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Tag: alternative
Lorne Behrman Releases Debut Album and Third Single/Video “Harlem River Serenade”
“Harlem River Serenade” is the third single/video from LORNE BEHRMAN’s solo debut album A LITTLE MIDNIGHT out this Friday, September 16 on Spaghetty Town Records. Look for the NYC punk rock n’ roll singer-songwriter-guitarist to celebrate the album’s release that night with a show at Arlene’s Grocery on the Lower East Side. LORNE will hit the stage with a 7-piece band featuring two backup singers at 9:30pm.
“Harlem River Serenade” is a slice of dirty and catchy rock n’ roll scrapped off of the streets of the Bowery, merged with imagery-rich lyrics about moving on from a busted-up romance. Today, LORNE has shared the David J Barron-directed video that was filmed at various locations in NYC including Arlene’s Grocery.
The 10-song A LITTLE MIDNIGHT is a series of New York City vignettes haunted by shadows but guided by light. The words here are literate and lacerating, recalling the street poetics of Lou Reed, Richard Hell, and Television. The songs feature stark and fluid guitar playing in the spirit of The Stooges’ James Williamson, Johnny Thunders, and Lou Reed. It follows LORNE’s acclaimed 2021 four-song EP When I Hit The Floor, which prompted the esteemed Jesse Malin to note: “Real blood and guts rock and roll that bleeds with soul and redemption.”
A LITTLE MIDNIGHT’s raw but polished production aesthetic is courtesy of producer Matt Chiaravalle (Warren Zevon, Joe Bonamassa, Spacehog). A Little Midnight was mastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Joe Lambert. Wyldlife bassist Spencer Alexander designed the album artwork, and it is a subtly playful homage to the cover of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Damn the Torpedoes.
“This album is about struggling to be reborn,” LORNE shares. “Wanting to run back to the arms of toxic people or the patterns of self-destruction. It’s about clawing your way to a new existence while acknowledging all the causalities, and all you’re letting go. You glimpse a new life, but you don’t feel it yet.”
“Harlem River Serenade” comes on the heels of the album’s first two singles/ videos, the most recent of which was “I Hope The Sun Doesn’t Catch Us.” MXDWN noted that “…[the video] gives viewers an incredible sight of Behrman strumming his guitar with fantastic talent and singing about hoping that the sun doesn’t catch us, as we follow a man and woman on the streets of New York trying to get away from the sun that is blaring down on them.” “I Hope The Sun Doesn’t Catch Us” was preceded by the single/video for “A Little Midnight.” Glide raved about how the song “features a blackened riff howl of punk bands like The Damned and The Gun Club mixed with pop sensibilities of The Replacements. When Behrman sings “A little midnight/ it’s alright/A little midnight/does you right,” listeners get a gracious sense of rock and roll escapism at its most pure form.”
Post-Riot Grrrl Quartet How Tragic Unveils Eco-Punk Epic Video for “Goodbye Cruel World”
Big Budget-Looking Video Made On Gonzo Girl Trip During COVID
“…..riot grrrl energy that today’s world needs.”-The Aquarian Weekly
Big corporations are peddling deceiving “disposable plastic.” Recycling programs are being discontinued due to cost effectiveness. And here we are frozen in indecision: what do we do for the ailing planet? Helpless and hopeless, some say f#$@ it, and others get punk rock about it and make a rousing statement. Today, the post-riot grrrl four-piece band, How Tragic, takes a stand with its achingly-beautiful apocalyptic “Goodbye Cruel World” video.
“The world is burning, the ship is sinking, and people are like ‘what’s the point in even trying anymore?’” says the Brooklyn, New York-based songwriter, singer, guitarist, producer, and
director Paige Campbell. “It feels like we can’t do anything to help; it feels like there’s no point in trying; it feels like we don’t know who to believe and what is the truth. There’s a special place for people who still have the fight left in them, and this is their song.”
The “Goodbye Cruel World” video boasts breathtaking landscapes; stylishly, high-concept cinematics; and a captivating video performance by Paige. The backstory behind the video is that Paige, and two of her friends, found themselves stranded together when the pandemic took over. They were confused, terrified, and kind of curious if they could spend lockdown doing something creatively constructive. The trio set out on a cross-country adventure that stretched from the vintage elegance of the Silver Sands Motel in Southampton NY; to North Carolina in a ghostly KMart location being liquidated, and the gorgeous sand hills in Jockeys Ridge State Park; to Bisbee, Arizona at a vacant beautiful hotel and artist retreat and in the desert; and, finally, back to New York City months later with How Tragic reuniting for a filmed street performance at Coney Island.
“Goodbye Cruel World” is a mid-tempo punk song with a touch of 1950s balladry overtones, and it’s as seething as it is sensual, smoldering with ill-fated romantic ideals. One choice passage reads: We hemorrhage apathy, As The World Turns/There’s not much else to do but sit and watch it burn/Goodbye, cruel world/Goodbye, cruel world/and this wasteland/Goodbye cruel world. This is a song for the ages, but we will probably be looking down at our phone checking out influencers, and the meticulously-curated lives on display when the earth explodes in a big ball of fire. But we can’t say we weren’t warned.
Previously, How Tragic (unsigned) has been championed by rock legend Rodney Bingenheimer who introduced the band on his radio show where he premiered the single “Deathwish.” The quartet has issued the 4-song EP, Past Lives—co-produced by Paige alongside producer, engineer, and mixer Matt Chiaravalle (Courtney Love, Debbie Harry, Warren Zevon)—and debuted as a headliner at the iconic rock venue the Mercury Lounge.
http://spaghettytownrecords.bigcartel.com
soundcloud.com/spaghettytownrecords
The Dark Shadows release new single “Sour Candy”
Sour Candy dances the edge of torn romance with a melodic punk energy of soaring high hopes and razor sharp guitar blasting through wall of sound vocals with distant echoes of 60s pop and a few ‘yeah, yeahs’ kicking in between…
‘Sour Candy’ the latest single by The Dark Shadows will be released though Select-A-Vision Records in collaboration with Icy Cold & Manic Depression Records, Paris and digitally available online through Bandcamp 6th September with a digital release on Apple Music, Spotify, etc. to follow.
Official web: http://thedarkshadows.com.au
Bandcamp: https://thedarkshadows.bandcamp.com/follow_me
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/thedarkshadowsmusic
Spotify:https://spoti.fi/3lDbLLM
Star Park “S/T” EP
If you’ve been following the glam trash glitter bubblegum and power pop subculture this zine celebrates for a long enough time, you might remember the O’Donnal Brothers, of Bang Bang Satellite fame, who always write catchy, memorable, and deeply heartfelt songs about smalltown melancholy and day job disappointments, modern heartbreak, and existential despair. If you’re a fan of moody, broken dreams pop songs ala Big Star, Badfinger, Beat Angels, or Gin Blossoms, you will undoubtedly appreciate their latest three hit songs. Their new guitarist is really golden, totally brings that poppy Ryan Roxie or Michael Brooks feel their melodic pop songs require. It’s a miracle whenever hardscrabble, blue collar people are able to find their way into a recording studio in this horrible pay to play world, nowadays. I am pleased to hear new music from these long enduring cult figures and at their usual standard of high-excellence. If you are hip to any of their old bands, like Ill-starred, Bang Bang Sattelite, A Streetcar Named Disaster or China Stars, you’re sure to love the latest tunes, from these weary old underground heroes. God bless ’em, if you’re into vintage glam or power pop, tell all your friends about STAR PARK. /Pepsi Sheen.
Italian TV release debut single “Straight To Me”
Italian TV is a new collaboration between old friends. Tony Manno (The Black Oil Brothers/Dusty Curbside) and TAFKAVince are longtime friends and former bandmates. Both having busy lives rarely find time to see each other. To remedy this situation they decided to set aside some time to get together and catch up under the guise of writing songs. After a couple meetings the first song was written.
“Straight To Me” is an acoustic song in the vein of Suicide Twins and The Jacobites while “Move On” almost sounds psyche rock.
More info: https://italiantv.bandcamp.com
Suzie Stapleton “We Are The Plague”
We talked about Brighton based artist Suzie Stapleton quite a few times through her singles and videos. Here she is back with a self-recorded album with the help of Gavin Jay (JIM JONES AND THE RIGHTEOUS MINDS) on bass and drummer Jim MACAULAY (The STRANGLERS.) “We Are The Plague” opens the album on a dark pyche rock note with intense vocals and fuzzy guitars while “Thylacine” quiets things down, bringing PJ HARVEY to mind. Most songs have their own special atmosphere in a cinematic way, you can easily picture your own video clips while listening to “Blood On The Windscreen”, “September” or “Don’t Look Up” and its desert vibes among others. You’ll hear some gospel influences in “The River Song” and “Angel Speak”‘s beautiful intensity will make you travel very far in unknown territories. “You Were There” has a bit of a DOORS vibe with some 90s alternative influences thrown in while “In The Darkness” has a certain form of minimalism to it before it turns into chaos. We sometimes think of Anna Calvi‘s albums while listening to this record and it sure deserves the same kind of success! The ballad “Silence In My Bones” and “Negative Prophet” both bring a bit of peace near the end of the album, making you think that things could eventually get better in the end even though the question remains “Oh God, do you believe in me?”
“We Are The Plague” could be the soundtrack of this coronavirus age but there’s no doubt that it will stand the test of time. /Laurent C.
Black Market Heart “Transfusion” EP
4 new songs and a cool cover art-work by Los Angeles dark rock band BLACK MARKET HEART. “Feed Me Poison” opens this EP with some fine venomous post-punk full of energy while “Tidal Wave” has more to do with proto-punk and The STOOGES. Male and female vocals are mixed and give an interesting melodic effect to the songs, sometimes close to The PIXIES. The biggest surprise on this EP is a great cover of The TOILET BOYS‘ glam punk hit “Another Day In The Life”, here played with a garage rock twist. “Reach Out” closes this EP in a CRAMPS meets grunge gloomy rock’n’roll way. Short, but definitely worth checking! /Laurent C.
Veglam 