Issue #1 – October 2014 -‐ FREE -‐ killerponytail.com
SHE KEEPS BEES The Brooklyn duo prove that quiet is the new loud
Pissed Jeans Night School Wild Ones Neutral Milk Hotel
So we made it to the first ‘official’ issue of Killer Ponytail! Following on from #0, released in the summer, there has been nothing short of an onslaught of new and exciting music released since then. The end of the festival season means bands can hole themselves up and do what hey do best: write and record some great music. And we’ve got some spectacular examples right here. We’re proud as proverbial punch to have Brooklyn’s soulful rockers She Keeps Bees gracing our front cover -‐ read on for an in depth interview with singer Jessica Larrabee. Elsewhere, we’ve also got a hilarious Q&A with Matt Korvette of legendary agro-‐rock outfit Pissed Jeans, as well a spotlight on Night School who bring with them some seriously 60s tinged punk as well as a nostalgic look back at Neutral Milk Hotel’s seminal album In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. And if that wasn’t enough, you’ll find all the usual recommended tracks and reviews to chew over. Thanks for reading and go and discover some amazing new music… it’s right here.
James If you’ve got something you think we should know about, or just want to say hi, get in touch: killerponytail@gmail.com
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SPEAKERS PUSH THE AIR
INTERVIEW
A few choice tracks that have been rattling our speakers 4
We meet the mighty grit-‐rock duo She Keeps Bees
SPOTLIGHT
Q&A
We shine a spotlight on popgaze stalwarts Night School 5
Getting weird with Matt Korvette of Pissed Jeans
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INTRODUCING
Wild Ones bring some synth-‐pop sunshine our way
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REVIEWS
Music + opinions
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RETRO HYPE
Matt Korvette – Pissed Jeans
We revisit Neutral Milk Hotel’s seminal second album: 15 3
Here are some of the tracks that have been massaging the speakers of the office stereo since last time… Ty Segall – ‘Feel’ The omnipresent San Franciscan returned this summer with Manipulator, an album that gave us all a peak into the psychedelic psyche of the man himself. Standout track ‘Feel’ delivers a sucker-‐punch of hard rock, swirling melody and an unashamedly ostentations guitar solo with a wall of guitars that sounds like a turbo injected bulldozer. What more could you ask for? Mina Tindle – ‘Taranta’ ‘Taranta’, taken from Tindle’s forthcoming album Parades, mixes a cocktail of Latin beats and delicate piano. It’s a potent and intoxicating journey, during which Tindle serenades and seduces with her sultry vocals. Beautiful. Girlpool – ‘Blah, Blah, Blah’ LA based duo Girlpool are about as direct as it’s possible to get. Short, sharp bursts of blistering harmonies, indie rock guitar noise with pop hooks so catchy they’ll stay with you for days, maybe even months. ‘Blah, Blah, Blah’ is a case in point. Two minutes of scrappy, punk infused attitude and gloriously lo-‐fi hooks. That fact that they don’t have a drummer doesn’t really matter. With songs this good, who needs one?
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Girlpool
NIGHT SCHOOL Everybody knows school is a drag. And going to school at night is even worse. Remember being stuck in a room staring out of the window during the evening whist your friends are out partying sucking nitrous oxide and getting drunk? Well, Californian three piece Night School are here to put those memories far behind you. They’re ready to bring their own party straight to wherever you are. Ex-‐Whirr member Alexandra Morte has been busy recently and has now formed a three strong outfit in the form of Night School, creating pure, hardcore nuggets of popgaze crack for your ears.
The band are set to release their debut EP Heart Beat on 7th October and it has all the hallmarks of 60s pop infused teenage heartache coupled with the trashy garage punk attitude to get over it. From the first track ‘Best Friends’ to closer ‘Heart Beat’, Night School showcase their ability to sound like the long lost children of the Shangri-‐Las and The Crystals if they’d been locked in a room listening to 90s Sub Pop records before climbing out the window to party with Echo and the Bunnymen. In other words, pretty amazing. 5
When you listen to Brooklyn based duo She Keeps Bees, it’s obvious that they deliver more than the average rock ‘n’ roll duo. Jessica Larrabee and Andy LaPlant have spent the past eight years honing their skills as two of the most dynamic purveyors of dirty, gritty, soulful rock with a depth of emotion it’s hard to find these days. In their fourth album, Eight Houses, She Keeps Bees have taken a departure from their usual wall-‐to-‐wall gnarly guitars and pounding drums and taken their music in a more considered direction. There’s still plenty of muscle in the music, but this time it’s got a softer touch.
We caught up with Jessica Larrabee to find out about their new album, what inspired their change in direction and where the band are going from here.
Tell us about the new album, how did it all come together and what was the recording process like?
We used a studio and a producer which allowed us to focus on 6
the performance and mood instead of Andy engineering. Working with Nicolas Vernhes was transformational. He stretched and pruned us. Made us get uncomfortable and real and break certain songs apart. He could pull sounds and create atmosphere that comes with years of honing craft. We were honored to share that experience with him and his assistant Gabe Wax. Eight Houses has a more mellow aesthetic compared with your previous albums and there’s almost a gospel feel to some of the tracks. Why did you choose to take your music in this direction?
We definitely took our time and sculpted this album. I think it’s natural to ebb and flow from aggressive to receptive qualities. We set out to make a different record but as we cut songs from the album it definitely turned into a slow-‐burn. Though ‘Raven’ is probably the loudest, hardest song we’ve ever recorded. There’s a real visceral quality to the lyrics on this album, tracks like ‘Burning Bowl’ and ‘Wasichu’ particularly. What did you draw upon when writing the lyrics for Eight Houses? ‘Burning Bowl’ is a clearing ritual that anyone can do. Write down elements of your life that you want written out of your life. Burn it safely – take the ashes to a living water source for that energy to be recycled by the universe. ‘Wasichu’ – The more I read of early american history the more I realized this was a universal story of “progress.”
The western world enclosing on indigenous people of the world – taking their natural resources, destroying their sense of self through assimilation, be concurred or die. Punishment for speaking your language, cut your hair, believe in our God, stay put, be quiet. What inspired you (musically or otherwise) during the song writing process as a whole for the new album? Our love for the East Village Radio show called Chances With Wolves – that has pulled us through some low moments. The documentary ‘We Shall Remain’ about the history of First Nations People in America. Driving through the States on our tour in 2012/13 – really being able to see America and it’s small towns disintegrating – it’s sadness and stories. It was really eye-‐opening and affected a lot of the songs on the new album. You’ve collaborated with Sharon Van Etten on this album. How did her involvement come about? 7
“We definitely took our time and sculpted this album... it definitely turned into a slow-‐ burn. Though ‘Raven’ is probably the loudest, hardest song we’ve ever recorded.” We’ve been friends for years. She is a truly giving and supportive friend. I am always strengthen by her loving energy. She happen to be in town while we were recording. We love the way our voices sound together. What’s the story behind the album title and the cover? We came across an incredible family photo album in a thrift store in Wisconsin. We love the old and forgotten and giving it a new life. Eight Houses comes from astrology – the eighth house. This also our eighth release and we’ve been a band for eight years.
Eight Houses comes from astrology – the eighth house. This also our eighth release and we’ve been a band for eight years. You’re about to embark on a pretty big tour. How does it feel to be taking the new songs on the road? Good! We’re happy to start sharing the new album. How do you feel about going on the road and touring? We love it. Though it’s hard – we are honored to get to do what we do. Have you got any strange and/or funny tour stories? In Oslo Norway we were sound checking before the show and noticed a couple was on a date watching us. We finished and I was chatting to the sound guy when this woman (very beautiful) walked over and kissed me on the lips and walked out of the venue. Andy quipped “I’m in the band too!” She never came back. What’s next for She Keeps Bees over the next year? Touring as much as we can. Eight Houses is out now on BB*Island.
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Ten years is a long time. As the years pass, every now and then certain circumstances combine and give you the chance to take stock and look back at what you’ve achieved. Well, it turns out this is exactly what’s happening to Pennsylvanian agro-‐rockers Pissed Jeans as their debut album Shallow is being subjected to the reissue treatment, in a release that also includes their inaugural Throbbing Organ 7″₺, all courtesy of the alternative music mecca that is Sub Pop. On the eve of the reissue of Shallow/ Throbbing Organ we caught up with Pissed Jeans ring leader and all round good dude Matt Korvette to look back on how things have changed over the past ten years, and to find out if being in one of the loudest bands around is still any fun. So, a remastered version of your debut album Shallow is about to be released. How does it feel for your first album to be subjected to the reissue treatment? I’m pretty pleased! It’s nothing super fancy really, no box set of practice recordings and prank phone calls, just a record we are proud of being available once again. I’m glad it’s happening!
Shallow certainly caught people’s attention when it came out. How do you think it’s going to go down second time around? I hope people enjoy it! We still play a lot of those songs, and I think it’s a great record. It’s kinda fun to look back a little and see how we’ve matured, or completely not matured, maybe. What was the recording process like for Shallow back in 2005? Pretty rudimentary, although not too different from now. We set up in our friend Dan McKinney’s basement studio, filled one tiny little side room with Brad’s amps, and scared the hell out of the community college interns who helped plug in cables. Any funny stories to tell about the recording and/or touring you did in support of Shallow? We traveled in Dave’s small bus that he converted to run on vegetable oil, and it broke down like three times. We stayed at some asshole’s house in North Carolina and while I was sleeping inside the bunk (or rather, attempting 9
to sleep), some neighbor was fed up with the insane noise happening at the asshole’s house and threw a rock through the window, narrowly avoiding my limp body. The asshole never apologized. I distinctly remember staying in a hotel the next night, and swimming in the indoor hotel pool, where Brad sang King Diamond songs flawlessly with the insane pool-‐room acoustics. One night, Robert, from the band Air Conditioning that we were touring with, came in super late to our hotel room, covered in grass clippings from laying on someone’s lawn. I think that was the same night that Dave played without any pants on, his junk swinging in the breeze, and we blew the power out, so he had to just stand there and try to cover up. There are actually a ton of stories from that tour. It was the first time I heard Benny Benassi, which kind of changed my life.
I would’ve boosted the vocals in the mix, and I don’t say that as an egotistical vocalist (at least I hope not), I say it because they were pretty buried. I think the remastering kinda fixed that, though. Besides that, great record!
The album includes the 2004 Throbbing Organ single. How did you think the single was gong to be received on its release and did you think Pissed Jeans would still be going 10 years later?
I thought it was a cool record, fairly unique for its time, and I was really proud of it. I also really didn’t care about it, like it was more of a lark than anything, which is probably why it ended up being cool. If I was strongly invested in it, we may not be chatting right now. What’s next for Pissed Jeans?
How has Pissed Jeans changed as a band in the near decade since Shallow was released?
A new record, more shows, same old same old really. Being in this band is truly a delight, both performing live and writing and recording new music. I don’t think we’ll ever stop, at least until Sub Pop talks to their accountant and realizes what a horrible mistake they’ve been making.
Both Dave and Tim, in the original line up, have left the band, both shortly after Shallow. They remain close friends. We’ve also matured from our early 20s to our early 30s, in more ways than I could have imagined. It’s cool, I am way better at life now, but sadly, also closer to death.
Shallow is out now on Sub Pop. Read the full interview with Matt Korvette over at killerponytail.com!
Hindsight’s a great thing – would you change anything about Shallow looking back on it?
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Wild Ones Portland’s Wild Ones are no strangers to adversity. Back in 2012 the band were on the verge of meltdown, their original drummer left the band, their long time guitarist had a busted eardrum the new drummer brought in to bolster the rhythm section suffered a punctured lung and was well and truly out of action. On top of that, the band were financially struggling to finish their debut album with the costs of mastering and mixing racing beyond anything the band could afford, it looked like Wild Ones were about to be forced to put a stop to the whole thing.
Luckily, things turned around in a big way. Through determination, the band recovered (both physically and financially) and by the beginning of 2014, Wild Ones were stronger than ever playing shows once again with their freshly completed debut album Keep It Safe in tow. And we’re glad it all worked out. 11
Keep It Safe is an album full of charm and melodic overdrive taking influences from synth pop and punk to world beat and good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll delivering a sonic punch akin to the likes of Vampire Weekend and Hospitality. Wild Ones managed to create an album that’s greater than the sum of its eclectic parts and are set make music that continues to be so. It turns out what doesn’t kill you actually does make you stronger.
in that they deal with introspection and self discovery, and in Ambrogio’s album, these two emotive forces combine with emotionally explosive results. The opening track ‘Superstitious’ weaves subtle tones of guitar and soft synths as Ambrogio confesses “I get superstitious when it comes to you and me”, bearing her soul to an unidentified lover. Tracks like ‘Reservoir’ continue this trend, steeping their own sound in ethereal tones that wash over the immersive vocal line leaving you feeling the need to come up for air. ‘Kylie’ combines Ambrogio’s free form vocals and a cello to devastating effect, sounding like a long lost Patti Smith track. Despite having favored a more down-‐tempo aesthetic compared to her previous output, the spirit of Magik Markers does make an appearance, manifesting itself in tracks like ‘Mary Perfectly’ and ‘Stopped Clocks’ which blaze a trail of frenetic energy in their wake that seems, at times, unstoppable. But it’s the softer side that wins out in the end, and it’s Ambrogio’s confessional tone that runs throughout the album and makes The Immoralist such a captivating listen.
Elisa Ambrogio
The Immoralist (D rag City) 21 October Result: A
Elisa Ambrogio, better known for fronting the jam-‐rock outfit Magik Markers, is no stranger to making serious noise. If you’ve ever caught a Markers show, you’ll have been subjected to the heady mix of feedback and distortion that Ambrogio seems to revel in so readily. So, you could be forgiven for expecting her solo album to be along the same lines. But you’d be wrong. The Immoralist sees Ambrogio embracing her more contemplative side in creating an album that has, at its heart, a tender touch.
The album has much in common with Andre Gide’s 1902 book of the same name, which is undoubtedly its namesake,
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Despite him saying the release was an “experiment”, it certainly seem to have an anti-‐establishment motivation far beyond just trying out something new. But industry politics aside, what of the music? Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes is definitely not an easy listen, but given Yorke’s recent output, that was to be expected. From the opening track ‘A Brain in a Bottle’ it’s clear that Yorke is accessing the depths of his experimental side relying almost entirely on samples and crunchy drum loops to create the songs on this album. Yorke has taken his music, in whatever guise, down an electronic path for a long time now, so it’s no real surprise that Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes is composed the way it is, the trouble is that the glitches and overly saturated samples tend to tread water in places and closer ‘Nose Grows Some’ seems to edge into sound collage territory, rather than being a coherent piece of work. Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes is not a bad record, it’s got plenty of energy and dynamism, not least in tracks like ‘There’s No Ice For My Drink’ which builds with carefully constructed textures and ambient overdubs, crating an impressive sonic landscape. But as a whole, Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes comes across as a pretty good demo, rather than a fully realized album. Maybe it just needed more time to breathe.
Thom Yorke
Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes (self released ) 6 October Result: D+ It’s hard to know what to expect from Radiohead frontman and wiggly dancer extraordinaire Thom Yorke. In between his most well known work with Radiohead and various side projects including the wildly successful Atoms For Peace, Yorke has somehow found the time to produce a second solo record, his first since 2006’s Eraser. It’s being touted as a solo record, but it was conceived and executed in close partnership with Yorke’s long time cohort Nigel Godrich, who also happens to be in Atoms For Peace, so it’s probably more appropriate to call it a collaboration. The fact that Yorke chose to side step traditional models of the established record industry by releasing this album via a pay-‐for download on the infamous BitTorrent site is probably an entirely separate conversation in itself, but it does bear out Yorke’s considerable frustration with the industry establishment, as well as his willingness to openly kick against it.
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Ex-Hex
Aphex Twin
My steries
Rips (Merge) 13 October
Syro (Warp) 6 October
Result: A-
Result: C+
New Age Music Is Here (Felte) 27 October
Result: B-
With former Helium and Wild Flag member Mary Timony serving as the driving force behind Ex-‐Hex, it was nearly impossible for this project to fail. But provenance aside, what counts is the music (obviously), and with Rips, Ex-‐Hex have proved that experience counts for a lot. From the opening onslaught of ‘Don’t Wanna Lose’ to ‘You Fell Apart’, Ex-‐Hex deliver an unrelenting juggernaut of taught, vampish punk energy. And ‘Waste Your Time’ sounds like it could comfortably sit alongside any Kim Deal fronted Pixies track. Rips is basically a messy, unmissable teenage house party strewn across 35 minutes.
Richard D. James made sure the Warp records hype machine was in overdrive during the run up to the release of his new album, Syro. But who can blame him? It was the first Aphex Twin album in 13 years, so it was kind of a big deal… a big deal that, it turned out, delivered in multiple ways. With tracks like the catchily titled ‘4 bit 9d api+e+6 [126.26]’, Aphex Twin showcases his sinister vision of dystopia through electronic music. Sonically, Syro isn’t that different to his previous output, but ‘different’ isn’t really what you want from an Aphex Twin album, more of the same will do just fine.
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When it comes to musical enigmas, you’d be hard pushed to find a band more shrouded in mystery than LA’s (aptly called) Mysteries. The trio keep their identities a closely guarded secret, but this aesthetic perfectly suits their sound. New Age Music Is Here immerses you in its own world filled with frenetic resonance and spectral melodies. Tracks like ‘Knight Takes Rook’ and ‘Motion’ burst with sonic verve across dissonant synth hooks, and ‘Deckard’ sounds like the sinister brainchild of Trent Reznor and Antony Hegarty. In parts it feels like Mysteries have reigned themselves in a little, but as a whole, NAMIH pushes confidently towards off-‐kilter pop maximalism.
Every issue we revisit a game-‐changing album. This time it’s…
Neutral Milk Hotel -‐ In the Aeroplane Over The Sea wellbeing of lead singer/songwriter Jeff Mangum, who allegedly had a fully fledged breakdown just six short months after the album’s release. But that doesn’t make the visceral nature of the songs any less effective. The album was created as a concept album about the experiences of holocaust victim Anne Frank, and the two-‐step tempo of the trumpets and drums on tracks like ‘The Fool’ and ‘Oh Comely’ gives the album a certain ceremonial feel, which is entirely fitting.
When it comes to bands that have a jagged history, few come close to Neutral Milk Hotel. In between the squabbles and mental breakdowns it seems amazing that they succeeded in making such a meteoric dent in the alt-‐rock genre of late 90s Americana. But they did. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea turned out to be the band’s major breakthrough, but the pressures that came with the attention and relentless touring schedules of a hugely successful album bared its load on the output of the band, and especially on the mental
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Listening to In The Aeroplane Over The Sea fifteen years after it was released is a stark reminder of how relevant the song writing is and how inventive Mangum’s lyrics are. From the first bash of the acoustic guitar on opener ‘The King Of Carrot Flowers pt. 1ʹ′ it’s clear that this was an album that was created solely for the people creating it, like a cathartic private escape. It just so happens that the album hit a zeitgeist championed by bands like R.E.M. (in the early days) and Wilco. The album became greater than the sum of its parts.
The songs on In The Aeroplane Over The Sea have been covered by the likes of The Dresden Dolls, The Mountain Goats and Frightened Rabbit and the album continues to be an underrated selection of wildly energetic melodies brought to the fore with the urgent vocal stylings of Mangum. Neutral Milk Hotel went on indefinite hiatus shortly after In The Aeroplane Over The Sea was released (the band even turned down an extremely lucrative support tour with R.E.M.) but have recently reformed to play a series of live shows drawing heavily from the album in their set, proving that In The Aeroplane Over The Sea remains as relevant today as it did when it was released fifteen years ago. (Right) Neutral Milk Hotel performing at The Satyricon, Portland, OR in 1998
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