DVD Review: Compliance

By Less Lee Moore

It’s difficult to review a movie like Compliance. Usually the tag line, “Inspired By True Events” signals a couple of hours of cinematic hyperbole. Even documentaries aren’t immune from altering or omitting facts to suit the filmmakers’ agenda(s). What’s most disturbing about Compliance is how scenes that might trigger the viewer’s bullshit meter actually did occur. While much of the dialogue used to illustrate the events may have been created, the scenarios themselves are real.

Anyone who has worked in a fast food restaurant (or as industry parlance prefers, a “quick-service restaurant”) might immediately feel discomfort during the opening scenes of Compliance, not because of any horrific events taking place, but because of the remarkably authentic atmosphere of what takes place in those environments.

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New Jesca Hoop Single/Video: “Ode To Banksy”

By Less Lee Moore

The third single from Jesca Hoop‘s amazing The House That Jack Built album (review), is out now and there’s a video to go with it.

“I’ve been a fan of Banksy for ages,” explains Jesca. “This song is a splatter of inspirations that I have gathered from his pieces round the world. There are four or five specific pieces that inform the lyrics. I named the song ‘Ode To Banksy’ because, as a huge fan, I much prefer to keep the mystery of his identity alive . . . and while I was writing the song there were big press blasts to reveal his identity . . . which I ignored. I’ll keep him masked, thank you! This song is like pop art itself . . . for art’s sake. I am also a big a fan of Bobbie Gentry and her song ‘Ode to Billy Joe’ is a long time favorite of mine . . . the thought of the death of a great intrigue gave me a good excuse to write my own Ode.”

“Ode To Banksy”—with its catchy chorus and insistent guitar riffs—is another perfect example of the beautifully diverse talents of Ms. Hoop. If you haven’t yet heard The House That Jack Built, I highly recommend it.

Jesca Hoop will be supporting I Am Kloot on their February tour of the UK.

Tour Dates:
Feb. 12 – GLASGOW, Oran Mor
Feb. 13 – LEEDS, Irish Centre
Feb. 14 – MANCHESTER, The Ritz
Feb. 15 – MANCHESTER, The Ritz
Feb. 18 – NOTTINGHAM, Albert Hall
Feb. 19 – LONDON, Barbican
Feb. 21 – BRIGHTON, St Bartholomew’s Church
Feb. 22 – CAMBRIDGE, Junction
Feb. 23 – BRISTOL, Trinity
Feb. 24 – COVENTRY, Warwick Arts Centre

Watch Iceage’s New Video, Pre-Order Their EP: “Ecstasy”

By Less Lee Moore

Photo © Anton Rothstein

A couple of weeks ago I posted a link to “Coalition,” the first single from Iceage’s upcoming album You’re Nothing (out 2/19 on Matador).

Now they’ve released another new track—”Ecstasy”—and this one has a proper video.

The song actually gives me goosebumps. It also reminds me of my mortality; as much as I’d love to see this band on their upcoming tour, I’d also probably be crushed to death.

“Ecstasy,” “Coalition,” and an exclusive B-side “A Rifle,” will feature on an Escho 7″, released on February 5 and available via import through Matador in a limited quantity.

Stream “A Note To Self” By Parenthetical Girls: Upcoming Album, Spring Tour

By Less Lee Moore

The eclectic, engaging Parenthetical Girls released a series of EPs over the last few years entitled Privilege. These were limited edition and only available via mail order. Oh, and each one was hand-numbered n the blood of one of the band’s members.

Now they’ve condensed the 21 songs that make up the five-part series into 12 tracks, all of which have been remixed and remastered. The Privilege album will be released by Marriage Records and the band’s own Slender Means Society Label on February 19.

To support the release, Parenthetical Girls are embarking on a Spring tour, beginning March 6 in San Francisco.

Obviously, none of us have the patience to wait for either of these momentous occasions, so the band has thoughtfully provided a streaming track, “A Note To Self.”

Additionally, they’ll be producing a series of video commercials for Privilege, beginning with the one below (a clever homage to Brooke Shields’s infamous Calvin Klein jeans ads from the 1980s).

For more on Parenthetical Girls, check out their website.

Tour Dates:
03/06 Portland, OR – Holocene
03/07 Berkeley, CA – Starry Plough
03/08 Los Angeles, CA – The Smell
03/09 Phoenix, AZ – Trunk Space
03/10 Albuquerque, NM – Low Spirits
03/12 San Antonio, TX – Korova
03/13 – 03/16 Austin, TX – SXSW
03/17 Dallas, TX – Spillover Music Festival
03/19 Birmingham AL – Bottletree
03/20 Atlanta, GA – The Earl
03/21 Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506
03/22 Washington, DC – TBA
03/23 Philadelphia, PA – PhilaMOCA
03/24 Hamden, CT – Outer Space
03/25 Brooklyn, NY – Glasslands
03/26 NYC – Bowery Electric
03/27 Montreal, QB – Divan Orange
03/28 Toronto, ON – Double Double Land
03/29 Ann Arbor, MI – Arbor Vitae
03/30 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
03/31 Minneapolis, MN – TBA
04/02 Denver, CO – Hi Dive
04/03 Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
04/04 Boise, ID – Flying M
04/07 Seattle, WA – Chop Suey

Assemblog: January 25, 2013

Evil Dead

New this week on Popshifter: Paul gives reasons to care about the upcoming Bioshock Infinite and ponders choice in the virtual world of gaming; I recommend the new Ty Segall reissues (The Traditional Fools, Reverse Shark Attack) from In The Red Records; Melissa loves Hard Core Logo, but not the sequel, and is over the moon for Don Rich and Buck Owens; Cait praises Rosie Flores’s new album Working Girl’s Guitar; and Julie describes the “exquisite collection of songs” on Wildlife, the new solo album from Gudrun Gut.

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Music Review: Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin, Reverse Shark Attack (Reissue)

By Less Lee Moore

The second of two Ty Segall reissues, Reverse Shark Attack features Segall and his current touring bassist Mikal Cronin (who has quite a few releases with and apart from Segall). While just as dirty sounding as The Traditional Fools (review), these tunes are less garage rock and way more psychedelic, with brain-asplodin’ feedback that seems to lurch forth physically from the speakers.

It’s patently obvious that I’m going to be biased towards a song called “I Wear Black,” but it also happens to be good, snatching the heavy beat from “Wild Thing” and inserting a growling chorus of the song’s title.

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Music Review: The Traditional Fools, S/T (Reissue)

By Less Lee Moore

The prolific and talented Ty Segall has another album out today. It’s actually a reissue, but one that was previously only available on vinyl and has been out of print since its release. The Traditional Fools—comprised of Segall, Andrew Luttrell, and David Fox—put out only one album, but it’s killer. Its intensely dirty sound is more akin to Segall’s Slaughterhouse than Twins, but it is instantly loveable. It helps that despite the lo-fi recording, these guys were tight as hell.

The opening track, a cover of “Davey Crockett” by beloved legends Thee Headcoats, will either thrill or piss off fans of the original, but it’s obviously coming from a place of respect. It also sounds fantastic.

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Assemblog: January 18, 2013

Bates Motel

New this week on Popshifter:
J Howell likes the new Atoms For Peace single “Judge, Jury, and Executioner”; Cait raves about The Definitive Shoes Collection; JG Thirlwell gives us his Best Of 2012; Emily says John Cale will always be cool; Chelsea suggests Erin McKeown newbies check out her latest album Manifestra; I interview Resolution directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead; give my Top Ten Picks for 2013 movies and the Sundance Film Festival; and discuss new music from Adam Ant, Iceage, and Suede.

Remember when I said I wasn’t going to talk about the Oscars? I didn’t lie, but I do want to talk about something Oscars-related (though technically, it’s just about awards in general).

Over the last few months, we’ve seen a lot of “Best Of” lists for movies. Some of these are even compiled and counted and used to determine the “Best Movie” announcement for a particular group or publication. In that way, they’re sort of like mini-awards ceremonies, except no one goes home with a gold statue.

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Suede Releases Free Song From Upcoming Album: “Barriers”

By Less Lee Moore

Suede fans who haven’t had the fortune of seeing the band’s recent live shows—including those of us who live in North American and didn’t see them at Coachella—have something to be excited about. The band has put out a free MP3 for a song called “Barriers.” The track is one from their upcoming album of all-new material called Bloodsports.

This isn’t even the official single. That song, “It Starts And Ends With You,” will be released in February, in anticipation of Bloodsports‘ March 18 release. Something else to get excited about!

As Suede hasn’t released any new albums since 2002’s best-left-unmentioned A New Morning (and no, Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler’s 2005 Here Come The Tears album doesn’t count), it’s totally natural to be hesitant.

But hey, the song’s actually good! It’s all soaring guitars, pounding drums, and Anderson’s elfin yelping, or as Drowned In Sound put it, “Springsteen-on-holiday-in-Cornwall.” No, Butler isn’t back in the band, but that’s okay. Bloodsports was produced by Ed Buller who produced the band’s first three albums, so that’s another promising sign.

You can pre-order Bloodsports from Amazon.co.uk in CD and vinyl formats.

The band will be playing at Alexandra Palace in London on March 30. For more information, check out the band’s website and Facebook page.

New Single, Upcoming Album: Iceage, “Coalition”

By Less Lee Moore

Photo © Griffin Shot

Iceage, who blew a lot of people away with their 2011 debut album New Brigade, have a new single. There’s not a proper video for “Coalition” per se, but you can listen to it on YouTube.

If you haven’t yet heard Iceage, this is a great intro. They’ve clearly kept the same aesthetic that made New Brigade so exciting, but “Coalition” sounds ever so slightly more mature (and not in a stodgy, old fart way).

The band’s second album, You’re Nothing, will be out February 19 on Matador. You can pre-order it on the Matador website. The band is also embarking on a massive tour beginning January 24 in Connecticut. For more, check out the band’s blog.

Tour Dates:

Thu. Jan. 24 — Middletown, CT @ Wesleyan University (Eclectic House) – FREE SHOW
Fri. Jan. 25 — Brooklyn, NY @ 285 Kent
Sat. Jan. 26 — New York, NY @ Home Sweet Home
Thu. Jan. 31 – Berlin, DE @ CTM Festival
Fri. Feb. 1 – Amsterdam, NL @ Grauzone Festival
Mon. Feb. 25 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast
Tue. Feb. 26 – Liverpool, UK @ Shipping Forecast
Wed. Feb. 27 – Sheffield, UK @ Shakespeare’s
Thu. Feb. 28 – London, UK @ Electrowerkz
Fri. March 1 – Brighton, UK @ The Albert
Sat. March 2 – Nottingham, UK @ Chameleon Arts Café
Mon. March 4 – Paris, FR @ Espace B
Tue. March 5 – Brussels, BE @ Les Ateliers Claus
Wed. March 6 – Eindhoven, NL @ Area 51
Fri. March 8 – Munster, DE @ Gleiss 22
Sat. March 9 – Gronigen, NL @ Vera
Sun. March 10 – Hamburg, DE @ Hafenklang
Wed. March 20 – Vancouver, BC @ the Biltmore w/ Spectres
Thu. March 21 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza
Fri. March 22 – Olympia, WA @ Capital Theater (backstage)
Sat. March 23 – Portland, OR @ Star Theater
Mon. March 25 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop w/ Merchandise, Wet Hair
Tue. March 26 – Oakland, CA @ New Parish w/ Merchandise, Wet Hair
Thu. March 28 – Bakersfield, CA @ Munoz Gym w/ Milk Music
Fri. March 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex w/ Milk Music
Sun. March 31 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah w/ Milk Music
Mon. April 1 – Tempe, AZ @ Deadhorse Warehouse w/ Milk Music, Destruction Unit
Thu. April 4 – Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater w/ Merchandise, Wet Hair
Sat. April 6 – Grinnell, IA @ Grinnell College w/ Wet Hair – FREE SHOW
Sun. April 7 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Club
Tue. April 9 – Madison, WI @ University of Wisconsin – FREE SHOW
Wed. April 10 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle w/ Final Grin
Thu. April 11 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
Fri. April 12 – Pittsburgh, PA @ 6119
Tue. April 16 – Burlington, VT @ Monkey House w/ White Lung
Wed. April 17 – Boston, MA @ TT the Bear’s w/ White Lung
Thu. April 18 – New Haven, CT @ Lilly’s Pad (Toad’s Place Upstairs)
Fri. April 19 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church w/ White Lung
Sat. April 20 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom w/ White Lung
Thu. May 30 – Sun. June 2 – Austin, TX @ Chaos in Tejas