I had wanted to write a longer piece on Bodega Bay last fall, about the band and their then-recent release Our Brand Could Be Your Life, a 33-song album/manifesto released digitally with a mock 33 1/3 book as an optional physical companion. Now, having announced their dissolution last week and played their final show last Friday, it seems like a good time to try again, to reflect on a band that meant a lot to me, a band of people I’d like to consider friends, and who made me think.
Disposable America Records is getting ready to release Special Interest, a new digital/cassette compilation on Friday, July 15th, 2016. In the light of Sunday's horrific events in Orlando, the label has decided to share Coaches' "What The World Needs Now (Is Love)" cover earlier than originally planned to raise money for the victims at Pulse.
Confirmation Bias is the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories. It’s also the name of the new album from Chicago’s Yeesh, which comes out on Tiny Engines July 22. They’ve already graced us with the first single “End Results” and now we’re happy to premiere their new single “World Building.”
Buck Gooter’s heart and soul resides in the comparatively stoic sixty-four year old guitarist/singer Terry Turtle. The sight of Terry onstage shredding and belting like he never passed twenty is guaranteed to linger in concert-goers heads long after Buck Gooter leaves the stage. After more than ten years of playing together Billy decided to team up with Harrisonburg based videographer Joey Bell to create The Man Named Turtle as a way of unwrapping and contextualizing the history of such a unique musician.
The band have an exceptional new record coming in the not too distant future but before you can hear that, the Philadelphia trio are sharing a new single, "Kill The Thing You Love". Set for release as a stand-alone single via Lame-O Records with all proceeds going to the organization Women Against Abuse, we're thrilled to present the premiere.
Few things sound as good as MOURN when they’re at their best, juxtaposing primarily minor chord progressions with a sturdy foundation courtesy of a rhythm section that takes turns providing the spine of their songs. They are relentless in their willingness to make music that takes itself seriously, but only to a point.
Humor is an apt title for the EP. Song titles like "Fear and Loathing in the WWE" and the first and last tracks sharing a similar title but for a change in punctuation add to the loose vibe. Kiss Concert’s lyrics amble along over the music with a Bad History Month sort of story telling pace and can range from quite funny to absurd, often in the same line.
"The Dark End of the Street" is a song originally done by James Carr in 1966 and has been covered by the likes of Afghan Whigs, Cat Power, Frank Black, and even Linda Ronstadt. Zagers' original work can be off-kilter but here the sparse arrangement gives it a feeling of being bathed in tungsten lighting.
