// Category Archive for: Music

Music Review: Shark Toys, Outsider Sect

By Brian Baker

I don’t know who you are, but I know I can cruise with your surfer punk rhythms like Johnny Fain carving the California coast, Shark Toys. (more…)

In Case You Missed It: March 20 – April 2, 2016–The Site That Wouldn’t Die

By Less Lee Moore

You can’t kill us; we’re already undead.

At Popshifter, sometimes shit happens. And when it does, we soldier on.

We’re sad to lose one of our favorite writers, Laury Scarbro, this week. She’s just got too much going on in her non-Internet life and must take a hiatus.

We’re also sad to see another one of our fave writers take a hiatus: Jeffery X Martin has a new writing job (Yay! Congratulations!) that’s taking up most of his time these days and so he won’t be around as much as he used to.

These two departures mean that some of our content will be disappearing: the daily Today In Pop Culture column and our weekly recaps of Outsiders. I thought it best to let you know what was going on in case you wondered why they suddenly disappeared.

That said, if anyone would like to pick up the mantle of Today In Pop Culture or finish the rest of the season of Outsiders (four more episodes), I would gladly welcome your contributions.

And now, to the news!

Brad Henderson went to SXSW and all he got was a case of food poisoning. OK, he also saw some good movies, too, one of them being the Hicksploitation throwback My Father, Die. Not so good was recent home video release Intruders, which was a missed opportunity that I wish I had missed. You can always go back to 1977 and watch Count Dracula, the BBC production of Bram Stoker’s Dracula starring Louis Jourdan, though, which I revisted in this month’s Frightful Flashback on Rue Morgue. You can also read my examination of the nature of evil as told through three different interpretations of witches on Everything Is Scary, those being Penny Dreadful, The Witch, and The Devils. By the way, happy one-year anniversary to Everything Is Scary where we do the responsible thing and contemplate the void every week.

The small screen is exploding these days! Besides new episodes of The Walking Dead, Broad City, and WGN’s Outsiders, Netflix has just premiered the second season of Daredevil, which Tim gives high marks, and Trailer Park Boys’ tenth season, which Tyler will be covering over the next week or so.

Whenever someone complains that there isn’t any good music these days, you just send them over to Popshifter, OK?

Besides the latest (and hopefully not the last) Iggy Pop album Post Pop Depression (which is awesome); there’s also Robbie Fulks’s Upland Stories, which Melissa describes as “exquisite;” West Of Here, the sophomore release from The Currys; and a trio of excellent—and very different—albums from women-fronted bands: Davina and the Vagabonds, Margo Price, and Bleached.

HHBTM has been putting out some quality music lately, including the punky Versus album from Eureka California and the retro yet timeless Crystal Café from Witching Waves. But if you enjoy “kick-ass, groove-heavy, instrumental synth-rock unit inspired by 1970s and ’80s horror movie soundtracks,” you might enjoy Wolfmen of Mars’ latest, DANGER! PERIL! THREAT!

Tim takes a look back at Sepultura’s Roots album, while I take a look forward at a couple of new videos: “Phantom Freighter” from the sci-fi, industrial-influenced Pop. 1280 and “Hey Girl (I Wanna Be Your Man)” from shoegazers Dirty Sidewalks.

Finally, Brian Baker chatted with actress Karen Allen at the recent Toronto ComiCon and she had some things to say about that upcoming Indiana Jones movie.

Until next week, Popshifter fans!

Music Review: Iggy Pop, Post Pop Depression

By Less Lee Moore

I followed my shadow and it led me here
What is the problem if I disappear?
—Iggy Pop, “In The Lobby”

There’s Iggy Pop and then, there are The Stooges. Or at least, there were, since Iggy himself is the last surviving original member. And while Iggy’s solo work has always been distinctly different from his work with The Stooges, a look at his discography reveals a history of playing well with others: David Bowie, Steve Jones, Ivan Kral, Whitey Kirst, Glen Matlock, James Williamson, and others. Post Pop Depression is the latest in a long line of Iggy Pop collaborative albums, this one with Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme and Dean Fertita, as well as Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders.

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Music Review: Robbie Fulks, Upland Stories

By Melissa Bratcher

There’s a strong vein of Southern literacy that thrums through Robbie Fulks’s Upland Stories. The characters in these songs tread the same ground as Hazel Motes or Rufus Follet. They tell their stories with graceful turns of phrase and through Fulks’s wonderful twangy tenor: sometimes high lonesome, sometimes quietly, just in your ear.

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Music Review: The Currys, West Of Here

By Melissa Bratcher

The Currys’ sophomore effort, West Of Here, is, as always, a family affair. The Currys are brothers Jimmy and Tommy Curry, and their cousin Galen. Together, they make easy, harmony-laden folky Americana. Their harmonies are incredibly lovely, close and fluid, and are a focal point for the group.

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Music Review: Wolfmen Of Mars, Danger! Peril! Threat!

By Tim Murr

What the hell can I possibly say about Wolfmen Of Mars that I haven’t already said across multiple reviews? If you are new to Boston’s lycanthropic rockers, then allow me to introduce you to a kick-ass, groove-heavy, instrumental synth-rock unit inspired by 1970s and ’80s horror movie soundtracks. And they are prolific! Check their Bandcamp page; they’ve had 10 releases since 2013 and each one is a winner.

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Music Review: Witching Waves, Crystal Café

By Tim Murr

I woke up with Witching Waves’ Crystal Café yesterday and jammed to it all morning over a pot of coffee while doing some writing. The album gives off a particularly spectacular energy that consumed my little kitchen and inspired my fingers to fly across the keys for hours. When my wife woke up and came in, her first question was if I writing a review or listening to an old band.

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Music Review: Bleached, Welcome The Worms

By Melissa Bratcher

Bleached’s follow up to 2013s Ride Your Heart lets their intentions be known right out of the gate. Welcome The Worms is a heavy, swaggering album that conjures up sunbaked Los Angeles (and the attendant debauchery) and destroyed romances. That’s all wrapped in furiously catchy songs that are just delightful.

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Music Review: Eureka California, Versus

By Tyler Hodg

Making a lot of music in a short amount of time can result in one of two very different outcomes: slapdash garbage or effortless fabrication. Versus is Eureka California’s third release in three years, and demonstrates the latter. The record has a sense of urgency that showcases the band’s hunger, rather than just being an outpouring of unnecessary noisy drivel.

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New Video: Pop. 1280, “Phantom Freighter” + European Tour Dates

By Less Lee Moore

On first blush, Pop. 1280s album Paradise feels like some sort of quasi-industrial throwback to 1984, but it’s something else entirely. Sure, there are drum machines and samples, but frequent touches of echoing piano, spidery Goth guitar, and sitars give the songs a surprising sense of depth and breadth.

Singer Chris Burg’s pronounced growl provides gravitas to lyrics that would sound at home in a Philip K. Dick novel: gritty science fiction that’s dirty and uncomfortable.

The band’s latest video, for the surly and sensational “Phantom Freighter,” captures this vibe visually with an aesthetic that pays homage to early David Cronenberg and George A. Romero. And what is that green stuff?

Paradise was released by Sacred Bones on January 22. Be sure to check out the band on their upcoming European tour.

European Tour Dates:
04/15/16 – Hamburg, Germany @ Hafenklang
04/16/16 – Berlin, Germany @ ACUD
04/17/16 – Halle, Germany @ Chaiselongue
04/19/16 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ De School
04/20/16 – Utrecht, Netherlands @ ACU
04/21/16 – Tournai, Belgium @ Water Moulin
04/22/16 – Bruxelles, Belgium @ Magasin 4
04/23/16 – London, United Kingdom @ The Shacklewell Arms
04/24/16 – Leeds, United Kingdom @ Headrow House
04/25/16 – Paris, France @ Batofar
04/26/16 – Rennes, France @ BAR’Hic
04/28/16 – Madrid, Spain @ Siroco
04/29/16 – Zaragoza, Spain @ Las Armas
04/30/16 – San Sebastian, Spain @ Le Bukowski
05/01/16 – Gigor, France @ Gigor Electric
05/02/16 – Clermont Ferrand, France @ Raymond Bar
05/04/16 – Milano, Italy @ Ligera
05/06/16 – Pordenone, Italy @ Pn Box
05/07/16 – Marina di Ravenna, Italy – Hana-Bi
05/08/16 – Verona, Italy @ Centro Avanzi
05/09/16 – Zagreb, Croatia @ AKC Attack
05/10/16 – Wien, Austria @ FLUC
05/11/16 – Budapest, Hungary @ Müszi
05/12/16 – Prague, Czech Republic @ 007