Family Band: Grace & Lies (No Quarter, 7/24/12)
“Night Song”
Grace & Lies, the second album from husband-and-wife team Family Band, paints a picture of small-scale yearning and despair that shuttles between being hypnotic and unexpectedly hard-edged. Described as a study in light and shadow by the artists, the album mixes aural beauty with a sense of mystery and menace.
This content appears in the July/August iPad edition of ALARM Magazine. Download it for free and keep reading!
High on Fire: De Vermis Mysteriis (Entertainment One, 4/3/12)
“Fertile Green”
Oakland sludge trio High on Fire has kept the heavy-metal flame alive and burning for 14 years, having formed following guitarist/singer Matt Pike’s time in doom/stoner group Sleep. And with each new chapter in the band’s scorching legacy, Pike, drummer Des Kensel, and bassist Jeff Matz further challenge what a power trio can do. Somehow, over time, they’ve managed to grow louder, more epic, and even catchier.
The band’s sixth album, De Vermis Mysteriis, in many ways is classic High on Fire. Recorded with Converge’s Kurt Ballou, it balances punishing sludge riffs with epic solos and high-octane tempos. The first half alone is an exercise in ferocity: “Bloody Knuckles” pounds out a hook-laden variation of the band’s classic churn; “Fertile Green” lunges into an ultra-menacing stomp; “Madness of an Architect” taps into its Sabbath-y roots for old-fashioned doom.
Here Kensel speaks about going back to basics, writing in the studio, and “Eureka!” moments.
Months in the making and years in the waiting, ALARM Magazine is back! We’ve been quiet on the publishing end since our release of Chromatic: The Crossroads of Color and Music last year, but we’re happy to announce the bimonthly return of the mag, now with an increased focus on rock-’n’-roll culture and lifestyle.
Yawn: Happy Tears (Feel Trip, 7/24/12)
“Ganymede”
Chicago indie-psych-pop upstart Yawn gained popularity in just a few short years after a self-produced EP found its way to the ears of some booking agents at SXSW. Though the band only had a handful of live local sets under its belt, its successful showcase in Austin garnered praise and enthusiasm from unsuspecting attendees, eventually leading to attention from Pitchfork and NME. The band finally released its first full-length, Open Season, last summer, and has since toured with Mates of State and The Kooks. (And, of course, it was featured in Chromatic: The Crossroads of Color and Music.)
Last month, we shared the first installment of Off!‘s video trilogy with “Cracked,” a humorous glimpse into competitive sign-spinning. Now enjoy the final chapters: a double video for “Borrow and Bomb” and “I Got News for You.”
