New Music Monday – 7/31/17

This week’s post is heavy on Savannah-based acts:

  • Vatican
  • Rude Dude and the Creek Freaks
  • Cray Bags
  • Greta O. and The Toxic Shock

We also have new work this week from:

  • Lana Del Ray
  • SHEHEHE

Enjoy!

Cray Bags
Savannah, GA
“Razor Beat”/”Diet Spit”

This may well be the last recorded output from Savannah’s Cray Bags. It’s as good a place to finish as any, a pair of two minute-ish bursts that check all the Cray Bags boxes: frantic vibe, barked vocals, tight instrumentation, and grimy production. These two were definitely staples in the set list at the end of their run. – tom

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Greta O. and The Toxic Shock
Savannah, GA
Greta O. and The Toxic Shock (S/T album)

Yet another Savannah band in limbo, Greta O. and The Toxic Shock posted their debut self titled album in full this week on social media without a ton of build up or fanfare, and no album release show appears imminent. That’s a shame, as their shows were always a blast, and this concise dozen songs are catchy, surprisingly clearly recorded and just plain fun. Here’s to hoping the current reshuffling of the scene results in more music as urgent as this recording. – tom

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Rude Dude and The Creek Freaks
Savannah, GA
Acid Bath full length album on Bandcamp, catch them on tour and pick it up on cassette

Rude Dude and The Creek Freaks are the current Savannah project that works on almost any type of rock show bill. Psych show? Definitely. Punk? Yep. Garage? Absolutely. Metal? Sure, with a relatively open minded crowd. The first time I saw them live was amazing and I’ve never seen them when it wasn’t at least pretty damn good. They lean toward the current psych rock sound (just look at that album cover), often with a decent amount of reverb on the vocals, but there’s definitely enough variety here to keep your attention through the whole album. – tom

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SHEHEHE
Athens, GA
“Endless Summer”

Summer’s winding down so why not have some fun with it while we can? SHEHEHE are here to make sure we all do just that. Think Ramones-y punk but with a bit more grit and edge and you’ve got a pretty good feel for the Athens locals’ newest release. Equal parts catchy punk and headbanging worthy rock for sure. Be sure to keep an ear to the ground for the full release coming soon! ~ Petee

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Vatican
Savannah, GA
“Slit Of Creation” off of the upcoming Ache of Eternity EP due out on August 25th

Savannah’s has been a bastion of heavy music for as long as I can possibly remember. And given some of the tracks that are still making their way out of the marshes, it doesn’t look like that’ll be changing anytime soon. Vatican’s newest release, “Slit of Creation”, is a grinding, 3 minute, hardcore epic that shouldn’t be overlooked by fans of the genre. The fact that the track also deals with the heavy loss involved with suicide also comes at a pretty poignant time for the scene as a whole. ~ Petee

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Lana Del Ray
New York, NY
“When The World Was At War We Kept Dancing”

I admit to having a love/hate relationship with Lana Del Ray’s music. I tend to veer more towards ‘pure manufactured concept’ than ‘talented American songstress’. But her 5th album, Lust For Life, came out last week and maybe, just maybe, I’m starting to come around. Her retro tragic sensibilities are all still there but somehow her message seems more on point. When she sings “is it the end of an era/is it the end of America?” on “When The World Was At War We Kept Dancing”, it feels like she might have scratched it out on the back of an inaugural invite. It’s dark and moody and cinematic and romantic; a sort of sinking ship I wouldn’t mind being on. -Kayne