Band to Watch: Sherpa
Here’s one for all the analogy lovers out there:
Pop music: Sweden, Psych Rock: __?__
You could guess San Francisco, but you’d be wrong. Not that our friends on Haight-Ashbury aren’t completely versed in psychedelia, but Sweden didn’t create pop music, it’s just taken over as a hot bed recently. So what prestigious place is given the rod in my riddle? None other than the lands down under, and no, I’m not kidding. Over the past 2 years a slew of great sounding rock music has come out of Australia and New Zealand, and it’s about time we start taking better notice. I’ll admit, my knowledge of these foreign lands is limited. Kangaroos, counter clockwise flushing toilets, being founded as a British prison colony, the fact that I think Frodo and Sam walked around there for days to get to that god damn volcano…yep that’s about it. But then again, that’s more than I know about Sweden, which is they have a hell of a bobsled team and Jamaicans idolize them for it. So why not the lands down under as a hot bed of psych rock?
In 2011, we were given Tame Impala as well as Unknown Mortal Orchestra and their fantastic self-titled debut that still is in my rotation. Earlier this year Pond released a completely underrated album entitled Beard, Wives, Denim that seems to have skipped over the majority of the indiesphere for whatever reason. And now I present to you Sherpa, a five-piece featuring of Earl Ho, Vince McMillan, Sam Cussen, Benjamin Jack, and Daniel Barrett hailing from Auckland, New Zealand.
With 2 EPs, I’m Sparklers (2009) and Pretty Cool Illusions (2011), under their belt, the band released their first full length album entitled Lesser Flamingo in early April headlined by the lead single “Lunar Bats” which is featured above. Describing their sound as “power pop”, they guys play loud and hard with an intricate guitar dancing up and down the scale. Throw in some fun synthy action at times and some wild drums, and all I want is to be standing front and center for a live show with about 1,2,3, 6 beers in me. The group also just dropped a video for “In Dolphins He Trusts” on YouTube that features some absolutely absurd super 8 film of a family vacation in the 1970s. Clocking in at only 1:54, it’s a quick hitter, but it certainly packs a punch of fun as highlighted by this video below.
Not much else to say other than these guys get an enthusiastic two thumbs up from me. As always, listen, enjoy, and share.
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Written by Greg Dahman
Video: Serengeti “Don’t Blame Steve”
Serengeti’s latest EP sees him reprising his role as Kenny Dennis, a 40 something, O’Doul’s swigging, Brat eating Chicago sports diehard. It’s a big style switch from the introspective, storytelling style he’s perfected on his last couple releases (My 2011 album of the year Family & Friends and his collaborative EP Beak & Claw with Sufjan Stevens and Son Lux), but Geti sounds as comfortable as ever in the role. Joining west coast label Anticon has proven to be a great move for Serengeti, giving him access to several talented producers that the label houses. This EP marks the first time he’s worked with Anticon super-producers Jel and Odd Nosdam, who are also producing his upcoming LP C.A.R., set to drop in June.
Kenny Dennis has been one of rap’s best alter egos for a while now, but he takes things to another level on the song “Don’t Blame Steve”. You see, Kenny is a Cubs fan. Not just any Cubs fan, but a fan who was sitting next to Steve Bartman on October 14th, 2003. Kenny says he, not Bartman, knocked the ball down and wants to set the record straight- “Team collapsed, 8 runs in the 8th, errors, managerial and pitcher mistakes. But they blamed it all on the fellow, to my left”. Kenny goes on a tirade, rattling off the name of every obscure Cub that should be blamed instead of Steve and insists “if a ball comes at ya, you knock it down”. As great as the song is by itself, Serengeti’s video for “Don’t Blame Steve” is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.
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Written by John Bugbee
Album Review: Here We Go Magic ‘A Different Ship’
A Different Ship begins with a building confluence of polyrhythms, found sound, and tense atmosphere. Here We Go Magic calls the listener to attention before releasing into a fluttering, acoustic-driven bounce. With that, the listener is off on a road trip with one of the year’s best albums. Along the journey, Brooklyn-based Here We Go Magic charts a course that is both cohesive and explorative. The band offers listeners a complete range of emotion in a release that avoids redundancy while maintaining its identity.
Here We Go Magic magnificently embraces influences without becoming defined by them, flirting for a while before moving on to the next. “Make Up Your Mind” is a dead ringer for Phish’s “Back on the Train” with the country blues twang pulled from the guitar lick. Elsewhere, “How Do I Know” instrumentally and energetically mirrors The Feelies 2005 single “Let Go.” On the title track and “Over the Ocean”, I’m reminded of Sting when I hear lead singer Luke Temple. I am typically reluctant to make these types of comparisons between artists. They aren’t meant to reduce Here We Go Magic’s work to mimicry. Rather, my hope is to illustrate that this release has put their work in the conversation with some noteworthy artists, not simply contemporaries.
Longtime Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich produced A Different Ship. He did an excellent job of remaining in the background on this release. Flourishes of textures and atmosphere add richness without distracting from the main attraction. If Godrich’s presence can be felt, it’s in the seriousness and focus that Here We Go Magic appears to have brought to the release. A Different Ship coheres in a way that underscores the band’s significant growth since the release of Pigeons in 2010.
Here We Go Magic transitions nicely throughout this album, sounding contemplative one moment and danceable the next, without ever feeling lost or misguided. New York Times critic Jon Pareles wrote that, “Here We Go Magic loves the way a pattern promises the stability and control that Mr. Temple’s lyrics are never sure of.” This proves an accurate assessment. The songs are so tightly constructed that they allow Temple to write more abstractly.
The casual confidence that Here We Go Magic displays on A Different Ship may be the album’s greatest strength. Like all of the best bands, they make their art look effortless. Of course, it would be easy to exude confidence with Godrich in your corner. A Different Ship is another example of preparation and talent leading to genuine innovation. Pick up your copy of the release from Secretly Canadian.
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Written by Rob Peoni
Thought on Tracks 