So full disclosure I run a record label and I’ve come to an agreement with Blood Makes Noise to let me promote releases every week. The idea is every week I will present a playlist with some new Mint 400 Records music and what I think inspired our songwriters. Today we have an interesting mix of post punk and then last weeks releases of piano laden indie rock. We’re going to kick it off with NJ’s own Bluechannel who basically define Post Punk. Post punk to me was always the stuff that was a follow up to the late 70’s and 80’s punk stuff, the stuff that came after that was more sophisticated, better played and written stuff like what Jawbreaker was doing by the mid-90’s. Even though it was hated at the time their album “Dear You” was kind of the blue print for post 90’s post punk movement. Bluechannel was around for that whole era but this newest release was written in 2008 and shows that it stuck to it’s roots and remained gritty and punky while having more sophisticated lyrics and song writing structures. The obvious comparisons were Samiam and The Get Up Kids but, and I say this a lot, it’s more likely that they shared influences rather than being directly influential on Bluechannel.
Next is central NJ’s The Clydes with a re-recording of a track from early on in their catalog called “The Fate Of California” and to be honest this was the very first track I heard by The Clydes and was the reason they got signed to my label. It’s a crunchy punky indie rock song and I compared it to the Muse song “Time Is Running Out” because of the dark vibe and the build-ups to the big chorus. This was an example of re-recording that actually works because the current lineup and just overall band growth allowed the band to do a really great updated version of this.
Now we get to our mellower half of the playlist with Lee Moretti of The Furies and a re-release of her debut EP “Vanishing Acts”. However don’t be fooled, Lee’s music has some bite to it. I compared the track to a song by The Anniversary because not only do they share the female vocal in a similar style and piano/keyboard but stylistically I think this was the era, early 2000’s punk and indie that inspired Lee’s first batch of recordings. It’s clear to see that her current band The Furies is built on a solid foundation.
Finally Eric Sosler of The Racer brings us his solo work on No Great Pretender’s debut. This is an interesting release because I hear a lot of different influences and the piano is amazing throughout. Sosler’s voice is interesting too as it reminds me of someone like M. Ward who never really belts anything out but instead gives short syllables usually with a gravelly vibrato. I think it’s interesting because it doesn’t really strike you as the kind of project where you can say “this reminds me of this”. If you enjoy The Racer, since Eric is such a large part of that project I think you will hear something you like about this project as it shares an aesthetic.