Mundo Musique: Wooden Shjips, Prissy Clerks, The Slow Readers Club, Joanna Gruesome, and LYON

Let’s get the week started with brand new music from a couple of bands, two rocking women-fronted acts, and an emerging Canadian pop musician who’s moving up the charts.

WOODEN SHJIPS

Often times I think music will increasingly be driven by major labels, intense dance beats, and formulaic melodies, but then a band like Wooden Shjips (pronounced “ships”) releases a new album and reminds me that there are plenty of bands and musicians making fantastic music and putting their own mark in the industry. Together for nearly a decade, Erik “Ripley” Johnson, Dusty Jermier, Nash Whalen, and Omar Ahsanuddin are producing psychedelic rock that will make you dance, jump, or just bang your head.

With their sixth full-length release, Back to Land, which was released last week, the San Francisco- and Portland-based band incorporates a bit more pop-rock into their music yet at the same time remaining true to their brand of psyche-rock. Wooden Shjips are currently touring in support of the album, which included a stop in Montreal. The show was intimate, but the music was throbbing. After almost a decade of music, Back to Land could be their breakthrough. Here’s the title track from the album, and you can find their upcoming tour dates here.

PRISSY CLERKS

Prissy Clerks, are writing catch, indie-pop-rock tunes reminiscent of The Vaselines, Sleater Kinney, and The Dum Dum Girls. Comprising of Clara Salyer, Tim Leick, Jr., Emily Lazear, Howard Hamilton III, and Dylan Ritchie, Bruise of Be Bruised is the the young Minneapolis band’s first full-length album, which was released in December 2012 and you can buy it here. Here is a track from their album, “Blast-Off Girls” that has catchy hooks and a post-punk feel. And catch while you can as they hit small venues around the US and Europe in the coming months.

THESLOWREADERSCLUB

Manchester’s The Slow Readers Club has drawn comparisons to Interpol and The Killers with its lo-fi sound. Comprised of Aaron Starkie, Kurtis Starkie, James Ryan, and David Whitworth, the Slow Readers Club also has similarities to another UK band, The Arctic Monkeys, who moved away from the dance-rock tunes of their earlier albums to slow rock burners. Just last week, The Slow Readers Club released a new single, “Forever in Your Debt”, which is a dark, bass-heavy slow burner that incorporates all the sounds of the bands with whom they have been compared.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7pOHoua1-k

JOANNA GRUESOME

One of the most talked-about acts coming out from the annual CMJ Music Marathon last month was Joanne Gruesome. The Welsh quintet is loud, exuberant, and intense. Their sound is still raw yet electrifying. On their debut album, Weird Sister, which was released in in January of this year and can be purchased here, takes the listener on a jubilant, whirlwind tour of post-punk and indie-rock music. “Sugarcrush” epitomizes the sound and rambunctiousness of the young, emerging band.

LYON

LYON is the music project of Canadian Lauren Malyon. In August, she released her first EP, Indian Summer, that consists of five, synth-pop songs. The self-title first track has received media attention in Canada, including CBC Radio 3. Malyon’s voice is tender but her songs are heartbreaking at times, reflecting the personal journey that Malyon took when writing the EP. The video for “Indian Summer” is many ways personifies Malyon’s journey.