Essentials: Irontom's "The Nitro EP" & Javier Dunn's "Trails"

EPs can be anything from the wanton disposal of excess musical baggage to a band marking their territory but without the peeing on things...because that would be gross. With that in mind, it seems that Irontom is relatively baggage-free and intend to be in your face for a while. Here is Harry Hayes, Zach Irons, Daniel Saslow, Dane Sandborg, and Dylan Williams following up 2012’s The Loose EP with recorded versions of four songs which they have been fleshing out and kicking audience asses with live for nearly a year now. Where The Loose EP was a sensory teaser, The Nitro EP is a ballsy, self-assured calling card.

“It’s not enough just to play anymore.”

Within the breadth and space of that one sentence (actually several sentences but we’re parsing for brevity) Hayes and his brothers-in-no-nonsense serve up a deceptively simple and eloquently contained cease and desist letter on musical bullshit with “What Will Happen To All The Indie Stars,” the lead off track as well as a damned good question (think about it: where are approximately 85% of 2012’s “buzz bands” and blogosphere darlings extolled as the best thing since maple bacon donuts? Exactly). Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Eleven, Them Cooked Vultures) was tasked with producing The Nitro EP aka harnessing Irontom’s funky and bombastic nature. Not taming it, but making it discernible for ears familiar and unfamiliar with the assault these guys unleash live. Nitro dishes power and muscular punch song for song with significant sound detail: You can hear what each member brings to the plate and it’s something to pay attention to because Saslow’s churchy keys are just as fundamental as Irons’ aggressive guitar bravado is to the walls of sound that they create. Essentially Nitro is “controlled bold” supported by above average songwriting (dig into the distress of "Tinkerbell"), the craft of melody, hook and musicianship at an enviable level of skill, particularly considering the band’s collective and individual youth. Hayes walks a line between self-critical and analytical in the push and pull of “Boy Born” and the title track is an example of the art of building a refined blitzkrieg.
From Hayes’ agitated vibtato and world-class ability to shriek a full chorus then fall back on a coo, to the rugged rhythms of Sandborg and Williams, The Nitro EP is the capture of a band's lightening in a bottle (which you can release whenever you want) and an indie rock harbinger that Irontom is a bullshit-free zone.

Feel free to jump on the Irontom train. It's a sweet ride.

Here's the thing about Javier Dunn: He's really pretty.

I probably should've used my inside voice there, but this is why my internet name is "dharma." Another thing about Dunn is that for the past 10 years or so he has been something of a right-hand-man to songstress Sara Bareilles as her long-time touring guitarist and occasional collaborator. Great musical results have been the return on this partnership but there comes a time in every music man's life when he's got to pay attention to his own truth, whatever that truth may sound like.

Abandoning the role that he fashioned for himself as "merely" an acoustic singer/songwriter on the side, Dunn's truth now sounds like that shyly confident romantic storyteller with a Taylor guitar on open mic night getting his synth-washed sexy back and phone numbers on cocktail napkins. It's the sound of love and its potential, if not inevitable, pitfalls with an overlay of r&b groove and pop sense electronically tweaked, but gently so as never to become overbearing noise and lose the plot of a good song well sung. The focus of Trails (released on June 25th) is equally split among Dunn's vulnerable, carmel-toned voice, his lyrical gifts and the emotional textures evoked by each song's arrangements. From a tale of romancing via liquid courage ("Couple of Drinks") to a melancholy duet with Bareilles ("If You Go"), Dunn's done pretty well for himself in showcasing how hot a graceful coolness can be.

That and he's really pretty. Check out his new video for "Couple of Drinks."

South By Southwest-Watch: Track-By-Track With Irontom

The number of times that I’ve mentioned Irontom via Tweet, Facebook, email or face-to-face conversation probably cannot be counted but you should know that it is for cause: I happen to believe in this band. A five-piece out of Los Angeles, Harry Hayes (vox), Zach Irons (guitar), Dane Sandborg (bass), Daniel Saslow (keys) and Dyl Williams (drums) are, by my ear, a little too dynamic, too talented and too non-ordinary of a band to be ignored. It’s classic rock high on youth, fresh blood and swagger: unabashedly loud, dense and eclectic.

Two seminal events have and are about to happen: Irontom has released a 4-song EP (Loose) and they’re making their first trip to South By Southwest (SXSW) this week. This simply means that they now have recorded music to be judged by and that they’ll be before more eyes and ears than ever before. As Harry put it: “This is our first EP. We put it out basically to announce the existence of the band.”

Announcement, made. Each of those four songs has an individual killer rhythm, upheaval and instinct about it and apparently- with a full-length album on the way- it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Here’s introducing you to those four songs by way of Harry, himself.

1. “Mind My Halo”
This was one of the first songs we wrote as a band. Over the course of a week At Zach's grandma's house we wrote and recorded four songs. One of them was “Halo.” Dan came in with most of the chords on the Rhodes and then one night we sat in a circle and figured out all the rest. We all knew that we had something pretty decent with this one. The lyrics are about a guy turning towards religion as an answer to his lonely and empty feelings. The dude basically finds out that even though his new creed might've distracted him from his deep fears, it's all still there as plain as ever.

2. “My Brothers”
The song is about my two drug addict brothers. They've caused a ton of grief for my family over the past couple years. It's a pretty personal song and that's why it's sick.

 

3. “Goin’ Slow”
This is a song Zach and I wrote some time before the band. It was really easy to bring into the group and it's great live because Dan and Z get to solo and fly with the seagulls. It's a song about being too content with whatever's going on. And then getting into the habit of being stuck there. The day we recorded this one, Z had been drinking quite a bit more 4loko then he normally does. When we told him to slow down, he just said 'never tell me what to do'.

 

4. “Lady Got Me”
Another song Zach and I had written that we brought into the band. Z is playing drums on this recording as well. Zach and I wrote this with him jamming on drums and me on guitar. We wrote this song the year the band basically came together and I remember it exciting Dane and Dan to start working seriously with Zach and I. It seemed like a good one to include on the EP. Lyrically it's a song about trying to forget about a crazy old girlfriend.

Their current SXSW schedule looks like this but don't be surprised if more shows get added:

SXSW
Mar 12th @ The Jr (603 Red River St)
Mar 14th @ The Old School (401 E. 6th St)

Last Week In Review: Irontom, Gold Fields, & Snowden

Three musical offerings of vastly different natures highlighted last week that are worth pointing out. If they're not already, maybe these will wind up on your radar to look forward to when coming to a city near you:

Irontom @ Dragonfly, Hollywood 2/26/2013

There are many reasons why I keep eyes and ears keenly focused on Irontom and this show at Dragonfly was yet another summation: they're one hell of a fucking band. Their immense and eclectic sound taps classic rock, 90s rock and even an undercurrent of reggae and youth and young manhood are definitely on their side. The five-piece of Zach Irons, Dane Sandborg, Dyl Williams, Daniel Saslow and Harry Hayes whose cherubic offstage demeanor in no way prepares you for what he unleashes on stage, made heads bounce and bodies move with songs like "Your Mother" (no really, that's the title), the circus baroque of "Going Slow," the well thought out derision of "What Will Happen To All The Indie Stars?" (yeah that, too, is the title) and "Mind My Halo." 

Their 4-song EP, Loose, and upcoming full length album were both produced by THE amazing Alain Johannes (from Eleven, Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Cultures) and that, alone, speaks to the potential of these guys. Next week they make their way to SXSW to put a beautiful hurt on Austin, TX, so if you're out there, put Irontom on your "must see" list and make it happen. You'll want to be able to boast that you saw them "way back when."

Hits: At one point 2/5ths of Irontom was naked from the waist up.

Misses: Other than their set always seeming too damned short...

Gold Fields @ the Troubadour, West Hollywood 2/28/2013

The electo bombast and rhythm of Gold Fields came to do their thing in Los Angeles and do it on the Troubadour stage for a sold out show. The last time this five-piece from Ballarat, Australia came to LA was in October  2012 for the Culture Collide Festival and it was nothing short of balls to the wall as their dense electro pop aerated by great harmonies served notice that these guys meant business. Now where that October show was a 10 on the rocking scale, this Troubadour show registered about a 7.5. I can't speak to what was ailing young Mark Robert Fuller (vox) but something surely was: it seemed a bit of a challenge for him muster his full-on self and he frequently clutched at his throat but for the 45 minute set he gave it his best and, for the LA crowd, it seemed just fine. Their freshly released full-length debut album Black Sun got proper treatment as the set kicked off with "Meet My Friends" and Fuller pushing through, seemingly feeding off of the energy of his mate Ryan D'Sylva's tribal beat, the swirl of synthesizers, electric chords, more cowbell than you can shake a cow at and a crowd there for a good time. In the end a good time became a great time with "The Woods," "Treehouse" and breakneck "Moves" sounding full and the fully realized gems that they are as Gold Fields brought everything to a rowdy close with their signature "Dark Again." 

Hits: Youth and energy triumphs. Glow sticks were present: yes, I had one.

Misses: No "Ice." Now THAT'S the song I want to hear live. Next time, boys? Thanks in advance.

Snowden @ the Satellite, Los Angeles 3/1/2013

By the looks of and the number of bodies occupying the Satellite in Los Angeles on this Friday night you would think that a few folks have missed Snowden aka Jordan Jeffares and the songs that made his sideways pop nod on post-punk so endearing. "It's been a long seven years since we've played LA." said Jeffares.

"Too long!" random dude loudly volunteered from somewhere in the middle of the Satellite floor. The masses seemed to agree.

This is what happens when you drop a record, it leaves a mark and then you kind of do whatever they did that kept them out of arm's reach for seven years. Doing a balancing act of material from Anti-Anti, EPs and forthcoming album, No One In Control (due May 14th) it was a successful return for Snowden: "Between the Rent and Me" and "Don't Know Me" garnered some sing-along action (love it when people know the words to what others find obscure) and it all came to a fruitful end when Snowden dangled the hook of that damned catchy "The Beat Drops" over the room.

Hits: That guy who kept it analog by waving a real lighter (as opposed to a cell phone or the lighter app) in the air. It was a moment.
Misses: Why didn't more people follow suit? That would've been awesome.

Los Angeles Gets A Dreamer's Dose

Dreamer's Dose

June 21, 2012

Despite its pitiful battery life and because it’s always with me, the iPhone is my tool-of-choice for interviews and just as we began, a notification on it popped up which one of the guys in Dreamer’s Dose noticed.

Jesse: “I think you got a text.”
Me: “That was Instagram.”
Josh: “What’d you Instagram?”
Me: “You.”
The collective: “Ohhoho!! Okay! Let’s have that! We’ll take that!”

Obviously this relationship is off to a fine start.

Actually, this relationship is off to a rather shady start: we're chatting in a corner of a dark alley behind the esteemed Troubadour in West Hollywood where they just opened the night ahead of two other notable LA bands; Crash Kings and Vanaprasta. It's my first opportunity seeing Dreamer's Dose live. For the most part, I'm a creature of habit my first time with a band: but for the occasional polite applause I'm remain fairly still because I'm watching, listening, and feeling. And also keeping an eye out for particulars that irk or excite me. What was up on that stage 20 minutes ago has shifted from aggressively bludgeoning yet sharply nuanced alternative rock into four amiable young men with varying degrees of unchecked animation. It's charming.

Andrew

“My name is Josh Conway. And I am the drummer in Dreamer’s Dose.”
“I’m Andrew Stogel and I’m the singer in Dreamer’s Dose.”
“My name is Jesse Perlman and I play lead guitar in Dreamer’s Dose.”
“I’m Levi [Dylan] and I play bass.”

For approximately 2 ½ years the band was called Blowing Up the Moon, but recently Josh, Jesse, Andrew, and Levi altered their moniker to Dreamer’s Dose; the name so fresh it doesn't even have its own Facebook page yet. If you feel the urge to question what musical veins have had a somewhat significant influence on the gang of four, you need look no further than a line from the Queens of the Stone Age song, “Medication”:

“Is this the dose you’ve been dreamin’ of?” Andrew semi-sang the line along with affirming that “Our music is the dreamer’s dose.”

Andrew & Levi

What they dose out is a sound that honestly belies their ages: heavy enough to break your skull to if  headbanging is your thing, yet oddly artful (their almost blasphemous definition of their sound follows later). Granted, anyone can (and in LA “anyone” does) pick up the four basic instruments (drums, bass, guitar, voice) and thrash, bash, and hash out sounds and call themselves an honest to goodness band. It doesn’t take much. But Dreamer’s Dose, while still formative, has managed to solidly master the heft of psychedelic and grunge density sans the annoying propensity to drone and be painfully predictable. So far. They’re loud. Loud is good. Jesse’s guitar is a raucous buzzsaw that gets a world of support from Levi’s notes below, and drummers like Josh are interesting in that he and his highly physical output are impossible to ignore. Andrew?

I tend to tweet a lot when at shows and about two songs into Dreamer’s Dose’s set, it went like this:
“There's a pretty good chance that a bit of the essence of Layne Staley has found its way into @DreamersDose."

That and something about them being way too young to sound that good....which brings us to the age thing.

Jesse

Jesse: “The rhythm section is 18 and...”
Andrew: ”...the ‘better’ section is 17.”
Levi: “We’re hanging out with minors right now.”

That’s right: Levi and Josh are 18, and Andrew and Jesse are 17. No matter how shitty you're inclined to let that make you feel, once you get over it, you have to acknowledge that these guys are flat out talented. Talented enough to have just finished recording their 12-song debut album titled At Least We’re Happy with the venerable Alain Johannes (Eleven, Them Crooked Vultures, Eagles of Death Metal) which is due out this year and I call dibs on a listening session.

Interviewing the youthful exuberance that is Dreamer’s Dose is fairly pleasurable; they talk a lot to and over one another in their effort to express almost every thought and, although that presents difficulties for an audio version of an interview, it’s priceless to my mental files. Almost as priceless as this collective description of their sound:

“Afro-beat classical, two-step, hip hop. With mariachi.”
Jesse: “I think in our future we have some dubstep in us.”

The only genre that three out of four wholly shot down was “pop rock.” For reality’s sake, let’s just call it alternative, neo-psychedelic grunge and nobody will get hurt or go to Hell.

Andrew: “There’s a psychedelic side to it, like a “love all” side to it. For the flower child and accepting on the album. Some of the other songs are darker on the album like the song “Boys and Girls” which deals with suicide.”

Josh & Andrew

The words “sex rock" were floated out: Yes I heard that, but part of me wishes I hadn't. In the end, respect for the goodness of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Radiohead, Queens of the Stone Age, and a strong love for Elliott Smith also rose its head so it seems there's much hope for these young guns. I suspect that to be the case because I walked away from the evening with one pervasive (albeit inelegant) thought about Dreamer's Dose: they do not suck. And I appreciate that in a band.

Signed....
@dharma69