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The Fresh & Onlys’: “Dude’s Got a Tender Heart“
San Francisco garage-psych band The Fresh & Onlys offers up a reverb-drenched nugget about a tough guy on wheels. Nothing especially mold-breaking there. But by the end of the first verse, it’s apparent that this dude’s wheels are only about 47mm in circumference. Narrative-wise, “Dude’s Got a Tender Heart, from the band’s new LP, Grey-Eyed Girls, is equal parts “Leader of the Pack” and “Sk8r Boi.” No matter, though: Strong men also rollerblade.
Harmonia & Eno: “Sometimes in Autumn (Shakleton Remix)“
England-born/Berlin-based producer Shakleton whips out a pen knife and whittles down this krautrock classic, composed by Harmonia and Brian Eno way back in ’76. But where the original skewed new-age—calm and placid synths draped over a motorik rhythm—this remix tilts the vibe toward paranoia with sharp-edged dubstep-style percussion.
Malakai: “Shitkicker”
Bristol, England-based Malakai assembles vintage psych-rock via sample collage. “Shitkicker,” from the duo’s upcoming full-length Ugly Side of Love finds twangy guitars getting mashed up with still-dusty Merseybeat breaks.
Krallice: “The Mountain“
In comparison to Orthrelm, Mick Barr’s former band—known for its 40-minute carpal tunnel-inducing minimalist-metal composition OV—Krallice, his black metal group, is a pretty straightforward affair. But, again, only in comparison to Orthrelm. By any other metric, “The Mountain,” from the group’s forthcoming record Dimensional Bleedthrough, is still pretty bizarre. The bassist turns out a few traditional-sounding grunts for the vocals, but Barr’s riffs—so fast that sometimes it sounds like a skipping CD—are still without precedent. This is the music by which cubist Norsemen might vanquish Yngwie Malmsteen.