Tag: Post Rock

CHIEF SPRINGS – EP Review: “Time to Take Time”

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Reviews19 Comments

This June seems to be shaping up as “United Kingdom Artists Month”, as the last three artists I’ve written about are British, with several more in the coming weeks. Today I bring you a fourth – Chief Springs, a fine indie rock band based in Leicester and London. Originally formed in 2018 as a two-piece by Josh Coyne and Scott Dillon, they eventually grew to become a five-piece with the addition of Sam Crosby-Browne, Dale Bradfield and Tommy Jordan. Together, they make a pleasing style of melodic rock fashioned with elements of alternative, post-rock, and dream pop, and featuring lush guitars, beautiful arrangements, intelligent lyrics and Josh’s vibrant baritone vocals.

They’ve been releasing music since 2020, beginning with their lovely single “Tupelo”, which they followed a year later with a three-song EP 00. In February 2022, they dropped a single “Long Game (Agave)”, followed two weeks later with “La Cienega”, named after the famous boulevard running through western L.A. and West Hollywood. I first learned about Chief Springs through my being a guest moderator of the British online music program Fresh on the Net, in which “La Cienega” was an entry that week. The beautiful song was one of my top five picks out of 170 entries, and I liked it so much, it spent three months on my Weekly Top 30, and ranks #76 on my 100 Best Songs of 2022 list.

Now they return with a marvelous new EP Time to Take Time, featuring four excellent songs they wrote and recorded between this past winter and early spring. Produced and mixed by their frequent collaborator Jamie Ward, the EP features accompanying vocals from singer-songwriter and musician Courtney Askey on selected tracks. Josh told me the songs on the EP “explore people’s experiences of being lied to, being told what to do with their body, accepting what’s gone is gone and moving home.”

Opening track “Elastic” touches on all the conflicting and sometimes incorrect news we’re fed, leaving us confused, disoriented, and not knowing what’s truth or fiction: “All of the things you ought to know, are no longer showing / Because the posters in the window, they serve as proof of how far they can stretch this elastic truth. All of the stories rearrange you / How far can they stretch this elastic truth? A time to take time to take time.” The instrumentation is impeccable and honest, with gorgeous jangly guitars bathed in shimmer, accompanied by a deep bass groove and real drums that lend rich textures to the track.

“House Money” speaks to accepting the hand you’ve been dealt and realizing you can move forward: “Things have changed. Somehow strangely liberating. And the house, it always wins, and everything that was, now can end. The house, it always wind, and everything to be can now begin.” A vibrant mix of intricate guitars are layered over a lush bassline and thumping groove.

And on the lovely and sweet “Upping“, Josh croons to a loved one of his devotion and willingness to go anywhere, so long as it’s with her: “Well I could move off this rock with you, build a house on the moon. Make a state upon that star too, wait for the space plants to bloom. Well I could fill a new home with you down on the bed of the sea. Forge a life under ocean blue, cheap but it’s harder to breath. If I’m to do nothing, it’ll be with you. Don’t see it as running, but a thing to do.” As always, the lush guitar work and Josh’s vocals are both achingly beautiful.

The topically relevant “Saddened Sick” calls out those who aim to control or interfere with our bodily autonomy, telling us what we can or cannot do with our lives: “Who makes the call for someone else? Now how am I supposed to believe that these are your decisions to make? And where do we begin, the hope is where it lives. Original sin, but you couldn’t write it if you tried.” The crisp percussion and jangly guitars are simply wonderful, and Josh and Courtney’s harmonies sublime.

Chief Springs have really outdone themselves with the creation of this exquisite little EP. Time to Take Time is not only a beautiful feast for the ears, it’s meaningful lyrics give us lots to think about. Great work guys!

Connect with Chief Springs:  Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

Find their music on Bandcamp / Spotify /  Apple Music / Soundcloud / YouTube

SODA CRACKER JESUS – Single Review: “Space Boy”

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Reviews8 Comments

Soda Cracker Jesus is the solo music project of the wildly imaginative, enormously talented and flamboyant singer-songwriter and producer Regan Lane. Based in Tacoma, Washington, Regan has been actively involved in the Pacific Northwest music scene for 40 years, with his hands in many projects, including serving as front man and ringmaster for psychedelic punk-rock band Strangely Alright. He created Soda Cracker Jesus in early 2021 as a way of expressing his punkier power pop side, releasing his first single “My Anthem” that April. Since then, he’s followed with five more singles, his latest of which is “Space Boy“, which dropped May 15th.

Regan’s been honest and candid on social media about his former struggles with alcohol and substance abuse, and the happiness and joy that sobriety now brings him. With an unwavering sense of optimism, he creates music that looks to the future, but also understands the power of the past, and that duality helps shape his unique and signature sound. I’ve featured both Strangely Alright and Soda Cracker Jesus on this blog numerous times over the past four years, most recently in April of last year when I reviewed his upbeat banger “Hoping For The Best”.

“Space Boy” – which Regan describes as “a little Velvet Underground and a little Bowie in the bass-driven spoken word verses and driving punky choruses, with a lesson from the universe to slow the fuck down” – was inspired by a near miss with a semi on his way home one day. He elaborates: “A near head-on collision on my way home ended up being a message from the universe. In my mind, anyway…lol. I’d been pushing myself pretty hard and it caught up to me. I’d been listening to Billy Nomates and really dug the simplicity of her arrangements and how the bass was incorporated in each song. So after dodging the semi-truck that I had almost hit running a red light, I blew one of my tires and ended up at a gas station. Freaked out but alive, I had a conversation with a friendly guy from a homeless camp who helped me out, and what he said to me really spoke to me. Life can be cool that way.“

In addition to writing the words and music and singing vocals, Regan played all instruments and produced the track, which was mastered by his longtime collaborator Todd Ensminger. The song starts off with a great little bass riff, backed by a faint wobbly synth, which are soon joined by a strong thumping drumbeat as Regan begins to sing in his colorful vocal style: “I was driving home from work, a little spaced out. You know, my busy fucking life. I ran a red, the semi didn’t care. Speeding up to let me know that life ain’t really fair.” Eventually, the song turns into a fist-pumping punk rock anthem in the choruses, with an explosion of stomping drumbeats, swirling spacy synths and grinding riffs – “Space Boy, you better slow down. Going to explode before you hit the ground.” It’s a terrific banger, and another stellar single from this brilliant artist.

Follow Soda Cracker Jesus:  Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

Find his music on Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music