Heart Attack Kids are wide wake, Mobina Galore are out and about, Ali Barter is showing her resolve and more in today’s Roundup. I made a thin-skinned, self-entitled rich guy mad today. I don’t know why that makes me happy — but it really, really does.
1 Feeling a bit groggy? No worries. Just crank up City Sleeps, the latest video from London indie-rawk duo Heart Attack Kids. They’ll get you up and about — and they’ll do it armed with nothing more than a guitar, some drums and mics, two T-shirts and a parking garage. All part of your balanced breakfast. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Vocalist and guitarist Jared Ellul shares that “City Sleeps is all about how things are never quite as they seem, and the struggles of living in a city that feels like a small town. Sometimes you have to dig deeper to find the truth. We really wanted to shoot a music video with a 90s hip-hop vibe. When I was working odd jobs I acquired a 1950s projector with a bag of slides with 1960s Europe on them. They looked great projected on the white T-shirts we wore.” No snooze button here:
2 Mobina Galore are on the move. So no wonder the Winnipeg punk duo’s latest video for Dig Myself Out — from their new album Don’t Worry — was put together from footage from their recent U.K. tour with Laura Jean Grace. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “So much of our lives the last few years have been spent on the road so we wanted to make a tour video, our first one was Skeletons in 2015 so we were due for a new one! I tend to put way too much work on my plate when we’re on the road and this time was making this music video. Marcia and I took footage over a seven day period during the Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers and Frank Iero & The Future Violents tour. All the footage was taken with our iPhones and cost us nothing but our time! Our tour manager Stefan and some fans took the live footage. We hope people find it fun to see a bit of the tour life, which often just includes napping.” Enjoy the trip:
3 Still lamenting the end of summer? It could be worse. You could already be obsessing about New Year’s resolutions, as Ali Barter is on her new single January, the third track from her Oct. 18 album I’m Doing My Best. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “It seems like every year, January rolls around and I’m still trying to fix the same things as the year before. The older I get the more I realise that I don’t change, this is all I got. So fuck it.” says Barter. Indeed, some things never change, including Barter’s vocal elasticity; evidenced as she sends her breathtaking falsetto to dizzying heights and reels it back in with razor sharp precision.” Should auld acquaintance be forgot:
4 We all know clowns are creepy. But puppets are nothing but cute and cuddly, right? Wrong. Look no further than the animated video for the song Two Halves, the latest number from British folksinger Richard Dawson and his upcoming album 2020. You have been warned. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Football is society in microcosm. I really love it (and hate plenty about it too) and wanted to make an album around the subject for some time. I’ve got other fish to fry though so this is just a simple song. I reckon it’s quite a happy one, despite it involving a kid having a really terrible game (in their mind at least) with their irate dad watching on. My own footballing days are lost in a haze – in my pomp I was a chiselling ‘Gattuso’-type holding-midfielder – but I’ve taken fresh inspiration from going to watch my nephew play for Wallsend Boys Club, some pleasant drizzly afternoons at Heaton Stan (behind the chip shop) and many excruciating visits to St. James Park – the cathedral of dreams.” Play along:
5 Some submissions just speak for themselves. Or at least they should. Here’s one: The song The Wick, from Croatian rockers Sworn to Stars. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “I bet you don’t often get submissions from Croatia. Anyway, my music better be awesome cause I just at 36 y/o quit my job to pursue a career in music. Crazy, right? So, am I going to starve?” Well, put it this way: You’re easily the greatest Croatian band I’ve ever heard. Now it’s everybody else’s turn:
6 They say politics makes strange bedfellows. Sometimes music is no different. Exhibit A: The Child, a rootsy ballad co-written by country veteran Wynonna Judd and indie singer-songwriter Cass McCombs — who have just joined forces in a duo named The Frothy Pit. No, seriously. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Like many people, I grew up listening to The Judds,” Cass McCombs explained. “Needless to say, it’s been a real honor to collaborate with Wynonna, co-writing The Child together and stepping into the uncharted terrain of The Frothy Pit.” Strange but true:
7 You like Cancer Bats and Single Mothers? You’re in luck: They’ve teamed up for indie label New Damage Records’ first Switcheroo split cover EP. Switcheroo Vol.1 sees Cancer Bats mashing up Single Mothers’ Dog Parks and Switchoff, and the Mothers covering the Bats’ 2012 banger Road Sick. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Cancer Bats lead vocalist Liam Cormier had this to say: “When it came to picking Single Mothers songs to cover, we decided why stop at just ONE! We went for it and grabbed 2 and just mashed them into one song! Drew has such awesome lyrics, it was great to really dive into someone elses writing style and cadence and the Romano brothers wrote a scorcher of a punk track that made the whole thing a blast to play!”
8 You’ve heard of Aquaman. You’ve heard of aquacising. You’ve heard of Aqua Net. Now meet Aquakulture, which used to be the alter-ego of Nova Scotia musician Lance Simpson, but is now the name of his band. He and they just dropped their latest single I Doubt It, which is making plenty of waves. Will you hear of him again? There’s little doubt. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “This song was inspired by cousin Lido Pimienta after watching her perform for the first time in Halifax,” says Sampson. “She truly blew me away, and it drove me to understand something about myself in the process. Sometimes my perspective, or the way I handle things at the end of the day, can always be linked to institutionalism or values that I’ve learned through growing up in a neighborhood where the police prayed on young black kids. This song has allowed me to break that shame of being beat down and bullied by the system, and turn it around to educate people who may not have a clue to what people like us experience.” Dive in:
9 Load the guns and don the camo gear: British occult rockers Alunah are gunning for big game with their new single Hunt — a preview of their Oct. 11 album Violet Hour. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “During the writing process, it became clear that different dynamics were emerging. Hunt is built on our earlier style, but becomes it’s own entity as the song unfolds. Some of us consider this a favourite to play, so it feels right to let it loose ahead of the album release.” Ready, aim …
10 It’s a new day for Jacques Greene. The Toronto electro artist just announced his new album Dawn Chorus. And to mark the occasion, he’s sharing the first single Do It Without You. Though that doesn’t seem to sum up the approach behind the disc. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “A bold step forward, Dawn Chorus is also Greene’s most collaborative project to date, featuring additional production and instrumentation from film composer Brian Reitzell (Lost In Translation), cello by London’s Oliver Coates, additional production from Clams Casino and original vocal contributions from ambient artist Julianna Barwick, rapper Cadence Weapon and singers Ebhoni and Rochelle Jordan, all sampled, processed and stitched back into the album.” Join him:
