected.
Release plans?
The album drops on March 4, and we're going to be wasting no time before getting some smaller releases out. The plan is to get three EPs out within the year once the full length drops.
Creepoid's self-titled will be available available March 4 from No Idea Records.
Baby Baby proudly present the Terence RUSHin video for the film crew Chasing Squirrelz to capture the energetic and frenetic visuals for BB's single, “Keep On Dancing”. The Carrollton by ATL crew cannot contain one iota of their energy, as they bounce off the sidewalk, off the walls, and everywhere else surrounded by the adoration of their fans, friends, and fellow party people. Baby Baby's Fontez Brooks, Kyle Dobbs, Grant Wallace and Colin Boddyv released the single through The Gospel of Rhythm Recordings to celebrate the recent Martin Luther King Day, in anticipation of their upcoming April 1 release of their album, Big Boy Baller Club. Southern sons of the strong and the brave, Baby Baby carve out their own templates, have little to no use for tags, labels, genres, and run through the songbooks and workbooks of structures that they enjoy as quick as they discard them to kick out some real infectious noise.
From the opening boom-box horn beat, the quartet work to get it right and keep everything dancing and moving with little to no rest. Folks in shark suits, gorilla suits and more are everywhere, as entourages begin to gather all around. At all times, the title of “Keep On Dancing” is adhered to without question or moment for pause or rest. As more and more crowds and animal masked compadres join in on the fun, the spirit of free-wheeling-fancy-footwork becomes the reason for any and all seasons. Pounding heels to the pavement, Fontez spells out the name of the game as doing it for the love of the sport like, “I ain't never had no money, I don't ride a limousine”. From the sporadic, and wild street scenes, the house party scenario, and outdoor performance finale; Baby Baby combine the party going vibe with an upward attitude that encourages everybody to join in on the action, no matter who you are, what you maybe going through, and whatever else you might be doing. Only thing we can say is if Baby Baby brings the dance party to your hometown and neighborhood, you cannot remain a wallflower isolated to the solitary confinement of your bashful comforts. “Keep On Dancing” is for everyone to enjoy—no dance lessons needed or previous credentials, or training required.
Grant Wallace from Baby Baby joins up with us to share some words on the ATL, band beginnings, their upcoming album Big Boy Baller Club, and more.
In what ways has the ATL impacted and informed Baby Baby?
ATL is a mixed up place of mashed potatoes. We knew we had to get out of Carrollton and move here but it hasn't been all flowers and roses since our arrival a couple years ago. We got the cover photo for Creative Loafings most hated bands in Atlanta issue so that should sum up quite a bit. We got a lot of haters. Fuck if I know why. But on the contrary, we got the best fans in the world. Obviously every band loves to say this but it's a breath of fresh air every time you play a show and see people dancing/singing along with you.
How did you all form?
It was a hot summer day in the Rivers Edge apartment complex at West Georgia college. After a quick dip in the pool, Tez and I decided to try to play some tunes together. We recorded our first song with some dog food, pots and pans, an acoustic guitar and a lil bit of drum. Then we forced Kyle and Colin into group. I can't go into many details on this for legality purposes. Ryan joined a few years later on his own will. Thank goodness.
Walk us through the evolution from Money, Haters, to the upcoming Big Boy Baller Club.
Money is money because we have no money. It was a mashup of everything we ever did and we plopped it onto an album. “Haters” was a single for all our haters, easy as that. Big Boy Baller Club is now the next step in the baby squared journey. It's basically like getting into a rocket ship with your five best friends, getting shot off into space with a 12-pack of PBR, and visiting planet to planet until your back hurts and you want to go home. With that said, we've been stuck in space for five years and there's little to no stopping us. Sorry haters.
“Keep On Dancin” is pure party energy. With “Keep On Dancin” as a title trope being a radio pop standard, why is this kinetic, centrifugal force such a wellspring of ideas to pull from?
Everyone has bills to pay. We got relationship problems. There's a nail in my tire. I'm eating my third egg sandwich for the day because I'm too broke to afford anything else. We just played a bad ass show to a room of four people and we'll probably have to sleep on a hardwood floor tonight but you know what, you just got to keep on dancing. Its easy as that. Luckily for us, our fans think we're actually cool guys and we play semi-decent music so they make the “Keep On Dancing” mentality incredibly easy to forgo when times are rough. Preach.
Big release plans for Big Boy Baller Club?
Big fun rock tour is booked for April. Dates still being added, if you want us to hit your city, hit us up at babybabyga@gmail.com cities now include Charlotte, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Mobile, Macon, Auburn, Milledgeville, Knoxville, Ashville, Nashville, Greenville, Columbia, Savannah, Charleston, and Panama City. What-what!
Baby Baby's Big Boy Baller Club will be available April 1 from The Gospel of Rhythm Recordings.
The time has finally arrived. We have had over a year's worth of warning, and now the legendary Nick Harte's Shocking Pinks vehicle released the triple LP Guilt Mirrors on the venerable Brooklyn imprint, Stars & Letters. With a portfolio that checks DFA and Flying Nun releases under his belt, Harte's latest ambitious offering lives up to all the buzz and hype with lushes expressions of emotion and experimentation that you could ever begin to hope for… and more still.
There is no telling where this adventure will lead, as “GUN NEST” secures the home fortress in instrumental fashion, to the dice rolling dissonance and heart beat-breaking beauty of, “Not Gambling”. Spans of time clash and collapse with, “Ten Years” as Nick gives us something to possibly one-up Bowie's ubiquitous classic, “Five Years”. Friends present and gone are held dear on “My Best Friend”, “SoapsuddS” send gusts of distorted noise pleasantries, and “Love Projection (Dedicated to Jerry Fuchs)” rekindles the classic days with departed DFA mates. “What's Up With That Girl? (feat. Ashlin Frances Raymond / Arkitype)” deserves to be played on every radio station, as “Vendetta (feat. Designer Violence)” cues a kind of electro-ultraviolence. “Swam” performs laps around the rhythm pool, “therearenorivershere” is a sonic-soothing masterpiece that Kevin Shields must look on in favor, and the dream is kept alive and well on, “Keep Dreaming”.
The beautiful distortion winds of, “Few Skeletons” will catch you asking how Nick does it, while “LV VS SX (feat. Ashlin Frances Raymond)” takes the beat dymanics to the very pop tops. “Hardfuck” is as intense as it sounds, with “(take me) Lower” turning the vibe mean, with “Get In There Bitch” keeping the weird ways ghosting. Chords, passions, and stars align on, “BLISS”, eleventh hour echoes of “eleven”, keeping the DFA-“Dance to the Underground” spirit on the up with, “Dance The Dance Electric” —leaving you with the brain chemistry altering ten-minutes-plus finale of, “Black Looks Rain”. Guilt Mirrors is a deeply complicated and personal album that is not for everyone, and yet at the same time everyone that loves music needs to hear what this type of creative immersion can produce. Surely Guilt Mirrors will already go down as one of the best albums released in the first quarter of 2014, but what is important still is that it needs to be recognized years after to even begin to be entirely comprehended or understood in full.
After long last, we are proud to bring you our most recent discussion with the legendary Nick Harte.
I love the mix of live drums and sampled drum machines on Guilt Mirrors. How do you decide on what drum arrangements best suit a song, feeling, or mood?
The Guilt Mirrors recording sessions were easily the most time-consuming and intense sessions I have ever been involved with. In terms of the the drum/drum-machine parts, I would often leave them until I had virtually finished the entire piece. This gave me the luxury of trying various rhythmic ideas out in front of a live audience—usually at my friend's venue in Christchurch, Goodbye Blue Monday. There I would check the crowd's mood/reaction to my ideas, which then informed my final decision regarding the beats and rhythms.
The poly-percussive “Love Projection” is dedicated to Jerry Fuchs, and I wondered what some of your favorite memories of the drummer and his work were?
For “Love Projection” I wanted to achieve a more natural live drum arrangement that would make Jerry Fuchs proud. I had the great honor of touring Australia with Jerry not long before his passing, and he was just so incredible when drumming live with The Juan MacLean. Very machine-like, but soulful as hell. I recall him asking for something like 20 towels on the band's rider—that always made me chuckle. He would leave the stage just drenched in sweat, wearing short shorts with his signature sly grin. I enjoy all of his recorded work, especially with !!! and Turing Machine. Much love to that man.
Noise, distortion and fields of bliss permeate Guilt Mirrors. “Vendetta” (featuring Designer Violence) sits next to the piano balladry of the moving “Motel”, which in turn is right before “Slightly Killed” (featuring Akritype), with the fuzz symphony closer of “Glass Slippers”. What is your own relationship between creating noise and a kind of blissful, clear serenity in your music?
With Guilt Mirrors I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and try things that I hadn't done since the late 1990’s, when I was more actively experimenting with sound. I used to record things that weren't necessarily considered musical instruments, but sounded beautiful to me when recorded a certain way: a washing machine, a cymbal played with a shaver, a metal record played on a toy record player, a bug pick-up attached to numerous objects. The first four Shocking Pinks records don't sound risky enough to me on reflection and I just wanted to do something really different this time around. I have always associated intense sounds with a kind of bliss. “Glass Slippers” is perhaps my personal favorite in terms of production on Guilt Mirrors.
Your styles are all over the map, from the night club jazz cruiser of “Best Friend” that breaks the boundaries of genre, the dream worlds of “St. Louis” (featuring Gemma Syme), to “therearenorivershere”. What considerations do you take in mind and heart when blurring the artifices and criteria of genre?
While recording Guilt Mirrors, I was so focused on recording music that sounded extremely alien to my ears, that I didn't really think about genre specifications for each track. The idea of releasing a sprawling multi-genre mix-tape only really came up in post-production, working with my good friend, Mark Roberts, who runs my label, Stars & Letters Records. “My Best Friend”, for example, was always just a pop song, but the fact that my pal, Kurt Dyer, was hanging out playing congas on the sessions meant that the track ended up with its awkward, slightly unusual feel.
On other times and occasions I feel like you and your cohorts have set out to explode the whole pop concept all together, like on the super catchy “What's Up With That Girl?” (Featuring Ashlin Frances Raymond/Arkitype). What is the shocking secret behind what you and your friends are doing to push ahead the pop culture dialogues with Shocking Pinks?
I honestly just set out to create lyrics and music that is of deep personal significance to me. No big secret, I’m afraid [smiley emoticon].
What is the post-release plan for Guilt Mirrors?
With a brand new live line-up cemented in the form of Ash Smith on bass (Secret Knives, and former Over The Atlantic) and Cory Champion, an amazing jazz drummer, I'm proud to say we'll be playing as many New Zealand shows as we can this year. Later in the year I hope to travel abroad and tour with Shocking Pinks.
Following up his album Wildfire Music, alt-country's own patron son Charlie Greene prepares the release of his self-titled for this coming Tuesday, February 25. The Atlanta by LA troubadour moves his away across the Americana landscape with his own personal, singer-songwriting touch that toasts both the journey and introspective observation of the self. On our listen to “Lost & Found”, Charlie crosses across the arid deserts in the back of a truck, with the chorus prayer of “deliver me again, I've been lost and found.” Greene rolls by the tumble weeds, slipping through the open streams in the places, feelings and pensive thoughts that occupy the places between the dusty ground and the blue and gray skies.
Charlie operates between the modern and vintage folk tales of what happens during that human exodus of moving on, and from one place to the next. The Southern twang gets tempered in the dust bowl determination where redemption comes at the crossroads, and the promises of a new life requires the shedding of old skin, and bidding memories an obligatory farewell.
We had the pleasure to get behind the music with our following interview Charlie Greene.
Tell us about the road you have walked from Wildfire Music to your self-titled.
The new record is a more focused extension of Wildfire Music. Recording the first one informed the songs I brought to the table on the new one. Having a familiarity with the Nashville band led to writing a couple of the songs. Those boys love them some J.J. Cale so I wrote “Honorable Women” in that vein with that sound in mind. I’ve got such a backlog of song ideas it kinda came down to just picking which ones to finish and recording till I ran out of money.
How has your own songwriting approach developed over that expanse of a year?
Continuing to simplify and drill down. It feels a little out of my control sometimes but there’s a direction I’ve been trying to push the songs. I’ve been listening to older country music more than ever before and that has certainly bled into the new music. “Honky Tonk Heroes”, “Take This Job and Shove It” Ray Price’s “Born to Lose”, records like that…you know that Johnny Paycheck song “Colorado Kool-Aid”? That sustained high note of story-telling songs is tough to do. I’m a severely distractable (sic) person so aiming for that kind of song puts me in a real intense borderline crazy state of mind and that’s always a fun place to be punching pillows and what not.
How did you get into the Americana and country/western tinged arts? Did you grow up listening to country music?
It’s always been a part of my life. I have early memories of sitting on the floor of my Aunt Margaret’s kitchen in Marietta and listening to her Merle Haggard records. She would tell me to “listen to how he sings through the changes”. I thought she meant like the changes in his life and the lyrics he was singing about. Wasn’t till years later I realized she was referring to the chord changes. I like to imagine that as my life changes over the years I’ll just keep singing. Singing through the changes!
What do you feel is important for today's country rock music? I feel that the form is often overlooked by many for whatever reasons, but I can never get enough twang and pedal steels in my life.
Who knows man, I don’t really feel very connected to it and I probably don’t listen to enough modern country music to speak on it. I will though. Meet me some time for a drink and I’ll shit all over most of it. I think there’s a lack of self-doubt and risk and maybe just intelligence. It’s a pickle to feel like what’s cool is so un-cool. I don’t quite feel in a position to start calling people out but…one day soon maybe…
With a sound that lassos in East Nashville to LA alt country rock, what informs your own song writing style?
Music and musicians and my day to day life. Continuing to listen and seek out new stuff and think about hardly anything else.
What has lent inspiration to those highways and by-ways that litter your song path from “Lost & Found”, “Devil You Know”, “Man On Fire”, “Two Sides”, and “Everything Gets Me Down”?
Inspiration comes from all over. I live on a noisy street and I wrote “Two-Sides” after hearing a couple seconds of music coming out of a passing car. “Lost & Found” was kind of more about capturing a mood. “Everything Get’s Me Down” comes from trying to resist spiraling down into some hopeless ditch for no reason. “Devil You Know” was kind of a lyrical experiment to see if I could get some lines like “fashion myself from shrapnel cast off by a globular star” into a song. I did but it’s up for debate if that was in my best interest…
Thoughts about today's country directions versus the former Texas 'outlaw' movements, to the Bakersfield scenes, and the alt-country breakthroughs from The Flying Burrito Brothers, and so forth?
Well shoot there’s so much great music being made that doesn’t fit into what is referred to as country music but is close enough it seems silly to harp on the stuff we don’t like. Tell that guy from 3 questions ago to relax. I give it up to anyone out there who’s giving it a go. Sometimes we all gotta make concessions to get our compact discs into Wal-Mart.
Prayers and thoughts for the future of this tried and true family traditions of rustic, and holistic music?
Let’s just all see how good we can get before LA. Turns into the Sahara and Nashville turns into the North Pole.
Charlie Greene's self-titled will be available February 25.
Hollywood's latest star and new boy on the block, Jacob Loeb is Baby Blue, who dropped the cut, “Cloz Yr Eyez”, and talked with us for a bit about his upcoming Promenade EP for Loose/Manimal slated for release at the end of the month. A cohort of James Franco's and starring in his upcoming Bukowski biopic; Loeb makes music that is ripped like alternative songs from lonely hearted proms that rock back inside your heart like empty roadhouses.
The home recorded glimmer twinkles with keyboard loops and guitar echoes that comfort the listener in the way the music does for the homecoming dance attendee going stag. The key notes fall everywhere, and surround the guitar effects to encompass the realizations and visions that closed eye lids generate. “Cloz Yr Eyez”, despite it's contemporaneous title spelling is a track fit for all times present, prior, and yet to come. Baby Blue offers up the modern world's dream of social and beach-bound scenes, where Jacob leaves you with the rhetorical inquiry of, “isn't it nice?” And somehow after the song ends, and the prom band packs up their instruments and returns home; the singular dance continues onward by itself as if to complete a fulfillment of a wish that may or may not come true.
We bring you a unique look and intimate one on one interview with Jacob Loeb all about his bedroom Baby Blue project in between the flirtation.
“I like the sparkle and fade echoes of “Cloze Yr Eyes”, tell us how you first began your project Baby Blue.
I guess I think of Baby Blue as less of a project than an identity I created to express the longing and sexual frustration I was feeling at the time. It was my first summer in LA and I was sort of isolated in this apartment by the heat. Started getting cabin fever. I had this dorky keyboard, a guitar and I was listening to a lot of Julee Cruise at the time. I just started experimenting and wrote a buncha songs, four of which are what make up Promenade.
As an actor, how do you find process of making music different and or informed by the acting aspect of your talents?
They’re kinda one in the same for me. Baby Blue is, in some ways, a character I use to write songs about romance in a way I couldn’t if I were writing just as myself. Just like acting, the line between what is 'me' and what is Baby Blue is blurred and the layer of fiction allows me to write more freely. Like, there was one song that didn’t make the EP that was written from the perspective of Nicole Kidman’s character in Eyes Wide Shut. For me, it’s just a more exciting and ultimately truthful way to write.
How do you write and record your songs?
These songs were written on a children’s keyboard I found at a Goodwill and recorded into Garageband. I guess I was trying to make a big sounding record with no resources and I think the overly-ambitious flashiness of it ended up serving the songs in an unexpected way…
We heard about your upcoming Bukowski film you're working on with James Franco. How has production been on that?
I don’t remember, I was wa$ted the whole time.
Bukowski poem favorites?
Depends on how long it’s been since I slept with someone.
How did you first meet the great Mr. Franco, and how do you describe the kind of creative chemistry the two of you have?
I first met his majesty at CalArts where he was my hot and devoted teacher. We have such awesome chemistry, dawg. He’s the best.
Tell us more what we can expect from your upcoming Promenade EP for Loose/Manimal.
More 'sparkles and fade echoes' furr suuure.
What about promenades do you find attractive? Seems like many tunesmiths concern themselves with balconies, buildings, mezzanines, pastures, etc.
Nothing at all. I’m using the word as an archaic term for what people today call a 'prom.' As a smither of tunes I naturally find proms fascinating. I wanted the songs on Promenade to feel like they could be played by an under-rehearsed band at a shitty Hollywood-themed prom in the late 80s where no one is dancing except you.
Jacob, this has been a true honor, sir.
This was really nice. Wanna make out?
Baby Blue's Promenade EP will be available February 28 from Loose Recordings and Manimal.
Frame, the project of Caitlin Frame supported by her own crew of world class wrecking crew that includes the talents of Scott Seelig, Turner Stough, Daniel Gould, and Alex Lipsen. With news out about Frame's upcoming album Polarizer set for spring, we have a listen to the golden single “Run Around” deserved of lighting up every chart imaginable in all of existence. In the age where today's artists look to favorite eras, artists and cult-subgenres to embody and emulate; Caitlin exhibits an understanding of the modern pop vocalist's role in creating the unbreakable single.
What is wild here is how every instrumental component is positioned to orbit around the “Run Around” title. With 80s radio pop guitars that are tethered into the new waves and romantics of the production, every second is accounted for in the under-three-minutes song. Keyboards support the sentiment like flying buttresses that not only support but connect everything as Caitlin sews the verses together as tight as she does with the passion of the choruses and bridges keep at a constant pace. “What does this look like to you? Some kind of run around, run around”, to the mind engraved and ingrained, “Because every time you run around, you take it back, you turn around, every time you run around,” (repeat). Caitlin crew keep the dizzying speed in full effect, where everything from the lyrical drama, the heart on the line delivery, and instrumentation runs in circles like Whirling Dervishes.
Listen's to the Frame Bandcamp for further audio gems, and stay with us after the single for a closer look into the craft and vocal pop arts with Caitlin herself.
We had the pleasure of chatting with Caitlin Frame about the rise of her vocal project, vocalist favorites, the run around behind “Run Around”, and much more.
Your voice is stunning, what is the story about how you brought your inner songstress front and center in the Frame picture?
For “Run Around” I was alone in the studio tracking and engineering it myself. Fortunately, and unfortunately, it brought out the obsessive qualities in me, but certainly helped create a great track.
In general though, it could quite possibly be from singing in carpool all throughout my teens.
Who were some of your first favorite vocalists?
Andy Partridge – XTC : My parents loved this band, so at a very young age I became obsessed. Mr. Partridge is not afraid to sound ugly and weird. Whatever fits the song – a very brave singer indeed.
Aimee Mann – Solo and Til’ Tuesday : How can you beat Aimee? I would listen to Bachelor No.2 on repeat at my first job at a second hand clothing shop, singing along as I steamed blouses.
Steven Tyler – Aerosmith : People make fun of me when I put on an Aerosmith album, but their first albums are really dark and brooding. Also, embarrassingly, my first celebrity crush- but go ahead and try to mimic his voice.
Who are some vocalists you have grown to love?
Scott Walker: Initially I wasn’t so much into the baritone ballad-type singing, but I’ve really changed my tune on this one. He’s truly a master vocalist and genius of melody.
Christine McVie: I was late to the Fleetwood Mac game, and honestly I thought it was Lindsey Buckingham who was singing her parts. I had no idea there was this powerhouse keyboard player composing nearly all the songs I loved by them. Her androgynous and sultry voice is classic.
“Run Around” is a ridiculous arrangement, one of the most insane hooks ever made, built around that title boasting chorus. When was the song written, and how did you turn this reverse-“Run Around Sue” tale into a whole new dizzy romantic single?
I wrote the first two lines nearly two years ago, along with most of the melody, and knew it had potential but was the type of song I had shied away from writing thinking it was a bit too pop. It went through some different incarnations but nothing felt right. This past October I thought, 'screw it, Run Around should be the tag as well, that’s what I want to hear.' I just embraced it – and now I feel like it’s a universal feeling. The song itself is about some of my experiences with a relationship that gave both parties the opportunity to do as they please.
How did you put together the musician assembly of Scott Seelig, Turner Stough, Daniel Gould, Alex Lipsen?
I’ve been making music with Mr. Seelig since my Berklee College of Music days. We both graduated in 2007 (yes, really we did) and went our separate ways, only to reconvene in Brooklyn years later. He recommended Alex Lipsen as a mixer for one of my old projects – that later turned into me working with him as a co-producer and engineer on this project. Daniel was then in-turn recommended by Alex. The only wild card in the bunch is Turner, who I miraculously found through Craigslist. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention my friend and past musical partner Will Levith who helped with a line in the song as well.
How do you describe the musical process between you all?
It depends – if I’ve demoed the song myself, which is usually the case, I can be a bit ridged with what I want the drums or bass to play. But I’m not a Taskmaster, other times I bring an essentially finished song and we will all work on it together. Both processes work depending on the song.
What else is on Polarizer that we got know about? We are very interested!
Honestly, it is such a mélange of different styles, but there is a common theme throughout. I’ve had an interesting past 2 years and it’s all in there in bits and pieces.
What is happening leading up and after the release of your full-length?
Currently, the second single, “Polarizer” is getting mixed in LA and a video will be shot for that in Mid-March. Shows are also currently getting booked, so hopefully you’ll see me out there in the very near future. My stage banter alone is entertaining.
Frame's album Polarizer will be available later this spring.
Partisan Records' latest signees The Wytches get all home-made Blair Witch Project on us with the b/w Hoodbats video for “Gravedweller”. Get this scuzz guzzler and more b-sides here.
Originally off their album Howlin, get a listen to the grimy bass beat on the MssingNo remix of Jagwar Ma's “Uncertainty”.
We got the Wave Racer x Ryan Hemsworth “Destroyed” collaborative limited 7″ where both artists remix each other's cuts, available soon from Last Gang and Future Classic.
Ex-Cult dropped the title track for “Midnight Passenger”, ahead of the album's April 29 release from Goner Records. With a recording assist from Doug Easley, this adventure takes you down into the sewer systems of utility corridor circuitries. This is the death trip that raises the not-so-living, cruising for a bruising from the underground and then back up again for another round.
Slated to play The New Parish in Oakland, February 27 for Noise Pop: Aan shed some “Daylight” from their recent Amor Ad Nauseum available from Party Damage Records. Portland's pop experimenters give us another piece of their expansive musical jigsaw puzzle, with traces of memories past and faded with the passions and sentiments that remain through it all.
Line & Circle pack all the passion they can muster on “Mine Is Mine”, as they prepare to tour from March 4-10 with Typhoon, ahead of their SxSW apperance March 11 at the White Iris Records Showcase here. Divy up what is yours here.
Upon receiving the transmission package from Exray's XII, we entered into the frequency sphere title, “n e w _ g e n e s / s o l i d _ g r o u n d”. A series of earth station researches have already begun the gathering process of place coordinates upon the coordinates of maps that present photographs captured from these outer regions that have comprised the adventures found aboard Vessel XII. We are excited, a bit scared, while absolutely in love with the following electro genome mutation transfer.
From her upcoming March slated self-titled album, get a look at That Girl With Dark Eyes' hungry like the wolf video “Lonely as a Wolf”. Statues, synthes, beats, and serious strangeness await.
Cut Copy are about to tour with Jessy Lanza from March 19 through April, and sent us 3D video from Masa Kawamura, Qanta Shimizu, & Aramique for, “We Are Explorers”.
Off the album Cognac/Four Corner Room, peep The Outfit, TX; the combined powers of Dorian, JayHawk and Mel as they give you the Henny sauced video for, “Drunk Driving”. Don't try this on the road, and don't drink and drive, peoples.
Seagulls joined the Autumn + Colour team, dropped the righteous venue destroying track “Santas Little Helpers” as they prep their debut EP The Royal We available for pre-order March 7.
Get a listen to the down and out joys of, “Benny's a Bum”, from Luke Elliot's forthcoming May 6 album, Provisions.
Our beloved friend, Eric Lindley gives us another jam with electro perfections and expressions of the perpetual worlds with, “The World Doesn’t End, Part 1″, from the upcoming album, The World Doesn’t End, available April 22 from Circle Into Square. Catch our premiere of, “Didn't He Die” and interview here.
Bootstrapping Blackstrap are Stockholm's latest syndrome, smashing down on us the blasting big-time synth pop into your ear hole.
It was about over half a decade back when I heard my friends and artists in Puerto Rico talking about a ban that was placed upon much of the reggaeton music that was spurned by Daddy Yankee and others. The fear was the unruly behavior surrounding the sound, that was associated with disturbing the peace. Well, leave it Bunny Michael to remix the riot inciting and incendiary, “Gasolina”. If Daddy's original was not already a threat, that instantly recognizable beat progression gets even tricker with a scarier no holds barred, and no prisoners approach.
We got the new HTRK cut from their upcoming April 1 Ghostly album, Psychic 9-5 Club, with Jonnine Standish and Nigel Yang transforming the sun's yellow glow to the mood ring glow of, “Blue Sunshine”.
Cute Heels prepares their album Spiritual, and a dark tour through the Bogotá, Columbia by Brussels, Belgium digital forests of, “SV Forest”, with the album available April 1 from Dark Entries.
To honor Kurt Cobain's birthday, Dead Stars covers “Old Age” in which they record in just two hours, February 6 at Galuminum Foil Studios. We still miss you, Kurt.
Get a listen to the Jay Ant produced Kool John (of the HBK gang ) track, “Bang Bang Bag” that features Chippa$$ off the upcoming Shmop Life tape available April 7. This one slaps and singes, proving that the whole HBK team is unstoppable these days.
DMA with director Mitchell Grant got together to the following intimate, video for, “Delete”, off the their forthcoming self titled EP available March 28 from I OH YOU. Let it all out, don't delete your baby from the main frame, don't fight it, but sit back and feel it.
Off Kevin Morby's Woodsist release Harlem River, peep the video for “If You Leave and If You Marry” which Kevin describes in the following blurb:
“Super 8 footage shot by my grandfather in Scottsbluff, Nebraska during the 50s and early 60s. This video loosly follows my Aunt Carol from childhood to her high school graduation, and along the way you are introduced to my father, uncle, and grandmother, amoungst many other extended family members, most of whom I have never met. In loving memory of Larry Anderson & Dorthy Fletcher.”
Maya Vik gives us the ultra-pop of, “Totally Right”, with plans of hitting up Brooklyn Night Bazaar with Dâm Funk March 7 along with appearances at the Oslo-Night SXSW Showcase.
From their Canyons Cars and Crows album available April 15 from Shrimper Records, Amps For Christ gives you a taste of Pomona Valley's Equation Road with the minimalist twirl of, “Earth Is Spinning”. From this sparse set up, listen as the electric guitar components move the lyrics and song forward in a motion that turns on it's own axis.
Off the debut album Unknown Ends available March 3, check out Dream Curtain's Ylva Svensson video for “It Takes Over”. Stockholm, Sweden's William Hamparsomian takes you on a dreamy journey through Skogskyrkogården, otherwise known as the Woodland Cemetary. Fascinations and ghostly ambience awaits your ears and tired eyes..
With Big Heart available now, SxSW appearances and a tour in the works, we got your listen to the heart beat heat of Ski Lodge's “Our Love”.
TEEN dropped the single, “Not For Long”, from the upcoming, The Way And Color album, available April 22 from Carpark Records. The Lieberson sisters and friends are back with their new tripped out-punchy harmonies, and a high end glamorous aesthetic.
We got more from TRUST with, “Are We Arc?”, off the upcoming Joyland album available March 4 from Arts & Crafts. Few understand the future of synths the way Toronto's Robert Alfons understands the future of synths.
Just in, La Sera's new album, Hour of the Dawn will be available May 13 from Hardly Art. Watch the following teaser-trailer here. Vivian Girls might be done for now, but the cult of Katy Goodman lives forever.
Chi-town by the Bay Area's Jel, gives us a look at his video for “Breathe” directed by Chloe Aftel and Jeremy Phillips off the Anticon album, Late Pass, available now. Masked antics for this instrumental jump up and get down in the following urban setting.
Rush Midnight dropped the Nick Grady video of sick-synth-sultry-smoothness, “In Your Room”, from his upcoming self-titled coming May 27 from Last Gang Records.
Starwalker, the new project from Air's Jean-Benoît Dunckel presents the Saevar Gudmundsson video that gives something back to the little people. Sporting his bespectacled Sunday best, the affair remains celebratory but held back while still taking things to the very top with every party gimmick and trick at Starwalker's disposal. Pre-order for the EP of the song's same name is available now from iTunes.
Web of Sunsets' Room of Monsters is available now from End of Time Records, and we have your listen to the lead track, “Wildflowers”. The trio combines their collective work from Gospel Gossip, Is/Is, Heavy Deeds, and Robust Worlds into a canyon of caverns; echoing the most dearest and freest feelings.
With PEP's My Baby and Me 7″ available now, check out the bubble gum charm of the Avery McCarthy vintage-vibed video for, “I Met a Boy”.
Blackbird Blackbird dropped the swimming pool sinking video from Christine Yuan and Adi Putra for “There Is Nowhere” from the Tangerine Sky album available in May from Om Records. The single for, “There is Nowhere” will be available February 25.
Ghost Beach will release their debut album Blonde March 4 from Nettwerk, get all dub-skanked out with “Without Out”, with tour dates with RAC & The Sounds spanning from February 22 through March 27.
With their Epistolary EP available March 25, get a listen to Bent Denim's just released single “Fuel” that will put an epic, prowling tiger in your ear tank. Read our interview with Ben Littlejohn and Dennis Sager from last Christmas here.
Blue Sky Black Death did a sick bootleg remix of Frank Ocean's “Pyramids” with a tour running through March 6 through May 8 that includes SxSW appearances.
The Holidays released Real Feel from Liberation Music, and sent along the gift of drifting goodness with, “Voices Drifting”.
Milan's The Assyrians dropped their single, “Baobab”, full of all kinds of alluring beauty from their upcoming album, Tundra, expected later this year.
Your Friend's Jekyll/Hyde EP is available now on digital, with the CD/12″ available April 8 from Domino, and we got the Dalton Paley video here for, “Tame One”. Watch Taryn Blake Miller making his away around his home stomping grounds of Lawrence, Kansas to the security blanket sounds.
Odonis Odonis got plans to hit SxSW, and did a blow-up cover version of Johnny Cash's “Ring of Fire”. Their upcoming Hard Boiled Soft Boiled album will be available April 15 via Buzz Records.
Blood Lines is available now from Important Records, and you can check out Emily Jane White in a white room with her electric guitar, in the following title track video from Sara Sanger.
The word is spreading about Plateau Below's Still Paradise available February 25 from Jurassic Pop Records, and we give you one of the early listens with the single “Riverside” that presents the expanses of song and sound that this four piece from Bloomington, Indiana are capable of.
Japanther are readying up their album Instant Money Magic for release April 15 from Seayou Records, and we got their new lo-fi melodics with, “Do It (Don't Try)”. Could this be a sign of poppier directions from the Brooklyn duo of Ian Vanek & Matt Reilly? It still destroys, and we can feel the closer attention to song structure details, man.
Beaty Heart sent us their Charlie Rotberg and Chris Vickers directed video for the home-spun styled tribal dances of, “Kanute's Comin' Round”, from their upcoming May 12 slated album debut from Mixed Blessings.
The Swedish by UK duo Happiness got themselves a fancy, tear-jerking b/w vintage dance looking video from Adam Berg for their popped up heart-bleeder, “All Apologies”. Burn like fire with abandon.
Tycho, aka Scott Hansen, sends ghost signals on, “Spectre”, from the upcoming album Awake, available March 18 from Ghostly International. Hansen again creates music for the space in between the known material worlds to elicit the essence of the unknowns.
Bo Ningen understands that sometimes, just two 'da da's' are not enough, so “DaDaDa” adds one more just to send it over the top on their just released 7″ b/w colored vinyl from No Recordings, with an upcoming LP from Stolen Recordings slated for May. Find these London by Japan acid rockers at Coachella and SxSW as well.
The Whiter Sands EP is available April 15 from Black Bell Records, and Dances bring the compact, under two minutes of gold with the garage floor scampering jam, “Rat”.
Off their Groggy Pack Entertainment imprint, The Doppelgangaz' Matter Ov Fact and EP give you a listen to their just released album, Peace Kehd.
Originally off Glenn Branca's Lesson No.1 EP. released in 1980, Superior Viaduct invites you to experience an excerpt of “Lesson No.1 For Electric Guitar” from their fresh re-pressing. Additional features include a Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo piece, as you fall straight down into the endless freefall whirl of guitars. You may remember the ouvre of Branca from of NYC no-wavers like Theoretical Girls and The Static, this is a presentation of Glenn going deep into the creative work of creating new varieties and forms for one of the world's most treasured amplified instruments.
It's that time again. Tonight. San Francisco. George Chen presents Ron Lynch at the Cynic Cave, the underground of Lost Weekend Video in the Mission. Peep the following Facebook event for further information.
Tim Cohen, of Magic Trick and The Fresh & Onlys has moved back to San Francisco after his year away in Arizona, and he's hitting up SF's The Chapel Saturday, February 22 with Woods and The Babies man,Kevin Morby, and Joseph Childress sporting members of Warm Soda, Deltron 3030, and Elisa Randazzo. Check out more details via the Facebook event page to learn more, as you are encouraged to welcome back one of our all-time/long-time heroes; the great Mr. Tim Cohen.
