TPR Featured Band-to-Watch: Dråpe

Written By: Chris Parsons

Olso, Noway’s Dråpe (pronounced: “Draw-peh”) is a brightly psychedelic, up-and-coming quintet working largely in the vein of dreamesque pop and shoegaze. Since the turn of the new year, the group has already released two singles, “Blue Skies b/w Wash Away” (Jan ’13) and “Memories b/w When It’s Cold Outside” (March ’13), in anticipation of their forthcoming debut LP, Canicular Days, to follow up 2011’s early, self-titled extended play. From the tracks’ titles it seems Dråpe is battling a case of spring fever, dreaming of the summer sun that inspires their sound as they wait for the winter to wane and snow to wash away, pining for the beautifully inspiring nature of Norwegian landscape to flourish. The dreamy and full wash of sound that Dråpe sculpts is warm and fuzzy with colorful tones, definitely serving as a vehicle for summer vibrations.

“Memories” opens with a curiously bright, yet dissonant, earworm on guitar that builds into an easy groove with throbbing bass and steady, upbeat drums. This song seems bright, yet somber– sunny, but nostalgic– but the good vibes prevail, clearly taking the cake as the instrumentals’ jamming chemistry will have anyone’s feet itching to dance. The female vocals certainly lend additional warmth to Dråpe‘s sound, at times reminiscent of Phantogram‘s Sarah Barthel. The lyrics are at the heart of the nostalgic memory, but the way the vocal harmonies blend into the rich sound makes for a sweet symphony of psychedelic pop.

While Dråpe recorded “Memories”  at Greener Productions in Trondheim, NO, the short and and more ambient B-side, “When It’s Cold Outside,” is a simple 4-track recording, this time featuring a downtempo ballad and soaring, yet soft, male vocals. The drawn out melody, in both the instrumentals and vocals, ebbs into a beautiful and gripping structure, evoking a similar sound to their arctic neighbors,  Sigur Rós. Dråpe are sure dropping a lot of cool hints about this debut record as well as appearances at upcoming festivals as the warm air of spring begins to settle in, while we’re left to cope with this hankering for summer sun! Canicular Days is due out April 19 and will be released both digitally and on 12″ vinyl via Norwegian label Riot Factory and further distributed internationally by EMI Music.

TPR Featured Band-to-Watch: Less Win

Written By: Chris Parsons

“One of last year’s finest records is now finally being released digitally” was the headline that grabbed my attention on this particular release, from Copenhagen’s Less Win. One of 2012’s finest records, yet this was my first acquaintance with the international heavy psych powerhouse, a whole year late! It seems the timing is just as right as ever though, as Less Win have recently celebrated the re-release of their 2012 LP, “”Great,”” which was originally exclusively pressed to limited edition pink 12″ vinyl and self-released on their own Sixxxxx imprint. Since then, they have teamed up with Pad & Pen Records in an effort to bring the lively vinyl’s captivating sound to a wider audience and gain the exposure and reception that is deserved of such a solid debut trying to break the sometimes-stubborn scene. And while you’re just taking the plunge into this 11-track wall-of-sound masterpiece, Less Win have already been busy cooking up the next batch, as if they were cleverly expecting us all to catch on eventually, “it was all just a matter of time.” Recently the power trio has signed on to The Big Oil Recordings, joined by fellow Dutch post-punk space-jammers, Battle; the two groups are expected to release a split on TBOR, with Battle‘s single already released for an early preview of what’s in store.

Unsurprisingly, Less Win‘s darkly psychedelic, post-punk sound is right in line with the up-and-coming wave of underground rock ‘n’ roll that’s been emerging, especially observed apparently both on the U.S. east coast and within Copenhagen, Denmark (these are definitely not the only two areas, but The Process Records has been exposed to much of these sounds from these two specific geographic regions in particular; Nothing, Speedy Ortiz, Chelsea Light Moving, The Woken Trees, The Wands). This post-punk ‘wave’ seems to subconsciously blend elements of heavy psychedelia, shoegaze, punk, and even glam and “math rock”– all of which are easily referenced throughout Less Win‘s completely rollercoaster ride of an album, which is nothing short of “”Great””! Essentially, these bands are the next ‘punk,’ hardly concerned with starting any kind of scene, but just in it all for the hell of making loud-as-fuck rock ‘n’ roll– loud enough for them to let loose all their inhibitions, and the audience theirs, collectively tapping into the deep, rolling vibrations– culminating in a sonic onslaught powerful enough to strip the paint off the walls and melt brains if it didn’t tear them both right apart first. Sometimes you’ll be caught in a groove, lost somewhere in the fuzzy ragas of noisily distorted guitar and cranked bass, at times catching glimpses of lyrics bleeding in and out of the layered collage of sounds, and other times you might be compelled to let roll with a crazed old stomp-and-romp, carnally energized by the heavy force of the drums and thick bass. The intertwining frequencies all seem to melt together, venturing into a realm of krautrock-revivalist drone-soundscapes, such that they seem to create a singular entity of sound– you may even lose track that they are only three “humans” in this very alien, very cool, rock band of the future! What’s more, their digital release sounds like a vinyl mix– nice and full, vibrant sound–which really brings the whole experience alive, as if you were actually there, in some dim lit basement dense with bodies that feebly attempt to absorb and deflect the sound, perhaps more likely surrendering and becoming one with it.

TPR Featured Release: For Those Who Wish to See the Glass Half Full – Slowness

Written By: Chris Parsons

February 2013 has us anticipating the debut LP release from San Francisco’s Slowness, “For Those Who Wish to See the Glass Half Full,” set for official release on 2/14, though pre-orders are being sent out as early as today! The eight tracks of shoegazer-tailored dream pop is a follow up to 2011’s “Hopeless But Otherwise” EP. Much like their partners-in-crime, Dead Leaf Echo, Slowness tediously took their time (spanning over a couple years) to put all the pieces together in terms of ideas for songwriting and performing, so as to ensure the quality of their first full-length was totally up to their standards. And you can tell in every subtle detail that this album has been tended to with an attitude of intent [for vinyl], striving to aurally illustrate a masterpiece of interwoven auras blending into a surreal collage of sounds.

The quintet achieve this aesthetic with the gaze of reverberating, jangly and fuzzily distorted guitars; a warm and smooth bass sound that seems to ride on the surface of the sound like the slick groove of a rock skipping on a lake; brooding, yet dreamesque male and female vocal harmonies ethereally floating in the mix; and the propelling pulse of a tight drum kit, dually serving as the anchor in the intricately heady wall-of-sound. Slowness is not just a band of musicians, they are audio engineers– as much scientists as they are artists– dialing into the perfect settings on their blanket of pedals to realize such a distinct, yet familiar sound. The drone pop swells are easily ear candy enough to lull you into a psychedelic daydream. And to witness the vinyl experience would only infuse the already pleasantly ambient vibrations with a warm, analog flavor, no doubt coaxing goosebumps down our spine and a buzzing euphoria within our soul.

Slowness also collaborated with collaboration with G.Diesel, J.Marten, and Alex Jorgenson to produce artistic and visually stimulating music videos to compliment six out of the eight songs off of the LP. The playlist of all six videos is linked above and is one of the only ways to preview most of the new songs while you wait for your wax to be shipped over, so enjoy and spread the word: Slowness has got a new record!