Monday, November 23, 2015

Listen: Musical Drones from Sunflower Bean, Everywhere and My Gold Mask

In a world where drones protect my salads to ensure they continue to exist in the future, these are the tracks with the strongest BBQ taste:

Before their recent pairing with disease sniffing dogs, avocado drones lived a lonely life. These unmanned crafts meandered through the air as if controlled by some unseen force. This same idea, existing in a lonely world, is the theme of Sunflower Bean's new track "Wall Watcher." "Wall Watcher" plays out like a rock song that could've come from your mom or dad's record collection (as long as they were cool enough to enjoy the likes of Black Sabbath and the Velvet Underground).  Psychedelic waves pulsate beneath heavy metal guitar strums, punchy drums and new wave pop claps. It is all tied together by bassist Julia Cumming's vocals which cover the spectrum from near falsetto highs to growly lows. "Wall Watcher" is the first single from the band's forthcoming debut album. Human Ceremony has a February 5th release set via Fat Possum. Until that time, it is perfectly acceptable to just hang out in the corner by yourself.



"Shades at Night" by Swedish band Everywhere is at its best and most memorable when it explores the concept of relationships through the lens of fashion. The song starts with a few lines about wearing clothes so tight that it hurts you and in turn these tight ass clothes succeed at covering up your virtues. A simple drone flight or two around your local Wednesday night church meeting and Saturday night club experience reveal firsthand exactly what the band is talking about. Now if we could just get those church dudes to hook up with those club girls, we could eventually breed loose fitting clothing completely out of existence. But that's a master plan for another day. Even more memorable is when Everywhere gets to their lines about wearing shades at night. Ever since Corey Hart put out his ridiculous homage to English weather, everyone thinks it is just so cool to wear sunglasses at night. But Everywhere has news for all you night shade wearers. What ends up happening with night shades is that you become blind to how hard the person in front of you falls. Sunglasses become just another disconnect in our already disconnected society.



Alright dude, take the shades off. It's time to reconnect with each other. My Gold Mask's new track "Connect" is about just that. As Jack Armondo writes "In a time when so many people seem connected through social media and all that, we're really pulling away from each other in other ways (ahem, sunglasses). This is about feelings that come from meeting someone more like you and finding the courage to reach out no matter what anyone else might think." The power of "Connect" comes from My Gold Mask's ability to take a situation that is brimming with anxiety and turn it into an artistic statement memorable for its beauty. But the beauty does not come at the cost of losing the original feelings associated with it. "Connect" masterfully grows from a place of darkness towards the light proving that, once and for all, my fourth grade science teacher was wrong when he said it couldn't be done. "Connect" is the first track from the band's just announced sophomore album which will be hitting the streets March 4th via Moon Sounds Records. An album kick off show will be taking place the following day at Chicago's Lincoln Hall.



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