Tag: pop

TRACK | Freak Genes – Strange Charm

5/5 golden merles

“Strange Charm” arrives in a set of consistently plumbed concepts and a larger narrative fixated on the veil, particularly in a Bostrom/Boltzmann sense. And there should be more of this in the world as we know it, simulation or other, because it’s just so damn much fun. The track is composed of sheer keys and guts, synth punk with fervor as the foundation, maniacally forecasting the intricacies of an artificial future.

In the manufacturing of a new and immediate heaven there will be gradients of adaptation and those left behind, some willingly. “Energy bars low above your head,” a beach devoid of touch: the details are effectively populated.

There is within these elements a great deal of world building done (–about world building), new classifications and clearances, presaging emerging rifts that we only have the slightest direct precedents for, despite very familiar themes. It’s full of playful prescience and with enough hooks to convince you to gladly remain and be absorbed within the futurist subject matter.

It arrived today and is fully streamable: there are vinyl variations in limited runs for $20-22 from the esteemed Feel It Records; suitably the digital version is name your own price.

TRACK | Frances Chang – flower childs

5/5 golden merles

Frances Chang’s “flower childs” is made up of the stuff of slowcore, psych-singer songwriter, and expertly extracted from the bedroom recordings. It has an arc that rises from the hope found in craft, the most direct determination of destiny, and then, meteorically, quickly, pivots into some dearly dreaded speculation: i’m so happy / i could cry / i’m writing and music sounds good again. It operates with all the damning and deliberate wonder you could hope for.

The melodies are found in their nascent form before repetition hammers them into rote reminders and set queues. The reverb hangs around, an intermittent percussive xylophone accentuates it. In the telling, some halcyon days are recounted which needed to be lost in order to be truly valued, or maybe even realized for their worth.

Forever is found wanting, concepts collide with the earth, invariably misaligned in manifestation. Forgiveness is afforded or withheld, to be redeemed later with interest. what if you don’t forgive me? / or even worse if you do… Is the best way forward a doubling down on delusion or maybe in the end (there is no end) living as comfortably as possible in perpetual doubt.

I wrote recently about Haneke’s Amour, “I guess this is what films would be like if they were made for humans and by humans instead of by corporations and for money,” and this is near enough the musical equivalent; limited in posturing, full of exploration. There are tapes for $10 and FLAC files for $8.

TRACK | Lassie – Temporary Cemetery

5/5 golden merles

Lassie makes infectious Leipzig-based synth punk with all the skill stats buffed and tethered together. Nothing stagnates here or rots in redundancy. In its considered sequences there is utilization of all the accumulate instruments, with key and complimentary fills and every passage reinforced in layered melody. It is fun and morbidly inspired, very well pieced songcraft.

The ensemble of and alternating vocals compliment the energetic roving. On top of that, they’re spewing such fine lines in addition to the virulent chorus, like I don’t wanna choose / Between a job that pays the bills / and a comfort built on kills. And probably in a second language, agreeably putting us grubby John Q. Songwriters to some degree of shame.

I went to link to this very article yesterday and it turns out I hadn’t written on it yet. There are 3 versions that I am aware of (The Turbo Discos single version, the Flennen comp, and the above Phantom Records album version) and they all land depending on how much refinement you prefer. The discography is otherwise relentlessly active, looking at the last several years. I’m excited to see more of the back catalog and what comes next.

TRACK | Onyon – Window Shopper

5/5 golden merles

From the estranged estate of Leipzig, another entry in the perpetual golden era of post-punk in Germany. Our friends Onyon have embedded some driving beats in a cloudless convening of no wave tones, as elaborately as it needs to be under the circumstance, with instrumentation direct and effective, including only the muck immediately necessary to instigate life.

For an emergent phenomenon particularly the tape is notably consistent, arriving frustratingly fully formed. A cohesive and iridescent set of tunes, arising like a great reprieve amidst the hunting and gathering. It is not reaching in its representation of events, the quotidian enshrined in considered tribute, melded to a melody and reified with friends.

As the first tape and abiogenesis, it’s remarkably strong and to be treasured. The work has physical media out on the genuinely/reliably great law offices of U-Bac & Flennen in March of 2022 and now Trouble In Mind (Chicago) for US distribution. Cassettes $12/Digital $10.

TRACK | memory card – hook

5/5 golden merles

Memory card makes lo-fi bedroom rock in Birmingham, AL. This s/t set is full of poise and promise, hollowing out the heart for examples: playing back memories until the tape disintegrates / you don’t get to understand until it’s over with.

In “hook,” after some brief confessions, a quiet crescendo rises before the track decomposes back into the trailing synth that lurks at the root of all things. Friends of Elverum or Windowsill will probably feel in good company throughout the albums turns. There’s much compelling invention in the language, minimalist detailing, and deceptively simple drums with effective interworking.

Other highlights are “red w/ mila moon” and “dead of night,” the genres vacillating faintly in the service of greater effect. It’s a consistently built sequence with plenty of subtly shifting melodies and structures, intricate enough for some salience without any alienation. That all makes for some direct/conversational storytelling, thoughtfully crafted in a very unguarded and approachable document. The price is pay what you will.

TRACK | Class – Steady Hands

5/5 golden merles

Garage rock from Tucson, “Steady Hands” is the best produced grumbling and thrashing you’ll likely hear this fortnight. It’s superbly well conceived and executed, built from a palette of primeval sorts. It is a good example of some nice punk/pop accentuated in scalding oil, fermented in the sun.

All the dreams you held so near / have gone to shit / falling from the lowest point / you’ll soon find out / is high enough to be destroyed

If this is something you find unrelatable: congrats, I guess. But for those of us that don’t live in a cotton candy house, that’s some proper commiseration. With a bit of field to fortify, there is much to admire, the melody and hook done justice by key performances and attentive detailing. It’s a carefully built hex for which you don’t have to wait long for the curse to kick in.

Name your price on the bandcamp, or an $8 buck cassette can be acquired from Feel It Records, fine folk affiliated with The Cowboys, Sweeping Promises and Alien Nosejob.

TRACK | THE CLUE – Starting

5/5 golden merles

More lo-fi punk marinated in the Deluxe Bias morgue, a very fine and irrevocable 21st amendment to their rising catalog. It does not overstay its welcome with 5 tracks running to a little over 7 minutes in length, hitting the ideal demo structure, and ending with a nice homage to Tiny Tim to wrap things up.

Frantic and favoring the form, it hurtles about in the orbit of the egg punk. Never reaching, it’s all fully realized in tone, consistent in its clamor throughout. A goodly sort, well beyond the proof of concept.

Head to TegosluchamPL for the track list divided, otherwise you’re in for the long haul, which is to say 5 short hauls combining for a medium haul. The tapes have sold out, promptly & irrevocably, unless later reprinted. Otherwise you can have it for naming any number smaller than the one in your bank account.

TRACK | Cobra Man – Living in Hell

5/5 golden merles

“Living in Hell” is synth pop / electro-punk with a great sense of fantastical demiurge. It’s anthemic and apocalyptical, with a chorus that must redeem any perceived trespasses or misgivings punk purists might have about the synthesis of style. They’re expertly balancing a heightened humor and horror around two premier vocal performances, joyfully heralding our ongoing collapse.

In the dark times will there also be power disco? Can directly 80’s influenced music become self-aware and not have this result in the destruction of the world? Who cares. It’s a lot of fun. There’s a good mix of disco feinting at egg punk/devocore and all as a means to an end, all in the service of melody and evocation. Initially I was a bit put-off by the grandiosity and refinement. But it’s just too damn good. It rises to include those heightened elements while maintaining a palpable sense of impending dread that best embodies the cultural moment.

Spiritually a bit akin to recent p&p favorites LAFFF BOX, Cupid And The Stupids, –or any of the yolkier punks. The new 2022 Demos III from July are real exciting as well.

TRACK | Mižerija – Izolacija

5/5 golden merles

Mižerija’s “Izolacija” is solid Croatian post-punk that responds with a sort of melodic revelry to the grand terror and trepidation of existence. Particularly, it is concerned with isolation, the literal/physical and myriad metaphorical forms. And the track acts as its own antidote, a celebration around form and a type of commiseration that brings the outsiders together.

The swords, ploughshares, and spears have all been hammered into hooks here. Another strong counter melody even reinforces perpetually from underneath amongst a great peripheral detailing of yelps and backing screams. This is filed under the Tom Waits quote about liking “beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.”

Speaking only from the rough google translated lyric and the perceived style and emotion, it reminds me of an excellent line from the newly elected vice president of Colombia, Francia Márquez, “We are going to move forward from resistance to power until dignity becomes something our country is accustomed to.”

The cost is arbitrary, pay what you want, as determined by your gut biome and an abiding sense of shame. Or, immortalized in wax physical form, there’s black and blue vinyl out on Doomtown Records.

TRACK | Mo Troper – I Fall Into Her Arms

5/5 golden merles

Mo Troper is returned with another fully fledged set of lo-fi power pop aches. The warp is strong and the warble can be counted on with lead single “I Fall Into Her Arms.” It plumbs the murky depths of the duality of love, wherein the dichotomy of finding true acceptance is considered: now i’m not afraid to die / now i wanna stay alive.

Flame and fuzz provide the context. Timelessly, the plasticine vocal core glides above the static and soft room ambiance, imparting to me, subjectively, as a different human, a feeling of ambivalence despite the explicit text affixed above. The track delivers on capturing that particular sort of hopefulness and queasiness, the kind that comes from ever really considering anything at length, weighing the opportunity costs of the leap, and committing to the bit of existence. But also ultimately coming down on the side of the earnest and heartfelt as the only proper guide amidst the chaos and malaise.

The full document drops into our laps on the 2nd day of September and Violet/Violet swirl versions of the vinyl exist with some fun perks on the Lame-O Records storefront.