Review: Infinity Girl | Harm

Reverent adherence to a musical aesthetic in the absence of terrific songwriting makes for forgettable music. It's a truism that separates the propped-up sounds of otherwise accomplished stylists from music on ephiphany-inducing records such as Harm, the towering sophomore LP from Brooklyn shoegaze titans Infinity Girl. The erstwhile Boston quartet has in the past remarkably conjured sounds reflecting a deep respect for the holy trinity of shoegaze, but were it not for Infinity Girl's inspired songcraft and the emotional immediacy of its songs, no one would be listening, and we certainly wouldn't be (figuratively) talking. However, it is not just the great songwriting that distinguishes Harm, but also the act's willingness to shed certain of shoegaze's characteristic sonic skin and experiment with weirder, harder and more compact sounds. The result is a breakout record, a modern classic.

Harm's 11 songs evidence the band's ability to make expansive, urbane music, while incorporating a classic punk urbanness and economy. Inspired at least in part by the band's shift in fits and starts southward, the record is darker, grappling with alienation and anxiety along with the expected heartache ("I'm kind of an introvert and find that I have a difficult relationship with the world and people that are close to me," fronter and guitarist Nolan Eley told Interview earlier this summer). The bending, fuzz-bass-fueled opener "Hesse" gives the album a feeling of beginning en medias res, which perhaps approximates the feeling of arriving in Brooklyn during the gestation of the record. While the sound and vibe is definitely darker, the record is certainly not all doom and gloom. The colossal -- colossal -- hit "Dirty Sun" is an addicting, upbeat rocker, despite its recitation of love gone wrong ("...navigate your arms, they are crossed, like they always are..."). And there is joy in the quick pulse and subsequent stilted thrash of "Heavy." Another important piece of Harm is the growing role of lead guitarist Kyle Oppenheimer as a songwriter and vocalist; his arresting and sweet "Young," in particular, teeters at the edge of an innocence lost, his desperate, broken-winged vocal in the final 40 seconds will raise the hair on the back of one's neck.

Giving the record the headphones treatment quickly brings into focus that the delays and reverbs that are the stock in trade of the classic shoegaze sound have been significantly tamped down. The meaner, more sculpted textures Infinity Girl presents make Harm its most sophisticated record to date, and this is perhaps nowhere more apparent than on the amazing "Locklaun." After a stuttering opening, the tune's huge sonic surges recall Nine Inch Nails' brutalist excoriation "Wish" or even certain ridiculously loud Jon Spencer guitar solos. Sebastian Modak's drumming here and across the record is caffeinated to the point of punchy, emphasizing the post-punk heart beating here. And so Harm is a next-level record that has literally taken the band to the next level. The band revealed in late spring that it had signed with San Diego-based emo powerhouse Topshelf Records for the release, which streeted Friday. With Harm, Infinity Girl has released not only a truly great record, but a defining noise-pop record, on par with monumental releases from its original Boston base of operations including Swirlies' Blonder Tongue Audio Baton and Drop Nineteens' epochal Delaware.

Harm is available on black, grey marble and clear with "black smoke" 12" vinyl -- available a la carte or as a 3-LP bundle -- and digital download; order your copy from Topshelf Records right here. Infinity Girl fête the release of Harm with two big, big rock shows, including one Sept. 5 in Boston at Great Scott with psych-rockers The New Highway Hymnal, Fiddlehead, and the highly touted Gold Muse, who we believe will be at long last making their live debut. For those of you keeping score at home, Gold Muse consists of former members of Soccer Mom, Justin Lally from pop savants Earthquake Party! (whose long, long anticipated debut long-player seems to have finally been completed), and Deb Warfield, who has logged time with scad of acts including the aforementioned Swirlies and Broken River Prophet. Additional Infinity Girl shows include the Brooklyn release show at Shea Stadium Wednesday and a date Sept. 29 at Palisades, also in Brooklyn. We've heard chatter that there will be a formal tour before the end of the year, so keep your eyes trained to the trusty Internet, where all things will be revealed unto you. Stream three preview singles from Harm via the SoundCloud embeds below, or click here to stream the whole banana over at Billbored.

Infinity Girl: Bandcamp | Facebook | Internerds | Soundcloud







Prior Infinity Girl Coverage:
That Was The Show That Was: Infinity Girl, Lubec, Guillermo Sexo, Havania Whaal | Great Scott | 9 July
Topshelf Signs Infinity Girl, Titanic Sophomore LP Harm Due Aug. 28, Hear First Single "Firehead" Now
Clicky Clicky Music Blog's Top Albums Of 2012: Jay Edition
That Was The Show That Was: Infinity Girl EP Release Show With New Highway Hymnal, Speedy Ortiz and Soccer Mom | TT The Bear's | 5 Dec.
That Was The Show That Was: Clicky Clicky Community Servings Benefit Show Thank Yous And Wrap-Up
Today's Hotness: Infinity Girl
Review: Infinity Girl | Just Like Lovers EP
Forever Now: The Infinity Girl Interview
Review: Infinity Girl | Stop Being On My Side

That Was The Show That Was: Infinity Girl, Lubec, Guillermo Sexo, Havania Whaal | Great Scott | 9 July

We're going to remember this one for a long time. Not only was this big, big, big rock show Thursday night our first-ever IRL meeting with a very old and good friend, it was also our first time seeing Clicky Clicky fave Lubec and now-Clicky Clicky fave Havania Whaal. Our good friends in Guillermo Sexo were reliably spectacular, and shoegaze heroes Infinity Girl were just heroic. Great show, five stars, would recommend seeing again.

But of course there's more to it than that. Openers and Oregonites Havania Whaal was probably the least-known quantity for most folks in Boston -- locale of the first night of HW's tour with BandFF's Lubec -- and a number of folks sidled up to us to remark at how the trio impressed. The band opted for more uptempo and immediate material for its live set, which somewhat played down the band's characteristic darkwave flavor, but revealed in aural glimpses some of the band's more classic influences in Versus and Unrest. Official Show Saviors Guillermo Sexo backlined the entire night with their gear, but perhaps bigger contribution was its amazing set, which was richly textured and firmly dreamy. The band's stock in trade is atmospheric and moody psych-rock, which we've written about here in these electronic pages for years, but even after a decade Guillero Sexo is finding new tricks up their collective and proverbial sleeve. Its set was heavily tilted toward brand-new material, and the second song out of the gate was a stunner, uplifting and transcendant in a way we have not yet heard the band do it. We are eager to hear what comes next; a video for the new-ish tune "Graffiti Skies" is about to be unleashed, so keep your eyes open for that.

Lubec was simply tremendous, a constantly crescendoing miracle of dream-pop, its three players and their playing both perfectly aligned and balanced. The Portland three has played with a second guitarist previously, and we were wondering if we'd miss that element in the mix, but fronter Eddie Charlton's guitar work, keyboardist Caroline Jackson's work holding down the low and and spangling the upper register, and Matt Dressen's sturdy drumming complement each other in a remarkably graceful way. Lubec played the three songs from its hotly anticipated "Concentration" single (which will be out on vinyl and cassette via Like Young and Touchy Feely, respectively) as well as hits from its 2014 masterpiece The Thrall [review]. Finally, Infinity Girl delivered a powerful reminder of just what got these guys signed to Topshelf Records earlier this year. Its dynamic set included classics including "Please Forget" as well as its latest single, but we were particularly thrilled to hear them play what will surely be a monster hit, the uptempo and blurry instant classic "Dirty Sun." Trust us: the song is massive, like Top 10 all-time-favorite-songs massive. Infinity Girl will be back in Boston in early September playing a release show with totes sick support for its tremendous sophomore set Harm, which will be issued by Topshelf Aug. 17 [details].

Lubec and Havania Whaal's tour jogged to the left for a show in Worcester, Mass. Friday and blazed through Brooklyn just this afternoon, and from here on out they are heading due south toward Jacksonville, playing dates en route with Clicky Clicky faves Golden Gurls and Swings. The remaining tour dates are posted at the bottom of this item. We suppose this is as good a place as any to note that Golden Gurls seem to be brushing off the cobwebs and becoming more active again. The Baltimore trio loosed to the wilds of the Internerds late last month a short stack of demos called, unsurprisingly, New Old Demos [link], and we have it on good authority the band has new material in the works, so keep an ear on Baltimore. Well, not all of Baltimore, pretty much just them and a few others, yeh?

Big thanks go to Carl, Jesse and Dan at Great Scott, as without their support there'd have been no show and that would have been super-sad. Now is probably an opportune time to mention that this Clicky Clicky Presents thing is sort of happening, and will continue to happen, and we're planning a bunch of first-rate rock events straight through into the new year, which year will include a certain blog's 10th anniversary, based on the most reliable metric of measuring such things. Anyway, keep your gaze trained on this page, our Facebook dojo and Twitter outpost. You'll be glad you did. Now why don't you go grab another beer and stream the songs below?

Infinity Girl: Bandcamp | Facebook
Lubec: Bandcamp | Facebook
Guillermo Sexo: Bandcamp | Facebook
Havania Whaal: Facebook | Internerds









Lubec / Havania Whaal Tour Dates:
07.12 -- Philadelphia PA -- Bourbon & Branch
07.13 -- Baltimore MD -- Reverb
07.14 -- Washington, DC -- The Pinch
07.15 -- Norfolk, VA -- The Taphouse
07.16 -- Raleigh, NC -- Prisma Video
07.17 -- Asheville, NC -- Mothlight
07.18 -- Athens GA -- Flicker Bar
07.19 -- Jacksonville FL -- Burro Bar w/ Round Eye

Clicky Clicky Presents: Infinity Girl, Lubec, Guillermo Sexo, HavaniaWhaal | Great Scott, Boston | 9 July

We promised an official announcement weeks ago when the date gelled, but, well, we've been busy, you've been busy, Mercury was in retrograde, etc. But here we are, with the big, big official announcement of our second Clicky Clicky Presents event (if you count the Together series as one thing) of 2015: July 9. Great Scott rock club in Boston. Infinity Girl. Lubec. Guillermo Sexo. Havania Whaal.

Es correcto! That's just 10 days hence. And these bands have stuff going on. Shoegaze titans Infinity Girl recently announced they had signed with Topshelf Records, and its sophomore album Harm will be released in August. The Brooklyn four's first preview single made a splash on the Internerds, and we can assure readers that any other preview singles -- should they come along -- will also blow minds. Portland, OR dream-pop gigantes Lubec are prepping a new vinyl and cassette release featuring the tunes "Concentration" and, as the embed below illustrates, "Many Worlds." Boston psych-pop stalwarts Guillermo Sexo launched early this month a very, very cool video for its new tune "Graffiti Sky," which is the first taste of its forthcoming sixth long-player Eclipse, due this fall, likely on the Midriff Records imprint. And Havania Whaal just loosed to the wilds of the Interpants an engaging, moody concept record titled 13 A.D. And not only does this particular bill epitomize the descriptor "stacked," it is the first night of Lubec and Havania Whaal's East Coast tour, which will dreamily blitzkrieg venues from Boston to Jacksonville over the course of 10 big nights; full tour dates are right here. Look for posters trumpeting the Boston date around town now, designed by Lubec drummer Matt Dressen and now situated in your general vicinity and visual field courtesy of the skilled hands of Staff Writer Dillon Riley.

There is a Facebook event page for the Boston date, as well, and we encourage you to hit this link and pledge your allegiance now so we know you are coming. And tickets! Buy tickets, tickets for you, tickets for your roommate, tickets for you mom. We'd like that, as the more tickets you buy, the more faith the nice people at Great Scott have in us when we pitch bills in the future. While you wait for the big day to arrive, soak up some sounds from the four bands on the bill via the various embeds below. They will complete you.

Infinity Girl: Bandcamp | Facebook | Soundcloud

Lubec: Bandcamp | Facebook | Soundcloud

Guillermo Sexo: Bandcamp | Facebook | Soundcloud

Havania Whaal: Bandcamp | Facebook | Soundcloud

THAT TICKET LINK AGAIN.

Topshelf Signs Infinity Girl, Titanic Sophomore LP Harm Due Aug. 28, Hear First Single "Firehead" Now

At long last, emo powerhouse Topshelf Records finally disclosed today that it has signed shoegaze heroes Infinity Girl, and will release the quartet's stunning sophomore set Harm in August. As a wise man once wrote, Infinity Girl is an American guitar band forged in the crucible of the Boston underground and now based in Brooklyn, New York. The act emerged in 2012 with a startlingly whole and reverent shoegaze sound on its debut full length, Stop Being On My Side, a set that was equal parts haunting melody and ear-bleeding power; we reviewed the collection here and ran what is likely the band's first interview right here in July 2012. An EP, Just Like Lovers, followed in late 2012 [review] and again propounded the foursome's refreshing proclivity for bending classic song forms toward its will to experiment. More recently the band has taken its music to a darker and more dynamic place informed by both classic post-punk sounds and an increasingly formidable ability to meld noise and hooks in exciting, surprising ways, as fans will note when Harm is released Aug. 28. The set will be available as a vinyl 12" (pressed to three different colors of media and available in a 3LP bundle for insane completists) and digital download, and you can pre-order your copy right here. Which we recommend you do, as we can tell you with confidence that Harm will surely be one of the best records you hear this year.

We have a first preview tune to consider: "Firehead" opens with a pulsing loop of guitar, and is quickly pushed toward fronter Nolan Eley's watery vocal by Mitch Stewart's fuzz bass. The song was premiered on Stereogum earlier, and you can hear it by clicking right here. As terrific as the song is, it is not alone: Harm is all killer and no filler, and we look forward to cheering the likely stream of subsequent singles as we head toward the release date. For now, stream "Firehead" via the embed below. Very attentive fans might have noticed a live Infinity Girl set from February at Shea Stadium was posted earlier this year, which not only includes an iteration of "Firehead," but also versions of additional tunes fans could reasonably expect to find on Harm: the towering and smeared instant classic "Dirty Sun" and the bludgeoning, MBV-tastic rager "Hesse." You can stream live versions of those tunes (as well as a selection of Infinity Girl classics) via the embed below. Fans in Boston: mark down July 9 in your date books, as Infinity Girl will be headlining a show that night at Great Scott that will also feature psych-rock veterans Guillermo Sexo, as well as two acts from Portland, Ore. who are kicking off their East Coast tour: Clicky Clicky faves Lubec and Havania Whaal. Full show details are right here; buy those tickets now, and then buy more tickets for your tickets to give out to their ticket friends. In tangential news, San Diego-based Topshelf announced yesterday it had signed west coast indie punks Happy Diving, and will release that act's single "So Bunted" b/w "My Zone" July 17. Happy Diving's previous release, the terrific Big World LP, was released by Father/Daughter Records in 2014 and we reviewed it right here.

Infinity Girl: Bandcamp | Facebook | Internerds | Soundcloud



Prior Infinity Girl Coverage:
Clicky Clicky Music Blog's Top Albums Of 2012: Jay Edition
That Was The Show That Was: Infinity Girl EP Release Show With New Highway Hymnal, Speedy Ortiz and Soccer Mom | TT The Bear's | 5 Dec.
That Was The Show That Was: Clicky Clicky Community Servings Benefit Show Thank Yous And Wrap-Up
Today's Hotness: Infinity Girl
Review: Infinity Girl | Just Like Lovers EP
Forever Now: The Infinity Girl Interview
Review: Infinity Girl | Stop Being On My Side

Together With Together: Clicky Clicky Presents Two Nights of Abstract Electronics And Indie Rock May 12+14

As a long time admirer of one of the driving forces behind it, we could be none more pleased to announce Clicky Clicky has partnered with the annual Together festival to bring abstract electronics and indie rock to adventurous listeners next month. Whether it be serendipity or silliness, we somehow have ended up presenting not one but two nights of programming during the five-year-old festival's seven-day run this year. First up, on Tuesday, May 12, Together and Clicky Clicky present folktronica/collage duo Skinny Bones and abstract electronic improviser Dinnersss (a/k/a producer Jimmy Hughes) at Lilypad in Cambridge's fashionable Inman Square. That night of programming is enough to raise pulses out there among the cognoscenti, but we've got yet more bunnies up our pant leg: on Thursday May 14 we present at the very same venue contemporary 'gaze greats Strange Mangers, Bostonian Virginia De Las Pozas' charming and other-worldy electronic project Couples Counseling the creaky and haunting strummery of trio Horse Jumper of Love, and a very, very special performance from slowcore giants (and recent Kill Rock Stars signing) New Dog. The Tuesday show is all ages, a 10PM start, and will cost you five American dollars, while Thursday jumps off at 8:30, is all ages, and will cost eight American dollars; Together festival passholders can walk in like royalty and not have to gesture toward their billfolds at all.

We would need many hands to count up all the reasons to be excited about these musical programs, but let us just drop a few here. The music on Skinny Bones' 2014 debut Noise Floor feels as unbounded as the work of Syd Barrett, but as deeply personal as the harrowing and beautiful music of Bad History Month. Dinnersss' recent and entrancing modular synth reverie "Mise En Place" (embedded below) is evocative head music and among the most exciting electronic music we've heard coming out of Boston in this decade. Equally enticing are the electronic sounds of Couples Counseling, which at times seems to provide Boston's most on-point, contemporary response to Nuno Cannavarro's classic 1988 masterwork Plux Quba Horse Jumper of Love's recent EP Ur Real Life Dress builds up a slow and dusty, lower-case-g gothic head of steam and hits a groove on closer "Nose Bleeder," all of which makes us excited for the trio's forthcoming full-length. That live set from New Dog? It's a warm-up for the act's forthcoming European tour, and may very well be the band's first show as a duo: former Soccer Mom kit-minder Justin Kehoe now backs fronter and former Travels/Metal Hearts principal Anar Badalov. The band's new set Classic Ballroom Dances is out June 2, and June 6 the pair kicks off a couple weeks of dates in Germany, Czech Republic and Belgium. Strange Mangers topline Thursday night, bringing with it the big-guitars/big melodies sound that Clicky Clicky devotes most of its time to championing. Strange Mangers had a big 2014, releasing a terrific and haunting EP Return Eternal as well as an entirely arresting comp of older material, and we are expecting big things from the act in 2015 as well.

It is worth noting these two shows -- Facebook Event Page 1; Facebook Event Page 2; pledge your allegiance now -- represent the first efforts of this blog's nascent Clicky Clicky Presents arm. Clicky Clicky Presents is already planning sick bills every other month for the rest of the year and into 2016. We will certainly keep you apprised of these future goings on, but for those curious about what we've got planned, here's a hint and another and another and another about what we're planning or July. But for now let's stay focused on the short term, and the many auditory delights the Together festival has in store for us. Sure, our bills are great, but be sure to scrutinize the entire schedule: there is a ton of hot, hot stuff going on. Don't sleep on it.

TUESDAY, MAY 12 >>





THURSDAY, MAY 14 >>