Dave Scanlon - "Pink in Each, Bright Blue, Bright Green" | Album Review
It would be intriguing to know what goes on in the mind of Dave Scanlon, an experimental composer/musician perhaps best known for his work with JOBS. His newest effort, Pink in each, bright blue, bright green, steps away from the instrumentally cluttered music of his band, venturing to a more minimalistic, spacey side of production.
Various Artists - "Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987" | Album Review
“The Stax, not the Motown” was the way Mike Sniper described the 28 cuts showcased on Strum n’ Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987 in an interview. His label, Captured Tracks, has quietly cultivated several reissues, big and small, dedicated to overlooked gems. The promise of this new series, Excavations, is intriguing.
Squitch - "Learn To Be Alone" | Album Review
Learn to be Alone is a document of a band that is starting to grow and blossom into a powerful force of nature lyrically and musically, and one that is developing its own voice with each outing. Squitch have a connection that is clearly evident, allowing them to anticipate and move with each other seamlessly through tricky transitions.
Sonny Falls - "All That Has Come Apart/Once Did Not Exist" | Album Review
All That Has Come Apart/Once Did Not Exist is by no means a quarantine record, but rather a brilliant reflection of the present; as it was, is, and will continue to be. Sonny Falls’ latest puts our time-specific realities into perspective; what happened then happens now and will happen forever, everything all of the time.
Mamalarky - "Mamalarky" | Album Review
Mamalarky is the self-titled debut of the Georgia via California quartet, filled with slinking grooves mixed with bright and flowing melodies that announce themselves loudly. Livvy Bennett’s vocals are a driving force in the pop concoction that pours forth, proving itself to be a surprising powerhouse collection of songs.
Joshua Virtue - "Jackie's House" | Album Review
Candy Andy / Crimson Blue - "You & Me" | Album Review
Spectral Voice - "Necrotic Demos" | Album Review
When Spectral Voice’s debut was released in 2017, they had five demos and two splits out in the world. By the album’s release they had perfected their concoction of death-doom metal. This strategy has not changed in the following years, part of what makes the Necrotic Demos compilation more compelling than it ought to be.
Soft Blue Shimmer - "Heaven Inches Away" | Album Review
On Soft Blue Shimmer’s debut album, Heaven Inches Away, the band crank up the fuzz, becoming less coltish and more stoic. Where their early work felt like a forgotten cut from the soundtrack to 10 Things I Hate About You, their latest plays more like a diegetic sound drifting in the background of a Greg Araki-directed scene.
Mourn - "Self Worth" | Album Review
Catalonia band Mourn have been making a name for themselves within the indie rock scene from quite a young age. The band members were in their teens when they released their self-titled debut album in 2015 on Captured Tracks. Mourn has continued to expand their post-punk sound and their evolution truly shows on Self Worth.
Allegra Kreiger - "The Joys of Forgetting" | Album Review
Waiting moments comprise an overwhelming majority of Allegra Kreiger’s The Joys of Forgetting. Awaiting good times sounds pretty terrific - so long as you ignore the desolation around you and the wreckage of the near and far past. For some, that is impossible. Call us empaths and/or annoying but these days, it’s tough to call us wrong.
We Are Joiners - "Clients + Carriers" | Album Review
Working with just an old BOSS BR1180 8-track, We Are Joiners recorded two EPs earlier this year. The New York independent label Totally Real Records saw potential in these: Clients + Carriers have been gathered into a double album, released on December 4th, and the decision makes sense upon listening.
Wren Kitz - "Early Worm" | Album Review
Wren Kitz’s music is tense with contrasts: with his sweet falsetto, he’s capable of working within traditional folk song structures; as a student of tape recordings, he also dissolves himself into mysterious noise. Early Worm, is carefully constructed, going from more traditional forms to the hiss of lo-fi feedback immediately afterwards.
Airhead DC - "Busted Sermon" | Album Review
Contrary to Airhead DC’s previous release, the reflectively dense Crush Hi, the goal was to create something simple, dreamy, and capable of being recorded on a four-track tape recorder, he said. To his credit, the resulting effort, Busted Sermon, which is just six songs long, accomplishes that rather admirably.
Tadzio - "That Cold Grey Light" | Album Review
Indie rock ensemble Tadzio’s latest record, That Cold Grey Light, carries a title conveying a bleak lifelessness; likewise, the music is imbued with a sense of sacrifice, and death. An unmistakable feeling of doom hovers over the album like a black cloud, but not at the expense of moments of refined beauty.
Laundromat - "Green EP" | Album Review
In just three tracks, Laundromat manages to conjure full-flavored textures that bely the snappiness of the EP. Lo-fi production ties the triptych together so it’s a testament to his innovation that so many textures and layers are evident on Green. Loops and harmonies worm themselves through the tracks, often from unexpected points.
Necrot - "Mortal" | Album Review
The ambition of Necrot is high and can be read as pompous going into the album cycle for Mortal: create a death metal classic. All the necessary components in the genre are here. The riffs are endless and plentiful; there’s plenty of blast beats to pound against your brain; and of course the lyrics deal in the particular tropes of nihilism.
