Festival Recap: Day 1 of Primavera Sound 2016

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Photo by Eric Pamies

While each day’s slated program of Primavera Sound 2016 was filled with great bands from all over the world, Thursday, the first day of the festival at Parc del Forum, was for me, the busiest of them all. Thursday had me bouncing around from stage to stage, and hustling to make the most of my time while keeping the headliners in the back of my mind. Read on after the jump to hear what were the best parts of day one and see some pictures.

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ATH Abroad: Primavera Sound 2016 Preview

Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 10.10.50 AMIn one week I’ll be touching down in Barcelona, Spain with around 200,000 of my closest friends in order to attend Primavera Sound. While you may not be in attendance, as this festival is quite a long jaunt away from the ATX, there are quite a few bands on the excellent and exciting lineup that will be making their way to our own city limits in the near future. As this is essentially the first super fest of the summer season, I’m on my way to Parc del Forum to scoop out who you must see when they come to a city near you, and who you should expect to step into the limelight of the indie world in the near future. Sure, I’m super stoked to see Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, Beach House, Wild Nothing, Sigur Ros, Destroyer, Beirut, Dinosaur JR. … the list goes on. But what about those acts that get overlooked by these huge names? Read on for my top 5 international semi-under the radar acts that I’m most excited to see.

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White Reaper – White Reaper Does It Again

White-Reaper-Does-It-AgainRating: ★★★½☆

White Reaper’s claim to fame first began after their explosive live act started turning heads and ears in Louisville, which led them to take off on a little tour in which the live act caught the attention of crowds nationwide. A little time has passed since this tour, and the four piece of young 20-somethings have used this bit of experience to craft this bombastic and raucous full length debut, White Reaper Does It Again. This record, though on the short side, is a rambunctious and explosive first album with select tracks that will surely be jammed in your head for a long time in the future.

The record’s start is explosive and immediately gripping: the first track, “Make Me Wanna Die” has enough fuzz on it to give you imagery of tv static all while you jam along. The instant you press play on the album and this song comes rapidly flooding through the speakers you can hear the band’s direction and genre fairly instantaneously— they waste no time in getting to the meat of their material. As I already mentioned, the electric guitar is ferociously fuzzy, raging through the track at high volume, the vocals from Tony Esposito are also heavily distorted and yet they crisply resound. Meanwhile, one element stands out quite cleanly from the mix, and that’s the intermittent organ sounding keyboard riffs which pop away from the mass of reverb and grit, acting like a cool wave of water to splash you in the face from the white hot guitar, vocals and cymbal-heavy drums. It’s a bright start to the record, and surely one of the bright stars on White Reaper Does It Again.

As the first track suggests, this album is a blistering shot of adrenaline to the heart from the beginning to the end and the band doesn’t ever really slow it down or pause for a break. Even in the middle of the album, where one might expect a lull in the garage rock, White Reaper give you the killer back to back duo of “Candy” and “Sheila.” The first of these two tracks centers around the rapid fire vocal delivery from Esposito, which is at once sweet and fierce. His voice, perfectly distorted, snarls and spits verse after verse, matching the guitar riffs and playfully bouncing around. These vocals are pushed to a new level on the next track, “Sheila,” on which I’m reminded of the vocals from Surfer Blood. This track simmers at the beginning, and the vocals serve as almost an agitator to bring the song to full volume. When the band bursts into the chorus, they truly shine, and all the elements come together for a buzzy whirlwind of garage rock.

While this is quite the impressive full length debut, I’ve found that some tracks simply stand out a little brighter than the rest. This is not to say those that I haven’t singled out here aren’t good or worth spending time with— on the contrary the whole record is quite gripping, but with further extended listening, there are certainly numbers that will stay with you for longer than others. Figure out which ones those are for you and spend some time with White Reaper Does It Again.

 

Just Another Rad White Reaper Tune

whiteyWe’re less than a month away from the release of White Reaper‘s new record, and as we draw near, they wanted to offer up another song to get its hooks in you.  There’s a heavy-handed chugging guitar chord leading the tune along, but the eruption of the pop hook that serves as the chorus is destined to have people playing this tune all over the place. Looks like the band aim to take the space that seems vacated now that Surfer Blood aren’t as prominent. Arena rock built for small clubs. Look for White Reaper Does it Again via Polyvinyl on July 17th.

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Hope You Didn’t Miss This White Reaper Jam

whiteyThe latest single from White Reaper has been floating around for a few days, so I’m circling back hoping you didn’t miss the band’s new tune.  Guitars build here in alternative fashion that recalls some of the work that Weezer was doing upon their reformation, chugging down on those heavy riffs.  But, even if that’s not your thing, you should wait until the 1.5 minute mark where the song erupts into the chorus; it’s an emphatic punch that continues to build on the band’s bombastic live shows.  You’ll get to hear the group’s new album, White Reaper Does It Again on July 17th when it sees a release from Polyvinyl Records…so get yourself ready.

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White Reaper Kill it Again

untitledMan White Reaper just seem to continually fly a little under the radar despite their stellar rock tunes.  We raved about the band last year after the release of a self-titled EP full of punk rock inspired sounds, catchy hooks, and loud guitars.  Nathan already shared with you new single “Make Me Wanna Die” back in April, and I’m pleased today to bring you new single “I Don’t Think She Cares”.  Let’s put it this way, if your Monday is dragging a little bit, spin this song a few times and all will be right in the world.

Don’t forget that new album White Reaper Does it Again is due out on July 17th via Polyvinyl.

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Damn This White Reaper Tune is a Gem

reapyThere are times when you make a mistake at SXSW.  My big regret, especially after hearing this track, was missing out on White Reaper.  I heard they absolutely killed it, throwing an energetic live set together to match their equally rambunctious tunes.  They seem to have shredded a bit of that psych approach that got them some early attention, wrapping this new song in nothing but huge hooks and solid drumming.  It’s the sort of tune that’ll appeal to your punk friends, but will grab your on-the-fence indie rock bros too.  Their debut album, White Reaper Does It Again, is set for a July 17th release via Polyvinyl Records.

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Another Rocker From White Reaper

140138140908_PMA little over a month ago, we shared a track with you from new Polyvinyl signee White Reaper.  Today the boys are at it again with another new and fun pop rock tune called “Cool” found below.  The title of the song is appropriately short here as the song is short, sweet, and easily enjoyable even to the most casual of listeners.  We’ll be looking forward to June 24th when their new self-titled EP drops on Polyvinyl.

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Pop Rocker from White Reaper

whiteyIt looks like Polyvinyl is trying to corner the market on upbeat pop music, especially now that they’ve agreed to release the new EP from White Reaper.  The band seemingly operate at a furious rock pace, but there’s still these elements of hooks via the electronic touches and then the final breakdown of the song, illustrating that the band’s more than just a one-trick-pony.  It’s the perfect track to get your energy up as you near the end of your work day, or any day for that matter.  Their EP will be released on June 24th, so stay tuned.

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