The single sees Serial Chiller kick against the false worlds people inhabit online (think carefully manicured Facebook profiles and Instagram point-scoring). As Sam from the band explains.

“I tried to put to paper the intertwining mind fuck that is internet culture… Its about the egotistical borderline obsessive creation of another world through the use of social media, there is no individuality only concepts of self. Its about those people who believe their tongue is a lost scroll of a beat poet, as it unravels you realise you’re wasting your time.”

The track is part fun and catchy, part fuzzy lo-fi rock song, the music exuding a reassuringly DIY vibe that extends right the way down to the pencil-scribbled artwork. The track combines some pretty lofty, complex thoughts with simple energy before eventually devolving into a blazing finale, all clattered drums and punky yelps.

“You spend too much time talking about yourself
and its all too intertextual
cross reference with the books on your shelf
hollow talk of an intellectual

That night, it was a waste of time”

B-side ‘Fuck Right Off’ sounds like Pavement’s slacker rock on a particularly bad day, bored and frustrated and generally misanthropic, only lurching forward because it has nothing better to do. That’s not to say the song isn’t a lot of fun though, the smidgen of irony ensuring these slackers still know how to chill.

You can get Life’s Rough on CD or digital download via the Warren Records Bandcamp page.

The post Serial Chiller – Life’s Rough appeared first on Various Small Flames.

“A collection of weird lo-fi bedroom pop, equal parts sweet, smooth, spiky and strange, as distinct as the great cover artwork”

We’re delighted then, to share with you a video for the lead track, ‘Candy’. Directed by Joseph’s brother Max F. Sims, the film elevates the song from what we originally described as “lazy shambling and sweet” into something far more mysterious, extending the sugary imagery into all sorts of new metaphorical directions. Sims takes us on a tour of town, from carefree sprints through green fields to late-night loitering amongst vehicles at a parking lot, all the while wrapped in a silky pink sheet like some curious bubblegum ghost. The effect is one of ambiguity, the salmon shawl holding some meaning outside of our grasp, a significance which begins to worm its way into the equally strange lyrics:

“And you don’t want to play games no more
got lots of people to blame, ya lifes a chore
and you look like the kind of person who spits
but I bet if you cleaned up your act a little bit
you could keep your wheels just long enough
to watch them spin right off and admit that its rough.

But there is candy waiting underneath your shoe
and if you wait long enough it’ll stick like super glue”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF7GRIh7pmU

For Shadow Hurts is available now from the Fish Food Bandcamp page.

The post Video Premiere: Fish Food – ‘Candy’ appeared first on Various Small Flames.

You can download the track for nothing over at the Lance Bangs Bandcamp page. The band are planning on releasing something more substantial in the summer too, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Finally, if you’re a Richmond native, get yourself along to see Lance Bangs in the flesh!

5/10 Richmond. VA @ Strange Matter w/ Peach Kelli Pop
5/12 Richmond, VA @ the underground orchard w/ Hellier Ulysses
5/14 Richmond, VA @ Sound of Music w/ Vundabar

The post Lance Bangs unveil new single appeared first on Various Small Flames.

The A-side opens with ‘Don’t Be a Slave to That Grind’, chugging guitar rattling around behind Howard’s lyrics declaring a world-view that we can really get behind here at WTD, “Waste your life with 9-5, live your life in 9-5s, don’t be a slave to that grind”. ‘Vila 838’ is more indie pop, all fuzzed-out strum and perky percussion, but with the same lyrical sentiment (“some people like to work for the man, but I don’t have a plan, but I’d rather not subscribe to the bullshit, cos it makes me so sick”), and ‘White Heron Dance’is short and sweet, with a swaying carefree nature.

The B-side has just two tracks, ‘Ted the Radical Westy’ is a slice of twee lo-fi pop about a “party dude” from Aberdeen, while ‘American Ninja Delivery Girl’ is honeyed and jangly, a love story about an American delivery girl who don’t care what they do or what they say and a Canadian slacker who’s in a band and not very good at it. Howard has also made some endearingly lo-fi videos for some of the tracks. Check out the video for ‘Ted the Radical Westy’!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSQ10svT6qI&feature=youtu.be

It’s a great little release, all the more charming for the fact it was recorded by one man the Tascam four track tape machine he bought for £50 at a Cash Converters in Salisbury.

You can get Wasting Your Life From 9 – 5 on cassette or name-your-price download via Havana Tapes.

The post Ravetank – Wasting Your Life From 9 – 5 appeared first on Various Small Flames.