Posted on September 15th, 2023
Noise Real Records have put together a tribute album to post-hardcore legends Drive Like Jehu, which was in the works before Rick Froberg’s unexpected passing but now doubles as a celebration of his life. Learn to Relax! A Tribute to Jehu comes out November 17 and features covers by Thrice, Sparta, Ways Away, Fotocrime, If It Kills You, and others. You can watch a teaser video with clips of the covers at the Noise Real Bandcamp and we’re now premiering Ways Away’s cover of “Do You Compute” from 1994’s Yank Crime.
Ways Away–whose supergroup-worthy lineup features vocalist Jesse Barnett (Stick to Your Guns), guitarist Sergie Loobkoff (Samiam, Knapsack, Racquet Club), drummer Jared Shavelson (The Hope Conspiracy, Paint It Black), and bassist Ian Smith (Racquet Club)–turn the 7+ minute song into a more compact 4.5 minute song, and really lean into the more anthemic side of post-hardcore that Sergie was embracing with Samiam around the same time “Do You Compute” came out. He says:
When we were asked to be a part of this compilation, I thought about my brother and I as kids driving across the bay bridge to go to a SF distributor called Mordam when we bought the Pitchfork 7″… I think it was called ‘Saturn’. That was 3 decades ago. Through the years we loved Pitchfork, Rocket, Obits, Hot Snakes and of course Jehu. Really, we knew anything R and R (Reis and/or Rick, lol) would likely float our boat. Learning and reconstructing this song into a more ‘Ways Away’ version was fun and a little nerve-wracking because I know many people are going to hate the straight forward ‘pop’ arrangement we settled on….like, ‘blasphemy!’. In truth, I love all the Sonic Youth-y/Fugazi-ish/Slint meanderings that we cut…myself. In a perfect world we would have recorded 2 songs for this: A) the one we did and B) only the stuff we cut as a more atmospheric version. It’s sad that the world lost Rick and we don’t get any more.
https://www.brooklynvegan.com/drive-like-jehu-trib...
Posted on July 11th, 2023
DJUNAH from Chicago, Illinois
IF IT KILLS YOU from Bakersfield, CA
NO LIGHTS from Oakland, CA
Chicago-based Djunah spotlights the talents of Donna Diane, who pulls triple duty, simultaneously playing guitar, singing, and pulverizing a Moog bass organ with her foot — a feat some have described as "mind-blowing." Drawing a broad range of comparisons from Diamanda Galás to Melvins, Djunah (pronounced “JUNE-uh”) pairs her powerful, unrestrained vocals and abrasive guitar with punishing drums courtesy of drummer Jared Karns (Their/They’re/There, Hidden Hospitals).
Known for their massive, intense live sound, Djunah is fueled as much by big emotions as it is by love of gear. Diane, who has been featured on Premiere Guitar's Rig Rundown, is a self-described gearhead who learned to build footswitches to make simultaneously playing both instruments possible. Shortly before the pandemic started, she launched a YouTube series called “Can I Touch Your Gear?” to help represent women’s voices in the gear space.
CVLT Nation called Djunah’s first album, "Ex Voto" (2019), “an angular noise rock escalator run on power and beauty … a record that should be heard by all music lovers, no matter what scene you are a part of.” New Noise called it “an instant classic, like we’ve got a new Melvins on our hands.” Everything Is Noise raved, “Seismic guitar ... 100% pure emotion ... You gotta see it to believe it.”
Djunah’s newest album, “Femina Furens,” fuses influences from formal poetry and heavy music to tell the story of diagnosis and continuing recovery from complex post-traumatic stress disorder, or C-PTSD. Animals, chariots/sleighs, and mythological figures appear prominently on the album as a way of exploring themes of emotional regulation, power, and control — some of the core features of trauma disorders. The album’s title comes from the Latin for a “raging” or “furious” woman.
PRESS
“An instant classic, like we’ve got a new Melvins on our hands.” – New Noise Magazine
"Ex Voto is an angular noise rock escalator run on power and beauty." – CVLT Nation
"Seismic guitar ... 100% pure emotion ... You gotta see it to believe it." – Everything Is Noise
“Hypnotic vocals over a swelling tapestry of simmering guitar riffage and pulsating percussion.” – Impose Magazine
“The 20 Best Rock Songs Right Now” – The FADER