Check This Out Plus Some New Videos for You to Check Out from Elephant Fire and Ruby Boots

Check out Check This Out.

Expansion

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.

Natural Heart is out now.



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.

Coupla Things from Bethlehem Steel and Francie Moon

Bethlehem Steel by Montana Elliot

Tuesday Morning Stuff

I thought I wrote this post already, but I guess I'm losing it. I'd fully intended to tell you about Bethlehem Steel's "Alt Shells;" and, while I sat here, they went ahead and released a second single. Francie Moon haven't put anything out since their latest thing... ...I think... ...so here you go.

Bethlehem Steel, "Alt Shells" & "Fig"

Brooklyn via Buffalo trio, Bethlehem Steel, are Rebecca Ryskalczyk (vocals/guitars), Jon Gernhart (drums) and Patrick Ronayne (bass). They'll be releasing Party Naked Forever via Exploding In Sound Records on 11/10; and, in the past few weeks, the band have shared two of the album's singles.

"Fig" is jagged and angsty, like the sounds of a busy brain. "Alt Shells" starts quietly and then bursts into something more forceful. Both songs feature Ryskalczyk's songwriting enveloped in the quirky and anxious sounds of the band. I can almost hear both tracks in quieter / singer-songwriter style arrangements, but -- similar to a band like Hop Along -- the full-band set up here really makes these songs come alive.





Francie Moon, "New Morning Light"

Melissa Lucciola has been performing with her project, Francie Moon, for a few years now. Lucciola gives off the vibe of (as I think Roy Orbitron's Conor Meara once said to me) a "rock n roll lifer," passionate about and dedicated to the music.

Last week, Francie Moon shared a video for the unreleased "New Morning Light." Director Eric Durkin manages to capture the visceral energy of a Francie Moon live performance. Rich Slurry, who recorded, mixed, and played drums on the track, gives everything a wild, spooky, shack-shaking feel.

If you get a chance to catch a Francie Moon live set, don't wait. Just go.

Cool Stuff for a Hot Friday from Francie Moon and Charly Bliss

Francie Moon by John Meeks Craddock

Hot Takes

Looks like we're done for the time being with April showers, and we can start looking ahead to May flowers. This weekend kicks off a big run of activity that goes into next week, so I figured I'd send you out there with a couple of things that I've been enjoying over the last couple of days.

Francie Moon, So This Is Life

Francie Moon (aka, Melissa Lucciola) is a New Jersey treasure. Francie Moon bleeds and sweats the music she makes; and, I'm ashamed to say, I haven't given her work the coverage it deserves here. Back in September, I did manage to share single "Red Cloud Road," which shows up as the closing track on Francie Moon's debut LP So This Is Life.

I said of that track that it sounds like it "could be playing for you from an old, beat-up radio on a hot day as you drink an ice-cold Coke from a glass bottle." I may have been a little off with that. As I listen to So This Is Life -- which Moon originally recorded to cassette with Richie Samartin before transferring, overdubbing, mixing, and mastering the final product with Samartin and Jon Irizarry -- I do get the retro feel I was trying to evoke with that description. It's less relaxing, though, more full of some kind of fire.

Opener "Grow" is bluesy and yearning with Moon's singular voice howling "I wanna grow, but I don't know how." "Charmed" sways on bendy guitars as it makes the case for living in the moment. The title track tells of people living their lives, while it asks "is that all?" and the guitar wails away in the background.

Throughout So This Is Life, Francie Moon sounds wise beyond her years. She possesses a voice and a delivery that make you feel like you're listening to a revered singer from a by-gone era. Her songs seem to come from someone who's seen a great deal and still has some big questions.

So This Is Life is available over at Francie Moon's Bandcamp page.



Charly Bliss, Guppy

Last Friday, Brooklyn's Charly Bliss released their long-awaited debut LP, Guppy. I waited for this one for a long time, and I spent all of this week being not disappointed. Charly Bliss have said that they spent a while trying to find themselves playing among avant-garde and experimental bands in Brooklyn. It was when they finally decided to embrace the fact that they are a pop band that things finally came together.

"Glitter" finds singer Eva Hendricks asking, "Am I the best? Or just the first person to say yes?" while sticking with a relationship she kind of hates. I saw a YouTube comment on the video for "Ruby" that said something like, "Weezer fronted by Alvin from The Chipmunks." While that was probably intended to be mean-spirited in the way YouTube comments can be, it's the combination of sugary pop vocals and heavy 90s guitar riffs that make Guppy so addictive. And Hendricks's vocals can go from teeny-bopper innocence to manic freakout in a split second as they do a few times on "Percolator."

I've always loved that strain of power pop that combines hooks and heaviness. Charly Bliss add something extra by making exuberant pop that goes right up to the edge of bursting into something wilder. On "DQ," Hendricks sings, "I bounced so high, I peed the trampoline;" and almost every song here is like that. Flying high to the point where you just about lose control.

Guppy is out now on Barsuk Records.



OK. That's it for now. Have a great weekend. Get outside. Ride a bike. Play some baseball.

Friday Round-Up Time: Bloody Death, Francie Moon, Keith Monacchio, Sex Stains

Sex Stains. Comic Drawing: Quincy Larsen.

Gotta Do More of These

It's the calm before another busy weekend this morning; and if I don't tell you about some of the stuff that's been coming in lately RIGHT NOW, then I'm not sure when I'll get another chance. So...

Bloody Death, End Call

Released last week on small, Scotland-based cassette label, Sorbie Rd., End Call slots really nicely right into my wheelhouse. The solo project of Brighton, UK's Ted Foster, Bloody Death mixes noise and shoegaze with pop into something that is both satisfyingly dirty and delightfully catchy.

End Call is a compilation of songs from previous Bloody Death EPs and opens with "The Past Is Boring." The song lurches along as Foster deadpans about unhappy family life with the lead guitar weaving in and out among the noise. That's followed by two short instrumentals, the Jesus and Mary Chain-style fuzz wall of "Quit It Quick" and the bendy and melodic "Chill Out + Have Some Weed Dad."

Throughout, quiet reverb-soaked guitars give way to swirling walls of noise (e.g., "The Superbowl," "We're No Longer in Love with Me"); and Foster's low-key vocal delivery, self-deprecating lyrics, and knack for lo-fi pop make End Call a record that can worm its way into your head and stay there.

End Call is out now on Sorbie Rd. and available at their Bandcamp page.



Francie Moon, "Red Cloud Road"

"I set up my life around music to make it work, no matter what," says New Jersey's Francie Moon. From making 500 vinyl EP covers by hand to personally selling thousands of CDs to people at her shows to walking two miles, laden with gear, from the train station to a gig, Francie Moon pours herself into her music.

Recent single "Red Cloud Road," off of her upcoming, self-titled EP, just feels like it's built from the blood and sweat of hard work. After recording the song to cassette, Moon spent some time in Georgia. There, she and engineers Richie Semartin and John Irizarry transferred and embellished the track to arrive at what we have now.

"Cause I need someplace to rest, somewhere to put my head," sings Moon over a bluesy groove that could be playing for you from an old, beat-up radio on a hot day as you drink an ice-cold Coke from a glass bottle. I get the sense, though, that it will be a while before Francie Moon takes the time to rest.

Francie Moon will be self-released on 9/23.



Keith Monacchio, The Dust-Up

The Dust-Up is the second full-length from Robbinsville-based singer / songwriter, Keith Monacchio. Monacchio possesses a gritty yet warm voice that is perfect for conveying the intimate and confessional songs on The Dust-Up.

Singles "The Bridge" and "I Won't Give Up" show two of the sides of Monacchio's songwriting. "The Bridge" is a bouncy, almost honky-tonk song about life's obstacles featuring guitalele and cigar-box slide. "I Won't Give Up" floats on the hum of synths and lightly brushed drums.

Other stand-outs include opener "Angels on the Horizon" -- Monacchio's vocals and the organ had me thinking of The Band -- and "Allenhurst" -- pedal steel and Wilco-esque embellishments.

Sean Glonek produced as he has for Monacchio's other releases and, to me, the overall effect of The Dust-Up is similar to Elvis Costello's King of America in the way it mixes the familiar sounds of Americana with a modern songwriting style.

The Dust-Up is out now and available at your favorite online music retailer.



Sex Stains, "Period. Period."

L.A. five-piece, Sex Stains, released their debut, self-titled LP for Don Giovanni Records earlier this month. The band features Allison Wolfe (Bratmobile, Cold Cold Hearts) and Mecca Vazie Andrews on lead vocals, David Orlando (Warpaint) on drums, Sharif Dumani on guitar, and Pachy Garcia on bass.

Sex Stains' short and bouncing post-punk is both danceable and subversive. This week, the band released the video for the sub-two-minute "Period. Period.," which sees Wolfe and Andrews trading vocals in the bathroom of L.A.'s The Smell. The frantic and potentially seizure-inducing video has me pretty excited for Sex Stains' 7:40pm set during this Saturday's installment of the New Alternative Music Festival in Asbury Park's Convention Hall.