GRAVE092 ::: Whirr 'Around'

Click here to order directly: www.graveface.com/graveface-catalog.html

With their two albums to date, Bay Area six-piece Whirr have developed a reputation for dirgeful shoegaze, buttressed with textured layers or guitar and weighty, driving compositions. Spacious and moody, their 2012 LP Pipe Dream drew comparisons to heavyweights of the genre My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Slowdive.

Now, Whirr returns with Around, a mini-LP that finds the group restrained, but no less dark. Here, they explore longer songs, with their shortest clocking in at just under six minutes. Catchy melodies, traditionally a part of the band’s wheelhouse, give way here to a droning ambience, shifting Whirr slightly from their shoegaze core toward a dour post-rock sound. Vocalists Kristina Esfandiari and Loren Rivera keep their contributions misty and abstract, serving here as additional instruments more than messengers. But the thunderous drums and lavish guitar work remain — albeit in a colder, glassier form — making Around both a departure and a logical step forward from Whirr’s previous work.

LP: Record Club members receive black inside milky clear color in color vinyl. All RC copies hand-numbered. First retail pressing is heavy black splatter on milky clear vinyl (limited to 1350). Mail-order only variant is 180gram black vinyl (limited to 350 copies). LP jacket has swirl die cut. Full color thick inner sleeve. 
CD: The CD is packaged in an uncoated recycled sleeve. 
Cassette: The cassette comes with a full color j-card. 500 copies.

Whirr - Drain

GRAVE103 ::  Xiu Xiu 'Nina' out Dec 3rd, 2013

The first Xiu Xiu full length on Graveface is an 11 song Nina Simone covers album featuring some incredible musicians: Ches Smith, Tim Berne, Tony Malaby, Mary Halvorson, Andrea Parkins and Jamie Stewart of course. From Jamie: “The idea came being back stage in Austin TX, opening for Swans and feeling like I did not play well. Michael Gira and I had the night before talked about our mutual love for Nina Simone and how her intensity and crazy political truthfulness always pushed us to try harder. After watching the Swans that night and knowing the difficult ups and downs of their history and now their epic and beautiful persistence, they made me want to try harder as well. Nina Simone’s singing is way over my head and while I was back stage feeling like i blew it that night, hearing the swans be amazing and thinking of Nina made me want to not give up. The idea came from wanting to honor her, challenge myself to be better than I think I can be and to say thank you to music. Ches Smith is the only person i know who could understand this in his heart and also handle the technical side of fearlessly reorienting such wonderful music.”

Pre-order here :: http://www.graveface.com/graveface-catalog.html

LP: Graveface Record Club members receive blood red inside clear (color in color) vinyl. All RC copies hand-numbered. First retail/mail-order pressing is baby blue vinyl (limited to 1200). Mail-order only variant is 180gram black vinyl (limited to 100 copies). LP jacket has spot gloss. All customers receive 11x17 promo poster. Will arrive at your house in November, ahead of the release date.

CD: The CD is packaged in an uncoated recycled sleeve. All customers receive 11x17 promo poster. Will arrive at your house in November.

Cassette: The cassette comes with a full color j-card. Limited 500 copies. All customers receive 11x17 promo poster. Will arrive at your house in November.

Xiu Xiu - Don't smoke in bed

The Casket Girls
True Love Kills the Fairy Tale
2.11.14 US / 3.24.14 UK&EU
order the colored vinyl, cd or cassette here: www.graveface.com/graveface-catalog.html

So many pieces of Savannah, GA three-piece The Casket Girls seemed to happen by accident. From their beginning - when electronic sound-shaper Ryan Graveface (Graveface Records, Dreamend, Black Moth Super Rainbow) found sisters Phaedra and Elsa Greene under a tree in one of Savannah's many squares, playing Autoharp and singing bizarre songs - to the night they composed their sophomore album, True Love Kills the Fairy Tale, under circumstances that fall somewhere between séance and dream state, nearly everything about The Casket Girls seems to have been inspired by some kind of spooky happenstance. But then again, the Greene sisters don't believe in accidents.

"I dropped off a shit ton of songs to the girls to work on one night," Graveface says of the genesis of True Love, the follow up to Casket Girls' critically acclaimed 2012 debut. "I went back to check on their progress, because they weren't answering their phones. I don't know if they dropped acid or what, but I walked in and Elsa was sobbing and reciting poetry while Phaedra was just staring straight ahead writing it all down, like catatonic. The next day they dropped off a CD and said, 'We don't even know what's on this. You can throw it in the garbage if you want.' I sat down and listened all the way through and cried. I was like, 'Holy shit! They actually wrote a record like that!' I booked studio time and had them re-record every note just as it was on the demo. They really didn't remember any of it. Had to learn the songs as if someone else had written them entirely. Very bizarre."

Phaedra and Elsa had filled the disc with lilting, almost whimsical melodies about chemical hazes and love gone sour like a couple of fucked up Shangri-las, to which Graveface added a bevy of grinding, multi-dimensional psych-rock keys that will be familiar to anyone with a Graveface LP in their collection. The title track speaks like an unknown voice in a lucid dream - perhaps the one that conveyed these songs through the veil in the first place -beckoning, "True love kills the fairy tale... until heart and lungs fail." It's this twisted and comforting charm, which set in motion the Graveface-Greene love affair in the first place, that relieves us from fear.

The Casket Girls have gained momentum and a substantial cult following due to the unflagging catchiness of their songwriting and the compelling development of their live stage show. They spent the last year and a half touring in support of BMSR and the Faint before growing into headliners in their own right. Last year, they released a self-titled EP on Record Store Day, and a "cassingle" cassette store day.

The trio will hit the road for a slew of US dates, followed by a sojourn through Europe. Visit casketgirls.org to for tour date developments, new-music nuggets and more.

GRAVEFACE ROADSHOW 2014
featuring The Casket Girls, The Stargazer Lilies, Dreamend & Dott (Dott joins us from Seattle to SXSW)

A bunch of dates to be added. Local and regional Graveface bands to be announced. Please help spread the word. Much love.

3/4/2014 San Francisco CA Bottom of the Hill (http://www.stubmatic.com/bottomofthehill/event/8155)

3/5/2014 Santa Cruz The Crepe Place (http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=4045444)

3/6/2014 Los Angeles CA The Echo (http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/429045/tfly?utm_medium=459899)

3/7/2014 San Diego CA The Hideout (https://www.facebook.com/events/403256693110084)

3/8/2014 Tucson Club Congress w/ Night Jewel/Yacht and a ton more

3/9/2014 Phoeniz AZ Crescent Ballroom with Dum Dum Girls & Blouse - NO DREAMEND, Stargazer Lilies or Dott (http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/441067?utm_medium=459899)

3/11/2014 Austin TX Parish Underground 5PM for AudioFemme Party

3/12/2014 Austin TX Half Step 10PM for FKLG Showcase

3/13/2014 Austin TX Hotel Vegas 4:15 for Austin Psych Fest

3/14/2014 Austin TX Cheer Up Charlies 12:00pm for Flowerbooking Day Party

3/14/2014 Austin TX Home Slice Pizza 2:40pm for Music by the Slice

3/14/2014 Austin TX SXSW (GRAVEFACE MEGASHOW. FEATURING DOSH, DOTT, HOSPITAL SHIPS, DREAMEND, CASKET GIRLS, STARGAZER LILIES, CREEPOID & GRAMMA'S BOYFRIEND - https://www.facebook.com/events/1446527885562067/)

3/15/2014 Austin TX SXSW (GRAVEFACE DAY MEGASHOW. FEATURING DOSH, DOTT, HOSPITAL SHIPS, NEW FUMES, CASKET GIRLS, STARGAZER LILIES, CREEPOID, GRAMMA'S BOYFRIEND & MY EDUCATION - https://www.facebook.com/events/1390770657852601)

3/17/2014 New Orleans LA The Circle Bar (https://www.facebook.com/events/831615313521119/)

3/18/2014 Pensacola FL The Handlebar

3/19/2014 Tampa FL Crowbar (https://www.facebook.com/events/586157334796254)

3/20/2014 Miami FL Churchills

3/21/2014 Orlando FL Will's Pub (http://www.thesocial.org/event/466639-graveface-roadshow-casket-orlando/)

3/22/2014 Savannah GA Dollhouse GRAVEFACE FEST 2 (https://www.facebook.com/events/699034450114959)


The Casket Girls - Secular Love

The Casket Girls
True Love Kills the Fairy Tale 
Out 2.11.14
order the colored vinyl, cd or cassette here: http://www.graveface.com/graveface-catalog.html
 
So many pieces of Savannah, GA three-piece The Casket Girls seemed to happen by accident. From their beginning - when electronic sound-shaper Ryan Graveface (Graveface Records, Dreamend, Black Moth Super Rainbow) found sisters Phaedra and Elsa Greene under a tree in one of Savannah's many squares, playing Autoharp and singing bizarre songs - to the night they composed their sophomore album, True Love Kills the Fairy Tale, under circumstances that fall somewhere between séance and dream state, nearly everything about The Casket Girls seems to have been inspired by some kind of spooky happenstance. But then again, the Greene sisters don't believe in accidents.
 
"I dropped off a shit ton of songs to the girls to work on one night," Graveface says of the genesis of True Love, the follow up to Casket Girls' critically acclaimed 2012 debut. "I went back to check on their progress, because they weren't answering their phones. I don't know if they dropped acid or what, but I walked in and Elsa was sobbing and reciting poetry while Phaedra was just staring straight ahead writing it all down, like catatonic. The next day they dropped off a CD and said, 'We don't even know what's on this. You can throw it in the garbage if you want.' I sat down and listened all the way through and cried. I was like, 'Holy shit! They actually wrote a record like that!' I booked studio time and had them re-record every note just as it was on the demo. They really didn't remember any of it.  Had to learn the songs as if someone else had written them entirely. Very bizarre."
 
Phaedra and Elsa had filled the disc with lilting, almost whimsical melodies about chemical hazes and love gone sour like a couple of fucked up Shangri-las, to which Graveface added a bevy of grinding, multi-dimensional psych-rock keys that will be familiar to anyone with a Graveface LP in their collection. The title track speaks like an unknown voice in a lucid dream - perhaps the one that conveyed these songs through the veil in the first place -beckoning, "True love kills the fairy tale... until heart and lungs fail."  It's this twisted and comforting charm, which set in motion the Graveface-Greene love affair in the first place, that relieves us from fear.
 
The Casket Girls have gained momentum and a substantial cult following due to the unflagging catchiness of their songwriting and the compelling development of their live stage show. They spent the last year and a half touring in support of BMSR and the Faint before growing into headliners in their own right. Last year, they released a self-titled EP on Record Store Day, and a "cassingle" cassette store day.
 
The trio will hit the road for a slew of US dates, followed by a sojourn through Europe. Visit casketgirls.org to for tour date developments, new-music nuggets and more.

The Casket Girls - Same Side


5/20/14
Haley Bonar
Last War

Haley Bonar is set to release her 5th full length record, Last War, on May 20th via Graveface Records. Bonar takes a darker sonic direction on the forthcoming album which envelopes her omnipotent songwriting in lush, brooding soundscapes that feature hard driving rhythm sections, soaring synths and snarling guitars. The record was recorded at Devils Workshop, April Base and 606 (Dave Grohl's personal studio in LA) The cherry on top: special guest Justin Vernon (Bon Iver, Volcano Choir) appears on two tracks adding his ethereal vocal harmonies to "From A Cage" and "Eat for Free".

Haley Bonar was discovered during an open mic event by one of her musical heroes, Alan Sparhawk of Low. The next day she quit school, crammed her Honda Civic full of gear with her drummer, and was opening for Low across the country she had barely seen. Haley was twenty years old. Since then, she has released four full length albums, several EPs, started a punk/new-wave side project (Gramma’s Boyfriend), had songs tapped for major motion pictures and has had the pleasure to tour from coast-to-coast playing some of the most amazing venues with some of the most talented artists in the world.


Haley Bonar - No Sensitive Man

5/20/14
Haley Bonar
Last War
pre-order the CD/LP/Cassette here: http://www.graveface.com/graveface-catalog.html

Haley Bonar is set to release her 5th full length record, Last War, on May 20th via Graveface Records. Bonar takes a darker sonic direction on the forthcoming album which envelopes her omnipotent songwriting in lush, brooding soundscapes that feature hard driving rhythm sections, soaring synths and snarling guitars. The record was recorded at Devils Workshop, April Base and 606 (Dave Grohl's personal studio in LA) The cherry on top: special guest Justin Vernon (Bon Iver, Volcano Choir) appears on two tracks adding his ethereal vocal harmonies to "From A Cage" and "Eat for Free".

Haley Bonar was discovered during an open mic event by one of her musical heroes, Alan Sparhawk of Low. The next day she quit school, crammed her Honda Civic full of gear with her drummer, and was opening for Low across the country she had barely seen. Haley was twenty years old. Since then, she has released four full length albums, several EPs, started a punk/new-wave side project (Gramma’s Boyfriend), had songs tapped for major motion pictures and has had the pleasure to tour from coast-to-coast playing some of the most amazing venues with some of the most talented artists in the world.


Haley Bonar - Kill The Fun

GRAVE113 :: Night School 'Heart Beat' :: Out Oct 7th, 2014
pre-order: http://www.graveface.com/graveface-catalog.html

"Because I had nothing better to do."  When a coincidental event turns into a landmark moment, sometimes you have to acknowledge its random significance.  This seems to be the case for northern California three piece Night School. Already accomplished singer Alexandra Morte (Whirr, Camera Shy) was at work on some new material, but was having trouble finding a drummer.  Enter Baylie Arin, the pair integrate song ideas, and plot their first EP.

That EP took six hours to record.  The songs were bounced back-and-forth between Morte and Arin, who contributed various alternative synth, post-punk, and shoegaze elements.  Recorded, mixed, and mastered at Atomic Garden in Palo Alto by Jack Shirley, that six hour session produced Heart Beat; four tracks of pure bliss rock inspired by the sad love songs of 1960’s girl groups like The Shirelles, The Crystals, and The Shangri-las.  After the recording of Heart Beat, Sarah Trevena, a friend of Arin's, was asked to join Night School as lead guitarist.  Night School’s spontaneous debut fuses garage-rock sounds with the intimacy and soul of the previously mentioned artists.  It is as if by total coincidence that Night School was even formed and these songs were written.  I’m glad they didn’t have anything better to do.   

Night School - Birthday

GRAVE118 - Whirr 'Sway' out 9/23/14 on CD/LP/Tape/Digital (pre-order here: http://www.graveface.com/graveface-catalog.html)

When Sway begins, you might at first press pause, reaching for your headphone wire or peeking behind your speaker cables to make sure nothing has come undone. The blister of distorted guitar that opens the album comes only from the right channel, howling and hanging there in irascible isolation until it seems that something must be wrong.
But be patient: After a dozen seconds, the rest of Whirr—a five-piece of blanketing rock focus and comforting pop finesse—pours in from the left channel. They meet the guitar in the middle, together racing headlong into a short section that’s heavy as metal but pliable enough to be the springboard for the galloping shoegaze beauty that soon arrives.
For the next 36 minutes, you need not worry again about lost connections, split channels or anything else, really. More than any Whirr release to date, Sway creates a definitive sense of immersion, sculpting an environment that breathes you in instantly and breathes you out only when the record snaps into silence.
That bifurcated start is an appropriate image for Whirr in 2014. Last year, the band headlined a tour with the Philadelphia group and fellow admirers of heaviness and harmony, Nothing. Not only did the crews become fast friends, but their respective founders—Whirr’s Nick Bassett and Nothing’s Dominic Palermo—decided to start a group of their own, Death of Lovers. When the shared tour was finished, Bassett headed to Philadelphia for a month of writing and recording. He’s never really left. He calls Philadelphia home now, so Whirr has become a bicoastal band.
In Philadelphia, Bassett worked on Death of Lovers’ debut for Deathwish Inc., toured as the bassist for Nothing and steadily composed new material for the next Whirr album, their first full-length for Graveface. Back in Oakland, the rest of Whirr had committed to the project full-time, too, so the West Coast contingent wrote and rehearsed new material without Bassett. Joey Bautista took the lead on two songs, Loren Rivera on three.
Indeed, against most odds, Bassett’s move made for a more democratic Whirr. In their salad days, Bassett had written most of the material and built the bulk of the arrangements, too, using the support only to enrich and enliven them. After a slew of splits and singles and EPs, Sway is the second Whirr LP, but it is only the first to be rendered by a fully functional rock band, having shaped the songs slowly and over some distance.
Before the quintet entered Oakland’s Atomic Garden to work with longtime producer and collaborator Jack Shirley, they reworked the contributions of all three writers, massaging the material into a cohesive dynamo. Rivera, for instance, rewrote the words for Bassett’s material, folding his songs into the album’s presiding sense of dusky melancholy.
“It’s not conceptual, entirely, but it’s intended to ebb and flow in a certain way—one song being aggressive, then dropping out and being pretty but devastating,” Bassett says. “We tried to create an atmosphere, where you listen and get vibed into one tone. ”
That rhythm presides over Sway, tying its distinct parts into a seamless unit. The restless “Heavy” churns somewhere between Godflesh and Gish, its lumbering beat and foreboding guitar buoyed by a melody that feels like a secret hymn for which you’ve long searched. Gorgeous and sprawling, “Sway” floats through luxuriating guitars and pillowed vocals, offering an impressionistic but intoxicating inversion of Whirr’s typical propulsion. Even here, during the record’s prettiest moment, Whirr maintains a righteous minimalism, emblematic of members who met one another as skateboarding high-school kids.
“The aesthetic of the band is more aimed at mature punk rather than alternative rock,” Bassett confirms. “There are these more aggressive punk elements—noisy feedback, a snare roll that just goes into super-punchy, driving songs.”
“Clear” brilliantly paints its lyrical quest for lucid communication—“I want words/to understand you,” runs one plaintive, surging bit—in music that takes up the same challenge. Whirr pushes past a pastel instrumental haze into a hangdog march, with near-whispered vocals bruised by Devin Nunes’ drums and Eddie Saldago’s orotund bass line. But as the end approaches, the band builds together, the riffs and the rhythm colliding into one triumphant, redemptive crest.
And that’s the victory of Sway, too, an album written by five people on two coasts but executed with the force and splendor of, at last, a fully unified Whirr.
Graveface will release Sway on CD, LP and digitally September 23.

Whirr - Mumble

 
THE CASKET GIRLS (most dates with DREAMEND)
7/28/14 Savannah GA at GFHQ (MUST RSVP to attend - mail@graveface.com)
7/29/14 Carrboro NC at Cat's Cardle Backroom
7/30/14 Baltimore MD at Holy Frijoles
7/31/14 Kingston NY at BSP Kingston
8/1/14 NY NY at South Street Seaport 7pm
8/2/14 Pittsburgh PA at Club Cafe
8/3/14 Cincinnati OH at MOTR Pub
8/4/14 Louisville KY at Zanzabar
8/5/14 Chicago IL at SubT
8/6/14 St Louis MO at The Demo
8/7/14 Kansas City MO at Czar Bar
8/8/14 Denver CO at Lost Lake Lounge
8/9/14 Albuquerque NM at Launchpad
8/10/14 Norman OK at The Opolis
8/11/14 Austin TX at The Mohawk inside
8/12/14 Denton TX at Dan's Silver Leaf
8/13/14 Memphis TX at Hi Tone Cafe
8/14/14 Nashville TN at The End
8/15/14 Birmingham AL at Bottletree
8/16/14 Athens GA at Rooftop at Georgia


The Casket Girls - Secular Love (Strange Majik Remix)

from 'Getting Over Being Under' out June 7th on CD, Colored Vinyl & Digitally of course.  

available for pre-order now:  http://www.graveface.com/graveface-catalog.html

The Loose Salute 'Happy I Don't Count'

GRAVE118 - Whirr 'Sway' out 9/23/14 on CD/LP/Tape/Digital (pre-order here: www.graveface.com/graveface-catalog.html)

When Sway begins, you might at first press pause, reaching for your headphone wire or peeking behind your speaker cables to make sure nothing has come undone. The blister of distorted guitar that opens the album comes only from the right channel, howling and hanging there in irascible isolation until it seems that something must be wrong.
But be patient: After a dozen seconds, the rest of Whirr—a five-piece of blanketing rock focus and comforting pop finesse—pours in from the left channel. They meet the guitar in the middle, together racing headlong into a short section that’s heavy as metal but pliable enough to be the springboard for the galloping shoegaze beauty that soon arrives.
For the next 36 minutes, you need not worry again about lost connections, split channels or anything else, really. More than any Whirr release to date, Sway creates a definitive sense of immersion, sculpting an environment that breathes you in instantly and breathes you out only when the record snaps into silence.
That bifurcated start is an appropriate image for Whirr in 2014. Last year, the band headlined a tour with the Philadelphia group and fellow admirers of heaviness and harmony, Nothing. Not only did the crews become fast friends, but their respective founders—Whirr’s Nick Bassett and Nothing’s Dominic Palermo—decided to start a group of their own, Death of Lovers. When the shared tour was finished, Bassett headed to Philadelphia for a month of writing and recording. He’s never really left. He calls Philadelphia home now, so Whirr has become a bicoastal band.
In Philadelphia, Bassett worked on Death of Lovers’ debut for Deathwish Inc., toured as the bassist for Nothing and steadily composed new material for the next Whirr album, their first full-length for Graveface. Back in Oakland, the rest of Whirr had committed to the project full-time, too, so the West Coast contingent wrote and rehearsed new material without Bassett. Joey Bautista took the lead on two songs, Loren Rivera on three.
Indeed, against most odds, Bassett’s move made for a more democratic Whirr. In their salad days, Bassett had written most of the material and built the bulk of the arrangements, too, using the support only to enrich and enliven them. After a slew of splits and singles and EPs, Sway is the second Whirr LP, but it is only the first to be rendered by a fully functional rock band, having shaped the songs slowly and over some distance.
Before the quintet entered Oakland’s Atomic Garden to work with longtime producer and collaborator Jack Shirley, they reworked the contributions of all three writers, massaging the material into a cohesive dynamo. Rivera, for instance, rewrote the words for Bassett’s material, folding his songs into the album’s presiding sense of dusky melancholy.
“It’s not conceptual, entirely, but it’s intended to ebb and flow in a certain way—one song being aggressive, then dropping out and being pretty but devastating,” Bassett says. “We tried to create an atmosphere, where you listen and get vibed into one tone. ”
That rhythm presides over Sway, tying its distinct parts into a seamless unit. The restless “Heavy” churns somewhere between Godflesh and Gish, its lumbering beat and foreboding guitar buoyed by a melody that feels like a secret hymn for which you’ve long searched. Gorgeous and sprawling, “Sway” floats through luxuriating guitars and pillowed vocals, offering an impressionistic but intoxicating inversion of Whirr’s typical propulsion. Even here, during the record’s prettiest moment, Whirr maintains a righteous minimalism, emblematic of members who met one another as skateboarding high-school kids.
“The aesthetic of the band is more aimed at mature punk rather than alternative rock,” Bassett confirms. “There are these more aggressive punk elements—noisy feedback, a snare roll that just goes into super-punchy, driving songs.”
“Clear” brilliantly paints its lyrical quest for lucid communication—“I want words/to understand you,” runs one plaintive, surging bit—in music that takes up the same challenge. Whirr pushes past a pastel instrumental haze into a hangdog march, with near-whispered vocals bruised by Devin Nunes’ drums and Eddie Saldago’s orotund bass line. But as the end approaches, the band builds together, the riffs and the rhythm colliding into one triumphant, redemptive crest.
And that’s the victory of Sway, too, an album written by five people on two coasts but executed with the force and splendor of, at last, a fully unified Whirr.
Graveface will release Sway on CD, LP and digitally September 23.


Whirr - Heavy



GRAVE118 - Whirr 'Sway' out 9/23/14 on CD/LP/Tape/Digital (pre-order here: www.graveface.com/graveface-catalog.html)

When Sway begins, you might at first press pause, reaching for your headphone wire or peeking behind your speaker cables to make sure nothing has come undone. The blister of distorted guitar that opens the album comes only from the right channel, howling and hanging there in irascible isolation until it seems that something must be wrong.
But be patient: After a dozen seconds, the rest of Whirr—a five-piece of blanketing rock focus and comforting pop finesse—pours in from the left channel. They meet the guitar in the middle, together racing headlong into a short section that’s heavy as metal but pliable enough to be the springboard for the galloping shoegaze beauty that soon arrives.
For the next 36 minutes, you need not worry again about lost connections, split channels or anything else, really. More than any Whirr release to date, Sway creates a definitive sense of immersion, sculpting an environment that breathes you in instantly and breathes you out only when the record snaps into silence.
That bifurcated start is an appropriate image for Whirr in 2014. Last year, the band headlined a tour with the Philadelphia group and fellow admirers of heaviness and harmony, Nothing. Not only did the crews become fast friends, but their respective founders—Whirr’s Nick Bassett and Nothing’s Dominic Palermo—decided to start a group of their own, Death of Lovers. When the shared tour was finished, Bassett headed to Philadelphia for a month of writing and recording. He’s never really left. He calls Philadelphia home now, so Whirr has become a bicoastal band.
In Philadelphia, Bassett worked on Death of Lovers’ debut for Deathwish Inc., toured as the bassist for Nothing and steadily composed new material for the next Whirr album, their first full-length for Graveface. Back in Oakland, the rest of Whirr had committed to the project full-time, too, so the West Coast contingent wrote and rehearsed new material without Bassett. Joey Bautista took the lead on two songs, Loren Rivera on three.
Indeed, against most odds, Bassett’s move made for a more democratic Whirr. In their salad days, Bassett had written most of the material and built the bulk of the arrangements, too, using the support only to enrich and enliven them. After a slew of splits and singles and EPs, Sway is the second Whirr LP, but it is only the first to be rendered by a fully functional rock band, having shaped the songs slowly and over some distance.
Before the quintet entered Oakland’s Atomic Garden to work with longtime producer and collaborator Jack Shirley, they reworked the contributions of all three writers, massaging the material into a cohesive dynamo. Rivera, for instance, rewrote the words for Bassett’s material, folding his songs into the album’s presiding sense of dusky melancholy.
“It’s not conceptual, entirely, but it’s intended to ebb and flow in a certain way—one song being aggressive, then dropping out and being pretty but devastating,” Bassett says. “We tried to create an atmosphere, where you listen and get vibed into one tone. ”
That rhythm presides over Sway, tying its distinct parts into a seamless unit. The restless “Heavy” churns somewhere between Godflesh and Gish, its lumbering beat and foreboding guitar buoyed by a melody that feels like a secret hymn for which you’ve long searched. Gorgeous and sprawling, “Sway” floats through luxuriating guitars and pillowed vocals, offering an impressionistic but intoxicating inversion of Whirr’s typical propulsion. Even here, during the record’s prettiest moment, Whirr maintains a righteous minimalism, emblematic of members who met one another as skateboarding high-school kids.
“The aesthetic of the band is more aimed at mature punk rather than alternative rock,” Bassett confirms. “There are these more aggressive punk elements—noisy feedback, a snare roll that just goes into super-punchy, driving songs.”
“Clear” brilliantly paints its lyrical quest for lucid communication—“I want words/to understand you,” runs one plaintive, surging bit—in music that takes up the same challenge. Whirr pushes past a pastel instrumental haze into a hangdog march, with near-whispered vocals bruised by Devin Nunes’ drums and Eddie Saldago’s orotund bass line. But as the end approaches, the band builds together, the riffs and the rhythm colliding into one triumphant, redemptive crest.
And that’s the victory of Sway, too, an album written by five people on two coasts but executed with the force and splendor of, at last, a fully unified Whirr.
Graveface will release Sway on CD, LP and digitally September 23.


Whirr - Lines

GRAVE123
TW Walsh
Fruitless Research out Feb 12th, 2016

TW Walsh - Young Rebels

GRAVE123
TW Walsh
Fruitless Research out 2/12/16
pre-order here: https://graveface.bandcamp.com/album/fruitless-research

TW Walsh - Public Radio

GRAVE124
Night School - Blush
in stores June 17th, 2016
pre-order here: https://graveface.bandcamp.com/album/blush

Night School - Last Disaster

Bay Area post-shoegaze sextet, Whirr, generates expressive songs of cutting guitar textures backed by misty vocals. Their full length debut ‘Pipe Dreams’ dropped via TeePee Records on March 13th. ‘Distressor’ is a reissue of their debut EP, originally released in mid-2011 as a 500 copy vinyl only run in the UK.
Whirr's spirit rejuvenates the '90s shoegaze sound, providing a widescreen update for the post-millennial era. A wall of lush guitars, breathy vocals, dreamy synth and thunderous drumming send the listener to a picturesque realm. Instantly catchy melodies and emotional, enveloping atmospheres hang fully in balance. The sound of Whirr is a total crush when texture, volume, bright pop melodies and dense guitar noise fuse perfectly.
Twenty years after My Bloody Valentine awed music fans with the now-classic 'Loveless' LP, Whirr emerges with their own fluid surge of drones and reverberations. However, classifying them only as shoegaze diminishes their complexity. Guitarist, Nick Bassett, also plays in the celebrated post-black metal band, Deafheaven, whose latest release was named one of NPR’s Best Metal Albums of 2011. That influence infiltrates Whirr’s sound, producing an interwoven sound. The cd is packaged in a recycled gatefold sleeve and the retail vinyl color is black/white/grey splatter on clear.

Whirr - Child

Whirr - Ghost

The Casket Girls is a new three-piece band hailing from Savannah, GA. Comprised of Ryan Graveface (Black Moth Super Rainbow, The Marshmallow Ghosts, Dreamend) who wrote and played all the song structures, and newcomers, Elsa and Phaedra Greene, who wrote and performed all of the vocals. On Sleepwalking, the band’s first release, the unique collaboration bears to be more than the sum of its parts - as the girls’ haunting and upbeat pop sensibility imbues Ryan’s inspired instrumental musings with such a sense of purpose that you must wonder how one could exist without the other.

But, The Casket Girls happened - as most things do - by accident. Ryan was visiting his future home, and in walking through one of the city’s 22 squares, he happened upon two girls playing autoharp and singing bizarre songs. He watched from afar, eventually approaching them with the idea for the band. Ryan had been (and still is) obsessed with the Shangri-las, and the sisters personified his desire of a far darker and more complex version of the 60s group.

The band’s debut album, Sleepwalking, came about rather quickly. Ryan sent Elsa and Phaedra 20+ songs he thought they could add to, and they came back with vocals for 15 of them. He asked TW Walsh (Pedro the Lion, Soft Drugs, Headphones) to throw down some substantial drums to contrast the weaker drum machines he had already recorded, and the album was finished. Sleepwalking has a number of exceptional tracks that are sure to be anything from radio hits to jams blasted in the privacy of a nerd’s home. “Heartless” is a driving, yet depressive disco. The title track is a sweeping epic with bleakly resolute lyrics. The Casket Girls first tour is booked as support on the upcoming Black Moth Super Rainbow & Faint tours.

http://www.casketgirls.org
http://www.facebook.com/casketgirls

The Casket Girls - Sleepwalking

Today the world is able to hear the first new music from lo-fi hero Jason Molina since 2009 (1st solo music since '06). The mini-album is called 'Autumn Bird Songs' & is an incredibly moving & powerful work. It was recorded soon before Molina took a leave from the industry a few years back. 'Autumn Bird Songs' consists of 8 songs that were specifically written and recorded to and for William Schaff's artwork in the hopes that one day our music-related art book would be finished. Well due to the overwhelming support on Kickstarter, that became a reality this year and we are very proud of the finished result. The book is 82 pages and begins with an introduction by John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats. On the artwork front, we take you from the old school mixtape covers Schaff would create when he was young to his work for such artists as Okkervil River, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Monster Movie, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Kid Dakota, Songs: Ohia and many more.

This is a product of love that we began in 2007 so we really hope you enjoy it. The retail version of the book comes with a rainbow center spray black 10" of 'Autumn Bird Songs' which is limited to 350 copies.

We thank you very much for your support,

Ryan Graveface

You can purchase a book/10" here: http://www.graveface.com/graveface-schaff.html

Jason Molina - Heart My Heart

Pre-order:
https://graveface.bandcamp.com/album/too-late

Fawning - Too Late

GRAVE154 - Preorder here:
https://graveface.bandcamp.com/album/desyre

Recorded by Alex De Groot (Zola Jesus), DESYRE includes collaborators Thor Harris (SWANS), J.R. Bohannon (Ancient Ocean), Lia Simone Braswell (A Place to Bury Strangers) and Mary Lattimore on harp.

Sondra Sun-Odeon - Roses In The Snow

Order today!
https://graveface.bandcamp.com/album/the-old-witchs-cavern

The Marshmallow Ghosts - S.O.S. (featuring The Casket Girls)

From the Graveface comp "Beyond Human" coming in November via the Indiegogo campaign. Purchase here:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-build-the-graveface-museum

Black Tusk - Gallows Hill

https://graveface.bandcamp.com/album/desyre

Sondra Sun-Odeon - Desyre

from DESYRE out 11/22/19
https://graveface.bandcamp.com/album/desyre

Sondra Sun-Odeon - Drowning Man: An Invocation for the Demise of Patriarchy

Breaking Vows is a bonus track from the forthcoming Serengeti album, 'Saal', out Feb 12th, 2013.  'Saal' is Serengeti's first record for the Savannah based label & store, Graveface Records & Curiosities (The Appleseed Cast, Whirr, The Casket Girls, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Jason Molina, Xiu Xiu etc).

Produced by Sicker Man.

To pre-order the LP or CD, go to http://www.graveface.com/graveface-catalog.html



Serengeti - Breaking Vows

I'd Prefer is a bonus track from the forthcoming Serengeti album, 'Saal', out Feb 12th, 2013. 'Saal' is Serengeti's first record for the Savannah based label & store, Graveface Records & Curiosities (The Appleseed Cast, Whirr, The Casket Girls, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Jason Molina, Xiu Xiu etc).

Produced by Sicker Man.  Remixed by Mokke.

To pre-order the LP or CD, go to www.graveface.com/graveface-catalog.html

LP: Record Club members receive blood red and baby blue haze vinyl. All RC copies hand-numbered. First retail pressing is on electric blue and blood red a side b side vinyl. All customers receive an 11x17 promo poster. Vinyl will be in your hands by 2.12. Mp3s will be emailed when the vinyl goes out.

CD: The CD is packaged in an uncoated recycled sleeve. All customers receive an 11x17 retail poster. CDs will be in your hands by 2.12. Mp3s will be emailed when the CDs go out.

Serengeti - I'd Prefer

GRAVE080
Side A: Sleep / Remember
Side B: Breathe / Take Me Down

Eternal existed in '89/'90 and featured Christian & Sean from Monster Movie along w/ a few others. They released one 7" with 3 songs (Sarah Records) before disbanding. Christian went on to join Slowdive and at some point Slowdive even covered an Eternal tune. This 10" contains those 3 tracks remastered plus 1 song never before released.  

Proceeds from this 7" are going to Charge Family Support Group. You can purchase the 15 Charity 7"s/10"s at: www.graveface.com/graveface-charity.html.

Other bands involved are Whirr, Seregenti w/ TOBACCO & Advance Base, Mike Watt, Xiu Xiu, Mount Eerie, Haley Bonar, Monster Movie & many more.

Please spread the word.

We thank you for your support.


Eternal - Sleep

Illumination Ritual by The Appleseed Cast will be available on vinyl, compact disc, cassette & digital on April 23rd via the Graveface Records & Curiosities imprint.  To pre-order any of the above formats mentioned, go here: http://www.graveface.com/graveface-catalog.html

BIO :::::::::::::::::::

Change, as they say, is a good thing. And a lot has changed for Lawrence, Kansas, post-rock outfit The Appleseed Cast over the 14 years since their founding. With Illumination Ritual (out April 23rd), their first full-length since 2009’s Sagamartha & first output since 2011’s Middle States EP, they’ve embraced not only a new line-up, but also hopscotching time signatures and a tumultuous anthemic energy that rivals anything else in their consistently impressive catalog.

With lyrics written over the course of three nights, between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m., & music written over a 3 month period of time, Illumination Ritual reflects both a sense of urgency and unbridled creative energy.  Many bands fizzle out after a few records but on this, their 8th full length, they’ve hit a high mark that many will undoubtedly compare to their 2001 masterpiece, Low Level Owl.  We here at Graveface feel this is easily their best record to date though. 

Every album has come with line up changes for The Appleseed Cast.  This one introduces Taylor Holenbeck on guitar and Nathan Wilder on drums.  Both additions are outstanding on this record. Musical interplay between band members is something Appleseed Cast is known for, but the level of counterpoint and intricate yet chaotic energy is unmatched to anything they've done to date.  The songs are energetic, sweeping, full of atmosphere, melancholy yet hopeful, driving, determined, and unabashed. Lyrically, Chris Crisci (founding member) is creating images to be pieced together.  Much like Appleseed Cast's seminal work, every song has a feeling and theme, but nothing is forced or in your face.  The lyrics frame perfectly the vision of the music.  In songs like Great Lake Derelict and Cathedral Rings you can hear nods to some of their most recognizable work, but there’s something new and fresh that’s all encompassing. 

With such a natural chemistry within the new line up, it makes sense that the songs themselves, while embracing chaos and a tuneful math-rock sensibility, eschew earlier recordings’ slick production for a more organic sound. The songwriting itself grew from collaborative explorations in the studio, with each player given time to riff on the parts that had been laid down before, their spontaneous contributions captured and cut together.  Newly invigorated by their shared enthusiasm and the interplay of their individual talents, The Appleseed Cast enters their fourteenth year as a new band in the best sense, full of fresh ideas and the energy to bring them to both longtime fans and new converts alike. 


The Appleseed Cast - Great Lake Derelict

from GRAVE101 - Weary Engine Blues: A Tribute to Jason Molina.  Purchase this compact disc and a print by William Schaff here: http://www.graveface.com/graveface-catalog.html

From William Schaff:
"Back in January of this year, I received a message from a friend of Jason's, Tara Samaha. Like so many of us were, she was concerned. She was concerned for his safety, mental and physical health after receiving an alarming email. She felt he needed a map to help him through these troubled times and then asked that I make him one. I did. Sadly we were never able to land a concrete address for Jason, where we knew he would get the map. I know that he had lost things important to him over the past few years, for various reasons, so I wanted to be sure this got into his hands, and no one else. That said -- sadly -- the map was never delivered to him. 
Upon learning of his death, the map sat in my studio; it felt cold, and now useless. A guide made for a friend who can no longer see it. 
Ryan Graveface and I thought of how, thanks to folks like you, we were able to raise a considerable amount of money for Jason's medical bills through sales of the book, From Black Sheep Boys to Bill Collectors. We thought maybe there is still a way for this map to be useful. Not as it was originally intended, a map for one man, but as tool to commemorate this man, and continue to help his family, especially in such dark times as these. 100% of the profits from this print will be going to Jason Molina's family. We now have a chance to give back to the family that gave us Jason, who in turn gave us all so much.
Our love goes out to the Molina family, and to the family he built in his dusty road travels." 

From Aaron Molina:
"Very rarely do you run into a star that burns as brightly as Jason. When he is also your brother you are truly blessed. To fans of Jason’s music we want you to know you were the center of Jason’s universe, you meant everything to him. As much as his music inspired others, he was constantly and honestly inspired by you. From the Molina family, from the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank you for the outpouring of support and send our condolences to his fans and friends."

From me:
With the purchase of the 12.5x12.5 print of the above mentioned artwork, we're including a compact disc of Jason Molina covers. We're calling this collection Weary Engine Blues, named after a piece of artwork by Molina that serves as the cover of this CD release. Click here to view that artwork. Confirmed contributions so far from: John Vanderslice, Mark Kozelek, Hospital Ships, Lucas Oswald, Jonathan Meiburg, Damien Jurado, Dreamend, Brown Bird, Haunt the House, TW Walsh, Phil Elverum, Alisdair Roberts, Scout Niblett, Jeffrey Lewis, Will Johnson, The Wave Pictures, Allo Darlin, Darren Hayman, Will Oldham, Herman Dune and many more amazing musicians. Huge thanks to Hugh Noble and William Schaff for helping get this together so quickly. Please note you cannot just buy the screenprint or the cd. They come as a package and are limited to 525 copies. Know that 100% of the profits are going directly (and immediately) to Jason Molina's incredible family. 

Mark Kozelek - It's Easier Now

GRAVE092 ::: Whirr 'Around'

Click here to order: http://www.graveface.com/graveface-catalog.html

With their two albums to date, Bay Area six-piece Whirr have developed a reputation for dirgeful shoegaze, buttressed with textured layers or guitar and weighty, driving compositions. Spacious and moody, their 2012 LP Pipe Dream drew comparisons to heavyweights of the genre My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Slowdive.

Now, Whirr returns with Around, a mini-LP that finds the group restrained, but no less dark. Here, they explore longer songs, with their shortest clocking in at just under six minutes. Catchy melodies, traditionally a part of the band’s wheelhouse, give way here to a droning ambience, shifting Whirr slightly from their shoegaze core toward  a dour post-rock sound. Vocalists Kristina Esfandiari and Loren Rivera keep their contributions misty and abstract, serving here as additional instruments more than messengers. But the thunderous drums and lavish guitar work remain — albeit in a colder, glassier form — making Around both a departure and a logical step forward from Whirr’s previous work.

LP: Record Club members receive black inside milky clear color in color vinyl. All RC copies hand-numbered. First retail pressing is heavy black splatter on milky clear vinyl (limited to 1350). Mail-order only variant is 180gram black vinyl (limited to 350 copies). LP jacket has swirl die cut. Full color thick inner sleeve. 
CD: The CD is packaged in an uncoated recycled sleeve. 
Cassette: The cassette comes with a full color j-card. 500 copies. 

Whirr - Swoon

GRAVE096 ::::  The Stargazer Lilies 'We are the Dreamers'

The Stargazer Lilies slow motion bathing through space music is like sun glistening on the water in sound, ambient rock for daydreamers to bob their heads to. The Northeastern Pennsylvania based trio of guitarist/bassist/drummer/producer, John Cep, singer/bassist, Kim Field, and live drummers EJ DeCoske and Johnny Lancia, bring back the raw rock primal gaze, no bullshit sunshine haze.

The gazey dance floor where Soundpool, John & Kim’s previous band, dwelled lies behind them, while The Stargazer Lilies cosmic ambient arena lies ahead. Soundpool released three full-lengths in the last half decade, two on Aloft & Quince, and one on Killer Pimp. They shared the stage and in some cases toured with the likes of: Chapterhouse, Ulrich Schnauss, A Place to Bury Strangers, Asobi Seksu, School of Seven Bells, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Tobacco and Robin Guthrie to name a few.

The Stargazer Lilies streamline and minimize Soundpool down to just the bare essentials, ridding themselves of the superfluous & getting down to the essence of what The Stargazer Lilies are: ~butterfly wings, slowly beating guitars enveloping the listener, ethereal breathy female vocals floating on a melody, rocked out bossa nova beats and bad ass bass throwing down the rhythm.

This new direction, like minimalism, gains strength by taking away and paring the instrumentation down to create vast vistas of sound.

Their debut album, We are the Dreamers, will be out Oct 22nd on Graveface Records. Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow curated the release.

PR :::
Michelle King
michelle@noisyghostpr.com
http://www.noisyghostpr.com/album/we-are-the-dreamers/

The Stargazer Lilies - We are the Dreamers

Graveface Records is an independent label with a focus on all things hand-made, hand-assembled & unique.  If you find yourself in the deep south, stop by our retail location at 5 w 40th st, Savannah, GA 31401.

Graveface Records

Popular tracks