Boston's DIY scene mainstays, Kal Marks are prepping to issue their sophomore LP, Life Is Murder on September 17th on Sophomore Lounge, Midnight Werewolf, and the stalwartly Exploding In Sound Records. The new set marks the recorded debut of the solidified line up of Carl Shane with drummer Nick Egersheim and bassist Mike Geacone. The band recorded the tracks found on Life Is Murder with Richard Maar at Watertown's Galaxy Park studio. Over the the past few weeks Kal Marks have served up a couple tracks off their forthcoming album, first they treated us with the inspired and fuzzed covered title track which features guest vocals from Jonah Furman of Boston's bugcore trio Krill, then came the teetering and dense sludge pop of Parking Lot. Which brings us to this weeks offering, the third single from Life Is Murder and quite possibly our favorite track of the new collection, Where A River Starts And Ends, which finds Kal Marks immersed in driving rhythms, charging and dense guitars with Shane delivering a sneering yet compelling vocal. The band will head out on a U.S. tour shortly after the release of their new LP, but will return in time for a TBA homecoming show on Saturday October 12th.
Cardiff's rising noise pop concern, Joanna Gruesome have announced they will issue there debut album, Weird Sister via Slumberland Records in the U.S. on September 10th and one day prior via Fortuna Pop! in Europe. The Welsh five piece has just issued their second single, Sugarcrush in advance of the release. The track features a pristine boy/girl vocal harmonies which float above a cacophony of dissonant guitar crunch that successfully lends some balance to the dark themes that run throughout that track and reportedly the entire LP. The bulk of Weird Sister was reportedly written during the bands month long stay in a seedy Brighton, England hotel called The Hell House with the quintet recording the tracks with MJ of the revered Hookworms. Now with U.S. label representation, we're thinking and hoping that increases the chance for a stateside visit this fall from this thrilling and lauded pop collective.
It's a bit bittersweet that we report on the new single from Winter, just days after vocalist and front woman, Simara Winter announced that she is planning on relocating to the West Coast in short order. The band recently gave what were billed as there final Boston performances, at least for the immediate future. However the band plans on continuing to write and record with the current line up of Nolan Eley ,Kyle Oppenheimer both of Infinity Girl, and Ana Karina DaCosta who also spends time in 28 Degrees Taurus and Slowdim. On the new single, Alligator the band addresses the impending move over lush instrumentation, boyant bass lines and a enchanting vocal performance from Ms. Winter. We can't seem to hear this too many times, although we've tried. Alligator is a track ripe with understated and charming pop hooks, not to mention I may just be Winter's finest recording to date. Let's hope there is more to come from this quartet regardless of it's geographical preferences.
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