Interview: Priests

Hailing from Washington DC, are you a fan of the Riot Grrrl movement and are there any other artists in the area that you're excited about right now?

We do like a lot of music that is generally categorized as "riot grrrl", yes. But we also like a lot of jazz, lo-fi bedroom pop, noise music, "77 punk",  doo-wop, old "surf" style guitar instrumental music, lots of different styles of hardcore, old and new hip-hop. We like a lot of stuff, we are big fans of a lot of disparate kinds of music. And we always wonder, why is it no one asks us about this music? Why do they always ask us about Riot Grrrl? We have a few ideas, but don't want to make assumptions. A lot of bands we're into around DC these days. Some of them are Give, Protect-U, Teen Liver, The Deads, Dudes, Foul Swoops, Cigarette, Big Hush, there are a bunch, a lot of them aren't even new. 

You've just announced you're working with Don Giovanni, how does it feel and what made you go with them?

We are working with Don Giovanni and are very excited about this. We have our own record label, Sister Polygon Records, which is how we released our first single and first two cassettes. We became friends with Joe over the summer, he asked if we'd ever be interested in releasing some music on his label. We said well, maybe we'd like to do that but we'd like to get to know each other first. So we played a show together in New Brunswick with his solo project Modern Hut and lo and behold, we all became friends. So Don Giovanni and Sister Polygon will be co-releasing the next Priests record, and we're all really excited about this.  

Don Giovanni has a lot of other great female-fronted bands and female artists on the roster, was this something that you considered when deciding to work with them or was it just because you liked the label?

We just like Joe, we like how he does business, Don Giovanni just seemed like the "right" choice. Have you ever seen When Harry Met Sally? There is a part when one of the older couples are talking and the woman is like, "You just know, the way you know about a good melon", it was sort of like that. We published something in The Media last spring about our upcoming tour, about how we think accessible community space and playing all-ages shows are important. And Joe wrote to us and said hey, I thought that was cool. I just wanted to write and say hi.

You call yourself a "real life non internet band", what is it about being an internet band that disinterests you? Do you feel any disconnect with technology?

I think that is part of the description on our tumblr, yeah. All we mean by that is our band isn't just a website. We make records and play shows "IRL" (internet speak for "in real life", for the uninitiated) and it just goes beyond the internet. Uh, but sometimes for me personally the internet does accelerate communication and human relationships in a way I haven't become totally accustomed to yet, I feel like I don't always translate myself the way I'd like to, but I have a feeling a lot of people have this problem.    

You recently released Tape Two, a cassette-only tour release, what is it that attracted you to releasing music on cassette? Are you very involved in DIY culture?

Cassettes can be produced quickly, they are inexpensive, and cassette players are also very inexpensive at most thrift stores. A lot of people don't necessarily have cassettes or their players lying around, but if you'd like to be a part of that it isn't difficult. You don't need a lot of money and really, you might find a lot of cool music on tape for not a lot of money. The problem really is that you might find some bad stuff, too. One time Gideon found this tape that had 4 faces on the cover made out of clouds, it looked like it could've been a lost Earth, Wind & Fire record or something? Or maybe it was an Earth, Wind & Fire record? Anyway, it was a real let down for us because the tape was actually boring, there were no hits on it. No "Getaway" or "Shining Star" or anything like that. So yeah, I guess tapes are still a roll of the dice but we like them. We like them better than CDs but really, I'm even coming around to those. I mean, however you want to listen to music. We live in the future, the world and the music are truly at your fingertips. You can do whatever you want.    

Are you currently working on any new music or are you focusing on playing shows in NY and DC?

We're working on new stuff! Always working on new stuff! We get bored otherwise. Washington DC is our hometown though.

You wrote a song about author and playwright Lillian Hellman,  has her writing inspired your music in any way? 

She's so cool! I mean it's like the lyrics I wrote in the song, I literally read a biography about Lillian Hellman and thought, wow. Cool lady. Deserves a song. I'd encourage anyone to read about her life or read some of her plays or other works, she was a real character.

Lillian Hellman was very politically involved and you also mention some of early American politics in 'USA (Incantations)', are you a very political person?

Isn't everyone a political person? Even when we don't realize it, our actions and our values and opinions, the way we live our lives, all this stuff has meaning and impact.  

Do you have any other inspirations that influence the way you make music? 

Pretty much anything I surround myself with is an inspiration, I'm a real sponge. I think all of us are, we're all very impressionable and sensitive.  

Aurora Mitchell

Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes

High Hopes is the sixteenth album from the Bruce Springsteen, tidying up songs written over the course of the last decade or so alongside a couple of covers and a re-recording of his Steinbeck-inspired anthem for the common man, ‘Ghost of Tom Joad’

Several of these tracks were recorded during a break on the Wrecking Ball tour with ex-Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and though on the surface purveyors of widescreen American rock and ferocious rap-metal have little in common, both Springsteen and Morello share a sense of empathy with the downtrodden and a debt to the works of both Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan that makes their collaborations less unlikely than they may initially appear. Unfortunately whilst perhaps shaking Bruce out of his roots-rock comfort zone is an admirable goal, many of Morello’s worse impulses are allowed to run unchecked. On the seven minute revisit of ‘Ghost of Tom Joad’ – explosively covered by Rage on their patchy covers album Renegades - he smothers the track in wah-wah sounds, guitar pyrotechnics and his famous axe-as-turntable screeches but ends up with a lesser result than the stripped back original.

Springsteen has never been afraid to sing songs about the little man even now that he’s a very big man indeed but conceptually the grab-bag nature of the tracks undermines any sense of High Hopes as a cohesive album. For aficionados a studio release for ‘American Skin (41 Shots)’ – originally written about the killing of Amadou Diallo by New York policemen and revisited in the wake of the death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. – offers compelling testimony that Bruce has had a much better 2000s than he had a nineties but bar a pair of classic modern-era Springsteen cuts High Hopes flounders under the weight of curious celtic drum flourishes and predictable songcraft.

‘This is the Sword’ and ‘Hunter of Invisible Game’ are as stuffy and lifeless as their titles suggest, whilst the plodding ‘Harry’s Place’ suggests that although Springsteen can churn out widescreen mid-tempo rock in his sleep Harry’s place may actually be in the retirement home.

Fortunately, the sax ecstasy of ‘Just like Fire Would’ and ‘Frankie Fell in Love’s wailing Steve Earle guitar swing the pendulum back in favour of the more uplifting end of his output; tales of burning love with just enough hints of darkness to navigate a descent into hokey cheese but when you stop to think what High Hopes tell us about Bruce Springsteen, about America and about rock music, you realise that this is more of a stop-gap affair than a burning romance.

4



Max Sefton

Sound InPhotos: White Lies @ Camden Roundhouse

White Lies played an amazing show at Camden's iconic Roundhouse and Braden was on hand to take photos. There were lazers and everything.

Braden Fletcher

Albums of 2013: The Top 20

We've made it! You're most likely reading this looking forward to most of 2014 and we'll bring you that soon, but this was important for us to finish. It's been a pretty strange year for all of us here at Sound Influx and we hope you're still there.
If you are, we're rewarding you. Here's a bucket tonne of music links from our top 20 albums of the year!

20. Queens of the Stone Age - Like Clockwork


19. Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest



18. Foals - Holy Fire



17. AlunaGeorge - Body Music



16. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - ii
"The dreams that creep through his unconsciousness seem to be a recurring theme on ‘II’ and with its imagery of drifting away on the sea they find their most impressive outlet here." Max Sefton



15. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
"Vampire Weekend have done it again. With ‘Modern Vampires Of The City’ they have created a beautiful, infectious and strange record. And ‘record’ seems the right word. It is the last chapter in a trilogy, a record of the lives of characters first visited on their self-titled debut in 2008. It is a chapter sound tracked by tracks laden with hooks, peppered with infectious rhythms and more measured harmonies and melodies. Singer Ezra Koenig’s voice is also shown off to a greater extent on this record than any other. And it really does sound effortless." Holly Read-Challen



14. Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt
Waxahatchee's record is truly the surprise story of the year. The kind of sound that Ms Crutchfield creates is not the kind that usually spikes the interest of those 'in charge' of hype and yet Cerulean Salt became one of the 'buzz' records of the year. The simple truth? Because it's brilliant. It's the kind of album that doesn't require you to be anywhere or in any mood, because it sets the mood for you. For that, it earns a place in the top 15!



13. The Front Bottoms - Talon of the Hawk
(Braden's Album of the Year)
There's little I can say about this record before I start gushing about it. As such; if you want an honest rock and roll record that makes you happy that passionate music about one man's every day struggles, look no further than Talon of the Hawk.



12. DJ Koze - Amygdala


11. Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold
Democracy dictates that this was released in the UK in 2013, so here it is.



10. Disclosure - Settle
You're no one until you make our top 10, but try telling Disclosure that at this point.



9. Daniel Avery - Drone Logic



8. CHVRCHES - The Bones Of What You Believe


7. Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience Pt.1



6. Phoenix - Bankrupt!
"There is every chance this could be the album which pushes Phoenix out to more ears than ever before and in doing so may mean they are lost forever to those who have held the secret so close to their chests for so long. Only time will tell."  Paul Shiernecker



5. Everything Everything - Arc
"They’ve done it then, the Manchester foursome. They’ve made an album that manages to balance the indie/dance/pop/experimental with radio playability and pure integrity. It’s not perfect, but we’ll be hard pressed to remember 2012 if more albums come like Arc this year."  Braden Fletcher



4. Arcade Fire - Reflektor




3. Kanye West - Yeezus



2. The National - Trouble Will Find Me

1. JAMES BLAKE - OVERGROWN

Holy fuck, the Mercury's got it right. We're here at the top of the list with what our staff voted as the best record of 2013 and it's the one that won the Mercury Prize. We didn't see this coming, but when James Blake makes music as good as he does, was this ever really a surprise?


That's that then.
See you in the right year!

Albums of 2013: Part Two

So this is it. This is the antithesis of what we should be doing as a music site. That's probably the worst way to start any post ever, but when we're less than 10 days away from February and only just finishing our records of the year from the year prior; we have to put our hands up and say it.

We're going to do better for you some time, we promise. There's change coming, we'll inform you all about it soon.

In the mean time, here's the biggest and best rundown we can muster whilst we're on hiatus.

39. Connan Mockasin - Caramel

38. Matthew E White - Big Inner
Stream here


37. Deafheaven - Sunbather
Stream here


36. The Men - New Moon


35. Sigur Ros - Kveikur
"In recent years, viking funerals in which the deceased is sent out to sea on a burning pyre have somewhat decreased in popularity. However, if a standard cremation simply isn't your thing, Sigur Ros' latest release 'Kveikur' will serve as the perfect soundtrack." Lewis Shaw ()


34. Kavinsky - Outrun
I (Braden) maintain that if Daft Punk had made a concept album with the amount of power Kavisnky pushes in Outrun and then whacked their collaborators in there, we'd all be heralding it as one of the albums of the decade; but it wasn't to be. Luckily, Kavinsky made this record anyway.


33. The Haxan Cloak - Excavation


32. Janele Monae - The Electric Lady


31. The Pastels - Slow Summits


30. Deerhunter - Monomania


29. Volcano Choir - Repave



28. Blue Hawaii - Untogether 




27. Drenge - Drenge




26. Candy Claws - Ceres And Calypso 




25. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories 



24. My Bloody Valentine - m b v


23. Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse 




22. John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts 

21. Charli XCX - True Romance 

Tycho - Montana

We've been fans of Tycho for a long time here at Sound Influx since his breakout record 'Dive' in 2011, a beautifully lush album that takes you to a whole other place.

New track Montana is more of the same, cascading beautiful synth harmonics and tender guitars lay at it's heart building majestically into something rousing and damn-right inspiring. His new record is set for release on the impeccable Ghostly International on March 17th and looks set to take Tycho's elegant textures to the next level.

Toby McCarron

Albums of the Year: Part One

We're showing our hand pretty late this year and honestly, there's not that many good reasons. But for now, here's some words from Braden.

Hi there, before I begin, let me explain. Toby figured out some form of algorithm that I found to be really very complicated, but, I trusted him and his unwavering vision of some form of democracy and frankly, the results speak for themselves. They're the reason he's in charge around here; why he's asleep somewhere whilst I'm writing the albums of the year introduction. I could write anything...
This year, Robin Thicke made me lose my faith in the public and Miley Cyrus' press made me lose faith in sanity. Luckily, our team here are better than both and they've outdone themselves this year. We're still a small fish in a big ocean, but this year we put a show on on the underground, we talked to some amazing musicians and got allowed to hang out in some of the most amazing fields. This job's not made worthwhile by the money we earn from it; because we earn none. No, this job's made worthwhile by the fact that we get to listen to music, new music, basically every day. It's made worthwhile by you coming to us and telling us that you liked something we wrote/shot. It's made worthwhile by someone at a gig saying they've read your site. Heck, it's even made worth while by the occasional staff gathering for drinks/burritos/records/gigs.
The only thing that's left to ask really is; what happens when music, which is entirely subjective, gets listened to across a year, by people that you trust to bring it to you?
Answer? A top 50.
Shout at us, praise us, point us in the way of something new. Most of all though, incase I don't get the chance to say it again in 2013, thank you.

Braden Fletcher (Co-Editor)

50. Nai Harvest – Whatever
A key factor in Nai Harvest's force is their clear understanding of the genre they are in, their representation of the other genres that represent them and their unabashed enthusiasm to create something passionate and distinctly their own.  

With a few years under their belt and a chance to settle into themselves comes the release of 'WHATEVER', their album. In truth, this album is the album they were supposed to make.

Elliot H

49. FIDLAR – FIDLAR 

FIDLAR are a four-piece punk outfit from Los Angeles and I use punk in the official sense, not as some kind of fashion campaign by Topshop. They took their name from the skater saying ‘Fuck It Dog, Life’s A Risk’ and although they won’t change the world on this first outing it is evidence that there is still room for a dumb and brutal rock album. This is a venture into feedback and riffery that isn’t particularly vogue at the moment but clearly doesn’t give a shit.

Paul S

48. The Knife – Shaking the Habitual

47.  Lorde – Pure Herione

46. Jessy Lanza – Pull My Hair Back

45. Fuck Buttons – Slow Focus

44. Anamanaguchi - Endless Fantasy

Anamanaguchi also feature in our Label of the Year feature for Alcopop Records!

43. Daughter - If You Leave
If You Leave proves that Daughter have gone from creating music focused on pain, to creating music that encapsulates pain and acts as medicine. Some may call it depressing, I’d argue they’ve not listened hard enough.
Braden F

42. King Krule - 6 Feet Beneath The Moon
The Zookid's come a long way. He's been on Letterman and he's been around the world. Not something you'd expect from an album so sparse and honest. That Archie's still got such a great buzz around his name after years of toying with the idea of putting a record together, is testament to the pure enjoyability of a record built around the sound of a crumbling capital city. King Krule has the capacity in him to create a life out of this record and he's hardly the kind that's going to get carried away by fame.
Braden F


41. And So I Watch You From Afar - All Hail Bright Futures
Cementing their place as one of the UK's most exciting acts both on record and stage, ASIWYFA's third record is a jubilant celebration of post-rock and alternative music as a whole alike. Swelling from it's beginnings, it quickly becomes the kind of record you can soundtrack only the most enjoyable of lives to. In contrast to their second, darker record, AHBF is magnificent.
Braden F



40. Of Montreal - Lousy WIth Sylvianbriar

Label of the Year: Alcopop! Records

They harbour SI favourites Johnny Foreigner, YouTube Music Award nominees Anamanaguchi, Jurassic Park themed act Jurassic Pop and have the same logo as alcoholic lemonade brand Hooch; but that’s not why they’re our label of the year this year. 2013 has seen one of our favourite EP’s from Katie Malco (think The National, now make it one person, live on a piano) and two of the most fun records of the year from Stagecoach and My First Tooth. 

The former’s debut and sadly only album ever took a decade to form and along the way kicked up some of our favourite live shows at the Great Escape and Alcopop shows across the country alike. It’s Surrey’s answer to Weezer and it’s a shame that they've split just last week.
The latter made the indie-folk album that the public needed. If you’ve come across it this year, it’s hard to deny your want to singalong and dance in a barn whilst burning that Lumineers record your aunt who’s not really your aunt bought you.

Alcopop’s year has produced some of the finest live shows at a host of festivals and joined by Big Scary Monsters on those dates has made both an unstoppable force of the underground. Here’s to 2014.

We were lucky enough to go to the pub and interview label head 'JackPop'. We may have had a few bottles of Hooch; as such, we're presenting our questions and Jack's answers in the professional way... unedited.

We (the SI editorial team) have penned ourselves up in the top alcove of Spoons Tottenham Court Road. We may or may not have a Hooch to hand. I think we're ready if you are?

Lets go you Hoochie mammas

SO! Talk us through, in a Tweetable 140 characters; how you think 2013 went for Alcopop!

It was a whale of a year thank you! We got invited to more free bars than ever before, which is a strong measure of moving the right way I feel

And the drinks of choice at said bars?

Hooch. Natch. Where available. Otherwise, we're not particularly discerningBlue nun champagne with gold sparkles in it was interesting

Excellent! In terms of alcohol and music, there's been plenty to shout about. There was of course the Pav Tav's ever interesting Great Escape and we're about to encounter the world famous £101 round in Brixton this weekend. What were the blurry highlights of the year for you?

Oh man! Big times... I think winning the AIM Award for best small label was a personal highlight, so unexpected, but the stages at Truck, 2000 Trees, Y-Not, Southsea and TGE were massive too! Best festival summer season ever Also loved being on XFM live with John Kennedy who's a bit of a hero, and putting out The Crimea's final album was very humbling

 Couldn't pick with releases though mind you. They are all my children and i love em equally

Great stuff, the stages this year were shared mostly with BSM; how deep is the bromance at this point?

Ah man - Kev... Well, he's very mean and I hate looking at his generic face. But in all honesty, he's bloody brilliant to work with!I think we gel well together

One of the boldest signings you made this year was Anamanaguchi; how did this all come about and how did it make you feel watching them sell out the Garage?

Well Kev knew their manager, they sent us the album and it was one of the best things we'd ever heard - so we had to work with them they're such a lovely bunch! We sorted some shows, they came over and were unbelievable. Sold out show with JoFo, Axes and more. 700 people loving every moment!!! That was a real fun day.

It was incredible. What's next for Anamanaguchi?

They're currently on a massive tour with Dillon Francis in the States, then back over to the UK in Feb Headlining Heaven in London which is gonna be huge along with shows in Manchester, Glasgow, Dublin and Belfast!
Expect a new single too

Looking forward to it, anything you can tell us about it?

Wish i could but no deets till the new year sorry sworn to secrecy

Secrecy accepted. Radstewart; now Rod's most likely had some babies conceived to his music in his time, but how do you think Radstewart's 2014 is looking? Any baby making music on the way?

I imagine that any bump in population in 2014/early 15 will be pretty much solely down to the sweet, sensual grooves of Radstewart's new hits! These boys are sensational.. Very excited about them next yearThey've only been gigging a year, and everyone seems to be getting VERY excited about them! It's going to be a super year for them.

Yeah, it's been a pretty quick rise even to this point for them. Who else is on the horizon for you; anything you've got your ever eager eyes on?

Well we've got two new signings to be announced in the next month, one super new and the other something of an indie household name. A new JoFo album in the offing, Fight Like Apes and Radstewart EPs, annnnnd Alcopop100 - our 100th releaseWhich is OBVIOUSLY going to involve a lot of booze.We're in for a massive start to the year.

You know you can leak some sort of clue to the indie household name and POP100 surely?

Haha - you can search for the hows and whys of the band but I'm not gonna tell you! I will however let you know that PoP100 is going to be more of an experience than your average release.... It's not just going to be your standard record

They never are! First a bike and now an experience? Where are you taking us mr Pop?

To fuckin' indie heaven and back Actually, not back... Let's just stay there

I'm content with that!

Then we have achieved!

Now, to wrap this up, a quick fire round?

hit me

Top three releases you're looking forward to from Alcopop in 2014?

eek, I can't discriminate dude. I'm looking forward to every single one!

Your opinion of My First Tooth as a live band in less than 6 words?

Absolute engagingly wonderful sugar coated bastards

How much Akabusi would Kriss Akabusi Busi if Kriss Akabusi could Busi?

If Akabusi could Kris Kross? How many hits would make Kriss Kross?

If Lomana Lua Lua could do anything for Alcopop in 2014, what would it be?

To Acknowledge my many letters I'd just love him to know that without him we would be NOTHING...

Congratulations Alcopop!
See you in the new year.

Sound InPhotos: Public Service Broadcasting - The Forum

Public Service Broadcasting have had one hell of a year and you'll hear a lot about that in the interview we've been saving for you since August, later in this month. They topped it all off last week with an incredible show at Kentish Town's Forum, the venue we usually see artists playing Greatest Hits sets. With just one album under their belt, PSB took to the stage with quiet confidence and played to a hugely diverse crowd as if this was every other show. Of course, it was the "Ruddy Bloody Forum" to them and the clincher to what must have felt like a life-changing year. Here's to another one like it!

DADS - Old Blue Last

Emo seems to have crept back in. There’s no way to tell if it’s just long enough since the heyday or if it’s the lots of student loans and not a lot of jobs problem most college kids have right now, but sad music with twinkly guitars is good again (just try Modern Baseball and TWIABPP’s latest releases).

One of the most discussed bands in this revival is Dads, a two piece from New Jersey, who are currently on their first UK tour whose sound is clearly influenced by the arpeggiated guitar and math rock drumming of American Football/Snowing. However, there’s an added intensity that makes them brilliant live, seamlessly shifting from confessional lyrics over wandering guitar to an intricate cacophony of screams, distortion and explosive fills.

What makes these transitions work so well is the borderline telepathic understanding between Scott (guitar) and John (drums). Dads have clearly thought extensively about how to convey each song live and can completely switch the atmosphere in a strike of the snare. The one thing that is sometimes lacking is a bass, but if a third member disrupts their connection then it’s not worth it.

Throughout the show there was a sense of something building which came to the fore in the ominous tones of the ferocious My Crass Patch. That track and the fan favourites that followed (Dan’s Christopher Walken Impression, Shit Twins, Pass Me The Ball) turned the standing area into a ripe tide of crowd surfers and screamed lyrics, because on top of everything else these guys also write a killer hook (“When you told me you loved me, I imploded from the stomach out” / ”You’ll say it’ll be just like the old days, but it won’t be the fucking old days”).

Emo might be back, it could be post-emo or it could be whatever you want it to be. Regardless, twinkly guitars and sad screaming is back, and Dads are leading the charge.

Tom Gane