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Album Of The Week: Evans The Death’s Expect Delays While exploring recent releases, you’re bound to find something that impresses you. One that recently impressed me is Expect Delays from London alternative rock act Evans The Death. With its distortion and pulsating rhythms accented by the angelic voice of Katherine Whitaker, this band from across the pond has a sly groove to their sound and possesses a lot of energy. If you’re looking for music from one of those bands that are underground but on their way to bigger and better things, Evans The Death can definitely be your cup of tea. Echoing the timeless post-punk styles of Siouxsie & The Banshees and Blondie, but mirroring contemporary bands like The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Evans The Death have a sense of coolness with catchy lyrics and poppy instrumentation that’s bound to stick in your head. These Brits are barely out of their teens and their music is way ahead of their time in a world where the current generation is looking for the hippest synth sound. There’s a raw tinge to Evans The Death’s musical stylings — a no-frills approach gives them a genuine and honest vibe. Crazy drivers on the highway, it’s still cold outside and everyone always has something to complain about. Some things in New England never change. Another thing that will never change are my top tracks off of the Album Of The Week. Look on the bright side and check it out: A stunning rocker of a song, “Bad Year” will get you jukin’ and jivin’ in a jiffy with infectious guitar riffs and feverish drumming. Fuzzy all over with a lot of power, “Enabler” is a force to be reckoned with. The bass licks are the driving force in the track and give it a unique tone. Another energetic anthem is “Clean Up,” a lovely electrifier that’ll give you a boost right when you hear the first strum. Evans The Death haven’t announced any tour dates in the imminent future, bet let’s hope they grace New England with their magnificent music sometime soon. If they’re as good live as they are on Expect Delays, then they should be a blast to see on stage. Until then, get the brand new release from Evans The Death. It’s got a lot of heart ‘n’ soul to go with a unique take on rock ‘n’ roll. Check out a couple tracks from the album here: soundcloud.com/slumberland-records/sets/evans-the- death-expect-delays CD Review: Modest Mouse’s Strangers to Ourselves Even if you don’t care for Modest Mouse, it would be difficult to argue that they’re not one of the most original-sounding bands of their era. As far as world-famous indie acts go, they’ve had a very non-traditional path; one song (“Float On”) blasted them into the stratosphere of superstardom years after their most critically revered albums. That song has probably bought them all large homes and allowed them to do whatever they want musically, including waiting eight years in between records. Their latest effort, Strangers to Ourselves, clocks in at just under an hour and, pound-for-pound, is of similar quality to their last two albums, where their sound became more produced and polished compared to their work in the ‘90s. Frontman Isaac Brock’s abrasive vocals still push through the often- sensitive instrumentation. Fans first heard “Lampshades on Fire,” this album’s “Dashboard,” with a catchy chorus and the perfect BPM for WBRU. “The Ground Walks, With Time In A Box” is a good example of the band retaining the sound they’ve cultivated on their more recent albums. It has a semi-disco dance beat with a jarring, treble-y riff on top of it. But the lyrics provide the kind of vague, caustic imagery that only Isaac Brock can produce, reminiscent of early classics like “Teeth Like God’s Shoeshine”: “The world composes with his shirt tails wrinkled hanging out / Bang us together to see what sort of sounds we make right now / The world plays music, playing skin in teeth inside of the mouth.” It’s cryptic poetry like this that makes Modest Mouse stand out, and it’s what keeps me intrigued even after waiting eight years. On Strangers, Brock proves he can also make a more specific emotional statement. “Ansel” is about the disappearance of a main character’s brother and eerily captures how you can never know if it’s the last time you’ll ever see someone. “Coyotes,” the album’s musical highlight, is a folky waltz protesting American exceptionalism and the desecration of our land (a reoccurring theme in the band’s back catalog). There are a few songs that don’t really make an impact whatsoever; “Of Course We Know,” the closing track, chugs along to nowhere and “Pistol (A. Cunanan, Miami, FL. 1996)” is the kind of jumbled, indulgent “Wtf?” track that shouldn’t make it past the demo stage. Strangers probably won’t be an instant classic, but it’s probably the breath of fresh air their legions of fans have been waiting for. It doesn’t recapture the youthful rawness of the ’90s that so many fans yearn for, but maybe it was their youth that made that possible in the first place. If you enjoy the Modest Mouse of the past decade, you’ll want to give this a try as well. There’s still no one that sounds quite like them. EDM: Shows Springing Up This Month Yes, the chill is still in the air in RI, but there are a bunch of local EDM events ushering in a warmer season. Below are some stand-out events that oughta put some spring in your step! Mutiny Presents Light Step, a Benefit for Kay Kay: Kay Kay Lightstep has been a big supporter of the scene as well as a valued threads and second-hand rave clothing vendor. She is currently recovering from breast cancer, so proceeds from this event benefit her convalescence. DJ Venom will headline. Sat, March 21 at Club Oasis in Worcester. Find more information on Facebook. Tight Crew Presents Toy Story 2: This party will include a dedicated kandi-making space, contest for best toy-themed costume, oh yeah, and fresh fruit!? Ladyfaith will swoop in from LA to hit the crowd with some hardstyle, while Nostalgia will spin dubstep. Sat, April 11 at Fete in PVD. Bass Wave with Bass Kleph: Bass Kleph is an Australian rocker-turned-DJ who brings his talent for drumming into his live electronic music sets. He is perhaps best known for incorporating live drumming into his electro-house-tinged shows. Supporting sets by Justin Dupont, Tony Dispirito, and Scott Sylvia. Wed, April 15 at The Colosseum in PVD. Hyperglow Tour: This traveling event (formerly Glow) features DJs, live art and body painting all under UV lighting. No artists have been announced yet. Fri, April 17 at Lupo’s in PVD. Photo Essay: George Thorogood at Park Theater Alt-Nation: Diamond Rugs’ Cosmetics It was March 2012 when the much hyped “indie super group” known as Diamond Rugs — composed of members of Deer Tick, Black Lips, Dead Confederate, Los Lobos and Six Finger Satellite — rolled into the music industry’s premier annual showcase: the South By Southwest Festival (SXSW). The band had only played a couple of shows in Atlanta the year before. Their self-titled debut would be released the following month and SXSW was to be Diamond Rugs’ grand unveiling to the industry movers and shakers. The rollicking train that is Diamonds Rugs didn’t so much arrive at SXSW as it crashed through the gates. The first night in town, drummer Bryan Dufresne and vocalist/guitarist John McCauley went to see The Cult play a show in a tiny bar. However, the real party began after they arrived back at the hotel. Dufresne recounts: “We got back and were out of beer. It was past last call. John walks into the hotel lobby with a case of wine. He said he went to the first gay bar that he could find, flirted with the bartender and put down 40 bucks in exchange for the wine. So we’re drinking and a bottle shatters on the floor while we’re waiting in line at this deli in the hotel lobby. People are getting upset. John is sipping wine through a straw off the floor, I’m wasted, and in walks Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy of The Cult who are heroes of mine. I yell, ‘Hey great show guys. Want to party with us?’ They looked horrified at the spectacle, said no and left. Eventually I made my way to our hotel room and opened the door only to have a newspaper that was on fire sail over my head out the door as someone yells to get in. John is lying on a bed with a girl and I opened the door to the bathroom only to find the entire floor and walls on fire. I yell, ‘Why is the bathroom on fire?’ John shows me an empty bottle of nail polish that had been spilled on the floor, like that makes any sense. I start looking for my sandwich, for which we went through the fiasco in the lobby to get, and someone yells, ‘It’s right there!’ pointing to ceiling where what remained was smeared. We’re halfway across the country with our hotel room on fire and that was just the beginning.” Diamond Rugs would go on to play a half dozen shows at SXSW that year and get touted as one of the highlights of the festival.

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