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529 feels like the shoddy basement of a Brooklyn apartment building. Deceptively spacious, it fits into a tight corner on Flat Shoals Ave, just down the street from The Earl. A solid mix of grunge, cheap beer and good sound made it the perfect place to see this particular bill. Both Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Foxygen are touring hot on the heels of their respective album releases and have received a great deal of favorable press. With only one EP under their belt, Wampire is working on their debut record and has already been featured in esteemed publications such as The Fader. It pretty much goes without saying that the lineup was a stacked deck.

Despite any preconceived notions I may have had about Wampire, they really knocked it out of the park. To be frank it’s hard to fight their charm (note: this was partially influenced by lead singer Rocky Tinder’s Boyz II Men 1995 tour t-shirt). With their breezy melodies, driving drum beats and insatiable hooks you can’t help but succumb to some serious toe tapping/head nodding. The off-kilter keyboard and fuzzed out guitar sneak up on you, building into a reverb-soaked freak-out that makes you glad you packed your ear plugs. The set primarily consisted of tracks off their upcoming release, Curiosity, but also featured an extended version of single “The Hearse.”

If you’ve read anything about Foxygen then you know you can’t avoid seeing their name and “retro-rock” in the same sentence. Hackneyed a term as it may be, it suits them. Their latest record, We are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic, is a virtual minefield of throwback elements; Velvet Underground shuffle, Dylan-esque delivery – not to mention some heavy Rolling Stones vibes. However, they’ve been able to avoid aping their influences by creating their own sound, which is impressive in and of itself, but even more so when you realize these guys are barely legal.

The stage looked comically tiny once the band set up their wide array of gear, cramming Jonathan Rado (guitar, keyboard) into the corner stage left. Frontman Sam France (vocals) emerged from the crowd wearing a black cape lined with red faux fur and sunglasses not unlike those in The Matrix. The image lent itself well to the offbeat nature of Foxygen’s psychedelic rock. Oscillating from the steady shuffle of “Shuggie” to the frenzy of “On Blue Mountain,” the set allowed the songs to stand on their own, wiggle room and all. France delivered the lyrics with the fervor of a preacher, constantly egging on the climatic build, even though it felt like he’d burst. Rado radiates a cool confidence both on keys and guitar so that you can’t help but think he’s wise beyond his years. Young as they may be, Foxygen’s an exciting band that can command the attention of a room.

Portland (by way of New Zealand) band Unknown Mortal Orchestra have been touring pretty consistently for the past two years. They’ve headlined in support of their self-titled debut album, not to mention opened on Grizzly Bear’s Shields tour. UMO’s worn-in psychedelic sound is a welcome and refreshing break in a world of synth-heavy tracks. Their latest release on Jagjaguwar, II, showcases sun-soaked guitar, reverb-drenched vocal and crisp drum beats. On the record’s lead single, “Swim and Sleep,” Ruban Nielson (vocals, guitar) makes you feel as though you’re at the bottom of pool with him, floating alongside glimmery guitar chords as rays of sun cut through the water. This immersive experience translates effortlessly into UMO’s live show. The trio’s set-up was sparse in comparison to the two openers, providing ample room for solos and guitar showmanship on the parts of Nielson and bassist Jake Portrait. Surprisingly, UMO drew heavily from their debut record, playing only the first three tracks off II. They ripped through their back catalogue with aplomb, tearing into fan favorite “Ffunny Ffriends” and inciting a club-wide sing-a-long. “Boy Witch” grew into a 6-minute whirlwind of Nielson’s guitar egged on by Riley Geare’s manic drums, all tethered to Earth by persistent bass.

The crowd staggered out of the club, ears a little worse for wear, heads swimming, but happy nonetheless. It’s become the exception to experience a lineup that flows head to toe, but this tour is as cohesive as it gets, making for a packed night of psychedelic vibes and spilt Miller High Life.

Review and Photo by: Caroline Marchildon

You can check out the rest of Caroline’s photos here.

Edited by: JJ Posway

Decided to hop on the phone with none other than 22 year old Canadian heart-throb Mac Demarco and chat with him about naked photos, karaoke, fighting Dent May and everything in between as he made his way from Washington DC to Durham. A tour that will eventually lead him to Atlanta as he plays at 529 in East Atlanta on March 8^th.

Will: How you doing?

Mac Demarco: A little tired today, got trashed last night, but you know.

W: The last interview I conducted was with your buddy Dent May and he claimed to have some nude photos of you on a disposable camera of his.

MD: Yeah probably, we had that disposable in NYC and meant to take pictures with it, you know crazy stuff, go party, take photos. But we all kind of forgot about it until the last minute and then I think most of the photos were like pictures of each other wieners while they’re peeing and stuff. But we had a lot of fun with those boys that weekend, at CMJ, love Dent, love his crew. Good boys.

W: Is it strange to have this expectation that you will do something weird on stage [like the drumsticks, fingers and many other objects allegedly shoved where the sun don’t shine over the various Mac Demarco shows in the past]

MD: No, I mean, it’s nice when people expect anything of us. But yeah it’s kind of weird but it’s nice when people are genuinely excited. It’s kind of strange at the same time though because I’m used to playing shows where generally people don’t know what you’re going to sound like, and you kind of have to impress them but now it’s like you can go and blow out a real loud trumpet fart and they will blow up with applause.

W: Now that you are a fairly successful musician, do you feel pressure from outsiders to act a certain way, the way people think famous musicians should act? In other words, not like a 22 year old guy.

MD: Maybe that’s what they expect but I’m not really gonna do anything different. I don’t think so.

W: Did you ever expect it to get this big?

MD: Yeah I don’t know, I always hoped, but I didn’t think it would happen super fast, and we’re doing all this touring and people are getting into the music. It’s great, it’s just very strange it all worked out within a year-span.

W: Do you have a favorite karaoke song?

MD: Yeah I like to do “What A Fool Believes” by The Doobie Brothers.

W: I was sort of expecting some “Blue Suede Shoes” or “Hound Dog” or something by Elvis.

MD: Yeah well if I’m doing a sexy song, it would be “Just the Way You Want” by Billy Joel.

W: Do you think we’ll be seeing any Mac Demarco on karaoke anytime soon?

MD: Oh you mean like on bar karaoke? Man if I went into a bar and did my own songs that would be ego-tripping, I’ll tell you.

W: Are you tired of touring?

MD: No, I mean I’m excited. Obviously last night the show was kind of weird. So at some point I just decided to try and kill myself with alcohol so I’m feeling a little weird. But you know those things happen and hopefully today will be a little more light-hearted.

W: Were you worried about getting any flack for doing the Target Ad? [Mac Demarco sold his song “Baby’s Wearing Blue Jeans” to Target for a potential commercial spot]

MD: No, I haven’t really gotten any flack. People are kind of like, that’s weird man and I’m like yeah it is. I think people know how hard it is to make money as a musician these days so I mean in my personal opinion, it’s like, whatever, give me the cash.

W: Do you have a favorite cereal?

MD: Cinnamon Toast Crunch, it’s so good, the boxes are too small though. I need jumbo family size bags, twice as thick, but the cereal is so heavy that if you eat that much you get fat anyways. I’m a Shreddies man too, goota love the Shreddies.

W: If you and your band were to team up against Dent May and his band in a fist fight who do you think would come out on top?

MD: I don’t know, let me ask the guys. They’re saying us, but I think that maybe Dent May and his band would go crazy. My guitarist Peter though, he’d be pummeled, pummeled to death. I guess we can try, we’ll probably see them on this tour again, but I don’t want to fight Dent, he’s such a sweetheart.

W: Do you have any favorite venues you’ve been to on tour?

MD: We played Music Hall of Williamsburg a few nights ago, that was fun, but honestly most venues kind of blur together in my mind unless its kind of like a DIY spot or something strange.

W: At WUOG, we obviously appreciate the radio snippets in Rock and Roll Night Club and would like to offer you a full time position. What made you do that?

MD: I did it as a way to divide the album, because I had half an album of those rock songs and half an album of other sounding stuff and it seemed kind of weird to me to spilt down the middle and it doesn’t make sense. So I figured, eh, I could just put radio stations in between, it’s like you’re changing channels, so it sort of made sense.

W: If you want, there is always a spot open for you here at WUOG in Athens.

MD: You know maybe if I move to the States, I’ll move to Athens. I like that one guy and his band that we met down there, is it Quiet Hooves?

W: Yeah and you probably met Mercer West right? Everyone seems to know him.

MD: Mercer! Yeah he’s tight.

W: Are you guys excited for SXSW?

MD: Yeah, I’m a little bit worried because we’re playing at 3 in the day a couple of times, it’s going to be hard on my body but fuck it, you know.

Thanks to Mac for sitting down and talking to be me and be sure to catch Mac Demarco and the potential for his whacky antics at 529 in East Atlanta on March 8^th!

Stuart Howard (Lapalux) and regular collaborator Kerry Leatham have offered a third taste of Nostalchic, Howard’s upcoming debut LP, with the slow-burning “Without You.” Immersive, emotional and unsettling, Howard delivers James Blake sentimentality without the stuffiness and Holy Other texture without the overt gloom. It sounds like heartbreak in the dead of winter but it’s warm enough to warrant repeated listening. Watch the video below.

The single’s available now and Nostalchic is out 3/26 on Brainfeeder.

By: JJ Posway

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone by the name Alice, and my first association with the name is the housekeeper on The Brady Bunch. And thinking back on it now, she sort of reminds me a lot of Ellen Degenres, in both appearance and affect. I’ll get started working on the modern day remake of everyone’s favorite bougie family.

I’d like to somehow tie-in the 70’s sitcom to Sun Rust’s song “Alice” but that whole family is too hopped up on life to really fall in line with the whole tranquil, electronic Tycho thing Andrew Weller has going on. Instead just a run of the mill description: colorful, ambient leaning synths provide the atmospheric equivalent of sunrise and sunset, swathed over the bass heavy percussion. Everything sparkles with a warm glow as the reverb of the melody rises and falls. It doesn’t work too hard to catch your attention, slowly creeping into the frame and just as casually fading away.

Check out the video for “Alice” below (or still image and audio) and catch more of Sun Rust over at his Bandcamp.

-Will Guerin

Seemingly out of nowhere, we have a new single from much beloved Glasgow producer Rustie. It’s called “Slasherr” and it has his signature pitched up vocal samples and a big thumping beat that should please his hardcore fans. This isn’t new ground for Rustie at all but it’s hard to deny the feeling of instant joy you get from electronic jams this huge and joyful. The longevity of his style is something to truly marvel at. Listen to “Slasherr” below, the single is available now via Numbers.

By: Nathan Kerce