PREMIERE: Sunny Ali & The Kid - Chai
Grunge plus country equals…crunchery? So says Sunny Ali & The Kid (one half of whom you may recognize from Mad Decent’s POPO) when describing their sound. And though some screwy distort and dustbowl twang is evident in “Chai,” dudes be selling themselves short on this one. Distant Bollywood strings, Brillo pad vox and cassette buzz make this tune way wilder than the tag of crunchery. More like early Beck, if he’d been locked in a basement with only hookahs and mountains of tape to play with. Excellent, and free, all free, over at their bandcamp page.
DOWNLOAD: PS I Love You - Princess Towers
PS I Love You, a duo from Kingston, Ontario formed of musicians Benjamin Nelson and Paul Saulnier, released its debut Meet Me At The Muster Station last year. Now, they're gearing-up for a second one, Death Dreams, on May 8 via Paper Bag Records. “Princess Towers” is a grungy rock number driven by throbbing drums and punk guitar riffs. The quick song is noisy and brash, but offers a discernible hook that conveys emotive angst.
PREMIERE: Dante Vs Zombies - Natural Disaster
Los Angeles garage rock band Dante Vs Zombies was formed by Dante White-Aliano – a musician who has played in The Detroit Cobras and The Starlight Desperation. The group’s debut, BUH, is due out April 10 via Neurotic Yell, but you can get an early taste with “Natural Disaster.” The grunge-meets-glam number is propelled by swaggering riffs and White-Aliano’s howling yelp. From what I can tell, the zombies are probably not winning.
DOWNLOAD: WATERS - Stay Away (Nirvana Cover)
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(Photo: Marte Solbakken)
It's not like Nirvana ever went away, but 2011, with the 20th anniversary of Nevermind, has generated enough covers and tributes to last another couple decades. One of my favorites is this version of the deep-cut "Stay Away" by WATERS. While the band's mastermind Van Pierszalowski doesn't have the weathered angst of Kurt Cobain in his voice (no one else does, really!), he nails the odd combination of ramshackle chaos and crisp, blasted power chords that make the original a timeless, sugary headbanger.
DOWNLOAD: Mothers Of Gut - Stalemate
Mothers Of Gut would have been right at home during the grunge era when bands discovered that punk rock could add psychedelic sludge and get heavy without losing immediacy. "Stalemate" is your key. It crawls along with echo-laden screams, submarine bass lines and guitar that wanders where it pleases under a healthy dose of flange effects. It becomes even more glorious as strings shred all over the track's climax. Mothers Of Gut's new album, Unking, is available now via Family Time Records or over at the group's Bandcamp.
DOWNLOAD: Hunters - Deadbeat
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While they have the credentials to hide behind, Hunters doesn't need them. "Deadbeat" is a bass-lead romp through New York City basement noise to Olympia-approved grunge, catchy boy/girl tribal vocals and heavy on the feedback. Produced by former Smashing Pumpkin James Iha and mixed by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner, it does right by its proud papas. Combing forces with Montreal's Dead Wife, the track can be found on their split 7-inch, part of a fantastic series released by Swill Children.
EXCLUSIVE NEW DOWNLOAD: You Say Party! We Say Die! - Laura Palmer's Prom (Los Campesinos! Remix)
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Are you ready for some declaratives? 'Cause you're about to get an exclamation point bomb! Los Campesinos!'s reversioning of prom-time for You Say Party! We Say Die! invokes a spastic shuffle as pure and right as any 90's homecoming ever could. It's like snagging your tulle on his exhaust pipe--sure you ruined the dress, but you arrived on a motorcycle when those other chumps carpooled. You can catch Vancouver's most superlative dance-punk act on the road (mega list of tour dates right here) before XXXX hits stateside on February 9.
You Say Party! We Say Die! - Laura Palmer's Prom (Los Campesinos! Remix)
Previously:
You Say Party! We Say Die! - Teenage Hit Wonder (Camp America Remix)
You Say Party! We Say Die! - Downtown Mayors Goodnight, Alley Kids Rule!
You Say Party! We Say Die! - Like I Give A Care (RAC Mix)
You Say Party! We Say Die! - Monster
You Say Party! We Say Die! - You're Almost There (DJ Rexford Remix)
You Say Party! We Say Die! - Monster (RAC Remix)
You Say Party! We Say Die! - Opportunity (Montag's I Love Her Remix)
You Say Party! We Say Die!'s RCRD LBL Page
DOWNLOAD: Nirvana - Scoff (Live At Pine Street Theatre)
(Photo: Charles Peterson)
This is bouncing around quickly, but to interestingly little enthusiasm–no one's hitting caps lock and writing "HOLY COW THERE IS A FREE UNRELEASED NIRVANA SONG ONLINE." So we just did that because we think it's justified. Sub Pop is re-releasing Bleach in expanded and remastered form for its twentieth anniversary, and by "expanded" we mean it also includes a full, unreleased recording of the band's performance at the Pine Street Theatre in Portland on February 9th, 1990. Jack Endino, producer of Bleach and a plethora of other insanely great Seattle bands, spruced up the live audio so everything sounds thick and heavy and totally facemelting. That version of "Scoff" is below, you can pre-order the re-release over at the Sub Pop website while we stare at this photo for another fifteen minutes.
Nirvana - Scoff (Live At Pine Street Theatre)
