Apr 10 : "It's Not Too Late" - The Silence Kit (Philly / NJ)

New Music / Freshly Written and Recently Released

The Silence Kit is a post-punk band from Philly / NJ. Headed by Pat McCay, the band is known for its explorations of some darker corners of the human psyche, places where other bands dare not go. They take a look at unfulfillment, alienation, and places where all hope is lost. The band came out with a brilliant new album a few months ago, titled "It's Not Too Late".

EQUAL STANDING

The most dramatic innovation of the new album over their previous ones lies with the instrumentals. "It's Not Too Late" boasts fuller-sounding instrumentals with more complex arrangements. And the instrumentals don't shy away from taking center stage with generally longer intros than we saw in earlier albums. Entering lyrics will just have to wait their turn. For example, the intro in "Captured Light" (Track 9) lasts until 1:09 on the clock, and the intro for "Hope Isn't Helping" (Track 4) lasts a full 1:58!

The band's previous release was the 2021 remastering of their album "In Regulated Measure". The band's most recent album of new music was 2018's "Fall Proection". While that remastering showed some interesting new textures and "nuance", and the 2018 album brought in some fuller instrumentals and faster tempos, "It's Not Too Late" goes way beyond nuance to bring us dramatically different stylings, from the smooth "Losing Sight" (Track 3) to the raucous "Vacancy Chain" (Track 11). In all of the songs the strength of the instrumentals is on an equal footing with the vocals. The range of the instrumentals and the complexity of the arrangements themselves largely bolster the album's diversity.

FINDING TRUE SELF

A continuing theme in The Silence Kit's music is the disconnect one has from their true self. The anguish that characters feel stems from living life with a certain emptiness, because living the way they do is too often just going through the motions and not rooted in one's connection to their true self.

Moving away from a little of the optimism in "Fall Protection", "It's Not Too Late" thematically continues where we left off in the seventh track of "In Regulated Measure". In that seventh track, "Trying Not To", the main character sings "You introduced me to myself; I lost him a long long time ago".

In the current album, "Let Me Dream" (Track 1) continues the theme. It references "lost myself", "burying the old me" and "recognize the real me".

And in "Losing Sight", the main character is observing someone else and is asking "Have you lost yourself?", but does it resonate with the other person who says that everything is all right? Here is "Losing Sight", very smooth in vocals, but strong in instrumentals. It's the third track on the album. The instrumentals on this are my favorite of the album:

If only all the noise can be cleared away and we can again recognize the true self, then life will be more fulfilling.

TURNING OUTWARD

Sometimes this disconnect can be a realization we make ourselves, or sometimes it can be something that another points out to us, as in "Trying Not To". A lot of the characters in The Silence Kit's music are deeply introspective and are maybe thinking passively about their own situations. But the second noticeable change in this album over the previous ones is the turning outward with a critical eye. While the character in "Losing Sight", is turning outward in an agreeable way while asking someone else, "Are you losing sight?", the characters in some of the songs after that become more critical and even aggressive.

In "Emphasis Flag" (Track 10) the main character is critical of an (unnamed) person for showing a fraudulent or self-important representation of their true self. We don't know who that person is or if there's a relationship there. In "Nonsense" (Track 6) the character gives a piercing critique to another person "I don’t care what you think.” … “I don’t care about your opinions.” ... “I stay away when you’re around.”

The instrumentals in this album are a change of feel from "In Regulated Measure", which were starker and maybe contributed more to the main character's feeling of isolation and abandonment. The instrumentals in this album (which are brilliant) carry with them some of the signature darkness, but are also strong and confident enough, that, no matter how agitated and alarmed the words are, counter some of that desperation to reassure us that all may not be lost, that "It's Not Too Late".

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To hear the whole album and check out the songs mentioned above, here is the click to the band's Bandcamp page: The Silence Kit on Bandcamp (CLICK HERE). There you can also find links to the band's other albums.

The Silence Kit doesn't have any shows coming up in the next few weeks, but here is the click to their Facebook page where you can keep up with what they're doing ::: The Silence Kit on Facebook (CLICK HERE).

Jan 06 : "I Texted You a Photo of the Sunset and You Never Responded" - Jim E. Brown (Manchester UK)

New Music / Freshly Written and Recently Released

Is this a music act or a comedy act? Maybe some of both. On my trip to Johnny Brenda's a couple weeks ago, Manchester UK artist Jim E. Brown was the opener. I was going there after work so I didn't catch the beginning of his show, but, seeing his act for the first time, I was definitely impressed with what I did see.

Jim E. Brown has lots of troubles on many different levels, and he works those sad stories into comedy songs, such as a bad trip to KFC, sitting in McDonald's writing love letters, or texting his love a photo of a beautiful sunset and receiving no response. If you go to the artist's Bandcamp page, you'll see quite a variety of songs exposing his sad situations, but they can in no way measure up to his live show, where he makes quips and tells little anecdotes about some of the characters and situations that appear in his songs.

I've listened to a lot of his work on line, and one of his songs that stands out as a prime example of his style is "I Texted You a Photo of the Sunset and You Never Responded". It's the fifth track on his album "Torture", which was released less than a month ago on December 8 :::

At the Johnny Brenda's show, he had a band backing him up. And he will be coming back to Philly next month. He's scheduled to do a show at Abyssinia on February 9. In the meantime, here is the click to his Facebook page ::: Jim E. Brown on Facebook (CLICK HERE), and to his Bandcamp page ::: Jim E. Brown on Bandcamp.

(pic is from artist's Facebook page)

Dec 31 : "You Stole My Bikeage" - Trash Boy (Philly)

Philly Music!

Above pic is not fake and not AI induced. The pic is from Philly band Trash Boy's Bandcamp page and was taken at the time they put out their great 2019 album, "Who Will Take the Trash Out When We're Gone?" They've since had some changes in their lineup, including some guest instrumentalists at the show they did in Philly last week.

Seeing Trash Boy was my main reason for going to Johnny Brenda's last week. Hadn't seen one of their shows in a while. Lots of people there. The band drew a larger crowd than what I've seen at their previous shows.

Trash Boy, as their web page says "is actually 4 people (not one boy alone) who love Philly and its DIY world and hate rules that oppress the marginalized and uphold bogus meritocracy." While many bands sing about personal relationships, Trash Boy zeroes in on situations, times when people experience some type of personal or wider injustice. One such example is in the second track on their album, "Who Will Take the Trash Out When We're Gone?" The song is "You Stole My Bikeage" where the main character leaves his bike out for a few minutes and it's stolen, leaving him with no way to travel any place.

So here's "You Stole My Bikeage". The feeling bounces back and forth between despair and anger, but, as in many of their other songs, there's also some underlying stylistic humor. :::

If you go to any local shows you probably have seen times when a band will do a shout out to one of their friends who's having a birthday. This show was on the Monday before Christmas, which is Jesus's birthday, so they gave a shout out to Jesus for a Happy Birthday! And, as it turned out, yes, Jesus was in the audience! He came up on stage and thanked everybody for their well wishes. ... ... So, I'm thinking about what this all means. I'm thinking that if any right-wing evangelicals have thoughts about embracing any racist or white supremacist shit, they should pause. ::: Because we saw with our own eyes, right in front of us ::: Jesus Is Black!

Trash Boy doesn't have any other shows coming up soon, but here's the click to their Facebook page where you can find out what they'll be doing in 2024! Trash Boy on Facebook (CLICK HERE).

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The crowd last week was way-more animated than I've ever seen at the band's previous shows. Saw lots of middle fingers flying up in the air as the band sang one of its regulars, "Fuck New York" (CLICK HERE).

Dec 24 : "Cavities In My Heart" - Wax Jaw ( Philly)

Philly Music!

Here's an interesting song from Philly band "Wax Jaw". I went to Johnny Brenda's on Monday night where they were playing. They're a new band and have been doing shows for less than a year. This is "Cavities In My Heart", which is on their album, "Between the Teeth".

Wax Jaw doesn't have any other shows coming up soon, but here's the link to their Bandcamp page ::: Wax Jaw on Bandcamp (CLICK HERE).

(pic is from band's Bandcamp page)

Jun 27 : My Night Out June 16 - Mavis The Dog, Carlos Truly, Special World

Friday a week ago I went to a show at Lot 49 Books. Great show! 3 great outfits. Had heard about the show on Songkick.

But before the show began that week there was one bad zap, and that was with the flaky venue where the show was originally scheduled to play, Space 1026. I contacted the venue myself when I found that the band's Songkick page for the event had information that didn't match that of the venue itself. I emailed the venue and was surprised to receive a curt reply that didn't entirely clarify what was going on. I was later to learn that the plans and conversations between the bands and the venue imploded, and the bands temporarily found themselves without a venue for the night's shows.

But Lot 49 Books came to the rescue and provided space for the concert. It actually turned out to be a good space, an excellent match for these particular bands on this partiular night. The pic above is from Lot 49's Facebook page.

Mavis the Dog (Philly)

First up that evening was Philly band Mavis The Dog. The sound was much fuller and well-rounded than what I heard on the recorded versions. The music at the show gave the feeling of all elements, vocals and all instruments, moving together cohesively. This was compared to the Bandcamp songs where the vocals and each instrument can be heard more individually, each having its own say without being lost in the whole. The Lot 49 performance was smooth with what felt like a faster tempo, while the Bandcamp version has a little more laid-back (yet firm in its feeling) and with a little more choppy song structure (in a good way). As we moved well into the set the band played their rendition of "You Ain't Nothing But a Hound Dog", which turned out to be stiff competition for the originals. It certainly had much more texture than either of the two originals.

The band's newest music on line is their album "The Jetsies (Silver Racecar)". From that album is its namesake, "Silver Racecar", the fifth track:

Mavis the Dog doesn't have any shows coming up soon, but here's the click to their Bandcamp page where you can keep track of what they're doing::: Mavis the Dog on Bandcamp (CLICK HERE).

Carlos Truly (New York)

Next up was Carlos Truly who did vocals and guitar in person and with percussion and other backgrounds as a recorded backdrop. His songs are about relationships. I noticed that the main character in the songs often uses the past tense in talking to or about his significant other, and I therefore got the impression, after listening to the total work, that maybe some of these relationships were in the past. This was especially evident in the song "Vessel".

Indeed when I listened to the song "Vessel", I got the distinct impression that the main character had either suffered a breakup or loss, and, mindful of the gifts from his significant other, was stoically moving on and forward. ... ... But I had the opportunity to have a brief chat with the artist, and he said that, no, the relationship was still going strong, and that the lyrics reflected the complexities of it.

"Vessel" appears on Carlos Truly's most recent album, "Not Mine", which was released in July 2022. It's the fourth track:

Carlos Truly is on a cross-country tour and doesn't have any other shows lined up for our area in the near future, but here is the click to his Bandcamp page where you can hear the full album as well as keep tabs on what he's doing ::: Carlos Truly on Bandcamp (CLICK HERE).

Special World (Philly)

Moving on in the world of complex relationships, and becoming a little more ethereal about it, in the script and the presentation, the final band in the night's lineup was Special World, a new band from Philly. They're very new; just got two tracks up on Bandcamp. At the show, one thing that caught my attention right away was the keys. The band has a lot of keys. The frontman sat with keys in front of him, and then keys to the right which joined in with some melodic enhancements from time to time. One of the guitar players also stood by a third set of keys, which he played in certain songs. Here is my diagram of the lineup of band members (D=drums; G=guitar; K=keys; V=vocals).

I think there was even a starker difference between the Log 49 show and the recorded music than what I found with Mavis the Dog. Both bands were more forceful at the show, but Special World is quite mellow and textured in the Bandcamp recordings with some interesting chords that weren't front and center in the show. Here is "Cloak in the Attic". This is from November, 2022:

Special World has another show coming up on July 23. Here's the click ::: Special World at Black Squirrel Club, but, in the meantime, here's where you can find their new music as they release it: ::: Special World on Bandcamp (CLICK HERE).

Lot 49 Books

And special mention to Lot 49 Books who stepped in to save the day, or save the night, so to speak. Here is the click to their Facebook page: Lot 49 Books on Facebook (CLICK HERE).