Album Of The Week: "No Luck" by What Tyrants

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of April 19th-25th:

What Tyrants - No Luck

01. Far Out
02. Muffins
03. No Luck
04. Feeling Alright (I'm Okay)
05. Lean On The World
06. Dancehall No. 2
07. 4's And 5's
08. Scuzz
09. Modern Man
10. What Chu Want?
11. Shag
12. Blue In The Face
13. Fuzz Trip

The Twin Cities are in the midst of a Golden Age of guitar music right now.  Between the good folks at Land Ski Records, No Problem Records, Forged Artifacts, and the glorious noise coming from Ecstattic Studios, it's a fantastic time to be a rock n roll fan here in Minnesota.

Of course, this being Minnesota, that rock n roll sound so much better when the sun's shining and the window's are open.  Enter What Tyrants and their debut album No Luck.  If ever there was an album meant to be played at parties or in cars, this is the one.

What Tyrants consists of brothers Sean & Kyle Schultz and Garrison Grouse doing pretty much everything you'd want out of a garage rock band.  At their core they sound like a mash-up of The Hives & The Hi-Fives (The Hive-Fives?), but they manage to stand out by adding a few wrinkles of surf-rock here, a bit of lo-fi nonsense there, and a secret ingredient that I suspect is English post-punk grooves.  Have a listen to "What Chu Want?" for a good example of this intoxicating mix.




Lyrically Sean Schultz isn't covering too many bases that haven't already been covered by dozens and dozens of the descendants of The Monks.  There's bitterness, there's cynicism, there's love, there's jealousy, the desire to just let go, but above all, there's an unflinching belief in the power of loud guitars and bundles of energy.  For my money, "Dancehall No. 2" doubles as the What Tyrants mission statement.



Like I said from the jump, summer's upon us.  Don't waste it.  Those sunny days and drunky nights will be that much more fun with a copy of No Luck.  It's available in stylish cassette form from the good folks at Forged Artifacts or as a Name-Your-Price download on the What Tyrants Bandcamp page.  Go get it now and enjoy a rock n roll summer.

Album Of The Week: "Drive Drive Delay" by The Persian Leaps

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of November 17th-23rd, 2015:

The Persian Leaps - Drive Drive Delay

01. Fire Starter
02. Pretty Boy
03. (Goodbye To) South Carolina
04. Truth = Consequences
05. Permission

Who's ready for some power pop!?!

Hopefully you all remember The Persian Leaps.  I wrote about their last EP, the excellent Praise Elephants as my Album Of The Week almost a year ago. I also played their song "Hard Feelings" as part of a three song local set way back on Flatbasset Radio: Episode #24.  Basically, if you follow the Flatbasset world at all you should know these guys.

Drive Drive Delay is an interesting turn for the band.  Back when I was writing about Praise Elephants I mentioned that the band sounded like the Gin Blossoms and that I meant that as a compliment.  Drive Drive Delay is still laden with the kind of pop hooks that remind me of the 90's, however, Drew Forsberg and the boys have removed a layer of sheen from the proceedings.  Drive Drive Delay is a little bit louder and a little bit more raw than its predecessor.  These texture of these songs has more in common with Guided By Voices or Archers Of Loaf than they do Gin Blossoms.

Now, lots of bands have decided to strip back their sound and take on a more straight ahead punk edge.  What makes this development interesting in the case of The Persian Leaps is that removing that layer of gloss has actually revealed more depth in Forsberg's songs.  Little guitar fills turn up, backup vocals become more noticeable, the drums hit harder, and the songs sound much more like the work of a band firing on all cylinders in the same room.

Forsberg's also grown as a songwriter.  Part of what made Praise Elephants so instantly enjoyable was the way the songs seemed instantly familiar.  Here Forsberg still traffics in instantly hum-able hooks, but also finds more little left turns.  Both "Fire Starter" and "Pretty Boy" are kiss-off tracks delivered with beautifully Midwestern passive aggressiveness.  "(Goodbye To) South Carolina" features an almost deadpan delivery before building launching into all-out guitars on the chorus.  Album closer "Permission" is the most ambitious song the band has put to tape yet.  Taking his foot off the gas pedal Forsberg crafts a mid-tempo rocker that finds its energy in elongated washes of guitar.  Lyrically he turns the tables on the angry guy from the album's opening tracks, riding the song out with the lyrics, "She said, she said, I don't need your permission."  It's a surprising turn to close the album and the best example yet of The Persian Leaps coming into their own.  With two stellar EP's in the bank it's hard not to be excited to find out what they do next.

Drive Drive Delay was released on Drew Forsberg's new Land Ski Records label.  It's available on The Persian Leaps Bandcamp page.  You should really look into it.

Album Of The Week: August 4th-10th, 2014

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of August 4th-10th, 2014:

Frankie Teardrop - Raiders

01. Raiders
02. 100%
03. No More Drugs
04. She Kept Lyin
05. Personal Hell
06. It Takes Time

This is Frankie Teardrop's second time appearing here as an AOTW.  Back in November of 2013 I spent a week with his debut EP Tough Guy.  Back then I wrote that I couldn't tell if the songs were "garage rock songs polished up or pop songs stripped down."  While that's still the case with Raiders, it's becoming clear that Frankie's pop-rock heart beats strong & clear.

Raiders shows a welcome amount of growth from an artist who's last record contained songs like "Pizza Lyfestyle" and "New Beverage."  The record's opening one-two punch of "Raiders" & "100%," stands as the best two songs Frankie's written to date (if you're a fan of the Flatbasset Radio podcast you might remember us opening with "Raiders" a few weeks back).  Both are energetic, catchy, & poppy and benefit greatly from the addition of a second guitarist.  Lyrically, however, they start hinting at some of the darker subject matter to come.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #39 by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

As you can probably imagine just from the titles of the last four tracks, Frankie's songwriting has taken a turn for the personal (though I'm willing to bet "Pizza Lyfestyle" was personal in its own way).  The band is young enough that emotional turmoil of the second half of the album rings clear.  For example, "She Kept Lyin" is not an angry, detached dig at said liar as much as it is an explanation of mood.  The record ends on relatively positive note with "It Takes Time," which finds Frankie showing the maturity to understand that, well, things take time.

My friend Adam recently described Frankie Teardrop as "Bauhaus covering the Beach Boys," which nails their sound pretty well.  I finally caught these guys a couple of weeks back at the 10,000 Sounds Festival and I can attest to the "you really have to see them live" reputation that they've earned.  The band's trajectory from Tough Guy to Raiders is an encouraging one and I'm excited to see where these guys go next.  Until then, really, you should see them live.

Raiders was self-released by Frankie Teardrop on his brand new No Problem Records.  If you'd like to check it out for yourself head over to the Bandcamp site where the record's available as a "Name Your Price" download.

Sounds Of Sota #3: "You Are So Loud That I Want To Die" by Human Kindness

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

Hardly getting through to you...

Hello again, music fans! Welcome to Sounds Of Sota #3!

For those who are unfamiliar with Sounds Of Sota, it's a running column in which we ask one of our contributors to review new albums & EP's from Minnesota artists. In sticking with our desire to rank and rate everything the albums are given a score of 1-10 at the end of the column.

This time around we asked TCDroogsma to give us his thoughts on "You Are So Loud That I Want To Die," the debut EP from Human Kindness.

TCDroogsma, thoughts?

It was just over a month ago that Human Kindness came roaring out of the U Of M camps and onto the Twin Cities music map with their album You Are So Loud That I Want To Die.  It's an album filled with energy, yelled out hooks, and the sort of calamitous guitar rock that makes you wonder if they didn't steal their album name from a note left under their door.

The album eases to life on the swirling guitars of lead single "Krishnaagain."  It's a fine song, I suppose, filled with a chorus that punches and energy to burn. Given its accessibility, makes sense as a lead single.  What it doesn't do, however, is give an accurate picture of just what Human Kindness is (or seemingly aims to be).  It treads the same familiar post-hardcore/math rock terrain that hundreds of bands have already worn thin.  More than a stand alone single, "Krishnaagain" marks a departure point, an acknowledgement of the influences & ideas that formed the base of the band's sound.

You Are So Loud I Want To Die genuinely takes off with the second & third songs on the album, companion tracks "Breathing Deep (for Walking)" and "Breathing Deep (for Breathing)."  Combined, the two tracks make for nearly seven & a half minutes of fuzzy, wirey, mostly-instrumental grooves.  It's obviously a ballsy move to devote that much time so early into an EP to instrumentals, but it's a move that pays of in spades.

Where "Krishnaagain" showed where the band is coming from, the two "Breathing Deep" tracks illustrate where it hopes to go.  Sure, there are still cues taken from D.C. hardcore (note the shuffling drums & funky bass work), there are also hints of something grander.  They aim for lofty heights with these instrumentals, building up, breaking down, and rebuilding as though taking cues from both Fugazi & The E Street Band.

"When I see you call, it's like church bells ringing, and I can't help thinking of the highs from which I could fall..."



That's how we're greeted on album centerpiece "Prescription Drugs."  Ask yourself, does that sound more like Guy Picciotto or Bruce Springsteen?  It's tough to say, and that's what makes it so great.  "Prescription Drugs" is the moment on the album when this collision of hardcore aesthetics & arena ideas mesh perfectly.  While the lyrics may be lovelorn, the dueling guitar work express the buzzing head & exploding heart of a man who ends a verse asking plaintively, "I'm falling for you, do you want to see my bedroom?"  It's the rare song that keeps its upward trajectory pushing through the duration of its three and a half minutes, closing the first half of the album with a bang.

After a 1:10 breather known as "Katherine Drone" (which, despite the fact that I have no idea who Katherine is, is still a perfect title for the interlude), the album's second half kicks off with the almost-ballad "Donnellan, Sam's Tape."  Lyrically, it's the disappointed ex-lover to the anxious young man of "Prescription Drugs."

"I don't believe that dreams hold any higher meaning..."

These are the first words we hear, and the rest of the song proceeds to follow through on that thought.  The furious, excitable energy of "Prescription Drugs" is nowhere to be found as "Donnellan, Sam's Tape" drifts along with the pace of a man wondering what went wrong.  Taken as a whole, the three song run of "Prescription," "Katherine", & Donnellan" tell the story of a whirlwind relationship envisioned, consummated, abandoned, and dissected.

After the one-minute-plus dual vocal freakout that is "Limited Jest," Human Kindness takes one last big swing with album closer "Giant People."



As a group that seems to have been raised on The Hold Steady & Titus Andronicus, the band knows the importance of ending an album on something epic.  I mean, the song opens with our protagonist talking to God!  It's hard to get more epic than that, though the band tries admirably more than five minutes.  From the 2:35 mark on they focus their collective power on building up a web of guitars and mini-climaxes.  At 4:00 mark they let the whole thing collapse, only to come roaring back with the most straight ahead, Nils Lofgren-esque guitar solo of the entire album.

There's a lot of potential on this album that's realized only intermittently.  Whether that's a product of time, equipment, desire, etc... I don't know, but the songs on this album show a band who hasn't yet caught up to their own ambitions.  Will they get there?  Let me put break it down like this:

There's a scene in the first episode of The Sopranos that any fan of the show will instantly recognize.  In that first episode Tony has a family of ducks living in his backyard pool.  Tony's become mildly obsessed with the ducks, feeding them everyday, taking care of them, etc... At one point in the episode the ducklings attempt to fly and Tony gets very excited, yelling for his family to come watch the birds struggle to lift out of the pool.  Later in the episode, when the birds actually manage to fly away from the pool, the moment is bittersweet for Tony.

I bring this up because, admittedly, I don't know much about the guys in Human Kindness or their story as a band.  They seem to be a band that takes pride in the fact that they've gone from idea to album in a relatively short amount of time (they formed in 2012).  As such, I have no idea if You Are So Loud That I Want To Die is the first step of a band finding their sound or if it's just four college guys having a good time, leaving their album destined to end up in the "Lost Classics" section of Twin Cities music.  My point is that, whether or not Human Kindness ever make good on their desire to fly, You Are So Loud That I Want To Die is their "ducks struggling to fly for the first time."  It's exhilarating to watch, but be sure to enjoy it, because once they learn to fly, they'll belong to everybody.

Final Score: 8/10

There you have it, folks!  High marks for "You Are So Loud That I Want To Die," the debut EP from Human Kindness.  The album remains available as a "Name Your Price" download on their Bandcamp page.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio.






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Album Of The Week: Decemberr 23-29, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of December 23rd-29th, 2013:

Wild Ghosts - No Coast

A couple of weeks back I was writing about The Persian Leaps and mentioned how nice it was to hear a band that eschewed making a racket for front-and-center vocals.  Well, after spending that week with The Persian Leaps (and the subsequent two with Allan Kingdom & Homeless), I figured I'd spend a week with somebody who puts racket first.

I can't remember exactly how I found out about Wild Ghosts.  It was definitely a case of falling down a Last.fm or Bandcamp Recommendations wormhole.  Regardless, I somehow stumbled onto their Bandcamp page and decided to give No Coast a chance.

Wild Ghosts is a rough listen the first few times.  Coherent vocals are difficult to pick up until the fifth song and, once that ends, they're rarely heard from again.  The band works its way into grooves that are not readily apparent, which is why Wild Ghosts makes for such a perfect AOTW record.  I'm really hoping that, over the course of a week, the ideas buried somewhere in the reverb & organ & feedback are going to show themselves.

Album Of The Week: November 18-24, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of November 18th-24th, 2013:

The Central Division - Neighbor Of The Beast

I found out about The Central Division in just about the most roundabout way possible.  A few months back a local band called Citroën started following me on Twitter.  As such I went to their Bandcamp page to check out their music (and ended up downloading their Anachronaut EP, a previous AOTW).  After listening to their album I clicked on their "Recommendations" and found a single by The Central Division titled "It's Not The Heat, It's The Humility" (which I ended up playing on Flatbasset Radio: Episode #22).

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #22 by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

(Quick Apology Sidenote:  If you do happen to listen to that podcast I mention that The Central Division is broken up.  FALSE!  They are not broken up.  That's what I get for not doing my research.)

Long story longer, I spent a week with each song from the It's Not The Heat, It's The Humility single and their 3 Songs EP.  I enjoyed each thoroughly enough that the next logical step was to spend a week with their LP Neighbor Of The Beast.

So here we are.  After listening to those previous EP's I thought The Central Division was in line with turn-of-the-century punk bands like Brand New and Taking Back Sunday.  Upon further listen, however, there's definitely an art-rock strain along the lines of Sunny Day Real Estate.

Anyway, all of that music is available on their Bandcamp page.  Give it a spin or two.

Album Of The Week: September 30-October 6, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of September 30th-October 6th, 2013:

Fury Things - Fury Things

I've been aware of Fury Things for a while now.  Their song "Vapors" turned up as a Current Song Of The Day back in March.  When I reviewed it for SOTW #32 I wasn't particularly blown away, putting the song in the middle of the road with a 2.5/5.

Well, for whatever reason Fury Things kept turning up on my radar.  I'd see people talking about them on Twitter or find them in my "Similar Artist" tabs on Last.fm, you know, just random internet stuff.  Eventually I decided that I should give the band another chance and dig a little deeper.  I hopped over to their Bandcamp page and grabbed their first two EP's.  I gave 'em each a spin and decided that it made more sense to start with the first, self-titeld EP Fury Things (aka The One Without "Vapors" On It).  Very fuzzy, very hooky, and, most importantly, very speedy (all things I complained about regarding "Vapors.").