Stay Gone, a record the band describes as five years in the making, sees the band leveling up, finally giving their songs the treatment they deserve. Everything is at the exact right levels. The guitars are huge and the vocals sound clear, but it doesn’t come at the expense of the drums, the instrument that is the driving force for the band.
Titled Somewhere, the album’s lyrics form the “somewhere,” produced by the emotional gravity marked by important places in a person’s life. The album gives off the distinct feeling of being on a journey, not simply changing of locations but being in transit due to the ever-quickening passage of time.
After six years without an album, German 'indietronica' band The Notwist return with Vertigo Days, their best effort since Neon Golden. Allowing their influences of krautrock bands such as Can or indie pop groups such as Stereolab to shine through, the band is able to make something very special here.
The album that this EP accompanies was one of 2020’s most unexpected successes, a collaboration between differing shades of alternative metal that dovetailed excellently. The unique match-up between Rundle and Thou was so strong that the best compliment that could be paid to The Helm of Sorrow is that it’s able to stand on its own.
Zany and true to form, Palberta5000 connotes a souped up version of what makes Palberta, Palberta and that’s what they deliver, no loss for stripes. Plucking elements from girl groups, 80s twee, no wave, basement DIY, and beyond, the band take their keyed up, frenetic style and elasticize it into buoyant, taut, fully fledged pop songs.
First Encounters is a journey from the very first second. The first track, “Evidence of New Gravitation,” starts off already walking, as if you had been following the sound through large corridors until finally reaching the right one and opening the right door to catch the exact right second of the Spiral Wave Nomads jamming.
Shame’s new album is a tale of two contradictions: it’s named for an allegedly soothing shade of paint color but the music on the album is anything but nullifying; it’s another sophomore album focused on the exhaustion and disillusionment of extensive post-debut touring that manages to avoid the cliched pitfalls of that album type.
With the wild live performers now castrated, their album does enough to capture the energetic essence of a Viagra Boys gig. The Stockholm band’s music must always be taken with a pinch of salt and, luckily, the chaotic, ecstatic, and lurid Welfare Jazz manages to be sleazy and provocative without descending into full caricature.
Lande Hekt has a lot of questions. On her debut solo album, Going to Hell, the Muncie Girls’ leader fills the space by speaking uncertainties. The album’s lead single, “Whiskey,” is made entirely of questions and finds Hekt asking them over distorted strumming. While none of them get answered, that’s more the point.
The germination of An Unexpected Reality dates back to 2019, when the band was fresh off the release of their second record Deserted. At the time, writing a followup record felt like a daunting task, due to internal and external pressures. Instead, they decided to try a new creative exercise—make their version of Black Flag’s My War.
Groupie has zoomed in on its vulnerabilities to examine what they’re made of while zooming out to apply those examinations to a larger social critique. Ephemeral says so much without condescending, a testament to lyricists Ashley Kossakowski and Johanna Healy for handling complicated subject matter with introspection and empathy.
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.
“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.
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.
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 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.
