This is a disgusting name for a song; I hate spiders. The song itself is pretty pleasant. It sounds like something that Death Cab For Cutie could have done (I actually mean that as a compliment). Elf Power come from that whole Athens, GA indie scene that gave us R.E.M. and Neutral Milk Hotel, so they sound kind of like that stuff. I really like most of the bands from that scene, even Of Montreal sometimes. This is from Elf Power's most recent self-titled album from 2010. I'm not sure if they're working on anything new, but I'd love for them to release something.
When I was growing up, I used to troll different heavy metal message boards. One of the ongoing threads was always Iron Maiden vs. Judas Priest. In those days I was staunchly pro-Maiden, but the older I get, the more I find myself preferring Priest. This song is a great power ballad, which they always did better than Maiden anyway. Also, this song is so 80's that even a coked up 80's dude listening to this in the 80's would say "Hey man, this sounds pretty 80's." "Blood Red Skies" is not the most 80's song you will ever hear though; this is.
In my last Saturday Shuffle post, I talked about how so many bands are aping what Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees are doing. I didn't mean for it to sound as though those guys invented psychedelic garage rock, because they didn't. They just perfected it is all. This song is very simplistic in its instrumentation and arrangement. Every instrument is given plenty of room to breathe and it results in a very cool atmosphere. It's garage rock that doesn't sound like it comes from a garage. It sounds more like it came from a basement public access television sound stage.
I don't know how to say this band name. "Ooooooooooh?" Maybe. Anyway, this is good moody stuff. A few years ago, this little genre called witch house was all the craze in the indie scene. It fell in on itself just as quickly as it blew up. Even Chino Moreno from Deftones released a couple of witch house albums. oOoOO are one of the artists from that scene that are still actually releasing music and have real staying power. Think James Blake in a haunted house full of goth kids. That's what this sounds like. If that description doesn't interest you, stay away from it.
I always liked the idea of Filter more than I actually liked the band. They always sounded way too polished and radio friendly to me. They did have a few great songs, but I don't think this is one of them. I mean, it's technically not bad; it's just very 90's generic and strummy with an above average chorus. That pretty much sums up Filter: boring verses and kind of cool choruses. What initially attracted me to this band was that Richard Patrick played guitar for Nine Inch Nails on the Pretty Hate Machine tour. Unfortunately, I hear very little of Trent Reznor's influence in Filter's music.
Fugazi were a hugely influential post-hardcore band throughout the 80's and 90's. You can literally hear their influence in so many bands, most notably Refused, At The Drive In and Sparta. Of course those bands don't even come close to capturing what Fugazi did (okay, except for maybe Refused). This song is from their 1995 release, Red Medicine. This was a time where Fugazi was already being copied, and Red Medicine was their attempt to set themselves apart with an artier sound. I'd recommend this along with any of their releases. There are no weak links in the Fugazi discography.
If Machine Head had only released one album and called it quits, they would have had a much better reputation. Burn My Eyes was their excellent debut released in 1994, right at the height of the groove metal craze pioneered by Exhorder and Pantera. Their subsequent albums made it clear that Machine Head just wanted to hang on to whatever was popular at the time. They latched onto the rap metal trend for a few albums before apologetically going back to a thrashier sound more in line with Rob Flynn's roots. I used to love Machine Head for this album, but I just don't respect them.
Kalas was a great melodic stoner-doom band from Oakland. The most prominent member was vocalist Matt Pike, who you may know from Sleep and High on Fire. Sadly, the band only released one album before Matt Pike seemingly decided to focus most of his energy on High on Fire (a band I think is just ok; they're no Sleep). What makes this great is that it's so sleepy sounding. It's doomy without being crushing; it's melodic without being saccharine. Kalas occupies this great middle ground that so few bands of this genre ever find. Jesus, I miss this band.
My Bloody Valentine are of course one of the greatest shoegaze bands, ever. Loveless is an absolute classic and without it, the Smashing Pumpkins would sound completely different, or possibly not even exist at all. This is an album that you can listen to from start to finish and sort of slip into a trance while losing all perception of time. After this, the band wouldn't release another album for 22 years. This year, they finally released m b v, which sounds like it could have been released only a few years after Loveless in the early 90's.
I realize that I often don't say much about the actual songs on Saturday Shuffle, but more so the albums they come from. I can't help it, I'm an album guy. This is from White Hills' newest album, So You Are... So You'll Be. I haven't fully listened to the whole album yet. My first impression of this song is that it's pretty standard stoner psych rock, not far off from something the Black Angels would release. This song is simultaneously hard-edged and trance inducing. White Hills have always been one of the heavier psych bands; it seems nothing has changed on the new album.
Listen to these songs in sequence on Spotify
Drink pairing for this post: Southern Star Pine Belt Pale Ale
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