Dec 17 : "Panglossian Mannequin" - Guerilla Toss (New York)

New Music / Freshly Written and Recently Released

ROUGH TERRAIN

It's rough terrain riding over the song structures of New York band Guerilla Toss. Lots of bumps in the road, quick changes in tempo, volume, vocal styles, as Guerilla Toss is pulling us along at a rapid speed. We can't imagine what will happen next.

I went to hear Guerilla Toss at Johnny Brenda's back in October (not up-to-date in my writeups). They were headlining the evening. They gave a strong performance, although a lot of the nuances and subtleties of the stylistic changes found in the recordings did not carry over to the live show.

The band released a new album in September, "You're Weird Now". Here is "Panglossian Mannequin", which I think best exemplifies the fast changes. It's the sixth track on the album :::

To hear the rest of the songs in their album, here is the click to their Bandcamp page ::: Guerilla Toss on Bandcamp (CLICK HERE). And here is the click to their Facebook page ::: Guerilla Toss on Facebook (CLICK HERE). (pic above is from band's Bandcamp page)

Dec 03 : "Desertenko" - Special World (Philly)

Philly Music

Maybe it's time to start looking at Philly band "Special World" as being TWO bands. There's the "original" (at least from my perspective) Special World that lives on Bandcamp. A lot of this music, while in different styles, could be considered to be more laid back.

Then there's what's emerging at the live shows which is more forceful and intense. They've even upped this since their Cambridge Hall show back in August. I most recently saw them at Johnny Brenda's in October (yes, I'm way behind in my music posts). They had expanded to five members. In the Bandcamp world, the vocals are largely leading the way. But at the Johnny Brenda's show, there were not only the more powerful drums which I had heard at Cambridge Hall, but along with a focus on the bass, a foundation of powerful chords that carried the songs and almost became the songs, and then providing the support for the vocals. Even though they performed a lot of the same music that is on Bandcamp, the Johnny Brenda's presentation brought forward a feeling of strength or confidence that doesn't appear in the laid-back Bandcamp stylings.

But here, going back to a sample from the Bandcamp stylings, is "Desertenko", which is the fifth track on their album "Special World" :::

Special World has another show coming up on December 20 at Living Rune". And they've got a new website ::: SPECIAL WORLD NEW WEBSITE (Click here). In the meantime, here is the click to their Facebook page ::: Special World on Facebook (CLICK HERE).

(Pic at top is from band's Bandcamp page.)