Andy Bell & Masal – Tidal Love Numbers

The scene here in Southend had been a little bleak since Covid hit if I’m honest. Alternative pub, hub and venue The Railway finally closed its doors after years of struggle, and with it seemingly died a thousand indie pop dreams. Local labels stopped releasing music and bands stalled and splintered as we, like everybody else on the planet, bunkered down and took stock.

I’m delighted to say that this enforced retreat seems to at last be showing the green shoots of recovery, as a new kind of alternative pathway begins to forge through our City. Regular venue nights have begun showcasing wonderful fresh ideas, Record Shops are hosting live in-stores again, and new bands are forming from old embers, with Jazz, folk and electronica as prevalent as the buzz and jangle of electric guitars.

Masal, formed by keys wizard Al Johnson and harpist Oz Simsek following a chance meeting in Leigh-On-Sea, have been releasing music since the pandemic era and this latest album, recorded in collaboration with current Ride and former Oasis man Andy Bell for Sonic Cathedral, ties in beautifully with the new wave of sounds coming out of the Southend area at present. Bell came on board for this project after a joint gig in Chelmsford revealed shared musical ground that required further exploration, and the fruits of that exploration have now arrived in the form of Tidal Love Numbers.

As someone who is currently existing on a musical diet of mostly indie, shoegaze and dreampop with regular doses of Jazz as a palette cleanser, this album has hit at exactly the right time. It’s the shoegaze/astral jazz mash-up my often nocturnal listening habits have been calling out for.

The first half of Tidal Love Numbers leans heavily into the ambient, with a new world for us to seek solace in seemingly created before our very ears. Bell’s unmistakable guitar textures provide the air that moves in and around Johnson and Simsek’s unique musical telepathy, moving us subtly skyward as we head towards the albums second half.

Third track Tidal Love Conversation In That Familiar Golden Orchard introduces a beautiful falling bass line, which is joined halfway through by a spacey, rolling groove for the most song-oriented section of the album. After keeping us under its spell for nine or so blissful minutes we are left with the stunning interplay of A Pyramid Hidden By Centuries Of Neon Green Undergrowth, during which we are treated to a meditative musical dialogue between the three players, bringing us to the albums conclusion.

If guitars are your thing and you’re looking for a route towards the kosmische then Tidal Love Numbers could well be your gateway. If you’re already there you’ll be drawn in by this albums fresh approach to long established ideas. A triumph then, whichever way the tide carries you.

Out now via Sonic Cathedral.

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Ulrika Spacek – Live at Lafayette, London

I first caught Ulrika Spacek live as a support act back in 2016. I had no prior knowledge of their work but as soon as they launched into their debut album centrepiece Beta Male I pretty much needed scraping off of the venue floor. Since then their work has evolved across three albums and an EP, a heady, intoxicating mix of urgent artrock and motorik-esque indie mixed with moments of gentle ambient beauty.

London’s Lafayette is certainly a pretty venue. There’s an initial wow factor that gives way to a slight awkwardness as you work your way around its various twists and turns in an attempt to find a good view and feel of the action. Ultimately though, to my well weathered ears the sound itself is spot on and that is always the main thing.

This gig is a homecoming show, wrapping up a successful tour around Europe and the UK in support of latest album Compact Trauma, and the band hit the ground running from the off. Ulrika Spacek’s sound is uniquely powerful but never aggressive, with a triple guitar set up that still somehow leaves space for the rhythms and electronics to flourish. They are tight, controlled and let the songs themselves do the heavy lifting. There is no need for histrionics when the work is this strong, this important.

On the night the band play songs from across their back catalogue, which brings into sharp focus the sheer consistency of their brilliance. Everything, All The Time is relentless in its white heat energy, Freudian Slip brings an almost Can-like fluidity in its extended grooves, and the stunning If The Wheels Are Coming Off, The Wheels Are Coming Off is a heavy, stuttering juggernaut that pummels with both grace and raw power. They link these songs with short incidental passages that have the audience poised perfectly, waiting for the next beat to drop, to be taken somewhere higher, somewhere better for a little while.

The set finishes with recent single No Design, which provides one of those life affirming moments when time itself seems incredibly short and vital, and every bit of love and hope inside yourself screams to be let out into the light, regardless of fear or consequence. I shall leave you with the closing lyrics of that most beautiful of endings, and recommend that you catch this band as soon as you possibly can.

Passing into night
Blanket me and tell me there’s no design
And if all the world is broken
Then hide away in autumn
And shut out the fascists and the cowards.

Compact Trauma out now via Tough Love.

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Blades Of Joy – s/t

Outrageously late to the party on this one and I know a few reading this will be all like ‘well yeah where have you been?’ but I’m five thousand miles away from the action and delighted to say that I caught up in the end. This 2018 album has totally blown me away so naturally I’m here to hopefully pull a few fellow slowcoaches along for the ride.

It’s no secret that the Whitney’s Playland album Sunset Sea Breeze has really grabbed me this year so it’s only natural that I dived into that bands backstory in pursuit of further magic. With this album I hit pure gold.

San Francisco based Blades Of Joy’s primary collaborators were Inna Showalter and guitarist Anthony OBC, and in truth the only real consistency with Whitney’s Playland is to be found in Showalter’s vocals, which once again provide a earthy centre to the album and are breathtaking in their delivery. There is love, pain and mystery in abundance, and whilst this isn’t the perfect sun-kissed indie that Whitney’s excel at, it is every bit as captivating.

Is it hyperbolic to call this album a full on psych-rock masterpiece? Who knows, but to me right now that is exactly what it is. The opening one/two punch of Inside Out/Be Free is relentless in its power. The melodies twist and turn around fiercely atmospheric guitar lines and a rhythm section that snaps like elastic. Think Mad Jack era Chameleons and you’re kind of in the ballpark.

Let The People Ride is the longest track and serves as the album’s centrepiece. It’s first half keeps up the pace and power of that opening salvo, before giving way to gentle waves of arpeggios and moonlit wonder, a hint of what awaits us when we flip the record.

The second side of this album takes that new found calm and runs with it. The guitars no longer need to growl and snap to make themselves heard, which subtly brings Showalters voice and words out into the light. A different kind of power but every bit as devastating. Finally High serves as a hymn like introduction to what lies ahead, before Be Kind and 22 carry us gently in the purest of psych-pop arms.

Those arms leave us at the feet of Stranger, which has to go down as one of the great album closers of recent times. It rises and falls, builds and breaks, and through it all Showalter holds steady and delivers line after beautiful line, attempting to forge a connection in spite of everything, with us right there at her side, feeling every word.

With every single riff, drum fill and melody that bursts from the speakers you can hear the birth of the San Francisco underground as we currently know it. I’m not sure if there will ever be another Blades Of Joy album, and I’m not sure how you would even begin following up a record like this. So here we are, left for now with this one pretty much perfect broadcast to the world. Are you ready to tune in?

Out now via Melters.

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Yes Today – live at Craftwerk Beers, Southend-On-Sea

The deeply emotive truths that pour from the lyrics of Southend based artist Amy Glover are truly something to behold. To see those truths falling from her lips in a live setting with her band Yes Today was both a beautiful and moving experience. Glover actually only started writing songs around a year ago, not that you would ever realise it from her arrangements, which are dazzling in their inventiveness and held together by a raw vulnerability which makes for an at times devastatingly powerful whole.

Credit must be given at this point to the wonderful players Glover has surrounded herself with who bring her songs so vividly to life. The rhythm section is fully in tune with her vision, ebbing and flowing but never dominating. Her vocals and delicate guitar work is supported by the hopeful melodies of clarinet and the heavier but no less beautiful shades of violin, and this contrast between light and darkness is seemingly at the heart of everything Yes Today do.

Halfway through, the band played a wonderful cover of Françoise Hardy’s Je t’aime which captured the entire room in a perfect moment, uniting us all as the late afternoon sun streamed in. Ultimately however, it was Amy Glover’s poetry and grace which won the day. These first steps could lead her to truly magical places, and it was an absolute pleasure to be a witness to a small part of that journey.

Yes Today is: Amy Glover Vocals/Guitar, Amy McKenny Vocals/Violin, Claire Keech Vocals/Clarinet, Roy Thirlwall Bass, Paul Stride-Noble Drums.

Yes Today – Je t’aime (live at Craftwerk Beers, 04/06/23.)

Further listening:

https://yes-today.bandcamp.com

https://instagram.com/hey.yestoday?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Cindy – Why Not Now?

‘Have you been sleeping on the job? Searching for the words for far too long? Wondering how you missed the call, all the nights you thought were yours.’

True story: If it hadn’t been for the second verse of The Price Is Right you wouldn’t be reading this now. This site wouldn’t have progressed the way it has and I definitely wouldn’t have found the confidence for the other creative endeavours I am currently undertaking if this album and it’s subsequent tour hadn’t arrived at exactly the right time to completely lift me and give me back some self belief.

I have always found an affinity with the writing of Cindy frontperson/leader Karina Gill. The insane hours I keep in my working life seem to tie in perfectly with her observations and insights into the madness that swirls all around us. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve fought back tears on the last train home after some lyric or moment hit that little bit deeper than the last time.

For this album, Cindy’s fourth, Gill is joined primarily by long standing keyboardist Aaron Diko, with a revolving cast of Bay Area friends/musicians helping to complete her vision. And what a vision it is.

Why Not Now? progresses with an almost cinematic quality. The opening title track is a tentative, minimalist introduction that presents like the opening scene of a movie before it cuts to its opening credits, which in this case are soundtracked by the mesmerising, free flowing instrumental Standard Candle #3. This long, stately piece sounds almost as if The Velvet Underground had stumbled upon a time travelling Martin Duffy and decided to cover something from Smiley Smile, at the wrong speed. Yes, that good.

Earthly Belonging raises the pace, rallying against our never ending and ultimately futile pursuit of stuff. From here we are left reeling as August breaks us slowly, helpless to do anything other than hang on Gill’s every word.

After Wednesday brings the first side to a close with its San Francisco street sounds and Sad Eyed Beatnik Kevin Linn’s unmistakably snaky lead guitar lines, we are lead skyward by Aaron Diko’s perfect introduction to A Trumpet On The Hillside. This song is an absolute wonder. Time itself seems to slow as Stanley Martinez’s beautiful viola drone combines with the most perfect of vocals to completely capture the heart and mind. When that opening keyboard melody returns at the very end…. well I still can’t find the words.

The aforementioned The Price Is Right features the wonderful bass playing of Kati Mashikian, who somehow manages to be both freely melodic and totally able to pin down the rhythm of the piece. Playboy follows and is incredibly moving in its starkness, with Gill’s unique ability to hit the very deepest of emotions with such few words at its absolute peak. This unadorned bedroom recording finishes with solitary whistling over the loneliest sounding guitar accompaniment, and somehow this seemingly off the cuff moment holds just as much power as the lyrics themselves.

The light relief of Et Surtout follows, where the assembled cast including Chime School mastermind Andy Pastalaniec and Gill’s Flowertown collaborator Mike Ramos provide a muscular backdrop to the Francoise Hardy borrowed lyrics. All that remains after that is the hymn-like bow of Standard Candle #4, where Inna Showalter adds her beautiful voice to this albums dreamlike end credit scene. Each time I reach the end I am as in awe as the very first time I heard it, gently blowing my mind on a long winding train journey, at the wrong end of a long day.

Whilst I realise this has been a very personal account of a very special record, I’d argue that this is what music is truly about. An artist so generously gives us their truth, which we the listener then grapple with in an attempt to make it fit with our own unique scheme of things. Every once in a while however, those two truths seem to align, and that is where the magic happens. Ultimately I guess, this music reminds me that it’s ok not to have all of the answers, as the real beauty is almost always to be found within the question itself.

Out now via Tough Love Records (UK) and Mt.St.Mtn (US.)

LISTEN/BUY/SHARE:

https://cindytheband.bandcamp.com/album/why-not-now

Further reading:

Hugs in the Hostel Hallway

April Magazine – Wesley’s Convertible Tape For The South

Watching from afar here in the UK, April Magazine have been mysteriously both at the heart and in the shadows of the San Francisco underground for some years now, seemingly everywhere and nowhere all at the same time. The 2021 Tough Love Records compilation If The Ceiling Were A Kite vol.1 brought their earlier work to a wider audience, and Wesley’s Convertible Tape For The South, the bands latest tape/download, takes us ever deeper into their world.

In truth, I had been putting off writing about this album because I struggled to know where to begin. It is incredibly hard to try and pick out a song, lyric or standout moment when the entire thing is just so complete. I don’t even like to label this release with a genre. Sometimes music transcends genre, sometimes it just IS. I decided the only way forward was to describe not what this band sounds like, but how they make me feel.

It is obvious from the very beginning that this is a major work that will require the full commitment of the listener. Opener Wesley’s Convertible brings forth a heaviness that feels as if the weight of the world is closing in all around, whilst leaving the door ajar just enough to forge a path through. This path leads to the ringing guitar chimes of Brighter and with them the hope and light relief of sun breaking through the clouds. Further on, as we reach the albums midway point Jungle City Beat pulls the listener straight into the heart of the city, the concrete jungle, walking the streets fighting for air amidst endless content. By penultimate track Landscape it feels as if we’re at the beach, finding some kind of peace beneath blown out skies.

Every song here is a lo-fi sonic marvel that weaves a narrative into your mind and leads you somewhere new and unexpected. This album demands both your attention and your patience. Nothing happens quickly in the world of April Magazine and they use that time to ensure that every single note matters. Wesley’s Convertible Tape For The South is the bands most complete statement to date, and is truly essential listening.

Out now: self released.

LISTEN/BUY/SHARE:

https://aprilmagazine.bandcamp.com/album/wesleys-convertible-tape-for-the-south

Whitney’s Playland – Sunset Sea Breeze

This album has been floating around the San Francisco underground for a little while now, but with vinyl copies at last reaching the UK and Summer at our doorsteps it felt just the right time to attempt to capture its magic here.

The first thing that hits me every time I Iisten to Whitney’s Playland is the beauty of Inna Showalter’s voice. Her every syllable is a sun-kissed, ocean drenched miracle. The overarching themes of this album are love, loss and loneliness, and the way in which she so effortlessly carries the weight of those emotions across its ten songs is nothing short of breathtaking. Showalter, alongside friend and fellow Bay Area scene long-stay George Tarlson, has pulled off that rarest of feats here; an accessible, hook-laden album that holds enough mystery and intrigue to keep you coming back for more.

Whilst Sunset Sea Breeze undoubtedly embraces the glistening heart of nineties indie, that time when anything and everything felt fleetingly possible, there is also a 60s/70s folk undercurrent that becomes more noticeable as the album progresses. Despite these references to the past the album sounds completely new owing to its unique production, which somehow feels both hi-fi and lo-fi at the same time. The instrumentation cuts through and bites hard, but the arrangements are sparser than they initially seem, which makes for a compelling, dynamic listening experience.

My very favourite moment on an album that contains absolutely no misses is second side opener Rain Song, where everything it is to be Whitney’s Playland comes together perfectly. A melody for the ages, killer guitar changes, and a chorus that, like life and love itself, seemingly lasts forever but somehow still ends too soon.

Sunset Sea Breeze is exactly the type of album that could break free from the San Francisco underground due to its universal and timeless appeal, and in doing so help to bring the latest wave of beautiful Bay Area sounds out into the light.

Out now via Paisley Shirt Records (US) and Meritorio Records (Europe/UK.)

LISTEN/BUY/SHARE:

https://paisleyshirtrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sunset-sea-breeze

Now – Saturday’s Child

A few days ago I was driving to work listening to this album, feeling a little sorry for myself about the long night ahead. As the chorus to the anthemic Hang On To Your Dreams came in I felt my eyes begin to fill with tears, as every lost opportunity or long forgotten dream I’d ever had suddenly seemed to come flooding back all at once. Music huh?

Now is the project of San Francisco based duo Oliver (drums) and Will (all other instruments and all vocals.) Saturday’s Child is the latest in a series of Bandcamp releases stretching back to 2016 and it’s an intricately played and thoughtfully rendered rush of energy from start to finish.

Highlights come thick and fast. The strident post-punk attitude of Early One Morning brings to mind the early work of underrated UK act The Comsat Angels. Pages From The Glossies stutters along with an almost Dinosaur L-esque disco pulse and Make It with its classic indie anthem tension and release may just be my favourite of the lot. All of this is wrapped up in a gloriously bright production that makes my ears hurt in all the right places.

Saturday’s Child carries with it a swagger and confidence that belies it’s lo-fi roots. This isn’t a slow burner of an album. I loved it on the first listen, I loved it on the tenth listen, I’ll most probably love it for ever more. What a thrill!

LISTEN/BUY/SHARE:

https://nowww.bandcamp.com/album/saturdays-child

The Gabys – s/t

I have recently found and fallen for this wonderful 7”/download that arrived late last year on the splendidly named California based label Fruits & Flowers. The Gabys are a UK duo and……… that’s literally everything I can find. How perfect. No hype, no drama, no promises. Just these four perfect moments in time.

This whole EP sounds like that brief moment when you first wake up, before you’ve realised it was all just a dream. I love the lyrics even if I can’t catch most of them. I love what their presence suggests, the rise and fall of melody against the metallic haze of guitar tells me everything I need to know.

Fans of the VU will find lots to love here, and anybody moved by the wonder of the current San Francisco underground will find its essence in abundance. There is a deep beauty contained within these four songs, but you have to be willing and open to finding it. A bit like life really. THAT is how important this stuff is.

Do you ever find yourself coming as the whole world seems to be going? Do you find it’s almost always the journey and hardly ever the destination? If so, this is your music.

Out now via Fruits & Flowers.

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https://fruitsandflowers.bandcamp.com/album/the-gabys

Black Thumb – The Flying Propeller Group

I have just spent a dreamy forty minutes with this fine new album, and now feel it my duty to help get the word out and hopefully tune a few others into its subtle charms.

The now San Francisco based project Black Thumb is the brain child of Colin Wilde and began back in 2012, and his second album The Flying Propeller Group, following on from 2016 debut It Is Well With My Soul, has just arrived on the fine Dandy Boy Records label.

Indie Twitter/Instagram really worked its magic for me with this one, with the same loyal few shouting out and sharing until I inevitably took the plunge. As soon as I saw the splendid Peter Hurley (April Magazine) artwork I knew I was onto a winner, and the promise of vocal contributions from Kati Mashikian (April Magazine/Mister Baby/Reds Pinks & Purples) sealed the deal.

This is DIY outsider pop at it’s most potent. The machine rhythms bite hard when they need to (Come On), the guitars crunch and burn (Out Of Sight) and soothe and sway (Walk On By) in equal measure, and Wilde’s vocals intone their message throughout, plainly and without affectation.

The aforementioned Mashikian provides beautiful melodic counterpoints, and the at times mantra like lyrics, although dark in essence, somehow continuously find ways to uplift. These are serious times and it’s ridiculous to suggest otherwise, which makes it so important that albums like this exist to help us feel a little less alone.

These songs fuse the street swagger of The Velvet Underground with the psychedelic ambience of early Kosmische to forge a vital new path in the ever blossoming San Francisco underground. It is an album that rewards repeated plays, and once you find that point of connection and surrender to its will, you’ll come out the other side all the better for it.

Out now via Dandy Boy Records.

LISTEN/BUY/SHARE:

https://blackthumbdeath.bandcamp.com/album/the-flying-propeller-group