LONE DRIFTERS: Peter Koppes Speaks On Departing The Church and His New Band, Syncretism

Peter Koppes, photo credit Mark Bundy

Peter Koppes, one of the founding members of seminal rock band The Church, has been in the news this month as the band recently announced on its Facebook page that Peter had departed the band “to explore his own musical path”.  Koppes, who is responsible for The Church’s signature intangible, brooding, and yet silky sound from the beginning, also personally revealed that he had started an exciting new project with longtime friend and collaborator, Dave Scotland, called Syncretism.

First of all, I can’t speak of anything regarding The Church without explaining how much the they meant to me.  A young kid in a small, Arizona town finds a stack of vinyl in his brother’s apartment that includes “Séance” and “Heyday”.  These change him.  There is an iridescent, bohemian quality to the songs that redefine what rock can mean.  A couple of years later, a Dodge Charger races through the red rock canyons of Sedona, the young man searches for himself in the ghostly arroyos, stark terrain, and in the haunting chords of “Starfish” blasting through the speakers.  The young man is not a musician, but he discusses with his friends how the guitars create textures and landscapes that somehow don’t even sound like guitars.  Then, as he goes off to college alone, carrying a backpack, with “Transient” blaring through his earphones – a song by Peter Koppes – seeming to define him.  Needless to say, I have been a fan of the Church for a long time.

And in my mind’s eye, Peter Koppes is always on stage, standing statuesque, a shock of dark hair in his face, his guitar slung over his shoulder, coaxing sounds out of it that seem impossible.  He is undoubtedly a vital part of that legacy of The Church, putting out well over a dozen albums with them.  But never doubt his well-earned rank as a solo artist.  An inexhaustible songwriter, he has an enormous catalog of solo work and collaborations with many other bands and artists.  His work with Dave Scotland is especially exciting, because Koppes and Scotland actually used to be in a glam band called Baby Grande that predated The Church.

They are preparing to release a new album called “Lone Drifters”, and Koppes released a sneak peak on Syncretism’s Facebook page – a shining gem of a song called “Sirens”.  Initially, Koppes’ trademark guitar style is recognizable, but upon further listening, there are so many added layers unfolding that this song is instantly unforgettable – a veritable collage of the talents of both of these artists.  I also got a glimpse at another song called “Flood or Fire”, a song marked by glittery yet watery guitars and Scotland’s smooth vocals.  Both of these songs are very moving to me in a way that Koppes’ music always has been for me.  If these songs are anything like the rest of “Lone Drifters” will be, then I see this becoming one of my favorite albums of the year.  This timeless music, excellent by any standard.

I recently had an opportunity to talk to Koppes about his new project.  Check it out:

Moroni Lopez Jessop:  It was recently announced that you have departed The Church to pursue other creative interests.  Wow, such a long and prolific songwriting career that has spanned nearly five decades and many, many albums, as well as creating The Church’s signature guitar sound!  How does it feel to have such a long, distinguished career?  Is your work with your new band, Syncretism, the next logical step in your musical evolution?

Peter Koppes:  My ambition was always to create mature music that I could look back upon with respect for the art. My long career was probably afforded by the attitude to not sell out, but I don't believe making commercial music is necessarily bad like most of it. Syncretism is the result of my re-acquaintance with the amazing guitarist from my first original band the included the lead singer from The Church. He generously shared his extensive knowledge of guitar technique/ tones and now I have returned the favour by complimenting his music. Maybe ironic or not, it sounds like my former band but still it is an evolution.

MLJ:  Your new band is called Syncretism, which is defined as an amalgamation of different religions, cultures or schools of thought.  What was the impetus of this project coming together?  What ideas or concepts created a “syncretism” with you for this project?

Dave Scotland

PK:  Dave and I have always been in contact and recently reunited with the Canberra band drummer while I was visiting their area. Dave wrote some music afterwards that inspired me to add my guitar and effects as well as write lyrics for the song called Their Song about leaving people behind. Syncretism, in a music reference book, describes it when a music idiom is modernized, and the development of Beatles inspired music seems to be our manifesto. I would venture that we can bring together audiences from different genres especially guitar aficionados. We originally had Lone Drifters?  Which was the working title of a song but it sounded like a gang name, and nobody liked it, so it became the album title instead and everyone seems to wonder if they belong.

MLJ:  You’ve visited many diverse and far flung locations, including a recent trip to Japan.  Do these visits give you any inspiration for the music you write?

PK:  The next preview release called Flood Or Fire lyrics were written half way up the main Japanese skiing mountain in Hakuba while watching my teenage son learn to snow board. Bush fires were raging in Australia, and climate disasters had been worldwide that year. My family relationship was threatened also, so I conflated the metaphors.

MLJ:  Syncretism is a collaboration with your old friend, Dave Scotland.  How did the both of you meet, and did you hit it off right away?  What sort of interests do you have in common, musical or otherwise?  What originally drew you to Dave to want to work with him creatively?

PK:  I first me Dave at an inter-school band jam. I was the drummer but was learning guitar from our guitarist who was very competent. In a break, Dave launched into a perfect rendition of Hendrix version of Star-Spangled Banner, which startled everyone of course. He then was in a professional band called Frosted Glass, and he was also the lead singer but regarded as the best guitarist in Canberra, if not Australia. He joined my new band Baby Grande, we had a very good relationship bonding over music, but I left after a few years to travel and study. Now we are together again, I wonder why we didn't sooner, but I was very busy with band or my solo activities.

MLJ:  What feels different between Baby Grande and Syncretism?  What experience are you both bringing to the table?

PK:  Baby Grande was a juvenile punk glam rock band. Syncretism is more mature and intellectual music. I have been reminded of the parallels with Pink Floyd actually. This is Dave's recordings of his music and voice with my lyrics and contributions, though we co-produce the recordings. Our guitar difference is his lead guitar playing is exquisitely passionate and during one of his live solos, I have seen a fellow guitarist smoke a cigarette quickly down forgetting to remove it from his lips! My guitar style is more effects driven. I play some piano too. We both especially love 60's and 70's music and is evident in our orchestrations.

Peter Koppes, circa 1990

MLJ:  You’ve made your new song, “Sirens”, available to hear on social media.  Amazing song, by the way.  The combination of the guitar work and keyboards is just shimmering.  What can you tell be about the title of the song?  What is this song about exactly, and what meaning does it have for you?

PK:  Thanks for the compliment. 'Sirens' is mostly guitars and effects that sound like keyboards. This project has inspired my lyrics to be playful like Dr Seuss and with serious undertones for people with life experience. The working title was Hope And Courage and is about our trials and now the celebration our musical journey together. "We're supposed to necessarily have fun!"

MLJ:   Can we expect similar songs on the new album, “Lone Drifters”?  What is the concept behind the new record?  Is there any special process behind the way you brought this project together?

PK:  The album is almost complete, but the full story has not revealed itself yet. Ultimately, we would like a rich and varied album of songs that will thrill us and our audiences. So far so good, actually. There does seem to be a pervading theme for me lyrically to heal as usual and the music is providing a perfect vehicle! The process is just Dave and I having a musical conversation.

MLJ:  Your music has always had an esoteric quality.  As a listener, your music has always been a veritable spiritual, or even metaphysical, experience for me.  Do you see yourself as a spiritual person?  And is your music a spiritual outlet for you, and is this a factor in your creative process?

"I believe great music is a relationship with the metaphysical... It is based in love and has given me strength in the face of incredible adversities..."

PK:  Great question, because I believe great music is a relationship with the metaphysical. I have always been aware of the spiritual with much evidence of guidance and maybe protection from the other side. It is based in love and has given me strength in the face of incredible adversities. Transcendental Meditation sharpened its focus for me, and these days I almost let my destiny lead all the time. A large component of creativity is experimentation with the spiritual influence.

MLJ:  I have to ask, because I always wonder – what music influenced you the most while you were growing up and had impact on your guitar-playing?  Which modern bands or guitarists have made a particular impact on you today?

PK:  First song that I remember liking on radio was a version Blowing In The Wind. I loved great drummers and was thus inspired at first by the music of Hendrix, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Santana and The Who. My favourite musician is John Lennon who was a great and inspired guitarist which contributed to his great song writing too. Not well known is a great lead guitarist called Bill Nelson who inspired me, and Dave greatly with his unbluesy rock style. The most impressive modern guitar technique is My Bloody Valentine with the flying guitar sound using slow whammy chords.

MLJ:  Thanks for your time.  I’ve been a fan for a long time.  The first album I listened to was “Heyday” when I was sixteen years old.  It may sound cheesy, but I asked my teenage sons to learn and play “Under the Milky Way” for my fiftieth birthday next month, even though I know you’re not the composer of that piece.  It’s still one of the great songs you played.  I wish you were there!

PK:  By the way, Under The Milky Way was written on piano as were many great songs and many of my own. The melody is very spiritual and soulful so I can understand people enjoying the song at ceremonies.

Ps Happy Birthday!

You can keep up with news, release dates, and new songs from Peter Koppes and Dave Scotland on the Facebook page for Syncretism at:

https://www.facebook.com/syncretismmusic/

Instragram:  https://www.instagram.com/syncretismmusic/

Out Of The Box: Interview With Primal Giants' JR Hendry

JR Hendry, frontman of Primal Giants

The minute you see JR Hendry, the frontman and songwriter of Southern rock jam band, Primal Giants, he draws all of the attention in the room.  It’s not just his imposing height; after all, he is a big bear of a man.  And it’s not just his uproarious laughter, although it is very contagious.  There is a special magnetism and charisma to him that draws people around him.  He immediately puts you at ease, makes you comfortable in a way that makes you feel good about yourself.  His eyes look at you intently when you speak, and he makes you feel as if you are the most interesting person in the world, when, in truth, he is definitely more interesting than you ever will be.  His lifetime of experiences is a bottomless well from which he draws inspiration for his songs.

I have had the good fortune of knowing JR for a while, and I can tell you that he’s a go-getter.  My wife says about him, “Whatever JR sets his mind to, he accomplishes.”  And that’s exactly what he’s done.  Not long ago, JR left a career in business to focus on making music – a move that would make many hesitate.  But JR viewed the crafting of music as a higher calling and something that he felt driven to.  He went to the music mecca of Austin, Texas where he assembled a kickass band that they named Primal Giants, poured out his vision at Orb Studios, a studio known for its association with fellow Texans, Blue October, and made a dazzling behemoth of an album with producer Matt Meli, known for his work with such incredible acts as Meat Puppets.

JR and the band dropped a single called “Junkie” last Friday, and they are anticipating the release of their first album, “Untethered”, on March 6^th – just a handful of days away.

The other day, my luck was such that I got to listen to a sneak peak of the entire album.  Blown away.  That’s the simplest elucidation I can give this record.  I don’t know how to describe it.  There is an indelible country twang to it, but it also rocks.  Hard.  These songs thresh out the harvest from the American tradition that vibrates in our DNA from coast to coast.  But it weaves in a colored tapestry of psychedelia and funk.  Earthy and driving drumbeats and basslines.  Fluttering and aerial guitar solos.  Tremulous and groovy keyboards.  And JR’s gravely and potent voice reaching high above everything yet cementing it all together.  The effect is awe-inspiring.  “Primal” is the operative word.  This is what rock and roll was meant to be from the beginning – something going back to the days when our ancestors imbibed mind-altering concoctions and danced wildly and naked around fires to pulsating rhythms echoing into the night sky.  It’s the first time you stood in a dark crowd and saw rockstars illuminated onstage like smoking gods, coaxing ululating ecstasy from the serpentine and phallic necks of their guitars.  This is what music was meant to be, like it has not been in a longtime – an archetypal experience.  And Primal Giants succeeds in bringing that magic back.

Primal Giants

“Junkie” is a pulse-elevating jam, but its equal partners are found in other rousing anthems like “Gone” and “Stand Up”.  Based on these two songs, the album would already be sufficient.  But there are other gems like “Queen Bee”, the mournful and contemplative “Needles”, and “More Lies”.  Every song will cuff you.  Equal parts hospitable Southern comfort, kaleidoscopic California cool, and outlaw Texas rascal, every part of every song is memorable.  I can’t wait to see them live.

I recently spoke to JR Hendry from his home in Austin:

Moroni Lopez Jessop:  You and I have known each other for a while.  I know that you weren’t in music for a while, and then you got back into music.  Tell me about your journey of getting back into it.

JR Hendry:  I started playing music really young.  I was really blessed that way.  Where I grew up in the Ozarks, there was a lot of bluegrass music still being played the traditional way on people’s back porches on Friday and Saturday nights and at revivals on Sunday.  My first instrument was the fiddle, and then this old guy started taking me around to other people’s jam sessions.  I started picking up other instruments, and eventually that turned into songwriting when I was about fourteen.  At first like any songwriter, it’s super-cheesy, horrible shit when you first start writing, but it feels really good because you’re learning to find a couple of different things – you’re learning to find the voice inside of you and also learning to hear the music that’s around us already in stillness.  So, I’ve always kind of been a songwriter, and I had a time in my life when I sold songs, and did things that way, and I’ve had different bands over the years.  But it’s been a long time.  Shit, like fifteen years, or something.  For me, getting back into it wasn’t necessarily a logical choice.  I was at a place in my life in 2018 where a lot of things were shifting for me, and I could feel that I wasn’t on the path that I needed to be on, so I went On a journey, seeking out and discovering what that path was, or hearing my own drum.  I ended up having a very powerful spiritual experience where it was very clear “go to Austin and make a record”.

MLJ:  Tell me a little bit about how the album and the band came together.

Primal Giants' debut album "Untethered" out in March 6th

JR:  Basically, that guidance was to go to Austin and make a record, and i started poking around where to make a record, and eventually landed with Matt Meli, head engineer at Orb Studios, and he ended producing our album as well.  He kind of picked his favorite folks to work with to make the record, and one of those guys was Chris Doege, who plays drums.  We quickly bonded, and there was this powerful, brotherly and higher connection that we both recognized, and we started having serious conversations, him explaining his history in music, challenges, hopes, dreams, all of those different things.  Next thing you know, we were like, let’s do this, let’s get a band together.  His first call was to Steve Littleton.  They had played in a few different bands together.  Steve is just an absolute monster keyboard player.  Steve was the next one to come in.  Then we were playing around with a handful of different bass players, steel players, guitar players, looking for the right fit, and Doege was on a session with Josh Motlong.  I remember the phone call distinctly.

He said, “I think we found our guy.”

I said, “Well, tell me about it.”

He said, “All I need to tell you, bro, is that as soon as I walked in, I felt the love pouring out of him.”  

And sure enough, I had the same experience when I met Josh.  There’s just this huge heart beaming out of this dude, and his music is the same way.  The last piece of the puzzle was finding Takahiro Shimada.  From our very first jam with Taka – at that point we had been rehearsing with four or five guitar players – from that first moment, the first note, I remember my jaw just hit the floor, and, after that first twenty-minute jam, I just hit the couch like, “What the fuck just happened?”  It was this complete, magical match of all of us destined to be a guy in this project, this band.  All of that came together, and since then, we immediately went in after one rehearsal with Taka and started tracking over at Yellow Dog Studios with Dave Percefull producing and engineering. That really helped us come together as a band.  We got in a couple of sessions out there, rehearsed a bunch, and now it’s time to take the show on the road.  The music is starting to be released - It’s time to step out and introduce the world to Primal Giants.

MLJ:  So, what does the name Primal Giants signify?

JR Hendry with Primal Giants

JR:  (laughs) Well, that’s an interesting story actually.  We struggled for months and months with a band name.  One of the best things of that process was that it taught us how to communicate with one another as a band.  There were a whole lot of different ideas and directions flying around.  We ended up with a top-ten list, and we took some votes.  We narrowed it down to a top-five list and took some votes.  Then Steve and I got really fucking stoned as some votes were getting tallied, we came back in and kind of forgot what the names were. He said, “I really liked that one ‘Primal Giants’.”

We all started laughing, because it wasn’t on the list.  I think there was like “Primal Roses” and “Something Giants”, and he just mixed them up and mashed them together. As soon as we heard it, we were laughing and then “Oh shit, that’s it!”

That’s the gist of where it came from it on one level.  On another level, there’s a whole lot of symbolic meaning.  I’ll leave it to the experiencer to digest for themselves, but there’s definitely, I feel, a very large symbolic meaning in that name.

MLJ:  Your music has kind of a spiritual aspect in a way.  I was wondering if you could share a little bit about that.

JR:  Absolutely, man.  I hold a firm belief that the world doesn’t need any more noise.  We have plenty of noise, and noise isn’t necessarily beneficial to the human process of our evolution.  When the first music was made by some human being long, long ago, it wasn’t for distraction.  There was spiritual intention behind it.  When that first skin was stretched over a piece of wood, it was to focus energy in directions so that we could quiet our minds and experience something bigger that we normally do in our everyday perceptions.  Our music has very much the same intention.  Depending on where you walk in and hear it, you may not necessarily see that, because the guidance and idea behind the ride is to first bring us to a place of experiencing all of the normal human emotions – sadness, joy, grief, carnal pleasures – all of these things that make up these the normal 3-D human experience.  But the music mirroring life, eventually, if we’re only focusing on those 3-D things, it will lead ourselves to a whole lot of suffering, and we need to get to this wall of life.  And we realize that we need to sit down against that wall of suffering, we can go through it and really understand what freedom is, and who we really are, and what we’re really doing here, just how magic this entire place really is.  So, the music is really inspired by that very thing, making us arrive to our human emotions, and then inviting us to something bigger.  That’s the whole intention behind it; that’s our goal and prayer behind it.  That’s what the music is to us.

MLJ:  The music is also very raw and personal.  How do your own personal experiences tie in with this spiritual component?

JR:  Well, it’s huge, right?  Each of only know life experientially.  So, anything that I’m aware of, any grip that I think I have on reality can only be based on my own experiences and by processing things that I experience.  All of our spirituality is seen, experienced, and known through the lens of self until we learn to transcend that.  I’m no Ascended Master, so I’m still learning from that lens.  I’ve learned myself that challenges, grievances, suffering - things that once upon a time I would have turn my head from or not looked at, I’ve learned are out our most powerful teachers here.  So, I guess that comes out in the music because of that.  I don’t like songwriting that’s impersonal.  I want to hear something real.  In order to move someone or touch them in their heart, we have to share.  I can’t possibly tell you a story that I heard someone else tell me and have that affect you in a deep way.  If I’m going to sit down with you as a brother and we’re going to feel one another on a deep level, then I have to be able to put myself out there in a real and raw way.  And so to me, songwriting inspires that.

MLJ:  How would you describe your music?  It’s kind of hard to classify.  Psychedelic Southern rock?  Tripped-out country music?  How to you define or describe it?

 "What kind of music do we play? I don’t know, boxes are really good for shipping something.  That’s about it.... we're a rock and fucking roll band."

JR:  You know, that’s definitely the hardest question we get asked.  What kind of music do we play? I don’t know, boxes are really good for shipping something.  That’s about it.  I think you have to look at the history of music and ask some basic questions.  What is blues?  The blues are a kind of folk music that transpired.  And in that, we ask, what is country music?  Country music was birthed from a blend of blues and folk.  And then we ask, what is rock and roll?  It’s when country music and blues and folk music met, right?  So, like, all of these things are kind of weird for me to classify.  There are definitely bands out there you can strictly say they fit in a box plainly.  I think generally speaking that’s hard to do.  It’s definitely a hard thing for us, and I’m happy about it.  All of my favorite bands have the same thing.  I listen to The Grateful Dead.  Is that rock and roll?  Is it country?  Is it folk?  You tell me.  There’s a funny saying: “The Grateful Dead is country music for people that like psychedelics.”  What does that mean?  So, I don’t know what our music is.  I really enjoy hearing how other people hear it, because I find it fascinating that the same song can be heard so entirely different by different people.  A lot of people who talk about our music talk about the blues and funk and rock and roll.  The other night, I even heard someone say, “Man, ‘Junkie’ is pretty heavy.  That’s almost metal!”

I’m like, “Really?  I don’t hear that.  But that’s cool.  Sure, right on!”

For me, I would say there’s an Americana influence if you pay attention to what that whole term “Americana” really sought to mean.  Americana was used as a definition of things of this very nature.  But at the same time, how do you box it in?  Because on one hand, John Prine is an Americana artist.  On the other hand, so is Drive-by Truckers.  And there’s a giant difference in those sounds.  I don’t know.  I’m sure that it will always be hard for me personally to hear melodies outside of the shape which my musical ear was cultivated.  Where I grew up, and the music I grew up playing was bluegrass and folk music and the blues, and so I think in some sort of fashion those things will always be a heavy influence.  Because that’s how my musical ear was developed in hearing those sounds, those structures, and those cadences, and that sort of stuff.  That’s part of what I love about it, especially this first record, “Untethered”.  There’s something in there for everybody.  That’s what I love about it – no matter where you like to say that you sit in your enjoyment of music, there are going to be a couple of tracks at least on “Untethered” that grab you and make you say, wow, this is awesome.  The thing about that is it’s going to open up your ears to the others, because there is a relation.

In regard to what box or genre we fit in, we can all discuss that until we are blue in the face… but there’s no denying it once anyone sees us live.  We are a rock and fucking roll band.

MLJ:  You guys have a single – “Junkie” – dropping today.  What can you tell us about that song?

JR:  (laughs)  The cool thing about any artist making the first record is that you get to draw on all of these songs from all of these years.  “Junkie” is a song that I wrote back in 2006.  I’d been seeing Widespread Panic play in Memphis for a couple of nights.  In fact, I think they were closing a venue there. I remember ceiling tiles falling off during some hard rocking jam the second night of the show.  Anyway, we were all partying it up and having a good time, and we went back to the hotel and partied afterwards like you do. Sometime the next morning, I woke up and heard that riff in my head, and I didn’t have a guitar with me on that whole stretch of tour, following Panic around.  So, I drove down to Guitar Center in Memphis and bought a guitar just so that I could get this riff out of my head.  Because it was really good, and I didn’t want to forget it.  That was the birth of “Junkie” back then.  It definitely has taken on new life both on record and what we did with it in the studio, and then now, as a band when we do it live.  It’s its own living, breathing entity.  That was the genesis of it.

There’s a lot of reflection in there about the ties that can bind us when it comes to both the emotional experience with someone else and the carnal experience.  And it’s an interesting exploration, a metaphor in that realm.

MLJ:  You guys are going to be starting a tour soon?  What can we expect from that?

JR:  Yeah, we’re heading up to Nashville here in early March to hammer out the details on that with some of our people.  I don’t have anything there that I can speak about publicly at the moment, but I can say, generally speaking, there’s not going to be many corners of North America that we don’t get to in 2020.  That’s our intent.  We’ve been working really hard to make sure that all of the right tools are in the toolbox to make that happen. Records are great; records are fun.  I love the permanence of records.  It’s there, it’s out, it’s permanent, and it’s there forever, especially these days with digital music.  That soundbyte is going to exist forever.  I love that.  But there’s something really magical to be said about the other end of the spectrum – live music.  It’s there, it’s played once, and then it floats off on the breeze.  It’s gone.  I’m very much looking forward to getting out there.  I’m a longtime road dog, man.  It’s hard for me to sit in one place.  I’m a mover, and I love traveling, meeting different people, experiencing all of the different energies that exist across the different landscapes.  There’s a whole, big, beautiful, living world that has its own thing and energy that speaks to us, and that’s definitely something that I crave.

We’ll have some dates posted soon, I’d say check on our website this spring for dates.  So, keep an eye out for us.

You can keep up with news, songs, and tour information at their website at:

https://primalgiants.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/primalgiants/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/primalgiants/

Moroni's Favorite Albums of 2018

Yes, I know - late!  Since I hardly blogged in 2018, I thought I would review some of my top picks of that year.

I did do some reviews that year, so know that some of those would be on this list, but I decided not to include them to avoid being redundant - reviews for A Perfect Circle, Meg Myers, and A Place To Bury Strangers.  So without further ado, here is my list for 2018...

1.  Ghost "Prequelle" -  It might seem funny that the favorite band of the year of a Mormon fundamentalist is by a band that is so overtly Satanic, but I grew up on the black metal of the '80s.  I've listened to Venom and Mercyful Fate.  I even met King Diamond when I was sixteen.  I recognize the satanic schtick when I see it and know not take it seriously.  It's all theatrics after all.  And that is what founder and principal songwriter/ musician, Tobias Forge has done - a theatrical show with makeup, masks... the whole bit.  Tobias himself dons several personas, whether Papa Emeritus or Cardinal Copia, along with a cabal of anonymous musicians called Nameless Ghouls.  Even the music is a throwback to '80s metal, complete with all of the predictable guitar licks and hair metal devices, making the music almost anticipated and just a little cheesy.  But I love it.  I listened to this album over and over... and maybe even made devil's horns with my hands while I listened.  Maybe...

2.  Myrkur "Mareridt" - Steve Queralt, the legendary bassist of Ride, once said that Myrkur was "true shoegaze music", "dark, but really quite ethereal as well", that she tried to posit herself as death metal, but wasn't really.  Danish musician, Amalie Bruun had made quite a name for herself making Scandinavian folk music.  Rebranding herself under the name "Myrkur", she set out to create a blend of medieval Nordic music with black metal.  After all, nowadays, what is more Scandinavian than black metal?  The result of this unholy melange is something otherwordly, chilling, and utterly beautiful.  From the first throes of kulning at the beginning, which is Swedish yodeling, to the first piercing screams, this entire album is haunting and moving - very similar to the blackgaze music created by Alcest.  My favorite song is "Crown", which my little niece describes as being sung by an evil mermaid.  There is also an excellent bonus track called "Death of Days", a duet with gothic superhero, Chelsea Wolfe.  Myrkur is releasing a new album next month, and I admit that I am VERY excited.

3.  YOB "Our Raw Heart" -  I'm a bit of a latecomer when it comes to this doom metal band from Oregon, and "Our Raw Heart". their seminal eighth album is my first experience listening to them.  The album title is spot on - a very raw album straight from their heart.  It is abrasive and powerful, most of it slow and steadily grinding, very similar to Black Sabbath.  From the staccato riffs of "The Screen" to the throaty growls of "Lungs Reach" and the unearthly melodies of "Beauty in Falling Leaves".  This album is true metal, primal and unassuming, in-your-face, and uncompromising.  And true to its post-metal roots, the songs are long and ponderous, approaching the ten-minute mark, or surpassing it.  I can only imagine what a mind-blowing experience it would be to see these guys live.  Maybe someday...

4.  Beach House "7" - The wonderful thing about Beach House - the moniker for the Baltimore duo of Victoria Legrand and Alec  Scally - is that they have helped to bring dream pop and shoegaze to the mainstream.  There is scarcely a young connoisseur of indie music who does not know who they are.  For me, they are another one of the many bands that pay homage in their sound to my all-time favorite band, Cocteau Twins.  I have been listening to these guys for the last five years, although they have been around quite a bit longer than that.  Kind of like another favorite band, Phantogram, they take trip-hop drum beats laced with psychedelic synth loops and ribbon them together with breathy vocals.  The effect is astonishing.  I love the French lyrics in "L'inconnue" and the languid dreaminess of "Dive", but perhaps my favorite track is "Pay No Mind", which has practically made it onto every mix I've done since 2018, including my Burning Man mix of that year.

5.  Anna von Hausswolff "Dead Magic" -  I really can't believe that Swedish musician, Anna von Hausswolff, is not more well known. She is a true artist.  On her fourth album, she absolutely dazzles.  This album tells an auditory story, much like a soundtrack and has Dead Can Dance quality to it - dark, humid, ethereal, heavy.  From the ululating shrieks of "The Mysterious Vanishing of Electra" to the subdued ambiance of "Ugly and Vengeful".  This album is not just an art rock album - Jungian, metaphsyical, swimming with archetypes.  And it's long - one of the songs even clocking in at over sixteen minutes.  But there is a reason for that - this album should be listened to in one sitting, because all of the sonic concepts take a while to unfold and coalesce and make a wonderful gestalten whole.  I read a meme recently that said that Tool songs get better after the ten-minute mark, and that is kind of true here.  I had never heard of this artist before this album.  You can bet that I will be paying attention now.

6.  Peach Pit "Being So Normal" - Sometimes my teenage kids wind up getting into music that I show them, but, more often than not, they wind up showing me a band that I wind up liking.  Peach Pit, a pop rock quarter from British Columbia, is such a band.  Most of my kids like them.  (One of my kids even got a Peach Pit t-shirt for Christmas.)  They are quirky, intelligent guitar pop with catchy hooks and infectious rhythms.  Just check out their song "Alrighty Aphrodite" for an example.  Their kitsch is that they dress in exactly the same outfits for every live show that they play - yes, kind of nerdy in an OK Go kind of way.  In fact, in a very real way, they kind of resemble OK Go quite a bit.  This is their first album, and they also released a debut EP, "Sweet FA", in 2018.  Both are amazing and will have you grooving.  The band has released a new single in 2020, so I am hoping that a new album will be forthcoming.

7.  Lycia "In Flickers" - I grew up in the small town of Casa Grande, Arizona - just 45 miles from Tempe - in the '80s and part of the '90s.  I grew up in the gothic scene and attended all of the gothic clubs that sprouted up in the dark corners of the night in that desert city.  I knew the local scene very well, including Gin Blossoms and Meat Puppets.  So, it's strange that I never heard of Lycia until a couple of years ago - a dark wave/ goth band from Tempe, Arizona around since 1988 and boasting 11 albums!  And they are my type of music.  Dark and mystical, spooky, whispered vocals, Skinny Puppy-type beats.  I can't believe that I had never heard of them.  Like most bands in the ethereal wave genre, they are more about creating atmosphere rather than melodies, so my only complaint is that some of the songs are repetitive - finding a cool vibe and only repeating that.  But some of the songs are downright bone chilling.  The eerie "A Failure", and "Mist", a relatable song about driving and walking at night.  Whispered, of course.

8.  Albert Hammond Jr. "Francis Trouble" - This is another artist that my kids turned me onto.  In fact, some of my kids went to see Albert Hammond Jr. live in Phoenix last year.  He is the son of well-known '70s rock performer, Albert Hammond.  He is also known as the guitarist of legendary post-punk band, The Strokes.  But really, he is a polished solo artist in his own right with four albums under his belt.  I haven't listened to any of the others.  But this one is great - this is hook-laden, jubilant guitar rock.  There is not a bad song on it; every single song is catchy and likable.  I remarked right away that the music reminded me strongly of Johnny Marr's solo work, the former guitarist of The Smiths.  I played some of Marr's work for my son, also a guitarist, and he responded, "Yeah, I can see it."  Really, this album is so good that it's hard to pick my favorite song, but, if I had to, it would be "Muted Beatings".  If you haven't yet, check out this album.

9.  Lucero "Among the Ghosts" - My oldest daughter was living and going to his school in Knoxville, Tennessee, along with her husband, and at the end of 2018, my wife and I traveled out to see her graduate.  We had a week to kill, so I started looking into local artists in local 'zines.  I came across an article about Lucero, a country band from Memphis, so I checked them out and loved them.  Really, to just call them just a "country" band does them a disservice.  They blend country with punk and delta blues.  Twangy guitars with growled vocals.  The songs are magnetic and fill you up like the punch of solid Tennessee whiskey.  Thinking I had found something new and different, I called up my friend, JR Hendry, frontman of psychedelic outlaw country jam band, Primal Giants, but he had already heard of them.  I guess they have been around for twenty years and have, like, eleven albums out.  Check them out.  This is real Americana.

10.  Nothing "Dance on the Blacktop" -  Those who follow my blog know that I have covered this band before, from the beginning.  They were perhaps one of the first of the new generation of shoegaze music that I started listening to. They are one of many metalcore bands who switched genres to start making fuzzy, swirly music, but those harder elements are still visible.  Nothing has always been kind of grungy shoegaze, tipping their hats to Nirvana, as evidenced in the main single, "Zero Day", which is hard-hitting and dreamy at once.  Many of their songs are somewhat derivative as well - "Us/ We/ are" also evokes Nirvana, "Hail on Palace Pier" is reminiscent of The Buzzcocks.  But none of it in a bad way.  My favorite track is "(Hope) Is Just Another Word With a Hole In It." which completes the album and melts into shoegazey gooeyness.  In 2019, the next year, the band released "Spirit of the Stairs - B-Sides & Rarities", which contained outtakes from previous releases, including acoustic versions and a cover of "Vapour Trail" by Ride.  It is just as fantastic as this album.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

11.  Wallows "Spring" -  This is one that would have definitely been higher on my list, but it is a EP, not an album.  Again, this is one of bands my kids introduced me to, getting me acquainted with a new genre.  Bedroom pop is a phenomenon in that young people are using technology at home (in their bedrooms, as it were) to make music and then market it on social media rather than relying on record companies for exposure.  They mix low-fi indie with shoegaze, R&B - anything that create their own type of sounds.  The results are refreshingly uninhibited ad unrestrained by A&R reps telling bands how to act or how to sound.  This includes artists like Mac DeMarco, Boy Pablo, and Wallows.  This style is not always to my taste (too happy), but I really like Wallows, because they remind me of The Smiths - at once effervescent and melancholy.  I like the sarcasm of "1980s Horror Film" and the driving hooks of "Pictures of Girls".  This band had their first album, "Nothing Happens", in 2019, also excellent.  Perhaps I will review that soon.

12.  Sylvaine "Atoms Aligned, Coming Undone" - I don't know what it is about Scandinavia and excellent musical artists, especially metal artists.  But Sylvaine is one of them.  She is an all-around artist - she writes, records, engineers, mixes, and plays all of the instruments, and this is her third album.  For this one, she solicited the help of Neige, the genius behind French blackgaze outfit, Alcest.  And the music of this record really does sound like Alcest - long songs, power chords, haunting melodies,lengthy, almost-classical interludes, periods of hummingbird heartbeat drums, and unearthly growls with Sylvaine's angelic voice.  A bit like Myrkur, except more metal driven.  This really is blackgaze - a mixture of shoegaze and black metal.  There is even a song in French.  My wife once remarked about these types of artists, "They're really serious musicians, aren't they?"  Yes.  Yes, they are.

13.  Zola Jesus "Okovi" - Technically, this album was released  at the tail end of 2017, so it technically shouldn't even be on this list.  That's why it sits a bit lower on my list - not because of lack of love, but because it's displaced.  But I wasn't exposed to it until April, 2018 on a visit to Philadelphia.  My friend Matt played this for me on the same day he played Chelsea Wolfe, and so, even though they are very different in some ways (and very similar), they are indelibley connected in my mind.  Both are wildly original.  Both mix a gothic ethos with other genres.  In the case of Zola Jesus, she take staccato, hypnotic, almost industrial beats and laces them with orchestral and chorale music making it a bit like This Mortal Coil meets Dead Can Dance meets Ministry.  And her voice is both devilish and delightful.  I don't know why more people don't rave about her.  There are a few.  But she really deserves much more attention.

14.  Deafheaven "Ordinary Corrupt Human Love" -  I really have mixed feelings about this one.  Deafheaven, along with Alcest, are pioneers of the blackgaze genre - an unlikely conjoining of hazy shoegaze and aggressive black metal. It's really my type of music and should have scored a little higher on my list.  I really love Deafheaven's music.  Let me repeat that - I REALLY LOVE Deafheaven's music.  It's alluring, captivating, and very post-punk.  BUT... I just can't get past the vocals.  Now, I'm no stranger to screaming.  I grew up on metal.  I grew up on black metal, even.  But this sounds like two feral cats fighting in a dark alley.  It sounds like Smashing Pumpkins set to the sound of a chainsaw cutting through a steel sheet.  Yes, I know, Neige in Alcest screams, but he intersperses it with real singing, and, when he screams, it is with raw, existential pain.  This guy just screams and screams.  So, whereas I really like the music, I am listening to it in spite of the vocals.  I don't know.  Maybe I'm just getting old.

Moroni's Favorite Albums of 2019

Wow, Happy New Year!

I realized that I let most of the year go by without doing any music reviews!  I realize that I will never be able to catch up; there was so much great music in 2019!  So instead, I thought I would do a "mini-review" of my top 10 favorite albums of 2019!  Tell me yours in the comments!

1.  Alcest "Spiritual Instinct" - By far, my favorite album of the year, as well as my most anticipated.  I was lucky enough to have someone suggest this French band to me about four years ago, and I have been hooked ever since.  They are right up my proverbial alley.  This band swirls together aspects of black metal with shoegaze to form a new genre (that they created) called "blackgaze".  Eerie, melodic, ethereal - there is nothing like this type of music on the planet.  (I will blog in more detail about it later.)  Some of their six albums - like 2014's "Shelter" - veer more onto the shoegaze side of things.  Principal vocalist/ guitarist/ songwriter Neige has said that he always has to resist the urge to create a Slowdive record.  Other albums, like this one, lean heavily on the metal side.  The riffs are heavier, the screams are more raw.  But it still retains a healthy measure of dreaminess.  There are only six songs, but, true to post-rock form, none of them less than fiver minutes.  "Les Jardins de Minuit" has a savory mix of powerful shrieks and medeival-style chants.  The results send chills down my spine.  My favorite track is the haunting "Le Miroir".  Not too long ago, I was sitting in my car, listening to music in the parking lot of a grocery store while my wife shopped.  A man came up to my window and asked if it was Depeche Mode.  And that's the kind of music this is - heavy metal being mistaken for darkwave...

2.  DIIV "Deceiver" - For those who follow my blog, they know that I have reviewed this band before, and that they are one of my absolute favorites.  This record ties with Alcest for my favorite of 2019.  Those who know the band know that frontman, Zachary Cole Smith, has struggled with heroin addiction, and it showed in their soporific, hazy brand of shoegaze.  A few things have changed on their new album.  1.  The band moved from New York to Los Angeles.  2.  Cole went clean.  3.  The band all contributes to the music instead of it just being Cole's confessional project.  And it shows.  It shows in the interviews where Cole takes a backseat to the other band members.  And it shows in the music.  The lyrics are still Cole's.  His dark lyrics explore addiction and rehabilitation.  But the music is clear and purposeful.  It seemed unlikely that they would stop their sophomore effort "Is the Is Are".  It seemed unlikely that there would be another album.  But there is.  And guess what?  It does not suck.

3.  Whirr "Feels Like You" - This album was a great $5 investment, and I'll explain why.  For most of the past decade, Whirr has been at the forefront of the shoegaze revival.  Nick Bassett has played in other shoegaze bands like Nothing (a band I've covered for five years) and Deafheaven.  They put out two very good releases that were generally loved by fans, and then they fell victims to cancel culture.  Being young and dumb, they made comments on Twitter about a rival band that could be considered transphobic, and they lost their record contract.  Now, I am not justifying their behavior, but it is unfortunate that we live in such an unforgiving society.  Even after offering apologies, the band seemed over.  But they have persisted and released a new album on Bandcamp for $5.  This album is very typical shoegaze - swirly guitars and muted vocals.  But it is very refreshing, especially on songs like "Younger Than You" and "Rose Cold".  Hopefully, though, they will make an effort to stay off of Twitter...

4.  Sturgil Simpson "SOUND & FURY" -  What do you do when you are a Grammy-winning country artist who has already made three country albums that boldly stretch the limit of the genre?  You make a decidedly-not-country album.  I was really surprised when I first listened to this album.  Sure, there's a little country Americana in there, but this album takes genres and warps and twists them into something purely original - Southern rock, synthpop new wave, boogie, and funk, all melted and fused together in something that resembles ZZ Top meets The Cars.  This is a really psychedelic record.  Apparently, Simpson wanted a visual accompaniment to the album, and there is a Japanese anime version of the album on Netflix, but I haven't watched it yet.  I can't wait to see what Simpson does next.  Check out "Sing Along", "Make Art Not Friends", and "All Said And Done" for good samples, but, really, this is a concept album and should be listened completely in one season.

5.  LSD "Labrinth, Sia, & Diplo Present... LSD" -
LSD is an acronym for the collaborative project with British singer Labrinth, Australian singer Sia, and American deejay and producer, Diplo.  The result is an exquisite pop gem of an album, a veritable earworm.  This record helped remind me that - along with punk and post-punk - my past is saturated with EDM, and I still love it.  These songs are vibrant and colorful,  laden with funky beats and the serene, angelic voices of Labrinth and Sia.  Really - what's not to like?  Some of the songs, like the elegant "Thunderclouds" have an almost 1950s vibe to them.  Other delightful songs are "Genius", "Mountains", "Audio", and "No New Friend".  I seriously hope that this album is not the end of their creative endeavor and that we see another release from them in the bear future.

6.  Ride "This Is Not A Safe Place" -  The 2010s saw a rebirth of the shoegaze movement, many new bands switching genres to start reviving the movement.  This opened up the doors for many of the shoegaze bands from the '90s to have comebacks, including the Holy Trinity of Shoegaze, being My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Ride.  In 2014, much to the pleasure of fans, Ride came together again, not just for touring, but to release a pair of albums.  Their sixth album sees them back on form.  It's not perfect.  I don't like all of the songs.  But the ones I do make up for the mediocrity of the others.  Both "End Game" and "Shadows Behind the Sun" are strongly reminiscent of The Church.  "Clouds of Saint Marie" is a sweet but meaningful pop song.  The primary single, "Future Love", redeems the entire album by combining pop sensibility with the dreamlike layers of sound that shoegaze is known for.  Ride have shown that they are just as relevant now as they ever were.

7.  Drab Majesty "Modern Mirror" - Here is a band that I didn't discover until last year, thanks to my good friend, Linda.  Andrew Clinco is the drummer for post-rock band, Marriages (featuring the wonderful Emma Ruth Rundle).  He started recording solo music, but he said that it didn't sound at all like him - it sounded like it was music by someone else.  So, he created an alter ego as the frontperson of his new band, Drab Majesty - the androgynous Deb Demure.  The result is this third album of bone-chilling, danceable darkwave, a total throwback to the gothic music of the '80s.  I'm not going to lie - I listen to this band - like on songs like "The Other Side" and "Noise of the Void" - and I hear Clan of Xymox, totally.  But that's not necessarily a band thing.  In fact, I quite like it.  This entire album immediately pulls you into its groove like an indelible homecoming.  I can almost see the goth clubs that I used to inhabit as a young man in the '80s.  Thank you, Linda!

8.  Billie Eilish "When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" - This one may come as a surprise to some people.  Yes, I know that "bad guy" is overplayed on the radio.  I know that she is so oversaturated in the media that many people have grown to dislike her and she is regarded as "mainstream".  But there is a reason that a 17-year-old has achieved this kind of success.  (She is exactly the same age as my daughter to the day.)  This is a really good album.  I have never been averse to pop music.  But I love pop music that is subversive even more.  And that fits this album.  It is surprisingly simple - hard hitting drum beats bumping beneath Billie's airy vocals, singing about surprisingly sinister topics.  "bury a friend" is so dark.  "i love you" has such a good use of dream pop wall of sound.  Hey, if this album is good enough for Dave Grohl, it's good enough for me.

9.  Tool "Fear Incoculum" -  Like millions of other people, I was one of those who waited almost fourteen years for this album.  Truthfully, I was hoping that it would score a little higher on the list than this, but it is what it is.  It's still a good album, filled with ten-minute opuses, laden with heavy guitar riffs, off-kilter rhythms, languorous, psychedelic ponderances, Maynard's perplexing lyrics sung is his crystal-clear voice, and trippy interludes.  Some people have disliked it, complaining that it is not heavy enough, but too atmospheric.  But hey, "atmospheric" is my bag.  A typical Tool album.  Although not quite as good as "AEnima" or "Lateralus". but about as good as "10,000 Days".  The whole album is better, as with all Tool albums, better when listened in one sitting, but my favorites are "Descending" and "Culling Voices".

10. Chelsea Wolfe "Birth of Violence" - In April, 2018, I made a trip to Philadelphia to visit an old friend, a music guru of sorts, and one of the many artists he introduced me to was Chelsea Wolfe.  I came back from Philadelphia with the album "Abyss".  Over the next couple of years, I was able to explore her back catalog which consisted of four other albums.  It's hard to describe her music.  She uses a plethora of influences and morphs them into her own creature.  Each album is vastly different than the next.  Metal, doom, drone, goth, folk - Wolfe is all of these and none of these.  On this, her sixth album, she decided to return to her folk roots and go acoustic, and the live shows were also stripped down to their bare elements.  But even for an acoustic record, this album is still dark and brooding, and she adds so many complex layers of orchestra, keyboards, and ambient noises that give this album the feel of a nightmare that you can't wake up from.  But you don't really want to.  Black lace blowing in a cold breeze.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

11.  Ladytron "Ladytron" - Like other bands like Curve and M83, Ladytron mixes elements of shoegaze with what is essentially electropop.  The result is something that is at once diaphanous and danceable.  But I have to say - there can be no denying that this band takes a page (or two) from ABBA - not necessarily a bad thing, the springy harmonies and catchy beats.  My favorite songs are "Far From Home", which melts in the end into a blaring cacaphony of pure noise, and the angular "Run".  It's no wonder why Brian Eno loves this band so much.

12.  Cigarettes After Sex "Cry" -  This El Paso band is one that I have listened to before they had an album out yet and only an EP.  And I have always loved them.  I admit that a lot of their songs sound kind of the same - sweet dream pop melodies set to Greg Gonzalez's feminine voice, everything languid, soft, slow, and reverb-y akin to Cowboy Junkies, Mazzy Star or Julee Cruise.  One discussion group I'm in had one individual referred to them as Shoegaze Maroon 5.  But sometimes there is comfort found in familiarity and predictability.  If all of these songs sound like the same song, then that song is romantic, a little sad, and a touch moving.  Just listen to the song "Heaven", and you will see exactly what I'm talking about.  I don't know what the whole "Hentai" is about, though. B ut I guess in the end, though, all of these sugary and sensual songs are about sex.

13.  Silversun Pickups "Widow's Weeds" - These guys have been one of my top bands for the last ten years, and their fifth album released last year was one of my most anticipated albums.  Yet I was a little disappointed in this one.  In fact, I have been disappointed in the last two albums.  They haven't been bad.  This one isn't really bad.  But they don't move me in the way that "Carnavas", "Swoon", and "Neck of the Woods" did.  Nevertheless, the songs are good, and the band is in good form, like on the principal single, "It Doesn't Matter Why".  The other strong points are on "Freakazoid", "Simpatico", and "We Are Chameleons"  Regardless of how I feel about the album, it is good to still have these guys around.  They really are one of the coolest bands out there.