Hidden deep among pines, in the heart of the Canadian Shield, Festival De Musique Émergente (FME) burns brighter than an asteroid field. If for some reason you can’t see, you damn sure will hear it. There were a multitude of fabulous bands during this installment of FME. Here are some of the highlights.
Hot Garbage’s brand new sophomore album, Precious Dream, is a foray into the limitless liminal spaces of disorientation; its goal is to find solace in the chaos, to laugh in the face of cruelty. Juliana Carlevaris (bass/vocals) spoke with Post-Trash about inspiration, experimentation, and the mysticism at the record’s core.
bar italia operates in the wonderful space between art-rock pretension and slacker affability. Their music is too layered, rich, and dynamic to be considered carefree and, at the same time, features too many riffs, hooks, and melodies to be over-analyzed. The Twits feels like their definitive sonic statement.
Their elastic debut LP Stay Safe! packs a whole lot of dynamic musical range into just ten killer tracks. Band members put themselves in new roles, play new instruments and make themselves vulnerable to all the anxieties and tribulations of fresh ventures. They do it with effortless tranquility and gilded dexterity.
Gracie Jackson’s journeyed voice reflects the years of entropy and moil but spins that into songs of self-determination, confidence, and humor. Whether eating fried chicken in a hazmat suit, breaking up fights, or dancing with a stranger in a white stetson, her narrative lyrics are almost cinematic in their oddly specific detail.
Jake Robertson has made all types of music throughout his relatively short career as Alien Nosejob. From punk and garage-rock to power-pop, we now get Stained Glass, a celebration of rock n’ roll music in its purest form. Punchy classic rock riffs, catchy melodies, and absolutely blistering guitar solos kick this adrenaline-filled record into an untapped level of marvelous frenzy.
Alex G is full of questions on God Save The Animals but intentionally avoids easy answers. It’s a record filled with anxiety but finds solace in the fractured nature of change. It’s a record with a whole lot of references to God but finds sanctification in the chaos rather than the structure of religion.
The accompanying music video follows Krystal Maynard through a bungalow with the band members individually appearing in random locations of the home. The camera glides through the house in a single shot, and as Maynard goes about her daily activities, she sings to the camera with an expressive performance.
Primal Matter was worth the three-year wait. The Cincinnati-based post-punk band continues their minimal wave impulse and leans heavier on melodies and grooves to elevate the songs into a tremendous sonic aerospace. The drum and bass have more direction, while the production creates a polychromatic musical feast.
To commence 2022, Feeble Little Horse have released an expanded reissue of Modern Tourism via Crafted Sounds. The new ten track EP features all the original material, unreleased demos, and a My Bloody Valentine cover. Here, Feeble Little Horse and label-mates Gaadge share covers of each other’s songs.
