Well now! Hello folks. I would like to share some groovy stuff, if I may. KJK more or less has the solid lock-down on latest and greatest, so I think I'd like to add a little spice here by posting some gems, whether new or old, here nor there. In any case, I have until now mostly stuck to playing music and not so much writing about it, so we'll just pretend that I know what I'm doing for the moment.
First up is Hello Electric from Portland, OR. They are a three-piece electronic rock band consisting of Guitar, Bass, Drums, with bassist Henry Gibson doubling on multiple instruments including Synth and Percussion. There latest album is called Skychief, and can be streamed above.
While a rock band at heart, their electronic influence comes in the form of some serious studio business; fuzzed-out bass tones and IDM or even Industrial beats on a few tracks. The synth drone at the intro to Three of Clubs is as filthy as the grimy old revolver in your grandfather's basement. The guitar work makes amazing use of the clean sounds on a hollow-body Gibson as well as some dirtier that reminded me of some choice NIN work. Kirk Ohnstad's vocal dynamics between throaty shout and melodically calm warble fit the dynamic of the instrumentals exquisitely. While I cannot speak to exactly how much involvement producer John Gourley of Portugal. The Man had on the overall sound, I can certainly say he did right by these guys, producing a cerebral yet intensely listenable opus of minor-triad goodness. I recently described this record as an impossible imaginary situation where Trent Reznor decided to produce a Menomena record, only the recording sessions went awry and a brutally dope offspring emerged, autonomous from said artists. This is an awesomely bizarre coalescence of sonic mindfuckery. I'm certainly hooked.
Follow-up post after the show on Wednesday with co-headliners Sons of Huns, another not-so-well hidden secret in the Portland garage rock scene.
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