Fish Doctor

admin — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 11:05:26 +0000

It’s funny how we think that bands must have one style or be part of one genre. That would be like telling people they could only wear full evening dresses and tuxedos, never rock the casual style. Or that they could only be part of one group – family, doctor’s surgery, or blood type, but never all three. Given that most people go through numerous fluctuations of personality strain daily, what are we to expect when 6 of them are thrown together? Not only that, but when those people are ‘creative types.’ Yes, you know what I mean.
And so I wasn’t surprised to hear that Brooklyn’s Fish Doctor (Michael, Jared, Michael, Alex, Brian and Rocco) change musical direction every time the wind does the same. Sometimes surf, like on last June’s Atlantic and the lead track from their 2011 EP Summer In Wintertime, sometimes electro a la Infantry Song, and sometimes going off kilter completely on the chilled psyche Hawaiian Blizzard, complete with hazy feminine vocals. Things are never as happy go surfy as they seem, with even the simple refrain of ‘and you drown in the Atlantic’ hinting at a more sinister layer below. Fun but far from throwaway, full of confidence and frivolity that smells of experience rather than naivety.

Steel Phantoms

admin — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 19:00:35 +0000

Steel Phantoms have been on my radar ever since I heard the first chord of Curtain Call last year and was immediately transported to The Jam’s That’s Entertainment. The duo Aaron Harris, previously of Montreal’s Islands and Jesse Islands pump out scrambling songs that go from broody to brash in seconds. On Sunflowers vocals take a delicate gossamer turn (the word haunts sounds haunting), and even the drums glisten, quivering and glittering into a beat driven crescendo. Matt Le Blanc hints at their grungier side, whilst Friend to Friend is more smooth garage, sometimes with a nod to The Smiths via Sonic Youth. Overflow, its layers of love and enchantment over melodic and heightened chord sequences and gentle sway and soar tune is a stand out, and hints at Air Traffic.
Listen to a remix by Night Drive below.
https://soundcloud.com/nightdrivemusic/steel-phantoms-overflow-night

jangle – and so she thinks

Fish Doctor

Steel Phantoms