Blind Benny, No Honor EP

By Less Lee Moore

If you’re looking for a new band to get into, you should check out Blind Benny. The duo of Jade <3 and Jonathan Carmelli hails from Brooklyn and their music is enthralling. Their EP, No Honor, features six songs, each bursting with talent in both songcraft and performance. Best of all, there’s a yearning quality that belies the band’s obvious pop hooks.

Right away, “Chewjitsu” feels like a hit single. It’s positively anthemic, but the sweetness is cut with some dark undertones. Although you can easily imagine this song in the soundtrack to your favorite ’90s indie romcom, it’s still fresh and modern. Jade’s voice is a big reason why: it’s cute but not cutesy; plaintive but not cloying; tiny and huge at the same time.

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Weep, Alate

By Less Lee Moore

An alate is a winged reproductive of a social insect (especially ants or termites, but the term can also be applied to aphids and some thrips). Alate females are typically those destined to become queens (also referred to as gynes), whereas alate males are occasionally referred to as “drones” (or “kings”, in the case of termites). However, the existence of reproductives that do not have wings necessitates a term to distinguish the winged from the wingless reproductive forms. This is an example of polymorphism associated with eusociality.
—Wikipedia entry on “alate”

On Weep‘s latest album, Alate, vocalist and guitarist Doc Hammer stretches his musical and vocal capacities into heretofore unexplored territories, with mixed results. Although not as immediately gratifying as the band’s previous release, Worn Thin, the expansive nature of Alate still brings considerable pleasures.

Opening track “It’s So Late” seems to shrug and say, “Oh hey, remember us? We’re Weep and this is what we sound like,” featuring all the hallmarks that we’ve come to associate with the band: ringing guitars, New Romantic synths, vaguely Goth basslines, and memorable melodies. Yet immediately we sense a change in Weep’s sound. Hammer’s voice is still gravelly, but there is a sprightly nature that we have not heard before. It’s startling and charming all at once.

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Assemblog: August 31, 2012

Cruising, 1980

New this week on Popshifter: John talks about the secret handshake and Booker T. and the M.G.s’ Green Onions reissue on Stax; Melissa B. wonders if Harry Shearer’s Can’t Take A Hint is timely; guest blogger and author Alex Bledsoe gives the deets on Rafael Sabatini and pirates; Chelsea loves Micah Sheveloff’s Exhibitionist and the singer/songwiter’s “lived-in marvel of a voice”; I proclaim Big Black Delta’s Tour EP to be “diverse” and “thrilling”; and I share some photos from FanExpo Canada 2012.

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FanExpo Canada 2012: In Pictures

By Less Lee Moore

We came, we saw, we Fan Expo’d.

Click on each thumbnail for a larger image and a description!. We’ll have more coverage of some of these happenings in the upcoming weeks.

Big Black Delta, Tour EP

By Less Lee Moore

While Big Black Delta might seem like the name of a blues band, the new musical incarnation of former Mellowdrone and touring M83 member Jonathan Bates sounds nothing like that genre.

The new four-song EP from the band—created for their recent tour—sounds more like the soundtrack to an apocalyptic Blade Runner sequel; you can almost visualize Rachael smoking in the Tyrell Corporation building. Fitting, as Big Black Delta is actually a reference to UFO folklore.

Even with its vaguely retro synths, “Betamax” isn’t some Kraftwerk retread. The drums are too booming, and Bates’s voice is too romantic for that. What’s striking is how warm and sensual his voice is against the coldness of keyboard explosions, especially when he breaks out the falsetto. The end ushers in some Hans Zimmer-ish synthy strings before ending abruptly.

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Assemblog: August 24, 2012

No Assemblog this week, folks. I’m going to be at FanExpo Canada all weekend. Dry your tears, Popshifter fans; I’ll be back next Friday. In the meantime, here are this week’s posts in case you missed them.

New this week on Popshifter: Chelsea compares fictional and real versions of Jean-Michel Basquiat in the movies; J Howell delves into the 20th Anniversary Edition of Los Lobos’ iconic album Kiko; and I review a few new releases: Maximo Park’s fun and frenetic The National Health, the retro rock riffs of Nude Beach’s II, and the wonderful Weird Wild World of Sleepies.

—Less Lee Moore, Managing Editor

Sleepies, Weird Wild World

By Less Lee Moore

Sleepies have a deceptively lazy name. If their music makes you sleepy, something’s wrong with you. According to a recent Noisey interview, they also considered Tires & Skunks as a name. That alone should be enough to pique your interest. Oh, and their new album Weird Wild World is fantastic, by the way.

Right off, there are going to be a lot of people comparing them to Nirvana with accusatory tones in their voices, but come on, didn’t that critique go out of style a few years ago? Sleepies are more reminiscent of Flipper (a huge influence on Nirvana) and Flop (who also happen to be an early ’90s Seattle band). If this means nothing to you, you should look up those two bands on YouTube immediately.

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Nude Beach, II

By Less Lee Moore

When MTV premiered in 1981, it was astonishingly free form. You’d see a wide range of musical styles represented. New wave, rap, and heavy metal hadn’t taken over the mainstream yet, so there was still a lot of straight-up rock & roll interspersed between U2, Gary Numan, and Adam and the Ants videos. Had they existed back in the day, Brookyln’s three-piece Nude Beach would have been on heavy rotation.

The band sounds like they’d fit perfectly on the soundtrack to a never-released Amy Heckerling or Martha Coolidge movie from the early ’80s, successfully straddling that precipice between pure rock and power pop. This description might cause some to grumble about “Brooklyn hipsters” but Nude Beach’s three members—Chuck Betz, Jim Shelton, and Ryan Naideau—look and sound completely unpretentious. Sure they borrow heavily from the past, but when it’s done in such a non-self-conscious way, it’s refreshing.

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Maxïmo Park, The National Health

By Less Lee Moore

On Maxïmo Park‘s Wikipedia entry there’s a great quote about singer Paul Smith: “When he first joined we didn’t know if he could [sing]; just that he was a lunatic jumping around in a suit, it felt like the last piece of the jigsaw.” When listening to The National Health, it’s immediately obvious that serendipity was on their side. At times Smith exhibits close, sensual vocals similar to those of Martin Gore (but minus the vibrato); other times, his soaring voice has flashes of Midge Ure.

The National Health is the band’s fourth album since their debut release in 2005, but it’s my introduction to them. There are thirteen songs included, all evidence of a self-assured bunch. Maxïmo Park’s songs are buoyant and radio-friendly, boasting interesting lyrics as well as first-class musicianship.

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Assemblog: August 17, 2012

Cold Blooded, 2012
Still from Bloody Disgusting

New this week on Popshifter: Chelsea describes the main mystery man of documentary Searching For Sugar Man as a “kind of rock and roll Harry Lime”; Cait assures us that Ignition—the new album from Shoes—proves “they’re still as fresh, vital, and engaging as they were when Jimmy Carter was swatting at swamp rabbits” and extols the virtues of the “gorgeous, melodic” tunes on Bad Lucy’s self-titled EP.

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