It’s good to hear to hear some new music from the band after their hiatus. The lead singer has been having some personal medical issues and its good to see them back on their feet. Apparently they kicked their bassist out of the band though after researching a bit further, so who knows their future.
That being said, this is not my favorite song from them. Its very pop focused while also keeping the slower tempo of RKS songs. The auto tune on the lead singer’s voice distorts one of my favorite indie rock voices. Not a terrible song by any means but I hope for a bit more soul from a band I’ve come to appreciate the emotion from.
Happy Mar10 day. Busy month for me, so trying to chill out with some Steely Dan. Not my favorite song on my first listen through of this album but they’re all mostly agreeable.
It was very in that moment of realisation setting in about the pandemic. She’d been working on it for a while, but I think she used those first few weeks of being stuck inside at home starting to go crazy to just power through and finish it. So that made it one of the first major albums to come out that dealt in that global mood shift. I revisited it for the first time since 2020 recently as well, I still thought it was great but in hindsight ‘AOTY 2020’ was always going to be a weird thing to judge.
Australia just continuing to be a power house of good music. I just happened upon Glass Beams, a Melbourne based band and liked them immediately. They sound very similar to Khrungbian, almost to the point of trying a little too hard. Like Khrungbian, the songs are solid and groovy but this one is a bit repetitive sonically. I found the live version on YouTube and liked that a little bit better. Still, solid offering from this band and I cant wait to dig in a little more.
Mar. 14th: Thundercat - Black Qualls (feat. Steve Lacy, Steve Arrington, & Childish Gambino)
Been checking out Thundercat a little more and enjoyed his latest album. I couldn’t give it my full attention but definitely groovy as background music.
Anyway, this song made me pay attention. Heavily featured, the guests keep the vocals interesting the whole song. As for the beat, typical Thundercat tempo and groove but missing his general snark and sarcasm.
Went right from a work day downtown to catch these ladies last night, so no time for writing yesterday. But there’s time for a mini show review today because its my thread and I do what I want.
I heard plenty of new songs last evening and plenty of favorites. Quite frankly, they’re hard to keep track of as punk band that mainly sings in another language but I caught personal favorites like “I am not maternal” and found some new ones like “I won’t dish out salads”.
To start, I think the band or management 100% picked the wrong venue. The House of Blues downtown breaks up mosh pits, kicks you out for crowd surfing, and is liberal with their use of flash lights. WHY WOULD YOU HAVE A PUNK SHOW THERE. The energy from the crowd was severely lacking all evening. Maybe its because I hyped myself up from their high energy online performances.
Their bassist Hirochan had clearly come down with something. She looked deathly ill and I really felt for her: she barely approached the mic all night. Even so, god damn was she in the pocket. True professional. With the high energy and crashing tempo of the drummer Kahokiss, it seemed like Hirochan provided most of the live structure and rooted their songs, which I guess isn’t too odd for punk.
Everyone else on stage was absolutely absurd energy wise. Who knew the best screams I’ve heard all year would come from two Japanese women? Lead vocalist Accorinrin and guitarist Yoyoyoshie shared vocals all evening to great effect. There’s some incredible energy as they inject kawai metal screams into their choppy and intense instrumentals. And of course drummer Kahokiss was there jumping and crashing along the entire time. I’ve never seen a drummer move so much.
I enjoyed the show greatly, even with the lack of moshing. I hope that the ladies return and play the Grog Shop (a true punk bar) or the Beachland Ballroom (yes, the one that the IDLES song is named after).
Mar. 16th: Drinking Boys and Girls Choir Show Review
And I’ll review the opener as well, which blew me away with no expectations. This is another kawai punk band but man do they slay in both musicianship and stage presence. Bassist and defacto front woman Meena Bae was in the audience no less than 3 times and plays like a rock legend. While a band from South Korea, they recently added a new female guitarist from Scotland Megan Nisbet. I feel like the punk style keeps her back, as she absolutely shreds. Hopefully they experiment with more complex guitar, as I like their style and they do benefit from a fast tempo. Drummer Myeong-jin Kim was solid all night as well, although its hard to upstage the energy that was happening up front.
Definitely a band to check out live if you’re into the kawai style.
I mean, come on. It’s pretty good right? VERY groovy in the beginning and Jack Black can hold it down vocally. Not sure what KG is getting up to in this song but hey.
Mar 18th: Jimmy Buffet - Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes.
Honestly with my very limited listening time recently, I’ve been consuming the new live Gizz shows in South America. That combined with work made me miss a few days but dont think I wasnt listening to new to me songs.
My girlfriend insisted we go to Margaritaville for her birthday, where we saw footage of Jimmy Buffet (RIP) performing this song. Gets an extra 0.5 if you watch the live video like we did. Also my fish sampler platter was mediocre and drinks started at $11 so that definetely impacted my review.
My girlfriend loves this song and I can see why (for her). I find her listening to solo vocalists with solo lyrics and Adrianne certainly has a great and unique voice.
If theres nothing to like then dont like it. No need to follow after the hype. My girlfriend just loves them and asked me to do some of their songs lol
Nope, never listened to To Pimp a Butterfly. Definetely heard King Kunta and after listening to more of this album, I cant understand why thats the only song I’ve heard. It won a Grammy and was performed at the Super Bowl, both of which I don’t watch.
This is that halting, lyrically based hip hop that I love. Hits hard but smooth with the almost jazzy backing beat at times and a wonderfully placed sax. Combine that with some meaningful lyrics, and you’ve got a good one.
At the risk of getting into my third useless philosophical argument today, is this really British post punk? This almost feels like regular rock or indie rock. It doesn’t quite fit with the general vibe I’ve heard from scene bands like Squid, IDLES, and (dare I say) Black MIDI. Perhaps I’ll save a deeper analysis for a day I didnt spend 12 hours on a plane and once I’ve had a chance to dig into these guys deeper too. Then again, if Sleaford Mods can sneak into the genre… Maybe I just need more post punk experience…
Genre questions aside, this song is fine. Missing to me is both the fiery punk side and the discordant but soulful “post” side. Not that this is a particularly bad song it just isnt grabbing me. Maybe I like a little more screaming. Bingo, thats what this feels like: almost like the pop goes punk of the post-punk world?
This is one of the first songs that has made me feel THIS conflicted, so clearly were headed in the right direction with this little experiment.
