Personally, it hasn't been a hugely amazing year for new music for me, but admittedly I spend most of my time stuck in a bygone year, wishing they "they still made music like this", which in all fairness, they probably do, you just have to look harder for it. That said, there have been some discoveries this year that have pleased me, for example I found the great Parquet Courts and Ty Segall (don't know how he evaded me for so long!), the former of which just recently released a new EP, which will be part of my round-up today. I used to be heavily dependent on illegally downloading music, but when it comes to these new artists I can't help but support them in whatever way I can. Admittedly, people such as Ty Segall, who release so much material it's hard to keep up with, well with those I tend to 'play catchup' first, since I don't think you should have to pay money to find out whether you like an artist or not, but once you know they've got something you can relate to, the natural conclusion is to support them financially.
I take the same stance I would if I were a touring/recording musician myself; I'd want people to devour my music, appreciate it, love it, and if they did that, help me make more of it. But I don't think it should be a prerequisite. It's just another symptom of the modern music industry, really; way upon whence, you could go into a record store and have a listen to the album before purchasing, you could go to your like-minded friend's house and they could give you a blast of new music, and then you'd rush out to grab your own copy, but the truth is times are very different now. Where I live, I have nobody like that, so I more or less have to rely on myself entirely for new music. As mainstream culture takes it's hold on more and more young people, those more experimentally minded or with a larger spectrum of taste tend to get alienated, only finding real solace online – and since said people are likely not loaded with money, it's hard to keep up with music the 'legal' way. But all this aside, I bought two of the three releases I'm writing about, which brings me to the other major underground news of the year; the reconvening of previous Black Flag members, who between them have formed two opposing sides: Flag, comprising of original vocalist Keith Morris, original bassist Chuck Dukowski, drummer Bill Stevenson, guitarist and third vocalist Dez Cadena, and Descendents/ALL guitarist Stephen Egerton; and a 'reuinited' Black Flag, comprised of founding member Greg Ginn, two 'musicians' who I assume are some of his SST lackeys, and up until very recently the second Black Flag vocalist Ron Reyes, who left the band very recently after being shooed off stage by Ginn-suckup, experienced meathead and "professional" "skateboarder" Mike Vallellellellelly, singer in Good For You, another of Greg's pointless vanity projects nobody cares about even remotely, and soon-to-be lead singer in Black Flag. Whatever.
Essentially, Flag started playing shows, and according to lore, ripped it up majorly; obviously, Greg Ginn is pissed. A very bitter man, it appears the bane of his life are the people who put up with his shit for the duration of the 1978 – 1986 era of Black Flag, the people who made the band what is was, and the people who probably understood their fans the best, and so he decided to take to the stage again, and also to the courts, to attempt to get Flag in as much shit as possible (which is, so far I believe, none) and to prove who the 'real' Black Flag was. The result is this album.
Black Flag – 'What The...' (SST Records, October 2013)
So, I'm going to just side-step the cover art because at the end of the day, Ron Reyes made it, scrapped it, and then Ginn or whoever decided to use it. Okay, yeah, it's awful, but that is the last thing that matters here, really. This is new Black Flag material, and what were we really expecting, another Pettibon classic? The thing we need to judge here is the music, because without Pettibon behind the pen, the artwork simply isn't Black Flag-worthy artwork. At least, not worthy of the Black Flag we knew...
So, it opens with a bassline reminiscent of something off Damaged, and we're 'treated' to our first taste of the theremin present on the album. This track is called 'My Heart's Pumping', and it's pretty generic Black Flag, possibly trying too hard to relate back to the old days – that statement is mostly true to the whole album, too. One of the first things that's noticeable is the drum sound – surely they could have gotten the drummer a full kit and not just four cardboard boxes and a hi-hat? The result is the songs not having enough power to them, the guitar completely overpowering everything else, vocals being lost in the mix – somehow, my guess is that was exactly what Ginn wanted, though. The best track on the album is still track two, Down In the Dirt, which was the first track they released to the public since 'reforming'. It's actually a bit of a beast; the guitar work is furious, the riffs mighty. It's actually one of my favourite Black Flag tracks, guitar-wise, but don't take that as too much of a compliment to the album, because there's still twenty tracks left to cast judgement on. The next bunch of tracks after Down In the Dirt all follow a pretty similar theme and feel, never getting fast enough to be exhilarating; occasionally getting pretty groovy, but never really getting out of their rut. And then they're over a minute and a half later. So yeah – not very memorable, for all the noisy guitar flourishes Ginn can muster. It continues in such a fashion for longer than any album should, and I found myself thinking, "You gonna write any songs Greg, or just jam around a riff for a couple minutes?" – most songs are just one or two riffs repeated, the vocals being too quiet to even have something else to latch onto. Luckily, the theremin I dreaded so much doesn't rear it's head too often – I'd read that on stage, Greg whips it out even in the middle of classics such as Six Pack and Louie, Louie, which is more or less the equivalent of God committing a blasphemy.
Aside from the solid final track, this album feels pretty conclusive; now I no longer have to worry what Black Flag will be up to, because it's made obvious by the combo of this album, and the departure of Ron on vocals. What we have left is a stale, false Flag, Ginn being to last thread to a once mighty unit. Maybe I'll catch Flag if they tour the UK some time, but otherwise, I believe my personal timeline with this band has come to an end.
Pixies – 'EP1' (Self-released, September 2, 2013)
It's been a good couple of decades since their last album, but they're finally back into full swing with the first EP of hopefully a few, released through their website. One can probably tell right from the first few notes that something's different here; it's all a bit more subdued, polished and smooth sounding. I'm really not a fan of Another Toe – it all sounds a bit too much like something one of those creepy little modern rock bands would release, maybe Biffy Clyro, I don't know – I'm not that knowledgeable on my creepy little modern rock bands. Live it was alright, but there's something done to the vocals on the recording that just makes it too polished. The chorus bit that starts around 44 seconds in though, is pretty damn good. Andro Queen is pretty solid, and a decent opener, these two kinda need getting out of the way though, so the last two tracks can make themselves heard; Indie Cindy and What Goes Boom are Pixies classics the both of them, each sporting a nasty, hectic riff in an alternate time signature and with plenty of respite in their respective chorus/post-chorus segments. I'm so grateful for these two tracks, since they prove that Bagboy wasn't just a fluke and that they've still got greatness in them yet. It's certainly imperfect, but then again, living up to the reputation of Doolittle is no easy task. Here's to more new material; no more death to the Pixies.
Parquet Courts – 'Tally All the Things That You Broke' (What's Your Rupture?, 7 October, 2013)
Parquet Courts are a pretty fresh band on the scene, releasing American Specialities, a lo-fi mish-mash of different sounds and noises and occasional songs, in 2011, and their full 'proper' debut album, Light Up Gold, in 2012, which included tracks such as Borrowed Time, Yr. No Stoner and Stoned and Starving, that solidified a reputation for great songcrafting and catchy (but not poppy) post-punk-esque songs with dry, witty lyrics from frontman Andrew Savage. This year they released the follow-up EP, Tally All the Things That You Broke, which proves to be just as catchy, and just as endearing, yet perhaps feels somewhat just like 'more of the same'. Not a bad thing, mind you – it could all sound the same as long as they keep writing songs like 'You've Got Me Wonderin' Now', which opens the album. Rolling on the vaguely motorik beat they have so much love for, it's very reminiscent of Borrowed Time from Light Up Gold, and is clearly meant to be the hook of this set of songs. The other bookend of the EP is 'He's Seeing Paths', their longest track to date; it's a dragged-out, jammed-out, drugged-out piece peppered with sound effects and overdubs of all kinds, and it has a definite Beck vibe to it, maybe even a bit of Beastie Boys on the rapped sections. Between these two are three tracks of hit-or-miss post-punk garage rock that any fan of the band will enjoy, even if they are more throwaway than the others. As a companion to Light Up Gold, and as something to sate the appetite between albums, it's essential.
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