CTIndie Summer Mix MMXIV

It's finally here! This years CTIndie.com Summer Mix has been assembled by our volunteers and is ready for the world!

An Interview with Robbie Vozza

 

Robbie Vozza is a singer/songwriter with a long history of making music in different bands. Currently operating out of the Danbury area, he has begun working hard with a strong focus on his own solo music. I got a chance to ask Robbie a few questions, take a look at his answers below!

Want to play with some great CT musicians?

Yes the entire Ideat Village Festival (which has been a New Haven festival for artists, musicians, and anything underground and oddball for the past 13 years) is not happening in 2013 but one of their greatest events will be! The Rock Lottery!

The Joiner Inners invite you to their "House of Sound"

New Haven indie pop rockers, The Joiner Inners, have released their new album, “House of Sound,” and it’s chock full of pop goodness.

Taking cues from bands like The Lemonheads, (early) Fountains of Wayne, and indie gods Nada Surf, The Joiner Inners have crafted a record full of catchy songs complete with all the hooks, bells and whistles that draw you into a great pop record.  Recorded by Jon Conine (Electric Bucket, Red Blade) in two days back in February, “House of Sound” includes seven songs that may not leave your brain and will get stuck in your car stereo. It all comes at a great time because this is the perfect record for long summer drives down to the shore. Songs like “What It Is” and “House of Sound” scream “radio hits,” and would probably upset Evan Dando because they are not his songs. Other songs like “Just One Thing” and “A List of Better Endings” display the bands dirty, garagey rock and roll side with their slight Paul Westerberg guitar tones and Superdrag appeal. Overall, The Joiner Inners have captured a straight ahead pop rock record mixed with all the right indie influences. “House of Sound” is another great record that has been released this year and it’s a good contender for a list of favorites at the end of 2013. 

Buck McGrane - Grazie Mille

"Buck McGrane plays sad songs that make you feel good." - Dan from Pools are Nice. That's all it says on the bio part of Buck McGrane's Bandcamp. I don't know if I agree that the songs are sad but they CERTAINLY make you feel good.

Gun Outfit bring their dark, captivating indie rock to BAR

At one point, indie rock band Gun Outfit was based out of Olympia, Washington, but the weather proved too much for their principle members Dylan Sharp and Carrie Keith (guitar, vocals, both) that they both decided to head for warmer climes, and landed in Los Angeles a few years back.

Interview with Dave Lutz of Tomb and Thirst

Tomb and Thirst hails from New Haven and has been taking the Elm City on a ride through the world of Metal, doom, sludge, and grindcore. Releasing a self-titled CD late last year they are on their way to becoming one of the premier bands to see in the area. Check out an interview with guitarist Dave Lutz.

Wrist Like This Cassette Review

Any band that Matt Potter is in I have to take a second look at. So when he came up to me at The Oasis Pub one night and was going on about this new band, Wrist Like This, I knew immediately that it was something I needed to listen to.

Royal Thunder & Stone Titan at Cafe Nine This Saturday!

Royal Thunder is bringing their thunderous metal to Cafe 9 on Saturday, on tour with Ancient VVisdom and including locals Bedroom Rehab Corporation and Safety Meeting's own Stone Titan!

SICK/SEA | SPECTRAL FANGS | KENNY WARD & MORE @ THE HEIRLOOM ARTS THEATRE 2/8

Monster show at The Heirloom Arts Theatre on Friday. Sick/Sea, Spectral Fangs and a slew of other bands are performing for your waiting ears!

Two Humans - Best Folks LP Review (and info for RELEASE SHOW!)

Two Humans are back with a full length LP full of garage pop goodness to remind you how to stomp your feet! They're gonna have a release show on 12/29 at Taco Hut HQ and YOU BETTER BE THERE!!!

Jacques Le Coque - LP

12 awesome new tracks from an amazing local band, Jacques Le Coque's new self titled debut LP is a powerhouse of good tunes and high energy leaving you clamoring for more!

The Human Fly - Everything II: Variations on a Theme

Robert Mathis is another man in black, who wields his acoustic only to warn and illuminate. Not entertain you with infectious little numbers. His baritone pipes call to mind other darkly dressed gentlemen, from the likes of Nick Cave to Adam Turla. Mathis has been recording his brand of muddy doom-folk under the Human Fly handle up and down the eastern seaboard for the past couple years, while this is the first full recording to feature a full band. Everything II: Variations on a Theme is simply a different rendition of the bare boned Everything Feels Bad At Once. This re-imagined take on the low key original, unplugged version is more of a companion piece, meant to complete a sonic puzzle. But don't worry - it still sounds like lonely drives down desert highways, and soaking in the blood of haunted motel rooms. Where the comfort of city lights are reminisced upon via barren toned licks that teeter between The Damned and Alice in Chains.

Everything II was recorded in a modern studio on a whim, to reinvent sooty folk as sprawlingly evil grunge. It was all done in one fell swoop, so all the darkness you hear is natural, and not produced by robots. Clarity ups the stakes, giving The Human Fly a greater sense of immediacy. Tracks like The Fine Line and Severed Head come alive with blaring distortion and words that break on Mathis' demented hollering. The electricity in the strings still allow for opportunities to create foreboding atmosphere, while bass creeps around like carnivorous ivy. Climactic, surging guitar payoffs are the fire and brimstone behind backwoods preacher sermons.

Gritty ballad You Remind Me of Martha, is plain theatrical, adding emotive muscle to exposed bones. Primitive Ways is like a more treacherous depiction of a Cramps single, that one might hear over the opening credits of an Italian 60s horror film. The latter, along with Moth are grunge bliss. Driving backbeats bring Mathis' excellent songwriting up from the cellar. The upbeat ADHD is miles away from atmospheric bleakness, yet is a reminder of of how The Human Fly can take a new form, with his knack for many faces. An anti-super hero, who when stripped away of a backing band is still prolific.

Everything II: Variations on a Theme is perfect if you ever wanted to know what it would sound like if Danzig teamed up with Cobain circa 1992. Madness and nihilism have never sounded so heart warming. If having two versions of a release is worth doing at all, than its worth doing right. And this is done so, so goddamn right. 

Hooks and Sinkers, The Lost Riots, The Hulls @ Chas' Place 11/10

TIME FOR MORE PUNK ROCK. This time at Chas' Place in Meriden. Hooks & Sinkers, The Lost Riots and The Hulls come together to kick in some teeth and spit some blood.

DISCO DOOM / DAYJOY / OVLOV @ BAR 8/22 for FREE

Disco Doom are a Swiss band that rocks hard. They have shared the stage with Built To Spill and Dinosaur Jr. and when you hear them you will understand why. Go to BAR and see them play with Dayjoy and Ovlov.

Chalk Talk - Bad Influences EP

Chalk Talk are at present an Amherst, MA indie rock band but I am giving them a pass and reviewing their EP because it's awesome, it was recorded in Glastonbury, CT., and 2 of the 3 members of the band are from CT. Not to mention they just played a release show in Woodbury, CT with the likes of The Guru and High Pop. Regardless this EP is packed with garage pop/rock goodness!

INFINITE VOID / HEATS OF FORMATION / FEMALE @ Willimantic Records 8/8

Another awesome show coming up at Willimantic Records. Check out Infinite Void, with Heats of Formation and Female on 8/8.

TYVEK / WET HAIR / FRUSTRATIONS / ESTROGEN HIGHS @ CAFE NINE 8/3

New Haven's own Estrogen Highs aren't stopping any time soon! On Friday they hit up Cafe Nine just before setting out on their tour. Along with Detroit's Tyvek and Frustrations and Iowa City's Wet Hair, this promises to be a night you won't soon forget!

The Guru / Art Decade / The Hiya Dunes / White Savages / The Ferns @ The Space 7/28

 CT Favorites The Guru are playing The Space this Saturday, so get down to Hamden and see an amazing example of CT musicians!

New SPACE ORPHANS 7" - Shoegazy Giuseppi and Ricky Ritardo

Space Orphans have a new 7 inch coming your way, so ready your turntable for some new waxy goodness!