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Mean Jeans // Anybody Out There

Yeah, we know Portland is one of the bestest locals on the planet for indie rock bands and the fans who adore them. So, it is of little surprise that local band favorite Mean Jeans  is much beloved for making lots of cool punk noise. Billy Jeans, Jeans Wilder and Freak Daniels make it sound like a whole lot of joyful, mayhap, inebriated fun. Check out the squirrely video for the song “Anybody Out There” shot and cut by Brett Roberts. Sure, it’s cheesy but cheese goes well on the great big sandwich of life. By the by, this fun song is just 1 of 13 from MJ‘s latest album On Mars available on iTunes and Amazon. Peace. Continue reading “Mean Jeans // Anybody Out There”

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Beast Make Bomb // Zombie Song + Coney Island (Video)

There is a whole heap of hustle in the post/punk/pop groove wave that is Brooklyn-based band Beast Make Bomb, and it’s all good. Good like “good weed” or “good porn,” are ya feelin me now? Firstly, I am so tangled up in lead song-spitter Ceci G‘s (G = Gomez) vocals (and tangled up in her voice is where I’d like to stay), think crystalline shards of lightning stitched through with mellifluous rant. And then there is the frenetic free-range guitar courtesy of Ms. Glenn VanDyke (Ms. Gomez throws in some mean guitar rabbit-punches too).  Mr. Hartley Lewis wails majestically on the skins (and looks like a wildish warrior warlock while doing it), meanwhile Sam Goldfine channels beauteous testosterone laden low-register sonics on the bass. The bands kaleidoscopic patchwork of sound does the body good.  In that, once the music of BMB is cranked way up to 11, you better toss all your earthly worries to the wind and just rock the fuck out!  Check out my favorite, “Zombie Song,” it’s the last track on the BMB‘s mini-LP Skinny Legs. And for good measure, and because the music is so devilishly good, I’ve also throw in the band’s latest Sourpuss EP. Love it and it’ll love you right back, promise. Peace. Continue reading “Beast Make Bomb // Zombie Song + Coney Island (Video)”

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Killing Kuddles // Waking Up Older

When I listen to the grudge-rockabilly, slightly post-punk sound that is Killing Kuddles, I hear an artist pouring out his soul towards an idyllic destination. And like all good destiny’s, it remains mostly one within his mind’s eye. It is faint, and no, he may not know what getting there will look like. However, he knows it will nonetheless feel righteous, and worthwhile. It is generally understood that there are no true paths to getting there, whatever ‘there’ means. But, I also suspect Elwood Kuddles wouldn’t want it any other way.  Because being formulaic is not his bag, he’d rather play it loosey–goosey, with room enough to grow and embellish, and more importantly, he needs space arrive on his own terms. Listen to the 5-song collection of the Waking Up Older EP. It sounds like a good coming-of-age story work filled with heartache, longing, and a new awareness and maturity. These songs are his struggle upon an unknowable path and they sound raw and sweet, and there is hungry guitar licks everywhere. Peace. Continue reading “Killing Kuddles // Waking Up Older”

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Pulled Apart By Horses // Until My Head Exploded: Greatest Hits // V.E.N.O.M (Video)

You have a tendency to perk up your ears when such a reputed indie label as Rough Trade describes a band as follows, “The band’s (Pulled Apart By Horses) self-titled 2010 debut was a sonic maelstrom of screamo and hard disco riffage; here was heavy music that you could shake a tail feather to, pop music at its most corrupted. Dance music played by wiry punk weirdo’s.” Such an introduction surely got my attention. So, get in touch with your inner ruffian and see if you can blow your speakers out playing PABH cranked up to 11. To get you up to speed, as a primer check out their 2011 release Until My Head Exploded: Greatest Hits. I gather you need no explanation on what you do with this one, but don’t be surprised if the neighbors call in 5-0. And that’s not all, I also have the band’s latest video for the raucous mosh pit ready single “V.E.N.O.M.” I warned you! Peace. Continue reading “Pulled Apart By Horses // Until My Head Exploded: Greatest Hits // V.E.N.O.M (Video)”