Better late than never. It’s a mad festival week at GIITTV Towers. Green Man just gone, Reading and Victorious this Bank Holiday Weekend. We’re scattered to the four winds, from which the stench coming from the campsites by the River Thames is overwhelming. Mmmmm, B.O, weed and burning canvas.
Without further ado, it’s not nothing, it’s this week’s Tracks of the Week. Have a good old rummage. See you next week.
Christopher Owens – No Good
Why we love it: because it certainly is so good to have Christopher Owens back. Having seen Girls, the band from San Francisco that he once fronted, in Leeds in 2009 it still remains one of the best concerts I’ve seen in the last 15 years. And the song ‘Forgiveness’ from their second album, Father, Son, Holy Ghost is still one of the best songs I have ever heard.
Girls sadly folded in 2012 and whilst Owens went on to release three solo albums in quick succession he then suddenly disappeared off the musical map. He had started on a downward spiral that would include a motorbike crash, homelessness, the death of his former Girls’ bandmate Chet “JR” White, and the end of the relationship with his then fiancée.
But Christopher Owens emerged from this personal nightmare and returned with his first new album in seven years. It is entitled I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair and it will be released on 18th October through the former Girls’ record label True Panther Records. The record is heralded by the single ‘No Good’ which shares many of the central characteristics of his earlier work – an unerring ability to enshrine feelings of loss and devastation harnessed to his indomitable spirit within a gorgeous melody. Yet this song is invested with a far greater lived-in experience and maturity that can surely only come from such individual hardship. (Simon Godley)
Belaganas – Taming Strange
Why why we love it: Phoenix, Arizona three-piece Belaganas have recently signed to PIAS. They now release new single ‘Taming Strange’, and its a banger! The pressure to conform to society’s so-called “norms” can be exhausting and on ‘Taming Strange’ the trio embrace their individuality, celebrating their strange ways rather than suppressing them. The band express these frustrations with a high-energy bouncing edgy track which is immediate and captivating. Its a double whammy of head booping as well as ear-worm material. Belaganas further add:
“’Taming Strange’ shows us tapping into our individual personalities, as well as our collective personality as a band more colorfully than we’ve ever done before. It’s nostalgic, suggestive, and raunchy – but not necessarily heavy-handed about any of those things.”
Having all met in high school, Belaganas is an alternative hip-hop trio fronted by vocalists Joey J and Shanker, alongwith drummer Nick Wille. They began writing music in summer of 2016 and since then have released a number of punk-style anthems delivered through hip-hop sonics. Since forming, they have accumulated a steadily growing fanbase through touring nationally with industry veterans Hoodie Allen and Kid Bloom as well as collaborating with industry up-and-comers Devon Again and 777Villain. Belaganas mash up punk, rap, pop and electronic soundscapes with exhilarating results. Definitely one to watch. (Julia Mason)
The Jesus Lizard – Moto(R)
Why we love it: because any music from the Jesus Lizard is always a cause for celebration, even more so when the upcoming album will be their first such offering in 26 years. Rack is the name of the album and it will arrive on Friday the 13th of September via Ipecac Recordings. And before that eagerly anticipated date comes ‘Moto(R)’, the last track to be unveiled from the new album.
‘Moto(R)’ confirms that age has clearly not withered the Chicago noise-rockers and veritable underground cult heroes. Well, you wouldn’t have expected anything else now, would you? Of course not. The band’s guitarist Duane Denison helpfully adds “it’s not Motörhead, and it’s not Radiohead either…” though it is probably much nearer the former than it ever is the latter. As always, the full visceral glory of the Jesus Lizard is best experienced live. Thank goodness then that they are over here in January for a series of dates. (Simon Godley)
Meryl Streek – Counting Sheep
Why we love it: Meryl Streek continues the run up to the release of second album Songs for the Deceased on 25 October via Venn Records with new single ‘Counting Sheep‘. Here he takes a swipe at those who take advantage of others, particularly in the workplace. We do not live in an equal world and the manipulation of others to advance themselves is an insidious part of society. Lyrically Meryl Streek expresses what so many feel. The anger and fury is palpable, corruption is everywhere in all walks of life and this is poured into his music. The instrumentation reflects these frustrations, electronic beats giving way to scuzzy guitars riffs. However Meryl Streek doesn’t just preach, he aims to enlighten, to open our eyes, to provoke thought.
Meryl Streek further explains:“This song was written about the daily grind of working full time your whole life 40 hours a week for a fraction of what you’re making for somebody else, all while you still struggle to pay the bills and maintain a side hobby. I am not calling the average worker a sheep as I’d be calling myself one too but what I’m trying to say with this track is art is important and when we don’t have a government supporting what we are all truly good at you’ll end up signing your life away to these big corporate companies and you’ll never do what you’re meant to do in life. You’ll blink and it’ll be over. Its also highlighting the fact every single politician in this country is a landlord and these are the people voting to abolish the eviction ban, which since being lifted has caused thousands of families to be kicked onto the already busy streets. It’s another reminder that these crooks in charge are getting away with what they want while we are being distracted to fight against each other. All they want is to keep us fighting among ourselves when we should be fighting back against them.”
Such is the world we currently live in, sad to say Meryl Streek is not going to run out of material any time soon. His music provides a coming together of listeners and even more so at his thrilling live shows. (Julia Mason)
Lerryn – As A Mother
Why we love it: Lerryn has shared her EP’s title track ‘As A Mother’ featuring Naima Bock. A really brilliant inventive folk pop song that marries vivid couplets, layers of melody that pour like light through the curtain a record written during her experience of pregnancy, motherhood and a period of profound creative reckoning. It shows off a massively promising songwriter.
Lerryn has been a stalwart of the South East London creative scene for over a decade. The founder of cult creative space Lerryn’s Cafe and later frontwoman of post-punk band Dead Arm, her impact on a DIY scene that has defined a corner of London has been significant.
‘As A Mother’ is the first offering from the next chapter of Lerryn’s own life, and the debut release under her own name.
Lerryn says of ‘As A Mother‘: “As A Mother was the hardest song to make on the whole record. This is because the subject matter is unresolved, and hard to confront. The lyrics play with ideas of lost identity and the pull for home whilst wanting to be out in the world.
This song was written and re-written and recorded the most times, I found myself to be so full of emotion and defensiveness when singing which would have huge effects on my vocals. It was frustrating! I had the idea to bring Naima in to the song, as we had been on some line ups together and her studio where she practices was opposite ours. I invited her to sing, because I started to feel the need for a female presence on the song as a reminder that it is the unity of other mothers and women that often pulls me out of these lost moments in motherhood. Her brief in the studio was to act as my birth partner, with occasional backing vocals that would pick me up and drive the vocals forward.” (Bill Cummings)
duendita – planetary
Why we love it: New York City’s duendita shares their first offering since 2022 with the song ‘planetary.’ The new single celebrates growth, self-love, expansion and creativity with oneself along with feeling supported and cared for by others. Made between Berlin and New York, ‘planetary‘ was recorded at Baketown, the experimental recording studio and art space in Schöneberg. A gorgeously soulful song that sways like palm trees and captures the lazy hazy long summer days, with a melificious vocal that embodies escape, it’s exquisite. Paired with ‘planetary’ is a tranquil visual directed by longtime collaborator and friend Sandy Ismail.
duendita is a band from Queens, New York. They write and produce their own music, imbuing it with a reverence for their ancestry, community, and faith. Anchored by achy, bass-coated tones and mix of jazz, piano, soul and R&B, duendita’s music is evocative of the complexities and sentimentality of the human experience. Flowing in various shapes and formations, duendita is a living collaborative project made with family and friends across mediums and cities. (Bill Cummings)
Joanna Sternberg – A Country Dance
Why we love it: Joanna Sternberg returns with the excellent ‘A Country Dance‘ a swaying and intimate tune that sways with gentle country undertones, a brushing acoustic strum, housing Sternberg’s dulcet tones, that quiver on the point of bittersweet, embodying all the joy of a love from in the margins. Tender, affecting and ever so slightly surreal it reminds one of 60s country doing a delicate dance with the personal diaristic offbeat imagery that echoes the likes of Kimbya Dawson.
The song is featured prominently in the forthcoming film Between The Temples, starring Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane, and directed by Nathan Silver. ‘A Country Dance’ was recorded in upstate New York by Alex Wenquest, and was inspired by Joanna’s close friend Sami Bronowski, who was the first person to encourage Joanna to sing in public. On “A Country Dance”, Joanna explains: “The joke of the song is: I don’t dance, I don’t drink wine, I don’t go outside and I DEFINITELY do not go out in nature (allergies and insect phobias), but I wanted a playful nonsensical song to sing and to capture the fun I have with my dear pal.”
Joanna further elaborates on the track’s inclusion in the film: “I think the reason the song can fit in this beautiful film, is that it captures a freewheeling imaginative feeling. The lyrics are vague enough to be applied to anything, and it just creates a ‘fun and fancy-free’ mood!” (Bill Cummings)
