Oh man is it nice out today. My trusty iPhone says 52, which is still not quite the most ideal temperature but is a massive improvement. The question remains though: where will all this snow go now that the weather is warm? Will Uconn be submerged in water that was once snow? Who knows, man. Strange days indeed.
Anyway, got some cool stuff for y’all this week in Studio A. We have some 80s/90s sounding indie rock (a la The Smiths, Mazzy Star, Dino Jr.) courtesy of Evans The Death. Speaking of the 90s, we also have the new Swervedriver album, which is honestly a pretty impressive album from the recently reunited English indie rock/shoegaze group. Normally “comeback” albums are pretty wack, but this one certainly stands as an exception.
-Dan
**= push *= recommend
ARTIST ALBUM DESCRIPTION LABEL
| * | Expect Delays | Draws a lot from 80s and 90s indie rock (Smiths, Mazzy Star, Dino Jr.). Both somber and gritty in exploring dynamic ranges. Really good at combining melody and “noise” (like punkwise). Play: 5,9,11,13. FCC clean. | Slumberland |
| Colleen Green* | I Want to Grow Up | Pop rock/punk. Sweet and easy to listen to. Same topic throughout album (not a bad one). Harmonies and loveable melodies. Play last track!! Rec: 1,10,6 | Hardly Art |
| Swervedriver* | I Wasn’t Born To Lose | Really cool. Dissonant/dreamy guitar work. Reminiscent of Sonic Youth but a bit more melodic. Trck 2 sounds like MBV. Vox are laid back but not lazy. Track 7 is bluesy and weird. Overall, great! RIYL: Sonic Youth, Hum. Try 1,2,4. | Cobraside |
| Eula* | Wool Sucking | Eerie, haunting female vox. Instrumentation is bare but well-done. Percussion is really cool. Repetitive grooves but never drags on. Builds/branches off repitition in creative ways. Vox are all over the place and really cool. RIYL: Priests, PJ Harvey. Try 4 and 6. | Mirror Universe |
| Sannhet* | Revisionist | Instrumental black metal/post-black metal. Like Deafheaven w/o the vocals and a harder Explosions In The Sky. HUGE sound. Awesome pummeling drums and guitars. For post-rock/metal fans, this is a must. Play 6. RIYL: Deafheaven, EITS, Godspeed. FCC clean. | The Flenser |
| Purity Ring* | Another Eternity | Sweet synthy female vocals, pretty solic electornic beats. Try 2,3,4,5,7. | 4AD |
| Dom La Nena | Soyo | Easy listening pop music with Latin roots. Piano driven with lots of different instrumentation. Sung in Spanish, Portugese, and French. RIYL: Feist. Try 3,6,7,9. | Six Degrees Records |
| The Elwins | Play For Keeps | Poppy rock inspired music. Also some new wave influence. RIYL: Two Door Cinema Club, Fun, The 1975. Try 2,4,7. | Hidden Pony |
| Motorama | Poverty | Sounds like a time machine, super retro sounding, cheesy at times but cool sounds. FCC clean. Try 3,5. | Self-released |
| Ewert and the Two Dragons | Circles | Pretty upbeat, poppy-ish indie rock. Not bad. Try 1,3,4,6. FCC clean. | Sire |
| Clarence Clarity | No Now | Crazy left-field electronic. Emotive, R n B style lyrics harshly buried under the beats. Really weird. Try 3. RIYL: FlyLo. | Bella Union |
| Six Organs of Admittance | Hexadic | Very very noisey, lacks cohesivity. Songs bounce back and forth form soothing to chaotic. Band members seem to be doing their own thing with no effort to make music. | Drag City |
| Dick Diver | Melbourne, Florida | Australian indie rock group lays down some jangly, laid back rock n roll a la Real Estate. Very “chill”. You’ve def heard stuff like this before but very pleasant. RIYL: Twerps, Real Estate. FCC 8,11. | Trouble In Mind Records |
| Chandeen | Forever and Ever | Epic, dynamic electronic indie pop. Many bright spots on the album, but busy-ness and over-production hurt it as a whole. Try 4,5. Fcc clean. | Kalinkaland Records |
| Tropics | Rapture | Jazzy electronic RnB. Vocals are a bit dry and are outshined by the great instrumentals. FCC clean. Try 8,3. RIYL: Rhye. | Innovative Leisure |
| Sandra Kolstad | Zero Gravity State of Mind | Synth/electro-pop from Norway. Really interesting instrumentals that range from pleasant to noisy. Very Bjork-like. FCC clean. | Red Eye Transit |
| Crown Larks | Blood Dancer | Prog-rock and avant-garde jazz thrown together. Droney, wailing vocals, not entriely sure how well it works. | Space Lung |
| Bonson Burner | Reflection | Post punk and new wave songs borrowing from many pioneers in the genres. Never amounts to anything substantial. | Forty Below |
| Artefact | S/T | Downtempo minimalistic electronica. Soft pianos with loads of glitches and ambient noise thrown in. | Self-released |
| The Bright Light Social Hour | Space Is Still the Place | Bright, distorted guitars, sounds like the Black Keys and Arctic Monkeys. Laid back feel, some heavier songs. Try 1,2,4. | Frenchkiss records |
| The Prefab Messiahs | Keep Your Stupid Dreams | Extremely goofy and kinky songs by a reunited 80s garage band. Kinda terrible. | Burger Records |
| Genghar | She’s A Witch | Hushed, warbly vocals over intricate guitarwork with layers of keyboards and drums. Very mellow with cool effects. Pokemon band name. Cool. RIYL: Foxygen, Grizzly Bear. | Transgressive Records |
| Go Betty Go | Reboot | Latina quartet that switches from english to spanish while still being boring. No energy, flimsy “punk”, weak lyrics. | Self-released |