Dig ‘in: Denude, TV Buddha, Lambrini Girls
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
Denude - A Murmuration Of Capitalist Bees (Expert Work Records / Dipterid Records LP)
Milwaukee’s Denude traverse the brawny, tensile midwestern sound epitomized during the ’80s/‘90s-era output of indie labels Touch and Go and Amphetamine Reptile. The future realization of the group grew from an encounter between James David and Matt Parrish when their respective bands (Murder In The Red Barn and Piglet) were playing a gig together at Chicago’s Fireside Bowl in the early aughts. Both were drummers back then, but years later when David started writing songs on guitar he reached back to Parrish to put Denude together along with bassist Jesse Schomisch. The trio made their live performance debut at Portage Park’s Tone Deaf Records in early 2023 and recently celebrated the release of their album with a show at Sleeping Village that was sponsored by the shop and included store honcho Tony Assimos’ outfit Surgery Cult amongst the four group line-up.
Band members point to “Our Friend Entropy,” A Murmuration of Capitalist Bees’ opening track, as a distillation of Denude’s aesthetic. It’s a twiny number that shifts in tempo, highlighted by David’s exasperated warnings about being nullified by a life of chaos and uncertainty. “Animal Tracks” begins with the makings of a sprightly instrumental before the vocals emerge and the songs kicks into a heightened level. Parrish’s galloping drumbeat and Schomisch’s pliable bassline drives “Phalanx,” a song that likely originated from David’s unpleasant experiences working in the banking industry. Referencing their band name, Denude strips society’s fallacies bare; “We treat the symptoms, not the cause” comes a line from “12th Battle On The Isonzo.” It’s a persistent sickness that’s unlikely to be cured until the cancerous elements in society are driven into submission. -Bruce Novak
TV Buddha - 10,000 Buddhas (Hallogallo Tapes cassette EP)
10,000 Buddhas is a promising evolution from TV Buddha’s initial 2023 release, Simple Bodies, for the pair of Eli Schmitt and Cole Hunt (aka Johnson Rockstar). Their penchant for experimentation persists, albeit with a more focused and fuller fleshed-out approach. Beyond Schmitt’s and Hunt’s constant presence, TV Buddha functions as a musical collective with changing participants based on need and availability. Members of Chicago’s Lifeguard and Twin Coast are some of the musicians that have lent their services. The four tracks on10,000 Buddhas were engineered by Kai Slater (Lifeguard, Dwaal Troupe, Sharp Pins) with a penchant for needle-pushing distortion and gauzy reverb. The guitar dynamic in play on “Sunday, Sunday” from Hunt and Jasmin Feliciano frames the number in majestic and ominous tones. “Hudson to China” is bolstered by Asher Case’s (Lifeguard) wicked string bending and woozy sax contribution from Seamus Moore. Closing number “Baby, Woah!” marries the blissed-out zen of Jason Pierce (Spiritualized, Spacemen 3) with the noise pop of Jesus and Mary Chain’s Reid brothers. After a year of heightened activity in 2024, TV Buddha appear primed for a greater ascent in the future—a band that I’d suggest keeping on your radar. -Bruce Novak
Lambrini Girls – Who Let The Dogs Out (City Slang LP)
On their debut album, Brighton’s Lambrini Girls leave no stone unturned—a word of warning for those in society who choose to live in glass houses. While the band’s target zones of power inequity (police abuse, male privilege, monied interests) and discrimination (sexual harassment, homophobia, body shaming) can border on reductionist politics, subtlety of messaging in this age of discord hardly carries the day. Like feminist contemporaries Petrol Girls and Dream Wife, Lambrini Girls choose to scream it loud and proud.
On “You’re Not From Around Here,” guitarist/vocalist Phoebe Lunny declares: “Renovate and modernise / A lick of paint revitalises / Rundown houses in that rundown town / Culturally commodified / Housing price monopolised.” She’s pointing out that not only lives have been displaced, but community identities has been swept clean. “No Homo” and “Love” turn the attention to affairs of the heart; with the former about masking true feelings and the latter about rejecting romantic falsehoods. The electro-clash groove of “Cuntology 101” closes out the record on a different note with Lunny and bassist Lilly Macieira-Bosgelmez cavorting about in the song’s video with an unbridled glee that would rival Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn of Sleaford Mods. In turning the slur into anthem of empowerment, the pair have reclaimed the language and what it means to be strong, powerful women with no fucks given. -Bruce Novak
UPCOMING
Glaring Orchid
Where: Schubas Tavern / Directions
When: January 18, 8:00 PM
Glaring Orchid’s 2024 debut cassette album, i hope you’re okay, grew out of Quinn Mulvhill’s bedroom music endeavor in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Working with producer Tim Jordan at Blood Red Sky Recordings in Philadelphia, Mulvhill needed to recruit a cadre of musicians to bring his song constructs to fruition. In addition to some multi-instrumental assistance from Jordan, Mulvhill brought aboard Dana DeBari for vocals on half a dozen numbers and utilized Jordan Blakely from Smile Machine for the majority of the drum tracks. He was shooting for a ’90s blend of grunge guitar and emo-based songwriting for his terse, confessional missives. DeBari’s lithesome singing balances out the harsher noise elements on songs such as “blurry2" and “herbicide.” They pair up pleasingly on the expansive and shifting “swimmer,” in which Mulvhill encourages others to break free of their routine cycles and make a plunge into the unknown deep end. As an upstart outfit, this will only be Glaring Orchid’s third ever live appearance as they join four fellow label mates in a Tomorrow Never Knows showcase for the Philly-based Julia’s War Recordings cassette imprint. -Bruce Novak
Porridge Radio
Where: Thalia Hall / Directions
When: January 30, 8:00 PM
Attending a Porridge Radio performance is like participating a group therapy session, which will be even more so the case since the band recently announced that they are breaking up after this tour. The raw observations of Dana Margolin cut right to the bone, exposing wounds that run deep. The band credits producer Dom Monks with bringing out their peak emotional intensity on their latest album, Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me. Desiring to capture the immediacy of their live performing presence, Porridge Radio didn’t obsess over achieving perfection, opting instead for a warts-in-all approach that allowed happy accidents to remain intact. The visceral songwriting of Margolin allows for moments of catharsis and release, existing in a pressure cooker environment that extends beyond just blowing off steam. Whether or not poetic justice is served, her words and conviction are unmistakably a thing of virtue. -Bruce Novak
Deep Tunnel Project / Acrwelder / J. Robbins / Jon Langford & John Szymanski
Where: Gman Tavern / Directions
When: February 1, 8:00 PM
While it would have been downright epic for John Mohr to have also staged a reunion for Tar and Blatant Dissent, he’s wisely chosen to let his friends do some of the heavy lifting to help celebrate his 60th birthday at this event. After delivering the superb Deep Tunnel Project debut album last year, he deserves some me time even if he claims “our work is never done.” J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines) mixed DTP’s record and also put out an album (Basilisk) of his own last year. Arcwelder were Touch and Go label mates with Tar circa ’93-’95 and have staged a similar musical renaissance by returning with their Continue digital album release in 2024, twenty five years since their last record Everest. After Tar’s dissolution in 1995, Mohr felt he had aged-out from making music again but, as he relayed to No Wristbands, after catching a performance by Jon Langford his creative spirit was renewed. Langford would go on to extend an invitation for Mohr to join Skull Orchard on guitar and recording with that band prompted him to start writing songs of his own that’s culminated with the arrival of Deep Tunnel Project. (Should Mohr decide to take the stage alongside Langford and John Szymanski, they could christen themselves The Three Johns Reborn). This evening spent performing with good friends will undoubtedly be a treasured gift for the birthday boy! -Bruce Novak
UNCOVERED
Ut - Griller (Blast First / Out Records LP)
Even in the bastion of cutting edge music culture that comprised New York City in the late ’70s, Nina Canal, Jacqui Ham and Sally Young of Ut elected to disembark for London come 1981 in order to raise their profile. Such was the fate for this uncategorizable collective that championed improvisation through a blend of post-punk, no wave, noise rock and avant-garde sound. Adopting a non-hierarchical ethos, the trio would swap out instruments frequently and rotate turns at the microphone sans a front person focal point.
Griller, Ut’s third studio LP, would become their swan song after the band called it a day the following year in 1990. Compared to its predecessors, Conviction (1985) and In Gut’s House (1987), Griller leans a little further into a structured sound due in part to bringing in an additional member, Charlie D. on drums. Blast First label mate Steve Albini served as engineer (save for the title track that was recorded by Tim Hodgkinson and Charles Bullen). The record kicks off with “Safe Burning,” the voices of Young and Ham intertwining and creating a sense of chaos that’s echoed in the song’s lyrical content. “Canker,” a tale of deception, is as rock-forward as Ut gets—Young channels her inner Patti-Smith singing about horses (a Trojan one in this case), snakes and whores in guttural, poetic terms. For the churning “Dr. No,” Canal takes the mic, sparring on guitar with Young’s violin distortion. Ut would later become a rallying point for the Riot grrrl movement, inspiring Kathleen Hanna (who namechecks them in Le Tigre’s “Hot Topic”) and Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker. In 2010 they resurfaced and are still actively playing occasional gigs (almost exclusively in the UK). They also resurrected their Out Records label to re-issue their back catalog, including a remastered and expanded edition of Griller that launched on 2022’s Record Store Day. -Bruce Novak
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: