Dig ‘in: Shellac, Girls in Synthesis, Rural France
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
Shellac - To All Trains (Touch and Go LP)
Maintaining an exacting code of ethics/principles represents a challenge in consistently delivering music that’s both vital and varied. Shellac, by extension of Steve Albini’s recording philosophy, had a streamlined operating approach: document first take performances in analog sans overdubs and enhancements. Seeing that Shellac was never a full-time endeavor played to their favor; releasing seven albums over a thirty year tenure allowed them to only create when they were fully compelled to. To All Trains was the culmination of four separate recording sessions between 2017-2022, as many of the songs had already turned up in their live performances.
While Albini’s sudden and recent passing places the work in a different context, its difficult to speculate whether this would have represented their swan song, seeing how their release schedule had become more elongated as the 21st century rolled in. While not as groundbreaking compared to his run with Big Black, Shellac represented Albini’s most diverse and commendable period as a musician. The dynamic range of Todd Trainer’s drumming played a big part in expanding the band’s footprint. Tempos turned more variable and song structures were provided more leeway. On To All Trains, there’s the recognizable Albini signifiers that comprise tracks like “Scrappers” and “Scabby the Rat,” packing that oh so desired dose of dopamine. “Girl From Outside” represents the social evolution that he underwent, sounding playful and, dare I say, sentimental. “Chick New Wave” is nearly a straight up punk rock song, cut from the same cloth as Minutemen’s Double Nickels on the Dime. The closer, “I Don’t Fear Hell,” is certainly fitting in retrospect of a complex soul who was never afraid to speak his mind and didn’t hedge his bets to be on the safe side of a discussion. Riposa in pace, Steve—your absence will be forever felt. -Bruce Novak
Girls In Synthesis - Sublimation (Own It Music LP)
Settling in for a listen to Girls In Synthesis is like binging on the British series Black Mirror—both are highly immersive experiences steeped in dystopian vibes. In a recent interview with Louder Than War, vocalist/bassist John Linger spoke about the band creating a personal universe: “I think this helps us focus on creating something that is purely ours, and this leads to everything being hyper-vivid. We also don’t claim to offer any light at the end of the tunnel or balance to the darkness in the subject matter, which may be quite bleak for some people. But it has to be that way.” He also acknowledged that past records “have been fairly impenetrable and relentless.”
The London-based outfit’s third LP, Sublimation, allows the band to decompress a bit with a smoldering tension as opposed to a white-hot rage. There’s more melody in the melodramas and an added keyboard presence ushers in a proto-goth element to their post-punk canon. Lead track and single, “Lights Out,” captures the group’s dynamic range opening with Jim Cubbitt’s creeping guitar strum and reverberating vocals and ending with a frenzy of noise and fury. “Semblance of Choice” rides atop Nicole Pinto’s bouncy beat with a Britpop presence and “Corrupting Memories” is a rousing, delirium-filled anthem. Linger offers a dose of identity self-reflection on “Subtle Differences,” confessing: “I was so disappointed / To be marginalized / To be polarized / To be outsized.” In an effort to just get along with society, he recognizes that normative behavior squashes our sense of self and this is what it feels to be an outsider forever looking inwards. -Bruce Novak
Rural France – Exactamondo! (Meritorio Records EP)
Instead of providing a hint of their geographic origin, Rural France’s band name was the result of a contribution from guitarist/bassist Rob Fawkes in response to a challenge to brainstorm a nu-folk-sounding moniker using their own initials. Fawkes and musical partner Tom Brown (vocals/guitar) actually hail from Wiltshire which is home to Stonehenge and why they label themselves as “keen preservators of outdated and inaccessible rock.” While their sound is more reminiscent of the jangle pop era, it doesn’t strike me as slavishly retro and remains undeniably catchy. “Tag Along” starts things out with Teenage Fanclub-esque splendor and “Ghost Dance” reverberates Byrdsian vibes. “Sunsplit” and “Stay Away From The Window, Sidney” encompass a summertime feel, albeit one full of misadventures. Navigating life’s speed bumps is a reoccurring refrain in Brown’s songwriting, as is the case of his solo work in Teenage Tom Petties. In “Tag Along,” a state of indecision doesn’t seem of great concern when he sings: “I can swap money for knowledge / Think I might go back to college / Yeah I need me / some bureaucracy!” Exactamondo! skirts any overall consensus and suggests that living with our differences might be the only means of getting along. -Bruce Novak
UPCOMING
Babe Report
Where: The Fallen Log / Directions
When: June 6, 7:00 PM
Pulling their name from a piece of dialogue in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, you might envision Babe Report as a slacker band, but the closest they come to any Wyld Stallyns hijinks is when they’re on the verge of smoking their amps. Ben Grigg and Emily Bernstein, who previously played in FCKR JR, started the group as a duo during the pandemic downtime. Although he had handled all the instrumentation in his previous solo project Whelpwisher, Griggs recognized that he wasn’t well-suited to tackle rhythm section duties for this new endeavor, so he and Bernstein brought in Peter Reale (drums) and Mech (bass) after recording an initial single in 2021. That lineup was behind their five-song The Future of Teeth EP that was cut in the band’s Radon Ranch rehearsal space two years ago. Looking to further refine the ragged sonic thrust of that effort, the band settled back into Radon Ranch and leaned on the expertise of Steve Marek (Monobody) for mic selection and placement for their new LP, Did You Get Better, which just came out on Exploding In Sound Records. The lead track, “Turtle of Reaper,” maintains their previous string-stretching fury while coming into a sharper focus. “Universal” is a re-worked Whelpwhisher track highlighted by a stutter-start rhythm and a pleasing vocal collision between Grigg and Bernstein. Doubling up on their previous outing with a total of ten tracks, Did You Get Better answers its own query affirmatively with results that might be best described as “most astounding!” -Bruce Novak
Kim Gordon
Where: Bohemian National Cemetery / Directions
When: June 8, 6:00 PM
I could start this show preview with some convoluted analogy of Kim Gordon’s post-Sonic Youth solo career representing her rising from the grave, but I will spare you. I am genuinely excited to see what the ever-exploratory Gordon has in store for such a unique space. Gordon has been anything but dormant since the demise of Sonic Youth in 2011, releasing two acclaimed solo albums (including this year’s The Collective) three albums from her band Body/Head, one album from her band Glitterbust, a memoir, creating art, and dabbling in acting. I always find it interesting when someone who is so entrenched as a member of a band puts out their own solo material, and her’s does not leave one disappointed. 2019’s No Home Record features layered, occasionally reverb-soaked vocals with propulsive industrial beats. There are moments where Sonic Youth-like songs peak through like on “Hungry Baby.” This year’s The Collective surprises with its hip-hop beats, distortion, and stream-of-consciousness lyrics. It is inspiring to see an artist 40+ years into their career continue to push themselves. I’d have to imagine that in a setting like a cemetery, the spectacle will be exceptional. -Mark Joyner
English Teacher
Where: Schuba’s Tavern / Directions
When: June 16, 7:00 PM
I’m highly anticipating the Chicago debut performance from Leeds-based English Teacher. I was previously able to catch them at SXSW in 2023, where they featured some of the songs that would eventually appear on their incipient LP, This Could Be Texas, that dropped this past April on Island Records. The record is proving out to be my favorite thus far this year and represents an impressive progression from their 2022 Polyawkward EP. A significant part of the draw is the diversity of styles that band is able to navigate seamlessly. Vocalist Lily Fontaine serves as the focal point that binds everything together. Her Sprechgesang delivery allows her to shapeshift between dreampop (“The World’s Biggest Paving Slab”), arty post-punk (“Broken Biscuits”) and emo-balladry (“Albert Road”). With her mixed-race heritage, Fontaine is quick to defy stereotypes in “R&B” when she confesses: “Despite appearances, I haven’t got the voice for R&B / Even though I’ve seen more Colour Shows than KEXPs.” In an interview with DIY, drummer Douglas Frost revealed the band’s strategy of creating desire paths—“a perfect route to a particular destination”—to hit their preferred targets. This Could Be Texas registers as a bull’s-eye; representing an astounding whole which is greater than the sum of its parts. -Bruce Novak
UNCOVERED
Smudge - You Me Carpark…Now (Half a Cow LP)
Needing a 4th band for a compilation 7" he had in the works to jump start his Half a Cow label, Nic Dalton convinced Tom Morgan and Alison Galloway to form a group with the sole intent of creating a new song for the release. The encounter proved fortuitous when the Lemonheads came to Australia and toured with the Hummingbirds, for whom Dalton was playing bass for, which led to an introduction between Evan Dando and Morgan involving a side project of Dalton’s called Sneeze. When Dando later returned to Australia for a solo tour, he and Morgan started gathering for songwriting sessions, with many of the songs turning up on the Lemonheads’ 1992 It’s a Shame About Ray album and the Come On Feel The Lemonheads follow-up. Additionally, Dando’s tune “Alison’s Starting To Happen” was inspired by his encounters with Galloway.
Of all the albums that Smudge released during their tenure in the ’90s, You Me Carpark…Now is Morgan’s favorite. It was recorded at Idful Studios in Chicago with Casey Rice as producer and John McEntire (Tortoise, The Sea and Cake) contributing on pedal steel. Morgan described it as “a blowout recording” where they gave themselves over to Rice and walked away with a sprawling fifteen tracks that upped their previous lo-fi output and expanded their musical repertoire. “Mike Love, Not War” is a power pop gem that showcases Morgan’s clever wordplay and sly humor. Galloway and Morgan trade off verses on the lovely “Pedantic,” and “Ingrown (Slight Return)” is a tender country number with terrific orchestral flourishes. “Not Nearly Enough” and “Lady Let’s Not Stop the Groove” show why Morgan and Dando were such simpatico songwriting partners, with either tune favorably comparing to the Lemonheads’ finest work. After the ’90s, Smudge went on hiatus but gathered over the next decade for occasional shows, including a two month Australian support slot for the Lemonheads. -Bruce Novak
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: