Beat Drun Juel
Satisfy is a signature song from them, well for me. Its on Youtube. My first impression was that they sounded to me like PJ Harvey. And Like PJ, Donna is a gifted guitarist. Donna often loses herself in her performances, trance like and instinctual during her guitar playing. When she plays guitar it seems to be another genuine voice, and it is fascinating to see. Aggressive is an easy word to describe them, but only when being specific or it is meaningless. I mean, everyone is described as aggressive, right? The aggression comes directly from Donna, often her voice and for sure her guitar playing. Its the whole band, yes, but she is the tip of the spear as well as the metal the spear is made from. Alright, alright, that sounds cute and all...right. I have seen her solo shows. Donna can bring the intensity up with just her voice and guitar. Her guitar solos have some fucking balls. And there is that urgency and tension in her voice. It builds a structure that promises to crash and fall. There is no whine to her blues, but Nick Cave style coolness. And there something old about Beat Drun Juel, a natural maturity, a blue's maturity. So I am like the one hundred person to call Beat Drun Juel aggressive, right...and so are many others, I understand. What is also evident is how great a guitarist Donna is.....damn, I said that in the beginning already. The skills are in the bones, in the muscle memory of her hands. In many ways you see two performers on stage. Her EP Off Your Face is a mother fucker. And This Is How I Get Over You. And it feels like its just the beginning. Let It Out lights a series of short fuses with Donna screeching...well Let It Out. Donna has such an awesome howl. Satisfy starts out intimate with her low womanly howl that crashes together with all her instruments. She climbs a series of mountains and then causes an avalanche.....on purpose. Its dominant and cool when not just intense. Her resting state is cool. Awful World swaggers as it slows down. I See You is like sung from a tight rope. This is who is playing Friday 5 May with Walking Bicycles. 
Impulsive Hearts
Chicago Surfer beach rock.
I have not surfed. The closest beach I know is still by a lake. I once went to Miami to see some friends there. They took me to a beach, a real fucking beach with an ocean. The vastness of it. I almost had a panic attack. I felt as if the ocean could swallow me up. So my concept of surfer-beach party rock is a work in progress. This concept does include a mention of Impulsive Hearts. Sorry In The Summer is the bands first LP and it is the best! I am a fan of every song. Before that it was a self-titled EP with four songs. Danielle's voice is breathy, almost like a loud whisper. She disarms quite effectively and behind the green screen after you've pretended to smoke a bowl while pretending to surf in the lyrics lie distress, depression. You've sad-danced your way into the third song before you know it, but so many of you have done that already to Joy Division, and Cure and the DJ is damn near sick of hearing you constantly requesting them. I'm not saying at all that she sounds like those bands. The music puts you surfing in front of those blue screens. And yeah, some of y'all are smoking. I don't judge. I was first alerted to this awesome band by another rock star, Adele from Axons. No....I'm not putting rock star in quotes. I really mean this, Adele from Axons is a rock star for me. When she says this is a favorite of hers, I fucking listen. Anyway, she told me this at Front Woman Fest. I think the first one. They've held them all at The Burlington. Impulsive Hearts will play Wednesday 17 May with Panda Riot, Wyys at Empty Bottle.
Walking Bicycles
Among my favorite memories of Empty Bottle are with them. I feel at ease around them, they are my friends. I think it was 2007 when I first saw them. They woke a taste for local music that was dormant before them. I think for me they sound more post punk than blues. Due to my occasional travels to England, I was looking more towards what was going on over there. I came back from England with an obsession with Queen Adreena, and Katie Jane Garside who was the lead singer, Soho Dolls from London. I can fucking go on. All that was over when I saw the Bicycles....Well I still fucking love Katie Jane Garside, but perhaps my point is made. More punk Siouxsie than PJ blues rock are Walking Bicycles. The bass rounds the edges, is the first blunt and heavy weapon that is still light so they stride like a parkour runner in the urban ruins. This has the bounce and energy of death rock...without being death rock. Its darkness is natural and without intent. My first time seeing them, I thought of this as a good band to talk with Sarah about. It turned out she already knew them. It was one of them moments that made my friend Sarah so magnanimous to me. She would already have history with bands I was barely discovering. Jocelyn's voice is slightly hoarse. Her voice is comfortable in the grey like a narrator. I don't remember what got me to go see them that first time. You know what got me to ask for the night off my third shift job on a possible heavy Monday night. Wait...I do remember. I had bought a CD of Aleks And The Drummer at Reckless Records. They were on first and so that is what got me on time....yeah. Bicycles were second and then The Dials. Welcome To The Future, Whirling Dervish, the songs that made me a Bicycles fan. Future is from their 2006 Disconnected. They don't actively play from it, and that's cool. I'm saying in case you like what they do play live, consider buying it as well as To Him That Wills The Way. That is what they play from live. Its intense, light on its feet and hits heavy and cool. And no one moves before y'all hear me call Walking Bicycles dark as urban hell. No one has better moves in this hell than the fucking bicycles. So is defiant with its combo sharp sprints and tense in its brief resting moments. They all have signature combos of blunt punk intensity that can take off like a muscle car. War Paint, Faster Than Light. And this is a punk anger that is old as well, a maturity. I mean all of them really. They are writing and playing new music. They are playing Emporium with Beat Drun Juel 5th May and I cannot wait for the combo of them bands. I need to post this before some of these bands play.
Zig
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