Hozomeen’s “The Void” LP

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We don’t know how or why, but we often get requests from England and New Zealand. We’re flattered, but, as we try to warn, when reviewing our locals we give them the benefit of the doubt (mostly b/c we want free tickets and vinyl and t-shirts), but we hold national and international artists to a higher standard.

You’ve been warned.

Hozomeen is Graham Thompson and Graham Thompson, we assume, is Hozomeen. He writes and performs in various groups in the Newcastle upon Tyne area of England that we assume are in the noise rock vein/genre (because we have expressed our affection for that kind of music from that particular area before).

Based on the description we were expecting Hozomeen to be far more arty and less enjoyable then it is. To be blunt, it ROCKS. In the way that say Whores., Shellac, Jesus Lizard, and other rhythmic noise/sludge rocks. There are cogent, sludgey riffs. There is loud sing saying. There are noisey passages on fairly traditional rock instruments. It also approaches earlier variants of post-hardcore and sludge such as Quicksand and Helmet.

Each song on the LP released as a ‘single’ is accompanied by a similarly haunting and empty slightly different colored image with its title printed on. Like so;

It begins with Laughter. An evolving piece of feedback, uncertain drums, muddy quotes, and the dulcet tones of a banjo. From there it launches into The Hogs, a driving sludge-noise masterpiece, complete with loudly sung-spoken vocals. Then on into the instrumental Lack, a tricky rhythmic piece of post-hardcore that goes everywhere you don’t expect it to but really should. Coursing takes us further down the ride of post-hardcore noise, enticing with atonal arpeggios and straight up harshly isolated tribal drumming, heading into all out chaotic frenetty (no that’s not a word, we made it up. It works here. Trust us).

One Kilohertz teases like an old Unsane or newer Hey Colossus song; it really is impressive how Thompson gets a really full noise band song playing as he is each instrument solo (or so he tells us). The vocals come on like Part Chimp or intense Tool, Torche, or some other metal hybrid that’s sung shouted right on key.

The Balk moves on in Whores. vein, all low end, and a few Jesus Lizard/Denison type arpegiatted fifths for good measures until it erupts into wails of guitars and horns screeching. Cleansing breaths wouldn’t be out of place on a mid period Polvo record, with its dulcet celestial tones, dry as a bone atmosphere and creeping rhythm. The rhythm picks up and creepy loud breathing emerges before a wall of dissonant single note guitars play a slow transcendent metal passage, at which point the rhythm settles in and riffs wail and wallow you into a lull. You leave the arena with distorted drums, bells, and whistling feedback.

Manifestation of Grief is the final slow death march of low end feedback giving way to organ like wails of effected guitars and synths, followed by a harrowing passage of gloom and spoken words that wouldn’t be out of place on a Planning for Burial record.

Songs tend to be on the, shall we say ‘prog’ end of the time spectrum; clocking in at a minute to 8 minutes. And the all go on for only as short or as long as they need to, never letting the listener down by (as so often sludgey noise does) repeating a passage too long or not giving birth to a new direction.

In short, despite our warning, we LOVE this record. The atmosphere, the gloom, the precedents it takes its cues from, SUPERB. We look forward to hearing more in the future; too bad the limited record’s already sold out (we REALLY need to get to our reviews sooner from here on out!) This is why we do this.

Ampevene’s ‘The Chemistress’

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At some point artists started releasing ‘singles’ again. I mean, we know no one ever really stopped, but we’ve been used to what used to be called ‘album oriented programming/AOP’ or ‘album oriented rock/AOR’ for ourselves since, like, the seventies man. Yeah, we’re that fucking old.

Recently though artists and groups have been sending us ‘singles’ to review and we’re a little out of sorts. I was thinking about it and I was gonna send it back and ask for at least an ep but then I was like, no wait, this is really easy. I can write like two lines and still be technically getting back to the group — right? We cool guys?

Anyway. We’ve heard of Ampevene and know they’re a local Albany band but never really heard them. So we were glad to receive this request to review this single — albeit years ago — but as we keep saying we’re going through our backlog now or whatever. And EVERYTHING WE ARE REVIEWING ARE TIMELESS CLASSICS SO STFU!

Ampevene may be Albany based but they’re clearly a group that sounds like they’ve got ambitions, chops, and productions for more of a nationwide audience. I’m sure they get this all the time but they sound a lot like that band that Omar Rodriguez Lopez formed after At-The Drive In… what was their name? Oh yeah, the ‘Mars Volta’. They took what ATDI was doing and took it… frankly a little too far into the prog stratosphere for me. As does Ampevene (not saying we don’t like it or think it’s good just not necessarily our cup o tea — we’s more post-hardcore than post-hardcore-went-prog). They list influences like Lopez, Miles Davis, King Crimson, TOOL… you get the idea.

They’re clearly quite talented. They’re also in what’s probably now an outmoded style, though I think I remember even Sleater Kinney was getting into it back in the early aughts… I don’t know whether to call it post-prog, but that’s pretty much what I hear. If not that then retro-prog, neo fusion, post classic rock, etc. Made by musicians that have clearly honed their chops and studied their precedents.

It’s pretty entertaining. Pretty wild, out there, psychedelic. And I’m guessing it’s a lot of fun to watch live, “keeping spectators on their heels from their improvisational clash of metal and jazz.” as NYS Music put it.

To me, this single could be from a Led Zeppelin record or a Polvo record. It clearly blends genres. Even though it can clearly be placed within the sphere of a few genres, it’s not predictable in anyway. It turns on right away. No intros, no lengthy instrumental passages, no letup. It continues in this vein for the entirety of five and a half minutes. Many of the lines are sung-spoken but then there are a number of melodic passages that come one time and are repeated a couple or a few times but then aren’t repeated again; as a music critic I can’t overemphasize how interesting this is. It really doesn’t happen a lot. It’s interesting and atypical.

However, so’s not to give Ampevene too swelled a head (though they may deserve one that’s really not what we do here at the Boredom), there are a few passages that do predictably slip into classic rock riffing or lean too heavily on the Mars Volta/Radiohead type overreliance on the bleep bloop of heavily laden effects.

But overall a very worthy and interesting single. We hope it was a hit (we don’t really listen to the radio). Good luck fellas. Give us free tickets to your next show and we’ll be there!

Nathan Meltz & the House of Tomorrows’ “Sings More Songs about failed utopias volume 2”

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Doesn’t really roll off the tongue does it? I’m guessing that’s on purpose.

We’ve discussed and reviewed Nathan Meltz before, a force behind several groups in the local Albany/Troy underground pop collective. The title of this record is a sequel to the equally good pop record ‘Sing More Songs About Failed Utopias from 2022’ (which we reviewed back then at https://timesboredom.com/2022/10/29/nathan-meltz-and-the-house-of-tomorrow-sing-more-songs-about-failed-utopias/). This one was released in 2023 — please forgive the lateness of our reply.

Like its predecessor, this record is full of quirky lo-fi pop goodness. Catchy and well produced for a lo-fi record; it’s got that classic trying not to sound too polished that’s starting to sound pretty damned polished at this point but still doesn’t have to use any autotune or other omnipresent crap on most twenty-first century records.

Nathan as often is joined by other luminaries of the Troy scene on this record that make up his ‘HOT’ (House of Tomorrow) band; Kim Tateo, Brady Potts, Chris Brown (we know him!), Dan Prockup, and Connor Armbruster (who DOESNT know him — say Connor when are you sending us a record?)

Tackling issues from the Source Family to Emma Goldman (we’re guessing Nathan’s been watching some documentaries), everything is couched in the classic House of Tomorrow pop hooks that get richer and catchier with every listen. And lots of making fun of hippies in a not so tongue in cheek manner — ‘The Farm’ is clearly about an old school sixties farm collective

“Come down to the farm in Tennesee
Communal cosmic energy
Smoking dope dropping LSD
It’s better than Haight-Ashbury!”

This song reminds me of Smog making fun of crummy punk bands in the nineties; but Mr. Meltz clearly has no boundaries for how old or obscure the source material for his ironic humorous songs are. Even far back to where some Phish fans unfortunately really do still live.

Meltz also bears many similarities to his fellow pop auteurs in the Troy area; specifically one can’t help but hear the influence of the seminal Jason ‘Wolfman’ Martin. But his songs are also clearly rooted in the eastern Massachusettes lo-fi indie rock scene like Sebadoh, Sentridoh — you know, lots of stuff Lou Barlow and people that like him are associated with. And Smog as we mentioned before, Pavement (obviously — most lead guitar riffs wouldn’t sound out of place anywhere on Slanted and Enchanted).

But then of course there’s classic 90s pop music influences baked deep within, like the R.E.M. influence that Meltz may not even know is there (“We were little boys” he repeats on Song for Piggy which SOUNDS like a Sebadoh III title but plays like a track from Murmur (“Oh, we were little boys. Oh we were little girls.”

Again, this really does remind me of its predecessor and Nathan Meltz’ other works. No real surprises here; if you like those you’re gonna like these. And if you don’t — to hell with you then!

Thanks Nathan. Send us a request to review your newer records. Whenever you get around to it. You know. If you’ve got nothing better to do.

The Grandstand Jockey’s ‘Win’ EP

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From time to time we hear at Times Boredom get requests to review records that, frankly,… baffle us in terms of where they came from and how they got our decidedly obscure contact info. We do remember, however, that at some point a few years ago (when we had way more staff and energy) that we agreed to review everything we were sent. Since that time, we forgot we had an Instagram page (personally we’ve been trying to get out of the metaverse, however, perhaps that shouldn’t extend to our ‘business’ — and we do mean ‘business’ LOLOMFUG), yet we’ve continued to receive requests to review records through our Instagram page for years now that we haven’t seen until now. Our apologies. We’ll get to what we get to; we’re always happy to hear new independent music.

This is one of said requests we hadn’t seen until now that we actually first received back in ’23. A group called the Grandstand Jockeys requested we review their initial offering “Win” ep. This was one such baffling case; the description of the group did not say where they were from. What we did recognize was their reference Dan Dinsmore of Overit Studios, located only a few blocks from our headquarters in the Helderberg neighborhood of Albany New York (a couple of our bands have checked out the space as a potential studio to record our albums and it seemed like a really cool space). The description also mentioned that Dinsmore put founding member Ron Burris in touch with Dave Parker “(of Coheed and Cambria fame)” — ok, now we’re getting a hint of familiarity. We’ve heard of Coheed and Cambria and think they’ve got local connections…

But the driving force behind the self described “grunge pop group” The Grandstand Jockeys is Ron Burris. Espectially on the initially recordings where Ron plays drums, rhythm guitar, and vocals. Eric Braymer plays lead guitar, bass, and backup vocals.

The record is excellently produced. We really mean that. It has all the sheen and crispness of a classic 90s indie cd without any of the phony pretention that came along in the aughts where everyone has to autotune everything and play as many non-traditional instruments/synths/machines as possible. All the instruments come through clearly and every sound that’s meant to be heard (harmonies, guitar pedals, and all your other traditional rock/pop ingredients).

This probably comes way out of left field but the group really reminds us of 90s southern California group dada (remember that song ‘Diz-knee-land’ that received regular rotation on MTV? “I just flipped off President George, I’m going to Diz-Knee Land! Come on, I’m going to Diz Knee Land” (to avoid actual copyright protected names of real theme parks but not the name of one of the most famous underground art movements that changed so much in modern art it gave way to conceptual art, minimalism, the beats… everything — and yet they thought it was like this cute kitschy art movement they could just call their own — that was dada. Ok sorry that was a real old guy digression right there; The Grandstand Jockeys have nothing in common with dada other then their excellent use of dual pop vocal harmonies and some other indie pop nineties sound factors I really just wanted to wax nostalgic about dada, the band that was honestly the first real music review I ever actually did. Sorry again); the harmonies are sweet and somewhat countrified but always grounded in pop structures and hooks.

The EP starts out unusually with a sort of ska-pop track. But the clean sweet vocal harmonies and pedal oriented guitar effects almost completely cover over the ska strumming that you only sort of notice it. Unlike the unexpected ska rhythms of the first track, the rest of the the 4 songs on this introductory ep trod over well worn 90s style indie pop territory –which is probably why they call themselves ‘grunge’, though they bring to my mind mid nineties groups like Royal Jelly, Tom Petty more than say Nirvana — though they do sometimes remind me of grunge supergroup Mad Season… the influences are ecclectic to say the least. I don’t know if they listen to any of the groups I’ve mentioned but that’s who they bring to my mind. Maybe Eve 6, Better than Ezra, Lit — Semi Sonic maybe? Other groups that I never really got into but liked hearing on the radio in the nineties. Ah the nineties, when even the songs on the radio you weren’t really into were SO much better than any song on there today… sorry where was I? Senior moment!

In general this ep comes off as both classic and retro. It sounds good, nostalgic in a way that makes my writing a bit misty for the old days.. The lyrics are pretty standard indie nineties pop fare as well; pessimistic but honestly hopeful. Which I didn’t know was possible for a group that started in the twenty twenties.

A strong initial effort, though entirely retro and fairly unoriginal. The songwriting is solid; good pop songs like these are hard to write. This band could grow and become something interesting if they forge their own path. Well done guys.

Here’s a link to their video; https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/WhctKKXpTdTBtjLnHCFVDqKZLFhWgkDHhDVkTvBXzPtNKZdXhKlJLqZTpnBpfWlcwZMjTZq?projector=1

I need a Doctor!

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Could a better eulogy have been written for Rick Froberg?

Well yeah, of course.

But the reason that he actually died, the reason he wasn’t appreciated during his lifetime (not even enough to be able to afford healthcare), and the endless metaphors one could spin for the society at large that produced and destroyed him…

If you don’t know who he was, he was in a band called Pitchfork before the world altering indie ROCK destroying online rag came out, then a fucking INCREDIBLE band called Drive Like Jehu which was followed by another incredible yet more studied mature and subdued Hot Snakes with a similar lineup not to mention a series of other great indie/punk/underground rock bands… Give anyone of them a listen if you want to know. And if you like good punk rock or just hard driving rock or metal you DO. Personally I recommend starting with Hot Snakes’ Suicide Invoice then moving on to Drive Like Jehu’s Yank Crime…

But I digress.

Rick Froberg was one of the great kings (along with frequent bandmate John Reis) of the great San Diego underground punk rock (call it post-hardcore if you wish “I don’t give a shit no”) scene from the late eighties until his death in 2023. He was constantly at work on his songwriting, furious performances, touring, and fighting with an industry that had ceased to give a shit about the music he made after Nevermind came out (the same year the first phenomenal self titled Drive Like Jehu record came out) but that he and millions like him hadn’t. When he started out we called it punk rock. We started to call it ‘indie’ rock for ‘independent’ i.e. on an independent record label at the time but that got applied to too much crap, and I’m sure during the nineties they got that degenerate ‘alternative’ label but they were never fucking Garbage or Hole.

Shit I’m digressing again.

Over the next 30+ years he never gave up, never let down, never said ‘meh, I should get a real job and some money etc.’ He kept honing his songwriting, nervous wreck guitar wrangling, and signature legitimately equal parts anger and terror screaming vocals. If his band broke up, he formed another. When other underground San Diego luminaries formed up like Crash Worship and Thingy (one of the initial Rob Crow projects, an ubiquitous San Diego scenester after Froberg and one half of the very popular Pinback), he gladly joined or collaborated. And while I hasten to call him a musician (after Eno’s successful denigration thereof that seriously everyone other than virtuoso thugs should have embraced by this point), I can’t think of another term that would suit his ceaseless creativity, passion, and ultimate lines like “I’d drink piss for kreative kontrol!” that are the only words that can really describe how integral and stalwart this individual was.

And that’s what killed him.

For my international readers, in the US we don’t have free healthcare. In fact, even if you have health insurance it’s not any good unless you’re filthy rich. And if you’re middle class and run into even a common issue it’ll bankrupt you faster than owning a series of fly by night casinos that you count on Russian mobsters to build and run.

Rick Froberg died of an undiagnosed heart condition in 2023 at the age of 55. Details are scant, but if he had seen the doctor he so desperately sang about needing on the first track of what was to become his last recorded album, I’m quite certain he’d be on a couple of pills a day today and told to ‘take it easy and don’t drink too much’. And when I say details are scant; I mean it. It was reported on plenty of places including Rolling Stone and the New York Times, but of the few details they got right were that we were all informed by bandmate John Reis’ instagram post about how unexpected and random it was.

If you listen to his music half the time it sounds like he’s having a heart attack. The man knew anxiety and terror, elation and fury, and he expressed it like no one else on the planet before or since. When you write about and/or experience that much for that long knowing that your ‘obit’ will get most of the details wrong about you anyway, how much of that could your heart take? The amount he took was far too much, in a profession, and country that gave him so little despite the fact that the art he gave to it is immeasurable.

Today is Steve Albini Day.

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“Oh my mama Gina had a sister Angelina…

And if there is a heaven… Though I believe there’s no heaven… she’s probably dancing with you. She liked to dance. She would’ve liked you… When my pretty girlfriend heard you’d died… she cried and cried and cried.” –Mama Gina, 1000 Hurts

Technically he died yesterday but we didn’t find out until today. We were all big fans. Like I keep saying ‘they are the lucky ones. The rest of us have to go on with our lives without them.’

Here’s my favorite quote from my favorite Shellac song (the rest of this is just ripped from wikipedia);

“To the one true god above, here is my prayer. Not the first you’ve heard, but the first I wrote. Not the first but the others were a long time ago. There are two people here, and I want you to kill them…

Her she can go quietly by disease or a blow. To the base of her neck where her necklaces close, where her gardens come together, where I used to lay my face. That’s where you oughtta kill her, in that particular place..

Him just fucking kill him I don’t care if it hurts. Yes I do, I want it to. Fucking kill him but first, make him cry like a woman–no particular woman. Let him hold out, hold fast… Someone or other might come and FUCKING KILL HIM, FUCKING KILL HIM. Kill him just fucking kill him. Kill him fucking kill him, Kill him already kill him. Kill him fucking kill him, kill him just fucking kill him.

AH FUCKING KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM ALREADY KILL HIM KILL HIM FUCKING KILL HIM KILL HIM ALREADY KILL HIM ALREADY…

Kill him, fucking kill him. Kill him just fucking kill him. Kill him, fucking kill him, fucking kill him.

AMEN.”

Albini was born in Pasadena, California, to Gina (née Martinelli) and Frank Addison Albini. On his birth certificate, the middle name section says “(None)” as his father refused to leave it blank.[4] His father was a wildfire researcher. He had two siblings.[5][6][7][8] In his youth, Albini’s family moved often, before settling in the college town of Missoula, Montana, in 1974.[5] Albini was Italian American, and some of his family are from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy.[6]

While recovering from a broken leg, Albini began playing bass guitar and participated in bass lessons in high school for one week. He was introduced to the Ramones by a schoolmate on a field trip when he was 14 or 15. He felt it was the best music he had ever heard and bought every Ramones recording available to him, and credits his music career to hearing their first album.[5][9][10] He said, “I was baffled and thrilled by music like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Pere Ubu, Devo, and all those contemporaneous, inspirational punk bands without wanting to try to mimic them.”[11]

During his teenage years, Albini played in bands including the Montana punk band Just Ducky, the Chicago band Small Irregular Pieces of Aluminum, Stations, and another band that record label Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records explained “he [Albini] is paying us not to mention”.[12]

After graduating from Hellgate High School,[Albini moved to Evanston, Illinois, to attend college at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University where he earned a degree in journalism.[13] He said that he studied painting in college with Ed Paschke, someone he calls a brilliant educator and “one of the only people in college who actually taught me anything”.[14]

In the Chicago area, Albini was active as a writer in local zines including Matter and Forced Exposure, covering the then-nascent punk rock scene, and gained a reputation for the iconoclastic nature of his articles. About the same time, he began recording musicians and engineered his first album in 1981. He co-managed Ruthless Records (Chicago) with John Kezdy of the Effigies and Jon Babbin (Criminal IQ Records). According to Albini, he maintained a “straight job” for five years until 1987, working in a photography studio as a photograph retouch artist.

Also a personal plug if you don’t mind (we’re sad but that doesn’t stop us from needing money to live); we’re trying to open a physical store instead of just being online like we have been since there was only an AOL and Prodigy.

https://gofund.me/0f95d97a

Maple Stave’s unholy blend of post-hardcore and prog on latest album ‘Arguments’

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Maple Stave is a hardworking post-hardcore band that’s been grinding out good ep’s and albums since back in aught 3. From Durham North Carolina (not too far from the famous indie rock bastion of Chapel Hill), their special flavor involves 2 baritones and recently an added fuzzy bass guitar for your extra low end pleasure. After 5 releases that exhibited some growth and change but pretty much stuck to the same sound genre playbook, they recently released their standout album ‘Arguments’. And while the title may fool you into thinking this is another band paying tribute to Fugazi’s final similarly titled album (or maybe it is; esoteric references to other rock bands abound on the album), this album represents a pivotal change in their sound, specifically the higher powered vocals and melodies.

Though the underlying instrumentation is akin to and developed from their many years grinding in the post-math rock game, the often harmonized high in the mix vocal melodies are for the first time evocative of the unholy cross breed of hardcore with prog rock. And while it has been done before (most famously by At the Drive In, the Mars Volta and their acolytes), Maple Stave’s version is no one dimensional imitation nor does it sound derivative in any way. This may be the result of their highly skilled use of midwestern math rock style baritone and basslines that are, to ears like mine, the sweet sweet sound of the drudgery of home. Or the fact that instead of putting the ethereal more commercially pleasing prog melodies on all of the songs, they instead utilize the anti-commercial self indulgence of purely instrumental pure post jam jamming on tracks like “Good Luck in Green Bay”, “Cool Attitude’ and the (Helmet tribute?) “Downtown Julie Brown”.

However, much as I enjoy the unbearably catchy chorus to the album’s standout track “The French Song”, if you listen close you can hear a bit of Journey’s Separate Ways (not that that’s such a bad thing mind you — lousiest air synth playing music video though it may have been, the song is pure delectable Motown and not quite prog). That being said, the emotional depth and weight of tunes like The French Song, featuring a maximalist, unusually off kilter (even for the math rock genre) drum line under minimal sustained fuzzy bass and baritone notes coupled with the subtly almost dully whispered single vocals of part 1 followed by a full on assault of grinding of bass and baritone lines, driving noise rock percussion rhythm with the booming, harmonized up in the mix vocal melody truly brooks no genuine similarity to anything as hollow as pop prog in any way. However, most people do put the majority of weight on the vocal melodies of songs and will hear and remember them far more than the rest of the music. And tracks like Cincinatti Hairpiece and Thunderkiss ’85 are quite weightily indebted to At-the Drive Ins melodic guitar lines and screamed emo-prog lyrics that evoke extremity of feelings far more than make sense… The emo goes even further on “Keep Charging the Enemy” and “I’m not Tied to Pretty” with instrumentation and melodies that are damned near pretty. But if any of that sounded negative to you, the sheer overall quality of these tunes and especially that sweet spot between harsh buzz and evocative pith (most evident on album opener “Indian Ocean, Present Day”) makes this a record worth overlooking all things borrowed and just enjoying the quality and growth of a truly sincere group with truckloads of integrity.

I must admit I believe the majority of the lyrics are either abstractly emotionally evocative or go over my head with the exception of ‘Thunderkiss ’85’. The fact that this is exactly 20 years after the “demon warp came alive” makes me think that perhaps every line I don’t understand is also an arcane reference, just one that I don’t get. This song seems to paint a tale of an America (world) that fucked everything up around 1985, when it started unashamedly redistributing wealth from the poor to the rich. Obviously it’s more complicated then that, but it’s one of the few songs with big meaning I thought was discernible — and honestly if I’m right who would argue with that thesis? To the x-ers and millenials it certainly seems “this is how things began to end” in ’85 with income inequality and unchecked corporate power, not the sexual and social changes of ’65 as previous generations thought.

Despite all my bullshit hipsterish criticisms above (that for some reason always make people think I dislike things more than I do), I mean to say I really like this record. And the one before it. And the band. I have a great deal of respect for true hardworking musicians that stick to their guns and write and play and tour non-stop for either the joy of it or just because they feel compelled by the Spirit (of rock). And if they play my town I’ll definitely be the first one there. Let’s hope this is just the most current in a long line of great records far into the future!

Watch excellent cutup frotage video for single “The French Song” at https://maplestave.bandcamp.com/track/the-french-song

Top local band of 2022: dblgoer!!

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That’s right Capital Regioneers, our favorite band this year is a well known duo of hardcore scene vets called dblgoer! Though they’ve only been around a couple of years, they’ve played their way into our hearts and pants.

dblgoer in their natural state: performing at a Superdark show at Desperate Annie’s in Saratoga Springs

dblgoer (or doublebasslifegrowingbrighter as it’s pronounced in ancient algebraic where it they hail from) is made up of Matt Heuston (aka Matth also of Glitter of Cohoes, Che Guevara T-Shirt, Friends of the Library, Catacomb Gypsy Vagina, and Lack of) on guitar, highly processed vocals and pedals and John Olander (of the Sugar Hold, Handsome Faces, Che Guevara T-Shirt, and THE Latent) on percussion and various electronics and pedals. This super experienced post-rock duo has graced stages from Albany to Troy, from Saratoga Springs to… Troy!

While it’s true they haven’t been on tour yet and keep recording, mixing, rerecording, remixing, and unrecording their as yet to be released single/album… tracks? they’ve certainly made astonishing inroads with fans and readers of Times Boredomland, who have voted the newcomers to the top spot in the first year they’re eligible for the list!

An image as mysterious as the band and their highly original eclectic post music that came from their bandcamp page

Being new gives dblgoer an incredible opportunity to define and redefine themselves as they see fit, as all that anyone really knows is they’re a couple of gingers that’ve been in a dozen local bands that have now found their own unique voice as a highly popular highly anticipated duo showcasing both of their many idiosyncratic talents.

In addition to also, having won this honor surprised no one moreso than dblgoer themselves. While their shows have been well attended, they didn’t realize the dizzying heights of popularity they’d risen to within their brief period bombarding the scene with many gigs within a small period of time. To show their appreciation, they agreed not only to answer our survey questions but also to pose for glamor photos (below):

Interestingly enough this number one slot came with cash prize money. Unfortunately, Times Boredom required a professional electronic press kit (epk) to collect this prize. And although dblgoer did produce an epk, it did not contain any pictures of the band members without instruments staring blankly at the camera or looking away thoughfully. Since said photo is a requirement for a pro epk, dblgoer did not receive any of the cash. Here is the photo they submitted instead.

TimesBoredom: Congratulations on being in Times Boredom’s Top 10 local bands! Honestly, how much of an honor is this for you?

Matt Heuston aka matth: It’s the most we could’ve hoped for

TB: Did you release any music in 2022?

matth: No, but there were some live things on youtube. WE did some demos, but held off on doing anything with them.

TB: What was your favorite show that you played in 2022?

matth: Maybe our Desperate Annie’s show with sky furrows, because Sky Furrows is great. But all the DA shows were fun to play, owing to the sound of the room and the people that come out for Super DArk Mondays .

TB: Who was YOUR favorite local band in 2022?

matth: Ice Queen, hands down.

In case anyone is unaware, the whole purpose of this silly top ten list in the vast sea of unnecessary and useless lists of ‘best’ things (it used to be called the ‘worst’ list but then we found that people were using it in their press kits and we didn’t want them to have to write ‘worst’ and then explain the irony or whatever) is to promote and bring all viewers and readers to the music. So thanks to dblgoer, everyone that voted in our top local bands survey and not only all the terrific bands that made the list but every other band that we like, love, and hate in equal measure (some more so than others) that didn’t make the list but were voted for. Please go visit each and or all of them on bandcamp or better yet the next time they play live in a club near you:
dblgoer
100 Psychic Dreams
Haunted Cat
architrave
haley moley
sky furrows
the abyssmals (now with 2 S’s!)
the sugar hold
madeline darby
bruiser and bicycle
jason martin
sinkcharmer
lemon of choice
ice queen
merci van
william hale
brent gorton
Stephen Gaylord/Gay Tastee
Laveda
blood blood blood
prom sex
zombie giuliani
schenectavoidz
swamp baby
sime gezus
connor armbruster
battleaxxxx
broken links report broken links visit broken links tell us about your broken links have fun dancing without broken links

More fun with 100 Psychic Dreams

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So in addition to all the ‘in addition to’ stuff we wrote about 100 Psychic Dreams in our earlier article, Superdark superstar of the Psychic Dream Waves Shane Sanchez responded to our survey questions.

…And here they are!

Times Boredom (TB): Congratulations on being in Times Boredom’s Top 10 local bands! Honestly, how much of an honor is this for you?

Here’s our man, 100 Psychic Dreams in the bricks behind him. Sometimes theyre red, sometimes they’re, um, brick.

100PsychicDreams — hereinafter referred to as ‘1PD’ and yes we think that’s funny /Shane Sanchez: It’s a real shocker!!

TB: Did you release any music in 2022?

1PD: Only a couple of collaborations. Mostly played shows and promoted my 2021 release Bronze Stroker

TB: What was your favorite show that you played in 2022?

1PD: The Sime Gezus album release for sure! Awesome producer showcase with Albany artists PJ Katz, Big Malk, Mitochi, Devin B & myself and killer performances by Sime, JB!!, Juice Mega and Grimewav. What a night!

TB: Who was YOUR favorite local band in 2022?

1PD: I’m gushing all over Prom Sex right now.

TB: Do you have any plans for 2023?

1PD: Lots of collaborations! Excited about my work with Jason Martin, a handful of hip hop artists, working on new Bloodx3 and my second album is almost complete!

And for extra fun (and extra super fucking awesome seriously here ppl you know this is THE SHIT) here’s the collaboration from the superspooky ‘Do the Fright Thing Volume 8’ with 100 Psychic Dreams and Jason ‘Wolfman’ Martin (take a listen… if you liked this article, 100 Psychic Dreams, or anything Times Boredom does in general you should absolutely have a listen to this mindblowingly cool collab between two of our favorite people in the local music scene!: