And just like that, it was spring again. How am I still here?
I’ve been mulling over doing a music update post for several weeks now, getting distracted by real life circumstances multiple times over on days I wanted to finally get it done. I’m certain now that I’m going to miss something I wanted to say when this thought started. But, I’ll give it a shot.
I believe we left off at Brume’s new song, “Jimmy“. Hard not to see the title or read the lyrical synopsis (it’s in the video description) and not think of a particular band and end up with “eleven has been and will be waiting” running through my head. In any case, their new album is out 5/3.
For the stonery side of doom, Heavy Temple released a new video, this time for “Hiraeth“. Got me thinking about how, every once in a while, a new band will creep up and suddenly become the thing one does, and Heavy Temple seems to be following the last-decade King Buffalo, Domkraft pipeline of “were they not always a favorite?” for me.
Speaking of stonery vids, High Desert Queen just put out one that is Highly Relevant if you understand the visual references of this blog here. If you like the movie They Live even a little bit, go watch their thing right now.
As much as I’d previously might have liked to believe that stoner rock and doom is LIFE, and I’ve definitely been piqued to hear High on Fire’s new album(!!) is coming in a mere month, there’s other music in this world and I’ve been going down separate rabbitholes.
Justice is releasing a new album! And the first two songs they’ve released have already been fully abused. “Generator” is fantastic, but wow, how did they know I needed “One Night/All Night” right now? I just linked to direct audio videos, but they have a music video now for “Generator” that’s weird and uncomfortably NSFW… unless you’re into androids or whatever the heck’s going on there. Data porn. And the Placebo lyric “woman, man, or modern monkey? just another happy junkie” just flew through my head in tandem with Goldfrapp’s line “are you human?”
Similarly NSFW, Fever Ray came out with a video for “Shiver” and I all but rooted for their business suit character who now appears to have finally gotten some after a prior video of teasing (“Kandy”). Isn’t weird music fun when they really dial up the weird shit?
Speaking of NSFW, I just told someone to remove clothes at work because they were wearing too many layers. Ahh the old double entendre. Nothing like having commercially inappropriate thoughts while you’re trying to concentrate on important stuff like, uhh, typing about music videos? Excuse me while I turn my phone face down. This is very important.
Let’s go to the fantastically mundane next. Kim Gordon just released a new album and it’s on brand. She wrote a song about, get this, a packing list. Immediately I could see myself walking through a supermarket passing the travel section and someday hearing her words in my head: “travel shampoo c o n d i t i o n e r”. I also love the dark, heavy sound of “I’m A Man“. I got stuck on the new pre-release music for a few days and will probably be back there soon.
I done fucked up and didn’t watch the new Dopethrone video in time before it was taken down by Youtube, but the first video “Life Kills You” is still up. The video that was taken down is elsewhere now (Instagram is a source), replaced with just the audio on Youtube: “Uniworse” intro’d by Dixie Dave. In case you missed the memo, Dopethrone sounds like an extra sludgy Weedeater more than Electric Wizard. I am a wearer of their t-shirts nonetheless, because I very much appreciate their dusty cracked out fuck humanity (but not really) aesthetic even if it seems I’m sooner to get stuck listening to Justice on repeat.
Another for the abrasive: Couch Slut’s “Ode To Jimbo“. I’ve not been listening to heavy-weird yell music as much as I was a decade ago (if I say Rabbits’ name three times, will they quote me from the grave?), but it’s appreciated.
Zombi has a new thing to shut your brain off to, coming now in just a week from today. Here’s “The Post-Atomic Horror” to whet your appetite. Here’s dinner and dessert. Sexy jazz saxophone comin’ at ya. The comments on that video are hilarious. What, Relapse can’t release fun shit? Even funnier that the very next thing they uploaded was a new Coffins song. Por que no los dos? Ahh, the bass sound on that Coffins track… Thank you, Coffins.
Been a good long time since I’ve listened to St. Vincent, but curiosity was there when Youtube thought I’d like to hear her new song, “Broken Man“. I don’t think it’s overt, but the comparison to Nine Inch Nails or Queens of the Stone Age is there. This video got me recommended a live St Vincent/Dua Lipa performance later that was very, welp, maybe Dua Lipa needs to walk around with a towel service. “I know. Apologies. Here’s a free towel.” I see no towels in the latest “Training Season” video that was just uploaded today. Oh, she announced a release date & title: 5/3 Radical Optimism. St Vincent’s new one is out a week earlier.
My most recent fascination this past month or so has been Allie X. I have a lot of catching up to do. I got stuck on “Bitch” for a bit. The “boom boom” thing feels weird and unwanted when you first hear it but it becomes part of the perpetual earworm, my brain repeating sad lyrics of cruel domestication in a world where the last creature I titled My Bitch is now dead and the last humans that might qualify to the song were too out of reach for these things anyway. Story of my life. Last night I got stuck on “Lifted”. Yep. Still listening to strange pop.
The video that 100% got me was “Weird World“. Did you know that video is perfection? Well, now you do. It’s got everything. Goth chickens! Juno Birch cosplay! Weird girls! Treadmills! Then I went and got intoxicated by “Black Eye” – both the proper video and the earlier visualizer. The “hit me hit me with the super bass” lines made me realize that Allie X is my age but has the voice of someone much younger. In the same, the song itself sounds like it fell out of the 80s. I’m personally reminded of Depeche Mode with her new music, but someone who actually spent time listening to goth electronic of the 80s/90s will hear other bands first.
And then there’s “Off With Her Tits“. If this song had been around when I was 12-13, I would have been 1% less annoyed with the world back then.
I don’t believe I’ve ever posted about Elliot Lee before, but somewhere near early pandemic times I was listening to “Pink” a lot. Now, a new song: “Alive, Not Well.” It feels like the song for a generation… or, like, three generations now.
Skeeve me out with her dancing on the floor of this bar, but boy is “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan catchy. I first heard “Red Wine Supernova” here and missed a lot of lyrics so got the delayed fun of hearing “I heard you like magic: I got a wand and a rabbit” as it was meant with the proper music video. I’m going to lie and use that line on someone someday.
Finally because I need to stop somewhere, let’s take it back to our roots: someone posted a Monster Magnet live video and I ended up with a multi-day “Third Alternative” earworm. Since we’re talking about other beautiful people today, we’ve gotta talk Dave. He doesn’t come with the baby fresh or sultry aesthetics of some, but boy is listening to his dirty old man lyric entertaining and spot-hitting even before taking into account what an amazing frontman he is. And that performance is nearly 30 years old! I was 13 in 1995, not ready for the likes of a band like this, but it makes me wish I’d heard them much sooner. I was actually checking for something I’d written in 2004 – yes, 20 full-ass years ago – and found me writing about how cool “Third Alternative” was then, so I’ve had plenty of time to threaten others with quoted hopes for eden. Dave’s lyrics being an example, it’s probably good that I have not done that.
I’m now on paragraph 21. That is too many words. I’ve been picking at this post for hours. And I just barely scratched the surface. More soon enough.