Been quite busy with my webcomic, but I took a little time out of my schedule to give you the rundown of what music’s been stuck in my head lately.
Predictably I ran out of new grunge, because there’s just not that much out there, and what there is isn’t always up my alley. So the phase has finally just about run it’s course, not that I’m completely done with it. But a big theme this last month, oddly enough, was Type O Negative covers, with Denis Pauna, who sounds eerily exactly like Peter Steele, releasing an album of acoustic Type O Negative covers, and the return of StereoType O Negative, who did that cover of “Last Christmas”. I don’t know of many other bands that have inspired so many imitators.
Man + Machine & Emke ~ Room to Cry (Velvet Claw Version)
So no, this has nothing to do with Kraftwerk, since whenever you look up this band you’ll get “The Man Machine”. This was a collaboration between the band Man + Machine, and Emke of Black Nail Cabaret. I just thought this was a catchy song at first, not really listening to the words too much, but after looking them up on Bandcamp I learned that the song has a very deep message to it, which although directed at Poland has plenty of relevance in America as well. In Poland they cracked down on abortions (sounds familiar), and some politicians suggested women be granted a “crying room” to cry after giving birth to fetuses with fatal defects. Hot damn, what a douchebag. But I wouldn’t be surprised to hear a politician in the US say the same thing. A very timely song. There are two versions of the song but this one is my favorite.
https://istigkeit.bandcamp.com/album/istgkt-011-room-to-cry
Guerra Fria ~ Afuera Esta LLoviendo
Guerra Fria is a post-punk band from Guatemala. This track is off their new album “De Los Recuerdos y el Odio” (“Of Memories and Hate”) which released on April 30. This song, translating to “It’s Raining Outside”, immediately grabbed my attention, I’m always fond of Latin American post-punk and I feel like it doesn’t get enough attention.
Kat McKyte ~ Toads
Kat McKyte is an Irish solo artist who mainly specializes in covers, accompanied by piano. This song is a cover of “Frogs” by Alice in Chains, already one of their most grim and dreary songs. It’s a great song for dark sulking, or night walks. The song translates remarkably well to a piano with female vocals, making it one of the few Alice in Chains covers that compares to the original. It retains that same atmosphere but adds something new. There’s not a lot of songs that I like to listen to on repeat, no matter how fond I am of them, but this is one I feel like I could keep listening to on loop just to set a mood. She has some pretty awesome covers of Type O Negative, Nine Inch Nails and Dissection as well as some original music. Sadly Bandcamp doesn’t allow covers unless you show them like a contract you signed with the original artist or something like that, but she has a Bandcamp for her three original songs.
https://katmckyte.bandcamp.com/
Denis Pauna ~ Everything Dies (acoustic cover)
So recently Denis Pauna finally graced us with that album entirely made up of acoustic Type O Negative covers he’s been teasing us with for about a year. It’s like if Type O Negative did an MTV Unplugged show. He sounds exactly like Peter Steele. It does not disappoint. So after giving it a few listens I decided that this track was my favorite, “Everything Dies”. He released this back in March, but I still think it’s my favorite of them after listening to all the others. The original track was one if the first Type O Negative songs I ever heard. I wouldn’t realize just how universal its themes were until I was older. As a preteen always used to think the beginning sounded like he was croaking out “Turn that music down!” like a curmudgeonly old man who’s annoyed at their grandson’s rock music. But this cover confirms that Peter Steele was saying “I like vitamins”. Which makes even less sense than my misheard lyrics.
Wisteria ~ Charon’s Obol
Doesn’t it suck when you like, give someone your blood, but they don’t want it? Anyway, this song is one of the debut tracks by the emerging Seattle band Wisteria. Self described as “electronic-infused post-punk for bitches who feel spiritually connected to Friedrich Nietzsche”. Is that why I like it? The song’s lyrics derive from Greek mythology, specifically the river Styx in the afterlife, with its imagery of corpses floating down a river, and a boatman who takes a coin that was placed in the mouth of the deceased. This band shows a lot of promise.
https://wisteria98.bandcamp.com/album/enshrined-charons-obol
The Waning Moon ~ Talisman
This song comes from the debut self titled EP of The Waning Moon of Costa Rica that just released on April 24th, although one of the members Zac Campbell is from the band The Kentucky Vampires, who I thought were from Kentucky; I don’t know the story behind that. The band is self described as “goth rock to its core”. The song definitely stood out to me and I think it’s worth a listen.
StereoType O Negative ~ Bed of Thorns (Gary Numan Cover)
And here we have another Type O Negative cover, this time from StereoType O Negative, who’ve been around for a while, long before Denis Pauna found his niche as the fandom’s favorite Peter Steele impersonator (in fact I wonder if it was his success that coaxed them out of hiding), but released this last April on the anniversary of Peter Steele’s death after a very long hiatus. It had actually been six years since their last YouTube upload. This might be their best one yet though. It’s a cover of a Gary Numan song. Toward the end it features a quote by Peter Steele himself where he says he dresses like he’s going to a funeral all the time because you never know who’s going to drop dead next, “I hope it’s me”. I’m going to use that next time someone remarks about how I wear black all the time.
Here’s their YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIH7I8mWZUnyIQswUlr2wKw/about
