Heartbreaking Bravery

Another day’s come and gone and another glut of excellent new releases has been left for exploration. Between Albert Hammond Jr.’s Momentary Masters and Seapony’s A Vision, the full stream category was richly represented. An impressive roster leaning more heavily on big names than usual comprised a strong showing for music videos with acts as varied as Major Lazer (ft. Ellie Goulding & Tarrus Riley), Elbow, Samantha Crain, and Jason Isbell all making intriguing contributions.

The day’s single streams leaned fairly heavily on fiery punk-tinged numbers but did make room for one glitchy ambient outlier; Fine Print’s moody “Can’t Lie“. Womps’ gloriously ragged “Live A Little Less” offered no shortage of pure exhilaration and Ghetto Ghouls’ “Hezbollah” maximized lo-fi grit and manic energy to great effect. While each of the linked items is worthy of a click (and of passing along to your friends), today’s feature spot goes to the WI-based Phylums.

Normally, I do my best not to use any type of identifier for the artists that get covered in here unless it plays a special function in their art because music is a universal craft that can (and should) be defined by so much more than gender and/or location. “Go Home” will be a rare exception to this rule just because it adds a bit of a personal punch for someone that recently moved halfway across the country from the state Phylums call home.

Phylums also boast an impressive pedigree through their members’ respective back catalogs (any band that has any ties to The Goodnight Loving– one of the best bands to ever come out of WI- will always have my attention) and that’s guaranteed them the attention of anyone even tangentially aware of what’s happening in that state’s DIY punk scene. “Go Home” is the first look at their first full-length, affirming just about every suspicion that’s been leveled at the band since forming; this is genuinely great music.

Taking a handful of cues from Nuggets and blending in the slapdash approach of the members’ various other projects and past experience (including- but not limited to- Holy Shit!, WI’s finest hardcore band), the quartet have wound up settling into a jangly psych-tinged basement pop groove and are- probably unsurprising- already far outstripping most bands kicking around that genre.

What’s more, “Go Home” carries with it a genuine sense of place; “Go Home” sounds like a loving homage to the environment where Phylums create. There’s a feeling it evokes that’s indescribably familiar- a visual suggestion of sprawling expanses of some light urban decay, rolling, tree-lined highways, and a lot of dairy farms. I’ve played through “Go Home” more than a dozen times already and on each subsequent listen I’m a little more tempted to take the song up on its title’s command- then I just close my eyes and as the song washes over everything, I’m practically back in the throes of the state that raised me- and that’s about as meaningful as praise gets.

Listen to “Go Home” below and keep an eye on the always-remarkable Dirtnap for pre-orders (and another on this site for more updates).