With it being close to the end of the year, or end of the world. Depends on your stance on that theory. Personally, I’m fully expecting the end to appear on the 21st December; it’s also a good way of getting out of buying Christmas presents. Okay back to what I was getting at. It’s nearly the end of the year, and I guess most are recapping on the best bits, and the shit bits. Who made us crippled with disgust and those who caused us to fall over full of lust, love and desire. The songs that shattered our hearts, the bands that blew our minds.
For me, the best new band of the year was of course The Creeping Ivies. As much as I love them, they’re going to have to share my heart with the best new band from London : Loom. I think they were called Bloom to start with? That could just be another internet lie. But now they are called LOOM and they are fucking incredible.
Over the past few months are so I have read stories about their live show, and it’s made me believe without witnessing it- that they are one of the best new bands around. They’re not exposing themselves all over the internet like most bands. They’re building up a quiet storm, and it is about to erupt and fuck up your ears in the most pleasuring way possible.
Frontman, Tarik sounds like a man possessed. Just going by their single, Bleed On Me; you can tell he is the kind to stalk the stage like a hunter seeking out its prey. These are the kinds of bands we need. Playing with passion and putting a slight hit of fear into the audience.
It is out next Monday (3rd December) through Heart Throb Records. LOOM are going to be MASSIVE next year. You don’t have to trust me on this, but you should. Even if it is a tiny bit. They’re aggressive and passionate. Brutal and pure. Everything you want, and a bit more. Perfection does exist, you know. You’ve just got to seek it out.
You can pre-order the EP, which is out on cassette here : http://www.roughtrade.com/site/shop_detail.lasso?search_type=sku&sku=357417 it’ll be the best £4 you spend, and it’s limited to only 100 copies. I’ve just got mine. This is when having a tape player comes in handy, this is the only time part of me is glad that a small portion of me lives in the past.
You have good years and bad years with music, well life in general. Last year was alright but this year was pretty damn good. I bought more records this year than I did last year. I never have any money, but the money I do have spare goes on music. Rather on stuff I need. Such as clothes, as most of mine are a bit worn out. Or some new boots as my Docs are hanging on for dear life. They’ve been through a lot, but I think I can drag them through hell a bit longer.
This year for all reasons possible was rather good. Ignore all the crisis in the world and how society at times is fucked, then you’re okay. It’s been alright. And there have been some rather wonderful songs to go with it. Now, if this was a list of SONGS THAT MADE OLIVIA HAD A HERNIA WHEN PLAYED IN A VEHICLE, then Call Me Maybe would be my number 1 choice. Quite possibly one of the best pop songs to have been released in a long time. But did it come out last year? I’m not sure. But that song makes me happy, and I don’t even care. We’ve all made our own versions of it. Probably full of smut, but who cares.
So, here’s my list of songs that brought all kinds of joy and various emotions into my ears; and everywhere else. There are so many songs I know I have missed out, but I’ve got a really bad memory and I’ll want to change my mind after writing this. As always.
10. The Creeping Ivies- Ghost Train.Music should have elements that just freak you out. It should make you feel as if spirits are haunting you (I don’t mean a bad glass of whiskey.) It should fill you with sinister vibes that you just cannot shake, but the thing is- part of you doesn’t want to get rid of them. The haunting chills you get from Ghost Train are just stunning. My love for Becca and Duncan is ridiculous. They make me feel I am anywhere but in this time. That’s something that is entirely rare. I have woken up many a mornings where this song is in my head, and stays there for the duration of the day. That’s when I have my good days. The Creeping Ivies just make perfect eerie music that just reinforces my love for music.
9. Swim Deep-King City.I know I could have picked Honey, but King City mentions Jenny Lee Lindberg from Warpaint. That alone makes this song brilliant. It gives you a Summertime feeling, even if we are in the murky depths of November. I remember first hearing it and just being blown away. They have this gentle, euphoric tone to their music that just soothes you. It is like your being swayed. Your worries and troubles mean nothing when you listen to Swim Deep.
8. Jack White-Love Interruption.Anything Jack White does is just a piece of musical heaven. A stroke of genius. He has this way of creating something so insane yet pure. The lyrics to Love Interruption are mighty strange, yet you relate to them. You won’t let love corrupt you in any way, anymore. The music is so simple and stripped back but you can hear such frustration in his voice. A hint of longing just purifies the song. Ruby’s delicate and quivering vocals makes the song a lot more honest and vulnerable than it would be without. It’s just a gorgeous song that sums up everything love should be, and all you won’t let it be.
7. Ellie Goulding-Figure 8.This song pleasantly smacks you in the chops. I wanted to pick Only You, but that’s because I’m obsessed with the drums in it. A tribal feel to it, but I’ve gone with Figure 8 because there is something about this song that makes you feel a bit alive, yet sad at the same time. I think you can take the “And lovers hold on, to everything” in many ways I suppose. In a way, it is like Ellie is telling lovers to hold onto anything and everything. Or maybe she is saying lovers cling onto anything because they do not want to be without. Her second record is nothing like her debut, and that’s why I adore it and why I adore Ellie’s music. She still has such honesty to her songs, and the lyrics are darker; which is probably why I love them.
6. Beach House-New Year.Very nearly picked Wild, but I’ve gone with New Year because it means a lot to me. So does Myth. Myth just breaks my heart. New Year is 5 minutes of hope. In fact, the Bloom record is just a collection of songs that give you hope. It is like Victoria and Alex are giving you life lessons. Words to provide comfort and hope to those who listen. Everything about their music makes you feel as if they are cradling your soul. Soothing and swaying you as you face things you wish you could turn from. It is hard to turn away from some things and some people. Sometimes we can bring ourselves to do so; sometimes we can’t. I make life so difficult for myself (and probably others) but when I listen to Beach House, especially New Year, it is almost as if nothing really matters for that moment. New Year just makes you think about everything in a way you’ve never done before. It opens up your eyes and soul. It heals your heart.
5. Tamaryn-Heavenly Bodies.As Warpaint didn’t release anything this year, I’m declaring Tamaryn responsible for making the most ethereal song of the year, and the most tranquil record of the year also. Heavenly Bodies makes you feel as if you are drifting towards the most perfect and relaxed place possible. It makes you feel alive, even as your eyes become sleepy as you listen to this gorgeous song. You fall in love with everything surrounding it. You notice different layers to Heavenly Bodies as you listen to it through headphones. It is like a magical journey to something so divine as you listen to it. I adore the line, “She’s a fool but time is a thief.” I cannot explain why, but I just do. The song brings out a true sense of inner peace, and guides those gently, who feel slightly lost.
4. Crocodiles-Endless Flowers.The perfect opener to my favourite record of the year. I hold this song, this band and this record very dear to my heart. Their lyrics are romantic. Even when dark, they still have a romantic feel to it. No Black Clouds For Dee Dee is my favourite love song of the year. Yes, it reminds me of the one I love and adore. Endless Flowers is another song that gives you hope. I love the line, “I’ll bide my time swimming in your eyes, on some faraway screen.” It is easy to lose yourself in the one you love, and their eyes. Endless Flowers is a taste of devotion. A wonderful song that makes you wish you could create your own kind of ode to love.
3. Dum Dum Girls-Lord Knows.I’m going to try keep my ramble about this song as brief as I can. Lord Knows offers redemption and comfort in those who have hurt others. “I want to live a pure life” is such a vulnerable line. What I adore about Dee Dee is her vulnerable lyrics. She isn’t afraid to be so open with her words. That takes courage and strength that most shy away from. The intro to the song feels like the sun rising, giving you hope for another day. A chance to be better. The repetition of the chorus is like a chant, a mantra to stop you from hurting those you love. I love love love the line, ” ‘Cause every time you think of me, the black covers what might be.” Lord Knows offers so much solace, much like most of their songs. It is pure and truthful. It oozes out everything you wish you could. I guess next time you mess up, play this song. You’ll be alright. You always are.
2. The Long Wives-Judas Hex.I play this song nearly every day. I listen to The Long Wives a lot. Brandy’s voice is easily one of the best around. Discovering her music this year made everything a bit easier. We all have shit days, and how we get through them should make us tougher. I try to be tough, but I don’t think I have it in me. I don’t see it as a bad thing anymore. I’d rather be sure of how I feel rather than be emotionally numb. Judas Hex is so dark and simple. Just her voice and a guitar. Her voice is so so haunting. It isn’t overpowering at all. You don’t need a grand voice to be heard. Her voice is quietly powerful. I know it sounds like a contradiction, but she has something that no other will ever have. Or has ever had. Judas Hex evokes such devilish imagery in your mind, but they aren’t enough to scare you. You just embrace it, go with it. There’s no harm in it at all. Brandy’s voice lures you in, and once you are there- no part of you can leave. You just don’t want to. She is easily my favourite solo artist of the year. She’s just beautiful in all ways possible.
1. Saint Lou Lou-Maybe You.This song breaks my heart. This song makes me happy. This song is the best song of the year. It is gentle, it is delicate and utterly sad. I do like sad songs, but I don’t like obviously sad songs. Only when you pay close attention to the lyrics do you notice how heartbreaking this song is. What drew me in at first was the music. It felt like being on a bed of water, floating towards a state of bliss. Then I listened very closely to the lyrics and such sadness crept up on me. Since I first heard Maybe You, I have played it every day. I just have to always hear it. I have no idea what their record will sound life, but if it has the same elements as Maybe You (dreamy, blissed-out with shades of sadness) then they will probably become responsible for creating a sound that hasn’t been done before, and is of course, much-needed. I’ve mentioned before in previous posts the line I love the most in this song, but I adore “And if you’ve got an emptiness inside, you should let our worlds recollide.” The song offers reassurance and reconciliation. It’s just beautiful. There’s nothing else I can say about this song that I haven’t already said to anyone who may listen to me.
*I’d also like to add that Inhaler by Foals is bloody brilliant and I reckon their new record will be a massive highlight of 2013.
I was thinking about something earlier as I was leaving the house to go the gym. My days off are spent there in the hopes I can somehow change how I look and stop disliking myself as much as I do. Self-hate doesn’t leave you, does it? Or maybe it does. Maybe I am set to loath myself in my 20’s so I can learn to like myself from 30 onwards. I’ve got 4 years left of this, maybe I’ll go against this theory. Or maybe I’ll give in to it. It depends. I use my stubborn ways for the wrong thing. Always bad, never good.
So this thing about self-hate. I dislike it when people say things such as “I AM SO VILE. I AM SO FAT.” when they weigh next to nothing. The worst kind put this on certain websites. No one really cares about how much you hate yourself. You see, I dislike myself but I’m not going to announce it everywhere for attention. In a way, I’ve just “announced” it but no one I know or whatever reads this so it doesn’t matter. I’m not doing this for pity or for anyone to say “You’ve got a good face. You’re okay as you are.” I don’t want that. I don’t want any form of attention. Good or bad. If I get a hair cut, please don’t notice. Just don’t pick up on it. Go look at something else. Like a painting; that’s much more interesting.
I don’t dislike myself because I’m a miserable twat. I just do. There’s no explanation to it; but I constantly work on trying not to. I don’t dislike myself as much as I did when I was a teenager or going back a few years. You have to take baby steps with things like that. I don’t go to the gym because I want the body of a stick insect. Far from it. I have in my head, a goal. I’ve not told anyone nor will I ever. I know a person’s weight or appearance doesn’t define them, but we live in a judgemental world sadly. I get constantly told to stop wearing black all the time. Am I going to? Am I fuck. I’d go out in my superhero pjs if I could (one of the many brilliant presents my girlfriend got me for my birthday.) but they’re a bit long and I’d trip up.
I thought that, the older I get; the less dislike I’d have for myself. To an extent I’m right. I doubt myself a lot, especially with writing. I don’t do it because I want someone to say I’m any good. I do it because if I thought I was good, I’d stop. Self-doubt isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes it is the one thing that can make you carry on. It lasts longer than hope. I’ve never been good at much, and I don’t mean it in a bad way. Some part of me just doesn’t settle. Or maybe doesn’t want to. The thought of being in one place for the rest of my life makes me feel sick. Maybe this is because I’ve never really felt at home anywhere. Maybe I should work on that, or maybe it’s okay to carry on drifting through. I’m alright with being unnoticed. I don’t think my purpose in life is to be noticed. Why would I want that.
I think a lot of people think they’re not good enough, but surely if you surround yourself with people who make you feel inadequate then you are hanging around the wrong kind of people? I could be wrong. I could be right.
You’ll make friends and enemies on the way. You’ll have good days, you’ll have bad days. You’ll like yourself, you’ll dislike yourself. But NEVER any account must you let someone make you feel shit about yourself, ever. You can do that all by yourself, but it’s easier to understand and control. You don’t always have to walk with your head held high, sometimes the cracks in the pavement are much more interesting than your surroundings. You don’t stop learning. Time is a drag, and it seems like it is never on our side. Someone will love you even if you cannot stand yourself. You may not be able to understand how or why; but they do. It is there. They are there.
“He rides a dark horse. Crosses burned in its sides. He rides hooded in the dead of night.”
My love for Brandy’s voice is on a scale that not even I can comprehend. I seem to listen to a few of her songs a day. There is something about her voice and her dark lyrics that bring comfort. Her voice is just utterly perfect. You always find a singer don’t you, that just does something to your soul. Something that you cannot explain. Yet when you try to explain, words fail you. I guess all you can do is share the music in the hopes someone else understands and falls for the music too. In an ideal world, this would happen. Maybe it still can.
Brandy’s been working with Yeah Yeah Yeahs on her debut single, Dark Horse. It is produced by Nick Zinner and Karen O. Brian Chase plays drums, and Nick unleashes his guitar (slide and acoustic) and keyboard skills on this haunting song. You do get a Yeah Yeah Yeahs feel throughout the song, mainly songs such as Warrior and Sweets; the darker songs by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Dark Horse is pure and open. It is the kind of song that you simply must have on repeat (I’ve done so over the past hour, I can’t listen to anything else just yet.) Brandy’s voice sounds as eerie and as divine as ever. It really does annoy me that someone with this amount of talent, how someone so gifted isn’t huge you know? We give out free passes to those who make arses of themselves on reality shows, yet those with such talent are overlooked. It’s wrong. So bloody wrong. This could turn into a rant, so I’ll stop.
Brandy’s words are poems of the soul. Her words are like a cleansing of the soul. When you listen to her, you feel purer. You feel as if you have erased all past sins and you can live again. Her songs feel like you are being redeemed. That although you feel like a terrible person stuck in a dark place, you are probably more alive than most. To be in touch with the side of life that most shun takes strength and courage. You’ll find strength and courage in a song by The Long Wives.
Brandy makes music that gives you hope that out there, someone is still making music with heart and soul. This is music for the soul. This is music that acts like a confession. A step towards a cure for what troubles you.
You can listen to the single here : http://thelongwives.bandcamp.com/album/dark-horse-la-vengenista-single and is available to download and ALL sales of the single go towards Hurricane Sandy Relief. Get yourself a copy. Make a mix CD for someone, and stick this song on it. Tell everyone and anyone about The Long Wives, they just need to know.
I could quite happily sit here and write an essay on Dark Horse, but it’s one of those songs that requires nothing but your attention because words aren’t good enough; they quite simply won’t do it justice.
When you’ve spent 8 hours travelling to a place to despise, it makes you feel ill. Physically sick. You want to vomit on the tarmac as soon as the plane lands. I get this feeling every time I make this trip. The journey leaving here however, is my favourite. Freedom. 27 days time I’ll do it again. It does hurt to leave the one you love for long periods of time, but it’s okay.
A long journey can drain you. I came home and just wanted to fall asleep. I have work at 9am tomorrow, so maybe I’ll be sensible and go to sleep before midnight. I don’t know. You see, when you feel utterly exhausted you need something to carry you off into some dreamland don’t you? It’s all well and good closing your eyes, but you need that extra push. This is where you’ll find it.
Ninetails are a fine band from Liverpool. Liverpool is the home to some delights such as Bird and Beach Skulls. Let’s place Ninetails up there with them. Ninetails make euphoric and blissed-out music that makes you sleepy (in a good way.) They launch you into a dream. So tranquil. Nothing and no one can interrupt you. As someone who has issues with sleeping, bands like this make drifting off less of a chore. They cancel out all the day’s thoughts and events, and just send you some place peaceful.
Ninetails deserve to be heard everywhere. In shops, alone in your room, in bars- everywhere. They have the power in their music to make anyone who listens to them; regardless of their music taste, to just stop and appreciate the moments Ninetails create with their music.
If you are looking for something beautiful and meaningful (in a Beach House kind of way) then you’ll find it in Ninetails for sure. They have the same mind-blowing aura like Foals, and with the same mindless drivel floating about; it is bloody good to have a band like this. The music comes from the heart, that is evident. So open yours up to Ninetails.
Their EP, Slept And Did Not Sleep is out 10th December through Superstar Destroyer Records. A gig to mark the launch of their EP will be held in their city, Liverpool and they will also be making their London debut on 29th November at the Bull And Gate in Kentish Town.
Some may regard Christmas as the highlight of December, personally I’m not a fan. The music addict in me always looks forward to the end of year releases that creep up on you, unexpected but much-needed. It happens every year, and it is the perfect end to the year. You’ve just got to seek it out.
My love for The Creeping Ivies is out of my hands, and deeply rooted in my head. It is ever-growing and cements my love for Scottish bands more than I even knew. Scottish bands just offer you something entirely more powerful and passionate than most.
With their previous EP releases, The Creeping Ivies have always left me wanting more and more. Frequently hitting repeat and knowing the words by heart after the third listen. You take the passion they play with and it fuels your love for them. Stay Wild is evidently going to be this year’s hidden treasure. With so much manufactured tripe around, bands like The Creeping Ivies offer you hope that out there are bands making music with such heart, and more importantly; making their own unique sound.
Stay Wild makes you want to dance as if you have no control over your limbs. It makes you want to lose your mind and no longer care for your current surroundings. Nothing matters as Duncan and Becca take you on an insane and dark journey. This journey will freak you out and it will make you feel as if your soul has been cleansed. The aftermath will of course leave you wanting more; that repeat button is going to get abused. Trust me. The title track is the kind of song you’d imagine to hear at the end of the night with everyone chanting back. Covered in sweat, various spirits being spilled over their leather jackets and their boots. It’s a pure record that deserves to be heard.
You are going to hear comparisons such as “They are just like The Cramps” and such. Becca’s voice is obviously going to be compared to the likes of Siouxsie, but she has the power of Patti Smith in her vocals. I’m not a fan of comparing bands to others, but on this fantastic debut record, Becca’s vocals truly have the strength of Patti Smith. Duncan is Duncan Destruction for a reason. He absolutely slays and beats the shit out of the drums. As much as I adore their EPs, this debut full length record is nothing short of perfection. The sound much more powerful and a hell of a lot more eerie. They have the power to freak you the fuck out and make you want to dance all at once.
Listening to this wonderful record, you can truly picture it being played in dark, basement bars with people looking a bit like zombies, shaking their limbs and staring deep into the underworld. Possibly coming for your soul. The Creeping Ivies are one of the very few bands that manage to stay true to the essence of Garage Rock, yet merge something wonderfully strange with it. Everything about Stay Wild is just a delight to listen to. The production is amazing.
Bands such as The Creeping Ivies fully justify my love for duos. Duos make more noise and work harder for your affections. The Creeping Ivies are rowdy and bold. The Creeping Ivies take you on a whirlwind trip that you don’t ever want to come back from. The songs are played in a frenzy sending you off into another world. Utterly divine. I think my world was far too boring without these guys. The Creeping Ivies make you want to lurk about in places such as desolate buildings or cemeteries. Finding sacred things, seeing things no one else would ever believe Part mind-altering, part mind-blowing.
Stay Wild is out 1oth December on US label, Dead Beat Records.
I know age isn’t important. I know it’s not a big deal, but when your 26th birthday is creeping up on you; you cannot help but think “what the hell have I done with my life?!” I know this will pass soon, and on my actual birthday I probably won’t even pay any attention to how old I am. I don’t look my age at all. I look like I probably should be in school. Youthful skin. Maybe that’s my Italian genes coming through. Or maybe it’s because I nap a lot. I have no idea. The key is to moisturise. Always. In the morning and before you go to bed. Look after your skin, and you too can look as if you should pay child’s fare on the bus. Skin tips from a scruffy bint. Enjoy.
Last year when I turned 25 I think I had a brief moment of “oh fuck I’m nearly 30 what have I done with my life?!” And I think it is going to happen again. I don’t know why because no part of me does things in the hopes of getting approval of anyone. I don’t wish for that ever. If that was the case; I’d just be like everyone else. I don’t make an effort to not be like anyone else. This is how I turned out. Whether or not its a good thing, well that’s undecided. Maybe as I get older I may tolerate myself a bit more. Maybe I’ll stop being cruel towards myself. However, if I get in first; it won’t matter so much when someone else does. But there are things others say/ do that probably hurt a bit more than if I was to pick up on it about myself. But, it isn’t worth the time. Not much is. Time. Time. Time. Ages us all, aches us all. Us.
I maintain an element of silliness to make sure I don’t age too much mentally. If I see someone trip up in the street (providing they are not bleeding to death or a pensioner) I’ll probably find it funny. I think most are like that. When you take everything too seriously, it all loses meaning. And we’re all trying to find meaning. Maybe we’ll never know. Maybe we do know, but still want to keep looking. The answers can come from looking outside or from your own reflection. Just depends on how deep you want to get.
So, as I approach 26 I do wonder if I’ve done anything of worth. I just don’t know. I really don’t. My life pretty much revolves around music and I guess I hold interviewing Warpaint as the best thing I’ve ever done. I’ve met and spoken to some of my heroes; and they say you should never do that. But I know of many who have done so, and it being a pleasant experience. I fully endorse meeting those who have changed you and saved you. Sure it’s mainly to do with music for me, but there’s about 2 people who I class as friends that have also done this. So maybe interviewing Warpaint may only be the best thing I’ll ever do. I have no idea. Or maybe it was that time about a year ago when I showed Shirley Manson a piece I wrote about Bleed Like Me on her Facebook page, and she read it. Then told me it made her cry. How many people can say they’ve made their role model/idol cry? I’m still trying to work out if I’m proud of that or not. I’m not sure. I feel bad about it, but I’m glad she saw it.
This seems far too self-indulgent and no doubt I will dislike myself for writing this down. But it is better than a drunken outburst on a pavement with friends moaning about how I’ve done nothing with my life isn’t it. Some things you need to spare others from ever seeing.
It’s just an age. It means nothing. Those kinds of things do not define who we are. I’ve also finished watching all of The Wire again for the third time. Still kind of wish Jimmy McNulty was my best friend or something. And I’m going to always be pissed that they killed Bodie and Omar. That wasn’t right.
Anyway, have some songs; if you’ve got this far. Here’s to the bands/singers over the past (nearly) 26 years that have been my crutch and saviours.
As much as I love finding new music, I still get the same feeling when I find old bands. However excitement is quickly replaced with a brief stint of rage because the band are either dead, split up or all I can find is one song and that’s it. I hate it when that happens. I spend hours trying to find more only to be greeted with nothing. Typical, I know. I bloody know.
By the end of the 80s, all that was good in music was pretty much long gone. The whole Goth scene was over, nowadays you have people listening to the likes of…those idiots that wear that make-up and have something to do with Brides in their band name, and everyone that listens to them calls themselves a Goth. SHUT UP. Please? Just take yourself away. Far far away. They’re about as Goth as my grandma. Having said that, my gran could take you all on. She’d feed you cake and tell you stories. That’s right, she’d lure you right in. Then..well, she’d just fuck shit up like any brilliant 84-year-old would.
Ghosting formed in 1989. 3 years after I was born. There’s no connection, I’m just spewing out a FUN FACT for you. Want another? It’s my birthday in 10 days time. I’m going to be 26. This time next week I’ll probably be sat on a pavement in London somewhere crying about how I;m nearly 30 and I’ve done nothing with my life.
Back to Ghosting, sorry.
Ghosting were (and always will be) one of the best German bands of all time. They were so bloody underrated. More importantly; they were utterly terrifying and mind-blowing. Story telling at its finest. Scary stories that you tell around an open fire, in the vague attempt to scare someone. Anyone. They fill you with fear through their demonic and possessed sounds. This is some truly dark stuff. A flurry of images explode in your mind as you listen to them.
I honestly don’t want to go into great detail about them, I just want to write as a fan. If you want any history about them- look them up. I just want to tell you what they do to me. They possess you in a way that no one else may ever be able to do. They make me hate I was born too late to appreciate them. If I appreciate them like this now, then I’m pretty sure I’d be borderline obsessed with them if I was born when they first started.
Their music made you feel as if the end was close. So close; but no part of you felt any fear because there was something so enthralling and comforting about their music. I firmly believe that the darker the music, the more you find comfort in it. I don’t want to hear soppy love songs. I want to hear something a bit sinister and against what is expected. I want to hear something that causes a riot in my heart and a battle in my head. I want brutal. I want dark. I want heavy. I want something passionate. That’s why I love the bands I love. Ghosting are no exception. They’re another band that justify why music is my biggest love.
If music was still like this, I think the Daily Mail would have a fucking hernia over it. If only that would happen.
So go and embrace the dark side for a while, it needs you. It wants you.
Over a year ago someone took one of my favourite items of clothing- my Ramones hoodie. That hoodie had been to some brilliant gigs. It provided warmth and shelter from the rain. It was probably the only sensible Winter clothing I owned. So, when it got taken from me (never give a girl your clothes. I don’t care how long you’ve known them or whatever- you will NEVER get your stuff back. EVER.) I was crushed. Part of me was thinking, “I can deal with how you’ve treated me, sort of..but taking my stuff? NO.” I’m obviously the Queen of prioritising. Clothes before feelings. Whatever. So, I bought a new one. It came in the post this morning. I will not part with it. I will not offer it to my girlfriend to keep her warm (I trust her and love her dearly, but I’m not going through this AGAIN!) if she feels cold, I will offer her a hug or tell her to put a jumper on. One of her own. Not mine. I just needed to write this down. Now I am going to tell you about a wonderful band that come from Philly.
Cousin Brian make noise. They make a whole lotta noise. Noise that fucks with your head. Fucks with your mind. It just fucks with you; or just fucks you. Pardon the graphic details but that’s all I’ve got. That’s what they do to you. They move you. Shivers go through you; they shake you. Take a walk and listen to them. Cling onto the distractions. Keep walking.
What you must simply adore about Cousin Brian is that they are just a bit mental. The good kind of mental. If you’re like me, and don’t do drugs. You use music as that “high” or whatever- then you probably need to get really familiar with Cousin Brian. They’ll do something to your mind that nothing and no one else can touch. They send you on a high; and you feel so blissed out that coming back to reality just seems ridiculous. So you keep on listening, it’s better that way.
Their songs ooze the frustrations of every day life. If you can’t relate to them, then maybe you’ve not watched the news or looked at people in the street or you just don’t go outside. You’ve removed yourself from the outside so maybe you don’t understand. I fully endorse hiding away at times; but sometimes you can’t avoid it. And I know how it is such a drag, and it exhausts you. But that’s why we have music. Music drags you through. You can kick and scream your way through the days but music will be there to probably kick and scream with you. It’s On Me is a perfect example of letting those frustrations go. Besides, what’s the point in hanging onto something that just ruins you? Let it go.
To sum it up, Cousin Brian are an excellent band from Philly. They bring you sunshine and fun. They unleash your furies and any angst you may have. If you don’t feel good after listening to them, call your doctor. Maybe they can help you.
You can listen to their debut full length LP and other cool stuff right here : http://cousinbrian.bandcamp.com/ If you don’t enjoy the Jeff Goldblum background on their bandcamp page then you’ve evidently not watched Jurassic Park (and enjoyed it.)
My love for duos is forever professed here. Sometimes I am coherent about it, sometimes (most of..) I just sound like a rambling fool. I’m not sure if I know how to write with structure on here. Anywhere else, I can do so. I guess it’s because I have the freedom to rant here. So rant I shall do. The rants are filled with passion and love. Just be glad you are not sat near me when I really get into talking about something I love. Sometimes I need to be handed a glass of water and told to have a lie down. It’s for the best. I know when to shut up. I do enjoy the quiet. Probably more than I should.
Scotland is the home of amazing music. I base this on my love for Shirley Manson and The Jesus And Mary Chain. I also have a part of my heart dedicated to Camera Obscura. Scottish musicians seem to posses a delicate tone to their music. You know, although The Jesus And Mary Chain were quite dark and bold, there was such a vulnerability to their lyrics. That lone made them delicate. It is one of the many reasons as to why they are my favourite band of all time. I don’t think there are enough hours in the day for me to even try to express my love for them. But let’s move onto another band from Scotland. A band that provide comfort and joy.
Strawberry Whiplash are a duo from Glasgow. They make music that makes your soul smile and heart glad that it’s beating. They have an innocence to their music that is found in playground games. They posses a truth that is found at 3am when the world just won’t leave you alone. They’re the cure to the night before.
Strawberry Whiplash make you want to go on holiday with the one you love. An unplanned trip to anywhere you want; the world is yours. They make you want to get away, but not alone. They destroy all feelings of loneliness. They rid you of any bad feelings you may have had. They just ooze sheer joy. If you want to experience something pure and truthful, then listen to Strawberry Whiplash. They are the kind of band you listen to whilst watching the rain beat against the window. You wish you could go outside, but they provide a warmth that not even your favourite jumper could give. This is music from the soul to the soul.
For those who love the likes of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart or Camera Obscura, you’ll probably find a home in Strawberry Whiplash. You can find more (and buy their records) here : http://matineerecordings.com/category.php?manufacturer_id=35
Beat In My Bones. 