Quasi

Quasi formed in Portland, Ore., in 1993, which means that it's been fearlessly rocking since long before your website launched or you booted up an iPod. For years -- 16 to be exact -- it was a duo consisting of Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss. In 2006, Joanna Bolme (of Stephen Malkmus + The Jicks) joined the band on bass.

Quasi flings words and notes relentlessly, hurling music across the stage like grenades. It is explosive and electrifying. Coomes devours his instruments, whether it is keyboard or guitar, fusing melody and mayhem. His voice can go from deadpan to caterwauling, from a lovely lilt to a sardonic sting. Weiss is the avalanche (earthquake? tsunami? volcano?) of drummers. Really, just step aside and make a soft landing for your jaw, because its very likely to drop. Plus, Weiss can sing, which means that Quasi has harmonies; they hint at sweetness, settling into the halcyon moment for a while, before you realize that the words conjure a creeping sense of unease.

Quasis songs teeter between optimism and despair, fantastical journeys and harsh realism; this is a pop band for people who like their pop throttled. Coomes, Weiss and Bolme are consummate players who let go of the reins to let the wildness accumulate; who space out and make the music disintegrate, blur and tumble before it falls back into the groove. Their playing is proficiently, seamlessly ragged.

Quasis new album, American Gong, is still ringing in my ears. And by ringing, I mean that its obliterated and unstuffed the cushiony music thats been singing me to sleep for the past few years. Personally, Im well rested and ready to move on. American Gong signals that the musical group hug weve been stuck in for a while is over. Gong lurches and veers; it reels, resets, crawls and moans. But the album also professes beauty; it surfaces from the murkiness and soars. In the midst of this awesome sonic storm are expertly crafted compositions and arrangements, gravel and grime-coated rock, psych and pop tunes that never lose their shine.

Listen to Repulsion, listen to Little White Horse, listen to Bye Bye Blackbird. Wait! Listen to the whole thing. Black Dogs And Bubbles. Yes! Yeah! Yay! Words just seem silly compared to the feeling of wanting to jump around.

Heres something that resembles a cheat sheet: theres a lot of guitar playing on this album.

Let me end by saying that Quasi is a stellar and inventive band. On American Gong they sound inspired, happy to be playing, even joyful. I think kids will discover Quasi for the first time on American Gong. And long-time fans will wonder where all the time has gone and be thankful that Quasi is still around to provide the unofficial soundtrack to our hopelessly hopeful lives. Rise up!

HOOKWORMS

Hookworms Website

Hookworms have been terrorizing headlining bands across northern England (as support with Wooden Shjips, Sun Araw and Peaking Lights), and beyond through sheer sonic velocity and emotive intent. The reel feels cathartic, each fresh revolution of the loop a confrontation between the band and themes of depression, loss and anger subjects close to the heart of the groups vocalist MJ.

Pearl Mystic is an absolutely thunderous statement of intent for Hookworms (MJ vox/keys/analogues; JW guitarist, SS guitarist; MB bass; JN drums). After a portentous couple of years of live shows and limited releases, a debut self-titled EP initially came out on cassette for Sun Araws Sun Ark label. Soon after, there was a vinyl release on Faux Discx/Gringo Records. Both sold out. During this time their live shows continued to increase in intensity, cementing their reputation treading the boards.

Live and on record, like Spaceman 3, they pointedly subvert the tripped out sound environments of psychedelia with a darkly malevolent punk menace; unlike J.Spaceman et al, theres no chemical assistance, these concepts and feelings come with clarity.

A relationship lost, a battle with depression, and as MJ puts it a half-hearted suicide attempt are running narratives throughout the album. Tracks like Away/Towards possess an infectious energy that juxtaposes with a subtext of a bi-polar approach to coping with loss. Preservation, too, is in keeping with the groups live shows, though deals with existentialism, whilst several Raymond Carver influences are scattered in and among the bold textures of sound. In Our Time is inspired by hill MJ would cycle up near Otley in Yorkshire after the break up to catch his favorite view in the world

The record was recorded and produced in MJs own Suburban Studios where hes worked on records for Mazes, Eagulls and Spectrals and more.

Indeed, the most impressive thing about Hookworms is that, through this torrent of emotion, theres always the sense that theyre in control of it all, so committed are they to this catharsis that they refuse to throw any of it to chance.