The (Local) Fresh Five: Choir Bells, Waking Hours, Selfish Teammate, Future Babel, And Verdin Brothers
For the Fresh Five we pick out five great new(ish) jams that we’re currently obsessing over. All of these songs come from local (Minnesota) bands/artists.
Local musician Tyler Tholl produces gorgeous, ethereal experimental ambient music under the name Choir Bells. He recently self-released the record Intervals, Vibraphones, a collection of works he created “from low-volume moments—pauses, sustained chords (post-attack), and tails of reverb and delay—from my previous recordings that [he] isolated and looped. The album’s songs feel intensely intimate, meditative, and delicately melancholy. The instrumentation included is too long to list, however the commonality is that every sound is bathed in a wash of reverb that makes it feel like a dream. Stream/purchase here.
Waking Hours are a Minneapolis quartet that creates shoegaz-y ethereal rock music that would make for an excellent double billing with local darlings She’s Green. The band recently released single “What Would It Take,” a dreamy tune in which vocalist Liv Hedley plaintively pines to the tune of a wash of guitar, bass, and drums. You can catch Waking Hours at the Cloudland Theater on 3/16 (tix/info).
Some bands can take a few simple elements and produce a pretty big sound. Utilizing just drum machine, guitar, vox, and distortion pedals local duo Selfish Teammate make uncomplicated but tremendous music. Somewhat like Suicide before them (but with more edgy punk energy) they create a repetitive beat (courtesy of said drum machine and Allie Johnson’s guitar chords) and drive it forward to vocalist Sage “Lou” Shemroske’s high energy lyricism. I love this and am sad I missed this band’s last concert (earlier this month) but will certainly be on the lookout for more.
Future Babel are another local duo with a sound that contradicts their size. They make high energy “rocktronica” that combines drums, guitar, effects, and distortion accompanied by a kind of spoken word (or shouted word?) lyricism. It brings to mind a lot of bands (LCD Soundsystem comes to mind) but with its own unique spin/energy (dipping into hip hop territory and industrial noise at times). Future Babel will release their latest album Cyber Sunday on 3/21 with a release show at the Terminal Bar on 3/22.
Every time local trio Verdin Brothers put out a new record I am stunned again and again by how great they are. Endless Night on the River Dirge is the latest of such, and it’s no exception. Inspired by an old photograph of a riverboat, the three brothers have spin ten new folk tunes out of fingerpicked guitar, sparse drums, and dark alchemy. Sitar makes an appearance on “The Janus Beast,” dialing up the psychedelia to the next level. As always, highly recommended music. I am also happy to report they have a show scheduled – 3/22 at the Eagles Club. Stream/purchase the new record here.
