MUSIC&RIOTS Magazine 10 by MUSIC&RIOTS Magazine

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ALCOA TWERPS MOURN BRETON THE SKINTS LIKE PACIFIC HARM’S WAY ROTTING OUT LIGHTNING BOLT

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CANCER BATS

BRAVE AND ARTISTIC! THEIR MOST RELENTLESS AND HONEST STATEMENT

MARRIAGES A LEAP FORWARD AND A NEW CHAPTER FOR THE TRIO’S RIVETING AND NOSTALGIC SOUND...

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INTERPOL · RIDE ANTONY JOHNSONS THE REPLACEMENTS PATTI SMITH & BAND U N D E RWO R L D

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Horses

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BELLE & SEBASTIAN · CARIBOU · DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE · DAMIEN RICE FKA TWIGS · RUN THE JEWELS · EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN BANDA DO MAR · SPIRITUALIZED · MAC DEMARCO · JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ ARIEL PINK · FOXYGEN · THE THURSTON MOORE BAND MANEL CRUZ · THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS · ELECTRIC WIZARD JUNGLE · SUN KIL MOON · BABES IN TOYLAND · MIKAL CRONIN SHELLAC · DAN DEACON · BAXTER DURY · OUGHT · THE JUAN MACLEAN (LIVE) GIANT SAND · HEALTH · PALLBEARER · BRUNO PERNADAS · VIET CONG ROMAN FLÜGEL · EX HEX · MOVEMENT · YASMINE HAMDAN · KEVIN MORBY PHARMAKON · MARC PIÑOL · YOUNGHUSBAND · XYLOURIS WHITE · THE KVB · TWERPS

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FEATURES UPCOMING - CEREMONY

10 They’re back with a new album! ROUND UP - Daughn Gibson, Cold

12 Cave, No Joy, Prurient, Fucked Up... - THE WINTER PASSING 14 INTRODUCING Interview with Rob Flynn - LOLA COLT 18 RISING Interview with the UK’s arty band NEU // VOL.10 - Mitski, Youth Man,

22 Charly Bliss, Bully

INTERVIEWS 28 TWERPS

32 36 38 50 56 62 66 70 74 78

HARM’S WAY MOURN CANCER BATS MINSK LIGHTNING BOLT BRETON ROTTING OUT THE SKINTS LIKE PACIFIC ALCOA

COVER STORY

MARRIAGES Interview with Emma Ruth Rundle

REVIEWS 82

ALBUMS REVIEWS Marriages, Courtney Barnett, While She

Sleeps, Kendrick Lamar, Seasick Steve, The Muscadettes, As It Is, Cancer Bats, Waxahatchee, Screaming Females, Gallows, Steve Wilson, Death Grips, Royal Thunder, Minsk, Young Fathers, Lightning Bolt, Slutever, Susanne Sundfør, Enablers, Hannah Cohen, The Skints, White Hills, Leviathan, Liturgy and much more...

REPORT 106 LIVE Enablers, Mark Lanegan, Duke Garwood,

Metronomy, Enter Shikari, Rökkurró, Karnivool

114 CINEMA Whiplash, Clouds Of Sils Maria, John Wick, The Water Diviner, Cake, Coherence, The Voices, Fifty Shades of Grey.

“It’s easier to use mythologies or stories as a key to describing things that happened in one’s personal life, I guess.” Emma Ruth Rundle - Marriages WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

This month was pure madness, so many great records, so many new bands, great shows but this is just the beginning... Like I said before, 2015 is going to be a massive year regarding new releases, there’s so many different stuff right now that we are overwhelmed with so many good things that we must listen to, because this “must listen to” is mandatory... For this brand new issue, we have the pleasure of having Marriages on our front cover, their music and art is something that’s thrive and we admire, a full artistic statement. In this very same issue we’re so proud to have legends like Minsk and Lightning Bolt, artists that are known for breaking their own boundaries. We also have rising names like Harm’s Way, LA’s hardcore heavy-weights Rotting Out, the amazing Cancer Bats, the incendiary The Skints and awesome new and talented acts like Mourn, Breton, Twerps and much more... It’s our issue 10, have fun reading it and we couldn’t be happier about it! Your Editor, Fausto Casais

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YOUNG FATHERS

White Men Are Black Man Too Big Dada Available on 06.04.2015

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HUGE FUCKING THANKS

Mike Cubillos, Lauren Barley, Frank van Liempdt, Deathwish Inc, Head Up! Shows, Thrill Jockey, Neurot Recordings, PIAS, Sub Pop, Sargent House, Stephanie Marlow, Amplificasom, Epitaph, Earsplit, Matador, Spinefarm, Southern Lord, Tell All Your Friends, Riot Act Media, Team Clermont,Bloodshot Records, Roadrunner Records, Joan Hiller, Eros Pasi, Rude Records, Pure Noise Records, Nothing, Memorial Records, Biruta Records, Napalm Records, Mona Miluski, Venn Records

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WHILE SHE SLEEPS Brainswashed Search And Destroy Out Now

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All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without our permission. The views expressed in MUSIC&RIOTS Magazine are those of the respective contributors and are not necessarily shared by the magazine or its staff.

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BIG PICTURE

SLEATER-KINNEY O2 ABC GLASGOW 25.03.2015 Picture by: Alex Woodward

CEREMO

Breakup songs about loneliness, loss an 12

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ONY

UPCOMING // CEREMONY

eremony are back! On their fifth LP, The L-Shaped Man, singer Ross Farrar uses his recent breakup as a platform to explore loneliness and emotional weariness, but it is by no means a purely sad album. Rather than look inward - “A lot of the content has to do with loss, and specifically the loss of someone who you care deeply about,” Farrar says. “There is no way for you to go through something like this artistically and not have really strong emotions of loss and pain. There’s not really any way to hide that.” - Farrar uses his experience to write about what it means to go through something heavy and come out the other side a different person. “We’ve always tried to be minimalists in writing, even if it’s loud or fast or abrasive,” says lead guitarist Anthony Anzaldo. “It’s really intense when I hear it. Not in a way where you turn everything up to ten. Things are so bare, you’re holding this one note for so long and you don’t know where it’s going—to me, that’s intensity.” Recorded with producer John Reis, who honed his sound in seminal bands like Rocket from the Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, and Hot Snakes. Much of the gravelly aggression he experimented with in those bands is present on The L-Shaped Man. There’s a story behind the title too. “I was speaking to our driver Stephen while on tour,” Farrar says. “We were talking about men in general and what shape they are... their body type. I said, ‘I guess men are in the shape of an L. The torso is straight. Vertical. And then you have the little feet at the end.’ There’s this painter named Leslie Lerner who was living in San Francisco in the ‘70s and ‘80s and made these beautiful paintings. He died on my 21st birthday. A lot of the record is about the similarities in our ideas. In what we’re trying to make. Things that have to do with love and losing love.”

nd pain... They’re back!

The L-Shaped Man arrives on May 18 via Matador

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ROUND UP

Paris, France rockers Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! unveil the

NEWS 14

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details for their new album Get Lost, Find Yourself, set to release on May 19th. Recorded in Los Angeles, CA with producer Kyle Black (Comeback Kid, New Found Glory, The Color Morale) Get Lost, Find Yourself follows 2010’s Something For Nothing and 2013’s Pardon My French, each establishing the band’s foothold in the scene. Singer songwriter starlet Lisa Mitchell has signed with the London-based record label, Play It

Again Sam, and she will release her as yet untitled forthcoming album through Play It Again Sam and the [PIAS] worldwide network later this year. She will continue to release her records through Parlophone in Australia and New Zealand. The math-noise-terrorists Rolo Tomassi will be releasing the new single, “Stage Knives,” on April 27. The band will be releasing their fourth full-length, the follow-up to 2012’s amazing Astraea, on June 1. “At 10 years in I feel more enthused than ever with wherewe’re at as a band,”

DAUGHN GIBSON Goes deep and emotional with “Carnation”

aughn Gibson is back! Carnation is the latest offering of an artist always ready to share his unique vision of how art should be portrayed nowadays. Shot through with a deep sensuality, Carnation lyrical subject matter, sharing a kinship with writers Raymond Carver and Donald Ray Pollack. Combining lyrics with widescreen effect, Carnation evokes, and in many ways seems to be a homage to the works of Tim Burton, Pier Paulo Pasolini, and John Waters. This new effort was co-produced by Gibson and Randall Dunn (Earth, Sunn O))), Tim Hecker), recorded at Avast Studios in Seattle, Washington and mastered by Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering. The album features guest appearances from composer/violinist to Eyvind Kang (string arrangements), renowned studio drummer Matt Chamberlain, as well as Gibson’s long-standing musical conspirator, Jim Elkington. Additional contributions include: Steve Moore (Piano, Trombone, Keyboards and Synths); Milky Burgess, Paul Wegman, and Jer Rouse (Guitars); Skerik (Saxophone); and Jay Kardong (Pedal Steel). It’s also his third album and his Sup Pop debut . Carnation arrives on June 1 via Sup Pop

said frontwoman Eva Spence. “With Grievances, we followed on from the sound we developed on Astraea and pushed that even more so to make an album we’re all really proud of and which I consider to be our best material to date.” Bay Area pop-punk band The Story So Far has announced that they will be releasing a self-titled album on May 19th via Pure Noise Records. The Story So Far will be kicking off a headlining tour in May with support from Four

Year Strong, Terror and Souvenirs. HBO will air the authorized Kurt Cobain documentary Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck on May 4. The upcoming soundtrack for the documentary Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck not only will offer insights about Nirvana frontman’s life, but its soundtrack also will feature an unreleased track from Cobain. Brett Morgen, the film’s director, shared the news on Twitter. “Listening to a mind blowing 12 minute acoustic Cobain unheard track that will be

heard on the montage of heck soundtrack,” he wrote on social media. Run For Cover has signed the legendary mewithoutYou. The band will release their record number 6 – produced by the great Will Yip – this summer, which is the follow-up to 2013’s Ten Stories. Superheaven (fka Daylight) are releasing their second album and first for SideOneDummy this year. It’s called Ours Is Chrome, follows their excellent 2013 debut Jar, and will be out May 4.

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The name Winter Passing may recall you the 2005's movie by Adam Rapp, but that is also the name of these five young musicians’ band. Hailing from Ireland,

THE WINTER PASSING create a mix of punk with 90’s emo, rock and even folk and they caught our attention with their awesome songs. They're about to release their first album titled A Different Space of Mind and Rob Flynn (guitar/ vocals) was kind enough to answer our questions. Words: Andreia Alves

ell us a brief story of how you guys got together and formed this band. Myself and Colly (guitar in TWP) decided we wanted to do a band together again. We started jamming some ideas and put together a demo that we then took the rest of the band. We started jamming more together during early 2012 and played our first show on February 2012 with some local bands in a basement in Dublin.

You cite The Get Up Kids, Jimmy Eat World, Built To Spill, The Anniversary, Brand New, Smashing Pumpkins as main, influences. What other things influence your creative process? Skateboarding and the influence that has on punk music is definitely a strong one, books, poetry and films are also key to creating the vibe of this band. We take influence from individuals we meet and life in general!

How did you come up with the name The Winter Passing? Winter Passing is actually the name of a movie, we originally were going to call the band Winter but went with The Winter Passing in the end, it personally symbolises us having this band, to pass through the winter seasons together!

Your sound is a mix of punk with 90’s emo, rock and even folk. How do you usually approach the songwriting process as a band? Well, the old stuff definitely has that feel to it, but I think on the new record we sound a bit different. This record is a little more straight up alt rock or indie

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or garage pop! With the writing process nowadays, usually myself or Colly will have a song idea, both of us will usually piece the song together, take it to the guys to play out, everyone writes their own parts from there, and me and Kate handle lyrical content! How is it like to be in a band with your own sister [Kate]? It’s cool, yeah, it makes sense. Kate and I have been singing and playing together our whole lives so it makes sense we have a band together now! We’re more like best mates really! Your brother-sister combo as vocalists adds an extra deepness into your songs. How do you write the melodies and lyrics? Together or individually?

INTRODUCING // THE WINTER PASSING

“Skateboarding and the influence that has on punk music is definitely a strong one, books, poetry and films are also key to creating the vibe of this band.” different space of mind” refers to the calm after the storm, the realisation that everything is actually ok. When people hear the album, I’m sure it’ll make more sense then. Last year you released the lead single of your record and it’s entitled “Fruits of Gloom”, which was also released a video for it. Tell us a little about that song and the connection with the music video. We chose “Fruits of Gloom” as the first single because it was a good representation of our new direction, it shows our more chill side and our classic heavy side all in one song. “Fruits of Gloom” is a song of hope, like the title of the album.

Yeah I guess, Kate understands and feels the things I write about, I’m the same with her lyric content! We write some stuff together if we’re working on a song, but usually we’d write lyrics in our own time and then use the content when it’s needed! You shared stage with some awesome acts like Into It. Over It., The Subways, Laura Stevenson & The Cans, Algernon Doll, Balance and Composure, Seahaven, Milk Teeth, etc. How much of the live show’s energy you guys bring into the rehearsal and studio space? All of it! It’s funny because when we’re at our rehearsal studio in Dublin, we are usually all rocking out while practicing the songs. [laughs] In the recording studio,

we try to recreate the live sound as much as possible. We use a lot of effect pedals, so that helps. A Different Space of Mind is your debut full-length and it’s going to be released this year. What can we expect from it? You can expect the best music we’ve ever recording on vinyl, you can expect an honest record from a bunch of honest people. We spent a long time working on the album and we’re happy with what we’ve achieved. It’ll be out in the summer. More details will surface soon!

How is it like the Irish punk scene nowadays? It’s pretty good, sometimes it’s poor but for the most part, it’s really cool! There’s a bunch of great new bands doing their thing, people support and encourage the bands, we owe everything to the punk scene in Dublin. Do you recommend us any new bands? Yeah, check out all these IRISH bands because Ireland rules and has some fantastic bands: Chewing on Tinfoil, Nibiru, Frustration, Crows, Stairwells, Bitch Falcon, The Number Ones, Squarehead, Driveway, Boardwalk and Versive. You’ll find more if you start with these bands!

What does A Different Space of Mind represent to you guys? The record is about survival, about overcoming personal real life issues, the term “a www.facebook.com/MUSICandRIOTS.Magazine

A Different Space of Mind arrives on May 26 via FITA Records 17

ROUND UP

COLD CAVE New album in June, Eisold goes cold into full moon days

esley Eisold aka Cold Cave has announced the release of a new album! Titled Full Cold Moon, it will be released June 16th on 12”LP vinyl format (a CD collection was released on Eisold’s Heartworm imprint in 2014) via Deathwish Inc. Full Cold Moon is a compilation of EP recordings originally individually released in 2013, now presented as one collection; A Little Death to Laugh, Oceans With No End, God Made the World, Black Boots, and Nausea, the Earth and Me. Notably this is also the first vinyl appearance of the song “Dandelion” as well as the entire Nausea, the Earth and Me EP (previously only available on limited CD and Digital formats). This is Cold Cave at his most artistically skeletal, similar to the celebrated Cremations and Love Comes Close releases. Twelve minimal compositions driven by Eisold’s synth derived hooks, alluring vocals, and compelling character.

Full Cold Moon arrives on June 16th via Deathwish Inc. 18

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Jaakko Eino Kalevi

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announced the details of his new self-titled album, due for release June 15th, and his first full-length album for Weird World. In the periods between shows, Jaakko worked on the album in various studios in his native Helsinki, where he’d write, play, record and sing almost everything himself. The album was already recorded by the time Jaakko relocated to Berlin last summer, and so later in the year he escaped to New York to mix the record with Nicolas

NO JOY New album “More Faithful” in June

o Joy announce their new record More Faithful out June 9th on Mexican Summer and Arts & Crafts (Canada Only). “This was a fully collaborative effort in songwriting between the four of us,” Jasamine explains. For More Faithful, No Joy worked with musician and producer Jorge Elbrecht (Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Chairlift, Violens). Recording was split between tracking at Brooklyn studio Gary’s Electric and an old farmhouse in Costa Rica. Repairing themselves to a much more isolated environment strengthened No Joy’s regimented approach to making a record that satisfied their vision. “We were out in the jungle on the side of a mountain in the middle of rain season... We had no cell reception, and there were no other people around, so we were very isolated during the process. There was nothing for us to focus on except finishing the record, so we pushed ourselves pretty intensely to get everything we wanted in those two weeks.” No Joy for their sound stated “we wanted to make a record where the hooks are really hooky, but the music around the hooks is more difficult to make sense of quickly... where people could listen and pick out new things that they didn’t notice the first time. We also knew that we had to write songs that we could transpose to play live. We’re kind of a scrappy live band, and thinking about how these songs would sound at shows really influenced how we wrote them.” More Faithful arrives on June 9 via Mexican Summer

Vernhes, the man with the Midas touch whose recent credits include The War On Drugs and Run The Jewels. Patrick Watson has announced the release of a new album on May 11th via Domino. Titled Love Songs For Robots, this is the follow-up to 2012’s Adventures In Your Own Backyard, which received widespread critical acclaim. The new music was recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles and Pierre Marchand Studio in Montreal. Of the record, some of which

was debuted at private concerts in small loft spaces, Watson explains: “I wanted to make a science fiction R’n’ B meets Vangelis erotica with a zest of folk kind of record.” It was only halfway through writing the record when the artist found himself having, by his own submission, “a bad year” did more personal themes that have begin to creep in. “I started thinking about how emotional reactions were more mechanical than we think and the only thing left between us and artificial intelligence is the act

of inspiration. Just food for thought.” Following on from the gorgeous, sardonic, downbeat witticisms of his debut single “Book of Love”, Australian troubadour Fraser A. Gorman returns with another irresistible slice of sun-baked, cracked-heart alt-country, in the form of “Broken Hands”. “I got no soul ’cause country music sounds to me like rock ‘n’ roll”, says Gorman. He’s wrong and we love it!

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LOLA COLT

are one of the best live performing bands in UK at the moment and their debut album is being a success in the Queen´s land. Besides, their original name comes from a feminist character of a Western Spaghetti film and the visual concepts of music are very important to them. Their name is Lola Colt. Words: Ana Carvalho

ow did Lola Colt come together and formed a band? Lola Colt began life as a project invented by founding members Gun O and Matt L. The initial concept was based loosely around composing film scores for imaginary movies, but after a year or so spent defining the sound and creating demo recordings we decided we’d like to form a band and play the music live. We met different people along the way and eventually became the six-piece you see today. Where did the name of the group come from? 20

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Our namesake is an obscure 60’s spaghetti western staring a black female showgirl-turned-gunslinger. We connected with the quirky, unusual nature of the film and related to the fact that it had a strong female lead in an otherwise male-dominated genre. What is the main conceptual message of this work and how was the writing process? Away From The Water was written across some five years or more, and as such there was no single process for how the songs were formed. When we decided to record an album we looked at the music we’d written to date and thought about links and themes in the music and subject matter that tied together in order to create a record with a flow that made sense to us. It doesn’t have a conceptual message as such, except to the people that wrote

it. No one outside of the band is supposed to be able to decipher a message, or even understand it beyond a certain level. It’s a reflection of the people we were while making it, and a way for us to express our thoughts and feelings through lyrics and music to better understand ourselves. It’s a really very personal and introverted body of work. Your music is very visual and cinematographic. How did you get the inspirations and influences to create these art performances on stage? We always try to visualize the music we create because it helps to understand it. Sometimes the visual aspect comes first. In the early days we would try to imagine scenes, people or landscapes, stories, and try to create sounds to explore the ideas further. How that has evolved into

RISING // LOLA COLT control of what we create which means we’re able to sculpt and play with it more. We’re becoming better at navigating the journey, which means we’re able to push the corners and probe deeper. You worked with Jim Sclavunos from Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds on your debut album Away From the Water. How was it like to work with such background? Fantastic, daunting, hilarious, intense. Having someone in that role is like having someone constantly hold a mirror in front of you. It forces you to think about things the way they really are, and strip away the fuzzy, sugar-coated haze that is your subjective view on what something sounds like. This is why finding the right producer is so crucial. They have to understand who you are in order to give an accurate reflection of what you are doing. Jim has the perfect background for us in that respect, and the fact that he’s a top musician too means we were really able to understand each other. When to fight the battles and when to concede, when to push and when to pull. You can’t have that kind of relationship with someone you don’t trust and respect absolutely.

our live shows has varied a great deal. We’ve worked with many talented visual projection artists, used different combinations of live and pre-recorded moving images etc. When we’re on tour it is far harder to do this, as there are stricter time, budget and logistics to consider, but sometimes keeping the focus solely on the people in the band is a great way to show visually what you are trying to convey. If you had to choose about making a soundtrack for a film, which movie director would you like to work with? Often people mention directors like David Lynch or Quentin Tarantino when speaking about us. They are definitely huge influences on us and we really respect their work, but it would be fun to work with a producer where the influences are a little

less direct. Perhaps someone like Jonathan Glazer or Michel Gondry. You are known by your exciting live performances leading the audience into a psychedelic and seductive atmosphere. How was your first UK tour and what are you expecting of the new UK tour in 2015? It’s been great to move beyond the boundaries of a native London and take what we do to a new audience, to see their reaction to it, to hear their thoughts and feelings about what we do. Our music doesn’t really fit into a single geographical location (or a particular era/time), so it feels right in a way when it’s moving around a lot, from town to town. Gypsies to the highway. As far as the futures concerned, I think we’re evolving rapidly as a band at the moment. We’re more in

Away from the Water was acclaimed by the critics as one of the best UK albums of 2014. How are you reacting to such success being just your first full-length work? It’s been quite an incredible journey, the reaction has been both exciting and fascinating. It’s strange because we’re are very focused as a group, we stay close together in our own little world, our gang, and we’re always immersed in our own introverted adventure. We had no idea how anyone on the outside would react to what we do, so it’s been both scary and exhilarating! What’s next for Lola Colt? We are on tour in Europe for the next few weeks, and planning lots of festival dates across the summer. Beyond that, there is already the hazy, embryonic outline of a second album on the horizon.

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Away From The Water is out now via Fuzz Club Records 21

ROUND UP

PRURIENT back with “Frozen Niagara Falls”

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nown as America’s most prominent noise figurehead, for nearly 20 years under the moniker of Prurient, Dominick Fernow has created a sonic entity unlike any other in the realm of experimental, ambient, and noise music respectively. Throughout the years, Prurient has been known to constantly shape shift its sound into many mutations and incarnations within the noise genre through massively layered walls of sound. Consisting of harsh feedback, tortured vocals, meticulous sampling, machine-like industrial

L.A. lo-fi punk duo Girlpool have announced the release of their debut record Before The World Was Big. After releasing their self-titled EP, Girlpool relocated to Philadelphia at the end of 2014 looking for change of pace and scenery. There they recorded their debut LP, Before The World Was Big, with Kyle Gilbride (of Swearin’). Before The World Was Big explores the concepts of growth, friendship, and the interaction between identity and environment. The introspective-punk duo captures growing pains and existential quandaries with a honest and true intention.

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pounding, entrancing synth work, enticing beats, and waves of electronica, these sounds create an aura that treads the fine line of harsh noise extremity and atmospheric beauty. Frozen Niagara Falls, Prurient’s first full-length album since the 2011’s game changer Bermuda Drain, sees Fernow deliver the most ambitious and massive Prurient album to date. A double-album clocking in at a near 90-minutes, this new Prurient album is set to define Fernow even more as a master within all the genres the band tends to crossover into. In what encompasses moments

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familiar from the entire Prurient catalog along with creating something entirely new and different from what Prurient has previously done, Frozen Niagara Falls (in which its journey began to manifest in late 2013 and was finally completed on Valentine’s Day 2015) could very well be recognized as the Prurient magnum opus.

Frozen Niagara Falls arrives on May 15 via Profound Lore

Historically, Pittsburgh-based punk stalwarts Anti-Flag are back with their new album, American Spring, which is their Spinefarm Records debut and is due out on May 26. “The songs of American Spring are an aggressive critique of the global social and political climate of 2015,” Anti-Flag explained. “The artwork is no different. The cover art is meant to challenge our collective view of violence and peace. The entire American Spring package includes essays, personal liner notes, and further information behind the driving forces

FUCKED UP vs “The Year of the Hare”

ucked Up are one of the most prolific hardcore punk bands of our generation. Since their 2001 inception, they’ve challenged listeners with thoughtful artful chaos and a seemingly limitless drive for musical experimentation. Because of this, they’ve also become a record collectors worst nightmare; releasing over 80 recordings and collaborations on countless labels that include Arts & Crafts, Matador,

Jade Tree, and more. Year of the Hare is the latest installment of their Zodiac themed releases. Over a two year period, it was recorded and constructed at Electrical Audio, Key Club Studios, and Candle Studios. Title track “Year of the Hare” is a 21-minute epic that frantically mixes traditional instrumentation, piano/synths, flutes and sax, experimental editing/soundscapes, and guest vocals from great Isla Craig into one dizzying experience. While BSide “California Cold” slowly

builds and deconstructs over an 8 and a half minute stretch. Organically shifting from jangly melodic-punk anthem into a fuzzed out psychedelic jam session. Eclectically blending musical styles and voices in the most, well, Fucked Up way possible.

of each song, detailing ways for us all to take action against injustice in the world. The American Spring is now.” On March 31st, the first track of the album, “Fabled World” will be premiered worldwide, so stay tuned... Emery announces new album, You Were Never Alone, out on Rude Records in May 19th. The band chose to make fans experience each track meticulously discussed week by week on the brand new podcast Break It Dow. “We are blown away that after going

independent, recording our sixth full-length, and starting our own label, BC Music, the response and new growth to our band would be so massive. It’s truly amazing to now be able to release ‘You Were Never Alone’ internationally with Rude Records and to know we have fans and support all over the world!” Purson have joined forces with Spinefarm Records for a worldwide deal that will see second studio album, Desire’s Magic Theatre, available this Autumn. Rosalie

Cunningham said: “As I sit here in the control room at Gizzard Studios, the pride of East London, I’m excitedly realising that our second album has turned out to be everything I’d imagined and more! My world has been so consumed by it that I’ve barely been able to reflect on what it has become: a technicolour variety show, a playful display of the musical whims only briefly hinted at in our previous work; a psychedelic rock opera dedicated to our good friends Sarge Pepper and Zig Stardust.”

The Year of the Hare EP arrives on June 16 via Deathwish Inc.

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NEU! MITSKI YOUTH MAN CHARLY BLISS BULLY

NEU VOL.10

MITSKI Where? New York (USA) Who? Mitski For fans of: Waxahatchee, Rilo Kiley, Girlpool

itski is that kind of artist that once you hear about you can’t get enough of her. Let’s start off with a brief story about this singer-songwriter. Born in Japan and now based in Brooklyn, Mitski had moved to a different country almost every year of her life until she finally came to the States for college, where she studied Music Composition at SUNY Purchase. She’s fluent in Japanese, English and

also Spanish and cites inspirations from artists like M.I.A., Mica Levi, Björk, Bruce Springsteen and Iggy Pop, but also her dad and mom that brought to her international folk music and Japanese pop. Talking now about her music, her first two self-released records - LUSH (2012) and Retired from Sad, New Career in Business (2013) - have leaned more toward piano-driven tunes. But her latest record Bury Me At Makeout Creek, released last year and rereleased on Don Giovanni this April, it’s the breakage from her previous work and it’s the first record she’s made since she graduated, learned guitar and approached a more rock side. There’s this intensity and ease on Mitski’s writing skills that bring great, honest songs to us.

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YOUTH MAN Where? Birmingham (UK) Who? Kaila Whyte, Miles Cocker, Marcus Perks For fans of: Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Future of the Left

re you looking for a new band that conveys in their music furious and howling riffs with inyour-face vocals and lyrics? Ladies and gents, we introduce you Youth Man, a punk noise trio that knows how to write an angry, strong and fast song that resonates in your mind for quite a while. Hailing from Birmingham, Youth Man are one of the most exciting and

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loudest live acts to come out of the UK and they are sharp, they are intense and they are heavy. Since dropping their first music in 2012, Youth Man have opened for Pissed Jeans and Sleaford Mods. Bad Weather is their debut EP and it was released in late 2013. It’s a five-track EP, which clocks in at just under 20 minutes with a mix between punk attitude and early California hardcore. This year is expected a new EP titled Hill Of Knives that will be released on April 27th. The band has already unveiled a new single taken from their upcoming EP. “Skin” is only 77 seconds long, but it’s how we like it: a complete discharge of energy. If we are blown away by just one song, we’ll be devastated with the rest of them.

NEU VOL.10

CHARLY BLISS Where? New York (USA) Who? Eva Hendricks, Spencer Fox, Sam Hendricks, Dan Copeland For fans of: Amanda X, Girlpool, Tweens

harly Bliss are a Brooklyn-based four-piece that are rising day by day and that’s easily explained. They describe themselves as “bubblegrunge” and it’s an interesting way to put their music into words. We could go further and say that Charly Bliss play what we may call developed pop music, in other words, pop sensibility with the irreverent punk attitude and the

90’s grunge. In 2013, they released their debut EP A Lot To Say that captured their counterbalance sound, which it’s a combination of noisy pop with guitar-driven melodies and Eva’s enchanting voice. With that said, their live shows are characterized by “an enthusiasm that is hard to comprehend,” and we definifitely would love to witness that and even more now with their recent release, Soft Serve. It’s a three-song EP recorded with Philadelphia based producer, Kyle “Slick” Johnson (Modest Mouse, The Hives) and it was accompanied by a music video and comic book trilogy. Besides Soft Serve being one of the best EPs of 2014, the band is already working on their first LP.

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NEU VOL.10

BULLY Where? Nashville (USA) Who? Alicia Bognanno, Stewart Copeland, Clayton Parker, Reece Lazarus For fans of: Chastity Belt, Best Coast, The Breeders

o talk about Bully, we have to start from the beginning and that starts with a background of the singer/songwriter/ guitarist Alicia Bognanno. She grew up in Rosemount, Minnesota and moved to Nashville to pursue an education in audio engineering. She eventually interned at several studios, including Electrical Audio with the legendary Steve Albini and, later, running sound for the

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Nashville venue The Stone Fox. Also, she learned to play guitar, jammed with dudes in basements, was a member of the band King Arthur and engineered at the studio Battle Tapes. Later on, she met drummer (and boyfriend) Stewart Copeland, bassist Reece Lazarus, and guitarist Clayton Parker forming then Bully. Their noisy, power pop goes along with her lyrically frankness creating pure intense and raw songs. They have recently unveiled a new single, “I Remember”, and it’s the first taste of their debut album, which was recorded in Steve Albini’s studio and produced and mixed by Bognanno. The full-length will be released later this year on Columbia imprint Startime International.

MEET THE

S P R TWE

Words: Andreia Alves // Pictures: Benjamin Lichtenstein

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Melbourme's outfit Twerps are back with a new album called Range Anxiety and also with a new member on board. Alex Macfarlane is their new drummer and with that came a new dynamic into the group. We talked with Julia McFarlane about the whole process of creating the new album and a lot more.

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different now, because we have another songwriter in the mix. Everyone has a pretty big say about how the songs go. In August 2014 you released the eight-song EP Underlay, which was the first new material since the arrival of Alex. The songs of the new album Range Anxiety were recorded before the songs of Underlay. How was exactly the writing and recording process for Range Anxiety comparing to Underlay? With Underlay, we intended to make ‘an EP’. There are a couple of factors that shape the process and outcome of an EP, and that was something we were interested in. It wasn’t as if we just didn’t have enough for an album, we wanted a shorter, simpler release that we recorded ourselves in a rehearsal studio. Alex engineered it, mixed it in his bedroom and it was out in about 2 months. It was really nice working that way after making an album which was essentially passing ideas through someone else’s head. It’s nice to have control.

t was back in 2011 that you guys released your self-titled debut album, so how has been life since then? Life has been pretty good/normal/stressful! I suppose a lot has happened - we have had lineup changes, been at school, worked a lot at bars, mailrooms, poster stickups, questioned the point, moved houses, toured the US, and released two albums and a 7”. Five people having five lives. In early 2013 you welcomed your new drummer Alex Macfarlane. How did he get in the mix? We had already known Alex for a while, from shows for years, and also were big fans of his solo stuff, and his band the Stevens. Having Alex on board must have been a refreshing thing as you said “We tried to be open-minded to new processes.” How much of the new lineup changed the band’s dynamics? It changed a lot. While we tried to be faithful to our old songs, we wanted Alex to do his thing. It was hard to get that balance right for the first little while. It’s really

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Why Range Anxiety to name this new album? Why Range Anxiety? We didn’t have a name for a while, Alex keeps a book of funny word combos, and it fit. Apparently it’s a clinically recognised state in which an elderly person fears they might not have enough battery power to get back from the shops on their scooter. Range Anxiety is for sure another record full of charming and delightful tunes. Have you done anything differently this time around that you want to highlight? We really just approached the record in the same manner, there’s no gimmick or anything like that. Track songs, overdub, mix. The new songs show mood swings and different ways to express them. What did inspire you while writing these lyrics? Life, failure and oblivion. What song does stand out the most of this record for you and why? I really love the song “Love At First Sight”. I enjoy it when Martin plays a character, it’s catchy and twisted.

“Why Range Anxiety? ... Apparently it’s a clinically recognised state in which an elderly person fears they might not have enough battery power to get back from the shops on their scooter.”

INTERVIEW // TWERPS

In March you’re going to start a US tour until April and you’re going to play at this year’s Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona. Do you have other touring plans for Europe this year to bring this new awesome album? We are actually planning a tour of Europe as we speak. We’re all so excited because we haven’t been there before! So watch this space for upcoming gig announcements. You guys were on tour with a lot of great bands like Real Estate, Deerhunter, Black Lips, Mac Demarco, etc. How much of the live shows do you take to your writing sessions? When we play, we really just try to do the songs like they’re written. I get a bit grumpy when I

see my favourite bands mess with their songs live! Maybe I’m just a big square... So actually maybe we bring every aspect of our live show to recording? As in, we all stand there playing our instruments as best as we can... Besides Twerps, do you have other projects that you wanna share with us? We have another band called Big Turn which is just Twerps on different instruments, there’s no drums, and with quieter songs. We’ve played one show which was really fun. I think it’s good to perform unresolved ideas, I got a bit pushy with that idea with Twerps. I’m always into trying new songs live, I know why not everyone’s into that, so the other band is perfect.

How it is the Melbourne music scene like nowadays? I think it’s as good as ever! There are some really strong songwriters here, and the scene is very supportive. What bands or records are you into lately? The Stevens, Totally Mild, Full Ugly, The Shifters, Mad Nanna, Destiny 3000, Blank Realm, Constant Mongrel, The UV Race, Peter Escott, Expert Alterations, Patrick Cowley, The Raincoats, Pip Proud.

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Range Anxiety is out now via Merge Records 33

HARM’S EW WORLD N

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SDISOWAY RDER Words: Tiago Moreira

The Chicago-based hardcore troupe Harmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Way was always capable of delivering furious, raging and utterly violent pieces of music throughout almost a decade of chest-beating existence. Somehow Rust, their latest offering, is an undeniable raise of the antes. The drummer Chris Mills shed some light about the industrialization of the band, and everything that made Rust possible and a demolisher piece.

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they bring to the table when we write. For Rust, this worked to our benefit and keeps aspects of our sound balanced.

he band went through some changes, sound wise. Looking back where did that shift occurred? It is hard to pinpoint an actual where and when the shift occurred. The band has literally been evolving since the demo was recorded in 2007. Changes have been apparent on each release. I suppose the biggest progression sound-wise can be noticed on our LP Isolation released in 2011. Rust seems to be as chaotic as well as organized, if that makes any sense. Was the process of creating the album demanding? Listening to Rust it seems that there was a lot of work put into it. There was a lot of work put into the album. We spent about a year writing and demoing songs, which is something we didn’t really do or explore on previous releases. We made a conscious effort to put together a cohesive record, which was very demanding at times. This entailed not settling on every bit of music we wrote, but instead, sitting on songs and reworking them until they met their full potential and made sense in the context of the material we were putting together. How much of a full-on collaborative creative process between all the members was for Rust? Very collaborative. Like I mentioned, we spent a lot of time writing and working on songs together. Each member of the band has a different element that 36

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I guess it’s pretty obvious the influence of Godflesh on Harm’s Way’s musical growth. Justin Broadrick is very vocal about the influence of hip hop in his music. You guys being from Chicago, would you say there’s some other influences that can be considered less obvious? Chicago has had a rich history with industrial music and aspects of that has definitely influenced our sound. We are all over the place musically, as far as our own individual palates are concerned. Anywhere from death metal and indie rock, to hardcore, dark wave, and hip hop. Aspects of our own individual tastes has definitely influenced our sound and artistic direction in both conscious and unconscious ways. Who are “they” on the opener “Infestation”? I’m somehow confident that you’re talking about humans but with a specific group in mind. You and I... Everyone we know. The additional vocals on “Turn To Stone” are one of highlights of the album. How did that came about? The additional vocals on “Turn To Stone” were done by our guitarist’s wife, Emily Jancetic. She has been a long time singer who has done work for her own projects and other well established bands over the years. When we wrote the part in the track we immediately felt a soft, feminine voice would work perfectly. We naturally felt she would be a good fit for the part and when we asked and shared the song with her, she was very into the idea of contributing. We are extremely happy with her performance and could not thank her enough for her work. There can be attached a myriad of meanings to the title of the album, Rust. What’s the one that you’ve envisioned? Decay, dying, and death... All aspects of the human life cycle. We all live; we all strive and struggle to self-actualize; and, of course, we all rust. The cover for this album is definitely different to what you

live

“We all ; we all strive and struggle to self-actualize; and, of course, we all .”

rust

INTERVIEW // HARM’S WAY

guys delivered in the past. Was that element of difference intentional? In regards to artistic direction, we definitely wanted to take a bit of a departure from what we had done on previous releases. So much gets replicated and regurgitated artistically, especially in the world of hardcore... and that is not always a band thing. With Rust, we allowed for the music, lyrics, and mood of the record to drive the record art conceptually. I can re-call listening to the record on repeat when we just had the rough mixes in hand and getting images in my head of the artistic direction of

the record, and these images appeared to look nothing like we had done in the past. With the help of our good friend E. Aaron Ross, we were able to design and put together a layout that we felt really fit the sound and our overall vision of the record. You were surrounded by amazing people recording and delivering this new album: Andy Nelson, Kurt Ballou, and Brad Boatright. How was it to work with those guys? Absolutely amazing. Andy is a good friend of ours and we had worked together on a number of past Harm’s Way releases.

Recording at Bricktop is very stress free and we feel comfortable, which is extremely important when tracking a full-length. It helps us to get out of our shells and experiment, which is apparent on aspects of the record. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s a local studio here in Chicago, and literally blocks away from my apartment. [laughs]

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Rust is out now via Deathwish Inc. 37

MOURN are a quartet from Spain

consisted by Jazz Rodríguez Bueno, Carla Pérez Vas, Antonio Postius and Leia Rodríguez. Despite their age - Leia is the youngest with only 15 years old - Mourn show maturity and objectivity towards their music, drawing inspiration from PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, Sebadoh and Sleater-Kinney. They recently released their excellent debut album and we talked with Jazz to know more about this must-hear band. Words: Andreia Alves

ou are currently doing some live shows. How is it going so far? It’s going so well! We’re happy because the response of the audience is great and every day we enjoy more playing live. What do you like the most about touring and what was the best show for you guys so far? We love to be together! We always laugh a lot, even after spending 9 hours travelling. The best part is before, during and after the show, when we felt nervous, then awesome and then realized. The best show was at the Apolo in Barcelona in February, we all agreed that day we played very well. I read that you and Carla started out by playing cover versions of songs by Harvey, Elliott Smith and the Runaways in high school. What did lead to become a band and write original songs? It was spontaneous. One day we made a song without having the idea of making it, so that gave us confidence to write more. “Boys Are Cunts” was the first song you wrote together. What can you tell us about this song in particular? We don’t like it much. [laughs] How did Antonio and Leia get into the band? I know Leia since she was born, because she’s my little sister so I can tell she’s the best person to be in our band and also the best bassist I know. I know Antonio since we were 11 or 12 and he was the only guy in my class that really cared about music and played so well.

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THIS MIGH BE YOUR N FAVOURITE

HT NEW E BAND...

INTERVIEW // MOURN You guys started this band not too long ago and you are at an early age, so how do your parents and friends react to your rising success as a band? They are really happy and supporting. They know that playing is what we want to do and what we enjoy the most, so they are very excited. Why Mourn to be the band’s name? We closed our eyes and pointed at a word in a dictionary, it was completely random. You are from the beautiful city of Barcelona. How much of the city influences your music? Not much, really. But yeah, it’s beautiful! We spend a lot of time there, it’s like a second home. You recently released your debut album. How has been the response so far? Quite good at the moment, we see it reflected in our shows. More people are coming every time. I read that the recording process for this debut album was really fast and simple, and you recorded everything live. Tell us a little bit about it. We went to the studio one day and recorded the songs from morning to evening. The next day we mixed all of them and put them on a CD. It was cool because a day after going into the studio for the first time we were listening what would be our first album in the car going home. You were signed by the American indie label Captured Tracks. How did that come along? One day we received an email from Mike Sniper. He had listened to us and had seen the videos we had playing at the studio. It was so fast and crazy, we couldn’t believe it. What’s next for Mourn in 2015? Lots of concerts, recording again, travelling... A lot of new exciting things for us! What have you been listening to lately? The new album of Sleater-Kinney, Superchunk, the new album of the Spanish band Nueva Vulcano and Sonic Youth this weekend. Well, yesterday, we had a show last night so we were listening to music together.

Mourn is out now via Captured Tracks www.facebook.com/MUSICandRIOTS.Magazine

BRAVE AND ARTISTIC! THEIR MO RELENTLESS AND HONEST STATE Words: Tiago Moreira

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OST EMENT

In these last few years the Canadian, Toronto-based, band Cancer Bats has been reaffirming their position as one of the best and most relevant contemporary hardcore bands. For their fifth full-length album they decided to join forces with the legendary producer Ross Robinson (Korn, Sepultura, Machine Head, At The Drive-In, Slipknot, The Cure, etc.) and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take no more bullshit. We had a nice conversation with vocalist Liam Cormier to discover whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s behind the most melodic album released by the quartet so far.

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id you ever had the chance of doing for other band what Keep It Up did for you guys [Cancer Bats played one song in a middle the Keep It Up’s set] in that show with Bane? [laughs] Oh, crazy! Yeah, I was just talking about that last night. Actually, we’ve never been able to return that favor, and that’s what I was saying... It’s such a crazy thing. I mean, we’ve had it done for us, like we’ve been on tour with Alexisonfire and they were like “Your van broke down and you got to the show late… Just play one song in the middle of our set.” And it also happened to us with Billy Talent in Download [Festival], and they let us play one song in the middle of their set. It keeps happening to us, but we’ve never had a chance to do the same thing for someone else... and not for the lack of trying. I’m definitely down for bands to get punk, but yeah... we still didn’t find the chance to return the favor. Yeah, and that time was the first time you guys played for people, right? Yeah, exactly! And that was because Alexisonfire wanted to hear us. They were all at the show and they kept telling us that they wanted to hear us... Yeah, that’s crazy that you’ve heard that story. How stressful was that experience for you guys? We knew that we were going to do it beforehand and it was like a town where we a have a bunch of friends, so it wasn’t that much of big of a deal. With your last album, Dead Set On Living, you confessed that you did it completely fun. It seems that this time was perhaps a little bit different. Would that be a fair assumption? This record was still a blast. We definitely had some of the most fun writing and recording this record.

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I think that a lot of those things leading up to [this new album] were pretty harsh and pretty heavy. I mean, that didn’t overshadow the record by any means, I think it gave us a lot of motivation to write something really special, and put ourselves into something. I’d say that we definitely had a blast, and working with Ross Robinson was amazing. So, despite all of the kind of negative things we still turned into a positive experience. Like you said, the year leading to this new album was a very heavy one. You’re now in your mid-30s. Do you think the type of aggression and the way you channel it is different compared with the past? I think as you get older you obviously learn how to handle things and then for us... we get a little bit of hold, and get thrown into new experiences, and you have to deal with things that still in 35 years I hadn’t dealt with. Figuring out those kind of new things to deal with and how to work through them all was definitely a huge point of motion to this record. According to you, the band spent more time writing and working on this album than all four of your previous albums combined. Would you say that this is the most ambitious Cancer Bats’ album to date? Yeah, I definitely think that we’re pushing ourselves and going for a lot of new ideas, and just even the fact that we were given as much as time as we were to work through all these ideas, and fully kind of feel these ideas through. Given the fact that we were given enough time do that made that happen. Was it easy to not lose track of things? Sometimes when you have too much time on your hands things start to become a little bit complicated, you know? Yeah, totally! I think that’s one thing that we had to always keep in check because sometimes if you are given too much time is almost like you can let things get out of hand. There’s definitely that struggle of trying still keep things relative and punk. The best part for that was that we only had three weeks to record when we

were down in California, but that still kept a lot of that intensity and still made it so we had to not overthink any of those parts. I was really lucky to have that, I feel. Like we were able to be so focused... If we were six months in a recording studio then I think it would have gone far off of the deep end, whereas when you only have three weeks it’s like only the most important decisions are the ones that you have enough time to make. Apparently you and Ross Robinson were working fourteen-hour days with no days off. Were you aiming for a kind of natural tension that would later be translated into the album? I mean, Ross is known to create that tension. Yeah, he is for sure, but it was crazy because we’ve always recorded in three weeks... that was just what we budged it for, because we have always been kind of under the gun to things planned. So, when it came to work with Ross we just decided to book it for the exact same time, those three weeks that we’re used to. Once we showed up and we were working with them, he was like “I’ve never recorded a record this fast. I’ve never had this little amount of time.” For us that was crazy, but he also loved it. It’s like you said, that tension was there like impulse by this deadline, so we had to just crush it and work as hard as we could. We all kind of thrive in that situation, to be honest. I know that Ross is the kind of guy that loves to read the lyrics and understand what the songs are all about. I remember Jonathan Davis from Korn having a hard time, because Ross was pushing him almost to the limit, emotionally speaking. How was it for you? Ross’ all thing is tapping into whatever real emotions the song is about, so I think for me I kind of understood... I wrote those songs from a very personal place so I was up to dive into that. I realized, looking back, that if some of those songs... For someone like Jonatan Davis, who wrote about things that are way more intense, really hard to deal with... Yeah, I can totally see how that would be such a crazy thing to have to work through in the studio. He’s definitely talking about

INTERVIEW // CANCER BATS

“... when it came to work with Ross we just decided to book it for the exact same time, those three weeks that we’re used to... that tension was there like impulse by this deadline, so we had to just crush it and work as hard as we could. We all kind of thrive in that situation, to be honest.” Liam about working with Ross Robinson

heavy things. I guess it all just depends what the songs are about, but Ross’ process is whatever you put into it, he’s going to get out of you. Another thing in the process of making and recording the album was recording an entire song in just one say, dedicate just one day for one song, instead of the normal process of recording. Yeah, we were really stoked on it. We actually heard about that idea because that’s how Comeback Kid

had recorded their last record, and when we were hanging out with those dudes, and listening to their last record, and how raw and intense it sounds... Yeah, it totally makes sense! So, we kind of took that idea from them by just being so psyched on that record. And again, when we brought that idea to Ross, he was really pumped, “Yeah, and like every song will be a completely different setup.” It was really cool having someone, even though he’s such a veteran, like him that was open to so many

different ideas, and different ways of keeping it fresh. I think that builds the overall trust that you have worked, when someone is really receptive to your ideas. It makes sense. This is probably the most diverse record that you’ve released so far and probably it’s because you used a different setup for every song. Yeah, totally! When you listen to them up against each other it’s like... everything has such a different vibe and sound to it.

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I couldn’t help noticing that this album has a more stoner-ish kind of feel – something that could be traced back to Corrosion of Conformity, Black Flag, and Clutch, perhaps. Not to mention the masters Black Sabbath. Yeah, I 100% agree with what you’ve said. Those are some of our favorite bands, and definitely have shaped how we write music and what we even been listening to every day. Searching for Zero is the most melodic Cancer Bats’ album to date. How comfortable were you embracing more that element? I was stoked on it, to be honest. I think like learning how to push my voice a lot more, and open up to different ideas definitely allowed me to make me try something more melodic. I think that my voice wasn’t able to do before, and I think that along with the fact that we are now stronger as songwriters... we can now take different ideas and still having sounding it like Cancer Bats. How much of a challenge was for you to record those vocal parts? I mean, it’s probably your most ambitious performance in all these years singing for Cancer Bats. For sure! I think it’s just the fact that I’ve been singing in this band for ten years, and I think I was able to take on these kind of songs, and being able to try different styles and push my voice in different ways, like being in AxeWound and do all the things that we did, and also being Cancer Bats... I think it was kind of triathlon that my voice needed to step up. [laughs] Did it feel like it was from zero to only positive or that was more a desire that you wanted to convey with the title of the album? I definitely think there’s a positive. I think that looking back on all of the harsh things that have happened to us, or to anyone really, and then finding that point to move on from. Ross was a big person in the studio for that, he said “The fact that you guys wrote these songs and you are playing them, makes this all album a celebration, and it makes the all act of doing this like a positive one, rather than something negative.” Just even have that, that vibe, got us so stoked. I didn’t want to like hide behind and being too poetic. I wanted to be really straightforward and be honest about that. I mean, it’s not something to be kind of take lightly. Will SEX TEARS [Liam’s other band] release new material in the future? [laughs] Oh, I hope so! We actually played our last show last summer and we haven’t done anything since, so I don’t know if SEX TEARS will do anything more but Jaye [R. Schwarzer, bass] and I are starting a new powerviolence band called Vomit Cop. Hopefully Vomit Cop will release something in 2015.

Searching For Zero is out now via Metal Blade/BMG 44

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INTERVIEW // CANCER BATS

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think like learning how to push my voice a lot more, and open up to different ideas definitely allowed me to make me try something more melodic... we can now take different ideas and still having sounding it like Cancer Bats.â&#x20AC;?

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MARRIAGES Words: Andreia Alves // Pictures: Nick Fancher

Emerging in Los Angeles in 2011 as a project between members of Red Sparowes and The Nocturnes, Marriages are a band of three talented musicians that bring an atmospheric post-punk and post-rock vibe into their songs. In 2012 they released their debut EP Kitsune, showcasing their promising and fierce music, but it's with Salome - their debut album, out in April - that their most ethereal and captivating tunes are revealed. We had the pleasure to talk with the lovely Emma Ruth Rundle about their first full-length and everything that came in between.

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A LEAP FORWARD AND A NEW CHAPTER FOR THE TRIO’S RIVETING AND NOSTALGIC SOUND...

hanks for talking with us again and this time around regarding the release of Marriages’ amazing debut album! How are things with you? It has been an adventure. [laughs] You know, busy doing a lot of music and art stuff, so it’s good! How do you feel now that you are about to release the album? I feel relieved. I’m very happy that this record is finally coming out. It’s been a long time as you probably know, since we released Kitsune. We did a lot of touring on that record, but I’m very happy that this is finally coming out. In January, Marriages were on tour with Helms Alee and you guys played the new songs from Salome. How were the first reactions regarding the new songs? People seem to really like the new songs a lot. It’s always amazing to me to be in a band where people even know your music, you know? It’s an honour that people listen and recognize things and to have somebody coming up and say “Oh, I love the new song” or “That’s a new song”. The feedback that people are listening and know what’s new and what’s old makes me feel very humble. People seem to like it and I do think it’s different music. The first single “Skin” is having a lot of great feedback and listening to the whole record it feels like a leap forward for the band. Yeah, it does feel like a step up or a step forward. It’s a step in a different direction I guess. You can definitely feel the post-rock Red Sparowes’ influence a lot more in Kitsune and what’s happening since then you can hear in the music. 48

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It’s been almost a year since you released your debut solo album Some Heavy Ocean and it was one of the best records of 2014 for us. It must had been a busy year for you with touring your solo album and finishing Marriages’ album. Were you expecting such amazing feedback from all that? The song that premiered (“Skin”) I had no idea it would get so good response and that really blew my mind. I was very surprised and grateful, obviously. With Some Heavy Ocean I really wasn’t expecting that it would be any response. I thought that record would just sort of come out as I like to record and release music, regardless of a potential audience or not. It’s just you keep working and keep making work, making music and making art as a solo artist and musician. So, with Some Heavy Ocean I wasn’t expecting anything at all, really, and the response and the fact that had been reviewed so much and people seemed to have talked about it and people coming out on tours was a great surprise. It’s been really lovely, but with Marriages I was expecting to have a little bit more of an impact just because how successful Red Sparowes have been as a band. I think it was easier for us to gain some traction as a brand new band because of our history together as musicians, so I wasn’t surprised when there was a sort of built audience for Kitsune. I think it’s difficult for any band to go a number of years without releasing any new material and it’s very easy to fall into obscurity. Luckily, I believe that the listeners who are listeners of Sargent House’s bands, listeners of the kind of music that Marriages make - which I would say it leans towards maybe some heavier and heartier music - and those people are very faithful and they’re really listeners. It’s never gonna be flavour amongst types of music or projects, so I am surprised by the initial response to what we’ve released so far, but I have to say that I was definitely more surprised by the solo record coming out and getting such a good response. I look forward to what happens when the whole record comes out. [laughs] You guys released Kitsune EP in 2012 and it’s been a long time since you released new material, so it must be really thrilling to

"It's a key

release new music with Marriages. How did you approach the writing process for Salome and how was it overall? It was a long process to the way we wrote Kitsune, which we sort of did it in a linear fashion, so we literally started that record with the first note and wrote it all the way through from beginning to end. With Salome, it’s really more of a song based album and I don’t know when we actually started writing songs that haven’t ended up on that record. I mean, we wrote a lot of songs over the last three years and many of which have just fallen into the abyss and some of which ended up on the record. It was very different than Kitsune, more of a formal band sort of process, you know?

INTERVIEW // MARRIAGES

easier to use mythologies or stories as y to describing things that happened in one's personal life, I guess."

Having Andrew [Clinco, drummer] involved in the band, and he’s a permanent member now, has changed the dynamic and I think it’s been helpful to write more structured songs. That was definitely a goal for the record which was to write more traditionally structured songs versus the long sort of meandering thing that was the first release. Do you approach each one of your projects with a different mindset or is it something that just occurs naturally either if it’s Marriages or Red Sparowes or even your solo project? Probably a little bit of both of the things that you’ve mentioned. Every project is very different. I think when you’re writing music

as a group, there’s a chemistry and a confluence of tastes, feelings and styles that come together and that’s what creates a band. I definitely don’t write all the music for Marriages and it’s a group effort, so that’s very different than writing solo music which it’s mostly just sitting around hopefully alone [laughs] and playing guitar... and so it’s different. With Red Sparowes it was different, even more different in the sense of just sort of getting to contribute in a smaller way. It’s nice to have less responsibility. [laughs] Listening to Salome, we get this gloomy nostalgia of the 80’s and 90’s post-punk and post-rock blended with shoegaze. What

were your main musical and non-musical influences while you were writing this album? Honestly, I think there’s a lot of exactly of what you said. I would call nostalgic indulgence in this record for all of us. It’s the music that we grew up listening to and that’s the music you grow up playing like the 90’s stuff, postpunk and shoegaze music, which had a huge effect on me personally and I can speak for Andrew at least in that way, so... just kind of going back to the things that you know... You know how you grow up and you listen to so much that it’s nostalgic and it becomes a physical response that you have to the music. It’s not analytical, not trying to push boundaries or write something... Just writing from what feels

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familiar I suppose, at least in the musical way. I think lyrically the content has a different story... But musically, I agree with what you said. As we talked earlier, there’s definitely a big leap forward between Marriages’ two releases. Would you say that Kitsune was only an early stage of Marriages and Salome is what the band’s sound truly is? I don’t know... If it takes another three years for us to make a record, maybe we’ll sound different. I think there’s something about this record that is a little closer to something familiar to all of us, some kind of nostalgic home, but I like the idea of Marriages just being a group of people that come together and can write music without having to limit to any genre or to any goal like we never get together and say “Let’s write this kind of song”. There were restrictions in that and we wanted to make it more of a vocally focus record, because Kitsune wasn’t, the vocals were more hidden... So in a sense, I could agree that this is what we sound like, but I don’t know what we’ll sound like and I don’t know what the next record will sound like, but I hope to have the freedom to change.

opinion, as we witnessed on Some Heavy Ocean as well. How was it like to write the melodies and lyrics for Salome? Well, it was a combination of things because we wrote the songs over a period of time and it was not a short period of time, it was sort of spread out and with Kitsune we wrote that really quickly. The vocals came afterthought and some of the songs of Salome the vocals ended up being an afterthought... I guess what I’m trying to say is the voice is an instrument and some of the songs are difficult to sing. They’re very high in my register, so sometimes I wish I could go back and change the key that I played the songs in. [laughs] The vocal melodies seemed to come easily. Writing lyrics for this record was... I guess writing lyrics in general can just be hard to do, because the way that I feel about writing lyrics is usually something to do with the subject matter that impacts you in a way, so having to kind of feel those things and make them tangible and then putting them into words can be frustrating, but also maybe a little painful.

Yeah, something like that. [laughs] [laughs] I don’t know... That’s an interesting question. That would be a great question for Greg [Burns, bassist] [laughs] because he plays pedal steel in Red Sparowes and bass guitar. I know that me and him have discussed in the past his feeling about bringing that instrument and I can’t remember if that’s something he just doesn’t want to do now... I don’t really foresee us bringing in other instruments. Maybe someday another guitar player, but I don’t think we’re ever gonna incorporate anything. No strings section, no saxophone solos. [laughs]

The title Kitsune for your EP had a particular meaning. Does Salome have one too? Yeah. Well, there’s a song on the record called “Salome” and the artwork that we had done for the record paired with the song, so it just made sense to name the whole record Salome. There’s the story of Salome... The story of this woman who does basically a public sensual act - this dance that she does - the result of which ends up being St. John to be beheaded. That story resonates with me for some personal reasons. [laughs] I just found that it was a character and a story that I could identify with like a transparency over something else and see how things make sense and line up. It’s easier to use mythologies or stories as a key to describing things that happened in one’s personal life, I guess. It was all just taken with that story and the imagery is really strong and it goes along with it as well.

Talking about instruments, your voice as an instrument is also an essential part of Marriages’ music, standing out even more in Salome than in Kitsune. It’s more expressive and diverse in my

So, is it you in the photo of the cover art? Yeah. It was a collaboration between me and Greg, so we kind of have the concept and I’m in the photograph painted in white. I

Do you think that in future songs you will experiment more instruments in your music? Like different instrumentation, like adding a flute player? [laughs]

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painted myself white [laughs] and Greg did the photo and he developed the editing of it. I guess it’s a collaboration, but at the same time is Greg’s art. I really enjoy that we kind of have this relationship. You worked with engineer Tom Biller (Elliot Smith, Silversun Pickups, Fiona Apple) on the recording process in California. What can you tell about that process? We sat with him in the studio about a year ago. Every record that I’ve ever made or have been part of making has been vastly different, so no two experiences have ever been alike or even really too similar. We made Kitsune with Toshi Kasai who also did Aphorisms, the Red Sparowes EP, and he’s an absolutely wonderful person and wonderful engineer/ producer. Our label mates, Indian Handcrafts are working with him now and so we chose to work with someone different just as an experiment to try a different sound. The recording process was... I don’t know if I’m the best person to ask, I think everything is difficult [laughs] and I have a hard time sitting in the room. It always stresses me out. There are people who really love recording, I’m not really one of those people. I like things to be on my own terms, so I wanna wear my pajamas and take forever to do everything, but I think we spent 10 days recording the basic tracks, then vocals and very few overdubs in the following months. Then, the mixing process took quite a while. I wish I could give you some juicy inside stories, but there’s nothing really exciting. [laughs] Is there a favorite song of yours off of this record for you? I love “Salome”. There’s this song on the record called “Under Will” but it used to be called “For Paris” and it’s a song that I had for a long time and I’m very surprised that it ended up on the record. It’s sort of a special song to me. I’ve written it for a friend of mine that I used to play in a band with called Nocturnes, so it’s funny how that kind of made its way into Marriages’ record. I read that you are working on demos for a new solo record. Can you give any further details about that? Yeah. [laughs] It’s not gonna be a

INTERVIEW // MARRIAGES

"I guess writing lyrics in general can just be hard to do, because the way that I feel about writing lyrics is usually something to do with the subject matter that impacts you in a way..." huge breakaway from Some Heavy Ocean. It’s probably gonna be in the same world, doing a lot of these demos here in my computer using very much the same techniques that we used to make Some Heavy Ocean... just recording guitars directly into computers and using electric guitar, acoustic guitar, layering with ambient textures and kind of right now programming some drum stuff, but I think if I could say something about what it would be like, it’ll probably be very similar in the same world. Not gonna be releasing a punk record anytime soon. [laughs] Last time we talked, we talked about your paintings and how

important that outlet is for you. Are you currently working on a new painting that you wanna share with us? Yeah, I am. Thank you for asking. I haven’t done anything for a long time. I sort of switched over from the blog. I have a website that I try to integrate the blog into and I stop sort of posting things like smaller projects and I was only posting sort of larger bodies of work and things that I thought were more professional... I was sort of leaving all the doodles and all the things that I used to post. Right now, I just started doing these drawings with charcoal, big drawings on newsprint and they want to do a bunch of those. I had finished a series of artwork and I

released a little book called Aberration. I hadn’t put the book up online, but I’ll put it up soon. I was just taking it on tour with me, but it’s a collection of drawings of infants and it’s kind of hard to really describe... It’s sort of a slightly disturbing book, so that’s one thing that I had finished, and then just the charcoal drawings. I have some other ideas, but I’m really focusing on art right now.

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Salome arrives on April 6 via Sargent House 51

MIN

THE SOUNDTRACK

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Coming from the same fertile environs as Rwake and Yakuza, Minsk have been releasing dynamically challenging and thought-provoking records for over a decades but over the past few years, little has been heard from them. 2015 sees them refreshed and rejuvenated, returning not only with twice the guitars but also with The Crash & The Draw, their first album in six years and a true juggernaut of a record. Guitarist Chris Bennett was good enough to talk us through the changes and challenges that have faced the band and brought them to this inevitable crash.

NSK

K OF OUR TIMES Words: Dave Bowes // Pictures: Mark Randall

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ow has it been coming back after so long? It’s great. It’s been a long time coming but we feel good about this record. We had the luxury of having a lot of time. We didn’t have any deadline or anything like that when we were in the process of writing the album. There was a period there where we knew we needed to make some changes and it took some time to arrive at those decisions, so there was a time where it was a little rough, not knowing perhaps what our direction would be, but we made it through that and slowly, after we began writing, we started gaining more momentum. Now, here we are and it’s almost time for the album to come out and it feels so wonderful. We feel fortunate to be at the point we’re at now. Got a great European tour coming up, so we’re very excited about everything in the band. There have been a number of line-up changes over the past few years. How did you come to be working with the new members and how well do you feel they fit with your dynamic? It’s been an amazingly smooth transition with everyone. Aaron came on board late in 2010; when we started out we had two guitar players and then for a long time I was the only one. I had played bass on one of the records of one of Aaron’s older bands so we had a musical history and I knew that our guitar playing would complement each other’s very well. A lot of the initial writing process for the record was done with just Aaron and I together starting to work on stuff, so having him on board expanded our sonic capabilities just immediately. We started writing this record with a new drummer, Ryan Thomas, who was also in a band with Zack and Tim, so we 54

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had all played in bands together at some point, and that was very important. We’ve always tried to have a collective mindset in regards to the band. Over the years we’ve had band members come and go or maybe their involvement wasn’t what it was at one time what it was at other times. We feel like we have a musical family, in a sense, and all of the new members fit under that title. It was very seamless and we wrote most of the record with Ryan on drums, though in the end he had to move away early in 2014. Kevin came on board to fill Ryan’s shoes and did a very good job. Again, with Kevin, he also played in Cloud Burial with Aaron so there again was this extended musical family member coming into the fold. We’re all familiar with each other. The town that many of us come from – Peoria, Illinois – it’s a small city and it has a very interwoven musical scene, with lots of people playing in different bands together. All of that contributed to making the decisions with new people pretty easy. Did having the new members affect things logistically, perhaps with the writing and recording process? I would say that, fortunately for us, the biggest change was that we spent a lot more time demoing the songs. We had enough time where we could choose not to rush into recording the actual record. We basically demoed the album the whole way through in our rehearsal space. We were able to analyse and pay attention to the dynamics of the songs in a more cohesive and focused way than we had been able to in the past. That was something that had really stuck out to me throughout the whole process. I wouldn’t say we rushed into anything on previous records but I know definitely without a doubt that we were more prepared going into the studio this time around. I think writing with another guitar player maybe helped to distil some of the ideas in a way that made them ultimately a little more complete. As far as the basic process, we’re all a little more geographically separated than the band has been in the past so that posed a little bit of a challenge, but at the same time it made the demoing process very necessary and also very rewarding.

Through technology and Skype, sending recordings and files through email, all that was necessary to the process and that was something we hadn’t done before, but I really think it helped this time around. Going into the studio this time, I felt the most prepared that I’ve ever felt than on any Minsk record. That’s not to say it made it feel any easier but it maybe helped our confidence level a little more. What was Sanford Parker’s involvement in the record, as he seems to be both a member and to have left the fold? Basically, we knew without a doubt that we wanted him to be the producer for the record. He had that job with all the other records but he also had to be not only the engineer and producer, but also a player in the band too. I think this time around he really enjoyed not having to do two jobs in the same process and it probably allowed him to listen differently because he wasn’t having to worry about his bass parts or his vocals necessarily as much. That’s a thing that he and I discussed going into the recording process. As we were demoing all the songs we were sending them all to him. That way he would know he was involved in the process before we even got to the studio; just getting familiar with the songs and with the way we wanted the dynamics to move throughout the album. In some ways, I think he was able to act as a producer in a way that he hadn’t been able to previously on any Minsk record. His stepping away from his role in the band in a larger way was born out of basic necessity. He started getting busier with his production work and he has some other musical projects as well. We live three hours apart so it was getting more difficult for him to have the time that he wanted to give the band asa full-time member. We still consider him a member of the tribe and he contributed some synths and melodies on the record. He had an integral part in the record, especially when it came to the mixing. We did all the mixing at his studio, in his house, so it was very personal in that sense as well. From here on, he’s open to contribute when he wants to and can find the time to. We sort of have an open door for Bruce Lamont, who’s played on

INTERVIEW // MINSK

“... here we are and it’s almost time for the album to come out and it feels so wonderful. We feel fortunate to be at the point we’re at now.” previous records, to contribute and I’d say that with Sanford, we probably look at his involvement in a similar way. He’s busy but if he can contribute at any point then it’s welcome. The dynamics are a huge step up on the new album, existing not only at either end of the spectrum but across its entire breadth. Were dynamics like these a major consideration when writing? Thank you, first of all, for getting that. From a personal standpoint I wanted to make a heavier record but not in an obvious way. The two words that came up when Tim and I started Minsk were ‘beautiful ugliness.’ Those two words have always stuck in our heads as things we wanted to accomplish on each record. This time around, I think it is heavier at times than anything we’ve done but I think there are probably parts that are prettier as well. I don’t know if it

was something we intentionally sat down to do but it definitely was something that was on our minds as we went through the writing process. I know for sure that adding Aaron helped with that, sonically. Not just guitar-wise, but vocal-wise as well because he adds another voice to the band and expands our vocal capabilities. We did set out to try to go further vocally than we had in the past. I think that helps to affect the dynamics greatly but we always take a lot of time in how we sequence the entire record. This time around we were maybe more intentional about that. In the past, when it came time to figure out the order of the songs it was a matter of figuring out how it made sense dynamically, but also how it would fit our record. This time around we had all that figured out long before it was time to begin deciding the layout or anything like that. We just took that

further, paying attention to the dynamics and it’s a thing that we’re always going to be chasing after – to get the most attractive dynamic not only across an entire album but also across each song. This is definitely the happiest I’ve been but there’s still a lot that I hear when I listen back to this new one that I think, “Wow. There’re still some things that we have to learn for the future” but that’s always going to be the way it is, I suppose. Tapping into that same duality, there’s obviously a very physical component to your sound but also a spiritual, almost transcendental side. How much interplay do you feel is there between these elements? That word, transcendental, has always been an important element of what we hope to accomplish with this band. From my own personal history, growing up, some of the authors who first made an impression on me were those who

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“The two words that came up when Tim and I started Minsk were ‘beautiful ugliness.’ Those two words have always stuck in our heads as things we wanted to accomplish on each record.” fell under that heading of transcendental artists - the Whitmans, the Emmersons, Hawthorne - so that word has stuck with me throughout my whole life. We hope to be able to tie into this stream that we feel exists outside of ourselves. We feel that our contributions in the band is the music is working through us. It comes from a part within us but is also not completely dictated by our own personal perspectives and opinions. I know that’s probably pretty ambiguous to say but that is how it feels. We’ll sometimes come up with a song and get through an entire piece without knowing where it came from and I can say the same for the lyrics as well. Usually the lyrics are a very collaborative effort. Aaron and I will write separately from one another and then get together, put everything together and amazingly it all seems part of the same stream. We feel very lucky that it works that way because almost never are we disagreeing on lyrical themes or anything like that. As far as having a spiritual component, that’s a very wide-ranging word but it’s definitely coming from our spirits more than it’s coming from our cognitive, physical beings. I could probably talk for hours trying to articulate it correctly but it’s a strange thing. We like to think it’s coming from somewhere deep within our beings that maybe we’re not completely conscious of. We try to be mindful of the moment we’re in when we’re writing and try to fit in something, be it literature or poetry or even visual art that we find meaningful. We find a way to transmute that into sound. I’ve always been intrigued by reading a piece of literature, or looking at a painting, and then immediately going to play music and seeing what comes of that. I really feel 56

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that outside influences, if you allow them to, they will affect the music if you let them and that’s something we’re totally intrigued by. It’s something we want to experiment more with more as we move on, but that spiritual, transcendental, esoteric nature of all of our beings is very important to the music. Thank you once again for giving us your time. Is there anything you’d like to add? I feel very fortunate that we’re at the point that we are. It took a long time but we’re not expecting that just because we say that we’re back, people would automatically be interested. We put a lot of ourselves, and put a lot of attention and care into this record and we’re very excited to share it with the rest of the world. I just feel very fortunate to get to do that. The fact that anyone, anywhere, would care about the noise that we make, makes me feel like a very lucky human being and we get to tour around, meet people from all around the world and play with other amazing bands, like Floor in this instance, is going to be incredible, getting to see them play every night, and we’ll be playing some shows with our friends Zatokrev, who are another amazing band. I think the overarching feeling is that the ability for us to do this is a gift given by the universe. We want to be as thankful and as reverent to that as we can.

The Crash and the Draw arrives on April 3 via Relapse Records

INTERVIEW // MINSK

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LIGHTNING BOL

a fantasy world, but not as you know it. their empire is just the beginning... Words: Dave Bowes // Pictures: Natalja Kent

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INTERVIEW // LORD DYING

In their existence, Lightning Bolt have never been what anyone could call straight shooters and they have created some of the most bizarre and downright awesome records in recent memory. Fantasy Empire continues the trend with a feast of rabid groove and octo-limbed drum workouts, and the man behind that staggering percussion was pinned down by Music&Riots to explain its existence. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Brian Chippendale. musicandriotsmagazine.com

antasy Empire is your first studio album in six years. Was there any nervousness going into the writing and recording of this given that time off? Well, not necessarily nerves. We’ve been touring for the past few years and we’ve had new songs that have come and gone, so we’ve been playing the material and even had some attempts at recording it, so we felt really comfortable with it. The only thing we wanted to make sure of was that it sounded fresh, so the only nerves really were that we had to get it sounding new. But then it kinda did. We recorded with a new set of engineers in a new studio and we could tell right away that it was sounding different so we weren’t too worried about it. You’ve recorded a lot in the past in your rehearsal space, so was moving into the studio a new experience for you? We’ve done stuff in studios in the past but we’ve always worked with this one engineer. He would always bring in equipment so we would have aspects of the studio but what was new this time was that it was our first time recording multi-tracking to a computer. We’ve worked in studios but never worked 100% with the engineers of the studio and maybe used the studio to its capacity. It was our first ProTools experience with recording a record. Do you typically have all of the material down before heading into the studio or do you always leave room for improvisation? We came out of this studio experience, and every studio experience we’ve ever done, with hours and hours of improv. It’s not like we’re really searching because we also went into the studio with about ten songs we could have picked from, some of which were really long. We just go in there and jam, because it’s kind of fun; we like jamming more than we like playing our songs, half the time. The idea is that we’ve got these songs to do, and we’ve got these jams and if something comes out of the jam that’s amazing, that’s a huge added bonus. There was this one song, called “King Of My World” that came out of jamming in the studio and then there’s a short bass piece which was the

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beginning of a jam. Most of it ended up being the songs that we thought up ahead of time but they were sort of formed by jamming too. Little aspects of them change. It’s a very riffy album, quite metal, especially right at the beginning of the album. Was this something that you could feel yourselves working towards in terms of an overall sound for the album? I feel like with every album we put out, everyone says, “This is your most metal album yet!” We’ve been heading in that direction for a long time but we haven’t arrived there yet. It wasn’t a goal, or something we were constantly going towards. We’ve always had a lot of metal in us and because the studio experience cleaned the sound up a little bit it brought that out a little bit more. You moved to Thrill Jockey from Load for this. What exactly happened to Load and why move to Thrill Jockey in particular? Load are still great friends of ours. They just slowed down their output a lot as they’re a couple and they just had a kid so we just felt like it was time to take a different label for this one. We had a think about a lot of different labels, and it’s not like anyone was knocking at our door as no-one’s been knocking at our door, ever. I think everyone just that we were a Load band and that was where we were always going to stay. We looked around and Thrill Jockey seemed to have a similar value system to Load, just on a bigger level. They’re a very approachable label, they’re hardworking but they’re not huge so you know everyone who’s working there and you’re working with everyone. You can call up Tina, who’s in charge, at any point and have a conversation. Tina knows bands from Load and they’ve been in the game for about the same amount of years, so there’s a shared value system. The move made sense and the fit felt good, but I love Load Records and I’ll always be a Load band in a little part of my heart. Is there much of a scene still going in Rhode Island and how do you fit in with it? There’s always active stuff going on musically in Providence. We’ve been a band here for 20 years now and the whole time there’s been an active music scene. As for how we

“There was t little thing on Rolling Sto website that c out – I think the called us ‘Cra rock’ or somet What the fuc Crayola rock? W did that come Are we ‘box markers’ rock? kind of art-rock arty, we rock fit into it, it changes. I feel like right now there’s maybe more of a scene for solo, abstract or noise stuff and electronic dance music, but then there’s still a rock scene here that’s strong and we’re sort of in the middle of all of that. But then, Lightning Bolt doesn’t actually play that much in Providence because maybe I’ve been doing more solo playing. There is a scene here but we’re not a big part of it – I wish we were. It’s a funny scene, and it’s always changing shape. It revolves around a few cool underground venues and a few straight, legitimate venues but recently there hasn’t been a lot of spaces that are good for us, in a way. You’ve always been a bit of an odd bird and quite difficult topin down. How would you even begin identifying Lightning Bolt?

INTERVIEW // LIGHTNING BOLT

this n the one came e writer ayola thing. ck is Where from? x of ? We’re k. We’re k...” Rock? Punk? Art? I try not to describe it but it’s gone through so many different phases I feel like people have attached different terms to it. There was this little thing on the Rolling Stone website that came out – I think the writer called us ‘Crayola rock’ or something. What the fuck is Crayola rock? Where did that come from? Are we ‘box of markers’ rock? We’re kind of art-rock. We’re arty, we rock... I’ve gone back to this idea of arty rock. It’s kind of a boring name but I feel like it stands the test of time. Both of you work as artists in a variety of different media. How do those separate avenues intersect and how do you go about assigning subject matter to each? I don’t even think they intersect

that well. They just come naturally and I do things in different formats. There’s a graphic novel that I’m working on that I should be finishing up in the next couple of months so this morning I’ve been working on drawing for that. That just comes out of a love of comics. This work satirises politics and social media, and that’s what that’s doing; comic work, for me, is about sequential narratives, but it’s also about drawing. I’ve been trying to cross the line between communicating a narrative and drawing. Apart from that, I’ve also been doing a lot of collage in artwork and that I see as being quite different. It doesn’t have to have narrative, it’s more about what you want it to be. It’s interpretation, it’s exploration of materials, and I think you should try to approach that stuff with an open mind about letting the viewer find

the narration in there. I see music falling more into that category. You should really just play and have fun with making it and then let the listener, the viewer, pull meaning out of it. I try not to be too literal about music, even with lyrics. I try not to put too much weight or time into lyrics, and let the music breathe as music first before any kind of meaning is attached to it. At least, that’s how I feel right now but it changes all the time. You did the cover art for Fantasy Empire, and it’s a very striking piece – dark, moody and almost more like a woodcut than anything else. How does the piece tie in with the tone of the album? I’ve been doing art for other Lightning Bolt covers and a lot of times they just complement the music. To me, they’re an illustration of the music. This time, it was

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like a companion to the music. It doesn’t necessarily represent it but it offers you a way to look at or listen to the music. I think there’s a bit of a foreboding atmosphere to the cover and I thought it would be nice, instead of saying, “This is crazy music and here’s a crazy cover with lots of stuff going on,” to take the art in a bit of a different direction and create an atmosphere, so that you could look at the music in that way – to place it in a context that’s a little different than what the music suggests. We’re known as the band with crazy colours and my artwork in general is known for having lots of stuff going on, and lots of layers. In a way it’s a way of switching things up. How can I take this in a different direction? A little bit more minimal with the colour and a little bit more about atmosphere rather than being bonkers and hitting you over the head. Has that playing with preconceptions and expectations been crucial to the band’s existence? It’s funny, being spontaneous while being such a slow-moving creature. There’re twenty years of weight and two tons of equipment we carry around everywhere we go. When we play, we still try to be a dextrous creature – quick movements and free-thinking; reacting to each other and what’s happening. The songs are still coming from a jamming world and as players we attempt to be quick on our feet and spontaneous with how we work with each other. Where I come from, the music is just energy music. If you’re trying to make music like that then there has to be a spontaneous component, because energy and spontaneity go hand in hand. Even in creating the artwork, I feel it comes across as quite a dark, atmospheric piece but in the making of it, there were a lot of quick decisions to arrive at that theme. There’s always going to be a spontaneous attitude in the way we do things, even if it takes us two hours to unload the van. It’s a weird thing – it’s like setting up a bunch of rules and then seeing how far you can go within them. As far as your drumming is concerned, have you always been able to keep up with the way your music seems to have been developing? It kind of went hand in hand. The songs, for the most part, have always been where we are at at 62

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that moment. A lot of times, the most interesting beats and the most interesting songs come out of the moment when we are really pushing ourselves. You’ll be playing in practice and cycle through ten or twelve ideas where you can say “these are Lightning Bolt ideas” but they’re not quite interesting enough to become songs. It’s like muscle memory, going through the paces, and at some point someone will just push it, or switch it up, and for me that means going into overdrive with the beat – faster or weirder, something like that. Often, those are the ideas that will become songs. So there’s never a case of, “Oh man, we wrote this song. How are we going to play it?” It was created in playing so the ability to play it is always there from the origin. Often though, when you construct a song and then you have to play it through, it can be difficult. Most of the stuff was recorded after a tour, or a string of shows, so we’re so on top of the playing. We always have been. It’s not like we’re a fast band who started playing slow and kept getting faster – it’s been a natural progression. You used to be known for playing shows entirely on the floor. Is that something that’s still practical and does it backfire? It has backfired in some successful ways and some unsuccessful ways. We kind of mix it up now. On this upcoming tour, I bet it will be 50% on the ground and 50% on the stage. A lot of time now, in bigger cities, there are too many people to make it work, but then in smaller towns, between the coast and the states, we can still do it and it’s pretty fun. Sometimes, the ones that are on the line of “there are too many people but we do it anyway” are the ones that are the most fun to play because it gets pretty unruly and there’s a chaos that helps enhance the memory of the show for everyone. There’ve been some shows where things break a little too early but we’ve never really had a show ruined by it. We’ve cut some sets a little shorter than we would have liked because something got broken or someone got broken... well, not really – there’s been some blood, but not too much. These days, some of the shows are a little too big to do it and it feels like the whole room is getting a satisfying experience

so we’ve been going up on stages. Either some little corner of the room is having the most satisfying experience of their lives and everyone else is left unsatisfied, or everyone can have a satisfying experience but it won’t be as cathartic. When you walk into a room, you think, “How can we give the best experience to the people who are going to come tonight?” In the old days, it’d be easy because only 20 people would turn up and the best experience was for those 20 people to be on top of us, but now if there are 400 people there the same solution doesn’t work. We’re touring the States soon then we’re heading over to Europe a little later and because there’ll be a lot of press we don’t know what these shows are going to be like. It’ll be interesting trying to guess the solution. One final question – after having a 20-year-long career, how far do you feel the band have progressed? You would think there would be more of a difference but we haven’t changed anything. There’s been a subtle evolution in the sound and the way we work. There’s aging going but I don’t necessarily feel like I can’t keep up anymore. The old, quick songs are the easiest to play and often, I’ll try to play some straight beat and it’s so much harder than playing crazy. We’re still adept and can do everything we like to do. I think because we’ve done so many things within the limitations that we set out for ourselves and we’ve attacked them from so many angles, it’s harder to figure out what angles are still left for us. Songwriting becomes a challenge because we’re stuck with our limitations so some of the songs on the new record are maybe a little slower, or moderately paced, which felt new to us. For the most part, me and Brian playing music is rooted in this basic ‘get locked in it’ experience that’s been there since the first day, or maybe the 3rd or 4th day. The first day sucked, but that kernel that was the seed of our existence was still intact.

Fantasy Empire is out now via Thrill Jockey

INTERVIEW // LIGHTNING BOLT

“There’s always going to be a spontaneous attitude in the way we do things, even if it takes us two hours to unload the van. It’s a weird thing – it’s like setting up a bunch of rules and then seeing how far you can go within them.”

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ATTENTION

BRETON

are a band from London that see themselves as a multimedia artist collective. They released two amazing albums, being the last one the impressive War Room Stories. After their last European tour, the band took some time to talk with us about their latest effort and why moving from London to Berlin had a huge impact on them. Words: Andreia Alves

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TO DETAIL

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You started way back in 2007, but just only in 2010 you started to release music. How do you feel the band has developed over the writing and recording process? I feel like we are always learning, and we are less scared of being ourselves. I always find it incredibly boring when people talk about making a more “honest” second record, but I think that on this album we were guided by a much more specific sense of what we wanted it to sound like.

ou’ve just finished the European tour, with the London show as the last one. How was the whole tour? The tour was incredible. I’m always struck by how strange it is that a project we put together in a freezing cold squat in south London that only 5 people had heard (4 of which were in the band), turned into something which became part of people’s lives. Playing shows in Hamburg or Detroit or Melbourne and meeting total strangers that hold our records really close to their heart is a fascinating and bizarre experience. What’s the best thing about touring for you guys? As well as the people I mentioned above, and the incredible places we have seen, I’d say that the best thing is watching an idea for a song evolve from that first moment where you play it and think “this could work”, and then watching 35000 people at a festival loose their shit over that exact moment in the song. How would you describe 2014 for you guys? It has been everything we ever dreamed of, but also it has been a process of stripping back all the myths and cliches that surround what being a musician is - and there are a great deal of them. I suppose it was about falling in love with what being in a band means in 2015. 66

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It’s been almost a year that you released your sophomore LP, War Room Stories. How do you feel about the great response you guys had? The experience of putting out a record has changed so drastically in recent years that it’s a really exciting time to be part of it. There isn’t really a “normal” way of releasing records, and they have a different significance. I watched Steve Albini’s keynote in Melbourne recently and he - very articulately - expressed how this is an incredibly exciting time to be writing and listening to music. What do you think it differs about this album, compared to your debut album Other Peoples Problems? It’s very hard to get enough detachment from them to be able to point out key differences. It’s like trying to point out what’s different between one continent and another. You guys had to move from London to Berlin. How much did this change of scenery affect the creative process of this second record? I think even changing rooms in a studio changes the atmosphere of a recording, so moving to an abandoned communist radio station and recording studio had a profound impact. It was less about the influence of communism and the Cold War, but more about the lives of the people that worked there, and the sense of it being a place that was on the frontier of a whole culture and ideology. Did Berlin influence your sound in a particular way, compared to London? I think we were affected by the

“... we were affected by the atmosphere of the place more than its music scene. One of the great things about Berlin is how fragmented it is. It feels like there are 20 subcultures, and none of them dominate or overlap each other.”

INTERVIEW // BRETON

atmosphere of the place more than its music scene. One of the great things about Berlin is how fragmented it is. It feels like there are 20 subcultures, and none of them dominate or overlap each other.

we felt didn’t work in the context of the record, but after occasionally playing some of them to close friends, we realised that they made up part of the story of how that record came about, like a “behind the scenes”.

favorite video that you’ve ever released and why? One of my favourite Breton videos is “15 minutes”. I think it’s got a real intensity and I have heard about 4 different i nterpretations on what it means.

As a whole, what does War Room Stories represent to you? It’s a transition. We were moving labels, we were moving home, and we were moving countries. We knew as we were making it that we would never really be the same by the end of the tour.

Besides nine bonus tracks added to this deluxe edition, there are also two brand new songs. What can you tell me about them and how was their making process? They were songs that were written while traveling, and are unique in that they eye effectively made in about 5 different countries over 3 weeks.

What’s next for Breton in 2015? Writing new material and working on lots of new projects and collaborations. Also, we have hardly seen our families for two years, so I’m looking forward to seeing them.

You just released last November a deluxe edition of War Room Stories. How did this idea come about? There were so many songs we wrote during those sessions that

Your music videos are always so terrific, especially the new ones for the songs “Parthian Shot” and “Titan”. What’s your musicandriotsmagazine.com

War Room Stories is out now via Believe Recordings 67

let’s

With a Los Angeles attitude embedded in their lifestyle and music style,

ROTTING OUT are one of the most important hardcore/punk bands of nowadays and that's really simple to explain. They're honest, aggressive, intense, and have no bullshit in what they're doing. More recently, they released a new EP called Reckoning that's basically a preview of their upcoming full-length that will be out this year. We had an awesome chat with Walter Delgado, the voice of the group, that told us all about the new EP and what LA represents to them. Words: Andreia Alves

ow is it going the year for you guys so far? It’s going good! Just been focusing on writing a record. We released that little EP, but that’s more of a sneak preview to the full-length that we’re going to be recording in June, before the summer so we’ve just been focusing on that. We’ve been playing a couple of shows here and there, but nothing big until March where we’ll have a tour with Expire and Suburbun Scum.

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You guys have been around since 2007 and your band is one of the most notorious hardcore/punk band nowadays. How do you feel about where your band is right now? As you grow as a band obviously more responsibilities are going to happen, especially with a touring band. People wanna fly to that show or to that show. You got to turn down tours because you get so many offers to do other tours, you know what I mean? You start picking wisely what you wanna do when you want to do it. You can’t stay on the road forever because some of us have girlfriends or family members to get to, so we can’t be on the road like we used to. But we try to pick and choose how many times of

the year we go on the road and at the same time I think we kind of appreciate it more now that we’re not going out so often, and so when we do go, we enjoy it more now. It’s not so stressful on worrying when we’re gonna be back home and knowing that we’re just gonna be in a van most of the year. Now we go and do maybe four little tours a year, but we look forward to them and we get excited because we all are busy working, doing our thing at home that sometimes we do need that little break away from the real world to get back and do what we enjoy to do. In 2013 you released your album titled The Wrong Way and it had a great feedback and now you’re

start a riot...

back with a new EP called Reckoning. When did you guys start working on this new release? This EP started last spring and it’s actually one of the hardest EPs we’ve written, because I think we overthink it too much. You want to do something better than the last record, you want to do something better than the first record, so you really try to come up with all these ideas that sometimes just don’t work for you. We don’t want to do something that isn’t our band, that isn’t our style, but at the same time we don’t want to sound repetitive with what we’re doing. We try to find a good medium between refreshing and still traditional and that’s not easy sometimes. There’s a lot of

writing a song sounding in a way, writing a song, recreating it, rewriting it again and then deciding whether we like it or not. We recently released the song called “End of the Road” and the thing about that song is that we wrote it in one day. We didn’t think of it so much. We had the riff, it was fun, it was fresh and we didn’t try so hard and then we were like “Ok, let’s do this at the beginning, do this in the middle, do this at the end” and then we wrote the song. To me, it’s one of my favorite songs that we’ve written in a long time. It was so simple and so relaxing to not have to overthink and over create something, and then just be too hard on ourselves when we can write a simple song and enjoying

it. We actually did put a lot of work into that song and it came out exactly how we wanted it, which was great for us because we didn’t know how it was going to turn out. You guys are working on your upcoming album. What can we expect from it? Is it going to be similar to this EP? Yeah. It’s basically the same style. There will be some heavy parts, but we’re trying to bring a little bit more of traditional California punk into it. Bands that we grew up with like Rancid, Pennywise, Suicidal Tendencies, Descendents and stuff like that, a little bit more of that traditional sound into our sound, so it won’t be too crazy. It will be a bit more fun and a bit angrier. I’m pretty excited about the way things are turning out. You mentioned earlier that the new EP is a sneak preview of the upcoming album, it’s like a trilogy. Can you tell me what you mean by that? The three songs of the EP... One of the songs was actually written for The Wrong Way. The song “Eyes Wide” was actually written for The Wrong Way and we just never released it. When we went back to it, we changed it a bit. We added a couple of things and now it’s a lot better than the original. We were like “Yeah, let’s release this that way.” It’s not crazy new like something to be on the new record, but it’s kind of a bridge from The Wrong Way to the next LP. It’s a glimpse of where we’re going. “Born” was just a sweet, short and angry song. Very traditional, very simple hardcore and that’s what we wanted it. We don’t want to overdo it with that, so we were like “Let’s do something hard, fast and strong!” That’s when we wrote “Born” and then “Eyes Wide” is a little bit more... I don’t wanna say intricate but there’s a little bit more to that than the other songs. “End Of The Road” is more like a little more anthemic, more sing along and more traditional like Pennywise vibe. That’s kind of where we were going for, something fun like that, but still keeping it angry and aggressive from the beginning until the end. The first 3 songs of this EP start with some kind of old recordings of a monologue/dialogue. What can you tell me more about that? All three songs have a different movie introduction. They are

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quotes from movies that we are all fans of and they all have something to do with the message of the song. The movie quote on the song “Born” is from a movie called Tombstone. It’s a Western and it’s with Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer. We like Westerns and we like movies a lot and it’s more about realizing that there are parts of me growing up that were necessarily violent. I had to be an aggressive person, because otherwise I wouldn’t have made it, you know? I needed to have some sort of weapon to make it out alive, and in the long run now that I’m getting older, that same weapon that saved me is now ruining me. It’s ruining my relationships, it’s ruining my thought process, it’s ruining how I approach things like I can’t be angry still because I’m not in the same environment, but my mentality has stayed the same. That’s kind of what that song is about. The second song, “Eyes Wide” is a quote from a more recent movie called Lawless. It’s a line when he’s telling it’s not the violence that sets men apart, it’s how tough is he willing to go, and that’s what “Eyes Wide” is about. It’s not about being mean, tough and scary; it’s about doing what it takes to get your point across and doing what it takes to provide security and safety for the things that you love. There are things in your life that are completely irreplaceable, you know? There are people in your life that if they’re taken away, that’s it! They’re gone, they can never be replaced. It’s not a TV, it’s not an old blanket or an old t-shirt, it’s not your favorite song, it’s life! And these people in your life can never be replaced. There’s an importance to how far are you willing to go for them, how much you want to sacrifice of yourself to keep those people around to keep those people safe... That’s what “Eyes Wide” is about. The last song is taken from Michael Douglas’ Falling Down, am I correct? Yes. That’s a quote from Falling Down with Michael Douglas. This song is about going home and the character itself just had too much one day. He couldn’t take it anymore and he just wanted to go home, and that’s kind of what the song is about. It’s about... you know, I go out on tour all the time and for the most part when I originally started going on tour it was because I needed answers that 70

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I couldn’t find on my own home, I couldn’t find in my family... There were some people that I was missing in my life and I went out to look for it and being a band on tour was one of the best things that ever happened to me. But sometimes you catch yourself wanting to go back to where you came from, because that’s the place you are the most comfortable with. At the end of the day, you want to go home. You want to go back to a place of comfort no matter how stressed out you are and how emotional you can get. When you’re so depressed, you just want to go home. You just wanna to step away from all for a minute and just go somewhere where things make sense and that’s what “End Of The Road” is about. No matter how bad things get, no matter which road you end up taking, you always gonna come back home. Besides those three new original songs, the EP also features two additional covers of Circle Jerks’ classics “I Don’t Care” and “Live Fast Die Young”. Why covering those two songs in particular? We didn’t want to do more original songs and we didn’t want to give too much. We wanted to give just the enough for people to want to listen to more stuff. We were like “We still have time in the studio, what do you want to do?” and I was like “Let’s do a cover. We haven’t done a cover since our first 7inch” and then we were like “Ok, what cover should we do?” We did “Fear” on the first 7inch and we did The Adolescents. “Let’s kind of keep going with Adolescents and let’s keep it local”. “And so, what about Circle Jerks? What songs?” There’s a list of bands with each song that we all pick and then we were like “Why don’t we pick two songs?”. “Two songs? Isn’t that too much?” and Taylor Young [producer] was like “No, let’s do ‘I Don’t Care’ into ‘Live Fast Die Young’.” I said that’s only one minute with some changes but he said it was perfect. He said “You make one track and you don’t stop playing. You make it seem like one song” and then we did it and it came out actually really good. [laughs] We’re all big Circle Jerks fans, so doing the song wasn’t a problem at all. We had fun with it and it kind of keeps the atmosphere of where we come from. We’re hugely inspired by Los Angeles hardcore/punk bands. That’s where we come from and we’re not gonna stray away from what we sound like.

You released the video for the song “Born” with footage of different shows you played. What can you tell me about that? One of the shows was in Sacramento. We’ve always had a great history in Sacramento. There was another show I think it was in Australia, I can’t remember, but the main footage that people see is a show we did this last December and it was in Los Angeles. Our friend Nate books a show like a little festival every year and none of the bands get paid. All the profits and all the money made goes to shelters for unfortunate children, so we encourage people to bring toys instead of paying with money... Bring toys so that we can give them to the kids. Me and my brother grew up in shelters when we were younger. I lived in three different shelters in my life, so I understand how important that is to somebody that is receiving them and I understand a lot of people actually giving me things without having me ask for something. These are people that I don’t even know, these people are complete strangers giving me a toy just to make me feel a little better going the holidays. He does it every year and we’re more than proud to be part of something like that. The show was great! It was one of the best shows that we had in Los Angeles, probably ever, so I was very stoked about that! How is it like the Los Angeles hardcore/punk scene nowadays? Like anybody in any other band, they’re gonna tell you that are cities that who’re best and there are cities that are their favorite, because this is where I grew up. The attitude in Los Angeles is a bit different, very aggressive and none of the bands sound the same, you know? We got bands like Twitching Tongues, Terror, Alpha & Omega, Downpresser, Soul Search... Los Angeles has a lot of diversity and I like that. I like that everybody’s trying to do something different, because the last thing we want to see in a live show is five bands sounding all the same. That’s really boring! It’s really cool LA and you got newer bands coming out like younger kids. You got bands like Fury and New Brigade. Those bands are doing their thing. Not as heavy, but still like aggressive and punk. We all support each other and it’s cool. All the bands here really support each other, which is great

INTERVIEW // ROTTING OUT

"...I'm always encouraging young kids to start bands, start a record label and do what you want to do. Don't let anyone hold you back or don't let anyome scare you from doing it. Don't be afraid to just be in a shitty band, honestly!" because I’ve been in other cities where bands are like “Don’t talk to those bands” or “Don’t talk to those guys.” It’s kind of shitty, because while part of the same scene you need these people at the shows. These are people that are going to keep your scene alive, especially the younger kids. We need them to start bands, because once our band breaks up for some reason because we can’t do this forever, someone has to take over. That’s why I’m always encouraging young kids to start bands, start a record label and do what you want to do. Don’t let anyone hold you back or don’t let anyome scare you from doing it. Don’t be afraid to just be in a shitty band, honestly! I know almost every band that I’m friends with right now, whatever bands they were when they were younger wasn’t the best band, but it sparked something, you know? It made you want to improve, it made you want to do more, it made you want to go on the road and get in a van. It made you want to write music, it showed you how to play guitar, it showed you how to record... There’s a lot to be in a band and I think it’s cool that kids at a young age start getting into it and start

approaching it. It changes lives and it changes who you are and usually for the better, so that’s a cool thing about Los Angeles that we all really support each other and we make sure our shows don’t get shut down. Every once in a while there will be a fight, you know? It happens. Not everyone is going to get along, but you know, we try to have people to keep that together like “Hey, not here, not right now. We’re trying to enjoy the show. Go somewhere else.” If you can’t talk it out, go somewhere else, not here at the venue. We don’t want this place to get shut down. This is our home, this is where we come. So, we’re all very respectful at the venues and we try to do the best to keep things open, because in Los Angeles all the punk venues always get shut down consistently. Every three years, we’re looking for a new venue just because there’s so many Hollywood clubs and bigger rock band venues that I don’t know why they think that old hardcore venues are taking away from their business when they don’t even book our bands, so it doesn’t even matter. Somebody is always trying to shut us down somehow, one way or another, just because is a money issue and they don’t even want to mess with our band, so just leave us alone. But

for ourselves, we encourage one another, encourage each band, the kids, everybody that wants to be a part of this. What’s been on your playlist lately? I’ve been listening to a lot of Rancid, mostly Let’s Go (1994). I always listen to a lot of Tegan and Sara. I’m a big fan of them. Also, I’ve been listening to this local band from the 90’s called 98 Mute - they don’t play anymore. They’re kind of like a little brother of Pennywise, you know what I mean? They kind of wanted to sound like Pennywise, but ended up with their own style. I’ve been listening to a lot of that and a lot of Bane, they’re from Boston. I like a lot of Boston’s hardcore and growing up lyrically Bane had a big impact on me. I didn’t know you could be in a punk band like that and write those type of words and at the same time you can be aggressive and vicious lyrically and still paint these images that are amenable.

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Reckoning EP is out now via Pure Noise Records 71

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! S R U O E R A S

The Skints are one of the UK's most exciting bands regarding the mix between Reggae, Ska and Punk, and that's not questionable. Newly signed with the iconic reggae label Easy Star Records, the band has just released their third album entitled FM and we couldn't miss the opportunity to talk with them about this new effort, how's London nowadays and much more. Josh Waters Rudge was kind enough to answer our questions. Words: Fausto Casais

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You’re about to release your third album FM. Why name it with FM? It’s called FM because it’s our tribute to pirate radio. “FM” stands from “Frequency Murderation” or “Fucking Millions” depending who you ask. What were the inspirations behind this new effort? Music, radio, London. The rawness, the freedom, the mystery. Rehearsing for 8 years next door to a jungle station. Driving round picking up the reggae pirates in my old car. Do The Right Thing (Spike Lee movie) and Songs for the Deaf (QOTSA Album) were two really big influences on the whole project too.

ou will play a series of shows across Europe and the UK in March and April, and you will be joined by support from Hollie Cook. What are you the most excited about this tour? Playing new songs! And friends, so many friends on this tour. Being on the road with Hollie Cook and her band General Roots is going to be so sick as they’re great friends of ours already. Plus Horseman, Tippa Irie and Rival in the UK equals party fun time. It’s been around five years since your debut album was released. What do you think it has developed more between you guys as musicians and bandmates? Everything’s developed. Our live show, our songwriting, our playing, we’ve grown as people. I’d just turned 19 when we made our first album and I turned 24 making this one. A lot happens in that time. Early this year you signed with the iconic reggae label Easy Star Records. How did that happen? Easy Star is the only record label that we have felt like genuine love and respect from. Compared to everyone we were talking to, it was a really easy decision in terms of the way they were talking about the band, the way they were talking to the band. They get it, they get what we are, where we’ve come from, what we want to do, etc.

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How do you think it differs between FM from your previous album, Part & Parcel? Creatively, it was really different. Part & Parcel was basically written when we went to record, where as FM we pretty much wrote the majority of in the studio. Prince Fatty produced the new album. What’s it like to be able to work with him? Fatty’s our guy! It was sick this time as we have three years of working together and friendship already there, we know exactly how each other are in the studio. A real pleasure. The new album features awesome guests including reggae legends Tippa Irie and Horseman, alongside grime MC Rival. What can you tell us about their contributions to your songs? That the contributions are unique and we would no way have achieved the same thing with a different selection of artists / MCs. Horseman is such a musical character, so rhythmic and melodic in everything he does. Even when he’s just kotching and chatting. Tippa is like the fire that don’t stop, that guy’s energy is so inspiring and he really strives to get the best of out the session. Rival, for me, is just the musical embodiment of what I love about grime music. That raw, punk rock aggression balanced with a real intelligent, conscious observation. He’s definitely an MC

“The rawness, the , the . Rehearsing for 8 years next door to a jungle station. Driving round picking up the reggae pirates in my old car.”

freedom

mystery

Josh Waters Rudge about the main inspiration for FM

INTERVIEW // THE SKINTS

who isn’t scared what everyone thinks of him. What can you tell us about your single “This Town ft. Tippa Irie and Horseman” and its video? It’s our little tribute to home! And also a cross pollination of eras and a display that even when you been doing music for over 30 years, you can work with a current artist and still demolish the track, so big up Tippa and The Horse for that. The video was directed by the boss man, Chris Hugall. It’s always loads of fun to work with him, he’s another creative soul that we love to be around. You covered Black Flag’s “My War” for this new album. Why this song?

We actually came from the punk scene, so to be able to make something that represents musically where we are right now, but lyrically part of our musical beginnings was something very cool for us. You guys have been addressing some important issues going on in Britain. It seems that nowadays those issues, those problems, have now escalated. What are your thoughts about that? Our thoughts on that are there in the lyrics man. Britain is a weird place.

London all the time that you can’t really say there’s “general” music scene. There are many scenes and they are vast and deep. People are doing their thing out here. And finally, what’s next on your agenda? Tour the hell out of this album. We’re about to go on tour in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK and the USA for two months back to back and then it’s festival season so that should keep us busy for a minute.

What about the London’s music scene nowadays? There’s so much going on in musicandriotsmagazine.com

FM is out now via Easy Star Records 75

AN EMOTIONA JOURNEY TH

Words: And

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April

Newly signed to Pure Noise Records,

LIKE PACIFIC

are five dudes from Ontario, Canada, that create emotional yet intense melodic punk songs. With their new self-titled EP, they show their growth as a band in whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s their most matured release to date. We talked with Chris Thaung about the band, the new EP and what's next for them.

AL AND ANGRY HROUGH LIFE

dreia Alves

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band, but overall we are definitely willing to keep going no matter what happens in our band. Just last year we lost two guitar players at the same time. They both left us, so we kind of pick up the pieces and we just keep going with it. We got two new guitar players and started writing. We wrote this new EP and then that’s kind of how it happened with Pure Noise Records. Definitely the heart, the drive and the passion of the band is the best part.

ell us a little bit about Like Pacific and how you guys came to be. We started out in 2009 and it was myself and Jordan, my singer. Jordan was actually our original drummer and we were kind of auditioning singers and we couldn’t really find anyone. Jordan was kind of joking on the microphone one time and we realized that we could actually sing, so that’s how he took the vocal part. We went through a few guitar players and drummers, we had a bit of revolving door members over the past five years and it’s been a long road. [laughs] For the ones who don’t know you, how would you describe your music in a few words? Emotional, angry and melodic. What or who does inspire you while writing a song for Life Pacific? I guess Jordan takes a lot of his experiences… The main idea of for a song it kinds of starts with a guitar riff or drum beat, and we just build off of that. Sometimes it takes anywhere between one to two hours, to one to two weeks, to one to two months to actually to finish a song, so it’s hit and miss with us. Since you formed in 2009, you released three EPs and did a lot of touring. What’s the best thing about being in Like Pacific? Definitely the heart of the band. We’ve been doing a lot... We had a lot of different member changes and had a lot of ups and downs as a 78

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April

You guys have recently signed with Pure Noise Records, which it’s great. How did that happen? Yeah, we wrote this new EP and then we decided to go record it... It was pretty much the relaunch of our band because we had two new members and before we even release it we had a mutual friend Travis, a promoter here in Toronto. He’s good friends with Jake from Pure Noise Records and our booking agent, and I guess they were just talking about bands and stuff like that. He ended up putting me in, “You know these guys!” and then it was just like “Hey, this is Jake from Pure Noise. He knows your band already” and knew at the time that we just finished our new EP. We ended up signing up to Pure Noise and to Sokora Agency to see and then ending up loving it and I guess the rest is history. Your new self-titled EP is out now and has received a lot of great feedback. How do you feel about this new EP comparing with your previous ones? Definitely it’s the most matured we’ve ever sounded before as far as the vocal melodies and as far as the lyrics especially, the instrument as well... We have definitely grown up over the past couple of years and it’s not even comparable to our first EP in 2011 and even not our EP in 2012. It’s completely night to day. Each song of this EP has an specific experience with an emotional weight. Overall, what drives Jordan the most to write such in-depth lyrics? I think this is definitely Jordan’s way of expressing how he feels. He doesn’t really have an outlet to express how he feels, so he puts every emotion and every feeling into his lyrics. He’s been through a lot in his life, a lot of personal mishaps, so it’s definitely

"W o

his way of dealing with it and coping with it I guess. I really like the cover art of the new EP. What can you tell me about that picture? Our photographer friend Matt Dillon ended up taking that photo. I’m not exactly sure of why he took it or where he did it... We were just going through his catalog because we were thinking on getting him to do a shoot for us and we came across it and I thought it was really cool as an EP cover. I asked him about it and he said yes and it was totally free to use. That’s pretty much how it happened. There’s not much of a story. [laughs] We just liked it and used it. I read that you guys are

INTERVIEW // LIKE PACIFIC

We have definitely grown up over the past couple of years and it's not even comparable to our first EP in 2011 and even not our EP in 2012." currently in the writing process of your first full-length record and it may be released in late 2015. What can you tell us about that? We’re pretty much in the middle of writing it. I think we’re about 3 to 5 songs in. We want to have a total of at least 15 songs before we hit the studio and then we can choose the best 10 or 11 songs at that point. We’re definitely hoping that this record will be completed this year. As far as being released, I don’t see it being released this year. Probably next year. Besides music, do you have any other outlet that you like to spend time with? Not me personally. I’m totally engulfed in music. Everything I do is just within the scene. I try to help

out younger bands in the scene and I try to book shows. I know that the rest of my guys have other things to do. Greg, one of the guitar players, he loves to cook. He’s a cook for a day job and he loves cooking. My drummer Dillon is a huge coffee snob. He knows almost everything about coffee culture, so he’s pretty crazy about that kind of thing. Luke is very into craft beer as well. I guess as a whole we’re all into food. [laughs] Do you recommend us any new bands from Toronto that we should listen to? Definitely! A few bands from our province in Ontario that are really making some noise right now is a band called Coldfront. They’re kind of Balance and Composure meets The Story So Far with that

emotional heaviness. There’s a band called Safe To Say that’s really great. They’re a really emotional band for fans of bands like Brand New and the early Title Fight as well. One of my favorite bands, they’re a young band and they need a lot of work, but they work hard and they’re called Fighting Season. They’re younger kids and they need a lot of work, but they have a lot of heart into it. No matter what people tell them, they always do what they want to do. These are three bands that we really love to play with and see grow.

musicandriotsmagazine.com

Like Pacific EP is out now via Pure Noise Records 79

ALCOA

A very new and invigoratin chapter in Der Archambaultâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s l Words: Tiago Moreira

Derek Archambault is best known for fronting the hardcore outfit Defeater, but a few years ago he st properly work on his solo project that by now has more than one decade of existence. Parlour Tricks, th Alcoa album and the follow-up to their debut Bone and Marrow (2013), is, among other things, the re painful experience with a hip injury that Derek went through. We spoke on the phone, while he was dri his wife Alyssa, about his latest album and Alcoa. 80

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April

ng rek life.

tarted to he newest esult of a iving with

proud of. But it also comes with me not really doing much with the project, like there isn’t like 40 songs sitting somewhere that no one ever heard. My output in anything like recorded is actually a pretty small amount of songs for how long the project is been around. I think it’s just part of why I’ve stuck with it so long and why I’m not sick of it yet. It’s because I haven’t just written a bunch of songs that I think are trash now. I would put it aside for years at the time.

o you see Alcoa as an emo band? Not particularly. I mean, I guess some of the first wave of that stuff influences my songwriting... I mean, I’m in my mid-30s. I was around for the first wave of it, and some of those bands are still some of my favorite bands, so I guess it just plays a part in my songwriting. How it went, the early release show for Parlour Tricks at the Bridge 9 warehouse in Peabody, MA? It was good. It was a lot of fun. Aviator and James [Carroll], from Make Do and Mend, played. It was a good time. We love our label so it was nice to get to hang out there, and play there. It’s the second time we play there, so they’re going to try to keep shows going on there because it’s a really nice space there. The project originally started over a decade ago and right now we’re witnessing the most prolific Alcoa’s period. Is there a kind of new found urgency on your part? The project was started just as a way to have another songwriting outlet. I never really thought that was going to do much with it. I played a handful of shows, get really excited about stuff and then put it aside and focus on other bands... I’ve always been on other bands and not focused entirely on the solo stuff. I guess right now I feel like it’s the best time to try and like push the project. I have a lot more time on my hands now... I don’t know, after surgery I’ve been in a much more positive place and I wanted to try and do as much with my time as possible. This new record was definitely born out of that. We went into the studio like five weeks after my surgery and I wrote the songs immediately afterwards... I guess that proves its urgency. Do you think it’s also because it requires some level of maturity? Yeah, probably! When I first started I was pretty young – like 22 or 23, probably 22 – and I only knew how to write a few – I don’t want to sound fuckin’ condescending... I just didn’t know how to write as well within this genre, I guess. It was either just like four chords jangle pop songs or straight up Oasis rip off, or just a punk/hardcore song. I think that to get to this point I definitely needed to do as much as I have in other musical outlets to kind of be able to put myself into this band properly and actually write songs that I’m really

You’ve confessed how difficult things are with Defeater regarding the touring, holding a regular job, and managing the time between all members. Those difficulties are currently fueling your desire to keep Alcoa as active as possible? Sort of, I mean we all got to the point where it isn’t as stressful because we all don’t live in the same place anymore, so it’s not like we’re playing local shows, or trying to make regional touring/ shows happening. We’re just strictly a touring band. That part is a little bit less stressful because we’re not constantly trying to go to such, and such place and like play a couple shows, and work our own personal lives, and jobs, around that. I feel like we’ve gotten to the point in our other band where we’re all just really comfortable with it, we now it’s our priority, so any time that we get to do another project. I guess it goes back to the maturity. Yeah, I think that does come with the maturity. We’re more focused. We’re not in our 20s anymore; we don’t see it as like “We have to go, go, go!”, and tour as much as possible. I think we’re all in the mindset where’s it better to just take things easy as they come and focus on putting out a good record and focusing on... I don’t know, I guess the songwriting aspect of it more. Your life went through some changes during the period between Bone & Marrow and Parlour Tricks. You got married with Alyssa and you faced a serious hip injury. How that affected the album and how making the album affected your life? I guess it goes both ways when you’re creating something as personal as Parlour Tricks. Yeah, I think the only real affect that my injury and the pain I was in, and then the subsequent surgery really had was my like new – not new found – positivity again in why

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INTERVIEW // ALCOA play music and write. It affected me in a really positive way. With the surgery, I feel like I just need to be as prolific as possible, but I think with how personal the records are and stuff, for me it’s just like the only way I know how to write. It doesn’t really affect me, but Alyssa and I getting married and us playing in a band together... It has its aims and outs, kind of a pain in the butt for us to work it out with our personal lives and work, but I think the end result is great... Especially on this new record Alyssa really steals the show on some songs and I even wish that she was on more songs. I hate to say it, but we’ve kind of rushed this last record a little bit because I was just trying to get everything pressed in time to go out on tour in February, it was supposed to start yesterday, I think. I was going to do a full US tour with someone and then it got cancelled. So, we rushed through the record, recording it and everything, and I think if we would have taken a little bit more time it might be even a little bit more fleshed out and Alyssa might been on a few more songs. Nevertheless, I’m really proud how it came out. I know that the song “Always Chasing Me” ended up taking a different shape in the recording studio. What about the ten songs on the album? They just didn’t change in the process of recording them? No, there were a few where that happened in the studio, where I originally started tracking one way with Mike [Moschetto] and maybe after we laid down the basic tracks I decided, like after a weird epiphany/clarity/crazy person moment, to just scratch it and try to approach it in a different way. “Poison Acquaintance” that it was like the last song that I’ve recorded for the record and that it was just an idea that I had literally just inside my head, without anything written, and I just transposed from a guitar idea I had from years ago and just sat down in the piano and told Mike to record it, and that just happened to be a song on the album. There were a few different things like that, where there’s an idea that we end up working really quickly and it just ends up being on the album. The PledgeMusic project for your hip replacement surgery was a success. I can only imagine how 82

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April

“I think we’re all in the mindset where it is better to just take things easy as they come and focus on putting out a good record...” you felt seeing more than two thousand people that were there for you, willing to help you. It was incredibly humbling and flattering and I still can’t believe that it happened. It’s amazing! I really don’t have words for it besides I’m humbled, thankful, and grateful for everybody that has donated. From listening a Proclamation 7-inch in high school to releasing albums with Bridge Nine. How does it feel? It’s... crazy! It’s really weird to think how many records I bought from them before I started to put records out on their label, and how many shows to go see all those bands that they’ve put out throughout the years. It’s pretty wild to think that like now I have something like seven records put out by them. It’s crazy to be such a big part of their catalogue and just to be label mates with so many bands that I’ve looked up to for years. You said that you don’t want a

legacy but that will happen anyway. Do you ever feel some kind of pressure because of it? No, I’m just really thankful and grateful for all the opportunities that I’ve been given... I don’t know, it’s weird to think about anything like that. The word legacy it’s so strange to me. I feel like that should be reserved to people like Ian MacKaye... Well, it’s a different kind of legacy. Yeah, I guess. Like I said, it’s weird to think about that. It’s just a happy coincidence that all of these things worked out and that I’ve been given all these opportunities and being able to put out records, and that people really enjoy them.

Parlour Tricks is out now via Bridge Nine

CD-EP/12"/Digital out now

MARRIAGES

SALOME

Sargent House (2015) 06.04

t is to praise when a group of musicians builds around themselves a strong and inspiring fellowship within their musicianship. With Marriages, we get this feeling of how consistent and true these people are with themselves as friends and as musicians. This is not the first time that Emma Ruth Rundle and Greg Burns work together, both are members of the instrumental post-rock group Red Sparowes. Their first release as Marriages was the 2012’s debut EP Kitsune that had a little bit of Red Sparowes’ influence in it, but Rundle’s ethereal and gentle vocals were definitely the highlight. Last year, Rundle released her first solo album Some Heavy Ocean and it was a tremendous surprise. After that amazing effort, it was time to Rundle, Burns and their new drummer Andrew Clinco fly really high. Salome is their first album and what a great album they made. Named after a biblical character, this album they’ve an exceptional and mesmerizing work of a group that knows how to blend perfectly that gloomy nostalgia of the 80’s and 90’s post-punk, post-rock with shoegaze. Every riff and every lyric work harmoniously with the heavy textures and the electrifying atmosphere built in each song. Rundle still showcases a brave attitude in her lyrics revealing a unique voice in the nowadays’ music industry. Salome is a departure from what Kitsune was and it’s definitely a leap forward in Marriages’ sound. It’s powerful and ferocious; an experience really worth to go through. ANDREIA ALVES

FOR FANS OF:

Emma Ruth Rundle, Cocteau Twins, Red Sparowes

ESSENTIAL TRACKS:

Skin, Southern Eye, Salome

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April

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20.04

AN AUTUMN FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN The Long Goodbye

AS IT IS Never Happy, Never After Fearless Records (2015)

Rastilho (2015)

Though the Dutch outfit have yet to move into the same league as scenechangers Alcest and Deafheaven, AAFCC remain one of the most intriguing bands who have twinned shoegaze elegance and blackened atmospherics. The Long Goodbye opens in overwhelmingly intense fashion, euphoria and glacial oppression alike carried aloft in a flood of breakneck riffing, but this deluge allows later moments to bask in their subtlety, moments of genuine introspection like “Only Skin” a ripple of calm in the midst of a maelstrom. The strength of these dynamics, and the quality of the melodies on offer, are a valuable contribution to a still-exciting scene and, when applied with such skill and intricacy, make for one of the best offerings from the band yet.

Do you guys remember that time where Breakfast Club and John Hughes meant to explain 80’s youngsters to yesterday’s youth? This was also a turning point regarding what Emo stands out today, where those who were vulnerable, alienated and idealistic find their own playground. Hailing from the UK, As It Is are clearly bringing back some of that old school pop-punk emo esque, driving between Taking Back Sunday, The Starting Line or Brand New early days, but with the modern approach of bands like Neck Deep and State Champs for example. Never Happy, Never After is well crafted and honest, full of huge chorus, great lyrics and with that raw pop sensibility that somehow lacks in most of these bands. Well done guys!

To be a metal band in Portugal is hard, to do it for twenty years is harder, and to sing in Portuguese makes their existence nearly impossible. But twenty years on and here they are with their first record since Album Negro (Black Album) from 2009, seventh overall. Since their inception they have been a reference in the Portuguese industrial metal scene and on this record they show no signs of wearing down or softening their sound. In fact, since the last record they have become leaner and meaner. The most obvious influences are Ministry and early Marilyn Manson, but they can transform and adapt those influences to their particular style, and present us with a record that’s at the same time mechanic and organic in its approach.

FOR FANS OF:

Wickerman (2015)

DAVE BOWES

Deafheaven, Alcest, The Cure

BIZARRA LOCOMOTIVA Mortuário

FAUSTO CASAIS

Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, Neck Deep

NUNO BABO

Rammstein, Marilyn Manson, NIN

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8 COURTNEY BARNETT Sometimes I Sit and Think and... Mom + Pop (2015)

Since the song “Avant Gardener” hit my attention that I couldn’t wait to listen to more stuff of this Australian singer-songwriter. In 2013, Courtney Barnett released a collection of her first two releases, The Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas. It seemed like a fulllength, but it felt like a preview of the real full-length. After all, it was what Barnett felt too. Impatiently waiting for the debut record, Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit does not disappoint. Just like her previous release, this album is invigorating and sharp with garage-pop tunes with a little bit of folk and punk. Her Sheryl Crow’s vocal style alike and her wicked sense of humor on such incisive lyrics takes Barnett to a whole new level. Well done!

FOR FANS OF:

Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten

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April

ANDREIA ALVES

REVIEWS

CANCER BATS

Searching For Zero

OUT NOW

Metal Blade/BMG (2015)

Sometimes, even when we are in the right direction, there is that strange feeling that a change is what we really need. After touring all over the world in 2013, Cancer Bats gave 2014 a well deserve break to rest, but sometimes life throws us to the other side, turning a well deserved rest into some kind of nightmare. 2014 was a really heavy year for the Toronto bats, the death of several close friends really shook

them up and the lack of rest because of non-stop touring was the fuel to ignite this new effort. Searching For Zero is the natural next step, an honest and relentless experience, perhaps their most savage, powerful and vicious album. With Ross Robinson on production duties - the right guy to shake them up again - and the right guy to channel their own emotions into their most engaging and daring sound, bringing some

FOR FANS OF:

ESSENTIAL TRACKS:

Clutch, Circle Jerks, Black Sabbath

polish into their own loose and raw sound. Their obsession for Sabbath is well known, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s their own new found melodic Clutch esque that ignites their also new (old) Circle Jerks meets Bad Brains vibe. Searching For Zero is a hardcore masterpiece, their most melodic yet menacing artistic statement, full of hooks, screams and that non-stop feeling that we are used to see in a Cancer Bats live show.

Satellites, All Hail, Cursed With a Conscience

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OUT NOW

COLLEEN Captain of None

DAN DEACON Gliss Riffer

Domino (2015)

Blindsight Records (2015)

The French multi-instrumentalist’s first album released by Thrill Jockey is an evolution on her career. Using a viola da Gamba and multiple instrumental delays, Captain of None is a step forward for her, leaving behind the minimalist pop melodies and creating a consistent melodic album where her voice is the leader of the whole scenario, an ethereal voice as usual. Using distortions in order to make the sound of the viola more flexible, Colleen’s influences on Oriental and African melodies and beats are highly present. “This Hammer Breaks” is a reference or “Captain of None,” the song that names the album. It is a pop record for your mind, a journey through ancient times, but produced in a modern way.

After three years of absence, the electroacoustic composer Dan Deacon offers the world his latest electronic divagations and experimentations all together in this Gliss Riffer record. It’s known that when you say Gliss Riffer you are referring to fast ascending and descending notes on a musical scale, called glissando. This is what this Gliss is all about: a continuous sampling manipulation like Dan does very well which cannot be catalogued into any specific style (it can be DYE- House, electro…). “Feel the Light,” the electro-disco single is a catchy example of Gliss Riffer sound’s diversity. This album is not anything new in Dan’s discography, but nevertheless is an album worth to listen where he pushes the boundaries and in some moments he is indeed successful.

After 2 albums released and 5 years of hard work, Desert Storm are back with another exceptionally well made album, which will mesmerise many of its fans. The new album of this super talented 5 piece band carry on improving their blending techniques between stoner rock, southern heavy metal and doom/ sludge metal. If one listens to the album in its entirety you will see that every song is so different that almost fits in within different genres. There is always a continuous/sustained change in the the songs tempo and style. Displaying great guitar work which almost resembles a ‘70s classic southern rock band. Omniscient is an outstanding album with an amazing groove and flow to it. It definitely makes you want to kickback and enjoy!!!

FOR FANS OF:

Thrill Jockey (2015)

ANA CARVALHO

Grouper, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Hauschka

DESERT STORM Omniscient

ANA CARVALHO

Panda Bear, Fuck Buttons, Avey Tare

IBRAHIMA BRITO

Spirit Caravan, XII Boar, Gonga

27.04 OUT NOW

OUT NOW

8 FAT.MO.MAC Fat.Mo.Mac

ENTAIL United States of Mind

FALLING IN REVERSE Just Like You

United States of Mind is the latest offering from Italian nu-crossovermetal act Entail. In an honest collection of thoughts and true life experiences, that key element that surrounds us every single day is clearly invoked, where feelings of loss, control, nostalgia and freedom are mentioned as the parameters in which every single human evaluates the Good and the Evil. United States of Mind is a solid effort, where the chugging hardcore aggression married to some wicked and infectious chorus, full of soaring guitars, groove and some ace melodies. Entail sound like the missing link between Dry Kill Logic, Skinless, Ill Nino or even Dog Fashion Disco, if there was time capsule this would be an essential late 90’s beginning of 2000’s release.

Just Like You is definitely an album to be remembered. Falling In Reverse’s new assemble of songs is 45 minutes of pure joy. With most their songs fitting a different sub genre of heavy music, they definitely impressed us public. Their tracks include every component to make an amazing album: exceptional guitar riffs, amazing production, toxic, meaningful and well written lyrics, and also great production. They also added a pinch of humour that makes songs like “Sexy Drug” much more enjoyable. “Sexy Drug” and “Guillotine IV (final chapter)” are by far the flagship tracks. But the rest of the songs also deserve praise for their quality. Overall, Just Like You is a fair album by these dudes.

For those unaware, Fat.Mo.Mac is the new side project of Lars Johansson, the Swedish guitarist more commonly known for his work with Doom Metal legends Candlemass. What you’re going to find here isn’t anything remotely like Candlemass, as Johansson traded his usual doom-laden, Sabbath-y-like riffs for a good dose of guitar-driven hard rock, filled with loads of tasty bluesy licks. Aided by Mats Léven on vocals, Johansson delivered an assortment of great infectious hard rockin’ groovers, from which tracks like the slick opener “Walk Alone”, the fiery “Cold Woman” and other, more sorrowful tunes like “So Bad it Feels” and “Always Like That”, make up for this debut’s finest moments. If you’re a fan of guitarists like Ritchie Blackmore or Jeff Beck, you really can’t go wrong with this one.

FOR FANS OF:

Epitaph Records (2015)

Memorial Records (2015)

FAUSTO CASAIS

Ill Nino, Skinless, Dry Kill Logic

music&riots

Red Tomb Records (2015)

April

IBRAHIMA BRITO

Escape the Fate, Black Veil Brides

LUIS ALVES

Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, Jeff Beck

REVIEWS

10.04

7 ENABLERS The Rightful Pivot

Atypeek Music / Exile on Mainstream (2015)

Enablers are one of those bands that somehow have flew under the radar. It’s not like they’re just now starting out or that they haven’t grind intensely on the road, or even that they don’t have consistently released good music throughout the years... Sometimes it’s just the way it goes. Life just isn’t fair. On The Rightful Pivot, Enablers’ fifth album, they keep walking on their own lane, which is as musical as poetic, mostly because of the aptitude that vocalist Pete Simonelli has to tell stories. The Rightful Pivot is not trying to reinvent the wheel with its spoken-word supported by what many would call post-rock (dissonant and gentle, as it usually goes), but simply just add another chapter in a great story.

FOR FANS OF:

TIAGO MOREIRA

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Slint, Oxbow

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7 FORMATION Young Ones EP

Meno Records (2015)

The debut EP, Young Ones, by twin brothers from South London known as Formation is an opportunity to see another band walking towards what could possibly be stardom and public awe. Not because Formation have somehow found a way in a current trend and are just ready to tag along. This time you can rest assure that is because of good and solid songwriting skills. It opens with groove that is gracefully funky; it slows the fuck down to contemplate in a warm pace; it finds the middle ground between the first and the second, and it closes with the biggest bang of them all: punk to the bone. It never sounds redundant, but rather exciting and extremely promising. Watch out!

FOR FANS OF:

King Krule, LCD Soundsystem

TIAGO MOREIRA

DEATH GRIPS

Third Worlds/Harvest Records (2015)

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Jenny Death

hey’ve yet to deliver something that’s totally expected and surprise-free. Jenny Death, which follows Niggas on the Moon and completes the double album The Powers that B, serves as a counterpoint to the first installment and it’s a step forward overall. They know their role as outsiders and loners, “I Break Mirrors With My Face In The United States”, and they’re ok with it, “Inanimate Sensation”. That’s the freedom that has ignited the burning fire that never ceased since the inception. A message for the misfits, the fucked up minds. If the first part had a lighter weight (Björk’s vocals/samples), then Jenny Death borrows his aggressiveness and rawness to Tera Melos’ Nick Reinhart’s guitar work – arguably the most obvious effort to encompass punk rock, sound wise. Both albums have a different touch to it, but “PSS PSS”, for example, doesn’t let us forget the connection (“Have a sad cum, baby”), in fact this is just another nail in the big fuckin’ coffin. Jenny Death is the ultimate proof of Death Grips’ forward thinking art. Not only they have been on a mission to hit hard but they’ve also been concerned evolving and finding new ways to freak people out – never dull, never stiff. Is this the last testament of one of the most relevant and important bands of the 21st century?

FOR FANS OF:

Death Grips, Death Grips, Death Grips

ESSENTIAL TRACKS:

The Powers that B, Beyond Alive, On GP

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TIAGO MOREIRA

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21.04

FUTURE BROWN Future Brown

GENGAHR She’s A Witch EP

GRUESOME Savage Land

The eclectic group formed by producers J-Cush, Fatima Al Qadiri, Maroof Asthma and Daniel Pineda of Nguzunguzu exceeded in exoticism. Futuristic dance to American clichés of R & B to reggaeton that everyone had forgotten (listen “Vernacular” and you’ll understand), the mixture of these creative minds often results, sometimes not. The contributions of Tink and Kelela raised some of the tracks to pop status (the highlights are the opening theme “Room 302”, “Dangerzone” and “Wanna Party”), an asset that can bring to the attention the more explorative themes. Above all, the production team sits in a comfort zone with different styles that are fashionable all over the world, but they sin by lacking cohesion.

Gengahr, a quintet based in London, is a deeply Indie sounded band but in a very distant spectrum of what pure Indie is, so there are a lot more other labels we could give them. There is a quiet sound, paused, with translucent and ethereal voices environments that excels in music of these Londoners.There is a positivism intonation in vocals that covers the musicality with a zen mood, while the instruments, rhythm changes and effects are mild, although accurate. There is room for one more Indie band, especially a band that seems to be able to harmonize with extreme precision a number of influences and sounds more or less known and still get something nice and innovative.

What would a project that combines de powers of members and former members of Possessed, Malevolent Creation and Exhumed sound like? Exactly like you would expect! Like the world ended and now the few humans that survived are trying to fight off against those bloodthirsty demons that roam the earth. If this is just a one off affair or a band that will continue, I don’t know, but unlike other traditional metal bands that want to pay homage to their idols - in this particular case, Death, Obituary and Morbid Angel this one sounds like a full fledge band. If Florida and Scott Burns have any meaning for you then you will most definitely want to hear this record.

FOR FANS OF:

Warp Records (2015)

Transgressive Records (2015)

RUI CORREIA

Fatima Al Qadiri, Nguzunguzu, M.I.A.

Relapse Records (2015)

NUNO TEIXEIRA

Radiohead, Alt-J, Django Django

NUNO BABO

Malevolent Creation, Obituary, Death

21.04

OUT NOW

HORSEHUNTER Caged In Flesh

INVENTIONS Maze of Woods

Bella Union (2015)

Virgin EMI/Ribbon Music (2015)

Caged In Flesh has it all to turn Horsehunter as one of the killer bands of the genre, and has already being drawn comparisons with likes of the biggest such as Neurosis, YOB, Sleep and so on. Cut downtune guitars and sinister stoned riffs rejoining throaty vocalisation fuelled by psychedelic doom, show facts the talents of a young band with a promissory future. Also, Caged In Flesh brings back old habits in sludge/doom course, the tradition in presenting long songs, proving that you don’t remain tired or bored, but yet excited. Listen to the opening track “Stoned Death” with 16 minutes of thundering masterpiece. If you are a fan of this type of music, go ahead and grab this album and be astonished.

The project of Mark T. Smith, member of Explosions In The Sky and Matthew Cooper, best known as Eluvium, is one of those projects where everybody feels very comfortable with their part in the business; from the sound they create in their own bands to their inner musical tastes. Maze of Woods is full of gorgeous and mysterious landscapes so post-rock typical. We have haunting tracks (“Escapers”), ethereal voices (“Slow Breathing Circuit”), smooth electronic elements and the guitar reverbs and delays of Explosions In The Sky. No surprise so far if we have their first album as a reference, but Maze of Woods is a richer technical album, where the process of mixing is highly more complex than in its predecessor.

With only 25 years old, the British singer-songwriter Laura Marling has already released five albums and all of them are great. Following 2013’s Once I Was an Eagle, Laura Marling returns with her fifth effort that is basically a reflection of her experience of living in Los Angeles and what came therefore. Mentioning a several times that she can’t be alone and some more intimate thoughts, Marling shows a more confident side while dealing with the anxiety of isolation and self-discovery. The acoustic folk is still there, but this time she features electric guitar on several tracks, giving a different dynamic to her songs. Short Movie is a glance over a musician that wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue to be a musician.

FOR FANS OF:

Magnetic Eye Records (2015)

SÉRGIO KILMORE

Neurosis, YOB, Sleep

music&riots

Explosions In The Sky, Eluvium

April

LAURA MARLING Short Movie

ANA CARVALHO

Joni Mitchell, Lucy Rose

ANDREIA ALVES

REVIEWS

GALLOWS

Desolation Sounds

13.04

Venn/PIAS (2015)

Over the years Gallows have departed from their own beginnings, that’s a fact, so I must say that there is no point of having another kind of discussion between the new and old Gallows, it’s pointless and so fucking unfair for the artistic statement that these dudes have been making over all the years. Desolation Sounds represents a new chapter in Gallows career, breaking new ground as they move towards their tenth anniversary.

Their own refusal to simply stagnate or repeat the same formula over and over again is what makes this album so fearless and bold. It’s fair to say that Desolation Sounds shows a band more comfortable than ever, playing with no boundaries regarding their own creativity, with no fear to close some doors and open new ones, providing themselves their own journey and path. Stunning and passionate, this

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ESSENTIAL TRACKS:

Danzig, Pixies, Nails, Alexisonfire

new album is alarmingly caustic, disarmingly graceful, full of densely packed lyrics and too good to be ignored. Desolation Sounds achieves perfection, this might be their very own masterpiece, their statement into the punk and rock scene, providing a new chapter for them and for a whole new and old generation that is anxious to be challenged about it. An accomplished offering and a genre-defining modern classic.

Cease To Exist, Mystic Death, Death Valley Blue

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FAUSTO CASAIS

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8 LEVIATHAN Scar Sighted

Profound Lore Records (2015)

Scar Sighted, the sixth and latest studio effort of Leviathan, is an undeniably new high point on an already incredible career. Returning to more “disgusting” and frightening territories, it displays an impressive array of musical elements, under the untouchable black metal backbone. Perhaps the most impressive quality on Scar Sighted is how amazingly successful Wrest is in securing a true sense of unity throughout the entire album, even when the fury that defines black metal abruptly shifts into seemingly softer moments – truly it just adds a new profound dimension to all the madness. Along with Pharmakon’s Bestial Burdens, Scar Sighted is one of the most (truly) frightening musical pieces of these last few years. A testimonial of the genius of Wrest.

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TIAGO MOREIRA

Krieg, Twilight, Morbid Angel

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HANNAH COHEN

Bella Union (2015)

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Pleasure Boy

5 LITURGY The Ark Work

Thrill Jockey (2015)

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Where does it stop? Well, it certainly isn’t a dogma but we can all probably agree that Liturgy’s third album is not a black metal album. Some blast beats and tremolo picking aren’t enough to make it such. But that’s not even a problem. When single “Quetzalcoatl” was unveiled there was this hope that Liturgy would deliver another piece that would feel coherent, that’d make sense, and rewarding in its own experimentalism, but instead we are stuck with an album without any direction, any concern regarding coherence, and that just is for the sake of it. Basil Poledouris, dark ambient Burzum, electronic, countless breaks, and the result is as delusional as vocalist and guitarist Hunter Hunt-Hendrix seems to be.

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Known as one of the muses to the New York’s art scene, Hannah Cohen is drop-dead gorgeous that’s for sure, but the American model has another way to express herself through art and she does it well too. Child Bride was her debut full-length, released in 2012, that showed Hannah’s delicate and beautiful voice as well as her skills as a songwriter. A good start in the music scene. With that said, we could only expect good things from her and that’s when Pleasure Boy comes along, her second album, a sharp growth as a musician. As referred in a press release, Pleasure Boy was mainly inspired by a painful break-up and the anxieties that loss can trigger and Hannah delivers deep thoughts and emotions on that subject matter with catchy and compelling indie pop tunes. It’s important to highlight once again her voice where she embodies her pain and life experience on those melancholic and lush melodies. In Pleasure Boy, Hannah writes deeply emotional lyrics, and even though it’s overall a heartbreaking record, she manages to turn pain into joy, to turn sadness into a new kind of happiness. Lana Del Rey, Lyla Foy, Broken Twin ANDREIA ALVES

Keepsake, Fake It, Baby

music&riots

April

TIAGO MOREIRA

Guardian Alien, Burzum, Altar of Plagues

REVIEWS

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7 AS MERCY COMES Prison

This Is Core Records (2015)

Prison is strong and dynamic, their balance between old-school metalcore with the new and “fashion” trends of deathcore are very applaudable. Focused on the interior of the human soul and how it reacts against life changes, Prison swings between their own strong lyricism and their fierce metalcore, full of crushing riffs, where their insane scream meets guttural and it matches perfectly with their twisted and brutal head-fuck of a record.

FAUSTO CASAIS

31.03

7 BLACKOUT Blackout

RidingEasy Records (2015)

It seems damn obvious that we enter in a space-time machine and stuck in the middle of the seventies when the Sabbath were making their difference and infecting the masses. With no fancy production and no expensive outputs, dark and heavy from the heart well refined with doomy cryptic sound. The reverb and replication on the vocal/screams in all of the entire album makes a murk effect embellishing even more the doom stoner and fuzzy environment.

SÉRGIO KILMORE

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7 HORA HOUSE Crash EP

Self-released (2014)

Crash EP is what we may call ‘a good but short trip’. This is Manchester’s Hora Douse new EP and with only three tracks - but well-picked we have to say - there’s a lot to pick up to and enough to be addicted to. The trio knows how to write a big riff and how to give it a good use. Biffy Clyro or Brand New are probably their more instant comparisons, but Hora Douse have the energy and gut to stand out. Let’s see what else they will bring to our ears in the near future.

ANDREIA ALVES

KENDRICK LAMAR To Pimp A Butterfly

Interscope / Aftermath / Top Dawg (2015)

10 OUT NOW

here to start? High expectations not controlled, could outwit me quickly, but how these doubts would not be undone, when the entry of this album joins George Clinton, Flying Lotus, Thundercat? Kendrick is able to master the most difficult rhythms like no one else can. How? When do jazz, funk, rap, soul intersect to resubmit the path of AfricanAmerican music? When does the lyrical richness, only made sense in the company of an organic and equally rich sound? When does Kendrick’s album require a continuous and constant listening? When in loop, we continue to unravel the artist’s cocoon? Moreover, we found that the butterfly is released only by strengthening its social and human consciousness? When do I feel more hypocrite that the artist in 2015, by using questions in this review? The truth is that the album deserves emphasis now, but the exploration process continues. To Pimp A Butterfly is an album that recalls the metamorphosis of life - in good times and bad times - a timeless work that questions the community to respond to a new voice and a new culture, something that could only be done and decided by the creative genius of Kendrick Lamar.

FOR FANS OF:

Common, Tupac, James Brown

ESSENTIAL TRACKS:

Wesley’s Theory, For Free?, You Ain’t Gotta Lie (Momma Said)

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RUI CORREIA

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8 MATTHEW E. WHITE Fresh Blood Domino (2015)

Fresh Blood, the successor of Matthew’s debut album Big Inner, comes under pressure like every artist who had a blasting record at the start of his career. But Matthew’s creativity is intact; here he is with an album full of brilliant songs. “Holy Moly” reflects perhaps everything on this record: a relaxed start under a melancholic piano and the song finishes into a massive chord session so bittersweet; the ironic “Rock & Roll Is Cold” song when he proclaims that rock and roll is dead, straight to the point and groovy as hell, sang by Matthew’s low pitch sweet voice. Putting all together, Fresh Blood maintains the soul register of Big Inner like a second journey through meticulous well written songs and melodies.

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ANA CARVALHO

Father John Misty, Hiss Golden Messenger

LIGHTNING BOLT

Thrill Jockey (2015)

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Fantasy Empire

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e all know Lightning Bolt’s goal when they release an album: to see if they can push it just a bit more. In Fantasy Empire their unique brand of noise/psychedelic rock becomes even more intoxicating, with heavy metal bass riffs being thrown at our heads in an attempt to break our skulls, along with any preconceived notion of what rock should sound like. Instruments coexist in a cacophony and are brought together by distortion, resulting in astonishingly aggressive tracks such as “Horsepower” or the unbelievable “Dream Genie”. “Over The River And Through The Woods” showcases the only constant throughout Fantasy Empire: Chippendale’s bloodcurdling screams creeping behind the instruments and creating a tense atmosphere until it can no longer be contained, joining the bass and drums in an explosion of pure noise. Although the drums and vocals are amazing, Gibson’s work with the bass guitar deserves additional praise. His choice of effects and distortion is the reason why Fantasy Empire is an sonic attack on the senses. Most of the tracks on this record have been a part of their live repertoire since 2010, so they knew that Fantasy Empire would enclose tremendous rawness and energy. This record exhales the pandemonium of sounds of two instruments and two mad minds.

MOTOR SISTER Ride

Metal Blade (2015)

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When you wish for something in your birthday, if you’re lucky, you get a Playstation or that special edition CD you’ve been wanting for ages. When Scott Ian from Anthrax makes a wish he forms a project with Jim Wilson from one of his favourite bands, Mother Superior. And if that wasn’t enough, you get Joey Vera from Armored Saint on bass and John Tempesta, from The Cult et al, to play drums and you get the perfect birthday present. Throw all this into a blender and you get a project that has some of that Anthrax guitar vibe, but that veers towards a more seventies hard rock sound with some underlying funk and Power Pop influences. A very interesting record with personality and attitude to spare, that’s only at the reach of seasoned players like those present here.

ESSENTIAL TRACKS:

FOR FANS OF:

Melt-Banana, Daughters, Shellac, Boredoms and noise...

Horsepower, Dream Genie, Over the River and Through the Woods

music&riots

April

CARLOS CARDOSO

The Cult, Anthrax, Armored Saint

NUNO BABO

REVIEWS

MINSK OUT NOW

6 MOONSPELL Extinct

Napalm Records (2015)

On several occasions, Moonspell have called themselves the only Portuguese metal band that pushes any boundaries, which makes their new record Extinct all the more ironic. Fernando Ribeiro and friends deliver the same old innovative thing: catchy melodies, goth-like imagery, some mildly interesting guitar solos by Ricardo Amorim (the title track is a perfect example of it) and influences that range from Depeche Mode to their own “Sin/Pecado”. “Domina” could have been a great Tiamat-inspired track, but became the unavoidable token pop-goth ballad of the album instead. “Funeral Bloom” also deserves a special mention due to the specially noticeable and appalling trademark English accent. However, Extinct is not a bad album. It’s fun, appealing and has enough growls by Fernando Ribeiro for the purists to claim that it is still the same band that wrote the amazing Wolfheart 20 years ago.

FOR FANS OF:

CARLOS CARDOSO

Sentenced, Type O Negative, Tiamat

The Crash And The Draw

Relapse Records (2015)

9 06.04

he pursuit of higher consciousness in a sound that is so grounded in primitive rhythms and riffs like the violent shifting of earth is no easy task, and it looked like Chicago’s Minsk had buckled under the weight of their ambition for a while, yet with a refreshed line-up they have resumed their Herculean task with gusto. There have been few albums this year to have delivered quite the degree of bliss and violence that The Crash and The Draw delivers in a single song, eschewing polar concepts like light and shade to navigate a spectrum of spiritual loss and desolation, swirls of sparsely picked melody tangled around mighty crashes of sonic crush depth. Gargantuan odysseys that cross genre boundaries find themselves bookended with punishing onslaughts on one end and tranquillity on the other, yet even this switch in songwriting seems to further the band’s aims. It continues the trend of emotional turbulence, establishing a narrative that serves to draw the listener more intently into this all too natural world, where even the beasts can find their moment of calm. It’s not enough to describe the impact of something like Onward Procession’s development through every doom archetype and then some, or the cathartic elegance of “When The Walls Fell”, it has to be felt. For a band whose only crime has been abandoning us for this long, this is their strongest moment yet.

FOR FANS OF:

Neurosis, Isis, Tombs, Godflesh

ESSENTIAL TRACKS:

When the Walls Fell, Onward Procession I, II, III, IV

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DAVE BOWES

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6 NEVBORN Five Horizons

Hummus Records (2015)

In the mid to late nineties, Post-Rock and Post-Metal bands gained a lot of recognition and bands like Isis, Cave In, Cult of Luna and Neurosis enjoyed a lot of success and appreciation from the metal community. Since that time, those genres have withered away or have been so diluted by some bands that you can’t discern the sound anymore. In comes this Swiss band that has all the traits like screaming, almost in agonizing pain vocals, long and multi paced themes and you get a very interesting record. One that will most certainly appeal to the fans of the genre, but will probably put off everyone else. That can be a blessing of a curse depending on how you look at it.

FOR FANS OF:

NUNO BABO

Cave In, The Ocean, Deftones

21.04 OUT NOW

7 MUCK While Your Joyous Future

8 THE MUSCADETTES Side A EP

PaperCup Musc (2015)

For some reason, some people - myself included - think Iceland is this distant country where great alternative music seems to sprout – Björk, Múm, Ben Frost, Sigur Rós, to name the most obvious acts -, but one always ends up not having the time or forgetting to dig deeper on what’s happening over there. Muck’s blend of (post-)hardcore and punk-rock, along with its noisy rock feel, is refreshing and has something that certainly holds a lot of potential. While Your Joyous Future might not be the most solid record out there, it surely holds interesting ideas that might culminate in an upcoming masterpiece. Fans of Converge’s last record, especially the less cacophonous parts, as well as bands like Ceremony, Comadre and Refused might want to check this out.

The Muscadettes are led by twin sisters Chantal and Kathleen Ambridge, hailing originally from California’s Silicon Valley, but raised in Montreal. With a sneering garage attitude and lurching punk anthems with that classic vintage ‘60s surf music meets ‘90s grunge is what you can expect. Side A is full of that non-stop and energetic rock n’ roll Le Tigre meets The Pipettes Summer dreamy experience that nowadays only a few new acts are able to deliver. Bringing that girls’ schoolyard shouts, with perfect balanced harmony vocals, Side A is an enthralling, twinkling sparking catchy, with those fuzzy harmonies akin to early surf rock Best Coast recordings. Well, Spring just arrived, but we need sunshine, fresh air and some beach time, so we’re already working on our Summer soundtrack with The Muscadettes for sure on it.

FOR FANS OF:

Prosthetic Records (2015)

RICARDO ALMEIDA

Refused, Kvelertak, Nirvana

music&riots

April

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FAUSTO CASAIS

Best Coast, Le Tigre, The Pipettes

OCEANS ATE ALASKA Lost Isles

Fearless Records (2015)

Founding inspiration for their name from the world’s largest recorded mega-tsunami - measuring at 1,700 feet high - that demolished Alaska’s coastline in 1958, Oceans Ate Alaska debut album is a crushing experience. Lost Isles is ambitious as fuck, these dudes offer a new take on what modern metalcore stands for nowadays, even when we have the hard task to label them, cos they sound like an explosive blend of deathcore, prog, djent, post-hardcore and even nu-metal. Unpredictable and experimental, Lost Isles pushes the sonic boundaries to the limit, in this groundbreaking and brilliant executed effort, pushing their own battle of creativity against all kinds of post-subgenre they may appeal. Impressive and passionately inspired!

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FAUSTO CASAIS

Bring Me The Horizon, Sikth, Hacktivist

REVIEWS

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6 LOLA STONECRACKER Doomsday Breakdown

This Is Core Records (2015)

Having in the formation different musical cultures, backgrounds and personalities, these Italian dudes set the key to forge their sound and path with into a mixture between classic hard-rock and post-grunge. This turns to obvious after several listenings of Doomsday Breakdown. It seems like we are listening to a perfect mashup between Guns N’Roses and Stone Temple Pilots. Well, Velvet Revolver is out of this world, but we could claim Lola Stonecracker as their successors.

SÉRGIO KILMORE

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6 MADE VIOLENT

Made Violent EP

Startime International (2015)

The first EP of the garage-rock trio from Buffalo, NY is full of energy and attitude, at some point some songs reminds us that the The Strokes and The Rolling Stones are an influence for them. “Two Tone Hair” is an excellent rock and roll song and single; “Dirty” and “Wasted Days” are good fun garage songs (awesome drums in this last one). Even if it lacks some consistence, it is a good first EP and a promising future for Made Violent boys. ANA CARVALHO

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7 OUT NOW

8 MONOLORD

Vænir

RidingEasy Records

Initially formed as a side project in 2013 out of the ashes of bands Marulk and Rotten Sound, Monolord emerged as one of 2014’s heaviest, loudest and best-loved breakout bands. To be aggressive and demonic you haven’t got to be fast or blast beat, Venir is dark and heavy in down tempo and slow down metric. To create that, for sure you have to be good and Monolord is. Immense heaviness in a psychedelic groovy doom metal makes Venir the raised bar for this type of cult. SÉRGIO KILMORE

4AD (2015)

Fuzz distortion, unexpected drum breaks and rhythm changes and a chaotic instrumental line are presented to us by Era of Manifestations. The sound is so dense like the heavy psychedelic 70’s style or just spacerock in their extreme way. Now and then there’s a crazy organ reminding us Yes, but suddenly it all goes back to some reverbs that last forever and snare-riffs, producing a maniac jam. Curiosity fact is that the album was recorded in a really five-hour improvisation session. Era of Manifestations is influenced on the lyrics by the Shakers, a religious organization but everything on this record is diabolic: “Grain Diagrams”, the opening track, and it is this hypnotic shoegaze that seduces us immediately into this work.

Hearing the first sounds of the second album from the Canadian duo, Purity Ring, I was somehow involved by a clear and pleasant sound. I do not know the band and suddenly it seems to me a bold and futuristic pop. And it is. But if it is not enough to fully please me in the following minutes. Another Eternity is a slight album, with sounds and easy rhythms, being designed to please at first time, due to striking sounds and an atmosphere that highlights the beautiful Megan’s voice. The lyrics are purposely simple and choruses catch us, having the gift of being, here and there, quite danceable. I find myself again involved in the album. The voice, which seemed a little raucous in the beginning, is now beautifully carved, assuming new rhythms and textures to each new theme. It is still pop and a too raw pop to grab me, but the voice is really emotional and the instrumental is also competent and imaginative, although not being so unique as could and should be. No doubt that is in the ear.

FOR FANS OF:

7 PEOPLE OF THE NORTH Era of Manifestations Thrill Jockey (2015)

28.04

PURITY RING Another Eternity

Oneida, Eternal Tapestry

ANA CARVALHO

NUNO TEIXEIRA

Chvrches, Banks, Phantogram

musicandriotsmagazine.com

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8 SCREAMING FEMALES Rose Mountain

Don Giovanni (2015)

PILE You’re Better Than This

POPE Fiction

Pile have been summing their position as one of the most intense indie rock bands of nowadays, and the new album You’re Better Than This shows precisely that. Wild and energetic for the beginning to the end, the Boston’s outfit explore their craziest side even more it feels pretty cathartic. They deliver a handful of songs with mixed feelings and different moods. Per example, we come across the acoustic instrumental track “Fuck The Police” that’s the opposite of the whole album, even though its title is really subjective to everyone’s interpretation. It can a little bit chaotic and even nonsense at times, but You’re Better Than This is a record worth the listen and combines the band’s explosive side as the gentle one.

Playing together since high school, New Orleans’ trio Pole are releasing now their debut album and it’s basically a revivalism of what we love the most about the 90’s indie music. Bands like Pavement or Dinosaur Jr. come to our mind when we listen to Fiction, and the trio has manifested their love for those bands and others. Fiction is much heavier and more cohesive than the band’s previous releases and the songs are also longer and more complex. Pope manage to bring those big melodies with pop sensibility, but also combining noise, grunge and indie rock into the mix. The songs aren’t boring and they are sharp enough to keep your attention throughout the whole album, and it ends really well with a stripped down and raw acoustic track .

Screaming Females have always been a no-frills band, but that never stopped them from writing music that can pack a serious punch. Rose Mountain, the band’s sixth album, is a true testimony to their musical evolution. The trio lunge into the record with the same bravado and bold songwriting that’s been keeping them going for the past ten years, with Marissa Paternoster’s fingers-bleeding shredding and clearly improved vocals still going strong showing a more vulnerable side that had been stowed away in previous albums. Rose Mountain’s sound is more streamlined than anything the Screaming Females have put out before, and yet it retains the infectious quality and potential to trigger massive bouts of air-guitar that have always defined the band, demanding to be played loud.

FOR FANS OF:

Exploding in Sound (2015)

Community Records (2015)

ANDREIA ALVES

Metz, Speedy Ortiz, Big Ups

music&riots

April

90’s, Pavement, Dinosaur Jr.

ANDREIA ALVES

ANTIGONI PITTA

Sleater-Kinney, Wild Flag, Swearin’

REVIEWS

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8 PALE ANGELS Imaginary People

Specialist Subject/Recess Records (2015)

Imaginary People is the second album by Welsh-American band Pale Angeles. While listening to this record, it really seemed that it was a cathartic and freeing process for the trio and the fact they did this record in just two weeks explains everything. Here we have noisy tunes, mellow tunes and even atmospheric/psychedelic tunes. All songs are like a chain of feelings and moods. If you feel like going deep into some great weird songs, this is your chance.

ANDREIA ALVES

OUT NOW

6 PAPYLLON

Sink or Swim EP

Self-released (2015)

Papyllon are a quartet from the small town of Prešov, Slovakia and in 2010 they started making music together. Sink or Swim is their debut EP and it has five songs that approach rock and pop in perfect harmony, but at the same time it doesn’t stand out between songs. Lyrically, they express life experiences in an honest and solid form. Sink or Swim is a brief piece of what these four dudes have to offer, but they can achieve something greater in the future if they want to. ANDREIA ALVES

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5 POCKET APOCALYPSE

Under Our Sky

Monster Sound Collective (2015)

Under Our Sky is technically a very good album, but at some point the progressive section, melodically speaking. is boring with no spark of inspiration at all. What matters if the instrumental section is powerful, but it loses direction and becomes a pretentious mix? Although some efforts (“Ice-Nine” song as some bass influences on Tool is the highlight) all the record seems to sound exactly the same. “What’s Left Behind”, the last song of the album is paradigmatic: an uninspired record. ANA CARVALHO

ROYAL THUNDER

Relapse Records (2015)

06.04

Crooked Doors

here’s always this expectation when a band releases their second album. It can be a representation of their growth as a band, or not. We could go on and say that’s something stressful for a band or we can just simply say that’s something that happens organically within a band. That’s the feeling we get with this new effort by Royal Thunder. Crooked Doors is the natural step forward from the band’s great debut, CVI. They have shown a promising and incisive sound and now they approach it in a slightly different way. We could have another heavy, hard rock record with cryptic and thoughtful lyrics like CVI had, but instead we have a more cohesive, distinctive sound where the 70’s hard rock and blues-rock are still very present. This time around, they deliver more technical elements on each riff and singer Mlny Parsonz still embraces her voice in such powerful and graceful way that turns all songs deeper and more stunning.

FOR FANS OF:

Baroness, Black Moth, Turbowolf

ESSENTIAL TRACKS:

Time Machine, Forget You, The Bear I & II

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ANDREIA ALVES

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8 RANGER Where Evil Dwells

7 SEASICK STEVE Sonic Soul Surfer

OUT NOW

There’s A Dead Skunk Records (2015)

In early 2014 when I discovered Bandcamp (yes, it took me that long!), one of the first search terms that I used was obviously Heavy Metal and after browsing through a few pages I came across a record titled Knights of Darkness by this band called Ranger. Later I found that it was just an EP by this Finish band... Their latest offering, Where Evil Dwells, is full of character and spite, things that are absent in most band that pay homage to classic metal in this case Speed and Thrash Metal with just the right amount of Iron Maiden’s melody. Helsinki’s quartet presents us with the perfect time capsule that can transport us to a time when Sneakers, bullet belts and patch riddled jackets ruled the metal world.

All the classic records deserve their own creation myth, and this “don’t give fuck” soulful artist is creating his own path. Late perhaps, but it’s a fair path. Once you’re hooked, Seasick Steve will be forever part of your life! Spring arrived and Summer will be knocking at the door in no time. Sonic Soul Surfer is a Summer record, a sunny bluesy rock journey and a back-to-basics trouble and daring affair. Once again, what Seasick Steve only needed was his front room, a few friends, a few drinks, his guitar, a banjo, a fiddle, a jaw harp and his own touch of midas regarding the almost non-existent production duties. Seasick Steve is a summertime boy, a loner, a sonic soul surfer and an accomplished bluesman, at his album number seven is able to craft another set of simplistic songs, full of heart and soul.

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Spinefarm Records (2015)

NUNO BABO

Nuclear Assault, Dark Angel, Obituary

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FAUSTO CASAIS

Sun, Surf, Beach, Beer and blues...

8 SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE Hexadic

Drag City (2015)

Ben Chasny’s Six Organs of Admittance is one of those monuments to experimentation and challenge, and Hexadic lives up to that. The new album presents a new chapter in the study of the unexplored territories of electric guitar playing, rethinking composition techniques and the linguistics of experimental “rock”. Some might find its unpredictability and rambling structure shallow and pointless, others may find challenge and genius there. Hexadic is heavy, sometimes violent, but it’s also subtle and experimental without getting lost in unnecessary or pointless abstraction.

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Neil Young, Comets On Fire

RICARDO ALMEIDA

REVIEWS

OUT NOW

7 SHAKEWELLBEFORE Woland

This Is Core Records (2015)

Shakewellbefore new LP can be described in one word. Solid. Despite the repetitiveness of their musical structure and composition. It’s hard to argue that the positive aspects of this album outweigh the negatives. If one is a fan of the genre or new into it, this album is a solid demonstration of how good Metalcore is and what it has to give. It also opens people’s horizons on music from countries like Italy, for example, the country where they are from. It’s definitely a band to look out for. IBRAHIMA BRITO

OUT NOW

8 THE SOFT MOON Deeper

Captured Tracks (2015)

The Soft Moon never sounded so good and so consistent within their universe. Creating chaos and uncertainty, there are so many good themes... “Black”, a monumental disaster in the desert, a perfect music for Breaking Bad’s OST and then immediately “Far”, which manages the feat of sounding Pop within the Luis Vasquez’s discontent... and so we are led in his black spiral to the end of the record. Wonderful cruel world depicted in Deeper. RUI CORREIA

OUT NOW

6 STEREO AGE Half Of Us

This Is Core Records (2015)

Stereo Age are a pop-punk band from Italy and Half Of Us is their statement about life. After a two year absence, they’re back with their own tribute to friendship, the importance of being able to being true to themselves and of course those little aspects that turns our life into something that we all need to be blesses for. Sounding similar to bands like Neck Deep or Real Friends, we must admit that Half Of Us is not bad at all, it’s an average album of a band with a huge potential to work on! FAUSTO CASAIS

STEVEN WILSON Hand. Cannot. Erase. Kscope (2015)

10 OUT NOW

teven Wilson is undoubtedly one of the most relevant figures in our current music scene. He’s had the most important role in bridging the gap between old and new progressive generations, keeping the old ‘70s adventurous spirit alive, but never losing sight of the future at the same time. Every single one of his works is a resounding reaffirmation of this fact, and whenever he releases something, you stop and listen. On his fourth album, Hand. Cannot. Erase., a concept record inspired by the three-year disappearance of Joyce Carol Vincent, Wilson presents a diverse travel of sorts, having gone through epic, classic-prog reminiscent numbers such as the Rush-inspired “3 Years Older”, advancing through moments of quasi-pop on semi-acoustic and electronic blissful tunes such as “H.C.E” and “Perfect Life”, before making a complete left turn in the second half, where the listener is taken through darker motions in the form of “Routine”, “Home Invasion” and “Regret#9”, on which Guthrie Govan delivered another rampant display of his exquisite guitar wizardry. The highlight of the record, however, comes at the near conclusion of this voyage, with Wilson presenting in the 13-minute “Ancestral” one of the most chilling, deep, intense and technically intricate songs he’s ever recorded until this day. Unbelievably great. It’s really hard to come across records like these nowadays. Hand. Cannot. Erase. isn’t just an album. It’s a rich, detailed and stunningly engaging experience, and above all a gift from Wilson to the world. Make no mistake, this will surely be regarded as one of the greatest progressive music albums of our generation and also highly revered for years to come.

FOR FANS OF:

Porcupine Tree, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Rush

ESSENTIAL TRACKS:

3 Years Old, Perfect Lie, Regret#9

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LUIS ALVES

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SLUTEVER Almost Famous EP

Self-Released (2015)

THE SKINTS FM

SLEEPING WITH SIRENS Madness

East London punk-reggae-ska four-piece The Skints are back! FM is like a tribute in form of a radio broadcast to their own roots, to the songs they grew up listening to, so they set an imaginary London pirate radio station - The Big FM / Frequency Murderation, 103.Skints. Their male/female harmonies are the perfect catalyst to their own sonic agenda, where punk, ska, reggae and grime matches in perfection. If London was always sunny like Jamaica, this would be the perfect and official soundtrack. From London reggae legend Tippa Irie to “My War”, Black Flag awesome and trippy cover, The Skints infectious grooves bring a true voice to what London stands for nowadays, they still have their own political agenda, but their hard-hitting lyrics work like our own reality check.

Sleeping With Sirens have gone bigger, their hype is even bigger, and they never delivered a true and mind-blowing album whatsoever. Madness is their fourth album, and it goes from pop-punk cliché anthems, out of control screams and some emotional yet delicate ballads, where Kellin Quinn’s intimate and distinct vocal, showing more confident and versatile than the previous efforts. Produced by the hit-maker guru John Feldmann (Good Charlotte, Panic! At The Disco), Madness is the slow next step from a band that over the years never seemed to reach their full potential, however this time they almost proved their hype is worth it. This is Sleeping With Sirens’ most ambitious album till date, but once again they’ve failed to impress.

LA-based punk post-grunge duo have proved themselves to be more than just another clever name in the business. Still only in their mid 20s, Nicole Snyder and Rachel Gagliardi offer a bit of their own world, where they have the ability to upset some of that pseudo punk purist and leave that 90’s L7, Babes in Toyland, Hole revivalist fans for sure excited. Slutever mean empowering women full of that not so cliché feminism anthems and they have the talent to add some humor to the mix, which is absolutely amazing. We may say that they are the perfect product of Clerks meets Beavis And Butthead meets Daria meets Hole meets L7 awesome mix. Almost Famous EP is slacky and goofy, they sound great and they’re raw and more punk than most of that pseudo punk bands we have nowadays. Uncompromising and challenging, we need more!

FOR FANS OF:

Easy Star Records (2015)

Epitaph (2015)

FAUSTO CASAIS

The Specials, Jimmy Cliff, Black Flag

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Pierce The Veil, Paramore

FAUSTO CASAIS

Hole, L7, Girlpool, Be Your Own Pet

REVIEWS

SUSANNE SUNDFØR

Ten Love Songs

OUT NOW

Sonnet Sound (2015)

orwegian’s singersongwriter Susanne Sundfør has built a career that’s as prolific as consistent. It started with her selftitled debut album, in 2007, and by her third album, The Brothel (2010), she had already made up her mind and decided to make art for a living – she was only twenty three years old at the time. In less than a decade Sundfør’s output has been displaying clear evidence of growth, always

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Lana Del Rey, Lykke Li, Lorde

refusing stiffness. With her latest album, Ten Love Songs, she clearly aims for something bigger and arguably something more profound. Revolving around love, the album mostly encompasses a certain level of violence with Susanne’s words, which are often amplified by dramatic and gloomy scenarios - it’s with “Memorial” that such weight is more spectacularly explored by using phantasmagoric bleak chamber music, interplayed with a piano that is obviously twisted. But that’s not even close

to describe the entire scope of Ten Love Songs. Behind those darker ambiences and scenarios there’s this whole “new” world. A world of upbeat songs, that pays homage to the synth scene of the 80s – “Fade Away”, “Accelarate”, “Delirious”, “Slowly”, and “Kamikaze”, are some of Susanne’s best efforts to go pop. She arrives in other side with success. By taking ownership of what’s rightfully hers, she is able to create something that not only is cohesive but also something that’s extremely rich.

ESSENTIAL TRACKS:

Delirious, Memorial, Insects

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TIAGO MOREIRA

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THE SUBWAYS The Subways

THEESATISFACTION EarthEE Sub Pop (2015)

True Panther (2015)

There have been more than 10 years of teen British trio’s debut and emphasis remains the same in this which is the fourth album of original band. Rock, Indie, Punk and mighty choruses in two voices is a formula that has brought such success and therefore does not undergo major changes. Strength is perhaps the right word to describe this album that The Subways delight us with all his power known, now covered with a certain simplicity that can ultimately attract them for more flights on the notoriety and recognition. Intense guitar riffles and a percussion exempted give more body to the album and is a pleasure to the public loves the sound of the band. I think they do not need more recognition but may be able to get with this record.

THEESatisfaction continue the legacy of artists with a strong spiritual connection (remember Erykah Badu, Georgia Anne Muldrow), imposing a hidden political content “They take jazz, soul take, take hip hop / And blame the nigga every inch and every drop” singed so in “Blandland”. Definitely embracing animal and human nature around, they have evolved to EarthEE, a carved album for sensory liberation, with a clear understanding and influence of new technologies on society. A careful reflection of the globe in a psychedelic trip with contribution of Shabazz Palaces in production, repeating the winning team who had worked on awE NaturalE. Stas and Cat continue the growth of the new American soul and EarthEE is a work to be studied later.

Goon is the twenty nine year old Canadian Tobias Jesso Jr debut album, a pianist who has been bassist and now is an auspicious sentimentalist. Intimacy, love, intensity and suffer. More than perfect ingredients for a good love ballad. In Goon, are 12 fully dedicated themes of love and passion, so there are many good reasons for this being an album of choice for the sensitive ones... and everyone else. Tracery, Goon is a history of love, played with a simplicity and stunning delivery. The letters, not being especially innovative, are shrewdly interpreted on piano or guitar. Simple and so beautiful, the best to do is listen quietly and let the music sound by itself. I promise it will not sound too sweet at the end. The work is about love, not happiness. But it’s not depressing though. Well… discover it!

FOR FANS OF:

Yfe Records / Cooking Vinyl (2015)

NUNO TEIXEIRA

Blood Red Shoes, The Vines

TOBIAS JESSO JR. Goon

RUI CORREIA

Shabazz Palaces, Erykah Badu

Father John Misty, Matthew E.White

OUT NOW

06.04

NUNO TEIXEIRA

WILL BUTLER Policy

TURBOWOLF Two Faces

TWIN SHADOW Eclipse

Warner Bros. Records Inc. (2015)

Merge (2015)

The rock band from Bristol returns with Two Faces, their second work. After the success of their debut album, Two Faces is a clear evolution in their sound. With the help of the producer Tom Dalgety, who worked with Royal Blood or Opeth, this record is a majestic tribute to chaos. The more mature sound is in evidence by the fast and slow rhythms, by the heavier distortion of the bass, the add of back vocals, all combined with the rough and heavy guitar and drum riffs, a characteristic of Turbowolf’s music. An example of this is the song “Rabbit Foot”, their single or “Solid Gold”, two treasures of Two Faces. An energetic, provocative and highly recommended album.

George Lewis Jr’s new record sounds, no matter what, a pretentious work sounding a little bit a depressed Kanye West combined with some fine synth pop from the 80’s. Drum machines everywhere and vocals on delay are ok and George’s voice can be so powerful that puts everything else in the shadow (“Flatliners”, the opening track is that a clue or even “Eclipse”). There’s a sense of darkness and melancholy in Eclipse and it couldn’t be different, that emotional sense has followed more or less Twin Shadow since the beginning of their career. But Eclipse is a meaningless mixture of rap beats, egocentrism elevated to high levels, overrated pop ballads and choirs, leading this record into a disappointing direction.

Will Butler is a man of many faces. The brother and fellow band member of Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler, a former poetry student and a multiinstrumentalist to be reckoned with, his debut solo album, Policy is the manifesto of his musical diversity. In just 8 tracks, Butler seamlessly meanders through a kaleidoscope of sounds. Opening track “Take My Side” carries the devil -may -care energy of the Ramones and “Something’s Coming” is a nod to early eighties new wave. With a few more sombre moments, Butler proves he is as wide-ranging songwriter as he is an instrumentalist. He may be heading down the solo route, but the frantic beats and headstrong lyrics in Policy beam with the same exuberance that he exhibits with Arcade Fire.

FOR FANS OF:

Spinefarm Records (2015)

ANA CARVALHO

Black Sabbath, Death From Above 1979

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Ron Nevison, Jam & Lewis

ANA CARVALHO

STELLA ELIADOU

Arcade Fire, John Lennon, Harry Nilsson

REVIEWS

06.04

7 STONEGHOST New Wage Of Old Ways

Mascot Label Group (2015)

Over the course of 11 tracks of Stoneghost is sheer of power, volume and fucking heaviness. New Wage Of Old Ways is a relentless and blistering experience, but most of all is a journey of pure discovery, where frontman Jason Smith was able to give his own emotions a true meaning, parenthood was in this case the fuel to ignite a masterful and crafted classic heavy-rock album. Stoneghost sound like an insane bastard son of Pantera and Five Finger Death Punch. What a great surprise this was! FAUSTO CASAIS

OUT NOW

7 V-DEVICE Vidana

This Is Core Records (2015)

V-Device new album Vidana has hit the spot. They just made this job so much easier because there is nothing bad to say about the album. The composition and production are extremely well executed. The album has a flow of its own and a really good versatility. You get a raw stoner sound with some hints of psychedelia within most tracks making it really enjoyable to listen to. Songs like “The day of my suicide” and “Klown torture” will speak for itself. IBRAHIMA BRITO

OUT NOW

9 YOU, ME AND EVERYONE WE KNOW

Dogged EP

Rude Records (2015)

After years battling with addiction and mental issues, Ben Liebsch is back with his band YMAEWK and also give us a new set of all brand new songs. Dogged EP is an honest and introspective look into life’s big questions, where we find Liebsch picking up basically where he left off. Sometimes life just happens, giving us a hard time, but what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right? Dogged is a strong statement of a man who came back to fight! Welcome back mate! FAUSTO CASAIS

WAXAHATCHEE

Wichita Recordings/Merge Records (2015)

OUT NOW

Ivy Tripp

atie Crutchfield, a.k.a. Waxahatchee, is bringing on her new and third album what it feels like the process of understanding why we go through bad and sad situations and therefore learn from them. It’s not an uplifting and easy process, it’s messy and arduous and Ivy Tripp kind of represents all of that struggles. She even stated that “My life has changed a lot in the last two years, and it’s been hard for me to process my feelings other than by writing songs.” Brutally honest and more confident than the her predecessors releases, Katie makes a mixture of styles on this new record where see some sound changes from song to song. There’s definitely that 90’s alternative rock vibe in the whole album (example: “Poison”), but there’s also some synth indie (“La Loose”); some kind of lullaby tunes (“Stale By Noon”); an acoustic solo piece (“Summer of Love”) and a lot more just to name a few of range styles. Another interesting thing about this record is that it was all recorded at Katie’s home on New York’s Long Island along with Kyle Gilbride of Wherever Audio, and the drums were recorded in the gym of a local elementary school, and that’s really cool how good these recordings sound. Ivy Tripp is a solid and well-conceived record, where we see Katie grow with her music and life experiences in it.

FOR FANS OF:

Frankie Cosmos, Misty Miller, Lemuria

ESSENTIAL TRACKS:

Under A Rock, Poison, Summer of Love

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ANDREIA ALVES

105

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9 WHILE SHE SLEEPS Brainwashed

Search And Destroy (2015)

FOR FANS OF:

FAUSTO CASAIS

While She Sleeps and While She Sleeps...

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06.04

Their spectacular debut, This is The Six was a game changing album, so the main question here is: Three years later are the Sheffield mob able to match their mind-blowing debut? The answer is a big “Fuck Yeah” and we may add they just take it to the next level. Musically diverse in their own way of saying that metalcore after them is no longer just metalcore, instead of buckling under the weight of their ambition, they’ve crafted something quite inspirational and ridiculously flawless. Brainwashed is lyrically evolved, their sound is more refined, Loz shouts like never before and Matt Welsh gets involved in the vocal duties more often. The crushing opener “New World Torture”, the nostalgic “Our Legacy” and the masterpiece “Four Walls” are perfect examples of how these dudes are pushing themselves forward on their own game changing debut. There is no such thing as a While She Sleeps formula, these dudes are the real deal, quite possibly the most exciting band in metal right now, you guys just have to deal with that! Game changing déjà-vu all over again...

April

7 ZEBRAHEAD The Early Years - Revisited

WHITE HILLS Walks For Motorists Thrill Jockey (2015)

Rude Records (2015)

In the immortal words of Nigel Tufnel, “What’s wrong with being sexy?” Dave W and Ego Sensation have evidently been smelling the glove lately giving how Walks For Motorists doesn’t really walk so much as it slinks, adopting the sonic sensuality of Girls Against Boys and Joy Division while further expanding their constellation-spanning textures. Brief groovers like “Wanderlust” and the disco stomp of “Automated City” easily pack the punch of wigged-out heavyweights like “Lead The Way”, but both share the same origins – a desire to throw rock’n’roll excess in the ring with Syd Barrett’s subconscious and see what comes out on top. Ultimately, it proves a tie, but this is one mesmerising, sexy dust-up.

The Orange County heroes Zebrahead are one of those bands that are easy to like, with almost 20 years of existence and 10 albums on their pocket, they’re still one of the few bands that still maintain their core and sound. That contagious mix of rock, ska, rap and other punk influences are still quite unique and they’ve been able to consistently break new grounds and appeal to new and old generations. The Early Years - Revisited features re-recorded versions of all the fan favorites, and if you enjoy punked up renditions of old classics and you’re looking for something to close your Summer punk soundtrack, this will be for sure an excellent pick. They still know where they’re going and they’re in no chance of letting us down anytime soon.

FOR FANS OF:

Girls Against Boys, Joy Division

DAVE BOWES

FAUSTO CASAIS

Sublime, Sum 41, Bowling For Soup

REVIEWS

REVIEWED NEXT ISSUE

AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR

Heirs

JOANNA GRUESOME

Peanut Butter

YOUNG FATHERS

White Men Are Black Men Too

DU BLONDE

Welcome Back To Milk

PRURIENT

Frozen Niagara Falls

9 06.04

Big Dada (2015)

“File under rock and pop”. That’s Young Fathers’ desire, who are willing to search for the best platform possible to raise questions and start a conversation with their latest offering, White Men Are Black Men Too. Yes, it is confrontational and full of tension but it never dares to be arrogant to the point of being enclosed. It brings urgency in its own freedom. A freedom that is extended to the sound. It’s not about being this or being that with YMABMT. It’s about just being and doing it. It might not carry the recognizable sound of hip-hop but it surely encloses its most important feature: it has a message that truly matters and that’s trying to help take a step forward into a better world. We find Young Fathers in a world that is different overall and exactly the same in many ways. It’s when you have Africa still rotting out by constant atrocities committed by the people who started that profitable game, and more recently a broken Europe “too”, that urges to stop being just fun and take the high, never easy, road. It could be different but it’s with huge choruses (you can call it pop and rock), some joy, and an original sound that Young Fathers write their name on the, unfortunately, small group of people that truly cares and is authentic.

HOLLY MIRANDA

COLISEUM

Holly Miranda

Anxiety’s Kiss

MYLETS

BEST COAST

Arizona

California Nights

SPEEDY ORTIZ

GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR

FOR FANS OF:

Young Fathers, Young Fathers, Young Fathers

ESSENTIAL TRACKS:

Old Rock n Roll, Sirens, Nest

TIAGO MOREIRA

Foil Deer

Asunder, Sweet And Other

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ENABLERS

Musicbox, Lisbon 12.03.2015 // Words and Photos: Ricardo Almeida

t’s sad to live in a country where a monument to stupidity like “Secret Story” holds the record for the highest audience rate on TV. It’s sad when an amazing and unique band plays in Lisbon for the very first time and the venue is almost deserted. These guys came all the way from San Francisco, carrying all their gear and setting up the stage, night after night, all by themselves. If it were one of those mediocre - to say the least - shitty 108

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performers/celebrities, who hang around with a full football team to carry their stuff, massage their feet, and feed meat balls straight to their mouths, the venue would have been sold out for several nights in a row. However, the saddest part here is that none of this surprises me. As for Enablers, one can only say they did their thing with all professionalism and humbleness. Opening with “Went Right”, Simonelli’s repeated “what the fuck” could have been a complaint about the low affluence of people to the show, but it wasn’t. This

ensemble of three bald guys and a not-so-new drummer, is composed by some very down-to-earth people, who just did their thing and played a great show for the few who showed up. Presenting their fifth record, The Rightful Pivot, the band proved to be comfortable on stage, in a night that unfortunately did not make them justice. Closing with such a warm track as “Look” – where one can hear how well this amazing band has matured throughout the years -, Enablers waved us goodbye, after playing a rather short but intimate set.

LIVE!

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MARK LANEGAN + DUKE GARWOOD + FAYE DUNAWAYS Hard Club, Porto 13.03.2015 // Words: Tiago Moreira // Photos: Andreia Alves

here are at least two really curious things about Mark Lanegan. First is how a guy who started his career in the 80s was able to not only maintain a certain level of relevance, but more importantly how that level of relevance has been increasing as the years have been accumulating. A guy that basically refuses to live in the shadow of bygone days. The other thing is how he isn’t aging like most people, which perhaps is connected with the first being that he always sounded like an old soul... It would probably be accurate to say that he’s kind of right now in the right place - all the stars seem to be aligned. 110

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All those things have an impact on people and that’s why it’s easy to understand that his show in Porto was for a nearly sold-out venue, full of people – from all ages – how were highly interested in the art and have the uttermost respect for it. It started as a duo with “When Your Number Isn’t Up” and “Low”, to then, with the help of other members of the band, set the room on fire using the powerful “Gravedigger’s Song”. “Harvest Home”, “Floor of the Ocean”, “Torn Red Heart”, “I Am Wolf”, “The Killing Season”, and “Death Trip to Tulsa”, were some of the tracks played in a concert that was promoting his latest studio effort, entitled Phantom Radio. How rare is to see an artist that is willing to play so many new songs? What

about when an artist has the humongous back catalogue that Lanegan has? Impressive! That’s probably the best feeling to describe a concert that presented one of the best bluesman of these days. It was just another opportunity to witness the brilliance of an artist that does things in his own terms, without a worry in the world other than being honest. To open the show there was the experimental and unsettling, and sometimes industrial, set of Belgium outfit Faye Dunaways, and blues, that sometimes dares to be experimental, of the UK’s multi-instrumentalist Duke Garwood. It was, without a doubt, a great night.

LIVE!

Mark Lanegan

Duke Garwood www.facebook.com/MUSICandRIOTS.Magazine

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METRONOMY Lucerna Music Bar, Prague 11.03.2015 Words and Photos: Arnaud Diemer

etronomy welcomed this sold out show in an amazing venue. Big enough to host major artists, but small enough to get an amazing contact during the live performances. The Lucerna music bar in Prague is part of these kinds of bars where the artist and the public almost make one. The stage is low enough and shaped to be surrounded by the public. There’s also a balcony if you want to enjoy the show a bit laid back. A great set up to enjoy the show! And what a show! A well balanced set where their hits were coming in as soon as the audience’s mood was starting to slow down. From “Radio Ladio” to “Everything Goes My Way”, from Love letters to Heartbreaker, none of their previous albums were spared. Crazy ambiance. It felt marvelously good to see so many people dancing right away in a show with no openers nor warm up. The bass was so strong that I was waiting for a twerk contest to start. But no businesses like that occurred. Scene kids were waving their arms waiting for a hypothetical drop to come, that never appeared, though. Metronomy’s mix of organic instrumentals and electronic beats is more efficient than ever. It was a great show, between joy, nostalgia and loads of other great feelings. The band brings so much energy to the audience with their cheerful composition and presence, every single member of the band had his solo and they all communicate with the public to bring a more interactive party. A must see! 112

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LIVE!

ENTER SHIKARI Barrowlands, Glasgow 21.02.2015 Words: Dave Bowes

Metronomy

s far as Glasgow is concerned, the Barrowlands ballroom is a second home for Rou and the lads, so there’s a real sense of comfort even through the band’s most vitriolic moments tonight. While the band are obviously more accomplished nowadays, bringing a newfound complexity which they do well to replicate while maintaining the energy of their now-legendary early shows, it’s their unpredictability which sees them through the evening. Reynold vanishes from the stage to emerge at the rear of the room for a tender finale to “Radiate”; “The Last Garrison” and “Juggernauts” are united, Frankenstein-style, in an almighty mash-up that emphasises the euphoric trance of the former and the latter’s bring-theroof-down optimism; “Gandhi, Mate, Gandhi” drops the matey banter of the original in favour of a few cheeky lines from “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”? It’s no forced wackiness, though. Rather it shows the band’s earnest conviction that every show should be an event, something unique and to be remembered, and they take the same stance for themselves, everyone throwing themselves into the material with utter abandon while trying their level best to make it more than just another run-through. Reynolds is predictably energised, a shifting and twitching dervish that can flit from heartfelt troubadour to social firebrand from one minute to the next, but collectively they form such a strong unit that it’s impossible to find a weak link. Those tight hip-hop-influenced beats are undeniably sharp, nestled well alongside their skewed electronic backbone, and the fact that it’s so hard to pin down Rory Clewlow’s guitars to any one style proves to be yet another weapon in Enter Shikari’s increasinglyrandom arsenal. Overflowing not only with vitality but also solemn conviction and a flair for witticism, they remain one of Britain’s last great rock hopes.

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Karnivool

KARNIVOOL + MONUMENTS

Palace Akropolis, Prague 18.03.2015 // Words and Photo: Arnaud Diemer

ear full house at the Palace Akropolis on this Wednesday evening. A cosy place with a balcony in a nice art nouveau/ beginnings of CCCP mood. Perfect setup for this journey through prog pop rock. Indeed, this wasn’t a common Djent show with geeks high on gearporn and binary riffs all around the place. Monuments actual line up is killer on stage. Loads of energy and enthusiasm. A real delight to see these guys with bright

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smiles jumping around between two chats with the public and a Slipknot-like trick where everybody had to squat before jumping around like an epileptic crowd in a rave. As said before, no Djent riffing sounding like every other band, we’re in the presence of a mix of prog metalcore with somehow pop singing brought with an incredible talent of the singer. Not a single line messed up, it’s impressive to see such musicians with a high vocal range actually using it on stage, dates after dates during a tour. This forces respect and the whole band were at their best tonight. And it looks like their

best is at every shows. Karnivool have been warmly welcomed by the audiences who seemed to know every lyrics in blazing sing along. A great enthusiasm that didn’t really helped the band take off. The music was tight, but the show was missing a bit more involvement from the members. No real communication, no hard partying on stage. They were basically mimicking a narcoleptic turtle walking through the stage. That didn’t prevent the audience from enjoying the show and Karnivool did their job. There’s up and downs on tours, let’s hope they will bring more energy to their next sets.

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RÖKKURRÓ The Bedroom Bar, London 05.02.2015 Words: Antigoni Pitta

ökkurró might seem pretty tame for London, but the fact that they managed to dominate a London bar is an achievement in itself. Minutes after they stepped onto the humble stage of The Bedroom Bar in Shoreditch, they filled the room with warmth and light, making their short set a pleasant surprise. Time felt at a standstill as Hildur Kristín Stefánsdóttir’s angelic vocals filled the small space, showcasing the incredible texture of the band’s sound. The ethereal quality that characterises their presence is reinforced by the effortless theatricality in the way they perform. There is a poignancy in Rökkurró’s music which may lie partly in the fact that their songs are sung in Icelandic, something that gives them an otherworldly feel. That being said, the night’s setlist included multiple songs from their latest album, Innra, their first attempt at incorporating English lyrics and a more electronic edge into their work, which, admittedly, is working very well. The dark, low-ceilinged The Bedroom Bar seems almost too small for a band whose music evokes vast, open landscapes, glittering lakes and rolling hills. Yet on that night, Rökkurró managed to transport the audience into that magical world in a matter of minutes.

We Bless This Mess

WE BLESS THIS MESS Plano B, Porto 27.02.2015 //

Words: Fausto Casais // Photo: Andreia Alves

Sometimes when we are playing at home everything turns into a party, friends and family are there, there is this really cool and laid back audience, but with no such thing as slowing down. We Bless This Mess created a very good atmosphere, frontman and founder of this troubadour Frank Turner meets Billy Bragg meets Against Me! project, Nelson Graf, was the confident master of ceremonies. Presenting their debut EP Love and Thrive, We Bless This Mess were able to fight some inexperience, laid back atmosphere and several line-up changes for good, this was a party day so they are totally forgiven of any kind of setbacks. Pulling out all the stops, their performance was irrevocably slick, full of sing-a-long, gang vocals and with some covers in the mixture like H20, Ignite and Johnny Cash. The future is unwritten, so are theirs... www.facebook.com/MUSICandRIOTS.Magazine

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WHIPLASH 10 DIRECTOR: Damien Chazelle WRITER: Damien Chazelle CAST: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist, Paul Reiser, Austin Stowell, Nate Lang, Chris Mulkey, Damon Gupton, Suanne Spoke, Max Kasch, Charlie Ian, Jayson Blair, Kofi Siriboe, Kavita Patil, C.J. Vana USA 2014

hiplash avoids the sex, drugs and haze of cigarette smoke that has clouded most music oriented films of the last few decades and instead chooses to focus on the rehearsal room and the relationship between a young musical prodigy, Andrew (Miles Teller) and his terrifyingly strict teacher, Fletcher (J.K. Simmons). Director Damien Chazelle makes Jazz school look like boot camp with Fletcher being reminiscent of R. Lee Ermey's drill sergeant from Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket and Chazelle utilising vicious close ups of Andrew's hands covered in blood as Fletcher hurls insults and even chairs at the young drummers heads throughout. This behaviour could have made Whiplash seem ridiculous, but what makes it work is the casting, direction and the film's focus on the teacher and student relationship between Andrew and Fletcher. Miles Teller gives a great performance full of fear and vulnerability, striving for the acceptance of his teacher while still having a likeable screen presence. J.K. Simmons is the true star of the picture. Acting as the antagonist, dressed immaculately all in black and stealing every scene he's in. Chazelle leaves it up to the viewer whether the relationship between teacher and student is inappropriate or inspirational. Either way, he has crafted a dynamic and very original film for its genre.

JOE DOYLE

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CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA

DIRECTOR: Olivier Assayas WRITER: Olivier Assayas CAST: Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, Chloë Grace Moretz, Lars Eidinger, Johnny Flynn, Angela Winkler, Hanns Zischler, Nora von Waldstätten, Brady Corbet, Aljoscha Stadelmann, Claire Tran, Peter Farkas, Stuart Manashil, Ben Posener, Ricardia Bramley, Luise Berndt, Gilles Tschudi FRANCE/SWITZERLAND/GERMANY/USA/BELGIUM 2014

louds Of Sils Maria is very much like Alejandro G. Inarrittu’s Birdman but with a slightly, arguably weaker premise. The film deals with an aging actress, Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) being asked to star in the film adaptation of a stage play that launched her career two decades earlier, although not in the lead role, but as the business woman who seduces her original character (Chloe Moretz). Maria is jealous of 118

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the younger actress and can only confide in her secretary (Kristen Stewart). This is a more straightforward story for director Oliver Assayas but the underlying themes are much more interesting; the passage of time within the film industry with a slight biographical aspect from Binoche’s point of view, unlike Michael Keaton’s more satirical view from Birdman. What Assayas really deserves credit and praise for, is getting the best performance out of Kristen Stewart I’ve ever seen and making the dialogue between her and Binoche always relevant and interesting. Their relationship on screen is similar to Binoche’s previous relationship with William

Shimell from Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy. Stewart and Binoche’s scenes are also probably the best aspect of the movie besides the frequently great cinematography and Binoche’s multi-layered performance as someone who is jealous of youth but also longs for it herself. As someone who personally fails to see how the popcorn consumerism cinema should get more merit and make more money than the aesthetic pleasures of arthouse cinema, Clouds Of Sils Maria is a very interesting film with some very valid themes about aging and the film industry itself. JOE DOYLE

CINEMA

THE WATER DIVINER

DIRECTOR: Russell Crowe WRITER: Andrew Knight, Andrew Anastasios CAST: Jai Courtney, Olga

Kurylenko, Russell Crowe, Isabel Lucas, Damon Herriman, Jacqueline McKenzie, Ryan Corr, Cem Yilmaz, Megan Gale, Deniz AUSTRALIA/TURKEY/

USA 2014

n 1919, in a complete post-first world war, an Australian man (Russel Crowe), father of three goes to Turkey on a mission to find his missing in action sons, last known to have fought against the Turks in the bloody and dramatic Battle of Gallipoli. The Water Diviner first expectations were so damn low - Russel Crowe latest bad movies were the main reason to blame for that - but on his directorial debut, Crowe totally nailed it, delivering an old fashion moving and touching, in a fully involving storytelling-heartbreaking movie. Full of passion, Crowe’s performance is terrific, Olga Kurylenko is full of charm and the war scenarios are beautifully shot and portrayed. There is a bit of Ron Howard in here, but even full of emotional clichés is an emotionally manipulative good movie.

FAUSTO CASAIS

JOHN WICK 8 DIRECTOR: Chad Stahelski, David Leitch WRITER: Derek Kolstad CAST: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe, Dean Winters, Adrianne Palicki, Omer Barnea, Toby Leonard Moore, Bridget Moynahan, Ian McShane USA 2014

ell, do you guys remember Max Payne? Not the movie, the very first game... If so, try to add a bit of Hitman, not the movie, the fucking game! And now think a bit about that... And add a little bit more of classic elements of a movie like Ronin and that golden era of action movies, where back in the 80’s Arnie, Stallone, Chuck Norris and Seagal were killing machines, however they were not that lethal as John Wick, cos for this guy’s killing is his business. John Wick is quite possibly one of the best action-orgasmic-killing machinenostalgic flick of our times. John Wick is charismatic and Reeves rises at 50, as one of the best and most entertaining action films of the last several years. Thumbs up!

FAUSTO CASAIS

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COHERENCE

DIRECTOR: James Ward Byrkit WRITER: James Ward Byrkit, Alex Manugian CAST: Emily Baldoni, Maury Sterling, Nicholas Brendon, Lorene Scafaria, Elizabeth Gracen, Hugo Armstrong, Alex Manugian, Lauren Maher USA/UK 2014

e all kind of miss Twilight Zone, right? Maybe those who miss a good brainwash do... The truth is that we fucking miss that kind of movies, indie flicks like Donnie Darko, Primer, Cube are for sure clearly invoked here, but it’s that Hitchcock pedigree that we truly miss. 120

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Coherence is that kind of movie, it’s a brainiac weird experience that will for sure leave the viewer uncomfortable, but in the end there is only two roads, or they will love or hate it. The story is quite easy to follow, where eight friends at a dinner party experience a troubling chain of reality bending events. Nothing quite new, right? Wrong!!!! Coherence is fucking cerebral, tightly focused and shot - over “only” five nights - with huge levels of intensity and tension, everything is complex here, even

their complexity breaks any kind of boundaries regarding the traditional absurd in these classic takes that we learned to love over the years in several sub-genres, where there is a thin line that clearly separates a Sci-fi movie from a good Thriller. Coherence is all of that, it’s a paradoxical puzzle, a compelling and minimalist movie that will leave your brain exhausted but at the same time pleased, where you will have that urge to watch it again, and again and over again. FAUSTO CASAIS

CINEMA

THE VOICES

DIRECTOR: Marjane Satrapi WRITER: Michael R. Perry CAST: Ryan

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY

DIRECTOR: Sam Taylor-Johnson WRITER: Kelly Marcel, E.L. James CAST: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Jennifer Ehle, Eloise

Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick, Jacki Weaver, Ella Smith, Paul Chahidi, Stanley Townsend, Adi Shankar, Sam Spruell, Valerie Koch, Gulliver McGrath USA/GERMANY 2014

Mumford, Victor Rasuk, Luke Grimes, Marcia Gay Harden, Rita Ora, Max Martini, Callum Keith Rennie, Andrew Airlie USA 2015

The Voices is a film that follows this seemingly normal man called Jerry (Reynolds) trying to succeed in his new job at the Milton Bathtub Factory. He lives in a normal apartment with his dog, Bosco, and his cat, Mr. Whiskers - which by the way they talk to Jerry. But after meeting Fiona (Arterton) from accounting, he starts a sort of non-stop killing without any specific reason. The Voices is what we may call an quirky indie-film, but as the story goes, it kind of gets creepy, bizarre and also disturbing. It’s suppose to be a dark comedy, but it’s darker than funnier and we can even say that it’s a mix between Dexter and Dr. Doolittle. Though this is one of Ryan Reynolds best performances in a long time, this flick isn’t funny nor creepy enough to become something remarkable.

Let me be clear about one thing. I didn’t read any of the FSOG’s books, and after watching this film, my desire to read them is almost none. Throughout all the furor and fans gained since these books were published, it’s been a massive success and convey such story onto the big screen was a big risk. But easily was a big failure, even though it sold over $100 million, but of course the franchise and a good marketing strategy helped a lot. This movie shows the main characters, Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey, to get involved with each other, to knowing each other and reaching to a point where Mr. Grey wants no ordinary relationship. The actors have chemistry, but the plot and the sex scenes are too awkward and too damn lame to keep with the book’s big fantasy.

ANDREIA ALVES

REVIEWED NEXT ISSUE

CAKE

DIRECTOR: Daniel Barnz WRITER: Patrick Tobin CAST: Jennifer Aniston, Adriana Barraza, Anna Kendrick, Sam Worthington, Mamie Gummer, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Chris Messina, Lucy Punch, Britt Robertson, Paula Cale, Ashley Crow USA 2014

Let’s start this review by saying that Jennifer Aniston was overrated for the performance of this movie in particular. Not saying that she wasn’t efficient on it - in fact, she was pretty intense and capable for that - but judging by her Oscar nominee snub, that was way too much. With that said, Cake is one of those movies that try to convey the grief and transition of a woman that had a horrible accident where she loses her son, leaving her to a state of decay and suffering. It’s easy to connect with Anniston’s character and it’s also easy to be carried away with such gloomy story, but the purposeless direction of this movie leaves the entire cast a bit lost in space. Overall, Aniston still shows toughness and also some humour in such sad, sad movie. ANDREIA ALVES

WONDERS “Le Meraviglie”

Directed by Alice Rohrwacher

EX MACHINA

Directed by Alex Garland NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE

Directed by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern HUMBLING

Directed by Barry Levinson TIMBUKTU

Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako musicandriotsmagazine.com

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Royal Thunder 122

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