“This three piece didn’t so much play their instruments as thrash themselves against them, with the singer shimmying across the stage in a staccato of frenetic energy. Larynx-shredding crooning and a rip-it-up mentality make Eleven Year Old a must see.”
— DIY Birmingham
Eleven Year Old’s sneaky, fuzzed out psych-rock tunes are Jacob Hethcox’s prayers of suburban apathy and bad posture. Joined by Sam Reynolds and Max Andrews, the trio makes music heavy with tremolo-damaged guitar, post-punk bass lines and rhythm so deep in the pocket it gets lost in the wash. The lyrics are a funhouse mirror held up to everyday experience, a mixed stream of unconsciousness and bad trip poetry sung into twisting pop melodies.
The group’s debut full-length, Harakiri Krishnas, was recorded on a Tascam 488 Portasound and put out as a limited run of home-dubbed cassettes in late 2012. The band has since released a series of three singles, Mild Child, Waste Me and A Hermit’s Blues. Their forthcoming LP, American Lizards, is due out later this year.
LINKS:
“Started in 2012, the band has settled into an incredibly tight groove. They utilize the characteristics of progressive rock (time changes, modal movement, intricate arrangements), yet their unique instrumentation gives them a tinge of the unexplainable. Drummer Mathew Pelton rolls relentlessly through the sprawling compositions, playing with feel and precision. Guitarist James Webber has impressive control of his syrupy Les Paul tone, and his chord voicings and arpeggios indicate his heavy jazz influence. Nick Gilbert fills out the band on trombone (an atypical instrument in rock), and what he does with it is ingenious. With a small microphone on the bell, he runs the instrument through a series of effects generally used for guitar, and the result is a rich horn section sound, with octaves and various intervals weaving through the music. Any group that can cover Chick Corea and get the audience to crowd surf at the same time is worth paying attention to.”
— Garrett Deming, Hissing Lawns
Culture Vulture is a progressive, instrumental outfit that shreds the old prog trope of complexity over enjoyment. Underestimating the audience’s ability to dance in 7/8 feels wrong though, so Culture Vulture avoids that too. Blending such disparate influences as jazz, math rock, and straight-up pop music combined with eclectic instrumentation sets Culture Vulture apart. Guitar, drums, and trombone, all with processing and effect power make a full sound that spans from wistful dreaminess to metal creaminess. Dancey for the brave, complexity for the analyst, sexy for the depraved. Culture Vulture has existed, in a few different iterations, since 2012. Each member cut their teeth in very different scenes across the country but converged on Savannah to bring it all together in a colloidal mixture of densely packed sound.
LINKS
“These are youth to watch…”
— Punk City Pages
Jake Wittig, Breely Flower, and Walker Scott come together to bring west coast sounds to Birmingham, Alabama, with an added southern flavor. Punchy and catchy tunes combined with an ever expanding visual experience make The Burning Peppermints an undeniable spectacle of energetic and fearless youth that will surely make you tap your foot, if you don’t keel over laughing first. Dressed in formalwear head to toe and playing at blood-pumping tempos, The Burning Peppermints simultaneously give the impression that they’re not messing around and that they’re only messing around.
LINKS:
