Sky Orchid - Oculus (2017)

OFFICIAL: https://skyorchid.net/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/skyorchidofficial/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/skyorchidband

Written by Drew East, posted by blog admin

Kansas blood brothers Gabriel and Daniel Traknyak have spent years assembling their debut full-length, Oculus.  Though a few of the tunes were composed during the actual album sessions, others were cultivated over years and years of playing together with the groovy soul/funk/blues of “Breathe Easy” dating back the farthest at 7 years of age.  With only two men behind this project they still put out a ton of sound and make up for the lack of additional instrumentalists by knowing their musical abilities inside and out; applying them with the passion and prowess of seasoned industry pros. 

Some of the material is dark and dreamy, other times they indulge in genuinely uplifting fare and they even break it down acoustic whenever the situation calls for such tactics.  The pushing, pulling dirge of “The River” starts the record off and it’s overflowing with electronic-smattered beats, rolling tom drums and a haunting piano hymnal.  Gabriel’s guitar doesn’t enter the equation till the end with some electric riffing but his stellar melody vocals lift this piece to great heights.  “Sneakers” starts off much of the same way but catapults itself over the introspective buzz and hum with a midsection alive and riff with hard-edge guitar riffs, industrial rock’s machine-syncopated madness and a bombastic vocal performance that really cuts to the meat of the song’s matter.  “In the Fire (Part 1)” makes use of trembling, glimmering clean indie-rock guitars and rollicking drum pulsations for a tune that plays off much like “The River’s” lighter and brighter younger brother.  There’s enough variation to separate the two tracks from one another and this one really shines bright with its melodic and harmonic qualities with numerous counterpoints between the different instruments.  Stripping down to a smoky acoustic duskiness,

“Wildfire” harnesses shades of country, folk and blues for one of the most poignantly unique sounding jams heard on the entire record.  The brothers switch things up yet again with “I’ll Stop the World (Part II)” and its fuzzy, riff-dusted punk grooves and etherized gothic rock textures.  It’s a super catchy track that’s lively and worth a spirited sing-a-long or three.  “Lex” burns the atmosphere in a campfire of swirling, ember-lit guitar melodies, surreal keyboards and another striking vocal performance.  “Breathe Easy” and “Take It All” kick off the dust off some blues and quirky, grooved out rock and rhythm n’ blues that’s all soul, sweat and swagger.  “Yesterday” sends us back to a watery grave of reverbed and delayed-affected ruminations, while closer “Fortify” remains a modicum of the same bleak, ambience. 

Sky Orchid really has it going on throughout this record.  Oculus simmers with drippy textures, layered grooves and unpredictable structures.  The material on this album is varied and dynamic with many unique ideas firing off in every single direction.  Folks that are into the trippy post-rock of the 80s and experimental 90s groups, though they add many of their own ingredients to the brew that makes Sky Orchid a sonically unique proposition that all died in the wool music fans should easily enjoy!

Rhett Repko - Thnx For The Ride (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://www.rhettrepko.com/

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Written by Mike Yoder, posted by blog admin

Make no mistake, this isn’t a hard rock album. There’s some solid riffing scattered across the entirety of Rhett Repko’s Thnx For The Ride, but the title song and opening cut clarifies from the first that this isn’t closer to a take on classic rock fused with solid pop fundamentals and high octane energy. Repko’s intensely engaged voice pairs up well with lead guitarist Stefan Heuer’s occasional backing vocals and there’s a satisfying amount of post production gloss and effects further enhancing the tune. “Please Don’t Laugh” features a less stylized guitar sound from Heuer, vividly reflected in his lead guitar work, but the same wont for tempo and pacing experimentation remains strong with this performance. The vocals are even stronger than what we heard from the opening number and contrast nicely with the straight rock guitar attack. They slow things down to notable effect just after the song’s midway point and the dynamics of this number are even more dramatic than those we hear with the title song.

“It Ain’t Coming From You” is the EP’s highlight for me. This isn’t a put down of the six other fine tracks featured on Thnx For The Ride, but everything comes together here with just a dollop more of cohesiveness and velocity than the first two songs and you can hear Repko senses that as well. He lets a barnburner of a vocal fly all out here, but there’s always a tight grip on his style and it never feels out of control. “Maybe I’m Weak” embodies the sort of personal, yet accessible and relatable songwriting, that’s brought Repko a great deal of notice and it’s clear he’s refining his style more and more with each new composition and release. The exponential growth of a talented young musician and songwriter is a thing to behold and Rhett Repko is progressing like few others today.

“And I Told Her So” is nearly every bit the equal of “It Ain’t Coming From You” and the only area where the latter tune surpasses it is the lyrics, but that’s ultimately a matter of taste. Lead guitarist Stefan Heuer turns in an especially memorable performance, particularly his guitar solo, and it’s a joy to listen how these musicians respond to each other. There is a smattering of acoustic guitar heard on Thnx For The Ride, but it’s always in support of the electric and adds more muscle to the overall performance. “Learn Your Name”, the EP’s second to last track, is a churning, tightly arranged tune distinguished by a rhythm section working in fluid lockstep with each other and Repko’s exuberant vocal deserves mention as being among the EP’s best. The EP finishes up with the track “Make Me Right”. It’s quite a romp to end Thnx For The Ride and again shows Repko’s tendency to manipulate musical dynamics in a dramatically appealing way. Rhett Repko’s second release of 2017 is one of the best indie rock releases in recent memory and a big part of that comes from the overpowering likability of its material.

Black Bluebirds - Like Blood for Music (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://blackbluebirds.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/BlackBluebirds

Written by Laura Dodero, posted by blog admin

Black Bluebirds, coming out of the Minneapolis area, prove they are expert at pouring old wine into new glasses thanks to their invigorating mix of adult and highly personal themes with traditional musical structures handled with more than the usual amount of skill. The ten song Like Blood for Music is never formulaic – instead, Black Bluebirds prove themselves to be orchestrating textures and mood in such a way no two songs sound exactly alike while each maintain an individuality helping to make this an unified experience from the first to the last. Keyboardist, singer, and songwriter Daniel Fiskum definitely emerges from this album as being a truly formidable talent, but Black Bluebirds is far more than some sort of glorified solo project. Instead, guitarist Simon Husbands and drummer Chad Helmonds bring a great deal to the table. There are other important contributors outside the three piece, particularly guest vocalist Jessica Rasche, and their additions to the album make it all the more powerful of an experience.

If Like Blood for Music were an academic exercise of some sort, the opener “Love Kills Slowly” would be the album’s thesis of a sort – it lays out much of the same thematic path Black Bluebirds follow over the course of the album’s remaining nine songs. It might prove to be a bit deceptive for some listeners. They lay out a distinctly hard rock course with this tune and, while echoes of this approach abound throughout the band’s music, it isn’t a defining aspect of what they do, but rather part. Daniel Fiskum’s lyrics are ideally suited to a musical setting and show obvious care, but he has an intelligent flair to each of the album’s ten lyrics that few writers in this vein can boast.

Later songs like “Strange Attractor” and “Battlehammer” are, arguably, closest in musical approach to what we hear with the opener, but there’s never any sense of the band repeating themselves. Much of Like Blood for Music is devoted to more cinematically minded pieces like “Life in White”, “My Eyes Were Closed”, and “House of No More Dreams”. The second and third of those songs, in particular, are obviously keyed to be the album’s showpieces in this regard and show how adeptly the band mixes the dissonant hard rock edge in their music with more near orchestral approaches. The diversity is carefully modulated and never sounds too far afield of the band’s initial impulse and it’s equally praiseworthy how the three piece can make very adult themes accessible for even those who haven’t experienced such things. The hard rock edge is often present in Black Bluebirds music but, even when it isn’t, there’s the same sort of intensity brought to bear we readily associate with that sort of sound. Like Blood for Music is one of the best offerings in this style I’ve heard in quite some time and opens up the future nicely for this band going forward from here.  

Blue Apollo - Light Footed Hours + Circles (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://blueapollomusic.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/blueapollomusic/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/BlueApolloMusic

Written by Daniel Boyer, posted by blog admin

With music to match the EP’s cover (a girl’s face with eyes closed surrounded by the infinite cosmos), Dallas three-piece Blue Apollo dig into spacey, gracious textures and serene melodies that collide head-on with rock n’ roll brawn on their debut, Light-Footed Hours.  It’s a delicious difference split of sound with some pop-vocal hooks, surprisingly complex instrumental threading and tougher movements that leave behind a memorable impact.

“Walls” kicks the EP off with Jeremiah Jensen’s big sound that practically throttles the toms while peppering the mixture with monster cymbal crashes and agile rim playing.  As his performance slips in more volume and rhythmic trip-outs, Luke Nassar colors in the gray space around the beat with head swimming melody chords blanketed in low-end warmth thanks to Rodman Steele’s prominent bass swagger.  The track works up a good head of steam, seemingly getting louder by the minute, until releasing all of its pent-up energy into a semi-progressive indie hard rock jam.  One moment the instruments will dip out and allow Nassar’s emotive voice take center stage and the next the band will lock onto a groove like a homing missile that ultimately explodes with crashing crescendos of epic soundscaping.  Subtle touches of keyboard mimics a clavinet and is probably the reason that the trio added a fourth member to handle all of the group’s various auxiliary instruments.  A superlatively rocking and careening lead topped off by a smacking snare-fill sends the tune hurtling towards a whirling, oscillating and truly exciting finale. 

“Feeling Right” is all about the groove and Nassar sips his guitar melodies from the tropics with some flamenco/funk/reggae flourishes that wouldn’t be out of place on a Sublime record (albeit more subdued than Nowell and company would mess with).  Ragtime piano maintains a lively atmosphere and the stop/start bass lines also toy with funk as the mix between straight timekeeping and syncopated jabs sprinkle some jazz into Jensen’s drumming.  Pitching yet another curveball, “Therapy” repeats its main guitar lick akin to a mantra and by doing so it becomes permanently ingrained in its audience’s memory.  It’s a cool amalgamation between pop punk’s instant immediacy and indie rock’s mind wandering charms.  Luke’s voice carves wonderful verse and chorus hooks as his guitar trades-off between being a lead instrument and a backing one.  A few craggy, jagged drum fills and scorching guitar licks give this piece an occasionally aggressive bite that fluidly transitions into the song’s more sugar sweet ideals.  

Album centerpiece “Avalanche” throws in the kitchen sink and everything else it can find into a sprawling piece that begins as just picturesque melodic singing and melancholic piano beauty.  Cellos, violin and a filled-out string section encompass a vast array of influences that unexpectedly sees the entire band joining in with smashing percussion (heavy on the crashing symbols), rubber burning guitar peel-outs, soul screaming blues guitar licks and quaking low-end grooves.  “Meant to Be” is mostly based upon Luke’s stunning lead vocals, his acoustic guitars and the return of an exotic string section, though it doesn’t forget to include a rock n’ roll finish for good measure.  The EP’s final cut and the band’s most recent single “Circles” mingles never-ending, kinetic tom-tom rolls, piano majesty and ringing melodic chords into a penultimate track that couldn’t have been a better closer; cementing Light-Footed Hours into a sweeping indie-rock release that pulls out all of the stops and succeeds at every single turn.

Man Called Noon - Everybody Move (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://mancallednoon.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/mancallednoon/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/ManCalledNoon

Written by David Shouse, posted by blog admin

It’s evident from the shucking and jiving pop n’ rocky fury of lead-in number “Everybody Move” that Man Called Noon is intent on getting limbs swinging and bodies bumping with their danceable acrobatics.  Anthony Giamichael’s post-punk guitar shimmers and scorching solos work up a good melodic sweat set to a thrilling tempo ride set by drummer Josh Fontenot and bassist Dave Aitken’s well-oiled swagger.  Citing soul and Americana influences these elements ebb to the surface of Man Called Noon’s style thanks to the call n’ response vocal dynamics of Giamichael’s leads and Erin Piortrowski’s lavish back-ups; together the team makes the verbal component of the band’s sound airtight uber-contagious.  There’s a breathy, slightly nasally vibrato to Anthony’s leads that sounds a little like Tom Petty, but he keeps subtly shifting his tonality for a very original feel. 

The second composition “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” might be the EP’s best overall piece but with the quality of material on offer here, well, that’s a tough call to make.  Still this tune charges forth on a careening drum performance that embellishes punk rock tempos but twists them towards new wave’s lockstep syncopation and fluid bass work.  The guitars hang back in this one and seem to add extra notes to help complete certain grooves, embracing a near minimalist approach to the playing which delegates synth-player Nathan Crone to a pivotal role that sees his swelling, sonically tough keyboards riffs placed right upfront in the track’s production mix.  Speaking of the production there’s a fine sheen to the total package yet a certain amount of rawness is present on each instrument; rendering Man Called Noon as a rambunctious act who can take a wiry rock song and sand it to a smooth pop masterpiece.  Again the harmony vocals shine as the instrumentation delves into a complexity one seldom hears when exploring this style of music.  These cats should be all over rock radio and hopefully they are. 

This superb EP crosses the finish line with “One Last Ride’s” raucous punk n’ soul shakedown; Piortrowski steps into a co-lead vocal position providing some wordless blues melodies that wrap around Giamichael’s hooks like man-eating pythons as a throttling rhythmic groove nails everything down tightly.  Upper echelon vocal trade-offs and some of the most striking guitar work on the recording (marked by another killer little solo run) yields this jam a rowdy aura that will make you really want to bounce off your bedroom walls.  The alchemical split between soul, rock, punk and electronic music isn’t performed quite like anybody else out there.  Man Called Noon is fiercely original when stacked against their closest competition. 

All three tracks on this EP hit the bullseye with abandon and attitude.  Though pop elements prevail and the songwriting is tailor made for dancing and bedroom mirror vocal performances, there’s a sonic slap in the snout to this music that makes it a bit more in your face than anybody else that does it. Man Called Noon is poised to release the best album of their career based on the strength of Everybody Move; keep an eye on them!