Dig ‘in: Finnoguns Wake, Capsuna, The Umbrellas
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
Finnoguns Wake - Stay Young (What’s Your Rupture? EP)
When Sydney’s Royal Headache announced their demise in 2018 it seemed premature to their avid and growing listener base. In hindsight, it had been a tenuous decade of existence for the band and they were thoroughly cooked by the end with guitarist Lawrence Hall and drummer Chris Shortt bailing almost a year prior to their final performance. With two defining albums to their credit, their 2011 self-titled debut and 2015’s High, Royal Headache had left us wanting more so when Tim “Shogun” Wall re-emerged with a new project, Shogun and the Sheets and a debut single in late 2018, hopes were renewed. That ended up being a short-term affair, and things remained silent until a year-and-a-half ago when Shogun partnered with Finn Berzin to start Finnoguns Wake—a moment, if you’ll forgive the pun, to reJoyce!
Finn was the younger brother of Shogun’s good friend who had decide to depart Australia, and despite their roughly two decade age gap, they bonded over Hüsker Dü and Oasis’ debut Definitely Maybe. By time Royal Headache broke up, Shogun had forsaken punk rock for all of its inherent trappings, nevertheless Stay Young bursts with the type of energy reminiscent of the birth of that genre. Admirably, this is a true partnership between Shogun and Finn so lead vocals are evenly split between the two of them. The band is rounded out with past Shogun collaborators Gabrielle De Giorgio (keyboards), Campbell Troy (bass) and new drummer Liam Hoskins (DMA’s). The opener, “Blue Skies,” soars with Finn’s squalling guitar and Shogun’s majestic Pollard-esque vocal take. The middle tracks, “So Nice” and Lovers All,” ride more of a pop crest behind Finn’s passionate pleas, registering in the territory of Bob Mould’s Sugar phase. “Strawberry Avalanche” closes out the record in anthemic fashion—a Gallagher brothers-like fist pumper that’s addictive to its core. After feeling ruined by the relative success of Royal Headache (an “emotional holocaust” period according to Shogun), let’s hope the modest aspirations of Finnoguns Wake is a reward in and of itself so that he and Berzin remain compelled to carry on the pleasure. -Bruce Novak
Capsuna - S/T (self-released cassette)
While based out of Brussels, Belgium, Capsuna also contains members with origins from New Jersey, Ohio and Suffolk. Their name is derived from the Romanian word for strawberry. Fittingly, there’s an underlying (bitter)sweetness to their low-key songs as expressed through the enchanting vocals of Louise Crosby. Like their playful collage cover art, Capsuna borrows from existing mediums with bit of jangle strum, French pop and bedroom recording aesthetics that are rearranged into their own shifting patterns. Basic song structures are tweaked at times with subtle but significant touches. The album’s opener, “asymmetrical,” bursts forth with a gorgeous melody and rhythm that’s carried out through much of the song before Damien Rixhon’s contrasting keyboard emerges to tussle with David Enright’s driving guitar to close things out. Upbeat vibes are pitted against more sinister leanings that are expressed in songs like “horrorscope” and “penitence.” Capsuna provides many pleasures on a surface level, but a deeper dive into their music also reveals untold surprises. -Bruce Novak
The Umbrellas - Fairweather Friend (Slumberland Records LP)
The transition from scrappy and charming indie status to a more refined sound often trips up nascent groups of promise. Call it the sophomore slump or perhaps just the law of diminishing returns. The Umbrellas’ self-titled debut album from 2021 struck a blissful note, mining elements of C80s-era pop craft with a DIY sensibility. Fairweather Friend shows that the band’s song construction prowess remains firmly intact, not at the expense of a more robust sound.
With its insistent adrenaline rush and breathless vocal exchange between Matt Ferrara and Morgan Stanley, “Gone” is a sheer delight—the most dynamic number that the Umbrellas have written to date. In “Goodbye,” Stanley uses a variance in inflection to add texture and richness to an unsentimental tale about a relationship that’s outlived its welcome. The versatility of either Ferrara or Stanley sliding in to assume primary vocals duty while the other one harmonizes creates a pleasing variety and contrast as evidenced by such numbers as “P.M.” and “When You Find Out.” There’s an overall shimmer and vitality pervasive throughout Fairweather Friend—this is the type of progression that has you savoring the moment while also excited about the possibilities that are yet to come. -Bruce Novak
UPCOMING
Sick Day
Where: Sleeping Village / Directions
When: February 6, 8:00 PM
Sick Day continue on an upswing, having just partnered with Substitute Scene Records out of Brooklyn for an upcoming EP release titled Overexposure that the band recorded last summer at Jamdek Studios in Humboldt Park. Their previous album from the fall of 2022, Love is a State of Mind, showcased the confessional songwriting of Olivia Williams and a sound that the band labels as “indie outsider rock.” The record was split between acoustic numbers that highlighted the endearing directness of Williams’ winsome voice and more ornate compositions featuring the full band comprised of Ryan Donlin (guitar/bass) and Robby Kuntz (drums). The forthcoming EP looks to expand Sick Day’s repertoire with songs that Williams describes as “grungy, poppy, kinda shoegaze sound.” For this performance the band will include new bassist Kaity Symborski and frequent collaborator Chaepter on cello. -Bruce Novak
Deap Vally
Where: Thalia Hall / Directions
When: February 10, 7:00 PM
This tour marks the end of the live performance line for the duo Julie Edwards (drums/vocals) and Lindsey Troy (guitar/vocals), whose focus has turned to devoting unencumbered time to raising new families. Their blues-tinged caterwaul style carried forth across three studio albums starting with 2013’s Sistrionix, through 2016’s Femijism and culminating with Marriage in 2021. Along the way there was also a collaboration with Wayne Coyne and Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips for the ecletic Deap Lips 2020 recording. While opting for a spartan guitar/drums approach, Troy and Edwards transcended inherent limitations with a brassy bold blend of rock howl and feminist invective. Here’s hoping that their partnership will persevere in whatever form that’s compatible with their evolving lifestyles. -Bruce Novak
Laura Jane Grace
Where: Sleeping Village / Directions
When: February 15 & 16, 9:00 PM
How great is it to live in Chicago? We’re getting not one, but two album release shows for Laura Jane Grace. And with an intimate club like Sleeping Village, you can be sure these will be lively and emotionally intense. Her new solo album, Hole In My Head, is due out February 16. There are four songs already from the record up on the streaming services and from the sound of them, this is going to be a kick-ass album! Ranging from the anthemic punk of the title track to the folky strumming of “Cuffing Season,” these songs are going to come across great live! And based on the January Rolling Stone article which detailed her recent marriage, Grace seems open to doing some more music with her Against Me! bandmates in the near future. Sounds like 2024 is going to be a big year for Laura Jane Grace! Deanna Belos of Sincere Engineer and CalicoLoco are opening both shows. -Tom Novak
UNCOVERED
Shop Assistants: Will Anything Happen (Blue Guitar LP)
It seems inconceivable to the degree that Edinburgh’s Shop Assistants have influenced indie pop that a compilation archive doesn’t exist to represent their full recorded output. Their first incarnation was under the name of Buba & The Shop Assistants and consisted of three lads and a female singer named Aggi (Annabel Wright). That outfit’s only single released in 1984 was produced by Stephen Pastel, who also contributed backing vocals. Aggi would soon follow Stephen to the Pastels and the rest of the band would ultimately move on as well with the exception of guitarist David Keegan. The line-up eventually settled again, this time with Keegan being the lone male representative. After a couple more singles, their sole LP came out in 1986 featuring Alex Taylor on vocals, Sarah Kneale on bass, dual drummers Laura MacPhail and Ann Donald plus the aforementioned Keegan.
The Shop Assistants were at their best in combining distortion with melody. Keegan’s guitar grinds away on “I Don’t Wanna Be Friends With You” while Taylor demurely delivers the ultimate kiss off in proclaiming: “If you don’t love me anymore / Just tell me you don’t want to know / But I don’t wanna be civilized / You leave me and I’ll scratch your eyes out.” In a similar vein, “All Day Long” pleasantly bounces along, belying the growing agitation that Taylor expresses to an oblivious cad. Not to be overlooked is the mellifluous beauty the band was capable of conjuring up as witnessed in “Before I Wake” and the especially resplendent “Somewhere in China.” The year following Will Anything Happen, Taylor departed to join the Meat Whiplash crew to form a new band called The Motorcycle Boy that were reminiscent of Shop Assistants. Most of the other members later reconvened to record a couple of singles that came out on Avalanche Records in 1990. As a testament to how unrecognized the band had become, Alex Taylor’s passing in 2005 didn’t become publicly known until 2020 when a fellow Motorcycle Boy band member tried to track her down to tell her that he’d be releasing the group’s debut recording that had been previously shelved when that band split up. - Bruce Novak
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: