Today’s Pressing Concerns tackles new albums from Romero, Whimsical, and Renata Zeiguer, plus a compilation of Blackpool, England’s Pumf Records compiled by Pittsburgh’s Floating Mill Records. Check ’em out!
The March Playlist also went up this week, which I’d recommend exploring heartily. If you’re looking for more new music, you can browse previous editions of Pressing Concerns or visit the site directory.
Romero – Turn It On!
Release date: April 8th Record label: Feel It/Cool Death Genre: Power pop, garage rock, punk rock Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull track: Turn It On!
The debut album from Melbourne, Australia’s Romero is a non-stop blast of classic punk rock-infused power pop that rips through eleven sturdy songs gleefully and deftly. Most of Turn It On! has a big, go-for-it kind of energy that evokes the 1970s as much as any of the deliberate “retro” flourishes in their music do—it reminds me of Sheer Mag’s starting points of influence, as well as the poppier moments of Screaming Females. And to be clear, Turn It On! is very much a pop album. Romero come from the garage punk underground (the frequently noisy Feel It Records is releasing Turn It On! in the U.S.), the record demands to be played loud, and lead singer Alanna Oliver is more often than not belting out her lyrics, but these are professionally-done pop songs—at the time of me writing this, five of Turn It On!’s tracks have been released as singles, and all of them make perfect sense in this context.
The Free Energy-esque cowbells and “whoo-hoos” in the cruising title track make it an obvious choice for lead single, as does the more mid-tempo vocal showcase “Halfway Out the Door” (the press release describes the song as a “ballad” and “melancholic”; it rocks as hard as anything else on the album). But then, you’ve also got the sprint of “Honey” and the head-bopping “Troublemaker” as advance tracks, and they’ve gotta be up there. And these are just the singles—they all feel like obvious choices until one looks at what remains, including “Crossing Lines” (which, in a record that bathes in “cool”, might nudge its way to being the coolest-sounding song of them all) and “Petals” (which is as exhilarating as “Honey”, but unhinged instead of merely excited). The closest thing to an outlier on Turn It On! is penultimate track “White Dress”, the only track that doesn’t have a clear catchy chorus, preferring to let the lead guitar take the refrain in the context of something slightly more dirge-y. Only in the context of Turn It On!, however; Romero don’t do anything halfway. (Bandcamp link)
Whimsical – Melt
Release date: April 1st Record label: Shelflife/Through Love Genre: Shoegaze, noise pop, dream pop Formats: Vinyl, CD, digital Pull track: Crash and Burn
Dyer, Indiana’s Whimsical has been around since 1999 (give or take a ten year hiatus in the late 2000s/early 2010s), and its lineup is now reduced to the core duo of Krissy Vanderwoude (lyrics and vocals) and Neil Burkdoll (everything else). Melt, their fourth record, certainly doesn’t sound like a band running out of steam. It comes less than three years after their last record, 2019’s Bright Smiles & Broken Hearts, and with some one-offcovers released intermittently, Whimsical are currently the most active they’ve been in their career. Melt is a confident album; most of these songs stretch past the five minute mark, but they avoid dragging or excess repetition in their structures. The opening march of “Rewind” kicks off Melt with a groove that plows forward even as Vanderwoude’s lyrics search into the past for inspiration, and the loaded psych-tinged rock of “Gravity” keeps the energy up by following.
The roaring “Crash and Burn” marks Melt’s midway point with an excited number that speeds up and slows down like the rollercoaster to which its lyrics allude. The actual “heart” of the record, though, is the song before it, “Melting Hearts”. The semi-title track is surprisingly soft and tender in pretty much every way; its thawing lyrics mimic the classic shoegaze loud/sensitive, darkness and light dynamics as well as anything. The song seems to unlock the other side of Whimsical, which gets explored in second-half songs like “Searching”, which washes over the listener with a gentle atmospheric feel and resonating synth textures, and “Quicksand”, where Vanderwoude’s vocals glide over drum-machine-aided synthpop. While I remain impressed that Whimsical can shift into shoegaze overdrive like in the first few tracks and “Crash and Burn”, it’s the innovations elsewhere that keep Melt fresh. (Bandcamp link)
Various – Parsnips Under My Feet: DIY Punk & Bedroom Pop from Pumf Records, 1986-98
Release date: April 12th Record label: Floating Mill Genre: Lo-fi pop, post-punk Formats: Cassette, CD, digital Pull track: I Am the Horse
Since 1984, Blackpool, England’s Pumf Records has (and continues to) release loads of music via cassettes, CDs, and digital downloads, frequently in the form of compilations of songs by their regular stable of bands and artists. Even though Pumf is still active, the team-up with Pittsburgh archival record label Floating Mill makes sense, as this is a label that has long excavated similar artifacts of lo-fi and post-punk persuasion. Parsnips Under My Feet collects fourteen songs from seven Pumf-associated acts, although all of the “bands” on the compilation feature Pumf Records founder pStan Batcow either alone or with a group of backing musicians. Parsnips Under My Feet starts with two songs that emphasize the “pop” side of Pumf: the Def-a-Kators’ giddy instrumental “Theme” opening things up, and Howl in the Typerwriter’s perfect lo-fi pop tune “I Am the Horse” right after—contemporaries The Cleaners from Venus would be the recognizable point of comparison here.
Although several more songs on Parsnips Under My Feet are catchy, the rest of the compilation casts a wider net—we get sloppy political garage rock (“War’s a Bore”), cold post-punk (“Retentive-Anal Schoolboy (Loves His Mother)”) and frightening sonic assaults (“Heeby Jeeby Insect Wiggle”). Nearly half of these songs are instrumentals, and oddly enough, they’re some of the most accessible moments on the compilation (other than the aforementioned “Theme”, there’s the bouncy post-punk of “Walk Like a Pedestrian” and the flanged reverb-pop of “Flamboyance”). At some point in Parsnips Under My Feet—maybe it’s at the genuinely confusing “Jaw Meal Terror One”, or at the oddly compelling six-minute history lesson of “Rasputin”—you begin to understand why Pumf were never destined to become the next Factory Records. By the end of the compilation, though, you understand why pStan seems to wear that as a badge of honor. (Bandcamp link)
Renata Zeiguer – Picnic in the Dark
Release date: April 8th Record label: Northern Spy Genre: Indie pop, dream pop Formats: Vinyl, CD, digital Pull track: Evergreen
On her second full-length album, Brooklyn’s Renata Zeiguer walks the aurally pleasing tightrope of attempting to synthesize old, familiar pop music sounds into something new and able to stand on its own. Picnic in the Dark is a somewhat unassuming record on its surface; it’s clear that Zeiguer and her co-producer Sam Evian, who also plays on the majority of Picnic in the Dark’s eleven songs, put effort into making the album sound airy and straightforward, with Zeiguer’s voice often accompanied by little more than sparse percussion and some instrumental flourishes. The record (equally as deliberately, I’d assume) then sneaks up on you; this is frequently mimicked on the song level, where tracks like “Eloise” start off with light synth tones and drum machine beats only to come to life over the span of a couple of minutes.
“Sunset Boulevard” is a somewhat restrained opening track; Zeiguer accents her centered vocal with harmonies that pop in and out of the mix, and just when the instrumental background sounds like it’s going to get busy, it shies back (it almost feels like dub at times). Elsewhere, “Mark the Date” is a sparkling minimalist tune that is, along with the melancholic, Spanish-sung closing track “Primavera”, one of the more openly bossa nova-influenced tracks on Picnic in the Dark. Like throughout the rest of the record, these are the wrinkles that stand out among the songs on repeated listens—some, like the propulsive hooks of single “Evergreen” or the relatively dark verses of “Whack-a-Mole”, pop more readily, while others, like the acoustic, pastoral “Avalanche” take a bit of time. Eventually the differences become more pronounced which, seemingly paradoxically, smoothes out Picnic in the Dark even more. (Bandcamp link)
Welcome to the latest edition of Rosy Overdrive’s monthly round-up/playlist! It’s almost all new music this time around! There was a lot of it this month! I did listen to some fun older music in March, and a bit of it shows up here as well, but there’s more I’d like to get to at a later date. But this is two hours of good music for you, so no complaints.
Ex-Vöid, Bellows, Blanche Blanche Blanche, and The Loud Family and Anton Barbeau all have two songs on this playlist.
Here are some streaming links for your convenience: Spotify, Tidal, BNDCMPR (with a few songs missing on that one). Be sure to check out previous playlist posts if you’ve enjoyed this one.
“Computer Exploder”, Oso Oso From Sore Thumb (2022, Triple Crown)
Oso Oso seems like one of those bands that I have to relisten to every once in awhile to remind myself, “yes, they are actually that good”. The Jade Lilitri project’s latest release, Sore Thumb, is apparently comprised of what were supposed to be demos recorded together by Lilitri and his frequent collaborator and cousin Tavish Maloney, and then left basically untouched after Maloney’s sudden death last year. It sounds awesome, so perhaps Lilitri should park his music at the demo stage more often in the future. “Computer Exploder” is kind of a weird opening track in that it takes nearly two minutes for the “chorus” to actually show up, but it’s one of the finest things to ever be released under the Oso Oso name yet.
“The Poet of My Dreams”, David West From Jolly in the Bush (2022, Tough Love)
David West is a fairly active indie rocker, playing in bands with which I’m passingly familiar like Rat Columns and Total Control. A song from the Perth, Australia-based musician’s recent solo album, however, is what really caught my attention and has gotten West fully on my radar. “The Poet of My Dreams” opens up Jolly in the Bush, and it’s an excellent piece of jangle pop propulsion. West’s melody and some shimmery guitar leads fall under the “bullseye” category of this kind of music, but there’s a roughness to it that comes out in the brief discordant guitar solo in the song’s second half and the chords being bashed out underneath the whole thing.
“Hold My Hand”, Maggie Gently From Peppermint (2022, Refresh)
The latest release from Refresh Records (Downhaul, Gnawing, Hit Like a Girl) is the debut record from San Francisco’s Maggie Gently. Peppermint features shades of indie rock, emo, and even some pop punk, but it’s the surprisingly rootsy alt-pop-rock of “Hold My Hand” that hasn’t left my head since I’ve heard it. Gently lands the song somewhere in the realm of late-90s post-grunge pop, and from there just dives into a tune about some fairly universal themes…well, one theme in particular. “So I’m asking you to dance or hold my hand, if you want to / You and me, girl, it sounds so nice,” is her offering, and it makes for a hell of a refrain even if it amounts to nothing else (hopefully it doesn’t!).
“Churchyard”, Ex-Vöid From Bigger Than Before (2022, Don Giovanni)
I’m not really familiar with Joanna Gruesome, the Welsh band that rose and fell in the early 2010s, but I’m fully on board with Ex-Vöid after hearing their debut album. Bigger Than Before is the full-length reunion of Joanna Gruesome singer-songwriters Alanna McArdle and Owen Williams—their first band disintegrated after McArdle stepped away from it in 2015, although they released an EP under the Ex-Vöid name in 2018 and Williams has been playing in The Tubs lately. Bigger Than Before is a big, hooky, indie pop record that’s got just a bit of edge to it; album opener “Churchyard” is all triumphant bounce. Two-minutes, in and out, nonstop melodies and McArdle and Williams’ harmonies.
“No One Wants to Be Without a Person to Love”, Bellows From Next of Kin (2022, Topshelf)
“No One Wants to Be Without a Person to Love”, musically, embodies the best of Next of Kin. It’s bombastic in its arresting introduction and in a beautiful, catchy chorus, and reaches deep down in between these moments with a sincere, whispered vocal from Oliver Kalb in the verses. It’s the second song on the record, after the relatively understated opening track “Marijuana Grow”, and does a bit of presenting where Next of Kin goes from there, both in the aforementioned music choices and in Kalb’s lyrics—“Memory, stay where you were / Walk it back down, can’t have you staying around,” sets up something Kalb grapples with throughout the album. Read more about Next of Kin here.
“Only Yesterday”, Blanche Blanche Blanche From Fiscal, Remote, Distilled (2022, La Loi)
Blanche Blanche Blanche is the duo of singer Sarah Smith and multi-instrumentalist Zach Phillips (also of Fievel Is Glauque and a bunch of other bands). The two have made a lot of music together; so far, I’ve only heard their latest record, 2022’s Fiscal, Remote, Distilled, but it rules. “Only Yesterday” is one of the simplest songs from Fiscal, Remote, Distilled, at least musically—it sounds like the song’s basically built around a bass run and Smith’s clear vocals that are sung-spoken but still quite melodic. Horns and synths do punctuate “Only Yesterday”, though, and the lyrics are tantalizing, saying a lot and little at the same time—it’s a testament to Blanche Blanche Blanche that it all still sounds so straightforward.
“Raytracer”, Emperor X From Central Hug / Friendarmy / Fractaldunes (And the Dreams That Resulted) (2005, Disco Mariscos/Dreams of Field Recordings)
Another trip to the Emperor X well, but an older one this time. “Raytracer” is the best song on Central Hug / Friendarmy / Fractaldunes (And the Dreams That Resulted), falling into the genre of Emperor X song that’s “Chad Matheny bashing it out as hard as he can on acoustic guitar” (see also: “Daytrader Stadium”), with a tick-tocking synth the only other accompaniment for most of the song. Central Hug as a whole is more indebted to 90s indie rock than 2011’s Western Teleport and everything Matheny has released since, but the sparseness of “Raytracer” could’ve come from 1997 or 2017 (and I cut it off at ’97 because of the Either/Or mention in the lyrics). “Did you ever make out on the Capitol steps with an AK-47-holding Marxist girl?” is the line that most will remember, but “That’s fine, I’m going home to fail” is the actual best one.
“Women Without Whiskey”, Wednesday From Mowing the Leaves Instead of Piling ‘em Up (2022, Orindal)
Wednesday’s version of the Drive-By Truckers’ “Women Without Whiskey” initially appeared in a covers-only Aquarium Drunkard session, which satisfyingly grew into a full-blown cover album. Mowing the Leaves Instead of Piling ‘em Up features several selections I already loved, from songs originally by Vic Chesnutt to The Smashing Pumpkins, but Wednesday’s fuzz-country roar is especially appropriate for this tune. “Women Without Whiskey” was one of the three songs on 2001’s Southern Rock Opera (along with “Zip City” and “72 (This Highway’s Mean)”) that announced Mike Cooley as one of the top-tier songwriters of his generation, and it makes so much sense that MJ Lenderman, whose power as a solo singer-songwriter is growing parallel to that of his band’s, gets to sing on it.
“Rocks Off”, The Loud Family and Anton Barbeau From What If It Works? (2006, 125/Omnivore)
The last album that Game Theory and Loud Family bandleader Scott Miller completed in his lifetime, What If It Works? begins in a way that’s both familiar to fans of Miller’s music and unique in his discography. Omnivore’s Game Theory reissue series has shone a proper light on Miller’s penchant for spirited, full-throttled cover versions of his favorite songs, and while those were generally reduced to B-sides, “bonus tracks”, and live recordings, “Rocks Off” doesn’t sound out of place at all kicking off an album. Somehow he and co-conspirator Anton Barbeau (who, if you’ve been paying attention to his considerable solo output as of late, can probably play just about anything) turn the Rolling Stones tune into a Loud Family song. Or (as pretty much everyone involved thought the album should be credited) a Scott Miller and Anton Barbeau song.
“Small Talk”, Fuvkfeaturing Mostyn Griffith From Split Death (2022, Z Tapes)
Split Death is the first release of 2022 from Austin’s Fuvk, following last year’s Imaginary Deadlines and twentytwenty, and it finds Shirley Zhu getting help from a few collaborators. The last three songs on the album are by Mostyn Griffith (hence the “split” part of Split Death), but there is some bleeding into each others’ songs as well—Griffith sings on Zhu’s “Small Talk”, for instance, and contributes “additional lyrics”. Still, it sounds like a classic Fuvk song to me: it’s a mid-tempo indie pop song with a very hooky melody, and Zhu’s voice once again manages to convey emotion while still sounding rather matter-of-fact.
“God’s A-Working, Man”, Lee Bains III + The Glory Fires From Old-Time Folks (2022, Don Giovanni)
The first song I ever heard from Lee Bains III + The Glory Fires was “Crooked Letters”, from 2017’s Youth Detention. It’s a dense, trawling, almost psychedelic six-minute southern rock anthem that didn’t sound like anything else at the time, and still doesn’t. The lead single from The Glory Fires’ long-awaited follow-up album, Old-Time Folks, is similarly lengthy, but they diverge after sharing that. “God’s A-Working, Man” is a statement of intent—despite their clear strength as a fierce rock band, there’s always been much more going on beneath the fuzz, and now Bains is stepping up to the microphone more forcefully than ever. Bains’ gospel influence in his vocals and lyrics has always been there, but “God’s A-Working, Man” leans into it openly in a way that he hasn’t really done since at least the Glory Fires’ debut record, 2012’s There Is a Bomb in Gilead. This’ll be a good one.
“Same Old Fool”, Young Guv From GUV III (2022, Run for Cover)
Rosy Overdrive being a fan of Young Guv is probably the least surprising news ever. I greatly enjoyed GUV I and GUV II, the twin 2019 releases from the power pop project of former Fucked Up guitarist Ben Cook, and I’m happy to report that GUV III is solid as well. Time will tell if it’ll hang with the other Guv records for me, but “Same Old Fool” already might be my favorite song of Cook’s. It’s nuts that a song this good, with a hook this killer, wasn’t one of the album’s five singles and is hidden away in the middle of Side Two, but that’s just how Young Guv roll. And the chorus to “Same Old Fool”, if nothing else, makes me want to roll along.
“Exposure”, ORANGEPURPLEBEACH From d E A T h ~ b U g (2022, Tiny Telephone)
“Lowest I’ll play for is 225 / That’s the minimum to keep the dream alive,” declares John Vanderslice toward the end of “Exposure”, the latest single from his upcoming album under the name ORANGEPURPLEBEACH. “Exposure” was loosely inspired by Vanderslice’s memories of touring, and the line quoted above links it to one of his signature songs (as well as a podcast about his longtime San Francisco recording studio, Tiny Telephone). My favorite songs from the post-Dagger Beach era of John Vanderslice have combined the new horizons opened up by his foray into electronic music with the songwriting of his “classic” earlier albums, and “Exposure” fits this mold like a glove. The song was written on acoustic guitar (which features prominently on the recording) and features a beautiful chorus melody, but the margins and edges are all frayed.
“Bluest Star”, Maneka From Dark Matters (2022, Skeletal Lightning)
Dark Matters is the second album from Maneka, the project of Brooklyn-based Devin McKnight (apparently 2017’s Is You Is is an EP, but I’d thought of it as an album before), and it’s certainly the most ambitious record I’ve heard yet from him. “Bluest Star” comes at the end of a parade of lo-fi rock/slowcore, experimental pop, and jazz, among other genres and wormholes that somehow only lasts 30 minutes. It’s a propulsive indie rock song that surprisingly lifts off into a synth-aided stratosphere in the second half. Toward the end of “Bluest Star”, McKnight sings “At least I have this ol’ guitar”, and then ends the record with a somewhat pensive solo. He has quite a bit more than just that guitar on Dark Matters, but he does indeed still have it.
“Chestnut Blight”, Freakons From Freakons (2022, Fluff and Gravy)
The fungal disease that devastated and nearly wiped out the once-ubiquitous American chestnut tree in 20th century Appalachia has been decidedly under-represented in modern music, but if you think the Freakons are going to neglect it, you’d be dead wrong. The group is, naturally, a collaboration between Jon Langford and Sally Timms of The Mekons and Freakwater’s Catherine Irwin and Janet Bean (also of Eleventh Dream Day) with several ringers (Jean Cook, Anna Krippenstapel, Jim Elkington) getting in on the action as well. Freakons is a must-listen for fans of protest folk music, as the two bands find solidarity in the shared coal-mining backgrounds of their states of origin (England and Kentucky). Sample chorus lyric for “Chesnut Blight”: “Jesus walked on water in the Bible / But now the creek’s so filled with slag even I won’t sink”.
“Statement Brickwork”, Good Grief From Shake Your Faith (2022, Everything Sucks/HHBTM)
Saying a band “sounds like Superchunk and Hüsker Dü” doesn’t usually mean they literally sound exactly like those bands, it’s more of a code for “this band likes to make loud, punk-influenced hooky rock music”. And Good Grief are quite good at this (although, okay, yes, “The Pony Remark” has moments that could’ve come right from On the Mouth). The Liverpool trio’s long-awaited debut album (they’ve been together for a decade at this point) has an urgency to it, like they’ve got to cram as much energy and yell-out choruses into eleven songs as possible. “Statement Brickwork” isn’t the loudest song on Shake Your Faith, but it still rocks. The vocals almost push the song into Samiam/Knapsack-esque emo-punk territory, even as it’s an excellent pop song over anything else.
“I’ve Stopped Eating”, U.S. Highball From A Parkhead Cross of the Mind (2022, Lame-O)
A Parkhead Cross of the Mind is U.S. Highball’s third album since 2019, and with it the Glasgow duo have put together an extraordinarily breezy and quite catchy mid-fi guitar pop record. The songs whisk by, even as there is a lot to hold onto in its twelve tracks. Album highlight “I’ve Stopped Eating” is a gorgeous harmony-stuffed track that leans into U.S. Highball’s C86 influences, with chiming guitar leads weaving in and out of a drum machine beat and subtle synths. Read more about A Parkhead Cross of the Mind here.
“Hide, Not Seek”, Premium Rat From Cope (2022)
Cope, the latest EP from Ypsilanti, Michigan’s Premium Rat, is a mix of spare, intimate indie folk and poppy alt-rock; highlight “Hide, Not Seek” is firmly in the latter camp. It’s Cope’s most musically upbeat song, but it’s not exactly your boilerplate “good times” summer tune. “Fuck my therapist, what I need is a liar / Someone to stop me from staring right at the fire,” vows singer Mer Rey at the beginning of the song, and the repeated allusions to flames and gasoline and scorched earth really do make one question just how literal we’re being here. Read more about Cope here.
“Death of Dog”, Bellows From Next of Kin (2022, Topshelf)
An after-school special piano riff introduces “Death of Dog” in about as friendly a way as possible for a song called “Death of Dog” to be introduced. Like a lot of Next of Kin, the song finds Bellows’ Oliver Kalb ruminating on loss of friendships and loss of innocence, and like a lot of Next of Kin, Kalb and the other contributing musicians make it sound anything but a straight-up sad song. The passing of Kalb’s dog growing up, Loubie, is mentioned explicitly, but it’s another line (“Still feel like a child when I’m in this house”) that gets repeated more, and is perhaps closer to spelling out the heart of what Kalb is getting at. Read more about Next of Kin here.
“Push You Aside”, Star Party From Meadow Flower (2022, Feel It/Tough Love)
Star Party’s debut album Meadow Flower is a tuneful, clamorous noise pop album, featuring eight songs where vocalist Carolyn Brennan delivers indie pop melodies over top of instrumentals almost always cranked up and blown out to eleven. Single “Push You Aside” is one of the more garage rock-sounding numbers on Meadow Flower; the verses have something of an edge to them, even if they’re clearly still inspired by the straightforward hooks of the twee/K Records bands from Star Party’s native Pacific Northwest. Read more about Meadow Flower here.
“Overdry Sensation”, Blanche Blanche Blanche From Fiscal, Remote, Distilled (2022, La Loi)
Another selection from Fiscal, Remote, Distilled here—there are several I could’ve gone with, but “Overdry Sensation” is great and, ahem, distills what’s so compelling about Blanche Blanche Blanche’s latest album. Like “Only Yesterday”, it’s one of the simpler-sounding songs on the record, with Zach Phillips’ arsenal of jazz band instruments restricted to a few brief bursts. “Overdry Sensation” mostly works to compliment Sarah Smith’s vocals, which (again like “Only Yesterday”) are clear and plain-spoken despite being quite melodic.
“A Conversation About Punk”, Buí From Talking to the Walls (2022, Analogue Catalogue)
The Belfast band Buí is led by singer-songwriter Josh Healy, and they’ve released a couple of EPs and a full-length since 2017. Their latest EP, Talking to the Walls, is mostly a relatively sparse collection of indie folk, including a cover of Daniel Johnston’s “The Sun Shines Down on Me” and four physical-release-only tracks recorded mostly by Healy alone. “A Conversation About Punk” is something of an outlier—no, it’s not a punk song, but it’s a full-bodied, shimmery, jangly indie rock tune that elevates Healy’s vocals with fluttering synths and lightly-applied electric guitar fuzz.
“Total Mass Destruction”, The Loud Family and Anton Barbeau From What If It Works? (2006, 125/Omnivore)
“Total Mass Destruction” is probably my favorite Scott Miller-led song on What If It Works?, although I could make an argument for any of them (including “bonus track” “Don’t Bother Me While I’m Living Forever”). I’m not the first person to point out that the casual nature of the making of What If It Works? led to some of Miller’s most straightforward pop songwriting since the early Game Theory days (and I’d go a little farther than that—despite less frequent usage, Miller had actually gotten better at it since the early 80s). “Total Mass Destruction” is the greatest beneficiary of this facet of the record; the chorus practically yanks you up to the stage to sing along to “No one blinks an eye until the total mass destruction comes” (almost certainly originating from the music industry, but, oh man, is it relevant elsewhere).
“All Spring All Summer”, The Silos From Hasta La Victoria (1992, Sonic Pyramid)
There were a lot of these kinds of bands in the late 1980s and early 1990s—groups that played “roots rock” but also were odd enough to fit somewhat into the “college rock” bubble as well. Los Lobos looms large over them—I’m also thinking of bands like The Jayhawks, Miracle Legion, The Vulgar Boatmen, Giant Sand, and the work of Alejandro Escovedo. The modern critical discourse has mostly forgotten them, so it took me awhile to realize, “no, these are actually good and worthwhile bands”, and The Silos are one of the best among them. These groups were embracing classic rock styles in “alternative rock” long before 90s grunge and the 00s soft-rock revival had the genius realization that it’s always been there all along. Maybe I’m overthinking it; just enjoy the five-minute impossibly-cool chorus that is “All Spring All Summer” if so.
“Challenger (Demo)”, Sinai Vessel From LP4 DEMOS (2022, Single Occupancy)
“Loved snow ‘til you realized it’s rain that sticks to the ground,” murmurs Caleb Cordes over quietly-strummed acoustic guitar at the beginning of “Challenger”, one of the five songs released by Cordes’ project Sinai Vessel as “LP4 Demos”. Of course, since this is a collection of what are ostensibly demos (although Cordes has said “this wasn’t supposed to be a record, but I think it is now”), they’re all very barebones. At least one of the songs on LP4 Demos has some rudimentary percussion, but “Challenger” doesn’t even bother with that. I like it just the way it is, but if a “non-demo” version ends up on the next proper Sinai Vessel album, I’d be curious to hear that too.
“No Other Way”, Ex-Vöid From Bigger Than Before (2022, Don Giovanni)
Bigger Than Before is one of those albums where it’s hard to whittle it down to just a couple for the playlist (basically every song is a “hit”; that’s a good problem to have), but “No Other Way” will do just fine. Like “Churchyard”, the entire song is shot through with Alanna McArdle and Owen Williams’ harmonies, although this time Williams’ vocals sound more centered. This is power pop at its wistful best, although, like most of Bigger Than Before, there’s just enough noisiness from louder days remaining to punch the song up a tad. The soaring chorus is what you’ll remember the most from “No Other Way”, though.
“Crystal Nuns Cathedral”, Guided by Voices From Crystal Nuns Cathedral (2022, GBV, Inc.)
The first Guided by Voices album of 2022 is very good, but it’s not exactly a “singles” record (at least by their standards), so the title track from Crystal Nuns Cathedral is the only song that’s getting highlighted on Rosy Overdrive this time. And even as my selected “hit”, “Crystal Nuns Cathedral” is something of an oddity. It’s another one of Robert Pollard’s classic “end credits music” closing tracks—coming at the end of one of this lineup’s heaviest records yet, it’s a brief blast of pure pop fluff. The band steadfastly refuse to deviate from the simple chord progression—there’s not a whiff of “prog” here. And, of course, Pollard’s vocal melody is brilliant in a nice and familiar way. The song feels like one of the singles from the 2010s Guided by Voices reunion records (“Planet Score”? “Unsinkable Fats Domino”?) and I’ll take that.
“She’s in Love”, The Moneygoround From Cruisin’ and Swingin’ with The Moneygoround (2022, Pyramid Scheme)
The Moneygoround is the latest project from Prince Edward Island’s Dennis Ellsworth, who has played with everyone from Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip to Sugar’s David Barbe, in addition to amassing a solo career. The Moneygoround is named after a music industry-disparaging Kinks song (understandable for someone who’s been in it to the degree Ellsworth has), but it’s the pastoral and breezy side of late 60s folk-pop that pops up in “She’s in Love”. Light organs color what’s a sunny jangle rock tune; in Ellsworth’s hands, “I don’t want to fuck it up” sounds as delicate as it could be.
“Halfway Out the Door”, Romero From Turn It On! (2022, Feel It/Cool Death)
Melbourne, Australia’s Romero have put together a blast of classic punk rock-infused power pop with their upcoming debut record Turn It On!; while latest single “Halfway Out the Door” is one of the more mid-tempo tracks on the record, it might exemplify the band’s full-throttle attitude more than anything else. “If you’re halfway out the door / Oh no, I won’t be comin’ no more,” declares singer Alanna Oliver, an “all-or-nothing” ultimatum in the context of a somewhat lacking relationship. As the rest of the band turns Oliver’s words into a soaring pop rock anthem, it’s clear which side Romero prefer. Read more about Turn It On! here.
“Honest Living”, Meat Wave (2022, Swami)
Meat Wave supposedly have a new album coming out later this year (following up 2021’s excellent Volcano Park EP), and while I’m not sure if “Honest Living” is going to be on it, it’s definitely lead-single worthy. It sounds like vintage Meat Wave, with the Chicago trio tearing through their version of lean, garage/post-punky take on noise rock held together nicely by a fiery Chris Sutter vocal (It’s also their first song for Swami John Reis of Drive Like Jehu/Hot Snakes’ record label, which is a good place for them). “I make an honest living, honestly it’s great / I’m living the dream,” seethes Sutter in probably the least convincing way possible, and things only get more dire from there.
“Bridge Spliffs”, Gaadge From Gaadge / Ex Pilots Split C-30 (2022)
Gaadge’s 2021 album Yeah? ended up being one of my favorite records of last year, with its spirited blend of shoegaze and oddball indie rock making quite the impression. This year, the Pittsburgh group has gone and hidden some of their strongest material yet away on a split cassette release with Ex-Pilots (a band that shares multiple members with Gaadge). The Ethan Oliva-sung “Parcels” would’ve fit right alongside something from last year’s Barlow record, but it’s the wall-of-sound-pop of “Bridge Spliffs” that sticks in my head above any of the other ones. The song combines an up-in-front instrumental that threatens to leap out and grab the listener with Mitch DeLong’s low-key vocals, and there’s a surprising moment of harmony in the chorus.
“Chagrin”, Prathloons From The Kansas Wind (2022, Sweet Tart Lover Thrills)
The Kansas Wind is a well-crafted record of post-rock and emo-influenced indie rock, but Minneapolis’ Collin Dall and his collaborators generally take these materials and turn them into welcoming three-minute tunes. Single “Chagrin” is one of the best examples; after a long percussive opening (that the single version pares down), the track turns into a pleasant melodic drive. It’s got a wistfulness to it that echoes the more sincere since of 2000s indie rock, although Dall’s vocal melody is timeless. Read more about The Kansas Wind here.
“Boatyard Winch”, Teenage Tom Petties (2022, Safe Suburban Home/Repeating Cloud)
Teenage Tom Petties is the solo project of London’s Tom Brown, who is also part of the duo Rural France (fun fact: Rural France’s October 2021 record RF featured a song called “Teenage Tom Petty”, so clearly Brown’s found some kind of meaning in the phrase). “Boatyard Winch” is the debut single from a record yet to be announced and due later this year, and it’s anything but a soft launch. The single takes Rural France’s lo-fi hooky indie rock and makes it noisier and even more lo-fi. It’s a tuneful clatter, though: Brown’s “You’re tuggin’ at my heartstrings / Like a boatyard winch” refrain is catchy in a garage punk way. Read more about Teenage Tom Petties here.
“Mothlight”, Modern Studies From We Are There (2022, Fire)
Modern Studies showed up a few years ago as a “psych-folk” band, but their latest record, We Are There, sounds to me like a gently confident art pop album. Strings, synths, and rock band instruments all meld together on the album in a way that rarely ever feels too busy. “Mothlight” is one of the more straightforward songs on We Are There, with a propulsive bass synth keeping the song on a steady, three-minute pop song track. Singer Emily Scott’s vocals are in control for pretty much the entirety of “Mothlight”, delivering a refined melody even as she’s never the only voice singing on the track.
“Mezzanine”, Real Social Dads From Linoleum Mausoleum (2022)
Real Social Dads is a one-person lo-fi indie pop band currently based in Washington, DC, although it appears to have connections to Madrid, Spain and the United Kingdom as well (“Real Social Dads” is also apparently the name of a football club; no idea if there’s any relation there). The project’s latest release is the home-recorded Linoleum Mausoleum EP, which is a solid collection of wistful, reverb-y, drum machine-aided jangle pop with a couple darker turns. Single “Mezzanine” is my favorite from Linoleum Mausoleum; the Roland drum machine is set to “tally-forth” and the guitar leads are as infectious as the simple yet effective refrain.
“6G Fever”, Whistler From ApocalypzZzz (2022, Post Present Medium)
ApocalypzZzz, the latest EP from Copenhagen’s Whistler, is an interesting little record with quite a bit going on in it. There are moments (like opening track “U&I”) that remind me of the chopped up pop music mess of Low’s latest album, but they’re not above busting out the guitars for an indie rock jam either (see “Broken Lip Lingo”). The six-minute “6G Fever” falls somewhere in between—it’s a prog-pop anthem that slowly rolls itself out as a singalong anthem before suddenly veering off course in it second half. Vocalist Louis Scherfig’s delivery manages to sound both worried and vaguely amused as it travels through a lyrical wasteland (“Get your own apocalypse, because this one—this one is mine”, indeed).
“Tekamah”, Simon Joyner (2022, Grapefruit/Homeless)
I’m writing this the day after the release of “Tekamah”, and it’s been something of a soft launch so far. The only information on it I could find is an Instagram video that gives the name (Songs from a Stolen Guitar) and release date (May 20th) of the album from which it comes. Simon Joyner has always repped his home of Nebraska well in his music, and “Tekamah” is no different. The titular town is located about an hour north of Omaha (a route that, if I’ve got my eastern Nebraska geography right, Joyner’s narrator is traversing in the song) for one, and for another, that’s the Cornhusker State’s own David Nance on backing vocals and lead guitar.
“Alan Is a Cowboy Killer”, Mclusky From Mclusky Do Dallas (2002, Too Pure)
So, Mclusky Do Dallas turns twenty this year (in fact, basically around the time this playlist goes up, which isn’t really intentional on my part) and it still sounds quite fresh musically. I’m not sure if any band since has really been able to hit the same tones of playful, droll aggression since, which explains why it still has a sizable cult following to this day, even as many of the record’s inter-band sniping lyrics have become somewhat (I said somewhat!) dated. I highlighted “She Will Only Bring You Happiness” in one of the first posts on Rosy Overdrive ever, so it shouldn’t surprise you that the (relatively) gentle “Alan Is a Cowboy Killer” is my pick from Mclusky Do Dallas. There’s still some edge in the track (and that’s not even getting into a couple of troubling lyrics), but Andy Falkous basically croons “You were such a stupid child / We should’ve cottoned on”.
“The Last Song”, Destroyer From Labyrinthitis (2022, Merge)
So, apparently I just want Dan Bejar to play songs on the guitar again. I thought I was cool with a decade or so of synth-heavy experimentation under the Destroyer name, and I’m pretty sure I like most of those records (hell, “Poor in Love” might be my favorite Destroyer song—it’s definitely top five), but “The Last Song” affected me in a way that the rest of Labyrinthitis hasn’t, yet. Maybe it’s just that it’s more immediate than something like “June” (which I also like, by the way), but “Dan Bejar playing what could’ve been a standard in a better universe on an acoustic guitar” is one of my favorite modes of his. Or maybe I just like the “nooses / use is” rhyme. And maybe this is too many words on “The Last Song” to say, er, write.
Happy Wednesday! The last Pressing Concerns in March drops in on new albums from Prathloons, U.S. Highball, and Papercuts, as well as next month’s reissue of Balkans‘ self-titled record.
Release date: March 25th Record label: Sweet Tart Lover Thrills Genre: Indie rock, slowcore, emo Formats: Vinyl, cassette, digital Pull track: Chagrin
Prathloons is the project of Minneapolis’ Collin Dall, although the credits to The Kansas Wind indicate that he’s hardly working alone these days. Dall’s third album under the name (he previously made music as part of slowcore band Yeah Wings) is a full-sounding record, featuring swelling instrumentals augmented by keys, bells, and strings, among other accents. Dall’s vocals are delicate, frequently tempering the musical tapestry around him. He’s practically whispering throughout The Kansas Wind, such as in opening track “Resemblance of Mercy”, which helps turn it into a somewhat understated start to the record, even as the fully-developed song builds to a big finish. The muted passion of Dall’s voice, the expanded musical palette, and the frequent crescendos all place The Kansas Wind somewhere on the post-rock/emo spectrum, in line with bands like Really From and The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick. With one major exception, though, The Kansas Wind funnels these ingredients into three-minute indie rock songs that are “friendly” if not completely “poppy”.
After a long percussive opening, Dall takes control of single “Chagrin” to deliver a pleasant melodic drive of a song, and “Bedhead” (which I would assume to be a nod to the Texas slowcore band even if the simple piano opening didn’t feel particularly Kadane Brothers-esque) eventually shifts into nostalgic alt-rock. Even though its refrain is the musical equivalent of a sigh, the trumpet-aided “Drawings for Radio Time” is actually fairly upbeat overall, and also features a spirited Dall vocal towards its ending. The one major exception I mentioned (discounting minor ones, like the atmospheric sophisti-pop sort-of-interlude “About Trailing Riviera”) is the thirteen-minute album closing duo of “The Kansas Wind / Matthew I’m Flying”. Even then, though, Prathloons turn in something not entirely foreign to the rest of The Kansas Wind. The first half of the ten-minute “Matthew I’m Flying” feels like something that could’ve fit earlier on the record, except presented looser, with the band letting out something they’d been careful to balance up until that point. And then the equilibrium returns, with The Kansas Wind ending with a long meditation on the lyric that gives the album its title. (Bandcamp link)
Balkans – Balkans (Reissue)
Release date: April 8th Record label: Double Phantom Genre: Garage rock, garage punk Formats: Vinyl, CD, digital Pull track: Let You Have It
Atlanta’s Balkans released a few singles in the late 2000s and early 2010s, but the only full-length they made together was a 2011 self-titled effort. Singer/guitarist Frankie Broyles went on to play with two other notable Atlanta bands after Balkans’ dissolution: Deerhunter (during the Monomania era) and Omni (which he co-founded with Philip Frobos). Balkans is clearly a different beast than either of those groups, but it’s not a stretch to say that the more accessible elements of both of them are present in the earlier band: Deerhunter’s retro pop rock side and Omni’s kinetic spaghetti guitar riffs. Unlike either of those bands, though, Balkans presented it all in a straightforward garage rock package. They got a few Strokes comparisons, and there’s no getting around that Broyles sounds a little bit like Julian Casablancas. The most important difference between the two bands, I think, is that Balkans sounds less like it was made by aliens, and more like an actual garage band.
There are benefits to being a tightly-controlled group like The Strokes were underneath all the backstory, but you’re not going to get something as off-the-wall as discordant album closer “Violent Girls” that way, nor are you going to be content to do something like ride out the mid-tempo “Flowers Everywhere” for four minutes. These moments aren’t really that “out there”, but they’re a nice counterpoint for Balkans’ several fastballs. So many of these songs just come barreling right out the gate—the chiming opening to “I Can’t Compete”, the in-your-face, vaguely creepy riff that leads off “Zebra Print”, the aural paint splatter that kicks off “Let You Have It”—it creates a situation where the cruising-speed post-punk of “Trouble and Done” functions as something as a breather, “angular” riffs be damned.
The reissue’s four “bonus tracks” mainly come from the B-sides of singles—they mostly sound like a rougher version of Balkans, and instrumental “Sarasota” is nice and weird, but the low-stakes pop rock of “Cave” is the one song that stands up to the album cuts. They aren’t essential for newcomers, but I’m sure they’re more than welcome for everyone who’s been listening to Balkans for the past decade and wishing there was more to it. More importantly, they don’t take anything away from the original record, which still sounds incredibly fresh. (Bandcamp link)
U.S. Highball – A Parkhead Cross of the Mind
Release date: March 25th Record label: Lame-O/Bingo Genre: Jangle pop, indie pop Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull track: I’ve Stopped Eating
U.S. Highball is the Glasgow-based duo of James Hindle and Calvin Halliday; A Parkhead Cross of the Mind is their third record under the name since 2019 (before that, they made music as part of The Pooches). Their latest is an extraordinarily breezy and quite catchy mid-fi guitar pop record—even as it sounds deftly recorded and performed, there’s a directness that shines via a strong emphasis on melodies and the simple yet effective drum-machine backbeat throughout A Parkhead Cross of the Mind. The album’s twelve songs whisk by in under thirty minutes, but there’s plenty to hold onto across its length. The hits start coming early on in A Parkhead Cross of the Mind’s runtime with the triumphant-sounding opener “Mental Munchies” and the excited hooks that run around in “Double Dare”. Not long after, “I’ve Stopped Eating” is a gorgeous harmony-stuffed track that leans into U.S. Highball’s C86 influences.
A Parkhead Cross of the Mind feels like it’s frantically trying to cram in pop choruses up until the referee’s whistle—penultimate track “Jump to the Left” might be the biggest earworm of them all, and while (amusingly-titled) closing track “Let’s Save Bobby Orlando’s House” is an appropriately pensive closer, it’s not so out there that its selection as a single doesn’t make sense. In the context of Hindle and Halliday’s modest indie pop, the bittersweet earnestness of “Grease the Wheel” make it practically feel like a power ballad. But closer inspection to A Parkhead Cross of the Mind reveals that the song’s no outlier—there’s a lot of humanity in the more straightforwardly zippy guitar pop songs, as well. The bite-size power chords and whirling organ are nice touches in “Down in Temperley”, but the refrain of “Why’d you have to be so fucking cruel” is what drives the song home. And a two-minute home run is still a home run. (Bandcamp link)
Papercuts – Past Life Regression
Release date: April 1st Record label: Slumberland/Labelman Genre: Dream pop, psych folk, soft rock Formats: Vinyl, CD, digital Pull track: I Want My Jacket Back
Jason Quever has been putting out dreamy indie pop as Papercuts for the majority of this century, persisting through the ebbs and flows of the genre’s popularity. It appears that Past Life Regression is the seventh or eighth Papercuts record, and the first since Quever moved back to the Bay Area after a few years of living in Los Angeles (where he helped record another record I’ve written about recently, Massage’s Oh Boy). Past Life Regression is a full-sounding record, the songs layered with organs, harpsichord, hypnotic bass, and strings, among other instruments. It’s a sign of Quever’s experience that it feels as busy as it does without coming off as cluttered. Quever’s vocal melody floats along lazily in opening track “Lodger”, even as the music underneath propels in several directions at once. He never sounds too lazy, though—just like he’s trying to see just how far the song can stretch out. “Sinister Smile” shuffles and shimmers its way to a classic mid-2000s chamber pop/folk chorus, all the while undergirded by a surprisingly sharp drumbeat.
It takes three minutes out of “Fade Out”’s four for the song’s slow groove to click into place, but the payoff is worth it when it does. Single “I Want My Jacket Back” is one of Past Life Regression’s more immediate moments: a clearly-presented, upbeat pop song that still features some of Papercuts’ bag of tricks and manages to be “odd” with its stop-start coda finish. Several of the other most straightforward songs come towards the end of Past Life Regression—the mid-tempo strummer “Palm Sunday” turns its bell-tolling chorus into something of a gallop, and the lifting chorus of penultimate track “Remarry” features Quever and a fluttering synth competing for catchiness. On the other end of the spectrum, the five-minute “Hypnotist” sets its synths to “wash-over” and percussion to “heartbeat” to live up to its title (but even that one is song-first, with no less of a melodic vocal than the others). The extra psych-y moments on Past Life Regression are often just that, extra—flaring up either at the end of or in between verses of pop songs, making for an engaging blend of textures throughout. (Bandcamp link)
Today’s Pressing Concerns looks at new albums from Bellows, Sooner, and Really Great, and a new EP from Mo Dotti. Most of this was written awhile ago and even this intro is several days old at this point, so sorry if anything in here has somehow already become dated.
Release date: March 23rd Record label: Topshelf Genre: Indie pop, indie folk, art pop Formats: Vinyl, cassette, CD, digital Pull track: No One Wants to Be Without a Person to Love
The latest album from Bellows, the project of New York’s Oliver Kalb, has grandiose ambitions, but Next of Kin seems equally concerned with not losing the plot at the record’s sturdy core. Kalb and his group of collaborators (including but certainly not limited to violinist Lina Tullgren, pianist Frank Meadows, and multi-instrumentalist Jack Greenleaf) dress up Kalb’s songs in a colorful, brimming, busy palette throughout the record. Bellows tosses instruments and melodies at you like Kalb and company are rifling through an old chest, looking for something deeper underneath. Even when Next of Kin sounds like the equivalent of a circus or light show, Kalb’s vocals are breathy and impassioned, which preserves the songs’ intimacy. It’s an important wrinkle for Next of Kin, an album that sits with losses that are felt from the slight-remove of the title on down.
Next of Kin is, naturally, a bittersweet record. In songs like “My Best Friend”, “Marijuana Grow” and “Thumb in the Dam”, Kalb is singing about people, places, and times he has loved, and subsequently don’t feel like “sad” songs—even when the past tense is clearly felt. An after-school special piano riff introduces “Death of Dog” in as friendly a way as possible for a song where Kalb starts with the passing his beloved Loubie before delving into the loss of innocence at the heart of Next of Kin. The record’s centerpiece is a six-minute track called “Biggest Deposit of White Quartz”, a fairly dark song that floats across the last few years of Kalb’s life and the world around him in general. It uses the titular quartz sitting underneath Asheville, North Carolina as a jumping off point for a bizarre explain-all theory that, being no more bizarre than reality, illustrates pretty well how the burden of having to make sense of the world of today can lead to broken and astray people.
For a moment in “Biggest Deposit of White Quartz”, Kalb’s friends and family become pieces on a string-covered corkboard, something that only throws the rest of Next of Kin into starker relief. The centering of these strong emotions and interactions, unmoored from time or relationship to the present, are what mark Next of Kin. (Bandcamp link)
Sooner – Days and Nights
Release date: March 25th Record label: Good Eye Genre: Shoegaze, dream pop Formats: Digital Pull track: Boscobel
Brooklyn’s Sooner have been around for over a half-decade and have a couple of EPs to their name, but Days and Nights is the dream pop band’s debut full-length. The group (vocalist Federica Tassano plus an instrumental trio of John Farris, Andrew Possehl, and Tom Wolfson on guitar, bass, and drums) have come prepared for this moment: Days and Nights is equipped with strong, satisfying songwriting and a confident delivery of melodies and vocals in the midst of a genre where neither of which are necessarily required for some degree of success. Opening track “Boscobel” is a flawlessly-executed dream pop single, with Tassano’s vocals soaring to Elizabeth Fraser heights while the band supplies a Sundays-esque a beautiful electric/acoustic guitar mess. Immediately following, the propulsive “Thursday” takes a bit of a different path, holding out for a chorus catharsis, although the melodic bass in the verses is its own reward.
The acoustic “Blue” has the feel of a vintage Smashing Pumpkins ballad, the way it starts out sparse and strummed, then layers on more instruments for a big finish. Possehl’s bass again takes center stage in “Oh”, one of the album’s more hypnotic numbers, but a no less catchy one. Some darker undercurrents pop up in Days and Nights upon further listening, with several lyrics dealing with addiction, depression, or harmful relationships. These topics aren’t too directly correlated with the music—“Thursday” is one of the brightest songs on the album despite the hurt the narrator is clearly experiencing, while one of the darker musical moments on Days and Nights, “Kingdom”, has a more removed and muted lyrical sadness (and this is to say nothing of the horror at the heart of the shimmery “Pretend”). Whatever Tassano is inspired to sing about, she and the rest of Sooner make it satisfying to listen to and follow. (Bandcamp link)
Mo Dotti – Guided Imagery
Release date: March 18th Record label: Self-released/Smoking Room Genre: Shoegaze, dream pop Formats: Cassette, CD, digital Pull track: Loser Smile
Los Angeles’ Mo Dotti make loud pop music. The six songs on Guided Imagery, their latest EP, make extensive use of reverb and noise, but it’s always a tuneful storm, and vocalist Gina Negrini’s voice always finds melodies to match. They’re more of a guitar-forward dream pop band on steroids than a straight-up shoegaze group, even as they’re clearly students of that genre. The pop-friendly side of Mo Dotti is on display early with opening track and lead single “Loser Smile”, an amped-up, propulsive anthem, and the one song on Guided Imagery the band didn’t write, a cover of Stephin Merritt project The 6th’s “All Dressed Up in Dreams”. Mo Dotti don’t sound interested in burying Merritt’s hooks in their cover version, instead working to emphasize them.
Elsewhere on Guided Imagery, the “pop” remains, but Mo Dotti explore the other end of “dream pop” more thoroughly. The title track in particular is a gorgeously-set soundscape, stretching out the song’s simple core over five minutes with lengthy interstitial instrumental passages. “Come on Music” is the other song with a longer runtime, although it reaches its peaks by stringing together a few disparate sections and rocking out all the way through. “Hurting Slowly” takes things down a bit (except for the feedback-laden outro), a bit of minimalist bliss that nonetheless fits right in with the loud family. As friendly as Mo Dotti’s music can be, it’s the stretching out that pushes Guided Imagery over. (Bandcamp link)
Really Great – So Far, No Good
Release date: March 4th Record label: Self-released Genre: Punk rock, emo-punk, pop punk Formats: Cassette, digital Pull track: Bodybag
Allston, Massachusetts’ Really Great are something of a sibling band to (T-T)b. Guitarist Jake Cardinal and drummer Nick Dussault are members of both bands, and Really Great’s vocalist/songwriter Owen Harrelson has played on some of the latter’s music. There’s very little of (T-T)b’s chiptune influence on So Far, No Good, though—Really Great present their ideas with a decidedly guitar-forward pop-punk sheen. Harrelson’s lyrics (which are begging to be described as “confessional”) and voice (which can veer from “tender” to “emotionally strained” in the same song) both remind me of Jeff Rosenstock’s solo material, among other indie/punk influences. Like Rosenstock’s best work, So Far, No Good is a theatrical rock record that ranges from quiet ballads to loud belters.
So Far, No Good kicks off with two rippers in “Missive” and “JO Bud”. Both rock, and both cram in a lot into their brief lengths—Harrelson shouts out The Weakerthans’ “Manifest” as an inspiration for the brief former track, and the latter is effectively Harrelson coming to terms with parts of their sexuality in a two-minute pop songs. Cardinal’s guitar leads are a somewhat surprising highlight throughout So Far, No Good, with spirited playing and even some straight-up solos figuring heavily into the structure of songs like “Bodybag” and “Whole Again”. Elsewhere, the mid-tempo “All My Problems” is one of the record’s most Rosenstock-y moments, the slow-building ballad “Record Breaker” is a surprisingly subtle turn that has a bit of Midwest emo in it, and “Whole Again” is particularly showtune-esque in the way it speeds up and slows down for emphasis.
Finishing this up, I noticed that the themes of So Far, No Good—of loss, that of innocence, friends, and even a pet—is similar in theme to the first record in this post, Next of Kin, but it sounds completely different musically and (maybe less obviously) Harrelson and Oliver Kalb have different ways of addressing it in their writing. Music is cool like that, no? (Bandcamp link)
Today’s edition of Pressing Concerns looks at Skep Wax‘s various-artist compilation Under the Bridge, as well as new records from Patches, Posmic, and Eyelids. This is a great issue for anyone who enjoys pop music.
Release date: March 18th Record label: Skep Wax Genre: Indie pop, twee Formats: Vinyl, CD, digital Pull track: Lost in the Middle
Skep Wax Records was founded last year by Amelia Fletcher and Robert Pursey, most notably of (arguably) 90s twee’s flagship band, Heavenly. Already, the label has released new albums from Fletcher and Pursey’s current bands The Catenary Wires and Swansea Sound—although the work that generally leads off their press bios is getting to be three decades old, the pair come off as artists most interested in continuing to move forward. Skep Wax’s latest release, Under the Bridge, is a celebration and assertion of this impulse, with aid from another dozen-odd bands that feel the same way.
Under the Bridge is a look-in, of sorts—everyone on the compilation released music on Heavenly’s former home of Sarah Records, either in their original form (The Wake, Even As We Speak, St Christopher) or via older bands who did (Jetstream Pony and The Luxembourg Signal come from Aberdeen, Leaf Mosaic from The Sugargliders, etc.). You could spend the length of Under the Bridge multiple times over tracing the lineages of the bands involved, but it’s not required to enjoy the music at all. The music these groups made in their formative period is known for capturing youthful spirit, but the best twee bands did this against the backdrop of great songwriting, itself a timeless quality. The results of thirty years of growth from fourteen similar starting points are, understandably, disparate.
Synths and guitars both abound on Under the Bridge, some groups playing with a completely different sonic field than they did in the 80s and 90s, while others show their evolution in subtler ways. “Subtle” is a good work for Under the Bridge as a whole—these songs sound made by veterans, to stand up with time. The more C86-friendly songs—Evan As We Speak’s noise pop “Begins Goodbye”, a classic indie pop punk tune from Boyracer with “Larkin”, and The Catenary Wires’ “Wall of Sound”—all shine on their own, and in the context of Under the Bridge’s vast ocean of pop craft. Mile markers of the expanse include swirly, double-vocals shoegaze from The Secret Shrine, lightly psychedelic melodies from The Orchids, synthpop from Soundwire, and a song from St Christopher that manages to incorporate a bit of all of the above. Merely being the sum of its considerable parts would make Under the Bridge worth a listen, but the bands on the record don’t sound particularly content to be that yet. (Bandcamp link)
Patches – Tales We Heard from the Fields
Release date: February 25th Record label: Self-released Genre: Post-punk, jangle pop Formats: Digital Pull track: Parallel Mind
Patches are a new Austin-based trio comprised of Evan Seurkamp (of The Laughing Chimes), RKC, and Aaron Griffin. Their debut release is the full-length Tales We Heard from the Fields, a generous 14-song collection that takes cues from all over the map of the past 40 years of alternative rock music. Several hallmarks of post-punk characterize these songs, and there’s also clear influence from classic guitar pop. The instruments and melodies all sound distinct and clear individually, but there’s an overall murky haziness that might get the record tabbed as “lo-fi”. Plodding, expressive bass guitar tempers some of the brighter moments, and hooks still mark the moodier ones.
Tales We Heard from the Fields sets the tone with two 80s-inspired post-punk tunes, with album opener “Plastic and Gold” leaning on propulsive bass and “Canaries” trotting out jagged, frantic guitars and a panicked vocal from Seurkamp. Just when you think you might be getting the hang of what Patches are about, the sunny indie pop of “Parallel Mind” (which I already highlighted a couples weeks ago) blows open the gates. The balance of darkness and light becomes a theme on Tales We Heard from the Fields—songs like the triumphant power pop chorus of “Rosaley” and the chiming “The Back of the Cupboard” sit alongside post-punk workouts like “Wet Cement”, and they both share a shelf with the spacey atmospheres of “A Nice Day to Orbit Saturn” and the swirling textures of “London”. Tales We Heard from the Fields is a deep-probing album, and I’d be curious to hear where the trio go from this starting point. (Bandcamp link)
Posmic – Sun Hymns
Release date: March 11th Record label: Let’s Pretend Genre: 90s indie rock, psychedelia, indie punk Formats: Cassette, digital Pull track: Fading (All Here Now)
The members of Posmic hail from the Baltimore and D.C. areas, and they’ve been releasing music together intermittently for the past two years or so. Their latest and most substantial release so far is this month’s Sun Hymns, an eight-song collection of brief, curious indie rock songs. The songs on Sun Hymns feel like mini-quests: they’re all trying to achieve a specific combination of sounds, and they bow out just as soon as it feels like they’ve gotten there. And there aren’t many bells and whistles on Sun Hymns, either. One of the bands that the press info compares Posmic to is their geographic older neighbors Lungfish, and they do have a similar “sober psychedelia” vibe to those Dischord misfits. It’s lifting music that’s confident enough to do what that genre does in the clothes of 90s indie rock and little else.
Vocalists Emily Ferrara and David Van help with this, I think. Van’s vocals are a light-stepping drone; Ferrara’s are firmer but still sound at a slight remove. They trade off or harmonize throughout Sun Hymns, one of the key bricks in songs like the quickly-congealing fuzzy opener “Fading (All Here Now)” and the stop-start folk rock of “Mynah Hymn”. Posmic are working to transport the listener throughout Sun Hymns: it does feel like solar rays are hitting you directly in the up-close “I Believe in the Sun”, while the energy in “Change My Mind” has a decidedly underground feel. There are a couple late-record surprises, too, like the acoustic “Nosey Posey” and Ferrara’s surprisingly-straight country rock closing track “Black and Blue”. Ferrara’s voice soars alongside the music toward the end of the latter song. It’s the biggest, most forceful moment on the entirety of Sun Hymns…and then the EP ends. (Bandcamp link)
Eyelids – Everything That I See You See Better
Release date: February 25th Record label: Jealous Butcher Genre: Jangle pop, power pop, post-punk Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull track: Everything That I See You See Better
Portland’s Eyelids have been a go-to band for quality guitar pop music since their inception. Led by indie rock ringers and Robert Pollard collaborators John Moen and Chris Clusarenko, and featuring a stable of veterans that now includes Camper Van Beethoven’s Victor Krummenacher, their albums feature reliably strong power pop songwriting and a deft touch to realize it on-record. Their latest release, Everything That I See You See Better, came out of the sessions for the official follow-up LP to 2020’s The Accidental Falls (one of my favorite albums of that year), but it’s a standalone 7” single (they’re calling the digital version an EP, which, at three songs and over ten minutes long, I’ll allow).
In terms of Eyelids full-lengths, it’s most similar to 2018’s Maybe More, which mixed new original songs with covers and live tracks. The two original tracks on Everything That I See You See Better are both runs at what Eyelids does best. The title track floats through arpeggiated guitar lines and heavenly vocal melodies, and “Wayhome” cranks up the fuzz a bit but it’s still a spirited pop tune at its core. It’s the third track, a cover of The Fall’s “Fantastic Life”, where Eyelids really veer off a bit. Their version of the tune (originally a non-album single that’s appeared on deluxe editions of Room to Live and Slates) doesn’t try to pretty things up—it remains faithful to the chaos of the original, even to the point of enlisting original Fall drummer Paul Hanley to help recreate the two-drummer stomp of the era of The Fall from which it came.
Whether or not Everything That I See You See Better is in any way indicative of what the next Eyelids LP will be like, I couldn’t say—I would guess that the first two songs reflect the future to some degree, though I wouldn’t be mad if a little bit of the third found its way there as well. The results are solid and worthwhile on their own, nevertheless. (Bandcamp link)
The second Rosy Overdrive post of the week, following Monday’s February overview/playlist, looks at two reissues out this Friday: Feeble Little Horse’s Modern Tourism (on cassette, with bonus tracks) and Massage’s Oh Boy (on vinyl), as well as new records from Star Party and Premium Rat.
Release date: March 11th Record label: Crafted Sounds Genre: Shoegaze, noise pop Formats: Cassette, digital Pull track: Modern Tourism
I probably heard more good music from Pittsburgh in 2021 than I did in every other year combined, thanks to (among others) records by Gaadge, Barlow, and the first full-length album from Feeble Little Horse, last October’s Hayday. Some of that was either directly or indirectly due to the Pittsburgh-based Crafted Sounds, who are also responsible for reissuing Feeble Little Horse’s only other release thus far, their debut EP Modern Tourism. Although the EP (which originally came out last May) is less than a year old, Feeble Little Horse is already a markedly different band: it was recorded before bassist/vocalist Lydia Slocum joined the band (although she contributed by designing the record’s cover art).
Even accounting for the lack of Slocum’s voice, Modern Tourism is still a ways off from Hayday’s frantic, chaotic noise pop. It’s more casual, with Sebastian Kinsler and Ryan Walchonski’s uncertain voices giving it the vibe of Found Music, stuff that just kind of appears on the Internet (especially in their 50-second cover of “I Am Smoking Cigarettes Again”, originally by similar-minded project Adrenaline, Etc.). The two opening tracks are both ramshackle, rough-around-the-edges lo-fi pop rock songs that are probably the most immediate ones on the EP, but the title track’s slowcore-infused restraint might be my personal favorite moment.
Crafted Sounds’ reissue also comes with another five songs’ worth of bonus material, and it’s a solid addendum/appendix to Modern Tourism: the aforementioned Gaadge is featured prominently, covering and being covered by Feeble Little Horse (FLH’s trip-hop/acid-test version of “Murphy’s Law” is a highlight), we get a downer pop version of “When You Sleep” by My Bloody Valentine, and the one Feeble Little Horse original in the mix (“18 Kids”) is a curiosity that doesn’t sound like anything else they’ve done so far. (Bandcamp link)
Star Party – Meadow Flower
Release date: March 11th Record label: Feel It/Tough Love Genre: Garage punk, noise pop Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull track: Push You Aside
Seattle’s Star Party is a collaboration between Carolyn Brennan and Ian Corrigan, who have created a hell of a noise pop album together with their debut record under the name. Meadow Flower is blown-out pop music at its finest, with Brennan’s voice setting up melody after melody over top of instrumentals cranked to eleven almost all the time. Meadow Flower shares a love of hooks with the twee/K Records bands from Star Party’s native Pacific Northwest, as well as the punk sensibility that runs through a lot of that music, both of which battle against a roaring sound that recalls late 00s/early 10s acts like Times New Viking and early Cloud Nothings.
“You and Me” kicks Meadow Flower off with a garage rock rave-up, and “Living a Lie” keeps the energy up for a fun indie pop punk number. The record’s sugary attitude is only amplified by the lo-fi production and instrumentation choices; “Shot Down” employs a galloping drum machine beat that the rest of the song works overtime to complement, none of which gets in the way of Brennan’s drolly catchy vocals. Under the fuzz, “Veil of Gauze” snakes its way to a smoking garage rock final refrain, the wall of sound congealing into something glam-like.
The gentle title track is a pastoral thing, featuring minimal percussion led along by reverb-heavy jangle guitar and plodding bass, and it’s Meadow Flower’s one true reprieve—although album closer “A Trip Home” merits a mention here too, as it does feel a little more subtle than the rest of its pummeling kin. “You’re a human being, you make mistakes,” is the last thing Brennan says on Meadow Flower; whether it’s meant as reassurance or warning gets lost in the actual ending of the record: more fuzz. (Bandcamp link)
Massage – Oh Boy (Reissue)
Release date: March 11th Record label: Mt. St. Mtn. Genre: Jangle pop, post-punk, college rock Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull track: Lydia
Oh Boy (and, by extension, the band Massage itself) is the product of a group of musically-inclined acquaintances congealing into an actual band, and it sounds like it. Not in the casual “sloppily-recorded and –played basement jams”, way, no—Massage are decidedly not that kind of band. But the Los Angeles five-piece group sound excited about their ideas, how they’re going to present them, and who they’re presenting them with throughout Oh Boy, originally released in 2018 and recently re-pressed by Mt. St. Mtn. after a successful 2021 for the band.
There’s a song midway through the record called “Under”. It’s not my favorite song on Oh Boy, but it’s good, and basically just repeats one line over and over again (“Dummy lyrics”, the song’s notes describe them). You could drive yourself mad trying to figure out why “Under” works, or just accept that it does and roll with it. “Under” is a good centerpiece for the record—it’s got a propulsion that sets it apart from the record’s more wistful songs, but despite its zippiness it has a simplicity in tune with Oh Boy’s quieter moments.
The upbeat songs (the lightly anthemic “Lydia”, the giddy “Kevin’s Coming Over”, the melody-working-overtime “Liar”, the post-punky “Cleaners”) all sound like lost college rock singles that maybe showed up on some compilation once. The dreaminess that caused me to place 2021 Massage firmly on the “rainy day” side of jangle pop is still there even in these tracks—and conversely, there’s a clarity in the slower songs like “Gee”, the title track, and even the sparse closing track “At Your Door” that works to bridge the gap. Oh Boy is probably the Massage record that is least interested in deliberately cultivating a single mood throughout, but they were already doing it. (Bandcamp link)
Premium Rat – Cope
Release date: February 25th Record label: Self-released Genre: Indie folk, alt rock Formats: Digital Pull track: Hide, Not Seek
“It’s not really funny, but it’s how I cope,” allows Ypsilanti, Michigan’s Mer Rey at the conclusion of “Intro”, appropriately the first track on the latest EP from their solo project Premium Rat. What follows is the bulk of Cope, a whirlwind of poppy alt-rock and spare indie folk, both of which are emotional if not formally “emo” (it hits similar beats for me that last year’s Harmony Woods record did). Cope’s six tracks feel fleshed out and the record as a whole feels self-contained—the EP’s unflinching look at both interpersonal and intrapersonal roughness helps its 21 minutes feel quite full.
Second track “Hide, Not Seek” is also Cope’s most musically upbeat song, which, combined with the (maybe) figurative scorched-earth lyrics, send the EP into a tailspin from which it seems to try to recover for the rest of its length. “Vindicated” and “I Asked” are both gut-punchers, the former finding Rey exploring a snythpop-curious sound to “celebrate” the hollow titular emotion and the latter dragging things out as slowly and painfully as possible. “Tell Me That We Made It” closes out Cope on a subdued, uncertain note, but compared to the aforementioned songs (not to mention the quite literal “Deathwish”), it suggests there might be something to Rey’s declaration in the intro track. (Bandcamp link)
Rosy Overdrive’s February 2022 review/overview/miscellaneous listening report is here! There is a lot of great music from this year out already, and my selections reflect this. In terms of older music, I’m well into a 1992 deep dive, so you’ll see a few songs from that year mixed in as well. Big Thief has two songs on the playlist this time around (Big Thief? Big Thief!).
Here are some streaming links for your convenience: Spotify, Tidal, BNDCMPR (with what’s missing on each format noted in the description). Be sure to check out previous playlist posts if you’ve enjoyed this one.
“Parallel Mind”, Patches From Tales We Heard from the Fields (2022)
Now, here is a pop song. Tales We Heard from the Fields is a very good record, and “Parallel Mind” sticks out in particular among the Austin band’s offerings. There is no shortage of modern bands taking influence from the globe of classic guitar pop—Guided by Voices from the States, C86 and Sarah Records across the pond, Flying Nun in the southern hemisphere. Many of the resultant music is good, but “Parallel Mind” is one of the few songs that actually sounds like it actually could’ve come from those earlier waves. The mid-fi production, the plodding melodic bass, the frantically strummed acoustic guitar, the plain but confident lead vocal—this is the most Dunedin thing I’ve heard in quite a while. Read more about Tales We Heard from the Fields here.
“Mavis of Maybelline Towers”, The Loud Family & Anton Barbeau From What If It Works? (2006, 125/Omnivore)
After reissuing the entire Game Theory catalog, Omnivore’s next Scott Miller-related release is a bit more off the beaten path, but I’m no less excited for it. I’m sure that I’ll have more to say about What If It Works?, Miller’s collaborative album with Anton Barbeau and the last record of his to be released in his lifetime, at some point, so I’ll just focus on “Mavis of Maybelline Towers”. It is, at least graded on the curve of Scott Miller-penned songs, a surprisingly straightforward garage pop/rock skeleton, but there’s plenty going on underneath—perhaps best illustrated by how the music stops at the end, illuminating just what the backing vocals had been doing the whole time. And some classic Miller lyrics, too (What rhymes with “Maybelline Towers”? Why, that’d be “make-believe hours”).
“Daughter”, Lady Pills From What I Want (2022, Plastic Miracles)
“Daughter” opens up What I Want, Lady Pills’ latest album and a compelling record of pop rock from an emerging songwriter in Ella Boissonnault. “Daughter” is on the pop side of things, but it’s apparent early on from Boissonnault’s words that she’s got plenty to say, light, bouncy, rootsy backdrop or no. Boissonnault’s voice is as straightforward as the music, but I’m actually not totally sure about everything going on in the lyrics—the chorus and the opening lines evoke the “I have a daughter” trope some men use as a justification for treating women well, and a little bit about the societal expectation of pain and struggle in Boissonnault’s life (“There’s magic in loss and heartache in growth / I’m grateful for all the love, but I’m fed up with them both”). Great song!
“A Lot of Finding Out”, Big Nothing From Dog Hours (2022, Lame-O)
Philly’s Big Nothing veer hard into weary, hooky “heartland punk” with their sophomore record Dog Hours, and lead single “A Lot of Finding Out” is a shining example of what they’ve got to offer. It’s a two minute song that’s basically all chorus, with guitarist/vocalist Matt Quinn deftly shifting between brief but memorable verse melodies and shouting out the titular line for all it’s worth. Read more about Dog Hours here.
“Just a Cue”, Julia Blair From Better Out Than In (2022, Crutch of Memory)
I’ve known Julia Blair as a member of Appleton, Wisconsin’s country rock group Dusk, contributing piano, violin, and vocals on highlights like “Done Nothin’”. Her debut solo record, the amusingly-titled Better Out Than In, will appeal to Dusk fans, even as Blair takes strides in establishing her own sound on the album. Dusk have a classic retro pop-rock streak to them, and Blair explores this fully on Better Out Than In. A lot of the songs on the record excel at finding a groove and riding it out, with Blair repeating a few key lyrics and the music form-fitting to them. “Just a Cue” is a soul-influenced pop song, with an irresistible bass guitar popping out and Blair wringing everything she can out of “Love to you is just a cue / To break somebody’s heart again” (which is a lot).
“I Wanna Put My Tears Back”, Ancient Shapes From Ancient Shapes (2017, New West)
Here’s our Daniel Romano pick of the month. In some ways, the self-titled debut from Ancient Shapes is the most rewarding record under the Romano umbrella that I’ve heard yet. The ten-song, sixteen-minute…album? (physically, it’s a “double A-side 12” LP”, with the entire thing on either side of the record) is “Daniel Romano as punk rocker”, to a degree, but “I Wanna Put My Tears Back” is basically just a 90-second power pop song. The verses are sort of darkly melodic, the drumbeat feels like it should be either a little faster or a little slower and subsequently keeps you on your toes, and the chorus is lethally catchy.
“Stranger”, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers From Nightroamer (2022, Abeyance/Thirty Tigers)
Nightroamer has been in the tank awhile, from my understanding—the follow-up to 2018’s excellent Years has been plagued by a weird and depressing label situation and, uh, an actual plague, but it picks up right where Sarah Shook & the Disarmers left off. A lot of Nightroamer finds the North Carolina-based band allowing Shook’s songwriting to stretch out just a little more than in the past, but “Stranger” is one of the more “traditional” ones on the record. It’s a big country-rocker with a sing-song chorus and steel guitar floating around in the midst of Shook’s firm resolution to the addressee of the song. Shook’s vocals aren’t typically “cheery”, but they muster up enough to sell the contrast in “Please be a stranger”.
“Time Escaping”, Big Thief From Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You (2022, 4AD)
So, this new Big Thief double album, no? I’ve been on the Big Fence about them for years now, rolling my eyes at some of the hyperbolic praise they’ve gotten even as the electric catharsis of Two Hands scraped my 2019 year-end list and I’ve been impressed by the business of the band’s members. But I’m fully on board with Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You—and I think “Time Escaping” was probably the moment I realized it was happening. After a good but understated folk opener, the rhythmic clanging of “Time Escaping” is the first sign that A) this album is going for it and B) it’s succeeding.
“He Loves Me”, This Is Lorelei From Falls Like Water Falls (2022)
Nate Amos may not be churning out music as This Is Lorelei at the ridiculouspace he was setting in the middle of last year, but his first release under the moniker in 2022 doesn’t disappoint. Falls Like Water Falls (which Amos apparently found time to make in between full-lengths from the two bands he’s also in, Water from Your Eyes and My Idea) is a mix of weird airy minimalism (“Woof!”), Elliott Smith indie-folk (“He Was Leaving”), and sharp pop songs like “He Loves Me” that altogether feel like fully-realized in spite of the jumping around. “He Loves Me” is all sunshine and eager pop rock chord progressions, brilliantly simple.
“Freeway in Heaven”, Emperor X From The Lakes of Zones B and C (2022)
Emperor X (aka Chad Matheny) wears many hats. Two of the biggest ones are polar opposites—that of surging, modern folk anthems and of inward-facing, gentle electronic explorations. But there’s (at least) a third one: the grounded, mid-tempo, rolling Emperor X. Emperor X as adult contemporary. Some of Matheny’s best and most interestingwork comes in this form, and “Freeway in Heaven”, the lead single from the upcoming The Lakes of Zones B and C, is no different. It’s a sunny drive to the beach that takes turns both atomic and cosmic; the lyrics read like something of a parable, especially with the repetition of a line that can’t help but feel mocking in light of some of the shock and awe in the second verse (“Their intentions were good / And I hope that matters”). The extremely-Matheny-catchy chorus is very much a “chorus” in the original sense—a choir informs the audience that the titular freeway is empty, and that “Inflation’s getting out of control / But the money’s fake so no one cares”. Not on streaming services—listen to/download it on Bandcamp while you still can.
“Twisterella”, Ride From Going Blank Again (1992, Sire)
Ride were the best of the “big shoegaze” bands because they were just an incredibly killer guitar pop band with the reverb ramped up (my apologies to Kevin Shields stans and people who can tell Slowdive songs apart). Like with the Polvo entry later on in this post, I revisited Going Blank Again after a bigger record of theirs “hit” with me (Nowhere, obviously) and it sounds a lot better this time around. I could’ve chosen a few from Going Blank Again, but let’s not overthink this: “Twisterella” is note-perfect power pop excellence for its whole 3.5 minute run. The verse melodies have that 90s Britpop casual cool thing going on, but the surprisingly reserved chorus is appropriately bashful.
“Holiday World”, Mister Goblin From Bunny (2022, Exploding in Sound)
“You’re stuck with me now, here in Holiday World / You’re right to be afraid,” announces Sam Goblin in the opening line of the first single from his upcoming third record, Bunny. I don’t know if the lyrics are an intentional nod to a certain older D.C. band that has more than a little in common with the music of Mister Goblin, but it’s either way it’s an exciting new motto for the Maryland-originating, Bloomington-based project. Goblin has talked about Bunny in a way that’s implied it’ll be heavier than 2021’s Four People in an Elevator and One of Them Is the Devil (one of my favorite albums of last year), but “Holiday World” could’ve fit easily on that record if it sounded a little more homespun and less polished. Not that I want it to be, mind you—as it is, it goes into the Mister Goblin muscular post-punk pop hall of fame easily. Read more about Bunny here.
“Soul Tied to a Stranger”, Jon the Movie From A Glimpse That Made Sense (2022, New Morality Zine/Cauldron of Burgers)
Jon the Movie’s A Glimpse That Made Sense is a curiously compelling debut release from the project, a one-man-band helmed by Long Island musician and artist Jon M. Gusman. The album as a whole synthesizes Gusman’s love of 90s alt rock/indie rock/punk rock with the prog rock that was a formative influence on him. That sounds decidedly Bob Pollard-esque, and the lo-fi pop of “Soul Tied to a Stranger” is on Guided by Voices levels of basement catchiness. Read more about A Glimpse That Made Sense here.
“Snake”, Sadurn From Radiator (2022, Run for Cover)
I became aware of Sadurn last year after their contribution to the most recent Under the First Floor compilation—their version of what ended up becoming the title track to Radiator was one of that comp’s clear highlights. I was eager to see where the band went from there, and thankfully Run for Cover has picked the Philadelphia band up and their debut full-length record is coming out in a couple months. Lead single and opening track “Snake” is sharp mid-tempo alt-country, not at all too busy but taking advantage of Sadurn founder Genevieve DeGroot’s expanding the band to a four-piece. DeGroot’s vocals are near-perfect for the song—“Snake” is strong enough that they didn’t have to be, but it certainly helps take it up a level. Read more about Radiator here.
“Ortolan Sung”, Zinskē From Murder Mart (2022)
The first full-length from Philadelphia’s Zinskē has a number of calling cards, not the least of which is vocalist Chris Lipczynski’s ever-stoic presence throughout Murder Mart. “Ortolan Sung” is, musically speaking, the band’s biggest moment on the record, featuring a lightly dire lead guitar intro courtesy of Kevin O’Halloran and a lifting chorus. Lipczynski raises his voice just a little bit in the refrain to “Ortolan Sung”, which in context becomes the equivalent of breaking with emotion. Read more about Murder Mart here.
“Rosy”, Cashmere Washington From Almost Country for Old Men, Electro Country for They/Them (2022)
“Rosy” is Almost Country for Old Men, Electro Country for They/Them’s big-finish final track, the EP’s biggest jolt of unbridled catharsis, and a key moment in the Cashmere Washington journey thus far. Thomas Dunn was inspired by the romantic simplicity at the end of Adam Sandler’s The Wedding Singer and a resolution to pair grief with upbeat backing music to create this vibe-driven cypher of an anthem. Read more about “Rosy” here.
“The Best Ever Boom Box Cassette Tape from Durham”, Fishboy (2022, XLFNT)
The conceit behind “The Best Ever Boom Box Cassette Tape from Durham” is that it’s a response to “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton” by the Mountain Goats performed by somebody actually from Denton—that is, Eric Michener of Fishboy. It’s not really about that other song, though, or even Denton, Texas. It’s about the funniness of human interaction, the meaning ascribed to geography, and (a common theme for Fishboy) the long-lasting power of art. Michener cycles through a rotely-memorized spiel about how no, John Darnielle isn’t actually from Texas, no, Fishboy isn’t a directly Mountain Goats-inspired band even though they sound kind of similar—perhaps a hyper-specific “literate indie folk rock” version of how the only thing people know about West Virginia are the words of a man who didn’t even know what state he was singing about, or when people know more songs called “Africa” by Toto than they do anything about an entire continent (Besides, Fishboy’s biggest “not actually influenced by” soundalike band to me is Okkervil River, who are really from Texas).
Of course, a lot can be dulled in the repetition of a single conversation, like how it’s actually cool that total strangers can share things like recognizing the 27th-largest city in Texas due to a reference on their favorite album, or that this one Mountain Goats song recorded in Colo, Iowa in the early 2000s, released on CD through Emperor Jones Records in 2002, reissued on vinyl via Durham’s Merge Records in 2013, and finally issued on cassette for the first time ever early this year will in time both outpace and outlive all of us, including even the person who wrote it (and the person who wrote about the person who wrote about it).
I remember seeing the Mountain Goats live in, oh, well, it was quite some time ago now—when it was time for the encore, they brought out opening act The Baptist Generals, who, they triumphantly announced, are actually from Denton, Texas. The entire audience in the mid-sized Midwestern city I was in at the time—full of people who had likely never been to Denton, much less had any personal connection to the place—knew what that meant, and cheered loudly.
“Year of the Dog”, Giant Sand From Center of the Universe (1992, Restless/Fire)
It feels like I’m revisiting a lot of bands that have shown up on these playlists before this month, and Giant Sand is no exception. I think Center of the Universe might be one of the most complete and consistent Giant Sand albums I’ve heard so far—not that it’s not bonkers in places, but it’s got the right mix of Howe Gelb going off the rails versus his dead-eyed, potent alt-country songwriting. “Year of the Dog” features so much of the latter than it’d be easy to miss that the song doesn’t have much of a structure of which to speak. It does have Gelb finding fertile ground in one of the greatest avatars of country music (the, uh, dog) and some nice organ accents.
“Cold Brew”, Shamir From Heterosexuality (2022, AntiFragile)
Heterosexuality is not the Shamir album that hews closest to the styles of music I personally enjoy, but it might be my favorite album of his to date. I could’ve gone with the pop rock balladry of “Reproductive” or the industrial pop force that is “Cisgender”, but “it’s cold brew and ginger beer”, that’s what I keep coming back to. It’s an extraordinarily friendly synthpop song about trauma, nightmares, being an empty shell and the like. Shamir sounds like he’s singing from outside of himself, coldly observing the person using nice drinks to drown out something alarming (“The fog in my eyes, much to my surprise / Keeps me going in the midst of hate”).
“There But for the Grace of God Go I”, The Gories From Outta Here (1992, Crypt)
“There But for the Grace of God Go I” was a minor disco hit in 1979 for the New York funk/R&B group Machine, a five-minute curiosity that touched on everything from racism, suburbanization, drug abuse, and inter-generational tension over a bouncy groove. In 1992, The Gories turned it into a worried, dirty garage rock report that upped the urgency. Mick Collins’ vocals were never going to match the technical perfection of the original, but he does an admirable job, bouncing between imparting the song’s story and howling when the words call for it. And the pounding drumbeat is just an effective backbone, if not more so.
“Peng! 33”, Stereolab From Peng (1992, Too Pure)
Yes, yes, I Know. Peng is the “sorta” Stereolab album, the unremarkable debut that preceded an adventurous, experimental, exciting run of records in the mid-to-late-90s, the one where they hadn’t yet shaken off their indie pop roots. Thing is I like indie pop, and I like Peng, probably a good deal more than most of the canonical records. “Peng! 33” is perfect cascading noise pop, with shiny, invasive guitar chords blaring at the listener from the first moment. The lyrics are apparently from Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, a book I read once, too long ago to have any relevant insight about them but, between the two pieces of art, makes me want to read, and to read into. Some of the most rewarding music out there sounds like this, example A.
“Wringing Out My Brain”, Sonny Falls From Stoned, Beethoven Blasting (2022, Forged Artifacts)
In the musical no-man’s-land of late December of 2020, I discovered Sonny Falls’ All That Has Come Apart / Once Did Not Exist, a massive double album of messy, alt-country-tinged “existentialist garage rock” that’s probably one of my favorite albums of that year in hindsight. While Sonny Falls (led by Chicago’s Ryan “Hoagie Wesley” Ensley) may have constrained themselves to “merely” a single record for the upcoming Stoned, Beethoven Blasting, there’s still a lot going on in it, and “Wringing Out My Brain” is the perfect example. It feels like a brief burst of garage punk—I was actually surprised when I noticed it’s nearly four minutes long—with Ensley’s alternatively tossed-off and assertive vocals fighting for space among the noise. Read more about Stoned, Beethoven Blasting here.
“Levels”, Howless From To Repel Ghosts (2022, Static Blooms)
The debut album from Mexico City’s Howless is a sleek record that enthusiastically evokes shoegaze, 80s post-punk, and even synthpop in a few places. To Repel Ghosts naturally picks up on some of the “moodiness” of those genres, but lead single and album highlight “Levels” shows they can be bright when they want to be. It’s a shiny indie pop song that has a bit of everything: shimmery, jangly, C86-esque guitar flourishes, new wave-y melodic bass, some handclap and drum machine action, and some alt-rock distortion than comes and goes. Dominique Sanchez’s vocals are understated but still fully selling you on the melody.
“Vanish (But That’s My Hometown, Marcus)”, Die! Die! Die! From This Is Not an Island Anymore (2022)
Auckland, New Zealand’s Die! Die! Die! have been making music as a trio for most of this century, but This Is Not an Island Anymore is the first record of theirs I’ve heard in full. If you like classic noise rock, you’ll find plenty to enjoy here, although I think “Vanish (But That’s My Hometown, Marcus)” is the one that can cross the aisle. It’s something of the album’s “pop moment”—they don’t turn down the low-end pummeling, no sir, but it’s the song where Andrew Wilson’s vocals back off from their usual “screeching” and “barking” mode into something rather simple and, in the chorus, actually somewhat melodic.
“I Was a Kaleidoscope”, Death Cab for Cutie From The Photo Album (2001, Barsuk)
Aside from a few random songs, non-Transatlanticism Death Cab for Cutie has always been a bit of a blind spot for me, but I’ve always been a Ben Gibbard defender, so I listened to The Photo Album in full for the first time last month. It didn’t blow me away, but it’s a solid, sturdy indie rock record, and “I Was a Kaleidoscope” is quickly becoming one of my favorite Gibbard-involved songs. Although they eventually morphed into something I like more, I also enjoy the band in “hooky 90s indie rock” mode, and even in with the alt-rock chug of the song, Ben Gibbard is already 100% 2000s indie celebrity Ben Gibbard.
“Little Prince”, Spring Silver From I Could Get Used to This (2022)
“Little Prince” is the lead single from I Could Get Used to This, the latest record from Silver Spring’s Spring Silver, which is not out when I’m writing this but probably will be by the time this goes up. Spring Silver is the project of artist K Nkanza, whose recent singles mix D.C.-inspired post-hardcore and indie rock with electronic and melodic flourishes. “Little Prince” is a seething, catchy rock song that reminds me a little bit of Mister Goblin (who sings on this song as one of the record’s many guests musicians, a list that also includes Bartees Cox Jr., Dylan Baldi, Theo Hartlett, and Sadie Dupuis). Nightmare synths and blaring guitars duel around Nkanza’s blistering lyrics and vocal delivery.
“Sweeping”, Joe Kenkel From Naturale (2022, Earth Libraries)
Another month, another Styrofoam Wino. I highlighted the sophomore album of the Nashville supergroup early on in Rosy Overdrive’s history, and one member’s solo album late last year, and early 2022 has brought us Naturale, the latest album from noted Wino Joe Kenkel. Kenkel’s songs were some of the lighter and spacier moments on Styrofoam Winos, and “Sweeping” inhabits the same territory. Kenkel’s acoustic guitar and humble vocals are in a familiar dreamy country/folk style, but like a lot of Naturale, there’s a drum machine and synths hanging out in the background that’s reminiscent of another side of Kenkel, that of 80s sophisti-pop. It’s all very neat and evocative, and when Kenkel raises his voice toward the end, it subsequently hits harder.
“Live Again”, Mal Devisa From Kiid (2016, Self-released/Topshelf)
On the day that I’m writing this, everybody’s talking about a big “team up” in the music industry about which I’m a bit leery, albeit not yet doomy. One partnership I’m fully on board with, though, is Topshelf Records’ signing of Mal Devisa (aka Deja Carr) and managing her back catalog (including Wisdom Teeth, which I wrote about last year). Topshelf is also physically releasing one of Carr’s most beloved records, 2016’s Kiid, so it seems like a good time to revisit it. Album highlight “Live Again” is a quiet showcase of everything great about Mal Devisa—even with just Carr’s voice and minimal guitar playing, it’s an attention grabber.
“Simulation Swarm”, Big Thief From Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You (2022, 4AD)
I decided to go with one of the more “normal” tracks for my second Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You pull (believe me, I was this close to doing “Little Things” instead)—“Simulation Swarm” is such a calming blue hole track in the final stretch of the record. I tap in and out of Adrianne Lenker’s manifestos (they’d be called this more widely if she had any other singing voice), but the half-awake meanderings are just the right level of soothing in this song—and there’s clearly a lot of depth held in these lines of you’d care to look.
“This Night”, Superchunk From Wild Loneliness (2022, Merge)
Wild Loneliness is, unsurprisingly, a good Superchunk album (I don’t think they make any other kind). Its mid-tempo, Portastatic-y surface make it a bit less immediate than 2018’s What a Time to Be Alive, but I think this one will have even more long-term staying power. Its ten tracks take me back to Here’s to Shutting Up and (especially) Come Pick Me Up, and single “This Night” is an appropriately wistful pop-rocker. It’s in the “hold on to that killer chorus for all it’s worth” genre of Superchunk song (See also: “White Noise”, “FOH”), and the way it holds up the seemingly mundane with ecstasy is an essential wrinkle in the record’s weary sociopolitical fabric.
“Jenny”, The High Water Marks From Proclaimer of Things (2022, Minty Fresh)
Just another fun pop song from some original Elephant Six folks that are still at it–off of a record that’s full of them, to boot. It’s only been a year and a half since late 2020’s Ecstasy Rhymes, but if The High Water Marks are trying to make up the 13 year gap between that record and the one before it, that’s fine with me. Proclaimer of Things is a spirited noise pop album, burying melodies in the lightly psychedelic fuzz of songs like “We Are Going to Kentucky” and the title track, and the catchiest one of them would have to be “Jenny”. Hilarie Sidney, one of the two bandleaders along with her husband Per Ole Bratset, gives the track a simple, sing-song melody that doesn’t waver among the band’s noise.
“Channel Changer”, Polvo From Cor-Crane Secret (1992, Merge)
Once again I am Polvo-pilling you all via these monthly playlists. I was effusive about Exploded Drawinglast time; Cor-Crane Secret isn’t quite as good, but it’s a lot better than I remembered it being—maybe I needed to figure out their other records first. Cor-Crane Secret is, in hindsight, Polvo more or less fully formed—maybe it’s a little more “punk”, but all the ingredients are here in “Channel Changer” alone: the oddly discordant guitars that hinted at where they’d go in the future, the distorted sonic assault (the good, cheap American kind, not the overblown British variety), and the mathy/post-punk building blocks that add rather than distract.
“Save the Circus”, No Monster Club From Deadbeat Effervescent (2022, Emotional Response/Popical Island)
Deadbeat Effervescent is the latest from Ireland’s No Monster Club, the big, colorful pop-rock group led by somebody who calls himself Sir Bobby Jukebox. It’s highly recommended for any fans of unsung indie pop hero Nick Thorburn (The Unicorns, Islands), or for maximalist, whimsical music in general. Lead single “Save the Circus” is a horn-featuring, dancefloor-friendly tune that more than lives up to its name: it’s a dagger of a pop song from every angle. Read more about Deadbeat Effervescent here.
“Teeths”, Modern Nun From Name (2022)
Chicago’s Modern Nun only have a standalone single and one four-song EP to their name so far, but the trio have firm and substantial goals already, speaking about exploring spirituality and queerness in their music. The band takes on a casual folk/country vibe on their latest release, exemplified no better in my personal favorite track from it, the lonesome, sweet “Teeths”. Singer Edie McKenna’s vocals are memorable on every song, but they’re particularly strong on this song; she seems to relish the opportunity to bridge sadness and saccharine.
“Vice Versa”, En Garde From Debts (2022, Count Your Lucky Stars/Storm Chasers LTD)
Less than a year after their debut release, 2021’s long-in-development Debtors EP, the Akron, Ohio duo En Garde now have a full-length record to their name as well. If you liked the EP’s blend of terrified, mewithoutYou-esque barebones post-hardcore with plenty of math-y guitar parts strewn about, Debts delivers this in spades as well. Single “Vice Versa” in particular excels at this; Ross Horvath’s vocals sound as clear and forceful as ever, and the song also finds time for some Dischord-esque muted, chunky guitar riffs as well.
“Kevin’s Coming Over”, Massage From Oh Boy (2018, Tear Jerk/Mt.St.Mtn.)
Towards the end of last year, I highlighted Massage’s Lane Lines EP, which, along with last June’s Still Life LP, was part of something of a breakout year for the Los Angeles band. Their debut record, 2018’s Oh Boy, is being reissued by Mt.St.Mtn. this March, and I’ll have more to say about that soon, but for now here is “Kevin’s Coming Over”, one of the record’s highlights. It’s sunny indie pop, shining a little brighter than some of their more melancholic recent releases, but it still has the wistfulness and the slightly-obscured quality that marks the best of this genre of music. Read more about Oh Boy here.
“Young”, The Best Around (2022)
I would probably be sharing this no matter what it sounded like, out of general principle: I care deeply about the band Silkworm, more people should know about them, and I support any band deciding to cover them. Even so, Austin’s The Best Around do an admirable job of taking on “Young” from 2002’s Italian Platinum, adding to the original without losing the plot. The Silkworm version is a smoky, slow-building piano ballad guest-sung by Kelly Hogan; Camron Rushin is no Hogan (nobody is, short of maybe Neko Case), but the plainly-stated lyrics lose no potency in Rushin’s hands, and the mix of electronic instrumentation (a drum machine beat and synths) with the traditional gives it an interesting hazy vibe, a new spin on the original’s blunt force. I think we’ve had enough covers of “This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody)”, “These Days”, and “Hallelujah” in my lifetime—it’s time to make “Young” the next indie rock standard.
“Do You Still Have Some Fight in You”, Kyle Morgan From Younger at Most Everything (2022, Team Love)
“I know you know this isn’t gonna be easy,” sings Kyle Morgan in “Do You Still Have Some Fight in You”, the lead single of Younger at Most Everything. Morgan’s latest record floats through a haze of delicate folk soundtracking personal and religious examinations, but in this song, the music and Morgan’s lyrics both find a laser focus. Morgan addresses himself in “Do You Still Have Some Fight in You”, a future version of the singer reaching out the 2020 version, weighed down by the death of a parent, mental illness, and a global pandemic. The song builds until Morgan begins asking himself the titular question, the force with which it is posed making it clear what the answer is.
A special, earlier-in-the-week Pressing Concerns looks at new albums from Supernowhere, Allegra Krieger, and Poorly Drawn House, and the latest EP from Cashmere Washington. In other news, expect the Rosy Overdrive February playlist post to go up about a week from now.
Release date: March 2nd Record label: Topshelf Genre: Indie rock, math rock, dreamy jangly rock Formats: Vinyl, CD, cassette, digital Pull track: Basement Window
One of the more promising under-the-radar developments of 2021 was Topshelf Records’ signing of Supernowhere and re-releasing their 2018 debut record Gestalt last August. The trio flipped from the Northeast to the Northwest in between their first record and its follow-up, relocating to Seattle from Burlington, Vermont, but you’d be hard-pressed to nail the songs on Skinless Takes a Flight to anywhere geographically. Because apparently the material for this record was born out of outtakes from Gestalt, it’s no surprise that Skinless Takes a Flight isn’t a huge departure, but it’s equally apparent that these songs have grown in the interstitial time. They’re are a little more refined, a little less noisy—the shimmery, ornamental playing of guitarist/vocalist Kurt Henry has always been important to Supernowhere’s sound, but it’s even more apparent here, feeling as central as bassist/usual lead singer Meredith Davey’s vocals.
Of course, Henry’s guitar isn’t the only element at work in spinning the webs of Skinless Takes a Flight—Davey’s bass and Matthew Anderson’s drumming are essential elements in constructing Supernowhere’s circular, tangled version of indie rock (the first two songs are called “Circles” and “Dirty Tangle”, by the way). Lead single “Basement Window” features a passionate vocal from Davey that would be equally at home on an emo-tinged rock or indie folk song, a melodic 80s post-punk bassline, and a recurring jangle-rock guitar arpeggio. It’s a very specific amalgamation of sounds that Supernowhere makes sound as natural as a three-chord garage rock stomp. Davey is an inviting frontperson, and Skinless Takes a Flight congeals into pure accessibility at times (like the Henry-sung dream pop of “The Hand”), but the record is an occasionally incidental pop record, if anything—like a wild animal wandering through a forest, equally likely to advance through brush and bramble as to walk along the main path. (Bandcamp link)
Allegra Krieger – Precious Thing
Release date: March 4th Record label: Northern Spy Genre: Indie folk Formats: CD, cassette, digital Pull track: Wake Me If I’m Asleep
Precious Thing opens with nearly two minutes of instrumental before the opening lines float in with Krieger remarking, “The ambulance’s siren mixes with the violin / There’s a body on a bed rolling down the street”. The world in which Precious Thing resides is already firmly established. The New York-based Allegra Krieger crossed the country to record the record, her third full-length, in the Bay Area with Luke Temple of Here We Go Magic, and the touches of Temple and a stable of other multi-instrumentalists are felt all over Precious Thing. The contributions of Rob Taylor are particularly notable—upright bass and strings accompany Krieger’s delicately-played, loping acoustic guitar and piano on every track. A folk record recorded in California with “respectable” instrumental flourishes runs the risk of being a pastiche affair, but Krieger the songwriter seems to have very little interest in that.
In Precious Thing, the past is relevant to Krieger, but mostly in regards to how it shapes the present, like how childhood communion experiences figure into “I Drank Wine” (“Thought they were bottles of blood, thought they were cleanin’ me up…Now I gotta get there myself”). The pedal steel and synth accents of “Just for the Night” put it into “cosmic country” territory even as Krieger grounds it on the subway, looking out the window. The title track features a different kind of passive observation, with Krieger taking the long view of something leaving her life (“I’m not giving up on you, I’m only giving time the chance to unravel into the past”). The closing track, “Walking”, takes on a simple folk ramble that’s perhaps Precious Thing’s most traditional moment musically, even as Krieger’s words turn romantic wanderlust on its head: “Now I go walking, just to do something / I don’t expect wonder or magic or rain”. The routine in “Walking”, captured this way, is forever, but so is everything that led up to it and, soon, whatever comes next. That’s a way to deal with eternity. (Bandcamp link)
Cashmere Washington – Almost Country for Old Men, Electro Country for They/Them
Release date: February 25th Record label: Self-released Genre: Lo-fi indie rock Formats: Digital Pull track: Charlie Brown
I already touched on this one when I premiered the song “Rosy” (no relation) last week, but Almost Country for Old Men, Electro Country for They/Them is worth taking a look at as a whole. The second in Cashmere Washington’s debut trio of EPs continues Thomas Dunn’s blend of indie rock with “beat-making and lo-fi production”—to give you an idea of where they’re coming from, the project is named after a song from jazz/math rock group Sharks Keep Moving, and Dunn has seemed to cite J. Dilla in promoting this EP more than any other influence. Almost Country for Old Men… feels more relaxed and confident than last year’s The Shape of Things to Come, not reaching as far into the emo tinge that appropriately colored that EP’s formative recollection. Instead, the new EP casts a wide net, appropriate for someone like Dunn’s dexterity.
The sleek piano-and-beats combo “Life Is” opens up Almost Country for Old Men… in more ways that just the obvious, and the other piano-centric song on the record, “Anywhere”, is a straight-up ballad. On the other end of the spectrum, “Charlie Brown” beefs up a slacker-rock body with a melodic bass groove, and “Rosy” flirts with pop punk. Sometimes the shift comes within the same song—most of “I Want You” features Dunn spilling out the lyrics in an earnest way that’s the most clear callback to The Shape of Things to Come, before ramping up to a deliberate Doug Martsch/J. Mascis guitar fireworks display in its last minute. All six of these tracks are highlights. I spoke of Cashmere Washington’s “promise” and “potential” when talking about The Shape of Things to Come; it’s being realized before our very ears. (Bandcamp link)
Poorly Drawn House – Home Doesn’t Have Four Walls
Release date: February 23rd Record label: Candlepin Genre: Post-rock, slowcore Formats: CD, cassette, digital Pull track: Night Hawks
Poorly Drawn House are like an amalgamation of all your favorite haunted 90s bands. The South Carolina trio clearly have spent time with with the layered, fuzzy side of slowcore, although they aren’t committed to the monotone vibe as strongly as your Bedheads and your Dusters. There are wide open spaces calling to mind the last two Talk Talk albums, as well as everyone’s favorite Talk Talk tribute band, Bark Psychosis. And while for the most part singer/guitarist Anthony Gansauer’s vocals are quietly whispered and the band not far behind, they do have a couple post-rock side of post-hardcore (or maybe post-hardcore side of post-rock) moments like Slint or Unwound. After writing these notes, Poorly Drawn House confirmed all of these bands as influences in a Post-Trash feature, so don’t take my word for it!
Album opener “The Walls As Witness” starts with a single chord that hangs in the air for a bit before repeating, builds to something of an indie rock crescendo, and then bows out with cricket noises. “Night Hawks” takes a different path, barreling strongly right out of the gate only to wander around in a daze for the last half of the song. Horns and a clarinet pop up regularly throughout Home Doesn’t Have Four Walls, most prominently filling in the space in between the moments when the trio lock together, but also adding to the noise when they do. There’s a rhythm to Home Doesn’t Have Four Walls that’s only really interrupted by the screaming at the end of “Thereupon the Grass”, the one moment where they’re more Rodan than Slint. Even then, though, the vocals are mixed lower than the instruments, sounding like they’re coming from another room. It’s okay, kids, sometimes the walls just make that noise. No need to worry. (Bandcamp link)
This week’s Pressing Concerns highlights new albums from Big Nothing, tat songs, and Fjord Mustang, and an upcoming EP from Downward. If you’re looking for more new music, you can browse previous editions of Pressing Concerns or visit the site directory.
Big Nothing – Dog Hours
Release date: February 18th Record label: Lame-O Genre: 90s alt-rock, punk rock Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull track: A Lot of Finding Out
Dog Hours is only Big Nothing’s second record together, but the members of the Philadelphia four-piece have put their time in with various Philly bands for a few years now. That is to say, they’ve earned their “indie punk band goes mellow alt-rock” moment. The ten tracks of Dog Hours evoke a very specific period of beginning-of-the-90s “college rock”—the biggest comparison that keeps floating in my mind is late-period Replacements and early Paul Westerberg solo material, but they’ve also got Boston bands like The Lemonheads and Buffalo Tom rolling through their sound as well. There’s a weariness coloring Dog Hours, especially (but not entirely) in the songs sung by guitarist Matt Quinn, one of the band’s two lead vocalists.
Big Nothing might have dialed back the punk energy a bit, but they haven’t left out the hooks in doing so. Dog Hours is a strong guitar pop record—just listen to lead single “A Lot of Finding Out”, which is two minutes of basically all chorus, or the jangly Gin Blossoms earnestness of “Don’t Tell Me”. These are fairly unadorned, timeless-sounding songs—when bassist/vocalist Liz Parsons sings about driving around late at night listening to The Glow Pt. 2, it’s one of the few moments that places Dog Hours…well, not exactly in the present, but at least a few years after their main sonic touchstones. That line is from ruefully mid-tempo “Still Sorta Healing”; Parsons also leads on the acoustic toe-tapper “Accents”, arguably the record’s most upbeat moment. Dog Hours ends with “What I Wanna Say”, one of Big Nothing’s more alt-country numbers—both in terms of the lightly swinging shuffle of the music and in Quinn’s lyrics, which make messiness and uncertainty sound simple and breezy. (Bandcamp link)
tat songs – Don’t Look Back
Release date: February 22nd Record label: Self-released Genre: Lo-fi indie rock, post-punk Formats: Digital Pull track: Knocked Down
Tom Sadler has apparently been making music in some form since 1993, but the Chicago-based artist been especially busy since 2017, when he ended a “decade long hiatus to pursue academia” and returned to recording. The Bandcamp page for his tat songs project features albums ranging from harsh electronic to ambient to experimental folk, but Don’t Look Back is a pretty straightforward indie rock record. The album’s eight songs are a familiar but welcome blend of Pavement/Silver Jews-style grounded vocals, simple guitar pop melodies reminiscent of the Flying Nun roster, and the repetition (in both the rhythms and vocals) of post-punk.
The choppy lead guitar intro and Sadler’s stoic delivery make opening track “Fond Memories” the most overtly post-punk track on Don’t Look Back, but, tellingly, it’s not a world away from the mellow guitar pop that follows with “Knocked Down”, “Something Something”, and “Sadie 1942”. This is a fertile groove for tat songs, with most of Don’t Look Back hovering between an opaque exterior and brief bursts of emotion that coincide with the songs’ most melodic moments. The revved-up “Dishonor” is something of a late-record surprise in its Dinosaur Jr. fuzzy alt-rock getup—although Sadler does sound a little more like J. Mascis in the vocals here, the song mostly just helps emphasize that Sadler has been employing a Mascis-esque country-punk delivery the whole time. Sadler is a sharp songwriter—there’s plenty worth returning to in Don’t Look Back’s unassuming thirty minutes.
Downward – The Brass Tax
Release date: February 25th Record label: New Morality Zine Genre: Shoegaze, alt-rock Formats: Vinyl, digital Pull track: The Brass Tax
This is the third week of 2022 that Pressing Concerns has selected something from New Morality Zine to cover—they’re having an excellent beginning of the year, no? The latest EP from Downward sounds more like Prize Horse’s heavy 90s alt-rock than Jon the Movie’s lo-fi prog-punk, but The Brass Tax doesn’t restrain itself to the former sound. The Oklahoma band don’t come off as fervent devotees to downcast post-grunge—on The Brass Tax, at least, Downward feel like probers. Opening track “Glasshouse” is a big old slab of moody, glacial space rock, sure, and a great version of it, but they don’t really go down this avenue again for the rest of the EP.
It’s The Brass Tax’s second track, single “Real Green Dollars”, that’s probably the most emblematic of the whole thing. Downward shift fully into “atmospheric” mode on that one, layering acoustic guitar, electronics, and what sounds like some kind of horn atop their power trio setup. The EP’s final two tracks delve even further into subtle territory—the drum-machine, synths, and vocal effects of “Line” make it the starkest moment on The Brass Tax, but it’s the slow-building melodies and slow-burn instrumental of the closing title track that stand as the greatest synthesis of everything Downward explores on the EP. Downward aren’t exactly following the linear A to B “loud rock band slows down and mellows out” trajectory—the doomy “Ugly Bug” actually pushes them into even heavier territory—but they are spreading out with The Brass Tax. (Bandcamp link)
Fjord Mustang – Solitaire
Release date: February 22nd Record label: Self-released/Twin Fang Genre: Indie rock, folk rock, dream pop Formats: Digital Pull track: Five Years
While Toronto’s Fjord Mustang may take inspiration from modern groups that encompass both indie rock and folk rock, the sound on their debut record skews more toward the “indie rock” end of that spectrum. Vocalist Vick Egan’s emotive vocal style isn’t unlike that of Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker, but the songs of Solitaire frequently take on a dreamy, jangly sheen that’s more reminiscent of older bands on 4AD’s roster. Fjord Mustang (hell of a name, that) is a new group, younger than the pandemic—at the time of Solitaire’s recording, they didn’t have a full-time drummer, with Ian Romano (brother of Daniel) remotely laying down what you hear on the recording.
Now a four-piece, with Cameron Macdonald joining Solitaire’s core trio of Egan, Devon Pelley, and Nate Smofsky, Fjord Mustang have a solid and confident first step forward on their hands. The slow-burning dream pop of mid-tempo opening track “Five Years” is just the right amount of intriguing, before sliding into the pure airy indie pop of “Health Class Field Trip”. Just when Solitaire starts to lull you, there’s the surprisingly dramatic alt-rock “Thread the Needle” jutting out of the center of the record, chased with the sparse acoustic “Lakes Inn”—you get the full Fjord Mustang range in six and a half minutes with those. The record doesn’t drop off in its second half, either, thanks to the bittersweet hooky indie rock of “Fortune” and the five-minute stretch of “Ribbons” which gives “Thread the Needle” a run for its money. Not every album in this style grabs me, but the charms of Solitaire are undeniable. (Bandcamp link)
Thomas Dunn has been making music that’s spanned several genres and monikers for a few years now around the Michigan cities of Midland (where they grew up) and Ypsilanti (where they went to school). Recently, however, Dunn has settled on a name—Cashmere Washington—and a clear style—lo-fi indie rock that incorporates hip-hop and jazz influences, among others. Dunn also decided that Cashmere Washington would be introduced to the world via a trio of EPs.
The first of these EPs—last September’s The Shape of Things to Come—was one of my favorite releases of 2021. Dunn’s sharp songwriting and guitar playing cemented Cashmere Washington as an up-and-coming-project to watch in my mind.
The second EP is called (amazingly) Almost Country for Old Men, Electro Country for They/Them, and I’m happy to be premiering the song “Rosy” ahead of its release. In the context of Almost Country for Old Men…, “Rosy” is the big-finish final track, the EP’s biggest jolt of unbridled catharsis, and a key moment in the Cashmere Washington journey thus far. Although Dunn helms the track in Cashmere Washington’s increasingly familiar style, those sharp intro power chords the closest the project has veered into straight-up pop-punk.
“I wanted to make sad songs that people could dance to or enjoy life while blasting in their car,” Dunn acknowledges before going into some of the darker inspirations for “Rosy”. Dunn lost a friend to suicide in 2018, and the song “was my way of capturing the energy they carried around while they were alive while writing about the circumstances leading up to their decision.”
It is also, autobiographically for Dunn, about being laid-up recovering from a car crash and, in such a state, becoming moved by the romantic simplicity at the end of Adam Sandler’s The Wedding Singer. So, yes, “Rosy” is about trying to capturing some heavy emotions—love, grief, growing older, you know. Dunn gives us a couple lyrical glimpses into the driving forces beyond everything roiling around in “Rosy” (the lines “Backwards hat on / Pastor’s kids they / Backslid so hard” say volumes in little), but the song is mostly a vibe-driven cypher.
In addition to the song’s premiere, today also sees the release of its music video, in which Dunn plays a “bored Midwestern detective”, and it comes a few days after a mini-documentary about the recording of AlmostCountry for Old Men, Electro Country for They/Them featuring Dunn and Casia SK-1 of Fish People Birds Records.
Almost Country for Old Men, Electro Country for They/Them releases on February 25th.
Rosy Overdrive 