13 | April | 2016 | Heartbreaking Bravery

April 13, 2016

Mercury Girls – Ariana (Stream)

mercury girls

Over the past two days, a whole bevvy of outstanding songs have been released. A lot of them coming from site favorites. The bands responsible for those songs included Leapling, Diarrhea Planet, METZ & Swami John Reis, Yung, Snakes, Little Scream, Weaves, Haybaby, Supermoon, Beach Skulls, Daniel Martin Moore, and Heavy Times. That small group constitutes one of the strongest small, hyperlinked fields that this site’s run in some time (and it turned selecting a song to feature in this spot into a quasi-nightmarish scenario).

In the end, after listening to all of the songs listed above multiple times (a trend that will undoubtedly continue going forward), one song managed to stand out ever-so-slightly more than the rest of the pack: Mercury Girls‘ “Ariana”.

After waltzing away with the top honors in this site’s Odds and Ends of 2015 list (thanks to their awe-inspiring Demos & Live Songs), Mercury Girls could have easily buckled under the weight of the pressure that accompanies the follow-up to a flawless release. Instead, the band’s only sharpened what made them so great from the onset: soaring, airy melodies, unbelievable dynamic work, thoughtful composition, sharp instrumental work, intuitive production, and a genuine sense of hopeless romanticism that informs every nook and cranny of their songwriting.

All of the elements that comprised the winning formula that drove Demos & Live Songs have been amplified on “Ariana” in a way that feels meaningful rather than exploitative. While it may have been tempting for the band to just focus in on one aspect of what made those songs work as well as they did, they seemed to have poured even more care and attention — if “Ariana” is any indication — into their upcoming batch of material.

From the clean tones to the surprising amount of natural punch, the bittersweet “Ariana” stands proudly as the band’s most definitive song. The guitar work’s scintillating, the rhythm section generates a tremendous amount of power, and the vocals are pure and irresistible. For a few brief moments on “Ariana”, Mercury Girls recall The Cure at their finest.

By the time the track’s entered its explosive final quarter and set every conceivable wheel into motion, the band’s managed to plant their own flag firmly into the earth. No matter how clear their influences wind up being, “Ariana” couldn’t be the product of any band other than Mercury Girls. On the A-side of their first 7″, with no full-length out, Mercury Girls have readily established themselves as one of America’s best bands. Whether or not they’ll be able to reaffirm this with their future releases remains to be seen (there have definitely been a slew of indicators that have been more than favorable) but for now, all that matters is that they’re heard.

Listen to “Ariana” below and pre-order the 7″ from the band here.

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April 13, 2016

The Side Eyes – I Don’t Want To Go To School (Stream)

While Clique, Tamu Massif, Oscar, Pity Sex, White Lung, Thin Lips, Stephen Steinbrink, PAWS, Karen Meat, Spray Paint, Land of Leland, RLYR, and Nick Leng may have all released great songs over the past few days (that deserve a whole lot of repeat listens), this post’s feature falls on a band new to the site: The Side Eyes. The quartet’s releasing their debut EP as a tape on Burger, injecting the label with some exciting new blood.

“I Don’t Want To Go To School” is the EP’s lead-off single and it’s a tremendous, surf-tinged basement pop number that easily separates itself from their peers thanks to a monstrous chorus that slows the song from a sprint to a crawl. The song’s another in a long tradition of carefree songs about wanting to skip out of the rigorous trappings of school and enjoy their freedom and the open air instead.

Occasionally, those songs register as a lazily compiled pastiche of better, past efforts on the same topic. In the case of The Side Eyes, there’s enough conviction in both the composition and the vocal delivery that it’s almost impossible to not believe their narrative. From the frantic, surging guitar part to the rhythm section’s bite and the considerable venom of the vocals, “I Don’t Want To Go To School” doesn’t strike a false note.

Weirdly triumphant and effectively anthemic, the song could transition into a legitimate rallying cry for a new generation. A generation dealing with a broken education system that’s continuing to experience an inward collapse. A generation that’s being, increasingly, deprived of outdoors experiences. A generation that, at some point, we won’t be able to blame for wanting to skip school in favor of fresh air.

Maybe “I Don’t Want To Go To School” is a lot more simple than a pointed social commentary, maybe it’s not. Either way, The Side Eyes have gifted us an exhilarating, thoughtful track that deserves praise and loving inspection. Turn it on, crank it up, and then go spend some time outside.

Listen to “I Don’t Want To Go To School” below and keep an eye on Burger to pick up the cassette.

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April 13, 2016

Eskimeaux – Year of the Rabbit (EP Review)

eskimeaux

For the night’s second full stream, the attention gets turned to Eskimeaux‘s Year of the Rabbit EP, which has the unenviable task of following up O.K. last year’s Album of the Year. Before covering why Year of the Rabbit pulls this off with ease, a few more full streams appeared over the past few days that deserve mention: S-21’s absolutely vicious Demo, Closed Mouths’ rollicking 3 Songs, and a very tantalizing three song sampler from All People, appropriately titled First 3 Songs. While all of those releases were quite short, they all proved very adept at capturing attention.

Another release that not only captured attention but actively enthralled came courtesy of Eskimeaux, a band that’s been making all sorts of power moves lately. While the project’s early output had been consistent, thanks to project mastermind Gabrielle Smith’s unique artistic vision, it wasn’t until Eskimeaux became a full band that the songs started approaching the transcendent. In short order now, Eskimeaux’s issued one of the best records of the decade and an EP that’s all but guaranteed to be on this site’s list (and many others) come December.

Year of the Rabbit opens with one of Smith’s most effective production tracks, layering her voice into a sweet chorus that entices and soothes in equal measure. Slowly, the rest of the band kicks in, crescendos to a stop and strikes up a mid-tempo jaunt that serves as the bed for a characteristically nostalgic, human narrative. Less than a minute into Year of the Rabbit and Eskimeaux’s already concocted the foundation for an impressive composition with relatable angles.

After the airy rush of the title track, the EP devotes most of its time to songs that have been released in some capacity or another throughout the past year, including early 2016 highlights “WTF” (which was an easy inclusion for the 50 Best Songs of 2016’s First Quarter list), “Power“, “Drunk“, and “Sleeping Bear” (the latter of which was previously titled “Sleepy Bear”). While all of those songs carry an air of familiarity, they’re elevated by both the context of Year of the Rabbit and the natural flow of its sequencing.

“Bulldog”, the EP’s penultimate song, feels completely new and scans as the record’s most personal moment as well as its most riveting. It finds Smith operating solo, revisiting the roots of the project, and fearlessly embracing the band’s most definitive trait — vulnerability — on a staggering level. The song also offers up the EP’s most breathtaking moment in its hard isolation of the phrase “is it hard losing?”, which takes on a significant magnitude as the song reaches its conclusion.

More than ever, it feels like Smith is addressing herself rather than her audience as she tears into difficult questions about her own constitution. Each one of the EP’s seven songs is a gripping run through the songwriter’s psyche, the band’s ambition, and the dynamic that allows both of those elements to take on a symbiotic relationship. For that reason and — as is increasingly the case with Eskimeaux — so many other deeply ingrained reasons that reveal themselves over time and a certain level of investment, Year of the Rabbit stands out as one of 2016’s strongest releases. Get on board now and save yourselves the regret of showing up late to the party.

Listen to Year of the Rabbit below and pre-order a copy from Double Double Whammy here.

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April 13, 2016

Dark Thoughts – Dark Thoughts (Album Review)

Photograph by Will McAndrew

The first of two full streams that will be going up tonight focuses squarely on Dark Thoughts’ blistering self-titled, their first official release following one of the best demos of 2014, Four Songs. Before examining the overwhelming strength of Dark Thoughts, a few more titles have earned a spot on this page: Solids‘ Else (a strong early candidate for EP of the Year), Suuns’ hypnotizing Hold/Still, Qlowski’s insistent EP, and Tuff Slang‘s peppy self-titled. All four are comfortably positioned as full releases that a lot of people will either come to love or love already.

Dark Thoughts finds some separation from the pack that’s linked above by virtue of being effectively straightforward in a genre that tends to grow stagnant whenever anyone’s foolish enough to attempt the feat. So many bands have tried and failed miserably at songs that are frequently (and unfairly) categorized as Ramones-core and while Dark Thoughts certainly embraces an archetype, it does so with an infallible mixture of venom and pure feeling.

From the opening four songs alone — which clock in at a combined total that doesn’t exceed three and a half minutes — Dark Thoughts comes across as a record with all-or-nothing stakes. The trio clearly wants to make a name for themselves and, appropriately, Dark Thoughts will likely be the record to make that happen. When the band absolutely lays into opener “Identity Crisis”, one wonders if they can sustain such a ferocious pace, then they spend the rest of the record making sure that pace is exceeded.

By the time “Anything” closes Dark Thoughts out, the record’s turned into the musical equivalent of someone riding a junker, forcing the accelerator to hug the floor, with neither hand anywhere close to the wheel. Not once does Dark Thoughts lag anywhere throughout the course of its sub-20 minute run time. Yes, a third of the songs present were already released on the demo but they also manage to be more effective than they were when packaged together without a greater context.

Every song on Dark Thoughts would be a worthy single but the record functions its own standalone entity as well; Dark Thoughts is a sublime piece of insanely well-informed genre work that skews as close to Fix My Brain as it does Rocket to Russia. Appropriately, it’s being released by Jeff Bolt‘s commendably consistent Stupid Bag Records, a label that’s built around celebrating DIY-leaning, punk-laced basement pop. It’s a perfect home for a record that careens recklessly and drives straight into an area reserved for modern classics.

Listen to Dark Thoughts below and pick it up from Stupid Bag here.

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April 13, 2016

Hudson Bell – Box of Bones (Music Video)

Over the past two days, there haven’t been an overwhelming amount of interesting music videos. The ones that have made an impression, though, made that impression count. Whether it was Car Seat Headrest‘s wry lyric clip for “Fill in the Blank” (a song that features a tremendous outro sequence that allows the song to slowly disintegrate), DTCV‘s Steven Soderbergh(!)-directed, commentary heavy clip for “Histoire seule“, Audacity‘s delightfully scrappy “Dirty Boy“, The Julie Ruin’s Katie Crutchfield-featuring “I Decide“, and Acapulco Lips’ amusingly Gothic “Awkward Waltz“, there were treasures to be found.

The focus, once more, falls to a modest music video from another extremely strong (and, thus far, woefully overlooked) cut from this site’s 50 Best Songs of 2016‘s First Quarter list: Hudson Bell‘s invigoration “Box of Bones”. The Chris Cranford-directed clip for the song is as immediate and direct as the track itself, avoiding getting hung up on unnecessary flourishes and keeping its more absurd elements completely grounded. Compelling, surprisingly nuanced, and artfully crafted, “Box of Bones” manages to lace its accessibility with some powerful imagery while retaining just enough weirdness to keep it from being too easily digestible (or disposable). All told, it’s a thrilling look at Hudson Bell’s current state of mind and a very tantalizing teaser for the act’s forthcoming record, Yerba Buena, which may finally net the project the attention and acclaim it truly deserves.

Listen to “Box of Bones” below and pre-orded Yerba Buena ahead of its release here.

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