Loma’s “Half Silences” is a sublime standout and visual from Don’t Shy Away, the group’s forthcoming album. Band member Jonathan Meiburg says of the track, “‘Half Silences’ was the first song we recorded for Don’t Shy Away, and we kept tinkering with it after we soft-released an early version last year. When you start making a record, you don’t know which songs will make the cut—but this one always seemed to belong, and we wanted to give the final mix (and its DIY video) a proper debut. People have asked if the fireworks are CGI. They aren’t.”
PASTE calls “Half Silences” “hushed and hypnotic,” and Gorilla vs Bear notes the song’s “haunting” vibe. Meanwhile, Clash Magazine says of the track, “‘Half Silences’ has a slightly more raw, visceral feel to their debut, its jagged guitar lines underpinning those fine vocal performances. Nuanced and mature, it’s the sound of those musicians further strengthening their bonds, while exploring fresh territory.”
Don’t Shy Away will be available on CD/LP/CS/DL October 23rd, 2020 on Sub Pop. The eleven-track effort featuring “Ocotillo,” the aforementioned “Half Silences,” ”Elliptical Days,” “Homing” and the title track, was produced and recorded by the band at Dandysounds in Dripping Strings, Texas—with the exception of “Homing,” which was produced by Brian Eno.
Late last month, Loma released the equally stunning Don’t Shy Away track “Ocotillo” to rave reviews. Stereogum calls the song “A languid and lovely piece of music that slowly builds up into widescreen catharsis. Cross’ powerful, crystalline lead vocal is a thing to behold.” Brooklyn Vegan offered this, “The gorgeously widescreen ‘Ocotillo’ that sounds as open as the Texas plain.” Beats Per Minute had this say, “Before long, the first tastes of woodwind appear, and from there Loma keep “Ocotillo” continually growing, oozing beauty and pomp as they subtly add in more layers. Cross’ vocals are heaven-sent, looking out over the vast plains created by the band, and together with her we sail through it, soon finding ourselves in thickets of wild and noisy brass and strings – utterly engrossed and captivated.” And For the Rabbits raved, “[‘Ocotillo’] is instantly intriguing, the band continuing their collaborative approach to writing, and shaping their creativity into something that’s both dense and dextrous; even as it gets loud and jarring it always seems to maintain it’s propulsion, always flowing, always moving, never standing still. The return of Loma feels like a second chance, a band who could so easily have slipped between the cracks, returning to give us the chance to make them realise just how loved they are, cherish their return, it’s a triumph.”
SUGAREGG, the incredible new album from Bully is now available for the world to hear through Sub Pop. The critically acclaimed album has been receiving accolades from such places as The New York Times, Alternative Press, Nashville Scene, Spin, RollingStone, Stereogum (Album of the Week), Bandcamp (Album of the day), DIY, and The Guardian to name a few. Bully mastermind Alicia Bognanno also recently recorded radio sessions with KEXP in Seattle, WA, and The Current in Minneapolis.
SUGAREGG is available worldwide now through Sub Pop. LP orders through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers in North America will receive the limited Loser edition on a translucent blue w/white “smoke” colored vinyl while supplies last. Meanwhile, preorders in the U.K. and Europe through select independent retailers will receive the Loser edition on transparent red vinyl. There is also a new t-shirt design.
SUGAREGG, was produced and mixed by John Congleton and Bully’s Alicia Bognanno, with additional production and mixing by Graham Walsh, recorded at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, and Palace Sound in Toronto, Ontario, and mastered by Heba Kadry.
The record flows, hitting knee-skinning highs like “Stuck in Your Head” (“I just wanted to pick up the tempo!” Bognanno sing-songs as the band counts off), barn-burners like “You” (about, it seems, an absent parent) and the hauntingly discordant “Hours and Hours.” Whatever the subject matter, whatever the tempo, each track finds Bognanno full-throated, wild and free…their most self-assured album yet. [SUGAREGG/ 4.5 stars] - Rolling Stone
“‘SUGAREGG’ shows a musician at the top of their game, unafraid to take themselves a little less seriously than before.” [SUGAREGG] The Forty Five
“It’s a product full of joy, not maddening, but genuinely uplifting and encouraging. It’s also the best thing Bognanno has written. As the public is becoming increasingly accustomed to performances composed of lies and consistent sleight of hand, it’s rewarding to see someone go in the opposite direction and peel back the layers, revealing a freer and more transparent artistic self. It clearly hasn’t been easy, but on this basis, it certainly seems worth it.” The Line Of Best Fit
“The most explosive collection of songs from Bognanno’s discography.” [SUGAREGG] - Under the Radar
“…The songs on SUGAREGG feel like the singer, songwriter, guitarist, engineer and producer has reached a new level of comfort in her relationship with herself.” [SUGAREGG] - Nashville Scene
“This is joyous bubblegum grunge…Alicia Bognanno’s voice is as mesmeric and feral as ever, and her band sound simply, effortlessly, gigantic…you’re going to be rotting your teeth on SUGAREGG for weeks.” [SUGAREGG, ★★★★] - NARC
Today METZ shared the video for the second single off Atlas Vending, “Hail Taxi.” If METZ’s current mission is to mirror the inevitable struggles of adulthood, they’ve successfully managed to tap into the conflicted relationship between rebellion and revelry with the song’s tactics of offsetting their signature bombast with anthemic melodic resolutions. “‘Hail Taxi’ is about looking back. The lyrics deal with the idea of reconciling or coming to terms with who you were and who you’ve become,” shares frontman Alex Edkins. The stunning video, directed by A.F. Cortes, heightens these themes and expertly captures the same intensity as the alternately brutal verses and beguiling choruses of “Hail Taxi.” Of the video, Cortes says, “I wanted to tell a simple story that captures the song’s overarching theme. The idea of longing for the past creates many visual motifs and I wanted to create a piece that feels timeless and conveys a sense of isolation, highlighting that while we can hide our feelings, we can’t run from them.”
Atlas Vending, the band’s most dynamic, dimensional, and compelling work of their career will be released on October 9th. Bolstered by the co-production of Ben Greenberg (Uniform) and the engineering and mixing skills of Seth Manchester (Daughters, Lingua Ignota, The Body) at Machines with Magnets in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Atlas Vending, the band’s fourth full-length album, sounds massive, articulate, and earnest.
Vinyl preorders in the UK and Europe from select independent retailers will receive the Loser Edition on light rose colored vinyl. A new t-shirt design is available as well. And in Canada, Atlas Vending will be available from Royal Mountain Records.
Father John Misty’s“To S.” b/w “To R.” is the singer’s double A-side contribution to Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 5, and his first new, original, studio material since his acclaimed 4th album, 2018’s God’s Favorite Customer. These gorgeous, meticulously rendered tunes were recorded at Fivestar Studios and Funky Monkey Soundhaus NoHo in Los Angeles, produced by Dave Cerminara and The Haxan Cloak, mixed by Cerminara, and mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering.
“To S.” and “To R.” follows Father John Misty’s Off-Key In Hamburg, his first live album, released in March of 2020, and Anthem +3, a collection of covers of songs by Leonard Cohen, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, and Link Wray was released July 2020. Combined, Off-Key In Hamburg and Anthem +3 raised over $100,000 for multiple causes including The Recording Academy’s MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, CARE Action and Ground Game LA. Father John Misty is also selling his infamous “Poem Zone” t-shirt via his official webstore, with August proceeds from the store benefitting his touring crew.
Moor Mother’s contribution to the Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 5 is Forever Industries, two phenomenal, atmospheric tracks of jazz-tinged experimental hip-hop recorded in early 2020. The songs speak about the temporal domain known as the future, making space, outer space, and industry. The A side is produced by Olof Melander, and the B side is produced by frequent Moor Mother collaborator Mental Jewelry; both tracks were recorded by Moor Mother in her home studio in North Philadelphia.
Moor Mother – aka Camae Ayewa – is a touring musician, poet, and visual artist based in Philadelphia. Over the past four years, Moor Mother released two acclaimed albums, 2016’s Fetish Bones, and 2019’s powerhouse of liberation-minded punk/hip-hop/electronic energy, Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes. Moor Mother has toured throughout the world and performed live with Nicole Mitchell, Art Ensemble of Chicago, The Bug, and Justin Broadrick, to name a few. As a visual and soundscape artist, her work has been presented at The Kitchen NYC, Metropolitan Museum of Art Chicago, Guggenheim, and the Hirshhorn Gallery. She is the co-founder of Rockers! Philly, an event series and festival focused on marginalized artists, and Black Quantum Futurism Collective, a literary and artistic collaboration with Rasheedah Phillips. In addition to her solo work as Moor Mother, Ayewa is a vocalist and collaborator in Irreversible Entanglements, 700 Bliss (with DJ Haram), Art Ensemble of Chicago, and Moor/Jewelry (with Mental Jewelry).
On the heels of her most recent single, “Hours and Hours”, Bully’s Alicia Bognanno shares “Prism,” a new pre-release single from SUGAREGG, which premiered today via The FADER.
Bognanno says “‘Prism’ is about the process of letting go and realizing which aspects continue to resonate as time passes.” Highlighting the song’s lyric “Can’t feel your pain like before now it’s just vaguely a shadow waiting outside the door but it just keeps coming up” (see The FADER premiere August 12th)
[Photo credit: Angelina Castillo]
SUGAREGG will be available worldwide on August 21st, 2020 through Sub Pop. LP preorders through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers in North America will receive the limited Loser edition on a translucent blue w/white “smoke” colored vinyl. Meanwhile, preorders in the U.K. and Europe through select independent retailers will receive the Loser edition on transparent red vinyl. There will also be a new t-shirt design available.
SUGAREGG was produced and mixed by John Congleton and Bully’s Alicia Bognanno, with additional production and mixing by Graham Walsh, recorded at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, and Palace Sound in Toronto, Ontario, and mastered by Heba Kadry.
What The People have been saying about Bully: “The most explosive collection of songs from Bognanno’s discography.” [SUGAREGG] - Under the Radar
“…The songs on SUGAREGG feel like the singer, songwriter, guitarist, engineer and producer has reached a new level of comfort in her relationship with herself.” [SUGAREGG] - Nashville Scene
“With incendiary guitars and Alicia Bognanno’s sneering delivery, the band unleashes an anthem for anyone finding themselves out of step with the expectations that are placed on them, singing “It’s like pressure to have a baby / When I don’t want one in my body / You say my mind is gonna change one day / But I felt this way forever some things / Stay the same, I stay the same.” [“Every Tradition”] - PASTE
“…Fuzzy and fierce and defiant..” [“Every Tradition”] - Stereogum
Due out September 18th worldwide through Sub Pop. Pre-order the album and stream track “Shove” now.
Yep, you read that right! On Friday, September 18th, 2020, Sub Pop will release L7’s Smell the Magic: 30th Anniversary Edition, the fiery, American grunge pioneers’ second album.
This 30th-anniversary edition of the ‘90s underground rock classic includes all 9 songs from the album, remastered and available together on vinyl for the first time ever! A multitude of rock music scenes populated the expanse of Los Angeles in 1989: hardcore punk, industrial goth, roots rock, and Sunset Strip hair metal, to name a few. L7 fit into none of them, creating their own unique blend of punk and hard, hooky rock loaded with humor and cultural commentary. Originally released in 1990, Smell the Magic is a landmark of ’90s feminist rock.
[Photo Credit: Charles Peterson]
Smell the Magic: 30th Anniversary Edition is now available for preorder from Sub Pop. LP preorders through megamart.subpop.com and select retailers in North America will receive the limited Loser edition on clear with high melt orange, blue, and gray vinyl. Meanwhile preorders through select retailers in the UK and Europe will receive the Loser edition on neon orange vinyl. There will also be a new t-shirt design available.
L7 Smell the Magic Tracklisting: 1. Shove 2. Fast and Frightening 3. (Right On) Thru 4. Deathwish 5. Till the Wheels Fall Off 6. Broomstick 7. Packin’ a Rod 8. Just Like Me 9. American Society
About L7’S Smell the Magic: A multitude of rock music scenes populated the expanse of Los Angeles in1989: hardcore punk, industrial goth, roots rock, and Sunset Strip hair metal to name a few. L7 fit into none of them. Guitarist-vocalists Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner, bassist-vocalist Jennifer Finch, and newly added drummer Dee Plakas were creating their own unique blend of punk and hard hooky rock, with humor and cultural commentary along for the ride.
But making a mark on the LA underground rock scene was more challenging than it seemed. Originating out of art punk circles in 1985, L7 played countless poetry readings, drag shows, art happenings and punk rock dive bars. They were nothing short of perseverant.
Having already released one album, eponymously titled, L7, the band was touring up the West Coast when they began to meet like minded artists affiliated with Sub Pop Records. The band managed to score a phone number for the imprint, and convinced label founders Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman to come see them live.
That show would take place a couple of weeks later in 1989 at an arts center in Seattle. The stage was finagled out of folding tables, and friends recruited to work a smoke machine (members of the group Cat Butt) decided to drop acid before attending to their duties. This led to a thick fog filling the entire venue and the band’s performance could hardly even be seen. L7 were convinced they blew it. Instead, they got signed: Sub Pop may not have been able to see them, yet, but they could hear them and asked if L7 would do a recording for their monthly Singles Club.
Later in the year, the band went into the label’s go-to studio in Seattle, Reciprocal Recording and in one day recorded “Shove,” “Packin’ a Rod,” and “Fast and Frightening.”
Released in January, the single’s A-side “Shove” would kick off the 1990’s with a bang and L7 would have an underground hit on their hands.
The band was then given the go ahead to record a full EP. The buzz from their Sub Pop’s Singles Club release was almost immediately palpable.
A few months after “Shove,” L7 continued with recording the EP—later expanded into a full-length album with three cover songs (“Packin’ a Rod,” “Just Like Me,” and “American Society”). They recorded again with Reciprocal’s producer, Jack Endino, and later Michael James and Ramones-producer Daniel Rey in Los Angeles.
This 30th-anniversary edition of the ‘90s underground rock classic Smell the Magic includes all 9 songs from the album, remastered and available together on vinyl for the first time ever! Originally released in 1990, Smell the Magic is a landmark of ’90s feminist rock.
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