Bad Stuff : "s/t"

Former members of True Widow are some of the founding members of this project, so it obviously has to be worth a listen. It opens with a creepy 1960's western tinged pysch-pop sunater that could have come from a David Lynch movie. The guitar rings each note out with a lonely, haunting reverb that is pristine. I'm sure someone will try to throw some kind of doom tag on this because it is slow and melancholy, something like "doom noir,"  but I am not hearing the sense of loss, and the darkness is there, but in light mysterious ocean-side haze.

Things pick up into a shuffle for "Grusome."  Some electronic elements weave themselves into what they are doing for "Summer Girls," which is more synth-heavy. If Lana Del Rey made a soundtrack for a horror movie, the results might be similar. This song does not get heavy but shifts in a more sonically dense manner. If you see this album on anyone's top 10 end-of-the-year metal lists, no longer believe anything they say, as this album is not metal, nor is it trying to be. "Invisible Man" finds low male vocals stepping up to the mic. In some ways, it's similar to Morphine. Not as jazzy, and almost more of a rock dynamic comes out here. 

"Creator" lurks with more of a groove than the vocals steer, as the drums create a hypnotic drone. "Hush" carries more of a "Desert Surf" feel as it's a more atmospheric ballad. Then "Nepenthe" is more like a heavier take on surf rock. They edge towards a dusty Americana-tinged version of post-punk on "Hush2." They continue on this path for "Human Crush" that finds a maringally more bluesy mood crossing over. The buzz saw guitars do not let up with "Commitment to Death.". None of the lyrics can be made out as they are being violently spewed with little articulation.  The last song is heavier on the ambiance with the lonely guitar emoting into the night as the vocals create more of a Nick Cave feel. I will give this album a 9.5, as it creates a unique mood with familiar sounds, and they captured what they intended here in a very endearing manner. You would expect this sort of thing from a label like the Flenser, but it is coming from Relapse Records 

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True Widow : "Avvolgere"

Going into their new album the Texas trio returns with more of a rumble. They are not at the same hesitant pace of their last album. The opener carries more of a lumbering grunge laden saunter. They remind me more of Nirvana than anything slow-core or doomy on "Theurgist". When I say Nirvana here, I suppose "Been A Son" might be a fair reference point, though they have a much thicker bass sound. There is a dreamier, almost shoe-gaze like feeling to the song that follows. Dynamically it is more of a lateral move. "The Trapper and the Trapped" finds the vocals being split with Nicole as they wander into a direction that feels more like over driven indie rock. The lazy vocal refrain gives the song more guidance.

"OOTPV" brings a better balance of song writing and the fuzzy sludged out rocking that they give their own opium induced spin on. The melody is pretty persistent, with what they are doing infectious would be reaching. The drone still keeps you engaged. "Entheogen" another song that is much closer to indie rock than anything doomy. This album sounds great, with some excellent guitar tones captured here. Nicole takes over the vocals on the more acoustic based beginnings of "To All That He Elong" which gives the song more of an older Chelsea Wolfe feel. The pace picks up for the darker and more driving "Sante". This finds Nicole in a more Kim Gordan inspired role. Things get pretty dense here and it's hard to tell where the bass begins and the guitar ends. "Grey Erasure" walks pretty similar ground as "Sante" the main difference being the fact the vocals are handed back off to Phillips. "What Finds Me" closes the album with a darker surf rock guitar tone. Nicole's vocals tend to haunt the backdrop rather than claim the spot light as they did earlier in the album. There is some interesting production going on here as it feels like the song has a crunchy lo-fi center while being surround by an outside layer of atmosphere.

I like this album, I'm not blown away by it. The band accomplished what they set out to do. If you are attached to their more doom like side then you might find yourself having a similar reaction to mine. If this is your entry point with this band then you won't know any different. I'll still give this one a 8.5 an see how it sits with me. Right now I am not feeling like I'll need urgent return visits, but it's too soon to say. This album comes out September 23rd.

Catching Up With 2013: True Widow: Circumambulation

This album came out back in July, but I just found it. This  Texas band calls themselves stonegaze, and it's a fitting label as any, as the guitar playing is too clean to be sludge and the doom is more in the feeling, but I suppose calling them doomgaze would be like calling Chelsea Wolfe doom folk.

After seeing this band live, I was pretty hopeful about this album. The day dreaming drone it carries causes you to wake up in the middle of it and realize you are half  way done. The singer guitarist, seems like a clean cut well adjusted guy, to the drug addle shoe gaze that glazes this album is odd indeed. The songs all carry similar pacing, the dreary nature of the desert coldness that radiates from them , creates the most infectious atmosphere .

The opener "Creeper" no doubt references the type of weed, at least the druimmer was partaking of when these songs were conceived.The vocals often border on croons and whispers , when the two singers harmonize. Their is a David Lynch quality to their songs, that reminds me of the long drives on dark roads his films seem to take.The drums do have less pound to them on this album than they held live. This takes away some of the metal under currents.    

The second song sees a little more distortion added, but this is a casual fuzz, nothing I would deem metal as far as the tone goes. The males singer's voice often reminds me of Sonic Youth in it's lazy approach. While no strangers to their re-verb pedals , this album is not soaked in the same amount of effect like say Slowdive, their is still a doomy rock element. The songs are very simplistic in composition, though not minimal, the over all sound is pretty full figured. Their bassist contributes the most to this quality.

" Four Teeth" has the catchiest melody on the album, it almost has a sweet after taste to it. It feels like 60's girl group pop, but with a stoned fuzz to it. The vocal blend on the chorus is really smooth. The fuzz reaches a another level of fullness on the more robust " Numb Hand" . The song meanders around the same lagging mid tempo. The bass has most of the beef leaving the vocals between the buns .

The album's lengthiest venture is the often noise ridden " Trollstigen". It also might be the the heaviest song on the album. Bassist Nicole Estill allows her voice to haunt the top soil of this one. The guitar finds some extra creepy chords to ring out some where post-chorus , though this song walks a narrow line and drone in a similar direction the duration.

There is a more delicate sound to their thunder on " IMO" . This shows the more shoe gazing side, but it also reminds me of Sonic Youth, some of the more shimmering moment from Daydream Nation perhaps. Slim Stacks takes on a more conventional melody when he picks up lead vocals, the bassist balances him out with yes still a very Sonic Youth feel but there a western feel to it.  

 Their is less dynamic in terms of fast to slow or the often over done clean to heavy. They stay on the same despairing waters they sail on for the course of the album, though at times the guitar sounds more western, think almost old Chris Isaak meets surf rock.  By " Lungr" the album begins at the same dynamic it began with. Their is a sluggish drug shuffle to this one, and a dark cloud hanging over the song, like the one that keeps me in the bed when I am depressed.

I really like this album, it fit my mood the past couple of days and I can see this earning its keeping the iPod, even though when I break it down song by song it doesn't really sound as impressive as I score, partly because of the lazy drone throughout. So I will round it up to an 8.5.  

Live Review: Chelsea Wolfe & True Widow

One of the problems with drugs is there will never be another first time.  It can only happen once. By not realizing this you can the dragon trying to recapture the majickal first time. Chelsea Wolfe is aware of this fact because each time I have seen her perform it has been a different experience. This time was similar to the first time I saw her on the Apokalypis tour opening for Russian Circles though the difference here is the show took on a much different feel. But I'm ahead of myself...

True Widow took the stage an hour after the doors opened. They were very casual in their presentation, at one point the guitarist asked for more lights on stage as "it was too dark for him to see his guitar and causing him to mess up." I own their first album but live there was the Texas twang to everything that I had not noticed before.  The guitarist reminded me of Casey Affleck from the Killer Inside Me.  Live the deliberate drag of the beat, had the plod of doom but was layered in such a coat of 90's slacker rock that it sounded like the ghosts of  Sonic Youth being pored a like molasses over the fuzz. I am interested in hearing their new album so keep your eyes peeled for a review of it here.

Chelsea Wolfe took the stage to dimmer lighting and the drone of atmospherics. The set was split pretty evenly between Pain is Beauty and Apokalypsis.  She swayed with the beat when guitar was not in hand. There was a sense she felt liberated  from being anchored behind an acoustic guitar as she had on the previous tour and the new material seemed to bring a new fascination of expression in the live setting for her and the With a full band the older songs are always going to sound fuller , the new songs held up well against her more time tested material which bodes well for Pain is Beauty, though there was an obvious shift in the darkness and intensity level when the new songs started up. We Hit a Wall,  had heads bobbing upon the first strains of the beat , though the other new songs were not yet as immediately recognized.

 The sheer power of these songs alone translated well live and won the crowd over.While the myriad of loops and sounds required Wolfe to employ various effects and back tracks it did not take away from the caliber of the talent required to pull the dynamics of the new songs off. Her backing band consisted of  the musicians employed on the Russian Circles tour  bassist Ben Chisholm , guitarist Kevin Dockter and drummer Dylan Fujioka. The  ghostly delay and chorus she used on her voice not to hide behind but use her voice as more of an instrument. It created better blend with the darker more electronic based direction of the newer material and blended the older songs with them. So it gave her voice more of a Cocteau Twins feel at time. Dry vocals would have sat oddly apart from the sonic wall the built so this was a wise choice on her part.

"Sick" which has become my favorite song on "Pain is Beauty" worked well live it carried more of a goth melodrama to it, Wolfe dropped to her knees in a more vulnerable position as a counter to the lyrics stronger men than you /  have tried to break me".  Her stage presence while it's always been intense seemed to have evolved with the new material . her body responds to the oppressive current of the music in a more sensual manner. She piled her hair atop her head while singing at one point and it felt like she was more comfortable in her own skin in doing this simple gesture. She is more relaxed in the darker tone.

It also was apparent that with this more tangible intensity level the live show now bring she would be able to fit more comfortably on bills with metal band. She has had cross over appeal with metal heads and has shared the stage with the more indie flavored black metal bands in the past such as Liturgy, but her new material would find her in good company for any one from Godflesh to Agalloch or even Katatonia.  There was a gaggle of college girl screaming out to Wolfe from stage left, at one point one girl screamed for Wolfe to cast a spell. This is amusing to me as her shows have held a ritual like atmosphere where the pageantry of this show was less bout the outer trappings set against her inner intensity and more of a communion with her self that created a celebratory catharsis. The second time i have seen her this year and would go see her again next week if she played which I think stands as a testimony to Wolfe as a performer who continues to evolve.