Braids have followed up their 2015 LP Deep In The Iris and Companion EP with two new songs, “Collarbones” and “Burdock & Dandelion.” Lead singer Raphaelle Standell sings soulfully in both tracks about the falsity of outer appearances and about feeling comfortable in one’s own skin. In “Collarbones” she sings: “Breasts pushed up/ I’m trying to show you/ I have collar bones and cleavage you can rest in.” But in “Burdock & Dandelion” the singer reflects amid the aisles of a drug store, looking for a cure-all to all her insecurities: “I heard I could fix my pain with a box hair dye/ The red highlight kind … Oh gods, I want to feel so beautiful in my skin / And oh gods, I want to find someone to celebrate my state with.” And for those pesky men who ask her if she’s okay with her breasts … “But the problem was with him / What if I asked, do you like your cock?”
Remember Sports: Caught this track in my e-mail the other day. It’s Remember Sports‘ “The 1 Bad Man” from off the band’s new album, Slow Buzz out May 18. Pre-order vinyl, CD, digital here.
Bowie Blackout: There’s a youtube vinyl rip of the Record Store Day David Bowie release Welcome to the Blackout: London ’78 for those of you who didn’t want to drop that hefty $90 or more via some ebay seller. No worries though, because the Bowie camp will likely release this on CD for in the near future like they did with the 2017 RSD live release, Cracked Actor.
Young Fathers: The trio Young Fathers released a new video for the song “Toy” — directed by Salomon Ligthelm — in which he re-imagines world leaders as spoiled children. It’s an excellent song with a worthy video:
Joan Of Arc: Chicago’s Joan of Arc released a new video for the song “Punk Kid” — bolstered by a down-and-outer’s chorus “All my life I’ve been eating shit / Look at me / I’m a real punk kid.” There’s an ease about the band in this stripped down song’s cleanness and piano. But there’s also a kind of countrified Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot neurotic element underneath. The label, Joyful Noise, describes the band’s sound on their upcoming release 1984 as “a revelation, as profound and plainspoken as parables.” And that sounds like something worth listening to.
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