Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Dancing Tongues, Frith, and Lauren Ruth Ward


     The Indie waters in the Los Angeles area are healthy. Across a range of genres, the flow into the Indie Ocean is strong and teeming with life. This post features three recent releases from artists in LA. We thank the kind people at Purple Bite PR (particularly Mikel) for bringing each of the three to our ears.

     “Shotgun” is carried by an unrelenting bassline that forms a platform on which a clean-yet-reverberated guitar dances. The guitar is equally elegant whether performing a mere strum (the best occurring at 1:07) or a sequence of notes. Cinematically, “Shotgun” is well suited for a scene in a Quentin Tarantino Western

     The vocals of “Shotgun” are poised and authoritative, despite the lyrical description of a relationship this is on the flip side of supportive – “How was I supposed to know, you prayed my wishes would die slow? And every shooting star I see is just a kill-shot gunning down my dreams?”

     The song is from Dancing Tongues in Los Angeles. They are Alex Lavayen and Kevin Modry, who identify their influences as arriving from the late 70's punk movements and mid-century modern art, so that Dancing Tongues plays “minimal post-punk that is both danceable and energetic.”

     “Shotgun” by Dancing Tongues





     Frith is a songwriting multi-instrumentalist is LA. His familiarity with an array of instruments and his orchestral skills help explain the presence of the flute in the song “Daisies.” The song also includes soft sounds of bells and strings, as well as a forceful sax, although a synth might be the source of some of those sounds.

      An early question in the song is, “Does anybody notice when they’re pushing up daises?”. OK, not so rosy. But Frith explains, “This is my ‘do or die trying’ song. I really want to uplift the world and change people’s outlook on life, but sometimes I get so frustrated with my own lack of results.”

     Firth is Travis Frith Warner. His musical training began with classical piano lessons at age 8. He later moved to jazz and classical guitar.

     “Daisies” by Frith




     Lauren Ruth Ward is likely the motivation of more Indie Obsessive posts than any other artist. Her current motivator is “Wise Gal,” a song written with her guitarist, Eduardo Rivera. “I asked for sugar when I should’ve been making bread” is a metaphor for her early life in which Ward was a hairstylist for a Rock band, rather than someone reaching for the microphone. Through much of the video of “Wise Gal,” Ward is shown baking and ironing, then entering a destructive mode. But in the final minute, she grabs the whisk and it is her microphone. 

     “Wise Gal” by Lauren Ruth Ward




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