BeatRoute Magazine AB Edition November 2018

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Alias & Dose One Less is Orchestra Anticon Alias used to jokingly call his music goth-hop and it’s a fitting, if not limited description of the wide variety of songs here. There’s the spooky art-trap music of “Top Billing II” and “The Deadener” to the more lush serene hum of “The Doghawk.” It’s clear that despite his being forced to work on music part time (indie hip-hop doesn’t pay the bills like it used to), that he still managed to hone his production craft. For his part, Dose One’s voice has aged like fine wine. The added rasp gives his vocals a weathered gravitas that suits his takes on mortality and workaday life. His lyrics can still get pretty abstract at times but it’s reigned in a little more than his earlier work. The recent passing of Alias hangs heavy over this record. It’s a thoughtful, beautifully crafted collection of songs made by two people at very different points in their lives from when they were the Anticon heavy hitters. • Graeme Wiggins Blonde Diamond Fantasy Love STEM Vancouver-based Blonde Diamond, formerly YOUNGBLOOD, released their new EP, Fantasy Love, last month and it shines as bright as we hoped it would. Alexis Young, vocalist and overall alt/pop goddess, has a voice so precise and smooth that, when combined with the percussive dance tracks, are simply to die for. As a whole, the album is nostalgic, yet ultramodern, and very dance-worthy. The song “Bend to Break” is so dang dreamy, with exceptional arrangements. “Famous” is another track that embodies dream pop properly with its ethereal quality, and the song, “Dark Place,” would be the perfect intro to any neo-noir film. Blonde Diamond worked with producer DJ Sleepy Tom on the EP, and the single “Better When You’re Close” has already netted over 140,000 streams on Spotify. Keeping the momentum going after the bold move to change their name, this collection of songs is a sweet, sweet fantasy turned reality from a promising young band on the rise. • Sarah Allen Cloud Nothings Last Burning Building Carpark Records Cleveland post hardcore outfit Cloud Nothings are back at it, lighting things up with Last Burning Building. Though the band originally started out as an indie rock unit close to a decade ago, Chief songwriter Dylan Baldi has been crafting jagged punk gems for the last several albums and 56 | NOVEMBER 2018 • BEATROUTE his latest carries on that signature sound. The opening track, “On An Edge,” hits the listener with distorted, discordant chords and up-tempo, angular drums. Perhaps the heaviest song on this release, it paves way the sonic grid for tracks such as “Leave Him Now” and “Another Way Of Life,” which feature Baldi’s anthemic and hook-laden choruses, supported by harmonically rich guitars. A notable mention on this record is “Dissolution.” Clocking in at 10 minutes and 51 seconds, drone, feedback and hypnotic pulses are aplenty before coming to a climax with shouting vocals. While each album they have under their belt is certainly distinguishable, Cloud Nothings bring to the table what one would expect, producing a delightful balance of dissonance and melody. • Torry Rosso Daughters You Won’t Get What You Want Ipecac Recordings I recently read an article in a magazine called “Rock is Dead, Thank God.” Now to be fair, the author admits, “the future looks promising on the surface, but these are but mere glimmers on ocean waves carrying off a floating corpse.” Knowing Daughters, they’d probably delight in this and maybe the title of their brand new LP, You Won’t Get What You Want, is a nod to that. But maybe they’re dead wrong. Maybe this is the record, like The Shape of Punk to Come, that will blow the roof off the whole thing. It’s a piece of art that, like any good piece of art, is layered with contradictions, emotion, time and space. It’s dynamic, fraught with tension and ferocity and yet willing to breathe. It’s introspective and incisive, yet flails around in the expanses of our collective psyche, unsure and afraid. From the Liars-esque opening track, “City Song,” to the shrill insect-like drone of “Long Road, No Turns,” to the terrifying cinematic sprawl of “Satan in The Wait,” you are fully immersed in the twisted narrative concocted by vocalist Alexis Marshall and you’re only three songs in. “Less Sex” sounds like it was written by Leonard Cohen in hell. “The Reason They Hate Me” is pummeling, like the crushing weight of the dayto-day grind. By the time the strings hit on the outro of “Guest House” it should be clear that Daughters’ experimental anti-melodies are the waves that are carrying off the floating corpse of Rock. After all, “there is an ocean beyond the waves.” • Sean Orr Dead Soft New Emotion Arts & Crafts With their first release on Canadian super-label Arts & Crafts (Broken Social Scene, Timber Timbre), Dead Soft prove they can rub shoulders with their fellow labelmates. New Emotion is a confession shouted at the top of the lungs. Thoughtful vocal layering works together with fuzzy guitars to communicate lyrics about what it means grow and the pains that come with it. Each of the five songs on the EP are walls of bright sound, starting big and ending bigger. The poppiest of the offerings, “Kill Me,” kicks things off with a catchy chorus that demands to be screamed along to. “I’m Afraid” breaks your heart with a glockenspiel and the line, “I’m afraid that I don’t have enough/To pay for all the things that I messed up.” The record is heavy and full of feeling but never stops to wallow. Driven along with grungy drumming and distorted guitar, New Emotion breaks new ground for these West Coast rock ‘n’ rollers. • Judah Schulte Empress Of Us XL Recordings The sophomore studio album from Los Angeles-based artist Empress Of builds upon the critical success of her 2015 debut and interim dance chart collaborations. The Latin ballad “Trust Me Baby” and radio-friendly dance-pop songs “Love For Me” and “When I’m With Him” led as singles ahead of the release of Us. The ten tracks embody a dreamy Caribbean island vibe, infused with danceable ’80s synth grooves. Catchy falsetto vocals are reminiscent of electro-pop contemporaries Banks, FKA Twigs and Lorde, but an injection of Spanish lyrics differentiates “Trust Me Baby” and “When I’m With Him.” The first half of the album rolls hazily along at a head-bobbing tempo, creating a perfect pairing with all that legal cannabis, despite what the track titled “I Don’t Even Smoke Weed” suggests. Love and relationships are the main topics explored, but the lyrics come secondary to the sickly sweet vocals featured prominently throughout. The electronic influences and strong vocal hooks on later tracks seem destined for important plot crescendos in teen TV dramas. Us closes softly with the song “Again,” which brings the energy and tension built over tracks six through nine to a warm, dreamy denouement. • Vaughn Turnbull Ace Frehley Spaceman Entertainment One Is it possible to discuss Ace Frehley and not mention his previous band from the ’70s? Isn’t it time he stood on his own merit? Frehley is now well and truly entrenched in the third phase of his +40-year solo career, Spaceman being his fourth release in less than a decade. First impression is that there is zero lyrical progression here. Once again, he’s paradoxically singing about being from outer space, yet also a humble boy from the Bronx, just rocking with the boys. It’s somewhat remarkable that his voice is holding up so well after all these years. Musically speaking, Spaceman is mapped out in a manner that is true to his signature style — simple and melodic with roots firmly planted in classic hard rock — and there’s no denying this old Ace still plays a mean guitar. As per his long-standing tradition, he ends his latest flight of fantasy with the epic, six-and-ahalf minute instrumental “Quantum Flux,” the highlight of the entire album for sure. Despite this grand finale, Frehley’s eighth solo venture clocks in at an underwhelming 36 minutes, even less if you exclude the lackadaisical yet painfully apropos cover of Eddie Money’s “I Wanna Go Back.” However, it does come with three alternate versions of the cover for the obsessive collector! Far out, man! • Josh Wood Greta Van Fleet Anthem Of The Peaceful Army Republic Records Will Greta Van Fleet ever escape the annoying-yet-inevitable comparisons to rock ‘n’ roll legends, pioneers, and demi-gods Led Zeppelin? Not with this release, unfortunately. On the bright side, their debut LP Anthem of the Peaceful Army is another soulful, groovy, blues rock offering that’s sure to blow the fuses out of any roadhouse jukebox it can find its way into. Perhaps part of GVF’s charm is the way they unapologetically knock off Jimmy Page’s vintage riffs and Robert Plant’s falsetto vocals on songs like “When the Curtain Falls,” “Brave New World” and album highlight, “Lover, Leaver.” Their sound may not be original, but their sense of rock ethos is strong, their musicianship is tight and their tunes are undeniably catchy. Elsewhere, the Michigan quartet tackles the folksy tribes of the ‘70s with mixed results. “Watching Over” presents an enchanting melody driven by minor chord picking, but “Anthem” comes off as a cornball let’s-come-together hymn that doesn’t quite fit the mood of the rest of the album. As far as imposters go, Greta Van Fleet continue to emulate their influences to a T but it’s too early to tell if that’s something they can truly build a career on. For now, Anthem shows their musical chops are in check, so maybe we can afford to cut ‘em some slack. The great irony here is that, as immortal as Led Zeppelin is in some die-hards’ eyes, GVF is ripping off a band that largely became famous by ripping off other bands. “Borrowing” riffs and transposing chord progressions to make them your own? Sounds familiar doesn’t it, Mr. Page? • Trevor Morelli
Gross Misconduct Equinox Independent Remember that time when Mastodon took a bunch of thrash metal pills and overdosed? Actually, it never happened. But if it ever did happen, Gross Misconduct’s new album Equinox might be the result. Equinox toes the line beautifully between thrash and death metal, but also creates a dynamic sound with many progressions. Snarling razor cut riffs that slice holes into everything. Haunting acoustic passages that dig deep into the earth. Desperate yells that make you want to run to hell for help. It’s all here and more, in this magnificent record. When you start to dig deeper after a few listens you can hear just how busy this band is. Highlighted by guitarist Dave London’s cut through leads and distinct forays into a stab worthy attack that is egged on further by intense whipper snapper drumming. Gross Misconduct are nearly 20 years in to the metal game and it shows. There isn’t a miscue to be heard here. Songs “Equinox,” “A Place Of Bones” and “Exhaustive Integral” are a serious 1-2-3 punch right off the top and from there this album deafens you into bliss. • Heath Fenton High Parade The Ocean Independent There are few things more vast and inscrutable than a gigantic body of water and that’s exactly what Calgary’s High Parade find themselves navigating on their debut release, The Ocean. Recorded by captain of industry, Lorrie Matheson, at Arch Audio, The Ocean rolls in with a confidence that instantly eases the ears and pours tonic on the soul. Wistfully launching into “The Waves,” Sheila Lacey’s lonesome vocals part the fog and signal the quintet’s purity of intention. Tentative and unassuming, the daydream sailors of High Parade “Remember the Days” when loving came easy and didn’t leave you nauseated and reeling. Strident guitar surges add support to invertebrate “Ghost” and frame the reflective “Stare,” with its looking glass luster. The sunrise optimism of “Are They Chasing Me” floods into “This Town,” layering insightful observations with fuzzy memories. Soft pop-rock layers glide across the surface of each tidal shift, imbuing “Perfume” with an electro-noir charm that is as delicate as it is daring. Not unlike the real thing, The Ocean is so fulsome you could walk across its plastic. • Christine Leonard KOSM Cosmonaut Independent Vancouver’s KOSM kick the door in with Cosmonaut, their monstrous full-length debut. Brace yourself for a satisfying trip through an exciting mountain range of cascading, meaty riffs, swelling rises and heady drops, all led by the powerful, soaring vocals of the dynamic Jessie Grace. While intended to indicate a will to explore the atypical and elaborate the old into something new, the term “progressive” can be off-putting. Too often does a band fall prey to its own ambition of pursuing every flight of fancy and pushing things further, which can quickly turn a forward-thinking album into a confusing grab-bag of technically proficient tangents awkwardly sewn together. Cosmonaut is not that. Here is an album where progressive elements are subtly used to colour already solid, groovy song foundations, which could easily stand by themselves. Despite the restraint exercised in the progressive department, this album clocks in at sixty-six minutes without dragging. It chugs along at a steady pace, pounding and banging, weaving and bobbing its way to the unsettling conclusion that is “Wza-Y’ei,” a truly disorienting bout of space dementia. Cosmonaut delivers on all fronts. KOSM will play Pub 340 on Saturday, November 17 for their ‘Cosmonaut’ album release party, accompanied by OmnisighT, Truent and Opus Arise. • Daniel Robichaud Laura Jane Grace and the Devouring Mothers Bought to Rot Bloodshot Records Bought to Rot is Laura Jane Grace’s first LP as a solo artist, but it retains the angst, energy and familiarity punk fans know and love about her main squeeze Against Me! With the guitars dialed down only slightly, Grace continues her gutsy journey of self-discovery as a transgender artist by firmly wearing her heart on her sleeve and opening her wounds for us to hear every honest dialogue, pissed off rant, and lonely lament she has to offer. The results are mostly positive. Tunes like “The Airplane Song,” “Reality Bites,” and “The Acid Test Song” pull off big riffs and catchy melodies. But there’s also some serious scorching to be done, as Grace lets loose on the Windy City on “I Hate Chicago,” where she scorns everything from the Chicago Bulls to Wilco to Lollapalooza. “China Beach’ carries the same sentiment, with more stream of consciousness outbursts worth paying attention to. Lyrically, Bought to Rot is thoughtful but frank; musically, it’s tight, energetic, and lean while maintaining impact. There’s hardly any songs on the disc that pass the three-minute mark, yet Grace’s power, courage, and whogives-a-fuck attitude sticks with you once again. BEATROUTE • NOVEMBER 2018 | 57
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GIRAF • CUFF Docs • Glorious So
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PULSE Girl’s Rock Camp DIY Weeken
Page 8 and 9: STARS WARS ON STAGE The Boy’s Own
Page 10 and 11: Wolf Flow Studios dip into the perf
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Page 14 and 15: THE INSUFFERABLE GROO the life of a
Page 16: GIRAF 14 from fairytales to dazzlin
Page 21 and 22: ROCKPILE THE GLORIOUS SONS no fools
Page 23 and 24: ARSON CULT teaching the ways of the
Page 25 and 26: EAMON MCGRATH an uncompromising fer
Page 27 and 28: THE SEWING MACHINE FACTORY launchin
Page 29 and 30: Soon after Malcolm Cecil had turned
Page 31 and 32: CIEL disrupting the status quo “T
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Page 38 and 39: FEMME WAVE 2018 THE FOURTH WAVE Fem
Page 40 and 41: KELLARISSA Synth-pop siren casts ma
Page 42: FEMME WAVE 2018 2018 workshops+visu
Page 45 and 46: THE SADIES no new tricks, just a sh
Page 47 and 48: YYCJAZZ JERRY GRANELLI it’s a Cha
Page 50 and 51: SHRAPNEL KORPIKLAANI foot stompin
Page 52 and 53: BAZARABA banger brothers Time flies
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Page 58 and 59: In her own words, she’s a “true
Page 61 and 62: Messages from the Stars: A look int
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BeatRoute Magazine AB Edition November 2018

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