Dig ‘in: The Tubs, Sloan, Glyders, John Cale
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
The Tubs - Dead Meat (Trouble In Mind LP)
There’s always been an element of edginess in the bands that Owen Williams has performed in (Joanna Gruesome, Ex-Vöid, Sniffany & The Nits). On Dead Meat, Williams seeks out mental stability in a world he views as less than hospitable. During the pandemic he was literally holed up in an abandoned mental hospital with fellow members of The Nits. A quick scan of Dead Meat’s song titles is an indication that it’s been a trying time—“Illusion pt. II,” “Sniveller,” and “Duped” portend a rocky existence.
The percussion section of drummer Matthew Green and bassist Max Warren push the pace to reinforce the urgency of matters at hand. Williams and fellow guitarist, George Nicholls, riff with a mixture of jangle and jagged, combining elements of roque folk, eclectic pop and punk fervor. With a litany of influences stretching over multiple eras of musical movements, Williams has described their sound as postmodern. While the proper descriptive might be hard to pin down, it’s easy to give way to the inherit charms that lie within. -Bruce Novak
Sloan - Steady (Yep Roc LP)
Nova Scotia’s greatest gift to rock is back with its 13th record, and the aptly named Steady finds Sloan again doing what it does best: hammering out hooky, harmonious, often hard-charging guitar pop. Unlike many bands that blend into the faceless guitar-pop slough, Sloan has an ultra-rare hallmark in that all four of its members—Jay Ferguson (guitar), Chris Murphy (bass), Andrew Scott (drums), Patrick Pentland (guitar)—contribute sterling songwriting and lead vocals to their records. That invariably lends a wonderful stylistic diversity and variety to most of the band’s recordings.
Steady kicks off in classic Sloan fashion with the topical “Magical Thinking” and “Spend the Day,” which slather singalong melodies and thick vocal choruses over buzzing axes and driving grooves. Elsewhere, “Scratch the Surface” ranks with the very best of Sloan’s anthemic rockers, but there’s also the woozy, Revolver-ish jangle of “Panic on Runnymede” and “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” which glide by in a pot-scented harmony haze. It wouldn’t be a Sloan disc without a couple gentler acoustic numbers and “Simply Leaving” and “Close Encounters” gorgeously scratch that itch. Steady is another strong Sloan outing that confirms the band’s creative trajectory is, indeed, steady as she goes! -Rick Reger
Glyders - Maria’s Hunt (Drag City / Country Thyme LP)
A generational divide was never a barrier for Joshua Condon growing up. Gifted a wealth of records for his birthdays by his grandmother set him on a path of discovery of the ’60s/‘70s music that would serve as inspiration for the creation of Glyders along with cohort Eliza Weber.
Maria’s Hunt maintains a comforting familiarity without devolving into strident replication. “High Time” kicks off the journey with a psych freak-out hatched from a Bolan boogie riff. The tempo shirts abruptly with “Wrong Sometimes Right,” combining Everly Brothers-style crooning with Gilded Palace of Sin accoutrements. “Golden Hour” is trippy with an itchy guitar finger that gradually breaks loose by mid-song. “Shoreline (Reprise)” closes out the record in grand and celebratory fashion. When Condon proclaims “What a time to be alive,” it’s both an observation of situational wonderment and an acknowledgement of good fortune. Either being reason enough to count one’s blessings. -Bruce Novak
John Cale - Mercy (Domino LP)
Mercy would be a remarkable record simply for the fact that it was completed and released after John Cale turned 80! But Mercy is also remarkable for both its quality and the way furthers one of the most adventurous, questing careers in rock. At first listen, the disc’s vaporous atmosphere and somewhat ghostly vibe recall two of Cale’s 1980’s releases, Music for a New Society and Artificial Intelligence. But the new disc is more rhythmically propulsive than the former and more consistently engaging than the latter. Mercy drifts by in a reverb-heavy, watercolor wash of keyboards, occasional strings, layered voices and chill grooves. The title track is a hypnotically lovely swirl of sound, with a gentle pulse supporting willowy synth chords and Cale’s distinctive baritone, which variously emerges/submerges across the sonic mist. Other tunes, such as “Marilyn Monroe’s Legs (beauty elsewhere)” and “The Legal Status of Ice,” are more phantasmal, as fragments of melody and rhythm swirl about in an aural eddy that seems more improvised than structured. But the record isn’t all shadow and suggestion; “Noise of You,” “Story of Blood” and “Night Crawling” are hazy yet gently grooving, alluring pop songs with strong, classic Cale hooks. There’s also “Moonstruck (Nico’s Song),” a moving, lilting, string-dappled reminiscence of the song’s titular subject and inspiration. Overall, Mercy is a spectrally beguiling opus and a worthy addition to Cale’s striking, vastly underrated, 50+ year solo career. -Rick Reger
UPCOMING
The Charlatans / Ride
Where: The Vic Theatre / Directions
When: February 7, 6:30 PM
In a rotating headliner arrangement, The Charlatans and Ride return to North America for a fifteen date tour that will see both of them capturing seminal albums in their entirety. Charlatans selecting their second LP, Between 10th and 11th, and Ride opting for their Nowhere debut.
After delivering one of the strongest one-two punches ever to start a career with Going Blank Again as their sophomore follow-up, Ride encountered outsized expectations and a shifting British listening audience that had then become infatuated with the surging Britpop movement. Within four years the directional divide in the band became insurmountable and their dissolution was announced before their fourth album Tarantula even hit the shelves in 1996. Considering that all four original members returned to the fold with a slate of shows in 2015, it was a positive indication of an overall consensus that there was still plenty left in their tank. Two subsequent albums, Weather Diaries in 2017 and This Is Not a Safe Place in 2019, confirmed as much. Away from the spotlight, the band comes across more settled and the new arrangement has afforded time for songwriters Mark Gardener and Andy Bell to pursue individual projects for ideas less conducive to the group framework. While the wow factor isn’t as omnipresent as before, there’s more than enough sublime moments remaining to prick up your ears.
Highlighting Between 10th and 11th is a curious choice for The Charlatans in that it was considered a disappointment following their Some Friendly debut—to the extent that the band dropped most of its songs off their setlist after the ensuing tour. Time has been much kinder to the effort, and the record received a deluxe reissue in 2020 that included a 1991 live performance from Chicago’s Metro. It also points to the resilience of the group that has far outlasted its Madchester contemporaries and survived the tragic passings of original members Rob Collins, keyboardist (traffic accident in 1996), and Jon Brookes, drummer (brain tumor in 2013). Like his idol Bob Dylan, vocalist Tim Burgess remains undeterred by critical acceptance and has adapted his musical reach to stay steps ahead of irrelevance. -Bruce Novak
The Hecks
Where: Constellation / Directions
When: February 10, 8:30 PM
It’s difficult to ascertain quite what to expect from from this Hecks performance. They made a significant shift in sound between their Trouble In Mind self-titled debut and their My Star follow-up three years thereafter. Granted, the change coincided with expanding their lineup from the original duo of Andy Mosiman and Zach Hebert to include additional guitarist Dave Vettraino and keyboardist Jeff Graupner. Nevertheless, it’s been over three years since the release of My Star, so perhaps a Hecks Mach-3 will be in the offing? To be sure though, one would expect a night of adventurous music. The band’s approach has always been eclectic—a new wave veneer encasing art rock, electro-funk and synth-pop. The Hecks were slated for an appearance at the 2020 Pitchfork Music Festival before an untimely Covid-19 cancelation. Now back on a more intimate stage, it’ll be a touch bittersweet for the band, but a well deserved homecoming nonetheless. -Bruce Novak
UNCOVERED
Dick Diver - Melbourne, Florida (Chapter Music / Trouble In Mind LP)
To my knowledge, Dick Diver never officially closed the book on performing together again, though their most recent shows with The Stroppies and RVG date back to December of 2018 in their native Melbourne. The band had discussed a new album back then with local Triple R radio station, but outside of bassist Al Montfort, the members have maintained a low profile in recent years.So if their third LP, Melbourne, Florida from 2015 ends up as their swan song, it’s a helluva way to go out. Building on their beginnings as a scrapy indie-pop band with 2009’s Arks Up EP, Melbourne exudes a confidence and sophistication with expanded instrumentation and measured pace. Rupert Edwards’ and Alistair McKay’s woven guitar interplay is embellished with synths, sax and trumpet for a grander reach without sacrificing the group’s innate warmthness. The tag-team vocals of Edwards and drummer Steph Hughes on tracks like “Competition” and “Blue Time” have a hand-in-glove fit and McKay’s “Waste the Alphabet” tumbles along with blissful delight. With each member providing songwriting input, the album remains cohesive—lyrically the overall feeling of discontent echoes the existential diatribe that was penned in the liner notes. It’s fair to wonder if that state of mind convinced the band that it had delivered all they were capable of doing and continuing on would’ve been unwise under such circumstances. -Bruce Novak
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: