Continuing on with the precedent set by the previous post, everything here is designed to celebrate some of the best releases of the past two weeks. This time around, the emphasis falls to music videos. There’s an incredibly expansive array of material to be discovered via the links below. Click through some of the titles or bookmark this page and click through everything, there’s a very good chance a new favorite’s waiting somewhere in the wings. Enjoy.
Krill’s name has been a staple of this site for around the entirety of its run. The band’s work didn’t come into sharp focus for me (or many other that eventually treated the band like a religion) until I caught their live show, which left me wide-eyed and astounded. The band’s final full-length effort, A Distant Fist Unclenching, was both their finest work and the closest they’ve ever come to capturing the intangible magic present in their live shows.
Losing the band last year was an extremely tough blow and several A Year’s Worth of Memories contributors wrote about the band’s legacy and learning how to reconcile their loss. The other day, the band unexpectedly resurfaced with a glimmer of hope (one characteristically shrouded in self-doubt and misery) with one final release from beyond the grave.
Krill has a lofty title to live up to but it’s the only one that makes sense; it’s the encapsulation of all the eccentricities that made the band so fiercely and fervently adored by an intensely dedicated following. They made no attempts to hide the grotesque nature of their narratives, their uncompromising approach to songwriting, or the total and complete lack of glamour in their presentation. For all of those reasons (and so many more), the East Coast community that birthed the band became remarkably protective of the trio, placing them on a pedestal that only a few bands have ever managed to near.
When the band was playing their final few shows (one of which I wrote about in detail here), they were playing the songs that would come to make up the astonishing Krill EP. “Meat”, a genuine standout, has the unique distinction of rekindling the fire that the band so effortlessly lit. It’s also one of the first tracks the band wrote to incorporate a baritone guitar and the end result of that decision is one of the band’s most inspired songs.
“Meat” sees the band achieving the full potential of the band, implementing exceptionally thoughtful instrumentation, startling dynamic turns, and brash, confrontational lyrics that directly address loneliness, shame, humiliation, and vulnerability in an arresting, honest fashion. Everyone in the band gives the song everything they’ve got and they wind up with a miniature, self-contained masterpiece and what’s easily not just one of the best tracks in their catalog but one of the best songs of 2016.
The rest of Krill sustains the tone set by “Meat” and transforms the EP into an essential release of the band’s sharpest material instead of a victory lap that coasts on past successes. Risks get taken, vocals crack, and the trio fearlessly embraces moments of uncertainty. All of it’s deeply compelling and a significant reminder of the band’s overwhelming value, which remains a sorely missed asset to the DIY music circuit.
Perhaps the best indicator of the band’s uncompromising vision arrives at the EP’s halfway point with the sprawling, winding “The Void”, an unblinking track that challenges and even encourages listeners to confront their failings and limitations. It’s a bold, provocative song that’s guided along by Krill’s masterful musicianship, genuine understanding, and (one of their most overlooked traits) a subtle dash of empathy driven by a commendably complete sense of humanity.
“Billy” closes the collection out and brings the saga of Krill to its official end with an insistence that Krill will never truly be dead. The values the band stood for, the records they left behind, what they accomplished in their time of existence, all of it will always have a rightful place both in their lives and in the lives of the people who gravitated into their orbit. Even as Krill ultimately falls into a trance and disintegrates into a wall of feedback, blown-out distortion, and white noise, the band’s legacy remains intact and their iconic status keeps growing, even after departing. So, it’s time to say, once more, with certainty and feeling: Krill forever.
Listen to Krill below and pick up a copy here. Watch a large portion of one of the band’s final sets beneath the bandcamp embed.
After a whirlwind catch-up session saw around 80 new posts go up in the past month, this site’s falling back into old habits. Namely, the preservation of implementing some sort of mixtape for every at every 50-post interval. With summer officially kicking off next week, it felt appropriate to create a mix in anticipation of the increasingly warm weather. Somehow, Heartbreaking Bravery’s now also 900 posts into its existence and some sort of commentary felt fitting as well. To that end, the 25 songs selected below are mostly tracks that have been featured — in some way or another — on this site throughout the course of those 900 posts (including Audacity’s “Hole in the Sky”, which was the the focal point of Heartbreaking Bravery’s first post).
A lot of the songs in Staring Down the Sun are songs that have carried me through previous summers, propelling me forward or comforting me with warmth and familiarity. It’s those two traits, warmth and familiarity, that are underlined most emphatically on this mix as they’re two of the season’s most consistently definitive draws. As such, Staring Down the Sun is a mix that’s heavily populated by friends, old and new, to sustain the kind of camaraderie that’s so often reinvigorated by sense of contentment and desire for exploration that frequently accompanies the season.
Open the windows, call up some friends, start a band, stoke the embers of the fire in the backyard, enjoy the scenery, travel to a new city, go swimming, or do whatever it takes to enjoy the shifting weather. Whatever the option, there’s now a soundtrack to accompany those moments available for the taking. Grab it and go.
Staring Down the Sun‘s tracklist can be found below the embed. Underneath the tracklist are hyperlinks to the preceding 100 posts. Enjoy.
–
1. Used Kids – Midwest Midsummer 2. PUP – DVP 3. Audacity – Hole in the Sky 4. Patsy’s Rats – Rock N’ Roll Friend 5. Goodnight Loving – Dead Fish On the Banks 6. PURPLE 7 – Wise Up 7. The Marked Men – Fix My Brain 8. Screaming Females – Wishing Well 9. Good Grief – Cold Compress 10. Jay Som – I Think You’re Alright 11. Icarus Himself – Digging Holes 12. Bent Shapes – New Starts In Old Dominion 13. Jawbreaker Reunion – Friends Theme Song 14. Midnight Reruns – King of Pop 15. Dogs On Acid – Make It Easy 16. Sleeping in the Aviary – Love Song 17. Swearin’ – Hundreds and Thousands 18. Sweet John Bloom – Aging In Place 19. Meat Wave – Cosmic Zoo 20. Mo Troper – Princess 21. Mike Krol – Left Out (Attn: SoCal Garage Rockers) 22. Royal Headache – High 23. Weaves – One More 24. Tenement – Near You 25. Swim Team – Teenage Brain
Summer Cannibals, Man Up, Yancey, Brenda’s Friend, Kino Kimino, Nettle, Post Moves, and Old Maybe all had notable full streams surface over the past few days. While all of those titles are worth the investment, the attention’s going to — once again — be directed back to a song. Jay Som’s set to make a big push as the opener for an upcoming tour that also features Japanese Breakfast and Mitski, so “I Think You’re Alright” functions nicely as an anticipatory warning shot.
The thing is, “I Think You’re Alright” is so much more than just a warning shot; no song has reminded me more of Sparklehorse since Linkous’ tragic passing (and that’s an obscenely high compliment). “I Think You’re Alright” is the kind of chill-inducing bedroom pop that comes coated with the slightest layer of punk grit to keep it tethered to the earth, affording the song a relatable feeling that enhances its most wide-eyed sensibilities.
In under four minutes, “I Think You’re Alright” runs seamlessly through a variety of genre touch points, from the steady, programmed drum beat to the swirling feedback at the song’s most climactic moment. None of its misplaced, each small moment registering as a revelation. Everything in “I Think You’re Alright” coalesces into these moments of sublime transcendence that arrive at an alarming rate; it’s an astonishing song that’s comprised almost entirely of grace notes.
Importantly, everything on display sounds open and honest, amplifying the song’s inherently tragic nature. Uncompromising and singularly beautiful, “I Think You’re Alright” confidently stands as one of 2016’s most unforgettable releases. Boasting a strangely comforting melody that calmly builds a home and refuses to leave, the song ultimately carries an atmosphere that’s as inviting as it is melancholic. It’s an invitation that’s worth accepting.
Listen to “I Think You’re Alright” below and pre-order the single here.
Heartbreaking Bravery 