Pressing Concerns: American Motors, The Low Field, Jealous Yellow, Puddled

Posted byrosyoverdrivePosted inPressing ConcernsTags:, , , , , , , ,

On this fine Tuesday, a brand new Pressing Concerns looks at new albums from the likes of American Motors, The Low Field, and Jealous Yellow, as well as the debut EP from Puddled. It’s a great and eclectic set, and if you missed what we looked at yesterday (Langkamer, Seafoam Walls, Humdrum, and Ironic Hill), check that post out, too.

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.

American Motors – Content

Release date: October 4th
Record label: Expert Work/The Ghost Is Clear
Genre: Noise rock, post-hardcore, post-rock, post-punk
Formats: Vinyl, digital
Pull Track: Colonial Lanes

Those of you who are here for the times when Pressing Concerns covers upbeat, catchy guitar pop records are permitted to skip this one. American Motors are from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but that’s not important–they could be from anywhere in the United States that’s far away enough from bustling urban centers but close enough that the ruins of something once more lively hover around unavoidably. They’re a trio, led by the songwriting duo of Dustin Travis White (guitar) and Alex Steward (drums), with Brad Williams joining them on bass for their first album, Content. American Motors recorded the album with J. Robbins, who helped them zero in on a Rust Belt-inspired post-punk/noise rock/post-rock sound, keenly sharpened and honed much more finely than a lot of bands in their shoes would dare to even attempt. White and Steward apparently reworked the songs several times before finally going in to record them, referring to the process as “noise rock Steely Dan”–whatever they had to do to get there, though, it’s hard to argue with how immaculately Content works as a sum of its parts. 

American Motors understand that the monster you can’t see is even scarier, and Content utilizes a huge amount of empty space to hover around the edges of these songs. Williams’ bass is essential for that notes that do get played, while the record’s characters always seem to be in real, palpable danger, running from something or provoking someone or something they shouldn’t have (and, if they’re not, they’re dispassionately watching the plights of those who are, not even bothering to muster up a “whew, glad that isn’t me”). Opening track “Colonial Lanes” is a shapeless, formless post-noise rock soundscape, the narration getting overtaken by moments of atmospheric instrumentals and a few genuine “rock” sections. If you’re looking for more pyrotechnics, American Motors eventually offer a few more up in “(A Billboard Reading) Dissolve Jefferson”, which eventually burns up over its six-minute length, and the bass-anchored “Three Crosses”, which is the American Motors’ minimal version of heavy alt-rock like Failure and Hum.

Not that Content is ever not dark, but the clearer its surroundings come into focus, the bleaker it feels. In the frantic “Tamarack”, the titular off-Interstate tourist trap becomes just another place for the song’s subject–doomed by an unseen, unknown force to a life on the run–to hide until it’s time to move on yet again. The closing sucker punch of “The Former Mall Anchor Store Call Center Blues”, which traces the lifespan of the mall-turned-call center-turned-“closed”, says all you need to know about that one, and in “There Is a Twin”, paranoia and confusion finally bubble up to the surface in the form of plowing-forward alt-rock riffs and some creepy, Pile-esque imagery and storytelling. The cavernous emptiness falls away on Content’s closing track, “Statues”, replaced by a wave of static and fuzz that accompanies the band’s hammering away at more noise rock/post-punk infrastructure. “We need more blood from the host,” American Motors ominously intone over and over again in “Statues”, expertly mimicking the forces of extraction that created the world around them. (Bandcamp link)

The Low Field – The Low Field

Release date: October 18th
Record label: Self-released
Genre: Emo, slowcore, post-rock
Formats: Vinyl, digital
Pull Track: Heaviness

The Low Field are a new band from Limerick, Ireland made up of musicians from the city’s other groups–one of the two vocalist/guitarists, Diarmuid O’Shea, plays in Casavettes, the other one, Danny O’Shea (I don’t know if they’re related or if it’s just a common Irish surname) plays in Deadbog, and both members of the rhythm section (drummer Brendan McInerney and bassist Mícheál Keating) are from Bleeding Heart Pigeons. The band first came together in 2021 “as a direct result of” a shared admiration for the album Ground Aswim by North Carolina emo project Sinai Vessel, and this reference point puts us at least somewhat close to what we hear on the group’s self-titled debut album (following the “Heaviness / Tachycardia” single last year, both sides of which ended up on the LP). “Limerick based quiet then loud then quiet” reads The Low Field’s Bandcamp description, an accurate summation of their record’s sweeping sound that incorporates a bit of chilly, emo-ish indie rock, but also a bit of slowcore and even orchestral post-rock (thanks to Keating’s violin). The guitars display a minimal, decorative touch, then roar into full force and then recede, all the while the O’Sheas guide the songs from understated to full-on emo-rock territory with their vocals.

Everyone loves a good pin-drop-quiet six-minute opening track, and The Low Field are more than happy to oblige with “Heaviness”. In terms of pure noise, it’s certainly not the “heaviest” moment on The Low Field, but its crushing, slow-crawl attitude for the majority of its runtime ensures that it does in fact live up to its title in its own way. “Heaviness” does build to a crescendo, but it steps back almost as soon as it reaches it, so it’s still a bit of a jolt when the mid-tempo electric guitars introduce “Stomach Ache” (even though the track largely still finds The Low Field in “meandering” mode, just with the volume raised a little bit). As the record progresses, we start to get a handle on The Low Field, a band that indeed loves to begin in a dingy basement of languid guitar leads only to charge into something louder and stormy by the end of the track (see “The Urgency” and “Gather”). The five-minute emo overload of “Tachycardia” injects just a bit of post-hardcore messiness into The Low Field’s refined sound, although this second-half highlight is soon tempered by a (equally strong) diversion into lengthy shimmering instrumentals with “Reuntied”. It’s a really solid first record on the whole–listening back to it, I think I find the “quiet” parts on The Low Field the most rewarding, but, the moments where the band snap into the “loud” portion of their sound are key to underscoring the true range of what The Low Field are pulling off here. (Bandcamp link)

Jealous Yellow – Czech Vampires

Release date: October 14th
Record label: Erste Theke Tonträger/Sifter Grim
Genre: Synthpunk, art punk, garage punk, post-hardcore, post-punk, noise rock
Formats: Vinyl, digital
Pull Track: Hypotenuse

Benjamin Rea has played in a bunch of bands in his native Seattle (Laminate, Diirt, Reverse Death, and Soda Gumball), the majority of which are associated with local labels Sifter Grim and Half Shell. The former of those two imprints also released the debut album from Rea’s solo project, Jealous Yellow–2021’s Sugarweeper, which was the result of Rea being stuck in his studio apartment during the early stages of COVID-19. The second Jealous Yellow LP, Czech Vampires, is the product of the pandemic too, in a way–while touring the first record in Europe, Rea caught the virus and subsequently had to quarantine in a hostel in Prague for two weeks, leading to the conception of most of these songs. Co-released by Sifter Grim and Erste Theke Tonträger (Public Interest, Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice, Supercrush), Czech Vampires is a classic freak punk LP–it’s synth-punk but with plenty of interesting guitarplay, equally likely to lapse into a tortured Brainiac-like post-hardcore flameout or a curious, arty no wave disintegration like a more irritated Pere Ubu. The fourteen-song, forty-two minute record is an exhaustive journey, continually chipping away at a punk rock mountain and dropping bizarre but potent nuggets right up until the noise collage that closes the album.

Not that Czech Vampires is going to be recognized as “pop music” by most people, but opening track “Hypotenuse” is a welcome mat for those open to the contradiction, offering up a propulsive piece of garage-y egg punk that’s about as pleasing-sounding as this kind of thing comes. “Pop Fiction!” does a similar thing but with minimal synthpunk, letting Rea go absolutely wild over top of a slick, minimal groove. Almost every moment on Czech Vampires feels like a reset of some kind–“Sweat Our Yr Good Clothes” lives up to its title by introducing the idea of slow-burning, steadily-building post-punk to the mix, “Baker’s Dozen” suggesting that Jealous Yellow can be just as potent by dropping the outward aggression and embracing their insular weirdness. The only rule of Czech Vampires is that there aren’t any rules, which starts to make stop-and-start warped journeys like “Sticky Plate/Tired of Being Good” and the title track as well as the no wave horns of “Perms for Pearl” make more sense. Of course, Jealous Yellow pretty much always approach Czech Vampires like it’s the most natural thing in the world, which goes a long way towards the coherence of the album (and, you know, throwing in cathartic punk rippers like “Dirty Hand” throughout the record helps, too). The aforementioned closing jumble of “Let’s Lay an Egg” is the final boss, layering discordant synths, manipulated vocals, and rhythmic excerpts together with a clear-eyed sense of purpose that Jealous Yellow have spent an entire album honing. (Bandcamp link)

Puddled – Puddled

Release date: September 26th
Record label: Crafted Sounds
Genre: Fuzz rock, noise pop, 90s indie rock, alt-rock, grunge-gaze
Formats: CD, cassette, digital
Pull Track: Bleed

Puddled are a new band out of Philadelphia formed by a couple of ex-Baltimore rockers–vocalist/guitarist Naomi Davidoff played in Spooled Up, and Kyle Balkin in Leisure Sport. For their self-titled debut EP, they’re a quartet joined by the rhythm section of Laura Banner (bass) and Jesse Hutchison (drums), while Samuel Acchione (of Alex G’s band), who they tapped to produce the record, also contributes keyboard and guitar. Puddled is out via stalwart shoegaze/noise pop label Crafted Sounds, and it’s a natural fit, although Puddled are not quite as interested in textured guitar layers as some of their peers. The seven-song introduction to the quartet is full-on fuzz pop at its most electric and catchy, feeling closer to bands like Superchunk, The Breeders, or even Screaming Females than your canonical shoegaze acts. Davidoff is a strong and attention-grabbing vocalist, holding her own among the rest of the band’s spirited blasts of noise. Though it’s only eighteen minutes long, Puddled finds space for both power-punk bullet trains and some more contemplative moments, too, providing examples of the full range of Davidoff’s songwriting in a fuzzed-out but easy-to-digest package.

Puddled kick off their on-record debut with their version of a slow burn in “This Time”. The song, which does seem to draw from the disintegration of a relationship, isn’t quite the band’s own “Like a Fool”, but it does take about a minute to properly kick in and let the cathartic fuzzed-out melodies flow. “Bleed” is the sound of the dam fully breaking, an all-in fuzz-pop-rocker that demonstrates that, while Puddled may love distorted guitars, they’re hardly gazing down at their feet when it comes to energy. A sturdy and consistent debut record, just about every song on Puddled is worth a mention–it’s hard not to root for a band that pulls together a stretch like the melodic tornado of “Bleed”, the dreamy, propulsive “Same”, and the fuzz-punk-in-a-blender “Between”.  Puddled call themselves a “grunge and alternative rock band”, which is probably more accurate than shoegaze–even on the lighter songs on the EP, like the (initially) low-key “Tides”, there are both kinetic guitars and powerhouse drumming from Hutchinson to continue Puddled’s impressive streak. Our clearest glimpse at Puddled might come in the EP’s final track, “Space”, which leaves just enough of the absence implied by its title around Davidoff’s vocals to present a transparent picture. Of course, Puddled end the song (and subsequently the record) by launching into a huge, instrumental, melodic outro, so don’t worry about any deficiencies in that department, either. (Bandcamp link)

Also notable:

Leave a comment