Tag: 2013

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Best tunes of 2013: #18 Daughter “Still”

<< #19    |    #17 >>

Daughter is a London-based indie pop trio that was formed back in 2010. Vocalist/guitarist Elena Tonra found herself needing a more full sound after starting out as a solo singer/songwriter and found exactly what she was looking for in multi-instrumentalist Igor Haefeli, whom she met in a songwriting course, and they later added drummer Remi Aguilella. A lineup stabilized, the group began recording and releasing music and performing live as word of mouth spread. They’re still a going concern and though their output has been meagre (3 LPs and a handful of EPs in fifteen years), it’s been quality stuff, all of it.

I got into the group shortly after the release of their debut album, “If you leave”, partially because of positive words that I’d read on the Internet and partially because I had seen their name added to the 2013 lineup of Osheaga and my friends and I had already purchased passes to go. That debut was on heavy rotation for me that spring and early summer (along with the other groups I was hoping to see at the festival) and I totally got into the heavy atmospherics and Tonra’s soft touch at the mike. Admittedly, I was a bit concerned seeing their set being scheduled so early in the afternoon on the second day of the festival. “If you leave” definitely has a late night/early morning feel to it, the kind of music that you can wrap yourself up in like a blanket and gulp down the dregs of your last glass of red wine, so I was unsure how it would translate under the bright and hot afternoon summer sun. Of course, any uncertainty was washed away by wave after wave of ethereal guitars and Tonra’s smiles and obvious glee and surprises at the amassed appreciate crowd for their early set.

“Two feet standing on a principle
Two hands digging in each others wounds
Cold smoke seeping out of colder throats
Darkness falling, leaves nowhere to move”

“Still” was released as an advanced promotional single for said debut album, but not quite a proper single. A crying shame, if you asked me because this song is a beast. It kicks off with a lonely guitar played in a vacuous space, a worthy accompaniment for Elena Tonra’s melancholy vocal delivery. Synths eventually wash in with a driving drum machine rhythm and it all feels like it continues to build, echoing crashes abound, an expectant explosion. But this epiphany never is truly realized. Daughter teases and taunts here, leaving you wanting, breathless and unsatiated, the song ending abruptly and forcing you to want to push the repeat button over and over again, just to see if, this time, they will grant that release.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2013 list, click here.

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Best tunes of 2013: #19 Chvrches “Recover”

<< #20    |    #18 >>

Chvrches (or CHVRCHES) is a synthpop trio out of Glasgow, Scotland that formed back in 2011. Ian Cook and Martin Doherty were university friends and had performed in a bunch of failed bands together over the years and were almost ready to call it quits and get ‘real jobs’. However, Cook had taken an interest in electronic music and was messing around with synthesizers around the same time that he was doing some production work for another band and he found that he liked the sound of their vocalist’s style. Lauren Mayberry was intrigued by Cook’s invitation to work together on some material and after some exploratory sessions, the three musicians realized they were clicking and might have something to build off of. They chose their name, not because of any religious connotations, but because they liked the sound of it and played with the spelling as a nod to a certain esoteric indie subgenre of music.

“Recover” is the group’s second proper single and appears on their debut album, “The bones of what you believe”. It is the first track that I ever heard by the group and though it hooked me immediately, I haven’t been a fan everything they’ve done over the years. They tiptoe quite precariously on the tightrope between indie pop and outright dance pop. I can only tolerate the latter sound for short periods but they do the former so well that I will never outright dismiss them. I also respect their integrity, the way all three members contribute equally, and how frontwoman Mayberry has never allowed big money music to focus on her and use her sex appeal to sell their music.

“I’ll give you one more chance to say we can change our old ways
And you take what you need, and you know you don’t need me”

“Recover” is a blast of energy, lasers streaming and confetti flying. It is dancing in a sweaty and crowded hall while the strobe lights transform reality and melt your ability to properly perceive space and time. You’re tired and all the bodies writhing around you are tired and it is way past midnight and still hours before the sun comes up but the music won’t let you and any of your friends rest. The synths play alternatively like washes, handclaps, backing vocals, distorted bass. It’s all very retro futuristic, like robots made from 80s muscle car parts. And all the while, Mayberry is your guide and ringmaster, breathless herself in her high octave, childlike voice, commanding though, demanding you to live and experience the moment fully.

Wow.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2013 list, click here.

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Best tunes of 2013: #20 Bleached “Dead in your head”

<< #21    |    #19 >>

For the second time in just over a month, I was digging around the internet for content related to a song I was writing about and I came across a reference to a certain club with a particular name. Curious, I dug further this time and ended up down a rabbit hole of articles and videos about said place.

Apparently, The Smell is an all-ages, DIY, punk, arts and culture space, that was instrumental in the launch of a number of L.A.-based musicians throughout this new millennium. Artists that have played there include Warpaint, Ty Segall, Best Coast, and Moaning. Sisters Jennifer and Jessica Clavin not only often played The Smell with their first band, Mika Miko, but they volunteered there as well.

I haven’t checked out Mika Miko at all but by all accounts, they were a pretty great live act. The garage rock quintet was formed in 2003 and in the seven years before they split, released a pair of full length albums and a half dozen EPs and singles. In 2011, the year after Mika Miko called it quits, Jennifer and Jessica started up Bleached. Under this moniker, there’s been three successful full length records, each charting on the Billboard charts, and though they haven’t officially called it a day, they too seem to be on hiatus.

I came across Bleached with their debut album, “Ride your heart”, back in 2013 and found myself hooked. They mined a similar 60s girl group sound structure as that of Dum Dum Girls, but instead of the wall of sound shoegaze imbued by Dee Dee Penny, the Clavin sisters preferred to hang on to their punk roots. With most of the tracks in the two to three minute range, “Ride your heart” is gunshot raw, and at times is aggressive and discordant, but at its heart, it’s really a pop record rife with ear worm melodies.

“I never wanted to lose the boy I loved the most
I never wanted to hurt the boy I loved the most”

Track four is the longest song on the album, clocking in at just over four minutes, and this is mostly due to a dreamy intro that lulls you into thinking this might be a slow love ballad. Then, the foot stomping on kickpedal wakes you right up and the marching bass line drags you into the fray. The vocals and guitars play a bit of call in response during the verses with flourishes that have the potential to induce whiplash and the choruses are all fist pumping and shouting along wistfully for the one that got away. “Dead in your head” is big, bold, and anthemic and yes, demands replay after replay.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2013 list, click here.