2015’s made a habit out of producing incredibly strong weeks for new material and these past five days have proven to be no different. There were strong new songs from Pill, Dead Stars, Car Seat Headrest, Day Wave, Dressy Bessy, Hand of Dust, and Courtney Barnett’s excellent Boys Next Door cover. Winstons and Alex G both unveiled formidable releases and a trio of tantalizing clips from Greys, Braids, and Doe. While each of those titles are worth several glances, it was site favorites Midnight Reruns‘ latest music video to earn this post’s feature spot.
Fresh off the release of Force of Nurture‘s brilliant lead-off number “There’s An Animal Upstairs“, the band returns to their hangout mode in an endearing new clip for “Canadian Summer”. Previously, the band had all but perfected that approach with their memorably freewheeling “King of Pop” music video just over two years ago. This time around, instead of focusing on their friends and their current environment, they celebrate their roots- and drummer Sam Reitman’s father.
Guitarist/vocalist (and principal songwriter) Graham Hunt and Reitman used to practice in Reitman’s father’s home in a variety of projects and crafted the “Canadian Summer” clip as a loving homage to his influence (and his love of boats). Utilizing a meaningful place as the location for the shoot pays massive dividends, lending “Canadian Summer” an immediate, distinctly Midwestern, heart-on-sleeve feel that perfectly complements their musical sensibilities.
The song itself is an absolute monster, whose chorus hasn’t left my head since hearing it over a year ago (it’s become a rightful staple of the band’s live sets). Tempos switch, the song builds momentum, and the footage surrounding it drives home the earnest simplicity of it all. Midnight Reruns aren’t just a band that’s defined by their influences, they’re defined by their commitment to producing material that would make those influences proud. “Canadian Summer” is just the latest example of how well they’re succeeding.
Watch “Canadian Summer” below and pre-order a copy of Force of Nurture here. Beneath the music video, watch a clip of the band performing the song at the sorely missed Crunchy Frog in Green Bay, WI.
With an incredibly strong Tuesday already transitioning to the rear view, it would have made sense to see a drop in content release but a lot of places seemed intent on following other plans leading to a Wednesday that was just as overflowing with great material. Shit Present unveiled a spiky EP debut of Salinas-brand pop-punk and The School revealed something resembling a low-key indie pop masterpiece in Wasting Away and Wondering. Hurry Up, Spray Paint, Julia Holter, Telekinesis, Moses Sumney, Heaters, Jono McCleery, Weyes Blood, Haybaby, and See Through Dresses all released excellent new songs while exemplary music videos got brought out by the likes of Girls Names, Vaadat Charigim, Shy Kids, Postcards From Jeff, Glen Hansard, Sporting Life, PILL, Wet Nurse, and Low Fat Getting High (whose director this time around, A Year’s Worth of Memories contributor Stephen Tringali, continues to do masterful work with desolate landscapes and imagery rooted in magic surrealism). Merge also surprised everyone with a stream of one of the year’s best records, Mike Krol’s Turkey.
After posting Krol’s ridiculously enjoyable video for “Neighborhood Watch” yesterday, the full album has finally arrived. Since a lot ground was already covered in the “Neighborhood Watch” write-up, I’ll forego some of that reviews focal points (the historical context of his long-standing Sleeping in the Aviary connection and his other past work) to focus on the material at hand. Before I get lost fawning over Sleeping in the Aviary- one of the most crushingly under-recognized bands of recent times- I’ll merely state that their impact can be felt all over Turkey (they’re essentially Krol’s backing band, after all) and Turkey seems to pick up right around where Sleeping in the Aviary’s 2011 swan song, You and Me, Ghostleft off in terms of stylistic approach.
Turkey is a different beast than its string of predecessors from either the man at the center of the project or the band he’s continued to incorporate into his project. Nearly every track of the formidable blitz that is Turkey seems wild-eyed and feral, largely eschewing grace in favor of brute force. In more than a few ways it recalls Lost Boy ?at their most ferocious, precariously balancing a delirious mental state with a bevvy of seemingly unchecked aggression. The difference maker here is the brevity, which is wielded like a weapon and utilized to frightening perfection.
Only one song on Turkey eclipses the two and a half minute mark, effectively rendering Turkey a barrage of quick hits. A normal detractor in this case is that in a flurry of blows, some of the shots can lose their power- a pitfall that Turkey overcomes with ease. Likely due to the fact that Krol’s boiled his peculiar model of songwriting down to an art form (Merge did sign him, after all), it’s an extremely impressive achievement nonetheless. With the exception of the gorgeous but ultimately irreverent closing track (“Piano Shit” is as apt as a title as any I’ve seen this year), every song on Turkey could work as a standalone single or cut through a crowded mixtape with ease.
When “This Is The News” was originally unveiled last month, expectations for Turkey skyrocketed but still allowed for a host of variables to diminish the extreme impact of its lead-off single. Looking back and taking into consideration Krol’s enviable long-term consistency and career track, the suggestion that Turkey would be anything other than a powerhouse release seems ridiculous. Now that it’s actually here, though, it’s unlikely that anyone could have fathomed the extent of how high-impact this record would wind up being. While it’s likely still too early to call it a genre masterpiece, the temptation’s already starting to build. Arriving at the precise intersection of basement pop and basement punk, allowing for a host of outlying genre influences (doo-wop and soul play key parts in the band’s atomic chemistry).
Nine songs of pure cathartic release, this easily ranks among the very best of 2015. Played with feeling, fearlessness, and an excessive amount of verve, Turkey is a new career benchmark for one of the sharpest talents to emerge out of the upper Midwest (between this, Tenement’s Predatory Headlights, and a small handful of other notable releases, the region’s composing a powerful run). Already nearly a dozen listens in since receiving new of the stream yesterday, I can personally attest to the fact that it’s addictive, it rewards investment, and retains enough punch to ensure it an unlikely level of longevity. Smart, catchy, and a blinding entry into a genre intersection that isn’t always afforded the luxury of national attention (something Turkey has a decent shot at, thanks to Merge’s involvement), this is a record worth purchasing several times over. Lay it all on the line and dive into this thing headfirst, the fall in will be worth it every time.
Listen to Turkey below and pre-order a copy from Merge ahead of its Friday release here.
Now that the site’s all caught up on full streams and documentaries, I’ll be damned if I let it slip back behind. As new records roll in, the ones that catch my ear will be written about in this very space. The exact same can be said for music documentaries, whether they’re shorts or feature-length pieces. On the latter count, I’d be remiss not to bring up the oddly compelling (and genuinely heartfelt) Noah Abrams doc, Butch Walker – Afraid of Ghosts, which features one of the most intriguing cameo roster in recent memory. Representing the recently-unearthed full stream selection, there’s the frantic post-punk skronk of Pill’s self-titled EP and april is over, the delicate (and stark) collection of wistful tape demos that comes courtesy of Catherine DeGenarro’s solo project, hairpins. While that trio of media is deserving of rapt attention, it’s Tica Douglas‘ legitimately extraordinary Joey that will be the focus of tonight’s piece.
Meticulously crafted and deeply felt, Joey announces itself via the title track- a devastating meditation on identity. As soon as the line “If I were born a boy, they were gonna call me Joey” lands, the record begins sprawling out in increasingly stunning displays of doubt, self-examination, and- finally- defiantly unwavering strength. That strength is gained through self-confidence, sense of purpose, and towering conviction; three elements that seep through Joey‘s embattled veins, even at its most intentionally ugly moments (the guitarwork in the back half of “Mornings After Nights Like Those” is nothing short of brilliant). As the record progresses, with an endless stream of stunning songs cascading down on whoever’s fortunate enough to have hit play, the personal trials that Douglas had to face become a concrete subtext which winds up cloaking the affair in a layer of understated sadness, even at its most celebratory peaks.
Importantly, the band that Douglas has assembled, match rapier storytelling with equally sharp playing. Echoes of the likes of Elliott Smith and Cat Power are clearly evidence in the compositions, with even more classic touchpoints illuminating songs like the monumental “Black & White” (the record’s most exhilarating moment), in which Douglas promises a never-ending allegiance that doubles as a blinding declaration of character and integrity. It’s one a select few songs on Joey that breaks from the confessional finger-picking mold that gives the record its slow-beating heart. That’s not to say Joey ever falls into the trap of overt repetition; it’s masterfully composed from start to finish- even a cursory listen would betray Douglas’ enviable songwriting prowess. Even though the jaw-dropping grandeur of “Black & White” elevates an already outstanding record to another place, it’s the penultimate song that yields Joey‘s most arresting moment.
Stripping skin back to the bone, “All Meanness Be Gone” emphasizes the record’s most bravely vulnerable aspects; nothing will ever be perfect and there’s always going to be company waiting in the wings of life’s most tragic moments. Uphill battles will always have to be fought but when those wars are waged with genuinely good purpose, the scars earned on those battlefields will become scars that are worn proudly. The song’s sense of time, sense of place, and sense of history is astounding, with Douglas’ weary delivery and gentle melodies rendering the affair an absolutely devastating blow. By the time it winds down to a hushed whisper, “All Meanness Be Gone” cements Joey‘s chances at becoming a future cult classic. “My My My” provides a relatively fiery end-cap to the proceedings as an all-encompassing epilogue. When everything’s been laid on the table and the medical scans have been printed, it’s not difficult to marvel at how complete Joey winds up being. Healing fractures, bones bracing for their break, and a beating heart that refuses to cease constitute Joey– and the stubbornness in refusing to disguise those wounds or subvert them into something else make Joey a release to treasure.
Listen to Joey in full below and pre-order the record Swell Records here.
Heartbreaking Bravery 