Monarch finish off the year even stronger than it began. December is packed with great shows for you to forget the winter blues and enjoy one of the best bars in town with. Tonight Widowspeak off the Captured Tracks label in Brooklyn NYC take the stage for what’s sure to be a cosy night of woodsmoke-inflected haze-rock…or maybe that’s just my headcold making everything sound like it’s coming at me through a cloud of fog, either way, love it.
Here’s a couple of tracks, the first Gun Shy, sounding like Hope Sandoval invaded the recording she loves these guys so much and why wouldn’t she, we do:
…and this is Nightcrawlers:
There are aspects of the band’s sound—abrasive guitar hooks, immediate drumming, and incessant codas—that speak to living in a big city. But there’s also a dreary sparseness, a David Lynch-esque darkness, culled from the other members’ native Washington.
The band’s skeletal sound began to take shape, with Robert’s rust-belt guitar parts lending a restless, sinister edge to Molly’s subdued melodies and soft vocal style. Writing became a collaborative effort, and Widowspeak racked up an arsenal of songs. By fall the trio had recorded a six-track cassette using only a built-in laptop microphone and Garageband. The self-released October Tape, as it was called, fell into the hands of Brooklyn’s Captured Tracks. Weeks later, after only their sixth show, Widowspeak recorded the 7” single, “Harsh Realm,” in anticipation of a full LP.
That album, recorded at Rear House with Jarvis Taveniere of Woods, documents Widowspeak’s inaugural year. In a relaxed studio setting songs born from those first jittery practices could breathe. The trio expanded their modest instrumentation while retaining a sparse aesthetic. The resulting record offers an eerie ambience, at times channeling 1950’s jukebox pop, at others, 1960’s psychedelia. While garnering comparisons to slow-moving 1990’s acts such as Mazzy Star or Cat Power, Widowspeak have defined a sound that’s earnestly nostalgic, and increasingly confident. Even so, these are songs about heartache. They are songs about homesickness, about longing for pine forests, reckless youth, and dark nights in strange cities.
Here’s Harsh Realm live:
