On Monday, July 29th, 2019, local band Clavicle opened for out-of-towners Downhaul at the Drunken Unicorn. I went specifically to see Clavicle. Clavicle is an indie rock back whose inflections of shoegaze and math rock flesh out this band’s dreamy, melancholic sound. Their debut EP, Ghost Living, captures an early version of this sound that the band has since nearly perfected. They never fail at delivering performances you can feel, conveying a feeling that makes you want to dance and float away at the same time. And with audio clips from Scott Pilgrim vs the World and Twin Peaks slid in between songs, their live shows are not only an emotional experience but an atmospheric one too. During this show, I found just how energetic and loud they’ve gotten. They jump about and throw themselves around the stage so much, I couldn’t get a still shot of them! Guitarist Wyatt Fritz’s use of compression amplifies his soloing, and his use of heavy reverb has added a heavier shoegaze quality to the band’s sound. They played a new song, to which I forgot the name of, showcasing Bena’s keyboard skills. And when she sang the line "I'm sick of writing sad songs," I believed it. The band/crowd shout-along during the song “Pale Ghost Feet” was fun, and they ended with my favorite song, “I Want To Believe.” I do believe in this band, and I wish them luck and hope they go far. Clavicle's performances and mixture of influences give this band a powerful and unique sound. I highly recommend listening to their music and seeing them live. I’ve seen them three fucking times in one year, and I will see them again, goddammit! Clavicle is Brianna “Bena” Koser (vocals/keys/synth/glockenspiel), Wyatt Fritz (guitar/vocals), Campbell Jordan (drums/backing vocals), and Ian Joshua Riley (bass/backing vocals). You can check out Ghost Living at clavicle.bandcamp.com. Also, make sure to check out Ian’s other bands, Harm and Tenth Row, and Wyatt and Bena’s side project, Pillow Talk. And finally, support your local scene!! P.S.: Check out the cool photos I took of the band below ;)
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So, it comes with no surprise that I'm a fucking nerd. Especially about music. Whether it be genres, timelines, lineups, etc., I eat that shit up. But music, as for most people, affects me emotionally more than anything else.
I'll start with bands I was into as a kid. The bands Depeche Mode and Nirvana were the first bands I liked. Later along the line, bands like Metallica, Megadeth, and Mastodon really paved the way for my musical obsession. I remember sitting in front of my radio/cd player listening to Crack the Skye by Mastodon on CD and just being taken away. Absolutely mystified. God, things were so much simpler back then. I also remember my first Metallica CDs Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets. Those were, and still are, the shit. In ninth grade, I got into ska. Madness and the Specials were absolute favorites. Especially Madness. When I got into punk, I was absolutely obsessed with the Offspring and the Exploited. I made home recordings trying to emulate the Exploited's sound as best as possible. Then my interests in punk and ska crossed over, and I dove into bands like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Streetlight Manifesto. Sophomore year of high school saw me get into NOFX, which broadened the horizons of melodic music for me. I also took my first left turn, getting into the soft, folky, and later shoegaze-y Girlpool, whose album Before the World Was Big was much different from Green Day and Gorilla Biscuits. I felt like they truly understood how I felt, and I found comfort in their lyrics and music. As I entered my junior year of high school, bands like My Chemical Romance and AFI, bands that I absolutely stood against in ninth grade, started to grow on me, and they became very important to me. I clung to those bands and held on tight, and their music is still with me to this day. Coming out of junior year, Minor Threat changed me profoundly. Because of Minor Threat, I decided on how I was gonna live my life. A drug, alcohol, and casual sex-free individual. It wasn't too hard, seeing as I don't have access to any of that anyway. When senior year started, I was replaying all the stuff I had been listening to. But when I found Slint, Ceremony, Hot Water Music, and really got into Sonic Youth, my interest in underground music took a left turn. Hot Water Music is emotional but heavy, Ceremony is hardcore but moodier, Sonic Youth is noisy yet soft, and Slint is just fucking weird. Now, I've opened myself up to the weirder, darker, and more sophisticated stuff. The insane Daughters, the disciplined Fugazi, the emotional Modest Mouse, and the intelligent Bad Religion, just to name a few. Fugazi has inspired a sort of discipline into me (as did Henry Rollins), and I may be afraid of the world ahead of me, but that will not stop me from doing my best. Music has had a profound effect on many, many people. But how often can they say it changed the way they live their lives? I may not be into as much punk and metal as I used to be, but I am extremely grateful for those bands that helped pave the way to where I am today. Shout out to Depeche Mode, Metallica, and the Offspring for being the start of the musical paths I took. I hope you all enjoyed reading this, and I hope you will enjoy my future posts. From yours truly: I love you. Greetings friends, this is Aidan. I have to say that the submissions page has been put on hold for the time being, due to a lack of activity. Not only are submissions at a low, but not many people actually visit this site. So, that means artists aren't getting the exposure they deserve. That will hopefully change, but I can't promise it will (please do keep in mind this is not my first website, but it is my first time trying to support other people through one). I love you all, so please have a nice day.
-Aidan So, as obvious as it seems, I haven't been promoting Raccoon Man as well as I should. But fear not, your art will be seen by more people, because I have a plan to make more money and get fliers and stickers made. I thank my friends Tom and Dan for helping me out (Dan made some pins and Tom volunteered to help with stickers). I will still continue to run the website, just know that it may be a while till things start getting noticed outside of my own instagram followers. And please, feel free to continue to contribute writings and artworks to the site. It makes me feel better knowing that people care and are willing to help out the site so the site can help out the scene. And lastly, thank you all for your patience.
-Aidan, the Raccoon Man himself I had the idea of making a no-bullshit record label for a while, and I finally said, "Fuck it." But instead of just releasing music, I decided to host art from local artists as well. It's a way to get people involved in the local underground Atlanta scene. So far, I am only going to release my own music, for this is a non-profit company and I have no money to spend. In the future, I will have money, and will put our your band's releases without contract. It's for the sake of the art, not money. There are good labels out there, and this is one of them. An update will be posted once I open up Raccoon Man Art Co. to allow releases from other musical artists.
-Aidan |
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