We ultimately desire that unshakable foundation of truth we once knew amidst this mosaic of chaos that surrounds us - real recognizes real, as they say. Imaginary Everything, the collaborative effort from Namir Blade and producer L'Orange, offers this truth, one way or the other - it offers us a sanctuary from the greater storm of insincere pathos.
Fingers Crossed is the first album by the new project of Christina Riley, formerly of Burnt Palms. The record is packed with jaunty and bouncing pop melodies full of heartache and reminiscences done with a deft hand. Riley truly has a way with harmonies that resonates, triggering memories of past artists while adding enough twists.
On Dissolution Wave, Cloakroom shows that they know the assignment and end up delivering the best album of their career. The band seems ready to reel in some of the riff-driven songwriting of their previous records and hone in more on atmosphere and soundscapes accompanying more bare boned songwriting from Doyle Martin.
ROCK formed after MALK’s tweet and Chris Adams’ (Hood/Bracket) reply. The former was in search of a vocalist and the latter obliged. The proposed task: MALK was looking for autotune vocals on a “10 track Elliot Smith/Alex G album.” Adams said ‘done’ and does a proper good job and more on the duo’s excellent self-titled debut.
Reptaliens’ latest release Multiverse is a kaleidoscope, refracting the daily minutiae of lockdown life into a technicolor vision. You may recognize the band’s work from their sci-fi tinged catalog, which explores everything ranging from post-humanism to conspiracy theories to Philip K. Dick’s tales of techno-dystopia
Self-labeled as “a poor man’s jazz” and “working-class krautrock,” Oruã released their third record, Íngreme, on October 29, 2021. The krautrock influence is apparent, but you’ll hear more psychedelic rock than jazz. Regardless of labels, self-applied or otherwise, Íngreme is an eclectic mix of songs.
When our last great hope is good music then we should look to bands like Yard Act for it. The Overload proves itself as something important by acknowledging its unimportance. Yard Act doesn’t take themselves too seriously, and it’s refreshing to hear an album that doesn’t think it’s the most important thing in the world.
Comprised of members of Cloud Nothings, Profligate, The Mind, and more Cleveland rock legends, Fashion Pimps & The Glamazons lunge forward with mutant post-punk, blending no-wave, noise, and more into an alarming yet danceable seven tracks that clock in under twenty total minutes. Each track is infectious, curious, and off-kilter.
Favoring that lo-fi Guide By Voices type approach of recording anywhere you can, from basements to practice spaces, Settle does remix the material professionally (this time around Justin Pizzoferrato, to give it a more polished sound while still retaining that buzz and rush his combination of power pop and punky garage creates.
The songs on Devil Kids— a live album constructed from the audio captured by the four camera mics of a December basement-livestream— are energetic, matured, dare-I-say improved (in the way songs are after sitting with a band for years) versions of studio recordings with the palpable energy of a group that loves playing together.
There’s beauty in the darkness. On Bloodmoon: I — a collaboration from Converge and Chelsea Wolfe, along with Stephen Brodsky of Cave In and Mutoid Man — there is more than enough of both. What started as a live collaboration has resurfaced with eleven tracks plunging you into the cauldron of Converge at their spaciest.
The songs on HOUSE OF CONFUSION benefit from Benton’s workmanlike approach. Each tune sounds so effortlessly poignant that one assumes the album was written in a single afternoon, sitting on a riverbank in golden sunshine, guitar in hand. But any good craftsperson knows, it takes a ton of effort to appear effortless.
Fifteen years after their seminal album release and subsequent break-up, Failure has recorded one of their strongest efforts yet. Wild Type Droid is shorter (clocking in at 40 minutes over ten tracks), more direct (gone are the ambient segues from previous albums), and heavier (lots of baritone guitar and Fender Bass VI).
Sloppy Jane has been evolving for years and is the brainchild of singer/composer Haley Dahl, who created the group when she was fifteen. This latest release along with the previous album seem like companion pieces, but where Willow took an Iggy Pop influenced proto-punk style, Madison is more grandiose.
Leaving None But Small Birds is representative of the past-present-future; a jewel in the circular crown of time. Big|Brave & The Body converge on their power expression, hunting the monumental grounds, rendezvousing at a location both comfortably familiar and wildly obscure: ancestral foundations known deep in one’s bones.
