Beatroute Magazine BC Print Edition November 2017

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Casper Skulls - Mercy Works Cut Worms - Alien Sunset Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper The Front Bottoms - Going Grey Casper Skulls Mercy Works Buzz Records Combining shoegaze-adjacent sonics and percussive cacophony, the debut LP from Toronto’s Casper Skulls is filled with a positive energy under its nihilist visage. However, for an album categorized as post-punk, it’s surprisingly tame in regards to the archetypal abrasive approach of less-talented bands. The closest they get to falling into the pattern of the current musical trend is on “Primeval,” an echoing shimmer of a track that hints at a fullnoise collapse before tapering off. For the most part, however, Mercy Works forgoes buying into the flavour-of-the-month genre-trap. Tracks like “I Stared At ‘Moses and the Burning Bush’” and “What’s That Good For” have a sort-of lackadaisical approach to the early-wave alt-rock bent, and “Glories” (easily the biggest standout of the album) features just enough sing-alongprepped lyricism and quiet-loud-quiet build-ups to set you up for the hazy closer “Faded Sound.” The only real qualm to be had with Mercy Works, while perfectly packaged in its own right, is an omnipresent one in many rock-y, guitar-y albums: slightly more experimentation to keep it demanding constant attention. What Casper Skulls have with Mercy Works is a deftly-crafted and undoubtedly strong debut, one that’s definitely worth a listen, if only to show that the two-pronged vocal thing can work when executed properly. It’s also a testament that nihilism doesn’t have to be all angles and irregularities. One can approach the melancholy of a meaningless world in different ways. Mercy works, and so does Casper Skulls. • Alec Warkentin Cut Worms Alien Sunset Jagjaguwar Shaded and sharpened in retro-rock fashion, Cut Worms’ debut EP, Alien Sunset, is a compelling study in executing stylistic songwriting without sacrificing substance. The alias of Chicago-via-New York transplant Max Clarke, Cut Worms exists sonically somewhere in the mid-20th Century, not far from the soundscapes of Buddy Holly or early Beach Boys. Alien Sunset, maintaining the unique sound crafted by Clarke, moves dynamically and structurally with grace through its 26-minute runtime, consistently feeling warm and inviting, but also, tastefully foggy throughout the six tracks. Sparkling picked notes dance on “Like Going Down Sideways,” momentarily taking a backseat as layered vocals swell with harmonic precision in a haunting dynamic shift early on. “A Curious Man” offers a repetitious, hypnotic riff as Clarke’s reverbheavy layered vocals cry out lines. “Please, please remember me / in the tall grass by the twisted tree,” Clarke pleas in the opening lines, before reinforcing with “please don’t forget.” More stripped down and open, “Widow’s Window” stands out amongst the tracks on Alien Sunset. A simplistic acoustic offering, the track could pass as a modern folk classic, possibly best performed unamplified and in an open setting. On tape, however, Clarke is able to maintain the energy of the track, creating a captivating experience in the bare surroundings. Cut Worms’ first effort succeeds in delivering a short burst of stylistic songs while avoiding any sense of cheap novelty, creating an intriguing and enduring listen throughout. • Nathan Kunz Bell Witch Mirror Reaper Profound Lore To keep thoughts on the new Bell Witch album brief, it’s essential to state this before anything else: Mirror Reaper is far and away one of the strongest “heavy” albums to come out in 2017, due primarily to its astoundingly ambitious structure and absolutely staggering, monolithic nature. The album consists of a singular 83-minute track that manages to not only hold its own with this ambitious concept, but topple a vast majority of other likeminded albums released this year. The album feels like a lifetime’s worth of content; the sheer emotional weight of the album is something few artists manage to encapsulate with an entire career writing and making music. Observing the ocean worth of material and emotional force the album encapsulates makes even the 83-minutes seem short for the sensation they are expressing. The atmosphere on Mirror Reaper is so thick it practically makes the air in any room the album is being played in feel weighted and difficult to move through, as if the listeners are suspended underwater; A water that instead of suffocating its audience, nourishes them with a heavy emotional fulfillment the weight of an anvil. Bell Witch’s most recent is easily the strongest in their catalogue and an absolute essential for anyone who is in the mood to plug themselves into something powerful and otherworldly. • Greg Grose The Front Bottoms Going Grey Fueled by Ramen Throughout their discography, The Front Bottoms have given us a consistent mix of melancholic rock ballads with heavy acoustic guitar and backed up with, powerful, relatable stories, sung from the perspective of a sympathetic friend. They performed their self-published albums (I Hate My Friends, My Grandma vs. Pneumonia) with fun, optimistic passion. The two that followed, (The Front Bottoms, Talon of the Hawk) released under Bar/None Records, solidified their place in the punk/folk/rock scene. Back on Top marked the switch to Fueled by Ramen as a label, and what some would consider the beginning of the end for TFB. With the release of Going Grey, The Front Bottoms have done almost exactly as the title suggests. The album is for the most part, a foggy, slushy mess. It opens up with the track “You Used To Say (Holy Fuck),” a dramatic track overly saturated with ambient noise, low kick drums, and juvenile synth melodies. The vocals are still there, and some of the riffs are catchy and original, but it’s all masked in this cloud of smoke, that remains for the majority of the album. The album does have some diamonds in the rough, such as “Bae,” a simple, yet very Platinum Era (’96-’09) HiP HOP + R&B EVERY FRIDAY 10:30pm - 19+ 2755 Prince Edward Street biltmorecabaret.com HOUSE JAMS FOR THE YOUNG, RESTLESS & BORED CAN I LIVE + GUESTS EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT 10:30pm - 19+ 28 November 2017
Four days of the best of genre cinema fantasy, horror, thrillers, drama, action, sci-fi, shorts, docs and more! Day and Full Festival Passes available at riotheatre.ca Get your Grind on, Vancouver! RIO THEATRE 1660 E.Broadway @ Commercial Drive 604.878.3456 riotheatre.ca Thursday November 16 Takashi Miike's BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL (Japan) TOP KNOT DETECTIVE (Australia / Japan) Friday November 17 HAGAZUSSA: A HEATHEN'S CURSE (Austria) LET THE CORPSES TAN (Belgium / France) TRAGEDY GIRLS (USA) Saturday November 18 TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID (MEXICO) SECRET SCREENING!! Sunday November 19 DELIVER US (Italy) BODIED (USA - Filmmakers in Attendance!) *And more! Full calendar at riotheatre.ca
Page 1 and 2: EASTSIDE CULTURE CRAWL ■ THE BLAC
Page 3 and 4: November‘17 PUBLISHER BeatRoute M
Page 5 and 6: CITY BRIEFS! Eastside Flea Only Dru
Page 8 and 9: Charles Gaines Numbers and Trees XL
Page 10 and 11: RIO THEATRE 1660 EAST BROADWAY NOV
Page 12 and 13: CITY LET IT BE MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR
Page 14 and 15: MUSIC CHAD VANGAALEN MASTERMINDING
Page 16 and 17: MUSIC ALEX CLARE CHANNELING PRIDE A
Page 18 and 19: MUSIC STORC DELIVERING A POST-ROCK
Page 20 and 21: GWAR PAYING TRIBUTE TO ODERUS URUNG
Page 22 and 23: TICKETS ON SALE NOW! PRESENTS SPECI
Page 25 and 26: MANATEE COMMUNE EMPLOYING THE ELECT
Page 27: MUSIC REVIEWS Gord Downie Introduce
Page 32 and 33: FEATURED CONCERTS VICTORIA, BC OCS
Page 34: NEW MOON RISING YOUR MONTHLY HOROSC

Beatroute Magazine BC Print Edition November 2017

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