FLOOD — My Writing

IDLES’s New LP “CRAWLER” Is an Act of Gratitude

Joe Talbot, growling lead vocalist for the British noise-rockers IDLES, knows that life can be horrible. There’s death, carnage, pain, abuse, and everything damaging and detrimental in between. But the philosophically inclined Talbot also knows there’s another side to that proverbial coin. In fact, he shrieks it on his band’s forthcoming album, CRAWLER. “In spite of it all,” Talbot sings, “life is beautiful.” But while it’s clear he wholeheartedly believes the line, it’s not one he thought up himself. It comes from the mind of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, who wrote it in a journal while sitting at home in his garden well aware that Joseph Stalin’s military men were headed to assassinate him with an ice pick to the head. It’s these kinds of silver-lining realizations, these kinds of hopeful observations, that make IDLES a remarkable band—and the group’s new 14-track LP is rich with them.

ProfilesJake UittiNovember 9, 2021FLOOD

Yola Discusses Finally Feeling Liberated on “Stand for Myself”

If you ask Yolanda Quartey—better known as the voluminous singer Yola, who today released her second single, “Stand for Myself,” from her forthcoming new record of the same name—when she first began to listen and pay attention to music, she’ll tell you it started especially early. “The birth canal,” she says, with a chuckle. “I kid you not!”

Here’s how it happened: While pregnant with the future groovy Grammy nominee, Yola’s mother was working as a registered nurse in a mental institution in the U.K. When she would work the overnight shift in the hospital, her supervisors would understaff “because of racism,” Yola explains. So the singer’s mother had to find ways to keep things in order. “She would find it hard,” she says, “with two nurses to a ward of 60 patients. She used to play disco to chill them out. So, even through gestation, I was grooving to disco—and apparently I quite enjoyed it!” As a child, Yola continued to love the art form. At four years old, she told her mother she wanted to be a singer and she’s never wavered since. Of course, that didn’t mean her path was easy. For Yola, that’s never been the case, despite boasting a singing voice that could fill a room in a millisecond.

ProfilesJake UittiMay 27, 2021FLOOD

Rodrigo y Gabriela, “The Jazz EP”

With their forthcoming record, The Jazz EP, Grammy-winning, virtuosic Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela have created a sonic stage play in three acts. Recreating covers for a trio of songs by three unique groups, the two six-string players have composed a coherent story through the EP’s combination of tunes. If you listen carefully, you may learn something about socio-political dynamics and find a way to embrace diversity for the sake of harmony.

ReviewsJake UittiMay 12, 2021FLOOD

Thunderpussy Are Rearing to Play Live Shows Again in Their New “Never Know” Video

If you ask the founding members of the Seattle-based rock band Thunderpussy, they’ll tell you that the past year has been about rejuvenation and recalibration. Always on-brand, the band’s vocalist and front woman Molly Sides calls the band’s recent stint away from the public eye a “cat nap.” And lead guitarist Whitney Petty says that the time away has offered perspective, both inwardly and outwardly. But now the propulsive quartet is back, planting its proverbial flag in pop culture yet again with the release of a new music video and the announcement that the band’s track, “Never Know,” will be featured in the new ABC television show, Rebel, tonight.

EssayJake UittiMay 6, 2021FLOOD

Sharon Van Etten, “epic Ten”

When an artist represents both the nostalgic and the brand new, she has something that makes a home in memory. When she can imbue the numinous and demand immediate recognition, she is assuredly of some special stuff. The music of Sharon Van Etten offers this strangely familiar ethic and aesthetic. She is Patti Smith finishing a pint of Pilsner as the pool cue cracks in the back of the dive bar. She is the next star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Van Etten’s newest release, epic Ten, is unlike any other. In one sense, it’s a reissue of her 2010 sophomore record, Epic. But it’s also much more. The reissue includes covers of each song from the original release from such heavyweights as IDLES, Lucinda Williams, Courtney Barnett, and Fiona Apple. In this way, epic Ten is two albums at once in a compact 14 tracks, ranging in creative impact from Van Etten’s ghostly harmonies to IDLES’ industrial wallop.

ReviewsJake UittiApril 14, 2021FLOOD

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