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.
Last year’s Yalc Nitsua Mailliw found Yalc123 taking on a new approach to songwriting. By writing melodies first, followed by lyrics, then chord progressions, they worked from top to bottom, essentially working “in reverse.” We were able to catch up with Yalc over Zoom about their creative process, musical inspiration, Texas and more.
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.
With over fifteen years spent playing together, three EPs, and a handful of singles and splits, the trio is set to release their debut full length, They Birds, via Controlled Burn Records. The album could only have been recorded at Electrical Audio and mastered by Bob Weston, because after all we are talking Chicago post-hardcore 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.
It took a global pandemic to get Blessed to stop touring. The road heavy experimental quartet may not be playing shows, but they’re still busy sharpening their ever changing craft. Set to release III on February 19th via Flemish Eye, the band’s latest continues to prove why they are one of Canada’s most exciting bands.
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.
The Deals are now your new favorite family band. The Chicago-based quintet released Clear and Severe at the end of January and holy cow. If you’ve ever enjoyed pop music in the slightest, you will find something to enjoy on The Deals’ debut. The band discuss their album, Fountains of Wayne, The Beatles, and more.
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.
“Me Or The Party #165” is the second single off Yukon artist Whitney K's debut record Two Years, out February 19th on Maple Death. The first single was a strolling AM radio groove reminiscent of the best of Smog. This is a sing-along ballad, with liquified country western slide guitar and a vocal delivery reminiscent of 70's Waylon Jennings.
