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The Old Boys Club would hate Sorority Noise

Felipe — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 21:43:27 +0000

Given the antics we are barraged with on TV and Facebook, it seems I can’t have any sort of discussion nowadays without it getting politicized. So when I was mulling over sending out this email about the new Sorority Noise album (which is hella tight!), the first thing I asked myself was, “Who’d hate sorority noise?” I didn’t necessarily mean the band Sorority Noise – although they’d hate them too – but like, those words and their word associations, like, sororities, women, noise, and fun? Well, the first thing that came to mind was old white conservative GOP-dudes in Congress who seem to hate women and want to control every aspect of them and their bodies, that’s who. Those dudes definitely don’t like good tunes, women OR noise – I mean, they went after NWA in the 90’s and Eminem in the 00’s – so it’s safe to assume they wouldn’t like the combo of women on their own, in their own house, not needing men around, and making “noise.” That would be, I presume, terribly vexing to them. “Just how could them gals be havin’ fun without us or our permission!? That just ain’t natural I tell ya!”

Anyways, this new Sorority Noise album is killer, even though there are no female members in the band (wait what? but then why all the talk about women? that’s just misleading Feli) (womp, womp). The Hartford, CT foursome got started in 2013, put out some lo-fi-ish indie/emo tunes that were pretty great. Then they buckled down, and put together this excellent 2017 release “You’re Not As ____ As You Think.” It’s fast, dark, and broody, and rips through quickly enough you don’t get bogged down by all their “feelings.” It came out last Friday, and ever since Joe Ciolli made me listen, it’s been at the top of the list, even above WSTR right now… I know, I can’t believe it either. Here are the first two tracks, hoping it tickles your fancy (“tickling fancy” sounds like something our esteemed POTUS has admitted experience in – especially given that fancy was a euphemism for fanny in old British English, a vulgar expression for female genitals.)

FeliSays Sorority’s Noise is the best Noise

You Can’t Misinterpret a Palindrome

Felipe — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 17:01:49 +0000

Waking up in 2017 can feel like you’re going the wrong way on a one way street. Unless you toss out your tech and stick your head in the sand, it’s loud and it’s brash, and entirely overwhelming. “Someone’s always trying to tell me who I am / Who to love and how to f*ck / And that it’s time to pay rent.” RVIVR was on to something back in 2013 when they dropped this dime on us. The Olympia, Washington quartet are known for their high energy shows and their defense of gender equality (sadly, gender equality is out of vogue in Congress). These dudes and dudettes even offer up some friendly advice on how to handle today: “When it feels like you’ve been tamed / And your dragging around your chains / Start screaming your true name.” Seems like lots around the country have already heeded their advice (ok maybe just the Facebook warriors, but whatevs).

Furthermore, this year’s filled with lots of bigly words, and sometimes you just need everyone to Shut. Up. Since this RVIVR track, although dope, is real amped up and loaded with fast talk, I’ve included a chill-down follow up song (what?! two songs? it’s 2017! anything’s possible!) that has absolutely no words whatsoever, by an aptly named band who should perform on the 20th, Red Handed Denial (need some aloe for that sick burn!?). This Friday double-dose is in essence, a perfect combo (you’re welcome, I’ll be here all week). This Canadian quintet lists only one interest in their bio, and boy are they on to something: Super Smash Bros.

Listen Up, Feli Says He’s Back

America needs a Tender Defender

Felipe — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 21:12:11 +0000

The recent turn of events this week have shown that the institution of America needs some defending. But we’ve also learned that sometimes, us Americans are a bunch of babies and need coddling, so we need said defending to be executed with the utmost care and tenderness. We shall call it the Careful Defense..! No no, that doesn’t work… We need the Defensive Tenderdom..! eh.. sounds religious and porny at the same time. Hmm… Let’s see. A single entity that will not only be tender, but also be our defender..? Idk, it’ll come to me. Luckily there’s this sweet new band called Tender Defender (!), and not only do they have your back, but boy oh boy do they have a song for you! They have a killer EP out this year, and my favorite song is called “F.E.F.E,” and before you ask, yes, that is one of my many nicknames, but its pronounced “feefee.” Sadly, this song was not written about me, but seems to fit the sentiment of this week just perfectly. Listen below and you’ll see what the title stands for. Noisey described them as “the sort of triumphant, melodic gruff-anthems that lean heavily on “woah-ohs,” the fingerpoints, and the feel-good shoutbacks.” Idk about you, but after THIS week, I’m due some triumphant feel-good shoutbacks. Here are some lyrics for you:

Having one of those days

That make you wanna say

Fuck everyone and fuck everything

I just wanna go to sleep

And not have any dreams

——

I’d liked to love everyone

And love everything

But I’m not a fucking sheep

I’m a human being

If you like this song, check out the band Iron Chic. Equally awesome (mostly cuz it’s a lot of the same dudes).

Feli Says listen to each other. and hug more ppl

Don Broco wearing Don Bronco T-shirts

Felipe — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 15:26:52 +0000

I’ve been listening to this song for a few weeks now, quietly admiring their sweet band name, which for the life of me I thought was “Don Bronco,” not Don Broco. Only upon looking them up for the purposes of this email did I realize my dyslexic error. “Broco” doesn’t make much sense unless you read up on how they named their band (I did, and it’s still not great), while “Bronco” is really a much cooler name. Not only does it immediately invoke images of OJ Simpson speeding down the highway in his white Bronco (Ford is bringing the Bronco back and it’s really awesome if you haven’t checked it out), but there was a cool Australian boxer way back when named Don “Bronco” Johnson. What a name. He was not only a wild swinging fighter who drew big crowds, but also famous for his rodeo riding and his Errol Flynn style mustache (which is regarded as one of the manliest mustaches of all time). More than that, Don Bronco was also ahead of his time through his breaking down of social norms; he was married twice, both to Aboriginal women, not a common occurrence for a white guy in 1950s Australia. Anywho, this Bedford, England band shuffled between several names in their early days, one of which was Don Loco (not bad, sounds like 4Loko). After their guitarist “broke” his wrist playing soccer, they jokingly called themselves Don Broco… See? Not as good as Don Bronco, even if they do seem to be using the whole “bronco” cowboy theme in their video, but what can you do.

Feli Says to pay better attention to band names

Turnover: sweet ear treats

Felipe — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 13:00:25 +0000

2016 might be their year. One convert at a time, Turnover is becoming a band that whoever listens, keeps listening. A super great break out album, Peripheral Vision. Adoration by genre-crossing fans. Sharp and resonant lyrics. An easy going vibe conducive to repeat listens. And a great label full of killer up-and-coming bands: Run For Cover Records (Pinegrove, The Sun Days, Pity Sex). They are currently on a Europe and UK tour with four previously shared FSL bands: Moose Blood, PUP, and Boston Manor (sweet new tunes out recently). Without terrible success their first few years of existence, and nonstop touring taking its toll, the band decided if something didn’t change, they’d cut back and make this more of a “hobby-based thing.” That allowed them to take some risks (if you can call it that) and make some changes to their sound, just do whatever they wanted without the fear established bands have of pissing off their fan-base (as reported from last night’s Cymbals Eat Guitars show in Brooklyn). The risks have paid off, and this year “has definitely been the coolest and best year,” taking them to Europe, Japan and Australia. The real question now becomes, so what’s next? Do they take more risks and mix it up again? Hang tight to what’s paying the bills? People hate on bands selling out, but usually selling out goes hand in hand with gettin’ paid son ($$)… so who are we corporate sell outs to judge?

Speaking of hanging on to things, here’s an older track from a few years back. The EP came about when they mixed up their lineup and brought Eric Soucy in for guitar and back up vocals, initiating the transformation to their current sound. This song’s about the fallout with that person you kinda hung on to, who was always around, but never “the” person. You never meant to hurt anyone, or yourself. You both knew the deal. Still didn’t change the way things ended up.

Feli Says Listen to Peripheral Vision on repeat

Get Lost in the Pinegrove

Felipe — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 13:49:28 +0000

Some folks are labeling the Montclair, NJ (mostly) 8-piece band, Pinegrove, as alt-country. I don’t think that’s terribly fair, but then again, labeling things is hard to do well. We as Americans love to label (#LTL). It’s one of our favorite past times. Dr. Remen at UCSF states that “labeling sets up an expectation of life that is often so compelling we can no longer see things as they really are“ and “a label is an attempt to assert control and manage uncertainty.” Hmmm… so we label things to exert control, and so we don’t have to “think” anymore. Verrrrry interesting Doctor. Very interesting indeed. So if I told you that Pinegrove’s great debut LP is alt-country, you’d probably go in to with some sort of expected parameters that would be different that if I told you it was midwestern-indie-emo, or folksy, or introspective art-rock. Maybe we should just stop labeling people/music/religions and let people experience things for themselves and make up their own minds (but then how will I #hashtag!? ugh…). Most things in life are more complex than one or two labels. Then again, these links of amazing label faux pas makes them fun again (here & here). Back to Pinegrove, their new album is really good and really chill. It’s good for work, for home, for walking. But that’s just my opinion. Think what you like.

“[Labeling] may allow us the security and comfort of a mental closure and encourage us not to think about things again. But life is known only by those who have found a way to be comfortable with change and the unknown. Given the nature of life, there may be no security, but only adventure.” #labels #amirite? #pleaseagree

Feli Listens to this

The Academic teach you how to turn an adjective into a noun

Felipe — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 13:41:54 +0000

The lost art form of mixtaping was an effortful and rewarding experience when done properly, or an embarrassingly awkward process of rejection when your crush hates the mix you labored over, because, like, why would you put Creed and Trick Daddy, together, on one tape, then all those awful acoustic covers you played on your guitar?! And to answer track 12, no I will not go to the dance with you. American poet Geoffrey O’Brien called the personal mixtape “the most widely practiced American art form.” And just like most art, just cuz there’s a lot of it doesn’t mean it’s any good. That said, mixtapes still required effort and thought, regardless of how bad they were, while playlists, the mixtape replacement, lack that je ne sais quoi. I believe it to be the lack of tactility. You could say the mixtape is to the playlist the way a letter in the mail is to an email. Same same but different, face time will just never do what a good snug-session will (#snuglife). Anywho, this new track is called “Mixtape 2003″ by The Academic – an Irish indie rock foursome putting in their dues. That said, 2003 was a great year for mixtaping, especially with the heart of emo happening (see: Brand New, Dashboard, Something Corporate, etc.) and game changers like the introduction of 50 Cent (Get Rich or Die Trying), Jay Z’s Black Album, The Darkness (remember “I Believe In A Thing Called Love”?), Fabolous’ Street Dreams came out as well Beyonce’s debut solo album… So ya, 2003.

Feli Says what happened to Fabolous though?

Makeshift Shelters: only if you enjoy living

Felipe — Mon, 05 Sep 2016 13:30:27 +0000

If my time with Bear Grills has taught me anything, it’s that you can create Makeshift Shelters out of anything. You can hollow out a tree trunk (if you’ve got the time and the tools), you can weave those long stringy leaves together like a quilt with sticks and make a roof (if you know how to weave), you can hunt down some large game, cut them open and sleep inside their skin for warmth on a dark and cold night (if you can stand the stench), you can take a bunch of palm fronds and slap ’em together so the rain and wind doesn’t get you (climate & weather provided), you can dig a coffin sized trench in the snow (about 5 ft down), then cut in to the snow laterally and sleep in there (protection & warmth!), or you can do like Bear Grills and just sleep in hotels. (Bet you didn’t know I was such an outdoorsy guy and what not given my amazing manicure, huh?). Well these Makeshift Shelters are less earthy, but just as warm as the snow coffin. The D.C. foursome released their first full-length album, Something So Personal, last year to some heavy praise from folks like The World Is A Beautiful Place. They’ve been compared to Candy Hearts and even MCS and TBS, but to me it’s their slower cuts that bring it all together. Their second track “(This Song is Definitely Not About A Boy)” is really fun and catchy and spiteful (gotta love spiteful lyrics “i was pretty young and i was pretty dumb// because somehow you convinced me you were great”), and “Lighter fluid” are real highlights, although the whole album is pretty chill. The slower last 3 tracks “Overflowing” and “I’ll Be The One That Comes Around” and “Darkest Nights” really do it for me (ok, maybe I like the whole album :-/). Probably because the title “Darkest Nights” fits in to my earlier Bear Grills motif. And there’s nothing I like more than bringing it all together. RIP Steve Irwin.

Feli Says check it out on SPOTIFY

Pkew Pkew Pkew: the sounds of finger guns

Felipe — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 15:28:04 +0000

Keepin’ on our Canada kick, Southern Ontario punks Pkew Pkew Pkew (to be pronounced as if you were animating gunshots with your fingers…) are all about having fun and being mellow, like most canucks (except when it comes to their tunes). The Pkew x3 frontman posted a Craigslist ad trying to find bandmates and only one dude replied; a guy who spent most of his time in a TV theme song cover band (TV shows like Pokemon… not Good Times or Friends). As their friendship “blossomed over a love of drinking and anime,” they literally ‘got the band together’ and started started travelling around Canada playing shows in “stupid small towns.” They consider their new album, out this summer, an eleven song anthology that blasts you through themes of failure, nostalgia, growing up, staying young, and getting really, really, really hammered. The Pkews have been compared to other party rockers and fellow canucks, PUP, and Diarrhea Planet (from Ca$hville, Tennessee). Fun facts a-boot Ontario: Toronto the 4th largest city in North America, gets around 300 days of sunshine a year, rivaling Denver. Ontario also boasts the worlds longest street (or at least kinda used to), Yonge Street. It starts at Lake Ontario in the east and runs north and west through central and northern Ontario for 1,178 miles to the Rainy River on the Minnesota border. They claim the world’s longest freshwater beach at 8.6 miles and North America’s shortest railway, at 3.3 miles (they are really struggling for fun facts :-/ ) Also, and way cooler, they had a place called Camp X: a spy school to train the Allies during WWII. The official name was Special Training School 103 (STS103 operated from 1941 to 1946, then continued on in other forms) and pupils included James Bond creator Ian Fleming and Roald Dahl (think James and the Giant Peach, The BFG (that’s the silly looking CGI movie that’s out now), and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory). Ends up Ronald Dahl, before inspiring every kids book and movie ever, was an ace fighter pilot and total badass. After being sent on a flying mission through Africa, later to be told was totally in the wrong direction – they sent him to “No Man’s Land – he crashed his out-of-fuel plane, fractured his skull, smashed his nose, and lost his sight. He dragged his body away from the burning wreckage and passed out in the middle of the rocky desert. Eventually he was saved, didn’t regain his sight for a while, fell in and out of love with a nurse in Alexandria (classic move), returned to dogfighting in WWII (not like Michael Vick), became a dope spy, yaddi yadda. Anywho, Pkew Pkew Pkew have nothing to do with any of those things, except for their name, and I have a new respect for children’s story writers.

Feli (& Steven Hyden) Say Listen

The Sun Days on Mondays

Felipe — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 14:00:39 +0000

Why do we call it “Sunday Scaries”? I’ve heard folks use that term to describe the looming fear of the ever fast approaching Monday work day; which it then should be called the Monday Scaries… Right? Or am I missing something? You’re “scared” of Monday. Then again, I’ve also heard it described as the sort of Sunday hangover shakes from boozing all weekend and foggily recounting your last 36 hours of mistakes (where did these pro-Trump texts from someone named Frank come from/why is the Chinese food delivery guy asleep on my couch/why do my heels have no heels/this isn’t my shirt), while realizing you are indeed a tax paying adult with responsibilities and employees to manage in a few short hours. That sounds terrible. But I still don’t get the “scaries” part :-/. Either way, next time the Sunday scaries come a’creepin, you can find relief in The Sun Days – who are none of the above things – (and who may or may not have essentially copied another band’s name), providing breezy Cali-inspired beach indiepop by way of Sweden. They are happy, fun and all around super chill awesome. Stereogum called them “one of the best new bands in the world” back in their February review – bold, to say the least. They also mentioned that calling your band The Sun Days (with a space in between “Sun” and “Days”) is “a lot like adopting the name Churches or Limp Biscuit or Ray, Dio Head.” HA. Nice one. Their 2016 debut album, meticulously titled “Album,” is real real nice.

Feli Says DEF Listen to this one