Visitation Rites » Sightings

Sightings: Big Troubles, “Bite Yr Tongue” Video

Emilie Friedlander — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:10:17 +0000

BIG TROUBLES “BITE YR TONGUE” from OLDE ENGLISH SPELLING BEE on Vimeo.

Is Ridgewood, New Jersey beginning to take itself less seriously? Not Ridgewood the place, but Ridgewood the press construct, the suburban Never Never Land of slurpie-drinkin’, beach-combin’ Lost Boys who move home after college because trying to find a job right now really sucks? Monday’s new Ducktails video marked the descent of Jersey Shore indie rock aesthetics into smiling self-parody. With their new video for “Bite Yr Tongue,” dropped last night from the Olde English Spelling Bee dungeon, Matt Mondanile’s tour buddies (and 2010 backing band) show the younger generation of Ridgewood artists is probably even more fed-up — and more in on the joke — than he is. Starring some of the finest fast-food establishments in Northern New Jersey, Spencer Davis‘ visuals make Ridgewood life seem pretty easy breezy until you blow too much of your parents’ money on rippers from Rutt’s Hut and you have to make a mad dash for the porto potty. Big Troubles indeed.

Words: Emilie Friedlander

“Bite Your Tongue” is a track off Big Troubles’ Worry LP, out this August on Olde English Spelling Bee.

Sightings: J. Irvin Dally, “The Little Ones”

Marc Picciolo — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:35:39 +0000

I think I’m over the chillwave era. I miss the days when purple bottles were cooler than worrying about my girls. Warm electronic vibes are alright, but whatever happened to acoutistic instrumentation? J. Irvin Dally must feel the same way. His take on the once thriving mini-genre of “freak folk” boasts intimate vocals and impressive acoustic guitar stylings, along with all the usual weirdness that moniker implies. “The Little Ones” from Dally’s new Despistado EP needs only three minutes to warp listeners from an acid-washed campfire to a tiny coffee-house on open mic night. The pluck-pluck of Dally’s guitar and the thump of real live drums provide respite.

J. Irvin Dally, “The Little Ones” (Despistado EP, Camaraderie Limited)

Words: Marc Picciolo

The Despistado EP is available now from Dally’s Bandcamp page.

Sightings: Dream Boat, “Your Beaches”

Emilie Friedlander — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:00:18 +0000

Dream Boat’s Fevers EP may be painted in the off-color shades of ’70s smut, but this mystery project from Providence couldn’t possibly be the soundtrack for whatever trouble the two ladies on the cover are up to. The space between “dream” and “boat” here is key: Sina Sorab invites aboard a sampler and guides us across the REM seas, on the condition that we sleep four hours past our cellphone alarms so we can access the flashing nightmares that tell us something about ourselves. “Your Beaches” rides the vertiginous contours of the hour-less slow-burn that is sleep; it’s the bleach that burns your hands long after you’ve left the bathroom, the threat of the gas stove you forgot to check twice.

Dream Boat, “Your Beaches” (Fevers, Amdiscs)

Fevers is available for free download via Amdiscs

Sightings: COOLRUNNINGS, “I Am You”

Marc Picciolo — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:13:05 +0000

OK. Let’s start with some facts. “Cool Runnings” was a 1993 film about a plucky Jamaican bobsledding team. As far as I know Elliott White, Brandon Biondo, and Forrest Ferguson — of COOLRUNNINGS — are not Jamaican, nor can they bobsled. They’re not worried though; the trio offer other talents. With new single “I Am You,” they show a penchant for sweet and synthy lo-fi pop that would be right at home on the soundtrack of an 80’s buddy cop movie. I realize I’ve used a similar comparison before, but it always surprises me how so much DIY music attempts to timeshift my millennial generation brain to a crowded movie theater on the day “Pretty in Pink” opened. It’s cool though, we seem to really enjoy this idea, and COOLRUNNINGS deliver.

COOLRUNNINGS, “I Am You” (Self-Released)

Words: Marc Picciolo

“I Am You” is available on the COOLRUNNINGS Bandcamp Page.

Sightings: Drew Price’s Bermuda Triangle, “Ghost Dance”

Marc Picciolo — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:27:02 +0000

I am always a fan of obvious song titles. Birmingham, Alabama’s Drew Price must be too, because “Ghost Dance” conjures images of spirits shimmering and shimmying at a haunted hoe-down. These ghosts are friendly; they’d rather boogie then “BOO!” And Price understands what they look for in a good dance tune. Restless souls have no use for fist-pumping anthems and heart-pounding bass, disembodied as they are. Instead, “Ghost Dance” is rhythmic, swaying, repetitive, and chocked full of “oohs” — just how they like it beyond the grave.

Drew Price’s Bermuda Triangle, “Ghost Dance” (self-released)

Words: Marc Picciolo

You can order Drew Price’s Bermuda Triangle’s music from his MySpace page.

Sightings: Laurel Halo, “Something I Never Had” (Lindsay Lohan Cover)

Marc Picciolo — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:38:18 +0000

A compilation of independent psych and electronic artists doing covers of Lindsay Lohan sounds terrible on paper, doesn’t it? I could be wrong. Maybe it sounds amazing on paper. Either way, Tri Angle Records‘ new Let Me Shine For You mixtape certainly sounds great. Laurel Halo’s take on “Something I Never Had” resembles how Lohan herself might hear her own music during a well-fueled binge. The teen-pop hooks and lovelorn lyrics are absolutely smothered by Halo’s faraway vocals, drowning with a smile into the ambient pastel haze. Re-imagined in this way, “Something I Never Had” might actually manage to touch you.

Let Me Shine For You’s five other tracks leave you with a similar impression. If you weren’t already aware that these songs were Lohan’s, you would never be able to tell. Many say that the mark of a good cover is when an artist is able to “make the song their own.” If we judge it according to that benchmark, Let Me Shine For You succeeds from start to finish.

Laurel Halo, “Something I Never Had (Lindsay Lohan cover)” (Tri Angle Records Presents: Let Me Shine For You, Tri Angle Records)

Words: Marc Picciolo

The Tri Angle Records curated mixtape Let Me Shine For You is available for download here via dismagazine.

Sightings: Dream Cop, “Marooned”

Marc Picciolo — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:41:59 +0000

Despite his choice of title, I don’t really think Virginia’s Tommy Davidson — aka Dream Cop — wants me feeling stranded and desperate between my headphones. This is a good thing, because the song sparks off a lot of other feelings that are way more interesting to write about. Slick and simple guitar riffs clash against pounding drums, full of hope and determination. Still, Davidson’s vocals sound frustrated, grasping for air beneath barrels of reverb and fuzz. Awkward as it is, this combination of feelings is not uncommon; in fact, it’s one myself and countless other recent college graduates struggle with everyday as we try to figure out where the hell we are going with our lives. If only we were as good as Davidson at combining these feelings into songs, we might realize we have already arrived.

Dream Cop, “Marooned”

Words: Marc Picciolo

Dream Cop will release the single “Basement Tapes” on Output Noise Records later this summer, and an EP on Tough Love Records later this year.

Sightings: Teen Daze, “Saviour”

Marc Picciolo — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:55:18 +0000

What is “summer music” exactly? Should summer tunes cool you off on a hot day? Should they be background noise while you lounge next to a fan or AC? Vancouver’s Teen Daze respond to these inquiries with “all of the above” — and also, “none of the above.” “Saviour,” from their upcoming debut EP Four More Years, serves both of these functions — and many more. The soft beats, plucky keyboards, and hazy synth lines can either wipe away your sweat, soundtrack a dance party on a late summer night, or provide the perfect compliment to a late-afternoon beer. Like many other artists, Teen Daze assert that “Music is [their] saviour.” So let’s get saved.

Teen Daze, “Saviour” (Four More Years, Arcade Sound Ltd.)

Words: Marc Picciolo

Teen Daze’s debut LP Four More Years is available digitally July 27th and on 12″ August 10th via Arcade Sound Ltd.

Sightings: Guards, “Sail it Slow (ft. Cults)”

Marc Picciolo — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:01:54 +0000

Nobody seems to know squat about Guards. Not even yvynyl or No Modest Bear — who first linked followers to their debut, self-titled, free digi-EP — seem to have any info. No biggie: the tightness and immediacy of songs like “Sail it Slow” speak for themselves. With vocal help from their colleagues in Cults, Guards construct an ominous and menacing stomper. Accusatory guitar chords and a simple rhythm layer atop distant keyboard sounds as you’re begged to “sail it slow.” If your mind is anything like mine, you may begin to construct a movie trailer in your head. For me, “Sail it Slow” would be a good soundtrack to a dramatic cliff scene, or perhaps a montage of a protagonist overcoming obstacles, full of patience and determination.

Guards, “Sail it Slow (ft. Cults)”

Words: Marc Picciolo

The GUARDS ep is available for download on their bandcamp page.

Altered Zones Pick: Green Gerry, “Cozy Space Mugz”

Emilie Friedlander — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:00:10 +0000

Green Gerry’s Odd Tymes, a self-released, GarageBand-recorded digi-LP he recently sent my way, locks in to the more introspective side of summer. “Cozy Space Mugz” sends me back to July in Western Massachusetts — biking alone to a watering hole of uncertain name, running brown water through my toes, and turning a single song over and over in my mind as though it held the keys to the cosmos. Like Simon Finn, Alexander “Skip” Spence, and Dear Syd himself, Green Gerry doesn’t need more than a guitar, some drowsy vocal leans, and his own warped sense of the world to make everything around you — rocks, trees, computer chairs, you name it — start vibrating with slanted and enchanted truth.

Green Gerry, “Cozy Space Mugz”

Spotlighted on Altered Zones.

Words: Emilie Friedlander

Odd Tymes is available for download on Green Gerry’s bandcamp. Name your price.