tag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:/blogs/miserable-news?p=2Miserable News2020-07-09T12:08:55-07:00Sargent Housefalsetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/63810432020-07-09T12:08:55-07:002020-07-09T12:22:28-07:00Miserable on 20 Shoegaze Bands You Should Know in 2020 // PASTE<p><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/shoegaze/shoegaze-bands-2020/" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/159790/a18e68937d8518fd034308556e9352b1e907d8c4/original/paste-mag.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></a></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/shoegaze/shoegaze-bands-2020/" target="_blank"><span class="font_large"><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/159790/d7743f7be9cd02fe3728bc1c747a28891d91e9cd/original/screen-shot-2020-07-09-at-12-10-06-pm.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></strong></span></a></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="Miserable" data-link-label="Miserable" data-link-type="page" href="/miserable" target="_blank"><strong>Miserable</strong></a></span></h2>
<p>This project of Kristina Esfandiari (Whirr, King Woman) finds her at her most vulnerable and emotional. Oscillating between shoegaze and dream pop, her music dwells in a soft, meditative space that reverberates with thoughtfulness. Every song, though, is tinged with darkness, especially on the edgy 2018 release <em>Loverboy / Dog Days</em>. — <em>Danielle Chelosky</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="eYUCFL2hnoQ" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/eYUCFL2hnoQ/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eYUCFL2hnoQ?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="600" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></em></p>
<p><br><em>via <a contents="PASTE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/shoegaze/shoegaze-bands-2020/?fbclid=IwAR0v_A0_HFY4UG4FY843aZIdd4595SALx74OnNKfyrh0As6uZkwPC1v0ktI" target="_blank">PASTE</a></em></p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/62286982020-02-26T11:26:29-08:002020-02-26T11:26:29-08:00New Single "Damned To Love You" Streaming on Adult Swim<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="405" id="music-frame" src="https://as-embed-player.adultswim.com/singles/2019/?trackid=16" width="405"></iframe></p>
<p><a contents="Streaming via&nbsp;Adult Swim" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.adultswim.com/music/singles/16" target="_blank"><em>Streaming via Adult Swim</em></a><br><br>Adult Swim Singles have just shared a new song from <a contents="Miserable" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/miserablegrl" target="_blank">Miserable</a> as the sixteenth entry in the 2019-2020 program. “Damned to Love You” presents a new phase for Miserable, the shoegaze meets indie-pop endeavor of Kristina Esfandiari (also known as the singer for the expansive doom-metal group <a contents="King Woman" data-link-label="King Woman" data-link-type="page" href="/king-woman" target="_blank">King Woman</a>), and marks the first release since 2018’s Loverboy EP. The new single expands on the auspicious atmospherics of the EP, as Esfandiari’s voice scales cresting waves of nostalgia, buoyed by plucked guitar arpeggios drenched in 60’s style spring reverb. LISTEN TO “DAMNED TO LOVE YOU”: <a contents="https://www.adultswim.com/music/singles/16" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.adultswim.com/music/singles/16" target="_blank">https://www.adultswim.com/music/singles/16</a></p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/61477392020-01-22T12:19:24-08:002020-01-22T12:19:24-08:00Miserable West Coast Tour w/ (Sandy) Alex G<p><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://sargenthouse.com/miserable" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/159790/dd12a942a42d4daf845b6ab145cf69dc9cde6565/original/83071276-10163277222895529-7990766107084455936-o.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a></p>
<p>Miserable US West Coast tour announced – supporting <a contents="(Sandy) Alex G" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://sandyalexg.com/" target="_blank">(Sandy) Alex G</a> on select dates. Tickets on sale Fri 1/24</p>
<p>APR 04 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room * <br>APR 05 Boulder, Co @ Fox Theatre * <br>APR 07 Boise, ID @ Neurolux * <br>APR 08 Reno, NV @ The Holland Project * <br>APR 09 San Luis Obispo, CA @ SLO Brew * <br>APR 10 San Diego, CA @ The Whistle Stop <br>APR 13 Las Vegas, NV @ The Bunkhouse * <br>APR 14 Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress * <br>APR 17 Tilburg, NL @ Roadburn Festival – SOLD OUT <br>MAY 28 Seattle, WA @ Northwest Terror Fest <br><br>w/ (Sandy) Alex G *</p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/60034292019-12-11T07:00:00-08:002019-12-11T07:04:37-08:00Acoustic Performance at Northwest Terror Fest 2020<p><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://northwestterrorfest.com" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/159790/f436c939415a4593c36739f74f9e4975b86f4ac5/original/nwtf-2020-announcement-miserable.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a>Miserable will be performing an acoustic set for Northwest Terror Fest 2020 in Seattle, WA. Tickets on sale Jan 3 here: <a contents="northwestterrorfest.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://northwestterrorfest.com" target="_blank">northwestterrorfest.com</a></p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/59022602019-09-23T10:56:22-07:002019-09-23T10:56:44-07:00Miserable Roadburn 2020<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/159790/3e82bd8f2703e01c2fe917a14aaf3a0b62c868c0/original/miserable-social.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a contents="Sargent House" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://sargenthouse.com/">Sargent House</a> is proud to announce that <a contents="Miserable" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://sargenthouse.com/miserable">Miserable</a> will be joining the 2020 lineup of <a contents="Roadburn" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://roadburn.com/">Roadburn</a>, curated by <a contents="Emma Ruth Rundle" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.emmaruthrundle.com/">Emma Ruth Rundle</a>. Tickets available <a contents="HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://roadburn.com/tickets/">HERE</a>.</p>
<p> </p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/56776532019-03-12T11:08:49-07:002019-03-12T11:08:49-07:00Kristina Esfandiari's Songs of Sorrow // The Brooklyn Rail<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/159790/48dcda2d3f296454a5f95f864abf9dc8c77c91b3/original/rail-logotype.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Kristina Esfandiari's Songs of Sorrow</span></h3>
<p><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://brooklynrail.org/2019/03/music/Kristina-Esfandiaris-Songs-of-Sorrow" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/159790/a1598c87dd9c4c731861b92605ef8cea1ba42fd7/original/music-amen-image-01-lg.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a><br><a contents="Feature via The Brooklyn Rail" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://brooklynrail.org/2019/03/music/Kristina-Esfandiaris-Songs-of-Sorrow" target="_blank">Feature via The Brooklyn Rail</a></p>
<p>In the mid-2000s, when Pedestal Magazine still published fiction, we ran a short story that centered on a band capable of playing any song ever requested. After a number of gigs, disillusioned with their listeners and the world, the group performs a song that, according to legend, had resulted in the suicide of each person who heard it. Mayhem ensues, leading to the self-destruction of everyone in the club, including the band members. </p>
<p>Don't worry, listening to <em>Uncontrollable</em>, the 2016 release by Kristina Esfandiari a.k.a. <a contents="Miserable" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://facebook.com/miserablegrl" target="_blank">Miserable</a>, will not prompt an irresistible urge to leap from a tall building or swallow a handful of barbiturates; that said, this is the most unrelentingly and concentratedly despair-laden project I've heard in years, possibly ever, making Pink Floyd, Nick Cave, and a slew of gloom-filled metal albums feel like bubblegum rock in comparison. Ponderous soundscapes, somber rhythmic movements, and Esfandiari's mournful voice coalesce to forge a tragically exquisite and uber-romantic manifesto. </p><!-- more -->
<p>Miserable's 2018 follow-up, <em>Loverboy/Dog Days</em>, a diptych comprised of two EPs and packaged as a single LP (Loverboy: tracks 1 – 4; Dog Days: tracks 5 – 8) and her 2017 album Created in the Image of Suffering, attributed to Esfandiari's alternate moniker, the metal-infused King Woman, are more similar than dissimilar. Both source and build on aspects of Uncontrollable, featuring tundral vocal tones and soundscapes. The Miserable set experiments with quasi-melodic variations and hooks; the King Woman venture navigates familiar doom-metal templates: guitar parts based on droning resonances more than riffs, sonic mixes pummeling a listener into a narcotized despondence. Inextricably linking these undertakings are Esfandiari's evocative lamentations. </p>
<p>The opening track of <em>Loverboy/Dog Days</em> affirms Esfandiari's timely indignation: "Loverboy I am not a toy / Not a piece of gum / gonna chew me up / candy-coated oppression." She finds a dynamic vocal balance—effusing rage and weariness, PTSD and chronic fatigue—reminding me of a vulnerable Courtney Love, a less stoner and more psychedelic Alison Mosshart (especially in her work with The Dead Weather), or a tortured composite of SubRosa's Rebecca Vernon, Sarah Pendleton, and Kim Pack. Throughout the set, Esfandiari forges sophisticated integrations and reconciles energetic opposites: expression and repression, expulsion and restraint, confidence and self-loathing. On "Deny," from Created in the Image of Suffering, she sings: "Jesus I love you with all my heart / but I feel like an angel / I'm lacking the star / I'm lacking the spirit / I'm losing the heart." Her voice unfolds above the distorted and sinewy guitar part and recurrent, militaristic percussion: weary but compelling, chthonic but lucid, aggressive but fragile. In at least two places on this track, she hints at a scream, muting it prior to catharsis, reminding me of a scene from 1964's The Pawnbroker in which Rod Steiger as Sol Nazerman bends over the motionless body of Jesus Ortiz, played by Jaime Sánchez. Steiger opens his mouth as if to wail, though no sound emanates. The tension captured in this frame illustrates the depth of his anguish far more sublimely than if he'd expressed himself audibly. </p>
<p>While<em> Loverboy/Dog Days</em> depicts the oppressive male force (the Loverboy) as frivolously human, on Created in the Image of Suffering the oppressive force is, instead, a patriarchal God or anthropomorphized sense of fate. "Father do you forgive the one who beats his son?" Esfandiari asks, presenting an alternate version of the Jesus-and-God crucifixion script—in which God allowed his son to be victimized, moreover mandated his victimization—questioning "the Father's" ability to self-absolve, given the enormity of his betrayal. She then proclaims: "Look at me / Don't hide the shame that's in your eyes"—an inversion of the biblical passage in which Adam and Eve "hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden." In Esfandiari's version, it's God who basks in shame rather than wayward humans—rather than Esfandiari, or her persona, who represents a contemporized and mutinous Eve. On "Hierophant," also from Created in the Image of Suffering, she sings, "The pain of tenderness is a wound of love," linking emotional sensitivity and psychic wounding with her perhaps most koanic lyric. Then: "I'm gonna be the one devastated by lust / I've gotta be your lover." She sexualizes the mystical relationship between human and God, an expression of adrenalized urgency and toxic enmeshment. God is depicted as the male siren, the masculine analog to Petrarch's Laura, a Blakean delineation in which the Christian deity is cast as tempter, abuser, the elusive object of desire. </p>
<p><em>Uncontrollable, Loverboy/Dog Days</em>, and <em>Created</em> in the Image of Suffering can be regarded as a triptych. The bulk of the songs are successful, collectively furthering Esfandiari's doom-metal and dream-rock renderings of inner and outer wastelands. Uncontrollable is the foundational and more memorable set of the three, though the latter tracks of<em> Loverboy/Dog Days</em> indicate a degree of pop awareness and are, by conventional standards, Esfandiari's most accessible offerings. Despite the presence of versatile musicians, it's the signature voice of the oeuvre that defines these projects. I'll add that although I've quoted various lyrics, Esfandiari's words are frequently indecipherable. It's often her tonal fluctuations and ability to translate instinctive impulses into pure and primitive vocal expression (sound essentially stripped of linguistic associations) that capture the listener's imagination. I'd be curious to hear her take on approaches that minimize instrumentation, pushing her in a dark-folk or pseudo a cappella direction. Whatever methods she embraces going forward, I can't imagine that she'll stray far from a continued study and articulation of our fundamental ambivalences: how our chief relationship is with the unknown, corporeal and existential; so much bliss, so much trauma; so much beyond our control.</p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/55865522019-01-08T11:46:15-08:002019-01-08T11:46:15-08:00Miserable at Noise Pop Festival 2019<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="1350" data-orig-width="1080"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://noisepopfest.com/badges" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/159790/3f5c39d06df9912fbdb1fb13ae04334fba0d3ee4/original/miserable.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a></figure>
<p><a href="http://sargenthouse.com/miserable" target="_blank">Miserable</a> will be performing at this year’s <a href="https://www.facebook.com/noisepop.com/?__tn__=K-R&eid=ARD6RxjWEtS5ZzaTVczDdvgydLDJE0I3w93_nft2y7J3BmCw71Yak_-37D-aLLdvdcqY020wvhpHp3gy&fref=mentions&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARAIUPT66lCypZ1hz_kzGIP8YGbzHiXsceLgbNG2-GWmTDT20x8DvqP9vjiE4-9f-rbJ-t5imvDwJz_CtW-FwT0gs2AmY8JuWrXDhS3o_801bdxxntRs8eKxIajginPkhYGzk_-4eBr8nYFd6XDccCYVy1IxhQxulQydsSNHPfTqltIdfZw4VT5QgWiVXYOPyf9wkocsjuLjh0a15o7rjfxOhNita1Vg-4kXS5XktJndPjoD8pHtR5z38gyN5JLU8hOmccH-EZpLuEdPMByipZpu0JiTuAbsUk3k3F8EIqhWmbWAaNyG3KFfh-C9pSNzv-B6-heWqk8EBdN1kw" target="_blank">Noise Pop</a> Festival in SF on Feb 26th. Tickets <a href="https://noisepopfest.com/badges" target="_blank">HERE</a></p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/54971852018-11-02T11:59:22-07:002018-11-02T11:59:22-07:00Kristina Esfandiari Interview // Bandcamp Daily<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://daily.bandcamp.com/2018/11/02/miserable-interview/" target="_blank"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/112f906075df00b411c476e55f2049bd/tumblr_inline_phkxnlcQxV1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/cb0de6ba7f8d39bfef95177e5e3eaa38/tumblr_inline_phkxo9ngKW1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/05dde245be52eb4dbb1165d850038a12/tumblr_inline_phkxop98N41qbzv4w_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></a></p>
<p><em>Interview via <a contents="Bandcamp Daily" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://daily.bandcamp.com/2018/11/02/miserable-interview/" target="_blank">Bandcamp Daily</a></em></p>
<p>Kristina Esfandiari, the powerful vocalist of the sludge-metal group <a href="http://sargenthouse.com/king-woman" target="_blank">King Woman </a>and mastermind of floating shoegaze act <a href="http://sargenthouse.com/miserable" target="_blank">Miserable</a>, was flying home from Oakland when chills began running and up down her body for several definitive minutes. “I just started writing out lyrics and I heard all [these] arrangements in my head,” Esfandiari says. “It was some sort of spiritual connection. Something happened to me that I was not expecting.” </p><!-- more -->
<p>This was the origin of the lavish Miserable EP Loverboy—but, despite these auspicious beginnings, Loverboy’s four tracks were not completed without hardship. As Esfandiari explains over a crackling Skype call, its first iteration disappeared courtesy of a hard drive fire that destroyed “everything I’ve ever recorded,” forcing the studio-shy musician to capture lightning in a bottle a second time.</p>
<p>The final result is reverb-drenched and emotive, evoking Alanis Morissette through My Bloody Valentine’s wall of noise (says Esfandiari of the comparison, “Jagged Little Pillchanged my fucking life”). It’s paired with the cassette-only release Dog Days, a far more bubbly affair which was remastered for sonic consistency (it was initially released as a U.K. tour-only offering) for Miserable’s newest release. Although Esfandiari conceptualizes each release as completely unique from one another, when coupled they’re seamless.</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="290" data-orig-width="604"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/72d5af1850d9a5c72d054125705ff47c/tumblr_inline_phkxrpeq9h1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></p></figure>
<p>On King Woman’s debut Doubt, Esfandiari delved into the pains of disentangling from her charismatic Christian roots. A decade into her music career, she continues facing life’s ugly curveballs head on. Loverboy addresses deeply personal recent experiences, as Esfandiari uses a reverberating riff and heavily affected, low-register vocals to reiterate hard-learned life lessons. “I had to go through a lot of rough experiences with men to understand what feminism was and what gaslighting means. There was a point in my life where I didn’t really understand, I felt crazy because of it,” Esfandiari says. “I think it just really speaks to being gaslighted and objectified for so long that you don’t know your worth, what you deserve, and you don’t know your own agency, and you’d rather walk on eggshells so you don’t seem dramatic, or you don’t seem like a bitch, or you don’t seem crazy.”</p>
<p>Esfandiari notably dropped King Woman off the remainder of a tour in 2016 with classic doom act Pentagram, due to frontman Bobby Liebling’s allegedly abusive behavior; it appears the experience has impacted her writing with her solo project. (In an unrelated incident, Liebling was later sentenced to 18 months in prison for elder abuse, following the return of the band after the Last Days Here documentary that chronicled his lifelong drug addiction and reform premiered.) Despite his checkered past, the metal scene responded unevenly to the allegations that Esfandiari and Wax Idols’ Hether Fortune levelled against him. “One false move as a woman, you are called a whole slew of terrible things. At the same time, a man does that, they are a boss or powerful or assertive,” says Esfandiari.</p>
<p>“I didn’t fully understand what gaslighting was,” she continues. “There was a time in everyone’s life where we didn’t know what that was, and we had to learn what it was by going through some type of hell, with some asshole who made us feel very terrible and small, and totally, emotionally manipulated us, and drained us of all our energy.”</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=766515467/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;">Loverboy / Dog Days by Miserable</iframe></p>
<p>In an correspondingly ugly twist, the day that Esfandiari connected with us for the interview, Brett Kavanaugh was officially announced as the nominee for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, leaving many frustrated and fearful. “We never did feel safe, it’s just being broadcasted on TV now. Now it’s just so blatantly obvious it’s terrifying,” reflects Esfandiari. “It’s interesting that [Loverboy‘s title track] came out [at this time], I was like, ‘This is very strange.’ I have gotten a lot of messages from people being like, ‘I’m listening to this song on repeat, I’m so angry, it’s been helping me relieve some of my frustration and anger towards what’s going on right now…’” She pauses. “I’m pretty tired.”</p>
<p>The joy-filled Dog Days, born of a desire to make something “upbeat” (“High,” for example, has a snappy snare beat that sounds just right for late-night kitchen dance parties), pinned back to back with the emotional realities of Loverboy, is representative of the complex human experience, something that Esfandiari insists on addressing in her musical output. “It’s going to be healing and devastating at the same time to work on a record,” she offers, “to do things like sing really intense lyrics, that deal with really personal shit that I’ve been through. So of course that’s cathartic.”</p>
<p>-Sarah Kitteringham</p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/54915712018-10-29T17:11:37-07:002018-10-29T17:11:37-07:00Kristina Esfandiari Print Feature // Hooligan Mag<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="258" data-orig-width="758"><p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2AySUfk?fbclid=IwAR3eyaXXa7Cmj5EhxctfpQdKh8RiYMAA1k0s8dX6HbccGj15s6t0YBX6SJg" target="_blank"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/6c0ad8b7a3fac7e0b1646a896cc9bbd4/tumblr_inline_phdxmhmmPq1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2AySUfk?fbclid=IwAR3eyaXXa7Cmj5EhxctfpQdKh8RiYMAA1k0s8dX6HbccGj15s6t0YBX6SJg" target="_blank"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/7df6fcac3c31f568e11de5f4ef82f67d/tumblr_inline_phdxcqzKu01qbzv4w_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></a></p></figure>
<p>Feature on Kristina Esfandiari of <a data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/KNGWMN" target="_blank">King Woman</a> & <a contents="Miserable" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/miserablegrl" target="_blank">Miserable</a> is in the new Issue #26 of <a data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.hooliganmagazine.com/" target="_blank">Hooligan Mag</a> now available for reading online or in hard copy.<br>Online Read here: <a data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2AySUfk?fbclid=IwAR3eyaXXa7Cmj5EhxctfpQdKh8RiYMAA1k0s8dX6HbccGj15s6t0YBX6SJg" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/2AySUfk</a><br>Print copies available here: <a href="https://bit.ly/2Azr7LP?fbclid=IwAR3LbQGleI0pX7Uq7xfjziVQzfKTRTm52m7xAgdLczqsILriL4j2-NcCIMI" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/2Azr7LP</a></p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/54876522018-10-26T11:43:23-07:002018-10-26T11:43:54-07:00Miserable “Loverboy / Doy Days” OUT NOW<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="679" data-orig-width="682"><p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://smarturl.it/MSRBL_LBY-DD?fbclid=IwAR0mQNROpSsQU783L8tZQ7gvtSQIYBiLwU5eCikQGMEkyn-nyvccmYUHS7U" target="_blank"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/f6b6ca84a652b3a58f359c67fb9a6a11/tumblr_inline_ph7u6vRtiZ1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a></p></figure>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/miserablegrl/?__tn__=K-R&eid=ARD56lTqoTkBmr7hqDh3bPvGLT3dSbM-jJgFb5tdo0gTJsZ3oFWGdXy87_ZCp0WOnbqt3b7Dnw6otwNc&fref=mentions&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARBP10CDL3B0IQW95frVkbBGYeQ8Rlvq4hEnGrWKRIVGl_AgeDSVXUOo3pbgN60TY87XsJg0NQe7jJ7gVNKK4pMxoIn8MXQFnEsIes-BmKvZD4gpFpkpADAXbSXQOfLkTuuCnOsCZoQ7zz5CxkzRIx5y9IAmibwTgLC1dGr8ELo8yeenuh8fl40ao6JX722_Qq3ZYNaFLtOHrZuolKg51yIWymrJgQ" target="_blank">Miserable</a> double EP Loverboy & Dog Days album is now out everywhere!<br>Take a listen: <a href="http://smarturl.it/MSRBL_LBY-DD?fbclid=IwAR0mQNROpSsQU783L8tZQ7gvtSQIYBiLwU5eCikQGMEkyn-nyvccmYUHS7U" target="_blank">http://smarturl.it/MSRBL_LBY-DD</a></p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/54862642018-10-25T14:13:31-07:002018-10-25T14:21:48-07:005 Miserable Songs That Make Miserable's Kristina Esfandiari Happy // Revolver<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="66" data-orig-width="524"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/baa028140d5de8a34eefd610f55c602c/tumblr_inline_ph64e5luNq1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /><br> </p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="138" data-orig-width="1047"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/ce4a3d738032d21b822ce610c36419c7/tumblr_inline_ph6b6bH1FE1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.revolvermag.com/music/5-miserable-songs-make-miserables-kristina-esfandiari-happy#mortal-coil-kangaroo" target="_blank"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/09112b46b25a7358f32c2bb62eb1bce9/tumblr_inline_ph64ejbDU21qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a></p></figure></figure>
<p><i>full article via Revolver <a href="https://www.revolvermag.com/music/5-miserable-songs-make-miserables-kristina-esfandiari-happy#mortal-coil-kangaroo" target="_blank">here</a></i></p>
<p>Despite what message her band name might otherwise imply, Miserable’s Kristina Esfandiari is pretty content with her life right now. When Revolver catches up with the singer-guitarist outside of Vancouver’s Biltmore Cabaret, she and her three-piece band have just baptized the room in the moody, magenta haze of the project’s new <i>Loverboy EP</i>.</p><!-- more -->
<p>Outside of this, the L.A.-based songwriter is in the middle of a particularly prolific period, balancing her current <i>Miserable</i> duties alongside writing her next record with distortion-soaked doomsayers <a href="http://sargenthouse.com/king-woman" target="_blank"><i>King Woman</i></a>, crafting a single from new-ish post-punk project <i>Whatever World</i>, and putting together the ambitious debut recording of her rap, R&B, and noise-merging <i>NGHTCRWLR</i>.</p>
<figure class="tmblr-embed tmblr-full" data-orig-height="304" data-orig-width="540" data-provider="youtube" data-url="https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FeYUCFL2hnoQ"><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="304" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eYUCFL2hnoQ?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" width="540"></iframe></p></figure>
<p>“It’s like I have 20 screens going on at once in my head,” the artist says with a laugh of her penchant for multitasking. It’s been a hell of a hill-climb to get to this point, though. Previously, with <i>King Woman</i>, Esfandiari examined her “cult-y” and oppressive upbringing within the charismatic Christian community, which she <a href="https://www.revolvermag.com/music/king-woman-singer-finding-her-voice-through-doom-inspiration-psychedelics" target="_blank">ultimately dissociated from</a>; Miserable’s latest four-song set channels a different kind of hurt.</p>
<p>Loverboy follows Esfandiari’s brief stint living in Brooklyn, a period heightened by feelings of isolation in her then adopted home. “I had relocation depression. I didn’t even know that was a thing until I got there. I’d lived in California my whole life,” the musician explains. Though she admits to having had a support network in place in New York, Esfandiari still spent much of her time in the practice space beneath her house playing her guitar. Loverboy, however, took shape on a flight home to California, with an impromptu rush of inspiration pushing Esfandiari to feverishly jot down lyrics on airline napkins as the musical arrangements cemented in her head.</p>
<figure class="tmblr-embed tmblr-full" data-orig-height="304" data-orig-width="540" data-provider="youtube" data-url="https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FvJMiJfQPeek"><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="304" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vJMiJfQPeek?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" width="540"></iframe></p></figure>
<p>Topically, the title-track subverts the crass, confectionary objectification of the male gaze (“Not a lollipop, Gonna suck me up/Not a lucky charm you wear on your arm”), while closer “Pain Farm” finds Esfandiari using the gloom-gaze backdrop to weigh in on degradation, shaming and acts of abuse (“My body ain’t a playground/No access, there’s no excuse”). “It’s from the female perspective. It feels important,” she summarizes of Loverboy, adding how the material resonates with her current backing band line-up of bassist Sarah Green, drummer Jess Lankford, and guitarist Juliana Lydell, which was assembled post-recording. While the subject matter is sadly all too relatable, performing the material offers a shared catharsis.</p>
<p>“The songs are loaded,” she says. “They’re very emotional, and they’re very heavy. [The band have] all been through these experiences as well, so when we play them we’re playing our hearts out, and singing our hearts out. We’re all on the same page. It’s like unleashing the female fury. I didn’t know it was going to be so cool.”</p>
<p>“I’ve been through a lot, but I’m really happy,” Esfandiari continues. “I’m happy when I play these songs. I don’t feel angry. I feel lucky to be onstage, and lucky to be playing with them [the band]. I don’t feel too emotional when I play any of the songs, to be honest. I mean, I emote when I’m onstage. I’m not far removed from them, but I’m giving it to the world now, you know what I mean? I suffered when I was hashing them out, but now I’m fine.”</p>
<p>Ahead of the October 26 release of Miserable’s spiritually uplifting Loverboy, which also comes digitally packaged with the project’s debut Dog Days EP from 2014, Esfandiari revealed to Revolver a few other sad-sounding songs that ultimately make her smile.</p>
<figure class="tmblr-embed tmblr-full" data-orig-height="344" data-orig-width="459" data-provider="youtube" data-url="https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FWByGMjdejD4"><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="405" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WByGMjdejD4?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" width="540"></iframe></p></figure>
<h2><b><a href="https://www.revolvermag.com/music/5-miserable-songs-make-miserables-kristina-esfandiari-happy#mortal-coil-kangaroo" target="_blank">This Mortal Coil - “Kangaroo”</a></b></h2>
<p>I just did a cover of “Kangaroo” by Big Star, but I did the This Mortal Coil version. That’s actually how I was introduced to Big Star. I think that song is perfect. I just never get sick of that song. I’ve wanted to cover it for so long. It’s one of those songs where I’m like, “Damn, I wish I wrote that.” It’s super angsty.</p>
<p>I think I was living in San Francisco [when I first heard it]. My friend Jess was like, “Have you heard This Mortal Coil?” She showed me It’ll End in Tears [the group’s 1984 debut album]. I ended up covering their version of “Fond Affections” [originally performed by Rema Rema] as well. It’s funny, because I really only cover This Mortal Coil, and the Stone Roses. Yeah, [“Kangaroo”] just transported me somewhere — I felt like I was a vulnerable teenager in the Eighties at a party, just the lyrics, they hit me so hard.</p>
<figure class="tmblr-embed tmblr-full" data-orig-height="304" data-orig-width="540" data-provider="youtube" data-url="https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2Fr8ikJiKWubY"><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="304" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r8ikJiKWubY?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" width="540"></iframe></p></figure>
<h2><b><a href="https://www.revolvermag.com/music/5-miserable-songs-make-miserables-kristina-esfandiari-happy#replacements-swingin-party" target="_blank">The Replacements - “Swingin Party”</a></b></h2>
<p>[Starts singing] “At the swinnngin party down the line.” I like songs that make me feel like a vulnerable teenager, I guess.</p>
<p>I would love to see [the Replacements] live. I was trying to find a way to send my record to them, because I love them so much. I just love the song because it feels super nostalgic. I don’t know the background, I don’t even know if I want to know. I like how it makes me feel, I think that’s the main thing. I feel that it’s some of the most heartfelt music I’ve ever heard. I love the lyrics — they’re very vulnerable and honest. That’s kind of the approach I take when I’m writing for Miserable. Miserable, to me, is very teenage, angst-y music.</p>
<figure class="tmblr-embed tmblr-full" data-orig-height="304" data-orig-width="540" data-provider="youtube" data-url="https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FrIXHC7Cys1c"><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="304" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rIXHC7Cys1c?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" width="540"></iframe></p></figure>
<h2><b><a href="https://www.revolvermag.com/music/5-miserable-songs-make-miserables-kristina-esfandiari-happy#velvet-underground-i-found-reason" target="_blank">Velvet Underground - “I Found a Reason”</a></b></h2>
<p>If I want to think, I’ll go on a long drive and just loop this song. It helps me to gain clarity, I guess. I listen to it a lot — I listen to the same 10 songs on repeat, pretty much. Driving, even on long tours, really helps me to clear my head. It’s like meditating for me, just having the music in the background and focusing on the road. It enables me to think a lot more clearly than I normally can; My mind is pretty jumbled.</p>
<p>My dad introduced me to [the Velvet Underground]. There’s this movie, How to Talk to Girls at Parties — they have this song in the movie, and the placement is fucking perfect. I don’t want to spoil it, but there’s a romance between an alien and this punk kid. This pure, innocent, blossoming romance. It’s just so beautiful. I love it.</p>
<p>I was pretty sheltered growing up. I wasn’t allowed to listen to secular music, but my dad had a record player. He was allowed to listen to whatever he wanted, but I wasn’t. He’d play classic rock: Neil Young, Cat Stevens, Led Zeppelin, Stones … and then some disco, and a lot of classical. Those were my influences growing up. Kind of weird. And then Christian music, which was another strange thing. I was a worship leader at church.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><i>read the rest of the article <a href="https://www.revolvermag.com/music/5-miserable-songs-make-miserables-kristina-esfandiari-happy#only-ones-flowers-die" target="_blank">here</a></i></p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/54522872018-10-02T11:59:21-07:002018-10-02T13:41:23-07:00Miserable "Loverboy" Music Video Premiere + Interview // Bust Magazine<figure data-orig-height="69" data-orig-width="235"><p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bust.com/music/195178-la-based-band-miserable-release-poweful-self-titled-video-loverboy.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/2ddc402b854e34bd78a6e38738003ae7/tumblr_inline_pfzihqDCat1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a></p></figure>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="965" data-orig-width="640"><p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bust.com/music/195178-la-based-band-miserable-release-poweful-self-titled-video-loverboy.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/af8dac57e8e9b1cecc8b7877c5ca1b57/tumblr_inline_pfzij0VVxd1qbzv4w_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a></p></figure>
<p>(Via <a contents="Bust Magazine" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bust.com/music/195178-la-based-band-miserable-release-poweful-self-titled-video-loverboy.html" target="_blank">Bust Magazine</a>)<br><br>We’re excited to premiere powerhouse Kristina Esfandiari’s, of <a href="https://kingwoman.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">King Woman</a> and <a href="https://miserablegrl.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Miserable</a>, new video for the track “Loverboy” off of her new Miserable EP Loverboy. Brought to you by <a href="https://sargenthouse.com/" target="_blank">Sargent House Records</a>, and released in tandem with the Dog Days EP, the Loverboy EP is a vulnerable and raw look into the mind of Esfandiari. If you have ever gotten a chance to see Esfandiari, then you know how authentically striking and intense her performances are. You can hear the vulnerability in her inflictions as she commands the attention of her audience through her ownership of self. We spoke with Esfandiari about her process and journey of making the Loverboy EP.</p><!-- more -->
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="640" data-orig-width="640"><p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://miserablegrl.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/8b7cb9521dcedd8bd5e70f2ca0caac3c/tumblr_inline_pfzik0jtpP1qbzv4w_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a></p></figure>
<p><b>So, tell me about “Loverboy.” What was the process of writing the song and releasing the emotions, and what does it feel like for you when you listen back and reflect on it now? The video is stunning and oozing with emotion.</b></p>
<p>Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. I wrote “Loverboy” as a healing anthem for myself & hopefully other womxn who have experienced confusion or a sense of inadequacy due to gaslighting and objectification. I don’t exist for someone else’s pleasure or entertainment and that’s essentially what I’m singing in “Loverboy.” So many of us are made to feel less than human. The Loverboy album as a whole is meant to be reflective on past experiences when I feel I muted my voice. There was a time in my life when I felt guilty about the immense amount of internal fury I carried on a daily basis. I tried to tame it, tried to push it further down. I suppose this release has empowered me to connect with my own anger and frustration. It’s caused me to see that my own anger is healthy, absolutely valid and even necessary. Playing these songs live has been more liberating than I could have ever imagined. I’m just singing what I’m feeling and hearing. Hopefully, it resonates with someone out there. I’m just being myself. Although I must say It can be difficult for me to appreciate the things I create: I love the songs but at times I can’t stand the sound of my own voice and I don’t know why that is. </p>
<p>As for the video itself, my dear friend Mitch Whales of Thou approached me about collaborating on the “Loverboy” video. A couple of months ago we met up at 101 diner in L.A. and hashed out a concept. We were having trouble finding the right person for the video but Mitch reached out to his friend Riley Sterns (best known as the writer and director of 2014 drama Faults). Riley was so kind and easy to work with. He had never acted before the video but I found him to be a natural. We shot at Madonna Inn. I was obviously inspired by Dario Argento’s Suspiria. It’s one of my favorite films and I’ve wanted to do something like this for years!</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="668" data-orig-width="640"><figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="437" data-orig-width="639"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/bf95ea7d8bfcc0c850980a6a3709eedd/tumblr_inline_pfzo1w0QQX1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /><br>Image by Rizz</p></figure></figure>
<p><b>So you recorded the EP and lost it in a freak fire. Was it hard for you to go back into the studio and put all of your energy into it again the same as before? </b></p>
<p>I was beyond devastated. I sang about some really personal experiences and put my all into the vocals which was hard to go back and replicate because I felt that I released that energy the first time around. That was the hardest part for me.</p>
<p><b>You have so many different badass projects and things going on, how do you manage it all? How do you manage to save energy for yourself when your fans are constantly seeking energy from you?</b></p>
<p>Ideas run through my brain from when I wake up until I go to sleep. I honestly don’t have much control. It can be maddening. I feel like it’s my duty to record all of the ideas and put them into different projects. I have a lot of energy and songs to share with the world. I’ve dedicated my whole life to music.</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="779" data-orig-width="640"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/fcc675e10cde7d24b0e5dda4bee9c0b5/tumblr_inline_pfzin2cz0w1qbzv4w_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /><br>Image by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/apollenair/?hl=en" target="_blank">Tania Apolinar</a></p></figure>
<p><br><b>You recently switched up your Miserable lineup. How has this pushed the band forward? I remember when I was out in L.A., you were really trying to change the energies of the people you are surrounded with while playing.</b></p>
<p>I guess you’d have to see it live. It’s the best lineup I’ve ever had. It’s humbling. I’ve never enjoyed playing music on stage as much as I do with my new lineup. Mad chemistry. </p>
<p><b>What advice do you have for young people trying to break into the industry in a time where everything seems to be trying to break them?</b></p>
<p>Just work hard and be authentic. Good music always gets heard by the right ears eventually. Write undeniably excellent songs. Don’t put out desperate energy and enjoy yourself along the way. Be kind, keep a good reputation. Help other artists along the way.</p>
<p>Watch the video for yourself.</p>
<figure class="tmblr-embed tmblr-full" data-orig-height="304" data-orig-width="540" data-provider="youtube" data-url="https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DeYUCFL2hnoQ"><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="304" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eYUCFL2hnoQ?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" width="540"></iframe><br>Directed by Mitch Wells</p></figure>
<p><br>You can pre-order the Loverboy and Dog Days EP <a href="http://smarturl.it/MSRBL_LBY-DD" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p>Here’s where you can find Miserable in the upcoming months:<br>October 20 Los Angeles, CA @ Resident<br>December 12 Los Angeles, CA @ Union *<br>December 13 San Diego, CA @ Che Café *</p>
<p>* w/ <a href="https://thou.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">THOU</a></p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/53972462018-08-22T10:33:28-07:002018-08-22T10:33:28-07:00Miserable Live Review // CVLT Nation<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="84" data-orig-width="600"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/ff50ca348e90e142cef0af32567a657f/tumblr_inline_pdu3tciOEm1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></p></figure>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="107" data-orig-width="599"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/446d75656b6b5f3d5c330e990a94d9c2/tumblr_inline_pdu3ujN8OH1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/06bcb62e00323688e6bac2ba5d185847/tumblr_inline_pdu3uvsp691qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></p></figure>
<p>(Full article via <a href="https://www.cvltnation.com/witness-beautiful-darkness-miserable-death-bells-fearing-passive/" target="_blank">CVLT Nation</a>)</p>
<p>On August 8th, we were lucky to see a show that we’d been anticipating for the past few months. <a href="http://sargenthouse.com/miserable" target="_blank">Miserable</a>, Death Bells and Fearing toured their way up the West Coast and found themselves at The Biltmore Cabaret in Vancouver. What followed was a night of amazing music and rad people and I just want to say thank you to everyone who came out and who was a part of making this show happen <3</p><!-- more -->
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="498" data-orig-width="746"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/6f7dbe39fa1e925ac8ebe24757708e76/tumblr_inline_pdu3z6Hbuq1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></p></figure>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/miserablegrl/" target="_blank">MISERABLE</a></p>
<p>Ahh, Miserable. Your music can indeed make me tap into the darker, more depressed places in my heart and mind, but it’s also able to take me out of them. Miserable is the project of King Woman’s Kristina Esfandiari, so if you love her gorgeous, gloomy ululations in that project then Miserable gives you a taste of those with more rock n roll influence. Experiencing Miserable this night was a gift that those in the audience felt grateful for. It was everything I wanted to feel and more.</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="496" data-orig-width="746"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/aa835385fbca22a4c40b9c6067f43a8d/tumblr_inline_pdu42d6jWU1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/770925c9050a972e631879eb465b74d8/tumblr_inline_pdu41wSsU71qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></p></figure>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/53946042018-08-20T12:42:36-07:002018-08-20T12:42:36-07:00Miserable Live in Mexico!<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="2048" data-orig-width="1609"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/77e797e9434814011feb91ea32ba61d5/tumblr_inline_pdmsjnilmz1qbzv4w_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></p></figure>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/miserablegrl" target="_blank">Miserable</a> will be in Mexico with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bellsofdeath/" target="_blank">Death Bells</a> for 4 live shows.<br>More info @ <a href="http://sargenthouse.com/miserable" target="_blank">sargenthouse.com/miserable</a></p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/53741962018-08-03T16:24:35-07:002018-08-03T16:24:35-07:00Miserable’s “Gasoline” Featured on 6 New Songs You Need To Hear Now // Revolver<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="137" data-orig-width="1091"><p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.revolvermag.com/music/6-new-songs-you-need-hear-now-8318" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/0a55a37173f3c82af3cdc16b9b7df645/tumblr_inline_pcwqv9v8E11qbzv4w_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a><br><br><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.revolvermag.com/music/6-new-songs-you-need-hear-now-8318" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/1f6a44f148589bdabe87591cf6a77d3b/tumblr_inline_pcwr0cgI6H1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a><br><br><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="304" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vJMiJfQPeek?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" width="540"></iframe></p></figure>
<h2>
<a href="http://sargenthouse.com/miserable" target="_blank">Miserable</a> - “Gasoline”</h2>
<p>For a dulcet-voiced doomsayer, <a href="http://sargenthouse.com/king-woman" target="_blank">King Woman</a>’s Kristina Esfandiari is actually a pretty big poptimist. Discussing her new single “Gasoline” — a smoldering break-up song off her upcoming double EP Loverboy / Dog Days — with <a href="http://www.flaunt.com/content/flaunt-premiere-miserable-gasoline" target="_blank">Flaunt</a>, the vocalist declared, “I most certainly see myself releasing many pop records.” After listening to the new song, we hope that proves to be the case: Its shimmering guitars, swirling harmonies and relatable themes (who among us hasn’t gotten testy with an ex after a few drinks?) make for some grade-A ear-candy.</p>
<p>Full list by Zoe Camp via <a data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.revolvermag.com/music/6-new-songs-you-need-hear-now-8318" target="_blank">Revolver</a></p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/53721902018-08-02T11:03:16-07:002018-08-02T11:03:16-07:00Miserable Premieres "Gasoline" + Interview // Flaunt Magazine<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="116" data-orig-width="368"><p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.flaunt.com" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/cc99970032252f14cce517ca3a305059/tumblr_inline_pcugot54Xt1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></a><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.flaunt.com/content/flaunt-premiere-miserable-gasoline" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/b41446fd66da7caac5a0474c2106105b/tumblr_inline_pcuh2wnRbR1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="304" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vJMiJfQPeek?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" width="540"></iframe></p></figure>
<p>(via <a href="http://www.flaunt.com/content/flaunt-premiere-miserable-gasoline" target="_blank">Flaunt Magazine</a>)<br><br>Kristina Esfandiari’s journey to actually get her record together literally was lit… and not in a good way, the Hard drive caught on fire. Through paths of determination she has delivered Loverboy, an EP of songs of sadness and strengths. Her fire further fueled by loneliness and the exploration of previous traumas. We got ahold of her while on her tour to have her explain her give us a run down on creating her EP.</p>
<p>Miserable - “Loverboy / Dog Days” out on October 26, 2018 on Sargent House. Pre-order <a href="https://www.hellomerch.com/collections/miserable" target="_blank">HERE.</a></p><!-- more -->
<hr><p>Growing up I’d go to various shows and every single time I’d see someone on a stage something inside of me would be overthrown with desire to be a performer.</p>
<p>I used to be unbelievably shy but felt compelled regardless. A friend eventually purchased a guitar and gifted it to me saying “you need to be on a stage.”</p>
<p>What inspired you to become a songwriter or musician? Is there any influence that might surprise?</p>
<p>My crucial influences: Yves Tumor, Prince, James Brown, Frank Ocean</p>
<p>Do you remember the first song you wrote?</p>
<p>I do remember the first song I ever wrote. I wrote it on a broken guitar. It was called ‘Mount Zion’ and was actually quite good. </p>
<p>Do you consider yourself a diaristic songwriter? How does songwriting fit into the process of healing from trauma?</p>
<p>Miserable is more diaristic than my other projects. For me it’s just one of many ways to process trauma and really aids in my mental wellbeing. Staying busy is critical for my mental health.</p>
<p>Your latest EP Loverboy was written during a brief residency in Brooklyn - How has New York influenced your process?</p>
<p>I actually wrote it on a plane back to NYC. I was supremely lonely during that period of time. I was feeling deeply isolated in Brooklyn and it forced me to dig deeper than usual in my songwriting abilities. It was a grim season of my life.</p>
<p>You’re also the vocalist for King Woman - Is the process for working in a group different from writing on your own? How do you navigate writing about the self in a group setting?</p>
<p>Working on my own can be boring but it’s easier to get things done when there is only one person involved. I’m not a fan of waiting on other people which is why I do a lot of projects alone and write alone. King Woman is very collaborative but at the end of the day it’s my vision and lyrics. It’s not too difficult to work on songs with a groups of people. We’ve been working together for years so we have a flow.</p>
<p>Your song “Gasoline” lives on the edge of modern pop - What lead you to explore those aesthetics? Do you see yourself releasing a pop record?</p>
<p>I write intuitively and that’s naturally what surfaced. I would consider Dog Days to be a pop EP. I love pop. I most certainly see myself releasing many pop records.</p>
<p>Lastly, Your latest EP “Loverboy” is dropping soon along with a reissue of your first EP “Dog Days” - Is there anything more you can tease?</p>
<p>My dear friend Mitch Wells of Thou directed a video for ‘Loverboy’ & and I’m elated. It came together beautifully.</p>
<p>MISERABLE, tour dates with Death Bells & Fearing:</p>
<p>August 2 Los Angeles, CA @ Resident<br>August 3 San Francisco, CA @ Thee Parkside<br>August 4 Oakland, CA @ Eli’s Mile High Club<br>August 5 Sacramento, CA @ Blue Lamp<br>August 6 Chico, CA @ Duffy’s<br>August 7 Portland, OR @ Black Water<br>August 8 Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore<br>August 9 Seattle, WA @ Vera<br>August 10 Reno, NV @ Holland Project</p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/53695212018-07-31T14:01:43-07:002018-08-01T16:12:00-07:00Kristina Esfandiari (Miserable / King Woman) Interview // CVLT NATION<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="670" data-orig-width="1434"><p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.cvltnation.com" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/57d5eff6952524857fccedc50355ccbb/tumblr_inline_pcr0t04JKH1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.cvltnation.com/kristina-esfandiari-miserable-king-woman-isolation-touring-life-without-punk/" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/83d75e250629d8db38b606114c4eb682/tumblr_inline_pcr0t0WlSH1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/dfe22f5db30d822c64a1c3af30c5e0fc/tumblr_inline_pcr0t0Q00i1qbzv4w_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a></p></figure>
<p>Full interview via <a contents="CVLT NATION" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.cvltnation.com/kristina-esfandiari-miserable-king-woman-isolation-touring-life-without-punk/" target="_blank">CVLT NATION</a><br><br><em>Since we first met years ago, you’ve lived in the Bay, New York and now LA. Does long distance relocating tend to boost your creativity or crush it?</em></p>
<p>I suppose I’d say it does both. You have to start over when you move, that can be distracting. Establishing yourself in a new city takes time. On the other hand, I wrote some of my favorite songs while feeling very isolated in NYC.</p><!-- more -->
<p><em>We all know touring can be mentally exhausting, and in my own experience kind of discouraging at times. How do you reset when you’ve still got a ways to go and times are tough?</em></p>
<p>If I have time I try to find a park or take a walk. Breathing exercises help. Touring isn’t for everyone. Most people have no idea how taxing it can be on the body and mind.</p>
<p><em>What would you say is the most played track in the van on a tour with Kristina?</em></p>
<p>Teengirl Fantasy – Dancing in Slow Motion</p>
<p><em>Miserable and King Woman are obviously very different – is there a certain headspace you have to be in to perform each one, or does it all flow the same?</em></p>
<p>I have to mentally prepare a little bit more for King Woman. It’s hard on my body and voice.</p>
<p><em>What was the last album that really blew you away?</em></p>
<p>Frank Ocean – Blonde, anything by Yves Tumor, all of the Spiritual Cramp tracks ever released.</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="960" data-orig-width="668"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/e3eaa34d6abd9910b8248d0c0da56412/tumblr_inline_pcr0vgtPDz1qbzv4w_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></p></figure>
<p><em>Do you remember your first show? And were you sold immediately or did someone convince you to come a few times before it clicked?</em></p>
<p>I always wanted to be on a stage, so I’d go to shows and watch people perform and wish I wasn’t so shy so I could do it too.</p>
<p><em>I think my favorite Miserable song is “Orchid” – do you have a favorite or is it too hard to say?</em></p>
<p>“Violet” is my favorite song.</p>
<p><em>Do you have a favorite venue to play?</em></p>
<p>Starline Social Club And Eli’s in Oakland.</p>
<p><em>Sometimes I like to think about where I’d be if I was never introduced to punk music. Where do you think you would be right now without all this?</em></p>
<p>Can’t say I’d have much to live for.</p>
<p><em>What’s the next instrument you would want to learn if you didn’t have to buy it?</em></p>
<p>Flute.</p>
<p><br>Miserable will be on tour with FEARING (US) and DEATH BELLS (AU) starting <a href="https://www.facebook.com/miserablegrl/app/123966167614127/">Wednesday, August 1st</a>.</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="540" data-orig-width="960"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/46753829ea92f08e299694aadb797baf/tumblr_inline_pcr0vrPuPn1qbzv4w_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/510c17a24061238180990e34f42f1730/tumblr_inline_pcr0vsVpcH1qbzv4w_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></p></figure>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/52913522018-06-12T11:32:17-07:002018-08-01T16:12:19-07:00Miserable announces 2018 Tour<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/159790/67ff7d3bb4b43d755e2002ee34854be7c001e78b/original/miserable-tour.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Miserable has just announced a tour with Death Bells and Fearing. Dates below:</p>
<p>AUG 01 San Diego, CA @ Teros Gallery <br>AUG 02 Los Angeles, CA @ Resident <br>AUG 03 San Francisco, CA @ Thee Parkside <br>AUG 04 Oakland, CA @ Eli’s Mile High Club <br>AUG 05 Sacramento, CA @ Blue Lamp <br>AUG 06 Chico, CA @ Duffy’s <br>AUG 07 Portland, OR @ Black Water <br>AUG 08 Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore<br>AUG 09 Seattle, WA @ Vera <br>AUG 10 Reno, NV @ Holland Project</p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/50192532017-07-31T15:45:00-07:002018-08-01T16:12:33-07:00Miserable "Violet" Track Review // Pitchfork<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/18122-miserable-violet/" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/04afb1f503fcc4d29aebcc5cc3f295ce/tumblr_inline_p2f0diklBb1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a></p>
<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="300" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/250641750&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<p>Miserable is the latest project of Kristina Esfandiari (who also performs as King Woman), and "Violet," off her upcoming debut LP, is a bitter requiem for a deep friendship. She wallows in its molasses reverb and delayed lurches, and comes out the other side with no answers—just the mighty misery itself. Losing a close friend is a special kind of pain: confusion, despair, an all-consuming yearning for the rosy past. Esfandiari's anguished vocals (unusual for shoegaze, whose aesthetics lean toward anodyne cooing) summon heartbreaking ghosts, treasured memories, faded photographs on a wall. And like a friendship that decays instead of ending cleanly, “Violet” offers no sense of closure. The song’s weight lingers after its coda of cascading guitar feedback has ceased to ring, leaving a hollowed-out feeling that colors the world just a bit more blue. “Violet” hurts like a broken promise. </p>
<p>Full article via <a contents="Pitchfork" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/18122-miserable-violet/" target="_blank">Pitchfork</a></p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/50192862017-04-28T16:05:00-07:002018-08-01T16:12:50-07:00Miserable – "Uncontrollable" LP Premiere // SPIN<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="142" data-orig-width="300"><p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.spin.com/2016/04/miserable-uncontrollable-premiere-stream/" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/892fbfc9b8af65d3fcf97248825fa37f/tumblr_inline_p2f18yRNkv1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.spin.com/2016/04/miserable-uncontrollable-premiere-stream/" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/a3fb39da3fa701903297ad3c355db45f/tumblr_inline_p2f1978q3N1qbzv4w_540.jpg" class="size_xl justify_inline border_" /></a></p></figure>
<p><span class="font_large">Miserable Finds Grace in the Profane on ‘Uncontrollable’ LP</span><br>Full article by Megan Bradley via <a contents="SPIN" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.spin.com/2016/04/miserable-uncontrollable-premiere-stream/" target="_blank">SPIN</a></p>
<p>Kristina Esfandiari is probably best known as the vocalist of bleak rockers King Woman, as well as being a former member of shoegaze outfit Whirr, but her solo work as Miserable should be held in equal regard. Making its debut with 2014 EPs Halloween Dream and Dog Days, the project now returns with Uncontrollable, a nine-track work of dizzying lo-fi sadgaze. The tracks unfold slowly, and with a palpable sense of purgation. The work picks up steam with lead single “Violet, rumbling from somewhere deep, while bleating chords underscore Esfandiari’s gruff vocals: “You’re the most spiteful person / I could never be.” </p><!-- more -->
<p>Esfandiari tells SPIN of the album: </p>
<p>"I titled this album “Uncontrollable” – it’s the only word that could describe my feelings and environment at the time. I was emotionally spent and everything happening around me felt out of my control. Writing Uncontrollable was an attempt at freeing myself from feelings of betrayal, rejection, and deep sadness. It’s about the apology I deserved but never received. It’s about misunderstandings, frustration, lack of closure. At times I wanted to give up on writing this album. I felt sick, graceless. Finishing it seemed unattainable. I promised myself I would leave the past behind me once it was completed. Now that the album is actually finished I can see how it aided in my healing process and I find an tremendous amount of comfort in knowing that."</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2884039919/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=7137dc/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;">&amp;lt;a data-cke-saved-href=&amp;quot;http://miserablegrl.bandcamp.com/album/uncontrollable&amp;quot; href=&amp;quot;http://miserablegrl.bandcamp.com/album/uncontrollable&amp;quot;&amp;gt;Uncontrollable by Miserable&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;</iframe></p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/50192562017-04-14T15:45:00-07:002018-01-11T15:48:58-08:00VIDEO PREMIERE: MISERABLE “STAY COLD” // CVLT NATION<p> </p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="84" data-orig-width="600"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.cvltnation.com/video-premiere-miserable-stay-cold/" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/ff50ca348e90e142cef0af32567a657f/tumblr_inline_p2f0jly0M01qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_xl justify_inline border_" /></a></figure>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="322" data-orig-width="750"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.cvltnation.com/video-premiere-miserable-stay-cold/" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/563d35c3272bac8c9c1e67d4c27bc88d/tumblr_inline_p2f0jusuaf1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_xl justify_inline border_" /></a></figure>
<p>MISERABLE is the solo work of Kristina Esfandiari, the vocalist from King Woman. Her new album, entitled Uncontrollable, hits the streets on April 29th via The Native Sound. I will tell you this: Esfandiari has created a collection of dreamy, melancholy songs that will pull you towards the sun! MISERABLE is the kind of music that will wash over your thoughts and realign your unhappy life. I’m an addict for Esfandiari’s voice and lyrics, because she is a sonic vessel of honesty that I never want to put down! This is why I’m beyond freaking stoked to share with you the MISERABLE video for “Stay Cold” below…Make sure you pre-order Uncontrollable HERE – it will be your new soundtrack to your happy sad times!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P87deAStHko?rel=0" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p>Full article via <a contents="CVLT Nation" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.cvltnation.com/video-premiere-miserable-stay-cold/" target="_blank">CVLT Nation</a></p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/50192242017-03-15T15:25:00-07:002018-08-01T16:13:19-07:00Miserable "Violet" Track Premiere // The FADER<figure data-orig-height="101" data-orig-width="296"><p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.thefader.com/2016/03/15/miserable-violet-premiere" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/9250a50c9e25810e595db6c3932155dc/tumblr_inline_p2ezemt8tE1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a><br><span class="font_large">Miserable’s Shoegazey “Violet” Will Destroy Your Heart </span></p></figure>
<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/250641750&color=%237d76bc&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<p>Full article via <a contents="The FADER" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.thefader.com/2016/03/15/miserable-violet-premiere" target="_blank">The FADER</a></p>
<p>It’s a boundless track about “reminiscing on how beautiful things were and how they’ve faded from your life” from her upcoming LP Uncontrollable.</p>
<p>The Bay Area's Kristina Esfandiari (of King Woman), who makes dark folk as Miserable, is following up a series of EPs under that moniker with the debut full length Uncontrollable. The new LP is, like the name of Esfandiari's project, quite sad. But not the kind of sad that gets you all humdrum glum; these nine songs are a cathartic release of heartache and frustration born from insecurity and loss.</p><!-- more -->
<p>Premiering today on The FADER is "Violet," a particularly poignant, shoegazey track that gets deep under the skin—not only with Esfandiari's boundless voice, but with the slow beating drums, steady, ominous melody, and the rise of tension in the form of fuzz and reverb. If you've ever felt the pain of becoming estranged from a close friend, "Violet" will hit hard. </p>
<p>"I wrote 'Violet' with my close friend Evan James (Far Away Places, Grey Zine)," Esfandiari wrote in an email to The FADER. "'Violet' is about being in the same friend group as someone you've had an intense falling out with and how shitty it feels when your friends constantly bring them up. It's about reminiscing on how beautiful things were and how they've faded from your life. How vindictive people can be once you bruise their ego or hurt their heart. How quickly people turn on each other. Beneath all of the pain is longing for a mended friendship." </p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/50192252017-02-24T15:30:00-08:002018-08-01T16:13:59-07:00Miserable "Oven" Track Premiere // Noisey<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="73" data-orig-width="300"><p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/6wqy4q/miserable-oven-premiere" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/d29892ac76623f25c475ebc7b9df7190/tumblr_inline_p2eznxQu7I1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a><br><span class="font_large">PREMIERE: Miserable's Kristina Esfandiari Makes Death Sound Like a Dream with "Oven"</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The King Woman vocalist radiates bummer vibes on this blissed-out new track.</p></figure>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="590" data-orig-width="1050"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/6wqy4q/miserable-oven-premiere" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/96d99bc4fdcacda04a73bf22bce64994/tumblr_inline_p2ezq3P6uP1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_xl justify_inline border_" /></a></figure>
<p>Full article by Kim Kelly via <a contents="Noisey" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/6wqy4q/miserable-oven-premiere" target="_blank">Noisey</a></p>
<p>Last year, <a contents="King Woman" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://sargenthouse.com/king-woman" target="_blank">King Woman</a>'s Doubt EP had a profound impact on me, thanks to vocalist Kristina Esfandiari's throaty croon and candidness about the experiences that shaped her life as an artist. It was easy to sink down into the velvety embrace of the album's lush, brooding dark folk, and finding out that she had a whole other band, Miserable, felt like a gift. </p>
<p>Whereas King Woman goes for an earthier approach, Miserable floats along on an airy, almost celestial path; "shoegaze" is as good a description as any (especially given Esfandiari's status as Whirr's former vocalist), but this is no mere Loveless clone. The band's upcoming new album, Uncontrollable, is desperately sad, and blissfully lovely—and the juxtaposition is sometimes startling, especially on dreamy reveries like "Oven," whose breathy chorus wonders if the narrator should "stick my head in the oven."</p>
<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/248331049&color=%237d76bc&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe></p><!-- more -->
<p>As Esfandiari explains, “Oven' is about someone I was once so intimate with making me feel like they never cared. That can make you feel insane, and it causes you second guess everything you thought was real. It's about feeling extremely frustrated over miscommunication between you and someone you truly loved.” </p>
<p>Recording Uncontrollable itself wasn't exactly a picnic, either. "I was grieving the loss of my old life while I was writing this album. Working through some of these songs helped me get through the sadness that came with that loss," Esfandiari says. "This made it really hard to work on the album, and it took a long time to finish it. The album is about feeling like you have no control over your circumstances, no rein on your emotions – feeling graceless. I wrote it in this room that felt very haunted and sometimes I wouldn't sleep for days."</p>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/50195042017-01-05T17:25:00-08:002018-08-01T16:14:13-07:00Stereogum // Miserable “Bell Jar”<figure data-orig-height="39" data-orig-width="250"><p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.stereogum.com/1634872/miserable-bell-jar/mp3s/" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/9361a980239d5adb026e0bc4c7616b6a/tumblr_inline_p2f52blvWv1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/110397a81ab6191951a291c57394df89/tumblr_inline_p2f53jpRWn1qbzv4w_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a></p></figure>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="500" data-orig-width="500"><p>Kristina Esfandiari used to sing for Bay Area shoegaze greats Whirr, but she separated from that band to forge her own path as Miserable. The name change is apt; “Bell Jar,” a preview from Miserable’s Halloween Dream 7-inch, is far more harrowing than anything Whirr kicked out. It starts out a bit like Deftones at their most lugubrious, all celestial moans and molasses strums, but it steadily builds into to a frightening beast of a song with tumultuous low end that will make you wonder if the earth has opened up beneath you and you’re falling into hell. You’ll seriously be shocked that Esfandiari covers that much sonic territory in just 2:14. Check it out below.</p>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/127606586&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe>
<p>Full article by Chris DeVille via <a contents="Stereogum" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.stereogum.com/1634872/miserable-bell-jar/mp3s/" target="_blank">Stereogum</a></p></figure>Sargent Housetag:www.sargenthouse.com,2005:Post/50195332017-01-03T17:30:00-08:002018-08-01T16:14:26-07:00Miserable “Bell Jar” Track Premiere // Brooklyn Vegan<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="116" data-orig-width="318"><p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.brooklynvegan.com/miserable-forme/" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/761449593fbdf22af2c4957416cf9048/tumblr_inline_p2f5bu5mBH1qbzv4w_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/dc12ee2065aa54e1bbbdf3b22639a56f/tumblr_inline_p2f5c6MR671qbzv4w_540.jpg" class="size_xl justify_inline border_" /></a></p></figure>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="316" data-orig-width="480"><p>You may remember that ex-Deafheaven shoegazers Whirr recently went on a tour with Nothing in which they performed without any of the vocalists who contributed to their Around EP. While still in Whirr, one of those vocalists, Kristina Esfandiari, released a dark folk single as King Woman, and she’s now set out on her own under the name Miserable. Miserable first released a split with Grey Zine on Run for Cover (current home of Nothing’s old A389 labelmates Anne), and she’s since signed to The Native Sound (John Vanderslice, Koji), where she’ll put out her new EP, Halloween Dream, on February 18 (vinyl and digital pre-order). </p>
<p>The first single from that EP, “Bell Jar,” is quite possibly her strongest solo track to date. It sounds as depressing as the Sylvia Plath novel it shares a name with, starting out not unlike the dark folk she recorded as King Woman, but building into big metallic shoegaze and ending with the reverbed screams that helped make Deafheaven such a memorable name in heavy music this past year. That track makes its premiere in this post, and you can stream it below.</p>
<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/127606586&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<p>Full article by Andrew Sacher via <a contents="Brooklyn Vegan" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.brooklynvegan.com/miserable-forme/" target="_blank">Brooklyn Vegan</a></p></figure>Sargent House