Pink Turns Blue – A Concert Opportunity

 

     Germany's Post Punk lives under the rule of Pink Turns Blue. When this blog put together a list last year’s favorite songs, a single from Pink Turns Blue sat at the top.  “There Must Be So Much More” is a strong throughout but explodes in the final 75 seconds.

     The band will begin a North American tour on September 2, the same day that it will drop a 4-track EP. The tour, along with a few European dates, is at the bottom of this post. Among the stops is San Francisco on September 9 (at the DNA Lounge). For ticket information regarding any of the dates, visit https://pinkturnsblue.com/live-dates.

 

      Formed in 1985 in the first generation of gothic rock and named after a Hüsker Dü song, today Pink Turns Blue is made up of Mic Jogwer (vocals, guitar), Paul Richter (drums) and Luca Sammuri (bass). Their debut album “If Two Worlds Kiss” advanced the darkwave sub-genre while becoming a seminal post-punk album. Emerging from the fear and uncertainty of a divided Cold War Germany, they have since released a dozen full-length LPs.

 

     Since Pink Turns Blue presented the 2021 “Tainted” album, things have changed for the worse, or have become more desperate and we have used this time to develop a few songs from the “Tainted” sessions further - songs that didn’t make it onto the album since they were not ready yet, says In defiance of the global trend that the powerful use any excuse to enforce their agenda and defend their accumulation of benefices, more and more people see through it and stand up – for themselves and never give up to make this world just a little bit better.”

 

      Both the “Tainted” LP and the new EP relate to a world in havoc and the seemingly powerlessness of today's youth to take over the world and change it for the better. But this album is also a call to never give up, to never lose faith or the understanding that making this world just a bit better every day is what makes our lives worth living.

 

     Mic Jogwer said "Since February 24 (actually my birthday), when Russia invaded Ukraine, things became even worse. Instead of slowly getting back to “normal” and trying to get our humanity’s shit together and to alleviate climate change and the consequential effects, now we have to cope with war and an energy, food and financial crisis (again) with the risk of losing the battle for equality, climate change, peace... you name it. So now the world is not only TAINTED but is in DISARRAY.”

           “There Must Be So Much More” by Pink Turns Blue

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pink.Turns.Blue.Official/
Website: https://pinkturnsblue.com/
Bandcamp Purchase of “Tainted:” 
https://pinkturnsblue.bandcamp.com/album/tainted

TAINTED 2022 - TOUR DATES

SEP 2  Seattle, WA - Funhouse

SEP 3  Vancouver, Canada - Rickshaw Theatre

SEP 4  Portland, OR - Star Theater

SEP 6  Garden City, ID - Visual Arts Collective (VAC)

SEP 7  Salt Lake City, UT - The Urban Lounge

SEP 9  San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge

SEP 10  San Diego, CA - Casbah

SEP 11  Los Angeles, CA - Part Time Punks, Echoplex

SEP 15  Denver, CO - Hi-Dive

SEP 17  Dallas, TX - Cheapsteaks (aka. Cheap Steaks)

SEP 18  Austin, TX - Sunny's Backyard

SEP 22  Tampa, FL - Crowbar

SEP 23  Miami, FL - Gramps

SEP 26  Atlanta, GA - 529 Bar

SEP 27  Richmond, VA - The Camel

SEP 29  Pittsburgh, PA - Spirit

OCT 4  Toronto, Canada - The Garrison

OCT 5  Montreal, Canada - Bar Le Ritz PDB

OCT 6  Rochester, NY - Photo City Music Hall

OCT 7  Cambridge, MA - The Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub

OCT 8  Brooklyn, NY - Market Hotel

OCT 9  Baltimore, MD - Metro Gallery

OCT 10  Philadelphia, PA - PhilaMOCA

OCT 14  Pinto, Spain - DarkMAD Festival Madrid

OCT 28  Rüsselsheim, Germany - These Days Festival 2022

DEC 15  Glasgow, UK - Ivory Blacks

DEC 16  Manchester, UK - Night People

DEC 17  London, UK - Electrowerkz

“Overanalyze” by Moozy - A Song Feature

 

     Moozy immediately exposes “Overanalyze” as a muscle vehicle powered by quick-tempo hooks. The guitar and bass instantly accelerate the song past a mere cruising speed, and there are only brief slowdowns until “Overanalyze” comes to a halt. Creatively, the single from Moozy does have a false stop around the two-minute mark, but then returns to its energy-infectious rate of travel. 
 
     It’s interesting that the vehicle carries a far less exhilarating passenger. The lyrical subject matter of “Overanalyze” is not positive. The overanalysis is unproductive. The song even notes “I’m spending time with people I despise.” An interesting subtlety of the Moozy single begins shortly before the one-minute mark, when background talk replaces the vocals. Unfortunately, we cannot determine what is being said.
 
     Moozy is based in Washington, D.C. The core of the band is comprised of Dylan Rockwell (vocals, guitar) and Pat Gunning (drums). The Bandcamp site for purchasing “Overanalyze” also identifies Reed Doherty (harmony vocals, guitar) and Nick Fliakas (harmony vocals, bass) as contributors. The Bandcamp link is included below. When talking about the song, the band said, “This is the first of several upcoming singles from the Washington, D.C. indie band Moozy. We produced this DIY in my home studio in Northwest DC and are very happy with how it came together.”
 
     “Overanalyze” by Moozy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MoozyTheBand
Bandcamp: https://moozytheband.bandcamp.com/track/overanalyze
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moozy_the_band/

“till the day i ___” and “dead ends/happy endings” by carobae – Song Features

     carobae writes lyrics that are honest, revealing, and compelling. Her songs reflect upon subject matter she knows and are reflections of her life. Our favorites by carobae are two songs touching upon career existentialism. “till the day i ___” questions whether she is destined to a lifetime of trying to meet the expectations of others in the pursuit of having her music heard. And “dead ends/happy endings” relates to ​carobae’s struggle in being repeatedly asked how she is handling the breakup of her band.

 

      ​carobae is an abbreviation of and performance name for Caroline Baker. She is currently based in Nashville, but is from Atlanta, Georgia. She released her debut EP "songs from 3am" in 2019 and is now headed toward the release of a debut album this fall.

      “The lyrics of “till the day i ___” describe the current existence of carobae in trying to get music in front of others, and they wonder whether it will ever change. She explains that the song is about her experiences in the music industry. She reflects how exhausting it quickly gets trying to make sure you're the perfect fit for someone else that's seemingly more important than you in order to hopefully make your dreams come true. In the chorus, she ultimately asks the question ‘Will I do this til the day I die? All to be a diamond in the sky?’ because at the end of the day all she wants is to create music and have it heard.
 
      The song admits that mistakes have been made – there are those pictures on the internet. And concessions have been made – a beer is cracked with someone old enough to be dad, ‘cause he holds all the power. We particularly admire the poetry in the despondent lines “The industry's a chokehold, Dyson vacuum sucking out my soul.”
 
     Still, carobae finishes in the positive during a skillfully layered finish of “till the day i ___”. Almost as an anthem, she declares “I feel like I'm dying, but at least I'm trying."

     "till the day i ___" by ​carobae

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carobaee
Website: https://www.carobae.com/

Lyrics of "till the day i ___" by ​carobae

There's nights I don't remember

Passed out on someone else's couch

There’re pictures on the internet

Wish I could pay to get them taken down

 

I crack a beer with someone

Who is old enough to be my dad

'Cause he holds all the power

To give me all the shit I'll never have

 

I threw up my dinner

Fuck no, did I even eat dinner?

The industry's a chokehold

Dyson vacuum sucking out my soul

Can't see straight or think right

I look down in my bathroom sink

Further in my mind

 

Will I do this till the day I

Die, die?

All to be a diamond in the sky

Sky, sky

Will I do this till the day I

 

I'm here with bleach and hair dye

And drain my empty bank account

So people will remember me

But somehow I'm stuck underneath the crowd

 

Shoot back more liquor

Sold out and I never been sicker

The industry's a chokehold

Dyson vacuum sucking out my soul

 

Can't see straight or think right

I look down in my bathroom sink

Further in my mind

 

Will I do this till the day I die

Die, die?

All to be a diamond in the

Sky, sky

Will I do this till the day I die

Die, die?

(I feel like I'm dying, but at least I'm trying

At least I'm trying)

All to be a diamond in the sky

Sky, sky

(I feel like I'm dying, but at least I'm trying

At least I'm trying)

Will I do this till the day I

Die, die?

(I feel like I'm dying, but at least I'm trying

At least I'm trying)

All to be a diamond in the sky

Sky, sky

(I feel like I'm dying, but at least I'm trying

At least I'm trying)

Will I do this till the day I___?

     There are certainly similarities between the two songs featured in this post. But the most glaring difference is exposed by comparing the conclusions. The layered vocals at the end of "till the day i ___" are attention-gripping. In contrast, “dead ends/happy endings” has an instrumental ending, as carobae shows her skills with string instruments.
 
       An interesting but less significant difference is that in the above song, carobae mentioned wishing pictures could be removed from the internet, while in “dead ends/happy endings”  finding pics to post is difficult because others who are posting are all f***in’ models. The interesting explanation of the song is pasted below:
  "dead ends/happy endings" is carobae's own existential crisis of being an artist in the music industry having to act like everything is fine every day. She came up with the idea walking around her air bnb in LA, and found every street she turned down she saw a 'dead end' sign. At the time her band had just broken up and she was starting to write for herself again (for the first time in a long time). This song is carobae's own answer to everyone's question of "how are you"? She produced and wrote the song with Sean Kennedy and arranged/performed the strings at the end. 

     “dead ends/happy endings” by ​carobae

Lyrics of “dead ends/happy endings” by ​carobae

There are dead ends and there are happy endings

There are people and people that they’re hurting

There’s a lot to swallow and I don’t wanna

There’s a dark cloud in my head that smells like marijuana

 

Message in a bottle, finger on the throttle

Hard to post a pic when they’re all fucking models

Can you hear me through this microphone?

I could leave a note or I could write a novel

 

I can’t see straight I took too many drugs

I’m literally out my brain

Locked in a green room

With some fuckin’ strangers

Asking me about my day

And I don’t really know what to say

Ayy, ayy, ayy, ayy

 

You can call it what it is or call it nothing

You can’t lie to me, cause I know what’s coming

Check your pocket or TV for some breaking news

The earth is dying just like my will for trying

And I think it’s time to move

 

Message in a bottle, finger on the throttle

Hard to post a pic when they’re all fucking models

I could give it all up and go home

I could leave a note or I could write a novel

 

I can’t see straight I took too many drugs

I’m literally out my brain

Locked in a green room

With some fuckin’ strangers

Asking me about my day

And I don’t really know what to say

Ayy, ayy, ayy, ayy

Ayy, ayy, ayy, ayy, ayy, ayy, ayy

Ayy, ayy, ayy, ayy, ayy-eeee

 

Oh, with some fuckin’ strangers

Oh, ayy, mmm, hey-ayy-ayy

Oh, I don't really know what to say