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."

US10 On Spitfire Radio: 4th Of July Edition

Independent radio is a good thing for obvious reasons, but no reason so obvious as loosening music fans from the narrow lanes of restricted listening and limited music discovery. Major radio stations have their painfully structured playlists of songs that you'll hear repeated every hour on the hour with little room for deviation. And then there are free spirits like Spitfire Radio across the pond in  Birmingham, England who are all about being a quality alternative and a source for amazing music that you may not otherwise find. That's where Barry Tomes (a Brit) and Brooke Henderson (a Yankee) come in as hosts of the program, US10 which showcases 10 of the BEST new and emerging bands/artists from the US. Isn't it lovely how we Americans and the English have been able to get along despite that nasty American Revolution-thing?

Now being given the opportunity to select 10 of my favorite artists for this week's edition of US10 was a pretty honor, yet a really difficult one. Why difficult? Because although 10 may sound like a lot of artists to choose, it's barely scratches the surface due to the abundance of good shit out there just waiting to be discovered by ears like yours.

My US10 turned out to very LA-centric and, if you know me, there will be a few familiar names: it wasn't intentional, I'm just very fond of much of the music growing in my own backyard. So check out the show (with adorable and witty banter courtesy of Brooke and Barry whom I thank for indulging my selections), dig into the music and perhaps turn yourself on to a new band.


Bands featured:
The Last Internationale
X Ambassadors
Big Black Delta
Finish Ticket
Terraplane Sun
Irontom
Dead Sara
American Royalty
The Features
Sabrosa Purr

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.