Goat - Union of Mind and Soul

October 31, 2016 | Keith

Give me your time
Open your mind
Open your mind
See what you can find
Open your mind
Open your mind

It's Halloween! Let's get a bit weird! If you mixed heavy metal with Afrobeat you might get something like mask wearing Swedish psychedelic megaband Goat. Maybe.

This is some odd, yet undeniably cool stuff. It can be a bit hard to get into at times, but tracks like "Run To Your Mama", off their semi-ironically titled 2012 release World Music, and "Try My Robe" highlight a penchant for fun, funky grooves that I can imagine are a blast live. Today's Most Important "Union of Mind and Soul" stretches pushes the boundaries of that fun, funky sound, but, hell, I kind of love it. If you do too, check out their recently released album Requiem.

RIYL: Dead Can Dance, Foxygen, The War on Drugs, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Sword, Dead Meadow

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Honeyblood - Babes Never Die

October 30, 2016 | Keith

Strike the match that set me alight
You can watch my fire burn bright
'cause babes never die

Honeyblood's new album Babes Never Die came out this past Friday and it's stellar. They've continued to get better and better, and this new one is a killer follow up to their 2014 self-titled release, which we featured here a few months ago.

The first single, bearing the same title as the album, sets the stage nicely. It's great. It opens very Placebo-esqu and quickly and smoothly shifts into the noise-pop earworm sound that's so strong on their older work. Things heat up a bit with "Ready for the Magic", a faster, heavier, rockier song and then the catchy as hell "Sea Hearts". And it keeps going.

RIYL: Placebo, Hinds, PJ Harvey, Courtney Barnett, Slingshot Dakota, The Breeders, Eisley

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Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes - Lullaby

October 29, 2016 | Keith

Sleep, where have you gone?
It's been months now
And I'm coming undone
I keep being woken
By screams and tears
Sheer fucking terror
Ringing out in my ears

I've thought about featuring Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes a few times recently, as I think their 2015 release Blossom is really interesting and seems to pop up my rotation quite often. Lucky me! They've got some solid new stuff that's finally given me the impetus to get on with the sharing.

Frank Carter hails from the UK and was the singer for hardcore punk outfit Gallows until he was replaced by Alexisonfire's Wade Macneil. Which, and I have no idea about the details, was probably a great move for him. Let go the screamo!

You can still very much hear those punk influences with The Rattlesnakes. But there is much more here and it's good. Really good.

I first caught wind of them with their industrial-tactic hit "Devil Inside of Me" (off Blossom) which reminded me of early 90's acts like Ministry and Nitzer Ebb.

I think that comparison holds, but there is some level of cleverness that comes out in the lyrics and arrangement that makes them stand out. And then there is the polish and quality production, which I think really works.

This is very evident in their newest work. At the time of this writing, they've got two new singles out, "Snake Eyes" and today's TMIS "Lullaby". They're both terrific examples of well-executed genre blending that results in a sum greater than the parts. Their new album, Modern Ruin, comes out in January 2017.

BONUS TRACK - here's the video for "Snake Syes".

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