Coming to Town: Mutual Benefit @ The Mohawk 1/31

Right now, Mutual Benefit are in the midst of their first proper tour across the US. What was original started as a solo recording project by one Jordon Lee that didn't even play shows when it started, will performing his lush, almost orchestral indie-folk in its current six piece form tonight at the Mohawk. If the band can bring to life an ounce of the beauty and emotion that was found on Love's Crushing Diamond, their quietly excellent debut from last year, tonight's show will truly be something to see.

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Opening the show tonight will be Austin's own Poppy Red, the the long distance bedroom-pop project of Molly Long and Jimmy Spice. Together they craft this truly intimate pop, the type that feels both intimate and swelling at the same time (seriously, their Keep Your Heart EP from last year is scary good). I've been dying to see them since my friend Jheri told me about them, so I'm am beyond happy the chance has finally arrived.


BUY TICKETS FOR THE SHOW HERE

Miserable-Halloween Dream

Back when I saw Whirr a few months ago (who were absoutly incredible and demonically noisy as I hoped they would be), I noticed that their vocalist/synth player Kristina Esfandiari was absent. It seems now that Esfandiari has left the band, which is truly unfortunate because her breathy vocals truly add a wonderfully ethereal quality to Whirr's sound, especially their last EP Around. However, there appears to be a silver lining, with Esfandiari investing in her solo project Miserable. Least anyone think the name is an exageration, go listen to the dark folk melded blackened shoegaze that is "Bell Jar" and tell me otherwise. However, it's the the title track of her new 7", "Halloween Dream" that truly stands out. Her voice has emerged from its hazy casing, and now carries the full weight of its gothic, almost witch-like tone. It hovers heavily over the whole song, whether during its creeping and breathy opening, or during the metalic shoegaze crash of that takes hold of the song in its second half. "Halloween Dream" is as dark and haunting as its name it evokes, both spider-like and crushing.



Links:

Miserable's Facebook
Buy the Halloween Dream 7" here, from The Native Sound

Perfect Pussy-Driver

“Driver” starts similar to the way “I” did opening I have lost all desire for feeling; with an audible click to announce the track, a momentary pause that draws you in, and then a blistering guitar cuts in to launch the song like a bomb. “Driver” is no rehash though. It’s built on sections, shifting between almost shimmering parts where every instrument locks into a steady momentum powered by Ray McAndrew’s fury of down strokes and Shaun Sutkus’ buzzing synths, before the song bursts open, Garrett Koloski’s drums suddenly crashing everywhere next to amped up tempo. Keeping it all together are Meredith Graves’ vocals; the fury turned down just a notch from the demo, but now presented here with the intensity doubled, conveying a sense of gritted teeth frustration reaching an apex as her words interweave excellently through the clatter her bandmates create. The final moments of “Driver” represent all this preciously, as everything in the song goes into a final, momentary frenzy of noisy chaos, then pit stopping at the opening riff before everything just stops. “Driver” feel relentless; even through its sudden starts and stops, the song engulfs you until the very last moment. Perfect Pussy have grabbed hold of a precision here that, melded to internal chaos that runs through all their songs, has result that is just jaw-droppingly excellent. Again.



Links:

Perfect Pussy's Tumblr
Pre-order Say Yes to Love soon here, from Captured Tracks