Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 65 i Under the Radar

What was the highlight of 2018 for either you personally or for the band? I enjoyed meeting a new cat called Sandy, who had got lost near Sainsbury’s Local opposite the Great Cambridge Road. He came to stay with us for two nights. When he wanted to go outside he found his way directly to his owner’s front door despite being very far from home. He was a nice cat who we miss daily. What was the low point? The whole year spent awaiting Brexit, and coming to terms with Trump being in power in the States, as well as Sandy leaving.   Are you less of a fan of Kanye West now that he’s visited the White House and has in other ways supported President Trump? He seems confident…

Be honest, did you Floss in 2018? (Meaning the dance craze, not the dental care.) Miki Berenyi: I gave it a go but my kids told me to please stop. Which Muppets character are you most like and why? Miki: The Swedish Chef. I love cooking but I get a bit ambitious sometimes and the result is chaos. Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit tragically took his own life this year. What should be done to improve mental health conditions for musicians? Miki: When an artist expresses their mental health problems—depression, anxiety, addiction, whatever—as part of their art, it can seem like they are dealing with it, making success of it, and therefore don’t need any help. And I wonder if it’s then even more isolating that…

The three members of Aussie trio The Goon Sax have only been back in the U.S. for a day, and already some reporter on the phone wants to know what they think of America. They’re also keen to talk about the band’s second album, a meditative romp about breaking up and moving on called We’re Not Talking . The reporter seems to ply for pithy answers, but for Louis Forster, Riley Jones, and James Harrison, a Goon Sax song speaks for all of them. “We really like honest music, and so being sincere and honest is something we wanted to do,” Forster explains. “If nothing else, that was achieved. Sometimes I don’t know whether the other things we wanted [the album] to be [happened], but we got…

If there is one continuous thread that ties together the diverse discography of Panda Bear (aka Noah Lennox, also of Animal Collective), it is his unyielding insistence on pushing forward. Whether that be reflected in his ever-evolving aesthetic or in the affirmations and mantras delivered in his songs, he is never content to just sit still and rest on his laurels. His latest album Buoys is no different, maintaining the constant recreation that has become as much a hallmark of his sound as any particular sonic device. “What is happening currently musically has always been the thing that fascinates me most,” Lennox says, explaining what influenced the sounds on Buoys. “I have no interest in wanting to do a copy of something but the songwriting was…

It’s been an eventful 12 months for TOY. Having reached the end of their three albums deal with Heavenly Recordings in 2017, they eventually parted ways at the back end of that year. Nevertheless, their reputation as one of the most colorful and inventive bands on the London circuit preceded them, and it wasn’t long before new suitors in the shape of Tough Love Records came on board. Already armed with a batch of new songs, the five-piece set about putting together arguably their most diverse yet collectively representative batch of recordings to date, culminating in fourth LP, Happy in the Hollow . Comprised of 11 songs that traverse an array of genres including post-punk, Krautrock, folk, and avant-garde electronica, Happy in the Hollow is the sound…

“A ny piece of big artwork is always collaboration,” Amanda Palmer readily admits. This would be a far less compelling admission if it weren’t in reference to a work that is, by all standards of measurement, surely one of the most deeply personal and cathartically intimate albums to come out in recent memory, as well as being the most singularly anecdotal of any in her own career. The songs on There Will Be No Intermission are relentlessly tenacious explorations of personal traumas that range from the death of a best friend, to miscarriages, to the trials and tribulations of being a new mother, but at their core they are also communally generated and broadly expressive, tapping into collective struggles and the current political climate as much…

The term supergroup is primarily reserved for a band comprised of people well established at their craft—say, a quartet of recognizable rock stars. Although boygenius’ members have each released at most two albums, the term is already being regularly applied to the trio of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus. Boygenius’ early supergroup status tells you all you need to know about the ascendant career trajectories of its members. Each singer/ songwriter has earned heaps of indie buzz and critical acclaim on the strength of her captivating solo work—all largely marked by witty insights, personal reflections, and vulnerable delivery. From the earliest days of each artist’s career, both listeners and critics have grouped the three together—among other artists, who pretty much universally just happen to…

To conclude, we ask Telekinesis some questions about endings and death. Telekinesis is the project of Seattle-based singer/songwriter/ drummer Michael Benjamin Lerner, whose new album is titled Effluxion , which comes from the Latin term meaning “to flow.” While on previous albums Lerner worked with Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla and Spoon’s Jim Eno as producers, Lerner self-produced Effluxion, recording it in his basement home studio in West Seattle and playing every instrument. It was Walla who helped discover Lerner, shepherding his self-titled debut album in 2009 (released by Merge), producing it and playing on every track. A decade later, Lerner is still signed to Merge and releasing his fifth album for the label. Effluxion is the follow-up to 2015’s Ad Infinitum. The album was…

Black Belt Eagle Scout, aka Katherine Paul, released one of the most arresting singles of 2018. But “Soft Stud” was a red herring. By which I don’t mean a fluke of quality, rather that it’s just one facet of her deeply rich debut album, Mother of My Children . Nevertheless, the grungy defiance of that single was a striking introduction to Paul’s world, one she experiences as an indigenous, queer, feminist woman. Paul returned to her roots to record her graceful and emotionally frank debut record, both literally and spiritually. She was drawn to Anacortes Unknown Recording Studio in Washington State as she was a fan of albums made there, that and it just happened to be 15 minutes from her parents’ house. “It was just one…

There’s a title track for Peter Bjorn and John’s new album, but you’ll never hear it—at least not now. The Swedish trio wrote a song entitled “Darker Days” for their 2016 album, Breakin’ Point, that failed to make the final cut. Two years later, the band remained inspired by the title, but once again, the song was left out of the final mix. The band’s organic approach and learned pop perfection has developed a filter. Title track be damned. “We started with the title, which came from a song that didn’t make the last record,” says Peter Morén. “When we wrote separately, we all had that title in the back of our head although you can interpret that title differently. I’d written some of my songs before I had the…

Despite compelling testimony from Christine Blasey Ford and sexual assault allegations from other women, Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in a Supreme Court Justice and many Republican women didn’t believe Ford’s story. What does this tell you about the general state of the #MeToo movement in 2018? I am so disappointed in how people reacted to Ford’s testimony, her coming forward at all. There was a mistrust even before her story was heard. Think of what it takes to confront men in these towering seats of power. She had so much to lose, and she did it anyway. She had to move her whole family because of death threats! People only could see what Kavanaugh had to lose, which was a promotion. Yet that means the world to so many people…

What was the highlight of 2018 for either you personally or for the band? What was the low point? The low point was breaking down in exhausted tears in Texas at the end of a too-long tour and having to cancel a show 10 minutes before it started because I could not stop crying. The highlight was putting out our record Transangelic Exodus, which I am so proud of. What are your thoughts on how the U.S. midterm elections have played out? What do you think the results mean for the Democrats’ chances of taking back the White House in 2020? I’m not much of a political analyst. I’m glad more people voted than usual. I still have hope that the news will start to be better, that we will…

Which  Muppets  character are you most like and why? I think I’m mostly like Kermit. Even if he’s a bit boring. I don’t know, I think he’s a nice guy. He tries to avoid conflicts and stuff, that’s a bit like me. But if I could be any Henson character, I’d go for one of the mystics in The Dark Crystal. Or maybe one of the UrSkeks. Those guys really know what’s going on. Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit tragically took his own life this year. What should be done to improve mental health conditions for musicians? Depression is a terrible disease, in which you believe that you are seeing the cold, unloving world as it truly is, while others see it through rose tinted glasses. The truth…

After speaking for an uninterrupted 15 minutes, Chan Marshall stops to apologize. This will happen several more times during our conversation, and each time it is for the same reason. The years since the release of 2012’s Sun have been intense, and she simply loses herself in their retelling. In truth, this story begins during the writing and recording of Sun, an album Marshall says came with the unwelcome mandate from her longtime label, Matador, to “deliver a hit.” The stress that followed the touring for that album kicked off a hereditary angioedema that threatened her life and sent her around the world looking for an effective treatment. Once cured, she became deeply involved with the burgeoning Occupy movement, then watched it unravel. Disillusioned, she was soon packing her bags…

Lizzie and Kristina “Teeny” Lieberson can’t make small talk. Of course, the two sisters chat amiably enough from the former’s apartment in Ridgeview, Queens. But when it comes to writing for their sorority synth-pop act TEEN, big-picture concepts always come to the fore, particularly about living and loving as a woman in the 21st century. “This is our outlet, and this is how we process what’s going on in the world and what’s going on in our lives,” Teeny tells me. So while Good Fruit might read ostensibly as just another breakup album, Teeny and Lizzie see their third work as a conduit to discuss letting go of more than just sour lovers. Unlike Love Yes, their giddy New Wave statement from 2016, Good Fruit seems…

Cass McCombs lives in Northern California. On this particular fall day, he is speaking from the inside of his car, parked on the streets of Oakland. Carrying a soft vibe, he mentions that he never really lives anywhere. At the time, the worst forest blazes in California history—the Woolsey Fire near Los Angeles and the Camp Fire in the North—were wreaking havoc. McCombs, 41, says the air is very hazy. “People are wearing masks,” he adds. “The air is really dangerous.” McCombs doesn’t seem overly excited to talk about Tip of the Sphere, his ninth full-length; he lives a secluded life and having a sense of solitude takes a lot. “Everything doesn’t have to be under a microscope,” he says. “The new album is a continuation from the last [Mangy…

“I know what it’s like when I connect with a band. I don’t forget about them. I’m with them till the end,” says The Twilight Sad’s James Graham, looking me straight in the eyes. In this instant, I understand what fuels my admiration for the irrepressible vocalist of one of the unsung great bands of the past decade. It’s the sincerity. You hear it in the Scottish singer’s cutting observation of human nature delivered in his native brogue. It also shapes the uncompromising attitude that he and his brothers in instrument have towards their exhilarating output. Essentially, I realized that Graham is capable of the same kind of reverence of a group as I have of his. The genuine love for what he does is the draw. “I think there’s…

Wait four years for a new Foals album and then two come along at the same time. Almost. If 2015’s What Went Down was the record that elevated the Oxford outfit to rock’s major league, then the follow-up would undoubtedly provide a leg up to the next stratospheric level. Not that Foals have ever been a band to concern themselves with such things as world domination. They are a genuine word of mouth success story that’s built through years of relentless touring while making great records to boot. Foals are here for the long haul and their outright refusal to conform to whatever scene was around at the time undeniably served them well, proving to be the catalyst for the band’s longevity. In 2019 they are…

Mitski Miyawaki stands motionless as the music starts, her arms at her sides, hands open and arched outward with palms facing down as if she’s about to levitate. The drums and keyboards of “Nobody”—the disco-tinged single from her latest album, Be the Cowboy—start to percolate. This is a genuine dance anthem, full of defiant self-pity and longing, but she does not so much as shift her balance from her knee-locked pose. As the music swells her voice gains in intensity, her hands begin rising slowly, first in front of her as if bracing for impact, then rising even more as if pleading. As she repeats the song’s title over and over as the music fades, her hands cover her eyes, palms facing outward. In this instant,…

Jessica Pratt has released her first cohesive album. Yes, she has two acclaimed and internationally beloved full-lengths to her name already, but those were assemblies of largely self-produced tracks that were written and recorded across extended periods of time. Pratt’s new album, Quiet Signs , represents her first project that had a clear plan from its very inception. “I knew from the second I started writing anything that it was all going towards this endeavour and that in the end it would all be part of one whole. I had never approached writing that way, and it was interesting,” she says. “My first record was basically a collection of songs that I had recorded at different times that I didn’t intend to put out. And then half…

J Mascis has been showing off this different side for quite some time. When the Dinosaur Jr. frontman first released a solo album, 1996’s Martin + Me, the response was something of a soft shock. Mascis, the man responsible for not only cranking his own amps to 11 but influencing a generation of alternative bands to do the same, had shed his electric for an acoustic approach. Even more, his typically buried vocals were placed more central to the mix. J Mascis the singer/songwriter was a bit of a sonic curveball. Yet adjustments aside, Mascis’ solo work was arresting on another level. The thoughtful reflection, the charming approach, the subtle beauty—all aspects of Mascis’ songcraft that might never be truly appreciated without these acoustic turns on his own. Elastic Days…

What was the highlight of 2018 for either you personally or for the band? What was the low point? Highlight: Amazing new line up! Thor Harris and Jordan Geiger joining Angela Seo and myself. I am very, very much looking forward to getting back on tour. Low point: Having to push my finger into the eye of a stray pit bull to get it off my wrist and the bite making it impossible to play guitar for two months. Which Muppets character are you most like and why? Miss Piggy. I am insecure, imperious, fancy pink, and scream at people a lot. Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit tragically took his own life this year. What should be done to improve mental health conditions for musicians? Obviously…

A year after the #MeToo movement, do you feel things have gotten better or worse in terms of issues of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and misogyny in the music industry? I think it’s a little too early to tell, but my gut says better. We men have to ask ourselves questions we’ve never had to ask before, view women in a different light, and basically rewire our brains. It won’t be overnight, but it does seem like it’s going in the right direction.  Which  Muppets  character are you most like and why? Holy fuck, I can’t believe you asked about the Muppets, I LOVE the Muppets. You know what? I’m every Muppet. I’m sappy and optimistic like Kermit, I’m sassy like Miss Piggy, I’m funny but bad at…

Bradford Cox has never been one to sit on his laurels and wait for the next trend to come along. Always several steps ahead of the curve, his music has confounded expectations since the very first Deerhunter release almost a decade-and-a-half ago. Adored by the avant-garde and taken to heart by any number of minimal left field genre categorists you’d care to mention, both he and his band’s music have provided an altruistic anomaly that’s had commentators, critics, and fanatics alike chewing the fat over where they sit in the contemporary family tree. Which is just how Cox likes it. Out on a limb, doing things his way on terms set by no one other than himself. Never one to be swayed by the bright lights, Cox is happy sharing…

In 2016, U.K. shoegaze four-piece Lush reformed, 18 years after the band’s dissolution in the wake of the suicide of its beloved drummer, Chris Acland. The band, featuring original members Miki Berenyi, Emma Anderson, and Phil King, and with former Elastica drummer Justin Welch in place of Acland, released an EP, Blind Spot , toured the world, and generally basked in the excited response from critics and fans alike. Then, as quickly as it had reemerged, Lush dissolved again, after bassist King announced his departure. The band would play one final concert at Manchester Academy, with Modern English’s Mick Conroy in place of King. In her lifetime, Berenyi had never played in any band other than Lush. Yet, from the ashes of the reunited Lush, a new…

Ladytron are one of the most innovative bands of the 21st Century. Formed in Liverpool back in 1999 by Helen Marnie, Mira Aroyo, Reuben Wu, and Daniel Hunt and bonded by a love of experimental electronic music and pop, the four-piece released their debut album, 604 , two years later after a batch of critically acclaimed singles and EPs. Four more albums followed over the next decade culminating in 2011’s Gravity the Seducer . Since then, each of the four band members has been involved with other projects. So it’s fitting they’ve chosen Ladytron’s 20th anniversary as a band to put out their first new record in eight years. Consisting of 13 songs in total, Ladytron marks a distinct change from its predecessor. Whereas…

After the release of her debut LP, 2016’s Don’t Let the Kids Win , Melbourne-based singer/songwriter Julia Jacklin didn’t think she had any more songs left in her to write. “I was totally, 100% sure that all I had in me was one album,” says Jacklin. “I thought 22 year old Julia was a songwriter but 26 year old Julia is a performer of old songs. Nothing was coming and I was touring the world as a songwriter but I didn’t feel like one at all because I wasn’t writing. It was a bit scary. It was weird, I felt like a bit of a phoney for a while there.” With the support of her bandmates, friends, and family, Jacklin reduced the pressure she was putting on…

The welcoming of the new incarnation of LA-via-Chicago quartet Young Jesus to the current scene blatantly devoid of a presence such as theirs didn’t come without some book cover judging. The name admittedly raised flags when their first offering of quaking post-rock blessed with extemporaneous spirit, S/T , appeared in late 2017. Was this going to be cloaked proselytization? A good portion of avid listeners would espouse the separation of religion and music, finding refuge in the latter that provides similar comforts and communities. But founder, singer, and guitarist of the band, John Rossiter, who started Young Jesus with late 20th century pop and indie-rock inclinations over a decade ago, doesn’t aim to spread a Christian message through his music, so much as cultivate its core values…

“I think we just got lost.” Adam Thompson cannot pinpoint exactly what went wrong in the creation of his band’s latest album, The More I Sleep the Less I Dream, except to say that, collectively, the four members of We Were Promised Jetpacks looked up and realized they were sonically lost. “After three albums and touring for six or seven years, you can get pulled into the business side of things,” says Thompson, the band’s vocalist and guitarist. “You’ve got one eye on that and then you’re weighing what you’re doing with your life, which I’m sure everyone does. You wonder if this is really what you want to do with your life. You think you should get bigger if you want to keep doing it. All of that played…