Monday, June 1, 2015

New New Jersey Stuff from Ghost Camp, Fleeting, Little Rooney

Tony say, "Jersey is cool." (photo: CNN)

New(ish) Releases

Tony Bourdain did his New Jersey episode of Parts Unknown on CNN last night. The episode took him around his ancestral home to places like Camden, Atlantic City, and Asbury Park. It's cool to see places you know so well getting the recognition they deserve without the addition of any jokes or non-existent New Jersey accents (I have never, in my life, heard any person say the word "Joisey" seriously.).

On the musical side of things, we already know that there's a trove of great stuff coming from the Garden State -- too much stuff for me even to remember or acknowledge. I'm going to try, though, this week to call your attention to a few New Jersey releases that I may have been neglecting in favor of show reviews or photos. I think I'll use the roundup format this time, just so that I can cover as much as possible.

Here's the first of those. I'll try to do a couple more as the week progresses.

Ghost Camp, Tamal

New Brunswick's Ghost Camp used to be Osaka, and they were working on Tamal under that name until they decided to change just before the album's release. I shared a couple of singles from Tamal here: the melancholy "Always August" and the driving (Driving? Did I just do that?) "Transit."

The band refer to their sound as "witch punk," but I get a more straight-ahead post punk vibe from them -- post punk of the especially Joy Division variety. That's probably due, mostly, to David Pressler's vocals.

Tamal is decidedly lo-fi, which gives it kind of a far-off dreamy quality, especially on standout tracks like "Soft Eyes" and "Body Language." The whole record, though, is a great listen. Ghost Camp sound like they could have been making this music back when I was a teenager. That, coupled with the lo-fi sound of the recording, makes each song sound like a memory from somewhere in the back of my mind.

Tamal is available as a Name Your Price download at Ghost Camp's Bandcamp page.



Fleeting, Are We There Yet?

We premiered the first single -- "time killers" -- from Fleeting's debut EP here a few weeks ago. Since then, the band have unleashed their 4-song piano / trombone pop collection on the world via Sniffling Indie Kids / Choke Artist.

Are We There Yet? doesn't rely on conventional hooks or song structures. Instead, Liz Fackelman's piano and the pairing of her jazzy vocals with the more punk-influenced delivery of drummer Joe Scala are the focal point.

The EP's title is interesting since there's a lot of staying in place in these four songs. There are the titles like "time killers" and "rot away." Then there are lyrics like, "Just like that, you're off and running. Fucking leaving," implying that the narrator isn't going anywhere on "steady." And on "backbone," there's "If complacent's adjacent to living a lie, then we've just been wasting our time." I don't think they're there yet, no.

You can grab Are We There Yet? as a Name Your Price download from Fleeting's Bandcamp page.



Little Rooney, "Pissbaby"

Couldn't let this one go by without mention. Corrina, Corrina drummer Matt Kessig and Jonathan Aravich just released their first single as Little Rooney. The pair took on all instrumental, recording, mixing, and mastering duties on "Pissbaby."

It's a self-deprecating, pop punk kiss off and an excellent first effort. Now that the guys have one under their belt, maybe the next few will be easier.

You can download the track over at the shiny new Little Rooney Bandcamp page.



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