Grand Vapids @ Caledonia Lounge 2015-01-23
Great live recording of Grand Vapids‘ album-release show from Southern Shelter. Stream/download the whole set HERE…
Great live recording of Grand Vapids‘ album-release show from Southern Shelter. Stream/download the whole set HERE…
THE HANDSOME FAMILY, WILDEWOOD, LEWI LONGMIRE
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) The husband-and-wife duo known as the Handsome Family have been making odd Americana albums for the past 21 years. The songs are led by Brett Sparks’ deep baritone voice, but it’s largely Rennie Sparks’ lyrics that make them so notable. From historical fiction to odes to inanimate objects, they combine a gothic taste for the macabre with dry, absurdist humor. Their mix of sincere folk tradition and clever alt-country has made them a difficult band to pigeonhole—too weird to fit among Steve Earle or Gillian Welch, not over-the-top enough to be on a playlist with Silver Jews or the Magnetic Fields. While they’ve been critically acclaimed and widely covered for years, it’s the use of their song “Far from Any Road” as last year’s True Detective theme that’s brought their music to a wider audience. Tonight, expect a curious convergence of wide-eyed newcomers and long-time obsessives. READ MORE…
The Handsome Family’s hometown, Albuquerque, has long been dry. But tap lyric writer, bass player and banjo picker Rennie Sparks for water conservation tips, and talk quickly turns toward the area’s vast subterranean oceans.
“If you have a green lawn here, people send you hate mail,” the fast-talking Sparks says from her home, before diving into her real source of fascination. “I can’t wait to swim with the ancient creatures in those oceans — though when we eventually go down there to steal their water, there will be trouble.”
Nevertheless, no tributary is too troubling for Rennie and her husband, vocalist-guitarist-keyboardist Brett Sparks. A deep reserve of dark, lyrical storytelling inspiration seems to have always flowed for the gothic-country duo, perhaps best known for their “True Detective” theme, “Far From Any Road.” Trouble, doom and disaster — whether of the magical, catastrophic sort visited upon the “Far From Any Road” narrator or the ilk born of everyday struggles — are familiar food for the characters that bob to the surface of the duo’s songs.
On 2013’s “Wilderness,” those protagonists include flies, admiring the blood-spattered beauty of their feast, a dead George Custer, before we flash-forward to the Walmart in the spot where the cavalry commander fell (“Flies”). Mary Sweeney, the “Wisconsin Window Smasher” of the 1890s, is conjured up by thoughts of the peckish birds of “Woodpecker,” while in “Owls,” a shut-in is comforted then worried by the fowl that may have made off with his meds.
All creatures, big and small, are rendered with infinite dignity and just a hint of humor by Brett Sparks, who writes all the music.
“Wilderness” gave Rennie a chance to flex her creative muscles and “to turn this little diamond around and get a different flash of life,” within the concept of wildlife, with a companion book of essays and artwork. It’s slightly ironic, then, that of all the creatures she passionately discusses, the silent eels are the ones she strongly identifies with. READ MORE…
When you clicked on this article, you were entering into an agreement, of which you are the prime beneficiary: you’re here to listen to some fucking great music, and we’re here to give it to you. Got it? We good on this formula? Alright, then let’s get the gears in motion.
The spectrum of our premieres ranges wide, and often times we’ll take a chance with some odd nonsense that doesn’t strike the soul or set your veins on fire. This is no such song. The latest offering from Luna Sol, the new high-mountain rock project from Hermano guitarist Dave Angstrom, “December” is a Sabbath-channeling churner of impending doom that features guest vocals from Angstrom’s Hermano bandmate John Garcia of Kyuss and Vista Chino.
Ready for this shit? Tear into the stompin, squealin, fucking riotous good time of “December” exclusively on Crave – a taste of what’s to come from their debut LP Blood Moon, which hits on 4/20 (pre-order) and also features a guest spot from Nick Oliveri (Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age). LISTEN HERE…
Dark country group The Handsome Family have announced a short Spring tour that will see them play several shows across the West Coast of the US. From the press release: The run kicks off with a set at Indio, Calif.’s Stagecoach festival on April 24—where they will share the bill with artists such as Sturgill Simpson, Gregg Allman, Lydia Loveless, Merle Haggard & Steve Earle—and wraps up with a May 2 show at Bellingham, Wash.’s Green Frog Acoustic Tavern.
Horror fans might recognize the group as the band behind “Far From Any Road”, the theme song to HBO’s True Detective. READ MORE…
Rare is it in 2015 that a new stoner metal band comes along that makes you drop what you’re doing and take notice. It’s not that we’re incapable of letting go and rocking out; it’s that it feels like every truly great stoner riff has already been written.
Then what makes the self-described “High Mountain Stoner Rock” band Luna Sol from Denver worthy of our attention? Sure, guitarist and band leader David Angstrom’s pedigree is strong — he plays in Hermano with John Garcia of Kyuss fame — and his riffs, while they don’t reinvent the wheel, are hella catchy and can stand up against the genre’s best. But it’s his voice that really grabbed us: it’s more smooth than the gruff timbre you might expect, and that quality provides the perfect compliment to Luna Sol’s chilled out vibes. As importantly, it’s all in the songs: they’re top notch.
If you dig “Operator,” premiering exclusively via MetalSucks below, check out another track from Blood Moon at Brooklyn Vegan. The album comes out on April 20th — pre-order it here — and features guest spots from Nick Oliveri (Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age) and Angstrom’s Hermano bandmate John Garcia (Kyuss, Hermano, Vista Chino). LISTEN HERE…