Dig ‘in: Fake Fruit, Ex Pilots, Belong
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
Fake Fruit – Mucho Mistrust (Carpark Records LP)
When No Wristbands hosted a podcast with Hannah D’Amato and Alex Post in the spring of 2022, Fake Fruit had just recently concluded a spate of shows at SXSW where they were shopping demos for their follow-up to their self-titled debut of a year earlier. Sonny Smith had released that debut on his Rocks In Your Head label, yet felt the band deserved a larger platform going forward. DC’s Carpark Records proved to be a good match for the band, but the road to completing Mucho Mistrust was lengthier than anticipated. It wasn’t until D’Amato was able to extricate herself from a toxic relationship that things truly got rolling.
The experience did provide grist for the mill as evident when D’Amato dishes on the title track: “I’ve got a secret / And it’s eating me alive / You want me forever / I think a want a new life.” Similarly on “Más o Menos,” she declares: “I decided to assert myself / After I lost all my sense of self,” before offering, “I hope you had a good time / On your sympathy tour.” The rhythmic post-punk of their debut remains intact, augmented at times with keyboard textures from D’Amato and sax bleats courtesy of Judith Horn. The first half of the album finds the band in overdrive and at peak intensity before gradually downshifting in pace and reflection on the back end. Post takes a lead vocal turn on the churning “Venetian Blinds,” cautioning against hiding from uncomfortable truths. It’s followed up by the go-for-broke urging of “Ponies,” which features D’Amato’s most supple and affecting vocal turn. When “Cause of Death” rolls in, it’s an open and closed autopsy evaluation for the band: “Cause of death is / Indecision / Can’t stop the bleeding / If there’s no incision.” On Mucho Mistrust, Fake Fruit pick a lane and plunge ahead fearlessly as they attempt to jettison anything that’s impeding their progress.
-Bruce Novak
Ex Pilots - Motel Cable (Smoking Room Records LP)
Back in 2022, Pittsburgh bands Ex Pilots and Gaadge put out a split C30 cassette that grew out of the friendship between Ethan Oliva and Mitch DeLong. Olivia started Ex Pilots as a solo project prior to drumming in Gaadge, which was fronted by DeLong. As Ex Pilots progressed, Olivia added others into the fold, eventually bringing over DeLong and fellow Gaadge members Nick Boston and Andy Yadeski. The group is currently six strong, with Ralph DiLullo and Mary Komondy rounding out the line-up. Nearly everyone functions as a multi-instrumentalist, resulting in a diverse array of sounds. Befitting Oliva’s solo origins, Motel Cable was crafted over a five year time span that commenced in 2019. One of the tracks, a re-recording of the lovelorn ode “Hannah,” even dates back to Ex Pilots’ initial release, Findlay, which appeared in 2015. “Motel” and “Spirits Up” shift in pace and volume with a tension/release dynamic that melds shoegaze and indiepop touches. Mary Komondy’s wistful vocals on “Dog In The Yard” give off a soothing vibe that plays against the sinister lyrical content of a family tragedy in the making. Spread out over fifteen tracks, Motel Cable is a complete team effort with each of the six members authoring at least one song contribution—it’s quite an embarrassment of riches that’s loaded with choice cuts. -Bruce Novak
Belong - Realistic IX (kranky LP)
On Realistic IX, the New Orleans duo of Michael Jones and Turk Dietrich straddle the divide between shapeshifting and defined structures. Compact tracks that pull up short of three minutes are interspersed with more extended forays that spill past six and seven minutes. Their undulating soundscapes are capable of washing over the listener with calmness or tidal wave force. The ending, and longest, track “AM / PM” is an ambient drone with imperceptible shifts like what occurs immediately following the noon and midnight changeovers. The pulsating “Difficult Boy,” on the other hand, represents a tectonic shift; signaling a storm on the horizon. “Souvenir” appears headed down a similar path of turbulence, but a downshift to a lower register alters the song’s direction and dynamic. Belong’s use of a drum machine fuels a motorik groove and the incorporation of ghostly vocals provides mystique and another layer or depth to the instrumentation. With its effects-laden guitar composition on display, Realistic IX occupies a space where sound manipulation intersects with primordial rock leanings to produce a compelling sound that can stand on its own merits. -Bruce Novak
UPCOMING
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
Where: Cahn Auditorium / Directions
When: September 6, 8:00 PM
Evanston will be the folk music epicenter the first weekend of September with the inaugural Evanston Folk Festival taking place on the lakefront in Dawes Park on Saturday and Sunday. But first up, we’ve got the spectacular duo of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings playing Friday evening at the Cahn Auditorium. First off, David Rawlings is one of my favorite acoustic guitar players—check out his 2009 record, A Friend Of A Friend, for some great stuff. His flatpicking on that small 1935 Epiphone Olympic archtop guitar is outstanding! But, in addition to that, Gillian and David together create some of the best harmonies around. I’m particularly fond of their 2001 masterpiece, Time (The Revelator), but Gillian’s catalogue is filled with plenty of gems. They’ve also got a brand new record out called Woodland. I’m sure they’ll be featuring plenty from the new LP, alongside a bunch of their classics. -Tom Novak
Soft and Dumb
Where: Outset / Directions
When: September 8, 7:00 PM
Encountering a protracted recording process for their follow-up to their 2022 self-titled debut album, Elena Buenrostro and Travis Newgren put the session on hold last fall to work on an expedited five-song acoustic EP titled Heaven. The contrast between releases can be found on the song “venus,” that appears on both the LP and EP. In the original recording, Buenrostro’s electric guitar starts erupting about two-thirds through the song before Newgren joins in on vocals as they bring song home in an elevated guitar/drums fury and a suggestion of discord. On the acoustic update, the drums are gone and the focus turns to the couple’s vocal interchange that provides a sense of fragility and tenderness in their search for connection. The bedroom recording set-up for Heaven extends an intimacy for the couple that began dating while attending the U of I at Champaign-Urbana before a recent relocation to Chicago. Since their debut album was marked by shifting tempos that produced a woozy, off-kilter feel, it’ll be interesting to discover where their follow-up ends up considering the more straightforward approach on Heaven. Perhaps their Outset performance (opening for Yves Tumor) will reveal more about that path forward. —Bruce Novak
Rosali
Where: Bohemian National Cemetery / Directions
When: September 13, 6:00 PM
When Rosali Middleman travelled to Omaha, Nebraska to record her third album, No Medium, with David Nance & Mowed Sound as her new-found conspirators, she had only shared a tour with that outfit and so there was a palatable uncertainty on how things would come together. Quickly establishing a shared musical language led her back down the same path when it came to making her most recent effort, Bite Down, the first time she has maintained the same band for consecutive recordings. The grit and grind served up by the Mowed Sound crew is a match that compliments Middleman’s unflinching folk-reared narratives and passionate voice. Before moving to the outskirts of Durham, North Carolina during the pandemic, her life in Philadelphia was more clustered and unsettled. A break from songwriting helped refocus her into a sobering assessment of soul-baring and what it takes to truly connect on interpersonal level. There’s a whole lot of living that emerges from Rosali’s songs; the heartbreak along with the heartening that leaves you feeling something profound amidst the numbing repetitiveness of everyday existence. -Bruce Novak
UNCOVERED
Space Needle - The Moray Eels Eats the Space Needle (Zero Hour LP)
Pilfering a record title off a 1968 release from New York’s freak-folk pioneers, The Holy Modal Rounders, provides a bit on an indication that Space Needle were a band that found inspiration from going against the grain. Contrary to the Seattle name association, Space Needle were an east coast band, started by Jud Ehrbar and Jeff Gatland in Long Island. After releasing their debut, Voyager, in 1995, Anders Parker from Varnaline joined for the making of TMEETSN. The band commissioned noted prog-rock artist Roger Dean to produce the album cover art, which ended up pushing back the release date to nearly a year’s time. Disorganization was prevalent in the Space Needle’s workings and TMEETSN would prove to be their swan song.
It’s a bit of a glorious mess; a mixture of space rock, prog, free jazz, slowcore and indiepop. The lilting and disarming “Never Lonely Alone” finds the group at its zenith, and was plucked for an episode of Veronica Mars, as well as a spot in Academy Award winning filmmaker Steven Okazaki’s documentary Black Tar Heroin: The Dark End of the Street. “Love Left Us Strangers” is another touching pop number that showcases Space Needle’s ability to apply subtleness. “Old Spice” bridges the gap between the more conventionally-structured melodic songs and the band’s forays into loosely-formed sound explorations; a languid vocal track is girded by a grinding backing of processed guitar and synth. The lengthy instrumentals push the ten track album past an hour running time and highlight their diversity of styles. The violin-driven “Hot for Krishna” is notable for its middle eastern music touches and frenetic drumming. There’s a lot to digest with this album, but lending an ear to it in full helps to unveil its unique qualities. -Bruce Novak
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: