In the interest of tri-state area solidarity (and cleaning out my inbox), I wanted to call your attention to a couple of EPs that came to me recently from the borough of my birth. Even though I've been a New Jersey resident since the age of five, there's always that part of me that takes a special pride in being a native New Yorker and a child of Kings County. There's obviously a lot of great music coming to us from Brooklyn, and these are just two of my recent favorites.
The Rizzos, Worse Things, 2015
It was a sweltering evening during Northside Festival 2015. I'd made my way over to Pet Rescue to see / hang with our friends in Dentist, and The Rizzos started the evening. I enjoyed their set quite a bit; and, soon after, I got hold of Worse Things, their June release on King Pizza Records.
Let's put aside for a second the fact that a band called The Rizzos with an EP called Worse Things just makes me smile. The band have a sound that straddles the worlds of pop, punk, garage, and even country. On opener, "Give Me an Answer," Megan Mancini shows off a big voice that combines with the guitars to give things that kind of country feel I was talking about. "Gnarly" gives off a kind of poppy / punky vibe like some of the great stuff coming out of Philly from bands like Cayetana or Swearin'. "Vomit Kiss" is a retro-sounding garage rocker.
In general, Worse Things is just a really good straight-up rock record that features some well-crafted songs and impressive vocals from Mancini.
Worse Things is out now on King Pizza Records and available for you to stream / purchase at The Rizzos' Bandcamp page. There are worse things you could do. (That, right there, is just awful. I'm ashamed.)
Doctor Barber, Sick Sad World, 2015
From the Brooklyn community known as Mama Coco's Funky Kitchen comes Doctor Barber and Sick Sad World. When I read the description of the band as "guitar-heavy alt rock," I thought, "That could mean lots of things. Some good, some not so good." Once I listened to Sick Sad World, though, I decided that Doctor Barber came down on -- for me, anyway -- the very good side.
Like some recent bands I've really loved -- Milk Music, California X -- Doctor Barber play around in that space staked out by my beloved Dinosaur Jr. There's fuzz and noise and big guitar solos and well-structured songs all playing together. Loudly.
"Pictures of Your Pets" rides on some huge guitar chords and a snaking lead and has a nicely slackery feel to it: "I think I'd like to retire from doing nothing. Go on the road for a while." Things get kind of psychedelic on "Seagate;" but the big lead guitar is still there and so are Ethan Donway's vocals, which are a kind of Mascis / Martsch / Young mash-up. Speaking of Doug Martsch, set-closer "Happy Thoughts" gives me a strong Built To Spill feeling while, at the same time, maintaining the sound that Doctor Barber have cultivated for the whole set.
Sick Sad World, which was recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered by Oliver Ignatius (He also plays bass on the record.) at Mama Coco's Funky Kitchen is available now at Doctor Barber's Bandcamp page.
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