The year that wouldn’t end is officially over. We’re all going in to 2021 with hopes and plans that we can accomplish some positive things. We received a new track in November from Steaming Mulch with the goal of seeing more this year. We’ll be replaying some of their older tracks while new ones are being worked on. We also came across some unfinished tracks from The Flank, another band on Velvet Wrinkle Wreckerds (Note – you can find more info on the bands on the label site velvetwrinklewreckerds.com as well as songs on our Soundcloud site). We’re hoping to finish those tracks this year and thought we’d dig in to the archives (it’s been quite a while since the last album release) and give you a sample of The Flank material. We’re starting with ‘Something Better Be’ which is the opening track on the album ‘At Stake’. I’m really looking forward to working on the new songs as they headed in a different direction from the first album which is always exciting.
Here’s ‘Something Better Be’ from The Flank:
There are other projects in the works for 2021 since some situational changes may allow us more time to work together. New original music is in the works for Electrostatic Rhythm Pigs as well as more Messin’ With The Music covers and some live In The Studio performances as well as more In The Studio ‘tech simplified’ videos. We’re looking to have some t shirts and other merch available. There’s even the possibility of another band coming in to Velvet Wrinkle Wreckerds. Bonnie and Samantha are certainly happy to see a new year so we’re starting with some dreams and the hope that this year will allow us to make them reality. We’re hoping you’ll join us in this 2021 adventure (and bring your friends along)!
Well, we’re in the last month of the year of horror that wouldn’t end. Except it looks like the beginning of 2021 won’t be much different. I’m hoping for personal brain reversal salvation when the new year rolls around. A bit of an attitude adjustment. A shining light of positivity to appear. Some beauty in the world. Which for me means diving deeper in to music and art. I guess ‘positive’ is only there if you create it yourself. So let’s finish off the year by reviewing some more music. Maybe you’ll hear something that will be a positive influence for you. Or a least take the ‘real’ world away for a few minutes. Let’s see what we have:
First Up: Bambara – ‘Death Croons’
I’ve stated before that songs show up in our Grapevine posts for a variety of reasons. When I hear a new tune that I like, I go back after hearing it for the first time and try to take apart the pieces that each instrument plays. ‘Death Croons’ has a great driving drum beat with a bass part that enhances that drive. Moody, reverb laden guitars add atmosphere, with one guitar pushing it further with some retro sounding slide. The vocals, somewhere between spoken and sung, make the song sound even darker. One reason I like to occasionally put in performances of the song that are recorded live to video is that you get to see what the musicians are playing and that can give you a better feel for how the songs are constructed. For this song I’m including a live video and the studio version of the song. See if you can pick out the differences in the recordings. One thing missing from the live version is the backing vocals. I think their floating, almost call and response feel add a great deal to the song. The drums are a bit more smoothed out in volume and attack. The echo and reverb on the guitar floats from channel to channel in the studio mix. The versions are similar, but the slight variations are cool. One reason to see a band live is to enjoy these differences.
Next Up: Best Coast – ‘Wreckage’
Let’s start with the musical composition on ‘Wreckage’. Great straight ahead driving rock song. The drums and bass lay the foundation for the song. The bass sits on eighth notes of the chord root, driving the song relentlessly forward. The guitars provide the atmosphere, pulling back in the verses and pushing the chorus forward. In this song the music is meant to highlight the vocals and lyrics. Vocals are crisp and clean on top so the lyrics can be heard and understood. The lyrics are the main part that resonates with me in ‘Wreckage’. I’ve had these kind of songs in Grapevine before – singing loud with the window rolled down while driving (not as much windows down in the winter – hard to sing with your teeth chattering). I’m including the lyrics here because there are a lot of great lines. I really relate to ‘Guess I’m really still the best at getting in my own way’.
So sorry for everything You know I really wanted it to work out I put the blame on everybody Was incapable of not being stressed out
I, I wanted to move on But I, I kept writing the same songs
Now that everything’s burned down I can put it all to bed If only I could make sense of it When it’s swirling in my head I’m so sick of being proud And I’ve got nothing left to say Guess I’m really still the best at Getting in my own way
So if I’m good now Then why do I feel Like a failure Almost every day? And if I’m wise now Then why do I feel Like I’m lying Straight to your face?
I, I wanted to move on But I, I keep doing this thing wrong
Now that everything’s burned down I can put it all to bed If only I could make sense of it When it’s swirling in my head I’m so sick of being proud And I’ve got nothing left to say Guess I’m really still the best at Getting in my own way
I’ll keep pushing forward So I don’t slip way behind
Now that everything’s burned down I can put it all to bed If only I could make sense of it When it’s swirling in my head I’m so sick of being proud And I’ve got nothing left to say Guess I’m really still the best at Getting in my own way
No one’s saying that I’ve got to be perfect So why do I keep pushing myself? No one’s saying that I’ve got to be perfect So why do I keep pushing myself?
Finally: Aoife Nessa Frances – ‘Geranium’
Right off the bat what struck me with this song is the use of a drum machine over live drums. If you had played the song for me before completion, I would have expected live drums to push it forward. For ‘Geranium’ drum machine proves to be a great choice. Their simplicity lays down a wonderful foundation to build the rest of the song. The arpeggio guitar chords with the simple drums gives a dreamy, magical feel you probably wouldn’t get with live drums. There are reverse tape effects in the song that are another great trick to maintain the atmosphere. All the instrumentation is used to highlight the vocals in the song. There are many different ways to highlight vocals musically and I think ‘Geranium’ and the previous song ‘Wreckage’ show that you can do it using two very different techniques. ‘Geranium’ is a more ‘incense and candles’ than ‘sing along’. Shows how important recording/production can be if used correctly.
Retro: The Beatles – ‘She Said She Said’
I sometimes like to use the ‘Retro’ song to look at the musical past and how much of it still relates to music today. You can always find lots of influence looking through The Beatles catalogue. ‘She Said She Said’ has the arpeggiated guitars in the verses, turning to jangly chords in the chorus. The recording has a trippy, laid back feeling to it. And the music serves to highlight the vocals. This song came out on the 1966 Revolver album. For a song written and recorded over fifty years ago, it does not seem at all out of place with the other songs in this post. Remarkable considering the differences in recording tech between then and now. If a song is great it will always continue to influence.
In November we received a new track from Steaming Mulch. During that recording they said that they are working on new tracks for 2021. It had been quite a while since their last recording. Since many of their recordings were from a few years back, we felt that our current blog viewers might not be familiar with their older work. So we decided to remaster and post their older tracks. When you remaster a song, you go back to the previously finished song mixdown and tweak it using EQ, compression, limiting and other tools. One reason is to make the final product fuller and more in line with other tunes on an EP or album (we’ll probably do a full mastering post in the future). For a single song this may come down to compressing and increasing volume so it sounds fuller on internet or radio formats. Since we had mastered the song at ChurchHouse originally, we made some minor changes just for fun. We’re starting with ‘Escape From Mordor’. This was a shorter track, but like their last track it contains some fun movie dialogue along with the music. As before, I won’t give away the movie sources so you can catch them for the first time while listening.
The end of the year is considered ‘the holiday season’. Honestly, hard to find much ‘spirit’ with all that is going on this year. So I thought I’d share something I watch on the internet when I’m down that makes me smile. It’s not musical. It’s from an animal rescue operation that saves foxes and other animals (check them out at saveafox.org). I just can’t stay down when I watch Finnegan and the other foxes laughing and romping around. People who do animal rescue totally rock! Happy Holidays!
Well, we made it through November. Sort of. Some things are better, some things are worse. Didn’t expect 2020 to cut us a break, did you? One more month and the 2020 year from hell is over. Light some candles for 2021. One can only hope that that next year will bring us some relief. On to the Grapevine. There’s an intentional theme this month. We’ll be taking a look at some stripped down music. These songs could fall in to several categories: punk blues, hillbilly stomp, garage rock, call it what you will. The music has different ‘styles’ to it, but the feeling the songs give to me is the same: simple, raw, emotional – what I’d like to find in a dive bar, backyard gathering or crowded garage. Usually I’ll keep to newer releases, but these songs span more years. Enjoy your walk through the spooky woods.
First Up: Hillstomp – ‘Graverobber’s Blues’ ‘Don’t Come Down’
A great example of what you can do with simple instrumentation. Guitar (or banjo) drums, vocals. They’re part of the revival of simple blues that has been around forever but has regained prominence in the last decade (you know how much we love Rev Peyton). These songs always hit me deeper than huge production songs. They just feel more personal. Sitting in dim light with your friends; pass the bottle or the burnables. The party in ‘Don’t Come Down’ is where I’d like to be. I also like the sound of more homemade drums sets: drums, buckets, metal objects, lots of duct tape. Here’s two songs, one more guitar, the other more banjo.
Next Up: The Scientists – ‘Swampland’
The Scientists applied a more ‘garage’ sound to the music. Still a lo-fi blues feel to it, but more of a rock sound than country or bluegrass based. This song came out during the 1980s post punk era. In today’s world you can find a lot of ‘smaller audience’ and less known bands on the internet. Back then you had to search them out. It took a bit more work to come across the hidden gems. Fanzines, small clubs and word of mouth were the main methods of transmission. The components are all here – high end trebly guitars, basic drum and bass patterns, lots of reverb and vocals mixed deeper in to the music. This song would be perfectly placed being played in a garage with a small crowd jammed in and banging around.
Finally: Left Lane Cruiser – ‘Claw Machine Wizard’
Left Lane Cruiser is another two person band. Another band that produces a whole lot of sound just using guitar and drums. On this song, the music is tilted more toward the ‘rock’ part of ‘rock/blues’. But it continues the raw, lo-fi feel we’ve been exploring. Many of these two person band’s guitar feel is made by playing riffs instead of straight ahead chords with lead guitar thrown in at different parts. Having guitar riffs bounce off of and compete with the vocals makes the music/band sound larger than just two people. The guitar player carries the bottom end with single notes on the low strings while playing the riffs higher up. That is typical of a lot of older delta blues players, many very full sounding arrangements made by themselves on acoustic guitar.
Retro – Electrostatic Rhythm Pigs – ‘Ghost On The Highway’
Thought I’d include one of our own takes on this genre. One of my favorite bands, The Gun Club, first pulled me in to the punk blues style. I may have played their 1981 album, Fire Of Love, more than any other album I have. Perfect balance of garage, blues and punk. One of the first punk bands that took up this style and to me, still the best. This is our version of Ghost On The Highway’ from Fire Of Love.
Our friends from Steaming Mulch have returned from the ether with a new track called ‘Hasten The Unglued Shadow Appears’. It was good to have them back in the studio. We’re also fortunate because of the way they like to record. They plan out the track well ahead of recording so everyone can show up individually, making it easier to record safely in our current environment. It’s been quite a while since their last recording, but once you start working, it’s like no time has passed. They’ve also said they have other tracks in mind, so hopefully Velvet Wrinkle Wreckerds won’t have as long a wait until more music appears. As they’ve done in other songs, this track also has some fun movie clips in it. But I won’t spoil the surprise. Enjoy.
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