The Drones - any good (also Tropical Fuck Storm content here)

Crazy Horse meets the Birthday Party with a little Tindersticks thrown in.

Simultaneously bringing chaos and beauty into the crowded dive, The Drones eerie brand of noise was the perfect end to a wonderful day of music. Whether one is hell-raising or soul-searching, The Drones� wallop will see you through. Perhaps like a present day Velvet Underground, songs like "Featuring The Cockeyed Lowlife Of The Highlands" and "New Kind Of Kick" more than adequately represented this generation's desire for more, while other tunes hypnotized and identified with the mournful listener. Looking back at SXSW, The Drones were my favorite bit of it all. The Beerland showcase was the stuff of Legend (in my mind, anyway) ...noise, sleazy rock n' roll and transcendence through sound. If you don't go out and find Here Come The Lies, The Drones fabulous new record, (Spooky Records), you're missing out on some of the best music around. God bless them Aussies...

from: http://www.crazewire.com/features/20030322188.php

Amen,
-chad
P.S. Everyone in their right mind should be going to see Racebannon this Friday at lava lounge patio (austin, TX, usa) for their SXSW showcase. oh my goodness. www.myspace.com/racebannonrocks

It doesn't seem to have a "Shark Fin Blues" on it after a few listens, but I'm still spending time with it.

i don't know, 'never gonna change' sort of fulfills that role (and caused a full-on audience ruck at their london show last week)

Apparently, they were'nt very good, according to their manager, Paul Morely.

i wanna check these doodz out.

I've been tempted with that album but if that is heads above the rest then I may leave it and try the new one?

Yeah the 1977 Drones from Manchester? I always wanted to hear them when I was fixated with '77 punk.I even wrote them on my pencil case at school without hearing them. Since read that they were a third division Eater - yeah, that bad.

Great band, my favorite new discovery of last year. If you can track it down, the rarities comp "The Miller's Daughter" is spectacular.

new record, Havilah, coming out in october.
first impression: very good

Awesome!

Last album was great.

lol @ "spends all day looking at porn or playing fucking halo 2"

halo 3's been out for ages n00b.

Excellently rackety live.

I'll speak to this. Hadn't heard them before, but caught their live show at ATP over the weekend, and it was a pleasant surprise. And quite rackety, indeed.

Don't know what I am the Supercargo is about but it's a fucking jamm.

A++++ username wilter, looooool

somehow i think i completely missed hearing anything from 'gala mill', which is weird cos i was a big rep for 'wait long by the river...'; i'll have to check this one out.

'Jezebel' slew me this morning after I put it on on a whim. Gonna have to track this new album down.

first half of the new one might be their best stuff, second half is pretty disappointing. i stan hard for these guys despite the fact that they're never made a front to back good album.

they are pretty insane live

saddest thing evar--i was one of 5 ppl who saw them when they came to boston a couple years ago. they still brought it. i felt bad and bought a lot of merch.

I actually think their last record WAS the only one that was good front-to-back.

eh it totally lost me after careful as you go. oh my is brutal lyrically by any standard nevermind the normally excellent drones guy.

I may be totally biased here, but i really think it's pretty consistent throughout. Certainly more downbeat in general compared to their other albums (emphasised after the couple of heavier/faster moments at the start). but still, all killer no filler.

especially Cold & Sober. wonderful.

friend of mine has become obsessed with 'shark fin blues' and listening to it i can see why

They won best live act at last weeks first Australian Rolling Stone awards :-)

nah

impossible poll would be best drones album opener

jezebel > shark fin > nail it down > cockeyed lowlife > someone on your bond

They won best live act at last weeks first Australian Rolling Stone awards :-)

i saw them play an absolutely crushing opening set for about 5 people a couple years ago. felt terrible and bought a bunch of merch.

man how the memory fades, it was EXACTLY five people back in July

lol file this under too much time on ilx

Yeah the 1977 Drones from Manchester? I always wanted to hear them when I was fixated with '77 punk.I even wrote them on my pencil case at school without hearing them. Since read that they were a third division Eater - yeah, that bad.

They weren't bad at all - definitely up there with such luminaries as the Lurkers anyway. They didn't have punk authenticity cos they were a pub rock band before but I couldn't give a toss about that.

Pretty excited for lead singer Gareth Liddiard's solo album 'Strange Tourist'. First track to be previewed is very sparse, melancholy folk. Check it out:

http://www.messandnoise.com/releases/2000745

The Gareth Liddiard record is amazing, if stupidly long.

Must be one of the most underrated/under-appreciated bands of the now eh? Feel like they are a secret club of people who know that they are amazing live and put out worthwhile records. Weird that a band with this high quality output and great live presence would go so unnoticed. I'm speaking only in the US. Are they quite big in the UK errr?

they're not a big deal at all

still yet to hear anything else by them as good as shark fin blues

they write about 3 or 4 amazing songs per album

didn't even know they released a new album, but I See Seaweed is pretty good

there's a new one? jesus christ, i have to track that down.

Yeah, the original Drones were way better than is being allowed for here. Not one of the greats, but above average, certainly.

Trying to listen to the Australian Drones now ("Jezebel"). Plods like only the self-important can. EVERY. WORD. IS. EQUALLY. PORTENTOUS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9K0qOAVR6U

I See Seaweed is tremendous, probably their best yet.

most overrated australian band of all time, possibly

They have now been accused of being both immensely underrated and overrated itt, lol

the Liddiard album is probably my favorite of the last decade heard by the fewest people

I just heard "I See Seaweed" this past wknd and it is blowing my personal skirts up

well, this is an unexpected direction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XibHLDrlUls

Nice, excited for the new album - Feelin Kinda Free (Mar 18).

So good! Don't sleep on this! I haven't been that excited about new releases this year, but I'm feelin this garage noir/art rock.

I like this a lot, I'm surprised this change of direction has worked so well for them

So good, people!

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/mar/18/the-drones-feelin-kinda-free-review-a-menacing-avant-garde-interrogation-of-australia
http://louderthanwar.com/the-drones-feelin-kinda-free-album/

Yeah, it's really fucking good.

Holy shnickys, this album is just the fucked up weirdness I need! It's like a painting that's been smeared or something. How's the rest of their catalog? This thread gives me the sense that it's inconsistent.

Also, does anyone else hear Richard Thompson in his delivery?

that opening track is fucking amazing

Also, does anyone else hear Richard Thompson in his delivery?

I can hear what you mean, like if RT was really resentful and hissing all the time.

Incidentally, "Taman Shud" is a very satisfying little invective. Odd that there have already been three rock songs this year with that name (see also Destroyer 666 and The Black Queen.)

the whole album is superlative

opening track reminds me of what wilco were trying to do with 'art of almost' a bit, except this is even better

also his lyrics have the fiery desperate quality of matt johnson's

How's the rest of their catalog? This thread gives me the sense that it's inconsistent.

I wouldn't say that. It's all pretty solid, it's just that the new one is definitely their best. The first five are consistent, perhaps to a fault, with Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By (2005) considered a highlight. I See Seaweed (2013) is also somewhat of a departure with a more subtle, cinematic approach. I liked it, but not blown away the same way as by the new one.

Do you have them all? How about a best-of playlist?

I did re-listen to all of them leading up to the new release, but not to the point where I can rank very many tracks. This site can be helpful though: https://www.thisismyjam.com/artist/The+Drones

they're all good. band are very much slept on. Gareth's solo record was great too.

yeah it's amazing, I'd love a vinyl copy but that sucker is never getting released outside australia I guess and fuck paying that shipping

Vinyl out on Fri, you can get it free shipping on Amazon, at least in U.S. It's still expensive though.

Bought the CD, having a lyric booklet helps.

This gets better with every listen. I checked out their earlier work, like it fine, some great moments, but this is on an altogether new level.

I feel like this record, along with Bowie's "Blackstar", points where I want to go. Not that they're directly comparable but they're both works of artists taking risks, willfully experimenting, full of unexpected sounds, juxtapositions and rhythms. I mean, just the way the drums build and suddenly stop in "Taman Shud" thrills me.

Cheers for bigging it up, F&B!

Only listened to the new briefly last night, I think I liked it, but it was in such a way I really want to listen to it again cuz I have a feeling I'm going love it.

I think I See Seaweed is one of the greatest/most underrated records ever

Private Execution is still astonishing

"Taman Shud" is fantastic; makes me think of a foul-mouthed Aussie update of Blam Blam Blam's "There Is No Depression In New Zealand". Love how he pronounces 'inchoate'.

"Feelin Kinda Free" is a timely expression of all the anger I feel at the state of the world.

Just listened to I Sea Seaweed - pretty damn good as well

yeah this band is fantastic
def tread that line of being really nick cave influenced but having their own identity

Agreed re: "I See Seaweed" - not as manic as FKF but equally as intense. I wonder where they'll go next, retreat to a more stable approach or continue on the avant-garde journey.

I See Seaweed is secretly one of the best rock records ever

I'm not sure they've ever come up with a front-to-back, total classic but ISS def comes closest

now I'm curious as to why the hell Havilah isn't on Spotify

Any word on a new album? I can't wait to hear what's next!

Gareth and Fiona have a new project called Tropical Fuck Storm, album's out in May

http://www.beat.com.au/music/meet-tropical-fuck-storm-supergroup-featuring-members-drones-high-tension-harmony

Oh Simon, you just made my night! This is more of the messed up weirdness I love about them, outstanding.

the advance singles are promising! 'soft power' especially. no idea why there are so many dislikes on the youtube videos - is it a thing they encourage?

presumably from people who got there via googling for.......other things

given the political leanings of the group, one wonders whether they've tangled once too often with the fearful power of the online alt-right

the drones have loads and loads of dislikes on quite a few of their videos too

i think it's because they insulted prominent Australian conservative columnist Andrew Bolt in one of their songs, who responded with a tirade against them on his blog

Ahhhhh.

so yeah exactly as surmised

'fearful' a malapropism I'd like to claim as deliberate

These new songs are properly great, I'm so hyped

Right? Instruments come in and out, but not in a dub-style. It's like they broke apart a song and put it back together as best they could but lost a bunch of pieces. And the unhinged vocals are icing on the cake.

There's also this: https://kompakt.fm/releases/boredom_remixes (had to double check as I first read Boredoms remixes! :)

I'd like to hype his album again

All of the advance singles are amazing. You Let My Tyres Down is one of the best songs to be released this year

Hype! Oh and I See Seaweed is incredible too

This album, not his album! It's three times as much her album as his :)

Is the 4th single out yet?

yes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fhOUfxIvgY

amusingly straight-up (if noisy) cover of "Stayin' Alive" on the flipside

Excellent, just bought it from Amazon! And that cover isn't too straight, lots of weirdness in the background. I dig it.

Cannot wait for the album, I expect it'll be one of my favorite releases of the year.

https://noisey.vice.com/en_au/article/xw7bbk/tropical-fuck-storm-album-stream-premiere-interview-gareth-liddiard-2018

here ya go fuckers

thanks, fucker, I enjoyed that

this fucking slaps!

"You Let My Tyres Down" is a fine opener but it makes you expect a Drones album and this....is not that, holy shit

very great, weird rock album. the switch to quieter music for the last 3.5 songs is extremely unsettling

the third song and "Rubber Bullies" are the standouts for me, it's wild that they've only been a unit for like 8 months

this is really really good. all of Gareth's stuff across the board is criminally underrated pretty much anywhere that isn't Australia

I Sea Seaweed is probably going to be resurrected as a modern classic tbh, at least if I and the RYM massive have anything to do with it

This is almost as good. I think the singles are largely the best tracks but the others are no slouches

I also think this is a grower album

yeah I am going to keep hyping this

very excited to stick "The Future of History" on my running playlist

This is nigh-on album of the year. Bumping it again because people keep bumping the fucking Parquet Courts thread

this is great, love(d) the drones

This is nigh-on album of the year.

Yep, I'm with you here. A great blend of weird guitars, propulsive beats, political lyrics, righteous anger, and male/female vocals. It pisses on generic indie rock from a great height.

kinda assuming there is some interpersonal stuff or musical difference in terms of this being tropical fuck storm and not the drones
in that this is great but i could def see this being a drones record, even if it's a bit more expansive in some ways

almost like a mclusky > future of the left thing

Feelin' Kinda Free def paved the way for it.

Gareth and Fiona's official line is that the other Drones members had loads of side-projects and they wanted one too...but hearing Gareth calling all his old stuff 'wank' I'm inclined to believe they wanted a new project and that this might be it for The Drones for now. Talk of a second TFS record already in the works and an incendiary live show. I think they're onto a winner here - much more scope for following their weirder (yet strangely more direct) urges. And besides, I See Seaweed was so great...they were never going to be able to put out anything to match it, really, it has the feel of an unconquerable moment. FKF was a rebellion against having to follow up ISS, and TFS is the glorious realisation of that rebellion imo

The Tropical Fuck Storm record is so great

My copy of the CD just arrived. Great cover to go along with the fuckstorm of music.

I'm assuming there's never gonna be a stateside physical release for this?

I got the CD for typical US cost via Amazon.

Fuck - the Tropical Fuck Storm record is amazing! I loved Feeling Kinda Free, but this is even noisier, hookier, and just... exciting. Also ordered via amazon.

Australians: has this made much of an impression locally?

It hasn't surpassed "Feelin Kinda Free" for me yet but it feels like a natural extension.

I played it for a mate who dug it, he subsequently played it for some of his 20-something workmates and they dug it, too. People just need to hear it!

I would fucking kill for them to tour Canada.

Australians: has this made much of an impression locally?

i would say good solid interest and support but not quite the firestorm of enthusiasm the music deserves? which i guess is the case for the drones also

i went to one of the pre-LP TFS shows and it was really great but i hadn't at that point got a good sense of this as a project distinct from the drones - definitely an extension of the Feelin Kinda Free sound (as mentioned above) and quite a few Drones songs in the set

real keen to go again now the project has hit its straps

totally love the way Gareth and pals have managed to elude worthiness and pursue something more bent

related: the new Harmony album is out today - TFS' Erica Dunn is a member, and they sound a bit like a much more depressed Drones/TFS. The new album is very good on first contact.

This is excellent. I should reaaly check out The Drones too

you haven't? omg

start with the newest one and work backwards maybe. actually fuck it start with 'i see seaweed' it's one of the best albums of the last 20 years

agreed

excellent new TFS tune on this split single with Liars:

https://famousclass.bandcamp.com/album/lamc-18

They're currently opening for Modest Mouse on some US dates.

Thanks for the tip! More TFS is always welcome. Definitely doing everything I want from music these days.

in advance of the year-end poll and campaigning I've been trying to think of how to explain to non-initiates the singular appeal of the Tropical Fuck Storm record, so forgive me as I blather on for a moment.

there's been a lot of discussion re: the 1975 and their attempt to represent "the present moment" and whether that's even desirable. to my mind, while the zeitgeisty lyrical moments on "a brief inquiry" are sometimes amusing, sometimes cringey, the actual sonics feel extremely au courant but not actually in touch with the zeitgeist in terms of the constant unease, the nerviness, the elusiveness of any feasible next move, that I think or assume most of us feel. imo a laughing death in meatspace not only captures that feeling, in runs off in several dozen different directions with it and find a set of colors and variations and headspaces way out of most bands' reach. some of the reasons they're able to do that are a product of Gareth Liddiard's evolution as a lyricist, vocalist and guitarist, and others are specific to this band configuration. Gareth has a motormouthed intensity in order to cram his syllable-dense lines in, occasionally reaching for rap-like cadences. his vocals now have about a 75%/25% bilious/tender split. his lyrics are more coherent and less fragmented than ever, but dense with Aussie-specific slang (esp in "you let my tyres down") and he's not afraid to get incredibly goofy in dogged pursuit of a conceit (the hilariously technophobic "future of history"). he's sneering but not superior, angry but not without good reason, rant-oriented but never long-winded. (the only mark against the album is there's no lyric in here as cathartic as the last Drones album's "why you think the whole world's gotta be like you? / fuck Western supremacy!") his guitar playing has come so far since the early Drones record; he seems to have grown bored with chords entirely, and now mostly plays in weird diagonal patterns and screeches and scrapes that intersect beautifully and weirdly with the sci-fi synths.

but it's the vocal interplay supplied by Erica Dunn (who has been a major part of two other albums this year, one with Mod Con, produced by Liddiard, and the other one with the excellent and Google-proof Harmony, which has the unfortunate distinction of being called Double Negative in 2018.) and Fiona of the Drones. They act as a sometimes mocking, sometimes sympathetic, sometimes furious counterpoint to Gareth, occasionally taking over for a verse at a time. (Erica takes the lead on their fearless, skronky non-album cover of "Stayin' Alive", which you can find on Spotify and I am too lazy to link right now). their cascading vocal lines combine with Gareth's serpentine guitars, the eerie synth washes, and Lauren's sometimes-live, sometimes-programmed (and not always easily distinguishable) drums make for a rock record that actually swings with something approaching...funk?

and like a lot of the rock records I really like, it gradually loses its mind. starting with its most rock-leaning material and gradually getting weirder and weirder, until you reach the convincing ambient soundscaping of "shellfish toxin" and the doom ballad title track, and you start to wonder how in hell you even got here in the first place. but it's "rubber bullies" that I think gets across in six tidy minutes what these guys are so good at. it's one of my most-played songs in years. working with a steady, slinky rhythm, Gareth details in typically dense verses just how the odds are stacked against the righteous, in terms that should be familiar to anyone who's ever been involved in a likely-to-lose campaign, while incorporating what might be the first example in rock history of a letter-ordered list seamlessly integrated into a verse:

discreet wet dreams and nightmares
seclusion, side by side
the world’s way too connected
and all anybody does is fight
staging their crypto inquisitions
all in multiple choice, like:
Anything that screws you’s
surely sured up by its bulk and...
A: better organized?
B: better mobilized?
C: getting monetized?
D: can’t be criticized?

after about five minutes there's finally the release of a proper dramatic build, complete with a key change (I think?), the first real release in over a quarter of the album. it ends the album hauntingly on an anecdote where even a holiday turns tragic and frightening, with an acquaintance winding up iced by one of Rio's Pacifying Police Units:

just take me on a holiday
and put me on an aeroplane
where we going now?
to that terrace over Rio
with a bougainvillaea vines
where the heat finally nailed me
so we stayed the extra night
and the guard up in the watchtower
charged with keeping out the fighting
joked the difference between sexes
all boils down to their handwriting
when we checked out the next morning
we were on a first name basis
but then he had the kind of features
where you can’t recall his face
but it wouldn’t have been that much later he saw God’s
‘cause he died staring up the nostrils
of a UPP shotgun

tl:dr, this is a fucking kickass rock band that relies on very few typical kickass rock band tropes in favor of an approach that's both more cerebral and less studied, somehow

excellent stuff simon!

yeah both posts otm
my favourite rock album of the year by far. very excited to go see them next year when they'll be coming to europe

Didn't know about the new band, sounds real good, will give it a go to consider for my year end

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_9fLIiSaRQ

tl:dr, this is a fucking kickass rock band that relies on very few typical kickass rock band tropes in favor of an approach that's both more cerebral and less studied, somehow

― resident hack (Simon H.), Tuesday, 18 December 2018 04:49 (nine hours ago) Permalink

This.

Also using the Carducci Metric, you can tell TFS is a great band cuz no one is talking about them

Gareth lyrically doesn't always stick the landing, for me anyway, but when he does, it completely fucking flattens me

"I See Seaweed" by the Drones is probably the best rock record of the last ten yrs

I possibly agree

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdrip6k3g74

whoa that stayin' alive cover rules

it's kinda wild that the drones' debut came out 16 years ago and gareth is only getting better and better. great post simon

hoping for more Erica lead vox on the next album

and yeah the early Drones albums just seem so...basic now, outside of a few undeniable jams

his guitar playing has come so far since the early Drones record; he seems to have grown bored with chords entirely, and now mostly plays in weird diagonal patterns and screeches and scrapes that intersect beautifully and weirdly with the sci-fi synths.

Simon, you put into words what I've been trying to describe since I first heard "Feelin Kinda Free". 'Diagonal guitar patterns' indeed, Gareth's innovative approach makes most other bands sound boring to me. I'm desperate to find more in this vein!

great posts simon

just a fantastic band, this feels like this year's Thin Black Duke by Oxbow, a record that just kinda fell threw the cracks in favor of a bunch of buzz bands that offer far, far less

ISS is one of those albums where no track is even approaching weak, and it's also one of those albums where the first half is amazing and the second half is even better. I probably said this already

Oxbow comparison on-point

yeah despite FKF getting us closer to the TFS sound, ISS is stronger overall, def their rockist apex after which point they had to start getting weird or implode

ISS expanded their sound a decent amount with a lot more keyboards and piano than before, helping pave the way for them really breaking loose with FKF

apropos of nothing: "To Think I Once Loved You" is the best fake Radiohead song ever written

also if a mod could add "Tropical Fuck Storm" to the thread title that would be dope

it's a bit like the relationship between mcclusky & future of the left, similar aesthetic at the core but different versions of it

Never listened to the Drones - I guess they just flew completely under my radar all these years. But I found that TFS record through the Quietus’s EOY list and was totally taken off guard. Not the record I thought I was looking for this year.

as much as this is a vocal/lyric band, "Shellfish Toxin" is a really amazing instrumental, almost reminds me of a post punk Robert Wyatt or something

this feels like this year's Thin Black Duke by Oxbow, a record that just kinda fell threw the cracks in favor of a bunch of buzz bands that offer far, far less

They've always passed me by, especially at the ATP when I took a tactical nap during their set to avoid going back to the chalet, but the Oxbow comparison intrigues me because I fkn love Oxbow.

Oh I should say they don't sound anything like Oxbow, I just meant in the sense they seem to be chasing down their own thing, ignoring and ignored by the general zeitgeist

hoping for more Erica lead vox on the next album

You could just listen to her Mod Con album, mentioned upthread:
https://poisoncityrecords.bandcamp.com/album/modern-convenience

Feelin Kinda Free was my #7 album for 2016.

yeah I linked that as well. it's pretty good but not as distinctive as TFS

i listened to and enjoyed the TFS album when it came out but this thread lead me to go back to it, so thanks all. it reminds me of the grinderman albums.

I like FKF a lot but the second side is significantly iffier than the first.

good closer

Yeah I hadn't listened to the TFS in a minute, man this is a great record

thanks for the ISS rec, i like it.

somebody posted this on a youtube video of the album audio:

The singer sounds like the dregs of a pouch of champion ruby found next to yesterday's coopers on the porch. It's wonderful.

does anybody knows what this means

refers to wine and expired cigarettes?

I have no idea but it sounds like a Gareth lyric so it fits

speaking of which, everyone also needs to hear Gareth's strange Tourist, his take on a solo folk record. endless songs full of bleak character studies. great winter album

Coopers is beer, Champion ruby is roll your own tobacco

ah, thanks

as much as this is a vocal/lyric band, "Shellfish Toxin" is a really amazing instrumental, almost reminds me of a post punk Robert Wyatt or something

I still am not 100% on Gareth's vocals (never listened to the Drones) but def the second half of "Soft Power" => "Shellfish Toxin" is where I went from thinking this was 'ok + knockout opening track' to being fully on board with the vibe of this album, just nailing down the Dystopian Now like a coffin lid

The "slime green" LP I picked up is gloriously garish in all respects. Was surprised to find that the artwork was done by a Montreal artist who passed a few years back.

http://www.patrickmikhailgallery.com/exhibitions/joe-becker-

Euro tour for TFS confirmed, whoop.

New TFS LP coming out later this year. Here's a video appetizer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2xOxmHTYMg

Just coming to post that. Really pleased that TFS wasn't a one-off. Best band going for my money.

sweet

it's amazing how much they're able to do on top of the constant bassline

Songs that fool you about where the downbeat is.

I quite like that ephemeral guitar solo as well.

It's a bit like jazz in that respect, where the rhythm section maintains sanity and everything else goes nuts.

the unabashedly atonal guitar work is a considerable part of the fun, yes

kind of a sleaford mods vibe to this one

It’s limited to 500 copies on orange vinyl and the b-side is a cover of Missy Elliott’s “Can’t Stop.”

on one hand, them covering a Rich Harrison production does kinda make sense and it's a deep cut, but....kinda trepidatious about this one lol

this is fantastic, excited there's a new album on the way already. love when the intensity really ramps up from the guitar solo onwards

I like this super zoned out session from October

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvihhF-U35Y

Hobart 22 March 2019
https://i.imgur.com/CoARMax.jpg?1

ahhh I bet their "Baby²" ruled

Yeah it went off, it was a very sweaty room afterward. Finished up, downed tools, no encore. Not in a shitty way, they just did what they came to do, done.
Insanely tight band, and I love Erica's lead playing, partly fluid and mad, partly munted and primitive. I got Afrobeat feels from some of the songs. "Rubber Bullies" was like a raw nerve, total command of dynamics and batshit crescendoes.

as much as this is a vocal/lyric band, "Shellfish Toxin" is a really amazing instrumental, almost reminds me of a post punk Robert Wyatt or something

― No Smockin' (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, December 18, 2018 11:42 AM (four months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Haha this just came up on my shuffle and for a minute so I thought it was Roedelius or something

lmao

https://youtu.be/lwlQr2NlEY0

also, tour dates:

08/28/2019 – Los Angeles, CA / Bootleg Theater
08/29/2019 – San Francisco, CA / Bottom Of The Hill
08/30/2019 – Arcata, CA / Richards’ Goat Tavern & Tea Room
08/31/2019 – Portland, OR / Mississippi Studios
09/01/2019 – Vancouver, BC / Static Jupiter
09/03/2019 – Seattle, WA / Barboza
09/06/2019 – Washington, DC / Comet Ping Pong
09/07/2019 – Raleigh, NC / Hopscotch Music Festival
09/08/2019 – Atlanta, GA / The Earl
09/10/2019 – Austin, TX / Hotel Vegas
09/11/2019 – Dallas, TX / Three Links
09/13/2019 – St. Louis, MO / Blueberry Hill Duck Room
09/14/2019 – Chicago, IL / The Empty Bottle
09/15/2019 – Cleveland, OH / Now That’s Class
09/17/2019 – Toronto, ON / The Baby G
09/18/2019 – Montréal, QC / Bar Le ‘Ritz’ P.D.B.
09/19/2019 – Allston, MA / Great Scott
09/20/2019 – Brooklyn, NY / Elsewhere

New single is out, the A-side is as good as anything they've done and the flip is a fun odd cover.

I am totally there at the Boston gig in Sep, quite excited!

for added fun, pull up the original lyrics to "Can't Stop" while listening to see what they (wisely) changed

really want to travel to chicago to see the show

wish i could see them live

oh wait, i am, on wednesday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21bEUXmM2OM

another great single and new album Braindrops is out August 23

tracklist:
Paradise
The Planet of Straw Men
Who's My Eugene?
The Happiest Guy Around
Maria 62
Braindrops
Aspirin
Desert Sands of Venus
Maria 63

the appropriately nightmarish cover art is on apple music

I like "Paradise" but it feels like a step back into Dronesland, hoping they push the synths + drum machines further along as well (as indicated by "Happiest Guy Around")

despite the incredible recent live show my expectations for this record aren't so high based on the three songs i've now heard, but hopefully there will be some bangers

i don't see any reason to be worried, "Patience" is more trad-Drones for sure but it still feels like a step above a lot of Drones songs in that vein in the way it builds and dissolves into noise, it's more like a longer "You Let My Tyres Down" really. "The Planet of Straw Men" was excellent too

it would be cool if there was a track where Gareth wasn't on lead vox this time around

(nothing against Gareth, it's just they could use their own "Work For Me" style showstopper)

anything more in the vein of the stayin' alive cover would be extremely welcome and is what i want from them more than anything else

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88do5cmxHsI

Simon gets his wish but this one kinda drags until the bridge which manages to redeem it

slinky!

this is def more the direction I wanna hear them go. Now very curious about the back half of the new record, the first four tracks are just as all over the place as the first record was.

Goddamn I am in love with that guitar and bass sound!

album is out there a lil early

Title track an obvious highlight, a funkier sequel to "Rubber Bullies"

"Paradise" remains a baffling, plodding opener/single and the album would be better off with it lopped off

There's potential in the slower numbers but the songwriting is no longer on point throughout. I like 'Paradise', though.

yeah feels like it could have used a little more time in the oven (what was the rush?). "Maria 63" is gorgeous, tho

Yeah, 'Maria 63' is the album highlight for me.

yeah but it still goes on a tiny bit too long

album is *nowhere near* as good as the last one, they should have really taken longer

Paradise is by far my favourite track off the new one.

"Who's My Eugene" has really grown on me, I think it's one of their best songs tbh

Only listened to the new album once but generally agree that the two previously released tracks are the strongest, the title track is fantastic and the opener is a bit plodding. But will need further spins to dig deeper.

I'm really too fond of knee-jerk rearranging of album tracklists but this I'm perfectly happy with this: Braindrops / Planet / Eugene / Maria 62 / Happiest Guy Around / Aspirin / Maria 63

That plays to me like a satisfying quickie followup freeing them up to take a stretch their legs a bit on the next one. (Still v stoked to catch them live this fall)

i still don't get all the complaints about "paradise", it's one of the highlights for me. it's a great melody and i wouldn't mind if they did a whole album of drones-but-noisier tracks like it, they really push things to a level the drones rarely reached.

the new version of "the happiest guy around" (https://famousclass.bandcamp.com/track/the-happiest-guy-around is the old version) is much stronger and noisier and "who's my eugene" has grown on me a lot.

overall i agree it's a slight step down from the debut but i still like it a lot. the only weak spot for me is "aspirin"/"desert sands of venus"

the new version of "the happiest guy around" (https://famousclass.bandcamp.com/track/the-happiest-guy-around is the old version) is much stronger and noisier

I just did an A/B comparison and I don't think they're different takes, but the LP version is mixed slightly louder. Either way, it's a good'un.

yeah it is the same take i think but that guitar or synth line is mixed louder & has more distortion i think? that really makes a big difference for me

this is growing a little on me this time around

paradise was always good imo

Seems like maybe the new songs have fewer hooks, and are more in dramatic storytelling mode.

These guys will be playing here in a few weeks, probably going to go.

Y'all had me a little concerned but I like the relatively amorphous, splodgy bits in the middle section ("Maria 62", "Desert Sands...", "Aspirin") just fine. And you can add me to the "how is "Paradise' not a highlight?" column too.

Paradise is probably their hugest, noisiest track overall. It hits really hard.

Argh they’re playing in LA next week but I can’t make it. They’re on a very short list of bands I’d actually make time to see live.

Definitely catching them here next month. They're playing my favorite, teensiest local venue, too.

I've now listened to this all of one time. Anyone who is disappointed in this is massively wrong. It's great.

Hard to say yet if it has highs as high as Tyres, Soft Power, or Rubber Bullies. But it's solid all the way through and I think if this was the first thing you'd ever heard by them you'd be properly impressed.

I like how the backing vocals have become more harmonized

Will be seein dem in NY

I feel like I might need more distance and listens to make up for the fact that almost the entire first half was released in advance. I do agree that the vocal harmonies are more impressive on this one, just don't think that extends to the songwriting as a whole.

Got my ticket to the Austin show.

I guess I'm glad I didn't hear any of it before today. It sounded pretty damn good. The first one may well be better, but not by a lot.

I feel like I might need more distance and listens to make up for the fact that almost the entire first half was released in advance. I do agree that the vocal harmonies are more impressive on this one, just don't think that extends to the songwriting as a whole.

― Simon H., Saturday, August 24, 2019 bookmarkflaglink

I get that. The only advance track I really spent time with was Planet of Straw Men, which does stand out from the rest of the album for now. But I’ve been playing this incessantly since yesterday slams a lot of the other songs are getting better and better with more familiarity.

I love that "Who's My Eugene?" is (at least allegorically) a love song about the Brian Wilson-Eugene Landy relationship.

Listening to both albums a lot in the last few days. My very favorite songs—Tyres, Antimatter Animals, Soft Power, and Rubber Bullies—are on the first record. But I realize that I spend the other tracks biding time until these big monster tracks hit. Whereas on the new album I think the whole thing flows much better from beginning to end. I’m
Never bored or distracted on the new album.

The Happiest Guy Around is a jam. Almost like some kind of skronk disco.

Also, I like seeing the goofy junk robot from The Black Hole popping up on the cover

ILM having very little discussion about songs like "Paradise" ITT while that balloon song is raised to instant meme status is one of the all time low points of my experience on these boards.

I don't have a ton to say other than this album is really good all the way through.

i agree that the album is great that that i i don't have anything to actually add beyond that. i never have anything more to say other than "i like this" so i ain't really mad

haven’t seen the Drones since abt 2006, if ppl say TFS should be seen this tour I will go on Tuesday

I like seeing the goofy junk robot from The Black Hole popping up on the cover

Ha! I was struggling to remember why that was familiar. Nice.

"Paradise" is huge and dope

Feels like TFS is finally "breaking" on this tour - lots of energy, people know the songs. Been a fan of The Drones since '06 or whenever, lovely to see them getting their due. The live chemistry is truly great. "Rubber Bullies" is just an unbelievably great song.

haven’t seen the Drones since abt 2006, if ppl say TFS should be seen this tour I will go on Tuesday

as i've probably said already, tfs are one of the best live bands i've ever seen

Saw them at a small club last night, they absolutely blew the doors off. Huge energy throughout. One live element that doesn't come across on the albums is just how fucking hard the drummer pounds the drums, just completely non-stop. I have no idea how someone maintains that much energy.

One slight disappointment was that they only played 3 songs from the new one.

Me and cbesinger are en route to Chicago to see TFS at the Empty Bottle tonight so stoked

godspeed

They were incredibly great live, way more fucked-up & noisy. The drummer is a total monster who played with literally the largest drumsticks I have ever seen.

They were good in TO tonight but I think maybe a bit too ambitious for the venue. Gareth's noise wound up steamrolling the sound a bit, much as I admired the sheer percussive fury throughout, akin to a nu-metal band doing a Fall covers set. Also wish the audience knew "Baby" and could have freaked out appropriately.

Was also hoping for CD editions of the Drones/Liddiard records, but alas

oh and the Braindrops LP is just as wonderfully garish, from a design standpoint, as the first one

the Chicago gig was one of the best I've seen for awhile....ditto on the drummer the records don't convey how huge she sounds. best band

Seconded on the Empty Bottle show. Friend said they started off slow, but I love how messy they made that "Lose the Baby" cover and I thought it was the best set of a very busy Chicago weekend that included Fontaines D.C., fwiw. They know what they're doing and it was worth my money, anyway.

They killed it in Boston at a sold-out show. Before the gig, Gareth was sitting at his laptop when some fans came up and chatted with him, asked for a photo, and he gladly obliged. Truly a hard-working, all-for-one spirit permeated the band. They looked like they were having a great time with each other and with the crowd. I made the mistake of slapping Gareth on the back after the encore, he was soaking wet!

I converted a mate of mine and he brought one of his co-workers who also has flipped for the band. They sound like the inside of my head when I read the headlines every day.

Tour postponed, obviously.

But...new single!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ_Vs9k-cmg

As I've said: we've heard this exact songwriting style from them more than once already, but the sound is particularly incredible and I hope they further venture into this universe

If anyone's looking to give a little support to these worthy people, they've released a 4-volume live retrospective in time for the Bandcamp artists' day: https://thedrones.bandcamp.com

and now a fifth, a 2016 show from The Tote in Melbourne (these are like $10 each in America land) http://thedrones.bandcamp.com/album/live-vol-5-the-tote-melbourne-29-05-16

Volume 1 is pay-what-you-want, as a taster

Another new single. It's their best thing in a minute.

https://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/products/legal-ghost?

yeah baby! this is good :)

interesting:
‘Legal Ghost’ originally appeared on Gareth and original Drones member Rui Pereira’s pre-Drones experimental home four-track recordings LP Bong Odyssey, recorded in the 90’s when Gareth and Rui were pot-smoking teenage morons.

I FUCKING LOVE THIS BAND SO MUCH

this one's good

Gonna need the outlet of their music this fall, hope there's more to come soon!

the last LP felt a bit rushed to me, I'm happy for them to take their time with this one

Kind of wish they'd ditch most of the processing and effects and go for something more raw and organic, but I doubt that's happening

Not quite the thread for it but this year I've been getting my 'punk blues' (whatever that means) kicks from Wailin Storms's Rattle, which partially fulfills your wish.

moodles it sounds like you may want a Drones record

they can take their time and leave the two preview tracks off it afaic

i mean neither are bad but neither hold a candle to like all of ALDIM

braindrops is def worth a revisit at some point tho

I wouldn't say no to a new, pandemic-grown Liddiard solo folk record

moodles it sounds like you may want a Drones record

I might!

But TFS, as a band, rips just as hard, it just sometimes gets lost in translation.

drones don't need to reform, they literally perfected what they were capable of, 'i see seaweed' is absolutely everything they could have been

I agree that was their pinnacle

i mean it's the pinnacle of rock music p much

I'm happy for them to take their time with this one

They... they're in Melbourne

as time goes I think Braindrops is really great and closer to A Laughing Death...

I do kinda feel Moodles a bit, I like the production but seeing them live they were so overwhelming and heavy

I wouldn't find if they camped out in Electrical Audio for a week and knocked it out w/Albini

if they camped out in Electrical Audio for a week

.............they're in Melbourne

albini plus tfs is too much to hope for from music

nah I reckon they're going to fly to Chicago this weekend and have a surprise release out next month, with a tour to back it

would be cool if they made it to london for a show this autumn

did you read that link

dude I'm just having fun

zomg imago revealed as ums sock

fair play m8

braindrops is def worth a revisit at some point tho

Braindrops is one of my favourite albums from last year. Just sounds as if they got super-obsessed with, like, The Slits and Sister

New song is good but doesn't knock me out.

Still love Braindrops. First album had more transcendently epic moments (Tyres, Soft Power, Rubber Bullies) but also dips here and there. Braindrops had a more sustained level of excellence even if its peaks were not as high.

(There has to be an ILM thread for that concept - the "higher highs/lower lows vs consistently great" album debate.)

ah Mike, how very sad. I love this one for the way the band pushes and pulls, Drones were so great with him behind the kit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVcTHq_C7j8

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/9440627/mike-noga-the-drones-obit

I guess he was on every album but the last? Loads of heroic drumming. I'll check out his solo records for sure. RIP.

He joined in 2004 so he wasn’t on the first one (Here Come the Lies) either. But on all my favourites.

I revisit this performance vid at least once a year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbkDDSM2Gz4

oh man i wish i could go to this, gareth solo show with jim white on drums!!!!

https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/tropical-fuck-storms-gareth-liddiard-announces-solo-shows-2886316

just bought tickets for one of the sydney shows - they’re being joined in melb by chris abrahams!! - Jim is calling it a new band and gareth is saying they’re gonna record an album in may - so excited by this

also pretty psyched for upcoming ed kuepper / jim white shows - some pretty cool gigs happening in semi-post-covid year 2021, feels good to be looking forward to cool stuff

yeah i saw that announcement on the band's instagram, exciting! have fun at the show! #jealous

wooooah I didn't know it was a band, that's awesome

quoting the post here:

we haven't come up with a name decent band name yet but here ya go... Chris Abrahams of avant free jazz trio The Necks is joining Jim and myself for a couple of warm up shows at the brunswick ballroom before we all run off and make babies in the studio in May then put an album out

wow that's uh, quite a lineup

you not into it?

Understated enthousiasm I assume ;)

no I really am excited!!

me too :)

it will be interesting...TFS is very idiosyncratic and unique but it's still approaching a conventional rock band in a peculiar way

the other two i associate way more with "freer" playing though obviously that's not all they can do

I'm expecting/imagining a knottier cousin to the solo album.

Niiiice.

gareth and jim show was absolutely amazing, still awed by how good it was - gareth on acoustic but also using pedals and shredding - songs would often start folky and then surge towards crescendos of noise - the rhythmic interplay between the guitar and drums was frequently sublime - mix of solo album stuff, drones songs and a couple of covers - the thought of chris abrahams being added to this sound is fkn crazy - very very good music and i profoundly enjoyed drinking three (3) beers on a wednesday evening while listening to it

sounds great. anyone who hasn't heard the solo album is missing out

sounds Dawsonesque!

thanks emsworth! nice to hear about it

^^co-sign. Thanks for reporting back, feels good to read about and get the vibes of a real live gig

well jealous here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzTLWssNsxI

found a video of "taman shud" from one of the gareth & jim shows, certainly has me excited for the upcoming album

Ah man that's huge

that's awesome

That drum pattern is so sick

Right? The way it builds up but denys you a culmination is thrilling.

I only learned about this guy through TFS and had no idea about The Drones, also had no idea that the guy is like 46.

Anyway, that performance is great (unsurprising as Jim White rarely plays on something bad).

was talking with a friend yesterday about G.Liddiard being such an enduring force in aus. music - he's been pretty consistently outstanding for a couple of decades now

he feels at least somewhat informed by the Neil Young model of changing it up whenever things start getting familiar

(way back in the day the Drones used to cover Cortez the Killer and supported Neil Young on his 2013 tour with Crazy Horse - i think they were just booked for one show and then Neil asked for them to join the whole tour? that's what I heard anyway)

but he's also been really canny about building a sustainable life in music, in a way that gives him maximum freedom to keep doing interesting shit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21bEUXmM2OM

This is such a good song. I find it weird that I didn't know anything about this guy until maybe the last year or so, and then didn't realize he had been a force in music for so long until even more recently.

the line "But I ain't some kinda bird shit mayor/Bolted to the town square" keeps running through my head

https://spring-time.bandcamp.com/
They put a live song on bandcamp

oh wow that's a great performance

checked the TFS facebook page and gareth's also confirmed a new TFS album is on the way soon too!

yay!

Gareth, AND Chris Abrahams?
WTF?? Who had THAT pairing on their bingo card?
AND Jim White???
A complete album from this trio????
Holy crap.... my brain can't process this beautiful bit of news right now.

Someone please make me a Drones/TFS/Liddiard program, I feel sort of lost in all the material.

honestly just start w I See Seaweed and then bounce around. I find the early Drones records fun but sometimes more skronk than song, personally I don't really start loving them front to back till Gala Mill

other than that there's only two TFS albums (first is superior) and one 70 minute Liddiard solo folk record (which rules)

My first encounter with any of this material was the first TFS album and that remains my favorite thing of the whole lot. Love the second TFS album and agree the mid-late Drones albums are probably the better ones though it’s all good.

By coincidence I was listening to Gala Mill yesterday and the line “I tell you nothing’s really changed but I am not the same” jumped out and knifed me when I wasn’t expecting. Garett knows how to deliver his lines.

I think the second TFS is pretty much tied with the first for me now

yeah I See Seaweed is as good of a starting point as any, then go forward to Feelin Kinda Free & the TFS albums if you want to hear his work get noisier & post-punkier or go backwards to the previous Drones albums if you want to hear unadorned punk blues epics etc.

& Liddiard's solo album is just its own thing

i'm not personally huge on the pre-ISS stuff, it's not bad or anything but not really my thing enough to enjoy a whole album of

re early albums - second Drones album (that’s Wait Long… right?) was the one that really kicked off in Aus - well at least amongst a certain listenership, not household name shit - my Melb friends were already talking them up as a live proposition but Shark Fin Blues was pretty much an instant classic and would strongly rep for Baby2, Sitting on the Edge of the Bed Cryin, Locust, This Time - it’s a good LP, although perhaps not the place to start?

yeah Wait Long By The River has always seemed like the most acclaimed one here, not my personal favourite by any means but there's still good stuff on it

I'll go left field and recommend Havilah as a good place to start. The songs are amazing.

https://www.abc.net.au/doublej/programs/mornings/double-j-mornings-tropical-f-storm-premiere/13393600

new TFS "G.A.F.F." here at 33:20

video coming soon here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akqQCtM2QLc

album Deep States out 20 August

oh album has leaked already before it even got a proper announcement lol

and it's in terrible quality so i'm not gonna bother listening yet

but here's the tracklist

The Greatest Story Ever Told
G.A.F.F.
Blue Beam Baby
Suburbiopia
Bumma Sanger
The Donkey
Reporting Of A Failed Campaign
New Romeo Agent
Legal Ghost
The Confinement Of The Quarks

I like "G.A.F.F." a lot but I'm definitely noticing more clunkers in Gareth's lyrics than usual

it's fine but doesn't have me excited like TFS at their best do

i feel much more excited about the Springtime album than this one but i'm sure it will be decent at the very least

Bandcamp alerted to this yesterday but that video (or probably just that this is my second listen!) has made "G.A.F.F." more endearing.

It's getting weird how much more receptive I am to TFS than the Drones. (Or at least early Drones. I have a couple of pre-ISS Drones CDs here somewhere, but mainly just remember wishing they sounded like "Jezebel" 100% of the time. More my problem than theirs, no doubt.)

I haven't been paying super close attention (probably spent more time watching them live than I have listening to their recordings) - but really enjoyed G.A.F.F - perfect proportions of funky/rockin/gonzo - awesome BVs (I feel great deployment of BVs is a significant ingredient in Liddiard secret sauce) - when I was listening I thought 'nothing else really sounds like this' and that always feels good

I guess 'laser-accurate scattershot imagery Gareth rap about the fucked up fucken world' is kind of a staple song form now - is Tamam Shud the apotheosis of this one? - but it's still effective as hell and I dug it here albeit I didn't really parse the lyrics closely

ha yep and just watched the video and it definitely sells it great - speaking of cool BVs (I guess really it's a pre-chorus or something) that moment when you first Fiona and Erica in the hotel is so great

yeah i'm really enthusiastic about g.a.f.f.

he's straight spittin, love the cadences and density of the lyrics, good funky groove

Listening to the new song, think I have T.F.S.F. unfortunately

am I bad because I don't like the Spring-Time performance of Penumbra?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=137OE5aquRg

not feeling this one

the ilx backlash begins

I wasn't crazy about GAFF but I like this one.

I really did not like GAFF. Will check this out.

(after 30 seconds) hm, kinda sounds like Pram!

into it as a more gonzo, knuckle-draggin version of that retro-exotica vibe - might have to give it a few more listens to see if it opens up as a song - but if the last one felt in danger of being a tiiiiny bit stock, this tidily avoids sounding at all familiar and i like that

can imagine it working in context on an album better than as a single

Yeah, not feeling this either. Ah well

The album will presumably still have some good stuff on it

The tune itself is quite nice, but it needs to go places, preferably after the first minute or so.

the vocals aren't mixed well & it's fairly aimless as a tune

Who the fuck mixed this record? I don't know if I'm going to be able to make it all the way through, it kind of hurts to listen to.

the leak that's been out there for the last two months is terrible quality so if that's what you're listening to i'm sure that didn't help

but i wasn't huge on the mix for the released "new romeo agent" so it wouldn't surprise me if the mix is still an issue in proper quality

No, I'm listening to the wavs of the offical release, they sound horrible.

I don't know if my ears went numb after a while or what, but it wasn't as physically difficult to listen to after the first few songs, at least.

this one is largely not for me as the singles suggested

"the greatest story ever told" is good at least though

Currently listening as well. Haven't really made my mind up

there's other good tracks too but overall it veers too much into their more tuneless side i think

Yeah that's my impression too. The Donkey for example: an impressive build but also the songwriting doesn't quite hit hard enough, nor is it anything The Drones haven't done better several times over

GAFF and Suburbiopia grew on me though

the worse tracks on this remind me a lot of the voidz, except without casablancas' distinct hooks to pierce through the mud

Oh I like the little instrumental closer!

I mean it's fine, good in parts, but I have now put on Private Execution coz I'm feelin' kinda unfair

jesus this sounds horrible, will have to work pretty hard to get into the music

Wish I hadn’t read this thread prior to hearing the record. I can’t tell if I have T.F.S.F. or if the assessment here poisoned my first impression. Definitely felt like the first track was missing sufficient bass to give it any kind of punch. And three records in I now know what a “by the numbers” song sounds like from this band.

Still room for it to be a grower. “G.A.F.F.” for instance didn’t to much for me as an advance single nor on my first listen to the whole album, but now it’s growing on me. Not sure if that’s due to quality or familiarity.

Yeah me too (wish I hadn't read this thread)

i didn't end up being as bothered by the mix as i was expecting

Yeah the mastering - if not the mix - on this is really off. So middy it's ugly.
Musically I like the album as much as the last couple really. I think there's plenty of great songs on it.
But pretty unpleasant to listen to, unfortunately.

I'm afraid each successive album has marked a further step along the decline. Hopefully their next will give the lie to that tendency.

The songs are good on the new one, I've only had a couple of listens but I'm not hearing anything as catchy as previous LPs.

Has the band commented on the mix or sound of the album? I wouldn't be surprised if they made it this way on purpose.

Following up my comment above to say that I do really like "Legal Ghost" a lot.

I've listened to it a couple more times since my initial post complaining about the mix, and I do think most of the songs are OK, but I do have to listen to it at a lower volume than usual.

Fortunately, I just discovered them earlier this year so am still actively obsessed with the first album. :)

I'm afraid each successive album has marked a further step along the decline. Hopefully their next will give the lie to that tendency.

― pomenitul, Sunday, August 22, 2021 9:59 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Over time I the second album has become my favorite

I may have said this upthread but I view the first two albums both nearly equally. It's one of those cases where one album has higher highs but the other album is more consistently great from beginning to end. With some distance I guess I favor those high highs of the first album, but I love both.

i think "you let me tyres down" is just one of those special songs, magic that cannot be duplicated so that kicks it off and looms large over the first album

haha you let ME tyres down fucking get me lucky charms m8

that song is so immense - especially live

https://spring-time.bandcamp.com/
Album drops Nov 5, opener "Will To Power" sounds awesome

Oh wow covering "West Palm Beach"

"will to power" is really great
kinda nice to hear him over drums that are crushed

aren't even

oh this is great, hope the rest of the album is this good

feel like it bears repeating that Will To Power is absolutely incredible

I'm late to Deep States but so far I like how deranged and offkey this is, it keeps me on my toes in a way that reminds me of Captain Beefheart. It's not really an evolution of their sound, just more shrill and gaudy, but it's surprisingly listenable given how much paint they throw at the painting. Trashy symphonies.

oh this is great, hope the rest of the album is this good

― ufo, Thursday, 23 September 2021 9:41 AM (two weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

The rest of the album is really good!

Yeah this is completely brilliant

Absolutely wild as well

album's great

but i'm really not at all fond of how "the viaduct love suicide" is described in the press release. "The latter piece is a true story of a woman in the UK who had a disabled child. She jumped off a bridge with her son in her arms. The press were saying she was fucked for doing such a thing, so Ian wrote the poem showing she was not." this framing really really sucks lol, yes it's tragic but being like "it's understandable to murder-suicide your disabled child" is actually really fucked.

Erica's band Mod Con has an album out (Modern Convenience), really digging it. much more garage punk, good songs.

oopos Modern Condition

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-16/gareth-liddiard-talks-cancel-culture-ahead-of-springtime-tour/100831130

what the fuck are you talking about gareth

If (comedian) Ricky Gervais self-censored so that whatever he said fit into today's puritanical conservatism, it wouldn't be funny or insightful

finally, an explanation for why Ricky Gervais hasn't done anything funny or insightful since November 2002i

maybe it is impossible to operate in this freaked-out mode for more than a few years aged >40 without ending up like this

heh yeah, feel like he's been tapdancing towards this for a minute

i actually listened to deep states this weekend and it kinda clicked w/me esp after my friend said the opening track sounded like 3 records being played at once

Deep States >>> Springtime in my humble opinion

https://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/products/night-raver-ep

huh! 41-minute springtime EP out next month, featuring one new 15 min track & versions of "penumbra" (by the drones, might be the same live version they put out last year?) and "the radicalisation of d" (from gareth's solo album)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iA8hlQBGhY

here's the new track, "the night of the plague"

i mean next week, but it is next month too

seeing Springtime tomorrow, pretty keen

the Springtime Night Raver EP that UFO mentions above is fantastic, 2 long epics from Gareth, The Names Of The Plague (15:10) and The Radicalisation Of D (18:38). lyrics for the former from Ian Duhig's poem of the same name.

Still more stuff.

Tropical Fuck Storm + King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Satanic Slumber Party

Did not care for the new single. Starting to wonder if this was just an affair and maybe it’s over between us.

"satanic slumber party 2" is the best tfs song in a while idk

I like the video a lot too

Listening to “Feelin’ Kinda Free” for the first time in a loooooong time and realizing that it feels a lot more like a TFS debut rather than a Drones conclusion. It is such a n exhilarating leap past the (excellent but) dirgey epics if all the other Drones albums.

I wouldn't say a leap past considering I See Seaweed remains imo the greatest album Liddiard has ever done, but yeah it's clear that album was as good as he could do in that style and a rethink was needed. And Private Execution at least is...well, it's quite something

It’s just so much more rhythmically forceful and Fiona has such a more prominent presence - the two primary elements that set the two bands apart.

Yeah, the new emphasis really suited the band, even if ALDIM is a bolder all-around expression of it (due to the other musicians introduced for it)

otm

New EP is nice. I really like the new take on “Aspirin”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sixKZP8ed_I

new single "the golden ratio", off a new compilation album submersive behaviour out next year. compiles 3 tracks from this year's moonburn ep + this new song + an 18 minute cover of hendrix's "1983 (a merman i should turn to be)"

a what minute cover of what, oh my god

Noooo goddamn it

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnAuvcnSxZB/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Fuck, that's bad

:(

what's in the link, for non-members?

fiona has stage 3 breast cancer, all non-aus touring dates cancelled

I really like the TFS cover of 1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)

i had no idea about these guys. 'shark fin blues' is nuts.

yah the best in the biz