Music Video

Video of The Day: Nicholas Johnson – New Vampire

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Nicholas Johnson has not only released a new incredible record, Shady Pines Vol. 2, but played an incredible record release show at Urban Artifact in Cincinnati that we were able to see! Damn, what a good show. The celebration of new music from Nicholas included stellar sets from The New Old-Fashioned’s David Payne and Kent Montgomery (longtime listeners of the show will know that TNOF is a big fave of YTAA) and The Pinkerton Raid. He is coming back to Dayton on Thursday, March 23rd at Blind Bob’s and you should make plans now to catch that show (again with The Pinkerton Raid and Dayton alt-country heroes, Age Nowhere joining the bill).

I cannot pick a favorite song from Shady Pines Vol. 2 but the latest video from Mr. Johnson is a standout on the record. New Vampire is lyrically deep and musically rich. The song is propelled with a gravity of its own that explores the idea of how we experience evenings. The rhythms on this song are deceptively seductive. Nicholas does not have to scream to create an inescapable emotional impact. When he sings “The west is calling, the west is falling” — you believe him because you have felt the same way.

To say that he has a gift with a clever turn of phrase is a sincere moment of understatement. Nicholas takes the anomie and alienation that swells around us that feels like we are being pulled under the surface by a current of our own creation and makes it a statement that does not have the hollow ring of melancholy. The words reveal the power and passion of inescapable frenzy and yet surprisingly tantalizing prospect of loneliness of the current age in which we find ourselves:

Premonition and the prophet screams
Rage into the void of a restless dream
Phone screen burns like man makes fire
Ushers in the age of the new vampire

New skin
Paper thin
Don’t you feel the new age dawning
I can feel it move through my bones
All the places I call home
Yeah we crawl into the unknown
Ah the west is calling
The west is calling
The west is falling

Video of The Day: Smug Brothers – Pablo Icarus

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Ohio rock band Smug Brothers is a collection of contradictions.

The members are neither smug nor brothers, and the caddish name poorly fits these serious, veteran musicians. Furthermore, Smug Brothers could very well be your favorite rock band, especially if you love the pop virility of the Beatles, the lyrical bafflement of Guided by Voices, and the beautiful shambles of Big Star—but you may never know, because you may never see them or hear them.

Take a nap, Schrödinger’s cat. This here is a real paradox.“We’ve been doing this for 20 years,” says Smug Brothers singer and guitarist Kyle Melton, “and no one knows who we are.”One of the reasons for this is the fact that due to real-life responsibilities and a shifting lineup on Spinal Tap proportions, the band rarely performs live.

“You have to tour to make any kind of headway [in the music business],” explains drummer Don Thrasher. “You can’t just play Dayton, Cincinnati, and a few other places and get famous. Any group that has ‘made’ it has had to hit the road and play anywhere they can.”

And then, when the group does perform live, there’s an exciting yet mystifying dimension of difference between the live sound and the recorded material.“A lot of bands today are really, really good at replicating their studio sound in a live setting,” Melton says. “That eludes us. We thrive in a more controlled environment.”

Not surprising for a group that began, way back in 2004, as a one-off studio project between Melton and Dayton musician and producer Darryl Robbins (Peopleperson, TV Queens). It was only with the addition of drummer Don Thrasher, in early 2008, that the Smug Brothers became, to paraphrase Pinocchio, a real band.

Since then, Melton and Thrasher have held down a steady center among a revolving cast of additional musicians—the current lineup includes Kyle Sowash, from Columbus indie-rock stalwarts The Kyle Sowashes, on bass—and have released a series of ever-improving singles, EPs, and LPs. The band’s most recent album, Application of the Twig, is the season of spring distilled into a porch party soundtrack. Brisk and refreshing.

“While we’re not well-known,” says Thrasher, “we make well-done records. We provide a good listening experience for people who like short, catchy songs.” Melton agrees. “A lot of care and consideration goes into our albums. They are singular experiences that you will never see duplicated live.”

All of which brings the Smug Brothers’ quandary full circle. To get a better sense of the elusive Smug Brothers sound, please visit smugbrothers.bandcamp.com! Do it!

Video of The Day: Heather Redman & The Reputation – Wait For Me

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This Friday, December 9, 2022, Heather Redman releases her first solo record! This is fantastic news. A rock and roll record with soul, funk, country, and RnB influences, this record is real. In fact, if you were to look up the definition of authentic in the dictionary you would see a picture of this artist. Heather has some of the most impressive vocals that you can imagine. She has energy and more virtuosity than you can shake a stick at — or in other words, we mean it when we say we would listen to her sing the phone book.

Heather Redman has assembled a crack band featuring the rhythm section from Dayton giants Shrug — Dan Stahl (drums) and Bryan Lakatos (bass) and kickin’ guitar from Matt Webster (The Professors, oh let’s be honest far too many bands to mention) and the multi-instrumentalist David Payne (The New Old Fashioned, Midwest Business Machine, not to mention his own stellar solo recordings)! The album was produced by “The Wizard” Patrick Himes, who contributed more than a few sonic touches to this excellent album.

If you add it all up and you have a recipe for music textures that illuminate their influences while adding new musical territory to the map of songcraft called ‘Heather Redman & The Reputation.

To help you get ready for this new record, care of the fine folks at Magnaphone Records, Heather has released a music video for her second advance single “Wait For Me.” From the start of the thrill of the keyboards to the shot of the drum and strum of the bass string followed by Heather’s hairs standing up on your neck vocals, the sway and swirl of this song will capture your heart. But fear not, you can have it back in a little over three minutes.

See you at the album release celebration at The Yellow Cab Tavern this Friday!

Video of The Day: Matt Derda & The High Watts

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Matt Derda & The High Watts are making some of the most compelling music in a year full of great music! The video is their official music video for ‘Life You Didn’t Know.’ This is the latest single from the Chicago band’s upcoming EP ‘You Didn’t Know?‘ which came out on 11/12/2022.

‘You Didn’t Know?’ from Matt Derda & The High Watts is a picture postcard from a pure sonic territory that reflects the intersection of indie rock, power pop, and alt-country. The semi-title track ‘Life You Didn’t Know’ feels like a driving Replacements song from ‘Pleased to Meet Me’ written by Uncle Tupelo era Jeff Tweedy. Derda’s lead vocal is always spot-on. This is a mighty trio that tackles the feel of each song as if their lives depended upon it.

Video of The Day: Baby, Does Your Heart Sink?

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A perfect indie rock song. The guitars crunch and the bass bounces yet manages to weave and sway across a solid vocal propelled by driving drums! A song with a catchy chorus that will stay in your head for days. A great song that captures the growing realization that a relationship is already over! This latest song, from Martha — a rock band from Pity Me, a village in County Durham in the North East of England — is from their upcoming new album ‘Please Don’t Take Me Back‘, which comes out on October 28, 2022 from Specialist Subject and Dirtnap records.

“‘Baby, Does Your Heart Sink’ is just your classic break-up song, but one designed to be played at the disco at the end of the world. If there are multiple timelines, worlds, and universes out there, you’ve really got to wonder how things are going in the others, don’t you?”

Video of The Day: Paul J. Monnin – No One Cares

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Our friend Paul Monin of Age Nowhere and Neo American Pioneers has a solo single ‘No One Cares.’ The video is an interesting take on the ideas in the lyrics. It also has a silly appearance from YTAA’s own Dr. J. Paul has written a song that asks the listener to stop and look around themselves and ask what matters and what we are focusing our attention upon. You can get more information from: https://linktr.ee/pauljmonnin.

Video Premier: No One Sphere – Ceiling Fan

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Indie rockers No One Sphere – Dave Mann’s post-Mittenfields project – is certainly picking up steam in early 2022. Later this month (March 18th to be precise), the group releases their debut full length ‘Isn’t Everything About Something‘ on the Broken Sound Tapes label out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The album was recorded with Jarrett Nicolay at Mix Tape Studios in Alexandria, VA. To say that Jarrett contributed to the sound of this project would be a vast understatement. Jarrett not only lent his production skills to the effort, he played all of the instruments as well. Mann and Nicolay together crafted a unique sonic vision.

The band’s album captures the diverse musical influences of Mann’s kaleidoscopic and encyclopedic sonic grasp. The arrival of No One Sphere fills a need for an indie rocker that is not a statement about something, a song that is not pretentious or precious. The single Ceiling Fan manages to create a chantlike chaos of melodic deconstruction that is similar to the musical heart of Wilco’s experimental period. The slinky stagger of the bass line moves along a jazzy rhythm that would not be out of place on a funk record. The lyrics sway from meaningful self disclosure to deliberate non-sensical rhyming. In that way, the song feels akin to Wilco’s deconstruction era of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born. Yet the jangly indie rock center of the song has a Pixies-like gravity.

Ceiling Fan pulls from many classic independent influences in its barely over three minute length. Listeners hear elements of Wire, Gang of Four, mid-’90s era R.E.M., the before mentioned Pixies, Half Japanese and The Replacements.

If the music industry were a fair minded affair, No One Sphere would be at the top of everyone’s new album recommendations. You can follow No One Sphere on Twitter and Instagram. We also recommend that you keep an eye out on their YouTube channel!

RIYL: Wire, Gang of Four, The Pixies, Half Japanese, R.E.M., The dbs, and The Replacements

Video of The Day: Get There – Yuppie

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The indie-rock Rust Belt Dayton band Yuppie led by Zack Sliver has been making some of the most enthralling rock and roll over the past several years! ‘Get There’ continues the musical vision that speaks to the authentic emotion of community.

Zack notes that: “The song is about how someone’s words can follow you throughout your life, taking on different forms; through different people and weigh on you. The choice is whether you listen to them, or strive to find where you belong in this weird place we all call ours.

We also highly recommend the bands’ A Place to Call My Own and the compelling video the band made to go with that terrific song:

Maybe this becomes a two video recommendation?

Check them out.

You can find Yuppie on Soundcloud and their website! And all of their socials – facebook, Instagram and Youtube!

Video of the Day: Molly Nilsson – Sweet Smell of Success

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This concept video for ‘Sweet Smell of Success’ from German musician Molly Nilsson‘s latest album ‘Extreme‘ just out on January 15, 2022 is our latest video of the day. The melancholy of this song is built around powerful guitars and a swirling mix that continues the evolution of sound away from the neo-synth of her previous music. The song holds a heavy ‘almost’ shoegaze feel. Combining elements of pop, indie, shoegaze and synth, Nilsson sings about a begrudging optimism delivered in her impassive vocals that deliver emotion without having direct statements about love, shame or anger. The chorus will become stuck in your head for days. Check out her other music on bandcamp.

Video of The Day: Lavender Honey – Did It In The Dark

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You can see the video on Lavender Honey’s YouTube page! (for some reason the preview does not work)

Dayton’s own neo-soul electronic groovemachine Lavender Honey have a new video for us music lovers! Their latest song ‘Did It In The Dark’ swings with a shimmering electronic swagger. The video was created by OnlyNoise and set in the Zen Lounge in Dayton, Ohio and captures the magical dreamscape that Lavender Honey expertly craft with their music. We are excited about the band’s forthcoming debut album that was recorded with Samuri Sound. You can hear more of their music on the Lavender Honey’s bandcamp page.

Web: www.lavenderhoneymusic.com
Email: info@boggyboyrecords.com
Instagram: @lavender.honey.music @spanishtori @datascott @bigbeatdance

Check out one of Dr. J’s favorite songs from Lavender Honey, In The Evening:

Video of the Day: Shannon Clark and The Sugar – Carry Me

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The Family trio, Shannon Clark and The Sugar have released a new powerful song ‘Carry Me.’ The evocative song captures the emotional turmoil of loss, challenge and efforts at redemption. This deeply intimate and personal music elevates the listener into recognizing the need for home, community and a place where you feel grounded.

You can find out more about them on their Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram.

Video of the Day: Tiny Stills – The Sad Year Katy Perry Saved My Life

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Tiny Stills have made some of the most compelling indie power pop of the past few years. With an ear for melody and hooks that pull you into the song, they have released a series of terrific singles from ‘Craigslist Bed‘ to ‘Everything is Going Great‘. The latest song from Kailynn West and Company addresses how music can help us over come the challenges of life everyday. You can follow the band on twitter at @tinystills.