Dig ‘in: Girl in Synthesis, Burial, EggS
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
Girl In Synthesis - The Rest Is Distraction (Own It Music LP)
When No Wristbands hosted Tony Assimos of Tone Deaf Records on the pod this summer, he was effusive in his praise for this London trio and they immediately garnered a follow from me on their Bandcamp site. With their DIY mentality, Girl In Synthesis place their focus on their creative output—self financing their recordings and gigging as their work allows it. This has permitted them to operate free of compromise, which is key for a band set on exposing the underbelly of injustice and the false narratives behind the premise of a new world order. Girl In Synthesis are confrontational, but not didactic. Vocalist/guitarist John Linger chronicles the impact that isolation has towards festering a climate of dissociation and distrust. Drummer Nicole Pinto and bassist Jim Cubitt provide density and manage to tether the aggression that feels ready to spiral out of control at any given moment. Like Wire, GOS are dead set against complacency—a commitment that’s reflected in their ever developing sound and substance. -Bruce Novak
Burial - Streetlands (Hyperdub EP)
South London native William Bevan is the enigma behind Burial, whose Wikipedia listed instrument—computer—has made some of the most fascinating electronic music of the 21st century. After debuting with South Borough London EP in 2005, he released two full-length records to world wide acclaim—Burial (s/t 2006), and Untrue (2007). Originally placed within dub-step, Bevan’s expression proved to be more expansive, idiosyncratic, and dread than that label, and has since released no less than 15 additional records, mostly two and three song 12” vinyls, which has become a comfortable format for his work.
Streetlands follows Anti-dawn from January of this year, and mines an even deeper ambient/soundtrack direction. This music evokes imagery of empty streetscapes and long shadows, woozy lights and flickering atmospheres. “Hospital Chapel” and “Streetlands” sound mysterious and surprise even after repeated listenings; while the third track “Exokind” finds some keys based arpeggios that evoke a bit of space odyssey type work. Near the end, a deep stuttering beat is looped and a beautiful ethereal voice appears and sings repeated lines that leave it up to the listener to discern what is actually being said. Burial’s work with vocals has always been unique and blurry in its beauty. The beats and momentum of Burial’s early work and collaborations with Thom Yorke, and FourTet, among others, has given way to disembodied, impressionistic voices and strings, church organs and the like. While the familiar Burial space still crackles and resonates with vinyl pin pricks, Bevan continues to find infinity inside his machine. Oh, if he would only perform this magic live… -Wade Iverson
EggS - A Glitter Year (Prefect / Howlin Banana Records LP)
After the release of last year’s terrific 3-song EP, the optimistically titled Greatest Hits, I fretted that EggS might not be around long enough for a return engagement due to their preference for anonymity. Fortunately, A Glitter Year has put those fears to rest with with a dozen tracks of endearing shambolic pop. While the band always harbored reservations about putting out a full-length LP, they decided to take the route of a couple of their beloved inspirations—The Replacements and Guided By Voices—whose focus was on crafting indelible singles with heady lyrics that eschewed an overall thematic element.
Guitarist Charles Daneau possesses an atypical voice, not unlike The Mekons’ Tom Greenhalgh, both heartfelt and passionate that trumps pristine melodicism. Margaux Bouchaudon (En Attendant Ana) provides an ideal vocal counterpart with a soaring presence that elevates the compositions and allows proper latitude to Daneau’s zig-zagging. A Glitter Year is a step up from Greatest Hits four-track charm—with a more insistent backbeat (due to a drums and guitar realignment) and a prominent sax presence with Camille Fréchou also joining in from En Attendant Ana. There’s been discussions of further expansion beyond the current seven member line-up, which suggests a promising future—as tenuous as that may sound. -Bruce Novak
UPCOMING
Suede
Where: Auditorium Theatre / Directions
When: November 16, 7:30 PM
This co-headlining show with Manic Street Preachers is part of Suede’s first U.S. tour since 1997 and encapsulates the group’s second chapter after reforming in 2010. Their initial phase from 1989-2003 saw the band have rapid success along with relative turmoil throughout a succession of five LP releases. Characterized as Britpop upstarts in the press and perpetually compared against Oasis, Blur and Pulp had a wearingly effect and the weight of expectations became burdensome as record sales began to slide. With a sound indebted to ‘70s glam, Suede projected more old school soul than its counterparts. After finally escaping his inner demons, vocalist and songwriter Brett Anderson has been re-energized in the group’s return engagement that now stretches nearly as long as their first go around. Describing their recent release Autofiction as their punk record, there’s ample evidence that Suede remains relevant beyond a typical expiration date. -Bruce Novak
Nonagon
Where: The Burlington / Directions
When: November 18, 8:00 PM
Punk rock in the midwest escaped many of the trappings of the genre that rendered successive practitioners as slavish devotees. Knowing that they weren’t on radar of any tastemakers, bands in Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Madison hunkered in basements and garages, and left to their own devices created disparate sounds that rang true to their own experience. When they began playing in the early aughts, Nonagon were well ensconced in this DIY culture and took those lessons to heart for their econo-fueled sound. Driven by Tony Aimone’s scattershot drumming and the elastic interplay between guitarist John Hastie and bassist Robert Wm. Gomez, Nonagon maintain a push/pull dynamic that never telegraphs the direction they’re taking. They’re in it for the long haul, having just released their first extended album, They Birds, last year. The show also offers an opportunity to take in an early performance of Deep Tunnel Project, a new offering from Tar and Mint Mile/Silkworm alumni -Bruce Novak
UNCOVERED
Brakes - Give Blood (Rough Trade LP)
Some debut releases come out of left field to defy expectations. After being dropped by BMG Records, brothers Alex and Thomas White of the nuanced psych pop outfit Electric Soft Parade caught a solo gig from Eamon Hamilton, who was also part of British Sea Power at the time. Enlisting the gregarious performer to front Brakes proved to be an inspired choice, and soon fellow Brighton musician Marc Beatty was brought over from Tenderfoot to play bass.
Give Blood is a rollercoaster ride—madly racing ahead in spots, taking unexpected turns and ending in good time before nausea has time to set in. Sixteen tracks under thirty minutes, some mere seconds long. Hamilton’s biting wit surfaces throughout, no more so than on “Heard About Your Band” in which he dresses down a pompous scenester with a closing retort of “whatever, dude.” There’s an insurgent country element that surfaces in “NY Pie” and the band’s take on the Johnny Cash/June Carter classic “Jackson.” In contrast with Hamilton’s extrovert inclinations, “You’re So Pretty” is a disarmingly gorgeous pop song full of adoration and vulnerability. By the end of Give Blood there’s nothing left to squeeze out of the band’s performance—they’ve poured it all out and left us with everything they’re capable of. Take it for all that it’s worth. -Bruce Novak
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: