6/16: Hurray for the Riff Raff / Clear Plastic Masks @ Cat’s Cradle
6/17: The Henry Millers @ Local 506
6/17: White Laces / Some Army / Midnight Plus One @ The Pinhook
6/18: Plankton Feast / Arrows Out / Seabreeze Diner @ Local 506
6/18: Christopher Owens / Echo Courts @ Cat’s Cradle
6/19: Broncho / Hectorina / Drag Sounds @ Local 506
6/19: The Deslondes @ Cat’s Cradle
6/20: Stranger in the Valley of the Kings / Wailin’ Storms / Melissa Swingle (duo set) @ Local 506
6/21: Kid in the Attic / Kellie Ann Grubbs @ The Pinhook
Tune into WKNC 88.1 FM this week and when the DJ asks for it, call the request lines at 919-515-0881 or 919-515-2400 for your chance to win tickets to these shows! Good luck!
1. ESKIMEAUX – O.K. – Double Double Whammy 2. ELVIS DEPRESSEDLY – New Alhambra – Run For Cover 3. HOP ALONG – Painted Shut – Saddle Creek 4. JOANNA GRUESOME – Peanut Butter – Slumberland 5. MY MORNING JACKET – The Waterfall – Capitol 6. GIRLPOOL – Before The World Was Big – Wichita 7. METZ – II – Sub Pop 8. UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA – Multi-Love – Jagjaguwar 9. SPEEDY ORTIZ – Foil Deer – Carpark 10. MEW – Plus Minus – Pias 11. TURNOVER – Peripheral Vision – Run For Cover 12. MITSKI – Bury Me At Makeout Creek – Don Giovanni 13. ETERNAL SUMMERS – Gold And Stone – Kanine 14. CEREMONY – The L-Shaped Man – Matador 15. COURTNEY BARNETT – Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit – Mom And Pop 16. SURFER BLOOD – 1000 Palms – Joyful Noise 17. HOT CHIP – Why Make Sense? – Domino 18. NOVELLA – Land – Sinderlyn 19. WAXAHATCHEE – Ivy Tripp – Merge 20. THEE OH SEES – Mutilator Defeated At Last – Castle Face 21. MIKAL CRONIN – MCIII – Merge 22. ALEX G – Trick – Lucky Number 23. SHARON VAN ETTEN – I Don’t Want To Let You Down [EP] – Jagjaguwar 24. TORO Y MOI – What For? – Carpark 25. MOUNTAIN GOATS – Beat The Champ – Merge 26. BOMBADIL – Hold On – Ramseur 27. AVA LUNA – Infinite House – Western Vinyl 28. PURITY RING – Another Eternity – 4AD 29. PEACH KELLI POP – III – Burger 30. CHASTITY BELT – Time To Go Home – Hardly Art
WKNC TOP 5 ADDS
1. PINS – Wild Nights – Bella Union 2. CAYUCAS – Dancing At The Blue Lagoon – Secretly Canadian 3. TEEN MEN – Teen Men – Bar None 4. NO JOY – More Faithful – Mexican Summer 5. VAADAT CHARIGIM – Sinking As A Stone – Burger
The draw of Hop Along (and the band’s most distinguishing
characteristic) is clearly Frances Quinlan’s unique vocal style. At times it’s
yelly and scratchy; then at others it’s soothing and wispy. Maybe it’s this
dynamic that makes their music intriguing and powerful for so many people. Hop
Along’s last album, Get Disowned, was
released in 2012 and had a sort of cult following. Missing from Painted Shut are the classical strings
that pervaded Get Disowned. Despite
this, the albums have similar characteristics. These similarities include minimal
guitar and vocal effects, and lyrics that contain strange, yet interesting, subject
matter (see “The Knock”). Maybe the most notable difference between the albums
is the added production from John Agnello. In the past, he has produced albums
for Dinosaur Jr, The Hold Steady, and Kurt Vile. Even with the increased
production quality, the band still manages to sound raw on Painted Shut. The songs are still heartfelt and sometimes even
ultra-personal.
Hop Along’s new record displays a variety of different
influences, which is often characteristic of something innovative. Sure,
comparisons to bands like Waxahatchee and Lemuria are notable, but Hop Along
achieves a different sound that no one does quite as well these days. The music
is somewhat representative of where the band currently calls home,
Philadelphia, picking up on a few emo and punk influences that the city is
known for. In fact, in 2013 the band added guitarist Joe Reinhart from the Philadelphia
emo band Algernon Cadwallader to their lineup. Algernon Cadwallader was one of
the very first bands that began reviving the sound of Cap’n Jazz and its 90’s
emo contemporaries circa 2006. Joe’s exulting guitar playing that was present
in Algernon makes itself known on Painted
Shut. Even more, the child-like energy that Algernon Cadwallader possessed
is not lost on Hop Along. Often Frances even recalls experiences from her
formative years, like on one of the album’s bests, “Powerful Man” where she
cites the memory of watching a father physically abuse their child.
Though the music on Painted
Shut is not strictly punk, Hop Along brings punk attitudes to the mix. For
example, on the yearnful “Texas Funeral” Quinlan sings in rejection of the
overt coolness of the west coast: “I’m
going out flipping the bird to California. Keep your melting stars! I followed
all the rules.” Or through the suppressed rebellion expressed on
“Well-Dressed” with its stark imagery: “It’s
built a freeway all around my bed.I
saw it once open its great mouth wide, but it was so full of afflicted houses
and buildings I can’t remember what it was saying.” It seems laws and rules
have been a consistent theme in Hop Along’s music, recalling one of the
highlight tracks of Get Disowned,
“Tibetan Pop Stars.” It ends with the refrain: “My love is average. I obey an average law.” Almost as if Frances
expresses some sorrowful acceptance of authority.
Painted Shut
serves as an example that traditional rock instrumentation is still a relevant
and visceral mode of musical expression, and overall, the album is the band’s
most solid effort yet. While it displays clear influences, Painted Shut should be described as anything but derivative, and
honestly… I’m surprised at just how many songs from this album I enjoy.
Phian interviewed Greensboro band Echo Courts on June 4 before their show that night at Tir Na nOg Irish Pub for Local Band Local Beer. The conversation also includes their songs “Fast Ellie,” “Mary,” “Pistol,” and “I’ve Been Down.” If you like what you hear, head over to their Bandcamp.
For many years now the Triangle has boasted a brimming indie-rock scene, each city developing their own particular niches and evolving in various directions. However, it wasn’t until recently that the area found a penchant for electronic music, but now that the trend has begun it seems as if there’s limitless possibilities. Even our flourishing electronic scene now has begun to stem off, ranging from bro-step leaning weeklies to slow-brooding atmospheric beats. However, Carrboro’s Body Games finds themselves in a league of their own.
The pop-leaning electronic trio has raised the bar for local production expectations, incorporating live instrumentation and video projection in a way that the area has seldom seen before. Dax, Kate and Adam joined us in the studio last week for Carolina Grown in advance of the release of Local Love Vol. 1, their new covers EP, to provide a peek behind the curtain of their electronic wizardry.
Throughout the hour the band discussed the motivation behind their local covers EP, the songwriting process, all of the work that goes into their visual projections, and shared a ridiculously hilarious freestyle song. Tune in to the full segment to hear covers of Museum Mouth, Weller and Rogue Band of Youth along with some revelatory discussion on their live performances.
For this edition of Eye on the Triangle we had the team that placed second in the Code2Art Challenge with the music visualizer. So what is it? Code2Art was sponsored by Christie Digital for students to create large-scale data-driven generative artwork. The music visualizer was displayed in Hunt Library and the team had an article published in the CMJ. The team consisted of Cameren Dolecheck, Harrison Wideman, Colin Keesee, Neal Grantham and Dylan Stein. We also had this day in history and community calendar 🙂
1. ESKIMEAUX – O.K. – Double Double Whammy 2. ELVIS DEPRESSEDLY – New Alhambra – Run For Cover 3. HOP ALONG – Painted Shut – Saddle Creek 4. TURNOVER – Peripheral Vision – Run For Cover 5. JOANNA GRUESOME – Peanut Butter – Slumberland 6. SPEEDY ORTIZ – Foil Deer – Carpark 7. METZ – II – Sub Pop 8. TORRES – Sprinter – Partisan 9. MEW – Plus Minus – Pias 10. UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA – Multi-Love – Jagjaguwar 11. MY MORNING JACKET – The Waterfall – Capitol 12. CEREMONY – The L-Shaped Man – Matador 13. SURFER BLOOD – 1000 Palms – Joyful Noise 14. COURTNEY BARNETT – Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit – Mom And Pop 15. MITSKI – Bury Me At Makeout Creek – Don Giovanni 16. NOVELLA – Land – Sinderlyn 17. HOT CHIP – Why Make Sense? – Domino 18. WAXAHATCHEE – Ivy Tripp – Merge 19. MIKAL CRONIN – MCIII – Merge 20. TOTAL BABES – Heydays – Wichita 21. PURITY RING – Another Eternity – 4AD 22. PEACH KELLI POP – III – Burger 23. ALEX G – Trick – Lucky Number 24. CHASTITY BELT – Time To Go Home – Hardly Art 25. SUFJAN STEVENS – Carrie And Lowell – Asthmatic Kitty 26. TORO Y MOI – What For? – Carpark 27. MOUNTAIN GOATS – Beat The Champ – Merge 28. BOMBADIL – Hold On – Ramseur 29. AVA LUNA – Infinite House – Western Vinyl 30. WARM SODA – Symbolic Dream – Castle Face
WKNC TOP 5 ADDS
1. GIRLPOOL – Before The World Was Big – Wichita 2. ETERNAL SUMMERS – Gold And Stone – Kanine 3. KID WAVE – Wonderlust – Heavenly 4. SHARON VAN ETTEN – I Don’t Want To Let You Down [EP] – Jagjaguwar 5. SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN – The High Country – Polyvinyl
