OK. I'll admit it. I've been slacking a little bit here. If not for Matt, Henry, Rosi, and Ken, things would have been pretty quiet at CoolDad Music for the last few months. That has a lot to do with my travels and some other stuff that I may or may not write about in the next day or so. But, this morning, I decided to take a quick tour through the burgeoning inbox all the way back to the day I left for Japan.
From that, I compiled a playlist of interesting stuff that's come in over that time. Some of the songs are from albums or EPs that have come out already. Some are yet to arrive. I'm going to make a concerted effort to delve into many of these in the coming weeks along with whatever new comes out in that time.
Anyway, check it out. Cross-posting this with the neglected Check This Out as well.
Last week, I think, Max Rauch (the hardest working man in NJ indie music) posted a status on Facebook that said "Link me to your bandcamp page and I'll sum up your sound like a nerdy music journalist." The response was overwhelming, and Max went ahead with some pretty on-the-nose write-ups that started making me feel self-conscious (I always feel self-conscious) about some of the stuff I write here.
I jokingly commented that I was just going to start posting music under the simple caption, "Check this out." Within seconds of hitting enter on that comment, though, the idea started to make real sense to me. What if I posted that stuff that I enjoyed but didn't have time to write about and said, "Check this out?" What if, when I had writer's block or was really busy or distracted, I just posted cool stuff I'd heard without all the additional work? What if I let people come up with their own nerdy music journalist descriptions in their minds? What if I drove them to find out the information I usually put into a post on their own? That could be cool, no?
After a few attempts to find a somewhat appropriate and available domain name, I bought checkoutthismusic.com. On Wednesday, I launched Check This Out with Warbly Jets' "Raw Evolution." No descriptions. No PR info. No nerdy music journalism. Just the song. I'll tell you here that "Raw Evolution" is the sixth track on Warbly Jets' self-titled debut. You should check that album out. You should also check out Check This Out and let me know what you think. I've added a little tab across the top of our site up there so you can get there from here when you feel like it.
[Note: Thanks Max. And everyone should check out the latest release from Max's band LKFFCT. Dawn Chorus is out now on Sniffling Indie Kids.]
Now, this presents me with a mini dilemma. What goes on Check This Out and what goes on CoolDad Music? Like much of what I do here, I have no plan. We'll just have to see what happens.
So...
Here are a couple of things that I'd like to tell you a little more about.
Elephant Fire, "Natural Heart"
Elephant Fire are a lo-fi, psych-rock four-piece consisting of frontman Adam Wall (vocals, guitar, synths, percussion), Steve Wall (guitars, vocals, synths), Dave Hellman (drums), and Zac Colwell (formerly of Of Montreal, bass). The band released Natural Heart at the end of September, and they just released a trippy new video for the title track.
Adam Wall "embarked on a six month pilgrimage into the hearts of North America's national parks for this album" and "traveled from sacred land, city, and national park writing songs to bring those blessed experiences and vibes to a full-length album."
The video for "Natural Heart" captures some of the exuberance that Wall felt on his sojourn. It also happens to feature a cameo by Francie Moon's Melissa Lucciola.
Ruby Boots, "It's So Cruel"
Nashville, TN via Perth, Australia artist Ruby Boots will be releasing Don't Talk About It via Bloodshot Records on February 9th, 2018. It's the follow-up to 2014's Solitude and features contributions from some heavy hitters like Nikki Lane as co-writer / background vocalist and The Texas Gentleman as backing band.
To coincide with the release announcement, Ruby Boots released the video for album opener "It's So Cruel." In keeping with the image that Bloodshot have cultivated over the years, "It's So Cruel" combines country with other, more rock-oriented sounds. In the case of "It's So Cruel," there are hints of power pop and even glam rock.
...so, check those out; and, when you get a chance, check out Check This Out.
