Tag Archives: Rodeo songs

Week in review: January 27th-31st, 2014

In case you missed a few posts this week, here is a really quick rundown of what was going on:

Monday: Some experimental instrumental jangly art rock in the style of Women and Captain Beefheart. Check out Herbert Powell’s release “Hell and Sebastian” on their bandcamp.

Stream: Herbert Powell – “Hell and Sebastian”

Tuesday: The tenth part of my continuing series that recounts growing up with Sonic Youth. This week I talked about their 1998 album “A Thousand Leaves.”

In Memoriam Sonic Youth Part X: “A Thousand Leaves”

Wednesday: New psychedelic synth work from Black Unicorn and Cane Swords, both out of Akron, Ohio, and both with tapes coming out on Portland’s Field Hymns.

Stream New Music from Field Hymns: Black Unicorn and Cane Swords

Thursday: Take a listen to Spray Paint’s abrasive detuned sound with songs from their latest, “Rodeo Songs.”

Stream: Spray Paint – “Rodeo Songs”

Friday: Check out the perfect pop of Jasmin Kaset whose album “Quiet Machine” was just released this past week.

Stream: Jasmin Kaset – “Quiet Machine”

Stream: Spray Paint – “Rodeo Songs”

Here comes another dose of aggressive, detuned raw post-punk energy. Stumbled across this one while bumming around Soundcloud and it really grabbed my attention.

My knee-jerk reaction whenever I hear a band that extends what it means to use the guitar as an instrument, where they realize that it is so much more than just the notes, that it’s about everything else, is “Sonic Youth.” The tone, the slack-stringed jangle with harmonics that ring out alternately with a wall of inescapable noise.  But really after about two seconds my thoughts quickly turned away from my beloved Sonic Youth and towards something more like Wire.

“I Need a Bag” starts us off with incessant guitar abuse; bashing the daylights out of the strings so much that the pitch bends. But, in addition to the overall “Wire-ness” there is something about the abrupt vocal delivery that calls to mind The Blind Shake. Definitely a good thing.

Then we come to the even noisier “Bring Dumpster Back” and “Trollin the Lake.” The latter of these starts with some calm–relatively calm–though somewhat unsettling ambience. A few stray notes here and there, a few open strings before suddenly everything explodes in a fiery ball of aggression in the form of dissonance in every aspect imaginable. This is pretty much the stuff that I live for. Polvo-like guitar tunings, early Sonic Youth’s energy, up front and bordering upon hostile vocals. Really great stuff.

Of course, check out the tracks above, or head over to the soundcloud page to hear them and other fantastic stuff from S.S. Records. This is the band’s 2nd full-length, and if you want one you had better act fast because it seems that S.S. can’t keep these things on the shelf very long. Their first LP has already burned through a couple of pressings. “Rodeo Songs” is available on vinyl right now.

And below you can check out the official video for “Yawn Factory” from the band’s first album. There’s also some really great footage of them live online as well.