HOOVER III

HOOVER III

2 05 2023

Hoover III

(Los Angeles, USA // The Reverberation Appreciation Society Records / Levitation Records) 

On July 29 Los Angeles psych-rock band Hooveriii (pronounced « Hoover Three ») will release their new album A Round of Applause via The Reverberation Appreciation Society.  Today they share the last taste of the LP before its release via new single “Twisted & Vile,” one of the heavier songs on A Round of Applause.   The band’s Bert Hoover notes “It’s a song about trying to figure out your place in life,” further adding “I wrote it with a Hammond Auto-vari drum machine many years ago that sat on a reel of tape untouched. We like to reference the archives when putting together a new record because you never know where inspiration strikes. We dusted this one off and thought we could really make this work. Everyone’s instrumentation fell right into the pocket, especially Gabe’s leads. Very proud of the crew. The song, to me, is about finding your place in the scheme of things – but really we’re just trying to have a good time.” 

Hooveriii have previously shared “The Pearl” which Flood called “a sunny, playful pop song that showcases the six-piece eschewing singer-songwriter self-seriousness in favor of infectious bliss” and LA Buzzbands labeled it “a sonic curveball.”  The band has also released the album’s opener “See.” 

Hooverii will kick off their first tour in support of A Round of Applause on July 23 in Oceanside, CA.  The tour makes stops in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago and Nashville, among other markets, and concludes in Phoenix, AZ on August 27.  In September the band heads to Europe for a tour supporting Mudhoney.   All dates are listed below and tickets are on-sale now.   

Though created in large part by founder Bert Hoover, Hooveriii has grown to include 

Gabe Flores (lead guitar and vocals), Kaz Mirblouk (bass and synths), James Novick (synths), and Owen Barrett (drums).  

Prior to delving into A Round of Applause — Hoveriii’s second album through The Reverberation Appreciation Society —the band had stuck to a routine of issuing about two releases a year (including singles, live albums, etc.).  After the rise of a certain five-letter word that starts with a C, they realized that time really shouldn’t be taken for granted. Finding additional inspiration via Nick Cave, who once said that dabbling with new ideas continues to fuel his near-50-year career, the band decidedly took a different approach with their new album and gave themselves the freedom to explore in the studio.    

The end result is A Round of Applause, an expansive and even, at times, experimental record. Whereas 2021’s Water for the Frogs was akin to a jam-band record — most of its seven songs are about five minutes long (including a closing track that lasts nearly 10) — A Round of Applause could be considered their “pop” album. Occasionally paying homage to the Canterbury scene, the band consider it to be a palette cleanser of sorts. “I am not really a playlist guy or a singles guy,” Hoover admits. “I’m really into the album experience. … So yeah, we made a pop record. But also, to me, this record is very progressive as well, and I think that that provides a nice balance.”  He previously referred to Water for the Frogs as the band’s equivalent of Iggy Pop’s The Idiot. Playing with that idea he says A Round of Applause is the kindred spirit of Lust For Life.

Hooveriii derived the album title from the late-‘80s Roky Erickson song “Click Your Fingers Applauding the Play.” “That’s too much of a mouthful,” Hoover qualified. “My title, A Round of Applause, just came one day, and we were like, ‘Yo, that sounds like a Gentle Giant record.’”

Reflecting the mostly lighthearted and uplifting record, A Round of Applause closes cheekily — but not sarcastically — with the sound of people clapping. Hoover adds graciously: “We’ve been lucky so far. I don’t think we really have a, you know, ‘bad song.’ ”

Maybe one will, someday. But Hoover doesn’t dwell on that; after all, his band has more records to make — and time is of the essence.

 

 

 

Facebook ⎮ Bandcamp

Instagram

 

 

 

LEFT LANE CRUISER

LEFT LANE CRUISER

3 03 2023

Left Lane Cruiser

(Fort Wayne, USA /// Alive Naturalsound Records)

“Bayport BBQ Blues” is the new studio album by Indiana’s favorite blues duo Left Lane Cruiser, featuring Freddy J IV
on guitar and vocals, and Brenn “Sausage Paw” Beck on drums, washboard and trash kit. The album blends Freddy’s
commanding, gritty vocal rasp and positively nasty hoodoo slide guitar work with Sausage Paw’s rhythmic stomp to
make for a heady fire-starter for your house party, backyard barbecue or juke joint get-down. “Bayport BBQ Blues” is
dedicated to the memory of the late Chris Jonson, creator of the Deep Blues Festival.



Facebook

			

			

				
				
				
				
			

				
				
			


				
					

			
					


											
								PEARL EARL							
					
															
PEARL EARL

					
					
15 02 2023

				
				
				
				
				
				
				

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				


Pearl Earl


(Los Angeles, USA // Dreamy Life Records)


Pearl Earl is a neo-psychedelic quartet founded by frontwoman Ariel Hartley (guitar/vocals) and drummer Bailey K Chapman in Denton, TX. The band is now located in Los Angeles.


With heavy nods to spacey prog rock and golden era glam rock, Pearl Earl has the ability to invoke the cosmic nostalgia of the past while carving new territory of its own neo-psychedelic universe. Once described as “Pink Floyd in the sunlight” the band’s live performances are captivating and euphoric with an ominous grin.


Their music is edgy, and has a broad range of flavors that go along with trippy psychedelic melodies and even heavy doomy riffs at times. 


The band has done several tours in the US and shared the stage with such bands as Oh Sees, Post Animal, The Black Angels, Acid Dad, Frankie and The Witch Fingers, Black Lips, Allah-las and played major festivals such as Levitation and SXSW.


Pearl Earl is releasing their second album, “It’s Dread” via Green Witch Records (NYC) in June 2023 and are available for touring USA in June July, August. Europe/UK in September 2023.












			

			

				
				
				
				
			

				
				
			


				
					

			
					


											
								OPINION							
					
															
OPINION

					
					
15 02 2023



				
				
				
				
				
				
				

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
OPINION


(Bordeaux, France // Howlin’ Banana Records, Flippin’ Freaks, Les Disques Du Paradis, Nothing Is Mine Records)




Sur le tout premier album d’Opinion paru en 2016, Hugo Carmouze chantait pour les gens dans sa tête. De nombreux héros garage, punk, psyché, noise qui avaient contribué à faire jaillir une musique électrique et incandescente dont on avait bien du mal à imaginer qu’elle était alors enregistrée par un adolescent de 14 ans à peine dans le fin fond de la campagne française. En quasiment une décennie, la musique d’Opinion a subi plusieurs mutations toujours guidées par la folie créatrice de Carmouze, capable d’enchaîner triples albums, chansons folk, collaborations choisies, side-projects harsh-noise ou black metal.


La scène lui aura peut-être donné un cadre, Opinion devenant un groupe en concert après sa rencontre avec le label bordelais Flippin’ Freaks. Capable de composer et d’enregistrer un album en une nuit si ça lui chante, Hugo Carmouze aime à jouer avec les contraintes et surtout les règles de bienséances de studio. Il a nommé ce douzième album, le “Troisième Opinion” pour capturer l’entrée dans une nouvelle période de sa vie et de son approche musicale, après l’enfance et l’adolescence. A cette occasion, il a choisi de prendre son temps et d’explorer des sonorités jusqu’ici rares dans sa musique, sans se préoccuper nécessairement de pouvoir les rejouer en live. Ce disque, sans perdre la spontanéité et les tressauts punk de la signature sonore de Carmouze, a des petits airs d’éternité. Des morceaux souvent plus épurés qui délaissent la confrontation pour un caractère lumineux, une intimité plus franchement assumée. Ce Troisième Opinion est aussi l’occasion pour le songwriter de se libérer définitivement des ombres de ses pères spirituels pour parvenir à un son personnel, homogène dont l’équilibre guitare-voix est immédiatement reconnaissable. 


C’est aussi un album “produit” au sens où on l’aurait dit dans les années 1960 et 1970, aux arrangements souvent audacieux. Opinion s’y dévoile comme un projet rock intemporel capable de lier une véritable science mélodique (la discographie riche de Carmouze comme école du songwriting), une quête sonore et une façon d’aborder la production par une approche libre et empirique. Un petit chat avec sa rythmique doom, ses guitares kraut, et sa ligne de chant douce-amère ressemble à une comptine déviante et terriblement attachante. 19 rappelle à notre bon souvenir la capacité d’Hugo Carmouze à écrire des hooks accrocheurs. Sa voix s’y balade sans peine comme si le chemin le plus court entre pop 60’s, garage et shoegaze était aussi le plus naturel. Microrange et ses airs d’instant classic noisy pop est un autre morceau de bravoure du disque.


La question n’est plus vraiment de savoir si ce disque est mature et accessible. Il offre une vision embarquée d’un des projets rock les plus emballants de ces dernières années qui atteint ici son plein régime. 




Opinion is the pseudonym under which Hugo Carmouze chose to release his solo albums at the age of 13, marking the ordinary chapter of a garage rock fan born into the internet generation… Well, not quite, as the young Occitan has never stopped producing an impressive number of albums since, reminiscent of his great master Ty Segall. Recorded in his room with rudimentary equipment, Opinion’s albums quickly found resonance in the French scene and the Flippin’ Freaks label, combining seriousness, hyperactivity, and great creativity. In nearly a decade, Opinion’s music has undergone multiple transformations, always driven by Carmouze’s creative madness, capable of producing triple albums, folk songs, selective collaborations, and side projects in harsh noise or black metal.


At the dawn of his 18th year, the musician settled in Bordeaux and released his seventh album under the name Opinion. « Molly » (2020), a monumental double album that explores themes of solitude and passionate love. The album received a very enthusiastic critical reception. While the energy and inspiration from the Californian garage scene continue to be a significant foundation of his music, Opinion unfolds in a diverse range of influences, showcasing an emotional sensitivity reminiscent of Kurt Cobain or Elliott Smith. Accompanied since 2020 by some offspring of the Bordeaux label Flippin’ Freaks, Opinion quickly turned the stage into a playground as exciting as the studio. Performances are intense, oscillating between noisy urgency and disconcerting fragility. 



After numerous concerts and a handful of albums and EPs released online, Opinion announces 2 highly anticipated new physical albums for 2024.


-“Horrible”, recorded on the night of December 31st to January 1st, 2023, is an album influenced by American slacker and shoegaze. Released on February 23rd, 2024 on Flippin’ Freaks Records, Les Disques du Paradis, and Nothing Is Mine Records.


-And “Troisième Opinion”, his twelfth album recorded between 2020 and 2024, will be released on December 6, 2024 on Howlin’ Banana Records, Flippin’ Freaks Records, Les Disques du Paradis, and Nothing Is Mine Records.














Facebook ⎮ Bandcamp


 

			

			

				
				
				
				
			

				
				
			


				
					

			
					


											
								FLAT WORMS							
					
															
FLAT WORMS

					
					
30 01 2023

				
				
				
				
				
				
				

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
Flat Worms


(Los Angeles, USA /// Castle Face Records, Drag City Records)




Four years after they went all the way to Antarctica, Flat Worms are back in gen pop with the rest of us – but, as intoned on the album opener “Sigalert”, “back again like I never was”. Is this a nod to the way time passes over our sorely vexed synapses? Or are we to believe that there’s hope to be found in this broken world? Kick back with Witness Marks and see what other traces Flat Worms have left us in the dust.


The album title alone leaves a foreboding impression. But look closer – “witness marks” aren’t something out of a forensic analysis – they’re actually practical: scratches placed in old clocks designed to aid continued maintenance down the road.


Sure, there’s big questions and more on the board; primarily if we’re at all distinct from the absurdity coming down around us, or just another character in the mirror? Flat Worms are looking inward this time, outlining personal space in relation to themselves and others – sometimes, even people they barely know. Among the slabs of slate-grey discontent, the flowers of compassion are blooming, and the simmering power of their trio grows exponentially.


Working once again with Ty Segall, Flat Worms continue to find new answers by digging into themselves and playing their kind of rock: hard and flat, bass and drums thrusting stalwartly forward with conviction, guitar twisting and spinning in outrage, deadpan vocals decrying a dire set of circumstances.


The democracy of working together, so often messy and frustrating, was found to be a powerful release for Justin, Tim and Will. Acting as one, Flat Worms navigated challenging times by coming together, finding release in the clockwork repetitions of practice and the shared creative space they occupied together against the encroaching world.


In the short century of their existence, Flat Worms have agitated against the status quo with a disquieting lyric bent to emphasize the psychosis of the times. These are positions taken within songs, sung out to individuals in the world. As evidenced by the lyrics-


“But I know I can always see you at the show
Even though it’s only temporary and it’s time to go”


 


Witness Marks surveys an evolving sense of community. Flat Worms are dedicated to persevering and using the power of their collective. Come witness!








Instagram 


Bandcamp