Omni’s Sub Pop debut represents the group’s best work to date as the band flexes their compositional prowess and demonstrates their growth as songwriters. The post-punk edge of their earlier work is still found on Networker, but their songs have a newfound sense of direction and convey a distinct feeling of progress.
Inspired by and echoing the theories of 20th-century Marxist playwright Bertolt Brecht, the themes on Peel Dream Magazine’s latest EP, Up & Up, play out like “a little Brechtian play,” according to the band’s founder, Joe Stevens. In their press materials, Stevens continued,“ ‘Up & Up’ is literally about feeling manipulated by the theatre of crap art.”
Just like a good horror or sci-fi movie, outside-the-box albums can make us see the world in new ways. While The Gerbils clearly took influence from The Beatles, Beach Boys, and 60s psychedelia, Are You Sleepy is a ramshackle pop record that defies genre boundaries in favor of catchy, weird songwriting.
Knocked Loose has ripped punk rock a new one, and now the rest of us can feast on the bounty of brutality they have wrought upon the scene. The first minute of A Different Shade of Blue sets the tone for the entire album with squalling feedback and a thunderous death metal groove at full gate, picking up intensity by dipping into a thorny breakdown only to emerge into a stumbling crawl through a razor lined corridor of regret.
It begins off-kilter, somewhat unsettled and stays for a moment but lays in quick: anthemic guitar work, yowling sax, and the chords changing on the last eighth of the bar (that classic anticipation and lift). And, my god, the vocals… Who is singing and who teaches one to sing like that? Such strength and wildness,
The solo debut album from Wilder Maker frontperson Gabriel Birnbaum works in a familiar solemn folky vein with some occasional flourishes to brighten up the atmosphere. Not Alone forsakes the instrumental strength and orchestration of his band for a back to basics approach showing the strength and skill of Birnbaum as a songwriter.
Is Path Warm? is both an easy and interesting listen, an album of catchy earworms and Elliott Smith-esque intricacies. Acoustic ballads seamlessly wedge themselves between punky bangers with a softer edge. Regardless of the tonal feel of a track, the lyrical depth of each song provides food for thought beyond the intrigue of the music itself.
An imperfectly perfect pop record (or perhaps it’s a perfectly imperfect one?), Somebody Else’s Song subverts your expectations by changing itself from song-to-song, while maintaining its own distinct cohesive identity. It’s this willingness to throw a curveball that makes the record wonderfully cohesive.
Means to Me is a meditation on the notions of place and time. It was written after a series of upheavals in Bear’s life: uprooting to tour the country with Japanese Breakfast, then moving back to her hometown of New Brunswick, New Jersey to complete her degree, only to find all of her friends and past loves long gone.
As is maybe to be expected, love and loss are at the very heart of Lost Wisdom pt. 2—while Phil Elverum’s late wife Geneviève is never mentioned by name, her presence lingers across every note. The album leans into its own contradictory nature, pairing spacious silences with hurried guitar drones and measured poetry with unbridled grief.
Week of Charm is the sophomore release from Fern Mayo, the nom de plume of Katie Capri, following 2015’s Happy Forever EP and one that delivers a fuller more developed sound. Capri’s debut was a mix of agitated guitar pop along with sparse semi-ballads, whereas this new release is filled with lush and wave-like atmospherics.
Their last album saw the band embracing a slightly funkier sound, and this latest EP, What Would The Odd Do?, is probably the band’s most accessible music to date. They’ve rounded out some of the more aggressive, dissonant edges, but remain as engaging as ever, constantly finding new ways to surprise you and pull you in.
It took the duo two years to write and record, and in that time they changed lineups and landscapes, moving from Santiago, Chile to New York, where Appel had lived previously. Now we look back on their record and its b-sides, released this past July, which together create a thorough fuzz dreamscape.
A Jump From The High Dive signals a change in Henry’s approach to songwriting. The melodies are as strong as ever, but his pop-forward approach is now married with a more patient ear for detail. Where Fink felt like it sprang out of Henry’s fingertips, A Jump From The High Dive feels more considered and carefully crafted.
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