A Review Of The New Album From New Freedom Sound (Jawbox, Des Demonas)
There's always been resilience and versatility in this scene. Given the preconceptions about the rigidity of harDCore, it's worth remembering the diversity here, and the adaptability as well. Zach Barocas, famed drummer for Jawbox, has enlisted a host of players for another record as New Freedom Sound. The music within the grooves is transcendent, broad-minded, and a testament to the skills of the instrumentalists on this release, musicians with lots of connections to lots of D.C.-area projects. Two Freedoms offers up two extended examples of how music can break through genre restrictions while showing the power and adaptability of a host of those most closely associated with the best music this city continues to offer.
"Fourteenth Freedom" opens with interplay between Gordon Withers' cello and vocals from Janet Morgan (Channels). The piece unfolds with a sense of gentle urgency, that cello giving space to viola from Erica Kane. Soon, cornet, and then sax from Mark Cisneros (Hammered Hulls, Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds, Des Demonas, Deathfix, etc.) are sharing space with Lenny Young's oboe and percussive accentuation from Barocas. There's a sonic similarity here to some recent efforts from Angel Bat Dawid, though Barocas and his ensemble are not strictly limiting themselves to jazz idioms. There is repitition, with the voices working up a sort of John Adams-ish fervor around the space where the instrumentalists jostle and spar. There are moments for contemplation amid the sounds, and others where the energy overtakes all. Faint piano from J. Robbins (Jawbox, Office of Future Plans, Channels) punctuates the sonic maelstrom before resolution is achieved.
"Twelfth Freedom" opens with Gordon Withers' cello staking a path forward. Horns from Lenny Young and Mark Cisneros provide bursts of force against the yearning strings. The figures of the oboe and vocals repeat while flute from Cisneros briefly responds. Insistent percussion from Barocas leads the ensemble onward as the horns continue their questioning around the main musical hook. On this piece, Barocas seems to be driving the tune, after the other players have circled around it. Compared to "Fourteenth Freedom", this number is certainly more percussive. Finally, Viol da Gamba from Amy Domingues (Garland of Hours) adds a new flavor to this music, with those warm tones and those of Withers' cello carrying this piece to a contemplative end.
About 2 years BB (before blog), I bought this self-titled release from Washington D.C. based band Deathfix. I remember reading the review in Pitchfork and listening to "Better Than Bad" and being hooked. 2012 was a time when I was rediscovering power pop - The Raspberries, The Toms and Gentleman Jesse were all favorites at the time.
And while Deathfix (a collaboration between Brendan Canty of Fugazi and Rich Morel, a touring guitarist with Bob Mould) does have powerpop sensibilities throughout, it can be a bit darker. Pitchfork mentioned Deep Purple crossed with Big Star.
This was released on Dischord, and remains one of my favorite albums of the the 2000s.
Several years ago I bought Deathfix (Dischord). It was really unlike music I listened to at the time. It rocked, but it had proggy tendencies.
When I heard “Oval Dreams” a reissue from Italian band Twenty Four Hours, I immediately thought of Deathfix. This release is a bit more muddled, but it is just as complex and catchy as Deathfix. In fact, if Phil Wilson (The June Brides) had decided to go into psych prog, his work probably would’ve sounded a bit like Twenty Four Hours. The most obvious comparison here is Pink Floyd (the Wikipedia page even mentions this).
This is the audiophile vinyl version released by Velut Luna in 2012.
And yet, while he could easily earn his keep close to home, Canty still feels compelled to get in the van. His new band, Deathfix, finds Canty pulling a Grohl, by dropping the drumsticks, strapping on a guitar, and grabbing the mic. And while the stern name may suggest Deathfix is a fortuitously timed effort to capitalize on the current vogue for '90s-era post-hardcore noise, it's actually a cheeky misdirection. The band's freewheeling debut album sees Canty and chief collaborator Rich Morel—a prolific dance-music producer who played with Canty as part of Bob Mould's 2005-06 touring band—indulging their love of '70s power-pop, glam, funk, and prog-rock, dousing the recordings in gooey George Harrison guitar licks and letting the songs wander past the eight-minute mark if need be.
Prior to the Deathfix's debut Tuesday at Wrongbar, The Grid caught up with Canty mid-move at his soon-to-be-relocated D.C. studio, while he was "sitting in a giant pile of equipment and sorting through things that haven’t been touched in 10 years." Given the many demands of his personal and professional lives, we wanted to find out how Canty keeps his shit together and stays inspired. Here are his tips:
1. Forget about sleeping
"I just don’t sleep very much," he says. "You’re there when the kids are around but, when they go to bed, you get back to work and you stay up until about 1 or 2 a.m., and you get up at 7 a.m.—and that’s just what you do. Really, honestly, that’s the way it’s worked out for me for the past 15 years. It’s completely overwhelming to have four kids but, the funny thing is, they become interesting people in their own right and they also become self-sufficient, so the job does get easier. But it is fucking exhausting, that’s for sure. All I’ll say to new parents is, once a week, give yourself a break and get some sleep. Otherwise, just expect yourself to go grey, get fat, grow old, and die early."
2. Turn off your fucking computer
"I just really hate modern computer life, where you just sit on the computer all the time," Canty says of his impetus for starting another band at this stage in his life. "And it seems like with everything I get involved with—filmmaking or music production or soundtrack work—I end up sitting in front of the computer all the time. And I found it to be totally unsustainable. I really, honestly, think it’s killing me. So I’m trying to do stuff away from the computer, with people, collaborative things—and to be honest with you, if Deathfix hadn’t come along, I might still be in front of the computer. I’m on a tear to liberate myself from the screen."
3. Learn to love your enemy
According to Canty, the eclectic influences at play in Deathfix are a natural byproduct of his own catholic musical tastes, which, as he's gotten older, have gradually broadened to accommodate artists he once blacklisted on knee-jerked principle. "There was a very small period of time when I first got back into punk rock where I rejected my passion for Funkadelic," Canty admits. "And then I turned right around and asked myself, 'Why did I get rid of all those records? Why did I do that?' And since then, I thought, 'You know, there’s probably room in my head for all these competing aesthetics,' so I really have tried to be as open as possible. I hated the Grateful Dead with a passion, and I decided I really didn’t know the Grateful Dead enough to hate them, so I should really go out there and learn everything I can about the Grateful Dead. So, about 10 years ago, I went out and bought that Long, Strange Trip book, which is an excellent biography, and I bought a bunch of their records, and I listened to them, and learned about them, and I taught myself to love the Grateful Dead."
4. Listen to your kids
Though Canty's career stretches back three decades, he's much more eager to let his kids school him on music than vice versa. "They're into Frank Ocean, Macklemore, Kendrick Lamar—they’re pretty good. It’s wild to put out a record now on the internet and, boom, everybody hears it all at the same time. That never was the case back in the day—it’s really fabulous. And the level of discourse is so rapid that my kids are just hearing shit every day, and passing it around amongst their friends. I’m always surprised by what they’re listening to. They’re turning me onto stuff every day, which is great. They follow what’s going on, and they advised us on the [Deathfix] record. They’ve been advising me every step of the way. This record got focus-grouped around the house ad nauseum."
5. Don't look back
It's no surprise that a band as principled and nonconformist as Fugazi have yet to join their '90s indie-rock peers on the lucrative reunion-tour circuit. And, according to Canty, we shouldn't hold our breath for a reformation anytime soon. The fact that the band never officially announced their break-up offers a sliver of hope for future activity but, for the time being, logistics won't allow it.
"There's nothing happening right now," he says. "We are living and communicating and that’s about it. Joe [Lally] lives in Italy, Guy [Picciotto] lives in New York, Ian [MacKaye] and I live down here in D.C. We communicate a lot by the internet and by phone, and we see each other when we’re in each others’ towns, but, beyond that, I there's not much going on. There’s always little Fugazi business to take care of, so we communicate about that as well. The live series continues to be put out, and that’s about it. We have so much cool video from those tours—like there’s a multi-camera shoot from London in 1991 that’s really great, with 24-track tape—and things like that would be so cool to have out there. But Ian’s got The Evens, and I’ve got Deathfix, and everybody’s raising their kids. Maybe there’ll be time to do Fugazi at some point, but it just doesn’t seem like we have that time right now. If only everybody got fed about communicating by computer and just realized that they need to be in the same town as one another, then you’ve got a reunion!"—Stuart Berman
Deathfix plays Wrongbar (1279 Queen St.) on March 12 with Dubpixel and Modern Primitives. $10.50 from Ticketweb.
This 7 track album is a tad uneven but "Better Than Bad", a blatant Big Star/Raspberries homage, is my favorite new song of 2013. I'll bet good money I've listened to it over a hundred times in the last 3 months.
Conciertazo de última hora: Deathfix (Dischord Records / miembros de Fugazi, Rites of Spring, Medications…) + Za! el martes 5 de noviembre en ATZAVARA CLUB de Sant Feliu de Guíxols!
Toda la info aquí:
https://www.facebook.com/events/666150850085445/?ref=22
Mon coup de cœur de l’Automne, l’album que je n’attendais pas ou plus et le concert que j’attendais encore moins, sont arrivés en une seule semaine, en ce début de Novembre.
Quand j’ai lu le mail de Riff Produksioak annonçant le concert de Deathfix, projet avec Brendan Canty (euh… Fugazi quoi) et de Rich Morel, le producteur/chanteur/arrangeur/remixeur, au Gaztexe de Andoain, je me suis dit “tiens j’y jetterai bien une oreille”.
Quand j’ai trouvé la video-teaser youtube de 6 minutes de leur premier album (sorti chez Dischord Records en debut d’année), je me suis dit “putain mais ça fait des lustres que j’ai pas écouté un truc aussi insolemment et immédiatement addictif, à la fois pop, planant, funk, punk… beau”
Quand j’ai écouté l’album en entier, j’ai juste fait “Wou Ha”… Fin, pertinent, bien produit, de bonnes chansons pop pas mièvres, supers voix, ambiance à la cool.
Quand je les ai vus en live ce week-end, j’ai jubilé. C’est à la fois fidèle à l’album ET ça gagne énormément en patate en live
Canty envoie grassement sur son Fender Twin Reverb, tout devient plus sale, le son de guitare gagne en épaisseur et le jeu se fait plus noise, tout en concernant au maximun la finesse de l’album.
Le bassiste Mark Cisneros occupe bien l’espace avec un son growly et funky au médiator, bien secondé par Devin Ocampo, fin et puissant.
Quand à Rich Morel, il saupoudre discrètement les morceaux de clavier, de mélodie et de son chant grave.
Bref ils sont énormes, ils assurent graves, ils sont contents de jouer, surtout aux Pays Basque et ils déballent un carton sur scène à la fin du live pour te vendre un vinyle à 10euros…
Ce groupe est une pépite comme il est bon d’en avoir qu'une ou deux par ans.
Conciertazo de última hora: Deathfix (Dischord Records / miembros de Fugazi, Rites of Spring, Medications…) + Za! el martes que viene en ATZAVARA CLUB de Sant Feliu de Guíxols!
Toda la info aquí:
https://www.facebook.com/events/666150850085445/?ref=22
