Justin Vernon Isn't Trying to Make Me Cry, For Once: The Shouting Matches

Bon Iver won't be performing at Coachella, but Justin Vernon will be. This time, the indie frontman and noted passive aggressive Grammy speech-giver  will be backed by a very different group. 

Completely bypassing any timid navel-gazing, bandmates Brian Moen (Peter Wolf Crier), and Phillip Cook (Megafaun) bash out bluesy, old-school rock, as Vernon gives the autotune a rest to howl in his best Otis Redding. The result is The Shouting Matches, a group that's been around and recording since 2008, but hasn't really put much out there, til now.

And how do they do? Well, Mother When's the Judgement Gonna Come has a raucus, I'm-totally-gonna-get-a-staph-infection-in-this-dive-bar feel to it, while the live I Had a Real Good Lover makes me want to lie on the floor, belting out lyrics in a whisky stupor. 

So it sounds awesome. 

Mouthoil, their first EP is due out sometime this year. Probably.

Monday Morning Cover: Knock on Wood

David Bowie:

The Original:

Eddie Floyd:

Saturday Night Remix: Rolling in the Deep

Adele, Rolling in the Deep 

into:

Rolling in the Deep, Jamie xx remix

If You Like: The Black Keys, The White Stripes, Iggy and the Stooges

If You Like:

-The Black Keys

-Blues-rock

-Garage rock

-Iggy and the Stooges

-Dr Dog

-The White Stripes

-Generally being badass

Try:

Hanni El Khatib

I know you're thinking "if I hear about ONE more Palestinian-Filipino one-man band, I'm leaving this blog for good." But hear me out. Because this is some balls-out thrash-garage-rock that will restore your faith in the survival of real guitar music.

LA-based Hanni El Khatib's sound pays homage to the mid-century Americana aesthetic that paved the way for rock and roll, from soulful, dark blues to Shangri-La's-ish doo-wap. This is the musical equivalent to a knife-fight at the malt shop.

Comparisons to the Black Keys and the White Stripes are numerous and inevitable. Khatib also just finished a tour opening for Florence and the Machine. And California-based music writers consistently place him on their "ones to watch" lists. So you could say that the multi-instrumentalist is receiving all the right exposure to become the next big thing in rock. But I like to think that the inherent fucking coolness of someone who makes music "written for anybody who's ever been shot or hit by a train" will do the trick on its own.

(Music available from Stones Throw.)

You Rascal You (Hanni El Khatib) by Mr.Shuffleupagus