Gentle Grip – the debut album from NYC dance-punk quartet Public Practice – is streaming now on all platforms. Consisting of members of WALL and Beverly, I’ve known each of the members for years, and have been a fan of the band since their very first show; I’m extremely proud of the work we did here. I co-produced/-recorded half of the record with the band and mixed those songs at Studio Windows, which include the singles “Compromised” (currently on BBC Radio 6’s A List), “Disposable”, and “My Head”, plus “Cities”, “Underneath” (my personal favorite), and “Understanding”. The remainder of the songs were recorded and mixed by the band and Jeff Berner, and the album was mastered by the always-excellent Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound. The press has been fantastic – 4-stars on NME and DIY, Album Of The Day on BBC Radio 6, Album Of The Week on BrooklynVegan, and a glowing review in Treble. Gentle Grip is available now digitally, and LPs/CDs will be available on June 26 via Wharf Cat Records.
Public Practice – the NYC dance-punk quartet featuring members of WALL and Beverly – return with a new single from their debut full-length Gentle Grip. “My Head” – which premiered on Stereogum – is a disco-rooted earworm, and features a video by Studio Jojo. Brooklyn Vegan also featured the track, along with music/book recommendations from the band. “My Head” is one of the songs I co-produced/recorded and mixed on Gentle Grip, and of my favorite songs on the album (which was mastered by Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound). Check it out now, and pre-order the album, which comes out May 15 (digital)/June 26 (physical) via Wharf Cat Records.
NYC punk/groove quartet Public Practice are back with “Compromised”, the new single of their just-announced full-length debut Gentle Grip. BBC 6 Radio premiered the track, with sites like Paste, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, and NME picking it up in quick succession. “Compromised” is one of the songs on this album that I co-produced/recorded with the band and mixed at Studio Windows; Joe Laporta mastered the record at Sterling Sound. I’ve known the members of Public Practice for a while now, and am truly thrilled with the way this record turned out – SO many surprises in store! Stream the single, watch the video by Josie Keefe & Jonny Campolo (my bandmate in P.E.), and pre-order the record now. Gentle Grip is out May 15 on Wharf Cat Records.
Of the dozens of albums & singles I worked on that came out in 2019, Phantom Rhythm by Gong Gong Gong is particularly near & dear to my heart. I produced/recorded/mixed the record (and earlier singles) with the group starting back in 2017, and played the works-in-progress for friends & colleagues, leading to tours with Parquet Courts, Bodega, and Flasher and a relationship with the always-interesting Wharf Cat Records. Unsurprisingly, this fresh take on “multinational blues” made its way onto a number of Best Of 2019 lists, including Loud and Quiet, Aquarium Drunkard, and Raven Sings the Blues, as well as writers’ lists in The Wire and The Guardian.
Phantom Rhythm also made its way onto Post Trash‘s Best of 2019 list, where it shares space alongside Duo Duo by electro-rock whiz kids Operator Music Band (another personal fave that I co-produced/recorded/mixed), and two records that I mastered: noise-punks Weeping Icon’s self-titled debut and Dehd’s stellar breakup-pop LP Water.
Gimme Tinitus‘s Best of 2019 also featured Gong Gong Gong, Operator Music Band, and Weeping Icon, as well as Brooklyn noise-rock duo ESSi and their mind-bending debut Vital Creatures (which I co-produced/recorded/mixed/mastered).
Perhaps the most touching was seeing Parquet Courts in a number of Best of the Decade lists. The albums I produced with them (and Light Up Gold in particular) launched the band’s career, and were massively important for me and my trajectory as a producer/engineer. In the seven years since Light Up Gold was first released, I’ve watched their popularity and stature steadily rise, as their name became a short-hand comparison for literate, catchy punk bands. Nevertheless, it was humbling and exciting to see Light Up Gold rank #16 in Rolling Stone (and #2 in writer Rob Sheffield’s personal list), #37 in BrooklynVegan (and #7 in writer Bill Pearis’ personal list), #39 in AV Club, #41 in Treble, #78 in Vice, and #80 in Stereogum; Sunbathing Animal rank #140 in Pitchfork; and their break-out single “Stoned and Starving” rank #16 in Rolling Stone and #89 in Stereogum.
Snail Mail’s Lush also graced a number of these Best of 2010s lists. I helped to record the album, which was produced & mixed by my studio partner Jake Aron. Lush was undoubtedly important not just to the music culture of the last couple years, but also to our work: it was the first album tracked in the new Outlier Inn (where I’ve recorded many albums since Sunbathing Animal in the studio’s previous setup), and the first album mixed in our own Studio Windows. Lush ranked #48 in Stereogum and #122 in Pitchfork, and its lead-single “Pristine” ranked #87 in Stereogum and #97 in Pitchfork.
One last thing I almost missed: Catherine – the short film & web series by Jenny Slate and Dean Fleischer-Camp (the minds behind Marcel The Shell With Shoes On) was featured in Vulture’s Favorite Comedy Moments of the Decade. I don’t do much for sound-for-film these days, but this was certainly a highlight for me, and I’m happy to see it still getting some (admittedly confused) love.
I’m looking forward to 2020, with the debut album Person by my new group P.E. scheduled in March, alongside albums I’ve produced for Pottery, Public Practice, Dougie Poole, and Brandy also arriving this spring. Regardless of how arbitrary Best Of lists can seem, it does feel like a great way to start off the new year & decade…. thanks for reading & listening.
New York City new-wave/post-punk quartet Public Practice are back with two new songs! “Disposable”, the ripping A-side of this digital single, recently premiered on BBC Radio 1. The B-side is a cover of “Extra-Ordinary” by Yukihiro Takaishi (of Yellow Magic Orchestra), and features Ben Jaffe (of Pill & P.E.) on sax. I produced these songs with the band, recording/mixing/mastering at their space and Studio Windows earlier this year. Check out the feature on Stereogum and stream below! “Disposable” b/w “Extra-Ordinary” is out now via Wharf Cat Records.
Beijing-based Bo Diddley acolytes Gong Gong Gong have a new tour-split single with Flasher and Public Practice. Their contribution – a song called ‘Down Quantity Road’ – is from the bulk of recordings that I produced last year, recorded at Seaside Lounge and Doctor Wu’s, and mixed/mastered at Studio Windows. The New Yorker called the band “spare and savage” in their write-up for Gong Gong Gong’s upcoming NYC shows, tonight (December 7) with Flasher and Public Practice at St Vitus and December 15 with Bush Tetras at the Kitchen. The tour split is out now on Wharf Cat Records – stream ‘Down Quantity Road’ below and read more about the band in Pop Bollocks, Chicago Reader, Raven Sings the Blues, and Alt Citizen.
Fresh off their EU tour, Bodega have released their latest single “Gyrate” off their upcoming debut Endless Scroll (which I mixed, mastered, and helped to record). I’m also playing with Bodega, as part of Pill/Eaters (an improv collaborative group featuring members of Pill and Eaters, duh), at Sunnyvale on June 1. While the official release of their LP has been pushed back, they will have copies at the show, which also features the awesome new dance-punk quartet Public Practice. Endless Scroll is now out July 6 via What’s Your Rupture.
Jonathan Schenke 