Introducing (or re-introducing) Community College, a brilliant lo-fi collective led by Horse Jumper of Love’s own John Margaris. Joined by his brother, Dan Margaris and Dimitri Giannopolous (also of HJOL), Community College occupies a similar space as their main act, offering warped to perfection pop songs with surreal yet relatable lyrics and earworm melodies tucked just under the fuzzy presence of the room.
Portland’s Mo Troper has released three full length records over the past three years, earning a reputation for clever songwriting that lends itself to power-pop, emo, and twee art-pop. Moreover (Demos 2015-2017) offers a peak behind that curtain, a collection of sketches and demos that form the basis of his most beloved songs.
It’s been less than a year since Gentle Heat released their debut album, but the Chicago quartet are back with a new EP, Liminal. Due out on February 1st via Skeletal Lightning, the band continue to refine their propulsive pop noise with influences from krautrock, power-pop, and post-hardcore with a squeaky clean delivery.
The album’s first single, “Paul At Art’s Grave” is a shinning example of the band’s off-kilter pop. It’s jangly and damn near whimsical, but there’s still a sense of isolation and despair hidden in the joyous melody. With themes of space and hibernation, the song follows a front-porch barn burner of guitar picking (the could just as easily be a banjo).
Their collaboration is innate and the results are spectacular. Recorded on the winter solstice of 2018 in West Philly, Ther and Sadurn’s split finds the songwriters swapping songwriting duties — Jones taking even numbered tracks with DeGroot filling in the odds. It’s simple and unhindered by post-production, creating a space as intimate as the basement where it was recorded.
Using manipulated tape sounds and vivid swirls of melodic dissonance akin to Mega Bog or Helvetia’s earliest output, Ouch is a fantastic album that truly gets better with every listen. Originally released last summer as a digital download, Art Of The Uncarved Block are set to reissue the album on January 25th with an expanded cassette and two bonus tracks.
Camp Counselor is ready to release another EP, Scabs, due out January 15th via It Takes Time Records. Their songs are personal and bare, with an emotional tone that never hides itself in production or abstraction on an EP that deals with “letting your wounds heal and leaving behind the ones you no longer need.”
The long-running band (whose members also play in C.H.E.W., Options, etc.) have a dynamic sound that feels compact and dense, carefully constructed and ready to burst upon exposure. There’s a painstaking quality to the way each song is built, the guitars weaving between rhythmic heft that’s somewhere between crushing and dreamy (often in both territories at once).
Set to release OGFIL at the tail end of the year via Super Wimpy Punch Records, their latest is a shift in delivery, though a slight one. Instead of the band’s usual approach to letting the vocals peak way into the red with yelps and carefree ramshackle melodies, Johnny Steines opts for a story-telling approach, weaving colorful observations and an active sense of humor into spoken word.
