SATURDAY MAR 11, 2017
Pallas
Despite playing shows for a year, Pallas has yet to release any studio recordings. Instead the band has focused on honing their ecstatic art rock in live settings. The four-piece is an example of balance and collaboration, a sparkling mix best exemplified by Valentina Tapia’s expressive bass lines and Danielle Brutto’s powerful vocals. Transferring the critical details of their temperamental energy from the stage to the studio will be a test for the group, but it’s one they seemed poised to confront with wit and efficiency. Though a release date hasn’t yet been announced, Pallas will soon release Location 13, their debut 12″ (at 45 rpm) on Designer Medium Records. The sessions were recorded with Atlanta’s own Graham Tavel in mid-2016, and Pallas will release two of the songs as a cassette single in February. The band will also be touring with Hellier Ulysses in March, but according to guitarist Zane Durfee, “We are headed to some undetermined zones in the North… or maybe it was the West. We might drive straight into the ocean and hope for the best.” –Immersive Atlanta
Despite playing shows for a year, Pallas has yet to release any studio recordings. Instead the band has focused on honing their ecstatic art rock in live settings. The four-piece is an example of balance and collaboration, a sparkling mix best exemplified by Valentina Tapia’s expressive bass lines and Danielle Brutto’s powerful vocals. Transferring the critical details of their temperamental energy from the stage to the studio will be a test for the group, but it’s one they seemed poised to confront with wit and efficiency. Though a release date hasn’t yet been announced, Pallas will soon release Location 13, their debut 12″ (at 45 rpm) on Designer Medium Records. The sessions were recorded with Atlanta’s own Graham Tavel in mid-2016, and Pallas will release two of the songs as a cassette single in February. The band will also be touring with Hellier Ulysses in March, but according to guitarist Zane Durfee, “We are headed to some undetermined zones in the North… or maybe it was the West. We might drive straight into the ocean and hope for the best.” –Immersive Atlanta
Yucky Duster
Yucky Duster’s debut album is filled with embittered, hard-truth moments that force you to sit up straight and take notice. The Brooklyn band — made up of members from Bluffing, the Gradients, and Slonk Donkerson — writes songs based around contemporary frustrations: the self-explanatory “Friend Zone,” the stalled job market on “Donny S Hits Zack Up For A Job,” the tortured cellular anxiety of “Break Your Phone.” There’s a caustic levity to Yucky Duster, grounded by the conversational style of dual vocalists Madeline Babuka Black and Maggie Gaster, who commiserate with each other across pinched guitars and nervy drumming. Case in point: the devilishly satisfying “Paul Revere,” which asks the song’s subject, “Do you really think you’re that good looking?” before laying into them for being a pompous creep: “Yes, I know you were on TV — that doesn’t mean you can say rude things to me,” Gaster sings. Babuka Black interjects: “Wait! I wanna say something… I felt your dick two years ago, and it’s small as fuck.” These candid moments give the album an improvisational quality, sort of like you’re just goofing around and catching up with your friends while digging into life’s deeper injustices. Similar sparks occur on “Friend Zone,” which asks “Does that make me a bitch? Does that make me a bitch?,” mimicking society’s snotty tone when a woman doesn’t want to reciprocate a man’s advances and just wants to stay friends. “Construction Man” sees the whole band chiming in, turning catcall distress into an army of unfettered voices. “Blue Elvis” starts off as a sparkling doo-wop but soon descends into a twitchy punk song about wanting someone you know is bad for you; “Real Good Case Of The Bads” is an acute examination of depression and isolation packaged in a warm hug.
Yucky Duster is in and out in under 20 minutes, but the band packs enough variety and compulsively listenable moments throughout that make it a pleasure to keep returning for more. -Stereogum
Yucky Duster’s debut album is filled with embittered, hard-truth moments that force you to sit up straight and take notice. The Brooklyn band — made up of members from Bluffing, the Gradients, and Slonk Donkerson — writes songs based around contemporary frustrations: the self-explanatory “Friend Zone,” the stalled job market on “Donny S Hits Zack Up For A Job,” the tortured cellular anxiety of “Break Your Phone.” There’s a caustic levity to Yucky Duster, grounded by the conversational style of dual vocalists Madeline Babuka Black and Maggie Gaster, who commiserate with each other across pinched guitars and nervy drumming. Case in point: the devilishly satisfying “Paul Revere,” which asks the song’s subject, “Do you really think you’re that good looking?” before laying into them for being a pompous creep: “Yes, I know you were on TV — that doesn’t mean you can say rude things to me,” Gaster sings. Babuka Black interjects: “Wait! I wanna say something… I felt your dick two years ago, and it’s small as fuck.” These candid moments give the album an improvisational quality, sort of like you’re just goofing around and catching up with your friends while digging into life’s deeper injustices. Similar sparks occur on “Friend Zone,” which asks “Does that make me a bitch? Does that make me a bitch?,” mimicking society’s snotty tone when a woman doesn’t want to reciprocate a man’s advances and just wants to stay friends. “Construction Man” sees the whole band chiming in, turning catcall distress into an army of unfettered voices. “Blue Elvis” starts off as a sparkling doo-wop but soon descends into a twitchy punk song about wanting someone you know is bad for you; “Real Good Case Of The Bads” is an acute examination of depression and isolation packaged in a warm hug.
Yucky Duster is in and out in under 20 minutes, but the band packs enough variety and compulsively listenable moments throughout that make it a pleasure to keep returning for more. -Stereogum
Nice Try
Nice Try feel warm and lived in — the band crafts songs about heartache and desperation and anguish that still sound bubbly and inviting, that make you want to spend time with them, licking old wounds and stumbling into new ones. The Bloomington, Indiana duo got their start with 2013’s convinced, and their self-titled follow-up is filled with the same sort of heart-on-sleeve punk that’s simple and subtle and subtly infectious. Nice Try is in a similar lane to recent fare like All Dogs, Frankie Cosmos, Free Cake For Every Creature, and other contemporaries who look to K Records for inspiration, but the duo packs in a whole lot of their own pitch-perfectly executed charm. There’s an emotional gut-punch in Madeline Robinson’s every word. If there’s one turn of phrase that sums up the entire album, it’s “What I want and what I need, so consistently such different things/ What you say versus what you do makes it so hard to trust you,” which comes in the middle of a song called “Patience” that sounds as anxious and impatient as can be. Robinson spends each song navigating the complexities of relationships, the electricity of making a connection, how change comes in fits and starts and never at the most convenient time. On “No Big Deal,” she begs: “Take me to a life without the pressure to feel like nothing’s a big deal.” Nice Try is an album of self-discovery, emphasis on the self. These songs don’t rush to conclusions; they’re okay with taking time. “I’m eternally changing my mind, but no longer feel like I have to decide,” she concludes on “Magical Thinking.” The last line on the record: “Your charm is hard to deny, but I can see right through you. So I can live without you.” It’s an album that relishes in the incongruences of life — that’s a powerful notion, and Nice Try use it to great effect.
Nice Try feel warm and lived in — the band crafts songs about heartache and desperation and anguish that still sound bubbly and inviting, that make you want to spend time with them, licking old wounds and stumbling into new ones. The Bloomington, Indiana duo got their start with 2013’s convinced, and their self-titled follow-up is filled with the same sort of heart-on-sleeve punk that’s simple and subtle and subtly infectious. Nice Try is in a similar lane to recent fare like All Dogs, Frankie Cosmos, Free Cake For Every Creature, and other contemporaries who look to K Records for inspiration, but the duo packs in a whole lot of their own pitch-perfectly executed charm. There’s an emotional gut-punch in Madeline Robinson’s every word. If there’s one turn of phrase that sums up the entire album, it’s “What I want and what I need, so consistently such different things/ What you say versus what you do makes it so hard to trust you,” which comes in the middle of a song called “Patience” that sounds as anxious and impatient as can be. Robinson spends each song navigating the complexities of relationships, the electricity of making a connection, how change comes in fits and starts and never at the most convenient time. On “No Big Deal,” she begs: “Take me to a life without the pressure to feel like nothing’s a big deal.” Nice Try is an album of self-discovery, emphasis on the self. These songs don’t rush to conclusions; they’re okay with taking time. “I’m eternally changing my mind, but no longer feel like I have to decide,” she concludes on “Magical Thinking.” The last line on the record: “Your charm is hard to deny, but I can see right through you. So I can live without you.” It’s an album that relishes in the incongruences of life — that’s a powerful notion, and Nice Try use it to great effect.
Floral Print
After first meeting on a whim over Facebook, what started out as a chance occurrence between drummer Paul DeMerritt-Verrone and singer/guitarist Nathan Springer (Narrator) sprouted into a continually exciting and unpredictable collaboration. The pair first started practicing and performing around Atlanta, GA in late 2014, and quickly started honing their penchant for dizzying song structures and erratic rhythms grounded in pop sensibilities. Their debut EP ‘woo’, recorded with bassist George Pettis (100 Watt Horse) and producer Graham Tavel, showcased floral print’s vibrant pastiche of psych-pop, early emo, ambient, and deconstructionist rock. Following ‘woo’, the duo (rounded out by a rotating cast of bassists) embarked on numerous tours throughout the East coast and Midwest, making friends and tightening up their sonic communication skills. In summer 2016, floral print linked up again with Tavel to start recording their debut full-length, entitled ‘mirror stages’, at Broad Street Visitor’s Center in Downtown Atlanta. The tracks on ‘mirror stages’ display a marked change in tone from ‘woo’, as glimmers of noise, distorted melancholy, and manic energy imbued their sound with more nuance and stylistic aberrations. Following the recording of ‘mirror stages’, floral print rounded out its lineup with the addition of Josh, Paris, and Lily as the band charts a new course for future tours and releases."
After first meeting on a whim over Facebook, what started out as a chance occurrence between drummer Paul DeMerritt-Verrone and singer/guitarist Nathan Springer (Narrator) sprouted into a continually exciting and unpredictable collaboration. The pair first started practicing and performing around Atlanta, GA in late 2014, and quickly started honing their penchant for dizzying song structures and erratic rhythms grounded in pop sensibilities. Their debut EP ‘woo’, recorded with bassist George Pettis (100 Watt Horse) and producer Graham Tavel, showcased floral print’s vibrant pastiche of psych-pop, early emo, ambient, and deconstructionist rock. Following ‘woo’, the duo (rounded out by a rotating cast of bassists) embarked on numerous tours throughout the East coast and Midwest, making friends and tightening up their sonic communication skills. In summer 2016, floral print linked up again with Tavel to start recording their debut full-length, entitled ‘mirror stages’, at Broad Street Visitor’s Center in Downtown Atlanta. The tracks on ‘mirror stages’ display a marked change in tone from ‘woo’, as glimmers of noise, distorted melancholy, and manic energy imbued their sound with more nuance and stylistic aberrations. Following the recording of ‘mirror stages’, floral print rounded out its lineup with the addition of Josh, Paris, and Lily as the band charts a new course for future tours and releases."