Dentist‘s name has been appearing on this site for a few years now, suggesting they’re capable of the kind of longevity most bands covet. Night Swimming, the band’s most recent album, stands as their strongest — and biggest — moment to date. Operating in the intersection between power pop and basement punk, the band’s crafted a rich, engaging work that plays to their formidable abilities as songwriters.
“Upset Words” and the title track constitute the 1-2 combo that opens Night Swimming, making the band’s penchant for hooks. dynamics, and intuitive structuring incredibly evident. It’s a combination that also familiarizes the uninitiated with Dentist’s approach, which is to pitch their work at a low-key level, opting for the kind of songwriting that draws in listeners gradually and envelops them over time. The beauty of Dentist’s work is that it barely requires patience; all of these songs register as works of understated brilliance on first listen.
From front to back, Night Swimming operates within those guidelines and works its way to an enchanting whole. It’s the kind of record no one wants to stop playing or skip through, choosing instead to revel in the smallest details. The mid-fi production accentuates the material nicely, presenting Dentist as they are: at a crossroads between their DIY roots and the increasingly tangible possibility that their work could elevate them to a recognition that vastly exceeds their earliest ambitions.
Here’s hoping this is the record that guides them to that breakthrough.
For now, just lean back and enjoy one of the best basement pop releases 2018 will have to offer.
Listen to Night Swimming below and pick up a copy here.
A ridiculous amount of great songs came out over the final half of June 2018, roughly tripling the output of music videos and records. In accordance, the below list will be expanded from the preceding features’ three-slot format to a selection of nine. As usual, there’s a fairly vast palette of styles and influences to sample, each song offering up a distinctly unique thrill. Dive into the fray and get swept up in the chaos.
Whitney Ballen – Go
The first look at the fantastic forthcoming You’re A Shooting Star, I’m A Sinking Ship. Ballen uses a hushed vocal — one that’s curiously reminiscent of Nicole Dollanganger — on “Go” like a weapon, drawing the listener into a difficult narrative that acts as an effective counterweight to the casually optimistic sheen embedded into the musical arrangement. A fascinating presentation of the dichotomies resonating at the center of most mental health struggles, “Go”, while brilliant, only scratches the surface of Ballen’s capabilities.
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Curling – Still Green
Following their appearance in the Best Songs list for June 2018’s first half, Curling come back to top themselves with “Still Green.” A basement pop rave-up that exudes the intensely relatable weariness of the slacker punk movement of the early ’90s, “Still Green” incorporates enough modern bent to ensure it won’t fall prey to accusations of tired revivalism. There’s an abundance of life thriving at the song’s surface and Curling makes sure each of the song’s 164 seconds land with maximum impact.
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Ovlov – Stick
Not to be outdone by Curling’s repeat heroics as a featured act, Ovlov notch their third consecutive feature nod with the brooding, explosive “Stick”. All three songs to tease the band’s upcoming Tru have made a formidable case that we’re on the verge of hearing one of the year’s best records. While the first two — “Spright” and “Short Morgan” — relied on volume and power, “Stick” ensures that Tru won’t be a one-note affair. Unexpected, oddly moving, and incredibly engaging, “Stick” is a song that deserves to be left on repeat.
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Sean Henry – Imperfection
Sean Henry‘s past work has been unfairly overlooked for all the usual, dispiriting reasons but the songwriter’s latched on to something with Fink that just might be strong enough to overcome those intangible obstacles. “Imperfection” was the final track to be released ahead of Fink‘s unveiling and it ably showcases an artist in full control of their creative powers. From the production choices to the delivery itself, “Imperfection” winds up coming surprisingly close to standing as a direct opposite of its own title.
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Dentist – Corked
A familiar name to the site, Dentist have been steadily working towards their big moment, earning every lesson and success that’s come their way. In that pursuit, they’ve released a handful of great songs but “Corked”, their latest, doesn’t just set a new high but a new precedent. The band’s lit onto something that feels wholly their own and are prepared to accelerate their pacing from a jog to a sprint. “Corked”, as fine a basement pop song as anyone’s likely to hear this season, is a tantalizing indicator of what Dentist has in store for the future.
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Slothrust – Peach
Slothrust‘s another name that’s been printed on these pages a handful of times and “Peach” is the latest reason to type it out. The lead-off single from The Pact, “Peach” is a galvanizing burst of the band’s singular brand of slacker pop. More immediate and self-contained than a lot of the trio’s earlier work, “Peach” makes a morsel feel like a mouthful, before becoming an entire meal. It’s the band’s shortest single to date but it lingers when it’s gone. Don’t miss this one.
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Jonathan Something – Fine
Clocking in at just under two minutes, Jonathan Something’s “Fine” still finds time to stand out. A throwback pop song that reveals an astonishing array of influences (everything from Motown to disco to powerpop), “Fine” manages to feel comfortably familiar and thrillingly new over the course of its brief run time. Jonathan Something delivers it all with poise, conviction, and a sincerity that translates into one of the year’s most purely enjoyable songs.
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Tony Molina – Wrong Town
A master of the micro song, Tony Molina has found a niche way to thrive since the earliest Ovens songs. Even as Molina’s edges have softened, there’s been a profound sense of assurance that’s cut through the noise. In addition to that gentle confidence, there’s always been a palpable sense of place; Molina knows the places worth belonging to even as his narratives question definitive decision-making. “Wrong Town” is the latest in a string of tender, ’60s-influenced folk-adjacent pieces. Warm and heartrending, “Wrong Town” deserves a visit.
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Gia Margaret – Birthday
Gia Margaret‘s “Birthday” is a genre-demolishing track that’s been roping listeners into its orbit since its initial release. Bits of dream pop, shoegaze, and shoegaze find fascinating new intersections throughout the song, which is anchored by Margaret’s soft, spellbinding vocal performance. From front to back, “Birthday” is breathtaking in its unexpected scope and considerable beauty. A transcendent, mesmerizing work.
It’s been a little over three weeks since the last regularly scheduled post appeared on this site. In that time, a whole host of excellent songs have been released. Below is a long compilation of some of the best of those offerings. There will be compilation lists in this vein for both music videos and full streams following this one. Following those posts, there’ll be posts featuring seven outstanding entries that have emerged in that time from each category. So, dive in, bookmark this page, and click around. A new favorite band’s always just around the corner for everyone, it’s just a matter of taking the time to look.
PUP have been getting coverage from this site for just about as long as its existed and they’ve recently gone into an even more intimidating overdrive. After absolutely decimating 7th St. Entry at the start of the month, the band’s been providing reasons to revisit their past. This past week Audiotree uploaded an old full session the band gave the series back at the start of 2015, flashing some increasingly sharp teeth in the process.
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2. Royal Headache – High (Pitchfork)
High, the most recent release from Royal Headache, had more than enough firepower to earn a spot as one of last year’s best albums. As strong as their recorded output is, Royal Headache’s real draw has always been their live show, which is captured here via Pitchfork. Vocalist and principal songwriter Shogun has always been a commanding presence and that trait’s on full display as the band tears through the exhilarating title track of their last record at this year’s Primavera.
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3. Bob Mould (Sound Opinions)
One of the most respected elder statesman of punk has found a way to revitalize his career over the past several years, hitting some extraordinary highs with recent efforts. It’s not that Bob Mould‘s career has ever been dull, it’s that something inside of him seems to have been pushed to full throttle. The trio of songs Mould careens through here for Sound Opinions serve as very strong evidence.
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4. Weaves (CBC Music)
No band has been showing up in coverage lately more than Weaves, who are trying to outrun a tidal wave of adrenaline after releasing what may wind up being the year’s most explosive record. The band’s been stringing together an insanely impressive series of the exact right moves at the exact right moment and this full session for CBC Music continues that trend. Masterfully shot inside of a greenhouse, it’s easily one of the strongest visual sessions to have ever run in this series and for just about anyone else, the cinematography here could threaten to diminish the performance. However, Weaves are a different kind of animal and they find a way to draw strength from the setting, allowing the visuals to ultimately enhance a ferocious set. Every aspect of performance videos is paid respect to with this session, which stands as an unforgettable masterclass of the form. File this one away for multiple trips back to enjoy or even to study; it’s that good.
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5. PWR BTTM – Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Emily Dubin)
There’s nothing I can say here that isn’t said better in or by this video, which is a very loving, sincere capture of PWR BTTM playing a deeply heartfelt show in Orlando. Just click play and appreciate the worthwhile things and people in you’re life while you still can and while they’re still here.
Weaves were a focal part of most of this site’s coverage this week, so running yet another feature on the band may seem predictable but it’s entirely earned. Their latest music video, for the excellent album opener “Tick”, is a perfect representation of the exhilaration that Weaves so effortlessly generates. “Tick” was one of a handful of intriguing music videos to surface over the past 24 hours, a list that also boasts new material from The So So Glos, Melkbelly, Thrushes, Billie Marten, and Parakeet. Natural Child, The Hecks, CC Mose, Johanna Samuels, Adam Olenius, and The Saxophones all offered up strong new songs while Dentist, Lake Ruth, Pink Mexico, Show Me The Body, and The Guests all unveiled explosive full streams. Additionally, there was a two-song preview of the Husband Stitch’s upcoming self-titled EP and an important compilation from SRB Productions entitled Forever Beautiful: A Collection of Love for Orlando with all proceeds going towards the victims of the tragic events that transpired at Pulse earlier this week.
Each of those endeavors are worth undertaking (and, again, that compilation is both deeply important and frustratingly necessary) but in terms of new releases, this week belonged to Weaves. The band’s been on an incendiary tear recently, highlighting their run with the reveal of their extraordinary full-length debut. Now, they’re taking on the music video game with a clear-eyed ferocity and a surplus of focused determination. Opening with a tongue-in-cheek commentary on middle-aged malaise, “Tick” quickly ricochets into the artful weirdness that permeates throughout nearly every facet of Weaves’ outsize aesthetic.
“Tick” immediately kicks into full gear following the humorously droll introduction, with the song quite literally following the protagonist’s every move. Eye-grabbing visualizations propel the clip to absurd heights as it careens along, providing both absurdist tendencies and subtle, pointed commentary in spades. The whole thing is a massively entertaining thrill ride that recklessly careens along from start to finish, allowing its own substantial momentum to be its definitive trait. Most importantly, every aspect of “Tick” scans as truthful, imbuing the clip with a refreshing dose of unapologetic reality; people are weird, inherently lonely, and entirely capable of creating an environment that suits their most immediate emotional needs.
In the end, “Tick” stands as a testament to perseverance. Heartfelt, painfully honest, and equipped with a formidable bite, “Tick” also stands as a prime example of what can be achieved within the confines of the music video format. A beautiful accompaniment to one of the year’s most astonishing debuts, “Tick” finds the band continuing on an astounding level of near-perfection. Give it a watch (or several) and do something that feels necessary.
Watch “Tick” below and pick up a copy of Weaves here.
Dentist’s surf-tinged “Joel” wound up securing the feature spot by virtue of sheer strength. Opening up on a foreboding riff and staccato chord stabs awash in reverb, “Joel” sets an intriguing — and oddly compelling — tone at its onset. Slowly, the guitar fades and gives way to a creeping piano figure that injects the song with an eerie Southern Gothic sensibility. Then, after a brief rest, the song snaps into a sugary overdrive that kicks the energy up from 15 to 80 in an instant.
Following the switch, Dentist falls comfortably into a groove that operates as a pastiche of pop influences from decades long gone. It’s a perfect transition that illustrates the band’s understanding of their craft, suggesting that Dentist’s forthcoming Ceilings may be one of 2016’s most unexpected joys. Apart from the invigorating dynamic shifts of “Joel”, the song’s vibrant second act endearingly instills the song with a surplus of giddy joy. “Joel” ultimately goes from bleakly intimidating to openly welcoming, leaving one hell of an imprint in the process.
It’s another entry in an already-long string of unlikely summer anthem candidates, carefree and just about perfect. Listen to “Joel” below and pre-order Ceilings from Little Dickman here.
[Editor’s Note: The beginning of coverage in 2016 was an extremely hectic time and one odd quirk of this site was overlooked. That particular oversight will be amended in this post, which precedes the resumption of posting the 100 immediately preceding entries in the continuously-expanding Heartbreaking Bravery catalog of posts. A few of the image links are broken and some of the galleries are missing but all of them will eventually make the migration to Heartbreaking Bravery’s flickr. Keep an eye out.]
To access posts 700-799, click on the links listed below.
All of those titles are worthy of healthy investment but it was a single release from last week that slipped through the coverage cracks to earn today’s feature spot. Occasionally those gaps in coverage are caused by a clerical error, occasionally they’re caused by the wait for an announcement, sometimes (like in the case of this post), it’s a little bit of both. Last week Young Jesus released their latest single, Void As Lob, which pairs live staple “Baked Goods” with the more stream-of-conscious “Hinges”. Earlier today, they announced their Wisconsin date for their tour with fellow site favorites POPE, providing a perfect opportunity to bring up their latest release.
Void As Lob is the band’s first single since last year’s Grow/Decompose, which rightfully earned a place in this site’s Best Albums of 2015 list. The new single continues an astonishing winning streak that started with their breakout effort, Home (which remains a very real Album of the Decade candidate) , and has spanned four years, a cross-country move, a lineup shift, several tours, and an unpredictable rollercoaster of other peaks and valleys. “Baked Goods” and “Hinges”, in that respect, could have easily served as a victory lap but opt for a more challenging approach that makes it abundantly clear that Young Jesus is committed to perpetual growth.
The band’s guitarist/vocalist and principal songwriter (and A Year’s Worth of Memories contributor) John Rossiter revealed that both “Baked Goods” and “Hinges” were the most personal he’s allowed himself to be in his songwriting in some time and that honesty’s evidenced and enhanced by his impassioned delivery, which cuts a touch more sharply than usual.
“Baked Goods” opens up the two-song collection with a narrative that invokes characters from the band’s past as it looks to the future, flashing a renewed emphasis on obtuse storytelling that’s punctuated by acute detail. Musically, it’s a sprawling odyssey that complements the song’s thematic structure to a tee, playing perfectly into Young Jesus’ penchant to defy genres with an instrumental tapestry that pulls from enough sources to sound legitimately singular.
“Hinges” sees the band continuing on in that function, only this time opting to scale back Rossiter’s songwriting flourishes in favor of something more unflinchingly immediate and bravely direct. After a somber piano figure opens the song, “Hinges” evolves into one of the band’s most impressive songs to date. Quiet and heartbreaking, “Hinges” hits its culmination with one simple line: I am ashamed to believe in myself. It’s a line that hits with enough blunt force to knock the wind out of just about anyone, all at once amplifying a host of darkly intimate moments.
As Void As Lob dies out in “Hinges” final moments, which exclusively focus on personal disintegration, the entire release feels like its much more than just two songs. In just over nine minutes, Young Jesus issue a searing statement of intent. Now that they’re firmly settled into their current iteration in their current home, they’re ready to look forward to the future, even if that requires tearing themselves apart. It’s a bold gambit but they’re talented enough to exercise total control and that control pays off beautifully. Void As Lob may only be comprised of two songs but it confidently stands as one of the most exquisite releases of 2016.
Listen to Void As Lob below and pick it up from the band here. Below the bandcamp embed, watch a live clip of the band performing “Baked Goods” last fall.
Now that the impressive slate of recent music videos and full streams have been exhaustively covered, it’s time to turn the attention towards individual songs. At the end of the week there were strong offerings from Dyan, Dentist, Cat Be Damned, and Kino Kimino. However, it was a curiosity from Happyness that managed to hit hardest, so it claims this posts feature spot.
Resuming the kind of carefree coasting that’s made their output so far so irresistibly charming, Happyness once again manages to hit a variety of sweet spots as they combine appealing bits of Americana, slacker pop, and proto-punk into a characteristically inviting tapestry. “SB’s Truck” is the kind of song that invites you to get lost and then world-builds so effectively that when it finally ends, it’s somewhat of a disappointment because, well, it ends.
Dissect the song’s narrative and it continues to reward; the song’s built around the little-known fact that celebrated playwrite Samuel Beckett used to give André Rene Roussimoff (more commonly known as André the Giant) to school as a boy because he was too big to fit into a car. It’s the kind of story that exudes the warmth that so frequently defines Happyness’ work. The pairing of the narrative with Happyness’ musical sensibilities is, in a word, perfect.
Whether “SB’s Truck” comes to be regarded as a summer anthem for the literary-minded or eventually, inevitably, becomes a celebrated anomaly of the band’s catalog doesn’t hold any importance. What counts is that for the four and a half minutes the song exists, nothing else seems to matter. A restrained piece of subdued, inspired brilliance, “SB’s Truck” shows that Happyness aren’t going away anytime soon and that they’re still finding ways to improve.
Listen to “SB’s Truck” below and keep an eye on this site for more updates on the band.
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