Velvet Vision’s Springtime Debut

After picking up a synthesizer in 2020, Betty Taylor debuts her first solo project as Velvet Vision. S/T self released on 3/25.

There are some mornings, despite the cold, that you wake up before your alarm. You notice the sun streaking through the blinds, and you feel strangely ok. You sit around in your room, not sure what to do with this circadian sudden free time. So you put on some music. On this particular kind of day I receive an email from Betty Taylor AKA Velvet Vision about her forthcoming self titled debut. On this particular day I do not put the email off, even though winter makes literally every task feel impossible, and I listen to the EP. Velvet Vision is effervescent, effortless, gliding around my apartment. I think Taylor, raised in Minnesota now living in New Mexico, understands the need to find the sunlight adorned moments in life and how to hold them close. Taylor reminds us that we have gotten through the loveless months every year up until now and we will again. She understands nature and people alike can always thaw and resolve into something sweeter, “I was such a different person last time” she sings on the opening track. 

The forthcoming single, ‘Springtime Buzz’, is fizzy and hypnotic, recounting a vivid spring fling. Taylor knows the dizzy feeling of sudden romance and that, looking back, maybe it wasn’t as perfect as you anticipated it being. “I was on the passenger side but how could I forget I love to drive?” Maybe she’s accepting the way a new lover can catch our habits off guard, maybe she’s regretting how much she gave way to her fresh love. But ultimately he’s just “another boy who made me cry”. It doesn’t stop her from longing over the look in his eyes. ‘about flowers’ crashes to life; Taylor hopscotches over speaking samples, singing about how time and memory don’t always fully do the stories of our lives justice. Velvet Vision isn’t complex lyrically, not because Taylor isn’t more than competent, but because she uses synth so effectively.

Photo by Paris Mancini

Velvet Vision is an EP you can feel on your tongue, in your hair. Taylor’s music is the moment leading up to the acid trip when you’re just noticing how goddamn bright the leaves in the park are. It’s a long drive with the windows down, letting the warm air breeze through the car. Taylor captures potent moments and shapes her tones around them. ‘epilogue’ is stitched with field samples over a simple piano, maybe the sounds of kids playing. Eventually the track gives way to something that sounds more like the violin Taylor herself picked up in grade school before trading it in for a synth. This feels calm, like a brief reconciliation with childhood, with family. 

There is always room for growth on Velvet Vision; the earliest any of the songs on the EP were created was in 2019, and Taylor didn’t buy a synthesizer ‘til 2020. She cites YouTube lessons and attributes her learning to other musician friends. Taylor calls Velvet Vision a “grounding practice” and, in part, I agree. She crafts a sound that brings you outside of your head, thinking instead of the grass growing underneath the snow right now and the blood running through our fingertips at this very moment. On the other hand she captures anticipation, the moment before we are caught up in a warbled love. Vaporous and lush, Velvet Vision is both waiting to be swept up and the moment of reflection after you’ve come back down to Earth.

The official music video for “Springtime Buzz’, created by Minneapolis artist and animator Helen Teague

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All Blood: A Review of Invisible Ax

Self-described “all trans band” 4th Curtis release their EP, Invisible Ax today (11/29)

cover art by Joshlynn Borreson

In the time leading up to the release they’ve taken to tweeting under “LIZZIE BORDEN” (though they are known for changing their username whenever it suits them). And in Invisible Ax it’s all funny ‘til it’s not. On the opening track ‘Nonstop’ lead vocalist and guitarist Lex Noens sings “blood on my guitar strings makes me feel so intense”, making Taylor Swift’s teardrops null in comparison. This opener is both a testament to what they’re willing to drain themselves of and what has been taken from them. The vocals and keys of Ty Gale shine on ‘Marie Antoinette’, playing a posh minor tone that almost mocks Maddie Morley’s energetic drumming. And 4th Curtis’ impeccable charm is ever present, Noens comparing themselves to Marie Antoinette because their “rack is huge”. Noens and Gale have a knack for singing their gags with the same seriousness as their anxieties, lyrics like “I want to be the older woman my kid’s friends want to fuck” are treated with purpose. Everything on Invisible Ax is heightened, and when Gale sings “do you think I’m pretty?” it’s with painful sincerity. Invisible Ax has a keen way of answering its own questions. 

From a distance the EP is a catchy onslaught with a dark sense of humor but up close it’s wringing its hands and asking you a very important question, afraid of being just an exposed body. The stand out track is ‘Julius Cesar’, Noens seering with pop vigor. Invisible Ax never allows anything to sound as dire as it really is, it bobs and weaves in constant motion. “Julius Cesar died last night/the throne is mine for the taking”. The throne- what it must be like to briefly feel full despite so much emptiness. To see a piece of a person who you’ll never wholly experience again. When all else fails we desire a place we consider home and someone to call our names in a way that sounds familiar, but that warmth has long been forgotten. There’s a painful irony aching inside Invisible Ax: 4th Curtis is giving every piece of themselves, their limbs and bodily fluids, but the one thing being demanded of them is something they don’t have to give. Morley drives ‘Goth Fuck’ (or as the lyric sheet for the press reads “spelled Goth F-ck if not allowed in a specific application)”, the most self indicting piece of the EP. But the rock interlude with Gale and Morley softly ‘ooh-ing’ as backup suggests otherwise. “I want to hurt him/I want him to like it” sings Noens, 4th Curtis never being ones to write themselves as strongest on the page. As artists they find themselves both the protagonist and antagonist of their own lives. They are a comedy and a tragedy, their own greek chorus piling in and reminding us of the existence of sadness and love and pain and memes. 

When you run out of ways to write about sadness or grief or oppression you weaponize it. You turn it into heated sax solos and irresistible melodies. The EP closes with the blistering ‘No Artist’, Noens and Gale lamenting “why do I always break for the broken ones?” They are focused and loving. 4th Curtis plays the self-deprecating role well, but this EP involves comparisons to Marie Antoinette, the Virgin Mary, Julius Cesar, and Lizzie Borden- people known for the way they exchange flesh. But the band isn’t a broken limb or a drained vessel, they’re the weapon, the wielder, the predator. They’re unflinching. Their sense of humor congeals it together, death and sweetness thickening to concrete in order to support the emotional weight. Invisible Ax explores pain in a way that is clever and catchy and for whatever reason, historical. It is difficult work asking people to listen to your flaws and not asking them to absolve you of guilt in return but to sit with you inside it. And in doing so they’ve transmogrified their sound completely. Invisible Ax, in name alone, is not an invitation but a statement of intent. It is waiting, unseen, indicative of what’s to come with absolute precision. And did 4th Curtis get away with it? Of course they did. But the axe is double ended. Like the EP’s poster child Lizzie Borden, they’ve gotten away with it all. But they still carry the evidence with them.

photo by Kathy Callahan

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Question Everything: A Q&A With NO MEN

NO MEN are a booming punk band out of Chicago, IL. With the power of dual drums and a sturdy bass, they’re anything but a boy band. Since they’re not “talkers”, we chatted via email about guitar rock, horror movies, and their new album, Hell Was Full So We Came Back.

photo by Aaron Ehinger

On your website (nofuckingmen.com) you say there’s “no guitar rock allowed”. Could you define guitar rock? Do you feel like guitars are kind of a symbol for butt rock and boys clubs in the music scene?

DB: You answered the first question with the second question! Most definitely. There’s a lot of heavy, noisy music we *almost* love that just has such an aggressively MASCULINE vibe that it’s off-putting. There’s nothing wrong with the guitar, but I get the vibe traditional instrumentation ends up being used...lazily? Why is there the persisting stereotype of a girl bassist and lead male guitarist in these indie punk bands? Question everything!

One of my favorite ways you describe yourselves is “opposite of yes men”. Do you try to make the spaces you play in the opposite of “yes men” too? 

DB: To the best of our ability. We’re blessed that there’s so many welcoming and loving individuals involved in the music scene in Chicago that we don’t usually have to worry about bad vibes.

Pursley: I think that kinda happens on it’s own. The people who really *get* us tend to share our mindset.

Seeing you play live is a very visceral experience, in a sense it’s very satisfying. Does NO MEN provide you with a lot of catharsis? 

DB: Does catharsis mean sweating a lot? If so, then yes.

Pursley: Oh yes. Love to rock. 10/10 would recommend.

Eric: Without a doubt.  And a lot of bloody fingers and broken drumsticks.

You’re a very succinct band lyrically. How do you think you’re able to convey so much emotion instrumentally? 

Eric: I think when you strip things down to just drums and bass, your left with a rhythm your mind and body can latch on to easier. The beats demand your attention. Less instrumentation feels less restrictive and allows us to be more creative and emphasize what we are really good at. More noise would only get in the way. 

Pursley, you sing “I’ll tell the truth/I always do” on the new single ‘Sucker’. Could you speak a bit more to that line and just the idea of controlling your own narrative in general?

Pursley: To me it’s a taunting request of like “hey buddy i am being truthful, now it’s YOUR TURN”, as to demand accountability. Sometimes you gotta check someone, y’know? You can never truly force anyone to be honest, but who cares really. All you have at the end of the day is your own truth. Keep on truckin’.

Your lyrics are mostly pretty personal, they seem to speak to the same person or at least the same kind of person. Who are you usually talking to (if you’re comfortable answering)?

DB: This may not even be a conscious thing really, but our lyrics may be general so that a lot of people can relate to it. We’re almost never like, “fuck this particular thing!” We want our music to be an ally to whatever your struggle or frustration is. The themes are universal.

Pursley: Yeah I like some room for interpretation. There are definitely *many* things in life that I’m like “i do not like this”, but they are all sort of interchangeable and similar.

At least in your music videos, you confront horror pretty literally with summoning demons on ‘Sucker’ and some horror film homages on ‘Stay Dumb’. Are you pretty drawn to themes from that genre?

DB: Definitely! A large part of the vision comes from our friend Greg Reigh, who wrote and directed those videos, and is very into Dario Argento and the like. Mandy was also a big influence recently. We just honestly love metal and Black Sabbath and motorcycles and shit so much.

Pursley: Hell yes, big horror fans over here. Greg is a visionary and always comes through with some killer ideas. Literally.

You have a new LP Hell Was Full So We Came Back out this Friday, and I read that your first LP was recorded in only two days. What was the recording process like this time around?

DB: Spread out over a much longer period of time, about a year from the first day we laid down some tracks in the studio to the end of mixing, in bits and pieces. The oldest song that made it on this album was written in probably like early 2017, and the most recently written one was from like, this May. We do all the basic tracks live, so it hardly takes us any time to actually physically “record”, but then we had several sessions with our good friend Doug Malone, who recorded us at his studio JAMDEK, tweaking the sounds and trying crazy effects and overdubbing stuff. In hindsight we may have spent a lot of time on parts that ended up not mattering - the things we like most about these recordings came about somewhat accidentally, organically. Doug really helped us keep tracks stripped down and to the point when we needed it.

Is the album title indicative of what the band has been through in the past three years since your first LP?

DB: Let’s just say we’ve all been through a lot in these last three years in America.

Pursley: Goddamn right.

photo by Aaron Ehinger

Hell Was Full So We Came Back out 11/15 on Let’s Pretend Records

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