ANCHR Magazine

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Filtering by Tag: Brooklyn bands

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Gustaf

Gustaf is Lydia Gammill, Tine Hill, Melissa Lucciola, Vram Kherlopian, and Tarra Thiessen

Gustaf is Lydia Gammill, Tine Hill, Melissa Lucciola, Vram Kherlopian, and Tarra Thiessen

Thanks to their notoriety around the New York live music scene, Brooklyn’s Gustaf attracted the attention of many music fans without releasing a single recorded piece of music for their first two years of being a band. Gustaf garnered their initial buzz by sharing the stage with the likes of Omni, Dehd and none other than Beck.

After forming in 2018, the group released singles “Design” and “Mine” in the later part of 2020— finally allowing listeners around the world a chance to experience all their magic. Produced by Chris Coady, who has worked with bands like Beach House, Future Islands, and TV On The Radio, the debut singles showcase a captivating and lively energy from Gustaf. Both tracks deliver art punk vibes laced with recurring call-and-response style vocals that egg listeners on. The band will be touring with Idles this fall, and that playful tone of their music will be the perfect provide the perfect way to ramp up the crowd for Idles’ rowdiness.

Be sure to check out all of Gustaf’s upcoming tour dates here, and pre-order their debut album entitled Audio Drag for Ego Slobs here.



ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Nation of Language

Photo by Kevin Condon

Photo by Kevin Condon

I am very much looking forward to getting back to traveling and seeing live music soon, so this week’s AAOTW has ties to a near and dear memory of both of those hobbies. Back in 2018, I was in NYC for the weekend and had the chance to photograph The Wombats at Brooklyn Steel. I showed up not knowing anything about the band Nation of Language, who had filled in a supporting slot when UK band Blaenavon had to pull out of the tour. Despite my inexperience with their music, Nation of Language’s set left me blown away with their refreshing spin on the post-punk and new wave eras of music. I remember instantly going to their Spotify to save their songs “I’ve Thought About Chicago” and “On Division St,” which the band had recently released that year.

Nation of Language is a trio based in Brooklyn, fronted by songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ian Devaney and joined by Aidan Noell and Michael Sue-Poi. In the following few years since that show, the band has put out a steady drip of singles, some of which ended up on their highly-anticipated 2020 debut album Introduction, Presence.

There’s a certain magic to Nation of Language’s music; They manage to craft the perfect blend of infectious hooks driven by hypnotic synths and steady bass lines, topped off by Devaney’s robust vocals. The trio’s latest single Across That Fine Line,” which happens to be the lead single off their newly-announced sophomore album A Way Forward, has that same quality I’ve come to love them for. There’s just something about Nation of Language’s sound that is equally soothing and jolting— their music can make listeners want to dance, yet provides and escape route from worries. Devaney describes his inspiration for the new song “Across That Fine Line” as being about that moment when a non-romantic relationship flips into something different. “Sonically, it’s meant to feel like running down a hill, just out of control. I had been listening to a lot of Thee Oh Sees at the time of writing it and admiring the way they supercharge krautrock rhythms and imbue them with a kind of mania, which felt like an appropriate vibe to work with and make our own,” he adds.

As for the remainder of the upcoming album, A Way Forward, I’m curious and excited to see how the group will push the boundaries on their sound. The band has described their approach to the album, stating, “We aimed to more deeply trace the roots of our sound, hoping to learn something from the early influences of our early influences. Experimenting with how they might be reinterpreted in our modern context.”

Make sure to tune into A Way Forward upon its November 5th release date— you can pre-order here. Additionally, Nation of Language will be heading back out on tour later this year, including a stop at Chicago’s Empty Bottle. See all the upcoming shows here, and tune into “Across That Fine Line” below.


ANCHR's Artist of the Day: Yaasss

You know those bands that you keep hearing great things about but haven’t yet had a chance to see for yourself? Well up until this past weekend, Brooklyn-based Yaasss fell into that category for me. Fortunately, I had my opportunity to catch them performing at the second Pazzi Prom at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn while I was in NYC over the long weekend.

The band calls themselves “Falafel Rock,” but their style encompasses so many great elements of an array of genres— Their stage presence presents itself with the flair of glam rock, and their rambunctious sound pulls from psych and surf rock to make for an unforgettable, energetic performance. So far Yaasss has released a handful of singles, including the most recent, “Banger,” in early 2019. Here’s to hoping we get even more bangers from them in 2020.

Keep up with Yaasss on Instagram, and check out their full live performance on RBBC Radio below.