Pressing Concerns: Mystery Danse, Gumfairy, Witching Waves, Postal Blue

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Well, here we are. The final Pressing Concerns of 2023. We’re nearing the end of what’s been a banner week for the blog (featuring Rosy Overdrive’s Favorite Reissues and Compilations of 2023 on Tuesday, and a Pressing Concerns featuring Axis: Sova, Sugardeer, Cast of Thousands, and a Guided by Voices cover compilation on Wednesday), as well as what’s been a banner year for Pressing Concerns. Over the course of 103 blog posts, Pressing Concerns has covered exactly 400 albums and EPs this year. That’s more than one a day! Not bad for an unknown music blog. Anyway, here is post number 103, featuring records 397 through 400: new albums from Gumfairy and Witching Waves, and new EPs from Mystery Danse and Postal Blue. We’ve still got the Rosy Overdrive Reader’s Poll to get to this week, but in terms of Pressing Concerns, we’ll see you in 2024!

If you’re looking for more new music, you can visit the site directory to see what else we’ve written about lately. If you’d like to support Rosy Overdrive, you can share this (or another) post, or donate here.

Mystery Danse – Fuck Fascism ‘23

Release date: December 13th
Record label: Model City
Genre: Lo-fi indie rock, lo-fi punk
Formats: Digital
Pull Track: Seasons Change

One of my favorite EPs of 2023 was Everything Turned Out Alright by New Haven, Connecticut power-pop-punk group Dagwood. That record cranked out one giant alt-rock-tinged hook after another across its all-too-short dozen minutes, so I was intrigued to hear that Dagwood’s bassist, Tim Casey, has a new solo project which just put out its debut EP. With Mystery Danse, Casey (who also used to play in defunct Connecticut melodic punk band Hostage Calm) is clearly embracing something more lo-fi and casual than Dagwood’s spit-polished sound. “Many of the ‘solo project’ tropes apply,” Casey self-consciously acknowledges about Fuck Fascism ‘23–presumably, he’s referring to the kind of messy, off-the-cuff home-recorded feeling that’s prevalent throughout these five tracks. As different as it is from Everything Turned Out Alright, though, I can see the links between the two–Casey brings a big, all-in energy to this seemingly low-key EP, practically willing big choruses and a dramatic flair into existence throughout the record.

“Summer Falls” kicks off the EP with some disorienting, loud pop music–there’s an odd but palpable melody at the heart of the track, but Casey layers a loud, distorted rhythm section on top of it, and then puts some smoking guitar leads on top of that. “She Sings With the Choir” is similar to the first song on Fuck Fascism ‘23 but is somehow even further into overdrive–it’s a power pop track that’s bursting at the seams, with Casey pushing through the carnage falling from the rafters to croon the titular line for all its worth. “Seasons Change” is lo-fi acoustic “side project” pop at its finest. The somewhat fuzzed-out guitar-and-vocals take of the sub-two minute song is not really any functionally different than a demo–credit to Casey for recognizing that “Seasons Change” didn’t need anything more than that. The crunchy acoustic guitar also features prominently in Fuck Fascism ‘23’s closing track, “Jewett City Vampires”, although Casey breaks out the full-band arrangement for this one as well. Mystery Danse closes out their debut EP with a piece of dynamic noise pop, vacillating between all-out instrumentation and plainer acoustic passages before actually getting a big finish together. I’ve been listening to this EP a lot over the holidays. There’s definitely something to this Mystery Danse. (Bandcamp link)

Gumfairy – We Said Bye to Kitty

Release date: November 3rd
Record label: Call Call
Genre: Lo-fi indie rock, 90s indie rock
Formats: Digital
Pull Track: Hi/Bye

Rosy Overdrive doesn’t take days off. Boston musician Christian Locke emailed me on Christmas Day about We Said Bye to Kitty, their debut release as Gumfairy, on Christmas Day–I threw it on, I started it again once the album had played through, and quickly came to the conclusion that I wanted to write about this one in Pressing Concerns before the year was out. On Gumfairy’s Bandcamp page, the record is referred to as a “personal album about [Locke’s] summer and winter after graduating high school”–given that it was recorded and written between 2021 and 2023, I’m to assume that Locke is fairly young, but they’ve got an excellent handle on making underground 90s indie rock on We Said Bye to Kitty–Modest Mouse is definitely the biggest influence on this album, but fellow Massachusettsans J. Mascis and Lou Barlow hover over these songs at times as well, plus more modern indie rock revivalists like Gnawing (and weirdly enough, I’m actually reminded of the rockier moments from the most recent Frog record on this one, too).

We Said Bye to Kitty is impressively fully-formed and developed for a debut release (ten songs, 37 minutes), and it’s got a sharp sense of both melody and dynamics that are good weapons to have in one’s arsenal when making at-times thorny-guitar-heavy indie rock. The subtle opener of “Action Figure” (which leans heavily on melodic but simple guitar lines) gives way to the explosive, Dinosaur Jr.-esque “Hi/Bye” one song later. Songs like “Umm Umm Umm” and the banjo-sporting “Go Kitty” are dead ringers for The Lonesome Crowded West-era Modest Mouse, although Locke tapers tracks like “Yesteryay” with a more 2010s-bedroom-rock sense of odd effects and suspended anonymity that help the record feel like more than just hero worship. And although We Said Bye to Kitty is far from the first such indie rock record to end with a bang, its is no less impressive of one–the pin-drop quiet “Who Let It Get So Cold?” rolls into the eight-minute, multi-movement all-out rock of “I’ll Be Alright” to cap off the album. It’s a very strong introduction to a new project, and I suspect we’ll hear more music that’s just as worthwhile from Gumfairy in the future. (Bandcamp link)

Witching Waves – Streams and Waterways

Release date: December 1st
Record label: Specialist Subject
Genre: Indie punk, alt-rock, post-punk, emo-rock
Formats: Vinyl, digital
Pull Track: Everytime

I’d vaguely recognized the band name “Witching Waves”, but I’d never really listened to them–which, after some further investigation, seems to have been an oversight on my part. The London trio have been around for a decade now, putting out albums on labels like HHBTM (My Favorite, The Garment District, The Primitives) and Specialist Subject (Long Neck, Martha, Supermilk). The latter of those two imprints is responsible for the release of Streams and Waterways, the band’s fourth full-length; on this one, founding members and band co-leaders Emma Wigham (drums) and Mark Jasper (guitar) are joined by new bassist Will Fitzpatrick (of Good Grief). Streams and Waterways is, at its core, a great power trio rock album–there’s a bit of punk, post-punk, 90s indie rock, and emo in the foundation of Witching Waves’ sound, but they’re not overly committed to the frequently suffocating orthodoxy of any of those genres, and the album resists easy categorization.

I’m struck by just how consistently hard-hitting Streams and Waterways is, particularly in its first half–“The Valley” is a fiery piece of punk-shaded alt-rock that ensures the record hits the ground running, and the chilly “Everytime” sports a thirty-second restrained intro before it gets right back into making captivating emo-y, rhythmic rock music. I think part of the reason why I hesitate to call Witching Waves a straight-up post-punk band is Wigham’s vocals–the instrumentals to “Choice You Make” and “Vessel” could easily pass as thought-up by the bands of the current revival of the genre, but Wigham’s melodic, dramatic contributions are pretty far from the droll monotone that’s currently in favor among their British peers. That being said, the Jasper-led “It’s a Shame” steers the record into new wave and almost Cure-ish territory to start to give the record some variety, and the band does relent and offer up a few relatively quiet songs (the acoustic “Open a Hole”, the restrained “Vision of You”) before closing things out with one last rocker in “Chemistry”. Brisk, efficient, and unimpeachable rock music from start to finish on this one. (Bandcamp link)

Postal Blue – Anxiety of Influence

Release date: December 7th
Record label: Self-released
Genre: Indie pop, jangle pop, C86, post-punk, college rock
Formats: Digital
Pull Track: Quiet Heart

Brazilian indie pop group Postal Blue has been around since the late 1990s, although they’ve only put out two full-lengths, 2004’s International Breeze and 2015’s Of Love & Other Affections. The band (which has become a solo project by bandleader Adriano do Couto after the initial four-piece lineup went on indefinite hiatus) had previously filled in the gap between records with EPs and singles, but they went away entirely for eight years after their last LP’s release, only resurfacing with last month’s “Chance Occurrence” single. Do Couto is planning on releasing more Postal Blue music in 2024, and he’s gotten an early jump on it with Anxiety of Influence, a five-song EP of covers that’s only available as a free download after signing up for the band’s mailing list (it’s a very 2000s-era move, but considering the current state of digital music and social media, it is, potentially, a pretty savvy one as well).

Looking at Anxiety of Influence’s tracklist, it’s abundantly clear that do Couto is paying homage to a bygone era of guitar pop music that is reflected in Postal Blue’s entire sound. The EP opens with “Brighter”, a song originally by vintage college rock group The Railway Children–do Couto begins the song with some hypnotizing synths before transitioning to a more traditional post-punk/new wave structure to communicate the earnestness at the heart of the track. Postal Blue’s version of “Quiet Heart” by The Go-Betweens (which is the only song available on streaming services as a sampling of the collection) is a balance of tuneful guitars, with steady power chords, pleasantly strummed acoustic chords, and jangly, rippling melodic leads all making up the track (plus some harmonica–why not?). Do Couto balances “wistful” and “upbeat” in a way reflecting many college rock “hits” of the past on Anxiety of Influence–his version of Wild Swans’ “Northern England” is all New Order-y propulsive new wave, while “Josef’s Gone” (originally by June Brides) sends the EP off with a big, stuffed finish, featuring prominent melodic bass, upfront percussion, and soaring violins. For fans of this strain of indie pop and rock music, checking out Anxiety of Influence is worth letting Postal Blue into your inbox. (Mailing list link)

Also notable (Stolen from Other People’s Year-End Lists Edition):

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