Portrait of a lady in a world full of dirt. In hindsight, I’m not sure why I’ve been using this space in recent months to demand a new full-length from the voice of conscience for an angry, dying world known in her current form as Shilpa Ray, but I’m willing to take at least partial credit for her crucial, vital, crushing new album. Even before my childish caterwauling commenced, Ray was building momentum with digital singles that held promise of something fierce. Just from the titles alone, “Manic Pixie Dream Cunt,” “Heteronormative Horseshit Blues” and “Bootlickers of the Patriarchy” made it clear that she was turning her sickened gaze past scenesters and on to the wicked world we all live in. Her last album, 2017’s Door Girl, was her fourth full length and her first truly great album (which isn’t as harsh as it sounds given that most musicians make around zero great albums). But now it’s take no prisoners time and, dragging herself out of the years of Trump and #MeToo, Shilpa Ray’s fury’s stoked. Instead of lamenting her place in a noisy, heartless city (“For all the people bouncing through life / So pure and positively / Ever wonder what happens / To people like me?” she sang in “Shilpa Ray’s Got a Heart Full of Dirt”), Portrait of a Lady (out April 29 on Northern Spy) takes on entitlement, sexual abuse, and fake feminism with wit and a sneer. Combining the caustic wit of Bongwater’s Ann Magnuson, the grit of the New York Dolls and the taut pop sensibility of Blondie, Ray deserves a place in the NYC Pantheon of Rock’n’Roll Giants. Truth be told, though, the Pantheon needs a first-generation Indian Jersey girl more than she needs it.
A deer is a horse (of course, of course). Brooklyn’s A Deer A Horse has been around since 2013, and has been working in its current configuration since 2017, but Grind (out April 8 on Bitter Records) is their first full-length and it’s a powerhouse. On the opening track and lead single “Bitter,” bassist and singer Angela Phillips growls through a scream, “six foot, good looks / white of course / it’s bitter to be reminded / of the happiness you’ll never have.” She isn’t scary like some faux Satanist in a black robe, she’s scary like she’ll bite you because she can’t think of a reason not to. The slow strut of “Blemish,” meanwhile, is like watching a kettle boil, fully expecting it to blow up in your face. Where Shilpa Ray has a lot to say about the state of the world today, A Deer A Horse is ready to gash it to ribbons with a barbed wire guitar. They’ve got guests filling out the album’s sound—strings, synths, piano, even what they call the “ADAH choir”—but in no way softening it. They’re riff monsters with Royal Trux vibe and Stooges abandon. And that name? They don’t like it, they say, and they’re open to suggestions. “Rabid Wolverine” could work.
Lies and the lying liars who sing them. Last we heard from Bay Area punks Neutrals was in 2020 with their single “Personal Computing,” a sort of Kraftwerk meets the Undertones tune about tech mag porn. They’re back with a four-song—Bus Stop Nights (March 25, Static Shock Records)—the best of which is the lead track, “Gary Borthwick Says” (look up the claymation video) about a guy who lies a lot. An Undertones undercurrent still rings through (even if singer Allan McNaughton is Scottish, not Irish) in their anthem of petty ire, and it’s just as catchy as they were at their best. Meanwhile, the number one down-under-so-called-“shed rock”-band-with-a-ginger-mulleted-frontman the Chats—who proclaimed in song that AC/DC is the second greatest band in history, after themselves—have a new song from the point of view of someone who was struck by lightning and left a pile of ash on the concrete. It’s hard to buy the story, but the song is almost as good as AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.” “Struck by Lightning” seems to be only released as a video, and a fine video it is, even if singer/bassist Josh Hardy apparently has trimmed his backlocks.
Digi flexi Midi. Fans who pre-ordered Black Midi’s Calvacade on vinyl last year got a bonus flexi-disc of the band playing five covers, the best 60% of which they’ve now put online. The set neatly dissected their unpredictable and uneven nature, showing that while they’re quite good at being quite good, they kinda suck at being clever. The two tunes they left out—a snotty cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” that gives Sinéad nothing 2 worry about and a pointless Talking Heads/Police mash-up—are just annoyances. Their cover of King Crimson’s “21st Century Schizoid Man,” on the other hand, is amped and on point. They tackle Captain Beefheart’s “Moonlight on Vermont” with equally impressive precision, even if drummer Morgan Simpson’s vocal impression is pretty forced (and the U2 interpolation is highly questionable). Their take on Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” is the best of them. They play it pretty straight, showing they respect a well-crafted tune. Overall, it’s a fun little project, even if fun isn’t Black Midi’s best look.
Incoming for Ukraine. Bandcamp has made for a fast and easy way to do benefit records and they started going up pretty quick for the people of Ukraine after the invasion. The Coathangers and ..And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead came together for a quick cover of Pussy Riot’s “Putin Lights Up the Fires” with proceeds going to the CARE Ukraine Crisis Fund. Maybe a bit more out of Red Hook earshot is WSPÓLNA SPRAWA (kompilacja dla Ukrainy), released by the Polish label Plusz Tapes. The first 17 tracks are short blasts of fairly rote punk, but bringing up the rear is a nearly 10-minute cut by an outfit called “Kurws.” The song, “Podchody” (or “Income,” according to online translation) is a great chunk of prog punk, reminiscent of the amazing Japanese band Kukangendai, or Black Midi in a breezy moment, for that matter. They have a full album coming out at the end of the month, so watch this space. Proceeds from the Plusz comp go to the Polish Centre for International Aid, earmarked for Ukrainians affected by the attack on their homeland.
