Dig ‘in: Been Stellar, Goat Girl, Neutrals
Check out what the No Wristbands team is listening to and what’s in our show calendars this month on our latest Dig ‘in.
INCOMING
Been Stellar - Scream from New York, NY (Dirty Hit LP)
When life escapes explanation and language fails us, we’re left with our internal compass to navigate the landscape. A choice must be made to either suffer in silence or scream to be heard. Been Stellar toil in this environment and they’re not about to go gently into the night. Embracing the mythology of New York as an artist incubator, Michigan friends Skyler Knapp and Sam Slocum migrated to NYU and were so determined to leave their mark that Knapp procured a slot on upcoming showcase just weeks prior to them actually fleshing out a band. That level of passion has carried forth throughout their tenure. Their debut album’s opener, “Start Again,” chronicles a city that’s drowning in its sorrows, but refuses to die off. Resilience amongst indifference and impersonalization is a coping mechanism in a metropolis like New York that can swallow you up. The cyclonic guitar squalls and thunderous rhythms accentuate the uneasiness. On the title track, Slocum posits: “If they could hear the picture, it’d sound like this / A gasping confirmation that they exist / It echoes through the city and passes on / I hear it every evening and every dawn.” When words alone can’t bridge the gap, Been Stellar knows it’s as important to be seen as it is to be heard. -Bruce Novak
Goat Girl – Below The Waste (Rough Trade Records LP)
When guitarist Ellie Rose-Davies needed to depart Goat Girl to receive treatment for stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma just at the tail end of recording their second album, On All Fours, it added much uncertainty to the band, especially with the onset of COVID-19 to follow. Ultimately, the remaining members (vocalist/guitarist Lottie Pendlebury, bassist/vocalist Holly Mullineaux and drummer/vocalist Rosy Jones) decided to push forward as a trio, leading one to expect a leaner approach. Instead the band found freedom to pursue new avenues, incorporating even more instrumentation with a smattering of synths, strings and woodwinds. “There’s a lot of trying-to-do-orchestral or h-fi things in a lo-fi way on the album,” explained Mullineaux.
Below The Waste is indeed a more nuanced effort, finding strength in ruminative numbers like “words fell out” and “take it away”—the former written by Pendlebury and the latter by Mullineaux as compassionate responses to addiction issues Jones was dealing with. Jones weighs in on the matter themselves with the more turbulent “tcnc,” short-hand for “take care, not crack.” “Ride around” leads us on a circular path while trying to break the cycle of surface observations. The theme of staying in motion reappears in “motorway,” as the beauty of exploration gives way to an aimlessness: “Driving driving / No confiding / Driving driving / Eyes averting / Where we going / No point knowing.” Goat Girl’s journey presses on, unscripted and indeterminate, but always with a purpose. -Bruce Novak
Neutrals - New Town Dream (Slumberland Records LP)
Allan McNaughton’s move from Glasgow to the Bay Area in the early 2000s was fueled by a thirst for adventure in a land that was the backdrop for the BMX bike and skateboarding culture that he read about in magazines as a kid. He had already been in a band back home (Snugglepuss), and was quick to catch on with Oakland’s Giant Haystacks and Airfix Kits, the latter of which he met drummer Phil Lantz, who he would go on to form Neutrals with. Apparently though, his homeland has stayed top of mind with the group’s second album based around the planned communities in the UK that came about as the result of the New Towns Act that originated in 1946. The ill-conceived towns meant to alleviate population overflow only led to further individual dislocation and destruction of surrounding lands.
Despite the depressing loss of community, New Town Dream presents a measured view on how the town citizens comes to terms with their predicament. There’s the outrage and defiance expressed in “Stop The Bypass,” a protest against a planned motorway through Pollok Park, and in “The Iron That Never Swung,” where eminent domain killed off a planned scenic golf course. Bittersweet reflections surface in “Wish You Were Here” when a two week holiday turns into a permanent split as one of the partners gets the taste of a better life elsewhere. A feeling of ennui pervades “Leisureland,” illustrating how sanitized communities provide nothing of interest for their citizens. Throughout the record there’s a buoyancy provided by McNaughton’s ringing guitar lines, underpinned with Lantz’s spright drumming and newcomer Lauren Matsui’s bass and voice accompaniment. Their music would slot in seamlessly during the era of Postcard and Creation Records, at a time where there was a verifiable vibrancy thanks to a creative and diverse community. -Bruce Novak
UPCOMING
Tea Eater
Where: Color Club / Directions
When: July 5, 8:00 PM
Tarra Thiessen likely developed her sense of irreverence from her mother. Back when she was attending elementary school, Tarra asked if she could learn to play the flute but was summarily rebuffed by Mom who got her guitar lessons instead and suggested that she start a band upon entering middle school. That guitar prowess was put to use in her tenure with the Brooklyn’s Sharkmuffin and she’s also been contributing vocals and percussion with Gustaf, another NYC-based outfit. When the pandemic hit, she and Vram Kherlopian (also in Gustaf and since married to Thiessen in 2023) crowd-sourced a Twitch community for feedback on songs that they were messing around with, which ultimately turned into the tracks that comprise Tea Eater’s Obsession album that surfaced last fall. It’s a joyful and snappy affair leavened by Thiessen’s buoyant vocals and crisp guitar/keyboard accompaniment peppered with surf and garage undertones. In Thiessen’s universe the way to shake things up starts with shakin’ down on the dance floor. -Bruce Novak
Redd Kross
Where: Lincoln Hall / Directions
When: July 16, 8:00 PM
Steven McDonald describes Redd Kross’ current status as entering their third act. Forty five years since starting the band (initially as the Tourists) with his older sibling, Jeff (at ages 11 and 15 respectively), they’re at peak activity with a new double album, and upcoming documentary film (Born Innocent) and memoir (Now You’re One Of Us). Arriving at Lincoln Hall just a couple of days before the appearance of another LA band with punk roots, OFF! (for whom Steven was a member of for a dozen years), Redd Kross have aged well with a their blend of glam, bubblegum pop and timeless rock riffage. As devout devourers of arcane pop culture, the brothers McDonald turned their obsessions into grist for a songwriting spree during the pandemic that fueled the expansive self-titled 18-track release that just landed. The sheer volume is bolstered by nearly uniform great rock’n’roll bangers that hearken back in time while luxuriating in the present. -Bruce Novak
OFF!
Where: Lincoln Hall / Directions
When: July 18, 8:00 PM
This show is one of three farewell appearances (NYC & LA being the others) that OFF! has scheduled. Each show will be preceded a day earlier with the screening of the band’s film, Free LSD (July 17 at the Music Box for Chicago), which they describe as a rock’n’roll sci-fi comedy. Conceived six years ago, the movie’s funding fell short of an initial Kickstarter goal, but their persistence eventually paid off. Written and directed by OFF!’s guitarist, Dmitri Coats, the film features the band in addition to such luminaries as David Yow (Jesus Lizard), Jack Black and the late DH Peligro (Dead Kennedys). The Lincoln Hall show was conceived with Shellac as openers, but will now pivot to FACS instead and serve as a tribute to the recently departed Steve Albini.
It’s been a good run for Coats (Burning Brides) and vocalist Keith Morris (Black Flag, Circle Jerks), who particularly seems energized by his younger bandmates. Over the course of three studio albums and a compilation of their first four EPs, their consistent quality was noteworthy and their last effort, Free LSD, takes them out on a high note. This is hardcore that bristles with vitality, employing an ethos of get in, get to work and don’t overstay your welcome. -Bruce Novak
UNCOVERED
The Pastels - Truckload of Trouble (Fire Records compilation)
If you’ve ever sat thru Upside Down: The Creation Records Story or Teenage Superstars then you already know how much a connector Stephen McRobbie (aka Stephen Pastel) was to ’80s and ‘90s indie pop scene. The force behind the fanzines Juniper Beri-Beri and Pastelism and co-founder of Scotland’s 53rd & 3rd record label, McRobbie maintained a unending enthusiasm for passionate underground music. The music he created with The Pastels defined his aesthetic for the indie music he championed: bustling, imperfect and endearing. The group’s shifting line-up at various times included the likes of Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake and Gerard Love, The Vaselines’ Eugene Kelly and Annabel “Aggi” Wright and David Keegan of Shop Assistants. Notably, the band also had a meaningful co-ed presence, which, in addition to Wright, included drummer Bernice Simpson, who then gave way to Katrina Mitchell. When she was brought in the group, Mitchell had no drumming experience, but that wasn’t an impediment for McRobbie and the rest of the band that had been influenced by The Velvet Underground and Maureen Tucker’s spartan approach.
While it’s no means a definitive document, Truckload of Trouble, which collects selections from their singles and EPs and a few album tracks during the period of 1986-1993, is perhaps the fullest representation of the band across a single release. There’s the motorik/drone groove of early single “Baby Honey” and the full-throttled glee of “Truck Train Tractor.” Later ‘80s tracks represented by the sumptuous, Go-Betweens-like “Comin’ Through” and the charming vocal duet of McRobbie and Wright on “Nothing to be Done.” The 1993 single, “Thank You for Being You” is lushly blanketed with backing vocals from Norman Blake. The collection is fleshed out with charming covers of “Different Drum” (Mike Nesmith) and “Speeding Motorcycle” (Daniel Johnston), which is indicative of McRobbie’s love for disarming, emotionally-direct songwriting. He and long-time partner Mitchell continue to collaborate, releasing music on their Geographic label (a subsidiary of the Domino Music Group) since 2000. Word has it that you might even be able to catch them behind the counter at Glasgow’s Monorail Music record store, which McRobbie has co-owned over the past two decades. -Bruce Novak
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: