“At Fly PR, I’ve run a robust internship program since 2005, helping women, LGBTQ and minorities gain access to music and entertainment industry career opportunities,” Ilka Pardiñas says. Find out more about what drives the indie-rock public-relations pioneer and what she has in store for the future in my profile on her Fly PR firm in the latest print edition of New Noise.
Every one of us has and/or will, often tragically, squander precious opportunities over the course of our life. The trio of Gastr del Sol and Squirrel Bait cofounder David Grubbs, multi-instrumentalist improviser Wendy Eisenberg and John Zorn collaborator Kramer refer to themselves as “Squanderers” on this rare get-together.
But the seven ad hoc compositions they conjure together without a predetermined game plan aren’t sullen or sulky dirges mired in past regrets. Nor do the gentle souls waste this rare meeting of three like minds by staring at their navels for catharsis, if not answers, over what went wrong in the past.
Rather, the Squanderers—each of them minimalism-obsessed experimentalists—explore how far three musicians can turn the volume knob in the opposite direction of 11 without dissolving into the ether. The results are spellbinding and politely request the same attention from the listener as Primer and Coherence require from movie watchers to fully appreciate, if not completely understand.
To be clear, Grubbs and Kramer—also the founder of Shimmy-Disc, which released this record—do have some history working together. They proverbially shook hands last year and dished up two songs under the tidy appellation of Kramer & Grubbs. But, upon welcoming guitar virtuoso Eisenberg into the fold, they decided to formalize their slightly larger endeavor, christen it with the Squanderers moniker, and make an album together.
Given the vast musical talents and multi-instrumental fluency that each group member possesses, it may seem, as discussed above, that Squanderers did a disservice to their new project and its debut album by not utilizing more of their talents. Some may even go so far as to cry blasphemy over their decision to relegate Grubbs and Eisenberg to just guitar, and Kramer to bass guitar only.
Take anther glance at that previous sentence, and the band’s decision-making should become apparent: Squanderers also decided against bringing a drummer or percussionist into the fold, reinforcing the theory that Grubbs, Eisenberg and Kramer sought to make the quietest jam session on record, so to speak, that will likely impress even their kindred spirits in Tortoise.
Here’s to the power of—and hopefully a more widespread return to—The Almighty Hush.
Is Franz Ferndinand’s first record in seven long years worth a spin? Yes—however, it’s far from their best work, as you’ll read in my debut album review for Treble.
“We have a show on January 31 at DC9, and it’s going to be a big one,” Glosser vocalist Riley Fanning told The Bad Penny early last month. She wasn’t kidding. The dreamy, indie-pop pride of Washington, D.C. are formally debuting their majestic new EP, Angel Dust (all four songs are presented in this post), tonight at the city’s hipster hotspot. (Yeah, it technically came out in November, but you know what they say about nitpickers: Just like snitches, they get stitches too.)
Tonight’s show effectively kicks off the next chapter in Glosser’s career after their 2023 record Downer turned out to be one of the year’s most universally beloved indie records, warranting a deluxe edition that dropped a year ago. Fanning and her partner, instrumentalist Corbin Sheehan, chatted us up about the band’s past, present and future—and there’s no better time to unveil the conversation as Glosser turn the page.
Continue readingWhat’s the secret to a happy marriage … especially when you’re in a band with your spouse? For Joshua Tree desert-folk duo The Kearns Family, it’s Paco, a trusty 10-year-old pooch who is a Jack Russell and Basenji mix (they’re pretty sure). Meet the gang and learn about Paco’s antics in the latest edition of Pet Sounds on New Noise.
In this new interview for New Noise, outspoken Local H main man Scott Lucas recalls his last interactions with fellow sardonic Chicago music legend Steve Albini and much more as the band announces a 30th anniversary reissue of its debut record, Ham Fisted.
Check out my first piece for esteemed, erudite independent-music manual Treble in the form of a retrospective review of a long-lost record by one of Sub Pop Record’s most underrated bands ever, the VSS-affiliated Pleasure Forever.
“Everything’s changed for the worse,” Harakiri for the Sky cofounder and vocalist Michael “JJ” V. Wahntraum says. “I don’t think that the world takes a good turn for now.”
Read those and more uplifting prognostications from Austria’s best band in this immersive and intense feature on Knotfest.com.
Experimental quartet Open Head piece together snippets of discordant, angular, and off-tune notes to create a tapestry paying tribute to NYC’s no wave and noise-rock scenes on their new record, What Is Success (Wharf Cat). Read my full review on FLOOD‘s website.
“Technology is running away from us, and we aren’t talking to each other about the implications.” Read those and many more words of wisdom from Chris T. Hammer, frontman of Atlanta metal band Misanthropic Aggression, in this revelatory interview via New Noise.
The Bad Penny (beta) 