NEW MUSIC FRIDAY with TBONES
these are the releases that should be on curated lists and the tips of everyone's tongues.
GARCIA PEOPLES - Nightcap At Wits’ End [LP/CD](Beyond Beyond Is Beyond)
As if being prolific and psychedelic was not enough, Brooklyn’s Garcia Peoples have to labeled a “jam” band by some. So why not buck of those expected trends and make a concise, “song-worthy” record. Live, Garcia Peoples can crush you. The waves of emotion and how they control their swell and dissipation are natural. On tape, they are refining themselves as a band. On their newest effort, they channel the greats of Krautrock with a sweeping Amon Duul II-like Psychedelia growing into an epic second side. Here is the promise of last year’s “Live in NYC” cassette coming to its fruition. Forget people calling them the “next _________,” start looking to what band is called “the New Garcia Peoples.”
BEE BEE SEA - Day Ripper [LP/CD](Wild Honey UK)
The Italian band Bee Bee Sea has been ripping up Garage/Punk for a couple of years now with buzz bomb singles and frenetic albums that never grow tiring. On their newest album, they return to the nervy, lightning-fast Garage Pop of “Sonic Boomerang” with great results. Here are ten songs that will roll you over with their force and leave happily dazed with their hooks ringing in your ears.
PINE BARONS - Mirage on the Meadow [LP/CD](Grind Select/The Orchard)
Philadelphia’s Pine Barons are a great discovery. Like Dr. Dog or that handful of band who reformulate 70’s Top 40/AOR Pop/Rock around great songwriting, “Mirage on The Meadow” thrives on its unpredictability. What on its surface resembles textured Indie Rock is the band reconfiguring composing and writing in the studio from the ground up. “Meadow” is produced like a shimmering trip through the Eighties. Their songs grow in color over time and given the THREE sparkling singles on this album - you are going to hearing much more from them soon.
SERENGETI & KENNY SEGAL - Ajai Epilogue [7”](Fake Four/Redeye)
The duo Serengeti & Kenny Segal represent that new side of Chicago Hip Hop. Far more cerebral than a lot of other Hip-Hop, “Ajai Epilogue” is compelling because everything they are saying while running down these laundry lists of the daily events of life says far more about our lives in a state of mordant satisfaction than songwriters, rappers, writers, broadcasters, bloggers and various people who get your attention and want to be heard. The beats are for beasts and the songs on here could be on an endless loop and you would still discover that hint of emotion you missed.
MISTURA PURA - The Blue Bus [LP](Ubiquity)
Hailing from Italy, producer Federica Grappasoni reaches into her trick bag and creates a holistic vision of just what modern Funk/Jazz should encompass from Pop and even World music. Grappasoni is not pilfering sounds either, “The Blue Bus” hangs together as a whole image. The entire record carries that MPB feel of being in the room when it was concocted, but you celebrate the blur of all the lines as they fly past you.
THE HAWKINS - Silence Is A Bomb [LP/CD](The Sign/The Orchard)
Straight out of Sweden it is the sophomore album from The Hawkins, a band who is not afraid to ROCK. “Silence Is A Bomb” is that wild amalgamation of commercial Rock. What begins like the Darkness, ends up with a thrilling Queen run (“Stranger In The Next Room.” Occasionally, they veer into a renovated Pop Punk, but The Hawkins have a great singer and the foundation to be one of those bands that dominate modern Active Rock radio in America with a unique take on Classic Rock.