Upcoming: Cloudship previews album in concert.
Plus, 1335 releases debut EP and new music from Fay Wrays?
It’s been three years since Cloudship’s last release, “Believer,” during which time the band has continued with some serious gigging (despite the pandemic), while becoming a Central Valley favorite (if you count winning Best Rock Band of the Year award at the CVMAs, which we will).
The duo (singer/drummer Brandon Freeman and guitar/bassist Jon Napoles) have also been working on a follow up EP, which it started teasing this week.
While recording for “the Lost Summer” is complete a release date for the EP is still TBA. For those really wanting to hear the songs, Cloudship will preview the EP in full, in concert April 2 at Fulton 55.
The duo will play the five songs as they were recorded, accompanied by a string-quartet with backing vocals from the Believers (who performed on the duo’s last EP and during their set at Grizzly Fest in 2019).
Fresno rockabilly trio Motel Drive open the show, along with New York rock duo SIRSY.
You can hear more about the album (and concert) in an interview with Freeman and Napoles 8 p.m. tonight on the Homegrown Show on New Rock 104.1.
Tonight: 1335 EP release party
OK. So, punk icon Kepi Ghoulie (of The Groovie Ghoulies fame) was in Fresno on Saturday playing some early morning backyard party? Which was livestreamed as episode 101 of the Kepi Show? I put this as a question because I didn’t actually see the thing and am extrapolating from this online flier and this this post, which says he gave a shout out to 1335.
The band is headlining an EP release show tonight at Strummer’s and Kepi says you should go.
The four-song EP (available at the show) well represents the band’s overall vibe of West Coast reggae and more upbeat clean guitar ska/punk. Still, the band should be experienced live.
Plus, the rest of the lineup (HillBlocksView, It’ll Grow Back, Fire to the Throne and Life Jacket) is worth checking out, too. It’s a bit of an eclectic mix of punk (post, pop, old school) and metal bands.
A final Fay Wrays album?
Last Tuesday, Fresno ex-pat Benji McEntee released an EP of instrumental tunes recorded in Bozeman, MT in 2021.
The so-called “Montana EP” kicks off with the kind of loud guitar work one expects from the former Soma Holidays and Fay Wrays guitarist, though it drops into some more subdued mid-tempo, atmospheric pieces, before ending with a bit of a chaotic piano freak out.
In a post announcing the EP, McEntee slipped some news of note for fans of his former band.
From the official Fay Wrays Facebook page: “Stay tuned for a new Fay Wrays album coming sometime in 2022 featuring the final songs written by Ben and Eli.”
At its core, the Fay Wrays was a duo (McEntee and drummer Eli Reyes), though the two did sometimes pull in friends. The pair was active through the late 2000s into the 20-teens, releasing two great albums of post-punk loudness (2009s’s “Mati Hari” and “Strange Confessor” in 2011).
Reyes, a long-time staple in Fresno’s indie rock scene died of a heart attack in 2020 at the age of 40. This would be the first new material from the band since 2012.
That’s it for this week. Remember you can now hear me on the Homegrown Show Sundays at 8 p.m. on New Rock 104.1 FM. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com