Deftones hunt for March 2013's Track of the Month
With a diverse selection of twelve tracks from this month’s single, EP and album releases playing on their backstage stereo, Deftones' Chino Moreno and Frank Delgado go fishing for the one they can 'groove out to'
Chino's disclaimer: “Right, this is a weird predicament to be in. I don’t really want to give anything below a five because ultimately somebody’s making music and some people out there are always gonna like it. I hate to denounce somebody’s art. So please just know that this is my initial opinion on hearing these songs. No disrespect to anybody out there!”
Drenge – Bloodsports [single – released 4 Mar via Infectious]
[A roadie wanders in]: What are you guys doing – deciding somebody’s fate?
Chino: Yeah…
Frank: I guess you could call it that…
Chino: Crank it! I like this…
Frank: Not bad.
Chino: [Nods to the blood-splattered sink in the artwork] You can’t judge this from the cover; I’d have expected it to be a lot more violent! It’s a little snappy. You can snap your fingers to this.
The Skinny: Would you go to the gig?
Chino: Depends how many pounds it was…
The Skinny: Let’s say ten pounds...
Chino: Yes, I would go.
Frank: I’m getting a little Morrissey vibe from this guy…
Chino: Little bit. Nice bass too, it’s very garage rock!
The Skinny: What’s the verdict?
Chino: Out of ten? I’d give it a seven.
Man Like Me – Sleaze [single – released 18 Mar via Cartoon Records]
Chino: Here’s a tune! I like this already.
Frank: [Throwing his hands up] Oh yeeeah!
[Chorus kicks in like a camp 80s disco]
Frank: Well, it had me at first, then it kinda lost me.
Chino: It’s very 80s. It is what it is, you know what I mean? I like it.
Frank: [Unable to resist clapping to the beat] I think it’s a vocal thing, but I’m enjoying the music.
Chino: [Chuckling] I like it – what a chorus.
The Skinny: Enough to stick it on your pre-gig playlist tonight?
Chino: [Firmly] No.
Frank: It’s kinda gothy.
Chino: It’s a little hokey, but I don’t mind it. Would I put it on my playlist tonight? Probably not. But I can see it fitting on somebody’s playlist. It’s upbeat, it’s written well. I’ll give it a six.
Dinosaur Pile-Up – Arizona Waiting [single – released 4 Mar via So Recordings / Big Brain]
Frank: I’m hearing Foo Fighters…
Chino: Sounds like Greg [Puciato] from Dillinger [Escape Plan], I mean when he sings. The singer’s got a good sense of melody, but the music’s a little straightforward. Like Frank said, very Foo Fighters-ish. I’d be interested to hear other songs from the record, see if it switches gears at all. I like the tones of the song. I’ll give this an eight.
Frank: I’ll go with a six.
Chino: Split the difference, that’s a seven.
Giant Fang – Kingdom [single – released 11 Mar, Self-released]
The Skinny: Giant Fang is Glaswegian producer and songwriter Douglas Wilson.
Frank: Let’s hear it.
[Two minutes in...]
Frank: A little boring, for me.
Chino: Nothing really jumps out so far.
The Skinny: Any comments?
Chino: I’ll just give it a five.
Alt-J – Dissolve Me [single – released 25 Mar via Infectious]
The Skinny: Alt-J just won the Mercury Music Prize for their debut album.
Frank: Ah, these guys are playing the same day as us at Reading this year… never heard them though.
Chino: What does Alt-J do on the computer?
Frank: Dunno… is it a real keystroke?
The Skinny: Ehm… ∆
Chino: Ah!
Frank: [A few bars in] I like the music…
Chino: I’m waiting for something to excite me… I don’t like the vocals – where are they from?
The Skinny: They’re London-based.
Chino: It’s not bad, it’s musical…sounds very modern, like what would be playing on college radio or whatever.
Frank: Like that folk shit that keeps popping up right now.
Chino: Yeah, it’s not really my bag.
The Skinny: What’s your position on Mumfords?
Chino: I don’t really listen to it. But this has that same feel. Very safe; that’s a five.
Muse – Supremacy [single – released 4 Mar via Warner]
The Skinny: Here’s a wee band from Devon who’ve been known to throw an occasional Deftones cover into their set…
Chino: What are these guys called?
Stephen Carpenter [guitarist, momentarily sticking his ahead around the door]: Muse – y’know, they play Bored all the time!
Chino: This from their new record? It’s definitely got strings! I could just say, right off the bat, that I’d like it a lot more without the strings.
Frank: Then it wouldn’t sound like Kashmir!
Chino: Exactly, then it wouldn’t sound like what it was probably inspired by.
Frank: I do like Muse, though.
Chino: I like ‘em too. I love the fact that those three guys can make such a massive sound. That’s the only thing that bums me out; they’re not going to play those strings live – which takes it away from it just being these three guys making a big sound. This sounds like three guys who’ve hired a string section to make them sound like four guys called Led Zeppelin – ha! I dunno.
Frank: That said, I’ve always appreciated the chances they take and turns they make. They can go from something like this to something really funky, dancey and, eh… Prince-y to…
The Skinny: …covering Headup?
Frank: I’ve heard that – very cool.
Chino: I’d give this a six.
Trwbadour – Safe [single – released 25 Mar via Owlet]
Chino: [Scans press release] Wait… how do you pronounce this?
The Skinny: Like Troubadour, with a ‘w’ in the middle? Maybe.
Chino: [Motions to said press release] I don’t think it’s a good idea to send your music out with a list explaining what your music is. For me, I’d rather just hear it – maybe look at the artwork if anything. This right here, when you read something describing it to you, it points you at what you’re supposed to think. I don’t like that. I think we should put one of these out but lie in it – say the exact opposite of what we want people to think. They’ll be like ‘what!?’
Frank: I like this track right here, though… the vocalist’s reminding me of Kate Bush.
Chino: They’re a duo, boy/girl duo.
Frank: Of course…
Chino: This is a little boring to me…
Frank: Kind of cool at first…
Chino: It’s just nothing exciting. Question: Is she cute? That would help – her score would definitely improve if this is the case. As it stands, that’s a four.
Dinosaur Jr – Don’t Pretend You Didn’t Know [single – released 25 Mar via PIAS]
The Skinny: Here’s a band you’ll have heard in your youth.
Chino: Dinosaur Jr – sweet! This also sounds like Foo Fighters. [Pregnant pause] Just kidding!
The Skinny: Have you seen them play live since they buried the hatchet?
Chino: I haven’t, although we just played a festival with them. I heard they’re rippin’ lately – still awesome. This sounds good – just like Dinosaur Jr, ha! I haven’t gone out and bought the record so I must not be that interested, but it’s definitely good. I’ll give it a seven.
Frank: Me too.
Chapel Club – Good Together [single – released 4 Mar via Ignition]
The Skinny: Here’s a London five-piece who have gone off on some synth-pop makeover since we last heard from them, apparently. This is the first single from their second album…
[Two minutes in]
Frank: Five.
Chino: It’s just straight up the middle, nothing exciting.
Frank: Yeah, five.
Steve Mason – More Money, More Fire [from the album Monkey Minds in the Devil’s Time, released 11 Mar via Double Six]
The Skinny: As Americans, you might not be familiar with Mr Mason outwith The Beta Band...
Chino: The Beta Band weren’t rap at all though, right? I get that he’s the songwriter here, but that’s not him rapping is it?
Frank: …is that Roots Manuva?
The Skinny: He’s joined on this track by a London MC named Mystro.
Frank: Mystro huh? Old school.
The Skinny: Do you keep up with British hip-hop?
Frank: I like some. I’m a big Roots Manuva fan, but I need more boom-bap, bigger drums – that’s when the shit hits you!
Chino: This sounds sort of jammy, like a live loop, it’s very mellow. This is alright; I’d go with a six.
Ghost Capsules – Inside [from the Inside EP, released 29 Mar via O Solo]
The Skinny: Here we have the new project from Tim Simenon of Bomb the Bass.
Frank: Oh yes. He used to make great breakbeat records; I still have a few of those.
Chino: Didn’t we talk about doing something with him?
Frank: Who is this singing?
Chino: [Reluctantly consulting the press release] It says right here, Laura Gomez.
Frank: I like this…but I’d flip it over for the instrumental.
Chino: I think I’d like this better if there were no vocals on it, the voice doesn’t really do anything for me. It sounds very middle of the road.
Frank: I’d give it a seven.
TRACK OF THE MONTH: Dope Body – Leather Head [from the Saturday 7", released 18 Mar via Drag City]
Chino: Let’s hope this doesn’t start suckin’, ’cause so far this is my favourite track!
Frank: [Shouting at the speaker] Don’t suck, don’t suck!
Chino: Definitely my favourite; it’s the most original, the sounds they’re using are so left of centre – it’s great. I like the singer’s cadence too.
Frank: It grooves.
Chino: Oh yeah, this is awesome. Where are they from?
The Skinny: Baltimore – North America.
Chino: Maybe that’s why I like ’em, I’m just biased!
Frank: This is my favourite so far.
Chino: I’ll actually look for this.
Frank: This is the kind of thing you could play that everyone would enjoy in our band. We’d all get along really well and groove out to this backstage.
Chino: I’ll give it a nine.
Frank: And they’re American.
Chino: Figures, right?
Frank: I’d buy it and play it, honestly. Oh yeah!
DOPE BODY - LEATHER HEAD / SATURDAY EP PROMO from dope body on Vimeo.