Category Archives: Influential Women In Music.

BRODY DALLE. Hoxton Bar & Kitchen. 25th February 2014.

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I read somewhere (probably an unreliable source, as ever) that London crowds are pretty shitty. I won’t say this statement is entirely true, but to a fair extent it is bullshit. Last week when I saw Warpaint, I was in awe of how the crowd were. Maybe it is the band and not the place. Anyway, the moral of the tale is- don’t believe anything you read in the papers.

If there was a Holy Trinity of female musicians (I’m not including Patti Smith because we all know she’s the greatest) it would consist of Courtney Love, Shirley Manson and Brody Dalle. Those 3 are responsible for the songs that got me through my teenage years and part of adulthood that I still can’t get my head around. They made it alright to be pissed off at what was around you; and when you’re 14/15, you’re pissed off at a lot of stuff.

I was never lucky enough to see Brody when she was in The Distillers, but I saw her when she had Spinnerette and I used the photos I took as part of a Photojournalism module I did at university. Pretty sure her “Fuck Off” tattoo helped me get a good mark. Hoxton Bar & Kitchen is one of my favourite places to see bands, more than likely for sentimental reasons (you probably know by now.) I’m still slightly deaf from last night, and I think that’s a sign that I had a good time.

Brody’s setlist consisted of a beautiful mix of solo, Spinnerette and The Distillers songs; as I’d never seen The Distillers, this was as close as I was ever going to get. Roaring through the likes of Dismantle Me, Ghetto Love and Sick Of It All; you feel the same rage you did when you first heard them. There aren’t many musicians around that are as powerful as Brody. She doesn’t need to mouth off to be heard, she doesn’t need to engage in awkward conversations on stage for you to feel some form of connection to what is going on. She’s just naturally got this presence that makes you drawn to her. Her effortless ways on stage justifies fully why you’re a fan, and why this show at Hoxton last night was is probably going to be one of the most important moments in music this year.

The new songs are brilliant. Meet The Foetus is amazing live. Of course if Shirley Manson and Emily Kokal turned up on stage with Brody that would have been magical. A few hours before the video premiered online and to see Shirley and Brody doing a music video together is what dreams are made of. It’s massively twisted and strange, but that’s the best way and sometimes only way to do it.

Brody’s cover of The Misfits Hybrid Moments is pretty special, as is her request for yellow socks. I have no idea. Maybe it was to go with her fluorescent orange t-shirt. It’s Brody Dalle; you don’t question why she wants yellow socks. Back to the new songs; if anything her solo songs pretty much shut up anyone who thinks “guitar music” is dead. You can find out for yourself when her record comes out at the end of April. Or you could go see her live and experience a bunch of people go ape shit to bloody good music. I advise both.

For me, Brody symbolises the same things as Courtney Love and Shirley Manson do. I wish I could explain it eloquently or even in a coherent way, but what I’m trying to get at is that, they are powerful. Powerful in ways that most dream of. I don’t want to make a big deal out her being a female musician because your gender doesn’t define what you do and who you are. It’s just a thing really. A lot of female musicians do however, struggle in the music industry due to archaic mindsets of sexist idiots. With the likes of Brody Dalle making this kind of music, it pretty much shuts up any critic really. She’s still the woman those who grew up listening to wish they were as tough as, but deep down we probably already are.

DUM DUM GIRLS- Too True To Be Good.

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“It’s hard to outrun the devil from behind.”

 

In my biased and honest opinion, Dum Dum Girls make excellent music videos. Their videos are quite trippy (Bedroom Eyes) haunting (Coming Down) and fun (Jail La La.) When you combine all of this, you get the video to Too True To Be Good which was directed by Nathaniel Brown and the creative direction was taken care of by Dee Dee’s pal and fellow ethereal musical gem, Tamaryn.

Too True To Be Good is taken from Dum Dum Girls new record, Too True which has been out a little under a month and is undoubtedly the best record of the year. No other record is going to shake up your bones like this or cleanse your soul in such a gorgeous manner.

All too often bands/singers make music videos that overcompensate for the song so you lose interest in the song and its meaning. However, we thankfully we have artists like Dum Dum Girls and Tamaryn who make videos that give their songs more meaning. They heighten your emotions when you watch their videos, and you take more meaning from the song. What I love about the new DDG video is the pure beauty that is in it. The images of roses to the way Dee Dee’s reflection is like it is in a ripple of water is just stunning. The video to Too True To Be Good is under 3 minutes of sheer beauty and is easily a work of art.

 

 

WARPAINT. Koko. 18th February 2014.

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“I’ve got a friend with a melody that will kill.
She will eat you alive.”

Everything I’ll ever write about Warpaint will just be a poor attempt at saying something I haven’t said before. Even that sentence is weak. To me, I think they are everything a band should be. On record they send you to a different world. When you see them live it is like you’re in a dream- the reality after all of this is of course, pretty shit. But Warpaint have this beautiful way of making you feel something truly precious as you watch them sing the songs that make you shut your eyes, sway and dream. See on record I suppose it is quite easy to do but to able to do it live, must take some work right? Not if you’re Warpaint. They make it look so easy, and if you’re like me and musically untalented- you will leave a Warpaint show wishing you could play something.

Before I get into the magical world that Warpaint led the crowd into last night, I must mention that their support act All We Are are bloody brilliant. As I was listening to them I immediately thought of Baltimore’s finest, Beach House. Last time I saw Warpaint the brilliant PINS supported them. Their ferocious and sinister music was the opposite of what Warpaint offer, but I loved it. Then again, I just really love PINS and would happily watch them live over and over again. All We Are have this gorgeous ethereal sound, and I truly hope that the crowd left as fans if they weren’t already. They too, like Warpaint make you shut your eyes and sway to their delicate sounds.

Warpaint’s setlist is a wonderful mix of new and old tracks. Their new record is stunning live. Disco/Very live is one of the best things I have ever seen. Warpaint aren’t really a band you can dance to; they are a band to dream to but Disco/Very is a song that just makes you jolt your body about in whatever way you want.  I just LOVE the lyric, “Only in the sound of the voices I scream.” If anything, Warpaint stand for freedom. They make you feel entirely free as you watch them. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a band and had a constant smile on my face, until last night. There is something special about Koko that just made it perfect for Warpaint to play here. I saw them play Brixton Academy and I honestly think their show at Koko had a lot more soul to it. I don’t know what it was to do with, all I know is that it was a pleasure to watch and be part of.

For some reason I decided to have a little cry when they played Undertow. I wasn’t expecting it, but it just happened. There is a lot of sentimental value to that song for me, but I have no idea why I had to bloody cry! They played Billie Holiday which was like being guided through a dream and into the unknown. I just want to go back to Disco/Very because I REALLY love Jenny’s voice on this. All of their voices together sound like haunting chants; as of they are calling you towards something quite eerie but you go alone with it because it feels right. Drive is powerful to witness live; the lyrics are beautiful to this one and I think it is the way that Emily sings this song that makes it feel quite sacred. Apparently Baby was down as part of the encore, but it didn’t happen. I wish it did but they closed the set with Elephants which is pretty much one of the best moments of musical history….EVER. The song on record is a forceful thing, but to see it live is something else.

Watching Warpaint live is like watching a band play in their rehearsal space. It feels very personal but not intrusive. Once you see them live, you simply don’t stop. I feel as if I am missing something with knowing I won’t see them again until they come back down here. Warpaint live is a salvation for the soul. It is escapism and discovery. They are everything a band should be. They way they perform together is such a joy to watch, you sort of can’t imagine music without them. What did we do before them? The band formed on Valentine’s Day 10 years ago and are evidently one of the strongest bands around. My record collection would have been lonely without Warpaint.

I found myself listening intensely to them last night with my eyes shut, but when I looked around I saw a lot of people were having the same reaction as myself. There was one guy in the crowd who had enviable dance moves. If anyone knows him, he was the guy with a white t-shirt near the middle with a beard and tied up hair- if he’s your pal, I do hope you go out dancing with him and you learn from him because he’s amazing!

Warpaint fans know just how special this band truly are. Their music is treasured and adored for all the right reasons. It is pure and uplifting. It is everything music should be. The way Jenny and Stella laugh with each other on stage, the way Theresa carries herself on stage and the way Emily seems to lose herself the most in the music is what makes them a sacred. Of course they all lose themselves in the music, and that’s how it should be. They just make you want to go home and learn to play an instrument. There is no doubt that they are the best at what they do. And I’m always left in awe of the way Stella plays the drums and sings at the same time. Same with Sandy from Dum Dum Girls and Sophie from PINS. Maybe if my name began with an S I’d be able to do the same.

There are many bands that everyone should see live, but I urge you to see Warpaint wherever and whenever you can. I just wish I was a billionaire so I could pay Warpaint to sing to me everyday. There was something about last night’s show that just left you without words to describe it. You just left in awe knowing you had seen something remarkable.

THE CREEPING IVIES- Love Kills.

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If I really wanted to get back at my neighbour right now I’d be playing something truly awful like Cradle Of Filth super loud, or I could treat the inconsiderate swine to something like The Creeping Ivies. Instead I am being thoughtful and selfless and playing them through headphones. See sometimes, I can be alright.

As you know I’m big on duos. Two people can change their own world and influence those around them. Don’t change the world, change your own. Duos to me are just perfect. They hit the drums harder, they scream a little louder, they turn their guitar amps a bit more, the bass-line makes you move a bit more. There’s something about duos that make you feel as if you are part of something.

A duo that I absolutely adore are The Creeping Ivies. I’ve written about them so many times, and even if they stopped making music (I don’t want to think about that) I’d probably still write about them. Their sound is everything I love about music. It is a mixture of bands I’ve grown up listening to and with something else I can’t really define. Becca and Duncan are stylish folks who play with the passion that a lot lack.

Love Kills is taken from their new record Ghost World which is out this year. Becca’s vocals are egged on by Duncan’s ferocious drum thumping. They’ve made a sound that is found in no one else around, which is why I truly adore them. Most fawn over shitty folk bands crying into their banjos (sounds worse written down) but why buy into something so trivial when bands like The Creeping Ivies exist. Sure they may not be to everyone’s taste (cut those people out of your life, they probably wear crocs or chinos) but they are keeping alive one of if not THE most important genre of music of all time- Punk. They’ve got the attitude of Patti and the Ramones mixed with the raw sound of say, The Cramps. Basically, they sound like everything I love which is why of course, I am a fan.

They sound like the band I’ve been waiting for. That’s the only way I can describe them. They are what you’ve been waiting for.

Play loudly.

DUM DUM GIRLS-TOO TRUE.

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As I’ve not gone into work today (I’m ill..and I’ve lost my voice) I should probably do something productive like sleeping- which I will do. I fell asleep around 4am and woke up 3 hours later. I feel as if I’ve been hit by something bigger and stronger than me, not really hard to beat that to be honest but anyway.

Next week a record I’ve been beyond excited about comes out. I was going to stay away from the streaming of it because I wanted the excitement to stay there. I was silly to think it wouldn’t. As I listen to Too True I can hear no resemblance between this and I Will Be and Only In Dreams. This is when you know a band are phenomenal. If they’re going to keep making the same record over and over, you lose interest. I don’t need to mention how brilliant their past releases are, because I won’t stop. Each one has sentimental value to me, I guess that’s why Dum Dum Girls mean a little bit more to me than other bands do. It’s Dee Dee honest and vulnerable lyrics that hit me right in the same place Morrissey’s lyrics do.

Too True is a relaxed record that from start to finish makes you feel as if you are not where you currently are. Even the most stable human beings wish they were somewhere else. Loathe where you are but use the hate to change your surroundings.

The record starts with Cult Of Love which sounds like something from the Goth era of the early 80s mixed with a James Bond soundtrack. Evil Blooms keeps up that energetic pace that is in Cult Of Love. Both songs feel as if you are running into the unknown but this uncertainty will become a state of bliss that you simply cannot do without. “Why be good? Be beautiful and sad. It’s all you’ve ever had.” If anyone else sang or wrote this line I’d probably regard them as being a miserable git, and that’s coming from me! But the way in which Dee Dee sings it makes you feel okay with feeling low on those days where getting out of bed is the same as climbing a mountain.

Rimbaud Eyes is brilliant and I hope it becomes a single. The video would probably be as hypnotic and as debauched as Lost Boys And Girls Club. Rimbaud Eyes is a gorgeous plea to love and fascination. Personally I love this song because of the reference to the greatest poet ever. A troubled poet with innocent eyes, but most of the great ones are like that. Troubled but innocent in some ways; it all fits together somehow.

Are You Okay is one of the few that make me teary eyed, but the hazy feel to it fills the listener with some reassurance. I learnt very early on that with Dum Dum Girls songs that they have songs that can break and mend your heart in one go. I’ve leant on some of their songs for many reasons, and I guess I can sort of stand up straight now feeling alright. Are You Okay is beautiful live. When I saw them play this last month, this was the one that made me keep my eyes shut and just sway. I don’t know where I was in that moment, but music helps you create your own personal moments that nobody can take from you.

Too True To Be Good feels like a dream. Dee Dee’s words sound as if she is recalling a dream she once had. A dream that is taking her away and making her feel something. We all have those days where we are left numb, and Too True To Be Good is like a longing of wanting more. You get more but is it what you want? “I remind myself it’s gonna be fine.” That’s a line to keep hold of. Most things are too true to be good. It’s alright.

The intro to In The Wake Of You reminds me of White Wedding by Billy Idol- just the guitar. In The Wake Of You really projects how fragile Dee Dee’s lyrics can be. You can runaway with the guitar on this song; just keep on running. It doesn’t really matter where you go. I think it is pretty obvious that Too True is a record that assists with you escaping and discovering. It’s making my ill day off work less awful. Dum Dum Girls have the power to be the soundtrack to your life, but if you’re a fan you’d know this already.

Lost Boys And Girls Club is for those who don’t care for direction, they just want to go. Half the time it doesn’t matter where you’re going or what you’re doing, so give it no thought. I’ve already written my thoughts on this song a few times but I’m not ever going to be tired of hearing it. It’s alright to be lost.

Little Minx has a Punk beat to it. If Joey Ramone was alive, and how I wish he was, he would sound perfect singing this with Dee Dee. There’s something about it that just makes me imagine Joey putting his vocals on it. Of course it sounds just perfect with Dee Dee’s haunting voice. What I love about this record is that you can hear how they’ve been experimenting with different sounds which has led them onto creating this beautiful record. I’m not going to love any other record as much as this one all year. I just know it.

The last two song on Too True; Under These Hands and Trouble Is My Name are my favourites. I can’t pick just one favourite, I think my mind would explode if I had to even try. But these two are lyrically my favourite. There’s something about them that make you just want to roam the street with no means of contact upon you. Leave your phone at home and go outside for a while. I’d do that if I wasn’t ill. They are the perfect songs to end the record on because it feels right to just hit play again when the record finishes. Trouble Is My Name is the one I know I’ll be playing over and over, the one I can’t go a day without listening to.

When it comes to writing about Dum Dum Girls I find it easy to be honest about how their music makes me feel. I don’t feel bad for admitting that I’ve cried to some of their songs or that some of them just sum everything up for me. If music can’t give you hope, then what’s the point? I’ve read no reviews about Too True, and I don’t want or need to. I just want to listen to it and keep up the excitement that my favourite band have put out a full length record. Too True is nothing like I Will Be, Only In Dreams, He Gets Me High and End Of Daze. If you’ve listened to all their records you will have heard how each is nothing like the previous. A band that plays around with their sound is a band that lasts. With Dum Dum Girls you know that music is everything to them, and that’s why their music means a hell of a lot to me and others. Dee Dee’s lyrics are like poems for the soul. She doesn’t need to be aggressive to make a point or to be heard.

Too True is undoubtedly going to be the one record I play religiously this year. It embodies everything you want in music; freedom, lust, comfort and confidence.

Stay in a dream, in a daze and blast out Too True.

ELA ORLEANS.

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I’ve always believed that music should be somewhat terrifying. Whether it is similar to the frightening rage that is found in the likes of my beloved My Bloody Valentine or if it is done in a more gentle manner like The Long Wives; I want what I hear to scare me a little bit. I don’t know where this comes from, maybe from a young obsession with Nick Cave. His dark imagery in his lyrics is the same kind of genius that came from Poe’s pen. Troubled, dark and sinister. There’s another level to this, Marquis De Sade. The sexual perversion in is writing is uncomfortable but for the times he wrote it- it is nothing short of challenging. I have one of his books, but reading it on public transport means never holding the cover up so anyone can read the back of it. I want to hate myself for being in awe of his work, but I can’t. I just keep reading.

I should have written about Ela a few years ago when I first hear her music. I have bouts of being utterly lazy. I’ve not written in my notebook since July. Everything I had the intention of jotting down has gradually left my mind. I suppose it wasn’t important to start with. Ela Orleans is yet again another example as to why music from Scotland is astounding. From Shirley Manson to Bobby Gillespie; it is a place that just oozes talent from all over. Parts of England have certain sounds. The further North you go, the darker the sound. The better the sound, of course. However (with the exception of Glasvegas, The View and others) you can’t always tell with Scottish bands. That just proves how excellent they are. You already knew that didn’t you.

Ela Orleans reminds me of someone I admire- Alex Zhang Huntai aka Dirty Beaches. Seeing him live last year had a massive impact on me in ways I wasn’t aware of. Now when I go to shows I notice more than normal, I let it mean more than it used to. He has this powerful presence without even saying a word. His music on record is a pleasure to listen to. It’s a pleasure to listen to because it’s so different to anything I’ve ever listened to and I can’t pick up on what influences him apart from general life and the hunger to make music- that’s the same feeling I get when I listen to Ela.

Her voice resembles nothing like anything else I’ve ever heard. However she can convey torment in her voice like Billie Holiday did. Ela can rip right into the core of you with her voice, the words become hazy because the way she rings pierces through you. But then, on the other side of this, her voice can make you weep with how gorgeous it truly is. Maybe I’m feeling her music more because I’m ill (I’m losing my voice and I sound like a teenage boy today..it’s a good job I’m not a big talker) and I’m swaying towards how her music makes me feel emotionally. Sorry, I don’t know what my excuse is for the rest of the time.

Her music makes you want to pack up your belongings and move to a city where nobody knows you. Where nobody who claims to know you can bother you. Until you get the guts to do so, all you can do is sit and listen to her music and live briefly in the moment through it.

I so desperately want to write thousands and thousands of words telling you all about Ela and why you need to listen to her music, but I can’t. She is one of those singers who you don’t really need to say a word about. When you listen to her music, you immediately become drawn in and you know you are listening to something truly special. Writing this is taking me back to how I felt when I first heard her music- it happens every single time I listen to her music. You keep falling for her music. It is honestly like looking at the one you love and finding new reasons as to why you love them and remembering why you love them. Ela’s music is something that obviously goes behind these words I have typed, anyone can see that. She’s the kind of singer I wish I could be, but I cannot sing. That’s alright though. I’m more than happy to have a voice like Ela’s being projected into my ears and cleansing my soul.

Happy Birthday Aaliyah.

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Every year I write this, and every year it still doesn’t make any sense. It’s a weird ritual I guess that I’ll never let go of.

I’ll never understand why Aaliyah’s death happened. None of her fans do. I don’t buy into the “it was their time” talk I’ve heard so many times about so many people. Nobody deserves to die young, no matter what your profession is.

I’ve seen many of my favourite bands/singers live but Aaliyah is the only one I wish I could have seen. I remember seeing the video to Back & Forth when I was about 7 years old and I immediately felt alright with being a tomboy. She’s done more for females in music than most of these singers around. I won’t get into my dislike for certain singers, but you know. Aaliyah’s style was just gorgeous. Of course I look nothing like her, but she was always someone I wish I looked like. I wanted to be able to dance like her or even be able to sing just a little bit. I’ve interviewed a few bands and singers, but Aaliyah is one I would have loved to have just talked to about music with. From the influences she had growing up to her love for Korn and Nine Inch Nails. She was ahead of her time, and I think that’s what she is remembered for. When I hear her music now it is like listening to something from the future. Her, Missy and Timbaland were the dream team. They made brilliant music together. Timeless music.

There will be many replicas of other singers, but no one will ever come close to Aaliyah. Ever.

Happy Birthday A x

DUM DUM GIRLS-RIMBAUD EYES.

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Everything I’ve written about Dum Dum Girls and will ever write about Dum Dum Girls is just me reinforcing my love for them over and over again. All my the words I have written are repetitive and more than likely boring for anyone who has the misfortune of reading it. But, it’s not for them. It’s not for anyone.

Rimbaud Eyes was a song I heard on Andrew Wyatt’s show on East Village Radio in June last year. I heard it a few days before I left home for good. In my mind, I took it all as a sign. I’m not sure what, but I like to connect music to sentimental moments. Everything about Rimbaud Eyes of course just sums up why I love Dum Dum Girls. Any band that can mention probably one of the greatest poets of all time in a song is just fine in my eyes. If any band is going to do it, then Dum Dum Girls are the ones to do it.

I really cannot put into words how bloody excited I am for Too True. It’s a shame I’ve used all my holidays up at work because I’d seriously think about taking the day off to just sit at home and play it over and over. Last month I saw Dum Dum Girls in Hoxton, and the new songs they played were just perfect. A divine band live and on record they flawlessly capture their ethereal sound live in a way that not many can do. There is something effortlessly enticing about this band, and I really don’t understand why anyone could ever saw anything negative about this band.

I’ve had Rimbaud Eyes on repeat for some time now, and I can’t help but fall in love yet again with how Dee Dee writes songs. The way she puts certain words together, the way she sings them, the way this band sound..they are my perfect band. I’ve said it so many times, and I’ll say it again; Dee Dee is my generations Patti Smith. How come? Well think of why you love Patti and you’ll understand.

WARPAINT-WARPAINT

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Lazy hipsters are wetting themselves over the new Warpaint record; how could they not. One of the most exciting bands to have come out in a long time, so if you’ll lacking excitement for their new record then well…you can’t please everyone can you? That’s why I love Warpaint. They don’t make music for everyone to be pleased about, they make music for themselves THEIR own way. The Fool was a brilliant debut that of course reduced me to tears when I heard it. Their EP beforehand, Exquisite Corpse composed over several ethereal gems that could melt the coldest of hearts. Burgundy and Stars are my go to songs. What do I go to them for? That’s easy. For what I can’t get out of anything else. But I don’t seek much.

How can they top The Fool? I mean that was one of the best things to happen in 2010. I can’t recall much from 2010, but I know that Warpaint played a huge part in it not being spectacularly shit. They make a lot of things less shit, easily. An interview with them 4 years ago, they day before their record came out was one of the best things I’ve ever done. I’ve not done many great things in my life, I’ve not made a difference in others lives but why should it ever be about that? You cannot live through other people trying to please them as you slowly feel the life being sucked out of you.

This is meant to be a review isn’t it? Thing is, you’ll have read all of them by now about this record and you’ll all have seen that everyone pretty much loves it. People are fawning over it like a cute puppy. I don’t blame them. I listened to it yesterday at work whilst trying to concentrate. As I listen to it now, I have no hints of being focused about me. Warpaint do that to me. Everyone has one (or maybe more..I’ve got more) band that just makes them lose their shit. Music is freedom. Warpaint’s second record is like a declaration of that.

The Fool consisted of hypnotic grooves and chants (does anyone else still struggle to work out what is said at the start of Composure?!) Their second release has a cult feel about it. You’d imagine outcasts (don’t waste your time trying to fit in) in forests huddled round singing these songs in unison grateful to be alive. Of course you can just experience this by going to a Warpaint show. I finally saw them live last year and I felt like something had been lifted out of my body. I have no idea. It was out of this world and beyond words. You need bands to have a tight grip on you to make you aware of all you feel, but you don’t need to questions why you feel it.

The best way to listen to this record is how you should have hopefully have listened to their previous releases; with your eyes shut in the dark swaying your body in a gentle fashion and truly feeling certain parts of certain songs. If the bass-line to Biggy doesn’t make you want to just flail your limbs about in a carefree fashion then I have no idea what you are listening to.

When listening to the record it is so important you don’t go with the intent of finding this record’s version of Lissie’s Heart Murmur or Shadows etc. There’s no point because it is obvious that Warpaint are a band that do not have set sound. Why would they want to make the same record again? Bands that do that are bands that do not last. Bands that don’t do that make you feel something that words can never justify. It doesn’t matter what kind of music it is at all, when a band can get you really excited for what they are going to do next, that’s when you know something good is happening. It doesn’t matter if it was the likes of My Chemical Romance giving hope to hopeless kids or pre-pubescent kids getting psyched for a One Direction record. Music should make you excited and glad to be alive.

For me I feel Warpaint’s second release is a lot more gentle (who knew!?) in some ways. Take the song Teese; it’s just like some kind of mantra for the soul. But then you have the likes of Disco/Very which makes you want to dance. I’d get up and dance now if I wasn’t so tired. I adore both songs, I can’t pick a favourite. I can’t even try to pick a favourite off this record. I’d be foolish to even try. I’m fully aware that this is a ramble about nothing but I hate writing conventional reviews. If you want that, go read something like Pitchfork. I have no idea. Warpaint just make words spew out of me and the words just make no sense.

All I know is that their live shows are just going to get more and more intense and glorious with songs like this. I really hope they play Disco/Very when I see them next month in London. I just think it’d be the strangest yet brilliant moments in their set. I know I said you shouldn’t compare their records but I must say this- The Fool was the monster rising out of the water. Their second record is the monster mellowing out. That’s the only way I can put it. As I head into a thousand words, I realise that what I just wrote may have just been enough. I’ve had this build-up for this record for so long; all Warpaint fans have. Now it is time, you sort of can’t believe something as beautiful as this record has been released. I know when records come out at the start of the year they seem to have been forgotten about before the summer hits. The thing is, this one is probably going to top all lists in November/December. The same will go for Dum Dum Girls record, Too True when it comes out at the end of the month. I have more sentimental value attached to Dum Dum Girls, but Warpaint have easily put out a record that others aren’t going to stop playing. I still listen to Exquisite Corpse and The Fool; it doesn’t feel right if I don’t listen to them.

If you’re looking to alter your mind state or to have lucid dreams, buy this record. If you need a reason to start your own band, buy this record. Just buy this record. I know I’ve missed out certain things ranging from how Stella KILLS the drums on Feeling Alright to how angelic Theresa’s voice sounds to how Jenny makes me wish I could play the bass because the way she plays is as if she is taking me on some weird trip and how haunting Emily’s voice is- but these are the things I already know. They are the reasons as to why I love them and why I wear my Warpaint tattoo with complete and utter respect and love for them. If anything, their second record just reinforces my love for them.

Warpaint are the band you want to sing you to sleep and to wake you gently in the morning when your eyes sting from the sun’s rays creeping through the curtains.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PATTI SMITH!

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Of course meeting Patti Smith is probably the greatest moment of my life (there have been others) and if I ever lose my mind, I will fight to cling onto those brief minutes I spent with Patti. I apologised for the battered state my copy of Just Kids was when I handed it to her for her to sign. She replied with, “That’s how it is supposed to be.” I’ve read it more than 10 times. It isn’t just a book; it is some kind of guidance for life. She signed my copy of Auguries Of Innocence looking quite shocked that I had a copy. I nearly gave my copy away to someone a few years ago as a gift; I’m glad I didn’t.

Aged 67, Patti is everything I hope to be when I grow up. I’m 40 years younger than her- by no means do I know enough. I never will. Ever. None of us will. But what I do know, I learnt from Patti. You can be tough but can also have a fragile way with words. Be passionate about SOMETHING and don’t compromise yourself. She taught me more (and still does) than any teacher ever could.

10 years ago my auntie and uncle went to New York. They went to a registry office, and got married. That night they went to Patti’s birthday show. To me, that’s the perfect way to get married, and to celebrate getting married.

Happy Birthday Patti.

This one is for you:

With my questionable views and an awkward tongue,

With my hazy eyes and unsure mind,

I found a tender home in your words.

I found my own silent meaning amongst my raging mind.

My heroine brought it all to life.

With a handshake, my faith was restored.

My “thank you” held more meaning than those simple words could ever hold.

I’ll remain on the outside, at my most comfortable,

Treasuring the brief moment we had.

I got to look into my idol’s eyes,

And they tell us not to idolise.

But you’ve been my constant guide.

I can have my moments of feeling uncomfortable in my skin,

Then I remember all that you’ve taught me.

People DO have the power.

And NOBODY died for my sins.

*I wrote this on the tube to work this morning at half 7..sorry!