Video: Black Manila “Shake That Thing”
Black Manila is a teenage garage-punk trio from South London. The group just dropped a tasteless video for its debut single “Shake That Thing.” The track will be released as a 7″ on upstart imprint RIP Records. The release is scheduled to drop on April 1. Black Manila may be in need of a new director of video content, but what they lack in production quality they compensate for in balls-out ferocity. The band has a handful of singles available for streaming via Bandcamp. Black Manila’s sound is a blues-heavy, fuzz pop focus with its sights on the essence of rock n’ roll. Those in search of some stateside counterparts need look no further than Gap Dream, Criminal Hygiene, The Orwells, and Natural Child. Watch the video for “Shake that Thing” below.
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Written by Rob Peoni
Fresh Track: Lost Left “Minerva”
Lost Left’s Levollinen is a 2012 release that has been criminally under-appreciated. Lead singer Ben Pritchard crafts stark, effortless songs whose depth appears to grow and multiply in the cavernous auditory spaces that surround his poetic lyrics. Pritchard writes in lyrical fragments rather than narrative arcs, that signal a mood or theme without spelling it out for the listener. The result is an authentic minimalism, where the essence of Lost Left’s songs are exposed and brought to the forefront of the material.
Needless to say, I was thrilled to learn last week that the band has been recording new material with intentions of a new album sometime next year. The first taste comes in the form of “Minerva”. The track is one of a pair of acoustic recordings laid down in a church in the borough of Hackney in North London. The sincerity of Pritchard’s delivery is one that forces the listener to approach the song with a somber seriousness. “Haunting” is an adjective that I find vague and trite in music criticism, but one that nevertheless comes to mind on “Minerva.” The giggles and shrieks of children at play that emanate from just outside the church provide a comforting contrast to the solemnity at hand.
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Written by Rob Peoni
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Fresh Track: The Shamefaced Sparrows “Ride That Seastorm!”
Back in March, we featured an interview and a few songs from UK-export The Shamefaced Sparrows. From the hypothetical libido of an indie songstress to a breakdown of the playground hierarchy, the sheer absurdity found in the responses of that interview will likely go down as some of the finest lines to ever grace this modest space. Late yesterday, we received word that our favorite irreverent Brits were safe, sound and playing tunes again.
“….since [we last talked], we have been self-imprisoned in our makeshift den, built amid a unmapped tree-ringed field, hidden from civilization and home only to ourselves and a silver-draped gang of magpies……. we finally emerge with two new tracks – Apple Tragedy and Ride That Seastorm! – which we would like to share with you and thought on tracks…
ever grateful.
steve + laim.”
Listen to “Ride That Seastorm!” below and visit The Shamefaced Sparrows’ Soundcloud page for three additional tracks.
Thought on Tracks 