ALARM #42

PIXIES RODRIGO Y GABRIELA CULTS SAGE FRANCIS FUCKED UP MODELS AT HOME TRAVEL GUIDE: PORTLAND, OR MIDWESTERN CRAFT BEER MODERN ROCK-’N’-ROLL CULTURE ISSUE

42

PHANTOGRAM THE ELECTRO-POP DUO ON BIG BOI, BIG AUDIENCES, AND ITS BIG NEW LABEL

+

Phosphorescent Nick Waterhouse Secret Chiefs 3 The Birds of Satan Killer Be Killed Septicflesh Helms Alee

Š 2014 Goose Island Beer Company, Chicago, IL | Enjoy Responsibly.

PREMIUM ULTILITY GROOMING PRODUCTS FOR THE AMERICAN MAN

CONTENTS

ISSUE

42

FEATURES 38

WAXEN WAYS SEE THE SEASON’S BEST LOOKS

64

52

MODELING (HOME) SCHOOL: INSIDE THE HOMES AND STYLES OF MODELS AROUND THE GLOBE

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LIFE ON THE ROAD: CULTS

46

MOTORCYCLES: SINGER-SONGWRITER PHOSPHORESCENT WITH HIS ’83 HONDA

PHANTOGRAM THE ELECTRO-POP DUO ON BIG BOI, BIG AUDIENCES, AND ITS BIG NEW LABEL

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MODEL PHOTO BY CYBELE MALINOWSKI. PHANTOGRAM PHOTO BY JON STARS. SECRET CHIEFS 3 PHOTO BY DUSDIN CONDREN. PHOSPHORESCENT PHOTO BY NOAH KALINA.

SECRET CHIEFS 3: MULTI-GENRE MASTERMIND TREY SPRUANCE ON HIS COLLECTION OF MISFIT MUSICAL TOYS ISSUE 42

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CONTENTS

SHORTCUTS 12 LABEL Q&A:

32 TV: NEW GIRL FUNNYMAN

DEATHWISH INC.

LAMORNE MORRIS

33 FUNNY SHIT: ACTOR/COMEDIAN EUGENE MIRMAN

34 SHOP TOUR: INSIDE SO-CAL’S IRON & RESIN

36 ART & ILLUSTRATION: SELF14 BREWERY TOUR:

TAUGHT RUSSIAN PAINTER LORA ZOMBIE

THREE FLOYDS BREWING CO.

CONTRIBUTORS

JON STARS is a 24-year-old freelance photographer from Philadelphia who takes inspiration from the ocean and likes to create organized chaos in images.

A graduate of the Hallmark Institute of Photography in ’09 with an Award of Excellence, he spends his free time traveling, riding, photographing BMX with friends, and playing American darts. He doesn’t like olives or Led Zepplin.

DUSDIN CONDREN has an intimate approach to music photography that is sought by musicians and independent record labels alike, recently leading to album-artwork collaborations with bands such as Phosphorescent and The War On Drugs. He works in NYC and California.

SABY REYES-KULKARNI

24 CAMPING ESSENTIALS FOR MUSIC FESTIVALS

contributes for MTV Iggy, Paste , Alarm, and Nashville Scene . Based in Rochester, NY, he hosts the literary podcast Page by Page and the music shows Feedback Deficiency and Let the Good Times Grind, leads the quasi-thrashjazz trio Pillowfight Accident, and is working on a documentary on LGBT African-American Christians.

30 STYLE TOUR: NICK WATERHOUSE

DIALOGUE

JOHN TAYLOR is the creator of the “This Modern Love” column for Noisey, in which respected artists fill out online dating profiles. His work has appeared in Interview, Vice , and Jet . Follow him on Twitter @johntaylortweet.

72 RODRIGO Y GABRIELA 74 HELMS ALEE 76 PIXIES

KEIDRA CHANEY

78 SEPTICFLESH

is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times and Bitch . She is the editor of The Learned Fangirl, a pop-culture and technology website, and plays bass in Sole Heiress, a Chicago-based rock band.

80 SAGE FRANCIS 82 FUCKED UP 84 KILLER BE KILLED 86 THE BIRDS OF SATAN

OAKLAND L. CHILDERS

REVIEWS 89 TWO WRITERS, ONE RECORD

4

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90 BEST ALBUMS

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cut his teeth in music journalism back when you couldn’t make a living at it, lived through the short but glamorous period where you could, and has happily stuck around for the afterglow while (no joke) selling chemicals for a living.

He lives in Denver.

DEATHWISH PHOTO BY SIMON SIMARD. LAURA ZOMBIE PHOTO BY EVGENY BELIKOV. SAGE FRANCIS PHOTO BY PRENTICE DANNER.

ISSUE

42 PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Chris Force chris@alarmpress.com ----MANAGING EDITOR Scott Morrow scottm@alarmpress.com

COMMUNICATIONS Vanessa Nikolic vanessa@alarmpress.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Amanda Koellner akoellner@alarmpress.com

CLIENT-SERVICES MANAGER Krystle Blume krystle@alarmpress.com

DESIGNER Michael Bodor michael@alarmpress.com

BUSINESS-DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Mike Runkle mike@alarmpress.com

DESIGN INTERNS Christopher Givens Ravi Sathia EDITORIAL INTERNS Jessica Barrett Sattell Chloe Stachowiak Kayla Unnerstall ----WRITERS Keidra Chaney, Oakland L. Childers, Dustin H. Currier, Brendan Dabkowski, Lincoln Eddy, Brandon Goei, Patrick Hajduch, Emma Janzen, Todd Nief, Saby Reyes-Kulkarni, John Taylor PHOTOGRAPHERS Evgeny Belikov, Dusdin Condren, Aaron Farley, Renaud Julian, Noah Kalina, Cybele Malinowski, Joshua Mellin, Lisa Predko, Drew Reynolds, Carl Ringdahl & Elodie Matyjasik, Jon Shaft, Simon Simard, John Sturdy, Jon Stars, Elizabeth Weinberg COVER IMAGE Phantogram by Tim Saccenti ----MARKETING DIRECTOR Jenny Palmer jenny@alarmpress.com MARKETING COORDINATOR Elli Gotlieb elli@alarmpress.com

ANALOG, MEET DIGITAL

----A one-year subscription to Alarm Magazine is US $20. Visit our website at alarm-magazine.com or send a check or money order to: Alarm Press 900 North Franklin Street, Suite 300 Chicago, IL 60610 P 312.386.7932 F 312.276.8085 info@alarmpress.com ----Alarm Magazine (ISSN 15558819) is published quarterly

by Alarm Press at 900 N. Franklin St., Suite 300 Chicago, IL 60610. Periodicals postage is PENDING at Chicago, IL, and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to Alarm Magazine at 900 N. Franklin St., Suite 300 Chicago, IL 60610 ----Š 2014 ALARM Magazine.

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited. ALARM MAGAZINE is a trademark of Alarm Press, LLC.

NOW ON THE IPAD

LET TER FROM THE EDITOR

MY STOLEN 2013 TRIUMPH HAS BEEN FOUND! Last year some generous friends with Triumph Motorcycles set me up with a 2013 Bonneville T100. The fine fellas over at British Customs provided a box full of aftermarket parts. The guys at Motorcycle Center helped me with the installations.

I was working on a photo/video story for Alarm. The plan was to ride solo across the country and document it. I was going to have the bike shipped out to Palm Springs, where I would meet it and ride it back. It wasn’t super easy to get two weeks off in my schedule, but I timed it to coincide with another story I was writing on Rat Sound at Coachella. I would already be out in Cali and had some photographer friends who were there already shooting the festival. Perfect.

A lot of details had to fall into place in a really short amount of time. The bike itself needed more than a dozen parts, and then there was gear for the trip and for shooting on the road. Pretty much everything was late showing up, including the bike itself.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to make the schedule, but a week before departure, boxes started arriving. Miraculously, the bike was done the day before the deadline.

I hopped on uShip and found a shipper who was available to get the bike on short notice and make it out to Cali in time. After work that day, I picked the bike up from MCC in the pouring rain and rode it home. I barely had any time with it. It was my first “new” bike. The odometer had 25 miles on it. I kept looking for the fuel petcock—first bike with EFI. I was seriously geeking over the new ride. With the rain, and a ton of stuff still to get ready, I put the bike in the garage and headed back in for the night.

After pretty much begging so many different suppliers, photographers, and videographers to donate or heavily discount their time to this story, I had to let them all down. “Sorry, guys— the bike has been stolen. The story is off.”

After pretty much begging so many different suppliers, photographers, and videographers to donate or heavily discount their time to this story, I had to let them all down.

“Sorry, guys—the bike has been stolen. The story is off.”

Life went on. I bought a flawlessly restored ’79 Bonneville to get over the loss. (I’ve come to really appreciate an electric starter.)

I had a good summer of riding and finally got my R100 up and, mostly, reliably running.

So it’s almost winter at this point in Chicago, and all my bikes are stored away. Early on a Saturday morning, I got a voicemail: “Hi, this is the Sandy, UT police department. We have recovered your motorcycle; please call us to claim it.”

Holy shit!

The shipper was supposed to meet me at 5 AM the next day.

He showed up five hours late. The guy looked liked a total deadbeat, smelled terrible, and had a pit-bull puppy in his cab.

He was using a baby crib as a dog crate in the backseat. So, naturally, I loved the guy.

It turns out that my bike, along with a half-dozen others, had been stored in a now-abandoned storage locker in Utah. I was told that the bike was filthy, and one of the headers was slightly damaged, but otherwise it looked to be in perfect condition.

Hells yeah! “So how do I get it back?”

I threw the bike and a bag full of my gear in his trailer and told him I would see him in five days in Palm Springs. That was the last I saw him.

The thing was that I couldn’t buy it back. Once a bike is deemed stolen, it gets a salvage title. And in the state of Utah, salvage bikes can only be sold at auctions, and only registered salvage bidders can bid on them. I was technically no longer the owner of the bike; my insurance company was, and I couldn’t buy it.

Tough luck.

I waited around in Cali for a few extra days hoping he might show up. I bombarded him with phone calls, texts, E-mails. I tried to stalk him on social media. I found his personal Gmail, and would see his green dot come up as “available” in Gchat, but he wouldn’t respond. I gave up.

I knew my bike and all my gear was gone. The Chicago police were zero help. UShip did not care. They gave me his home address (which turned out to be no longer valid) and told me 6

any other help from them would have to come from a court subpoena. It took two dozen E-mails before uShip would even refund the fee. No help.

Uf. But fuck that. There must be a way. So a couple dozen phone calls later and I find a guy at a body shop out there that is a registered salvage auction bidder. He agrees, for $150, to bid on the bike for me. Deal. But there is no way to tell when the bike goes to auction; you just have to keep checking the site to see when it gets listed. Awesome. At the time I was travelling

2013 Triumph Bonneville T100 with luggage rack

by Renntec, Predator exhaust, quick-release seat screws, air-injection and air-box removal kit

by British Customs, and Tracker handlebar by Biltwell. Special thanks to the amazing folks at Triumph America, British Customs, and Motorcycle Center of Villa Park, IL. No thanks at all to meth-head motorcycle thieves.

in Taiwan for another story and trying to keep up with checking the auction website.

I figure out what day the auction is happening; the body-shop guy heads on over to the auction and starts bidding.

I win! It’s a fair fee, but more so I just want my fucking bike back. Then I find out that the auction site will only store the bike for three days. FML. Despite everything I look up, uShip is the only site I can find with someone available on that short of notice for a reasonable fee. Screw it. I do a more thorough background check, including asking for copies of all of the shipper’s insurance and license info, and book the shipment.

I fly back to Chicago, and four days later the shipper shows up exactly on time. He calls me at 7 AM, and I look out the front window and see my bike sitting in the back of a shitty white pickup. I can’t believe it! It’s almost winter in Chicago and it’s also like 50 degrees out. Perfect. I grab gloves and a helmet and literally run outside.

I walk up to the driver-side window, give it a knock, and the guy flies off the fucking handle—instantly. He’s making almost no sense he’s so pissed off. I have no idea what he is going on about, but I ask him if I can get in the truck, which he agrees to.

I ask him to pull around off the main street into an empty lot so we can talk it out, which he does. His cab is filthy. He’s been sleeping in the back, and it’s littered with takeout containers and loose tobacco. Papers are everywhere.

I get him to get out of the truck and just take it one step at a time. Turns out that the night before he was pulled over in a tiny town. The cop runs the plate on the bike in the back, and sure enough, it’s registered as stolen! The cop is thrilled to have a bust and wakes his sergeant out of bed, who rolls up to the scene with like a dozen more cops. They tear his truck apart, but they find nothing illegal. They prepare to impound his truck and arrest him. From the story, it sounds like this is maybe the biggest “bust” these guys have ever made. They give him one phone call to make, and he calls me. I look at my iPhone’s missed calls. Yup, missed a call from him at 3:30 AM. Oops…

Anyway, the shipper is so fired up, but he’s a great storyteller

and really getting into the details. It’s actually a pretty damn good story, and if it weren’t for the fact that I’m expecting this guy to take a swing at me any second, I probably would have been laughing my ass off. He convinces the cops to call and check with Progressive, whose info was on the BOL. The cops figure out that the story checks out, and since the auction had just closed this week, the paperwork probably hadn’t cleared yet. They also ran the driver’s info—he has a clean record and some sort of super-high-level DOT shipping clearance (for which he proudly showed me a special license), which lets him drive something or other across the border. They eventually write him a ticket for some bullshit and let him go, but he still wasn’t sure if this was some sort of scam on my end.

“So what’s your deal?” he asks me. I tell him the whole story, which takes a good half hour. I can see he believes me, and he’s starting to sympathize with what a fucking mess this thing is. He starts getting pissed off at the thief and bummed that I missed my cross-country ride. He rolls a cigarette and we shoot the shit for a while as we unload the bike. It turns out that he’s a good dude with some great stories. I give him $200.

He tells me that if his wife E-mails me (she manages all the transactions), not to tell her anything yet. He wants to tell her the story in person.

So there I am with the Triumph! I put a fresh battery in it, swapped out the plates, and she started right up (those BC Predators sound awesome)! I rode the hell out of it around town, and she’s now sitting in my office.

It wasn’t the story that I was hoping to get, but it’s not a bad one after all.

----Chris Force, publisher & editor-in-chief chris@alarmpress.com 7

DEATHWISH INC. / NICK WATERHOUSE / EUGENE MIRMAN / LAMORNE MORRIS

SHORTCUTS 36

Lora Zombie With a love for fantastical imagery, comic characters, and blue-haired women, self-taught Russian painter Lora Zombie has amassed a global following.

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SHORTCUTS

WEB

GEAR

SONGWRITING ON DEMAND

TEXT BY SCOTT MORROW

DOWNWRITE CONNECTS FANS TO THEIR FAVORITE SONGWRITERS TO PURCHASE CUSTOM MUSIC FENDER’S TROY VAN LEEUWEN JAZZMASTER OXBLOOD SOLID-BODY ELECTRIC GUITAR

TEXT BY KEIDRA CHANEY

Known from his tone-shaping stints in Queens of the Stone Age, A Perfect Circle, Eagles of Death Metal, and Failure—on top of his work as a prolific producer—guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen is a gear guru. His signature Jazzmaster is a stylish take on the iconic Fender model that has been used by artists from The Ventures to Sonic Youth.

The sleek guitar features a glossy oxblood finish and a rosewood fingerboard with block inlays, a toggle switch on the upper horn, vintage-style frets and tuners, and American Vintage 1965 Jazzmaster single-coil pickups. $1690

The Academy Is…, The Anniversary, and Hawthorne Heights.

“Once we started talking to some songwriter friends of ours, it became apparent that the idea has been floating around for a while [among other artists],” Nanna says. “It’s been in the back our minds and other people’s minds, and we thought we could take the reins and make it an easy system for songwriters to be a part of. Because it’s a network, there’s power in that community.”

The idea is so brilliantly simple that it’s a surprise that it took so long to get to the Internet. Downwrite is an online community that connects fans and musicians, allowing anyone to hire a songwriter to create an original, made-to-order song based on his or her personal specifications. Users can request a song for nearly any occasion—a birthday greeting, a love song, etc.—in genres as far out as “barbershop quartet” and “Muppet psych.”

Downwrite is the brainchild of Chicago musicians Mark Rose (formerly of Spitalfield) and Bob Nanna (Braid) who launched the website in early 2013. “Bob and I were very casually talking about a way for us to get the word out about our availability for creative projects as songwriters,” Rose says. “We were thinking of ways to knock down that barrier between our fans and us on a creative level.” Though it started with songwriter profiles from Rose and Nanna, Downwrite quickly expanded to include their friends, colleagues, and collaborators. Today, the website features more than 40 songwriters, including familiar faces from bands like The Get-Up Kids, 10

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Downwrite’s song-creation process is surprisingly personal and low tech for an online platform. Users receive a personalized questionnaire from the songwriter, with questions about lyrical inspiration and genre ideas. Songwriters then write and record the song within two weeks. Downwrite songwriters have the option to offer tiered pricing for different levels of production quality, but everyone must have a $100 option. “Home-studio recording is the most accessible and least expensive offering, which is great for everybody,” Nanna says. “It makes more people able to afford it, and it makes it easier for the artist to do it.”

In an industry that provides dwindling opportunities for songwriters and indie musicians to earn an income for their creative labor, Downwrite is a community-driven take on an old idea—and it just might revitalize the music industry. “The idea of writing commissioned songs for someone else has been around literally for centuries, so we’re not reinventing that,” Rose says. “We’re just trying to create the platform and the accessibility and eliminate the middleman, making it easier for everyone.”

JHS PEDALS’ COLOUR BOX Meant to make your guitar sound like it’s plugged directly into a vintage recording console, the Colour Box pedal is an homage to the classic guitar tones of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Marvin Gaye, and other giants of classic rock and Motown. The pedal is designed with 100% analog circuitry that’s patterned after a Neve 1073, suitable for use with bass, keyboard, and mic too—and as a studio-grade preamp, it’s good for clean tones as well as über-fuzzy ones. $399

MOOG’S THEREMINI You’ve admired them from afar—that retro-futurist device, played via hand motions and antennas, making the spacey, warbling noises in everything from “Good Vibrations” to the soundtrack to The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Now Moog has made a miniature Theremin that’s cheaper and easier to play than the OG. More than that, you can play scales via pitch corrections, change the root note, add delay, and flip through preset sounds. $319 DOWNWRITE PORTRAIT BY JOHN STURDY. GEAR IMAGES COURTESY OF COMPANIES FEATURED.

SHORTCUTS

//Nine Inch Nails

AV

Light Legend WITH NINE INCH NAILS’ SPELLBINDING TENSION TOUR AS JUST ONE OF HIS MANY PROJECTS, LEROY BENNETT APPLIES AN APPRECIATION FOR STORYTELLING TO HIS DYNAMIC STAGE DESIGN TEXT BY BRANDON GOEI

All things withstanding, LeRoy “Roy” Bennett, a founding member of Seven Design Works, might have one of the most unique perspectives in music today. Those unacquainted with the name might be more familiar with his work with Trent Reznor, most recently as the stage and lighting designer for Nine Inch Nails’ Tension tour, a flood of damaged pixels envisioned by Reznor and long-time ar t director Rob Sheridan.

But the thing that gives Bennett his perspective is his résumé, which is, in a word, varied.

Besides a long and award-winning relationship with NIN, his client list includes Reznor’s other big project (How to Destroy Angels), The XX, Skrillex, and Rammstein—not to mention potentially less-instinctive artists such as Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Bruno Mars, Beyoncé, and Yanni. (Yes, the Yanni.) No less impressive are past clients that include Prince, The Cure, and Madonna.

It’s a live show with a befitting title. Reznor and company haven’t lost their edge over the years, and his intense presence onstage needs an equally powerful visual counterpar t. Bennett and his crew responded with an array of seemingly autonomous moving lights and screens, sometimes shielding the band with a synesthetic glow, and other times hovering over the stage and blasting the audience with overwhelming brilliance.

The key, according to Bennett, is appreciation for the music. “If somebody writes a great song, it’s a great song,” he says. “It doesn’t matter who they are.”

PHOTO BY STEVE JENNINGS

“Every song the artist does is its own story,” Bennett adds. “There are certain dynamics in each that the audience responds to—high and low points, big orchestrated moments, high-energy angry moments. We accentuate

what’s happening through color [and] through visual displays.”

Looking to the future, Bennett has his eye on the upcoming stars of the world. “There’s a lot of young bands that are coming up, of which I’m really appreciative,” says Bennett.

“This is why I started Seven—so I could work with them through my partners. I want to let them know that they can come to me and I can give them my theories and approaches to design, hopefully helping them improve their live branding.”

At the end of the day, everything comes back to where it started for Bennett—a love for music’s ability to reach into the world and touch its listeners. “Every day there are more and more artists that I love,” he says. “I listen to music constantly, and I’m always searching for new artists to listen to—not just as clients but also for inspiration.”

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SHORTCUTS

LABEL Q&A

DEATHWISH INC. TEXT BY OAKLAND L. CHILDERS

I

n everyone’s life, there are those few moments where events align and push people toward their destiny. For Converge singer Jacob Bannon and tour manager Tre McCarthy, one of those was the sudden demise of the Howling Bull America label in 2000. Bannon already was a decade deep in fronting Converge, and McCarthy was traveling constantly to manage BoySetsFire, Bane, Reach the Sky, and Disembodied—so the idea of starting a label of their own was one that had been batted around for some time.

With Howling Bull gone, the fate of the now-infamous Converge / Hellchild split hung in the balance. It turned out to be the motivation that the two needed to stop talking about doing a label and actually put out a record.

Nearly 15 years and more than 100 releases later, Deathwish Inc. has grown into one of the most respected hardcore labels on the planet. But despite the changes that a decadeand-a-half have made in their lives, Bannon and McCarthy, both hardcore lifers, continue to operate from a place of creativity and dedication to what they and the bands on their label love.

What was the impetus for doing Deathwish?

TM: I met [Converge guitarist and owner of GodCity Studio] Kurt Ballou first. [Bane guitarist] Aaron Dalbec and I met him at a 411 show in Boston in 1991 while he was peddling Converge demos in the crowd between bands. We became friends with Kurt, and shor tly thereafter, our bands played a show together in Worcester. I’ve been friends with Jake since.

Jake and I were on the other side of the fence from labels. He was dealing with them as an artist, and I was dealing with them as a tour manager.

Together, we felt that we had a fresh 12

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STATS LOCATION: BEVERLY, MA YEAR FOUNDED: 2000 EMPLOYEES: 9 GENRES SERVED: HARDCORE, METALCORE, POST-HARDCORE, POSTMETAL, DOOM, NOISE-CORE, DARK WAVE, ALTCOUNTRY (OR, AS THE LABEL SAYS, “WE WORK WITH BANDS WE LIKE”) LIFETIME TOTAL OF RECORDING ARTISTS: ~100

Deathwish has a distinct visual style as you, Jake, do much of the album art. Is that something you’ve purposefully set out to do?

BEST-SELLING ALBUM: DEAFHEAVEN’S SUNBATHER WEBSITE: DEATHWISHINC.COM perspective of what bands need and what a label can do for its bands.

A lot of people think that they’d love to own a record label, but few probably know what goes into it. What’s the biggest headache of owning a label like Deathwish?

JB: I don’t see any of it as a headache.

It can be stress-inducing for sure, but

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TM: The headaches that come along with the territory are from the boring and mundane tasks that no one really thinks about when they think about running an awesome, super-cool record label like Deathwish. I have to work on the schedule of the people that I work for, my bands. So if a band is on tour in Europe, and they are texting me at 4 AM, then I am working at 4 AM. I might have slippers and Deathwish sweatpants on, while half asleep on the couch, but this is what it is. Owning an independent record label is awesome, but it is a lot of work. I love it—period. I have the best job, but it’s not a cakewalk.

it is a labor of love, just as is making music and art. I wouldn’t have it any other way. The aspects of the label that Tre manages (financial things, etc.), I find to be more difficult. The “staff” is here regular business hours for the most par t, while Tre works seemingly 24 hours a day from his phone or laptop. We stick to what we are good at.

JB: I feel that we have a level of quality with the packaging and presentation of our releases, but they all carry their own unique character. For example, a Wovenhand release does not look like a 100 Demons record, but I designed both of them. They are just the best of what they can possibly be. I will create artwork for a band if they ask me to, but I will never require it or anything.

As someone who cares about our releases, I just want to them all to be the best they can possibly be.

PHOTOS BY SIMON SIMARD

SHORTCUTS

// Jacob Bannon

// Tre McCarthy

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PHOTO BY JANET RAUGUST, RUNNING WATERS GROUP

SHORTCUTS

BREWERY TOUR

HONORING

Three Floyds Brewing Co.

HOPS, MALTS, AND METAL

THE (DARK) LORD

AN INDIANA CRAFT BREWERY INFUSES A LOVE FOR ROCK MUSIC INTO ITS BEER Three Floyds’ Dark Lord Day started as a simple imperial-stout release event with a few hundred people in attendance in 2004. Since then, it has escalated into a daylong festival that draws in thousands of people from around the Midwest. In addition to being the only day of the year that the brewery sells the coveted Dark Lord imperial stout, the owners also bring their love of metal to the masses to sweeten the festivities. For the second straight year, High on Fire headlined the 2014 event, with Eyehategod, Corrections House, Iron Reagan, and more joining the fun.

TEXT BY EMMA JANZEN

I

n the small town of Munster, Indiana, about 30 miles outside of Chicago, a small craft brewery is making an awful lot of noise.

Armed with an arsenal of aggressive beers and a bold attitude, Three Floyds Brewing Co. carries its love of all things beer and heavy metal through every aspect of production, earning it a dedicated cult following of both beer enthusiasts and musicians throughout Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Kentucky (where the beers currently are distributed).

Founded by brothers Nick and Simon Floyd and their father, Mike, the Floyds started with a mission to make big, interesting brews without regard to popular drinking trends. “When Nick founded the brewery in 1996, he was making beers that were way out in left field for most people, but they were beers that he wanted to drink,” production manager Andrew Mason says. “We continue with that model today.

We’re still making the beers that we want to drink, and we’re fortunate that other people are excited about it.”

Though its top three brews—Alpha King, Zombie Dust, and Gumball Head—are hop-forward in both flavor and aroma, the brewery

“Anyone can throw loads and loads of hops in the kettle, but there needs to be some thought that goes into creating a beer to make it hoppy and enjoyable.” insists that it always aims to make lagers and ales that are balanced and drinkable as well. “Anyone can throw loads and loads of

ABOVE LEFT: PHOTO BY JOHN STURDY. ABOVE RIGHT: PHOTO BY JANET RAUGUST, RUNNING WATERS GROUP.

Though navigating the logistics of such an event still causes a few headaches for the brewery, its owners wouldn’t have it any other way. “It’s very cool to know that people from all over the country, and even the world, flock to our industrial park in Northwestern Indiana to celebrate beer with us,” production manager Andrew Mason says.

hops in the kettle,” Mason says, “but there needs to be some thought that goes into creating a beer to make it hoppy and enjoyable.”

Some of its more outside-the-box beers like the Robert the Bruce Scottish ale and the Jinx Proof Dortmunder-style lager exemplify Three Floyds’ more balanced nature.

The brewing team also infuses its love of metal music into certain brews, collaborating with upwards of 10 bands on special-edition beers like Evil Power with Lair of the Minotaur, In the Name of Suffering with Eyehategod, and Ragnarok with Amon Amarth. The Permanent Funeral collaboration with Pig Destroyer yielded a hyper-hoppy imperial IPA that earned the brewery a silver medal at the 2013 Great American Beer Festival—an honor proving that beer and metal make for favorable bedfellows.

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BLACKHEART ENGLISHSTYLE I.P.A. (8.5% ABV) JINX-PROOF LAGER (5.1% ABV) ARCTIC PANZER WOLF IMPERIAL I.P.A. (9.0% ABV)

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PHOTO BY JOSHUA MELLIN

SHORTCUTS

With color, character, and a rock-’n’-roll aesthetic, Three Floyds’ packaging is as bold and flavorful as its beers. These three brews pack plenty of fist-pumping punch and blackened-heart bitterness.

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TRAVEL GUIDE

Portland, Oregon TEXT BY THE ALARM CREW

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hough sometimes overshadowed by Pacific Northwest neighbors Seattle and Vancouver, Oregon’s cultural capital holds many distinctions of its own—including nicknames of “Brewtopia” and “Pornland” for its prevalence of coffee, beer, and strip clubs. Yet it’s known as much for green living as these vices, and known for bluegrass, world, and jazz music as much as punk and hardcore. So whether your type is more Poison Idea or Pink Martini, here’s a short list of anti-tourist destinations for the first (or next) time you roll through.

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TO SEE A SHOW: Mississippi Studios (Boise) Radiating an easy comfort, Mississippi Studios is the cornerstone of the Boise neighborhood, attached at the hip to the late-night lounge Bar Bar and surrounded by a supporting cast of watering holes. It’s also one of the most consistent venues in town, always finding varied and nuanced musicians to stop by.

TO GET YOUR DRINK ON: Raven & Rose (Downtown)

TO ROCK AND/OR LOUNGE: Doug Fir Lounge (Lower Burnside / Buckman)

Located in the historic Ladd Carriage House (as in “built-in-1883 historic”), this restaurant and bar offers “classic farmhouse cookery and fine cocktails.”

Come for the Ladd’s Manhattan; stay for the billiards, backgammon, and cozy ambiance.

Adjacent to the über-hip Jupiter Hotel just east of the Willamette River, this intimate log-cabin-turned-posh-lounge draws locals to see indie bands play amid a modern, wood-based décor. The venue also boasts food, cheap beer, and a fire pit.

TO GET YOUR GAME ON: Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade (Old Town / Chinatown)

TO REST YOUR HEAD: Ace Hotel (Downtown)

Open from noon to 2:30 AM daily, Ground Kontrol is like the Mos Eisley cantina if it existed in Tron instead of Star Wars . It holds dozens of classic arcade games with buttons to mash—from Centipede to The Simpsons to Marvel Vs. Capcom 2—and gamers can grab a drink or a bite between “continue” screens, with options to “veganize” any menu item.

Portlandia’s fictional Deuce Hotel, a satire of this iconic spot, offers its guests turntables, Kenny Loggins records, and free typewriters. Let’s just say that the Ace Portland isn’t too far off, and that’s not a bad thing. Housed in the old Clyde Hotel building, the hotel boasts “bikes, booze, coffee, and dogs.” (They lend out the first, sell the second and third, and allow the fuzzy fourth—deal.)

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MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS PHOTO BY JASON QUIGLEY; RAVEN & ROSE PHOTO BY NATALIA TORAL; DOUG FIR LOUNGE PHOTO COURTESY OF DOUG FIR LOUNGE.

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Fred Armisen’s Portland Picks

With Portlandia still going strong, sketch master and former Trenchmouth drummer Fred Armisen has helped spawn a renewed interest in The City of Roses (aided, of course, by the talents of Wild Flag guitarist Carrie Brownstein).

“Just about every restaurant I go to in Portland is unbelievably great. Portland really does have its own style of food, and it never feels derivative or desperate. It says a lot about the city. You know what’s great too? The service. It’s always informative and polite, but never too much. I am crazy about the food carts too. In no particular order, here are four places I really like going to.”

Clyde Common (Old Town, Chinatown)

Stumptown Coffee (any location)

Right by the Ace Hotel. It looks and feels great. Amazing food—the good kind of fancy.

When I first heard about it, I was told that it was the best coffee in the world. I said, “Hmm, really? Sure.” But then I tried it, and I said, “Oh, my god, this is the best coffee in the world!”

Pok Pok Noi (Sabin)

Olympic Provisions (Buckman and Slabtown)

I love this place too! I like sitting at the counter and getting whatever crazy noodle-soup thing. And one of those vinegar drinks. It feels healthy for some reason.

Are you kidding me? How can something be this good? A selection of dry-cured salami? Hell yes.

OPPOSITE PAGE: GROUND KONTROL PHOTO BY LINCOLN BARBOUR PHOTOGRAPHY; ACE HOTEL PHOTO COURTESY OF ACE HOTEL.

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BOOZE

MIDWESTERN CRAFT BEERS FROM BARLEYWINE TO E.S.B. TO HIBISCUS ALE, ALARM PICKS SOME OF ITS FAVORITE MICROBREWS FROM THE AMERICAN HEARTLAND TEXT BY THE ALARM CREW

1. ALE SYNDICATE

5. LOCAL OPTION

Sunday Session hopped-up ale (4.8% ABV)

Voku Hila helles bock (6.5% ABV)

A mellow ale that’s dirty blonde in color, the Sunday Session is a bit sweet, not too bitter, and strongly hoppy—a nice balance with a little earthiness and a slightly flowery nose.

Also known as a maibock, Local Option’s helles bock is an amber-shaded lager with a grassy, fruity nose whose taste is very different than its smell. With a dry finish and a bright taste, Voku Hila is a tasty take on this German-style brew.

2. REVOLUTION BREWING Rosa hibiscus ale (5.8% ABV) Floral, sweet, and tart, the pink-hued Rosa is a prime summer beverage. It’d be easily slammed if not for getting shit from your friends about chugging a hibiscus ale.

3. BELL’S BREWERY Oberon ale (5.8% ABV) The pride of Kalamazoo, Bell’s Brewery is a staple of Midwestern beer—its Two-Hearted IPA was rated the second-best beer in 2011— and this summer seasonal is no slouch. Citrusy, refreshing, crisp, and drinkable, the wheat-based Oberon is a delight.

4. ARCADIA ALES Thunder Trail English-style ale (6.0% ABV) With a brewery and methodology that originated in England, Arcadia offers authenticity to this ESB. A tangy scent and high citrus note introduce a mildly sour, full-bodied beer that’s golden brown, big on flavor, and a bit bitter in finish.

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6. SOLEMN OATH Tickle Fight American barleywine (11% ABV) Featuring some of the best and most metal labels in beer, Solemn Oath has a thing for heaviness, skewing towards the Belgian-inspired and barrel-aged. And at 11% ABV, this American barleywine will have you feeling as good as it tastes—which, with a sweet and oaky flavor, is awfully good.

7. FOUNDERS Porter (6.5% ABV) A hearty and full porter, Founders’ version draws out the chocolate and caramel accents and goes down easy. Dark color and a sweet smell—insert joke about how you like your women.

8. WILD ONION BREWING COMPANY Jack Stout oatmeal stout (6.0% ABV) Smooth, creamy, and tasty—the Jack Stout features five roasted malts that exude chocolate notes and give off an espresso-like appearance with a light-brown head.

In the words of Wild Onion, it’s a “meal in a glass.”

PHOTO BY JOSHUA MELLIN

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MIXOLOGY

CROWN JEWEL THE HEAD MIXOLOGIST OF CHICAGO CRAFT-COCKTAIL BAR BILLY SUNDAY SHARES HIS TAKE ON THE TRADITIONAL BIJOU INTRO BY JESSICA BARRETT SATTELL

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t’s no surprise that Alexander Bachman, the mastermind behind the libations at Chicago’s Billy Sunday, cites Japan as a main inspiration for his effortlessly executed cocktails that fuse tradition with artisanship. A cross between a turn-of-the-century sitting room and a secret speakeasy, the cozy joint in the city’s Logan Square neighborhood has been racking up national acclaim thanks to his creative spins on well-loved drink standards (not to mention homemade bitters and tonics). We chatted with Bachman about redefining the classics, balancing taste, and why scotch and soda don’t always mix.

What is your definition of a perfect cocktail?

A perfect cocktail has to achieve two things. The first is balance, not just in the sense of sweetness and sugar but balanced bitterness, concentration, alcoholic content, and temperature.

The second is respect for its base spirit and expanding on that flavor profile while maintaining its true character.

What is your favorite item on the menu?

How would you describe your bartending style, and how have you honed that at Billy Sunday?

BILLY SUNDAY’S BIJOU: Traditionally made with three parts gin, one part sweet vermouth, and one part green Chartreuse, Bachman’s take on the classic Bijou (French for “gin”) skips the gin for Neisson agricole rum, uses Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, swaps the Chartreuse for Centerbe, and adds a dash of Angelica Bitters.

We draw our style from a plethora of influences. As far as our actual technique, we utilize fluid and direct motions that are very Japanese in origin. Our service style is one founded in open dialogue, humility, and respect with our guests and purveyors. At the end on the day, we are open to using any base spirits/products as long as it meets its end goal of being rich in flavor and can be balanced and enforced with other ingredients.

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We love them all, but the Bijou is probably at the top. Stirred agricole-rum drinks are still pretty foreign to people, but this one is delightful and abides by the classic build of a Bijou with the addition of bitters and Centerbe instead of Chartreuse.

What is the strangest drink request you’ve received?

Have had a lot of strange requests over the years, but off the top of my head: someone once requested scotch and grape soda from me, though it was years ago.

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BOOKS

READ SOMETHING TEXT BY KAYLA UNNERSTALL

TIM SACCENTI:

Portraits #01 (T/S/NYC)

Known for his bold, high-contrast, conceptual portraits and album art for artists such as Depeche Mode, Phantogram (as seen on this issue’s cover), Battles, El-P, Flying Lotus, and Oneohtrix Point Never, New York-based photographer and video director Tim Saccenti possesses a self-proclaimed aesthetic of “baroque futurism with a precise-horror attitude.” Now he has independently published the first in a series of books that chronicle his innovative approach to portraiture, featuring some of the above-mentioned imagery plus shots of Tricky, M83, Ariel Pink, and more. Limited to 300 copies, the book also includes a special fold-out wrap-around jacket of a levitating Lotus.

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ALEXANDRA CROCKETT:

Metal Cats (PowerHouse Books)

In an attempt to show the softer side of heavy metal, photographer Alexandra Crockett compiled Metal Cats, a collection of photographs of furry felines and the musicians who love them.

Featuring metal-heads from bands such as Morbid Angel, Napalm Death, Isis, Cattle Decapitation, and Akimbo, the book will use a portion of its proceeds to benefit no-kill cat shelters on the West Coast and New York.

DAVID SPALDING:

King of Kowloon: The Art of Tsang Tsou-Choi (Damiani)

BLACK FRANCIS AND JOSH FRANK:

The Good Inn (Harper Collins)

Curator David Spalding and members of Hong Kong’s art scene came together to produce the first comprehensive look into Tsang TsouChoi’s influential artistic legacy. A pioneer of Hong Kong street art, the late self-proclaimed “King of Kowloon” covered the streets of his native city with graffiti for more than 35 years. This volume, filled with photographs of Tsou-Choi’s work and provocative essays, documents more than 100 pieces of his art, much of which now has been destroyed.

Legendary Pixies singer, songwriter, and guitarist Black Francis now has added authorship to his impressive list of accomplishments. Francis teamed up with writer Josh Frank and illustrator Steven Appleby to produce The Good Inn, a novel introducing readers to the characters who created the first narrative pornographic film. Appleby’s darkly whimsical illustrations recreate the lost story of A l’Écu d’or ou la Bonne Auberge, as seen through the eyes of a shell-shocked soldier.

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FESTIVALS

CAMPING ESSENTIALS FOR MUSIC FESTIVALS The Arête 18 backpack by Camelbak Hydration is key when camping at a festival, and what better way to tote H2O around than in your backpack? With pockets for your cell phone, room for a sweater, and a refillable water pouch all included, this bag is your new best friend. $65, camelbak.com

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he best way to experience your music festival of choice is to fully immerse yourself in the locale, forget that hotel reservation you considered, and set up camp. But the last thing you want is to find yourself stranded without the essentials, so preparation is key. Although festival giants such as Bonnaroo and Coachella have come and gone, dozens remain, and we’ve compiled a list of necessities so you can camp out and rock on without leaving the comforts of home behind.

The Ratio 32 sleeping bag by Mountain Hardwear Although passing out on the ground will feel reasonable after a long day of dancing and partying, we recommend first unrolling this cloud-like sleeping bag with luxurious lining and down filling for your optimum slumber. $230, mountainhardwear.com

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE COMPANIES FEATURED. PEARCE KNIVES PHOTO BY SHARP BY COOP.

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The Roadie 20-quart cooler

by Yeti Just because you’re sweating in the heat all weekend doesn’t mean that your beer stash has to swelter too. This cooler is built to be indestructible and keep ice for days. After all, yetis love it cold. $249, yeticoolers.com

The Backup tactical knife by Pearce Knives A trusty knife is one of the most useful tools you can have on hand while camping, but plan to leave this behind with your belongings when journeying into the main festival grounds (and, to be safe, check your fest’s FAQ page online to ensure that this is allowed at your campsite). $75, pearceknives.com

Comfortsmart deluxe cot by Coleman For those who prefer a little elevation, we suggest a temporary bed like this one—so comfortable that you might even forget you’re under the stars at all. $90, coleman.com

Instant Canopy by Coleman Shade can be extremely hard to come by in most festivals’ camping lots, so a canopy tops the list of must-haves. Bring tarps and duct tape for a DIY, 360-degree sanctuary from the sun. $220, coleman.com

Air Stream trailer For those who prefer the glamping lifestyle to “roughing it,” we bring you Air Stream’s International Signature trailer, a home away from home that’s ready for complete customization. Price upon request, airstream.com

Mayfly chair

by Alite Sitting on the hard ground can get old pretty fast. A good lawn chair is essential for those much-needed breaks between shows. $100, alitedesigns.com

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NO JOURNALISTS ALLOWED

HARDCORE MUTATION CAVE IN’S STEPHEN BRODSKY AND CONVERGE’S BEN KOLLER ON SPAWNING MUTOID MAN TEXT BY OAKLAND L. CHILDERS

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ow lucky is Nick Cageo? One minute he’s the sound guy at Brooklyn’s Saint Vitus Bar (not a bad gig when you consider the caliber of bands that play there) and the next he’s playing bass in Mutoid Man, the full-bore speed machine of Cave In guitarist/singer Stephen Brodsky and Converge drummer Ben Koller. The band’s debut, Helium Head, red lines from start to finish but doesn’t skimp on intricacies. And it all was recorded with a setup that would have been considered bare bones two decades ago.

Considering the members’ pedigrees, it would be easy to dismiss Mutoid Man as a side project. But with all three members living in the same city and a phenomenal debut already out via Magic Bullet Records (and reissued by Sargent House), Mutoid Man is poised to make its own name. Considering that they’re so good at the whole DIY thing, we got out of the way and had the trio discuss its origins amongst themselves.

SB: When I first moved to Brooklyn, all my gear was stashed away collecting dust—I’d open the closet door in my apartment, and staring back at me was a Sunn full stack. It got me worried that the floorboards might buckle from the weight! Thankfully, Ben got me into his rehearsal space before the downstairs neighbors were potentially crushed to death. That’s when we star ted jamming on the stuff that eventually became Mutoid Man. BK: When Steve moved to Brooklyn, it was only inevitable that we would get together and start playing. We have been jamming on and off for the past eight years or so in Cave In and the initial incarnation of Mutoid Man. We had absolutely no expectations for what we wanted this band to do; we were simply getting together and playing music for the fun of it. The jamming process and the musical chemistry worked so naturally that we decided to just get a little recording rig in our practice space and get something going.

NC: As the last piece of the Mutoid Man puzzle, I didn’t contribute to the debut record. However, when I mixed Ben and Steve’s first show at Saint Vitus, I was so stoked on what they were doing—so much so that at the end of the show, I likely blurted something out to the effect of, “Hey, if you guys need a bass player, let me know.” Not in a million years did I think I’d wind up playing with two of my musical heroes. It’s easy to start a band, but it is easier to start a band when everyone plays because they love what they’re doing and it shows.

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SB: People almost can’t believe that the basics [of the record] were done on a cassette four-track machine. We actually started out using my Pro Tools rig, but it just couldn’t handle all the riffage in that one tiny room! The damn thing would freeze up in the middle of doing a take, so I just scrapped it from the picture until editing and overdubs.

BK: I think a lot of young bands think that they need to get into a big studio and have a famous producer and an expensive engineer to get the recording they “need.” I think this record is a testament to the DIY ethic. All we had was our instruments, the smallest rehearsal room in history, a small tape machine, a laptop, some microphones, and a bunch of riffs. It also was beneficial for us that we had no outside pressure from labels or deadlines, so we had the freedom to make it exactly the way we wanted to and involve only people we wanted.

After the tracking was done, we sent the songs off to our friend Andrew Schneider to mix and to Alan Douches at West West Side for mastering, and that was that. I think it turned out great. The live energy is undeniable, and that is such an important part of a good recording for me, especially for music that’s fast and loud.

NC: Know the songs. Know them well.

It makes recording and making changes so much easier. Ben also makes a good point that recording doesn’t have to be done through “names”—if you put the effort in, you’ll get a great product.

PHOTO BY YVONNE JUKES

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FESTIVALS

THE LOLLAPALOOZA LEGACY TEXT BY KAYLA UNNERSTALL

PHOTO BY JON SHAFT

Living up to the literal meaning of its name, “an extraordinary or unusual thing,” Lollapalooza is an unusual success story.

Ten years ago, the resurrected touring iteration was cancelled due to poor ticket sales, but a reincarnation as a destination festival in Chicago’s Grant Park made it one of the world’s premier annual music events.

Set over three days in August, Lollapalooza drew a record 300,000+ in 2013—particularly impressive for being set in a downtown location, which remains a rarity for large-scale festivals. And in addition to its ability to pull A-list headliners—from rock to hip-hop to EDM—the fest, featuring more acts than ever, has expanded or has plans to expand to Santiago, Chile; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Tel Aviv, Israel. Here’s a look at some of Alarm’s favorite Lollapalooza photography from recent years.

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1 // Vampire Weekend 2 // Father John Misty 3 // Phoenix 4 // Band of Horses 5 // Grant Park 6 // Crystal Castles 7 // The Black Keys 8 // The Lumineers 9 // Jack White

4 7

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PHOTOS BY JOSHUA MELLIN

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5 8

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STYLE TOUR

HANGING AT L.A.’S ACE HOTEL WITH

NICK WATERHOUSE TEXT BY KAYLA UNNERSTALL

Brooks Brothers navy suit (brooksbrothers.com), J. Press shirt (jpressonline.com), Tailor Caid tie (tailorcaid.com)

With nostalgia for the quintessence of Americana, roots-rock musician Nick Waterhouse clearly was born in the wrong era.

A previous Brooks Brothers employee, Waterhouse has a slight obsession with the oxford shirt and all things classic, which explains why his personal style has just as much vintage charm as his 1950s-inspired music.

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PHOTO BY AARON FARLEY

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WEB

Into the Blogosphere WE SPANNED THE WORLD WIDE WEB TO FIND THE AUTHORITIES ON STYLE, DESIGN, AND “RADNESS IN ALL GENRES” TEXT BY AMANDA KOELLNER

BOBBY SOLOMON, THE FOX IS BLACK

JON PATRICK, THE SELVEDGE YARD

BRANDON SACAWA, HE SPOKE STYLE

DAN TREPANIER, T.S.B. MEN

What inspired you to start your blog?

What inspired you to start your blog?

What inspired you to start your blog?

What inspired you to start your blog?

Before the site, I was working as a photo re-toucher, which wasn’t what I wanted in life. Inspired by design blogs of the time, I decided to start my own thing. There really was no grand scheme to it, simply that if someone else could do it, so could I.

Being out of work left a creative void in my life, and I needed to fill it. The site became my voice and depository for the things I’ve always loved, admired, and been fascinated with.

I started He Spoke Style in March of 2013 to offer men style inspiration and advice and to share with people something that I am passionate about. The blog filled a void that was left after I gave up directing a music series and retired from bicycle racing.

I was living in a fraternity house and had become the resident “style guy” for my housemates’ fashion questions. I saw a void for an honest and authentic “guy’s guy” voice in menswear as fashion was becoming more and more important and mainstream among young men.

The community of followers tends to be really passionate, creative, and eclectic. When I hear that someone like Dave Stewar t is quoted stating that TSY is one of his favorite websites—well, that just blows my mind. Hearing and seeing the influence of TSY has been humbling.

What are some style tips you’d give to a man who might not dress as well as someone like yourself?

What tips would you give to men hoping to improve their style?

How does running your blog interweave with your everyday life?

What’s next for the blog?

How does it feel to have the reach that you’ve established?

What’s an average day like for you?

The Fox Is Black is actually my side project, as I’m currently a creative director at Disney Interactive in charge of Disney.com and our family of sites. This keeps me quite busy, along with the blog and having a boyfriend and two dogs. My work day ends around 6 or 7 when I head home for dinner, then usually do more writing and rosé drinking.

Usually in bed by midnight. Wash, rinse, repeat.

What are your hopes for the future of your blog?

In the future, I’d love to run the site full time and turn it into something larger, like a design studio. There’s a lot of potential there, but for now I’m really excited by the work I’m doing at Disney and the team I work with. It’s all about the long game at this point.

For the past five years, I’ve been VP of product for J.Hilburn (a custom and ready-to-wear menswear company based in Dallas), and I split my time between NYC, Dallas, and Italy.

The diversity of people, places, and stimuli keeps my juices pumping, and can also create a challenge in terms of having enough time and energy to be consistent with frequent content on TSY.

THE SELVEDGE YARD PHOTO BY SCOTT G. TOEPFER. HE SPOKE STYLE PHOTO BY ROB MCIVER. TSB MEN PHOTO BY ALEX CRAWFORD.

Start with the basics, find a quality tailor, and make sure that your accessories—especially ties and pocket squares— complement rather than match.

Find a role model—someone you can relate to and have similarities with.

The best way to learn a new skill is to observe those who do it well and tailor some of the concepts to your lifestyle.

What is the overarching goal for TSBmen?

I wanted to do something special to mark the one-year anniversary of the blog, so I launched a weekly newsletter that would allow me to give my readers some content that wasn’t available on the blog. He Spoke Style, Volume 1 is a collection of style inspiration and advice from the blog’s entire first year. “Will there be a Volume 2?” Absolutely.

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I want it to become the go-to publication for men’s style (topnotch editorials, fully integrated E-commerce, searchable library in the style guide, respected and knowledgeable community). The goal for myself is to become sort of like the Anna Wintour of men’s fashion. I’m not sure who holds that position now, but they don’t seem to be doing a very inspiring job.

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TV

LAMORNE MORRIS FROM SLEEPING IN HIS CAR TO STARRING NEXT TO ZOOEY DESCHANEL, THE NEW GIRL FUNNYMAN PROVES THAT HARD WORK PAYS OFF TEXT BY SCOTT MORROW

But despite his success, Morris is busier than ever, writing and acting in movies on top of his day gig. We caught up with Morris, a Second City vet, to talk about breaking character, African dangles, and the importance of improv to acting.

How do you reflect on the road that you’ve taken to get to this point?

It’s hard to even have time to do it. I don’t think that I really have. Every once in a while, it comes in waves of things that remind me of sleeping in my car in LA. Or I hear stories of other people, going, “Man, I was doing this, and I was doing that,” and I have little flashbacks of when I was borrowing money from friends to help me out.

But I’m so busy trying to never go back there that I try to never think about it.

It’s too much.

I want to do this until I’m old and gray, but I don’t want this necessarily to be what I’m about. Charity work is something that I’m really passionate about.

I want my name to become bigger so I can do more on a bigger scale. Acting is something that I’m good at, and it pays the bills. I get to go have fun at work all day, but I want to do other stuff that has more meaning behind it.

You’ve said that 20% of New Girl is improvised. How did your experience with Second City shape your improv and acting chops?

Second City taught me how to improvise and hone those skills. I think that if you have a natural instinct to be funny, then you should go with that and craft it. It teaches you how to use your sense of humor and turn it into working well with others. You can be funny all you want, but how do you put that in a scene and make that work on camera or on stage with other actors?

It taught me how to control it and use it as an acting technique.

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hances are that you know Lamorne Morris from Zooey Deschanel’s New Girl, where he plays the loveable but weird Winston Bishop, a cat-loving washout of the Latvian Basketball League. Or you might recognize his face as a former BET host, or from guest spots on Drunk History (playing Martin Luther King, Jr.) and Kroll Show, or from Internet spoofs such as the Belizean James “No Gold Anything” music video. And if you owned a television in 2010, you probably saw his commercial appearances about once an hour.

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But it must be tough when you have an awesome take and somebody chuckles.

Yeah, I’m usually to blame for it. We all do it. The person who does it the least, I want to say, is Jake Johnson.

He doesn’t break. You really have to catch him off guard.

I made him break recently—have you ever seen Dr. Steve Brule? It’s John C. Reilly’s character on Tim and Eric

Awesome Show, Great Job! on Adult Swim. He’s pretty much a retarded doctor; he’s crazy. He says the dumbest things, like, “I once sucked off a black guy’s dangle until milk came out.” And everything that he talks about, he thinks that he’s a specialist on, but it always ends up dealing with a dangle. So we always mess around and try to implement these things into the show as much as we can, but it rarely makes it.

On one take, in the finale, I believe, I’m talking to Nick at a table, and everyone leaves him. My line is “I’m leaving too, because everyone else left.” Just to throw him off, I said, “I’m leaving too.

I’m going to go beat my dangle until it hurts.” Jake literally started crying.

Playing MLK in Drunk History : career highlight or woefully miscast?

Career highlight. I actually wanted to play him in real life. I still do. However, I just auditioned to play [US Congressman] John Lewis in an MLK movie. John Lewis is an integral part in the civil-rights movement—kind of an underling to Martin Luther King. I want to do something like that for real, in a non-comedic way.

Have you backed off of your goal of total commercial domination?

Yeah, but I’m gonna come back and take over again. I want to do some spokesperson stuff—put that out there and see which products want to own me.

There was a stretch where we couldn’t go a commercial break without seeing your face on TV. That was great, because prior to that I had no car.

You’re writing a movie—an action-comedy that’s centered on the Thirst Project. How many snakes and how many planes does it involve?

Two planes will be in this movie.

No snakes?

Metaphorical snakes, like shysty people, snakes in the grass. You might see an African dangle.

Hopefully multiples.

Multiple African dangles.

PHOTO BY ELIZABETH WEINBERG

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FUNNY SHIT

EUGENE MIRMAN The actor/comedian on Bob’s Burgers, rock venues, and the importance of not fornicating with street stuff TEXT BY AMANDA KOELLNER

On Bob’s Burgers , the little cult cartoon that could, Eugene Mirman voices Gene: an aspiring musician, lover of flatulence, and 11-year-old middle child of the burger-flipping Belcher brood.

The Emmy-winning show means that the comedian’s daily grind consists of hanging out with pals like Kristen Schaal (“She’s a joy—a true joy”) and H. Jon Benjamin (“I think he makes me laugh more than anyone”) while, perhaps, recording a song about his character’s fear of snakes (“I’m not afraid of ghosts / I’m not afraid of sharks / I’m not afraid of cancer / I’m just afraid of snakes / They really creep me out / Where are their arms and legs?

It’s not okay!”).

Though the show’s recent and somewhat unforeseen success now places Mirman’s voice in an abundant amount of American homes on a weekly basis, the Russian-born comedian has steadily built a following in the alt-comedy scene and gained cult notoriety as the landlord on Flight of the Conchords.

Taking a break from planning his annual eponymous comedy fest, gearing up to record a live album in Seattle, and brainstorming ideas for new shows,

PHOTO BY SETH OLENICK

Mirman checked in with Alarm from his home in Brooklyn to discuss lamb vindaloo, Andrew Bird, and Gene’s adult sensibility.

You crafted your own comedy major in college. If Gene Belcher could do the same thing in the future, what would he end up with a degree in?

Entertainment. I think he would create an inter-disciplinary entertainment major: music, comedy, what have you.

How much can you relate to Gene?

His positivity. His relentless joy is something that I completely love.

You’ve said you prefer the music venue to the comedy club. What are some of the benefits of performing in the former vs. the latter?

If you do a comedy club, you’re doing two shows Friday, two Saturday—you’re likely doing six shows in one sitting. At a music venue, you can just book one or two shows. And for one show at a music venue, you’re probably paid about twothirds of what you’d get over several nights at a comedy club.

Well, we both love lamb vindaloo.

So that’s one thing. I think I have a kid-like quality to a degree, and he sort of has an adult sensibility. We both have a love of silliness, joy, and warmth. The thing that’s great about all the characters is that we were all cast and then helped develop the personalities and bring ourselves to them. So in that sense, we’re all kind of in the characters.

The difference, of course, is that with a comedy club, people go there to see comedy. And in a sense, you can develop fans that way, and people who want to see you or who have been tricked into seeing you are more likely to go to those.

What do you enjoy most about your cartoon counterpart?

I recently did some shows with Robyn Hitchcock, which was really fun. When

I know you’ve opened for bands such as Yo La Tengo and Modest Mouse. Do you enjoy opening for musicians?

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I was starting out, doing shows with bands was a great way to get out there.

But often, opening for a band is much harder than doing standup at a place where people only want standup. I also did a tour with Andrew Bird that was really fun.

And an Andrew Bird crowd is likely to be much more tame than your average, drunk rock-show crowd.

Yes, exactly. It was in beautiful theaters, and it was really wonderful. I had a great time. I also do shows with John Wesley Harding, and he has a variety show that has lots of different musicians and is one of the few music/ comedy/literature things I do that’s incredibly fun.

For someone who might not have read your book, The Will to Whatevs: A Guide to Modern Life, what would you say is the biggest piece of advice or take away?

Somewhere between “pick a passion and do it for 10 or 15 years” and “don’t have sex with things you find on the ground.”

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Inside Iron & Resin HOW A FEW FRIENDS TURNED THEIR SO-CAL LIFESTYLE INTO A BAD-ASS BRAND TEXT BY AMANDA KOELLNER

In Ventura, California, the scent of gasoline, leather, and surf wax wafts and lingers inside a 100-year-old building that’s currently home to the Iron & Resin store. Given the brand’s moniker and overall aesthetic (“rugged, timeless, and classic”), the aroma fits. Surfing, motorcycles, outdoor adventures, and kickin’ it with friends all catalyzed the brand’s creation by longtime friends Thom Hill and Jackson Chandler.

“Living in Ventura affords us a pretty incredible lifestyle,” Hill says, “with the ocean and islands in our front yard, mountains in our backyard, and LA just an hour to the south offering art, music, and a launch pad for travel anywhere in the world.” We chatted with Hill about bikes, backgammon, and backcountry adventures.

Can you tell me more about the origins of the company and the few friends that joined forces to create it?

Iron & Resin was the brainchild of my good friend Jackson Chandler and myself. We’d both been involved in the action-sports industry for years developing other brands. Neither of us felt that there was anything in the industry that really connected with us anymore. We wanted to create something that we would buy as consumers based on our passion for our lifestyle, as well as something made in the USA. We’ve been fortunate to have the help of lots of friends along the way that have been a big part of our journey.

What’s the craziest or most random item that you guys sell?

We love to play backgammon. We just sewed up a travel backgammon set from some leftover leather and leftover waxed canvas from our Rambler jackets. The whole deal rolls up, along with handmade wooden playing pieces and dice. It’s the perfect companion on a moto-camping or backcountry adventure. These will be available soon in our flagship and online, as well as our retailers.

How do motorcycles play into your brand? You all seem to be enthusiasts, and they obviously have a large influence on your business.

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Of course, we all love motorcycles and riding. But really, motorcycles are a metaphor for freedom. And freedom is something we all want. The simple act of hopping on a bike and riding up the coast or into the mountains allows us to truly be in the moment and feel alive. On a bike, you’re naked and exposed to the elements, hyper-aware of everything happening around you. It sounds corny, but it really is a wonderful thing. Hopefully, we can inspire people to free themselves and experience a little more of life in this way.

It seems as though your shop is a hybrid of clothing designed and produced by Iron & Resin and other brands that you also sell. Can you describe this blend and how the whole process works?

Our goal in opening our flagship store was to create a place where people could experience the brand and what it represents. In addition to the Iron & Resin brand, we carry a pretty eclectic range of products and brands that we absolutely love and that we feel complement what we do. In essence, you can come in the store and get outfitted for your next cross-country moto-camping trip or backcountry adventure. There’s also a fantastic mix of independent magazines and ’zines as well as books to inspire that next sojourn.

PHOTOS BY SCOTT G. TOEPFER

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PHOTO BY EVGENY BELIKOV

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ART & ILLUSTRATION

FROM RUSSIA WITH ART STILL IN HER EARLY 20s, SELF-TAUGHT PAINTER LORA ZOMBIE HAS AMASSED A SERIOUS GLOBAL FOLLOWING TEXT BY LINCOLN EDDY

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elf-taught artists evoke admiration and respect. The ability to master a craft through one’s own hard work, focus, and independent learning is, for many skillsets, uncanny.

Such is the case with paint-stained Russian wunderkind Lora Zombie.

Born in 1990, right before the fall of the Soviet Union, Zombie grew up in a world populated by beautiful animals, something that inspired her early forays into artwork.

“I’ve been drawing since I was five or six years old—at that time, mostly my pets, cats, and a French bulldog,” she says. “Even today my art still has a lot of animals. My inspiration comes from different things every day.”

Now her brightly colored paintings are populated by a universe of unique characters: tigers in top hats, whales supporting the whole of London on their backs, a living cartoon-character Tom Waits, and children (her favorite subject to paint) with mohawks made of birds or sharing bicycles with pandas. And that’s not to mention some of the most beautiful renditions of comic-book characters ever to grace canvas.

“Comics are super popular here in Russia,” says Zombie, currently based in St. Petersburg. “It’s easy to like.

The designs of the characters are awesome. They’re widely available now, but when I was a kid, we had no comics here. Thankfully, TV helped me to survive— Star Wars, Batman, Looney Tunes , more Batman ...”

Zombie’s popularity has exploded since her discovery by the Internet at large. Her style, a mixture of graffiti attitude and graceful simplicity,

appeals to a wide audience, which has led to gallery shows as well as some poster design, including work for the SuicideGirls Blackheart Burlesque tour.

“The SuicideGirls asked me to participate,” Zombie says. “When it

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comes to the female form, boys like it, and I like boys to like my work. People just respond to all the things I draw. I just keep doing it, posting new things all the time.

Treating followers with new ar t is one of the most delicious things in the world.”

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Waxen Ways WE HIT UP BARBOUR GOLD COAST, ISLE OF MAN, ROAM CHICAGO, AND BLOOMINGDALE’S TO SHOOT SOME OF THE SEASON’S BEST LOOKS

SLICKER TOO JACKET BY BARBOUR, COURTESY OF BARBOUR GOLD COAST CHINOS BY BARBOUR, COURTESY OF BARBOUR GOLD COAST

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS FORCE MALE MODEL: ZACH P. FEMALE MODEL: KELLY W. WITH FORD MODELS MALE-MODEL STYLIST: CAT PHAM FEMALE-MODEL STYLIST: JESSI SHEEHAN HAIR AND MAKEUP: IRIS GUEVARA AND JACKIE ALAMILLO PHOTO ASSISTANT: LUHRS LOCATION: THOMPSON HOTEL (CHICAGO, IL) 38

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ALDEN 405 INDY BOOT, COURTESY OF ISLE OF MAN SPORTSMAN LEATHER DUFFEL

BY DULUTH PACK, COURTESY OF ISLE OF MAN

RESERVOIR SHIRT

BY BARBOUR INTERNATIONAL, COURTESY OF BARBOUR GOLD COAST

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DRESS BY MAJE, COURTESY OF BLOOMINGDALE’S CHICAGO NECKLACE BY HOLST + LEE, COURTESY OF ROAM CHICAGO

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FLYER WAXED JACKET BY BARBOUR INTERNATIONAL, COURTESY OF BARBOUR GOLD COAST

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AN AMERICAN WANDERLUST WITH HIS ’83 HONDA, SINGER-SONGWRITER PHOSPHORESCENT— ALSO A NEW FATHER—FINDS INSPIRATION ON THE ROAD TEXT BY JOHN TAYLOR // PHOTOS BY NOAH KALINA

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oshua Tree, California: a trail of dust escaping from the ground beneath him, Matthew Houck is speeding down a paved road in a vintage 1983 Honda CM450A. The date is September 30, 2013, meaning that he’ll be performing under nom de plume Phosphorescent to a full house in Los Angeles’s El Rey Theatre the following day. But for now, Houck, 34, is lost in the moment. The weather is perfect—anchored in the low 80s—and the Alabama-born, New York-based troubadour, surrounded by the raw, painstaking beauty of the Mojave Desert, is feeling inspired.

There’s a melody in his head.

“I have come up with little pieces of things while riding,” Houck says, “but I don’t stop to write anything down. Generally, it’ll stick around in the head if it’s any good.”

As a recording artist, Houck pens the sort of music that evokes America’s long, winding highways. Consider 42

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his 2003 debut A Hundred Times or More, where the wanderlust spirit looms large, right down to the cover art depicting a boy and his horse, poised and ready for adventure. In the decade that Houck has spent blurring the lines between pastoral folk, Blues revival, and howling Americana, one image has remained constant in all things Phosphorescent: the unyielding promise of the open road.

It should come as no surprise that a motorcycle eventually entered the picture. A gift from Houck to himself for finishing 2013’s enthusiastically received Muchacho, the 1983 Honda served as a capstone for years of difficulty: in 2011, he was evicted from his Brooklyn home and recording studio, forcing an unplanned relocation to Greenpoint, and shortly thereafter, a devastating breakup. In the years between 2010’s Here’s to Taking It Easy and Muchacho, Houck wondered if he would continue recording at all.

Solace came in the form of a Craigslist post. The Honda, used and with only 7,000 miles to its name, called out. “No real romantic story,” Houck says, “but probably the best 600 bucks I ever spent.” When asked what led him to purchase a motorcycle in his 30s, he offers dryly, “All the clichés. They’re all true.” Sons of Anarchy? “Never seen it,” he admits, “but I am curious.”

“I love riding around NYC,” Houck adds. “I’ve mostly done that and not many country trips.” Passionately, he mentions outings spent in the hills of Montana, the plains of Joshua Tree, and San Francisco. “The Golden Gate Bridge,” he says. “I mean, come on.”

Houck, who has since found love again and now has a child, sounds more than content. And, before hitting the road for a second tour in support of Muchacho, a ride is in order. “It’s been a long winter this year,” he says, “but spring, it seems, is finally here.”

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ON HIS 1983 HONDA CM450A—A $600 GIFT TO HIMSELF FOR COMPLETING THE ACCLAIMED MUCHACHO —SINGER-SONGWRITER MATTHEW HOUCK CHANNELS THE TRAVELER’S SPIRIT THAT PERMEATES MUCH OF HIS CATALOG.

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SECRET CHIEFS MULTI-GENRE MASTERMIND TREY SPRUANCE ON HIS COLLECTION OF MISFIT MUSICAL TOYS TEXT BY SCOTT MORROW // PHOTOS BY DUSDIN CONDREN

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o call Secret Chiefs 3 an anomaly would be an understatement of an understatement. The scrupulously crafted concept of Mr. Bungle guitarist Trey Spruance, the ever-rotating group of dynamos is unlike anything else—a composer and his “satellite groups,” thematically influenced by esoteric philosophies, playing an incomparable mix of Persian, Arabic, and Indian motifs with surf rock, electronica, death metal, film music, classical, and more.

Central to creating these sounds is Spruance’s collection of instruments—a collection (often homemade, reconfigured, or salvaged) that is as far-reaching as his compositions. To capture the rare instrumental assemblage, we sent photographer Dusdin Condren to Spruance’s log cabin in the woods outside Santa Cruz. Below, Spruance talks about keeping a distance from his instruments, the logistics that go into an SC3 live performance, and his self-described “bottom-of-the-line junk.”

At what point did you start collecting more than guitars?

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I’ve never collected guitars, actually. I still play my first totally busted-up guitar, a G&L F-100, and a Teisco May Queen that I traded Shahzad Ismaily a useless (to me) Apogee USB two-channel A/D converter for a few years back. These are not particularly special instruments, but every other guitar I’ve ever owned has been a junker just for getting thrashed on tour.

The other instruments I use are for realizing different musical ideas. They might seem “exotic” in the sense that many are non-Western, and CONTINUED > ALARM MAGAZINE

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even the Western ones aren’t used much by “rock” bands, but none of them are in particularly good condition. Certainly, none are of especially exciting status by collector standards.

They’re all pretty much bottom-of-the-line junk, to be honest.

Even the custom Pythagorean-tuning guitar I had built (for free) in 1997 by the gifted Richard Levy (RIP) is called “Junkyard” on the headstock (by him). That’s because every bit of it came from the junk heaps around the rehearsal studio that he and I lived in (illegally) at the time—besides the electronics, which were plundered from one of my other tour-trashed messes of a guitar.

I’d admit that that instrument and my hybrid saz-Danelectro Longhorn have some weird 48

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beyond-junk soul to them— hopefully, not of a too tragically Frankenstein-ian nature.

Is there an instrument in your collection that stands out as being more unusual, exotic, or rare than the rest?

Probably the old mini-carillon—like a set of mini-tubular bells, electronically amplified and played by a little misfiring keyboard. Or the suitcase celesta. I also have a Yamaha D85 organ that’s been modified into a hybrid CS60. The synth thing could be a “collection” if I hadn’t had three old synthesizers stolen along the way: a Roland Jupiter 6, a Korg Polysix, and a Yamaha CS80—the price of being a “nice guy.”

I have both an Afghan rabab and an Uzbek one (kockarca), of which I use the Afghan more (it’s all over SC3 records

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since 2004)—both of standard (or less) workmanship. Probably the only actually “good” stringed instrument I own is an Iranian tar. I never record with it. Anyway, since tar is the most common stringed instrument in Iran and environs (“tar” meaning “string,” hence guitar or sitar), I can’t boast that what I own is very unusual or rare.

Do you have a favorite to play?

I’m not at all an instrumental fetishist—actually, [I’m] sort of notorious for not taking care of instruments until it’s time to record them, at which point it’s too late to deal with getting them set up, so I figure out ways to make them work that day. The truth is that I have absolutely no time to play instruments recreationally, so it never develops into this love relationship that I see with

genuinely good instrumental musicians.

I actually mean to keep a distance from the instruments I play, because what I am doing has always been from the perspective of creating a symphonic experience. For me, the psyche of being a committed instrumentalist would interfere with the creative process, so I don’t really go too deeply into the mechanics of being a good instrumental musician. Of course, for Chopin, Coltrane, Qasimov, or Eyvind Kang, there’s a transcendence of the instrumental psyche that happens through the depths of the person and the instrument.

This is the height of musical creation.

But music is a big word, and for me to get anywhere near making authentic music, by a different path (the only one open to me), the creative process involved

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has to be a bit detached—more “speculative” in the medieval sense. In what I do, the instruments are like voices in a choir.

It’s their interaction and how and why they are organized in certain harmonic ways that matters most, not the instruments themselves.

Is there anything that you’ve been dying to add to your collection but been unable to acquire?

Of course! A Cavaillé-Coll pipe organ! And a five-manual Mighty Wurlitzer!

What are the logistics of bringing and amplifying your touring array of instruments on the road? How do you tailor the material to what you can bring with you?

Well, for pipe organs we use [the computer program] Hauptwerk,

which works quite well. It turns out that with five people, we can cover every written part of the orchestral version of Saint-Saëns’ “Danse Macabre” (sans the sections we cut in our arrangement), so the tailoring there has been done with the personnel limitations in mind, of course. Otherwise, I just arrange the live orchestrations for maximum impact with what we have.

Recreating albums is bullshit on any level, and in SC3 it’s simply impossible, of course. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone complain that our live shows lack anything. The main thing is to let the people involved have their voice when “singing” the arrangements. In a sense, it’s often like I provide a piano reduction of a whole symphony, but it comes alive because the people involved in playing it can find their own

voice within the simplified chart, and are not too overwhelmed with the restrictions and tasks of trying to technically recreate the “symphonic” experience.

That’s the key. The instrumental solution on my end is to have one saz-guitar, one “Neo-Pythagorean” junkyard guitar, and one normal guitar. With those in hand, I can cover anything guitar-related that SC3 has ever done. Toby [Driver] used to carry around a bass I modified the fretboard tuning on in addition to his regular tuning bass, but he has since had a bass built that accommodates both our main tuning systems and standard 12-tone equal temperament.

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(changing everything), and has an unusual command over pedals and high volume, all of which are anathema to most violinists. Matt [Lebofsky], on keyboards, runs MainStage because it can handle both our proprietary tunings and keyboard layers with sounds and samples, [has] multi-keyboard inputs, and also is running Hauptwerk in parallel. Easily the hardest job and most notes played per night (by far) happens under his watch.

For drums, the setup is traditional, but it takes a special musicianship to be able to understand the nuances of the rhythms, command dynamics, know where improvisation is warranted and/or needed, and be tuned in. We have an absurdly high pedigree of drummers in SC3, so that rounds out the pentagonal symphony of powers that makes up the SC3 live band.

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The electro-pop duo on Big Boi, big audiences, and its big new label TEXT BY AMANDA KOELLNER 路 PHOTOS BY JON STARS 路 STYLING BY LEANNE COWAN 路 HAIR BY DANIEL GARZA

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ON SARAH: BLOUSE: LAER JACKETS: LAER JEANS AND SNAKE LEGGINGS: J BRAND BOOTS: MODERN VICE

ON JOSH: JACKET: ALL SAINTS PANTS: LEVI’S SHOES: VANS HOODIE: UNIQLO

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“Being able to enjoy this with somebody else, especially your best friend who you grew up with and who knows you inside and out…we know how lucky we are to have it that way.”

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ack in December of 2010, a set of digitized beats and breathy vocal harmonies caught the ears of Big Boi as he reached to close a pop-up browser window. Instead of clicking that tiny X, the Outkast emcee paused, opened the music-identifying app Shazam, and soon made the undeniable song in question—Phantogram’s “Mouthful of Diamonds”—the jam of the week at bigboi.com.

The elation felt by Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter can be quantified by the number of exclamation points included in the status that they posted to Facebook—along with a Tweet that would start a conversation, leading to validation for the duo and collaborations with the iconic rapper. “What? Big Boi’s Jam of Week is Phantogram’s Mouthful of Diamonds!!!!!” it read.

“Now, we’re buddies,” Barthel says, after almost four years and three writing credits on the rapper’s second solo LP, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors. “Now that we’re past this ‘Oh my god!

I can’t believe Big Boi and those guys like us!’, we’re on the same level because we all just really love good music. It’s so beautiful to admire a friend or artist doing the same thing as you.

We’re finally cool about it.”

Long before Barthel found herself hanging out with the Dungeon Family during Outkast’s homecoming festival set at CounterPoint this April (and acting pretty cool about it), her own family moved next door to Carter’s best friend’s house when she was only 13. Running around in the same group as junior-high students—what Barthel says “looked right out of a Norman Rockwell painting, a bunch of kids causing mischief on the street”—the two future bandmates traded homemade hip-hop CDs and developed a friendship that would last throughout high school and into their college years. During the summer of 2007, when Barthel returned home, discontented by her pursuit of a visual-arts degree, she reunited with Carter to discover 54

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that he’d been working on what would become the blueprint for Phantogram.

They soon wrote three songs together—“Mouthful of Diamonds,” “Running From the Cops,” and a still-unreleased track—created a demo with the results, and handed them out on the streets in their upstate town of Greenwich, New York. Waiting tables to pay the bills, Carter and Barthel spent every ounce of their free time and energy on the band that they, at the time, christened Charlie Everywhere. “We were Charlie Everywhere for a hot minute because we needed a name in order to play a show,” Barthel recalls. “We were like, ‘Well, shit, we don’t even have a legit name.’” Upon realizing how fulfilling making music together could be, they decided to take all of the necessary measures to become a “real band”: get a manager, record a full album, tour, and tour again. “We’ve toured so much from just a two-piece band through the entire US in a Prius to moving up to a van, and then a van with a trailer, and now we’re actually on a bus,” Carter says. “I feel very blessed.”

While on the road in support of their between-albums EP Nightlife, they received word that a major label wanted to check them out. “We thought, ‘Okay, that’s weird, but sure,’” Barthel says. “We weren’t thinking of it as anything because we weren’t really planning on moving Phantogram into the major-label world at all. It wasn’t our initial intention to be on the radio and everything that’s involved with a big label.” After one meeting came invitations for several more until the pair found themselves in the middle of a good old-fashioned bidding war (“Our lawyer had the time of his life with it,” Barthel says).

Universal Republic has Vice President of A&R Nate Albert to thank for the label’s victory in the Phantogram tug-of-war. The knowledge that the former Mighty Mighty Bosstones guitarist possessed from his years as a musician offered a comfort level to Barthel and Carter as they geared up to record their second full-length.

“He loved our music and wanted to be a part of it, but also help us not make the same mistakes that he did when he was in the music world,” Barthel says. “He was super involved in all of the creative points of Voices. He would listen to the demos and say, ‘Hey, can I come over and we’ll write a middle eight?’ or ‘How can I help you guys make the songs a little bit better?’ We take opinions from people like him very seriously in a way where we can move forward and change some shit, and if it works out, it works out. If not, we just go back.” What the singer deems a “killer contract” outlined by total creative control also didn’t hurt Republic’s odds.

With the switch from Seattle-based indie label Barsuk came changes in Phantogram’s writing and recording processes—though past practices also prevailed. “I think one of the more interesting things about Phantogram is that the writing is done a bit differently than if we had the traditional singer-songwriter mentality,” Barthel says. “When we write, we produce and arrange at the same time, and it all kind of happens at once.” Since the early Charlie Everywhere days—circa 2007—the two have written and recorded in a barn owned by Carter’s family roughly 45 minutes north of their Saratoga Springs, New York, neighborhoods.

After amassing enough equipment to consider the space a studio, Barthel and Carter came to call the barn “Harmony Lodge,” a home away from home for peace, quiet, and creation sans distraction. For the Voices sessions, they opted for Edie Road Recording Studio, located on 10 acres of farmland in the foothills of The Adirondack and Green Mountain ranges just 10 miles away from Harmony Lodge.

The band’s songs often stem from a fictitious scenario, striking visual, or thematic idea that Barthel and Carter then collaboratively snowball into each track’s tale. (For instance, “Bill Murray” materialized from a conjured image of the beloved actor floating through space wearing his gloomiest Lost in Translation grimace.

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“We wanted to take this album to another level and allow our sounds and ideas to grow. We wanted to experiment more with different types of equipment and take advantage of that.”

be in the video—“I think he has a 1-800 number you can call,” she says.) Although Carter previously wrote the majority of the lyrics and possessed most of the necessary production skills, Voices saw him bringing Barthel up to speed on the software and sharing more of the lyrical responsibilities. “We were able to work a lot faster and get a lot more stuff done that way,” she says. “If one of us got stumped on a song, we’d just switch files and start fucking around with whatever was happening for the other person at that moment. My artist’s brain doesn’t leave me very capable to explain my questions for Josh in a sentence; I kind of need to do it. So, luckily, I was finally able to.”

Had Phantogram not signed to a major label, the duo says they would have released what they recorded at Edie Road as is and been content; the quality would have fallen in line with that of the more lo-fi Eyelid Movies. But with the Republic deal came the opportunity to take the results of their time in upstate New York westward to LA to work with a co-producer for the first time. John Hill, who has logged studio time with the likes of Shakira, Portugal the Man, and MIA (among an impressive, genre-spanning roster), accepted the gig. “He’s worked with such a wide variety of different artists from pop to hip hop to indie and punk rock,” Carter says.

“Since our sound has such a wide palette, it fit.”

That palette is shared by the singer-guitarist, an avid record collector and overall audiophile. “If I hear something that I think sounds really cool or that I could maybe write a song around, that’s where the inspiration comes from,” he says. “It can come from psych rock to old French pop to Motown R&B to obscure rock bands from the ’80s that I’d never heard of before.”

The reach of these influences manifests throughout the band’s discography. But with a co-producer on board, an increase in available technology, and a chance to nurture and smooth out what Phantogram created in New York, Voices finds the duo’s sound swelling more than ever with new timbres, different

structures, and howling vocals. “We wanted to take this album to another level and allow our sounds and ideas to grow,” Barthel says.

“We wanted to experiment more with different types of equipment and take advantage of that, and John put the finishing touches on all of the sounds and textures and helped us experiment with arrangement.”

Barthel and Carter welcomed Hill’s expertise on the album’s production but tightly held the creative reins, as they always have, when they prepared to take Voices on tour. Quite a ways from the early days of pinching pennies to purchase a projector to liven up the Phantogram experience, they began working with a professional light designer. Together, they chose to use strong beams of light, designed to reflect off a set of mirrors on stage and shoot over the audience’s heads, to convey shapes, ideas, and feelings as well as to merge concertgoers with the performers. “I spent a lot of time writing it out—thinking that the feeling you get in the middle of the song needs to look like this, and these colors need to come in during the chorus because it makes me feel this way,” Barthel says.

“It’s almost annoying how excited I get about this stuff. It’s annoying, like, ‘We need to fix this, we need to fix that,’ but I love it.”

Between and during the many tour hours that they’ve already logged and the immense amount of time on the road still to come, Barthel and Carter have collaborated with both Big Boi and The Flaming Lips—two artists they’ve admired for ages. For the latter, Phantogram appeared on “You Lust” from The Terror and plans to record “She’s Leaving Home” for a Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band cover album that Wayne Coyne and co. plan to release. Their relationship with Big Boi runs even deeper— after their Twitter correspondence, the rapper flew the duo to Atlanta to write and record with him at Stankonia Studios. “We left that experience with a lot of inspiration and a little more confidence that we’re doing something that’s

really cool and catching the ears of people like that,” Carter says, noting that he, Barthel, and Big Boi have an EP—aptly and tentatively titled Big Grams—in the works.

It’s easy to think that this collaboration was written in the stars for Phantogram. “Josh and I, since day one, have always thought of us as being like Aquemini,” Barthel confesses, noting that they tried to keep this anecdote somewhat under wraps when hanging at Stankonia to play it cool. “I’m an Aquarius, and Josh is a Gemini, so instantly we thought, ‘Oh, my god! We gotta think of this whole thing and the whole world of Phantogram and everything…we have to channel Outkast. We’ve used the idea of Aquemini as an element of motivation and inspiration.”

This ongoing internal dialogue has proven itself fruitful, as Voices climbs the Billboard charts, gigs continue to sell out, and tracks like “Black Out Days” pop up in TV spots.

“All my friends keep telling me, ‘I heard you on the radio!’ and ‘I hear you all the fuckin’ time!’”

Barthel says. “I’m having a hard time believing it, but it’s exciting to know when someone is loving your art—that’s what really drives me to create for other people. But as great as it is that people are enjoying our music, I think we’re always just going for the next one. We still have a lot of work to do, because we want to be a band forever. It’s a whirlwind.”

Carter adds that the whirlwind is and will continue to be driven by the fact that he and Barthel, bottom line, make music that they would want to hear. Barthel echoes the sentiment and notes her deep friendship with Carter as a key driver in their success—she often has referred to their relationship as that of “psychic twins.” “I feel like I’m the luckiest person on the planet,” Barthel says. “If I had to do it alone, or if there was no such thing as Phantogram, it just wouldn’t be as fun. Being able to enjoy this with somebody else, especially your best friend who you grew up with and who knows you inside and out… we know how lucky we are to have it that way.”

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PHOTOS BY DREW REYNOLDS

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F

ollowing the sudden success of its 2011 debut, retro indie-pop duo Cults performed more than 300 shows around the world. The touring and traveling was exhilarating, but it was not without its major tolls—including the breakup of former couple Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion. Thankfully, the two stayed in it for the music, resulting in a sophomore album, Static, that rocks harder than its predecessor while retaining its beauty.

Alarm followed Cults on its 2014 main-support gig with Pixies, catching up with Oblivion about what has changed, rebounding from a gear-soaking hurricane, and getting a good regional meal.

Has it been weird to tour with your ex?

Not really. It’s been a couple years now, and we’re still best friends. Her boyfriend actually tours with us as well doing visuals, and he’s one of the coolest guys I know.

How does touring now compare to when the band was first starting out? More specifically, have you noticed different crowd reactions to the more distorted material from Static?

It’s been really awesome. Having a diverse catalogue of songs to choose from when performing has lifted a huge weight off our shoulders. On the first touring cycle, no matter how big the show, we only had the 37 or so minutes of music from the record, and that put us in some tricky situations. Also, the new songs rock a lot harder, and are generally way more fun for us to play.

How did you go about recreating your live show after your gear was destroyed in Hurricane Sandy? Were ther e any no ticeable changes?

Well, we were fortunate enough to have help from a few of the gear companies after we E-mailed and begged them for replacements. The guitar I still use every night was in the flood.

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I let it dry out for two weeks, plugged it in, and it worked.

A lot of preparing to play this record was about trimming the fat anyways—we went from a six-piece down to a five-piece (we used to be a seven-piece) while maintaining what we think is the same sound. There are some parts where our guitar player Gabe has to trigger a sampler with his headstock while playing, but he hasn’t messed it up yet. I have a picture of the big pile of ruined gear in a dumpster that haunts my dreams sometimes…

To support your first album, you played around 300 shows. Is there a mental exhaustion around supporting an album for that long?

Is there anything you do to keep the routine fresh and fun?

I think it was just all so fresh and new to us that we kind of had blinders on the whole time.

I had never left the country before this band, and whenever someone would call and ask if we wanted to go somewhere new, there was no way we were saying no. We had a bunch of lineup changes, which also helps to keep things feeling good. If the shows didn’t keep getting bigger and better, I’m not sure we would have had the endurance, but it was a crazy ride.

Brian, you’ve said that the first song you learned to

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play on guitar was “Where Is My Mind?” Was it surreal opening for Pixies?

Very surreal. I hate that cliché of “Oh, they are the reason I started playing music, I’m so grateful, blah, blah, blah.” The subtext of this kind of talk is that they had their moment and now you’re having yours. Pixies are still having their moment.

Whenever I think about them, I get scared. They still push me to become a better songwriter and

“The guitar I still use every night was in the flood [from Hurricane Sandy].

It spent two days underwater.” performer. That said, they are a band we’ve enjoyed since the moment we starting enjoying music and still very much enjoy today. Every night I watched their show from front to back and loved it.

If you could tour with any artist or band that’s stylistically different from Cults, who would it be and why?

We’ve always dreamed of having a magician on tour with us as an opening act. Or a comedian maybe—anyone who could break down that wall between the stage and the crowd and get people to talk to each other and be more aware of their environment. It’s always a bummer when you go to a show and it’s like staring at a giant television screen, like the band and you could be anywhere.

You’ve mentioned liking to get “a good regional meal” while touring. What are some favorites or more memorable meals that you’ve had on tour?

We always eat like kings in New Orleans. I’m actually making arrangements right now to move down there in the fall to start working on the

new record. Other than that, we had some pretty insane food in Istanbul recently. We got our fortunes read out of the grounds in their little coffees. Apparently, this is something most Turkish women know how to do.

What’s the craziest thing that has happened to you while on tour? Have you ever approached Andrew WK levels of partying?

Looking back, we used to do some pretty dumb stuff.

I guess that we still do, but we’re definitely smarter about it. Bragging about partying makes you sound like a frat boy.

What’s the weirdest venue you’ve performed in?

We’ve done the standard kind of pizza-place, coffee-shop thing, which is always a little weird, but the weirdest had to be in India. We were asked to come out to play this festival in Goa, but when we arrived we realized that all the other bands had dropped off, so we had to headline this gigantic handmade stage on the beach. There were shoeless dudes climbing up the rafters and adjusting the lights in the middle of the show.

What’s the farthest that you’ve had to travel in one day?

Going to India, we f lew 16 hours only be in the country for 24, then fly 16 back again.

In a few days, we’ll go to Australia, which means a 14-hour flight to Hong Kong, six-hour layover, then an eight-hour flight to Brisbane. I try not to think about it.

What music do you keep on heav y rotation while traveling?

The new Nine Inch Nails has been pretty constant throughout these tours. Timber Timbre since the new record.

Other than that, it’s mostly your standard classic-rock kind of stuff. Prodigy at night if it’s going to be one of those.

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CYBELE MALINOWSKI’S MODEL-MAISON LOOKS INSIDE THE HOMES AND PERSONAL STYLES OF MODELS AROUND THE GLOBE TEXT BY KAYLA UNNERSTALL // PHOTOS BY CYBELE MALINOWSKI, MODEL-MAISON.COM

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The chances of a professional model asking you back to her place probably are slim to none. But thanks to photographer Cybele Malinowski, we have a rare inside look into bedrooms and living quarters of a few dozen such bombshells.

Model-Maison is Malinowski’s twoyear labor of love, a series of shoots with self-styled models in their homes, spanning from Sydney to Los Angeles, London, and Shanghai. The result is an insight into the models’ worlds—one that is, paradoxically, both fantastical and demystifying.

MODEL // SUZI LEENAARS LOCATION // MANLY, AUS.

MODEL // LOUISE VAN DER VORST LOCATION // NARRABEEN, AUS.

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MODEL // EVA LOCATION // CLOVELLY, AUS.

MODEL // IVONA LOCATION // SHANGHAI, CHINA

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MODEL // SIMONE HOLTZNAGEL LOCATION // WOLLONGONG, AUS.

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SHORTCUTS

MODEL // TATIANA LOCATION // BONDI, AUS.

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MODEL // SOPHIE LOCATION // NEWTOWN, AUS.

MODEL // EILIKA MECKBACH LOCATION // REDFERN, AUS.

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RODRIGO Y GABRIELA / SAGE FRANCIS / FUCKED UP / SEPTICFLESH

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Rodrigo y Gabriela With its first studio LP of new material in five years, the acoustic-rock duo scales back the Latin influence and channels more of its inner metal.

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The acoustic-rock duo on doing it live, metal riffs, and veganism Text by Scott Morrow // Photo by Tina Korhonen

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n the five years since Rodrigo y Gabriela released their last fulllength, the acoustic-guitar duo has been anything but idle—touring the globe, contributing to multiple soundtracks, releasing an album of alternative song versions with a Cuban big band, and even collaborating with former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman.

Released this spring, 9 Dead Alive finds the vegan ex-couple at their roots, releasing a purely two-piece album that channels even more of their thrash-metal past than before. Acoustic chugging, darker melodies, and dueling harmonies dance with classical guitar and delicate passages, resulting in a classic yet unfamiliar Rod y Gab. Alarm spoke with Rodrigo about getting back to being a two-piece, the duo’s writing process, and their vegan lifestyle.

Was the plan to get “back to basics” with this album?

That was the plan, and that was exactly what we did. It was good for us to collaborate with other musicians and work on other projects, but we always knew that we were going to go back [to the two of us].

On 11:11, it was a more technical approach; we were very focused on the timing and the edits, everything that we needed to make the album flawless.

But for this album, we were like, “Fuck it. We’re going to do it the way we sound live, just two or 72

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three mics in the studio.” For me and Gab, this is the best sound that we’ve gotten from any of the albums because it’s closer to what we do live. It also has a lot to do with having Andy Scheps on the mixing, because he understood our influences from metal and the fact that we didn’t want to have a polite acoustic album.

more. We still have the percussive elements from Gab’s guitar, but now instead of having Latin-influenced melodies, I just play riffs—riffs that anyone can play on an electric guitar. We didn’t want to do another album with the same kind of approach. We achieved what we wanted—to do something different that sounded like us still. Even the harmonies that Gab does, it’s not like the patterns that we used to do.

How have your individual styles evolved over the years?

You can call it evolving, but I think that we’re going back to play what we started playing before. It’s kind of a circle—now we’re going back to the metal.

I was in a metal band for eight years, and Gab for four years.

It’s a different instrument, but I went back to what I felt more comfortable playing with. I’m glad that I have a lot of material now—two albums—of a kind of music that’s more challenging for me to play, because it’s new.

There’s more of a metal influence on this album. Did anything specific influence its direction?

That’s kind of what I did over the past 10 years—achieve a level of musicianship that we didn’t have. But now we feel like we can chill a little bit. It’s a different kind of language without electric guitars, but we know the feeling—music that’s a little bit more aggressive, that has a different energy.

The basic idea is that I don’t play any Latin melodies any-

I’ve spoken to each of you separately about your vegan

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lifestyle. What encourages you about the growing veganism movement?

It’s obvious that we have more issues that are a part of eating meat. We know now that there are a lot of implications with environmental issues.

A lot of people around us have changed their diets. I think they just learn through us that there’s a lot of information out there, and once they get it and read it, it’s amazing—people in our crew, friends that are close to us. That was the same way that we kind of changed as well. Gabriela was born into a vegetarian family, but I wasn’t, and I became vegetarian many years ago.

Of course, there’s a lot of crap [information] there, so you have to be careful. But even a week ago, one of the most serious science journals released for the first time, officially, an article that says there’s a way higher risk of getting cancer and diabetes [from eating meat]—things that a lot of people kind of knew, but they weren’t proven properly. But this study was [conducted] with more than 6,000 people over the years, and that’s exactly what science needs, to release these articles.

You can’t just trust just a guy who’s telling you to eat raw and you’ll be at peace. I think that when you have real proof and things that people cannot debate, it’s up to you. Then if you want to continue eating [meat], well, that’s up to you.

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A boundary-free trio of friends navigates rough recording waters to find a home at Sargent House Text by Lincoln Eddy // Photo by Ryan Russell

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genre-defying heavy-rock trio with three singing members, Helms Alee has had no trouble subverting expectations. Its latest album, Sleepwalking Sailors, once again is a mixture of metal attitude, structural experimentation, and surprising beauty.

Getting it released, though, was a hell of a task. When long-time label Hydra Head dissolved, the band entrusted the fate of its next record to its fans. And, thankfully, following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Sleepwalking Sailors found a home on Sargent House, which released the album to much acclaim. We talked to guitarist Ben Verellen about the record, his side business making amps, and what makes for good camaraderie with band-mates Dana James and Hozoji Matheson-Margullis.

It’s still relatively rare to see a woman, let alone two (including a drummer), in a heavy rock band. Do you guys ever get any weird or sexist reactions?

Sexist reactions are pretty few and far between because the music community we are a part of is full of shredding women.

It is still not an equal balance, but it is definitely not rare by any means. Just off the top of my head, Tacos!, Whore Paint, Trophy Wife…

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What was it like starting work on a record without a label behind you? Was there any reticence when you were setting up the Kickstarter campaign?

When we found out that Hydra Head wouldn’t be involved with releasing new music, we were already a couple years into writing for Sleepwalking Sailors, so we knew that the record needed to happen one way or another. Before Sargent House stepped in, we were prepared to release it ourselves. Sure, that

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would’ve been a lot harder, and the Kickstarter could’ve failed, which would’ve been tough to bounce back from. But we were dedicated to getting the record out somehow, and this seemed like our only option.

How did you guys hook up with Sargent House?

Chris Common, who we had roped into coming up to do the engineering on the record, was living at Sargent House, and when he got home with the masters and was doing some tweaking to the mixes, it kind of fell into Cathy Pellow’s hands. She really liked it and told him, “I think I’m going to try and sign them.” Word got back to us, and we had already sent off the masters to get pressed ourselves, so we had to undo some of that, but that turned out for the better.

Has your work building amps affected the way that you record or write songs?

What’s the next big thing that we can expect from Verellen Amplifiers?

Testing out amps after I have built or repaired them allows me lots of opportunities to mess around with riffs. When it comes to recording, I try not to get too far down the tone-chasing, amp-“A/B-ing” thing. I have a couple amps that I rely on, and I just try to focus more on playing. I’m working on a line of hi-fi tube

stereo gear that is exciting and a new challenge. The prototypes so far have been well received; it’s gotten everyone really excited.

With the proliferation of -cores and other such microgenres, you guys still are very hard to pin down. Where do you draw your influences?

We’re par-core all the way! We really just like all that music, so it’s pretty hard to pin down for us too.

Going by your videos and the Kickstarter introduction, you guys seem to have a blast together.

There are no really outrageous stories that jump to mind. We tend to have a good time, but the other thing you might notice from our videos is that it’s all pretty poo-poo, pee-pee, silly adolescent-style hijinks.

It’s that brand of fun more than hiding a shoebox full of turds in your tour-mates’ van or a penny in the wheel well.

Bands do this thing where they think, “Let’s see how much we can fuck with the other band, really bum them out.” And that’s not fun. And what other reason is there to do music?

You’re not really in the band to make money. Even the bands I know that are “doing well”… that’s a hard living. You’re just going to let yourself down if you’re not trying to have fun.

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Black Francis and company make a long-awaited return to recording Text by Saby Reyes-Kulkarni // Photo by Jay Blakesberg

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wenty-three years after its last studio album—and almost a decade after reuniting—proto-alternative outfit Pixies has returned with Indie Cindy, a collection of tunes (without iconic bassist Kim Deal) that originally appeared as three separate EPs. On two separate phone calls from the road, guitarist Joey Santiago and drummer David Lovering spoke to Alarm about the need for new material, the “Pixification” process, and making the right mistake.

Generally, Charles [Thompson, front-man / bandleader, a.k.a. Black Francis] brings in the songs. How do you put your own stamp on them?

JS: Charles lets me do whatever comes up in my little noggin.

After a while, we had a formula that worked. But there was an X factor. He doesn’t understand it, and I kind of don’t understand what the hell I’m doing either. I mean, I kind of do—I have little theories, but I also have no idea.

He would say “Pixify it,” and I know what he means. But it’s just the way that I play. It’s very natural to me, like the way that I walk. Back then, he would give 76

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me a chord progression, and I would record it over and over on a tape machine and work out a guitar part. But maybe the sound is just in my fingers or in my blood. Because no matter what kind of guitar I pick up— even a classical guitar—I always sound...pointy.

In the notes issued for the release of EP2, about the song “What Goes Boom” you say, “I like when the song changes and I don’t.” Can you talk about that?

JS: In the verses, the chords are moving around and I keep playing an arpeggiated E-minor.

It’s a little “ha ha ha” trick I’ve

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used before, like on the B-side “Santo” [released with the 1991 single “Dig for Fire”]. I just kept playing these same three notes while the rest of the band was changing along. And on “Tame” [off 1989 sophomore album Doolittle], they’re all moving around hitting three chords, and as a joke I’m just crashing into one chord—that augmented fifth or seventh or whatever it is, the one that Hendrix plays on “Purple Haze.”

I’m just smashing that one chord over and over again.

That’s my whole guitar part on that song. It might sound like noise, but you have to pick the right noise. You have to pick the right quote-unquote “wrong” thing. You’re trying to make the right mistake.

How important was it starting to get for the band to make new material?

DL: In 2004, the original idea was just to tour. It was only supposed to last for a year, but it just kept going and going. By

the seven-year mark, it was like, “Okay, we’re doing this longer as a reunion than we were initially a band.” We knew we’d wear out our welcome if we didn’t make something new.

David, the press notes mention how you’re not comfortable recording. Why? DL: All the times we’d been in the studio in the past, I had a very hard time. I never really liked it because I was put on the spot; the albums were happening quicker and quicker and quicker.

This one was different. We worked out all the songs, so I was very comfortable to begin with. But I can honestly say that the band’s been getting tighter and tighter and tighter on stage, so I’m even more comfortable now. And I’ve changed little things already. It’s still essentially the same parts as what I played on the recordings, but I feel more in tune with these new songs. I can put a little more subtlety into them.

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Greek giants of symphonic death metal return with a Titan Text by Scott Morrow // Photo by Seth Siro Anton

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fter an original incarnation among Greece’s 1990s wave of black metal, Septicflesh moved closer to rock structures and took a pseudo-Gothic turn before disbanding. When the group reemerged in 2007— following guitarist Christos Antoniou’s compositional studies in London—it did so in grand fashion, reinventing itself with the backing of a full orchestra.

With Titan, the band’s third album since reformation, the Greek quartet delivers another epic, Gothic dose of symphonic metal. Strings, horns, harpsichord, and percussion complement death-metal brutality, now with the addition of a children’s choir on top of the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. We Skyped with Antoniou to learn more about the band and its latest titanic offering.

What did you want to accomplish with Titan? What story does it tell?

The album is not a concept album, but the lyrics revolve around a variety of things and stories. There are some connections and common elements bet ween different songs—for example, the manipulation of the masses through fear is the common element between “Order of Dracul” and “Protot ype.”

Also, we have the song of “Prometheus,” [about] the bringer of the fire—you know the Greek story. There are many elements with many meanings in our lyrics.

[The commentary] is general.

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Are you always mindful of striking a balance between metal and orchestral?

the necessity of writing in English to be a successful international band?

At the end of the day, we play metal. Although there is a balance, the metal part has to have a more dominant role.

And this is more distinctive in the production, because many things from the orchestra are not so evident. It’s a matter of sound engineering, but at the end of the day, the aggressiveness works better when accompanied by the orchestra.

No, [it’s not affecting us] because we have our career outside of Greece. The politicians have made everything wrong, and there’s so much corruption. Greece took the wrong path, and now we’re paying the price.

sis in Greece and these kind of political subjects.

What are the logistics of playing with backing tracks?

How was it to work with a children’s choir for the first time? Had any of them heard Septicflesh?

It’s very easy. Everybody has backing tracks now. Some people complain to us, saying, “Why don’t you have an orchestra live?” And we’re like, “Come on…even Metallica would not be able to have an orchestra for [a tour].” It’s very, very expensive.

No, no, no…[laughs]. Unfortunately, I was not there for the recording of the children’s choir.

There was one percussion guy [in the orchestra] who knew the band, who listens to metal. But the majority of the musicians, they’re very professional. They don’t care about whether this is for metal or film—they just play the music. This is their job.

But the children—it’s good [that they didn’t know], because some parents might have problems. They don’t know the band, and now it’s too late.

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We had one offer to play with an orchestra in Athens, but many things are going wrong in Greece right now with the [financial] crisis. Maybe some time we’ll have the opportunity to play in France; it’s easier to play there with an orchestra.

Is the crisis affecting your careers? Can you talk about

If our lyrics were in Greek, no one probably would ever listen to us. The music business [requires English] in order to make an international career.

There are some exceptions, like Rammstein. But in more commercial music—commercial in a good way—you need to sing in English.

We need our country to develop. [Elsewhere in Europe] they have many studios where the government pays. In Greece, the government only creates problems for the bands. There is no support system.

The Greek music—radio, TV— everything sucks. America has a rock attitude. Sweden, Norway—they have a rock attitude. [The local scene] is better than it used to be when we started in the 1990s, but it still needs work. We have a label, Prosthetic, that supports us, which is most important.

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One of hip hop’s best modern poets makes a righteous return Text by Lincoln Eddy // Photo by Prentice Danner

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e’s back. After four years in the woods of Rhode Island, producing records and growing out his epic beard, Strange Famous president and elder statesman of independent hip hop Sage Francis returned to the studio to record his new album, Copper Gone—a heart-on-its-sleeve banger that’s sure to be etched with acid into your eardrums.

Following Li(f )e, a 12-track collaboration with some of indie rock and folk’s finer musicians, Francis formed the basis of Copper Gone on punchier production and electronic drums. Now without ties to another label, the bearded one talks about his return, the business side of being independent, and Macklemore’s lack of recognition for his predecessors.

You’ve said in interviews and in press for this album that you were dealing with some pretty heavy stuff before or during its creation.

What brought you back to recording?

That’s a tough question to answer because there’s so much to address. But basically, it was just time. Everything had pointed toward me doing 80

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it again. I had nothing else. I’m sitting on all these songs that I write and that I knew worked, and I decided, “Okay, I’m gonna go at this again,” the way I have with all the other discs.

But every time I do an album, I know how much it takes out of me, just how agonizing the whole process is. Not just the act of recording the album or writing it, but everything that goes along with it: all the stress

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and anxiety, planning out a full year of your life, knowing everything that has to get done.

People fucking talk about [being] independent, but [you need] to really know each side of the business you’re going to have to take on when you go at a project of this magnitude.

So much money is going to be spent, and if you don’t get that back, you’re dead in the water. Ultimately, you want to make more so you can do more records—but once you have enough money to make more records, you ask yourself, “Do I really want to put myself through that shit again?”

I did that for ten years straight, and then I took that four-year break because I thought maybe I can try to have a domestic life of some sort. Maybe it’s time to try to build a family or really try and see if I can be happy like I think other people enjoy regular-life shit. And it just wasn’t happening, so you know, fuck trying to force that.

You said that people say “independent” but don’t really know what goes into that. Is that what the track “ID Thieves” deals with?

Well, yeah, to a degree, because that’s people adopting language and ideas and turning them into buzzwords. It kind of gets sour when you understand, really, what the fuck’s been going on all this time. If someone says independent, I know what they

mean, but I also know what other people think they mean.

It’s that difference that sort of frustrates me sometimes.

There’s that last sound bite on that track, where you say, “Independent? Fuck you.”

That was a total ad-lib of me stepping away from the mic, and I decided to keep it because it was one of those things that just came out of my mouth. I liked the way it sounded like something you’d hear in a Rhode Island bar or some shit.

Is there any takeaway that you want fans to get from this album?

I think that when people listen to this, I’d like them to sense the deep love and appreciation for hip hop, even when I do some off-the-wall or experimental shit. This is a flat-out, straightup hip-hop record, with unique shit included—stuff that doesn’t happen often in hip-hop, stuff that maybe a lot of hip-hop listeners aren’t comfortable with.

Another reason why I make records, another reason why I write, is to document my human experience. I’m not trying to tell someone else’s story—I don’t understand it. There are some unique things happening in my life, and the kind of things that I go through I think I can express in a certain way that other people can understand or identify with. So I hope it entertains, but I also hope it consoles in certain ways.

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The “punk-rock social experiment” takes on age, fragility, and “big, important life stuff” Text by Brandon Goei // Photo by Brendan George Ko

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ou might remember Fucked Up’s last album as the sprawling, 78-minute hardcore concept double album that actually worked.

Now, with Glass Boys, the growls remain guttural and the riffs still split eardrums, but the package is more concise, cramming all the dynamics into 10 tracks of triple-guitared stacks of sound and screaming. Here main songwriter and guitarist Mike Haliechuk speaks about the progression of the band’s sound, the new album’s concept, and how the members are getting along.

The atmosphere and texture of the guitar work on Glass Boys really stands out. The solo in the second half of “Warm Change”—I listened to it a couple times in my bathroom to get the sound to bounce around. How has your playing style evolved since the first couple releases?

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warmer, even though the music is kind of aggressive.

What have you been listening to lately, and how has that been feeding into what you’ve been writing?

You know, I don’t think the stuff we listen to really feeds into what we sound like. Especially since we started writing this record two years ago, I can’t even remember what I was listening to back then. I listen to a lot of drum-machine music—lately I’ve been listening to the new Jagwar Ma record, Happy Mondays, stuff like that.

What’s the story behind the album’s title and cover art?

[Laughs] Awesome, thanks.

Yeah, for the first couple singles we were like a straight, almost tribute punk band. We try to have the same sound— the clean Marshall stack, Les Paul studio—that classic punk sound, but we try to make it bigger than before. More soundscape-y, more tracks—

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For the cover, we found a bunch of statues at the library. These old statues—they’re made of stone, and they’ve existed for thousands of years, but they start to chip away and they wither. They’re these invincible-looking god-men, but they’re wearing away. It’s a

good reference to the title and what the record is about—getting older, seeming strong and more learned, but being fragile on the inside.

How’s the rest of the band doing?

We’re all pretty good. Some people have families and marriages now, and we’re kind of getting into that period of band life where we’re starting to contend with big, important life stuff.

[Laughs]

In our last interview with Fucked Up, about four years ago, you guys mentioned that the members don’t really like each other, or at least that there’s a big contrast in personalities. Is that still the case?

Well, like every band that spends so much time together, there are always disagreements, but we’re all super tight. We’ve all known each other for 10 or 15 years. Yeah—things are good.

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Members of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Mastodon, Soulfly, and The Mars Volta build a tri-throated metal monster Text by Saby Reyes-Kulkarni // Photo by Glen La Ferman

B

est known as the Dillinger Escape Plan’s vocalist, Greg Puciato has been increasingly active with extracurricular outlets that are now starting to bear fruit. While the world still waits to hear music from the Black Queen, his electro project with Josh Eustis (Telefon Tel Aviv, Puscifer, Nine Inch Nails), Puciato’s first side endeavor to see the light of day arrives in the form of Killer Be Killed. He spoke with Alarm about the one-off, triple-vocalist metal super-group, which also includes Max Cavalera (Soulfly, ex-Sepultura), Troy Sanders (Mastodon), and Dave Elitch (The Mars Volta, M83).

This project grew out of you spending three days working on ideas at Max Cavalera’s house. How did those initial ideas take shape?

At that point, there was nothing in mind, and I had no idea what either one of us was going to bring to the table. We just holed up and didn’t leave. We got groceries and waters and 500 cases of Coca-Cola—because Max drinks a hundred cans of Coke a day—and sat from 9 AM ’til midnight every day in 84

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an air-condition-less room in the middle of the desert.

I had like 40 or 50 ideas, and he also had a bunch because he pretty much writes constantly.

We started trying to figure out where the connections and stylistic crossing points were. We left that period with around—I wouldn’t call them songs—20 five- or six-minute-long collections of riffs that made sense together. Once Dave and Troy got involved, we sat again with those guys and listened through them. When you play

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things with a drummer, it always changes what the riff is going to be, so we had to play through all of them to see what worked.

When you say “ideas,” what were you presenting to Max? I’ve played guitar since I was nine years old. I had riffs dating back to 2005 that I just had on a hard drive labeled like “Doom Riff 72” or “Big Thrasher 91.”

You end up with a hundred riffs named “New Riff” because every time you write a new riff you think you’re going to go back to it, and you don’t. And you can’t remember what the fuck any of them sound like. At some point, I knew that I had enough guitar stuff that I had to do something with it, but I didn’t know this was going to be the thing.

But you also made a bunch of stuff up on the spot too.

Yeah, Max and I wrote a bunch on the spot, and then we did that again once Dave and Troy were in the picture. I’d say that about half the record is pre-written and half was written on the spot. And Troy had a lot of pre-written stuff that he wasn’t sure whether he was going to use for the next Mastodon record. Once you have three people throwing stuff into the well, you find yourself with more material than you can use pretty quickly.

Other than your guest appearance on Soulfly’s

“Rise of the Fallen,” you’d never exchanged ideas with Max. How did you find common ground?

We started talking about old punk bands like Discharge, crust bands like His Hero Is Gone, the early thrash time period, and doom, and we’re both giant Bad Brains fans.

We established really quickly that we kind of came from the same place. When I was a kid, shortly after I discovered thrash, I discovered Bad Brains.

So it developed naturally from there. When Troy came into the picture, it added a way more melodic element, which was really cool because it took us out of our intended comfort zone.

With three people singing lead, how did you, Max, and Troy arrange the vocal parts and lyrics?

For some reason, when we sat down and started delegating parts, it was really obvious which person should sing which part. Everybody wrote their lyrics separately. A lot of times we were at the same table writing, but for the most part, with all of the phrasings and melodies, we already knew what each of us was going to do. We spent so much time together—all day every day for five weeks without really leaving—that we spent a lot of time just talking to one another about life. So when it came time to write a song, it was really easy to see where the intersections were.

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With his cover-band cohorts, Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins turns in a multi-instrumental mammoth of prog and glam Text by Oakland L. Childers // Photo by Hans Hagen

N

o single band or genre can hold Taylor Hawkins. Though he has made a commendable career for himself as half the Foo Fighters’ rhythm section, Hawkins has needs that a single Grammy-winning rock band simply can’t fulfill—see Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders, his “dirt rock” cover band called Chevy Metal, and his countless appearances and cameos on drums, guitar, piano, or vocals.

No, Hawkins has a maniacal devotion to his instrument(s). His latest endeavor, The Birds of Satan— with the other two members of Chevy Metal—is a cerebral prog/glam powerhouse that mixes Queen, Queens of the Stone Age, and a heavy dose of classic rock. The band’s eponymous debut is like a personal tour of Hawkins’s musical influences and ideals, with Hawkins singing and performing on the aforementioned instruments. (Fellow Foo family members Dave Grohl and Pat Smear also make appearances.) Here Hawkins discusses staying 15, hard-rock harmonies, and drummers making solo albums.

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How do the three of you (Hawkins, Mick Murphy, and Wiley Hodgden) know one another?

I have a cover band, Chevy Metal, that I use as a drum gym when I’m not with Foo Fighters.

We play a lot of Van Halen, Ratt, Queen, old Bowie. We do about 50 classic deep cuts. And that’s what kind of keeps my hands moving, keeps me 15. I put my drums in my truck and drive down to the pizza joint. Dave [Grohl] has joined us. Mick Jagger has played with us—Perry Farrell [too].

So you just kept the lineup of your cover band?

That band was good and tight, and I was so busy doing the other stuff that I knew I wasn’t going to have time to do anything else. I was like, “I’ve written seven songs; let’s all go in the studio for a week.”

Black Sabbath’s first record was recorded in two days. Van Halen was recorded in a week!

The Beatles were recording five songs a day in the beginning.

We didn’t use any auto-tune or anything—just recorded on tape live with very few overdubs. I’m proud of that. The Foo Fighters have gotten like that too. That’s the way any rock band worth its salt should be.

So you’re happy with the way it turned out?

The beauty of this is it doesn’t matter if it’s bad. At the end of the day, I get to sail away on my golden parachute back to the Foo Fighters. If people like it, great. If they don’t, so what? I’m having fun.

There’s a lot of prog influence on here, but it seems like there’s just as much glam going on.

Oh, yeah. I love Queen. Anybody that knows me knows that. I adore harmonies. I’m totally at home listening to Andy Gibbs’s greatest hits, or The Beatles or The Beach Boys.

Queen was a hard-rock band with harmonies. What could be better than that?

Drummer-vocalists are not all that common. Are there drawbacks to that combo that make it so rare?

Yes—I will say that I’ve given it a few shots with this a few times, and it’s difficult. If I worked on it enough, I could pull it off, but it’s definitely hard. I’m a huge fan of [Queen drummer and occasional vocalist] Roger Taylor. He actually made a solo record.

And the very first Foo Fighters record Dave did on his own.

There’s just something about a solo record that a drummer did on his own.

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REVIEWS

MORROW VS. HAJDUCH

TOO HOT FOR HTTP SM: With its last album, the highly lauded 2011 concept album Undun, The Roots referred to Def Jam as its “evening job,” citing its newfound Jimmy Fallon gig as a security net to try new ideas without fear of being dropped by the label. The result was an adventuresome output that may have taken some fans off guard.

THE ROOTS …AND THEN YOU SHOOT YOUR COUSIN (Def Jam) Scott Morrow is the managing editor of Alarm Press. Patrick Hajduch is a very important lawyer. In each issue, they debate the merits of a different album. Visit alarm-magazine.com to read more.

PHOTO BY LISA PREDKO

Just as potentially unexpected is …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin, another concept album that takes a satirical look at hip-hop stereotypes. This time, Black Thought’s raps are few and far between, wedged between passages both dense and sparse that touch on old soul and blues balladry, with piano and string arrangements throughout.

PH: After Undun, I expected something a bit more hushed and unusual, but I still didn’t expect this. There is so little rapping and it’s broken up by so many interludes that I barely recognize them.

Black Thought spoke of this being a “dense” album where you’d pick apart the music on one listen, the lyrics on another. It’s fairly minimal for something written to be “dense.” In a lot of ways, it reminds me of Wu-Tang’s 8 Diagrams in that it is like a direct rejection of boom-bap energy in favor of glum, chilly down-tempo.

SM: It’s a pretty contrasting album. Take “The Coming,” which turns a poppy but minor-key piano tune into a dark, dissonant avant-chamber chase sequence.

At other times—the very next track, in fact—the backing music excels with minimalism. “The Dark (Trinity)” features little more than a few piano chords over

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a bare beat, presenting a musical canvas for raps about life in a concrete jungle.

A somber string passage concludes the track, which is only another melancholy jam away from the whistling positivity of the final song—an odd conclusion to the album.

PH: I can’t even tell whether or not I actually like this album.

Head-nodding moments are so rapidly replaced by contemplative interludes that I can’t help but agree with Black Thought’s assessment that this is a grower— which I find impressive, since it’s directly at odds with the band’s new image as a talk-show band.

Things Fall Apart was the sound of a serious band finding the time here and there to have some fun.

Fifteen years later, …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin is the sound of an ostensibly fun band getting serious.

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REVIEWS

BEST ALBUMS

Visit alarm-magazine.com every week to see our newest favorites, read more about these albums, and find interviews, product profiles, photo essays & more.

HEAVY

ROCK

MASTODON: ONCE MORE ’ROUND THE SUN

JACK WHITE: LAZARETTO

(Warner Bros.) Now 14 years into its career, Mastodon’s sixth LP won’t dissuade its pop-hating naysayers. With its biggest hooks to date, the album is its most accessible—despite plenty of

(Third Man / Columbia) Based on short fictions penned by a 19-year-old Jack White, Lazaretto follows the crossover musician’s solo debut with less persistent panache but more mixed-in country

progressive passages, raging solos, and the occasional shrieking vocals.

Mastodon may not be making Remission II anytime soon, but its songwriting chops are no worse for the wear. [SM]

ROCK

EXPERIMENTAL / INSTRUMENTAL

THE BIRDS OF SATAN: S/T

ATOMIC APE: SWARM

(Shanabelle) The latest endeavor of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, The Birds of Satan is a prog/glam powerhouse trio that mixes Queen, Queens of the Stone Age, and a heavy dose 90

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of classic rock. Though not without cerebral and sensitive moments, the debut LP never drifts far from a hot lick or Alex Van Halen-style fill. [OC]

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(Web of Mimicry) The newest project from guitarist/composer Jason Schimmel (of Estradasphere and Secret Chiefs 3), Atomic Ape is a whirlwind of masterful melodies, dizzying musicianship, and A-list

numbers. And though it traverses rock, psychedelia, balladeering, blues, and more with the help of White’s Blunderbuss bands and Third Man family, Lazaretto’s crunchy singles are its best tracks. [AK]

contributors. Many of the usual Schimmel descriptors apply: horn-heavy surf rock, guitar- and organ-centered jazz, spy noir, Balkan and European folk melodies, and, of course, heavy metal. [SM]

[DC] DUSTIN H. CURRIER [OC] OAKLAND L. CHILDERS [BD] BRENDAN DABKOWSKI [LE] LINCOLN EDDY [BG] BRANDON GOEI [PH] PATRICK HAJDUCH [EJ] EMMA JANZEN [AK] AMANDA KOELLNER [SM] SCOTT MORROW [TN] TODD NIEF [SRK] SABY REYES-KULKARNI [KU] KAYLA UNNERSTALL

REVIEWS

MOOD-OMETER RAGING ≤

≥ RELAXED

HEAVY: crash and bang ROCK: and/or roll INDIE / FOLK: for softies BEATS: and/or rhymes EXPERI- / INSTRUMENTAL: out there…somewhere

ROCK

BEATS

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA: 9 DEAD ALIVE

SAGE FRANCIS: COPPER GONE

(ATO) RyG’s first LP in five years—following soundtracks, a Cuban big-band album, and more—finds the duo at its roots, releasing a two-piece album that channels more of its thrash-metal past.

But 9 Dead Alive also presents new twists on Spanish and classical guitar, has more delicate passages, and even uses a spoken-word sample. [SM]

(Strange Famous) Last we heard Sage Francis, the hip-hop elder statesman issued an introspective indie-rock collaboration. Four years later, he opens Copper Gone with a nose-flattening

beat-down to everyone on his back.

With a more traditional hip-hop sound, his newest also shows Sage’s softer side, but beware: there still are fangs hiding behind that beard. [LE]

EXPERIMENTAL / INSTRUMENTAL

HEAVY

GODSWOUNDS: DEATH TO THE BABYBOOMERS

ANIMALS AS LEADERS: THE JOY OF MOTION

(Sonichimaera) Led by keyboardist/vocalist Lachlan Kerr, Sydney-based Godwounds is an acid-plunged mix of exuberant, mega-melodic rock and videogame scores, nurtured from nearly a year of living in Taiwan and

(Sumerian) Soaring at breakneck pace, The Joy of Motion is another “djent”-metal offering from fleet-fingered maniacs on eight-string monstrosities. The solos are long, lurid, and expressive, but a

Japan. With rhythmic syncopation via ex-Mr. Bungle drummer Danny Heifetz, and with guests from (the) Melvins, Big Business, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, and Marriages, this is one of the best surprises of 2014. [SM]

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Latin flair now informs several tracks, and a stronger focus is put on electronic flourishes (ranging from skittering staccato to ambient vista). [BG] ALARM MAGAZINE

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[DC] DUSTIN H. CURRIER [OC] OAKLAND L. CHILDERS [BD] BRENDAN DABKOWSKI [LE] LINCOLN EDDY [BG] BRANDON GOEI [PH] PATRICK HAJDUCH [EJ] EMMA JANZEN [AK] AMANDA KOELLNER [SM] SCOTT MORROW [TN] TODD NIEF [SRK] SABY REYES-KULKARNI [KU] KAYLA UNNERSTALL

REVIEWS

HEAVY EVERY TIME I DIE: …FROM PARTS UNKNOWN (Epitaph)

MARTY FRIEDMAN: INFERNO (Prosthetic)

TROLLFEST: KAPTEIN KAOS (Napalm)

WHISPERED: SHOGUNATE MACABRE (Red House FMP / Suru)

For its seventh record, ETID focuses less on perfection and more on rawness and energy. And who better to wrangle such a beast than Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou? Nobody. [OC]

On Inferno, ex-Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman unleashes an absolute shred fest—self-described as “the heaviest and most intense playing” of his career.

Guests include members of Children of Bodom, Shining (Norway), and Rodrigo y Gabriela. [KU]

On its latest troll-based concept album, Norwegian folk-metal outfit Trollfest expands its stylistic reach—from highspeed Balkan melodies to elements of Latin, Scandinavian, and Asian folk. [SM]

As indebted to the metallic sounds of its region as to the folk sounds of the Orient, Finland’s Whispered melds progressive, melodic death and thrash metal with traditional Japanese styles. Epic [SM]

OFF!: WASTED YEARS (Vice)

BOYFRNDZ: BREEDER (Brutal Panda)

PIXIES: INDIE CINDY (PIAS)

TRANS AM: VOLUME X (Thrill Jockey)

For its sophomore LP, punk powerhouse Off! heightens the immediacy and charge of its music by recording live to analog tape—and increases its dynamics with more breakdowns and mid-tempo riffs. [SRK]

Making an impressive debut, Austin-based Boyfrndz combines echoing guitar loops with precisely calculated drum syncopation, backed by six-string bass and vocals that recall Cedric Bixler-Zavala at his most strident. [LE]

The first Pixies studio LP to be released in 23 years—coming after the well-publicized departure of bassist Kim Deal— is a grower, containing elements both familiar and new. [SM]

The tenth Trans Am album sees the groundbreaking synth trio once again putting new spins on its established repertoire of styles, including prog, John Carpenter-esque atmospheres, and even a Kill ’Em All-inspired riff. [SRK]

ST. VINCENT: S/T (Loma Vista / Republic)

LITTLE DRAGON: NABUMA RUBBERBAND (Loma Vista)

WHITE HINTERLAND: BABY (Dead Oceans)

MIRAH: CHANGING LIGHT (Absolute Magnitude)

Crafted as “a party record you could play at a funeral,” this eponymous release from St. Vincent channels the horn-heavy sound of her collaborative album with David Byrne—and reveals the most confident Annie Clark yet. [AK]

Straddling blurry lines between dreamy ’80s synth-pop and smooth modern R&B jams, Sweden’s Little Dragon tones down the dance-party beats on its fourth album, instead honing in on a more subdued version of “indie-tronica.” [EJ]

Pianist and one-woman show Casey Dienel crafts a circus of textured indie pop on Baby. Acrobatic vocals and electronics fluctuate and clash at times, then steady and shine on standouts “Metronome” and “Dry Mind.” [EJ]

Mirah’s fifth solo album undoubtedly is a breakup record. With subtle darkness, slow-burning tracks put the focus on her beautiful, oft-harmonized voice, manipulated with the occasional robotic effect. [KU]

CLIPPING: CLPPNG (Sub Pop)

TOBACCO: ULTIMA II MASSAGE (Ghostly International)

LIARS: MESS (Mute)

PHAROAHE MONCH: P.T.S.D.

Named for the amp distortion that its noise-backed tracks may cause, Clipping’s second album is full-throttle, experimental dance-hop via the hardware store, including one of the raunchiest last-call songs and a track about a club-stalking serial killer. [LE]

In his answer to relaxation music, Black Moth Super Rainbow mastermind Tobacco continues his demented journey into the psychic netherworld of infomercials and dying strip malls, now sporting his most abrasive yet mellow sounds to date. [SRK]

If not a reinvention, then Mess is another mood swing for the ever-evolving Liars, whose dance-punk roots are nearly imperceptible from this collection of sharp beats, pulsating synths, and dark tones. [LE]

A redefinition of the phrase “post-traumatic stress disorder,” Pharoahe Monch’s latest explores the psychological devastation wrought upon the black community by the tentacles of institutional racism: poverty, violence, drugs, hopelessness, and blight. [SRK]

VENETIAN SNARES: MY LOVE IS A BULLDOZER (Planet Mu)

SQUAREPUSHER: MUSIC FOR ROBOTS (Warp)

LAIBACH: SPECTRE (Mute)

NELS CLINE SINGERS: MACROSCOPE (Mack Avenue)

Breakcore artist Venetian Snares releases a musical ’tweener, blending melancholy, abrasiveness, and humor at varied tempos while liberally incorporating his own vocals. It’s an excellent starting point for Snares’ voluminous output. [PH]

Always unpredictable, Squarepusher continues his uncanny career path by recording with a robot band that flexes its mecha-muscles—78 piston fingers, 22 drums, and a keyboard player that shoots green lasers from its face. [BG]

Now in its mid-30s as a band, Slovenian performance-art collective Laibach continues its prolific output with an album that tends more towards EBM than neo-folk, moving from darkly nationalistic anthems to goth-club beats. [TN]

Though freeform, the songs of the non-vocal Nels Cline Singers have the vital cohesion of the long practiced.

“Seven Led Heaven” riffs and falls perfectly, and naturalistic closer “Sacha’s Book of Frogs” stands as a beautiful experiment. [LE]

ROCK

INDIE / FOLK

BEATS

EXPERI- / INSTRUMENTAL

MOOD-OMETER

RAGING ≤

≥ RELAXED

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[DC] DUSTIN H. CURRIER [OC] OAKLAND L. CHILDERS [BD] BRENDAN DABKOWSKI [LE] LINCOLN EDDY [BG] BRANDON GOEI [PH] PATRICK HAJDUCH [EJ] EMMA JANZEN [AK] AMANDA KOELLNER [SM] SCOTT MORROW [TN] TODD NIEF [SRK] SABY REYES-KULKARNI [KU] KAYLA UNNERSTALL

REVIEWS

HEAVY WILD THRONE: BLOOD MAKER (Brutal Panda)

YOUNG WIDOWS: EASY PAIN (Temporary Residence)

HELMS ALEE: SLEEPWALKING SAILORS (Sargent House)

JUNIUS: DAYS OF THE FALLEN SUN (Prosthetic)

This debut three-song EP is controlled sonic violence rolled in a layer of psychedelia and topped with epic vocals— think Jane Doe-era Converge fronted by a young Rob Halford. [BD]

On its fourth LP, Louisville trio Young Widows delivers more refined abrasiveness with reverb-drunk guitar lines— think The Jesus Lizard’s reckless bombast harnessed by the tale-spinning sophistication of Nick Cave. [DC]

Heavy and beautiful, the third album from post-whatever trio Helms Alee checks all the boxes: astounding riffs, powerhouse drumming, and haunting vocal switches. [LE]

Post-rock/metal quartet Junius returns with an epic EP, one whose four main tracks include orchestral lead-ins and accompaniments. Short and to the point, Days is perfect for all your burning, post-apocalyptic needs. [LE]

KING BUZZO: THIS MACHINE KILLS ARTISTS (Ipecac)

THE FAINT: DOOM ABUSE (SQE)

DEAD RIDER: CHILLS ON GLASS (Drag City)

NICK WATERHOUSE: HOLLY (Innovative Leisure)

The solo debut of (the) Melvins’ Buzz Osborne may be acoustic, but it’s no less energetic than the group’s infectious sludge rock. With metal-influenced weirdness and powerful vocal hooks, King Buzzo proves his versatility again. [LE]

“Unexpected but also inevitable”—that’s what dance-punk outfit The Faint calls its sixth album, Doom Abuse, an amalgamation of the band’s signature sounds presented with a new urgency. [EJ]

Dissonant chord-voicings, vocal oddities, clanging auxiliary percussion, and glitchy electronics, all plus quirky rock riffs: the third studio album by Dead Rider bases its songs largely on textures rather than conventional structures. [TN]

With his second album, singer/guitarist Nick Waterhouse harkens to a time before a dictionary became necessary to define an artist. There’s a bit of rockabilly and a little rhythm and blues—but this is pure rock and roll. [LE]

SON LUX: ALTERNATE WORLDS (Joyful Noise)

HUNDRED WATERS: THE MOON RANG LIKE A BELL (Owsla)

YANN TIERSEN: ∞ (Mute)

EMMA RUTH RUNDLE: SOME HEAVY OCEAN (Sargent House)

Not often does a pop star begin covering a post-rock/alt-hop composer on tour.

But Lorde did just that in 2014, and it led to a collaboration with Son Lux (the cover-ee), who put the new version on this EP of re-imagined originals. [KU]

A textbook example of an alreadyunique band asserting its drive to evolve, Hundred Waters’ sophomore effort shimmers with startlingly fresh permutations of genre-defying baroque electro-pop. [SRK]

On his eighth album, composer Yann Tiersen (Amelie) continues to enrich his charming, classical “musical anarchy” with electronic cacophony, field recordings, and spoken-word passages that pair nicely with the saccharine moments. [OC]

Known from her work in Marriages and Red Sparowes, Emma Ruth Rundle takes a singer-songwriter approach to her first solo album—albeit with the melancholic and ethereal style that we’ve come to expect from her. [KU]

ATMOSPHERE: SOUTHSIDERS (Rhymesayers)

BLUEPRINT: RESPECT THE ARCHITECT (Weightless)

NOCANDO: JIMMY THE BURNOUT (Alpha Pup)

TYCHO: AWAKE (Ghostly International)

For its eighth slab of wax, underground Minneapolis hip-hop duo Atmosphere drops a contemplative tribute to its neighborhood through the lens of adult, family-oriented concerns. [SRK]

An MC who deserves the respect that he’s demanding, Blueprint delivers swagger as well as social commentary on Respect the Architect, a low-budget selection of loops that pushes his most effective instrument—his voice—to the front. [LE]

On his second LP, NoCanDo combines Scribble Jam-winning versatility with R&B hooks and a strong sense of humor—featuring an ode to ex-girlfriends (“Never Looked Better”) and an eloquent response to perceived problems (“3rd World Hustle”). [LE]

For the proper follow-up to his 2011 breakthrough, electronic producer / graphic designer Scott Hansen re-imagines his music as a vehicle for a trio, resulting in a stronger pulse via his backing band. [SRK]

THE UNSEMBLE: S/T (Ipecac)

WATTER: THIS WORLD (Temporary Residence)

LILACS & CHAMPAGNE: MIDNIGHT FEATURES, VOL. 1: SHOWER SCENE (Mexican Summer)

EYVIND KANG / JOHN ZORN: ALASTOR: THE BOOK OF ANGELS, VOL. 21 (Tzadik)

As The Unsemble, members of The Jesus Lizard, Einstürzende Neubauten, and The Silver Jews subvert expectations in myriad ways, making a powerful statement in ambience and texture. [SRK]

Mixing everything from film-score sounds to folk and electronica can be a recipe for disaster, but with members of Slint and Grails on board, Watter attacks the challenge with aplomb. [OC]

Grails members Alex Hall and Emil Amos expand their experiment with clashing soundscapes by adding live musicians to its sample-based songs, giving another layer to already-nuanced music. [LE]

The latest in John Zorn’s second Masada songbook, these 10 songs from master composer and violist / multi-instrumentalist Eyvind Kang offer a gorgeous collision of styles, dancing between Indian, Persian, Jewish, exotica, and jazz. [SM]

ROCK

INDIE / FOLK

BEATS

EXPERI- / INSTRUMENTAL

MOOD-OMETER

RAGING ≤

≥ RELAXED

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MODERN ROCK -’N’- ROLL CULTURE

ISLE OF MAN PHOTO BY RYAN LOWRY