2016 | Heartbreaking Bravery

May 13, 2016

Lady Bones – Terse (EP Review)

Lady Bones II

Editor’s Note: There’s been a month-long gap in coverage, thanks to near-incessant travel and other extenuating circumstances. The following run of posts that contain this note will be posts that should have appeared sometime within the past several weeks. Use these posts as an opportunity to catch up to the present release cycle or to simply discover some new music. Either way, enjoy.

A lot of words have been printed on this site that focus on Lady Bones and a large reason for that attention can be attributed to the band’s continuing improvement. Even from the onset, the band was releasing music that stood out (and it stood out for all the right reasons). Throughout the past few years, they’ve grown more assured in their own identity and have sharpened their dynamics considerably.

By committing more fiercely to their menacing aggression and penchant for discordant noise while retaining their more melodic sensibilities, they’ve carved out a space for themselves in a scene that’s overflowing with tremendous acts (a handful of which share many of the trio’s tastes in composition and approach). Terse, Lady Bones’ latest EP, is their strongest effort by a noticeable margin.

The EP’s opening two tracks, “Weight” and “Ice Cream“, have already been granted write-ups on this site and set a very high bar for the EP’s ensuing trio of tracks. “Horror”, “Age”, and “Don’t Call Me Sassy” all live up to that formidable challenge. A few of them even manage to surprise with a few of their choices with “Horror”, especially, demonstrating the band’s growth as a unit. By the time the frenetic attack of “Don’t Call Me Sassy” fades into the ether, Terse stands confidently as not just one of the band’s proudest moments but as one of the most formidable releases of the first half of 2016.

Listen to Terse below and pick the cassette up from Midnight Werewolf here.

1 Comment

May 13, 2016

Dogheart – Real Mood (EP Review)

dogheart

Editor’s Note: There’s been a month-long gap in coverage, thanks to near-incessant travel and other extenuating circumstances. The following run of posts that contain this note will be posts that should have appeared sometime within the past several weeks. Use these posts as an opportunity to catch up to the present release cycle or to simply discover some new music. Either way, enjoy.

Now a handful of releases into their career, Dogheart continue to steadily improve and Real Mood is the current culmination of that improvement. Restrained basement pop that packs a serious amount of punch exists squarely in this site’s pleasure center and Dogheart have been releasing gems for that particular niche genre for the past three years. While a lot of those recordings have been impressive, the band’s staked out a strong footing for Real Mood that feels just a little bit stronger.

Everything Dog Heart tries out over the course of these six tracks works, usually they’re subtle flourishes that wind up unifying Real Mood. The EP also works, and was clearly conceived, as a whole. While individual songs could be stripped out for mixtapes and retain their power, packaged together they each become more powerful. What’s most surprising about the EP is how understated and grounded its songs wind up being, adding a layer of intrigue that readily invites returns.

Real Mood is a strong collection of songs that stealthily gain impact, creating the kind of pull that’s hard to ignore. It’s an impressive feat and it transforms Real Mood from what could have easily been a relatively minor release into something that registers as important. Don’t miss out on the party.

Listen to Real Mood below and pick it up from the band here.

1 Comment

May 13, 2016

Major Leagues – Dream States (EP Review)

major leagues

Editor’s Note: There’s been a month-long gap in coverage, thanks to near-incessant travel and other extenuating circumstances. The following run of posts that contain this note will be posts that should have appeared sometime within the past several weeks. Use these posts as an opportunity to catch up to the present release cycle or to simply discover some new music. Either way, enjoy.

Major Leagues have been quietly perfecting their own distinct take on jangly basement pop for a few years now and Dream States stands as their most definitive statement to date. After a certain amount of time playing together, great bands begin to develop the kind of chemistry that sets them apart from both their peers and the bands who have only just begun emerging. Dream States sees that chemistry in full bloom as one near-perfect song gives way to another, leaving behind a realistic possibility that Dream States may come to be regarded as a minor classic.

Every individual piece that’s on display throughout the EP’s all-too-brief run registers as a standout, teasing potential flawlessness until the very last seconds (and then leaving you wondering if that it was something the band actually achieved). Each of the six songs that comprise Dream States are intelligently composed, dynamic, accessible, and immediate. None of them fall apart when placed under heavy scrutiny and they each make enough impact to leave a lasting impression and linger long after they’ve ended.

Dream States is an astonishing release that should go a long ways in ensuring Major Leagues experience a (well-deserved) growth in terms of name recognition. It’s a listen that’s unlikely to grow stale anytime soon and one that all but guarantees return trips. The EP rewards investment but doesn’t necessitate it, which will likely leave the entire affair as a remarkably agreeable release among a very large section of people. Bright, charming, and brilliant, Dream States is the kind of release that should still be receiving praise well into the next few years.

Listen to Dream States below and pick it up from the band here.

1 Comment

May 13, 2016

Devon Welsh – Down the Mountain (Album Review)

devon welsh

Editor’s Note: There’s been a month-long gap in coverage, thanks to near-incessant travel and other extenuating circumstances. The following run of posts that contain this note will be posts that should have appeared sometime within the past several weeks. Use these posts as an opportunity to catch up to the present release cycle or to simply discover some new music. Either way, enjoy.

One of the toughest breakups to swallow over this past year has undoubtedly been Majical Cloudz, the ambient duo responsible for some of the most emotionally shattering music of the past few years. In the months that have followed, vocalist Devon Welsh has been slowly revealing projects that have had the benefit of his artistic direction. Even with those projects coming out of the woodwork, it would have been difficult to anticipate Down the Mountain, the first release under his own name.

In tone and in scope, Down the Mountain skews most closely to what Welsh was creating as half of Majical Cloudz. With the opening duo of tracks, in under nine minutes, Welsh manages to plummet listeners back down to startling emotional depths with his unwavering narratives and careful delivery. The back half of “The Movies” second verse hits especially hard, touching lightly on love and mortality in a way that feels frighteningly familiar.

None of Welsh’s emotional impact has been lost in his seamless transition to solo artist and the rest of Down the Mountain goes a long way in supporting that statement. The bulk of the record’s made up of haunted whispers as Welsh continues to explore the terrain that makes us human on an acute, personal scale. Each of these eight tracks are powerful, gripping, and, more often than not, devastating. Take the collection’s title track, for instance, about the death of a mother. Heavy, focused, and patently beautiful, Down the Mountain is a record worth being added to any serious music collection.

Stream “Down the Mountain” below and download the record here.

1 Comment

May 13, 2016

Nano Kino – Surfing On the Void (EP Review)

nano kino

Editor’s Note: There’s been a month-long gap in coverage, thanks to near-incessant travel and other extenuating circumstances. The following run of posts that contain this note will be posts that should have appeared sometime within the past several weeks. Use these posts as an opportunity to catch up to the present release cycle or to simply discover some new music. Either way, enjoy.

Nano Kino, a project led by Duncan Lloyd (Maximo Park, Decade In Exile) and Sarah Suri, have been of interest to this site since their very first recordings. The project has been capitalizing on their promise for well over a year now, with each successive release standing as a new career high. Surfing On the Void continues that trend with no shortage of finesse.

From the opening seconds of the title track alone, it’s clear that the band’s managed to find a new level of confidence and have fully committed to making something genuinely memorable. Falling even closer to the current field of extraordinary powerpop that’s currently emerging from Sweden, “Surfing On the Void” — the band’s finest track to date — also finds Nano Kino embracing their sunniest pop sensibilities to startling effect.

While the band hasn’t completely abandoned the stormy atmospherics that informed decent stretches of their past output, they’ve managed to integrate their formidable penchant for enthralling dynamics into what appears to be a new era of the band with an astonishing amount of natural ease. Everything in Surfing On the Void fits together neatly and is capped off intriguingly by the short acoustic closer, “New Love”, which seems to be pointing towards a very fascinating future for the project. Whatever’s on the horizon is shaping up to be well worth our attention.

Listen to Surfing on the Void below and pick up a digital copy here.

1 Comment

May 13, 2016

Beverly – The Blue Swell (Album Review)

beverly

Editor’s Note: There’s been a month-long gap in coverage, thanks to near-incessant travel and other extenuating circumstances. The following run of posts that contain this note will be posts that should have appeared sometime within the past several weeks. Use these posts as an opportunity to catch up to the present release cycle or to simply discover some new music. Either way, enjoy.

When Beverly first started making some waves, a lot of the credit was unfairly being siphoned from Drew Citron and given to Frankie Rose but, following Rose’s departure from the band, it’s been abundantly clear that this has been Citron’s project all along. The project’s latest record, The Blue Swell, follows the breakout success of Careers with grace and panache. The surf inflections have been honed, the retro-leaning bubblegum pop influence has been sharpened, and The Blue Swell comes off as an irrepressible statement of artistry.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, as Beverly is now squarely Citron’s project, the vision of The Blue Swell congeals in a manner that’s far more unified than its still-impressive predecessor. Everything here is also sequenced beautifully, allowing the records strongest cuts to land with maximum impact. One of those highlights comes early by way of the Byrds-ian jangle of “Crooked Cop”, which the band rightfully ran as an early single.

Everything else on The Blue Swell benefits from placement while simultaneously building and/or sustaining the record’s momentum. There simply aren’t any weak tracks on the record, each one boasting the same kind of carefree summery qualities that turned Carefree into a sleeper hit. By the time the climactic finale of The Blue Swell rolls around, most listeners will likely have already lost themselves to the record’s susceptive spell. Dissect everything and The Blue Swell holds up as an exceptional piece of craft, simply let it wash over you and it quickly becomes one of the most charming records of the first half of 2016.

Listen to The Blue Swell below and order a copy from Kanine here.

1 Comment

May 13, 2016

Diarrhea Planet – Bob Dylan’s Grandma (Stream)

diarrhea planet

Editor’s Note: There’s been a month-long gap in coverage, thanks to near-incessant travel and other extenuating circumstances. The following run of posts that contain this note will be posts that should have appeared sometime within the past several weeks. Use these posts as an opportunity to catch up to the present release cycle or to simply discover some new music. Either way, enjoy.

After making their mark a few years back, Diarrhea Planet have refused to slow down- if anything, they’ve been fearlessly accelerating. Despite a slew of member changes and temporary setbacks, the band’s somehow grown more focused, a fact evidenced by the surprisingly sharp and (of course) ridiculously-titled “Bob Dylan’s Grandma”. The band scales back their trademark bombast here to latch onto something that feels clearer and less manic, which winds up benefiting the band in intriguingly unique ways.

By continuing to enhance their more melodic bent and trimming out the wild excess of their earlier material, the band winds up with a staggering number that somehow manages to feel completely of its time while still paying due reverence to the band’s influences from acts of decades long past. There’s a newfound emphasis on vocal performance and lyrical narrative as well, which suits the band far better than most may have expected.

Of course, there are still theatrics to be found that are peppered throughout “Bob Dylan’s Grandma” (this is a Diarrhea Planet song, after all) but even those feel remarkably restrained, especially when compared to the vast majority of the band’s previous output. Tasteful dynamics drive and, arguably, dominate the proceedings which never veer too far off of one of the most direct courses the band’s ever set. All of the unexpected choices culminate in one of the band’s best efforts to date, leaving the impression that the band’s far from over and still has plenty of things left to say.

Listen to “Bob Dylan’s Grandma” below and pre-order Turn To Gold from Infinity Cat here.

1 Comment

May 13, 2016

Casket Girls – Tears of a Clown (Stream)

casket girls

Editor’s Note: There’s been a month-long gap in coverage, thanks to near-incessant travel and other extenuating circumstances. The following run of posts that contain this note will be posts that should have appeared sometime within the past several weeks. Use these posts as an opportunity to catch up to the present release cycle or to simply discover some new music. Either way, enjoy.

One of the most arresting listening experiences I had in 2015 came when Casket Girls released the chill-inducing “Deep Time” and ushered in a bold new era for the band in the process. “Tears of a Clown”, the band’s latest single, proves that “Deep Time” was no fluke; the new single is one of the best tracks the band’s ever released. They’ve found life in embracing a wooziness that informs their hazy, punk-influenced dream-pop in unexpectedly powerful ways.

There are more than a few intangible elements that the band’s managed to harness in their time together and they’ve perfected sharpening those elements into something as extraordinary as it is singular. By injecting their music with an intimidating spikiness via noise, feedback, and untethered aggression, Casket Girls have created their own niche pocket.

“Tears of A Clown” feels even more aggressive than “Deep Time” while still conjuring up something that straddles the divide between tranquil and punishing. Exploring that middle ground is where Casket Girls have found a way to play to their strengths, piling on a formidable amount of hooks in the process (the pull of the “makin’ money, makin’ money” vocal hook here is as unavoidable as it is inescapable). If nothing else, “Tears of a Clown” shows that Casket Girls are rapidly approaching a realm where they can do no wrong; this is about as sublime as it gets.

Stream “Tears of A Clown” below and pre-order The Night Machines here.

1 Comment

May 13, 2016

Jackal Onasis – The New Ron (Stream)

jackal onasis

Exploding In Sound has been carefully assembling one of the strongest track records in music over the past several years, so when they sign a new act to their roster it’s generally worth giving that act quite a bit of attention. The label recently acquired Jackal Onasis, a trio who specializes in creating discordant basement pop that, like much of the rest of the roster, boasts a knack for incorporating a whole host of influences gleaned from the slacker punk movement of the early ’90s.

Their first trip up to bat saw the band releasing the piercing “The New Ron” which exemplifies the exact kind of subversive, technically proficient basement pop-meets-basement punk that Exploding In Sound excels built its name finding. “The New Ron” finds its most defining elements in the nearly overwhelming amount of ideas that are packed into a scant two minutes and 13 seconds.

From the onset, the band’s exploring a surf-like bent before taking an extremely sharp left into a heavy grunge sensibility that quickly evolves into screeching noise-punk. It’s an impressively eclectic mix and, impressively, the band manages to pull it off with aplomb, never once letting the song escape from their grasp. Alternating between an airiness that skews closer to dream-pop and a brute, relentless, near-tribal propulsive angle, “The New Ron” stands out as one of 2016’s most fascinating compositions. In under two and a half minutes, Jackal Onasis make an airtight case for being the kind of band that arrives unexpectedly and blows everyone away.

Listen to “The New Ron” below and pre-order Big Deal Party from Exploding In Sound here.

1 Comment

May 13, 2016

Twist – Soaked (Stream)

twist

Editor’s Note: There’s been a month-long gap in coverage, thanks to near-incessant travel and other extenuating circumstances. The following run of posts that contain this note will be posts that should have appeared sometime within the past several weeks. Use these posts as an opportunity to catch up to the present release cycle or to simply discover some new music. Either way, enjoy.

Buzz Records’ newest signee, Twist, came charging out of the gate just a few days ago with the surging “Soaked”. The surf-tinged basement pop number comes packed with plenty of punk bite and spells out in plain letters exactly why Buzz took interest in the first place; “Soaked” is of an exceptionally high standard and marries a twinge of noisy dissonance with a formidable, melodic core. Where it sets itself apart is in its retro-leaning pop sensibilities.

Taking an impressive amount of cues from the pop music of the 50’s and 60’s, “Soaked” finds intriguing ways to update those influences into something more identifiably modern. Utilizing subtle touches like the bell arrangements and a quasi-industrial percussion section to carve out its own place among a very crowded field, “Soaked” succeeds effortlessly as a welcoming introductory piece to a new artist that should, hopefully, be receiving a considerable amount of attention.

Sunny, battered, and tenacious in its determination, “Soaked” winds up coming across as something resembling a mission statement for Twist. If the project lives up to this glimpse at the future, then this entry will be far from the last time a Twist song appears in a featured slot on this site.

Listen to “Soaked” below and pick up the digital single from Buzz here.

1 Comment

Tag: 2016