Is it possible for a band to have a unique drum sound even if they don’t have a live drummer? I think so.
Oregon’s Warm Gadget has come a long way from their punk-ish origins to create an industrial rock sound that is powerful and relentless, yet still allows for melody to creep its way into the mix. This is evident on their new release, Sorrows. The percussion parts are heavy as hell and will shake the fillings loose in your teeth; layered and intricate with a distinctive bombast. Drum programming is indeed an art form. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
The lyrics on Sorrows are equally as in-your-face. Subjects such as conformity (The Masses), fucked-up relationships (Debutante), and the impermanence of society (Digging) are laid before us none too subtly.
At eleven tracks (including three remixes), this sonic assault is quick and to the point without taxing your attention span. Debutante has the makings of a single, featuring vocals and guitar work from fellow Oregonian Page Hamilton of Helmet fame. Its singalong chorus and Hamilton’s distinctively screeching guitar solo make Debutante catchy and memorable.
Songs such as Unfollow are actually revived tracks from a few years ago that the band had left on the back burner until now. After letting the songs percolate for a suitable time, the end result was well worth the wait.
Even still, Sorrows is Warm Gadget’s strongest outing yet. These songs were best left until the band was ready for them; when every aspect of their playing and production skill was at its most polished and powerful. Recommended.
It’s Bandcamp Friday, darkness swirls around my head and Halloween fast approaches. What a great time for some quick hit music reviews from some of the best in underground darkscene artists. I’m working on another article for some of the bigger names in the scene with new releases. These bands are for experimental listeners looking to find new bands everyone doesn’t know about yet.
Wandering Whispers – Uneasy Listening – Amazing Detroit artist Lela Marionette with a brand new project she embarked on in 2023. Filthy soundscapes stumbling around a warehouse labyrinth of 90s Detroit rave culture. Pulsing slow heartbeat base. Music meant to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up while Lela whispers frightening poetry to the back of your ear. Love the liberal use of slutty muted horn synth effects.
This project is meant to feel very instrument heavy emotional resonance. I love these ghostly vocals from Lela and hope they come forward more in future releases. They really tie the haunt together.
The Bleak Assembly – until the world stops hurting – Newest release out of Denver from the collaboration between Kimberly of Bow Ever Down and Michael Smith of Fiction8. Additional shoutout for the wicked artwork by Greg Rolfes / eleven12design.com. TBA always conjures amazing visuals when I hear it. The perfect music for the most powerful moment in an anime. The mixing and mastering of this album are superb. The concepts here are so natural energy, so finding a perfect sonic balance is key to the message. Shoutout for giving Sounds and Shadows a Thank You in the liner notes 😉
The Powerful Sun: Gorgeous opening track with a slushy shoegaze guitar line. Kimberly has a gorgeous and distinctive voice that always sounds powerful without pushing itself. I picture her on a beach aquabending streams of water reflecting the sun. “What is it you’re fighting for”
Only Truth Remains: You can’t go wrong on this album, and the songs all maintain a consistent vibe. If I had to pick a favorite, this has such an amazing Til Tuesday darkpop sound with a chorus that lived in my head for days. Kimberly’s voice rises like warm air over the sand. The dueling guitar lines on the solo with such effortless precision create so much without grasping for a spotlight. This one got deep under my skin.
Cyborg Amok – Cellophane Grind – Brand new single from the New Jersey father son electro rock duo of an August album Pin’s and Needles. Thick basslines and thundering 70’s darkrock tones. I love Brydon taking lead on the vocals here to conjure some Jim Morrison energy. Everything here feels big, spooky, and psychedelic. Doom rock like this is a bit of a lost art and I am loving this snapshot CA has captured.
Sierra Miffed – Demo – Kalamazoo MI’s own power punk trio including Jena, Leah, and Katy (Katy Needs A Life/Sounds and Shadows) with their debut release. A high-speed rollercoaster of emotional deliver and tight turns. Fan’s of 90’s indie edge like Muffs or Vaselines will love this clever spit in the face of convention.
Favorite Track: Untitled Banger – Normally a primarily instrumental punk thumper doesn’t get on my radar. What can I say, this cooks. It’s got energy, craft, and a devil may care attitude I can’t help smile and stomp my feet to. Can’t wait to get out and see this band live. I have a feeling the energy is next level when the wall of sound hits you in the face.
MORTAL REALM – Stab In The Dark – Adam V. Jones, of Haex with a new project on Negative Gain coming like a charge into the breach. Prepare to be pummeled by a spiked gauntlet of sound. I really like how light on it’s feet this full plate dance beat bobs and weaves. There is a consistency of electronic bop, but the vocal style and emotional spectrum shows great range.
Death Debt– I didn’t know that Adam had a Martin Gore style in his bag of tricks, but I am loving it. Sassy and synthlacious this retro wall shaker hits all the notes.
Nostrum Nepenthe – What in the Industrial Ronnie James Dio is happening here? Gnashing teeth and stomping boots flinging out berserker bard tales of pain and destruction. This track is great for the club, or beating the piss out of rich boys in the dumpster out back.
Blood is my reward The call of the void The moment is gone Blood is my reward The call of the void The moment is gone
BRIDES – Sundown – New three track EP from Adrian Borgia in Norway off Produkt 42. One of the most underappreciated expressionists of the modern scene. Track one Amour opens with swirling New Dawn Fades energy. A love ballad crooned by a broken demon. Adrian has mastered the art of being a single voice dragging a long cape of immense weight behind him.
Favorite Track:Apocalypse In Slow-Motion – This is a slow watching your heart burst from your chest, fall on the dirty ground, and get run over by a steam roller sound. Somehow that demonic growl still feels hopeful. An ending you long for, a rebirth to come. A difficult concept to describe, you know it when you hear it though. Adrian always leaves me memorized with the minimalist efficiency of his songs. An adventure of flavor with 5 simple ingredients.
Sword Tongue – Diamonds To Rust – Power Trio Jennifer Wilde, Gaetano Maleki, and Dan Milligan with a dreamy 4AD mystical Siouxsie “Superstition” feel. Jennifer floats like mist on top of the rotating toms and vibrating bass. Amazing to see how in synch this project has become. I think the first few releases were still asking themselves who they wanted to be. Diamonds to Dust definitively shows they have found the answer. This single shines with a complexity and sense of purpose that has been lacking in the scene. I love this clarity of direction.
Camlann – Numb and Hollow – Immensely talented young folk from Jakarta, Indonesia who are creating darkscene music on a level I couldn’t have conceived of at their age. Sophisticated and exotic with a sharp foil of capitalist excess. The way this hits a pop anthem chorus while existing in the same track as the darkest imaginable David Lynch surrealism is an incredible artistic achievement. A sensational contradiction that casts a spotlight on the hypocrisy of the world. Another impressive evolution. No one is making music like this.
Vocals and Guitar: Ony Godfrey Synth, Analog Bass, and Drum Machine: Fauzan Pratama Produced, Mixed, and Mastered by David Novotny
I covered X twice before, this being what we think will be the last time.
X is on their “Smoke and Fiction” tour, stating that they will be packing it in at the end of this one. Having launched as a punk-rockabilly act in Los Angeles in 1977, they defined a genre and gave it to us time and time again. With all that they have accomplished, 47 years with each album being equal or better than the last, they can hang their hats on this, and walk away gracefully. This last time was incredible, and I can honestly say the best gig of theirs I have gotten to see, it was a bittersweet moment. THE ENTIRE GIG was a bittersweet moment.
Supporting X was a country singer-songwriter James Intveld. He played a fun set, telling stories along the way, and even doing a song he wrote for Johnny Cash that never got recorded but Johnny loved it.
James Entvield
When X took the stage, they were cheered on, Exene said “Good evening Salt Lake City” and they kicked off their set with “The Phone’s Off The Hook, But You’re Not” a classic that I usually hear mid-set so this was great. They handled their set old-school, like a Ramones gig, where you have a breath in between songs, and DJ Bonebreak taps his sticks together, and off they go into the next song.
Exene was donning a new jacket, with plenty of “X” iconography on it, and as usual, killer cowboy boots, dancing away with Billy Zoom at her right smiling away.
It wasn’t until “Water and Wine” that they stopped and talked to us, thanking everyone for still coming out and seeing them live after so many years.
They took us through “White Girl”, “Breathless” an Otis Blackwell cover, then “Ruby Church”. They played a “recent” “The World’s a Mess, It’s In My Kiss” to everyone singing along with them, loudly, and out of tune, (Yes it was AWESOME).
They gave us the classic “The Hungry Wolf” from “Under The Big Black Sun”, which I have to say, I first heard and fell in love with that song from “Live at the Whisky a Go-Go”, so I can honestly say, this song was meant to be heard live.
Billy Zoom can claim the title of “God Of The Gretch”, as he ripped out his riffs, smiling making it all look so easy. Honestly, seeing Billy do what he does best is worth going to see X live.
For a “Farewell” tour, they played a good part of the set from the new album, the title track “Smoke Fiction” sounded like they weren’t going to slow down. We got a dose of this one last year, and this time it sounded like it had been a crowd favorite.
A few songs later, with lots of John Doe singing and thumping away, and Excene dancing and singing with him, we got to hear “LOS ANGELES” because it wouldn’t be an X concert without it. Still feeling like we just got started with this gig, the ultimate classic from the first album had all of us dancing, “Johny Hit and Run Pauline”, then “Nausea”, and then “Motel Room In My Bed” It felt like it was 1982 all over again. They were pulling out all the stops with songs from 77, 82, and then even 2024.
For the punters, this didn’t seem like a “Farewell show” though we did know this was probably the last time we would see them in Salt Lake City. We all danced in unison, pounding on the floor and singing along with them. Closing out the first part of the set with “Soul Kitchen” a Doors Cover.
They came back for an encore, and I was ushered back into the pit again for the finale. John and Exene came out with John on guitar, they sang a somber “See How We Are”, a sad song asking us all to look into the mirror take a look at ourselves, and the state of our society. It is a powerful song written from the heart of the Songbook Americana. If X ever had a message they wanted all of us to hear, it would be this one. Just to sit back and realize where we are all guilty, and what we need to do, to love our fellow man. Just who have we become as a country? This song will make you think about that, our greed, how we hate, who we hate, and why?
While we were thinking about that, they played “Come Back To Me”, with DJ on the vibraphone, Billy on Sax, and Craig on drums, just to shake it all up. This is a “Diner” type number that just catches the entire zeitgeist of the rockabilly age, where X was born.
A girl in the audience held up a little ziplock bag, with a guitar pic in it, and a note “Your Pic from the 87 gig”. She was waving it at Billy Zoom, and he reached for it, I took it from her and handed it to him asking him to sign it. He said he would but he didn’t have a pen. I handed him my Sharpie and he signed it for her and handed it back to me to give to her. Then he took my Sharpie put it to his nose and acted like he was sniffing it to get high (Maybe he was), everyone was laughing and bantering with him and the band before the last song.
John and Exene thanked everyone one last time and they closed out with “I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts”. During the song, Billy took his pick, and a bit of his chewing gum, stuck the pick to his forehead then played his sax solo, and they closed out the evening with that song.
While everything was winding down, Billy came out into the audience and connected with everyone. He told jokes, took photos, signed things, and gave lots of hugs.
I went backstage to get a few signatures, I had a photo from the last gig, and Exene said that it was a nice picture, and asked for a copy. She said that they were done touring, but would still be willing to play festivals and one-offs.
I asked Billy to give me a quick PSA about PSA (Public Service Announcement, and Prostate Specific Antigen, what they test for when looking for Prostate Cancer). I knew Billy had been treated for Prostate Cancer, and I asked if he could give a word for my documentary film about it. Billy was more than happy to talk about it on camera and went on for a while about it. (I do appreciate him doing that for my film). I talked to Craig, and Dj again and as I was leaving, I said “Guys it’s been wonderful shooting your shows these last 3 tours, and thank you so much for all the countless hours of my miss-spent youth listening to your music”. John Doe said to me “Was it REALLY miss-spent? You listened to it, liked it, and got something out of it.” Yeah, he was right, looking back, I have so many great times to remember with the music of X. We all said good night, and they got on the tour bus, and then I guess it was over. This was the best gig I have ever seen of theirs live, from 1993 til now, they gave us their ALL, and it was magnificent.
After 47 years, X has decided to hang it up, having outlived so many other bands, and though the music matured, and kept us on our toes, they can be proud that they have said their piece and know they had done it their way. When other bands held on long past their proper expiration date, John, Billy, Exene, DJ, and Craig, have forged their path, created a legacy, and can close the door on it.
This has been a difficult piece to write knowing that it is over for a truly great band, who has occupied so much of my musical diet since I first heard them in 1987, from a couple of Hispanic punk kids, who gave me tapes of bands and filled my world with wonder, what else can I say. VIVE X.
There are a handful of dates left, grab one while you can.
I have seen Boston’s fave sons “Dropkick Murphys” more times I can count when they were a bar band. I have seen them since they got huge, and were touring with punk brothers “Rancid” (just coming out of the pandemic”, that was one hell of a show too).
There is NO way I can do justice telling you about those shows, you just need to go see them yourself, so bust out your kilt, and grab a gig.
This is their newest single just released a few days ago, “Sirens” .
One of the things I love about Gary Robert and Community is they’re consistent. They never disappoint. Even after seven albums, the songs remain fresh, powerful, and catchy. So it’s no surprise that SHOUT.DRUMS.DANCE, their new single, picks up right where 2022’s Black Palatte leaves off. Which is fitting because Black Palatte left many of us wanting more.
Now that’s not to say that all of their songs sound the same. This new single shows the band’s goth-ier side; chorused, atmospheric guitars, droning vocals, and lyrics that are less than heartwarming. The lyrics take a harsh stab at religion and how one can live happily and find fulfillment without it.
Overall, this moody yet driving track is enough to give The Sisters of Mercy a run for their money, with enough original flavor to keep it unique.
According to Gary Robert, this is the first song of a full length release scheduled for next year. This is an ideal track for rockers who want to scratch their goth itch.
