Mudhoney sind das ewige Schattenkind der Seattle-Szene. Vorreiter in Sachen Flanell-Hemden und beinahe väterliche Inspiration für spätere Superstars wie Nirvana. Und wie üblich teilen sie auch das Schicksal einer richtungsweisenden Band, die nie den Sprung aus dem Underground-Wasser geschafft hat und selbst in größten Hype-Zeiten nur bedingt von ihrer Vorreiter-Rolle profitierte.
Ob Mudhoney den großen Ruhm überhaupt wollten, ist zweifelhaft. Dazu sind die Urgesteine doch viel zu sehr in ihrem Punkrock-Lifestyle verwurzelt.
mudhoneyonline.com

“White Hills are a cosmic power trio who have blasted off so far into the unfathomable void of space that only the Hubble Deep Field telescope on its loosest setting can pick up sight of them. The core of the group is powerhouse bassist Ego Sensation and live wire guitarist singer Dave W and they have pushed their warm, overdriven sound into straddling the Mudhoney/ Hawkwind divide like a mighty colossus. With a flying V. And a kamikaze pilot headband. They are no strangers to the Protestant work ethic finding time to release at least three albums per year as well as guesting on and producing other bands’ albums, not mentioning Dave’s Freshly Fucked side project and glorious split albums with Mancunian heavy riffnologists GNOD. We had a recent reminder of just how powerful the group are during a typically peerless live set at Supersonic last October. One small step for man, one giant bong-loaded, wah-wah addled, pulsar destroying guitar chord for mankind."
Randbemerkung: Jim Jarmush ist kein Lulu, wenn’s um die Verwendung von Musik in seinen Flicks geht. In die fehlerlose Assoziationskette reihen sich nun nach Tom Waits, Neil Young, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Boris, Joe Strummer, Earth, RZA und Mulato Astatke eben White Hills ein, die in „Only Lovers Left Alive“ zu sehen sind.
whitehillsmusic.tumblr.com/

New York’s Dirty Fences are a rock ‘n roll band in the most timeless sense of the world. They chug through power chords at breakneck speed, but this isn’t about a punk sneer, a galvanizing against, but instead a gathering around. Too High to Kross is a series of heavy-hitting but party-light rock tunes that will get you banging your head and, sometimes, humming along. Songs such as “Heaven is Tonight” or “Under Your Leather” borrow from the Ramones or a more controlled version of the MC5, while other songs such as “Always on My Mind” or “What’s That Strange?” weave in a more theatrical size to the songs. Each of these is a brisk, energetic performance, one that might remind you of a rock history of which you weren’t necessarily a part.
dirtyfences.bandcamp.com/

Barton Caroll:
bartoncaroll.com