Truly - Fast Stories... from Kid Coma (1995)

 

 A lot of people have strong opinions about the word "grunge". It's divisive because its one of the few music genres that doesn't have have definable sound. Pearl Jam and Tad are about as different as Jimi Hendrix and Judas Priest, but they both receive the label "grunge". 

The progenitors of the genre are nearly all from Washington state, and in fact grunge was also referred to as "The Seattle Sound", but if one uses that as a metric then both L7 and Stone Temple Pilots don't get included, which would upset many to the point of pitchforks and torches. Another interesting thing about the genre, if that's what we're calling it, is that none of the people credited with it wanted any ownership of the word. Punk bands proudly call themselves such. Not the case with grunge.

Whether they liked the term or not, Truly was a band from Seattle that no one in their right mind would debate calling grunge. For starters, the rhythm section features founding members of both Soundgarden (Hiro Yamamoto) and The Screaming Trees (Mark Pickerel), 2 of grunge's biggest bands. 

Frontman Robert Roth, the least known member, was actually very well known in Seattle's grunge community of the early 1990s. He was considered to join Nirvana when the band began seeking a second guitarist. Roth's voice actually brings to min
d Kurt Cobain during his most somber moments, and the nasal screeching of Mark Arm from Mudhoney when he screams. His guitar sound is incredibly dense and distorted but without sacrificing melody. Where Truly TRULY stands out is their incorporation of 60's sounds and song styles. "If You Don't Let It Die" almost sounds like The Kinks if they'd been a strung-out Seattle band in the 90s. A Rhodes piano featured on "Angelhead" lends a Doors-esque quality to the song's stoned feeling, not to leave out the use of a mellotron in the song's chorus, harkening to "Strawberry Fields Forever" (Roth would later earn mellotron credits on Built To Spill's Perfect From Now On).

Make no mistake however. While the songs on "Fast Stories... from Kid Coma" all have a psychedelic 60's vibe, the bulk of the sound is firmly rooted in punchy distorted rock music more akin to plaid shirts than paisley bellbottoms. This was producer Adam Kasper's first produced record... his other credits include heavier bands like Soundgarden and Queens of the Stone Age... and he would later go on to winning a grammy for Foo Fighters "There Is Nothing Else to Lose".

This album has been described as grunge music's lost masterpiece. It has also been called grunge's swan song. While it was released to critical acclaim, it seems like it should have been bigger. That said it is almost too weird for what MTV was selling at the time: the tides were shifting away from grunge and toward pop punk and grunge-lite bands like Silverchair. Truly was too dark and heavy for a world still hurting from the death of Kurt Cobain. But in retrospect, this album deserves to be listened to and talked about by those still interested in whatever grunge is (or was). It is a fantastic sounding record that feels like the 1990s. They say the 1990s are back... which is maybe true but you never hear bands like Truly anymore.

Truly - Fast Stories... from Kid Coma

Rakta - S/T (2013)

I always thought it was interesting how birds are often named after their own songs. Killdeer, Godwits, Curlews, Bobwhites... the list is extensive. If bands were named after their own songs, I think G'n'R would be renamed "Eye-Eye-Eye" and Metallica would be called simply "AH!", because singer James Hetfield ends nearly every line of lyrics with a sharp blast of "-ah!" (ex. "Everywhere I roam-Ah!", "Harvester of Sorrow-AH!", etc.)

Rakta, a Brazilian band, wouldn't have to change their name at all. They have an initial sounds that encapsulates surf drum neats, the buzzing 2-chord dirge of grunge, and vocals sung from within a psychedelic cave. But as these songs progress, I would hesitate to categorize them into any new school of mishmash garage-punk-psych-surf. Their sound is just as much, if not more, an echo of early 80s UK goth rock. Siouxsie And The Banshees, Bauhaus, and New Order all come to mind.

Actually very similar to the modern UK band Savages, but without the edge-y post punk feel.

Rakta's dark streak slices down the middle of this self-titled, 6 song EP, while never dampening the energy of the music.

Rakta - S/T

EP Grab Bag vol. 85

Finally a day off and no family obligations. Perfect time to spend an afternoon checking out all manner of musics sent in from all over. Not even two of these six EPs hail from the same country, nor to many of them really fit into the same genres, though I guess they often get close to it. Hope you enjoy them.

To be had here:

The Spectres - What Will It Be (2014)

A two-piece garage rock outfit from Pittsburgh. They're lo-fi, jangley and got more than a touch of the surf rock in their sound. The EP is eleven songs, but still only makes it to twenty minutes playtime, so you can just imagine that these are some short, sweet rock ditties. They get a pretty full sound by the drummer pulling double duty with a partial kit he plays with his feet as his wields a guitar, a real Mark Sultan move. Impressive for a new band, only been around from half a year from what they tell me. So hopefully there'll be more to come.

Swinging Balls - EP (2014)

Loud, howling, low-fidelity metal/punk from Coventry, UK. The noise they make is nearly as crass as balls on the album art are large. There's not so much as singing in the songs as something between a moan and a shout. In addition to this chaos they've thrown very sludgy guitar playing that provides a firm doom metal overtone to the whole effort. The influence Black Sabbath is obvious, so clearly that they labeled the second track "Sabbath," and it seems to be more akin to the early career of the heavy metal icons. You know, the real sweet stuff, and Swinging Balls does do a good job at making a homage without seeming redundant.

BlackboxRed - Beak to Beak (2014)

A duo from the city of Leeuwarden in the Netherlands who openly affiliates with a grunge sound. As I am still not sure what made a band "grunge," the post-grunge concept has eluded me as a genre I can recognize, let alone the "ghost grunge" they tagged this with. This isn't to say I don't like anything labeled as such, for quite the opposite as I think BackboxRed makes some compelling tunes. Beak to Beak in a powerhouse of an EP. Intense, fast and full of sounds that are simultaneously bleak and exciting. The songs are rocking and the singing is epic, she can really belt out some lyrics.

VidaGuerrilla - El Kreepo (2014)

Spain's VidaGuerrlia has been prolific lately, putting out four releases, all of EP length, since October. El Kreepo is the second one they've got out in December alone. What they play it is extremely fuzzy, to the point of nearly popping. The washed out songs lay between hardcore punk and garage rock in an way that's hard to describe be immediately recognizable when heard. Finally, I know they sent me a link to their album from July, but somehow I must've failed to post it because I can't find any evidence I did so.... Strange as I do recall hearing it and thinking it was mighty swell.

Glaze of Cathexis - Imaginary Beings EP

It is very rare for SRM to get submissions from Asia. I believe many can imagine why that might be the case, and in the exceptions to this it is mostly Westerners dwelling in Japan or Korea. This is the case for Glaze of Cathexis, a band headed by American ex-pat Matt Comegys and Australian native Scot Atkinson in Ueda, Japan. Imaginary Beings is a psychedelic EP with folk and electronic elements mingled within and is only one of a butt load of releases the outfit has put out and have available on bandcamp. Quite retro and at times far out, and very much worth checking out.

SARAJEVO - The double tailed devil (2014)

Named for the capital of Bosnia, residing in the capital of France. SARAJEVO appears to be a new affair, at least as far as their bandcamp presence is concerned. This two song release is just a mere sample of what I am sure they're capable of as it a well produced and excellent sounding as these couple of tracks are. Each are psychedelic songs with nicely washed out vocals and a well practiced retro style that manages to not be tired. Despite the vocals being blown out, it is clear they're in English, but I guess that is what often happens when you wanna make rock and roll. Wish these guys the best of luck and hope to get to hear more.

High/Low - Stuck in a Void (2014)

The debut album for this lo-fi rock outfit hailing from the United Kingdom, Stuck in a Void is a very fast-paced and fuzzed out set of song meant to be heard loudly. The influences of High/Low seem to be heavily embedded in the 90s with the post-grunge vocal qualities of raw emotional strain tempered by certain whimsicalness.  It is a tension that works brilliantly when employed well and it never hurts to be loud as all fuck when going for it. High/Low has accomplished this feat and then some, with the franticness of their compositions that are packed with guitar riffs, bass fuzz and thunderous drums that middles between rhythmically acute and dissonance. All that said, and wholeheartedly meant, the tracks with some angular playing thrown caused by ears to perk up even more such as "What Is It?" and "No Light" and had it repeatedly listening to them. Additionally, they've already got out their Forty and Raygun EPs as well, and although physical copies are sold out they are NYOP digitally. 

To be had here:
High/Low - Stuck in a Void

Heat Dust - S/T (2011)

Well, it's about 100 degrees in Portland today. We don't really know what to do with extreme weather, except drink, which is one thing Portlanders do best. A few years back a heat wave brought 100+ degree weather for a whole week and I must've seen at least 5 drunken fights as I drove around the city. Known for milder summers, Portland was void of air conditioners by the third day of that week, just as during the "Snowpocalypse" of 2008, when automotive stores ran out of chains and everyone had to use gardening shovels to clear their sidewalks and streets. If you take these examples, along with having more strip clubs per capita than any other US city, Portland is invariably the city caught with it's pants down.

But I digress…

Given we're in the middle of summer and it's so hot, it seems only fitting to write about New Orleans band, Heat Dust. Reminiscent of 90's indie rock like Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh, Heat Dust play their songs through a thicket of distortion and feedback. In that respect, they shows hues of shoegaze and grunge… even on the slower songs, the crunch remains. I really enjoy their songwriting and vocal delivery, which is melodic and laid-back despite the urgency of the faster songs.

Also want to point out their excellent lyrics. In my stints of songwriting, I always found words to be the toughest part. The kinds of lyrics Heat Dust write are poetic. "Saved by a woman's arms, we plummeted and flew. A trail of blue velvet was left behind in figure 8's." There's something so triumphant about those words, that image. Much of the other lyrical content is darker, a standout line being, "You'll serve a purpose when wild flowers grow from your lifeless bones. Just give up."

Really good stuff, and I don't think it's all a 90's nostalgia thing, though that's undoubtedly a part of it. I'm going to be keeping an eager eye on this band.

Heat Dust - S/T