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[theavengingmusicjournalist]

blueBrown releases debut single “Kingdom Go,” like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Math Rock had a baby

A world traveller following his dreams, Matthew C. Brown originally from the band, Homeless Apians, of Jackson, New Jersey, arises in Australia as blueBrown. A solo project budding on the road with the debut release of blueBrown’s single “Kingdom Go.”  

Pearl Jam influences ring in the track’s vocals oriented before entering a head banging chorus. Engineered and mixed by lead guitarist of Phavors, Phil Marflak, I am reminded of the passion that constructed this single. Hitting the chorus heavy, all sense of potential softness grinds into a taste of Layne Staley influence. The lyrics, “I can’t wait for you” seem to beg to an uncertainty hanging in the narrator’s sky.  

“"Kingdom Go" is from the perspective of someone in a relationship with a partner whose personal growth is quickly exceeding their own,” said Blue Brown in an email.

The narrator in this instance, describes blueBrown, is frustrated with their inability to grow as quickly although their partner is growing faster by slowing down.

“The ambiguous chorus, “I can't wait for you,” leaves the audience to decide if it's a cry of desire or of resentment, further revealing the confusion and frustration the narrator is experiencing,” continues the artist.

Not only will blueBrown’s vocals move the listener from sonically led focus to head banding, but the guitar layering hums musical talent to a new plane of musical complexity. If you enjoy math rock from Frank Zappa to Chon you will melt at the guitar skills of blueBrown. 

Upon listening, the motion of sound, swaying seamlessly from acoustic to electric immerses the listener further into the pulse of the single.

“It sounds like an acoustic over an electric because that’s almost what it is! The main electric track is the baritone using the electric pickups, but the bridge I installed on the guitar also has a piezo pickup that I can switch on if I want to imitate the sound of an acoustic,” said Blue Brown.

In fact, blueBrown built the guitar he is performing on. The baritone electric guitar was built from a butchers block, while the rest from used or recycled guitars.

“The neck was a gift from a friend after I married him and his partner,” said blueBrown.

blueBrown is on a vulnerable route, creating and writing at his most transparent. The artist is away from his band Homeless Apians as he travels. The band has played throughout the City of Asbury Park for years.

However, the solo project of blueBrown is a musical expedition for the solo artist and his continued to travel. Most recently, the brown haired blue eyed musician for which his name derives (with influence from the very peculiar Kengo Hioki of the band Peelander-Z) has been road tripping around Australia for the last nine months.

“The two colors were already built into who I am,” said the artist of sky and earth.

blueBrown will be releasing new singles in the near future as well as videos that can already be found for “Kingdom Go.”

“[outSides] is blueBrown's video series of live multi-tracked performances recorded and filmed in National Parks and other beautiful landscapes across Australia,” says the musicians YouTube page. The “Kingdom Go,” video features blueBrown in Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park in South Australia on June 17th. A true visual display of the musicians talents.

blueBrown’s single “Kingdom Go” can be found on SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Spotify, and listeners can find the lyric video and blueBrown’s video series, outSides on YouTube! For even more on blueBrown find the solo artist on Instagram @bluebrownofficial, Facebook and his website.

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

A Profile of LGBTQIA+ Activist, Carol Watchler

Written by Lana Leonard

Carol at QSpot annual Community Awards Ceremony 

Photograph by Lana Leonard

The Watchler family moved from Cleveland, the birth place of their second child, Carol Watchler--March 4, 1942 at St. John’s Hospital. Nearby her grandparents house in Rocky River, OH, lived a toddler-aged Carol Watchler atop her tricycle.

Watchler must’ve been between the ages of two and three when she rode her tricycle, for she was newly three by the time the family drove their vehicle into the celebratory end of World War II, May 8, 1945. “We were all bundled in the car where the confetti poured. I remember buildings,” shared Watchler.

Glancing through the computer screen, Watchler nudges the camera to continue the interview. “Is that okay? Can you see me?” she inquired. Observing the brim of her royal blue fleece, Watchler sits beneath a painting in the home she has kept in lieu of the many gifts of artistry she and her late partner, Women’s Rights, Reproductive Rights, and LGBTQIA+ Rights activist, Ann Baker have been gifted over the years. Watchler, also known as the original camp fire kid form her girl scout years, lives in a deep collection of life, spirituality and love.

Watchler grew up in a household of three sisters and a younger brother, navigating the world as it be, full of outdoor life, music, and justice. Watchler’s parents invested in her future. From the time the activist was 12-years-old, she tested out of seventh into her final year of middle school. From this, the Watcher family gave their full support. This support would eventually grow even more bountiful.

Not always understanding their daughter’s sexuality, 1998 was the year Watchler’s father would stand on the lawn of her Roosevelt, NJ home to announce his support for his daughter’s 25-year partnership.

However, when the time came to begin college, Watchler decided she wanted to join a convent. Having already spoke to her mother about delaying college for ministry work, the young activist, would soon have to tell her father. 

“That was my first time coming out,” said Watchler. A moment in 1959 that would assert where she would aspire and inspire onward.

Watchler’s attention to ministry work surrounds the belief that we as conscious beings in the journey of evolution are continuously revolving toward the reality of a community of love. It was in that time that Watchler’s advocacy work would only grow and intersect.

In 1966 Watchler began to teaching math, science and religion in an all Catholic girl’s high school. Her extensive teaching career took the educator to all new insights of righteousness. Within Watchler’s 37 years of teaching she received the NEA Virginia Uribe Award for Creative Leadership in Human Rights and the NJEA Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights Award, and eventually would leave ministry work to live with the love of her life.  

It was in 1973 that Baker and Watchler would move in together. Their move would ignite much of Watchler’s future in activism and advocacy. “I didn’t want to push you,” Watchler recalls Baker saying. “I knew that being with Ann was the right thing to do.” 

The pair moved into Trenton, NJ where Carol would work for Trenton State College (now known as The College of New Jersey).

A true dynamic pair, the fierce activists would work day after day. “I would have a call at 7pm, a call at 8pm, a call at 9pm, and a call from LA or San Francisco at 11pm,” reminisced Watchler. Today, she is still this active at taking calls and completing workshops for LGBTQIA+ equality for the future of education in America. This transition as an educator continued in Watchler’s position as Co-Chair of the Gay Straight Education Network of Central New Jersey brought her many organized opportunities.  

The annual GSA Forum began 17 years ago after a student and activist peer of Watchler would face discrimination from their school. The youth would introduce Watchler and HiTOPS LGBTQIA+ Coordinator and Health Educator of the time Corrine O’Hara. With the Trans youth forum manifesting over these years, hundreds upon hundreds of LGBTQIA+ students, educators, allies and parents from all over the state come together for change and community.

At 78-years-old, Watchler has since become the Community Outreach Coordinator of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice in Princeton, NJ where she continues to influence, inspire the needs and rights of LGBTQIA+, black and brown lives, education, women, ministry, politics and all the intersections that take massive life tolls on worldwide disenfranchised communities.

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

Phavors Set to Release Debut EP, “Petals”

Phavors gets ready to debut their four track debut EP May 28, 2020

 Written by Lana Leonard

In the last few months, Phavors has certainly opened themselves up into the world. The dream-pop duo of Kayla DeRosa and Phil Marflak, strikes the DIY music community with their debut EP, Petals. Completely mixed and mastered by Marflak, the music collection beautifully encapsulates what the band has made their mission from the conception of Phavors: Seeking out the truth of self via vulnerability and community as so to find self-loving comfort.

Set to release May 28, expect the title track single release of the EP, “Petals,” to open up this record’s voyage. From “Waste Time,” to “Water is Still,” to “Home” the power of Phavors seems to manifest out of an invitation for lightness—to come as you are. The vocals of DeRosa will place you in a dreamscape and the eclectic timing and impressions of Marflak will distill into fine, crisp echoes you may sip.

Petals renders rest for the mind and bounties a realm of timelessness. In our historic hour of incubation in isolation, Phavors offers you a golden hour; a moment in time where you should feel pleased to waste time before the day dims to nightfall. A gentle breeze, the four track record takes what could be the most magnificent thing about life in quarantine and builds a stained glass fort to watch the stars through.

Ultimately, there isn’t a promise that goes unkept with Phavors. The lyrics and words relinquished into the music community ring back with promises kept. There is no arguing against what Petals is capable of evoking in the band’s commitment to music. For that, this EP will come to you in pure bliss.

Continue to look for news and upcoming information for Phavor’s upcoming EP at their website, www.phavorsmusic.com. For information on press/media email Phavors at phavorsmusic@gmail.com. And to listen to the title track single release, “Petals,” visit Phavors on spotify.

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

A Love Letter to Phavor’s New Single, “Petals”

Written by Lana Leonard

At the root, “Petals” insists a musical tenacity for comfort in universally shared human experiences. It is often we all stumble through life, swimming our limbs through flower fields towards lovers and those we love. Just as often, those same flower fields dry in death of a lush season and those lovers recede out of our worlds. Perhaps you hold on. Perhaps you come undone. Perhaps you never look back. Whatever you do in bouts of indubitable change, is something held in the hands of near all. And it is exactly the remembrance of that universal human experience that makes the newest release of Phavors so pure.  

In the lyrics, “So they say love can stain like flowers stain an open field, watch them sprout, pull them out, death never looked so real,” lives a solace in knowing people are not alone in feeling the stains of love; the grieving of when it’s dissipating. On its own, “Petals” is a flower growing out of the bark of the vulnerability tree Phavors themselves have rooted for their fanbase. 

Phavors, made up of both Kayla DeRosa and Phil Marflak, is a dream-pop duo out of Central New Jersey. Marflak writes the music, the lyrics as well as produces the music himself. The most reflective of Phavor’s influences of Bon Iver and Sigur Ros lives in “Petal’s” emotional energy stemming from the lyrical and sonic build at the midway point before it releases in finality. Engaging both the words of sound and the sounds of words (in particularly sung by DeRosa while sometimes in harmony with Marflak) evokes a rumbling that both tilt the hat at Justin Vernon and Jónsi Birgisson. 

The two talents are very clear of their values and uphold them in justice to themselves and others. In the duo’s about page, they share an essay that compels their mission: “The lyrics in [Phavor’s] music wishes to lead by example: being totally honest about ourselves and our feelings, admitting things that we try to suppress, and pursuing a lifestyle that allows growth and healing to take place.”

DeRosa and Marflak grows rich from the soil of the heart while setting up an environment that runs on vulnerability and the truest ambiguity of the lives we live in. To pull feeling, trauma, and honesty from an artist that then turns it into music is what manifests the esoteric trues of art. When we are consumed in a world of distractive entertainment that says, let us numb more, let us forget, that truth can seem a rarity.

Thank you Phavors for insisting to dig deep and feel everything, to encourage feeling in order to move onwards and forwards. Your team work in developing “Petals” amid the entirety of Phavor’s heart is beautiful. With this, I look forward to the future of your music.  

Listen to “Petals” on Spotify and follow Phavors on Instagram and Facebook !!!

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

Matt Fernicola is “The Monkey” in the Foes of Fern Single Release

“The Monkey,” Released, Aug. 23 the newest single debut form the Foes of Fern comes at the cove of seasons. This isn’t first time Matthew Fernicola (otherwise known as Fern) has used humor as a means to hash out truth. 

“I’ve definitely written a bunch of cynical songs before. They all play off that contrast of happy fun music with the shallowness of society.” “The Monkey” was written along with Fern’s 2018 spring release of “April Came in The Rain.” Another track that delves into self reflection while coping with our surroundings.

Perhaps at the height of summer, we as social animals find ourselves more susceptible to masking ourselves for the group.  Listening to Fern’s jam, I imagine satirical laughter consuming dancing limbs. The solo of multiple instruments fills the ears and inspires a smile even in cynicism. Suddenly the glum is indubitable to comedy. 

“But still I play on in their mascaraed; laughter is gold inside their game; they cannot see it’s all make believe; cause you’ll never get the real me” sings “The Monkey.” The song almost a satire within a satire becomes surreal and real while seeming to make fun of itself. “So I’ll do your dance and I’ll be your monkey and I’ll act a fool; it’ll be so very funny.” 

“The recording was so much fun! I had some great performers from all my different bands on this track,” shares Fern. From friends across the ocean to the shore of home, the Telegraph Hills President prepares a garden of sonic pleasure. Fern discusses the family of instruments as a distraction from the truth of the song. 

“I used to feel like “the monkey” whenever I would be out and not in the mood to have a real conversation,” said Fern. The known-to-be extrovert performer describes his introversion; the way he tends to play as “extra” to a crowd versus how he really feels—working through the night by playing into that shallowness if even for a moment. 

Fern is a very kind soul. He tends to music with a very intrinsic care and when he speaks he feeds musical passions in others with (how I perceive) his want for the music world to be. It was just the other night, I overheard Fern speaking to a couple of guitarists, “Don’t be afraid to say exactly what you want to say. Just fucking say it.” 

“The Monkey” speaks to an array of life truths. However, this is Fern’s truth. He is blunt about the way he presents himself but he is fun and he is bold. “The Monkey” sends this message off. You can feel the raging fire of Fern.

“For better or for worse,” shares Fern, “I like making people laugh at my songs.” As it applies to this layered creation, the musician hopes the people hear something different with each listen. 

Catch Fern’s performance this Sept. 28 at the Asbury Lanes!

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

The Carrie & Morgan Show Insights Strength, Discomfort, Beauty, & Humor in Death in Asbury Park

Above photo by Ashley Rosas (@ashleyrosas)

Walking into 529 Bangs ave. brought shift to the surrounding city of Asbury Park. As white walls speak to the twisting sculpted vulnerabilities by Carrie Ruddick; the sharp vigilance of black ink to papers by Morgan Daly. Unlike the art experienced in the surrounding streets, there is a sense of darkened magic sewn into the white stoic untouched space, The Carrie and Morgan Show.

When looking at the curvature of Carrie’s sculpture I rouse the thought of female and female presenting organs. Sighting the intensity of mother nature’s dying plant to that of feminine rebirth of new growth. Feminine energy cultivating an understanding of life’s cycle while finding soft laughter amid it. Whether said be intentional, I think that intention is sewed in:

The space looks so different during the day than at night. At night, the LED ceiling lights clinch the softness away. There is a coolness in the warm colors of sun bouncing off the whipped cream  white walls. Conversing with Carrie shawls the glow of an afternoon sun over the artist’s being. The energy of sun spurs texture to the pulse of the walls and floor. 

The honey oak floors creak with the step of slow feet to the curling arms of death ridden flowers grounded in naked space. Purple, pink, and yellow pastels illuminate beneath cream plaster. Color becomes a shadow that cradles some sense of what life is left of the limping petrified vegetation. Just as the ceiling fan spirals shadows on the eyes, you can turn to the intimacy of Morgan’s drawings on the walls. Each line retraceable in sharp turns taking flight in a hot air balloon, flowers, clothing, machinery. Objects of memory lofting from change. 

“Even if you don’t look at these and think flowers or plants, they all have this subtle pastel. It’s not a completely dark moment.” 

“We had no definite idea for these pieces,” shares Carrie.

However through discussion, inspiration flowered within the relationship of death and humor. A like minded train of thought Carrie and Morgan couldn’t ignore.

Looking over to my left stands the face of a half oval ushering from the ground. Pointing in my eye stands tusks peeling out from a purple and grey tombstone made of foam, plaster and acrylic; the common half oval of a body’s remembrance pointing mountains of light sits. Pulling myself into a cartoon, each tomb stone blooms after growing a belly full of flowers left by living company before hibernation. I, a passerby, feel the warm sun burrow into the ground—night upon us. 

Each sculptor a bouquet to rest beneath a tombstone--a sort of memorial. 

Speaking to Carrie is as if part of entering a cloud of imagery. She composes each sentence a rich song of her heart. The artist explains the stream of consciousness that over took her senses for sculptor. As her pieces would change per application of plaster on foam tubing she decided to let nature curate her work’s growth. “I’m going to let these pieces be what they become,” said Carrie noting gravity’s might to pull her work to the ground. 

“Because I was thinking in ways of death, these weighed droopy things felt in line to me,” the sculptor sighs in memory of having only a month to ready herself for opening night earlier this July. 

Working with sculptor, she says, is working with reality. 

Whilst crafting each piece Carrie noticed she hadn't watered her own plants. “I was subconsciously creating versions of my dying wilting plants. I let that stay in my mind as I continued to work.”

Morgan, decided to use drawings that aligned with the rumination of death and humor. In fact, Carrie notes how on lookers felt her sculptors and Morgan’s drawings were purposefully in sync. However, their work was build separately and Morgan had been drawing the pieces before the show was in purview. 

Downtown Asbury Park art seems to venture away from the sentiments of death better tackling the love that is known here. The art presented by Morgan and Carrie exudes as much soul as the live show bills Little Dickman Records organize Downtown; there is distinction—a new color of expression listening to Fruit Tones, Shark Muffin, and so many more. Parlor Gallery derives from that same distinction, bound in the heart of punk where and when DIY music spaces curated to more intersectional narratives. Carrie and Morgan showed up. No one asked them to be here. Carrie said she felt she has yet to share her art with this city she has built such community with.

When looking at the curvature of Carrie’s sculpture I rouse the thought of female and female presenting organs. Sighting the intensity of mother nature’s dying plant to that of feminine rebirth of new growth. Feminine energy cultivating an understanding of life’s cycle while finding soft laughter amid it. Whether said be intentional, I think that intention is sewed in:

Morgan and Carrie went to school in a small sculptor department where they learned under male professors who were very influential and supportive of them. “We often have that conversation of what would we be making or what would it be like if we were taught under a woman. what would it be like if we had a female role model in sculptor that we had a direct relationship with? Being in their early twenties then the two artists also hadn’t come to realize how they felt about their genders, so there was this subconscious pressure to be more like a man in sculptor. 

 “In being a sculptor, you are a builder; it is a labor I really enjoy. I love physical labor, I love building things.”  Although their male role models were amazing lot of their work had took from male reference or critique. They loved mastering this craft. They loved the ability to be self sufficient with stereotypical masculine tasks such as melding or foundry. 

“I think that this work is subconsciously has been, and will always be, in someways a response to those things.” As a result, these sculptors represent all the things a woman does not have to be in terms of a clean cut and crafty stereotype. To create something smooth and beautiful. 

“I feel like as a woman it means so much to have the power and choice to make a beautiful thing ugly because I can.” 

Please come back with your truth and hearts Carrie and Morgan. Much love. 

Follow their work at Carrie’s website: welcome.carrie.studio/ Instagram: @crudddd and Morgan’s website: morgandaly.com Instagram: @morgandaly and @carrieandmorgan.show

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

The Raconteurs Played Baby’s All Right and I Went

Photograph by Ashley Rosas @ashleyrosas​ (instagram)

“Ashley Rosas… And this is my plus one,” says Ashley looking over at I.

“You don’t have a plus one,” says the list barer. Ashley rolls her eyes to the ceiling, “Yes I do, it was very clear on the email…” “You can’t go by the email,” stammers the hands, curling paper where Ashley’s name has a little check beside it. Thinking I snuck my way in among the chaos, I walk into the Baby’s All Right venue space. Alas, I was not so clever. Though beyond the list, the thudding feet, and my hearing (of course), the voice of a new long haired concert acquaintance announced, “They are my plus one,” and that’s actually how I strutted my way mid-stage.

***

I, half on my knees with an immense need to pee, stand awaiting to enter the intimate Third Man Record’s Vault member’s only Raconteurs record release show for Help Us Stranger at Baby’s All Right. The lucky plus one, I smile in the understanding that I am about to experience something special.

Ashley loves Jack White. She loves his art just about as much as I love watching Courtney Barnett push her whammy bar into the screw of the upper left pick guard of her lefty Fender Jaguar 20 feet from the stage. To experience the luck of the draw with a truly dear friend brought sunshine to glistening shade—I distracted from any need to use the bathroom.

Tapping my feet to the concrete, I watch a videographer take to the streets just before entering the venue. He walks parallel from where Ashley and I stand on the sidewalk. He is looking for his shot—studying the line as he walks. He stops mounting his camera to his right shoulder. “I think its first come first serve,” says someone ahead in line waving a twenty-dollar bill in the air.

Ashley, I, and the kind concert acquaintance, Shaun, relax our shoulders in the Vault privilege of prize entry.

Locking our place in the crowd, Ashley and I take turns to use the bathroom—what a relief. Making the next focal point the drinks.

“Who wants a beer?!” I stating with jubilance—my forehead lines rising smoke to the ceiling. “Get me the cheapest beer they got,” says Ashley with a glimmer in her eye. With all hands raised, I return with three beers in the knick of time to be barricaded by the barricades of human. It’s as if people would meteor strike into the pit of endless fall if they were to crank their shoulders open and push their feet together. I find concert crowds amusing.

They have such strength to be one while also will to be territorial in a-round-about of house rules that either a select few hold or most all seem to carry on the lips of their tongue and the bounce of their feet.

In this case, the audience was rightfully protective and just as warm. The long haired, presumed man in front of I and his friend danced gallantly. Jumping high and singing low, I could feel the energy of the room swirling around the body as concert acquaintance Shaun hands me his oil pen. I feel an observer, as this is my first Jack White experience and to be frank, the best kind.

The guitars vamp those down strums, the drums rattle on the high hat, the bass rumbles, the lights calm. Actually, the light show is quite literally one of my favorite parts of the entire set. I look up at the saturation. The band looks as if they are floating, magnified in red, orange and green. Immersed from head to toe. Nevertheless, every dies down. I am unsure of the time and I am unsure of what to expect next. Half the crowd screams for one more song, while the other half (closest to Ashley and I) start, “What do they mean one more song, I want the other half of the set!” I enthused, smile in observation. I hope the band plays one more set, but here I am a guest of a guest—content.

I can hardly hear out my left ear on account of some wisdom teeth coming through, so speaking to Ashley was like responding to someone speaking to you in their sleep. “You want to move up?” asks Ashley.

Suddenly, the lights redirect, the band reenters drowning in green.

Ashley grabbing my shoulder with each guitar punch; Jack White moving with fluidity up and down the fret board; his face wide singing into the lights about Billy and his “Carolina Drama.” Whilst a listening, I cannot help but notice two photographers. One very tall body who takes their camera to the hip of their bag just to shove the lens back to the sky over and over. I imagine them saying, “This is the one, this is the one… No this is the one!” Another photographer stands in front of Ashley over to the left. “That’s Ray Neutron,” voices Ashley in a near whisper that in any other environment would’ve been a shout.

Photograph by Ray Neutron, @rayneutron (instagram)

Ray flipped his camera behind and backwards, to get a shot of the crowd. I stood there thinking, “What is this human doing?” However, witnessing the photograph, I saw their vision. Their way of working with red light warmed me as did the upside down smiles facing the stage. The one audience member in the front middle of the photo would be my mosh bounce trampoline. Ashley throws me in with the jumping beans, mush moshing into the glasses wearing, jumping tummy as so to catapult into the long haired friend I would soon make. Ray also shot for the Rough Trade show the very next day.

The Raconteurs are focusing on their performance—on putting on a good one. Jack Lawrence specific to my line of sight. I don’t think he looked up from his bass once, rocking back and forth to grooves like “Only Child.”  This is an intimate show, one that I find extremely valuable to the crowd and even the venue itself. “Help Me Stranger,” rattles the floor,  and I, learning the words, place my arm around my dancing partner who, in this particular moment, could not be happier. I fly two and fro the rotund tummy behind, I and the jumping bean in front of I. The end is near, so we swing round and round until the lights go down.

The band, unified, bow in thank you. 

“Oh my God,” mouthing Ashley as she looks into my eyes. A split set ends and the crowd unanimously roars, waiting if not eleven years than some odd less to feel this feeling again. The intimacy of The Raconteurs coming to a stage near you.

I look forward to my second Jack White experience. Thank you Ashley.

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

Connor Bracken and the Mother Leeds Band Prepare for Live Album Release

Written by Lana Leonard

Connor Bracken and the Mother Leeds Band (once known as LEEDS) brace fans for their upcoming live album with the release of an enthusiastic live performance video for the single, “Read on You” released May 3. The music video showcases the band’s sure fire energy amid a unmovable pond of audience members at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park last Dec. 28. There lays an undeniable confidence vibrating through Connor Bracken’s vocals and brazen Hagstrom Viking guitar in chemistry with the roar of Rich Seyffart’s hi-hat, cymbal drum sizzle, Mat Cobb’s thumping bass, and Jesse Fogerty’s riffing rumble on guitar.  

Alongside the four-piece’s new album, “Read on You,” is the first single released with local Asbury Park label, Telegraph Hill Records. The local label floods with the local melodies of Lowlight, Levy and the Oaks, Leah Voysey, The Foes of Fern and so many more.

Additionally, “Read on You,” comes as a bold release for what you can expect from the band’s live album release May 10. “The best part of our band is our live show. To be able to capture it is something I think people will enjoy,” shares Bracken about the live record. The album comes with the sounds of soul the band is riveted by and as shown in the performance release of “Read on You,” anticipates high expectation for what is to come.  

The music you can expect is music that means something to the band’s fanbase. As a musician, Bracken wants the people to take the music and make it their own. “I always have people telling me what the songs mean to them. I like that more than the other way around,” said Bracken.

With “Read on You” out for your dear musical sustenance, the record on the way, and a live show set to reschedule at The Stone Pony, Bracken wants to share the band’s thanks: “The whole past year was a coming of age time for us and I feel the pieces are finally in place for us to take this to the max—showing people that our live show is crucial to that.”

RESCHEDULED SHOW DATE TBA ASAP

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

Avery Mandeville Releases Happy Birthday, Avery Jane at The Saint July 13

Photo credit to CoolDad Music

Written by Lana Leonard

Avery Mandeville is a musician and a lyricist, and well, an overall dynamic artist of Asbury Park. There is an undeniable camaraderie that grows out of the soil of Mandeville’s garden; and whether this stems from the great amount of water that is her support or the sunshine that is her hometown, Mandeville’s talent is undeniable and not exclusive to her stage presence.

“It’s a long time coming,” said Mandeville about the new LP. “These songs are coming from a completely different place.”

Salty’s (Mandeville’s debut EP) songs were written over the course of 6 to 7 years and have matured into the music of Happy Birthday, Avery Jane for which the songs were written over the course of 2 years.

Ben Puvalwski, a drama student at Tisch, stationed by the bar at front stage discussed the sense of urgency he felt to arrive, “I realized tonight was Avery’s release show and I thought, I got to make it! I got to make it to see Avery!” Puvalwski frequents The Inkwell Coffeehouse where Mandeville and Matt Fernicola, Man Devil guitarist and VP of Telegraph Hill Records, perform and host Thursday open mic night.

Mandeville’s Salty, released a year and a half ago at The Saint, just as the fire haired musician’s debut LP Happy Birthday, Avery Jane released this July 13. Another commonality is the love brought inside the doors. Audience members bounced around the short walls of the venue—libations in hand. Man Devil bassist, Chris Dubrow, sat taking whiskey shots with his father during Lowlights set, while Emily Bornemann of Dentist sat all the way down the bar, ears wide open and Kristine Donovan of Julian Fulton and The Zombie Gospels sat four feet away sipping a Blue Moon. Everything was crystal, a vibrant sense of clarity, focus, and gorgeousness about the room—an undeniable love for music and support for the rest.  

"I feel really fortunate,” said Renee Maskin of Lowlight about playing the release. “Everyone had their own energy to give.” Maskin explains this energy as something wholesome to the night’s setlist—a sense of heart in that of each performer.

“I don’t know anyone that sings like Avery… she takes over because she is true and honest,” said Dubrow. Speaking with a cheeky smile, he crosses his legs over the backstage’s red couch.

Dubrow sat with great ease, his intoxicated lengthy arms resting as he shared how he weaseled his way into The Man Devils.  “I wasn’t in the band before Salty’s release show. The week before the show I sat there with a cup of coffee and played the songs before I knew them.” The band would expect nothing less of such a quirky character.  

This truth and honesty the Man Devil bassist speaks of swelters amid the goosebumps songs like “Predator” induce.

“These are my best friends [the Man Devils]. Fern and I have matching best friend necklaces…this song is about the boys that aren’t my boys,” said Mandeville with both endearment and then heartache.

At Madevilles strum, the once energized crowd slows their steps; the song’s meaning is inescapable. The universal story “Predator” breeds is an electrifying sense of reborn shock that rape, sexual assault, and harassment of the multitudes are still socially sympathized aggressions in our society.  

“Predator” was written last summer before the Me Too movement began in September. Studio ready or not, the artist thought it imperative the song be released along with the power of each story’s truth.

Mandeville stood outside after Dentist’s set. She leaned against the wall, her backpack filled with tickets sold. The hours ticked all they could tick and with the venue pouring out of the same faces that cheered her name, Mandeville stands making direct eye contact, still under the then dark sky. Her glasses sat on the bridge of her nose and her dress of a golf T was missing the second ’S’ that spelt a moon lit ‘ASS’ on the back. Somehow the night was young.

One by one people came up to Mandeville just as happy drunk—just as thrilled to see the night unfold as she.

And unlike last year, unsure of her continuous great nights of performance, the whiskey dipped singer and guitarist said, “Yes, there will be more nights like this.”

Happy Birthday, Avery Jane released by Telegraph Hill Records

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

The Foes of Fern, The Indiegogo & What to Expect

Written by Lana Leonard for Telegraph Hill Records

With the help of fans they call foes, The Foes of Fern are calling out to all lovers of music and the Asbury Park music community in an Indiegogo campaign to assist in raising funds for their first record, Girl In All My Songs (Ghosts). Produced by Matt Fernicola and Joe Pomarico through their label Telegraph Hill Records, the new musical release has already rendered a rich sound and personality with the release “April Came in the Rain.” The single and its lyric video can be found on YouTube with an edgy rock n’roll flair that indubitably makes you laugh and smile away a sort of cynicism towards life. With a music video and new single, “Sun Day” dropping May 14, and the end of the Indiegogo campaign coming by May 17, the time to give to The Foes of Fern is now. After listening to “April Came in the Rain” you can expect a diversity in sound with the release of the record’s second single “Sun Day.”  With a swing and a wave, the melancholy motions of “Sun Day” will insist the desire to take out your lighter and awaken all the ghosts in this record.

Giving to The Foes of Fern’s Indiegogo campaign will only help instill the high standards the band and Telegraph Hill Records hold themselves to—to make Girl In All My Songs (Ghosts) the difference between good and great. Look out for The Foes of Fern’s newest single this May 14 and the release of their foe-filled music video.

Give to The Foes of Fern here before May 17 comes in the rain!

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

Harborland RE-releases “A Father’s Joy” and here‘s whats up!

Written by Lana Leonard

AKA The Avenging Music Journalist

Harborland, emo-rock duo Jimmy Mura and Joey DiStefano re-released their 2016 record, A Father’s Joy. The band went separate ways while Mura temporarily moved himself to Florida. Upon his return the duo wanted to give A Father’s Joy the representation it deserves and present that Harborland revives itself ready to rock n’roll Asbury Park.

“Brian Morgante at Flesh and Bone Design created a beautiful artwork package and lyric booklet and we wanted to get that in the hands of more people," said Mura regarding the re-release and print.

The music composed upon the record is beautiful. The variety of melodies that roll down the track list are distinct and crisp to the ears. Every instrument vibrates into my ear drum. Each song has its own identity; from the harmonica in “GAVE IT ALL AWAY” to the jazzy bass opening “FIVE TO PLACES.”

Initially off centered by “LIFEBOAT,” I was soon educated by a friend that it is a cover from Heathers: The Musical. Somehow, this cemented the track’s place on A Father's Joy for me. The whole social dynamic of high school survival—a dynamic based on something so shallow, yet holds enough weight to kill. This dynamic tends to follow us out of high school as it preys on our mental health. 

To be honest, this record took a minute to grow on me. Upon first hearing it, I felt Mura’s voice was over stressed in the sounds of pop-punk, but studying each song one after another for a few weeks this began to fade a bit.  I see this album as a marvelous compilation of human growth. To add, in songs such as “THE CATCH” Mura’s voice reminds me of Ozzy Osbourne. I just want to hear him cover “Iron Man” while shredding his guitar because I feel he could better exercise the diversity and range of his voice moving away from pop-punk.

The record features new songs in the re-release ”THE MANHATTAN PROJECT,” “GAVE IT ALL AWAY,” and “CABIN SONG.”

Mura matures this voice in "THE MANHATTAN PROJECT” featuring Sandra Ferreira and Brian Buczynski. The song is blended with a superb harmonization with Ferreira likewise to bountiful monologues. The spoken word interluding the song brings a rising action that swell the song into a climax. The song is well organized and nicely transitions into the album’s epilogue.

The interlude and the epilogue share rather fruitful stories. The interlude reflects what it’s like to doubt yourself—to see yourself. The epilogue materializes what it’s like to find the belongings of the one you’ve lost in a random moment. Something so simple could mean so much even if it means looking at yourself in the mirror or realizing that you’ve moved on. As a result, I feel these two pauses speak volumes on the record—they are what linger on me when I walk away from it.

“The lyrics to most of these songs were written at various stages of my coming to terms with mental illness in the midst of losing someone in my life and creating these songs has helped me understand and appreciate my recovery,” said Mura when asked what the record meant to him.

A gorgeous thread of features spins the record in glamour. For example, the epilogue stirs itself into the final punk track of ST. NOWHERE with a pretty gnarly feature of the Retrogrades; Cassie Provinzano is tastefully implemented in “THE CATCH.” She draws in a sort of comfort from the rumble of the track and brings the desire to mosh down to a small head high. The list goes on…  In fact, each feature adds a touch of friendship—recovery—to this evocative musical collection.

Keep your eye out for Harborland’s upcoming music video shot at their re-release show at The Saint late January.

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

My Ears Met The Cold Seas At The Asbury Park Yacht Club, Killer

Written by Lana Leonard

“The Avenging Music Journalist”

The Cold Seas played The Asbury Park Yacht Club this Friday, March 9. An exceptional change of pace from the live music I am used to in Asbury Park, The Cold Seas take rock n roll and make it flutter your heart with glitter and darkness. From riff driven guitar to synth vibrations chiming meditates the voice of Chad Sabo. Standing in the crowd, my friend Allie tells me they could be on the Stranger Things soundtrack. I could only smile and jump to the beat in complete agreement.

“That’s what inspires me the most — the strange things that happen,” said Sabo in a 2016 interview with the Asbury Park Press. The interview was about his song “Never Ending” having a cut on Rhianna’s eighth studio record, ANTI. Small world, huh? Sometimes we are surprised by our own guts and the art energy they manifest in the mind. The song “Never Ending” is that song your buddy sings around a bonfire on a summer’s evening whether it is Sabo or Rihanna performing it. Sabo told Asbury Park Press the song was about his bandmates picking up some pretty wicked marijuana from a medicinal dispensary in LA. Not one to smoke Marijuana, Sabo was persuaded to have a pull and ended up having a day’s psychedelic out of body experience.

On the contrary, Rihanna is an avid pot smoker so I find this story ironic in a really laughable groovy way. Kudos on your tunes Sabo; familiar to “Never Ending” prior to this piece, I did interpret it as a heartbreak song.

Living in Asbury Park most of my life, I do not understand why it is I have never heard The Cold Seas before Friday night. Regardless of arbitrary time, I am sure glad I encountered them when I did. Guitarist Erik Rudic, and drummer Nash Breen stand alongside Sabo in the synthy rock n rolling experience.

The band formed in 2014 and are as visually pleasing to watch live as they are stupendous to listen to. The intimacy of the Yacht Club allows for an interesting glimpse of the band. Watching the mates make non-verbal cues between songs; Breen recovering from a lost drumstick with the ease he lost it with; watching Sabo and Rudic switch with smile between bass and guitar. The band plays live as if you bought their record and began spinning it in the kitchen with dinner on the stove top. To me there is nothing quite as good as a band who plays equally (if not better) live as they do on record.

However, I think what I enjoyed most upon this night of musical pleasantry is the humble energy I received from the band. I do not know them nor have I met The Cold Seas, but I feel they are modest in their craft—their stage presence. Honestly, it just gave the evening a brilliant glow. I had already been having a lovely night experiencing performances by Asbury Park’s marvelous Mostly Mack and Colton Kayser at the neighboring Langosta Lounge. To venture into the back of the Lounge into the Yacht Club through the entry portal between businesses, I was joyful to bounty such a cool surprise.

"Good set,” I said to Rudic as I left for home.

For more on The Cold Seas visit their website www.thecoldseas.com or stream them on Spotify, Amazon Music, Tidal, and Apple Music.

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

A Review: Avery Mandeville’s “Predator”

Written by Lana Leonard “The Avenging Music Journalist”

Following Avery Mandeville’s debut EP Salty released Jan. 1 2017 comes the Valentine’s Day release of both “Blood” and “Predator.” Using her voice to empower women, “Predator” delivers a staggering testament to the sexual violence that reigns on women. The lyrical content delineating how sexual predators too often get away with sexual violence. Their actions rendering acceptable under a thick slab of ages long apathy, victim blaming, and shaming.

Piano follows the surreal footsteps of the song’s reality as though the victim of Mandeville’s story is asking to be awoken from this bad dream. The mellotron follows through with an emotional distress and pain the letters of the song’s title raises when sang. The drums bang into your ears, It’s happened again, again, and again! Wake up & do something!”:

“First were his eyes, he stalks her out; Then with his mouth wide grinning; Then with his hands, palms facing up; She intertwines so trusting; But when she wants out, he closes her mouth; She can run but she’s not that fast,” sounds Mandeville’s distinct voice.

This release—recorded at Telegraph Hill Records—comes at a grave time in women’s history. Voices are not only starting to be heard, but voices have become loud instead of silent/silenced. I hear this song as Mandeville’s “Me Too.” A gravelly ventilation of the people and the moments she has experienced and shared in her life. I believe the alternative indie folk artist does an incredulous musical job at building community in Asbury Park’s music scene. “Predator” only furthers the togetherness as it speaks a truth that is truly difficult to hear—to listen too.

Nearing the end of the song, Mandeville’s guitar and voice end the balled in the vulnerability it begins with, “No one will stop him; Is he coming for you?”

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

EXTRA EXTRA! NOISE IN THE ATTIC IS BACK!

Modern Crowds (interview with Charlie Kupilik)

Together, Charlie Kupilik, Adam Baczkowski, Doug Gatta, and Joseph Pellegrinelli birth Modern Crowds. A local, Jersey Shore indie rock band, who have just released an incredible eponymously titled  record.

Just to quickly recount, Modern Crowd’s band name is inspired by, well, modern crowds.  

Our band name, Modern Crowds, was mainly derived from the current concert going experience. It is very common to see everyone either staring down at their phones, taking selfies, or filming the show rather than living in the moment. This is the modern crowd that many bands and artists have to learn to adapt to, shared Baczkowski in our last interview for Noise in the Attic.

Having their record eponymously titled is, therefore, interesting to me. This record resonates the band living in modern crowds, audiences, as if to say, This is the way it is now. I feel like this record allows me to feel close to all natural things: I feel like I am living in a time where organic processes of creating, of listening, of writing are without the technological realm. And I believe this is why I think of Jack Kerouac when I listen. I feel like he would have enjoyed listening to you on the road. No matter how you feel about Kerouac, each band mate is writing their on the road story.

As young guys in our twenties we all have our personal lives, a lot of ups and downs, learning who are becoming as people, and we feel like that all got put into this record, said 25-year-old Charlie Kupilik of the band.  Kupilik said that this record is like a personal time capsule between the four band mates. He continues to say that creating the record Modern Crowds along side, producer, mixer, and engineer of the record, Paul Ritchie, is something the band will never forget.

With this said, audience members can expect this record to be played stripped down. Not only has the band played some of the songs off of this record the last time they came around, but have been able to practice unplugged versions of the songs at The Asbury Hotel.

Kupilik shares how much it means to play a show which gives back to those suffering from cancer. It makes us feel even better to know we are doing what we love to help out others. We would do this any day of the week if we were asked to help out the way we are on Sunday, said the musician.

As a band, Kupilik, says the adrenaline and the overall great feeling of performing, as well as, watching live shows is what excites the band to do as they do. The Jersey Shore local music scene takes refuge upon the shore together. The playground of Asbury Park makes for countless shows each week and as a result of this, the support each musician and band has for one another is immense.

The bandmate brings up artists amongst the scene that make a difference such as Matt Dubrow, The Mercury Brothers, Avery Mandeville, The Burns, Dead Poet Society, Foes of Fern, The Tide Bends, We’re Ghost Now, Cranston Dean and The Cranston Dean Band (just to name a few). “Just meeting all around good people who give us good honest feedback and tell us how much they enjoy our music is just adding the fuel to the fire to keep us doing this,” shares Kupilik

Music has always been a sanctuary for us, says Kupilik.

Making music takes a lot of time and work. In these modern times, it seems the average, middle class twenty-something year old is set up for failure, or it at least it feels like one must work triple as hard to receive the minimum in return. Nevertheless, the band is a family, they work as both individuals and a group to assure their art reflects their aspirations for quality. Modern Crowd’s new record is an example of their passionate work, and yes, it does show. Hopefully, one day, the big record labels will get off their high horse and see that too.

Kevin Daly

Music to me is community, said 21-year-old Kevin Daly of the Highlands, Its a sense of identity that I never had before. The artist speaks about finding himself through the music he and the people he has met creates.

Imagine a person grasping their voice through the output of sounds, instruments, technologies, lyrics, etc.? one’s own vulnerability starts to become them. It seems for Daly, he has been able to direct the person inside of him to his audience—that’s quite beautiful.

Daly said that it gives him great joy to play for the benefit of the Ashley Lauren Foundation. Both my mother and father have been lucky enough to beat cancer and I’m happy to help fight for a cause that I have such a personal connection with, said the artist.

Having the opportunity to play for the sake of children with cancer and their families, Noise in the Attic will be a place local music lovers should go to see Daly. A lot of his heart shines on that stage. What excites about music is performing. There is something about getting up there and pouring your heart out and leaving everything you have on that stage. It is the most wonderful pleasure on this earth.

With that said, Daly’s hometown, Highlands, is where his inspiration flourishes—a place in his life that takes precedent in his music.

I have always held music near and dear to my heart, and, yes, I would say music is very sacred, says Daly. The musician explains that his music is very personal. He hopes that, as a result of this, people can connect to his craft.

Since music and art is vulnerable, or as Lady Gaga puts it, as though open heart surgery, I sincerely believe that being a performer—an artist—can be brutal in a way. You put your heart and soul into what is your heart and soul, out for the world to see, judge, but more importantly, embrace.

The advice Daly gives to up coming artists is to never give up. I know it sounds lame and corny or whatever, says the musician, “but you have to keep writing and playing. He continues to say that it only takes one song, one person to hear it—that music is a beautiful chain reaction.

The respect local musicians have for the local music community is truly admirable—something unseen in the larger music world of production. Nevertheless, Daly feels the music industry at large should adopt the comradry brought on the local scale. He feels this can come from the support of the artist’s supporters: Regardless of what you play, or what scene you are looking to be a part of, go to your friend’s shows. Support local music. Buy their demo.

Matt Dubrow

When I sit down with an idea I know that the next 10-15 minutes are going to be a creative orgy in my brain, Says Matt Dubrow, 26-year-old local musician from Oceanport, when discussing his excitement for music.

Dubrow is the type of person you smile at on the street and can expect a smile back from. As for his music, he shows that same regard and respect. The musician, who yes, is indeed playing Sunday, Sept. 24, says I resort to music as a means of translating those feelings, and thoughts. Dubrow says that these can often be thoughts and feelings that, if vocalized without music, would turn into a mess of hoopla.

The musician even gives an example, saying that for years he has been feeling that there is a dimension so close that it is beginning to bleed into the dimension he lives in. He continues, saying, that his inner monologues shepard him to places in his mind, that conclusions (I imagine of his thoughts), garner chords, while feelings of resolve, unfold as lyrics.

A song you can expect on Sunday, “Come Around” can exemplify—even clarify—what all these thoughts have manifested into. With that said, be preapared for a good sense of humor—music that, overall, gives the audience a sense of the thoughtful human that is  Dubrow as a musician and human.

Music has always been something I can use to just be sardonic, irreverent, quirky, all the things that made me a weird kid in school can come out and play in my songs, says Dubrow.

The Ashley Lauren Foundation, the foundation Noise in the Attic will be hosting this Sunday, is a federally recognized non-profit organization in Monmouth County. The foundation gives back to children and their families fighting cancer—helping financially to emotionally.

Dubrow describes playing to raise money for this foundation as exciting, but very personal. The musician continues, When you hear a word like “cancer” each human on earth will have a different emotional response, different memories, different tragedies. Since Dubrow acknowledges that everyone has their own personal pains, he shares how this is something he keeps in mind anyway—that everyone is carrying something so very personal, something for which is sacred.

To the Jersey Shore musician, to play Noise in the Attic is to keep that awareness of everyone’s personal difference, and put on a performance that distracts the crowd from anything that is negative.

Unapologetic about his craft, the musician will also take inspiration from anywhere, anyone, and anything. Music, or it seems most artists, gather their inspiraiton from just about all that surrounds them, for as Dubrow says, Sometimes I’ll conceptualize an idea for a song and it won’t manifest ‘til after I’ve helped a friend move out of their apartment and I’m sitting in a chair on the street catching my breath and I pick up a ukulele they hardly keep in tune.

Nevertheless, I have asked Dubrow if his craft has ever defeated him. He says his music only defeats him when his musicianship is not on par with what he is writing. Although the musician would not necessarily call this defeat, he says it’s nothing that doesn’t take a little practice. It seems Dubrow would say this about any human looking to become a musician too.

The musician encourages other musicians to play the music they like. Laugh at yourself for getting the lyrics all fucked up, says Dubrow, Hate yourself for fucking up the G to a D chord. Don’t worry about people around you just wail on the thing. They’re not judging you, they’re jealous.

And if you ever need some recording time, Dubrow will trade you for a little bit of grub!

All interviews done over social media or email

Write ups published as written for each artist

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

A Review: The Letter of Cranston Dean’s High Beams

An open love letter to the open roads that carry local Jersey Shore musician Cranston Dean to the venues of his life’s passion—an open love letter to his country and the people he loves, High Beams is an honest and empathetic music release.

The cover art by Amy Addison, alone, synthesizes some of what we should expect: A bitten crab apple, fallen to rot on the all patriotic bunting American flag. The bitter fruit lay atop the flag expressing said patriotism and a sense of the bitterness our country has encountered as according to Dean. Amongst the bunting flag we have what looks like an older story book, initials carved into the spine. Maybe a story book about a sailor or maybe that of folks tales, which expresses literature of this record, also holding Dean’s guitar pick on its face. Ever more, between that of the green literature and a little red book, which reads across the spine Taylor and neighboring it reads, pork roll as if a guide to New Jersey culture, lies papers. The papers, maybe a letter, that reads, In loving memory of Alexander Joseph H… The last name of Alexander Joseph hidden beneath the shadow of a skull, which is a reminder of the existential thought Dean has cultivated about the unavoidable death after life throughout this record. Never to forget, this is Dean’s fourth music release as the number four reads on that little red book. Through and through, these items are highlighted upon this black background, which surely encourages that these items are the body of his letter—In loving memory of Alexander Joseph H… maybe this one’s for you.

The record opens with the beginning of our letter, “Cross On The Highway”.  A title that defines life on the highway as a religion for Dean’s life journey—that religion, the highway, powered with Rick Rein on Trumpet, is a staple of his gypsying art allowing his mind to roam toward clarity. “Cross On The Highway” captures life in the cycle of coping—the more I live the less I learn just lost on the highway—where the musician seems to say he is off to figure it out. That he will write it all down for his world once he returns from where he’s gone, his other home of the Jersey Shore.

Encompassed with a broad range of featured musical talents, High Beams is engrossed in many diverse arrangements that trail the emotions of this letter to their empathy. Riley Schiro, on electric guitar, revs the engine to the car Dean starts within “Cross On The Highway,” and begins to drive in, in track two, “Push”. With Schiro in the passenger seat and Dave Hayes in the back seat on the pedal steel,  Dean moves on to reignite his love of the road, taking it wherever the music might take him. And surely, it does—he takes off.

Out of gas, Dean is only left with his nifty acoustic guitar, track 3 “I Want You,” playing pieces of his heart as though singing to his loved ones, hoping they can hear him as he reflects on memories, and what he has in his life. He sings, I start staring at a map; it’s time to feel alone; there is a space and time between the lines of the black top and I just feel at home.  Honestly, you could strip this record of the featured accompaniments and you would find that Dean all himself, his vocals and his guitar, would wrap around your attention and pull you in just as close. Listening to “I Want You,” the rasp of Dean’s voice and the twang of his guitar give a flavor profile you cannot refuse.

Nevertheless, as masterful as Remy in Ratatouille, Dean cooks up accompaniments that exercise so many different genres and feelings at once. Dean on acoustic guitar alongside, Nicole Scorzone on violin, opens the story of “Fog On The Bay”’s perfect storm. As though the road came to an end as water encroached on the journey, Dean has no way to reach his lover on the other side. The storm coming in close to tear apart the land and take all it knows—maybe all Dean knows—away. The back and forth of Scorzone’s violin to Dean’s heavy guitar, makes for  dramatic story telling until the moment Scorzone’s fades out into the shakes and shivers of Dean’s guitar, his twinkling piano, Frank Rein on Trombone and Zach Jone’s thumping drumbeat in track 5, “I’ve Got The Shakes”.

Dean continues to pay the tolls of the highway with love and thoughtful lyrics throughout High Beams, questioning the life and vitality of our country and wars.  In “Can’t Speak Them All” Dean speaks to the imperfections of our country: I am an evil man, I am an evil man, just look at my skin; judges gavel quickly falls; stipend lives like live stock now; smoke and mirrors, the illusion; American Justice defies us now.

Sometimes jumping from entries of heroic passage such as in “Brother, Oh Brother,” accented by the sweet whining of the pedal steel guitar, played by Hayes, to “Crab Apple Tree,” where Dean seems to be injected with the tart taste of a crab apple as he objectionably works everyday of his mortal life (unlike our uplifted traveler in “Cross On The Highway”) but to see her again he will never. And when you think you’ve been surprised enough, Rein on Trumpet, raises the bitterness of “Crab Apple Tree” to the sweetness of “Ahmen, Ah Ahmen”. The storm on the bay clears up, and Dean drives on, only until the incredible catchy “November Rain” speeds him up. Rein’s Trombone drives the rock n’roll blend of Schiro, Hayes, accompanying the jazzy spell of Jone’s drums.

High Beams closes in on the hope of the future from that of the past, what life has to bring as well as what it can make us fear. It is easy to appreciate  Dean for his varying talent to make his music sound like a mystifying fantastical tale to a singer-songwriter as brazen as Sara Bareilles and John Mayer to a reminiscent reflection of Bob Dylan singing “The Times They Are A Changin’” in 1964.

Dean shamelessly unravels the truth of his experiences with music, multiple instrument accompaniments and his raspy vocals that hug the lyrical building blocks of his exceptional story telling throughout this letter.

Upon the start of this letter, Dean was born, readying himself for his adventure for clarity but has since grown. He returns a human of new knowledge, of new sounds, of new love, and memories. He returns from where he has left by the end of this record, eventually parking his car in his driveway, sealing the envelope of his open love letter, signing it, High Beams.

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

The Dutch Palma Music Review: Let’s talk

Matthew Serrano, thanks for welcoming me into your world of music. I last experienced your musical orbit in high school and I now see how your art has grown and developed into Dutch Palma.

Dutch Palma titles the creators of the sounds which makes up the group’s eponymously titled music release. Blending classic, psychedelic rock with sprouting vegetative and indie vocals within the song “Night and Day,” the group slaps together a peanut butter and jelly of some modern rock n’roll.  

After a wicked 36 second guitar intro, which actually made me believe the song would be a little harder, lyrical waves and troughs of day and night were created. 

As the guitars slow down into a slower, more melodic, indie rhythm, the vocals roll on in the waves:

[I—I’m gonna feel good again…

But what you don’t know, you don’t know, you don’t know,

is I got plans…

And hey, don’t hold me down…

All you of know, is I wanna get out…]

The track ultimately reminds me of how it might feel to move on in your life to places and things other than here—places and things acting as doorways to your wants, even your intentions, be they good or bad.

It’s always really rad to hear that people—you do not know beyond the good, positive encounters they wheel with you—rear more than a smiling face amongst their friends. I see talent here and I also see love. Only experiencing Serrano play with a full band once, I only really remember my full retention and impressed grooving from that one time. I had no clue he was a musician.

As I listen to the lyrics of  “Night and Day”, bound and vocalized by words of mellow simplicity, I find question marks…

Sometimes the lyrical content of music divulges the story, the emotion, the feeling of a song, making it the attention grabber.  Other times the meaning, or feeling, of lyrical content is extracted by the intensity (or lack thereof) of the vocals and music. Those vibrations in sound resonate to the listener, feeling what is translated through a sweet guitar lick, and, or, belting vocals through as though a volcanic eruption. 

In other words, I find this song speaks loudly in its whisper. And as I say this, those question marks flood back in.

…I want to know more about these plans, I want to know more about what they don’t know about you, I want to know more about being held down and where you want to get out to, and I want to know whom or what is on your mind, Night and Day… and the great part is, the answer can be no answer.

I’ll be honest, since I have never spoken to you about your music, I struggle in this review. This isn’t a bad thing, but it reels me to put more of a focus on your sound/content. Maybe at a later date, with an interview, I will better be able to harmonize your sound and content with intention—find the answers to some of my questions.

For example, I would love to talk about Antonio’s Gourmet Salumeria. A track that really brings out the sound the Jersey Shore music scene loves to create as much as this music is loved to be listened to. This salumeria, in particular, has co-sponsored the latest Asbury Park music sampler and also sells some wicked Italian grub, so I am thirsty for the inspiration of this song.

Nevertheless, this is a really rad release. I think Dutch Palma could bring some really rad vibes to the Jersey Shore music scene. With that, I truly look forward for what’s to come.  

Check out Dutch Palma on bandcamp now: https://dutchpalma.bandcamp.com/releases

[theavengingmusicjournalist]

America Part Two, a Break Down of their EP Release, “Pure”

The first time I saw America Part Two was at Ocean Township’s own, 20-year-old, Mark Embrey’s Syrian refugee benefit show, Light in the Attic, at The Inkwell. The band not only played their first show as a band, but opened the night with an acoustic set.

In front of band member, Freddie Koechlin, I sat on the ground next to one of my old and good friends, swaying back and forth singing the words to “California.”

This June 9, at the Asbury Park Music Foundation, the band will hold their EP release for their debut EP Pure. Eight dollars at the door, the night will encompass sets by the beloved Have a Good Season, Corrina, Corrina, Kinder Than Wolves, and Paulie and The Bluechips.

I, however, want to tell you a little bit about the new EP and let you know what I think and what you can expect to hear from the trio of Mayflower Collective founders and pioneers, longtime musicians, bandmates, and best friends, Freddie Koechlin, Alex Fabio, and Jake Newcomb:

Pure is a collection of four songs titled, “America Pt. II,” “Hoedown (What Do You Know?),” “Ocean Grove,” and “California,” and having had experiences with the band, it is kind of beautiful to have a glimpse of where the pit of these songs might come from and who they might be about.

Let’s start with “America Pt. II,” a stripped down acoustic road of harmonic passion and love, this song is the anthem to the band’s America, or rather, what they feel America should mean. The track, in fact, reminds me of Koechlin leaving for tour last summer of 2016. I envision him traveling the nation, sitting by the Grand Canyon whistling the sounds of the ocean, the laughter of his friends, Hailey, their cat, music and home—all with a smile.

Then there is the thought of Newcomb: He is a history professor, touring with a successful band, America Part Two, and he knows what it is he wants—he knows what, and who, it is that he loves and he doesn’t let it go.

The band indefinitely wants to express what’s in their hearts, and although, it is not on the record, Jake Newcomb has a heartbreaking song that makes you think about how you might speak, act, love, and live with the someone you love to put before anyone else. Words hold so much weight in love, but actions always hold more. I haven’t heard the song since the Light in the Attic show, but that song in particular encourages me to feel that these three don’t want to make a sound to appeal to everyone, but create one that echoes their love for the art of music. With that, I hope to see that specific song as a track on their record release. Additionally, “America Pt. II” also breeds this conception of purity in the music, and makes someone like me feel happy to call the Jersey Shore and the local music scene home.

“Hoedown (What Do You Know?)” tears out the full band, introducing the drums to the EP, who of which are played by Matt Lambert, another lovely counterpart to the music scene of the Jersey Shore. I remember the last time I saw Lambert was approximately three or four years ago. We were having a cigarette on the steps of The Asbury Lanes after Toy Cars played a set. 

Anyhow, this song brings me back to the vibe of Alex and Freddie’s past band, On Your Marks—particularly the record Ripped Out By The Roots—but has some of that melodic sound Alex and Jake, the Fox and Lion, put into their self-titled EP , which holds “California” as track three. Alone, the opening lyrics to “Hoedown (What Do You Know?)”: “I wear this hoodie of a college I’ll never go to; I’m brewin’ coffee in the morning, it’s only half past two,” resonate with many people, particularly, our generation. This song is a middle finger to what society in America deems a prioritized life for your average twenty-something-year-old. The sound is pop punk, and a pair of shrugged shoulders with an eye roll at the eye doctor.

I quite adore track three: “Ocean Groove”. This past year has been a rampage of moving, life changes, rent, issues, love, a terrible election season and heartbreak upon the houses of our friends, so, for me, personally, this song, as well as “California,” brings it to the front door of some of those memories upon those houses and apartments.

I think of last summer once again here. Last summer was a better time for the two houses on the royal land of Fairfield—condensed with more love, more continuity, before things changed, however that love is still there, just more spread out. For Fabio, I think this song, lyrically, as I think the tracks on his and Newcomb’s Fox and Lion EP, are poetically loving and heartwarming, and with it so, I think of who Fabio loves, as well as, Ruby the dog.

Nevertheless, the guitarist and vocalist that is Fabio has a lot of love to give and as a result, I think of what he’d see when he would enter into that one in particular “Ocean Groove” apartment: “Just decide what you want to change into; Ravaged threads always cover the floor of your room; Your hair is everywhere; Your hair is everywhere; Your hair is everywhere; Your hair is everywhere”. I never did get to visit that apartment…then again, I was also advised against it.

Track four, “California,” re-recorded from the original, is my absolute favorite track on this EP. I just think of a gypsy, curly, brown haired human, with the most beautiful bright eyes and warmest smile on this side of the Jersey Shore. I think of California and the journey of a love I do not know, or a love that has me in a knot, not knowing what move is the right one, but making those moves anyway: “…Every time you come around she takes another step to the West… Pin yourself up on the map; Wherever you go, I will not go; Just choose a home and I’ll choose the road”.

The opening to “California,” grips you. The minute and 20 seconds of melodic guitar builds you up into the sand of the beach where you rise up to the horizon of the water, meeting the setting sun. Your sight moves to the direction of the West, but your body doesn’t because you’re sitting on a couch in that apartment, and you meet her half way. The guitar and bass part tell this story as well. Conveying the motion, Koechlin’s bass part echoes the bouncy groove of the song’s season as though a soundtrack to the movie this song builds in the listener’s mind. The bass part holding hands with the guitar part—at which summarizes the flow of emotions, sewing chimes into the sunlight that slaps Fabio—that burns his retinas—rocks the reality of the track with Alex’s intensifying vocals. The rise and fall of the chorus says it all: “Slap my face with the sun; Let the rays burn my retinas; Cigarettes though your lungs; We’ll never go to California”.

621 Lake Ave Unit 1C, Asbury Park, New Jersey 07712 - I will see you there.

FYI: The way I interpret the songs Alex, Freddie, and Jake, wrote as America Part Two is my own interpretation and what they make me feel and remind me of, but I love the thoughts of what could be—if they could be.