Placeholder
“Nothing is Pure”
(Better Days)

A few months ago when Totally Crushed Out interviewed Coastal, we knew that they would be a band that was on the precipice of breaking big, particularly in their brand of revivalist emo. Now armed with a new name (fuck lawsuits, amirite?) and a new full-length, the rebranded Placeholder is sure to keep the momentum going.

What’s great about Placeholder is that they have their sound down pretty well. Their songs are structured incredibly well and the lyrics are nothing, if not simultaneously heart wrenching and honest. Check “What this Means,” “Resent,” and Sunny Day-esque “Written.” These songs are concise, straightforward, and above and beyond most bands’ debut records.

For me, however, the stand out track is “Stay Correct,” which recalls the Get Up Kids’ “Four Minute Mile” aesthetic. It’s catchy as it is raw. It’s chilling how brutal this song is.

Placeholder wears their influences very clearly, but that’s not a bad thing. They’re obviously not going to reinvent the wheel, and there’s something to be said about a band that just writes good fucking songs. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll give “Nothing is Pure” a shot.

— Ryan Pangilinan

Childish Gambino
“Camp”
(Glassnote)

As a fan of comedy, I can say that Donald Glover is probably one of the most unique voices out there right now. Not only is he sharp in absurdist comedy (Derrick Comedy), but even in performing in a commercial situation (30 Rock, Community), Glover has a chameleon-like ability to adapt well.

For his long-running hip-hop alter ego, Childish Gambino, Glover falls ridiculously short.

Part of the problem is that the internet fame that has given the Gambino moniker credence is based on the idea that the project is good because it’s Donald Glover. Let’s not lie to ourselves; at best, it’s mediocre.

Like so many other actor-rappers, Childish Gambino is difficult to take seriously because he apes Atmosphere and Kanye West so badly, which makes his full-length, “Camp,” incredibly difficult to listen to.

“Firefly” is more-or-less every track on the album. Glover Gambino talks about fucking chicks, being a black kid who’s not accepted, and makes social media references. With its catchy chorus, it’s pretty much the only song that you need to listen to.

Most of “Camp” is certainly ambitious, but Glover’s purposefully unrefined style is grating and annoying. Other rappers like Jim Jones and Malachi from Group Home are emcees that are rough around the edges, but are innovative enough to stand out. Glover’s rhymes, which are largely misogynistic (“I’m in her ass like sodomy” REALLY?), is something that I imagine would appeal to people who listen to Odd Future and this kind of off center, shock rap that all the kids seem to like these days, but I wouldn’t really call this shit hip-hop.

One of Glover’s lines goes, “I rap about my dick and talk about girls that are fly.” If I wanted to listen to that, I’d at least listen to Big Daddy Kane. That dude can rap.

—  Ryan Pangilinan

Now That’s What We Call Nostalgia! Brand New “Deja Entendu”
by Ryan Pangilinan

The version of Brand New that seems to live in the hearts of most pop-punk fans is the motley crew of brash 18-21 year olds who had made the breakneck and anthemic “Your Favorite Weapon.” At about 40+ minutes, it’s a succinct look into the lives of suburban teenagers who do what suburban teens do: fall for girls who work at Zumiez, get drunk/stoned, fight with their friends, and sing out revenge fantasies. It’s steeped in the same ground as “Through Being Cool.”

So when Brand New followed up with 2003’s “Deja Entendu,” the reaction was very polarizing. The album’s influences – which range from Morrissey to Built to Spill – made it appealing to the Pitchfork set and for many people, this was their introduction to the band. To the people who’d stuck it out with them from their days as an immature quartet, it was a backhanded slap – it represented nothing of their suburban values and the only song about sex was a cautionary tale (“Sic Transit Gloria”).

When the album came out in 2003, I was still running Halftimemag.com (R.I.P.) out of the little punk house that I shared with the guys in my band and other friends and got two copies from the label when I was prepping for an interview with Jesse Lacey (read here).

I loved this record right away, but probably for different reasons. For me, the album is very much a snapshot of being a dude in a hardcore band, who still listened to more indie rock or hip-hop than anything else. “Deja Entendu’s” diverse palate, spoke to frantic music fan in me.

While revisiting the album today, I realized that – having thoroughly enjoyed their subsequent releases “The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me” and “Daisy” – “Deja Entendu” with its emotional writhing core speaks so strongly nearly a decade after its initial release.

These days, “Deja Entendu” is loved a lot more than when it came out, probably due to the fact that most of the kids who shit talked it have grown up and, in essence, grown up to be (fucked over) adults. Not to put it so obscenely, but certainly, this is a heartbreaking album, whether it’s dealing with terminal illness (“Guernica”), lust (“Tatou”), or love lost (“The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot”).

“Deja Entendu” has its flaws in its lack of brevity and, in general, just being a completely stark contrast for the rest of their catalog, and yet, it’s arguably Brand New’s best album.  It’s a standalone work that can be pointed at as a record to listen to when you do discover the band and it so neatly highlights their abilities as musicians, songwriters, and all the quirks that has made them so appealing to their rapid following. But this is stuff you already heard.

Kevin Devine
“Between the Concrete & Clouds”
(Razor & Tie)

Kevin Devine is a social media maven. If you’ve been his Facebook friend for the last year or so, then you know that he’s been slowly leaking bits and pieces of his latest record, “Between the Concrete and Clouds,” through the site. Because of this, I’ve been trying my damndest to not click on the links and, for the most part, it’s worked pretty well. So unlike some of you who’ve already spoiled yourselves, this is my first time listening to this album.

Devine’s last record, “Brother’s Blood,” was certainly one of the more ambitious records of his career and stands to be the best, if only for how complicated it was. “Between the Concrete & Clouds” harkens back to the Kevin Devine that most people are familiar with. On songs like “Sleepwalking Through my Life” and “Wait Out the Wreck” Devine goes back to simple arrangements, though the record’s bookend “I Used to Be Someone” touches on the layered arrangement of “Brother’s Blood,” versus how the previous ended with a simple acoustic track.

It would be unfair to call this a step backward, despite the fact that it’s more of a traditional pop-rock record. Devine’s strength as a lyricist is just as sharp as ever and his ability to write great songs hasn’t lost its edge at all. If anything, it’s a good reminder that whether he’s touring with nine backing members or just himself, he certainly has a style that’s difficult to duplicate.

— Ryan Pangilinan

Saves the Day
“Daybreak”
(Razor & Tie)

The long-gestating album from pop-punk legacy act, Saves the Day, has finally gone from rumor, concept and interview fodder to an actual record that you can upload onto your iTunes.

For years, Saves the Day, and singer/guitarist Chris Conley in particular, have been the subject of staunch criticism, whether it was Conley’s changing voice, the band’s revolving door or their inability to stay musically consistent post-“Through Being Cool.” For all the shit talk that flies through the internet, however, I can’t really name a bad Saves the Day record. Certainly there are ones that I favor more than others, but I can say that that has to do more with cherished memories and nostalgia than anything else.

That said, “Daybreak” opens up with a ten minute title track, which is really five songs in one and acts as both a recall to its predecessors in “Sound the Alarm” and “Under the Boards” and a jumping off point for the record. “Deranged and Desperate” is easily the album’s centerpiece – a catchy Nirvana-esque guitar riff paired with Conley’s melodic hook.

Unlike many long-running bands, Saves the Day haven’t really tried to replicate any of their albums (much to the chagrin of kids who discovered them during the “Through Being Cool” and “Stay What You Are” eras), though “Daybreak” certainly has a kindred spirit in being the most diverse record since “In Reverie.”

— Ryan Pangilinan

Smashing Mountains, not Mouths: By Surprise talks to Totally Crushed Out
by Ryan Pangilinan

New Jersey’s By Surprise is made up of the kind of individuals that you would hang out with. Bold statement, yes, but this is contingent on the idea that you like to read, listen to 90s indie rock and, generally, enjoy nerding out. This is the impression that I gathered when I listened to their debut full-length, “Mountain Smashers” (Topshelf).

We got in touch with the band for a brief chat and with the answers they gave to our questions, I have very little doubt that I would hang out with these guys and maybe let them crash in my living room, so long as they don’t mess with my carefully organized collection of Calvin and Hobbes anthologies.

Totally Crushed Out: How did the band form?

Rob Wilcox (guitars, vocals): We all shared the same optometrist, simply put.

Actually. I was in a ska band for a handful of years and Pat, Dan and Devin always went to our shows. I knew Devin from high school and we always got along really well. After my run with that band ended, it was a no-brainer for me to start jamming with Devin, and Dan pretty much fell into place as the perfect option for a bassist. Pat and I would always go to Less Than Jake shows together and we shared a common interest in a lot of music. The band essentially formed through Pat and myself writing a handful of songs together in December of 2005. When the time came to try playing shows, I asked my “jamming buddies”, Devin and Dan to lend a hand, and everything kinda fell into place.

When I first got the album, I noticed that there was a song called “Daggermouth is Playing at My House,” which sonically has more in common with K-Rec era Built to Spill, but it’s definitely the first one that I listened to. However, its lyrical content is very much in the tradition of pop-punk/hardcore bands. Was this a conscious Jedi Mind Trick?

Pat Gartland (vocals, guitars): I don’t think the lyrics are as much pop-punk as they are about a pop punk band.  Maybe the gang vocals are a little pop-punk/hardcore.  The lyrics came from a sorta concept album I was going to write about my year living in North Jersey with my roommates.  There were no elaborate plans involving Star Wars occupations.  Sometimes, in retrospect, some things just seem to come together like that.  I think very few things have some grand elaborate plan where everything comes together in the end… except maybe Arrested Development.  I don’t know how they planned all these minute references to things that would happen two seasons later.  Who knows maybe they didn’t plan it all and somehow it just worked out.  Somehow I don’t think that’s how it happened though.

Now that that ridiculous question is out of the way, the album starts off with “Books by Thoreau” and the whole album itself works as a fluid narrative, not unlike a piece of literature. Was this a concept that you guys had from the beginning of the writing process, or was it something that naturally happened?

PG: We put a lot of thought into the final tracklisting.  Going into the studio, we pretty much knew the order of the songs.  Tracks three and four (“Mostly Harmless” and “Last Chance to See”) were recorded together and then split into separate tracks after the fact.  Just being huge fans of music and knowing what has worked on albums we already love, we tried to put the songs in an order that would come off like [a] mixtape.  We never went into it trying to make it like a book.  All of the book references happened mostly because, at the time we were writing the album, we were reading and discussing a lot of books.  There wasn’t much more that went into it: lyrics about books, putting the songs in an order so they played well off each other.  We also planned the tracklisting knowing that it was going to be an LP, so each kinda has its own flow knowing there is a kind of intermission between “Fountain Splashers” and “$600 Exorcism.”

And as a sort of post-script from the last question, generally speaking, “Mountain Smashers” carries a very bittersweet weight to it, both lyrically and musically, which is somewhat refreshing when most records that are coming out seem to come from a very vapid place. What were the influences behind this album?

PG: Lyrically, the most of my songs were written during a time when I was either unemployed or working a pretty awful job.  I was reading a lot of books that led me to believe there was some amazing life I was missing out on.  Initially, each song was going to be some sort of formal complaint about life and the structures established that humans just follow because it’s so easy to.  Most of the songs are about really specific things that are so specific that you might never know what they are about.

By Surprise definitely takes cues from 90s indie rock, but what are some of the contemporary bands that you guys are into at the moment?

PG: Ages are awesome.  That is Dave Downham’s newish band.  I only say newish because they’ve been around for the better part of a decade now but only just released their first album, “Made in the Trade.”  The music is just weird pop but extremely catchy and innovative.  Dave Dunn of Up Up Down Down and Moon Women plays drums.  I think we’ll always have the Up Up Down Down influence.  I also really like Teenage Cool Kids right now.  My other band, Party the Hut just played a show with this band called Eww Yaboo and they were phenomenal.  It was like garage-y surf punk with lots of reverb.  They threw in some cool three-part harmonies every once in a while too.  It was great.  I think they were from Scranton.

RW: I’ve been listening a lot to Washed Out, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Trouble Books, The Library, and TS & The Past Haunts. Yuck is pretty fun. I also love Ages. Diarrhea Planet is my newest find this week. Check them out; they’re so weird.

What plans do you have for the rest of the year, whether it would be touring or additional recordings?

PG: I really want to start writing and recording again.  Most of these songs were written between 2008 and 2009.  We even finished recording the record last summer so it’s just been a while since we’ve done some writing.  Our tastes and changed/matured a lot since that time and I’m curious to see what will come out of it.  I’d like to do some small releases like maybe a single or two, or a cassette.

Touring would be cool but it’s just really hard to do because of jobs and such.  I don’t think we play enough Philly shows, so I’d rather focus on that instead of trying to set up a tour for our nonexistent fan base.

Anything else you’d like to add?

PG: Write more letters. Mail is so out dated it’s become hip again.

RW: We support USPS. It’s an issue we take seriously.

Check out By Surprise on Bandcamp and add them on the Facebooks. Their LP, “Mountain Smashers,” is out now on Topshelf Records.

Stormy Weather: Storms Talks with Totally Crushed Out
by Ryan Pangilinan

With one full-length album to their collective credit, NY/Spain-based duo Storms has already put in more legwork for their debut record than most bands do on their fourth release. Of course, Storms is helmed by Eva Puyuelo of Savath and Savalas and Lori Scacco of Seely, so perhaps it’s no surprise that their professionalism, art and songwriting savvy are all equal parts of a greater sum.

Storms’ debut LP, “Lay Your Sea Coat Aside,” (Plancha) is gentle and sparse narrative that is aesthetically pleasing and conceptually tight. Recently, Puyuelo and Scacco talked to Totally Crushed Out about the writing process for Storms and other dream collaborators they would have, provided a time machine and acts of God were possible.

Totally Crushed Out: In short, how did Storms come together?

Eva Puyuelo:  I was in NY recording with Savath y Savalas and Lori asked me to collaborate on a song for the new Scacco solo record. We liked the result and how we worked together and we decided we couldn’t stop there. So finally we planned a way to meet again in NY (I live in Barcelona) and try to make a whole record in a month, as we didn’t have much more time.

It seems that technology does lend itself for collaborations such as yours, given that there’s distance between you two. Though the songs were shaped while you two were together, have ideas been bounced back and forth using email or by sharing files?

Lori Scacco:  There was definitely a lot of that towards the end. Except for the first song we ever did together, Eva didn’t actually hear any of the instrumental sketches until she got to NY to make the record. I wanted the songs to evolve mutually and organically, so I didn’t want to present or lead anything beforehand. But yes we nailed down the structures and the vocal layers while we were together, and then most of the production and the treatments were done long distance. I’m grateful for the ability to do that, but nothing beats the energy of collaborating in person.

EP:  Yes, we tried to work as much as we can together when we both were in NY but the process always takes longer and the songs were evolving when we were apart, so we were emailing with the production changes back and forth until the songs were finally mixed.

The overall aesthetic of Storms is different from Seely and Savath and Salavas, particularly in a way where it’s a lot gentler. Did you ever think that people who are fans of your previous endeavors will find this latest output surprising?

EP: Well, it’s pretty difficult to know what people expect from oneself when one is so many different things at the same time. Particularly I don’t see so much difference between Savath and Storms. Maybe the biggest are that Storms sings in English and that it’s more naked sounding, but I don’t think that could be defined as really surprising.

LS:  This is something that Eva and I were just talking about the other day- the concept of identity and whether there needs to be a perceivable continuum from one work to the next, the multiple moniker thing as a way to work in different “genres”… Ultimately anything we do is an exploration of where we are at that moment and what we ourselves want to hear. But to answer your question, Seely was the collective result of four minds — we were a fully democratic outfit — so it makes sense that whatever I do outside of that might be different. I experienced this for the first time when my solo record “Circles” came out a few years ago. It was all instrumental, very quiet and sparse, and after its release I read a couple of blog posts to the effect of “We love Seely but this is boring as hell.” So I don’t know; I guess Storms might be surprising to people who know me only as a member of Seely.

Your bio cites that you collaborated with Ann Stephenson for “Lay Your Sea Coat Aside.” What was that experience like?

EP:  It was definitely a very easy and comfortable one. Ann was open to whatever we proposed to her and so were we. It’s the easiest experience I had in terms of flow and openness. I couldn’t like it more.

LS:  Yeah, our working together very much reflected the overall process of the entire project. Ann had listened to our rough sketches early on and began writing as we simultaneously developed the songs. After a while, she presented us with a collection of poems, and it was exciting because we were weirdly in sync at times, where her words would fit perfectly into the music and Eva’s melodic phrasing without any need for manipulation.  

At other times we would collage multiple pieces of hers to create one song, or we would call her and say “this is what we’ve got so far - we need two 6-word lines to complete this verse.”  So it was amazing to have this lyrical contribution that was fully-realized, yet, just as fluid as any other element.

And if there was another figure who you two could collaborate on to flesh out a concept for a future project, who would be the dream person?

EP: If we are dreaming I would say, Ennio Morricone, Dick Annergarn, Brigitte Fontaine, Enric Casasses, Rubinho and Mario Assumpçao, Steve Reich, The Books, Delia Derbyshire, Diamanda Galas and Antonio Machin.

LS:  Nice list, Señorita Puyuelo! I’d add Kate Bush, Arthur Verocai, Kevin Shields, Bridget St. John.

We kind of touched on “Sea Coat” being a concept; was it ever stifling during the writing process, or did you find that you had a lot more room to breathe than if you were working on standalone singles or pop-type songs?

LS:  I usually think in terms of the album as a whole, so the process wasn’t stifling at all. I get into formalism and method as a directive. It begins with process-as-concept vs. any over-arching thematic approach, though the latter is definitely there in the lyrical narrative. The main idea going in was that each element would remain malleable and subject to change as another was introduced- it was never a case of “this is the structure- sing on top of it.” So that, to me, was really freeing.

What are some of the future plans you have for Storms?

EP:  We would love to tour the record but it seems an impossible thing to do now as we can’t practice together, and I have a baby so I can’t travel as I used to. But something we can do for sure is another record. That we’ll do.

LS:  Amen, sister. More records, more Sea Coat videos, and I’m hoping that there will be vinyl in our future.

Storms :: Sweet Cup from S T O R M S on Vimeo.

You can listen to samples of “Lay Your Sea Coat Aside” and check out additional info on Storms’ official website. Their album and remix EP are available now.

Coastal Interview
by Ryan Pangilinan

Years ago, I stopped checking the B9 board. It was quite apparent that the posts that I wanted to read were getting buried underneath your typical hardcore bro-dude posts about who could be more edge and why girls and minorities should stay out of circle pits. The cool thing about Bridge 9’s board, however, is that every now and then you can find some good up and coming bands.

Pennsylvanians Coastal is one of these bands who were posted on Viva Pizza after the blog’s admin came across them on the B9, hence why they’re on Totally Crushed Out.

Coastal’s take on 90s emo, by way of bands like Texas is the Reason, Braid and The Weakerthans are also highlighted by the cool way that vocal lines in the song weave in and out as if the lyrics were an instrument in it of itself.

Though the band is still in its infancy, they’ve put out “Demonstration” a spectacular debut demo and recently I spoke to singer/guitarist, Brandon about what we can expect from Coastal.

Totally Crushed Out: In short, how did the band get together?

Brandon: We all used to be in another band a couple years ago.  Being bored, listening to depressing music about growing up helped us come back together and start Coastal.

Stylistically, Coastal seems to take a cue from bands like Texas is the Reason. Did this naturally happen when you guys got together and started writing?

Any of us would probably list Texas is the Reason as an influential band.  We didn’t really preface our writing process with that influence, but I think when you listen to a band enough, it’s going to be apparent.  I’m listening to Texas is the Reason right now.  I listen to them a lot.  Plus, bands of that nature (early/mid 90’s emo) sound so much fucking better than 98 percent of everything else that is being put out in 2011, and everybody knows it.

The lyrics on “Demonstration” have this really unique way of meandering seamlessly through the songs, which you don’t get often unless you’re listening to crooners like Nat King Cole. How do you come up with these melodies?

Well, that is literally the first time anyone compared my vocals to Nat.  I like it.  I really don’t think about it, nothing is really planned.  When I go into the studio to record the vocals, they usually come out completely different from what I thought they would be.  I write songs that actually mean something to me, whether it’s about my dead friends or struggling with sexuality, identity and self.  So, the songs are important to me, most of them are apart of my journal.  I think they just come out like the way I feel about them, sometimes yelling and other times softer.  I don’t know if this answers the question, I hope it did.

I noticed that your dates on your Facebook are largely regional, what other upcoming dates/tours do you have planned?

We have a northeast tour (10 days) in late June and we want to go out in August at some point.  We started this band in March 2011, and played our first show in Mid April.  We are still at an early point of this band, so more regional dates are just necessary, unless the Foo Fighters invite us on tour, then we’ll go anywhere.

Have you guys been approached by any labels, or even entertained the notion of working with one?

This band is pushing three months of existence, so it’s still early in the game.  I don’t think any of us are opposed to labels, we’re just four guys that never really were faced with that decision/opportunity.  I’d personally like to sign to Disney, I think that would be very magical. 

Anything else you’d like to add?

We really just like playing these songs. I hope they mean something to other people at least half as much as what they mean to us.

Add Coastal on Facebook and check out their demo on their Bandcamp page.