Lost at the Party | Heartbreaking Bravery

October 29, 2016

Terry Malts – Gentle Eyes (Music Video)

terry malts

EDITOR’S NOTE: This series of posts reflects back on some of the best material to be released over the past few weeks. Each post with this heading is a part of this series. After this series has concluded regular coverage will resume.

Ever since Terry Malts’ exceptional Killing Time, the band’s been a favorite of this site, cranking out powerpop songs that come fully equipped with a post-punk bite. This year — in addition to being gracious enough to provide an outstanding old track to the A Step Forward compilation — they released the exceptional Lost at the Party. The record finds the band embracing their more pop-leaning tendencies and finding new ways to provide thrilling material.

“Gentle Eyes”, one of the many standouts of Lost at the Party, now has an exceptional, direct visual accompaniment. Directed by bandleader Corey Cunningham, “Gentle Eyes” is a suitably retro-leaning clip that accentuates much of what makes the band so appealing. By couching nostalgic tints in a package that still manages to feel modern, they straddle a divide that’s as welcoming as it is enticing. It’s masterfully crafted, expertly controlled, and a sharp reminder of Terry Malts’ surprising power.

Watch “Gentle Eyes” below and order Lost at the Party here.

October 13, 2016

A Two Week Toll: Full Streams

Bringing an end to the opening trio of posts to amend some of the time lost during the hiatus that followed this site’s 1,000th post, the following links will be dedicated to some of the finest full-length streams that appeared over the past two weeks. From site favorites to new names, there’s a wealth of material here that’s worthy of investment. A handful of these may even be legitimate Album of the Year contenders. Carve some time out to listen or just hit play and turn the volume up while working, either way, make sure not to miss some extraordinary records.

Terry Malts, The Exquisites, Lola Kirke, Fake Limbs, Halfsour, Lilac Daze, Kuroma, Violence Creeps, Computer Magic, Emily Yacina, Male Bonding, Jenny O, Wild Pink, MONO, Spellbinder, Clorox Girls, Infinity Crush, Ryan Allen and His Extra Arms, Fraternal Twin, Kestrels, Elephants, Hello Shark, Trash Gendar, (ghost), Shana Falana, Suburban Living, Trails and Ways, Lara Yuko, Batz, Goat, Peaer, Henry Jamison, Bad Noids, Bellows, The Fabulous Johnsons, Sleeping Lessons, Big Bill, Shelf Life, The Meltaways, Dog, Paper, Submarine, Balcanes, Warehouse, Kadhja Bonet, Axis: Sova, Funeral Blues, This Frontier Needs Heroes, Letters to Cleo, Mr. Martin & The Sensitive Guys, Panoptique Electrical, Exotica, Howardian, Bonzo, Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster, and the Punkinhead 2016 compilation.

September 1, 2016

Terry Malts – Seen Everything (Stream)

terry malts

Nearly a dozen streams comprised Wednesday’s enviable run of new material, including new tracks from Hypoluxo, Slow Hollows, Fresh Snow, Totally Slow, Cloud Cover, Tomaga, Almanac Mountain, Lisa/Liza, HEALTH, Anchoress, and Alcest. Whether soft and ambient or punishingly heavy, all of those songs contained flashes of an intangible something that propelled them to breathtaking heights. All of them are worth several listens but tonight’s feature falls to an old favorite: Terry Malts.

Ever since hearing the pulverizing, punk-damaged basement pop triumph “No Big Deal” several years back, Terry Malts has been a name that’s stuck. For more than six years, this project’s been evolving in surprising ways and the first track to be released from their forthcoming Lost at the Party, “Seen Everything”, continues to demonstrate their dogged pursuit of artistic growth.

While the elements that made the band a standout in their early goings are still extremely evident, the band’s polished their well-informed pop sensibilities into the focal point of their music- or, at the very least, the focal point of “Seen Everything”. After a string of releases that were fully committed to emphasizing the band’s tenacious aggression, “Seen Everything” finds them easing up a little and coming away with exhilarating results; this is the downhill coast after the uphill battle.

As is usually the case, there’s an abundance of memorable hooks and the band still has a keen knack for how to implement lo-fi aesthetics. The narrative deals with the struggle of acceptance in surprisingly acute ways, offering up brief, rapid-fire vignettes that tie together into a devastatingly complete picture. From every angle, “Seen Everything” is an impressive work and seems to be a statement release for Terry Malts, who are more than ready to transition into a more recognizable name.

“Seen Everything” is a refreshing piece of work from a band that’s still finding compelling ways to flourish without losing any of their ferocious bite. Fascinating, galvanizing, and incredibly immediate, Terry Malts have produced one of the more startling tracks of 2016, setting a very high bar for Lost at the Party. If the rest of the record doesn’t wind up being diminished by this sharp run of near-perfection, it’ll be a permanent staple in a whole lot of collections. Looking at the run the band’s put together so far, it’d be a safe move to clear out a space now.

Listen to “Seen Everything” below and pre-order Lost at the Party from Slumberland here.