Thursday, February 27, 2014

joel rl phelps and the downer trio - gala

former SILKWORM guitarist/vocalist JOEL RL PHELPS isn't exactly a household name, even for those music junkies amongst us, but after leaving his more famous band, he's released a handful of albums under his own name to relative obscurity (all of which you should track down)....and now after a nine year haitus he's back with a new lp on 12XU with his DOWNER TRIO entitled GALA.....

these eleven tracks that compose GALA are a morose, stripped down journey through the darker corners of yer mind, at times loud and distorted like the best of the 90s underground rock scene and at others an enlightening yet twisting and turning trip through a nightmarish post grunge world of disappointment and adulthood none of us wanted....  an album that sounds timeless and yet recalls a time when we all thought SUB POP, DRAG CITY and MATADOR were finally gonna make a dent in the bad music coming out of our radios.......(well at least those of us over thirty...)

of course there's plenty of bands trying to relive the past these days, but JOEL RL PHELPS AND THE DOWNER TRIO have a depth of songwriting and musicianship (and to say the least experience) that so many rockers trying to mine the brash indie guitar rock of years past just plain don't have......

GALA is definitely for those of us that grew up on SLINT, PAVEMENT, SEBADOH, ARCHERS OF LOAF, SUPERCHUNK and of course SILKWORM lps during our teen years (just to name a few)........but GALA's appeal ought to extend way beyond that.... sucking in all sorts of new fans who weren't there when indie rock meant loud guitars, heartfelt lyrics and artful DIY approach to genre bending post punk in all new ways......

JOEL RL PHELPS AND THE DOWNER TRIO's new album is FOR SURE unlike anything else yer gonna throw on yer turntable this year and because of it's fucking unrelenting passion and concise musicianship, YOU NEED TO HEAR GALA NOW.......   listen to an album that's outside the box for those hype machine blogs for once and you'll be happy you did.........

stream a few tracks off the new lp GALA here -
  and grab a copy from 12XU here !!!!!




and watch JOEL RL PHELPS AND THE DOWNER TRIO live below -

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