Dig ‘in: Pip Blom, Melkbelly, Eton Crop
INCOMING
Pip Blom - Welcome Break (Heavenly LP)
It could be said that Pip and her brother Tender were home schooled in rock by parents that had a significant presence in the original indie music movement. Their father, Erwin, remains a member of the post-punk outfit Eton Crop, and mother, Leonieke, functions as the band’s auxiliary tour manager and has introduced Pip to present-era groups such as Parquet Courts and Ought by attending shows together. The family’s DIY ethos runs deep in Pip Blom, which has blossomed from its solo bedroom recording inception to produce Welcome Break, their follow-up to 2019’s Boat. Pip knows her way around a melody and Welcome Break is chock full of hooks that would play well on FM radio. She and the band serve up a varied batch of songs with admirable tweaks in pace, vocal inflections and sound texture. All of which means that the record never overstays its welcome and continues to be embraced upon each successive play. - Bruce Novak
Ovlov - Buds (Exploding in Sound LP)
Enduring art is often produced out of turmoil, but sometimes contentment can be a catalyst for creativity. Such appears to be the case for Ovlov’s Steve Hartlett. After his best friend perished in 2016 from a fentanyl overdose, Hartlett took stock of his trajectory and reached the conclusion that some life changes were needed in order to provide stability to focus on his music. The journey back hasn’t been void of missteps, but his mindset improved to the point that he was able to put out TRU in 2018 and now Buds. For someone like Hartlett, who’s enamored with the creative process of songwriting, it’s important that his compositions convey an emotional resonance in keeping with the themes of shared experience and friendship. He also felt that Buds would benefit from using a poppier approach with the melodies more prominently in the forefront. Enlisting his brothers Theo (drums) and Jon (bass) along with long time conspirator Morgan Luzzi (guitar) provides an intimate feel where instinctively everything falls easily in place. Ovlov are truly in their element here and nothing is as quite reassuring as operating out of your own comfort zone. - Bruce Novak
Dead Finks - The Death and Resurrection of Johnathan Cowboy (Urge Records LP)
Joseph Thomas and partner Erin Violent in Dead Finks appear fixated on a life cycle that is anything but linear. Like many western icons, the mythical Johnathan Cowboy can be viewed as fatalistic—a death wish waiting to happen only to be redeemed (or reanimated as one song title suggests) before his final chapter is written. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that the duo left their native Auckland for Sydney before changing course again to settle in Berlin, a city with a history of internal strife. Dead Finks’ second record is littered with the uneasiness of living life on the ledge, waiting for the bottom to drop out. Thomas remains defiant throughout, his vocal cords on verge of shredding through sheer exhaustion. As the record closes out with a rendition of The Fall’s “Frightened,” Mark E. Smith’s lyrics prove insightful: “I feel trapped by mutual affection/And I don’t know how to use freedom/I spend hours looking sideways/To the time when I was sixteen.” In Dead Finks’ universe there’s no full speed ahead, but the distractions prove fascinating and worthy of our attention. - Bruce Novak
UPCOMING
Melkbelly
Where: Sleeping Village / Directions
When: December 3, 8:00 PM
Melkbelly’s music has a bit of a pinball effect—tempos can sometimes shift on a dime and what may start out as a straight up rocker may detour into a noise fest or just as easily transition into an unanticipated pop interlude. James Wetzel’s forceful but nimble drumming facilitates this versatility as his snare patterns often drive the compositions from one direction to another. The results are often exhilarating because of this unpredictability. Vocalist Miranda Winters admirably manages to keep pace and imbues the songs with equal parts of saltiness and sweetness. If your music palette is in need of cleansing, Melkbelly are ideally ripe for consumption. - Bruce Novak
Preoccupations
Where: Metro / Directions
When: December 15, 8:00 PM
Preoccupations’s music is quite immersive; a dark space commonly riddled with anxiety and apprehension. Frontperson Matt Flegel’s worldview skews heavily towards fallibility, but not outright fatalism. There’s an ongoing struggle to maintain equilibrium against opposing forces in the the band’s songs. So while Flegel’s aspirations are frequently knocked off course, they’re not sent down a black hole. His perseverance is what lends the music a cathartic quality. In the end a dream deferred is still one worth pursuing. - Bruce Novak
UNCOVERED
Eton Crop - Peel Sessions 1983-1988 (Self-Released LP)
In his book, Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984, Simon Reynolds posits that the original punk movement failed to deliver on its ideology of musical transcendence and DIY independence, and instead routinely trafficked in recycled riffs and empty posturing. He believes that the onset of post-punk was the true revolutionary movement driven by artists and idealists whose conceptualism allowed them to push past typical conventions and a deficiency of musical prowess. It’s hard to argue against this belief when you consider that the genre produced some of the most influential indie artists (PIL, Gang of Four, Raincoats, Wire, Slits, Fall, Talking Heads, etc.) and was far more gender varied than its predecessor. It was in this environment that Dutch band Eton Crop emerged, taking their name from the tightly-cropped hairstyle that was favored by British lesbians in the 1920s. Regular touring with such outfits as The Three Johns, The Membranes and The Fall frequently brought the band to the UK where they recorded five sessions with the influential BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel. While the band carried on until 1994 (and occasionally regroup for spot performances), this collection serves as a fairly representative overview of their tenure. There’s a balanced dose of agitation and humor with pointed barbs at imperialism, homosexual marginalization, consumerism, among other targets. If, like Reynolds insists, punk was dead in the water shortly after surfacing, Eton Crop chose to bypass the safety raft to continue thrashing against the current. - Bruce Novak
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: