Dig ‘in: Momma, Jetstream Pony, The Ex
Check out what the No Wristbands team is listening to and what’s in our show calendars this month on our latest Dig ‘in.
INCOMING
Momma - Welcome to My Blue Sky (Polyvinyl / Lucky Number LP)
Penning the song “Rockstar” for their 2022 third album, Household Name, it’s as if bandmates Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten willed the ambition into existence. During the busy year of touring that followed, an upheaval of their lives provided fodder for Welcome to My Blue Sky. Having since relocated from LA to Brooklyn was just part of the change with the major shift coming from each of them breaking off existing romantic relationships after other temptations presented themselves. “Take it apart and tear her to shreds,” the pair sing on “I Want You (Fever),” leaving little doubt about the collateral damage they’re about to inflict. Moving on also means letting go of their former selves captured in “Bottle Blonde” and the (dis)comforts of their childhoods (“My Old Street”). On the title track there’s no question that Friedman and Weingarten are traveling new paths as different choices emerge for both of them, one’s full of infinite possibilities and a host of unknowns. -Bruce Novak
Jetstream Pony - Bowerbirds and Blue Things (Spinout Nuggets / Shelflife Records LP)
With the recent addition of supporting guitarist Mark Matthews (The Dentists, The Treasures of Mexico), Jetstream Pony continues to benefit from an embarrassment of riches. The band registers as an all star collection of British indie pop talent, comprised of vocalist Beth Arzy (Aberdeen, Trembling Blue Stars, Luxembourg Signal), guitarist/vocalist Shaun Charman (Wedding Present, Popguns, Turbocat), bassist/vocalist Kerry Boettcher (Turbocat) and drummer Tom Levesley.
Bowerbirds and Blue Things is Jetstream Pony’s third album, coming four years after their sublime Misplaced Words. Drop the needle anywhere on the record and you’ll be ensconced in pure pop bliss. Arzy’s luminous voice provides an irresistible draw. “Bubblegum Nothingness” is true to its title; boasting an airy sweetness amidst a surging backing rhythm. When vocally matched with Charman on “Birdland ’74,” the pair have a smoldering presence of star-crossed romantics straining to connect. Charman comes to the fore on “Only If You Want To”—a supercharged jangle pop number with a call and response cadence between the two singers. “The Relativity of Wrong” features a guest appearance from former Fall keyboardist Eleni Poulou with her spoken word passages providing an air of mystery. The album’s lengthiest track, “Bonanza 2 Tango Sierra,” is zen-like in execution; leisurely building instrumentally and then snuggly settling in with Arzy’s vocal embrace wrapped along with Charman on the chorus. Bowerbirds and Blue Things is a mood elevator guaranteed to smooth life’s rough edges one track at a time. -Bruce Novak
The Ex - If Your Mirror Breaks (Ex Records LP)
Subsiding on DIY principles for the duration of their 45 year tenure makes Amsterdam’s The Ex a rare musical pursuit. It’s certainly apropos that they’ve dedicated their new album to the memory of Steve Albini, the ultimate champion of DIY ethos. The self-released If Your Mirror Breaks maintains The Ex’s penchant for collaboration and improvisation. Tracks like “Circuit Breaker” and “The Apartment Block” unwind to reveal shifting dynamics, employing repetition to then build to new plateaus. “In The Rain” finds vocalist Arnold de Boer becoming increasingly unhinged while getting swept away by the rising current, with the band’s unsettled backing mimicking the engulfing turbulence. Drummer Kat Bornefeld sounds much more measured when she takes the mic on “Wheel,” trusting her own determination to deal with life’s shifting realities. If Your Mirror Breaks wraps up with the spirited “Great,” with de Boer whipping up a frenzy, matched in kind by co-guitarists Terrie Hessels and Andy Moor. Then there’s the terrific syncopated drumming on the number from Bornefeld. More cowbell you ask? Why yes, please! -Bruce Novak
UPCOMING
Prostitute
Where: Sleeping Village / Directions
When: May 3, 9:00 PM
Prostitute’s home base in Dearborn, Michigan emerged as a pivotal voting bloc in the recent presidential election. With the largest per capita Muslim population in the nation, the distaste for the Biden/Harris administration’s stance on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict compelled the traditional Democratic city to switch allegiances. Having grown up dealing with deep-seated Islamophobia, vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Moe Kazra, who’s of Lebanese descent, suffered from an extreme identity crisis. After hooking up with drummer Andrew Kaster to form Prostitute, Kazra went on the offensive—the results deeply embedded in the band’s debut album, Attempted Martyr, that they self-released as a digital offering last fall. The pair based the album around a religious zealot, Arabian prince character bent on sowing chaos and destruction off of delusions of divine grandeur. Kazra’s unhinged delivery falls in the vicinity between Iceage’s Elias Rønnenfelt and Jesus Lizard’s David Yow. Incorporating Middle Eastern sound elements along with industrial electronics and noise punk gives Prostitute’s music a unique vibrancy in the manner in which bands like the Clash, PiL and the Slits expanded the genre’s boundaries decades prior. Their shows have been described as energizing and cathartic; giving voice to a segment of society that’s become accustomed to being shouted down at nearly every turn. -Bruce Novak
trauma ray
Where: Metro / Directions
When: May 5, 7:30 PM
Within their shoegaze stratosphere, Fort Worth’s trauma ray incorporate varied elements of noise rock, slowcore, grunge and doom metal. Titling their debut album Chameleon accurately reflects their shapeshifting sound. It also applies to the mortality theme of the record and how the specter of death alters our perception of life’s meaning. Vocalist/guitarist Uri Avilia was raised in a Pentecostal family and the wages of sin, remorse and penance pervades his songwriting in religious-themed numbers like “Bishop” and “Elegy.” The presence of co-guitarists Jon Perez and Coleman Pruitt brings both a sonic intensity and varied dynamic to trauma ray’s overall presence. Opening on a bill that also features Deafheaven and Gatecreeper, come prepared for bone-rattling, heart-pounding intensity. -Bruce Novak
Gang of Four
Where: Bottom Lounge / Directions
When: May 8, 7:00 PM
There’s nary an album that would qualify as flawless from start to finish, but Gang of Four’s 1979 debut Entertainment! fits the bill. There wasn’t a precedent for the serrated, rhythmic post-punk ushered in by this Marxist collective out of Leeds. It was as if Andy Gill had reinvented guitar playing overnight, followed by a legion of admirers eager to crack that code. Building off of Pete Townshend’s proclamation that “Rock ‘n’ Roll might not solve your problems, but it does let you dance all over them,” drummer Hugo Burnham and bassist Dave Allen comprised the band’s special task force, unleashing a mechanized funk force that triggered uncontrollable body movements. Vocalist Jon King epitomized those responses—traversing the stage with a boundless energy, all the while delivering cerebral missives touching on consumerism, rote romanticism and imperialism. Unsurprisingly, that level of mastery proved unsustainable, although follow-ups Solid Gold and Songs Of The Free are pretty darn great when considered on their own merits.
Which brings us to Gang of Four’s farewell tour—The Long Goodbye—coming after various fits and starts of activity through the years and the passings of Andy Gill in 2021 and Dave Allen over the past month. Ted Leo (Pharmacists, Chisel) and Gail Greenwood (Belly, L7) sub in for David Pajo and Sara Lee from the last go round in 2022. The show will be split between two sets, with Entertainment performed front to back at the outset and the best of the rest to follow. Perhaps it’s ironic to be celebrating a band whose last relevant album was released over forty years ago and who personally railed against nostalgia in their song “It Is Not Enough.” I will say though, after seeing them roughly half a dozen times starting in 1982, that they been nothing short of brilliant on each occasion and would expect nothing less for this final go round. -Bruce Novak
UNCOVERED
Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance (Blank Records LP)
It was reported that MC5 were playing on the radio when David Thomas passed away at home last month. That outfit’s rabble-rousing mentality is clearly present on Pere Ubu’s 1978 debut album, The Modern Dance. Morphing from their proto-punk predecessors, Rocket From the Tombs, to the post-punk of Pere Ubu, was akin to transforming a rough draft into a master thesis.Thomas’ RFTT co-hort, Peter Laughner, had departed Ubu and this planet by the time that recording of The Modern Dance commenced. A clattering retake of the Laughner-penned “Life Stinks” provides a starting point for the record’s descent into chaos. “Non-Alignment Pact” and “Street Waves” are the most approachable tracks to be found here, although they both take significant detours from conventional songwriting. Thomas’ expressive, quivering voice is matched by agitated backing of the band; synths squalls and sax blurts from Allen Ravenstine, string torture by the way of Tom Herman and the shifting rhythm patterns of drummer Scott Krauss and bassist Tony Maimone. The title track is broken up by snippets of indiscernible background conversation like a experimental film that’s been spliced to jarring effect. The technique is applied again on the musique concrète construction of “Chinese Radiation,” that closes with some sparse piano notes from Maimone, scattershot drum punctuations from Krauss and Thomas’ meditations on the impending communist wave. There’s paranoia in the air, and the decaying industrial background of the band’s hometown of Cleveland portends an uneasy future and a dance around too noticeable to ignore. -Bruce Novak
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: