Category: Band/Artist Profile

An in-depth look at bands and solo artists

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Her’s – A Band That Could Have Been

"song of her's" album art

The UK indie-rock band, Her’s, was made up of two musicians Audun Laading and Stephen Fitzpatrick. Stephen was the lead singer and guitarist while Audun played the bass and sang background vocals. 

They debuted with their first single “Dorothy” in 2016 and eventually in 2018 they released their debut album, “Invitation to Her’s”

You may have heard their song “What Once Was”.

It’s a song that I get emotional listening to know the tragedy that hit the band. The song is about the passing of a family member with the lyrics. “My friends put on their bravest faces | Their tails between their legs, something is out of place”

The fact that these lyrics apply to the band themselves and were written by them without knowing what was coming in the future is what hurts me, as a fan, the most.  

With the releases of their singles and eventually a compilation album titled “Songs of Her’s”, the band grew a strong following and decided It was time to tour the States with their debut album. 

It was during their U.S tour that disaster struck. 

They had finished playing in Phoenix, Arizona – the third to last stop on the tour – and were on the highway driving up to California when their car got hit by a drunk driver.

The drunk truck driver was in the wrong lane and drove straight into them, causing both cars to go up in flames. Both members of Her’s along with their manager who was driving their car passed away. March 27, 2019.

Though it’s a little past the three-year anniversary of their passing, I thought it was important to highlight their work as artists and continue sharing their music with a new audience. 

While their discography is short, you can hear their passion in each song. 

The three songs I would recommend as an introduction to the band are “What Once Was”, “Speed Racer” and “Cool With You”. 

All three of these songs are dream-pop and indie rock. “Speed Racer” sounds like it’s straight out of the 50s with the rock and roll sound but still maintains that distinct indie sound. “Cool With You” is more lo-fi and has a heavier bass to it that’s perfect for daydreaming. “What Once Was” is a bittersweet bedroom-pop track that balances the syncopation of the bass with electric guitar chords and drums.

They have a total of 23 songs, so if you want to become a Her’s fan it’s not difficult to get consumed. 

If they had made it to 2022, I have no doubt they would have been one of the most popular indie bands of the decade.

You can check out Her’s discography on Spotify or YouTube.

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Band/Artist Profile

What Makes The Mountain Goats Special?

John Darnielle singing into a microphone on stage while also playing the guitar.
The Mountain Goats live at the Rickshaw in Vancouver in 2010. Photo taken by Visions of Domino on Flickr. Used under the Creative Commons License.

I’m currently working my way through listening to the entirety of The Mountain Goats’ album discography. Why? There are several reasons. 

My dear friend (and former WKNC DJ, Deethony Jaythony) is a big fan of The Mountain Goats, as so is one of my favorite writers, John Green. They both speak so highly of The Mountain Goats, I’ve been a casual fan for a while and I’ve been needing something to keep my mind occupied on these long summer days.

The Mountain Goats are a California created but currently Durham-based band that have been making music since the mid 90s. John Darnielle, the band’s creator and front-man, is the life blood of The Mountain Goats and has, at times, been the only member.

“Love Love Love” from their 2005 album “The Sunset Tree” was my first introduction to The Mountain Goats back in 2019, and it’s been one of my favorite songs since. 

Since then, I had collected casual interest in some of their bigger songs like “No Children,” “This Year,” and “Going to Georgia.”

Throughout this project of listening to their discography, I’ve wondered: what is it that keeps their dedicated fanbase so hooked?

It could be several things, like John Darnielle’s crafty lyricism, or their genre-spanning sound or the continuity of themes and tropes throughout their discography.

But 11 albums in, I’ve found the quality of their music that keeps me hooked. John Darnielle’s ability to intertwine love and anger so closely; The Mountain Goats have written some of the most romantic songs and some of the most fury-inducing songs I’ve ever listened to.

The man who wrote “I am drowning / There is no sign of land / You are coming down with me / Hand in unlovable hand / And I hope you die / I hope we both die” in “No Children” also wrote “I loved you before I even ever knew what love was like” in “Hair Match.”

Darnielle illustrates the tender moments of love so wonderfully: “You felt shelter somewhere in me / I find great comfort in you / And I keep you safe from harm / You hold me in your arms” he writes in “Riches and Wonders.”

He also taps into a primal anger at times. In “Foreign Object” he sings “Sink my teeth into your scalp, take a nice big bite / Save nothing for the cameras, play the angles all night / One of these days my legs will both snap like twigs / If you can’t beat ’em make ’em bleed like pigs.” 

The Mountain Goats are a beast of their own kind, and I look forward to listening to the rest of their (rather lengthy) discography and finding where the hard exterior gives way to the tenderness.

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Ganser – Band Spotlight

Album cover of Ganser's 2020 album, Just Look At That Sky. Pictures a oman in sunglasses surrounded by a yellow border.

One thing I love about music is the constant stream of new ideas and art that musicians release to the world. There is so much to explore that it can be overwhelming, but when you find a band or artist that clicks, the wading through that stream feels worth it. That’s what makes me appreciate Ganser.

Ganser was formed in Chicago, Illinois and is still based there. Their music falls under the post-punk genre with heavy guitar, bass, and reflective vocals. Alicia Gaines (bass and vocals), Nadia Garofalo (keyboard and vocals), Brian Cundiff (drums) and Charlie Landsman (guitar) make up the band.

Each person brings their own distinct sound and perspective to Ganser, and all of their perspectives synthesize really well. Gaines and Garofalo’s vocals mix together in tracks like “Told You So” to create a healthy blend of airy-ness and down-to-earth sounds that are accompanied by thick guitar riffs and piercing drums. 

I have found their music to be an interesting variation to modern post-punk. Having two women be the front of the band adds a lot of character and distinctiveness from the rest of the punks out there.

I’ve been digging bands that have their bassists be lead vocals for the past few months, and Gaines does a great job of leading the songs and blending her instrument into the core of all the tracks. 

Right now their discography is limited, but that’s only because they are just getting started. Their first LP, “Odd Talk”, released in 2018, and it has some of their more accessible tracks if you’re not into the grime-y riffs that take root in their second LP. 

“Just Look At That Sky” was released two years ago, and I have found that this album represents what the band hopes to sound like for the foreseeable future. Gaines’ vocals mix with a more distinct blend of instrumental sounds that emphasize each of the member’s talents they bring along to the band. 

They are releasing a new album this year called “Nothing You Do Matters” as stated by their website. Ganser has released one track so far “People Watching”, and it makes me excited to listen to the whole project in a few months. 

Here is a list of some of my favorite tracks so you can get listening:

Also, here’s a cool interview with Alicia Gaines about “Just Look At That Sky”.

Keep eatin’

-DJ chef

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Band/Artist Profile

AAPI Artist Spotlight – Rina Sawayama

Next up in my AAPI Artist Spotlight series I would like to introduce Rina Sawayama. 

You might have heard of Rina’s song “XS” on TikTok.

Rina Sawayama is a 31-year-old British-Japanese artist that dabbles in various sub-genres of pop music and different genres altogether. She has coined the nickname of being a pop chameleon because of how she can incorporate and seamlessly create music that is indie-pop, electric pop, R&B, dance-pop, rock, and alternative.

She started her music career how most artists do– uploading songs onto the Internet. Rina would upload song covers onto MySpace and eventually formed a small band with local kids and used her high school’s tech equipment to produce songs. From that, she maintained her passion for music and started making music and touring till she was recognized for her talent.

What I find refreshing about Rina’s music is that she finds ways to highlight issues in society and tie that in with her Japanese culture into her music. She is an advocate for a variety of social justice issues such as sexism and uses Pop music, which often is stereotyped and often called department store music, to empower her and breakthrough those stigmas as a female pop artist.

Her debut album titled “SAWAYAMA” as well as her first EP “RINA” both showcases her persona as an artist. A Japanese woman who doesn’t hesitate to call people out and write about her past traumas and experiences while gift-wrapping it into earworm music that is digestible for her audience. She brings in a lot of influence from the 90s and early 2000s Pop scene in all her music and combines it with this R&B style voice. Similar to this ideology she has developed, the artists she was inspired by like Britney or NSYNC made pop music that lots of teens felt embarrassed to enjoy and now are considered to be iconic. 

One of her most popular songs “XS” is about consumerism and capitalism and the phrase ‘XS’ is supposed to represent the excess spending and product manufacturing that highlights how as consumers we always want more and are never satisfied with what we are able to attain.

The mature topic of capitalism and over saturation of the market is balanced with a fun dance-pop track inspired by Britany Spears’ music, as shown through the lyrics:

“Gimme just a little bit (more), little bit of (excess) | Oh, me, oh, my | I don’t wanna hear “No, no” | Only want a ‘Yes, yes” have you dancing around in your room while making you reconsider the role you play in our capitalistic society.”

There is a pattern throughout her music where she writes lyrics that are deep and thought-provoking about our society while keeping this light pop danceability to it that makes her so unique. Time and time again she highlights that oftentimes while her lyrics carry such strong meanings since she is a woman making pop music she isn’t taken as seriously and the upbeat electric pop and R&B style overpower people from looking into her lyrics.

Along with social issues such as climate change or toxic masculinity, Rina also touches on how her experiences being Japanese in Cambridge, her pansexuality, and the feeling of otherness that she has had to navigate through her entire life.

Another song I want to highlight is “Tokyo Love Hotel”. In this song, she discusses the guilt she feels of using Japanese symbolism in her songs as well as calling out people for having this odd obsession with Japanese culture to that point where Japanese people can’t showcase their authentic culture cause it’s not what has been idolized in the West.

 Her lyrics “And oh there’s nothing that I could say | That hasn’t already been said | You got that neon lights, golden guy | Falling for a stereotype| Has it all gone to your head?” bring forth this idea that whoever was into her wasn’t for her true self but of this idea of what a Japanese woman is meant to be like based off of stereotypes. 

There is so much more to her music than what I can capture in this short post and I highly recommend checking out her music even if you are not a fan of the Pop genre. Rina writes lyrics that are genuinely an important part of her experiences and might resonate with a lot of people if given the chance.

In most cases, the mental image of Rina’s music people have when they first see her is quite different from what her music is at the core. Her bold and eclectic makeup looks and appearance almost make you feel that her music is electronic dance music  (EDM) or alternative rock but in reality, she is a Pop artist and it’s a genre she has mastered. 

Check out her discography on Spotify.

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AAPI Artist Spotlight- Hojean

In honor of AAPI, Asian American Pacific Islander, Heritage month I’ll be starting a little series where I’ll highlight a few different AAPI artists.

To start off this series, I’d like to introduce the Hojean or Justin Hojean Yi. He’s a 23- year old Korean-American R&B artist that got his start by wanting to perform a song for his crush at his school’s talent show. After playing up on that stage and seeing the reaction of the audience, he knew that being a musician was his passion. From that, he found his niche in writing love ballads and R&B tracks. He was initially an indie singer, but once he began experimenting with the R&B genre he felt that he preferred it a lot more.

The Georgian artist is a singer, producer, songwriter, and visual artist, who takes part in all creative aspects of his music production from lyrics writing to song cover art all from the comfort of his home.

What I admire about Hojean is his love of making music not only for his fans but as a way to support his parents as well. His entire life is writing music and his passion for spreading his musical diversity for his fans to experience the feelings he feels while writing his songs. Hojean has mentioned many times that he was always a creative person growing up and would doodle in his notebooks in school and sing at church, in a way he was always meant to make music and share his art.

A few of his most popular tracks are “Over 85”, “Pick Up Your Phone”, “You Feel Like” and of course his newest single “Bluffin,” which I wrote a review of.

His song “Memory” is a personal favorite of mine. It’s an upbeat song about moving on and letting go of the past. It was a track he had written after taking a nine-month hiatus from creating any new music– a product of his anxiety in a sense. A culmination of his feelings that had been developing while he was in a slump. But one day he walked into a thrift store and bought an electric guitar on a whim. That electric guitar lead to this song being written and now has become a significant part of his music production.

As a visual artist, I felt a connection to this song the most because I had been in an artist’s block myself. Painting was something I had a hard time doing during the school year during the pandemic because I constantly felt like my art didn’t compare to other artists, similar to how Hojean had felt about being a musician. Imposter syndrome– a common dilemma. Once listening to Hojean’s music one summer afternoon I started scribbling in my notebook and listening to Memory got me out of my slump as well.

If you want a change of pace or want to listen to music that makes you feel like you’re floating down a river on a sunny afternoon then Hojean’s music will make you feel just that.

Hojean will be releasing his first EP sometime this year so be sure to keep an eye out for it!  

Check out Hojean’s Spotify page to view his entire discography. 

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African American Cultural Center: “HERMonies: Black Sounds, Black Voices, Black Movements”

NIna Simone in a black and White Photo
Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Our neighbors in Witherspoon at the African American Cultural Center have debuted a new musical exhibit “HERMonies” that features songs from 10 black woman who have used their music to advance social movements. The full playlist can be found at the above link, but here I’d like to take a more historical look at the two oldest songs on the playlist, “Strange Fruit” and “Mississippi Goddamn.”

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Old School PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey Rid of Me album cover

So y’all know PJ Harvey right? The folk singer who did “Let England Shake” about 10 years ago, really popular with the British hipsters? I always assumed that was a pretty representative album for her career. It fits into a category of Folk that I respect in the abstract but don’t actually care for all that much, acts like Richard Dawson who write poncy medieval ren fair music with an ironic edge that’s always without fail about capitalism or the decline of the British Empire or something. The style is very popular with British indie critics like The Quietus and tends to get lots of Mercury Prizes. There’s nothing wrong with this music, it’s just not personally to my tastes, so I never really checked out PJ Harvey’s back catalogue. Recently that changed, and I’d like to take you on a tour of two of her more popular songs that got me hooked on 90s-2000s PJ Harvey.

Sheela-Na-Gig

Sheela-Na-Gig is an excellent example of what Harvey does right in folk music, but translated back into a fairly boiler plate alt rock sound. This is a track off her debut album “Dry” and it has a kind of general appeal while still showcasing what makes Harvey unique. If you listen to as much 90s chick rock as I do, the lyrical themes here will be quite familiar: it’s a feminist angst anthem about being slut shamed by some random dude at a bar. The metaphor is a reference to an Irish architectural grotesque that depicts a woman with a greatly exaggerated vulva. The chorus uses this comparison as a term of abuse, “He said, Sheela-Na-Gig, Sheela-Na Gig, you exhibitionist.”

This would make for a fairly good, if somewhat disposable, 90s alt rock single, but it’s Harvey’s lyricism that really sells the track. She has a flair for creating a single vigniette, and using perspective shifts to create double entendre. The Sheela-Na-Gig is a mocking hyperbole from the man’s perspective, but in the opening passage she uses a pre-Christian icon as a way to symbolize her motivations, “Look at these my child-bearing hips, and look at these my ruby-red, ruby lips, and look at these my work strong arms.” The central issue of female exhibitionism is given two different meanings through the same symbol, interpreted from two opposing perspectives. It’s a really neat literary flourish, but the song isn’t brow beating or pretentious in the slightest, it has a focused ‘Don’t bore us get to the chorus’ approach and a high octane performance.

The other major aspect of Harvey’s songwriting on display here is her referential approach. The second verse uses the line “Gonna wash that man right out of my hair” from South Pacific, giving one instance of a woman cleaning herself because of a man. This is, again, reversed by the unnamed man’s referential line in the third verse “He said, wash your breasts, I don’t want to be unclean, he said wash your breast, take those dirty pillows away from me,” with “dirty pillows” being a reference to a similar line from Stephen King’s Carrie. The contrast between both the lines and between the works they call upon really supports the perspective contrasts within the song, using references as shorthand for more complex themes.

Rid of Me

After the debut album’s success, PJ Harvey could have rode into a wave of hits and mainstream success on the rock charts. Instead, she chose to go in the opposite direction, working with legendary hardcore and noise rock producer Steve Albini to make one of the most ugly and brooding rock albums of the era. “Rid of Me,” is the album name, and the title track is in some ways a repeat of Sheela-Na-Gig with a far more intense approach.

The track is a slow burn, building from a bassline and drum fill into a thrash and burn banger over the course of several minutes. The narrator begins from the position of groveling ex-girlfriend begging not to be abandoned. However, as the extended first verse build, the imagery becomes gradually more violent. PJ Harvey delivers this in a very frail tone, making the lyrical contrast more subtle than it would be coming out of the lips of say, Courtney Love. A line like “I’ll make you lick my injuries,” has a double meaning in reference to the lines directly before and after. In the context of the previous verse, it seems love sick, while in the context of the chorus where Harvey breaks open into a violent scream of rage, it seem like a threat. The song also features charged and uncomfortable imagery, “lick my legs, I’m on fire,” is an innocuous 6 word sentence that creeps the hell out of me in the context of the song.

A compelling aspect of Harvey’s early career is the folky-ness of it all. Punks have a long history of going into folk rock when they get old, but Harvey merged the two in her early years as well. And not in the gimmicky Violent Femmes way either, her music is not a slapdash fusion. The blues rock riffs and chord progressions go almost unnoticed except when she calls explicit attention to it by say, covering “Highway 61 Revisited,” in a pitchy wail. She has a compelling back catalogue, and I encourage you to use these two songs as a sample.

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Songs About Poop, A 23,000 Song Discography and Spotify Revenue

Matt looking at the camera and smiling.
Image used under Creative Commons License, from Wikimedia Commons. Source: Matt Farley's Twitter

Somewhere out there, there is a man with a more extensive discography than you can possibly imagine, with over 23,000 songs. He has 27 Spotify profiles (as far as I know of, there could be more) where he puts out album after album. You might be thinking, “Caitlin, I know who you’re talking about, and his name is John Darnielle.” And while it’s true that The Mountain Goats have an extremely extensive discography, that’s not who I’m referring to.

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Say a Little Prayer for Dionne Warwick

Dionne Warwick Album Cover

Does anyone remember Dionne Warwick? This feels like a ridiculous question to ask about one of the 40 biggest hitmakers of the 20th century, but I think it needs to be asked before we start. Nowadays, most discussions I can find online of Warwick are not about her music, but about her wonderful Twitter presence or appearance on The Masked Singer. I’ve never heard her music on oldies stations, seen it on a friends Spotify playlist, or seen the glowing retrospectives that surround her contemporaries. She was initially billed in a league with Aretha Franklin (a name that, for reasons that will become apparent, is going to come up a lot in this article), but comparing her fame with the queen herself seems absurd, as most people I’ve checked in with for this article have no idea who Warwick is. I think that’s a shame, as everyone’s life would be a little better with her music, so I’d like to introduce you: everyone, say hi to Dionne.

Warwick’s story is a typical major label career track from the 50s and 60s. She was discovered as a backup and group vocalist, noticed for her considerable talent, signed to a standard one-sided contract that would leave her bankrupt, and started pumping out hits at breakneck speed. Her style is more, let’s say, traditional, than the Motown and funk that fills our memories of late 60s R&B. Her instrumentals are urbane, orchestral, and of a time before the upheavals of her day. I could easily imagine my 99-year-old great-grandmother turning up to Dionne Warwick in the 30s. This was the type of music that actually dominated the charts in the 60s and 70s, as opposed to the hippie anthems and provocative funk and soul we remember. This rather uncontroversial sound is a big reason that Dionne Warwick has not been beaten into our heads like most boomer music of her day.

But that’s only one reason for our generation’s ignorance of this classic artist. The more obvious reason is her voice. She’s an incredible singer, but not in the way that takes up a lot of oxygen. Discussions of what it means to be a “good singer” bias towards belting into the stratosphere or singing pitches that would shatter glass. Warwick is hardly going to compete with memorable performances of that type like “Respect” or “Gimmie Shelter,” but her voice casts a mystical spell in a more subtle way. To demonstrate this, I’d like to show you a song you might remember from another artist “Say a Little Prayer for You.”

I’ve heard the Aretha Franklin version of this song a million times, but I would never rate it as one of my favorites. I didn’t realize or understand why that version didn’t work for me until I heard Dionne Warwick’s original recording. Some songs call for belting, but some call for agility and clever enunciations. Warwick’s skill is in how she pronounces words, her control over which syllables pop and which slur into the next note. Even when she pushes into a higher and louder voice she always sounds completely in control, never as much as breaking a sweat. This allows her to find new melodies and counter melodies in every line, making each realization of the chorus shine in a slightly different way.

If you have a little bit of patience and a nostalgia for traditional pop stylings, then give Warwick a chance. You won’t be disappointed. Also, if you have a strong tolerance for contemporary Jesus Hip-hop, check out her latest single I guess because it’s a trip.

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Best of Phoebe Bridgers (Deep Cuts)

Phoebe bridgers with a purple background, performing, with a guitar in hand and smiling.
Photo originally by David Lee (davidjlee on Flickr), used under the Creative Commons license.

My very first blog for WKNC was about the very best of Phoebe Bridgers, in which I included my then-favorite pieces of her work. However, since the creation of that post I’ve delved deeper into the Phoebe-verse, she’s come out with new music and I’ve become a better writer. So without further ado, I’m going to declare what’s worth listening to outside of “Motion Sickness” and her other larger hits. 

“Georgia” Daft Star Live Performance

Everything about this performance is perfect to me. Her vocals, the guitar, and of course the haunting lyrics of “Georgia.” This performance is from 2014, before her footing in the music industry had been fully secured, (the studio version of this song didn’t come out until 2015) and that’s why I think I love it so much. It’s raw– you can tell it’s coming straight from her soul and one nearly never gets to hear Bridgers belt the way she does here. I love her whisper-singing as well, but this performance has wedged a permanent place in my heart. The belting of “If I fix you / Will you hate me?” is one of my favorite moments in music ever. Bridgers knocked this performance out of the park and it’s by far my favorite thing she’s ever done. 

“Waiting Room” from “Lost Ark Studio Compilation, Vol. 8”

Speaking of Bridgers’ raw emotional moments early in her career, let’s talk about “Waiting Room.” She wrote this song when she was 16, and has since expressed embarrassment by just how genuine this song is, saying: “it’s super sincere, and I meant everything. But it’s so emotionally raw, and I’m… pining for someone. And I think the fact that I’m complaining so much in the song is, especially in retrospect, like, dude, you’re fine.” Personally, I love it, teenage angst and pining is rarely packaged so beautifully. I love it when Bridgers’ vocals shine as they do in the bridge. In the bridge, she laments repeatedly, surrendering the fight to love this person, “know it’s for the better.” Bridgers repeats this phrase 36 times in a row. If you believe in the idea of “right person, wrong time,” listen to this song. It’ll tear your heart in two.

“Dylan Thomas” from “Better Oblivion Community Center”

If you haven’t caught on by now, I love it when Bridgers branches out of her niche. This song is from a collaboration album with Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes), titled “Better Oblivion Community Center.” It’s an indie rock track that’s fun despite its grim lyrics and certainly worth the listen even if you’re not a fan of Bridgers’ normal stuff. There’s a lyric in one of the final verses that references Phoebe’s ghost artwork (done by Angela Deane) that has stayed fairly consistent throughout her career: “They say you’ve gotta fake it / At least until you make it / That ghost is just a kid in a sheet.” Bridgers and Oberst are a magical duo, and this song is tangible proof of that. 

“Me & My Dog” from “boygenius”

boygenius is a trio that consists of Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker and of course, Phoebe Bridgers. This track displays the best of all three of them, and is impeccable lyrically. My favorite two lyrics are: “I had a fever / Until I met you / Now you make me cool” and “I wanna be emaciated / I wanna hear one song without thinking of you.” Between the harmonies, the song’s relatively short length and again, the beautiful lyricism, this is a deep cut you won’t regret listening to. 

Other honorable mentions include: “That Funny Feeling,” “7 O’Clock News / Silent Night” and “Steamroller.” If you haven’t already read my original “Best of Phoebe Bridgers” blog, check it out, you may discover something new or find a new appreciation for her work.

Until next time,

Caitlin