Four to Watch. [HHB457]
28 November, 2013
So you know who HHBTM is by now, right? I'll recap for the newcomers, anyway - they're a record label based in Athens, who's gained traction in the indie world with radical misfits like Tunabunny, Muuy Biien, and Cars Can Be Blue. Well, next year looks even brighter for the home town heroes, because loads of new releases are simmering on the back burner (including, yes, the fourth Tunabunny LP - GET EXCITED).
Here's four newcomers to the roster - or relatively new, or at least only marginally on the roster at this point in time, but about to EXPLODE in a few months. Feast on this.
Here's four newcomers to the roster - or relatively new, or at least only marginally on the roster at this point in time, but about to EXPLODE in a few months. Feast on this.
Noon: 30 – What is this?! Violent, terse electropop from our beloved indie purveyors? Yes. Fuck yes. Fronted by some sultry chicks with guns in their hands and cash in their pockets. They’re out to murder someone – you, perhaps – and they’re now racing down a desert road, via black-and-white shots in a slightly-outdated-but-nevertheless-classy car. No laughs over the steering wheel, either – death presses close. “Gun” is serious, snarling business, a sexy dark snare that’ll bind you in place so Noon: 30 can splice you open.
American Culture – Just set and forget that drum machine. Lean back, hammer out some riffs, and reminisce. That’s the general idea behind this fantastic tune from American Culture, which defers quite bluntly to the 90s (even in the lyris – count how many of your fave bands are mentioned in the lyrics). “I Like American Culture” is simple, and very happily so – very happily, euphorically so. Here’s hoping these blokes can crank out more anthems as stupidly, sloppily great as this.
Skinny Girl Diet - Don’t mess with Skinny Girl Diet – they’re riot grrl assassins. Mention Hole around them, and they’ll blow your head off without batting an eye. Dude punks only wish they could be this suave. “DMT” is a single that could start fires on the streets, and rebellion among the dying few that still cling to the empty black promise of Savages’ “Husbands”. Riots spark in the verses. The lead singer stands a cool distance away from the violence. It’s something to salivate over. But the real violence breaks on “Homesick” – someone’s bound to die on this one. Sheer, unrelenting electric menace of black magic. Apparently Skinny Girl Diet are punk assassins, too.
Bam! Bam! – A little disheveled, a little misunderstood, but plenty loud and fuzzy. Bam! Bam! play in dark little side alleys, their friends’ creaky old flats, and anywhere else they can rouse the dust bunnies from the shadows. The stomping drums lead the giddy assault against cuddles in “Golden Haze 2”; from there, however, Bam! Bam! tone down to a rowdy indie pitch that’s still ragged at the edges, but warm and embracing at the center. The duet with Calvin Johnson (yes, THAT Calvin Johnson) in “Medicine” sounds very, very right. Hopefully a bright and messy future awaits these chicks.