ponedjeljak, 26. studenoga 2012.

DSTVV - Molly Soda EP






Industrial grungegaze. Cijeli alternativni rock '90-ih na jednome mjestu. Vrištava enciklopedija.
 

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"Industrial grungegaze" trio DSTVV is the arch creation of Joel Cusumano, former '90s teen model and creator of the bizarro Tumblr-famous blog BLAMEASPARTAME. Done with playing in scruffy, over-earnest Bay Area garage rock bands, he engineered DSTVV as a musical approximation of the bad-vector-art and '90s-obsessed teen culture that currently permeates some of the weirder parts of alt-culture. DSTVV (the initialism's meaning is yet undisclosed) nixes an IRL drummer in place of blown-out Apple Logic-programmed beats, and the gentile strum of Joel's Fender Strat's melts with Corgan-esque Big Muffs and chorus pedals. He also hooked up with synth player Gloria Pérez-Villela, with whom he'd been swapping old synth-pop files online. Joel swears he's only listened to MINISTRY and COCTEAU TWINS during the months before creating the songs that appear on DSTVV's debut; he might be putting us on. DSTVV's debut EP "Molly Soda" is the first release by Teen Witch, and it features contributions from lo-fi chanteuse KEEL HER (Critical Heights).
 
Usually when I tell my grown-ass friends about some band with a big Tumblr presence and some stupid made-up genre name that they gave themselves, I get a look that communicates both that they're concerned about the amount of time I spend on the Internet and that there is zero chance they're going to listen to it. Which is why I've just stopped telling them about this kind of thing. But anyone who lived through the prime years of alternative-rock radio will probably be able to enjoy DSTVV's "Molly Soda," even if the band maintains a Tumblog loaded with animated .gifs and refers to its music as "industrial grungegaze." The song has all the fuzz, sugar, and choppy guitar riffage that defined so many "second hour of 120 Minutes" cult hits from the early to mid-90s, and the lyrics—about Chicago-based Tumblr style icon Molly Soda—remind me of the subcultural-celebrity-crush songs that were big in the indie world at the time. (Yes, "I Wish I Was Him" was originally a Noise Addict track, but the Kathleen Hannah version beats it hands down.) -Miles Raymer

DSTVV’s Molly Soda EP is an homage to days when noise rock ruled the radio, “alternative” was a thing, and music videos starring scowling dudes with stringy hair were de rigueuer viewing. All the hallmark elements are present: industrial grime and muffled, bombed out guitars; weird, distant vocals competing with dark synth sounds; clangy melodies floating over programmed beats; that distinctive loud-quiet-loud song structure. When it hits the mark, Molly Soda is the 90s without irony.
Curiously though, for an EP named after a Tumblr celebrity, what’s missing here is some “whatever, nevermind” attitude. Enjoyable though the 5-song cocktail of grunge’n'goth’n'gaze may be, DSTVV seem almost too devoted to their source material, never deviating much from the blueprint set by your teenage CD collection, including the embarrassing shit. That said, DSTVV have a knack for putting the pieces together in interesting ways. “Ariel’s a Punk” and “Hannah Lew (Did My Video)” suggest a make-believe mid-90s side project started by Damon Albarn and Trent Reznor. Still, DSTVV could benefit from loosening up and having a little more fun with their chosen musical palette. Relax, dudes. It’s the 90s. - lo-pie.com/

According to DSTVV‘s “official” bio, frontman Joel Cusumano “swears he’s only listened to MINISTRY and COCTEAU TWINS during the months before creating the songs that appear on DSTVV’s debut.” While that may sound a bit ridiculous, when you listen to the band’s debut – an EP titled Molly Soda – that explanation makes sense, and the combination actually works quite well.
“Whatever sound came out of this just kind of happened with me trying to use the loudest drums I could find in Logic,” explains Cusumano. He also aimed for “Smashing Pumpkins-style sounds out of the guitars with my Big Muff.”
No matter how you describe DSTVV’s music, it’s likely a bit outside of what you’re used to and is a fine addition to the local scene. Teen Witch Records has released Molly Soda on cassette, and all of DSTVV’s music is available on their Bandcamp page. Listen to Molly Soda-track “Ariel’s a Punk” below.

Blink Ecstasy (SINGLE) cover art

Blink Ecstasy (SINGLE)

 

  N.I.T.A. (Young Marble Giants cover) cover art

 N​.​I​.​T​.​A. (Young Marble Giants cover)


Interview: DSTVV

Meet the "industrial grungegaze" band who named their most recent release after Molly Soda.

Molly Soda is a Tumblr sensation and, now, also the name of a new EP from San Francisco-based 'industrial grungegaze' band DSTVV. We recently spoke with Molly Soda for Oyster #101 so therefore couldn't pass up the chance to have a chat with DSTVV member Joel Cusumano (who is himself a bit of a Tumblr celebrity). The Molly Soda EP features guest vocals by pop punk lo-fi melodist KEEL HER, and the cassette marks the first release from Teen Witch's record label (we also featured Teen Witch in #101!).
Ingrid Kesa: Hi! So why did you decide to name your EP after Molly Soda?
Joel Cusumano: It was a pretty organic and natural process really. I guess I had Molly Soda on the mind because I spend way too much time on Tumblr and she's, like, this ubiquitous force on there. I always thought she'd be perfect as the subject for a song. Then I was messing around in my practice space and I wrote the riff for what became 'Molly Soda', and it was way different and heavier than anything I was writing for the band I was in at the time. DSTVV didn't exist at that time. I just went ahead and wrote the song and the lyrics and then I wrote another one, and pretty soon I realized I wanted to make whatever these songs were into a band. I took the queue from the attitude of 'Molly Soda' and have made the personality of the lyrics to be like half-jaded, half-reverent odes to the internet and alternative culture.

Molly Soda and her pet rat via mollysoda.tumblr.com.
OK — let's talk about the internet then! Have you ever been on Chat Roulette? 
Yes, but I'm kind of shy and I get embarrassed and sign off immediately. The only memorable time I can think of was when my friends and I were on it and some 12-year-old kid was chatting with us and he held his dad's handgun up to his video camera and we were like, 'DUDE PUT THAT AWAY, NOT COOL NOT FOR 12-YEAR-OLDS!'
Crazy shit. I usually just see a lot of genitals. Favourite website right now?
megacycles.tumblr.com
What was the last thing you watched on YouTube?
Oh god, my friend just IM'd me a second ago with a video from America's Got Talent of these trained dogs doing cartwheels and conga lines and Sharon Osborne is flipping out over it so I guess, yeah, that's the last thing I watched.
Speaking of trained dogs doing cartwheels, if your music was an animal, what would it be?
It would probably be a tapir — a tapir wearing sunglasses and a jetpack.
What's the funnest show you've ever played?
Wow... So in college my old power-pop-punk band Missouri Sex Offenders (sadly I am not making that name up) somehow conned our way into opening for Andrew WK — a personal hero of mine — when he came to our town. It was the greatest night of our young lives!
Who, in your opinion, is the voice of our generation?
Well if it's not Gary Busey then I don't want to know who it is…
It's Halloween, I have to ask — have you ever used a Ouija board?
Yes and I summoned two ghosts, one ghoul and three demons.
Follow DSTVV on Tumblr and like them on FacebookAlso see Molly Soda's Top 10 ASOS picks for Oyster.
Introduction: Julian Rifkin
Interview: Ingrid Kesa




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