In Salient - Oct 2009
With the thriving scene we’ve got happening here in Wellington it’s easy to forget that there’s some pretty damn good music being created in the rest of the country, especially in Auckland, with the likes of Brand New Math, 1995, The Naked and Famous, Surf City and Wilberforces making some pretty big waves, to name but a few. Another band on the up is Popstrangers, a three-piece whose brand of psychedelic, pop-infused noise rock is quickly collecting fans and admirers. Ahead of their first Wellington show, Salienteer Ryan Eyers spoke with lead singer/guitarist Joel Flyger about their sound, the trials of the recording process and their plans for the future.
S: Who are Popstrangers? How did you form?
JF: Popstrangers are Joel Flyger, Adam Page and Elliot Rawson.
We met through mutual friends then all of us were looking to form a
band and found out that we played instruments so started playing
together and it went from there.
S: What are your influences?
JF: We all like different music and have different influences but as a band at the moment we are listening to The Gordons lots, and the new Sonic Youth album, plus our friends bands.
S: 1000, the lead single off your recently released self-titled E.P. has a strong psychedelic/noise rock vibe. Is this the general feeling of your sound as a whole?
JF: Yeah I guess so, most of our songs have a chorus and verse to them, so they are normally pop songs, but we like to take our time to structure them, and like to make lots of noise so that kind of thing ends up being what we sound like I suppose.
S: With the E.P. being your first stab at recording any material properly, how did you find the process? Was it hard to replicate the rawness and energy of your live sound in the studio?
JF: Yeah, we ended up recording it 3 different times, the first time all the files got deleted... which SUCKED! Then we did it again ourselves, but recorded each instrument separately and it didn’t end up sounding like us, so then we tried one last time before we gave up on recording all together and just recorded it live and it worked and sounded pretty close to how we do when we play, so we were happy with it.
S: Your show supporting Surf City at Mighty Mighty is one of your first outside of Auckland. Are there any plans for a nationwide tour anytime soon, perhaps to promote the E.P. release?
JF: Yeah, we are thinking about doing a tour in late November/December but at the moment it’s cool just playing one off shows in places... but yeah, if it does happen it will be then!
S: How do you feel about the current state of music in NZ? Do you feel like there is a vibrant, underground scene that you fit into/are a part of? How do you see music progressing in NZ?
JF: Not too sure really, I know there’s lots of good bands in New Zealand but i don’t really think there's a certain 'scene' that we as a band fit into..there’s a few bands we love to play with in Auckland and find ourselves playing with more than others but I suppose it could be
better, but more and more bands are starting which is fun.
S: What are Popstrangers plans for the future? Tours, Overseas adventures, Album?
JF: For the future we are deciding at the moment... we definitely want to go overseas but are deciding on when is best, and yeah we have more songs we want to demo, then either do another E.P. or wait a little longer and do an album... and just play lots more fun shows.
S: Finally, If you could only take 5 albums onto a desert island, what would they be?
JF: Hmmmmmmm...maybe.......
Messerchups - Crazy Price
Sonic Youth - Dirty
The Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
Popstrangers support Surf City at Mighty Mighty on October 3.
Their debut self-titled E.P. has just been released and is available for streaming or purchase at http://popstrangers.bandcamp.com/
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The Beatles - Revolver
In Salient - Sept 2009
It’s pretty much impossible to write about The Beatles in 2009 without sounding totally redundant, so I’m not even going to try to review this album critically. Instead, I’m just going to say why I love 1966’s Revolver, why you should too, and why it’s so important that you listen to it if you somehow already haven’t.
I love Revolver because it has my favourite Beatles song from my childhood, ‘Eleanor Rigby’. Aside from the vocal harmonies, the only Beatle present is McCartney, whose solemn vocals float above an energetic string section that gives the song a stark feeling of contrast from earlier work, and highlights Revolver as a turning point in the Beatles sound towards more serious and experimental territory. It’s also an incredibly beautiful and touching song on death and loneliness, factors that didn’t stop me belting the lyrics out at the top of my lungs in the car when it came around on 1, my only experience of the Beatles for years.
I love Revolver because it’s the first time that Lennon and McCartney give Harrison (my favourite Beatle) the space to shine as a songwriter, not just a brilliant guitarist, with three tracks written by him, one of which (‘Taxman’) is even given the coveted opening slot on the album. Labelled the ‘Quiet Beatle’, for his professionalism and shyness in public, Harrison’s songwriting skills, while initially lacking, grew exponentially as he gained confidence but were only given recognition towards the latter stages of the Beatles work. With ‘Taxman’, Harrison launches an attack at the grossly unfair British Tax system (The Beatles were, at one stage, being taxed 95% for some of their earnings), combining harshly funny lyrics with McCartney’s rollicking guitar treatment and classic Beatles harmonies. Elsewhere, ‘Love You To’ displays Harrison’s increasing fascination with Hindu culture, drenched in Sitar twang and deft use of Tabla, while ‘I Want To Tell You’ expresses the frustration of being unable to communicate one’s thoughts, emphasised by the song’s chaotic instrumentation and spiralling vocal delivery.
I love Revolver because as an album it’s so balanced. The harrowing ‘Eleanor Rigby’ is followed by the soft dreaminess of ‘I’m Only Sleeping’, and Ringo’s starring moment in the jaunty ‘Yellow Submarine’ is paired with ‘She Said She Said’, Lennon’s acid-tinged trip accompanied by Harrison’s jangly guitars and McCartney’s fuzzy harmonies. The whole album works on opposites drawn together in a way that makes them feel born together, embodied by ‘Good Day Sunshine’, a song that never fails to make me smile with the way it opens with ominous piano before exploding into a charmingly optimistic song about love, radiating happiness and reminding the listener that regardless of the new directions shown on Revolver, the Beatles are still the best in the business at upbeat pop.
Finally, I love Revolver because it showed listeners (and more importantly the Beatles themselves) how much more textured and developed their sound could become if they spent more time in the studio and played around with stuff (They spent around 300 rather than the usual 100, setting a trend for future artists). While this undoubtedly sucked for audiences in the 60’s, with the Beatles withdrawing from live performances soon after Revolver’s release, for the rest of us it was awesome, sparking a period of musical creation that produced some of the best moments in music history, with Revolver acting as a springboard into the brilliant home stretch of Beatles albums (Sgt. Peppers, ‘White Album’, Abbey Road) that revolutionised pop music. And that’s why I love it.
It’s pretty much impossible to write about The Beatles in 2009 without sounding totally redundant, so I’m not even going to try to review this album critically. Instead, I’m just going to say why I love 1966’s Revolver, why you should too, and why it’s so important that you listen to it if you somehow already haven’t.
I love Revolver because it has my favourite Beatles song from my childhood, ‘Eleanor Rigby’. Aside from the vocal harmonies, the only Beatle present is McCartney, whose solemn vocals float above an energetic string section that gives the song a stark feeling of contrast from earlier work, and highlights Revolver as a turning point in the Beatles sound towards more serious and experimental territory. It’s also an incredibly beautiful and touching song on death and loneliness, factors that didn’t stop me belting the lyrics out at the top of my lungs in the car when it came around on 1, my only experience of the Beatles for years.
I love Revolver because it’s the first time that Lennon and McCartney give Harrison (my favourite Beatle) the space to shine as a songwriter, not just a brilliant guitarist, with three tracks written by him, one of which (‘Taxman’) is even given the coveted opening slot on the album. Labelled the ‘Quiet Beatle’, for his professionalism and shyness in public, Harrison’s songwriting skills, while initially lacking, grew exponentially as he gained confidence but were only given recognition towards the latter stages of the Beatles work. With ‘Taxman’, Harrison launches an attack at the grossly unfair British Tax system (The Beatles were, at one stage, being taxed 95% for some of their earnings), combining harshly funny lyrics with McCartney’s rollicking guitar treatment and classic Beatles harmonies. Elsewhere, ‘Love You To’ displays Harrison’s increasing fascination with Hindu culture, drenched in Sitar twang and deft use of Tabla, while ‘I Want To Tell You’ expresses the frustration of being unable to communicate one’s thoughts, emphasised by the song’s chaotic instrumentation and spiralling vocal delivery.
I love Revolver because as an album it’s so balanced. The harrowing ‘Eleanor Rigby’ is followed by the soft dreaminess of ‘I’m Only Sleeping’, and Ringo’s starring moment in the jaunty ‘Yellow Submarine’ is paired with ‘She Said She Said’, Lennon’s acid-tinged trip accompanied by Harrison’s jangly guitars and McCartney’s fuzzy harmonies. The whole album works on opposites drawn together in a way that makes them feel born together, embodied by ‘Good Day Sunshine’, a song that never fails to make me smile with the way it opens with ominous piano before exploding into a charmingly optimistic song about love, radiating happiness and reminding the listener that regardless of the new directions shown on Revolver, the Beatles are still the best in the business at upbeat pop.
Finally, I love Revolver because it showed listeners (and more importantly the Beatles themselves) how much more textured and developed their sound could become if they spent more time in the studio and played around with stuff (They spent around 300 rather than the usual 100, setting a trend for future artists). While this undoubtedly sucked for audiences in the 60’s, with the Beatles withdrawing from live performances soon after Revolver’s release, for the rest of us it was awesome, sparking a period of musical creation that produced some of the best moments in music history, with Revolver acting as a springboard into the brilliant home stretch of Beatles albums (Sgt. Peppers, ‘White Album’, Abbey Road) that revolutionised pop music. And that’s why I love it.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Simian Mobile Disco - Temporary Pleasure
In Salient - Sept 2009
If you’re Simian Mobile Disco, being a prolific remix and production team that works with a wide range of musicians has huge benefits when you come around to creating your own music. It means you can call in a wide range of awesome guest vocalists to spice up your tracks and give them recognisable vocal hooks that you can play around with. And that’s exactly what they’ve done on their second album, Temporary Pleasure, the follow-up to 2007’s underground hit, Attack Decay Sustain Release, aiming for a more mainstream audience with a collection of extremely catchy and danceable tracks that work as well in a set of headphones as on the dancefloor.
Accordingly, most of the tracks are all about the vocals. Opener ‘Cream Dream’ layers Gruff Rhys’s ultra-smooth falsetto over a simple beat and repetitive, puncturing synth chords whilst the homage to excess that is lead single ‘Audacity of Huge’ features Yeasayer’s Chris Keating delivering some of the most ludicrous/awesome lyrics this side of Anthony Kiedis (Double dutch dinosaur duplex in Dubai/ I’ll be there with my friend the Sultan of Brunei). ‘Cruel Intentions’ matches a reasonably restrained Beth Ditto with suitably dreamy house-tinged synths and accents, highlighting a definite trend of softened edges that permeates the album, with notable exception ‘Off the Map’ recalling their earlier work’s slightly edgier feel, well aided by Jamie Liddell’s dirty, charged vocals (You can be Space, I’ll be the Invader). Ford and Shaw’s ability to create relatively minimalist soundscapes that slowly build up and arrest the listener remain undiminished, although the fact that they seem less beat-oriented may disappoint those who appreciated the abrasive nature of their debut.
This doesn’t stop them from being almost unconsciously danceable though, and it’s hard to listen to more than a few seconds of any part of this album and not feel compelled to move something. The album ends on a high note, with ‘Bad Blood’ borrowing not only the vocals of Alexis Taylor but also the quirky tweaks and rhythms of his band, Hot Chip, and closer ‘Pinball’ is also the album highlight, overlapping Telepathe’s delicate and soaring vocals over a range of synths, pulsing beats and deft percussive touches that mix perfectly. While creating songs that provide an instant, gleeful rush that should please clubgoers they also stand up to repeat listens anywhere, providing pleasures that are anything but temporary. Fingers crossed their supporting tour of this brings sees them return once again to the Boiler Room for BDO ’10.
If you’re Simian Mobile Disco, being a prolific remix and production team that works with a wide range of musicians has huge benefits when you come around to creating your own music. It means you can call in a wide range of awesome guest vocalists to spice up your tracks and give them recognisable vocal hooks that you can play around with. And that’s exactly what they’ve done on their second album, Temporary Pleasure, the follow-up to 2007’s underground hit, Attack Decay Sustain Release, aiming for a more mainstream audience with a collection of extremely catchy and danceable tracks that work as well in a set of headphones as on the dancefloor.
Accordingly, most of the tracks are all about the vocals. Opener ‘Cream Dream’ layers Gruff Rhys’s ultra-smooth falsetto over a simple beat and repetitive, puncturing synth chords whilst the homage to excess that is lead single ‘Audacity of Huge’ features Yeasayer’s Chris Keating delivering some of the most ludicrous/awesome lyrics this side of Anthony Kiedis (Double dutch dinosaur duplex in Dubai/ I’ll be there with my friend the Sultan of Brunei). ‘Cruel Intentions’ matches a reasonably restrained Beth Ditto with suitably dreamy house-tinged synths and accents, highlighting a definite trend of softened edges that permeates the album, with notable exception ‘Off the Map’ recalling their earlier work’s slightly edgier feel, well aided by Jamie Liddell’s dirty, charged vocals (You can be Space, I’ll be the Invader). Ford and Shaw’s ability to create relatively minimalist soundscapes that slowly build up and arrest the listener remain undiminished, although the fact that they seem less beat-oriented may disappoint those who appreciated the abrasive nature of their debut.
This doesn’t stop them from being almost unconsciously danceable though, and it’s hard to listen to more than a few seconds of any part of this album and not feel compelled to move something. The album ends on a high note, with ‘Bad Blood’ borrowing not only the vocals of Alexis Taylor but also the quirky tweaks and rhythms of his band, Hot Chip, and closer ‘Pinball’ is also the album highlight, overlapping Telepathe’s delicate and soaring vocals over a range of synths, pulsing beats and deft percussive touches that mix perfectly. While creating songs that provide an instant, gleeful rush that should please clubgoers they also stand up to repeat listens anywhere, providing pleasures that are anything but temporary. Fingers crossed their supporting tour of this brings sees them return once again to the Boiler Room for BDO ’10.
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