CIVL station manager and Shuggle King Aaron Levy is in Toronto right now and has therefore temporarily abdicated his throne to me, Martin Castro, Cascade arts editor, king of nothing.
Childbirth – “You’re Not My Real Dad”
Aaron Levy is, in fact, not my real dad, which I suppose is fitting because my actual father would most likely not enjoy this tongue-in-cheek punk cut from Seattle-area female supergroup Childbirth that’s as full of humour as it is deeply, deeply unimpressed by the patriarchy at large.
French Vanilla – “Anti-Aging Global Warming”
California art-punk powerhouse French Vanilla’s debut includes this track, whose opening line of “first of all, accept your days are numbered” I would aim at Mr. Levy as I vye for his Shuffle throne if it weren’t for the fact that lead vocalist Sally Spitz immediately follows it up by telling us that the world is shared and that we better get our shit together and stop destroying our planet.
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Shop locally and in season.
Pile – “Texas”
I was speaking with a colleague about Boston rockers Pile, who recently released their seventh record, Green and Gray. I was first introduced to this absolutely insane band through 2017’s A Hairshirt of Purpose and this song about the most difficult state to draw a picture of.
Chicano Batman – “Háblame”
The title of this fun and summer-ready psych-rock single from another California band I’m excited to hear more of and played in the office today is spanish for “talk to me,” which we at The Cascade wish Aaron would do with more frequency, as we miss him dearly and, as bassist and lead singer Eduardo Arenas repeats in this song’s chorus, we love you.
