Welcome to the Thursday edition of Pressing Concerns! Today, we’re looking at three great albums that are coming out tomorrow, courtesy of Connections, The Natural Lines, and SLOT, and we also have the Quiz Show album from last week to discuss. If you missed the Monday edition, an eclectic one covering R.J.F., Feast of the Epiphany, Weird Numbers, and Spencer Dobbs, I recommend checking that one 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.
Connections – Cool Change
Release date: March 24th Record label: Trouble in Mind Genre: Lo-fi power pop Formats: Vinyl, cassette, digital Pull Track: In Space
Connections make classic rock for a small subsection of us. They rose from the ashes of 90s indie rock group 84 Nash, and between Ron House, Guided by Voices, and Times New Vikings, have been connected to several decades’ worth of a certain brand of underdog Ohio indie rock. Connections got off to a sprint upon conception in the early 2010s, releasing five full-lengths from 2013 to 2018, all of which are excellent power pop records–their debut Private Airplane may be “the one”, but 2016’s Midnight Run and 2018’s Foreign Affairs easily kept the quality at a similar level into their fourth and fifth outings. The five-year gap between the latter of those two and their newest record, Cool Change, then, is somewhat surprising; keeping things coordinated with a band of this size (they expanded to a six-piece during this LP’s recording) during a pandemic likely was difficult, so Connections went on ice for a bit. Lead songwriter Andy Hampel made a quality solo album. Bassist Philip Kim joined former member Adam Elliott’s new band, Long Odds.
But with Cool Change, their second album for Trouble in Mind, Connections are back. And, as opening track and lead single “In Space” makes quite clear, it’s not a soft re-launch. The five-minute introduction roars to life with a sense of clarity and purpose, kicking things into overdrive with its busy and appropriately spacey-sounding chorus. While the rest of Cool Change doesn’t quite shoot for the same level of gravitas, shades of it touch the eleven tracks of vintage Connections pop-rock hookiness that follow. While the suave power pop of “Slow Ride” could’ve appeared on any Connections album in some form, it’s presented here in a way such that all of its elements–jammy lead guitars, a melodic bassline, and, most surprisingly, some new wave-y Cars synths– get a chance to shine individually.
Smack dab in the middle of Cool Change, the 90-second downcast jangle of “I Confess” feels like an odd choice for a single, but it’s a captivating exercise in subtlety for the band (especially in context, where it comes in between two big-sounding heavy hitters in “Steppin’ Out” and “It’s a Start”). Connections have always been a remarkably consistent group, so it’s no surprise that the back half of Cool Change possibly bests the A-side, both in terms of tracks that sport the “classic” Connections sound (“Let Me Eat Cake” and “Unsolved Mysteries”) and in the more “pensive” department (“Vacationland” and closing track “You Are All You Need”, both of which push the band’s chiming guitar pop into more meditative and/or haggard places). With a half-dozen records under their belt (and no plans to slow down for another half-decade now), Connections remain at their peak. (Bandcamp link)
The Natural Lines – The Natural Lines
Release date: March 24th Record label: Bella Union Genre: Folk rock, chamber folk Formats: Vinyl, CD, digital Pull Track: Alex Bell
Matt Pond PA was a fixture in 2000s indie folk rock, never finding themselves as the buzz band of the month but rather putting out records at a steady, workmanlike clip starting with their 1998 debut. Matt Pond declared his intention to retire the “Matt Pond PA” band name in 2017, although miscellaneous collections and reissues of Pond material continued to surface under the moniker until the announcement of a new Pond-led band, The Natural Lines, last year. The debut Natural Lines record was 2022’s First Five EP, which was an intriguing mix of upbeat pop rock (“It’s a Trap”), classic Pond folk (“The End of the World”), and more synth-based forays (“Spontaneous Skylights 2”). Perhaps in the interest of making a more thought-out formal opening statement, the self-titled Natural Lines full-length record doesn’t do as much genre-hopping as the EP, instead opting to focus and develop a full-sounding, well–orchestrated folk rock sound across its eleven songs.
The Natural Lines’ opening track, “Monotony”, is a classic Pond-penned tune, a wide-eyed piece of sweeping folk rock that wields its title deftly–declaring Pond’s capacity to find inspiration a few decades and over a dozen albums into this whole “singer-songwriter” thing. “No More Tragedies” and “HELP” help give the early part of the record and electric flavor, although the guitars don’t overwhelm the songs and instead sit nicely among several other contributions from the nine or so other musicians taking part in The Natural Lines. The midsection of The Natural Lines, where Pond and his bandmates lean into the “chamber folk” side of their sound, is the most rewarding over time–“Alex Bell” and “Spontaneous Skylights” float along, while in between, “My Answer” shapes the sound of The Natural Lines into something dramatic and frantic. Not every song on The Natural Lines is built to pop out immediately like “Monotony” or mid-record anthem “A Scene That Will Never Die”, but there are rewards hidden all throughout the record if one looks for them. (Bandcamp link)
SLOT – Limbo
Release date: March 24th Record label: Self-released Genre: Noise rock, post-punk, industrial pop Formats: Cassette, digital Pull Track: Doctor
Baltimore has been a sneaky hotbed for offbeat music of several stripes in recent years, from the fluttery psych-pop of Tomato Flower to Smoke Bellow’s minimalist post-punk to the bluesy noise rock of Gloop. The latter of those three bands features Max Detrich, who is also one-half of SLOT, along with Abby Chapple. In his other band, Detrich makes skewered Americana-flavored punk rock inspired by Captain Beefheart and the Butthole Surfers, but SLOT is noisy rock music of a decidedly different flavor. The nine songs on their debut album, LIMBO, are made up mostly of a drum machine backbeat, bass guitar, and Chapple’s memorable, sneering vocals. A self-described “industrial pop” duo, LIMBO lives up to this billing–equal parts catchy and seething, all parts in-your-face completely.
Sure, the average song on LIMBO is fairly barebones structurally, but SLOT never once leave you with the question of “is it enough?”–it’s more than. Opening track “Dig In” establishes that from the very beginning–the pounding drum machine, the lumbering bass guitar, and Chapple’s demented taunt of a vocal all leave very little breathing room for anything else, anyway. “Doctor” and “Sick Joke” keep this sound rolling in the record’s first half, prowling through some aggro-danceable noise rock. LIMBO is a tough record through and through, although the songs that emphasize the band’s industrial-pop side (“Pop!”, “Minto”) feel a little less threatening. The second half of LIMBO contains both the album’s heaviest song (“Peel”, which tilts toward drum-machine-metal) and the most purely industrial (the conveyor belt lurch of “Pearl”), but SLOT make sure to end things with the noisy dance party that is “Drusilla”. (Bandcamp link)
Quiz Show – Quiz Show
Release date: March 17th Record label: Magic Door Genre: Post-punk, post-hardcore, alt-rock Formats: Digital Pull Track: What If?
Chris Matthews was a founding guitarist in legendary D.C. post-hardcore group Shudder to Think, playing with them from 1986 to 1994 and contributing to all of their Dischord Records-era albums. After leaving Shudder to Think, Matthews pretty much stepped away from music–until about a half-decade ago, when he emerged with a new band, Quiz Show. Quiz Show singles began to show up in 2018, recorded at Magic Door Studios in Montclair, New Jersey with producer Ray Ketchem and drummer Kevin March–who, interestingly enough, also played with Shudder to Think, joining a couple of years after Matthews left (another Shudder to Think member, reunion-era bassist Jesse Krakow, is involved with Quiz Show–he did not contribute to the original singles, but is in the current lineup of the band).
Quiz Show’s self-titled debut full-length mostly collects the singles that Matthews recorded between 2017 and 2020, with a couple of previously-unreleased tracks thrown in as well. Quiz Show certainly sounds like the work of musicians that came up in Dischord-era D.C. Matthews’ songwriting style hews more toward the early “surging, alt-rock/punk anthem” side of his old band, less so the more offbeat material they’d make in their later records. It’s not a one-note collection, though–the full-throated singalongs like “Almost Famous” and “Pom Pom Boy” are Quiz Show’s predominant mode, but they deviate from it from the beginning (the thorny opening track “Sound of Kissing”) to the end (woozy, multi-part album closer “Mannequin Sun”) of the record. Sometimes Quiz Show pulls off the transition in the same song, like when the roiling verses of “What If” erupt into a pop-punk chorus. Matthews didn’t lose his ability to make rousing music while away from recording–Quiz Show is nothing but proof of that. (Bandcamp link)
Welcome to a new week, and a new edition of Pressing Concerns. This is one of the weirder editions of the year so far (and I mean that in the best way possible); today we’re looking at new records from R.J.F., Feast of the Epiphany, Weird Numbers, and Spencer Dobbs.
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.
R.J.F. – Going Strange
Release date: March 17th Record label: Self-released Genre: Post-punk, experimental rock, minimalism, dub Formats: Digital Pull Track: Cutting
Ross John Farrar has plenty of credits to his name already–he’s been the longtime lead singer of beloved California punk band Ceremony, and more recently has fronted SPICE as well, in addition to being a published poet. Two things that Farrar hasn’t been, however, are a recording musician (handling only vocal duties in his bands up to this point) and a solo artist–both of which have now changed with the release of Going Strange, his debut release as R.J.F. While Ceremony’s more recent post-punk-leaning material and SPICE’s exploratory alt-rock might spiritually prepare the listener for what to expect with Going Strange, it still ends up sounding quite unlike any of Farrar’s previous music projects. The album is presented on streaming services as a single 47-minute track–though the music all flows continuously, it does feel like there are discreet “songs” with stopping and starting points hidden here (and this is confirmed by how the record is laid out on Bandcamp), so I’d file this more as a “stylistic choice” than a necessity.
Taking in Going Strange all at once gives one the feeling of witnessing someone cautiously and deliberately figuring out how to make and present music in a new way. The record begins intriguingly with a floating instrumental opening, before establishing the minimal sound that most of Going Strange takes–for the first few “songs” (“Farrow’s Birthday”, “Totem of Love”, “Peace in Anger”), the record steps forward to the pace of a probing bassline, some synth accents, and Farrar’s low-key but capable vocals (as barebones as his accompaniment can be, Farrar still sings on this album). The bright keyboard and drum machine that kicks in at the beginning of “Cutting” is a welcome surprise, veering into pretty lo-fi pop–Farrar moves back into bass-driven, rhythmic post-punk afterwards, but at this point it sounds a bit “fuller” than the first third of the record. Going Strange engages in a bit of symmetry by drifting off towards its ending, although it also features a piano-soundtracked piece of spoken word and a subsequent outro in “Cleveland” that pushes it into ambient music territory. Nevertheless, Going Strange ends with one last song (“Emelie’s Dream”) in which Farrar’s bass and trippy synths are joined by prominent handclaps—he never stops moving forward and trying on new ideas. (Bandcamp link)
Feast of the Epiphany – Significance
Release date: February 22nd Record label: Strategy of Tension Genre: Art pop, synthpop Formats: Cassette, digital Pull Track: A Further Flame
New York’s Nick Podgurski has played in the bands GRID, Extra Life, MONAD, and Yukon, and has also been making music under the name Feast of the Epiphany for over a decade. Podgurski frequently takes on the role of drummer in his various musical collaborations, but he does a bit of everything (piano, synths, guitar, and bass, in addition to writing and singing the songs) on Significance, the latest Feast of the Epiphany record. Podgurski has made music all over the map, genre-wise, but Significance clearly carves out its own niche—slow-moving, deliberate, ornate 80s-influenced art pop. Although Significance’s artwork evokes the world of early 80s synthpop records (and there’s definitely some of that in there), Significance takes the busyness of that kind of music and merges it with the record’s biggest single reference point–the carefully-constructed, orchestrated wide-open sound of later Talk Talk records.
Significance sounds cinematic, and that’s intentional–Podgurski created the record as the soundtrack for a nonexistent film. Podgurski and his collaborators on the album–a diverse group befitting of the bandleader’s background, featuring musicians who have played with Lydia Lunch and Robert Fripp and members of everything from Dust Star to Gorguts–guide these ten songs deftly through movements and turns. Podgurski’s soaring, melodic voice is always the center of Significance, and its most frequent accompaniment is a warm, droning synth. A lot of Significance is built around sustaining a specific mood, and its moments of transition (like when the explosive start of “A Further Flame” unravels) take their time to feel natural. Some of the less-synthetic touches on Significance (like Tony Gedrich’s upright bass on the opening track, or Cameron Wisch’s live drums in a few songs, most notably the title track) stick out among the washes of keyboards, but that’s not a bug–it’s just another way Significance feels living. (Bandcamp link)
Weird Numbers – Weird Numbers
Release date: March 3rd Record label: Dandy Boy Genre: Post-punk, garage punk Formats: Cassette, digital Pull Track: Uzis and Bikinis
Weird Numbers are four-piece West Coast punk rock band that formed in Seattle from the ashes of several Pacific Northwest groups that I’m just going to trust are real and not made up (Wasted USA, The Girls, Tourist, Maniac)–guitarist/vocalist Zache Davis has since moved to Los Angeles, but he and the rest of the group (bassist Collin Griffiths, drummer Ethan Jacobsen, and keyboardist/guitarist Alex Robert) have kept Weird Numbers going across multiple state lines. Their debut EP came out on Dirt Cult Records back in 2019, and their Dandy Boy-released first full-length record (featuring a couple songs re-recorded from that EP but mostly new material) shows off a sound well in-line with their first label’s brand of garage punk, but one distinct on its own as well. Weird Numbers’ ten songs are delivered with the measured, straight-faced nature of post-punk, but also pulsate with a scuzzy, dirty punk rock energy underneath the sleek exterior.
“Green” begins the record with a basketball-dribbling rhythm section and a mostly-deadpan delivery from Davis. The first half of Weird Numbers keeps all of these ingredients intact, even when the band dip into a few more garage rock-flavored tracks like “Pretty Punctual” and “Switching the Code”. Weird Numbers balance their furious rock band energy and post-punk restraint throughout the record, pulling it off impressively on tightly-constructed tracks like “Truth to Tease” and the hypnotic “Soda”. Weird Numbers ends with the requisite six-minute scorcher, “Uzis and Bikinis” (re-used from their debut EP, but no complaints from me here). Davis pushes his vocals on this one as the band trek forward determinedly, building to a big finish where Davis is, frenetically, “drowning in pastis and regret”. Weird Numbers takes a refined-sounding tour through the scummy–by the end of the record, it makes sense that it’s permeated everything. (Bandcamp link)
Spencer Dobbs – If the Moon Don’t Turn Its Back on You
Release date: March 3rd Record label: Dust Press Genre: Outsider folk, blues Formats: Digital Pull Track: Funeral Band
There’s not too much information about Spencer Dobbs out there. The singer-songwriter hails from Texas, and has been making music for at least a decade, although the earlier releases under the name don’t appear to exist online anywhere at the moment. The two most recent Spencer Dobbs releases have come out through Dust Press, a label that appears to exist solely to publish Dobbs’ music. If the Moon Don’t Turn Its Back on You follows last year’s Bayou Keening, and the label has referred to it as an “archival” album. It’s listed on streaming services as being from 2004–are these songs nearly twenty years old? It’s certainly possible–the music of If the Moon Don’t Turn Its Back on You offers little to nothing in terms of timestamping itself.
If the Moon Don’t Turn Its Back on You is a haunted, lost-sounding album. It’s sparse, empty-space folk music that erupts itself into feedback-laden electric guitar outbursts when it sees fit to do so. It reminds me more than anything else of a post-rock Simon Joyner–comparisons to fellow Texas outsider Jandek would also not be off-base here. Opening track “Funeral Band” is nearly seven minutes and harrowing, with its unmoored, bluesy electric folk rock building and deconstructing itself over the song’s length. From the screeching riffs of “Barbed Wire” to the slowly-advancing “Heaven”, If the Moon Don’t Turn Its Back on You finds a lot to mine in this sound, although the record closes with a couple acoustic, more purely folk songs and “Choir”, which sounds like a Spencer Dobbs version of what the title implies and sends the record off on an appropriately spiritual note. (Bandcamp link)
Hello! It’s Pressing Concerns time again! Another big release day is nearly upon us–today’s post looks at three records coming out tomorrow, March 17th (Whitney’s Playland, The Lost Days, and Tedward), plus an EP from Natural Velvet that came out a couple weeks ago. This has been a rare three-post week on Rosy Overdrive: If you missed me going long on the new Emperor X EP on Tuesday, or Monday’s look at Timeout Room, Cel Ray, Gramercy Arms, and Dogs at Large, I recommend checking both of those out as well.
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.
Whitney’s Playland – Sunset Sea Breeze
Release date: March 17th Record label: Paisley Shirt/Meritorio Genre: Power pop, indie pop, jangle pop Formats: Vinyl, cassette, digital Pull Track: Sunset Sea Breeze
Whitney’s Playland was formed during the pandemic by Inna Showalter and George Tarlson, two San Francisco musicians who have played in several noisy Bay Area pop bands previously (Blades of Joy, Modern Charms, Grandma’s Boyfriend). The group (which recently added Evan Showalter and Paul DeMartini to become a four-piece) are releasing their debut record, Sunset Sea Breeze, on vinyl via Meritorio and cassette via Paisley Shirt, and it’s certainly a strong opening statement of a first album. Whitney’s Playland feels a bit more low-key than some of Showalter and Tarlson’s louder old bands–it fits right in with the sleepy, dreamy Bay Area jangle pop that Paisley Shirt has beenchronicling in recent years. Dreaminess aside, however, Sunset Sea Breeze is also one of the straight-up catchiest records I’ve heard this year–it’s a lo-fi power pop record first and foremost.
The record’s opening title track is a transcendent indie pop experience, riding a simple ascending acoustic-guitar-and-bass progression triumphantly in a way that sounds like The Crabs crossed with The Sundays. The big-electric-guitar-wielding “Mercy” follows it up one song later, and it’s no less of a melodic wrecking ball than “Sunset Sea Breeze”. Whitney’s Playland can jangle, too– “Backwards Forever” is a fine entry into the genre that highlights the first half of the album as well. There’s a wistfulness to Showalter’s vocals and in the home-recorded nature of the record–perhaps it reflects more on me than the music, but I was already thinking about Guided by Voices even before they bust out a slowed-down, shimmering cover of “Motor Away” midway through the album. Not losing steam at all, the second half of Sunset Sea Breeze offers up the noisy, drum-machine-driven “Rain Song” and the acoustic, floating charms of “Sketches of Dino” and “Tiger by the Tail”–all of which feature equally melodic vocals from Showalter. Sunset Sea Breeze offers enough strong hooks for several records’ worth of indie pop–or, you could just listen to this one album and get drawn in immediately. (Bandcamp link)
The Lost Days – In the Store
Release date: March 17th Record label: Speakeasy Studios SF Genre: Lo-fi indie pop Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull Track: For Today
The Lost Days is a collaboration between Tony Molina (of Ovens and a pretty impressive solo career) and Sarah Rose Janko (who leads folk rock group Dawn Riding) that began a few years ago in an Oakland warehouse. The duo released their debut record, the Lost Demos EP, in 2021, and their first album was written remotely and recorded whenever schedules lined up after Janko moved to New Orleans. The music that inspired In the Store is eye-catching–Bill Fox, The Byrds, Dear Nora and Guided by Voices–and the record does live up to what one might imagine reading those acts’ names. It’s homespun-sounding, lo-fi, acoustic-based pop music–it’s neither Janko’s rambling country-folk nor Molina’s sharp power pop, but it’s also not a world away from either (in fact, In the Store feels like the midpoint in their disparate sounds).
As anyone familiar with Tony Molina’s solo work knows, he is the master of the short song, and he doesn’t change this up for In the Store–these ten songs zip by in about fourteen minutes, only about four longer than their EP. Likewise, those familiar with Molina know that this is ample time for his songs to take hold. In the Store is breezily-strummed pop songs from the get-go, with “Gonna Have to Tell You”, “Half the Time”, and “For Today” all humbly making their mark and departing. Janko’s vocals are conversational and cheery, which helps mask some of the record’s darker undercurrents (“It seems to me the hardest part of staying sober / Is anytime that you come over today”, observes Janko in “For Today”, not the only song touching on alcoholism on the record). Molina sounds more downcast in the couple of songs he sings–“Pass the Time” is about as dire as this kind of music can get. In the Store is a casual-sounding record whose intimacy and depth are only enhanced by its presentation. (Bandcamp link)
Tedward – Floater
Release date: March 17th Record label: I’m into Life Genre: Fuzz rock, shoegaze, noise pop Formats: Cassette, digital Pull Track: Shooting Star
Cincinnati has been host to a lot of great garage punk music lately (Crime of Passing, The Drin, Choncy), and while the city’s Tedward certainly rock as hard as any of those groups, they do it in a decidedly different vein. Led by singer-songwriter Terence Lee, Tedward’s debut cassette, Floater, is loud, amped-up fuzz rock in the vein of Ovlov and a few other northeastern, Exploding in Sound-core groups (Lee is pretty open about being a big Ovlov fan–Floater‘s opening track “Ablona” was inspired by a dream of seeing the band play live), as well as omnivorous, poppy shoegaze-influenced rock bands like Enumclaw. Floater is a brief debut tape–like the Lost Days album, it’s over in about fourteen minutes, with the band ripping through these seven songs with the enthusiasm of a newly-minted group.
The first two songs on Floater hit with full force–“Ablona” washes over the listener with a steady, roaring sound, and Lee’s vocals push through the noise in the 90s alt-rock-evoking “Shooting Star”. The speedy fuzz-punk of the title track is the one other breakneck rocker on Floater, although the rest of the tape is pretty sturdy too. The streak from “Spencer Dr.” to “Keep It Moving” doesn’t turn off the fuzz so much as deploy it in a way to let the tracks differentiate themselves from each other–the one song that unplugs the amps for a bit is closing track “Ending”, which lets Lee perform an acoustic number for about a minute before the band kicks in for a triumphant, massive electric rock finish. (Bandcamp link)
Natural Velvet – Cruel Optimism
Release date: March 3rd Record label: Plastic Babylon Genre: Alt-rock, post-punk Formats: Digital Pull Track: Signifier (Desire)
Baltimore’s Natural Velvet have been around for a decade or so, but this month’s Cruel Optimism is their first record in a while–aside from a pandemic-era remix EP, their last album came out back in 2017. No context is really needed to enjoy the quartet’s latest offering, however–Cruel Optimism is five enthusiastic songs that jump from 90s alt-rock to post-punk to dream pop to jangly college rock while still cohering with each other. Vocalist/bassist Corynne Ostermann is a theatrical punk rock singer whose range is on full display throughout the EP, and the rest of the band (guitarists Kim Te and Spike Arreaga, drummer Greg Hatem) play in a way complimentary of her voice, be it furiously or deftly.
Cruel Optimism’s first two tracks hit both ends of Natural Velvet’s sound–EP opener “Guarantee” rips into things with crunchy, noisy alt-rock, but then the band effortlessly roll into the bouncy pop-rock of “I Keep You Honest” immediately afterwards (it sounds kind of like Screaming Females playing a 10,000 Maniacs song). Natural Velvet stretch out a bit on the sprawling “Signifier (Desire)” and let their Sonic Youth influence show in some pretty hanging guitar lines, although it’s the EP’s final two songs that really find the band pushing themselves. Both cross the five-minute line– “Data Trail” uses its time to rip through a scorching post-punk (with the emphasis on punk instrumental) before guiding the song to a jangly finish, while “Swan” floats through a dream pop sound that’s delicate despite still having full-band might. Varied but consistent, Cruel Optimism excels throughout its twenty minute runtime. (Bandcamp link)
Release date: March 9th Record label: Self-released Genre: Lo-fi indie rock, folk punk, electro-folk, experimental rock Formats: Digital
When Emperor X released The Lakes of Zones B and C (one of my favorite albums of 2022) last year, it was Chad Matheny’s first full-length record in about half a decade. Those who follow Matheny and Emperor X closely, however, know that Matheny isn’t resting on his laurels between proper albums–one can count on a steady stream of new Emperor X music in some form, such as 2020’s United Earth League of Quarantine Aerobics EP and 2021’s “Sad React” single. The occasion of an Emperor X Northeastern U.S. tour has resulted in a new EP from Matheny, and this one already feels like it matches the strength of the last few full-lengths for me. The six-song Suggested Improvements to Transportation Infrastructure in the Northeast Corridor EP is, more or less, what its title suggests–each of the half-dozen tracks are rooted in the transit systems of one of the cities on Matheny’s upcoming tour, and are, as he says, pulled from “transit policy and 30 years of public infrastructure memories” from Matheny, an American expat currently living in Berlin.
If anyone could write emotionally-resonating songs grounded in transit policy, it’s Chad Matheny, who’s rung pathos out of everything from air conditioners to Facebook statues. Eschewing the relative polish of The Lakes of Zones B and C, Suggested Improvements to Transportation Infrastructure… was recorded via four-track, aiding its feeling of scribbled observations by Matheny made while riding the mobile town halls of the American Northeast. This is particularly apparent in opening track “Friendship Heights Metro Station and Related Proposal for Alignment Adjustments to the Purple Line (for WMATA)”, a lo-fi acoustic Emperor X classic that establishes immediately that the EP is not going to just be, as Matheny puts it, “cold hyper-local policy recommendations”. In the song, Matheny ponders a missed connection with someone playing Pavement songs on said poorly-routed trainline. Don’t get me wrong, the transportation-related complaints are present–“Forty years later, I still yell a lot / I’m still annoyed / They routed wrong,” Matheny proclaims, but, more tellingly, he follows that with “One hundred years later when I yell again for one last time / The song you played, still on my mind”.
If one fails to see the universality in these songs already, “An Objection to the Location of the Entrance to the Girard Ave. ACME (for SEPTA and PRA)” spells it out for you. There’s a lot to pick from here: “How can you call this a development / When the only thing that’s going up is my rent?” certainly says a lot concisely, as does Matheny shrieking “It was a cash grab!”, but Matheny straight-up acknowledging that what’s happening in Philadelphia is also occurring in “a hundred other towns and a thousand other cities” is the biggest moment of clarity. And as someone who has seen plenty of invaluable, irreplaceable cultural and natural artifacts lost in the service of building “your dumb roads”, the second verse is particularly cathartic. Speaking of catharsis, did I mention that “An Objection to the Location…” is an all-time Emperor X indie pop banger that ends with Matheny shouting “guitar!” and “even more guitar!” and being answered by blistering guitar soloing?
“Shoegaze Hydroplane City USA (for CDOT)” and “DMT/JMZ (for MTA and NYCHA)” are both classic lo-fi Emperor X ballads, pulling from frozen moments in time and periods of life to really build up the humanity and tranquility that one can find in motion (and they’re both especially fitting after “We Demand Tri-County Rail Now! (for NJDOT)”, the one song where Matheny dives headfirst into his experimental electronica side and reads a Wikipedia article to veer into the other direction). “Shoegaze Hydroplane City” is a particularly gorgeous snapshot of an overly stormy carpooling session with “the shoegaze engineer”, with the role of the “lack of funds, lack of planning, and general lack of will” in the creation of these hazardous driving conditions mostly staying in the undercurrents of the overwhelmed storm drains (“We were a car, we were a boat, we were a hydroplane,” will stick with me for a long time, I think), while “DMT/JMZ” finds escape from a shitty living situation in taking alternate transit routes “for a change”.
The catharsis of “An Objection to the Location of the Entrance to the Girard Ave. ACME” is matched by the bright closing track “Bullet Train to Worcester (for MBATA)”, an irresistible piece of piano pop that rightfully sneers at those who naively or disingenuously ask the question in the song’s refrain (“But how you gonna pay for it?”) but ends itself and Suggested Improvements to Transportation Infrastructure… by hopefully imagining a better and more efficient future and by taking pleasure in working towards these goals at any scale. “Hurry up and join, we’re printing trillion dollar coins / We’ll spend them all on the public,” cheerily declares Matheny–a plan better than anything offered by anyone with any individual power in the transportation world. After asking a particularly pointed question in “An Objection to the Location of the Entrance to the Girard Ave. ACME”, Matheny says “This is not rhetorical”, which is a statement that applies to Suggested Improvements to Transportation Infrastructure… in full. This EP isn’t the work of a policymaker several degrees removed from the systems it discusses; it’s a dispatch from somebody right there, riding the rails. (Bandcamp link)
It’s Pressing Concerns time! Today, we have three new-ish albums (from Timeout Room, Gramercy Arms, and Dogs at Large) plus one new EP (from Cel Ray) to look at. Look for another Pressing Concerns this Thursday!
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.
Timeout Room – Tight-Ass Goku Pictures
Release date: February 3rd Record label: Tough Gum Genre: Power pop, lo-fi pop, jangle pop Formats: Cassette, digital Pull Track: Smooth in Your Element
For most of the 21st century, S.T. McCrary played in Baton Rouge punk group The Melters, releasing several records with the band before they ceased being active. Now based in New Orleans, McCrary has a new solo project in Timeout Room, whose debut cassette tape was released last month by Tough Gum. The first Timeout Room release, fascinatingly called Tight-Ass Goku Pictures, is a guitar pop album with personality and hooks to spare in its thirty minutes. McCrary’s home recording style is lo-fi but clear-sounding, in a way that reminds me of The Cleaners from Venus (the bizarre intros and fake rock radio interlude tracks, while being of a decidedly different strain than Martin Newell’s overly English whimsy, are in the same spirit as well). McCrary’s influences range from bright indie pop groups like those on Flying Nun’s roster to more punk bands like the Wipers–Tight-Ass Goku Pictures ends up a unique mix that doesn’t quite sound like either.
Timeout Room balances the two ends of their sound from the get-go with opening track “Oozin’ Out”, an incredibly catchy tune with some equally incredibly grotesque imagery. McCrary continues to lob excellent pop songs at the listener from that point—handclaps and synths color the eager-to-please but also melancholic “Finish the Fall”, and “Smooth in Your Element” is a groovy punk-pop banger. Tight-Ass Goku Pictures is a weirdo pop album, to be clear–songs like “They’ll Come” and “How Do They Know?” are as catchy as the record’s more “pure” pop moments, but they’re off-kilter and swerving songs as well, and the final “proper” song on the album, “Electric Success”, surprisingly leans into big, triumphant new wave (albeit in Timeout Room’s own lo-fi way). Tight-Ass Goku Pictures is a trip of a record, coming off crooked one instant and then throwing out something as effortlessly brilliant as “Black ‘n’ Milds” the next. (Bandcamp link)
Cel Ray – Cellular Raymond
Release date: February 20th Record label: Self-released Genre: Garage punk, egg punk Formats: Cassette, digital Pull Track: Surf’s Up (Garfield Park)
Cellular Raymond is the debut release from Chicago’s Cel Ray, and this six-song cassette EP is fifteen minutes of full-force Windy City punk rock at its finest. The sound of the quartet (vocalist Maddie Daviss, drummer Alex Watson, bassist Kevin Goggin, and guitarist Josh Rodin) certainly has traces of the egg-punk, Devo-core sound that the band’s name, album title, and cover art all would suggest, but one should definitely file the EP first and foremost under “ripping, guitar-forward garage punk”. Daviss’ vocals are superb and the work of an instantly compelling punk frontperson, while the rest of Cel Ray are crisp and tight, playing as fun or as heavy as best fits each song with the ease of a band far beyond its debut EP.
Cellular Raymond opens with “Surf’s Up (Garfield Park)”, a straight-up perfect garage punk tune–Cel Ray put on their best surf rock clothes (which includes a good bucket hat, I think), and Daviss’ delivery of everything from the various iterations of the song title to the way their voice cracks at the end (“Where is my towel?”) is just right for the track. “Clorox Wipes” dabbles in germophobia in a way that recalls Devo-esque nervousness, but Cel Ray sound a lot more confident and angry than paranoid here. The midsection of Cellular Raymond is full of lean but potent post-punk-y garage rock tunes (the rumbling “Clock Me Out” is an attention-grabber, as is the following song, in which Daviss literally shouts “Give me all your attention”). The EP ends with “Dog War”, which appropriately ups both the song length and the stakes, really leaning into the low end throughout the track. Still, the song sends the EP off into the sunset with Daviss barking like a dog and Cel Ray ripping some red-hot punk rock. (Bandcamp link)
Gramercy Arms – Deleted Scenes
Release date: March 3rd Record label: Magic Door Genre: Post-college rock, jangle pop, folk rock, indie pop Formats: Digital Pull Track: Deleted Scenes
Like most people who care a lot about 1990s indie rock, Dave Derby is most familiar to me as the vocalist and bassist for The Dambuilders, the Boston-by-way-of-Honolulu group who released the post-Nirvana-alt-rock-gold-rush cult classic Encendedor on Elektra in 1994, and whose ranks also included Kevin March (Guided by Voices, Shudder to Think) and Joan Wasser (Joan As Police Woman). About a decade and a half ago, however, Derby began leading Gramercy Arms, a New York-based “collective” of a decidedly different stripe than The Dambuilders’ post-Pixies noisy pop stomp. The guest list for Deleted Scenes, the third Gramercy Arms record and first in nearly ten years, is pretty overwhelming, including members of Elk City, The Royal Arctic Institute, and Aeon Station, among many others.
Nevertheless, Deleted Scenes doesn’t feel so much like the work of a revolving door of musicians–it’s united by Derby’s songwriting and lyricism, coming in the form of breezy, gorgeous guitar-based indie pop. Thematically, the record follows a clear, nostalgic throughline guided by a lifetime’s worth of observations from Derby–and interestingly enough, this is where the guest contributions become most noticeable. Songs like “Yesterday’s Girl” and “Fucked Up and Beautiful” begin with Derby reminiscing about women from his past–nothing wrong with a song like that now and again, but both then cede the spotlight to female vocalists (Renée Lo Bue of Elk City in the former and–I think–Hilken Mancini of Fuzzy in the latter) to transform the songs into something with another dimension entirely. Most of the musical flourishes in Deleted Scenes–the 70s-pop horn section in “Tricky Love Stuff”, the super-classy guitar solo in the title track–fit the songs like a glove to the point to where I’m not trying to match which indie rock ringer to which part. (Bandcamp link)
Dogs at Large – County Line
Release date: March 2nd Record label: Self-released Genre: Alt-country, roots rock Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull Track: Feels Like the Last Time
Chicago’s Dogs at Large is the project of singer-songwriter Sam Pirruccello, who has been prolific under the name–County Line is the band’s seventh record since 2015. Along the way, Dogs at Large has solidified into a four-piece band (also featuring guitarist Jamie Yanda, bassist Adam Gilmour, and drummer Chris Kolodziej), and this group, plus a few additional players (namely, pedal steel player Steve Malito, keyboardist Andrew Marczak, and violinist Mallory Linehan), gives County Line’s dozen tracks a warm, country rock feeling. Pirruccello’s songwriting and vocals remain the focal point of the record–he has a heartland rock, weary punk-adjacent way of singing, and a compelling way of making the conversational feel grandiose in his writing.
Much of County Line was inspired by Pirruccello driving extensively around Chicagoland for work, and the songs have a rambling feeling–Dogs at Large really lean into country influences to dress these tracks, which feels appropriate. Songs like “Theseus” find Pirucello and the band embracing a Will Sheff-ian mix of simple effective melodies, Americana, and some sprawling lyrics. Not every song on County Line leans as hard into the twang as, say, “Tennessee”, a genuine country ballad, but the first half of the album in particular is full of songs that put these traces to good use (like in the jaunty “Robes of White”, or the breezy, keyboard-heavy “Feels Like This Is the End”). Likewise, the second half of the album pokes around with violin-heavy, layered indie rock (“I Don’t See You Anymore”) and 70s classic rock (“Vogue Beauty”) without losing the general feeling of County Line–that is, it’s only a few miles down the highway to the next one. (Bandcamp link)
Welcome once again, friends, to Pressing Concerns. In what I’m going to go ahead and call an “eclectic one”, this time we’re looking at a reissue of The Toms’ self-titled debut album, a new full-length from Nature’s Neighbor, and new EPs from Dancer and Sewage Farm. You’ll love ’em!
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.
The Toms – The Toms (2023 Reissue)
Release date: March 10th Record label: Feel It Genre: Power pop Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull Track: Let’s Be Friends Again
The Toms’ 1979 self-titled album has rightfully earned its place as a power pop cult classic over the past forty years. Like many records in this vein, The Toms was entirely the work of one man–Tom Marolda wrote, recorded, and produced every note of the original twelve-track album. The Toms has, unsurprisingly, been reissued a few times on various formats with various extra material over the years–the latest version of the record comes out on Cincinnati garage rock imprint Feel It Records (which just makes sense), has been remastered, and is, I believe, the first ever double-vinyl edition of the album (containing the original album, several outtakes from the same sessions, and a few odds and ends).
The original version of The Toms hasn’t lost any luster whatsoever–the opening one-two punch of “Let’s Be Friends Again” and “You Must Have Crossed My Mind” are eternal-sounding pieces of power pop that rank among the finest examples of the genre, bar none. The hits don’t stop rolling out from that point on–the slithering “It’s Needless” and the frantic guitar explosion of “Other Boys Do” mark the rest of the first half, the insistent “I Did the Wrong Thing” kicks off the second side nearly as catchily as the first, and “The Flame” and “The Bear” deliver some of the album’s strongest hooks towards the end.
The seven tracks from The Toms’ original sessions offer a sturdy appendix to the album proper. While it does feel like, on the whole, the strongest songs from this era were the ones to make it to the final record, these extra tracks are all strong pop tunes on their own terms, and any of them could’ve been slid onto the 1979 version of The Toms and fit perfectly well (the high-flying “You Put Me Up to This” and the mid-tempo, bittersweet “I Cannot Spot You” are my two favorites). The rest of the bonus tracks have intriguing moments as well–”Mixed Up Shook Up Girl” and “Talk to Me Girl/When Do Dreams Sleep?” find Marolda incorporating some Cars-y synth-y new wave influences while not losing the pop hooks. This issue of The Toms ends with Peter Noone (Herman’s Hermits) singing a previously-unreleased cover of “The Flame”–I wouldn’t say it holds a candle to the original version, but it’s a nice way of punctuating in just what company The Toms finds itself in 2023. (Bandcamp link)
Nature’s Neighbor – The Glass Album
Release date: March 10th Record label: Tai Duo Music Genre: Indie folk Formats: Vinyl, CD, digital Pull Track: Jeane
Mike Walker began making music as Nature’s Neighbor in the mid-2010s while he was living in Chicago, and the several records that he’s made under the name feature a wide ensemble of Windy City-area musicians (perhaps most prominently Seth Engel of Options and Mister Goblin, whose drumming and production work are on virtually every Nature’s Neighbor album). Since late 2021, Walker has been living in Kyoto, Japan and working as an English teacher, but right before he departed his longtime home, he recorded The Glass Album in Humboldt Park with Engel, Adrian Kobziar, and a host of guest musicians (some of which, like Engel and piano player Terrill Mast, have been Nature’s Neighbor regulars, while others, like violinist Macie Stewart of Finom, are new faces). Nature’s Neighbor has been an ambitious project in the past, swinging from breezy indie folk to expansive, experimental kitchen-sink pop music, and The Glass Album doesn’t disappoint in this fashion–in fact, it leans particularly hard into eclecticism.
“Jeane” kicks off the album with a strummed acoustic guitar and gives way to a pedal-steel-featuring (courtesy of Andrew Krull) country-folk tune, and Walker and company then follow it up with the light-R&B indie pop of “Sounds Like a Siren”, the alternatively lumbering and pondering spoken word rock of “Half Remembered Dreams”, and the string-heavy, slow-moving chamber pop of “Sweetbriar”. No two songs on The Glass Album are all that similar–Walker’s gentle vocals are the connecting thread, sweetening some of the louder moments like the surprisingly crunchy alt-rock of closing track “Michael & The Whale”, and sounding perfect while delivering the emotional wrecking ball of album centerpiece “Song for Bella”. The Glass Album is, by my count, the eighth or ninth Nature’s Neighbor album, and it’s remarkable that the project feels like it’s still searching, probing, and pushing itself forward at this stage. Perhaps it marks the finale of Walker’s “Chicago era”, but Nature’s Neighbor doesn’t come off as something that a mere long-distance relocation can end. (Bandcamp link)
Dancer – Dancer
Release date: February 10th Record label: GoldMold Genre: Post-punk, indie pop Formats: Cassette, digital Pull Track: The Split
Glasgow’s Dancer are a new group, but the members’ other bands should be familiar to Rosy Overdrive readers. Featuring members of Order of the Toad, Nightshift, and Robert Sotelo, Dancer recorded their six-song debut EP in their home city over the winter, and it saw release last month via cassette on GoldMold Records. Dancer is a half-dozen tracks that straddle bright indie pop and sharp post-punk–I certainly hear traces of the members’ other bands on these songs, as well as fellow Glasgow band Life Without Buildings (whom Roberto Sotelo’s Andrew Doig cited when he emailed me about the record), but it takes its various building blocks to make a distinct “Dancer sound”.
The low-key “Disposable Vape” opens up the EP with several excellent Dancer hallmarks–shining, melodic guitar, a prominent, pointed rhythm section, sung-spoken vocals, and some vocal interjections that remind me of early XTC (or, yes, Life Without Buildings). In “Arch Nemesis” and “Ferret Fancier”, Dancer up the stakes to groovy, chugging post-punk, although the former has some chiming guitars in it as well. “The Split” is Dancer’s biggest pop moment, a glittering instrumental with vocals that, while not departing overly from the conversational speak-singing, take every right melodic turn for the track as well. The five-minute closing track “Telemark”, however, is truly the biggest left turn on the EP–a genuine ballad that feels downcast and melancholic, but is just as listenable as Dancer at their snappiest. (Bandcamp link)
Sewage Farm – Mould
Release date: March 10th Record label: Safe Suburban Home Genre: Fuzz rock, lo-fi indie rock Formats: Cassette, digital Pull Track: Broken Bridge
York’s Sewage Farm are a trio made up of guitarist/vocalist Sam Forrest (who most notably fronts Manchester alt-rock group Nine Black Alps), bassist Danny Trew Barton (who plays in fellow Safe Suburban Home band Cowgirl), and drummer Danny Hirst. Although the members have their various other projects, Sewage Farm is far from a one-off endeavor–the band has released three full-length records since forming in 2015, and Mould is its second EP. Judging by their latest release’s five tracks, Sewage Farm are vintage, fuzzy indie rockers. Although their band name (as well as the title and artwork to Mould) conjure up images of scuzzy noise rock and roughed-up underground punk groups, Sewage Farm hew towards the tuneful side of the Our Band Could Be Your Life-core sound.
Sewage Farm come off as kind of like a fuzzier, more distorted version of fellow English indie punk revivalists Good Grief—opening track “Broken Bridge” in particular kicks Mould off with all the right kinds of Hüsker Dü and Dinosaur Jr.-inspired moves. “Cry” and “Strawberry Strawberry” keep the hooky lo-fi indie rock train rolling–the former is a bit more mid-tempo, but the chorus is as good as anything else on the EP, and the latter bounds infectiously. Sewage Farm mix it up a little bit with the swirling, lightly psychedelic riff around which they build “Cage”, but the song still fits in with the rest of the tracks–as does closing track “Starting Tomorrow”, which roars to a Sugar-esque wall of melodic sound to end Mould with one last loud pop statement. (Bandcamp link)
Welcome back to Pressing Concerns! Last week, the February 2023 playlist took the spot of a Thursday album post (check that post out, by the way, it’s very good), so here we’re looking at two great albums that came out last Friday (from Taleen Kali and Nagasaki Swim), plus albums from last month from Fixtures and Proto Tip.
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.
Taleen Kali – Flower of Life
Release date: March 3rd Record label: Dum Dum Genre: Indie pop, shoegaze, dream pop, post-punk Formats: Vinyl, CD, cassette, digital Pull Track: Flower of Life
Although Flower of Life is Los Angeles’ Taleen Kali’s first full-length solo album, they’ve been making music in some form for the bulk of this decade. Their previous band, TÜLIPS, released an album in 2015 before breaking up the following year (though they’ve put out a couple of one-off singles since then), and Kali themself released a solo EP, Soul Songs, in 2018, and another one (Songs for Meditation) in 2021. There are certainly traces of TÜLIPS’ lo-fi, poppy garage rock on Flower of Life, but the record as a whole aims for something heavier and denser than their past work. Kali and their band (Royce Hsu, Rhys Hastings, and Miles Marsico, plus contributions from producers Josiah Mazzaschi and Jeff Schroeder) pound through ten loud, electric shoegaze-tinged tracks that still retain a pop core and are carried by Kali’s strong presence as a frontperson.
Taleen Kali and the band come barreling out of the gate with hard-charging opening title track. A swirling, foot-on-gas piece of distorted psych rock, “Flower of Life” blows open the rest of the record–songs like “Crusher” and “Only Lovers Left Alive” incorporate a bit more of a layered, dream pop-esque sound, but still sound like the work of a sharp rock band. Flower of Life doesn’t let up for the majority of its runtime, laying down rockers like the low-end-heavy, post-punk-y “Fine Line” and the speedy “Trash Talk”. The final few songs are where Kali throws a few curveballs– “Summer of Sound” quells the noise for two minutes to deliver a short but sweet, sunny 60s pop ballad, while, in “Vague Flesh”, Kali stretches out and fully embraces dream pop with a five-minute, synth and drum machine-aided track. “Spirit Plane” ends the record by once again returning to fuzzy rock, albeit in a slower and more deliberate way than the rest of Flower of Life–but no less striking. (Bandcamp link)
Fixtures – Hollywood Dog
Release date: February 24th Record label: Naturally/Bobo Integral Genre: Power pop, 90s indie rock, post-punk, “noir pop” Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull Track: Emo Phillips (Hole in My Head)
Brooklyn’s Fixtures are a six-piece band that have been around for a bit (they released an EP in 2018, and another one in 2020), and last month saw the release of Hollywood Dog, their first album. The group is led by guitarist/vocalist K. Liakos, and their debut full-length is being co-released by Liakos’ Naturally Records and the great Bobo Integral (Mo Troper, Daily Worker, The Boys with the Perpetual Nervousness). On Hollywood Dog, Fixtures commit fully to a familiar-sounding but nevertheless distinct sound–they start off with the foundation of sturdy, guitar-forward 90s indie rock and blow it up with a 2000s indie-esque love of big choruses, auxiliary musicians, and several vocal contributions from various members. To put it one way–Fixtures contains multiple full-time horn players (trumpet player Riley Cooke and saxophonist Jules Block) and neither’s prominence feels out of place on these ten tracks.
Hollywood Dog kicks off with “21/1”, a steady-building indie rock anthem that captures Fixtures’ sound quite well–a saxophone intro gives way to chugging, clear-eyed indie rock that then gets punctuated with an instrumental, horn-based refrain. Fixtures offer up plenty of meat and melody on the record’s first half, from the downcast guitar riff that anchors the deliberate “Jimmy Needs the Money” to the way Liakos’ vocals emote in “Ghost Relays” to match the triumphant-sounding horns. The B-side to Hollywood Dog actually might be my favorite half, starting with an excellent three-song-run kicked off by the speedy, handclap-aided title track, continuing into the righteous-sounding but bittersweet “Song for Last Summer”, and then going into the gorgeous, not-doing-too-much “Emo Phillips (Hole in My Head)”. Records like Hollywood Dog are up my alley by nature, but even considering that, these songs are excellently-executed and I’ll be spinning this one for a while. (Bandcamp link)
Nagasaki Swim – Everything Grows
Release date: March 3rd Record label: Excelsior Genre: Indie folk, country-folk Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull Track: The Weight, Pt. 2
Nagasaki Swim is a project led by Jasper Boogaard, a musician who hails from Rotterdam, Netherlands but plays a mix of indie folk and gentle country-rock that’s the kind of music that frequently gets tagged as “Americana”. Everything Grows, the band’s second album, follows 2021’s The Mirror, and retains bassist Jasper Werij and drummer Jim Luijten, while also introducing guitarist/pianist Kat Kalkman and featuring a host of guest musician contributions. Everything Grows is an incredibly warm and comforting listen, with trumpets, violins, and lap/pedal steel (the latter provided by Mike “Slo-Mo” Brenner of Songs: Ohia) shading the record’s nine songs.
Everything Grows comes in at under thirty minutes in length, and two of its tracks come in at under a minute. Being a brief record certainly doesn’t mean that Everything Grows isn’t a substantial one, however–the album’s first three tracks are all excellent, sublime country-folk songs that showcase Boogaard’s songwriting skills and the band’s range. “American Dipper” is clear-sounding, giving the song space to breathe, while “Window” builds to a big instrumental crescendo. The album’s centerpiece is “The Weight, Pt. 2”–it’s a gorgeous song, with a full instrumental surrounding Boogaard’s lyrics dealing with but not being bogged down by mortality (“Death is on my mind / Some things are just always there / And that’s OK”). “The Weight, Pt. 2” is enhanced by the violin of Molly Germer (Alex G’s band), as is second-half highlight “Sleep”. Everything Grows ends with the end-credits feeling of the title track–it begins with just Boogaard and an acoustic guitar, but like the rest of the album, it builds to something fuller than that. (Bandcamp link)
Proto Tip – S ivice sanjanja
Release date: February 23rd Record label: Pop Depresija/Kišobran Genre: Indie rock, post-punk, noise rock Formats: Vinyl (forthcoming), digital Pull Track: krećem se
Pop Depresija (aka Pop Depression) is a Serbian record label that co-released Macedonian/Slovenian indie rock band Rush to Relax’s sublime Misli last year, and their latest offering is an indie rock group from their own home country. Belgrade’s Proto Tip released their debut EP back in 2017, and their first full-length album, last month’s S ivice sanjanja, has been in the works for the past five years. Befitting of its long gestation time, many people had a hand in creating S ivice sanjanja–Proto Tip began as a trio led by Nikola Čučković, but its membership has ballooned in the intermittent time, and the record features a host of guest musicians as well.
S ivice sanjanja (English: “From the Edge of Dreaming”) is a dark-sounding album, taking a guitar-forward, 90s indie rock core and adding post-punk atmospherics and moodiness throughout its eight songs. Opening track “krećem se” introduces the record with hypnotic, shimmering guitar leads, downcast vocals, and prominent, plodding bass, while “svet se menja” keeps things running with its late-night-drive tempo, alarm-sounding guitars, and deadpan singing. The rest of S ivice sanjanja balances almost-dreamy guitar playing with the never-flagging low-end for an interesting combination of indie rock genres–at least until the heavy, noise rock catharsis of closing track “kako ovde” blows everything away. Although Proto Tip represents the entirety of Serbian indie rock I’ve heard so far, S ivice sanjanja suggests that there’s more worth looking into there. (Bandcamp link)
Welcome, all, to the February 2023 edition of the Rosy Overdrive monthly playlist. While last month’s playlist didn’t yet feature all that much music from the new year, this month I dove into 2023’s new offerings with a vengeance. This is a greatone in terms of brand-new songs, truly. I had to cut a lot of good stuff to get it to a manageable length.
Blues Lawyer and Vista House are the fiends that get multiple songs on the playlist this time around.
Here is where you can listen to the playlist on various streaming services: Spotify (missing two songs), Tidal (missing three), BNDCMPR (missing four). Be sure to check out previous playlist posts if you’ve enjoyed this one, or visit the site directory. If you’d like to support Rosy Overdrive, you can share this (or another) post, or donate here.
“Smoke”, K. Campbell From Smoke (2023, Poison Moon)
Oh, it’s nice to see (hear?) that K. Campbell is back. Back in 2021, the Houston-based power pop musician released the “Breaking Glass” single, and I wrote about that in one of these playlists. Anyway, “Smoke” is Campbell’s first release since that one, and this single’s A-side equals “Breaking Glass” in terms of catchiness to me. There’s a lot to commend here–the steady bass groove, the just-right harmonies in the song’s title line, Campbell’s sharp melodies. One way “Smoke” differs a bit is in how it stretches out, letting Danny Kamins’ saxophone run wild in the second half and transforming the tune from a straight power pop anthem into something a bit more.
“The Riverboat”, Downhaul (2023)
It seems like every time I write about Gordon M. Phillips on this blog, either via his solo work or his emo band Downhaul, he’s done some genre-hopping from the last time we checked in with him. Downhaul’s latest single, the (for now, at least) standalone “The Riverboat”, is no different, but fans of their last record, 2021’s PROOF, should find plenty to like in it as well. The new song represents a turn toward the shinier and punchier for the Richmond group (Phillips cited Cymbals Eat Guitars when he sent me this song, and he’s not wrong to do so), but the core “Downhaul sound” still remains intact as “The Riverboat” builds to its second-half, down-stroked finale.
“Anything”, Frankie Rose From Love As Projection (2023, Slumberland)
Frankie Rose rose to prominence a decade and a half ago as the drummer/vocalist for noise pop group Dum Dum Girls, although she’s had a fairly prolific solo career for just as long a time. I’m admittedly mostly unfamiliar with Rose’s solo albums, so I don’t know for how long/if she’s ever dabbled in synthpop very much, but she does it quite well on “Anything”. The lead single from her upcoming Love As Projection record, “Anything” has plenty of hooks and memorable melodies–I don’t know if the conversational tone of the verses or the simple-but-effective chorus is catchier.
“Do You Understand?”, The Apples in Stereo From Velocity of Sound (2002, SpinART/Elephant 6)
Goodness, what a song. This track and the of Montreal one later on this playlist sort of represent me “wrapping up” my foray into Elephant 6 for now. I put on Velocity of Sound basically at random–it’s a mid-period Apples in Stereo record that no one really talks about–and found one of my new favorite songs in doing so. They’re still doing the incredibly power poppy-fuzz rock thing at which the Apples (and, in a way indicating how important Hilarie Sidney was to their sound, The High Water Marks) excelled, but “Do You Understand?” finds a gear I didn’t know the band had. The way Robert Schneider sings the “Why I hold the dagger/trigger in my hand” shocked me the first time I heard it–now I can’t imagine it any other way. We appreciate The Apples in Stereo here. We’re grateful they kept going into this century and made stuff like this.
“Vivista House”, Vista House From Oregon III (2023, Anything Bagel)
Vista House’s Oregon III is one of my favorite records of the new year thus far; the twangy sound that Portland-based Tim Howe explored in last year’s First Rodeo album is here in spades, in a nice, pleasing country rock package. The busy “Vivista House” is one of the more sonically surprising songs on Oregon III, an excited drum machine-led piece of country-tronica that nevertheless feels right at home in the middle of the album. Read more about Oregon III here.
“Holy Moly”, Young Fathers From Heavy Heavy (2023, Ninja Tune)
I liked Young Fathers’ last album, but Cocoa Sugar was nearly five years ago, so I wasn’t sure what to expect with Heavy Heavy. Well, the Edinburgh trio’s fourth album is a surprisingly excitable pop record that manages to feel incredibly lean but full-sounding all the same. “Holy Moly” is hidden towards the end of Heavy Heavy, but it feels like a particularly “big” moment on the record–Young Fathers “go for it” with the chorus, which is straightforward, massive, and incredibly catchy. And there’s something ballsy about making something as mild as “holy moly” your big hook.
“Taylor Lautner”, Total Downer From Caretaker (2023, Just Because)
Cleveland’s Total Downer is lead by guitarist/vocalist Andy Schumann, and on Caretaker, he and the band use hooky power pop as a vessel to tackle a host of wide-ranging and hard-hitting topics. One of the best examples of this on Caretaker (in fact, I’d go as far as to say the best one) is “Taylor Lautner”, a song about body image that uses the genuinely disturbing-in-hindsight way that a literal teenager was treated by the media at large for a conflicted-sounding but empathetic message from Schumann–and it’s catchy as hell. Read more about Caretaker here.
“In Effigy”, Growing Pains From Thought I Heard Your Car (2023)
I don’t know too much about Growing Pains. They’re from Eugene, Oregon, and for a band with only a handful of songs to their name, they seem to have already built up some goodwill, as the excited reaction in certain indie rock circles to February’s Thought I Heard Your Car demonstrates. I’m happy to report that the band’s new EP is worthy of hype–it positions itself on the alt-rock/power poppy side of noise pop and nü-shoegaze, and highlight “In Effigy” is as infectious as it is loud (listen to that guitar hook!).
“Someone Else”, Blues Lawyer From All in Good Time (2023, Dark Entries)
The third album from Oakland’s Blues Lawyer, All in Good Time, is so stuffed with excellent, weighty power pop tunes that I didn’t even really touch on my favorite track from the record in my review of it. “Someone Else” begins musically as triumphantly as anything else on the record, with singer-songwriter Rob I. Miller wringing a lot out of the phrase “another parked car conversation” in the opening line. Thematically, the song fits right in with the rest of All in Good Time, with Miller punctuating his frustrating conversation in said parked car with “Don’t wanna be your someone else”. Read more about All in Good Time here.
“Bus Stop”, Tee Vee Repairmann From What’s on TV? (2023, Total Punk/Computer Human)
Sydney’s Tee Vee Repairmann have thrown their hat into the “Australian garage rock-y power pop” sweepstakes with their debut full-length record What’s on TV? (following a couple EPs over the past two years), and the results are quite compelling. Highlight and single “Bus Stop” is, at two minutes and twenty seconds, one of the “longer” tracks on the record, which means that Tee Vee Repairman have plenty of time to offer up a solid verse hook, a big old power pop chorus, and even throw some pleasing-sounding guitar leads into the between-verses instrumentals.
“Bats”, Lithobrake From Lithobrake (2023, Cassowary)
Lithobrake is a new and intriguing Washington D.C.-based band whose debut EP is a low-key, 90s-indie-rock-inspired introduction to the group. “Bats” opens EP1 with what feels like a lost slacker rock classic, an incredibly hooky pop rocker with a nice formula of ennui and angst to give it a bit of a bite (“All the nice tomatoes are sold out / Turquoise aviators in a small town”, now there’s a 90s indie rock lyric if I’ve ever heard one). Read more about Lithobrake here.
“Weak Stream”, Closet Mix From 01 EP (2016, Anyway/Tone Scholar)
Columbus’ Closet Mix are a group of Ohio music veterans led by Paul Nini, who played with Great Plains and runs the Old 3C Label Group. The band is working on a new record (they released a single from it last year), but “Weak Stream” from their 2016 debut EP caught my ear, so that’s what I’m sharing with you today. Like most of 01 EP, “Weak Stream” feels like it was made by people who’ve been playing indie rock for a long time and have learned to build a song subtly and intricately. The guitar work that runs through the entire song is beautiful without being overly showy, and the soft-touch vocals and keyboard accents are just right for the track as well.
“Esconaquito”, Jach Ernest From Esconaquito (2023, Safe in the Rain/Bordeaux Rock/Tepane)
Jach Ernest are an indie pop group that hail from Bordeaux, France. They have releases on their Bandcamp going back more than a decade, but Esconaquito is the first record I’ve heard from them, and it’s a decidedly French-sounding, incredibly infectious collection of indie rock. The opening title track to Esconaquito is instantly my speed, with a hard-working rhythm section setting up a motorik tempo over which melodic guitars, low-key but warm vocals, and horns (!) all excel.
“For a Good Time”, Shredded Sun From Each Dot and Each Line (2023)
Each Dot and Each Line is an adventurous, delightfully eclectic indie rock record from Chicago’s Shredded Sun, in which the trio absolutely reflect their years of experience playing together. One of the catchiest songs on the record, “For a Good Time”, is hidden away in the album’s second half, but it’s hard to forget the track once you hear it. The instrumental is quite bouncy, and bassist Sarah Ammerman’s vocals are friendly and full in exactly the right way for the track. Read more about Each Dot and Each Line here.
“Telex Eyes”, Soft on Crime From New Suite (2023, Eats It)
Soft on Crime waste no time establishing just what you’re in for with New Suite. The Dublin-based three piece band open their debut record (well, cassette tape) with the massive, triumphant jangly guitars that lead off “Telex Eyes”, a moment that recalls vintage power pop groups like The dB’s and The Soft Boys. New Suite is full of excellent guitar pop like this track, although the combination of eager, early punk-pop, nervous post-punk energy, and big hooks here make it the standout. Not streaming, listen on Bandcamp. Read more about New Suite here.
“Valentine”, Lemon Pitch From Threat of Weather (2023, Repeating Cloud)
“Connecting couplets in your bitter end, a colorectal valentine / A grim suppository truce”. Thanks for that imagery, Alex Merrill. “Valentine” is certainly one of the most memorable songs on Lemon Pitch’s Threat of Weather, a record already overflowing with ideas. It’s a Franklin Bruno-esque melding of classic pop hooks and long-winded lyrical twists and turns (to me, at least–according to Merrill, he was going for “sloppy, American XTC”). It’s kind of like…any song that sticks itself in my brain for as long as “Valentine” has done–well, that’s gotta end up on this playlist, one way or another. Read more about Threat of Weather here.
“This Job Is Killing Me” and “Xenogenesis”, The Telephone Numbers From Weird Sisters and 14 (2023, Meritorio/Prefect)
The Telephone Numbers’ Thomas Rubenstein is very quickly becoming one of my favorite new songwriters, and we got two brand-new songs from his band in February. “This Job Is Killing Me” is the B-side to their “Weird Sisters” single, and Rubenstein’s bitterly beautiful music industry disillusionment lyrics make it the equal of its A-side (“I’ve tried so hard imagining / A Sisyphus that’s happy”). “Xenogenesis” (this one’s Bandcamp-only) is on Prefect Record’s 14 compilation, and it’s all Scott Miller arresting vocals and emotionally-bruised lyricism, stripped-down but sounding anything but incomplete or unfinished. Read more about 14 here.
“All Up in It”, Samuel S.C. From High Places (2023, Art Monk Construction/ORG)
Samuel S.C. (originally known simply as Samuel) released 94-95 digitally last December and on vinyl this month; the compilation collected everything recorded by the Pennsylvania band during their initial run (which coincided with the years in the record’s title). At the same time, however, we also have gotten brand new music from the emo-tinged indie rock band with High Places, their debut full-length record. Opening track “All Up in it” indicates that Samuel S.C. still very much “has it”, with Vanessa Downing and James Marinelli’s vocals soaring over a power-pop-punk-y instrumental (High Places is their Majesty Shredding, perhaps?).
“A Good Man”, Algiers From Shook (2023, Matador)
I promise that I like more songs from the new Algiers album than the one “punk” song. In fact, I think that Shook might be my favorite record from them yet, which is atypical for me–historically, bands lose me when they try to have too many genres going on at once, but it works really well for them here. Still, I’m still taking a lot of Shook in at the time of this writing, but the blistering “A Good Man” was an instant “oh, yes, I like this and want to hear them do this more often” from me. Lee Bains III may be featured later on in the record in a spoken word segment, but “A Good Man” is the track where they most reflect his band The Glory Fires’ southern fuzzy punk rock.
“Something Strange Happens”, The Orange Peels From Square (1997, Minty Fresh)
“Something Strange Happens” comes from the tail end of my January project, in which I listened to one new-to-me album from 1997 every day for a month. The Orange Peels’ Square was for the 31st, which meant last month’s playlist was already finalized by then, but “Something Strange Happens” is too good not to share here. This is another song that’s mega-boosted by some inspired, melodic bass playing, and the soaring chorus simply can’t present itself humbly enough to hide its massive hooks–it’s indie pop/college rock at its best.
“See You Next Semester”, Stress Fractures From Stress Fractures (2023, Acrobat Unstable/Old Press)
The Stress Fractures album is one of my favorite emo records of the year thus far. The South Carolina band is led by Martin Hacker-Mullen, who’s also the head of Acrobat Unstable Records ((T-T)b, Cicala) and plays bass for Clearbody. Although it has its Midwest emo moments, Stress Fractures hews towards pop punk anthem/catharsis territory more often than not, and “See You Next Semester” is one of the best examples of this on the record. Hacker-Mullen offers up an excellent singalong chorus in the service of reminiscing about and regretting the fading of a close friendship.
“Sassafras Roots”, Green Day From Dookie (1994, Reprise)
Yeah, I dunno. There’s something really sweet about this song that I never really appreciated until now, when I recently put Dookie on on a whim. First of all, the bass is (as typical for Green Day at this time) absolutely insane and absurdly melodic in a way that most pop punk bands could only dream of pulling off. The main instrumental break where Mike Dirnt is just going at it is as catchy as anything else in their discography. And then, of course, there’s the lyrics: “So why are you alone wasting your time? / When you could be with me wasting your time?” I mean, who could argue with that? When you put it that way, I mean.
“Mourning Dove”, Screaming Females From Desire Pathway (2023, Don Giovanni)
Has it really been five years since the last Screaming Females record? Sure, Marissa Paternoster released a solo album (not to mention her work as Noun), but All at Once came out all the way back in 2018. Listening to “Mourning Dove”, however, makes it feel like they never left. It definitely falls into the “power pop” side of Screaming Females’ oeuvre, sounding like it could’ve fit on Rose Mountain or the lighter side of All at Once, but there’s an alt-rock punchiness to it that I’d recognize from them anywhere.
“If I Were a Cowgirl”, The Fever Haze From An Apple on the Highest Branch (2022)
The Fever Haze’s An Apple on the Highest Branch is an excellent entry into the “album from last year I didn’t hear until the beginning of this year” camp. The fourth record from the Grand Rapids, Michigan band is a comforting and warm mix of fuzzy folk rock, “Americana”/heartland rock, and country-gaze. Importantly, The Fever Haze have the songs to back this up, and none are greater than “If I Were a Cowgirl”, a wide-open, big-sky kind of indie rock song.
“I Wish I Was Your Mother”, J.T. IV From The Future (2023, Drag City)
John Timmis IV (aka J.T. IV) was an unknown Chicago-area glam-influenced songwriter active in the 1970s and 80s. Timmis passed away in the early 2000s, but Drag City released a posthumous record from him a few years after his death, and they’ve returned to Timmis this year with The Future, another compilation drawn from Timmis’ various cassette recordings. Some of the songs on the record hit the same iconoclastic spot as early Guided by Voices, albeit with a bit more first wave punk/Velvets influence, like this very spirited cover of Mott the Hoople’s “I Wish I Was Your Mother”.
“Trouble from the East”, The High Water Marks From Your Next Wolf (2023, Minty Fresh)
It seems appropriate that I end my long, extensive journey through the Elephant 6 back catalog by looking toward the future. The High Water Marks have been shockingly prolific in this decade, releasing three records since 2020 (which, I believe, ties them with of Montreal for the most of any E6-related group). If “Trouble from the East” is any indication, Your Next Wolf is looking like another sublime collection of fuzzy power pop like last year’s Proclaimer of Things was, with the band sounding as enthusiastic about it as ever.
“Tarantulangel”, 13 Necklace From 13N (2023, Candlepin)
One of several highlights from Candlepin Records’ eventful early 2023 is the 13N cassette from New York’s 13 Necklace. On the whole, 13N trades in loud, gorgeous-sounding shoegaze-indie rock, although “Tarantulangel” is the tape’s reverb-y pop moment. It’s still fuzzy and distorted, but 13 Necklace break out jangly arpeggios and chugging power chords in the verses for an excellent song that sounds like a lost 90s indie rock classic. Of course, the song still swells up in the chorus to revved-up, layered noise pop, just to remind you of what 13 Necklace are capable of.
“Limousine”, Fran From Leaving (2023, Fire Talk)
I’d been aware of Chicago’s Fran since their 2019 debut record for Fire Talk, A Private Picture, but “Limousine” is the song that really first grabbed my attention from them last month. The advance single and opening track to Leaving is a slow-burner, a deliberately-moving piece of electric folk rock led by the soaring vocals of bandleader Maria Jacobson. It hits the same notes as the best songs from Why Bonnie and the less distorted side of Wednesday for me–it’s more “singer-songwriter”y than either of those bands, but that’s hardly a bad thing for Jacobson’s writing style.
“Inspect the Receipt”, CLASS From But Who’s Reading Me? (2023, Feel It)
CLASS have been putting out music for less than a year, but the Tucson band is already establishing itself as a reliable, round-the-calendar source for great garage rock/power pop. Following last year’s self-titled EP and Epoca de Los Vaqueros full-length, this year’s But Who’s Reading Me? is four new songs (and two re-recordings) of what we can start to call the “classic CLASS sound”; “Inspect the Receipt” eagerly leaps into it with a lassoing lead guitar and landslide bass, and the chorus is pure loose power pop.
“Sound Advice”, Tiny Microphone From Other Cities (2023, Littlemusic)
Other Cities, the long-awaited second record from the Chicago-originating, Portland-based Tiny Microphone, features no shortage of beautiful melodies carried by Kristine Capua’s friendly vocals. The first half of Other Cities in particular features one excellent pop song after another, with the sublime jangle pop of “Sound Advice” perhaps being the strongest one of them all. The lyrics seem to be a “moving to a new city on my own” feeling (“It pretty much rains here everyday / You’ll get used to it they say / The summers are beautiful, they make it all worthwhile”). Read more about Other Cities here.
“When You Say”, FACS From Still Life in Decay (2023, Trouble in Mind)
With the lead single from their upcoming Still Life in Decay, it feels like Chicago’s FACS are picking up where they left off with 2021’s Present Tense (which made my best-of list for that year). “When You Say” isn’t quite as accessible as, say, “Strawberry Cough” was, but it still sharpens FACS’ dub/industrial-flavored noise rock and post-punk into something relatively straightforward. At least, aside from the instrumental flare-ups that mark the beginning and end of the track.
“Labrador”, Ottis Cœur From Léon (2023, Howlin Banana/Modulor)
It seems like there’s a lot of good indie rock coming out of France right now. I discovered Paris’ Ottis Cœur through Howlin’ Banana Records (EggS, Hoorsees, Unschooling), who recently released their Léon EP (as well as a vinyl compilation of Léon and their previous EP, Juste Derrière Toi). Ottis Cœur’s latest opens with “Labrador”, a piece of busy, post-punk-flavored indie pop that drives at a brisk tempo through its verses and then stops and starts agilely in its chorus.
“Crystals 26”, John Vanderslice From Crystals 3.0 (2023, Tiny Telephone)
New John Vanderslice songs and releases come out at a steady pace these days–they either fall into the category of purely experimental electronica or into the “classic, singer-songwriter-mode John Vanderslice but enhanced with various electronic touches” camp. “Crystals 26”, the lead single from Vanderslice’s upcoming Crystals 3.0 record, is a member of the latter–it features Vanderslice’s distorted acoustic guitar and worried-sounding vocals, but with synths wriggling and crawling all over it. The lyrics are similarly scrambled, taking some pretty universal songwriter-type topics and presenting them in an odd way (“Love: small word / Alcohol: big word”).
“Buhd”, Wish Kit From Rock Against Bush (2023)
Late January’s Rock Against Bush split EP brought together four like-minded practitioners of power pop, 90s indie rock, and pop punk to create a short but compelling record. The EP opens with “Buhd” by Wish Kit, the one group on the release that I hadn’t previously covered on Rosy Overdrive–and it just might be the best song on the whole thing. Its combination of fuzzy 90s power pop (check those “woo”s out in the chorus) and slacker rock energy is first-rate, and I’ll be keeping my eye on Wish Kit from here on out. Read more about Rock Against Bush here.
“All the Wild Horses”, Outwest From All the Wild Horses (2023, Candlepin)
On their third EP, Ventura, California’s Outwest employ plenty of distortion in the service of loud, anthemic fuzz rock. Throughout All the Wild Horses, Outwest come off as, more than anything else, a wildly in-the-red punk rock group. The record’s title track is forcefully catchy in a vintage California indie-pop-punk anthem kind of way, barreling its way excitedly into its bellowing of the titular line. Read more about All the Wild Horses here.
“Chance Encounters”, Blues Lawyer From All in Good Time (2023, Dark Entries)
Blues Lawyers’ All in Good Time opens with a big power pop statement in “Chance Encounters”, which sounds massive but also has a melancholic, almost nostalgic streak to it that evokes their stated influence of Teenage Fanclub (there’s some nice early TFC-esque revved-up lead guitar on the track), as well as countless 80s indie pop bands. Past-evoking instrumental aside, however, lead singer Rob I. Miller’s first line on the album finds him declaring “I wanna stop talking about the way things used to be”–a duality that All in Good Time goes on to explore throughout its fourteen tracks. Read more about All in Good Time here.
“Eklund Garden”, Frightful Places From Frightful Places (2023)
Connecticut’s Frightful Places is the solo project of Kevin Tiernan (Mighty Tortuga, Moving Brooklyn), and its five-song self-titled debut EP has been about eight years in the making. Frightful Places was produced by Chris Teti of The World Is a Beautiful Places & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, and it’s a shined-up but still fairly vulnerable-sounding mix of emo and alt-rock; if you’re into later TWIABP or bands like the also-appearing-in-this-playlist Downhaul, Tiernan makes music in a similar vein. “Eklund Garden” is my favorite track from the EP, with a hard-hitting instrumental and a classic emo refrain (“Looks like I got where I wanted / But I lost myself/my love in the process”).
“King of Rock N Roll”, Vista House From Oregon III (2023, Anything Bagel)
Tim Howe shows a few different sides to himself and his Vista House project throughout its latest record, Oregon III. Advance single and early record highlight “King of Rock N Roll” is a determined-sounding roots rocker that shows off Vista House in loud, anthemic alt-country mode. The instrumental roars along, and Howe gives a characteristically animated vocal performance–it takes a while to get to the shout-along ending part, but it’s well-earned. Read more about Oregon III here.
“Dirty Dustin Hoffman Needs a Bath”, of Montreal From The Early Four Track Recordings (2001, Kindercore/Polyvinyl)
I find early of Montreal (well, all of Montreal to a degree, I suppose) to be pretty hit-or-miss; I love Cherry Peel, while The Gay Parade and The Bedside Tragedy: A Petite Drama do little to nothing for me. I’m happy to report that The Early Four Track Recordings winds up in the former camp in my book. With its shrug of an album title and absurdities of song titles, the compilation feels pretty low-stakes, but Kevin Barnes was writing great pop songs around this time, particularly the poppy lo-fi charming opening track “Dirty Dustin Hoffman Needs a Bath” (sigh).
“Apology Letter”, Yo La Tengo From This Stupid World (2023, Matador)
Like anyone with ears, I like the new Yo La Tengo album. I will pump the brakes on the “maybe it’s their best ever?” discussion because it’s not really trying to be on the scale of what I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One or And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out are, which it’d need to be in order to top those for me. Let’s just appreciate This Stupid World for being a very good Yo La Tengo album (a commodity that maybe has gone undervalued in recent years). I think “Apology Letter” might be my favorite one, although it’s an incredibly close call. This song feels like it’s always been around; Yo La Tengo could’ve put it out at any point in their career and it would’ve been a highlight.
“In This Moment”, Grapes of Grain From Getaways (2023, Drag Days)
Dutch indie rock group Grapes of Grain formed in 2005, and released an album and a couple EPs in the latter half of that decade before disbanding. 2023’s Getaways is the result of singer-songwriter Alexis Vos becoming inspired to make music again and (remotely) assembling the lineup of his old band from thirteen years ago. The five-song EP is a tranquil mix of jangle pop, folk rock, and indie pop, with the quietly beautiful “In This Moment” sounding like the big standout to me. As muted as the song is, it still builds from a carefully plodding bass guitar riff and steady acoustic strumming to the plateau of a chorus.
Welcome to a Monday Pressing Concerns! For the last edition in February, we’re looking at a reissue from Ivy, a compilation from Prefect Records, and two brand-new records from Nicholas Merz and Lemon Pitch. Something for everyone here!
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.
Ivy – Apartment Life (25th Anniversary Edition)
Release date: March 3rd Record label: Bar/None Genre: Indie pop, dream pop Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull Track: I’ve Got a Feeling
Ivy emerged from New York in the mid-90s, a trio made up of Andy Chase, Adam Schlesinger, and Dominique Duran whose lineup stayed consistent until their final album in 2011. The three of them combined their love of 1980s jangle pop and C86 bands with 90s dreaminess and electronic influences to make some of the best indie pop music of their era. Apartment Life was the band’s sophomore record, following 1995’s debut Realistic and it represents the absolute pinnacle of the band’s accomplishments (arguably, yes, albeit an argument I’d be happy to make). A lot of Rosy Overdrive readers are probably already familiar with and love Ivy. However, it’s not every day that a record like Apartment Life gets a proper reissue (as Bar/None Records has done for its 25th anniversary, and plans to do for the rest of the band’s discography eventually), and it’s more than worth taking advantage of that to revisit it.
At the time of Apartment Life’s release, Adam Schlesinger’s other band had already released one record, establishing him as a force of nature in terms of power pop. Fountains of Wayne fans coming to Ivy looking for pop hooks will not be disappointed by Apartment Life, although the differences in the two bands otherwise are stark. Teamed up with Chase and the Paris-originating Duran, Ivy pull from breezy French pop, synth-accented dream pop, and more traditionally guitar-based alt/indie rock across Apartment Life’s dozen tracks. Often the genre-hopping happens in the same song, like when opening track “The Best Thing” starts off with a lightly electronic feeling before roaring into soaring power pop in its second half. Songs like “I’ve Got a Feeling” and “I Get the Message” are massive pop songs that balance the guitar-based and electronic sides of the band fairly evenly, although when they dive deeper into the former (“You Don’t Know Anything”) or the latter (“Never Do That Again”) they’re just as adept at it.
Bar/None’s reissue of Apartment Life represents the first time the record has ever been pressed to vinyl (something that feels long overdue for an album like this), and the re-release also entails the wider availability of two bonus tracks initially only released in Japan. Both of the songs fit right in with the album proper; the jaunty “Sleeping Late” is certainly the more immediate of the two, but the relatively sparse, Velvet Underground-esque “Sweet Mary” has grown on me as well. It’s not a massive package of extra demos or outtakes or anything like that, but Apartment Life doesn’t need that to still resonate in 2023. (Bandcamp link)
Various Artists – 14
Release date: February 23rd Record label: Prefect Genre: Jangle pop, indie pop, power pop Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull Track: Xenogenesis
Prefect Records is a Northeast England-based record label co-founded by Owen Williams of Joanna Gruesome and Mark Dobson of The Field Mice around 2019. Initially, Prefect mostly released music from the various ex-Joanna Gruesome bands that sprung up after that group’s break-up (The Tubs, Ex-Vöid, GN), but Prefect has recently branched out to put out music from The Natvral, EggS, and The Telephone Numbers in the U.K. All this has placed them squarely in the center of the international guitar pop scene, as a new compilation from the label, 14, keenly illustrates. As the title implies, it features fourteen contributions from fourteen different jangle pop groups–Prefect Records alumni, like-minded groups, and plenty of bands with whom regular Rosy Overdrive readers will be familiar.
The thriving Bay Area/West Coast indie pop scene (led by labels like Slumberland, Mt. St. Mtn., and Paisley Shirt) is well-represented on 14, with Rosy Overdrive favorites like The Reds, Pinks and Purples, Massage, and Chime School all offering up sublime tunes. The former’s “Monday Is Fine” opens 14 with a perfect piece of Glenn Donaldson wistful guitar pop, while Chime School’s “Summer Sun” is surprisingly noisier and a bit rougher than that band’s last record (but still extremely catchy). New material from these bands is always welcome, but a good various-artist comp also introduces you to new groups, and 14 doesn’t disappoint here–from early highlights from The Kitchenettes and Mt. Misery to Semi Trucks’ Calvin Johnson-shouting-out “Halo Girl” to Dressed Like Wolves’ massive noise pop in “The Death of Girls” to Cosial’s piano-indie-pop closing track, there’s plenty of intriguing material from bands with which I’m unfamiliar or only passingly familiar.
Still, my favorite song on 14 is one from a band I already knew, and a band that falls in the middle of the “Prefect Records bands” and “Bay Area jangle pop bands” Venn diagram. The Telephone Numbers’ “Xenogenesis” is a breathtaking piece of guitar pop, relatively stripped-down but sounding anything but incomplete or unfinished. Thomas Rubenstein is very quickly becoming one of my favorite new songwriters, with his Scott Miller-esque arresting vocals and emotionally-bruised lyricism all wound up in effortless-sounding hooks. If “Xenogenesis” was the only great song on 14, then the comp would be worth it–but that’s far from the case. (Bandcamp link)
Nicholas Merz – American Classic
Release date: February 24th Record label: Aagoo Genre: Alt-country, gothic country, experimental country Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull Track: American Classic
I’m familiar with Nicholas Merz due to his work as one-half of Seattle post-punk/noise rock duo Darto (I wrote about a compilation cassette from them about a year ago), but the now-Los Angeles-based musician makes records of a decidedly different bent under his own name as well. Merz’s third solo album, American Classic, is an intriguing record of dark, country-inspired indie rock songs, a captivating set of a dozen tracks that present Merz as just as adept at more “traditional” songwriting–even as the record remains somewhat skewed as a whole. Merz’s deep sung-spoken vocals are the immediate highlight of American Classic, hitting the same spots as the likes of Kurt Wagner, Scott Walker, or Michael Gira while still being unique-sounding, and the music veers from minimalist to fuzzy alt-country to timeless-sounding American pop music.
Merz makes the bold choice to open up American Classic with “The Dixon Deal”, a sparse piece built around upright bass and saxophone accents, letting his voice take the center stage. The record gets a bit more full-sounding and accessible from this point, although it still ranges a bit, with first-half highlights including the groovy up-tempo indie rock of “Great Spiders”, the baroque country of “Condor”, and the gently crooning “Balding Is Beautiful” (in which Merz concludes “Unless you’re tall–then you’re fucked,” an excellent sample of his lyricism). American Classic has a few more electric moments in the crunchy and incredibly catchy title track and the surprisingly straightforward (musically at least), 60-second “Roger Felgs”. This side of Merz is always great to hear, although as the acoustic-based closing track “Young Man, Short in Stature” reminds us, he certainly doesn’t need to crank the amps up to create something attention-grabbing. (Bandcamp link)
Lemon Pitch – Threat of Weather
Release date: February 24th Record label: Repeating Cloud Genre: 90s indie rock, power pop Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull Track: Valentine
Lemon Pitch is something of a Portland, Maine supergroup, led by three singer-songwriters who have plenty of other irons in the fire in Brock Ginther (who’s also in Midwestern Medicine and Divorce Cop), Alex Merrill (who makes music as Heaven’s Cameras), and Galen Richmond (who runs Repeating Cloud Records), in addition to drummer Jeff Hamm. Threat of Weather is the band’s second album, following 2020’s Flat Black Sea, and it certainly sounds like the work of a group of artists with a lot of ideas between them. All of Lemon Pitch clearly had their lives shaped in some way by indie rock in the 1990s (Pavement, Sebadoh, and Guided by Voices, sure, but I also get the sense that they went a bit deeper into the Matador and Sub Pop catalogs than those bands as well), yet this album is too overstuffed to get tagged as “slacker rock”.
Not only is Threat of Weather shaped by three different visions, each songwriter in Lemon Pitch has a pretty wide range of their own. Ginther can be the most unhinged of the three, as the stop-start opening track “Mow Around” and the mini-epic “Drown Lotto” show, but he can also turn in a solo-Malkmus-pretty song like “California Commando”. Richmond settles into a Robert Pollard-esque indie-rock-power-pop lane with “Yellowjackets” and “Turbulent Jets”, but his other songs get into thornier musical territory. Merrill reveals himself to be an intriguing writer and gets the closest to sticking with one style with songs like “Valentine” and “Married to the Muse”, which sport a Franklin Bruno-esque melding of classic pop hooks and long-winded lyrical twists and turns–but all his tightly-constructed crafting goes out the window with roaring closing track “First Wasp”. With all this to take in, Threat of Weather is a record in which you’ll find something new to appreciate each time you listen. (Bandcamp link)
Happy Thursday! Today’s Pressing Concerns looks at four albums: records by En Attendant Ana, Shredded Sun, Mui Zyu, and Singing Lungs. All four come out tomorrow (February 24th).
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.
En Attendant Ana – Principia
Release date: February 24th Record label: Trouble in Mind Genre: Jangle pop, post-punk, dream pop Formats: Vinyl, CD, cassette, digital Pull Track: Principia
Parisian quintet En Attendant Ana have been reliably putting out their sharp take on dreamy but approachable indie pop for over a half-decade at this point–I might have a slight preference for their debut full-length, 2018’s Lost and Found, but they’ve been remarkably consistent up to their brand new third album, Principia. Although Margaux Bouchaudon remains En Attendant Ana’s primary singer and songwriter, the latest record features a balanced mix of contributions from the rest of the band as well. The band’s steady rhythm section of bassist Vincent Hivert and drummer Adrien Pollin keeps one foot of the record firmly rooted in post-punk, while Bouchaudon’s melodic vocals, chiming and shimmering guitar work from Max Tomasso, and trumpet & saxophone interjections from Camille Frechou (who, along with Bouchaudon, recently lent her talents to fellow French indie pop group EggS) help push Principia into dreamy indie pop territory.
Principia eagerly slides pop song after pop song out toward the listener in its first half–songs like the mid-tempo, jangly opening title track, the chugging-soaring “Ada, Mary, Diane”, and the fluttering “Black Morning” are not overly showy in their catchiness, but they’re all still instantly memorable indie pop tunes. En Attendant Ana remain a pop band as they reach the middle of Principia, even as they deviate from things a bit with the busy, bass-led, Stereolab-evoking “Same Old Story” and the nearly six-minute acceleration of “Wonder”. En Attendant Ana sound smooth throughout the record, which helps everything they try on Principia sound right together–the straightforward jangle pop ballad “Fools & Kings” sits right next to the slippery experimental guitar pop of “The Cut Off”, and they both feel right at home. En Attendant Ana are operating at a high level on Principia–it feels like the work of a band who we can expect to be a reliable source of good indie rock for a long time. (Bandcamp link)
Shredded Sun – Each Dot and Each Line
Release date: February 24th Record label: Self-released Genre: Psychedelic pop, indie pop, garage rock, noise pop Formats: Digital Pull Track: For a Good Time
Although Each Dot and Each Line is only the second full-length record from Chicago’s Shredded Sun, the trio are indie rock lifers who’ve been at it for quite a while now. Shredded Sun’s debut album, Land Lines, came out back in 2016, and they also have a couple of EPs to their name. Members Nick Ammerman (guitar, vocals, organ), Sarah Ammerman (bass, vocals), and Ben Bilow (drums) have a shared history predating this band as well–most notably, all three of them played in 2000s lo-fi garage punk group Fake Fictions. Their time playing together assuredly is helpful in pulling off something like Each Dot and Each Line, which is a delightfully eclectic indie rock record that combines fuzz rock/shoegaze noiseness, a garage-punk edge, and power pop catchiness.
Each Dot and Each Line hops around from the get-go: opening track “Japanese Wave” is a psychedelic, dreamy jangle pop tune sung by Nick that’s led by Sarah’s rumbling bass–and then Shredded Sun immediately veer into the crystal-clear, Heavenly-esque indie pop of the Sarah-sung “Outside”. “Rivals” marries bright jangle pop with a bit of first-wave punk attitude in a seamless manner, and “Golden Void” closes the first half of the record with a noise pop, almost-shoegaze distorted roar. Shredded Sun clearly pull from several different eras of “alternative” and indie rock in a Yo La Tengo-esque, “music fan first and foremost” way–Each Dot and Each Line as a whole reflects this in spirit, but songs like “Dark Day” that bend sound around an emotional core in particular emphasize the comparison. Sonically, Each Dot and Each Line is an incredibly entertaining record, but the pop songwriting of the record is just as key–and this aspect stays true throughout, with some of the hookiest tracks on the record–the bouncy “For a Good Time” and the bittersweet “Ordinary Colors”–coming in the album’s final third. (Bandcamp link)
Mui Zyu – Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century
Release date: February 24th Record label: Father/Daughter Genre: Dream pop, experimental pop Formats: Vinyl, CD, digital Pull Track: Demon 01
London-based, Hong Kong-originating musician Eva Liu makes music as part of the indie rock group Dama Scout, as well as on her own under the name Mui Zyu. Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century is the first full-length Mui Zyu record, following 2021’s A Wonderful Thing Vomits EP, as well as last year’s debut Dama Scout album, gen wo lai (come with me). Eva Liu’s first album as Mui Zyu is a transfixing pop album, led by her subtle but melodic vocals that are frequently accompanied only by atmospheric industrial sounds or by spare piano or guitar playing; the album has a non-busy ambient pop feel to it. To Liu, Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century represents a conscious effort to merge her interest in dreamy indie pop with her Chinese heritage–this is most apparent in her incorporation of traditional Chinese instruments erhu and guzheng in these songs, although the record bears these influences from its title on down.
The record’s opening track, “Rotten Bun”, begins as a sparse piano singer-songwriter tune before exploding into swirling psychedelia in its closing minute, while tracks like “Ghost with a Peach Skin” and “Hotel Mini Soap” anchor Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century with their offerings of steady, minimalist, but substantial synthpop. Eva Liu particularly pushes the range of Mui Zyu as Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century moves into its second side– the gentle guitar piece “Dusty” gives way to the washed-in-feedback dream pop of “Demon 01”, the disintegrating, corrupted-sounding “Dancing for Drinks”, and the stomping electro-pop of “Talk to Death” all in a row. These songs give way to the quieter but no less texturally-focused final quarter of the record–it’s an adventurous album, even as Liu keeps the songs grounded in some form of indie pop throughout. (Bandcamp link)
Singing Lungs – Coming Around
Release date: February 24th Record label: Count Your Lucky Stars/Sell the Heart/Engineer/Waterslide Genre: Punk rock, pop punk, alt-rock Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull Track: Static
Michigan group Singing Lungs play an energetic, catchy, and rough-around-the-edges version of pop punk and power pop–they’re a punk band that comes from the Bob Mould school of wielding a hook in one hand and blunt force in the other, and there’s a bit of 90s alternative rock in them as well. Coming Around is the band’s second full-length record, coming a few years after 2018’s Groan (with a couple of EPs released in between to bridge the gap). Coming Around is a consistent and even listen, with its eleven songs largely declining to add much in terms of bells and whistles and letting their core structures carry them.
Coming Around is more than full of enough strong songwriting to make it a damn solid punk rock record, beginning with opening track “Where I’m At” and its sharp mix of “perky” and “weary”, and continuing into early highlights like almost-title track “Around Again” (whose chorus is simple but perfect for the rest of the song). Singing Lungs are more than happy to roll along with power chords and brisk percussion–but they’re willing to let up on it just enough, like in the middle of the record, where “Static” contains a few dramatic stops and starts. Songs like “How Could I Know” and “Present Tense” reflect the band’s Lemonheads/Gin Blossoms “polished but still weighty alt-rock” side, as does closing track “What You Hide Behind”, which ends the record with a quite pleasing group-vocal refrain. These full-throated, attention-grabbing performances are the throughline of Coming Around. (Bandcamp link)
Rosy Overdrive 