- The Jesus And Mary Chain – ‘Always Sad’
A typical JAMC tune ‘Always Sad‘ warms us up for the 24th March ‘Damage And Joy‘ comeback. ‘Always Sad‘ is one of those bittersweet duets (Reid with Bernadette Denning) that The Jesus And Mary Chain love to unleash. Laid back melodies, noisy swirling guitars and the tabor-trademark of their sound. “I think I’m gonna always be sad...” It’s a lie since JAMC are back for good!
Christos Doukakis
- Zagreb – ‘Poison‘
I must confess that I didn’t know anything about them, I just knew their mates’ excellent post punk band Small Depo, that we’re going to talk about sooner or later.
Hailing from Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine’s third largest city, famous for being the centre of the former URSS space programme and the rocketry industry, Zagreb are a four-piece ‘neo-noir new-wave indie’ band with already a promising, but still immature, 6-track EP from last year behind them.
The new single ‘Poison’, a preview from their debut album that will be out this spring, is a huge step forward production-wise and the further demonstration of their great ability to create, mixing elements of indie, post punk and new wave, a fresh and catchy, but not obvious, compelling dancey pop little gem really hard to resist, those songs you wouldn’t get tired to listen to over and over again. Супер! Super!
Enjoy the video above, with clear hints about their city’s space industry, directed by Pavlo Volyk.
Fabrizio Lusso
- Small Things On Sundays – ‘Lost Beacon’
Small Things On Sundays have just released their latest dark ambient album on Frozen Light Records out of Moscow. The Russian label and the dead of winter make for a perfect setting to the release of this album. An album which is filled with the sounds of the most frigged landscapes on Earth.
‘Lost Beacon‘ takes on a life of its own, with field recordings which at times sound almost like saxophones and a stand-up double-bass. As if their is a band floating across the uninviting waters, at such a distance that they have been totally drowned out by nature’s devastating forces. Stoke the fire and gaze out your frosted windows, upon the cold winter, as Small Things On Sundays envelope you in their icy embrace.
Michael Barnett
- Xiu Xiu – ‘Get Up‘
With a band like the long-term Californian experimental/art-pop trio Xiu Xiu you never know what to expect, always surprising, for good or worse, trying to defy genres and limitations. Only within the last year they released the successfull amazing cover album of the soundtrack to the iconic 1990s David Lynch’s and Mark Frost’s TV show “Twin Peaks” and , not to get bored, a myriad of collaborations as the ones with Mitsky, Merzbow, the conceptual artist Danh Vo, the soundtrack for Masahiro Shinoda‘s 1975 movie “Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees”.
‘Get Up’ is the third single taken from the upcoming new album ‘FORGET’ via Polyvinyl.
A self-deprecating but especially moving song about the deep friendship and understanding between bandmates, backed up from the outset by a sliding bass line, that could remind the famous one of Lou Reed’s ‘Walk On The Wild Side’, layed down on a minimal electronic pad opposed by sudden bursts of reverbed guitar lines and spooky synths , until the mesmerizing final breakdown where Jamie Stewart touched voice repeats twice “You’re the only reason I was born”.
It could be upsetting, fragile, painful, sad, ironic, miserable and funny but above all, in these fake plastic dismal times, is REAL.
Enjoy the visuals above directed by their trusted Marty Marquez, and starring Noemi Gonzalez.
Fabrizio Lusso
- nthng – ‘It Never Ends’
One of the things I adore most regarding Last Day Deaf is the daily interaction I have with my music buddies. Especially, regarding “Songs Of The Week”, every week (more often Wednesdays-Thursdays) while the first texts arrive to book a slot, our music scout (‘the greyhound’) Fabrizio Lusso bombards me with tracks-candidates for the column.
‘It Never Ends‘ by nthng was one of those earlier today! An exceptional 9-minute techno opus from the upcoming, self-titled debut album on February 24th through Lobster Theremin. This track is a killer, with conquering phads, and a spine-chilling melodic synth-line behind tons of bass & beats. Music to wake us up from the lethargy, capable of shaking Mecca’s foundations!
If nthng stands for nothing, then this tune is just vrthng…
Christos Doukakis
Compiled by Christos Doukakis, Fabrizio Lusso & Michael Barnett