Aug 08 : "Bob Mundon" - Brontide

New Music / Freshly Written & Recently Posted

Playing right before The Mystery Lights at Mercury Lounge was UK band "Brontide". Unlike The Mystery Lights, which seemed to have zeroed in on and were experts in garage rock, Brontide was more eclectic. Not just from song to song, but the styles and genres seemed to be all over the place ... in each song.

I was very impressed by the band's range and mastery of different styles. However, I felt that, while each song seemed to showcase a wide array of styles, there wasn't too much cohesiveness. How was it all being pulled together?

The music the band has on their various web pages does not display as sharply the contrasts of temperaments that I heard at the live show. Maybe it was just the fact that the show was live. But, of the various samples they have posted, the track "Bob Mundon" comes most closely to illustrating my point about the wide ranges.

Current song playing right here on my blog page is "Bob Mundon" by UK band Brontide.

To visit Brontide, here is the click ::: Brontide (CLICK HERE)

Aug 01 : "Guitar Pickin' On You" - The Mystery Lights

Monday night I was looking for some good music after I finished working in NY. I listened to samples of the various bands at the various venues and came up with what looked like an interesting night at Mercury Lounge.

It had been a while since I had heard some really high-powered garage rock, so I was intrigued and all set to go hear for the first time the headliner on the bill, "The Mystery Lights". They certainly didn't disappoint. Non-stop and intense.

While I liked listening to the "advance" web songs that helped me make the decision to go hear them, they really don't seem to have a huge web presence. Their Facebook page says that they're from Salinas, CA, although they're using New York as a home base right now. Here, playing right here on my web page is the high-powered "Guitar Pickin' On You" by The Mystery Lights.

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6/27/20 UPDATE! ::: OOPS! Looks like the band removed this song from their webpage!

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To visit The Mystery Lights, here is the click ::: The Mystery Lights (CLICK HERE)

Jul 19 : "Shadows In the Dark" - Hollows

(an antiote to the dry spell ... part 4)

In the last few days I've realized that the "dry spell" may be coming to an end. I've seen some interesting lineups and listings for midweek shows that I can actually get to.

But, to complete the story about my trip to Glasslands the week before last, I have to tell you about the headliner that night, Chicago band "Hollows". While the first three bands had some women members, Hollows is almost an all-woman band, well, four out of five anyway. Four women out front with vocals, guitars, and keys, and a male drummer sitting in back.

Ths sound is somewhat retro. Here's a quote from a review that appears on their Facebook page. :::"There is plenty of spookiness in the band's dreamy sha-la-la. This mostly female group pulls together all the drama and tragedy of the Shangri-Las and mixes it with classic garage rock." ~Jessica Hopper, Chicago Tribune

A good sample of the "spookiness" can be heard in their song, "Shadows In the Dark", which is playing right here on my blog page :::

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6/27/20 UPDATE! ::: OOPS! Looks like the band's music and page have disappeared.

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To hear more of their organ-heavy music, here is the click :::

So I enjoyed the Hollows' show at Glasslands. It, as with the three bands that preceded it, were just the "antidote to the dry spell" that I needed. ... But now there seems to be a turn of the tide, and more interesting lineups are starting to appear. I'm just getting ready to go out to hear some more bands now. Yay!

Jul 14 : "Born Heavy" - Darlings

(an antidote to the dry spell ... part 3)

In my previous postings about the "dry spell", I didn't mean to imply that only in New York is good stuff happening. For the free time I had the week of July 2, I also looked at various venues in New York and it was just Glasslands as an isolated example that had music that interested me.

Also, within the last week I've had to back away from a couple interesting shows that I've seen coming up. Because I've had obligations early the next mornings and wanted to stay in the night before, I missed Left Of Logic playing at Milkboy last weekend and Jackie Paper playing at Hong Kong Garden last night.

So maybe I should revise my complaints about the "dry spell" to say that the "dry spell" only seems to pertain to the nights I have off, but seems to be in remission on the nights that I don't have free. Because there's some interesting music around on those other nights when I can't get away. :(

Also, available music is subject to the individual agreements reached by venues and bands as to who's playing when and where.

But back to my first choice for July 2. It seemed to be a LADIES NIGHT at Glasslands. Women were featured in each of the bands, including the third band up, which was Brooklyn band, "Darlings". Playing right here on my blog page is "Born Heavy", which the band released in 2010.

They don't appear to have any other upcoming shows listed, but they announced they do have a 7" single coming out next month. To visit Darlings, here is the click ::: Darlings (CLICK HERE)

Jul 09 : "Heat" - Boyhood

(an antidote to the dry spell ... part 2)

So this is the second in the mini-series. To clarify what I mean by a "dry spell": It's going out to hear music, but, after hearing one band or so, not hearing enough other music at that same venue that will make me want to stay in their room for the whole evening. ... As a loyal fan of the bands that I love, I want to see their shows and support them whenever I can, but, as a customer of the venues, I would like to hear more interesting music than that one band after I've paid my cover charge. The past couple months I haven't heard any "bad" "other" bands, all have been proficient, but maybe it's been a little too heavy on the generic "same-old, same-old". I'm sure this dry spell will be temporary as others have been in the past.

Which brings us back to the great evening I had at Glasslands last Monday, where they packed in some very interesting bands in one evening. My previous blog was about the evening's opener, Graveyard Lovers. The next band up was Ottawa outfit "Boyhood".

"Boyhood" is the project of Caylie Runciman, who played guitar and did lead vocals at the show on Monday. It was a "family affair". Playing with her was her boyfriend, Luke Nuclear, on bass, and her younger brother, Callum Runciman, on drums.

Sounds like excellennt Garage to me. The performance was powerful. In seeing the live show and listening to her recorded music, I find Caylie's vocal range can be anywhere from mellow to fierce. At the live performance, the stylings tilted a little more towards the intense.

An example of some of her range within one song comes in the track "Heat", which she sang at the show and also happens to be the second track on the "Boyhood EP".

There are also some interesting harmonies in her work. Check out "Where I'm Going", which is the fourth track on the ep:::

To visit Boyhood on Bandcamp, here is the click ::: Boyhood on Bandcamp (CLICK HERE)

You may be surprised, as I certainly was, to find that BOYHOOD IS A SOLO PROJECT. Caylie's boyfriend and brother play with her only at live shows, but all the recordings are solo, Caylie's performance(s) alone. She started playing music long before she can remember. Here are some additional tracks done by Caylie, prior to her actually giving her outfit the name "Boyhood" about a year ago ::: Caylie Runciman on Soundcloud (CLICK HERE)

I have more antidotes to tell you about. Check back here in a few days! :)