The trio, comprised of Bella Mazzetti, Lily Mastrodimos, and Dre Szegedy-Maszak, rip through 9 songs in 20 minutes, relentlessly distorting, shredding, and rocking out. This is an incredibly fun album to listen to -- it pairs pop-songwriting sensibility with the perfect amount of “fuck you”, and truly could not be bothered to operate otherwise.
In the years since Jeff Buckley’s infamous drowning at the age of 30, his unreleased and unfinished work has seen light through a handful of posthumous collections. The announcement of yet another, You and I, came as no great surprise, but left many wondering how much of the singer-songwriter there could possibly be left to share. As it turns out, You and I is one of the most compelling releases of Buckley’s material – not for its complete or realized nature, but because of its palpable intimacy.
What we get on this first proper album is a remarkably (even surprisingly) refined and well-produced foray into Sunwatchers' world of labyrinthian jams, as they double back and build, guitar and saxophone lines snaking their way alongside one another, forking off into wandering variations before rejoining in triumphant refrain.
Yuck is a band whose name in turns defines and disguises them. At times their music has been wonderfully ugly, changing pop-rock songs to fuzzy, grime-coated anthems. At other times they employ a gentle touch and all but beg to be understood and felt on a deeper level. Both of these methods have worked for the band in the past, but the challenge has been marrying these two discordant identities.
Bay Area, California upstarts Never Young continue their upward trajectory with their latest offering, NY Singles Tape. They continue to blend the organic with the ethereal and otherworldly on this three song collection of singles. Featuring members of much-loved Bay Area bands like Calculator, Toner, and Happy Diving; what was once a two piece consisting of co-songwriters Christopher Adams and Nikolas Soelter is now a full-fledged quartet featuring bassist Niko Escudero and drummer Samuelito Cruz.
Led by Becca Ryskalczyk, the recently transplanted Brooklyn-based band have generated a handful of songs checkered with fuzz, soft vocal melody, punctuating bass, and sinuous drums. The sometimes quivering, sometimes belting voice of Ryskalczyk maintains a sense of order and control over the ever-shifting dynamic.
Recorded and filmed live in Tokyo, Deerhoof’s Fever 121614 is a multimedia offering (video & audio) that, in 40 minutes, compacts 10+ years of music into a tightly tailored, 12 track live set. It’s the perfect intro into Deerhoof’s expansive and eccentric discography for a new listener, and a brilliant reminder to old fans why this band is so, so important.
Life is Alright, Everybody Dies is a complex beast, and one that requires numerous listens to fully engage. Kal Marks are making a brand of catharsis rock that seems content being deeply isolated from a wider audience -- it’d be a stretch to say that Shane wants everyone to understand what he’s created. This benefits Kal Marks though, as they’re one of the bands that make their name finding a middle ground between relatability and extraordinary talent.
Wronger, released late last year, is the band's second full-length and, like its predecessor, it is full of the gravelly noise rock that its members are known for making throughout their careers. Comparisons to those earlier projects, along with bands like Atlanta's Whores or Athens, GA's Jucifer will surely abound, but what sets PIGS apart from their brethren is how much more they are.
While this collaborative effort between post-metal shoegazers Jesu and confessional crooner Sun Kil Moon doesn’t quite creep its way toward words like masterpiece or classic, it is an impressively rich and engaging musical experiment – a coalescence of disparate sensibilities that form something new, if not entirely unique.
The third full-length output from Aaron Maine as Porches, his first for Domino Records, is among other things, a noted departure from Slow Dance in the Cosmos. On Pool, Maine, and by extension the band, trade warm rock for a far colder sound – mostly eschewing live drums and guitars and instead working primarily with a varied palate of bass tones and synthesizers.
