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Self Help

by Light Beams

supported by
CX
CX thumbnail
CX I didn't realize that I needed a disco rock band in my life, but apparently I did.
TaCoCaT
TaCoCaT thumbnail
TaCoCaT Fantastic album by some brilliant OG D.C. punk rockers. Wanna rock out & get some dancing in? LIGHT BEAMS got you covered! Favorite track: Light Beams Theme.
ZzzzZzzzz
ZzzzZzzzz thumbnail
ZzzzZzzzz Self Help is stuffed full of catchy, positive songs that don't condescend to the listener. "It's Been A Minute" is an infectious, complex song about offering help to a drug addict while still respecting their agency, but these kinds of lyrical complexities are par for the course for an artist like Justin Moyer. LIGHT BEAMS reminds me of Moyer's absolutely essential work as Edie/E.D. Sedgwick, but with more of an intentionally positive lyrical focus. An excellent album. Favorite track: It's Been A Minute.
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1.
Renegade 02:36
Renegade style means you've got the chance to go miles and the wisdom to tell them "No!" and the power to explode. Smack the MFs who want to go too slow. We're going to brutalize Babylon blow by blow. And if pharaoh's falsifying we're won't tell but show: Everybody stop now! Fingernails on chalkboards to let them know. Barricades and bike locks to let them know. AK47 to let them know. Renegade style means you've got the chance to go buckwild and to clarify everything and turn shit into a shining thing. I was on the barricades when the ship came in, and I was on the barricades when it went out again. And if pharaoh's falsifying we won't let him in: Everybody stop now!
2.
I like L.A. I like foreplay. I like ice cream. I like nice dreams. And I never did this before and I never did that before. And I want to do this some more and I want to do that some more. You've got me feeling positive or something a little bit like it. I've been feeling negative or something that's a lot like it. I like N.J. I like nice waves. I like "hellos." Young Fresh Fellows. *** I like breakdowns. I like sweet sounds. I like MCs. Fresh and Onlys.
3.
Here To Help 03:46
Living in a body. Living with a body. Living in these rags and guts and bones. Living with a punisher waiting just to punish you. Waiting for the time to take control. Showing you a way home. Showing you the way home. Waiting on the people who can’t decide. Showing you a way out. Showing you the way out. Waiting on the people they can’t deny. We want it all. We are here to help you get it all. Living in a body. Living with a body. Living with this blood and breath and skin. Living with a punisher. Waiting just to punish you. Looking for a way to let him in. Showing you a way home. Showing you the way home. Shadow of a creature on the back door. Showing you a way out. Showing you the way out. Shadow of the creature that came before.
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Block Rock 02:03
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Rubberband 02:47
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9.
Tear It Up 02:58
10.

about

Problem: Traditional "rock" groups try to generate excitement at live shows with loud guitars -- but, after 70 years dominating popular music, the guitar era is over and its graying progenitors, fussing about with their boutique amplifiers and eensie pedals, are in aesthetic crisis. Meanwhile, hip-hop production -- disruptive, innovative, incredibly exciting -- has already defined the 21st century, but the genre's reliance on canned backing tracks means live shows sometimes lack energy and spontaneity.

One solution: Light Beams, a D.C. trio that uses samples and a live rhythm section to write songs about staying positive. No computers. No set lists. No dudes staring at screens onstage making music that reduces you to staring at your screen offstage. Instead -- Voila! -- music that makes you move, makes you feel good and never, ever overstays its welcome.

Founded in 2015 by drummer Sam Lavine, bassist Arthur Noll, and sampler/vocalist Justin Moyer, Light Beams has risen from the ashes of D.C. bands both legendary and obscure -- and definitely too numerous to mention. "Self-Help," its first full length released on Don Giovanni records January 31, 2020, fuses its diverse influences -- abstract expressionist painting, Terminator X, 80s New York freestyle, Dischord bands, Sheila E. -- into a spicy melange of cross-genre innovention the band calls "BLOCK ROCK." Recorded at Solar Power Station, Moyer's sun-kissed studio in downtown Washington, and mixed (in yet another twist) by metal legends Brian McTernan (Battery) and Mike Schleibaum (Darkest Hour), this record dares offer listeners overstuffed on streaming services' offerings something that cannot be contained by any playlist. That is: something new.

Like Jackson Pollock, they are nature.

credits

released January 31, 2020

Credits:
Recorded by JM at Solar Power Station.
Mixed by Brian McTernan and Mike Schleibaum at Salad Days Studio.
Mastered by TJ Lipple.

Sam Lavine: drums
JM: samples, vocals
Arthur Noll: bass

Design + Layout by Oliver Munday
Photo by Chris Grady

All songs by Light Beams (c) 2020
Smack the Future Music (ASCAP)

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Light Beams Washington, D.C.

Justin Moyer - Vocals, Samples
Sam Lavine - Drums
Arthur Noll - Bass
Leah Gage - Vocals, Rototoms
Erin McCarley - Vocals, Timbales, Samples

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