[Super Cassette’s new album Continue? (out Dec. 1) poses the question, âis life worth living?,â through the lens of electro indie-rock at its most danceable and celebratory. Primary songwriter Max Gerlock (they/them) employs the tried-and-true tactic of juxtaposing joyous pop arrangements against dark lyrics, tackling difficult subjects.
Continue? opens with its title track, a guitar driven anthem with arcade-game synthesizers, asking whether modern life as an artist is even worth living. Its grandiose chorus contrasts with lyrics about triumphing over anxiety disorders and suicidal ideations. Itâs ultimately a song about not just surviving, but making the conscious decision to thrive.
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48hills reviews the new record from The Helltones, noting its “wide variety of influences: rockabilly, mellow sunset blues, and jazzy tones matched up with a pluck of country twang, with spectral punk AF moments scattered in between.”
The new album Medusa comes from Oaklandâs surf-soul rock and roll six-piece, The Helltones, who skip, hop, mix, and arrange wiry textures into a hearth, similar to the beloved Detroit Cobras. Thatâs why it hits familiar. Medusa takes you through a wide range of influences: rockabilly, mellow sunset blues, and jazzy tones matched up with a pluck of country twang, with spectral punk AF moments scattered in between. Boy howdy! The Helltones donât just tackle it, they conquer the quagmire of psychedelic surf, soulful Americana, and retro rhythm and bluesâor as I like to say, they time-trip because they actually have the acuity to execute it.
Stephie James
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Stephie James – As Night Fades (out Mar. 1)
Nashville via Detroit songwriter Stephie Jamesâ debut full-length album, As Night Fades (out Mar. 1) exudes sparkly, starlit evening motifs, shot through the lens of dreamy doo-wop and romantic Americana rock n roll. James overturns Nashvilleâs hat and boot culture with her own Iggy Pop-meets-Judy Garland panache. She borrows the storytelling tradition of writers like Townes Van Zandt & Guy Clark but fuses it with 60’s girl group sounds, echoing The Shirelles and The Marvelettesâ âPlease Mr. Postman.â James presents us with a record thatâs subtly subversiveâat one turn familiar and nostalgic, while simultaneously evoking the dawn of something new.
James has been a steadfast musical powerhouse since her teens. Sheâs toured with Anita Baker and Nikki Lane, worked production for Buddy Miller and Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, has written with John Bettis (songwriter for Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, The Carpenters and more) and even shared the stage with Michael Bolton. As Night Fades was produced/engineered/mixed by Andrija Tokic who also produced the platinum, Grammy-nominated Alabama Shakesâ album Boys & Girls. John Baldwin (The Rolling Stones, Lou Reed, Nancy Sinatra, The White Stripes) mastered the album.
As Night Fades opens with the cinematic and sultry âCompany,â an autobiographical narrative through a smoky, late night scene. Its romantic, symphonic balladry elevates the classic Hollywood scenario that weâre gifted through Jamesâ endearing vocal deliveryâall enchantingly wrapped in the modern setting of a seedy East Nashville dive bar. The Phil Spector-esque, âSpanish Harlem,â latin percussion contrasted with a gentle acoustic guitar leaves the perfect amount of space for multi-instrumentalist Billy Contreras (BĂ©la Fleck, Hank Williams III, Sunny War) to layer a myriad of violins.
âBilly came in with like 13 different violins,â says James, âall in different tunings and octaves. And each one of them has a name. He would call the violins out by its individual name before each take. He could replicate a line or melody sung to him, stacking layers of strings above and below it. I donât know how he does it. It was wild to watch him work, in the best way.â
The shimmering âParty Doll” builds imagery of popping champagne inside a classic Cadillac, shiny chrome cruising the neon-lined city streets and partying until dawn. It’s a joyous melody with melancholic undertones as James sings, âOut on the town, Iâm his pretty party doll.â It was conceived as a straightforward honky tonk song, but ended up sonically more akin to Blondieâs âHeart of Glass.â
â âParty Dollâ is about the way we mask heartbreak and the way we wear different faces,â says James, âjust to get alongâto get by. At the time, I was listening to The Stones âDead Flowersâ a lot, thinking about how they tried to write a tongue-in-cheek country song, and it turned into one of their many masterpieces. Oddly enough, when I began writing ‘Party Doll,’ I thought I was just writing a song that played on cheesy honky tonk cliches, but quickly realized that it hit closer to home than I had intended. It felt very relatable. So I just followed that path by writing from a chapter in my life that I knew all too well.â
Rock n roll treat âSteve McQueenâ isnât so much about the actor who epitomized cool for the post James Dean generation, but a mere backdrop for a time when James was living with âan old cowboy singerâ who’d always watch McQueen marathons. Co-written with guitarist Nick Bourgeau, the song adopts a straight Velvet Underground backbeat, rollicking guitars, a big organ solo and her gorgeous backing oohs and ahhs all embrace Jamesâ lyrically poetic imagery. âI like Steve McQueen but youâre the man of every hour for me / So it seems / while His marathon is on the TV / you watch while I iron your blue jeans / Isn’t this the real American Dream,â James sings.
During the pandemic, James and guitarist Matt Menold engaged in a Dick Dale deep dive, which birthed their instrumental âSurf.â James, a singer, wanted to write a piece where she wouldnât sing at all. She originally composed the lead part specifically for Menold to play. He eventually talked James into playing lead guitar, and the song was taken to new and exciting heights when Contreras added strings. The result is a grindhouse-cool interlude of surf rock majesty.
Co-written with Menold, âHard Placeâ is about self-doubt, the struggles of continuing to create art in this modern climate, drowning in all the noise, and feeling as if youâve knocked on every door. Itâs a dark, ominous tune with a chord progression reminiscent of Ray Charlesâ âUnchain My Heart,â but with an exciting and surprising bridge. It feels in line with one of Leonard Cohenâs cautionary tales.
According to James, a âFive & Dimerâ kind of guy is someone whoâs charming, with a twinkle in their eye, but maybe not the most trustworthy or reliableâsomeone exciting, but not unlike Bette Midlerâs âDaytime Hustler.â The upbeat âFive & Dimerâ is the kind of song that immediately feels as if youâve known it your whole life. It’ll win you over with its Frankie Valli percussion, warbling organ and Jamesâ 60s girl-group vocals.
Set against an iconic âBe My Babyâ heartbeat, âSilent Filmâ is a song of deep longing, a lyrical standout on the record. âWill You Beâ is a somber break-up ballad that’s swimming in reverb. It asks the question, âwill you be lonely when I leave?â Her mind’s already made up that she’s leaving, but the lingering questions echo.
The laidback rocker âLosing Sideâ is an anthem for the misfits and the outcasts, with its lazy Keith Richards-style guitars, relaxed drum fills and a spirited bass line contributed by, bassist and collaborator, Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs, Greenhornes, Dead Weather). Thereâs a touch of sadness in its resignation that everything will eventually be fineâŠwhile playing the underdog in the meantime. One imagines James and her friends day-drinking and commiserating in local dive barsâJames happily sipping her ginger ale. âMy bar tabs are free / Iâm the soda pop queen / But itâs only a matter of time / until me and mine are riding high,â she sings.
The beautifully dreamy album closer âNight Fadesâ is about those memorable nights that slowly blur into early morning, wandering home as the sun rises, finding someone on your mind. Recorded primarily live, you can hear the instruments bleeding into each other, Lawrenceâs long legato bass notes resonating. James pairs a talk box with her opening guitar line and melts into misty vocals. Its gentle artistry paints a picture of a woman embracing uncertainty and optimistically looking ahead. It resolves in a way that makes you want to play the record over again.
âYouâre heading home,â says James. âYouâre feeling alright, even though you realize tomorrow might be rough. But I wanted to capture this specific feeling in that moment, as the sun comes up after youâve been out all night. So I wrote this open ended, repeating line, slowly leading somewhere, trailing through the empty streets. It comes to a resolution in the last line, âas night fades into morningâŠthereâs nobody but you.â The one thought you find yourself returning to as you finally arrive home.â
As an ambitious 15-year-old, James opened up a coffee shop with her brother, as an excuse to have all ages shows where she and her friends could perform and build a local music scene. This DIY nighttime operation of mismatched furniture, posters of Bob Dylan and coffee as a secondary excuse to create a community led to her meeting legendary singer Anita Baker and eventually touring with her during the summers as a teenager.
âI went from fancy touring with Anita Baker,â says James, ârubbing elbows with celebrities and playing beautiful theaters, to touring in a van with smelly guys once I started my first band, Blue Mountain Belle. But I knew I wanted to work on my own project.â
James started an indie-folk project with her friends and they quickly became a go-to local act for the burgeoning scene of cool midwest Americana, regularly opening locally for larger touring acts like Leon Russell. She began working with legendary songwriter John Bettis, who introduced Jamesâ music to Michael Bolton. Bolton included Jamesâ single âSilent Filmâ in his documentary American Dream: Detroit, and the two performed at the filmâs premiere. Her ambitions soon drew her from the Motor City to Music City U.S.A.
In Nashville, she navigated to Auerbachâs recording studio, Easy Eye Sound, where she worked as a second engineer to Detroit pal, Collin Dupuis, who’d just worked with Auerbach on Lana Del Reyâs Ultraviolence and the preceding Black Keys albums. Dupuis brought James in to help with Easy Eye projects and introduced her to artists that Auerbach had been producing, including Nikki Lane.
James and Lane hit it off, and soon they were touring together. James was playing in Laneâs band and occasionally opening the shows with her own materialâsometimes solo acoustic, sometimes backed by the rest of Laneâs band. Clear Plastic Masks were the opening band on one Nikki Lane tour, and would become Jamesâ close friends and collaborators on both her 2020 These Days EP and As Night Fades.
âThey were the coolest rock n roll band I had ever seen live,â says James. âThe first time I heard them, I realized something really special was happening in that room. I remember thinking that if they never had any huge commercial success, theyâd be like the Velvet Underground or somethingâan underappreciated band that would inspire all the other bands and artists and tastemakers around them. We bonded really hard on that tour and spent lots of time together, in different cities. Eventually, they became the backing band for my solo stuff. Everything on this record is Charlie on drums and Matt on guitar and keys. Matt heard something in the music I was writing and was the real catalyst to working on my own project. I donât think it would have happened without his involvement and encouragement.â
The These Days EP and As Night Fades were both recorded at The Bomb Shelter in Nashville and produced, engineered and mixed by Tokic. These Days exemplified Jamesâ autobiographical, heart-on-her-sleeve songwriting while hitting us with classic pop meets Americana rock, all with a sheen of cinematic coolness. Particularly with the EPâs title track and âLost With You,â which has the heart of a crooner ballad, boasting shiny rock & roll guitar lines and a noir doo wop feel.
Rock and roll happens at night. Itâs dangerous. Itâs mysterious. Thatâs why weâve been drawn to it since the 1950âs. On As Night Fades, James takes us on a cinematic tour through her world of late night soirees, loves lost and loves found, all the while unafraid to embrace the uncertainty of the world. Her lyrics are charming, tender, vulnerable and incredibly vivid. It feels like black and white, 35mm celluloid, shot by Jim Jarmusch and dreamt by David Lynch. As Night Fades’ soulful rock & roll feels timeless and essential.
âWhen I listen to this album,â says James, âI imagine hearing it in that theater from Mulholland Drive, ideally with an audience of eccentric weirdos and misfits. A room filled with true music lovers who dig the b-sides. Cinephiles who embrace the weird. Mercurial lovers. Lyrically these songs are more honest and direct than anything Iâve written before. Itâs the first time Iâve ever made a record without trying to fit into a certain category and without compromising or molding the sound to appease others. And I feel good about that. Iâm proud of what weâve made.â
“She Might be based in Nashville, but this soulful rocker holds her heart for Detroit, MI and all the iconic, gritty rock and the heart-on-its-sleeve emotional messaging that goes with it.” – Billboard
“She is someone the world should start paying attention to immediately… There must be something about that Detroit-to-Nashville move, as Jack White also seems to be a master of this.” – The Revue
“Stirring noir soul… a callback to the retro pop of Amy Winehouse and classic rock n’ roll of Roy Orbison rolled into one.” – Popmatters
East Bay Express interviews Max Gerlock of Super Cassette calling their music “upbeat, with ambient touches, creating an expansive sonic space… Gerlock addresses alienation, capitalism, aging, and the meaning and meaninglessness of life.”
The albumâs music is upbeat, with ambient touches creating an expansive sonic space. Lyrically, Gerlock addresses alienation, capitalism, aging, and the meaning and meaninglessness of life. âAs I was writing, I was thinking about suicide a lot,â Gerlock said. âIt never got to the point that I was worried I might actually do it, but it made its way into the songs.â
B-Side Guys shares the new single from Old Heavy Hands, “The Flood,” noting its “gripping narrative that melds Americana with alt-country, echoing the soulful essence of acts like Drive-By Truckers and Jason Isbell.”
âThe Flood,â a standout track from Old Heavy Handsâ upcoming album âSmall Fires,â is a gripping narrative that melds Americana with alt-country, echoing the soulful essence of acts like Drive-By Truckers and Jason Isbell. Hailing from Greensboro, NC, the band brings to life their yâallternative sound in a song that captures the essence of resilience and rebirth. Produced by Danny Fonorow and engineered by the legendary Mitch Easter, âThe Floodâ is a testament to the bandâs journey through lifeâs tumultuous waters, from surviving cancer and overcoming addiction to building families and sharing stages with renowned artists.
Rolling Stone France includes Old Heavy Hands’ new single, “The Flood,” on Playlist of the Week, calling it a “terribly riffy new rock ‘n’ roll single, complete with powerful and relevant horns.”
Discover âThe Floodâ, Old Heavy Hands’ terribly riffy new rock ‘n’ roll single, complete with powerful and relevant horns. To hear more compositions of this caliber, supported by the warm voice of Nathan James Hall, see you on January 19, 2024 for the release of the album Small Fires.