Venus Twins’ ‘/​\​/​\​/​\​/​\​/’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags on 11/14/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

Juxtaposing a love of sewing with 13 minutes of whiplash-inducing, eardrum-destroying atonal assaults, Venus Twins’ latest EP is yet another confounding manifestation of twin telepathy. Read my full review of the Brooklyn duo’s ​\​/​\​/​\​/​\​/ (no, that’s not a glitch) on FLOOD‘s website.

Thank’s ‘I Have a Physical Body That Can Be Harmed’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags on 11/12/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

Thank’s a lot, as the Leeds pranksters prove on their second album. I Have a Physical Body That Can Be Harmed is a mixed cocktail that deviates from traditional proto-punk by lacing songs with ’80s synth lines. Read my full review on FLOOD‘s website.

Umbrellas Check in Ahead of First-Ever Boise Concert

Posted in Interviews with tags on 11/12/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

Boise’s concert scene is getting a double hours of awesome tonight in the form of a post formidable pair two red-hot indie-rock bands descending upon the Shrine Basement Culture Club: The Lemon Twigs and The Umbrellas.

While we previously caught up with the Twigs for a future feature on them, we also had the privilege of current the Umbrellas dropping us ahead f their tonight. 

“It’ll be our first time playing Boise as the Umbrellas,” the band said collectively in a statement. “We’re looking forward to taking in the sights and trying out local fare. We’ve heard excellent things about finger steaks! And we’re always interested in checking out record shops, vintage stores, antique shops, and so on.”

They galore a peek at their performance, which comes on the Umbrellas of the band releasing its newest album, Fareweather Forget, on Slumberland Records.

“We’ve learned that some of the songs are better on the record than they are live. And that’s totally fine, there’s no need to bring them out! the group said. “We also knew these songs would have more emphasis on the drums and that’s definitely translating into our live set. We’re louder and faster than people expect us to be sometimes, maybe because our debut LP was more tame.”

They imparted a colorful anecdote from this latest for: “We were driving through rural Wyoming in a snowstorm in the afternoon, making our way to Denver for the first show of the tour. We notice this giant white dog on the side of the road eating some fresh roadkill, and its fur was stained bright red everywhere, and Matt honked at it to keep it from running in front of our van,” the band said. “Nothing else was around for miles and this dog obviously didn’t have a collar or anything, but it also didn’t look wild. It looked up and just did this happy dog smile at us as we drove on by. An omen? Maybe… We’ll see! (:”

Earthburner Guitarist: ‘Tune Out’ Society’s Noise, Listen to Metal Instead

Posted in Interviews with tags on 11/11/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

Chicago’s Earthburner carry out a scorched-earth campaign so ruinous on their debut album, Permanent Dawn, that nary a leaf or blade of grass is spared from the torching. Read my interview with the grindcore quintet via New Noise‘s website.

Nest, Adored by Phil Anselmo, Touch Base Ahead of Boise Debut Tonight

Posted in Interviews with tags , , , , on 11/10/2024 by Kurt Orzeck
Nest

Raise your hand if you’ve got a hankering for an ultra-low-end bludgeoning of the doomy sludge variety. Since we can’t see you, that probably wasn’t the smartest way to take a survey of interest. But if you like gnarly, nasty-sounding heavy rock, St. Louis trio Nest will be right up your alley and worthy of your attendance this evening in Boise.

The gloriously grody project of John Jarvis (Scour, Agoraphobic Nosebleed), Nest will tap heavily into Endeavors, which came out in April. It was the band’s third studio full-length since forming in 2019 but first for Housecore Records, the gang of bands championed by label owner Phil Anselmo. In fact, Nest recently partook in Housecore Home Haunt 2024, Anselmo’s annual Halloween fright fest in Louisiana.

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Poll: Which Is the Scariest Sandworm in Film?

Posted in Comedy, Polls with tags , , , on 11/09/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

Whether or not you’ve watched either of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films, either of Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice movies, or any of the seven (that’s right, seven) installments of the B-movie franchise that is Tremors, you’ve still probably caught a glimpse of the “sandworm” creatures that surface (pun intended) in all those films. Donald Trump famously stupidly says he’d rather be killed by a shark than drown to death … which of these underground menaces would you least want to get eaten by?

Beetlejuice sandworm
Dune sandworm
Tremors sandworm

Public Opinion Vocalist Gets Real: ‘You Can’t Be Afraid to Sweat’

Posted in Interviews on 11/09/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

Still less than five years old, Public Opinion have already incorporated strains of garage-rock, indie-rock, and post-punk into their sound. Experimenting so early on in a band’s career–especially one born from the notoriously strict community of hardcore–will likely be a harbinger of things to come for this ambitious band. Read my full profile on the band courtesy of New Noise.

Rosali’s Sassy Husky Is Also Crazy Like a Fox

Posted in Interviews with tags , on 11/08/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

In the latest installment of Pet Sounds on New Noise‘s website, new Merge Records artist Rosali recalls how she got some surprise onstage support from her beloved husky during one of her performances.

Stay Qaalm and Carry On: Vocalist Gets Deep About New LP

Posted in Interviews with tags on 11/08/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

The new record by prog-doom band Qaalm that overwhelms a sense of despair spawned by financial struggle and political extremis with an even more potent feeing of cathartic glee.

“Each song is a story on the record. You can get into that world, and you can live there for 45 minutes,” vocalist Henry Derek Elis says. “That’s the hope.”

Read my full story on the band here.

Co-Founder of Dark-Rock Band Silent Sings the Praises of His 3 Cats

Posted in Interviews with tags on 11/07/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

While Mexicali’s Silent keep a relatively low profile, the band’s proverbial cats are out of the bag now, as the dark-rock band’s co-founder recently told New Noise.