HTRK/Hate Rock Trio

(man, my spelling is getting worse by the day wtf)

hey now:

‘Death is a Dream’ new album of rare cuts from the last couple of years out April 29th (digital on Bandcamp)
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Monday, 25 April 2022 23:52 (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

This is amazing! I fucking love it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wohWnmdwg6A

That is gorgeous thank you

Yes.

Love that "New Year's Day" bit "I've got a sinking feeling I'm gonna do the wrong thing eventually". Very beautiful.

Interesting choice to follow it up with a track called "New Year's Eve", I need to listen closely.

i don't think there's any explicit narrative connecting the songs, but yeah, what an amazing ending to an album those two songs make

new jonnine album is out:
https://jonnine.bandcamp.com/album/maritz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3IXuzBvwTc

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

Speaking of Jonnine, I stumbled on her talking about Rowland S Howard etc on this 4AD-focused podcast a couple of days ago:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2ZLRXG5ecAZlx3dRXu8atn

i adore this band and have binged their back catalog so hard over the past year. i love the more stripped-down warmth of the last few albums but i think my fave thing they've done is 'work (work, work)', that decadent gauzy narcotized quality of it is so intoxicating to me. exquisite 'walking around the seedy part of the city late at night' music. very excited for whatever they do next

yeah totally agree re work - i was vaguely aware of them prior but when that LP came out i was out-of-nowhere obsessed in a way I hadn’t been since Disintegration cane out - listened to it relentlessly for months - like, totally surprised to be crushing so hard on a band/album at a stage of my life when i thought i was past that kind of intense teenaged relationship with music

and i think i remember Jonnine talked about it as somewhat directed at teenage girls / her teenage self perhaps - but that disaffected anhedonic quality also resonated really deep for me drifting aimlessly through corporate life and trying to remember how to feel human emotions

(was also really impressed by the way they actually addressed the fact of work in their work - like, i think they explained the title as referring to the effort to earn a living - and the effort of having a creative project - and the effort of maintaining a relationship/s - and that each of these 3 was a full-time commitment yet we are expected to cram them all into the same 7-day week)

i saw the album launch at an incredibly hot and sweaty sold out show in a basement bar in sydney - i have seen them play a literal dozen times since but that show is in my top 10 ever, just that combo of seeing the band you love at the exact moment they are stepping into their power - they opened with Fascinator (omg what a song) and then played most of the album and it was hypnotic

this video is from a few days later and captures some of that vibe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkF3xO3z3Cw

anyway didn’t mean to write an essay! but enjoyed thinking about loving this album - so thank you for the prompt

really cool to hear Jonnine on the new actress album

missed that. thanks for the heads-up

htrk weather here now, thanks all for the reminder that i should be listening to them more

listened to it relentlessly for months - like, totally surprised to be crushing so hard on a band/album at a stage of my life when i thought i was past that kind of intense teenaged relationship with music

this is basically my relationship to this record, too.

that explanation of the title is interesting, lends another dimension to the proceedings. they were living in berlin at the time they were writing the album, right? based on interviews i've read with them it seemed like they were all kind of miserable there, even leaving sean's death aside.

that concert sounds amazing. i've watched bits of that church performance before, the sound quality of the recording isn't the best but the video still conveys how immense those songs are, would've loved to see their shows from this era. the part time punks radio version of "fascinator" is my favorite one and that live version sounds even more enveloping/abrasive, damn

yeah pretty much the only ‘band’ that matters now. tapped in to the beyond-the-veil

Man, where has this band been all my life, only discovering them now. Loving Rhinestones and pretty sure will end up adoring the electronic stuff

For me, Psychic 9-5 Club is the smoky heart. They’re such unassuming people but the comment about crossing beyond the veil nails it exactly.

Listening to “Give it Up” with the speakers cranked so the electronic sizzle of the drum machine background noise hangs in the air like a malevolent entity

glitchy remix of "dream symbol" by loraine james

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzT8c_FZfk8

Debating whether to go see them live. Doesn’t sound like it would be much fun

i've seen them a couple of times and would recommend going. i definitely had fun.

I’ve seen them 3 or 4 times - it’s both what you would expect, and also a lot more compelling. Jonnine’s voice is remarkably powerful given how lowkey it sounds on the records.

still haven't seen them, would love to though. playing at oto in london this month but that sold out pretty quick i think

think I'm on record somewhere above re the first time I saw them being a top 5 gig for me

having caught them multiple times since then they are always worth seeing I think, bring a great deal of vibe, one of the few bands that I would regularly check out touring their new record or whatever

the show supporting Rhinestones was really special, realised it was the first time I'd seen them in a seated venue, different feel with lots of hush and focus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wohWnmdwg6A

That clip is something. Fast Friend in particular sounds precious.